Zion National Park in a Word: Majestic

It’s no secret that I love to travel, primarily for the educational aspects, and with some attention to relaxation as well. I enjoy everything about the travel process beginning with mapping out the trip agenda. I’ve learned that a plan infused with some level of flexibility allows for the best outcome. My research sometimes includes a component of personal interview. I’ve found that destination travel on personal recommendations has saved me time and money thereby maximizing the benefits of the overall experience. Enough on my desire for efficiency though. Another thing I love is my morning coffee. This morning, with my coffee, I revisited Zion National Park.

My Utah mug.

We traveled to southern Utah in early June, 2004 where we chose log cabin accommodations at The Zion Ponderosa – an 8000-acre ranch bordering on Zion National Park. This was a fully equipped, plumbed, and heated cabin –fairly luxurious in my "cabin" experience.  

Abi on the porch. She had her own key and loved the freedom  and independence extended to her.

Abi (glam-lipped) choosing some rocks from the General  Store.

Meals at The Ponderosa are served country/family-style in a community dining room where tables covered in red-checkered vinyl cloths are shared among those passing through. There is no scarcity of freshly prepared food at The Ponderosa, and no one leaves the table hungry.  

Cowboy Bill

We had at least one meal a day with Cowboy Bill, longtime rancher on The Ponderosa.  Cowboy Bill made sure that Abi got a chance to interact with all of the ranch animals; dogs, rabbits, pigs, sheep, goats, chickens, and horses. He also led the evening, hour-long trail ride that took us throughout the grounds and into the woods through shallow creeks and back to civilization.

Abi, second in command, on the trail ride.

We spent a good bit of time driving through Zion National Park, stopping along the way to fully embrace the magnitude of the scenery – a landscape that reminds me that we are but a speck in the grand scheme of nature. To take it all in-- the geology-- is overwhelming. Gigantic red rock sculpted into walls that channel sunlight down, way down to smooth floors and shallow water. More of the same red rock whittled over hundreds of years into arched crevices – windows to nothing but blue sky. Standing amid this mastery of Mother Nature is, in a word, majestic. Go ahead, and take a look at a few photos taken with a cheap camera.

Now, I rarely complete a trip without locating a couple of things that I can carry home to serve as a reminder of my wonderful travel experience. For me, that nearly always includes a coffee mug. I begin scoping them out upon my arrival, and by the time I’m ready to leave, I am sure to grab the one that speaks the loudest of my overall experience. In fact, I can say without hesitation that my coffee mug collection from my travels has probably brought me more day-to-day joy than any other of my possessions because I drink from one every single morning.  

It’s an eclectic collection with no common theme, and with more than a few chips among them attesting to how I’ve incorporated the coffee mugs into my daily life along with the thoughts, feelings, and images they resonate.

Not Your "Run of the Mill" Chicken Salad

Chicken Salad

2 large chicken breasts (coarsely chopped)

2 stalks celery (finely chopped)

1 gala apple (peeled, seeded, and finely chopped)

¼ c dried cranberries

¼ c sliced almonds

¼ c mayonnaise

¼ c sour cream

1 tbs fresh curley parsley (chopped)

1 tbs fresh dill

1 tbs fresh chives (chopped)

Salt

Preheat oven to 350. Rinse chicken breasts, salt both sides, place in baking dish, and bake covered until they reach 190 degrees (about 30 minutes.)

Mix mayonnaise and sour cream together, add parsley, dill, and chives, and stir.

Clean and finely chop the celery and apple. Place in mixing bowl. Coursely chop cooked chicken and let cool. Combine with celery and apple, and mix well. Add the herb dressing, and fold in cranberries and almonds. Spoon over spring mix. Serve with your choice of bread.  I’ll have mine on a croissant with a slice of tomato, please.

I'm a “daddy’s girl," and while I have precious few memories of good times with my dad growing up, I can guarantee you I not only remember, but I cherish, every single one. You see, Daddy was “absent” for most of my life. Mama, my two sisters, and I lost him to his 50 year struggle with alcoholism. I don’t call it a “battle” because that would imply that he was fighting it when he absolutely was not fighting alcoholism. He was actually having a good ole time with it. I tell you this with a light heart because I never wished my dad anything other than the happy life he has had. I use the word “struggle” because Daddy’s alcoholism led him to situations that caused him and anyone around him angst. This resulted in his inability to participate productively within a stable, healthy family unit. (Wow, I’m impressed at how well I cleaned that up!)

Genetics are strong.  Oddly enough, even with my very limited exposure to my dad, I share quite a bit in common with him. Among our commonalities is a love of travel. Now daddy is a loner. He is a mild-mannered, unassuming, fearless, country, southern, ex-Marine. While we both love the educational aspects of travel we do it differently. For example, he hitchhiked across the country… twice. With a chuckle, he’ll tell you, “No sense a tryin’ to tell me my mother’s not smart.  I wasn’t locked up more than two hours before she’d figured out how to bail me out of jail from all over the country --without ever leavin’ her house in Galax.”

Okay, so Daddy and I might not make good travel buddies, but we both love it nonetheless.  I fly across the country and rent a car for regional tours or day trips.  Along my way I am likely to enjoy some local dining. I usually do a lot of asking around to find out where the locals have lunch. The idea is to get off of the tourist track where I can feel the heartbeat of the community. I had great luck finding such a place while visiting Laguna Beach, California.

The recipe that I’m sharing is not the same chicken salad that I had at the corner bistro amid the art galleries adjacent to the beautiful, wide beachfront along the Pacific Coast in Laguna. However, it is that travel experience that inspired me to open my mind to see all of the possibilities with chicken salad which, ultimately, led me to creating the recipe I've shared today.

Making the Case for Olive Oil

What I am enjoying right now about this recipe is that when I listed the ingredients and centered the text it formed this cool heart shape which reminds me of how heart-healthy this little gem of a dish is. There isn’t a speck of bad fat in it.

Black Bean & Corn Salad

1 can  Black Beans (rinsed and drained)

1 can  yellow corn (rinsed and drained)

1/3 c  roasted red peppers (chopped)

¼ c  Bermuda onion (finely chopped)

1/3 c fresh cilantro (chopped)

2 tbs extra virgin olive oil

1 tsp lime juice

Salt

As long as we're discussing heart-related matters, please indulge me for just a moment or two on the topic of “olive oil.” It is not all the same! I’ve tried many and finally found one that is so smooth and delicious that it’s a staple in my kitchen. It is my premium product reserved for dressings, drizzling, and dipping – not suggested for heating (unless money is just of no concern.) I use Frantoia Extra Virgin Olive Oil. If you are not familiar with it prepare yourself for sticker-shock because it costs a cool $27. for a 33.8 ounce bottle. GASP! Now, stay with me here, frugal friends, before writing me off as an “olive oil snob” because I’ve conducted some research on this topic, strange woman that I am.  Look, I’m going to just copy and paste an Abstract for a paper I wrote entitled, Olive Oil: The Key to Health Benefits of the Mediterranean Diet.

EVOO comes from the first pressing, therefore; it  is the least processed with the greatest health benefits. There are cheaper EVOOs, and if taste matters, Frantoia is the one!

Abstract

Known to be heart-healthy, the Mediterranean diet incorporates a nutritious, whole foods eating plan that includes generous amounts of fresh fruits and vegetables, fish, whole grains, and the regular use of olive oil.  The Seven Countries Study examined rates of death from heart disease in people from around the world to find that deaths were strongly associated with diets high in saturated fats as opposed to total fats.  The research found that while both Finland and Crete consumed 40 percent of their calories from fat, Finland experienced the highest death rate from heart disease, and Crete experienced the lowest.  Upon this finding, scientists from around the world began to study types of fat and discovered that the key to the many health benefits of the Mediterranean diet is in the prominent use of olive oil.

How cool is that?

Now, which is cheaper, heart disease or my rockin' extra virgin olive olive?

Mixing It Up!

Rinse and drain beans and corn and put them in a mixing bowl. Add chopped roasted red peppers and chopped Bermuda onion. Wisk oil and lime juice together. Pour over vegetables. Add salt and chopped cilantro and stir. Chill. Serve cold.

Caution: Fresh cilantro makes this dish. If you do not grow your own then just go ahead and treat yourself to overpaying for it at the grocery store because you need it for this recipe.  

Grow it at home!

Summer Alternatives:

4 ears of fresh corn on the cob; grilled

½ large fresh red bell pepper; finely chopped

Let me leave you with the conclusions of my research on olive oil.

Conclusions

              To promote good health the mayo clinic recommends that when cooking with fats, olive oil is the best choice because it lowers risks of heart disease by reducing low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol and total cholesterol levels in the blood.  According to the Food and Drug Administration consuming about two tablespoons of olive oil daily may reduce the risks of heart disease.

              Extra Virgin olive oil is considered one of the best food oils available today.  Higher quality, organic oils may cost a bit more than lesser quality pressings but the significant increase in healthy benefits of lesser processed, cold-pressed extra virgin oil make it a wise investment.  “When used as a primary source of fat in whole foods, healthy eating plans such as the Mediterranean diet, the potential goodness of this oil prevails.” (MayoClinic)

"Mommy, They Ruined My Pasta Salad!"

People aren't around me very long before picking up on my strong value for learning. When choosing a preschool for my daughter, Abigail, I conducted an exhaustive search for a place where I felt comfortable that my child would be given an opportunity to learn and grow with selective freedom of choice. I wanted her to be in an environment that would nurture her curiosity and independence and allow her the space to be who she is intended to be. We chose Wilmington Montessori School, and my daughter will attest today that it was a phenomenal early education for her where there was a strong emphasis on "respect for self, others, and the environment." One of the things that I liked from the onset was the way they handled meals and snacks. They encourage good nutrition, and parents are free to pack cold lunches as well as meals requiring heat-up. There are full kitchens shared between two classrooms throughout the preschool wing of the building. It's a super set-up for the kids and teachers as well. Now, Abi has always been a very good eater. I have a photo of her eating half a turkey, lettuce and tomato sandwich at age 9 months with not a tooth in her head. One of Abi's favorite recipes is my pasta salad. She has been gobbling this up since she was 18 months old. 

Now, before I share this incredibly simple dish I'll tell you a funny story. It was September, and a brand new school year had begun. Abigail was 2.5 years old and had moved up to the 2-year-old toddler room. She and I had packed her lunch the night before, and she was delighted that she was having her favorite thing, pasta salad. I dropped Abi off at school, put her lunch in the fridge, and went on to work. At 3pm I picked her up to find her furious. She made it out of the building and into the car before bursting into tears. I got her in her car seat against all the fit-pitching, and finally things settled down enough for me to understand what had gone so terribly wrong at school. "Mommy, they ruined my pasta salad! I told them not to heat it up, and they put it in the microwave anyway! The cheese melted! They ruined it!" I was desperately trying not to laugh at this toddler who was just so bent out of shape over her pasta salad. Thank God there was more at home. She was placated knowing that she could have pasta salad for her afternoon snack and dinner too if she wanted more of it.  So here's what the fuss is all about...

Abigail's Fit-Pitching Pasta Salad

1 box tri-colored Rigatoni

3/4 c. cubed sharp cheddar cheese

3/4 c. cubed muenster cheese

1/2 c. sliced pimento-filled green olives

1/2 c. sliced black olives

1 mixture of Good Season's Italian Salad Dressing

Make this up ahead of time so it has time to blend  nicely before you add  it to your salad.

This dish is all about the Good Season's Salad Dressing which I don't recall being without for more than 12 hours on any given day over the past 25 years. I love the stuff! Go ahead and splurge for the bottle because it has the fill lines for balsamic vinegar, water, and olive oil. I've had mine for at least 20 years. Remember to add the spice packet and shake! 

You can use as much dressing as you like.  I usually mix in about 2/3 the bottle and add more if needed after it chills.

Talk about simple: 

I begin with setting a big pot of salted water on to boil. I add the pasta when the water comes to full boil, and this gives me the time I need to get the other ingredients ready. As I mentioned my dressing is nearly always made up, so I go directly to cubing my cheeses, and throwing it in a big mixing bowl as I go. Then I slice my olives and add them to the mixing bowl. The pasta is ready in 10 to 12 minutes. Be sure that it is fully cooked because you will drain it in a colander and immediately cool it down with cold water to stop it from cooking and cool it completely. When the pasta is cold drain it and add it to the mixing bowl. Stir in the dressing, cover and chill for 30 minutes in the fridge. When you pull it out add more dressing and stir  just before you serve it. Serves 8 easily (unless Abi's in attendance!)

I've served this as a main dish with garlic bread and a small salad, and it also makes a great side dish to grilled hamburgers or any sandwich. Today I had some with a couple of ham biscuits!

Heat At Your Own Risk!

Goodnight, I Love You

One of my favorite quotes is Leo Tolstoy's, “All, everything I understand, I understand only because I love.” I am one who loves very deeply and very broadly. In fact, love can be so intense for me that I have a great deal of difficulty writing about it, and it’s probable that those for whom my love is most intense do not fully grasp my feelings for them. I approach all of humanity with love, and I intensely love a very few. It would be overwhelming to do it any other way! I’ll attempt here to stay more on the surface of love for even that is powerful enough.

I learned from observing my mother that love is verb. When I was growing up my Mama modeled her love for my two sisters and me through action and with great intention. Not only did she work three jobs to support us, but even our spankings were all about love, and Mama was good about verbalizing that before, during, and after any such event of reprimand. She believed that communication is imperative to clarity, and it was most important to her that her children understood who she was, where she was coming from and why, and what all of that meant for us. And what it meant was we were loved! It was a nightly ritual that after we were in our rooms and settled into our beds, we would break the silence and holler throughout the house calling each other by name, “Goodnight. I love you.” That was long before John-Boy and The Waltons, and they only said “Goodnight” anyhow.  Mama made the rules at our house, and one big rule was we could “never let the sun go down on our wrath.” And, let me assure you that when you put a single mother and three girls all born 2.5 years apart under one roof, and the youngest gets to be about 12-years-old, they are going to experience some significant wrath. And in Mama's house, that wrath was going to subside before bedtime and end with “Goodnight. I love you.”

I have never regretted my religious affiliation with Christianity, although; I have been saddened at times throughout my life by the desire and intention of many to utilize religion as a means of disconnection among the human race.  By the time I reached adulthood (not an hour past age 18 down south where I was raised) I had read the King James version of the Bible from Genesis through Revelations twice. I had not only read it, but studied it fairly extensively.  My teenage years were spent proactively pursuing a relationship with God, consciously upholding my faith, and practicing the religion I was taught in a tiny church in Fieldale, Virginia. Nearly all of my time outside of school was spent in some connection with my church. I was either sitting in worship service or participating in some sort of mission work ranging from fundraising for congregational youth ministries, teaching Sunday School, developing and leading youth programs, travelling as a singer with a southern gospel music ministry, feeding the hungry, visiting the sick, sharing the good news from door to door, and inviting others into the fold. I was a very busy and highly productive teenager.

As I've grown and broadened my thinking I've come to believe that some of what I was taught at church was really just a whole lot of hogwash, however; that in no way diminishes the value and magnitude of not only my overall experience, but my grand-scale takeaway for life. Simply, love one another. 

I never mistook humans for walking in the perfection of God. If I gleaned a thing from all of my exposure to Christianity, it was that people – all people, are riddled with faults that lead us to sin against God’s commandments and the teachings of Jesus Christ.  The concept comes from Paul’s letter to the Romans 3:23 where he writes, "for there is no difference for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.”  I've kept this at the top of my awareness, I chose early-on in my personal faith walk, to focus most intently on two significant statements made by none other than the great teacher himself, Jesus:

“A new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another."

John 13:34

“Judge not, and you shall not be judged: condemn not, and you shall not be condemned:  forgive, and you shall be forgiven.”  Luke 6:37

Now, growing up in faithful church attendance, I can tell you for sure that I’ve encountered many a devout church-goer who struggles much more with the “love one another” and “judge not” commandments than any of the “Thou Shalt Nots.” I’ve chosen to focus on the magnitude of these two Christian teachings during most of my life, not because the other stuff isn’t important, but because, for me abstaining from killing, stealing, lying, adultery, idol worshipping, coveting, and the like just aren’t much of a daily challenge. Besides, Mama had already taught me to practice what she considered bare minimum character requirements for the well-functioning of society. God, or no God, there was to be no killing, stealing or lying among Mama's kids.

Over my 38-year faith journey, I’ve learned a lot about the power of love and acceptance. When we come from a place of love of all people we accept our individual differences, and the natural outcome is that we withhold judgment of others and their choices across the broad spectrum because love just doesn't judge. It doesn’t mean that we agree, condone, or affiliate with everything and everyone. It just means that we are steeped in love that allows us to live and let live – leaving the judgment to God. That said, I will guarantee you that I have never met even one person in whom I failed to find something good and lovable.  My look into the world’s religions has taught me that we humans are more alike than we are different and that, like Christianity – Judaism, Islam, and Buddhism are also centered on love. 

Goodnight. I love you.

Cleaning Out the Fridge

This morning I opened the refrigerator to find a few too many straggling foods. These "hangers on" just needed to be finished. There's about a third of a can of black olives, half an onion, half a red pepper, about two cups of mozzarella left of a four-cup bag that's been around for nearly a month, and maybe half a cup of grated parmesan cheese that I only use for a specific recipe, so it just really needs to go because I only make that recipe once a year -- at the end of the year, and it's now the beginning of the year.

Okay, the wheels are turning, what shall I concoct? The mozzarella screams baked pasta dish. A quick check of the pantry solidifies my decision: canned tomatoes, a jar of red pasta sauce, and a box of whole wheat spaghetti. Baked spaghetti it shall be! Wonder if I have any of those fully cooked meatballs I like to keep in the freezer? Sure do! Now, I know I've got olive oil, garlic, salt, and pepper so all is well, and I'm ready to throw this thing together.

I toss 15 meatballs in a sauce pot and add the jar of pasta sauce, can of diced tomatoes, and a handful of chopped garlic. The meatballs thaw in the sauce. I cover the pot and let its contents blend on medium-low heat. While the sauce is coming together, I boil some water, add salt, and the box of spaghetti. As the spaghetti is cooking, I pull the now defrosted meatballs from the sauce, quarter them, and return them to the sauce to simmer.

Normally I would clean up the edges of this pot prior to snapping the photo, but I'm in a hurry.

I drain the pasta, rinse it under cold water, and transfer it to a mixing bowl where I coat the pasta with olive oil, grated parmesan cheese, salt, and pepper before adding the sliced black olives, onion, and chopped red pepper. Humm, it's looking pretty good. I could probably add a little more oil with balsamic vinegar for pasta salad, but I won't this time because I'm committed to my baked spaghetti.

Coat a baking dish with a little olive oil , and transfer the pasta and veggies to the dish.

.

Cover with meat sauce, top with mozzarella cheese, cover with foil, and bake at 350 for 45 minutes.

The finished product...

Let cool then cut into 9 large to 12 regular servings.

Serving Tips:

What I like about this dish is, one, I know it's gonna be tasty because when is a cheesy, baked pasta dish not delicious? Two, I can freeze several servings and pull them out when I don't have time to cook during the week. Served with a salad and bread the meal is complete with little effort.

Again, normally I would trim to a more perfect  rectangle for the presentation, but I'm in a hurry to get outside today!

Ready for the freezer!

2012: Prepared to Succeed

Today is that magical day that begins the new year when I am already deeply entrenched in contemplating my hopes, dreams, and intentions for 2012.  What will I change?  What will I keep?  What will I toss?  What needs tweaking? What are my big, bold, audacious goals: personally, professionally, financially, physically, spiritually?  Am I on target with my 5-year plan?  This pensive thought takes place as I reduce clutter and organize various spaces -- a process that usually begins December 26th for me. I begin to clean out and organize drawers, closets, files, my car, cabinets, bookshelves -- all in what used to be a more conscious effort to get a jump on preparing to meet the opportunities that are bound to surface on a moments notice, quite possibly, at the very dawn of the new year. Like Henry Hartman, Zig Ziglar, and several others have stated, "success is when preparation meets opportunity." Then there's the 13th century proverb that one of my mentors lives by, (be prepared to) "strike when the iron is hot." These ideas certainly clarify my role in creating my own success. I am to simply be prepared to act decisively when my opportunity arises.

Now, I've been practicing this method for a few decades, and I'm here to attest to the validity of this notion that  the name of the success game is preparedness. Here's why. We control neither the nature of opportunity nor its' timing. Opportunity presents. We are either prepared to grab it or not. It typically does not linger long enough for us to become prepared after it presents. When it does, I call that crazy lucky! More often it's sort of like when a butterfly lands, and I not only have my camera, but the right lens is attached and settings are good enough to grab the shot before it flies away. That's happened once in my life.

"Prepared to Succeed" at Hawk's Cay on Duck Key, Florida

Getting this photo probably wasn't on my list of things to accomplish back in 2002 when I took it, and my annual projections usually do not include things of this sort, however; all of the elements required to achieve this photo apply to the more significant goals that I do set. To capture this butterfly, I had to "be" in the moment, acutely aware of my surroundings. "Being" is a huge factor in recognizing fleeting opportunity. Sometimes we wander through the day inattentive to the present. We overlook opportunity because we are not in the moment at hand. We are, all too many times, dwelling in the past --revisiting resentment, pain, or the joy of past successes. While back there we are missing the opportunity that settles within our reach in the present. To succeed I was prepared. I knew how to use my camera and showed up with it. I had to be in the present, but if I had stopped there I wouldn't have the photo. I had to take some action-- do something. Position the camera, focus, and shoot. And by this combination what I have is a photo, or success.