Holiday Recipes

We are in the mountains this week with Cory, Christi, Will, Grant, Brock, Crissy, John, Jack, Holly Grace, Mitchell, and Charlotte - YES - thirteen of us!  We are loving every minute of having our entire family together for a few days.  There is lots of activity in the kitchen and I thought it appropriate to share some of my favorite Thanksgiving recipes.

Cranberry Salsa recipe

1 pkg. of cranberries
1 bunch of green onions
2 jalapenos
1 cup cilantro
Chop above in blender or Quisinart
Add:
3/4 cup sugar
juice of 1 lime
1 T. olive oil
Serve with Frito Scoops

Walnut Honey Butter
½ c. butter or margarine
½ c. honey
¼ c. chopped walnuts
Cream butter and honey. Add walnuts.
Makes 1 cup.

Pumpkin Butter
1 C Pumpkin
1 C Plain or Vanilla Yogurt
1 t Pumpkin Pie Spice
1 C Powdered Sugar
Stir well and refrigerate up to 5 or 6 days

Snow Stoppers?

Not show stoppers, but snow stoppers!  Yes, they are 2"X2" pieces of angled metal attached to the roof to slow down the melting and sliding of snow off the roof.  Mickey made and attached them this weekend.  We are hoping that they will be very effective in protecting the gutters and not allowing the huge piles of snow to grow all winter along the front and back of the cabin.  
We spent a wonderful weekend there getting ready for our very special guests - family coming for Thanksgiving week!  Surely we will have some "show Stoppers" then.  I will let you know about them.    
     

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I can't believe that I forgot my camera!

We arrived on Thursday afternoon expecting the color to be just about gone - were we ever surprised to find that while the oaks are definitely past their peak, the aspens are gorgeous!  There are some right outside our doors to greet us when we walk out, but the aspens across the valley are vibrant puddles of yellow mixed in with the evergreen sea of trees!  We have had no wind since our arrival so the leaves are staying on pretty well.  I apologize for no pictures of the beautiful trees, but I forgot my camera!

Unfortunately, I have no audio way of transferring the bugle of the elk to you, either. It is an incredible sound.  You need to be here to see and hear everything!
 
We also had no internet service upon arrival!  Thinking that I was doing something wrong when I rebooted the router and the modem, I called on Mickey to do it correctly.  No go.  Last resort, I called for support.  The repair was swift and painless and the repairman was a talker.  He showed me pictures on his computer of mountain lions he has hunted in this area.  He is a guide when he is not repairing modems.  

Anyway, back to this post.  We came this weekend to be completers: 

• The deck stain job is complete. 
• The new telephones are installed. 
• The gutter drainage is complete. 
• The gutter straps are on. 
• The new TV is in our bedroom. 
• The hot tub is repaired, filled and hot.  

I think that our work here is done... until spring.  So, the new projects for Spring?  Rock the posts under the front deck.  Cover the deck ceilings with wood.  Finish the outdoor cooking area.  Then, maybe we will be ready to start on the flooring.  Whewww - it truly never ends!        

Autumn in the mountains!

This is the most beautiful time in the mountains!  The colors are vivid as we start preparing for winter!

• Raspberries are picked and a few are frozem
• Green Chilis are purchased, processed and in the freezer
• Flannel sheets are on the beds
• Firewood is split, stacked and a fire is laid

Plan your trip now to the mountains to see us!

Couples' Picnic in the National Forest

We love the National Forest in the fall!

The colors are ourstanding!

The drive up is really pretty.

And the sky is so blue!

It was a little chilly when the wind blew!

But exceptionally nice when it was calm!