Posts from the ‘Bear’ category

Bear at Echo Lake

I took Bear to Echo Lake last Fall, but he was new at the off leash thing so he was leashed and did not get to explore like he would if he was untethered. Late yesterday afternoon, I was ready for a break and after a day of off and on rain, the sun had come out AND the temperature had warmed above 50F. I decided to see if both the road and the fishing access I like was accessible – it was! There were trucks and empty boat trailers … people on the lake fishing somewhere, but no one was around so I “loosed the hound” :) !!

Bear did VERY well. This is only the third time we’ve done off leash walking away from the property and our normal loop walk. He had a grand time exploring new territory and followed any direction I gave happily.

We walked around the inlet and out on to the peninsula. It appeared that they had done some major cleanup of the shoreline weeds. I don’t know where all the big downfall came from….was the water high and it floated in ??? – a mystery. But fun to climb over and smell if you are an exploring kind of dog.

A beautiful afternoon. Around the inlet, protected from the breeze, it was quiet and warm in the sun.

Fortunately, a lot of good mountain lake water was available for a refreshing drink after all that exploring.

We meandered, made a few Canada geese swim to the other side of the inlet, sniffed and looked and had a wonderful walk on a gorgeous afternoon.

Naptime

Saturday afternoon…sunshine and warm temperatures.

Grass, sun, warm ground…Bob

Grass, shade, cool dug out dirt…Bear

***Today, Sunday: it snowed all morning, then melted and the high was 43 compared to Saturday’s 57.

Easter Sunday

A beautiful sunrise started our Easter Sunday.

Bear kept me company in the kitchen…

And Easter breakfast was had before a small fire: Lemon Blueberry Cornmeal pancakes, egg in a hashbrown nest and sausage. Both breakfast and the woodstove warmed up a morning that started cool at 28F.

But before noon, it felt warm and eventually the thermometer hit 54F.

Bob partook of sunshine in the front yard…

And kept an eye on a small butterfly. (Butterflies are one of his favorite things :)! )

Wishing all a happy and Blessed Easter, from Bob, Bear and me.

A shared moment

I scattered Karl’s ashes in the woods just below where Bear and I are standing. Just ashes, not Karl but it was the right time for me to let them go. I needed them with me until a month or so ago and then I knew I was ready and just waiting for the day that seemed right. Today was the day.

Marmalade by the numbers

I finished the last of my cranberry citrus marmalade some months ago – just before Jennie Perillo posted on her blog: In Jennie’s Kitchen: Clementine Rosemary Marmalade. Perfect timing. And that post referenced a previous post of hers: Meyer Lemon, ginger & mint marmalade… oh, YUM!

Jennie notes in the Clementine recipe that she used the same ratios as is in the Meyer Lemon recipe. I love understanding the ratios…be it baking or marmalade or any recipe…it is the ratios: how much of this with how much of that makes things come out right. huh…interesting life metaphor as well. But back to marmalade. I intended to make Jennie’s Clementine Rosemary marmalade the weekend following her post. But, life and motivation… Fast forward to several weeks ago when clementines became unavailable here. RATS!

Blood oranges and meyer lemons were done as well. BUT, I did manage to snag an order of blood oranges and pixie mandarins from a grower in the San Joaquin valley of California. A week and a half ago, 30 pounds of blood oranges and 20 pounds of pixie mandarins arrived on my doorstep.

Marmalade does not take a lot of fruit. And Jennie’s recipe is a perfect quantify that results in 2 pints, i.e. 4 half pints…enough to keep me going for awhile. And the other thing about that smaller recipe – although I procured a large canning pot and rack, it is so big and my stove burners are not big and it is a bit of a pain to deal with. The smaller recipe was perfect and allowed me to experiment with my citrus mix: 2 blood oranges, 3 pixie mandarins and 2 lemons.

This fruit is not organic so I let it swim in a bath of vinegar and water for a bit and then gave it a good scrub before slicing it.

So pretty!

The other thing I learned as I perused recipes is that the pith and seeds of citrus contains pectin. So…you do not need to add pectin when you make marmalade…pectin and sugar being the things that cause the fruit to “jell”.

A lot of recipes have you peeling the citrus, removing the pith and seeds, bunding the pith and seeds in cheesecloth and including that bundle in the cooking of the fruit and sugar, thus providing the pectin without the pith and seeds getting into the marmalade. A lot of work and for my money, not necessary. The pith and seeds cook down and they provide the bit of “bitter” that IS marmalade. I followed Jennie’s recipe of lopping off the ends of the fruit, halving (mandarin and lemon) or quartering (blood oranges) and slicing very thin.

The fruit/water/sugar mix is on the rolling boil, another pot holds the jars and a third has the lids.

And per the numbers in Jennie’s recipe, 4 half pint jars of gorgeous marmalade are the result. So easy, so much less mess than a huge batch. I will make another couple of small batches experienting with rosemary, ginger and basil.

Marmalade by the numbers!

For those not interested in marmalade… Mr. Bear – enjoying a lazy sunday afternoon…too bad he does not have a comfy place to nap…

Friday afternoon

We continue with days of alternating rain/sleet/snow squalls and sometimes a bit of sun. This afternoon and this evening have been beautiful. The snow and ice in the yard and woods are mostly gone making walking comfortable again.

The week flew by – hard to believe it is the weekend again. I have pounds of blood oranges and pixie mandarins – some that hopefully will become marmalade this weekend. The biscotti jar is empty and needs to be refilled. And a corned beef brisket may find its way into the oven.

There will time outside with Bob and Bear – hopefully some more sunshine, but for now, we are enjoying Friday afternoon.