Steve’s post on our fall canoe trips. He scanned in our map! i (heart) my husband.

xo,

wm

I don’t even need to take photographs — Steve and the kids do it for me. Happy… Tuesday!

(Photo by Steve Rawley)

We’ve had some big changes around here. For example, the house is way messier than it used to be, and I don’t care. The kids are older and do their own thing and I am kind of blown away by this. I knew they were getting older, it’s just… 10 & 13 is a lot different than 7 & 10. Just sayin’.

I’m worried about the east coast, following Hurricane Sandy. I hope everyone recovers OK, and prayers and blessings for those who were lost, and their families.

Sick of the election brouhahas. Sniping and fighting and… just sick of it. I want everyone working and not talking.

“A little less conversation, a little more action, please.” — Elvis

Also, the NHL is in lockout, players vs. owners (I gotta go with the players on this one), therefore we can’t watch any hockey. Sure, we could drive all the way across town and spend a lot of $$$ on gas, parking, tickets, beers and pretzels (soda for me) and watch the Portland Winter Hawks play, but we’re lazy.

Also (the secrets, they just keep pouring out), I’ve always liked basketball more than hockey.

True that.

And two of my former students are now playing for the NBA. This rocks, especially for them. (ha.) (seriously, though, we are all so flippin’ proud of them. way to go, way to go Terrence and Terrence.)

Yeah, I think you’ve guessed where I’m going with this — Steve has watched a couple of basketball games with me. Will wonders never cease? Honestly, I am pretty psyched about it. It’s so much funner to watch than hockey. More skin and less blood, too. Little puck vs. big orange basketball, there you have it. The kids even watched the Blazer/Houston game with us tonight. (The Blazers are looking good this season and no, I don’t say that every year. Also got my eye on Houston, Toronto and L.A. — Clippers-not-Lakers.)

My dad is up in heaven right now, smiling at us. Watching basketball with my cousins and grandfathers. Smiling some more.

Hoops!!!

(Photo by Steve Rawley)

(Anything in ital is notes from me. And yes, it was all Trisha Yearwood, all the time, this weekend. I came across an old issue of Redbook mag, and every recipe in it sounded good. wm)

Stuffed Peppers (from Trisha Yearwood’s uncle)

6 large red or green bell peppers (I used half red, half yellow)

2½ cups long-grain white rice (or rice of your choice) (I used brown rice that I cooked with vegetable broth and some butter)

2 lbs lean ground beef (left this out, of course. sometimes I sub crumbled up garden burgers or meatballs, though.)

½ medium-size sweet onion, diced

2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

1 14.5-oz can diced tomatoes, with their juices

1 10-oz can Rotel diced tomatoes and green chiles

16 oz sharp cheddar cheese, grated (about 4 cups) (I subbed Parmesan cuz I was too lazy to grate cheese, and for some reason we have several containers of open Parm in the fridge)

½ tsp pepper

1 tsp salt

1. Preheat the oven to 400°F.

2. Cut the bell peppers in half, top to bottom. Remove the seeds and the ribs. Set aside. In a medium saucepan, cook the rice according to package directions. In a medium skillet, brown the ground beef, onion, and garlic. Drain the meat. In a medium saucepan, bring the tomatoes to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from the heat. In a large bowl, combine the ground beef, rice, tomatoes, pepper, and salt and mix until blended.

3. In a 9×13×2-inch pan, place the bell peppers skin side down. Evenly divide the beef mixture among the pepper halves. Cover the pan with aluminum foil and bake for 40 minutes. Remove the foil and sprinkle the cheese on the top. Return the pan to the oven, uncovered, for about 5 minutes, until the cheese melts.

Note from Gwen: Before using, wilt the pepper halves in boiling water for about 5 minutes. This will reduce the cooking time from 40 minutes to 15. Serves 6.

Crunchy Slaw (from Trisha Yearwood’s sister)

1 head green cabbage, finely chopped

8 green onions, finely chopped

½ cup sliced almonds

½ cup sesame seeds

¼ cup (½ stick) butter

2 3-oz packages ramen noodles, flavor packets discarded

Dressing

2 Tbsp sugar

½ cup vegetable oil

3 Tbsp red wine vinegar

1 tsp salt

½ tsp pepper

1. Mix the cabbage and green onions in a large bowl. In a small saucepan over medium heat, brown the almonds and sesame seeds in the butter.

2. Combine the dressing ingredients in a small bowl and stir well. Just before serving, add the sesame seeds, almonds, and crushed raw ramen noodles to the cabbage and green onions. Pour the dressing, a little at a time, over the salad mix, then toss. Serves 10 to 12.

(For this one, I couldn’t find the almond bark, so I had to sub white chocolate buttons. It turned out great. In fact, it turned out so well, we had enough to share with the neighbors, and the rest we gobbled up. Steve calls this a “will u plz never make this again” recipe.)

Crockpot Candy (from Trisha Yearwood’s auntie)

2 lbs (36 oz) salted dry-roasted peanuts

4 oz (4 squares) German’s sweet chocolate

1 12-oz package semisweet chocolate chips (about 2 cups)

2½ lbs white almond bark

1. Put the peanuts in the bottom of a 4-quart slow-cooker. Layer the chocolate over the peanuts, beginning with the sweet chocolate, followed by the chocolate chips, and then the almond bark. Set the temperature on low and cook for 3 hours. Do not stir the mixture.

2. After 3 hours, stir the mixture with a wooden spoon until smooth. Drop the candy into cupcake pan liners, using about 2 tablespoons per liner. Allow the candy to cool completely before removing the cupcake liners. Makes 30 to 40 pieces.

(Photo by Steve Rawley)

(Recipes!)

Man, what a good weekend. We saw Bag & Baggage’s production of “Of Mice and Men” in Hillsboro on Saturday. Went canoing on the Tualatin River Saturday and Sunday afternoons. Heard Greg Brown and Bo Ramsey play at the Aladdin Theater in Portland on Friday. Every time I go hear some live music I ask myself, Why do we never go hear live music anymore? Then I balance the checkbook and it’s zeroed out again and I think, Oh yeah. That.

We caught a Bag & Baggage show last season… Dangerous Liaisons… so good. And I’m not just saying that cuz our friend was in it. We can’t afford season tickets to the Blazers (or the Winter Hawks), the opera (or the symphony), but occasionally we can pull off buying a ticket or four. Usually it’s one or two. But the season tickets were really reasonable for Bag & Baggage, so we went for it. Saw this crazy version of Titus Andronicus that they did this summer… Kabuki Titus. One of the most inspired and craziest shows I’ve ever seen.

It kind of freaked me out.

That’s not a bad thing.

The upcoming season is going to be good, so I’m looking forward to it. There’s a new exhibit up of Greek and Roman art, at the Portland Art Museum. It’s on loan from the British museum and is supposed to be quite good. The kids get in for free, so I’m psyched to go to that one, too. I love taking them to stuff that I never really took part in as a kid (other than the occasional school field trip).

What’s new in your world, artwise or otherwise?

Have a great week!

xo

wm

We went to hear Bo Ramsey and Greg Brown at the Aladdin last night. The guys were great; the audience was not. Steve: “Portland audiences may be obnoxious, but at least they’re enthusiastic.” How diplomatic of him. Here’s a song for you, and it kinda sums it all up for me:

http://youtu.be/yDyKa4EcsLg

“Where’s your wife?” one heckler yelled. Greg Brown’s wife being the beautiful and talented singer, Iris DeMent. “She’s at home cooking!” Brown yelled back.

http://youtu.be/fpQNLZRcNA4

“Get her out here to sing with you!” the same guy yells.

“She won’t sing with me. She’ll only sing with… John Prine.”

It’s true. Or maybe if you’re Josh Turner, she’ll sing with you.

http://youtu.be/elKre8qBLpc

Can’t blame her there.

Also, i’m in love with Pieta Brown, Greg’s daughter:

Now, since this is basically a love letter to Iowa and all the good musicians I’d never heard of ’til I married Steve:

And I don’t want to overlook Bo, so here he is, too.

Love you all, thanks for the music.

— nancy

(Photo by Steve Rawley)

(It’s a watermelon, not a gourd, but whatever.)

This one’s for Steve Rawley.

Best spam I’ve ever received:

“You Sir/Madam are the enemy of conufison everywhere!”

You know who’s confused? This tomato:

(Photo by Steve Rawley)

(Photo by Steve Rawley)

One of the beauties from our garden.

Spaghetti Pie

Ingredients:
leftover cooked spaghetti
butter
flour
milk
cheese
marinara (recipe)
more cheese
parmesan

The recipes I found online all call for eggs, meat and cottage cheese, and we didn’t have any of that in the house. Also we don’t eat meat, fish or chicken, so we never have that in the house, anyway. The recipes sound good, like some kind of spaghetti lasagna?, but weren’t really what I had in mind.

I took a deep casserole dish and put the noodles in it. First, I turned the oven on 350, cuz it takes forever to preheat. Next, I made a white sauce with butter, flour and milk, and added grated mozzarella. I stirred that into the noodles, then ladled on a layer of the marinara Steve made over the weekend. (So many fantastic tomatoes this year. The plants are loaded and everything is ripening nicely.) Next, I sprinkled more grated cheese and some parmesan on top. Baked it for a long time (45 minutes, I think) until the cheese was oozy and bubbly on top.

We let it set for 15 minutes and then ate it up. Bon appetit, babies!

And… here’s Steve’s recipe for Pico de Gallo. I (heart) tomato season.

(Photo by Steve Rawley)

For dinner: Cheese fondue, and Huevos Mexicanos with fresh pico de gallo made from tomatoes and peppers from the garden.

Beautiful weekend, happy family, bliss.

Have a great week, y’all, and L’Shana Tova.

— wm