Under the Steps

When I was young, probably fifth or sixth grade, I decided I wanted to wear eye shadow. My mom was old enough to be my grandma and didn't talk much about makeup, besides saying she had to 'put her face on' before leaving the house. So I put on my tween-age thinking cap and found my first eye shadow in the form of an aqua highlighter. I thought it looked pretty cool on my eyelids. Once my dad noticed,  he did not. He was furious and yelled (and yelled) at me. I was crushed. I didn't take time to find out if it was makeup in general or the fact that I had used highlighter on my eyelids. I retreated to my own private hiding place to cry. I remember, like it was yesterday, crouching among the boxes in the dark under the steps. Since then I have withdrawn there often.

That urge to flee, to hide has been a life long battle. How about you? If so, you're not alone. This is my nature in most difficult or uncomfortable situations. Though it is my nature, I know, with all my heart, I can call on a higher power and I can be at peace! When I want to flee to my hiding place rather than face circumstances head on I thank God for I know...

Philippians 4:13 by SoulSisterPalletShop on etsy

and...

Nehemiah 8:10 by Prims 'n Posies on etsy 

As I look back I can tell you for certain, in all the most difficult times of my life, God has been my strength! 

God blessed my husband and I with a child who started her formal education in Special Education pre-school. In time she was diagnosed with Asperger Syndrome. She is now a college graduate and job hunting. I'm challenged every day, by this Asperger's, to keep from hiding under the stairs. Thank God, hiding is not in my sweet daughter's nature. She has been a blessing to me and I ask my Abba Father every day to cover her with His grace and build her up to be her best for Him.

We all face turmoil on life's journey. We chose how we react. I firmly believe Romans 8:28...

Romans 8:28 by Simply Zofia on etsy

Last weekend the three of us went kayaking on Lake Washington in Seattle. This was our first big adventure in urban kayaking. We paddled under highways, by lily pads, houseboats and, out of my comfort zone. We rowed through the Montlake Cut along with motor boats and sail boats of all shapes and sizes. The waves tossed and turned us and splashed into our boats, but we never capsized. Our boats were built for stability. 

Highway 520's bridge to nowhere

This is my hope for you and me. To journey through this life never in fear of the waves. Instead, knowing God's strength will always provide in every circumstance.

Lake Washington Arboretum trail

And we will always be brought safely to shore to rest in Him!

Linda <><

Hatch Casserole

Vintage Cookout Invitation from NeatoKeen on etsy

It's that time of year! Neighborhood cookouts and for a few short weeks fresh Hatch chile peppers are available. When I pointed this out to my better half his creative juices began to flow and the recipe that follows is the result. 

Hatch Chile Peppers

Ingredients:

8 - 10 Hatch Peppers

8 - 10 Jalapeno Peppers

4 Crisp Corn Tostada Shells

4 Corn Tortillas

1 Pound Chorizo, Ground Beef or Ground Turkey

1 Medium Container of Crumbled Feta Cheese

2 Cups of cooked Quinoa

1 Large Can Enchilada Sauce

1 Large Container Pico De Gallo Salsa

1 Large Can Refried Beans

1 Pkg Shredded Mexican or Pepper Jack Cheese

sour cream or Greek yogurt

Grill Roast Peppers, let cool and peel the skins, half lengthwise and clean out seeds. You may want to wear kitchen gloves while handling the peppers.

Brown the Chorizo, Ground Beef or Ground Turkey,  season to taste with cumin and/or taco seasoning if using just Ground Beef or Turkey. Cool and mix with Feta Cheese and Quinoa.

Spread Layer of Refried Beans on 4 Crisp Corn Tostada Shells

Place each shell in bottom of 9 inch baking pan forming 1st layer(Bean side down).

Place Layer of Roasted Hatch Peppers on top of Shells

Layer Half of Chorizo, Beef or Turkey mixture

Layer Half of Enchilada Sauce

Layer Half of Pico De Gallo Salsa

Spread all evenly in the pan.

Spread Layer of Refried Beans on 4 Corn Tortillas,  

Place Tortillas on top of last Pico De Gallo Salsa layer.(Bean side down)

Repeat with layer of mixed Hatch Peppers and Jalapeno Peppers

Repeat layer of Chorizo, Beef or Turkey Mixture

Repeat layer of Enchilada Sauce

Repeat layer of Pico De Gallo Salsa

Spread all evenly in the pan

Bake in oven for 30 Minutes at 350 degrees. Sprinkle the shredded cheese on top and bake for another 10 minutes. Let set and cool for 5 minutes and serve with a dollop of Sour Cream or Greek yogurt. 

Warms up great in the microwave

It was delectable and everyone at the cookout loved it! Other great seasonal dishes at the cookout included fried green tomatoes, blackberry cobbler and blackberry mojitos. All of the goodies, grilled chicken, a candlelit game of LRC and great company made for an unforgettable evening!

Oh, and, I gotta let the hubby in the kitchen more often!

Kiss the Cook Wall Decal by Stephen Edward Graphics on etsy

Linda <><

What To Do

How many times in you life have you been left wondering what to do? When you're looking for concrete answers and they don't seem to come He provides. 

Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls. -- Jeremiah 6:16

This beloved verse came up in my reading the other day. I've been doing a read through of the Bible this year. I admit some days are more difficult than others; all those begats and atrocities. But most days either a single verse or a story speak to me. I am grateful for the time to attempt this.

Another cherished verse came to me from a friend in Bible study. I am forever grateful to her for this answer and I pray it will always come to mind when I don't know what to do.

Trust in the Lord by Graber's Graphic Designs on Etsy

It's so comforting to know that the burden of answering that age old question is not mine to carry. I hope and pray that you, too, find the answers today.

I love the sofa in the picture. It reminds me of the one we just ordered. We sold our old sofa at a garage sale early this month and then spent the better part of the month furniture shopping. We calculated we've now bought five sofas in our 34 years of marriage. I was thankful when number five was ordered Friday so we could get on with some summer fun.

I'll leave you with some reminders of our Sunday hike at Suntop Peak.

Linda <><

A Burger Stack

I come from a family that loves to cook. We debate whether it's an art or a science. Most of the time I like to use a recipe, at least for the first run through. Then I'll experiment and tweak. In general I like to see the tried and true proportions for any given recipe. How about you? 

This week I looked around the kitchen and came up with a burger meal with ingredients I had in my garden and kitchen. I eat very little bread, so I wanted a bun-less burger interesting enough that I won't miss the grain. This combination did it!

First, on a cool July morning I roasted eggplant to make Baba Ghanoush. I also roasted an orange bell pepper I had on hand.

Then, I roasted slices of cabbage from my garden. I grill roasted them by wrapping them in foil.

I grilled the burgers. I love the ground bison from Costco. That's when I caramelized some Walla Walla onions also. 

Then I stacked from bottom to top as follows: roasted cabbage, burger, Baba-Ghanoush, onions, grainy mustard and roasted pepper. I had a Capprese salad on the side. Didn't miss the bread, it was yummy! 

Do you like to follow recipes or create or a little of both? I admit, sometimes when I decide to 'create' it bombs. This time it was mouth watering!

Have a great week and remember

Linda <><

Some Ews and Aws

It has been a hectic week, thus my plan to share my personal potato salad instructions has been dashed until another week. However, here is a variety of randomness that has touched me, one way or another this week. 

James 1:22 by DesignByAnyOtherName on etsy

First, we were fortunate to savor the incredible wonder of God's creation more than once with the supermoon making it's appearance. Friday night we were coming home from a movie and the sun was setting as the moon was rising and the sky was painted with wispy clouds colored by the wild fires in B.C. and eastern Washington. Saturday night we took a walk specifically to see the moon rise and enjoyed it with fellow neighbors. Did you get to see it?

Supermoon playing peekaboo with Mount Rainier

This sweet vining black eyed Susan slipped through my fence from next door. What a lovely gift!

Thank you next door neighbors

Also in my garden I ate my first cherry tomato. It was tasty. The extra hot weather we are experiencing along with the Tagro has my tomatoes looking better than ever. Now, if I only could convince the birds that their birdseed and, really, anything else, would taste better than my ripe tomatoes I would have a bumper crop! Any suggestions? The fake owl, the real cat, net covering and shiny metal has not worked. Wish me luck!

I have more tomatoes, further along than I have ever had here

Last, and just for a smile, here's the latest from "Weird Al". I'm the first to admit, my grammar is not perfect. My brother is a grammar Nazi and my mother was an English and typing teacher. I remember her making me type my papers over and over again and again for school. Kids today don't know how good they have it!

In all the busyness of the week today's devotional was a great reminder for me. James 1:22 says, Don't just Listen to God's word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves.

Linda <><

A Three Tree Fourth

Reminiscing over half a century of July fourths I've come to realize I've been blessed with many sweet recollections. With the cousins, as a child, I recall riding in the back of the pickup truck to Courthouse and Jail Rock and Bridgeport's evening rodeo with fireworks to precede our own sparkler fun. Then there was the honeymoon 'fourth' in a sweet cabin on Puget Sound and later with friends watching our kids do their own parade in Georgia. Most recently we've succumbed to letting the now grown kids do their own thing, while we clean the garage and watch the neighborhood fireworks. What a treat it was to spend this Fourth of July at Three Tree Point with our dear friends, Suzanne and Ty and family!

Three Tree Point is a close knit beach community on Puget Sound. For around 30 years they have been celebrating Independence Day right. It starts with a bugle call at 8:30 AM, then breakfast is served from 9-11 AM. The afternoon is highlighted with a flag raising ceremony, a children's parade, a small carnival, a treasure hunt and a kayak parade. Before the fireworks show a band plays and there's dancing in the street! The fireworks display was big, but sitting on the beach watching a 180 degree plus light show around the sound was spectacular. We've already made plans to join them again next year!

Here's our day in photographs.

Our home for the fourth

First, unloading the kayaks

Morning view up the street

Time for breakfast

View from the water

More from the water

Kids' parade

Kayak/paddle board parade and Mount Rainier 

How do you keep the critters calm?

Food is an important part of the day

Time to party

Dancing in the street

Mount Rainier overseeing the festivities

The night ended with a boom

And a bang!

To think such celebrations were taking place from sea to shining sea warms my heart. I am blessed to live in a country where we're free to celebrate or protest if we choose. This day I witnessed joyous celebration!

Patriotic Decorative Pillows by RyensMarketplace on etsy

I brought the potato salad! I love making it. Most folks say they love eating it. Next week I'll tell the story behind it and how it's made! 

Summer officially begins in the Pacific Northwest on July 5th. Happy summer to all!

Linda <><

A Weekend Getaway

It was our anniversary. After much deliberation we decided to make a short trip somewhere we'd never been, outside the good old USA. Our adventure took us to Sooke, BC on Vancouver Island. We live close enough that we've made several trips to Victoria, but never ventured beyond. It turns out Vancouver Island is a big, wild, outdoorsy place. Victoria is lovely, very touristy and fun for it's British vibe. It's a great place for urban hiking. The ferry runs from Victoria, so we spent some of our time there as well. Here's our weekend in pictures!

DAY ONE

Catching the ferry at Port Angeles

A mostly gray ride over

Waiting for the best fish and chips ever at Red Fish Blue Fish
 with my friend Jonathon Livingston

An afternoon walk on Whiffin Spit

DAY TWO

At a scenic view on our drive up the coast to the beaches

We hiked to several beaches along the Juan De Fuca Marine Trail for a day's total of a hilly 11 miles. An over-sized soaking bath tub was perfect at the end.

View from the trail at Botanical Beach

On the trail

A view on Botanical Beach

Tide pool life

Tide pools abound on Botanical Beach

I caught some waves, with the camera

Crane at the beach

Trail to our second beach, Sombrio Beach

This beach is popular with surfers

China Beach was mostly just us and the seagulls 

Mystic Beach was the last stop on our trek

To get there and back I had to overcome my fear of suspension bridges
(and heights)

Yikes!

DAY THREE

This was our actual anniversary, 34 years! The day found us trail weary and limited by time. We had to get in line for the ferry in Victoria by 1:30 PM, so we got going (slowly) and spent a short day of urban hiking in Victoria. We ate brunch at an old favorite, in the garden room of Swans Brewpub. No photos, as we left the card in the tablet the night before and didn't realize it. 

We had a lovely ride back to the U.S. Then we began our search for someplace open to eat one last celebratory meal. Somehow we ended up in the quaint town of Sequim (pronounced "skwim") at Blondie's Plate.

Yummy local steamer clams

One of my all time favorites, Moscow Mule

The entire meal was truly delightful and was topped off with complimentary truffles for our special day! 

Honeymoon 1980

34 years ago if you had said I would be eating tapas in Sequim and photographing the food and Moscow mule on my phone before blogging and facebooking it for everyone to see I would have said you were mad!

Original Browning quote by Suzi Scribbles on etsy

On the other hand, if you had told me I'd be doing that or anything for that matter, with my best friend, the guy I married 34 years ago, that, my friend, I knew.

Linda <><