Thanksgiving Feast

Thanksgiving dinner at our house is not just a one meal event. And no, I’m not referring to the leftover turkey that never goes away. I try to cook so that there will be leftovers… and plenty of them! My husband and his brother always want whatever food I’m willing to part with to take with them when they return to the duck camp Thanksgiving afternoon. The past two years they’ve had to compete with my son who wants to take leftovers home to his apartment. Of course my younger daughter and I try to keep some of our favorite stuff here for ourselves. Fortunately for everyone concerned, there was plenty to go around this year.

In addition to the two yummy desserts my older daughter brought (a turtle cake and a sopapilla cheesecake), we had: seasoned oyster crackers, fancy cheese & crackers, a condiment tray, turkey (a 20 pound bird!), cornbread dressing, gravy, goose, wild rice, green beans, corn, marinated carrots, black-eyed pea salad, spinach casserole, sweet potato casserole, cranberry sauce, stuffed eggs, rolls, pumpkin pie and chocolate cherry cheesecake.

Yum, yum!!

The Chocolate Cherry Cheesecake was something new I tried. I got the recipe (which was contributed by Shelly Klingler of Bloomington, IL) from a recent issue of Simple & Delicious Magazine.

Chocolate Cherry Cheesecake

1 jar (12 ounces) maraschino cherries
2 packages (8 ounces each) cream cheese, softened
½ cup sugar
2 eggs
½ cup miniature semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 chocolate cookie crust (9 inches)

Drain maraschino cherries, reserving 2 teaspoons juice. Cut cherries into quarters; set aside in a small mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese, sugar and reserved cherry juice. Add eggs; beat just until combined. Fold in chocolate chips and reserved cherries.

Pour into a crust (crust will be full). Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes or until center is almost set. Cool on a wire rack.

Duck, Duck, Goose

The first time I went on a duck hunt was eight months into my courtship with the man I later married. For me it was an opportunity to be with the guy I was infatuated with. For him I believe it was an attempt to “cure me” of something he didn’t really think I was cut out for (though he denies that to this day). At the time he had a hunting membership at a dead-tree reservoir. I borrowed clothing, gun, shells and chest waders (about four sizes too large) then allowed myself to be plopped down next to a stump in about three feet of water. Lo and behold, I discovered the beautiful sight of ducks flying against a gorgeous sunrise, hearing them answer to a call and watching them cup their wings against the wind while coming in for a landing. I loved it!

During the first year of our marriage we invested in a rice farm in the Arkansas Delta with some friends and family. This provided us with ample opportunities for field hunting ducks, geese and dove. When our first wedding anniversary rolled around, my husband gave me what I still consider to be one of the best gifts I ever received: my own shotgun! I’ve acquired a number of firearms over the years, but that’s still the gun I prefer to use when hunting, whether it be duck, dove or deer.

That following year I hunted as many days of the season as my schedule allowed. Once our kids arrived, however, my time and priorities changed. It was just too hard to get away. The sleep deprivation of raising small children left little desire to voluntarily crawl out of a warm bed long before the crack of dawn. Duck hunting would have to be put on hold until the proverbial “empty nest” arrived.

The youngest chick flew the nest last year, but for one reason or another I still didn’t feel ready to step back into duck hunting. Those who read this blog on a regular basis know that my BOW weekend this past September changed that. Hearing the instructor talk about all the sights and sounds of an exciting hunt got me fired up to experience it again for myself. That was reinforced when my husband called from the farm this week and told me there were more ducks there than he’d seen in a long time.

The 2008-2009 duck season opened in Arkansas this weekend and I was a part of it. I had forgotten just how much fun it is!! My husband was right… I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many ducks in my entire life! Literally thousands and thousands of them!! Mallards, teal, pintails, black ducks, widgeons, gadwalls, and equal numbers of speckle-belly and snow geese. The weather conditions were totally different the two mornings we hunted. On Saturday it was 23 degrees with a cloudless sky. My husband said it was the first time he could remember having to break ice on opening day. Today was twenty degrees warmer and totally overcast. Although we limited out early both days, the ducks were working better today.

The beauty is not just in the ducks and geese. We saw dove and red-winged blackbirds, red-tailed hawks and at least five bald eagles (always a spectacular sight!). Yesterday morning while sitting in the blind waiting for legal shooting time we could hear thousands of geese in a nearby field. Huge flights of teal zipped around us, turning on a dime and masses of mallards talked to us as they checked out our decoy spread. Even then, before the first shot was fired, I knew the weekend had been worth the price of admission.

I hope it was just the first of many more hunts.

Squirrel-proof bird feeders

My husband saw these bird feeders in a catalog. They are supposed to be "squirrel-proof", so we thought we'd give them a try.

So far the squirrels don't seem to like them. Only problem is.... neither do the birds! I've seen a few birds feeding, but not nearly the numbers I've had in the past. I think these feeders are harder to get seed from than the traditional "tray" types. I won't give up hope until it gets colder and their food sources become scarce. Hopefully then they'll take advantage of the ready supply outside my window.

Is it gouging?

Each week our local paper publishes a list of current gasoline prices taken from various locations around the state. Each week our area is one of the highest, if not the highest. And each week I ask myself “Why???” We even have an oil refinery here, for crying out loud! Ours should be lower!

Evidently I’m not the only person who has wondered about this. Our Sunday paper addressed the issue today. Turns out there aren’t any simple answers.

Gasoline distributors purchase fuel at a set price, which is called the “rack price”, from refiners and then sell it to the station owners who market it to folks like you and me. State and local taxes are added to the rack price. The difference between this and what we pay at the pump is the profit which is split between the station owners and the distributors. How are these prices set and profits divided? The actual formula is unknown since they are set as private contracts between the distributors and gas stations.

Despite having a local refinery, much gasoline in South Arkansas is shipped in from Louisiana. This adds an additional factor of trucking costs (even for gasoline from the local refinery). According to the article, NW Arkansas receives much of its fuel from West Texas via pipeline. Gasoline from that area might be set at a lower cost which would account for lower prices in that part of Arkansas. Brand name gasoline prices can factor into the local pump price as well.

Ann Hines, executive director of the Arkansas Petroleum Retailers Association was quoted as saying that the industry is “anything but easy to understand” because there are so many different variables that factor into the pump price. She then likened it to going to Wal-Mart and looking at milk prices. Different brands have different prices. Go to your mom and pop store and the prices will be even higher. The same is true for gasoline.

Am I satisfied with the runaround…oops, answers given to my questions on area gas prices? Not really. But at least I know I haven’t been alone in wondering.

The holidays are upon us!

Yesterday we held the annual Holiday Bazaar at our church and once again, it was a great success!

Things were looking “iffy” earlier in the year as to the future of the event. Participation was flagging and we weren’t sure we’d have enough items to offer a decent bazaar. We discussed the idea of skipping a year and making it a biennial event instead, but agreed that would cause too much confusion. As summer progressed to fall, we gained some new members and activity in the craft room picked up. Everything fell into place and we ended up with a nice variety of crafts and holiday decorations, baked and preserved goods, and the usual spread of “Trash & Treasure”. We had a steady flow of customers from 7:00 a.m. until we closed at 11:00 and sold close to 100 breakfasts.

Once the dust settles and we make our final accounting, it looks like we’ll clear close to $3500 this year! That’s not as much as we made last year, but we didn’t have a $1000 dollhouse to auction off this time. So…. I’d say this year’s effort wasn’t too shabby!

Me Me Meme

This is almost as bad as a chain letter, but I'll do it anyway. (Gee....thanks Pam)

Here are the rules.

• 
  Link to the person who tagged you, and post the rules on your blog.
• 
  Share 7 random and/or weird facts about yourself.
• 
  Tag 7 random people at the end of your post, and include links to their blogs.
• 
  Let people know they've been tagged by leaving comments on their blogs.

1. I got my single engine private pilot's license when I first got married. I decided if he wanted to learn to fly then, by golly, I was going to be able to do it too in case he had a heart attack or something!
2. I'm the only vegetarian hunter that I know of. Obviously I'm not a vegetarian for ethical reasons!
3. I could swim before I could walk.
4. A friend and I had a show on my Dad's radio station when we were kids. One of us was the "lady of the wake" and the other was the "silly maid of laugh-alot".
5. When I was younger I could put my entire fist into my mouth. Funny, though... I had to have teeth pulled as a kid because my mouth wasn't big enough! Small hands, I guess.
6. I was once the Duchess of Arkansas.
7. I play handbells and have performed all over the country including the Senate rotunda in DC.

Algernon

Quid

Bob

Shelby

Claire

Donna

Raven

Hit me with some Jazz

Considering my dad owned and managed a radio station which fell under the "Middle of the Road" label, my childhood was filled with "Easy Listening" music. My first introduction to what I would consider Jazz was Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass. Perhaps I was initially just fascinated by the lady dressed only in whipped cream on the cover of "Whipped Cream and Other Delights", but I grew to have a true appreciation for Alpert and his trumpet.

Teenage years came along and wooed me over to Rock & Roll, especially the “Progressive” or “Art” Rock groups such as Yes, Genesis, Pink Floyd, ELP, etc. Jazz was pretty much forgotten until my 20s and 30s. None of my friends or relatives liked Jazz, but somehow, I learned of a few select Jazz artists and began a small CD collection which included performers like David Sanborn, Candy Dulfer, Lee Ritenour, Larry Carlton, Joe Sample and Miles Davis to name a few.

The advent of XM Radio broadened my horizons and opened me up to many new artists...or at least new to me. While looking up specific songs I’ve heard on the radio I often spend time browsing, and occasionally downloading, other songs at iTunes. For that matter, I’ve even found a few by reading other blog posts!

My library has grown to include a wide variety: Acoustic Alchemy, Steve Laury, Stanley Jordan, Victor Wooten, Gato Barbiere, Down to the Bone, Bill Bruford and more. With a few exceptions (most notably George Benson) I prefer instrumental Jazz to that with vocals.

Here’s a clip of a song I heard earlier in the week on XM. The title is "Summer Madness" and can be found on Jerald Daemyon’s 1995 "Thinking About You album". Enjoy!

Beware of Goats No More

It's the end of an era.

Well, perhaps not an era, but the end of a "season" at our house.

We purchased our first three goats (Tom, Ma and Jolly) in 2004. We were clearing some of our land for pasture and wanted the goats to help clear the brush. They did a wonderful job and it wasn't long before we added five more, then three, then another five or six. Goats have a gestation period of about five months, so we frequently had babies. They reach sexual maturity well before they're a year old, so you can imagine... our goat herd grew by leaps and bounds. This was not without its pitfalls, though. Those who followed my 360 blog saw frequent entries about the ups and downs of raising goats. Coyotes and dog packs are an ongoing problem and we lost far too many kids and young goats to attacks. We also learned about mastitis, mineral deficiencies and many other things that can go wrong.

The coyotes have been especially bad in the past month. Since selling John and five of his buddies (along with Debbie the donkey) and losing Tom in September, we were down to just a few goats. Ma was killed in October and I think that was sort of the last straw. We sold our remaining four goats (Phyllis, Pammy, Samson and Muley-head) and they left with their new owner last night.