I am planning a trip for my 40th birthday (in 2011). Who wants to come with me. Before you decide let me give you be start of the details. I am hiking the Grand Canyon from the North Rim to the South Rim. Doesn't that sound like fun. I am starting the planning and I need to know who may want to go so I can get some prices together and then make the reservations. Final commitments would need to be by August 2010 so I can get the reservations. I am planning to hike to the bottom on day 1. Stay at Phantom Ranch that night. Hike around and relax a little for day 2. Stay a 2nd night at Phantom Ranch. Then hike out on day 3. I am getting so excited. Training starts this weekend. More will be posted as I get the training plan and the costs. Some of that depends on how many people want to join the fun. Tentative date is September 2011.
SO who is with me...
19 March 2010
14 March 2010
DESMA
DESMALet me introduce you to DESMA. This stands for Delicious Eatable Smoked Meat Apparatus. Some of the things we have done with DESMA include pulled pork, fish, chicken, sausage, pork ribs, turkey breast and rib roast. All have been amazing. My favorite has been the pulled pork, it was so tender and juicy. This is followed by the rib roast. There is nothing like a smoked rib roast.
There have been several people that have requested information about how we built our own smoker. The story starts with a trip to Barbecues Galore. There we found that a ceramic smoker is around $700 (way out of our budget). We looked all over but could never find anything any significantly less. We were then watching FoodNetwork and saw one of the chefs build his own and though we can do that. If you want to see where we got our inspiration it is on the show "Good Eats" in the episode call "Q". The whole thing was built for about $70.
Then the quest to find the parts. Here is what you need to build your own: 1 electric hot plate, 1 metal pie pan (that will never bake a pie again), 1 round grill grate, 2 unglazed ceramic pots, 3 bricks, and 1 replacement grill thermometer.
Now the fun part putting it together.
When we shopped for ours we found it was best to start with the grate and the hot plate. These will determine the size of the pots you need.
When you have all your items here is the construction. Place the hot plate in the bottom of the larger pot with the cord coming out the drain hole. Then the pie tin on that. The pie tin should be a heavy metal if you want it to last more then one use. Then the grate place in the bottom pot. The grate needs to be the right size to sit about 8 - 10 inches above the pie tin. Then you will turn the 2nd pot upside down and seat in in the first to form the lid. The thermometer is then place in the drain hole of the top pot. This is the basic construction that you will find on the FoodNetwork and many other sites, but if you see the photo above you know that we have made changes after experimenting.
Here are the hints and tips that we have learned:
* Drill an extra hole in the top for the thermometer and leave the drain hole for air circulation. This will also give you a place for a kitchen thermometer to be inserted into the meat.
* Drill 3 or 4 holes in the bottom for air circulation.
* Wrap the pots in pipe insulation sealed with flashing tape to help it maintain a steady temperature.
* If you wrap it the apparatus then use some pipe nipples or something similar to keep the holes open and the insulation sealed.
DESMA has made some wonderful meals for us and brought a lot of fun into the cooking. I hope that if you build one it will bring you fun and delicious smoked meats.
This is the turkey breast. Doesn't it look yummy. This photo was taken about 1 hour before it was done. The carcass made the best turkey soup later.
Now that you have built one you just need to get some meat and some wood chips/chunks.
If you want more tips just let me know.
Have fun!!
16 December 2009
Back from all the fun.
Well now we are back from our travels. It was wonderful to spend Thanksgiving with family. I loved seeing my nieces, nephews, and grand-nephews. I was so glad to see that my sisters and there families were doing well. Sometimes it is so hard to be far away and not see the kids grow up. My younger sister is well and her 2 children are beautiful. They are fun to be around and happy kids. My youngest sister and her family are happy and busy with a great new house. My little "coal" is fun to talk to and growing so fast. My brother is always fun and a funny character. I was glad to see that my parents are well and had a great time with all the family around. We also were there to celebrate there 40th wedding anniversary. I am so bless to have a great family.
We also spent some time with Charles. He is doing well with his schoolwork. We loved being able to be with him. He is a great blessing in our lives and we wish we could spend more time with him.
We also spent time with Kent's brothers family. It was good to see them and know that they are doing well. We saw 2 of their kids and the 3 grandsons. All are well and it was so delightful to hang out and have some fun. The boys are growing so fast and just love to see Kent. I think he is the favorite uncle.
After 10 days in Colorado we went to the "Happiest Place on Earth" More posting about that later.
We also spent some time with Charles. He is doing well with his schoolwork. We loved being able to be with him. He is a great blessing in our lives and we wish we could spend more time with him.
We also spent time with Kent's brothers family. It was good to see them and know that they are doing well. We saw 2 of their kids and the 3 grandsons. All are well and it was so delightful to hang out and have some fun. The boys are growing so fast and just love to see Kent. I think he is the favorite uncle.
After 10 days in Colorado we went to the "Happiest Place on Earth" More posting about that later.
06 October 2009
23 September 2009
Utah Trip
Here is some more of the fun we had in Utah. The photos pretty well say it all. We got a little dirty while riding 4 Wheelers. Aren't we quite the beauty queens. Lots of dirt and dust. It took me 30 minutes to comb and wash all the dirt out of my hair. Probably would have been easier to shave my head.
Kent had a great time also. Doesn't he look cute!!
16 September 2009
Utah Trip
It is great to be back but I sure needed a vacation. I feel rejuvenated and refreshed.
We had a great time. Here are the start of some of the pics and memories.
Labor Day we went to the mountains around Fillmore, UT and rode 4Wheelers. This was a blast. The scenery was beautiful. The trees were starting to change colors and I remembered why I miss Colorado every fall.
The sky was an amazing blue and the Aspen trees were blowing in the breeze. There is nothing like the sound of Quaking Aspens.
We could not have had better weather. The Lord answered our prayers for good weather.
22 August 2009
Eternal Love
This is a long post and if you are not interested in my history then you probably want to skip this.
After the comments Kent made in Sunday School and since we celebrated our anniversary this last week I thought it would be a great time to remember our wedding and what we went through to get there. I returned from my mission in late February and by the 25th Kent had proposed. We decided that we would wait about 6 months to get married. This would give us time to get to know each other again and plan the wedding.
About 2 weeks before I returned from my mission The Church announced that men would now have to have previous temple sealings canceled before they could be married in The Temple again. Since Kent had been sealed to his first wife we needed to have this canceled. There were a few obstacles involved with this. The first was we had no idea where his ex-wife even was and the bishop had said that we may need to have a letter from her also acknowledging that there was no chance of them mending this relationship. We decided to proceed without any information from her. After interviews with the Bishop and Stake President Kent was asked to write a letter about why he wanted his sealing canceled. All the appropriate documentation and letters were gathered and sent to Salt Lake City by about the first of April. This was about the time that we needed to order the invitations and make a reservation at the Temple.
My mom was concerned about waiting for confirmation from the First Presidency that his sealing was canceled. We did not have the letter from the First Presidency when we called the Denver Temple to make our reservation. We were told that we could not make a reservation without the letter. We decided that we would have faith to order the announcements with the date and time that we hoped we could get. By the first of May we still did not have a letter but knew we better get the Temple reserved. My mom called the Temple anyway and asked if they would make the reservation without the letter. She was able to talk to a sweet lady that was sympathetic to our story and made the reservation anyway. We promised that we would cancel if we did not get the letter.
Well it was July and still no letter. We were calling the acting Stake President to see if he knew anything. Our regular Stake President was not doing most of his duties because he was battling cancer and was going through chemotherapy. No one knew where the letter was but the acting Stake President had called Salt Lake and found that they had approved the cancellation and we could be sealed. This was wonderful to hear but we knew without the letter the Temple would not perform the ceremony.
Now it was the end of July and the Temple was closing for annual cleaning. It would be open for 1 day before our sealing was to take place and still no letter. We kept praying for this because there was so much riding on the timing of our wedding. We had a deposit on married student housing but we could not move in without being married and we would lose our deposit if school started without us moving in. We were getting married less then a week before school was to start so there was not a lot of extra time.
We had a reservation for a Temple sealing at 10am on 17 Aug and it was about the 13th and still no letter. We needed to consider the very real possibility of not being able to be sealed. We did not know if we should have a civil ceremony and wait a year or cancel the whole thing and wait for the letter. We knew the importance of starting our marriage the right way so we did not want to make that decision. We continued to pray that they letter would arrive and we would be able to be sealed. We had faith that if we continued with the plan of being sealed in the Temple it would all work out some how.
On the 14th we received a phone call from the Stake Presidents wife. She was sorting through some of the stuff that her husband had been receiving during his treatment and found the letter we were looking for. They had the announcement of when we were to be married and knew that we needed this to be able to make our reservation.
We drove out there (they lived on a ranch on the outskirts of town) and picked up this letter and thanked our Heavenly Father that this all was working out. We learned several things through this experience. We knew that we were supposed to be married and that Satan did not want us to be married. From the day we were married we have found that every time we try to do something right we get a lot of resistance. We also can draw on this to know that our Heavenly Father approved of our marriage and we are doing it right. Over the years our marriage has been easy and the outside world has brought a lot of challenges.
Now 15 years later we are more in love then we ever thought possible. We have a great friendship and a passionate marriage. Kent is my love and i treasure all the time we have. No matter what trials we have faced nothing shakes the knowledge that we have a marriage blessed by our Heavenly Father. There is never a day that passes without me expressing my gratitude to Heavenly Father for the wonderful man I married.
After the comments Kent made in Sunday School and since we celebrated our anniversary this last week I thought it would be a great time to remember our wedding and what we went through to get there. I returned from my mission in late February and by the 25th Kent had proposed. We decided that we would wait about 6 months to get married. This would give us time to get to know each other again and plan the wedding.
About 2 weeks before I returned from my mission The Church announced that men would now have to have previous temple sealings canceled before they could be married in The Temple again. Since Kent had been sealed to his first wife we needed to have this canceled. There were a few obstacles involved with this. The first was we had no idea where his ex-wife even was and the bishop had said that we may need to have a letter from her also acknowledging that there was no chance of them mending this relationship. We decided to proceed without any information from her. After interviews with the Bishop and Stake President Kent was asked to write a letter about why he wanted his sealing canceled. All the appropriate documentation and letters were gathered and sent to Salt Lake City by about the first of April. This was about the time that we needed to order the invitations and make a reservation at the Temple.
My mom was concerned about waiting for confirmation from the First Presidency that his sealing was canceled. We did not have the letter from the First Presidency when we called the Denver Temple to make our reservation. We were told that we could not make a reservation without the letter. We decided that we would have faith to order the announcements with the date and time that we hoped we could get. By the first of May we still did not have a letter but knew we better get the Temple reserved. My mom called the Temple anyway and asked if they would make the reservation without the letter. She was able to talk to a sweet lady that was sympathetic to our story and made the reservation anyway. We promised that we would cancel if we did not get the letter.
Well it was July and still no letter. We were calling the acting Stake President to see if he knew anything. Our regular Stake President was not doing most of his duties because he was battling cancer and was going through chemotherapy. No one knew where the letter was but the acting Stake President had called Salt Lake and found that they had approved the cancellation and we could be sealed. This was wonderful to hear but we knew without the letter the Temple would not perform the ceremony.
Now it was the end of July and the Temple was closing for annual cleaning. It would be open for 1 day before our sealing was to take place and still no letter. We kept praying for this because there was so much riding on the timing of our wedding. We had a deposit on married student housing but we could not move in without being married and we would lose our deposit if school started without us moving in. We were getting married less then a week before school was to start so there was not a lot of extra time.
We had a reservation for a Temple sealing at 10am on 17 Aug and it was about the 13th and still no letter. We needed to consider the very real possibility of not being able to be sealed. We did not know if we should have a civil ceremony and wait a year or cancel the whole thing and wait for the letter. We knew the importance of starting our marriage the right way so we did not want to make that decision. We continued to pray that they letter would arrive and we would be able to be sealed. We had faith that if we continued with the plan of being sealed in the Temple it would all work out some how.
On the 14th we received a phone call from the Stake Presidents wife. She was sorting through some of the stuff that her husband had been receiving during his treatment and found the letter we were looking for. They had the announcement of when we were to be married and knew that we needed this to be able to make our reservation.
We drove out there (they lived on a ranch on the outskirts of town) and picked up this letter and thanked our Heavenly Father that this all was working out. We learned several things through this experience. We knew that we were supposed to be married and that Satan did not want us to be married. From the day we were married we have found that every time we try to do something right we get a lot of resistance. We also can draw on this to know that our Heavenly Father approved of our marriage and we are doing it right. Over the years our marriage has been easy and the outside world has brought a lot of challenges.
Now 15 years later we are more in love then we ever thought possible. We have a great friendship and a passionate marriage. Kent is my love and i treasure all the time we have. No matter what trials we have faced nothing shakes the knowledge that we have a marriage blessed by our Heavenly Father. There is never a day that passes without me expressing my gratitude to Heavenly Father for the wonderful man I married.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)