Construction done on the fireplace!

I wrote a couple of weeks ago about all the construction being done in our living room.  Well it is finally completed! 

This was THE best investment we have made in a while.  The average temperature is 70 degrees, we haven't had that warm since the summer!

Shown below is the finished project... Yeah me!

In my Backyard....Who says the desert can't be beautiful!

Today we went down the backside of the mountain and I have been waiting for the spring wildflowers to bloom well they have!  Unfortunately, I had both my cameras in my camera bag and only had my cell phone.

The first one is after a quick but powerful storm came in overnight:

This one I had Andy pull over, wow!

As I said in the post title ,who ever said the desert isn't beautiful!

Ok instead of posting I have been fighting!

Just a quick note: I haven't posted in a while due to the fact that I am fighting to get my pictures back on my blog. For the past almost 6 months the pictures are GONE!!!!

So my friends, bear with me, because I have been spending HOURS on this!

In my backyard….Original Del Taco

We go to Vegas A lot!  I do have to say that after all these years that drive still intrigues me.  There are secret places that people do not even exist…Are you kidding me??????  you are probably saying right now.  No, I am serious!  Take this for instance; did you know that the FIRST Del Taco was in Yermo?  Yermo,?????where in the world is that????


Yermo is located on Interstate 15, 17 miles from Barstow and is where the California agriculture inspection station for traffic heading south on Interstate 15.  Very close to the U.S. Army base at Ft. Irwin.
This is where a secret comes in….when you drive home from Vegas you will ALWAYS hit traffic around the inspection road, take Harvard Road exit turn left and then right at the stop sign and travel along the feeder road parallel to the freeway.  It will save you a lot of time and a whole lot of aggravation. When you are traveling, take a look  on the right hand side, you will see the Burger Den which was where the original Del Taco was.
The road goes all the way to Calico Road where the old mining town is now called Calico Ghost Town.  There you will find a couple of gas stations (by the way, they are the cheapest, that is where we stop and get gas) and a Jack in the Box, where we normally stop and get a quick bite to eat, too! Then proceed to the 15 and head on out! 
We try to help out little towns that try to keep their head above the water or rather their nose. 
History lesson: 

“When Interstate 15 freeway opened in 1968, the town of Yermo was immediately bypassed by traffic traveling to and from Las Vegas, Nv. As a result, 90 percent of the local business's were unable to succeed and closed. During it's heyday, Yermo had 27 gas stations with mechanics on duty, 7 bars, 2 grocery stores, a hardware store, a pizza shop, 4 real estate offices, 3 motels, a thrift store, several restaurants, roadside camping sites and 2 parks.^[ In 2009, Yermo played host to 1 grocery/general store, 1 bar, 1 thrift store and 1 park in town and 3 restaurants, 4 gas stations, 1 motel 3 miles south of town. The fast-food restaurant Del Taco was founded in Yermo in 1964 and the original structure remains active as a local fast food restaurant, The Burger Den.”

It really hurts my heart to see this town sleepy.  But great things did come out of here and we are so happy to see this landmark.  Who knew! 

Cabbage with Leeks

I looked at my calendar and saw that St. Patrick's Day was on the 17th, which is tomorrow! You ask, do I celebrate St. Patty's Day?  Only when it comes to food. Give me any holiday and I will think of a meal to go with it, Halloween ='s chili, Easter ='s Ham, Cinco de Mayo='s Tacos, My Birthday ='s crab, 4th of July ='s ribs, see it's that easy!

So, on the 17th when everyone is eating Corned Beef, I do as well, (my findings will be on another post) what do you serve with it? Cabbage of course, but how blah!!!!!!
I found the most incredible recipe from a cookbook my sister sent to me years ago. Actually, of all the hundred's of cookbooks I own, this is one of my favorite's. It is called the Greenbrier Cookbook from the Greenbrier Hotel in West Virginia. I love cookbooks that have history, stories, pictures and of course, great recipes! I made this not knowing the incredible flavor it would have and the requests I have for the recipes is soooo much I have them on note cards to give to my guests when they ask (which is every time).

Simple but elegant: Here is my gift to you for St. Patrick's Day:

Savoy Cabbage and Leeks in Cream
(Don't worry I don't know what Savoy cabbage is either, I just used regular cabbage, just as good)

1 medium head Savoy Cabbage (1 1/2 pounds), cored, and tough outer leaves discarded
1 1/2 Ounces Bacon (about 3 strips) cut into 1/2" strips
5 Medium Leeks (2 pounds) white part only, split and cut into 1/2" slices
3/4 cup Chicken Broth, preferably homemade
3/4 cup of heavy cream
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Few drops of lemon juice

Separate the cabbage leaves. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and blanch the leaves by boiling them for about 2 minutes. Drain, then refresh under cold running water and pat dry with paper towel. Stack several leaves together and roll them up like a cigar and slice crosswise into 1/4" strips.

In a large saucepan, cook the bacon strips over medium heat until the fat is rendered and the bacon is almost crispy, 3-4 minutes. Drain off most of the fat leaving 2 tablespoons. Add the sliced leeks to the bacon and saute over medium high heat, stirring until slightly softened, about 3 minutes.

Add the cabbage and saute for another minute, stirring to combine the ingredients. Add the stock, season with salt and pepper, cover and simmer, stirring frequently, until the leeks and cabbage are tender, about 20 minutes. Remove the lid, add the cream and simmer uncovered another 10-15 minutes to reduce the cream until slightly thickened. (The mixture should be very creamy, but not runny). Add a few drops of lemon juice, taste, and correct seasoning.

Serve hot.

Now, in regards to the leeks, it took me until this recipe before I tackled these unknown things. What are they? Huge onions, well in a form, yes. So, I took these aliens home, cut them like they said and thought, "wait a minute, I remember something about sand and dirt being in them from the Food Channel". Good thing I remembered that, so I soaked them and boy the dirt and sand that came off of them!!! Please do this because your side dish is not to have crunchies in them! Make sure you swish them when they are soaking and rinse thoroughly!

Let me know your thoughts on the recipe once you make it, I promise this will be a favorite of yours and it makes you look really good!

In My Backyard..Windmills

Here is a post of what I think is one of the wonders of the new world.
Andy and I drove down to Palm Springs for the day, considering it is only an hour and a half away.  Seeing that it was 45 here on Saturday and 75 there, it was time to go have a nice lunch OUTSIDE.  We have a favorite Irish Pub we go to, sit and have a nice lunch and watch people walk by. 
When we are heading home after a lovely afternoon, I always marvel at the windmills that are row after row after row.  The first time I ever saw them was in a movie in the 80’s who I remember had Michelle Phieffer in it  and I thought where in the world are those?  Does anyone remember the movie?  Could it be Tequila Sunrise?  Don’ know….Now they are one of my favorite things to see.  

Can you hear the wind when these are moving?

There are thousands of these lined up.  Man o man are these a sight!
I am so blessed to live where I live.   I never take it for granted….Until the next “In My Backyard”.   I encourage you to go out and explore what is “IN your backyard”.  Let people see through your pictures what you see, you would be surprised once you open and see what is around you. 

The Winner Is....

Well, I have a winner. After picking the name AT RANDOM, the winner is JEANNE! Congratulations!!! Contact me and I will be more than happy to get you the prize! I know you will love them and thank you for following my blog!

Now, everyone, I will try to start having giveaways on a weekly basis, so keep tuned and and let's play!

Have a great week and keep watching!

Springtime giveaway…well almost spring, but definitely a giveaway!

I used to think that March was the boringest (is that a word????) month.  However, THIS March is sooo cool.  Why?

1. Time Change, March 14th
2. St. Patrick’s Day is March 17th
3. 1st day of Spring is March 20th
4. Palm Sunday is March 28th
5. Passover is March 30th
6. Not to mention the desert flowers are going to be in full bloom (getting ready to plan a trip to take photos if anyone is interested, let me know, it is going to be awesome with all the rain this year, WOW).

With March busting out at the seams, I wanted to have a little giveaway.  I am going to be giving away two dip mixes from Pepper Springs:

These are my best sellers when I do craft fairs, they are yummy

So, how do you get these little gems?  Well, this is where the fun comes in.  For my faithful followers it will be easy, but for the newbies it is defiantly hunt and peck. 

Here ya go:

On one of my older posts, I mention the name of one our tenacious chickens getting out when we had the “epic snow storm”  What is her name? 

I will pick the winner (with the correct answer)  and you may enter as many times as you wish.  The drawing will be COMPLETELY random and will be drawn on Monday March 8th.  I wish you luck and have fun……

JSBBL (doesn’t this look like Jezebel)……hum…may need to think of another way to end. my post.

Another fireplace, MORE Construction?!!!

I truly am addicted to fireplaces, looked in the phone book,  Googled and nothing for fireplace addicts!!!  This past BAD storm has made us change some of the ways we live and with some of the things we have.
Now last year, we put in a fireplace in our bedroom:

LUUVVVLYYY!!  I am extremely happy with it, and it worked when our power was out for 36 hours!!!
Well, the one we have in our living room:  

(I know it is blurry, this picture was taken when the power was out) Not a lot of light.
Was OK for the most part, but not for a lot of reasons:

1. The fireplace was on the ground, no hearth to sit at, but your feet kept warm if you sat and put your feet close to the fire!
2. It never heated up past 62 degrees therefore, the heater came on all the time!  It USED SOO MUCH GAS!  We live on propane and it is as expensive as gold!  So we try to use it as sparingly as possible, especially when we are low, the gas truck has to get here to fill it and with the mud as bad as it is, they have a REALLY good chance of getting stuck!  I am sitting here now and watching the bag that we have over the pipe (lovely) move into the pipe.  I know that is where our heat was going!!!  Thief!  
3. The amount of heat coming out of the fireplace was probably 3% and 97 going up and out!
4. It was just plain and U-G-L-Y!

Well did a lot of homework and decided on a gorgeous unit that will be an enclosed unit that will heat the entire home!!!
Let the construction begin:::We have a BIG HOLE!

But first take a look at the wall unit we had made and installed this past week, it is so nice!  I LUUVVE it!  Nicer than the shelves I had there on a“temporary” basis.  I didn’t even really see how ugly it was until I took pictures of the fireplace and noticed all the wires in the back!  UGGG!

All gone!
Now being married to an electrical contractor gives me some privileges that a lot of people don’t have, uh like having an electrician in my home all the time…

With all the construction being done, I asked Andy, “How about adding some speakers throughout the house”?.  He said ok, (little did he know that I was going to ask for FOUR sets).  I love music!  Well now, how about running wires so I can hook up my laptop to the TV?  Again, OK.   Alright we are getting somewhere, about about running another set of cables just in case I want to ad more components to it at a later date. Again OK!!  Wow!  I just didn’t think it would be THAT many wires!!!  Wow!  I am so grateful he is patient. Especially when it came to connecting all the wires Whew!
See, we never seem to be done with projects, and I say “NEVER be done with projects”  Where’s my banner??
I will post more pictures in stages starting when they have finished with installing the fireplace .