"Build a fire and they will come!"

     Yep..........build a fire and they will come!  Specifically if it entails food................"Rockin' A Ranch hobo dinners."  A good, hot fire with a nice bed of coals, foil, veggies, cheese's, gravies, meat of choice and you've got yourself a campfire delight.

    Three times this week-end we outdid ourselves in our "culinary fest of hobo dinners."  Let's see, there was Friday night with a wonderful Chicken Divan, Saturday night with a thick pork chop and gravy, Sunday evening was Dutch oven boneless leg of lamb.............YUM! 

     "The Man" and myself love the outdoors and with Fall upon us, we're trying to "milk" every drop of sunshine out of the shortened days that we possibly can.  It's a beautiful time of year for campfires, fall colors, hobo dinners, and watching the wildlife.Summer time is too hot for campfires, so this time of year makes perfect sense to get one a blaze!

     Saturday morning I spoke with our daughter Jessica on the phone, I love our lil' chats.  "What are the kids doing?"  What are you doing today?"  You get the jest..............well, I mentioned our "hobo dinners" to her on Saturday morning, and she decided that after their day trip up to Sunrise for the Fall colors, they'd like to come out for some of those!  Come they did, around fourish.  Babies in tow, lawn chairs, sweaters, hats, mittens..............that's NO simple feat when you've got lil' ones in tow.  We sat around the campfire and chatted for awhile before heading into the ol' ranch house to make up the dinners. 

     Toby (aka Tobias) was in boy scouts for a long time, I actually think his Dad was a leader or something, anyway, he manned the fire throughout the duration of cooking.  He'd spread out the coals until they looked like a "fan of fire," add more wood as needed, stir the cabbage dish in the Dutch oven.....................he was doing real well so "The Man" and myself let him have at it.  By the way, give a man a fire, a poker, and food, and he'll chat your ear off!  It's like they're in their element...............cavemanish! (Except they didn't "kill" the "hobo dinner!")

     All in all, it was a great evening spent with two of our youngest of five grand babies, our kids, and one another.  When dinner was over, we got to play with our grand kids for several hours..........we had absolutely NO T.V. on, no music (although it would have been a nice touch), just the six of us, playing, chatting, resting and enjoying one another.  I think the kids mosied out of the ol' ranch house around tenish, Tobias was going home with the boys to get them tucked into bed, Jessica was going grocery shopping with two of her girlfriends, manned with several envelopes of coupons to do the weekly shopping.  Let me tell you, those three girls are masters at saving...............like a $130 grocery bill getting "chopped" with coupon savings to over half!  NO kids or men are allowed, it's "girl time," serious as it is.................I'll bet those nightime checkers are "suited up" and ready when they see these three girls marching in the store.

     Once again.....................it's so very, very important to tell those you love just how much you love them, how much you cherish time with them. Also,  "tickles" and song singin' are critical for lil' ones to enjoy.  I felt like I'd been "run over by a truck" when those two lil' grandson's of ours left that evening, they crawled and jumped all over Nana........................and boy did I love that!

Rockin' A Ranch Hobo Dinner

Take two 18-inch sheets of hevy duty aluminum foil and lay them out per packet.  Assemble packets by placing pork chop (bone-in) on top of foil. 

Mix a large can or two small cans low-sodium cream of mushroom soup, 1/4 cup sherry, 1 envelope of Lipton onion soup mix, fresh sliced mushrooms and freshly ground black pepper.  Divide evenly amongst packets spooning on top of pork chop.  Wrap foil by folding down to base of meat, tucking in the ends tightly.  Place on a cookie sheet along with tongs and a long handled spatula....................holler at the guys to "come get it!" When packet is done cooking, open carefully due to steam, top each pork chop with a slice of Provolone cheese, a few French Fried Onion's (from the can), reclose for a few. Serve.

Rockin' A Ranch Cabbage and Apples

3 slices of good quality Maple bacon, chopped

1 medium onion, peeled and finely chopped

1 head green or red cabbage, cut into small pieces

3 tart apples, unpeeled, cored, and cut into pieces

1 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice

1 1/2 Tablespoons sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

Pull out the ol' cast-iron Dutch oven, place uncooked bacon in the bottom.  Add the onion, cabbage, and apples.  Sprinkle with fresh ground black pepper, stir.  Cover and holler at the guys to "come and get it."  Once over the bed of coals, make sure and stir the dish every so often to prevent the onions from burning, mixing the bacon around in the dish.  Cook approximately 25-30 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Add the mixture of lemon juice, sugar and salt to the dish, stir, cook an additional 10 minutes and serve.  Kids love this dish......................so does Tobias!  Makes enough for a crowd.

Woodcutting 101

I've decided that although wood-cutting is a hard, dirty, long, and laborious job, it can be fun despite the sore hands, feet, and dirt caked into every orifice one has. When "The Man" and myself set out to cut wood, we set out in style.  This past Saturday we headed out into the woods(the burn area from one of Arizona's largest fires in history.

This particular wood-cutting run we had some mighty fine food (if I do say so myself!).  Always, always I pack a lot of fruit, when your mouth is parched and dry, oranges and melon seem to quench and perk up the ol' tastebuds. 

To start our morning off "The Man" made some incredible fresh ground "joe."  We always take a thermos of "joe" out for that initial cup on the tailgate of the ol' Ford.  Nothing nicer than a warm cup a joe and cool, mountain mornings.  I brought along a nice, warm coffee cake for the occasion, just out of the oven.  While we nibbled on coffee cake, sipped some joe, we eyeballed some dead oak, fortunately, the dead oak was in the middle of a young, new grove.........fires are good for one thing for sure....... Arizona's overgrown forest floor.  Fires are great for incubating fine, new growth, once it's raged through an area.

"The Man" said he really liked his coffee cake and "just how long has it been since you made this?" "When our kids were lil'?"  Overlooking the obvious sarcasm, I told him "I've never made you THIS coffee cake."  We then set to work............after about two hours of cutting we decided to take a break for some water and fruit.  Always, we sit and admire the wood we've cut.  I have to say, we did well in our scouting efforts this trip.

Now I personally think you can turn any arduous task into a much better time with a good attitude and a belly full.  It's good exercise, it will keep you warm in the winter (we heat strictly with wood), and I love to look at the striations and coloring of different wood types.......Juniper, Cedar and Oak, all hard woods.  When we're about half way loaded, we stop for lunch.  This particular wood-cutting trip I made sandwiches...........not just any sandwich either.  I took some very good, roasted turkey, smoked Fontina, fresh red onion, avocado and homemade fig jam.  Now put that all on some good homemade bread..............heaven opened up for us!  These were not "dainty" sandwiches mind you, these were "drizzle down your arm" sandwiches, the best kind to eat. 

Once finished with our task of wood-cutting (which takes us six hours), we head for home..........tired, satisfied, and one cord closer to our goal.  We cut throughout the Fall using two or more permits to "stock up" on the wood supply.  One day every week-end and the chore is done. 

When wood-cutters are selling wood in the "peak" season (Winter), they make $200 + a cord.  Personally, I can think of a million and one things I would rather spend $200 dollars on................like saving for a vacation next year. 

As we pull into the drive-way, weary but happy to be home, the three dogs greet us with wagging tails.  They LOVE to smell our pants and boots, like, "where have you two been?"  "Oh come on, let me guess!" 

Now is the time to unload and stack the wood.  Once that task is done, we crack open a cold one, sit on the tailgate of the ol' truck, and admire our efforts.  The day has come full circle, it's getting late, the sheep are bellowing for food, and the dogs want to come inside and visit with us.  The smell of the pork roast packed full of garlic, simmering in homemade sauerkraut, apples, onion, potatoes and spices(oh yes, and a good stout ale) infuses the house, we are soooo ready for a hot bath, P.J.'s and a glass of wine to unwind this evening.........until next week-end when we do it all over again.

Shepherdess Kat's Coffee Cake

3/4 cup butter, softened

1 cup sugar

2 eggs, at room temperature

8 oz. carton of sour cream

2 cups King Arthur all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon fresh ground nutmeg

1 teaspoon cinnamon

3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1/2 cup toasted, chopped walnuts

Combine butter and sugar, cream until light and fluffy, add eggs and sour cream, mixing well.  Combine next five ingredients, add to batter and mix well.  Pour batter into a disposable, greased and floured 9x13x2-inch pan.  Combine brown sugar, walnuts, and cinnamon, sprinkle on top of batter.  Cover and refrigerate overnight.  Uncover and bake at 350-degree oven for 35-40 minutes.