Rattlesnake Eggs!

Here is a delicious recipe for one of my favorite appetizers. Whenever served, they are a favorite of my friends and are a hit at any party. The ingredients are simple, just jalapenos, cheese and bacon. To prepare the "rattlesnake eggs" just follow these simple directions or refer to the pictures above:

Ingredients:

15 whole jalapenos
8 oz package of Rodele Cheese with Garlic and Herbs
1 lb of bacon cut in half

Directions: First slice jalapenos in half and then remove all seeds. Next spread Rondele Cheese on halved jalapenos, and then wrapped with bacon. Once wrapped, place jalapenos on a large enough cookie tray covered with aluminum foil (saves on clean-up) and place in oven on broiler setting and watch carefully. When bacon browns, remove from oven. Allow to sit until cool to touch before serving.

Arizona-Sonoran Desert Museum

Today, my son Chad and his darling soulmate and life partner, Gina and I visited the Arizona-Sonoran Desert Museum just west of Tucson. This site is a world renowned zoo, natural museum and botanical garden all in one place.

The mission of the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum is to inspire people to live in harmony with the natural world by fostering love, appreciation and understanding of the Sonoran Desert.

In the photos above, you will see us enjoying this enjoyable experience, along with some photos of the critters(Western screech owl) and young people practicing as young paleontologists. The station wagon in the picture is from 1952, which marked the opening of the museum. In a few words, if you are in Tucson, don't miss coming to this wonderful attraction.

Tennis in Arizona during the Holidays!

Today, my son and I enjoyed some great tennis practice for about two hours. No matter how hard we tried and how much we scrambled, the ball machine in the end claimed the court. While watching Chad strike the ball from a number of different angles, it was pleasing to see his skill development in mastering a wider variety of tennis strokes including a very effective two handed backhand, which is not a stroke that I have in my reprotoire. With time, there is even hope that son will also acquire my drop shot and many spins, which to some are legendary. The addition of his new N Code Tennis racquet will certainly help.

Sauteed Green Beans with Pecans and Cranberries

A new and different green bean dish, which is a twist on an old holiday favorite, is sauteing petite green beans in olive oil and then adding pecans and dried cranberries, with a touch of finely chopped garlic. The pictures below tell the story well.

Celebration Salad!

Celebration Salad is a special salad that my son, Chad and I created for our Christmas Eve dinner. The salad is a combination of salad greens, sauteed almonds, onions and garlic, with fresh Clementine wedges and sweetened dried cranberries. It is a salad that can be enjoyed for all occasions.

Ingredients For Celebration Salad-Service for 8

1. 6 oz of slivered almonds

2. 1/3 cup diced scallions

3. 1/3 cup diced garlic cloves

4. 3 tablespoons sesame oil

4. 3 tablespoons rice vinegar oil

5. 4 drops of soy sauce

6. 12 clementines broken into wedges

7. 8 0z 0f Spring Mix bought from Costco

Directions: Sauteed almond slivers in olive oil until they begin to brown and then set aside. Next saute green onions, garlic with rice vinegar and sesame oil and gradually bring to a simmer. Once simmering, then add browned almond slivers and then mix for a minute. Then pour and mix over Spring Mix, while adding Clementine wedges and sweetened dried cranberries.

Charlie's Manhattans

In our family, everybody talked about my Dad's famous Manhattans, which today we fondly call Charlie's Manhattans. It was always a traditional drink during the holidays and one with a very special recipe which I have shared below. One word of caution, always stop at two, then stay home or have a designated driver.

Ingredients for Charlie's Manhattans:

1 1/2 oz Jim Bean Bourbon

1/2 oz Sweet Vermouth

1 Dash Bitters

Splash of Cherry Juice

Stir well with ice. Strain into cocktail glass Serve with Cherry

Decorating Cookies with Baby Iris looking on!

While Baby Iris looks on, Prince Piano Man and Desert Princess are busy at work cutting, rolling, baking and decorating wonderful Christmas cookies in many shapes and sizes. Baby Iris looks on just thinking, "Wait until next year, I want to do this too!"

Origin of Christmas Cookies

Did you know that sugar once sold for the equivalent of $100 a pound. This is why cookies, candies and cakes were only used on special occasions like Christmas. Only at that time would our past grandparents and grandparents commit the cost of expensive ingredients to such treats.

Why cookies specifically? According to the research, that is unknown, however, cookies were just a form of a small cake, with the convenience of being hand held and easy to bake. The German tradition that led to Christmas cookies included "Lebkuchen" and "Spritz" recipes that used less sugar and more spices line cinnamon, cloves, ginger, nutmeg, molasses, which were cheaper and easier to get than sugar was, as well as raisins and other dried fruits. Ginger cookies like the recipe below are just one example.

Ginger Cookies-5 Dozen

2/3 cup oil

2 tsp soda

1 cup sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1 egg

1 tsp cinnamon

1/4 cup molasses

1/2tsp ginger

1/2 tsp cloves

2 cups sifted flour

1/4 cup granular sugar for dipping

Heat oven to 350. Mix oil and sugar thorougly. Add egg and beat well. Stir in molasses. Sift dry ingredients together and add. Drop by teaspoons into sugar, and roll in sugar. Placed on ungreased cookie sheet 3" apart. Bake for 15 minutes. Romove from rack. Cookies will flatten and crinkle.

Major Winter Storm Blasts Eastward to Minnesota

A massive winter storm is in the process of moving east to the Midwestern states of our country. Major blasts of winter air will be accompanied by heavy snow, ice and sleet. In my home state of Minnesota, the weather conditons look ominous, where heavy snow and strong winds are expected as Christmas day approaches. Here in Arizona, temperatures have also dropped and strong gusty winds are being experienced in the Tucson area. There is no doubt that a major storm is a foot. With this winter weather all around us, taking a few flowers from my photo archive seemed the right thing to do.

On the Road to the North Pole!

This coming weekend our family will be gathering at the GasLight theatre here in Tucson for a special performance called 'On the Road to the North Pole". The question we need to answer from the prologue is "Can it be True? Did the mean and treachorous Wilhelm really steel Santa Claus' list? Does this mean that children everywhere will wake up to find no presents under their Christmas Tree? Here in Tucson we are really worried, especially my grandchildren!!!! What do you think? Hopefully, everything will work out, and some way Santa's list will be retrieved.

The Gaslight Theatre is indeed a fun place for families to go in the Tucson community. The Gaslight has been serving the east side of Tucson for a couple of decades and is desert home comedy with a western motif at its very best.

The Gaslight usually has a cast of six to eight and plays are changed about four times a year with special theme programs at Christmas, Halloween and the Fourth of July. The plays are without a doubt slapstick and in many ways not very sophisicated, yet always in good taste and enjoyed by both children and adults. The actors often add lib and funny things usually happen with actors cracking up and the audience ending up in stitches, but always good. Like my family, others usually plan dinner before the show by having pizza and fountain sodas and ice cream sundries at Little Anthony's.

The Origin of the Christmas Tree and Times Past!

Late in Middle Ages, Germans and Scandinavians placed evergreen trees inside their homes or just outside their doors to show their hope in the forthcoming spring. Our modern Christmas tree evolved from these early traditions.

Legend has it that Martin Luther began the tradition of decorating trees to celebrate Christmas. One crisp Christmas Eve, about the year 1500, he was walking through the snow covered woods and was struck by the beauty of a group of small evergreens. Their branches, dusted with snow, shimmered in the moonlight. When he got home, he set up a little fir tree indoors so he could share this story with his children. He decorated it with candles, which he lighted in honor of Christ's birth.

The Christmas tree tradition most likely came to the United States with Hessian troops during the American Revolution, or with German immigrants to Pennsylvania and Ohio. But the custom spread slowly. Even as late as 1851, a Cleveland minister nearly lost his job because he allowed a tree in his church.

The Christmas tree market was born in 1851 when Catskill farmer Mark Carr hauled two ox sleds of evergreens to New York City and sold them all. By 1900, one in five American families had a Christmas tree, and 20 years later, the custom was nearly universal.

Christmas tree farms sprang up during the depression. Nurserymen couldn't sell their evergreens for landscaping, so they cut them for Christmas trees. Cultivated trees were preferred because they have a more symmetrical shape then wild ones. Today, six species account for about 90 percent of the nation's tree trade. Scotch pine ranks first, about 40 percent of the market, followed by the Douglas fir which accounts for about 35%.

Looking back and remembering the "Good Old Days" of Christmas, I have included a "Post Card Potpourri" that was found in the Decmember issue of Reminisce magazine. To see a larger picture of the postcard, just click on the picture as the postcards come from the first half of the last century. You will also notice that I chose not to follow and decided to place lights on my tree rather than candles!!!!!

Saguaro National Park

Just a few minutes from my home is Saguaro National Park, which was established in 1933. Almost everyday, my life is enriched by either a run or a bike in the park. The roads I travel or run are pictured below. This afternoon was no exception, however, the day was made particularly special when I was asked by a group of Chinese visitors to take some photos at the Park entrance. It reminded me of a day back in 1999, when I was visiting the Great Wall of China, and I was the one making the same request. Isn't it wonderful when we can all share in the beauty of our natural world?

The Saguaro National park supports over 25 species of cacti, but the saguaro is the monarch of the Sonoran desert and has always been the suprene symbol of the American Southwest. Many have said that the Saguaro is a plant with personality. It is renowned for the variety of odd, all-too-human shapes it assumes-shapes that inspire wild and fanciful imaginings. Since 1933, this extraordinary cactus which reaches up to 250 years in age has been protected in Saguaro National Park.

BE A JUNIOR RANGER

On an educational note, the National Parks in this country offer a program called "BE A JUNIOR RANGER. "Through this program children who are Junior Rangers and their famiies explore the parks using activity booklets that are designed especially for them. When finished with their booklets, the children are sworn in as Junior Rangers and receive a patch or badge or certificate. The program is open to children ages 5-12 and is a great way for children to learn more about the nation's history, their own cultural heritage and the natural world. For more information go to www.nps.gov/webrangers

Anza National Historic Trail

The Juan Bautista de Anza National Historic Trail was authorized by Congress on August 15, 1990. The trail runs from Nogales, Arizona to San Francisco, California, following as closely as possible the historic route taken by Captain Juan Bautista Anza and 240 immigrants in the winter of 1775-76.

This route represented the first overland route established to connect New Spain with San Francisco. Captain Juan Bautista de Anza started his expedition in Culiacan, Sinaloa, Mexico and plans are now underway to include the 600 miles he traveled within Mexico to make the Anza National Historic Trail, the first International Historic Trail in the world. Along the trail there were several Spanish missions. Representative of these missions is San Xavier Del Bac just South of Tucson, which is shown in the pictures above.

The accomplishments of Juan Bautista de Anza and the trailblazing of this route is truly a remarkable historical accomplishment in that what was to become the cities of Los Angeles, San Jose. and San Francisco were founded by Anza's efforts. Even more notable, was the time this took place. Just think, California was still referred to as New Albion, Russia was stalking the Pacific Northwest Coast and the American Revolution was underway.

Books to Read on Anza:

The Beginnings of San Francisco by Zoeth Skinner Eldridge

The Anza Trail and the Settling of California by Vladimir Guerrero

Rich's Famous Five Bean Salad

It seems that everyone loves the combination of five beans in this salad, especially when they are combined with olive oil, vinegar, sugar and a touch of rosemary and a sprinkle of parsley leaves. Not only for the healthy conscious, but also great for picnics and potlucks. Once tasted, one just can't get enough! Special thanks to my Tennis Tousan colleague for his assistance with this recipe.

Ingredients:

1 (15 ounce) can of cut green beans

1 (15 ounce) can of kidney beans

1 (15 ounce) can of black beans

1 (15 ounce) can of white beans servings.

1 (15 ounce) can of carbanzo beans

1 small onion chopped

2 stalks of celery chopped

1 medium red pepper chopped

3/4 cup of apple vinegar

1/2 cup olive oil

3/4 cup sugar

1 teaspoon pepper

1 teaspoon salt

3 teaspoons of rosemary

3 teaspoons of parsley

Directions:

1. Drain and rinse beans and place in large bowl.

2. Add other ingredients, then mix, and let stand for an hour in the refrigerator

3. Enjoy up to 15 servings!

Piano Man's Recital at University of Arizona

This evening, my grandson, Prince Piano Man, performed in a Piano recital at the University of Arizona. His main piece was a rendition of a popular tune called, "Honey Bee." In one of the photos above, Prince Piano Man is shown with teacher, Dr. Maria Helena Ferraz, who takes great pride in the successes of her students.