Sigh.

Sigh.

Iron Corset. Big Bad Collars.

2 hours shopping, digging for, and trying on shirts; 1 hour drying and braiding hair; 1/2 hour aloe face peel mask; 3 hours setting hair; 1/2 hour carefully applying natural make-up with natural sun-kissed look; spleen rupturing corset; carefully chosen push-up bra:  naturally not too high one; 1/2 hour to squeeze into corset and anointed bra; 300 year old Chinese shard necklace; $2 coconut shell purse brought back from Vietnam by Deuce as carefully chosen conversation piece to promote husband

=

effect the casual, laid-back, carefree yet natural hippie look.

I soooo still got it!

...just takes longer to 'get it' these days!

YUMMY BBQ PORK ROAST ALERT!

POTLUCK EMERGENCY ALERT:  in case of potluck emergency, read below

(okay...confession...the first time I titled this it was "BBQ PORK ROAST ALERT"...which by light of day, I realized that it sounded like I had food poisoned my whole family.  Which, considering that I have set dinner on fire...more than once...and not on the grill...may not seem so far fetched!  Ah, if only I were as clever by the light of day as I am under shadow of sleep deprivation...)

Okay...tonight's dinner was sooooo easy...and sooooo cheap ... and sooooo awesome it deserves an emergency post, especially in this season of potlucks!  Sadly I have no pictures so I put the closest one I had to a ham-hock ...

AND I WONDER WHY MY PETS HAVE ISSUES

Okay, I defrosted a pork shoulder butt roast that we had cut in half...not really knowing what to do with it other than I wanted BBQ pork sandwiches for dinner.  My girlfriend was over to pick up her daughter as I looked at her confusedly begging for advice.  I have a hot grill...I have a pork butt...I have not a clue...  I am still learning this grilling stuff.  Vanessa came to the rescue.  Her husband Robert is the Grill King!  She called quick for advice.  After Robert finally got done with the guffaws I heard all the way across the phone when Vanessa told him that I "didn't know what to do with my pork butt" (just glad I couldn't hear the follow up to that one...), he was able suppress the chuckles and snorts long enough to spit out this prescription:

Mix:
1.  Cumin
2.  Paprika
3.  Black Pepper
4.  Salt  (I used Sea Salt)
when I mixed at first they were almost equal parts...pepper the smallest.  I was worried this would be too spicy for the kids so I added two more parts Salt.

Rub/cover the whole roast  (Alright people: no more pork butt jokes!)

Use brown sugar to make it sweet!  I patted and rolled the roast in brown sugar to cover the whole thing, but not loose the spice rub

Roast on the grill over indirect heat until the roast reads 200 degrees (my grill is four burner...actually it's even from Vanessa and Robert, Robert had re-furbished it as a gift for us...so I put the roast in the center and turned off the center burners, put the outside on medium, closed the lid and VOILA)

all right this deserves an OMG!!!  It was so sweet and wonderfully crusted, the kids kept running up to steal pieces of the blackened crust!  I shredded the pork and mixed in the crust pieces to spread the flavor through.  It was so flavorful that the BBQ sauce for the sandwiches was really unnecessary.

My husband has deemed it his favorite pork dish.  It will work wonderfully just as a platter for a potluck or big group.

Thanks Vanessa and Robert!  Even though I had to be the...butt...of your jokes!

Two years in a row! Big Bad Collars.

Yep.  Two years in a row.

  

SAME SCENE LAST YEAR

We even said about an hour out from home..."we can't forget again and drive in with the tree on top again".  Well we forgot...again.

You see, every year we buy a permit from the forest service to cut a tree.  We drive up north, out of the desert to the land of Ponderosa pines and chipmunks and hike for the day with the kids and bring home the kill.  And the couple hour drive home can be a long haul with tired kids, stopping for dinner and gas...and Starbucks...  So just like a couple of barn bound horses, the parents forget there is a rider on top...

BUNDLING UP TINY ELLETTE

We have done this for six years now.  Since Ellette was a newborn, three weeks old.  I have a big ol' wool poncho from my mom and the fabulous '60s to cover the babies and keep them warm.  I have drug the family down canyons in heavy snow.  Deuce has tried to get the "perfect tree" chosen by his princesses off of cliff faces.  He has hauled the girls...and tree across rivers.  We have literally crossed rain, sleet, snow, ripping winds, fire damage, underbrush and mud to get just the tree chosen by the girls.  

almost 3 years old Gwynni...the snow really started after this!

2009...baby Lorelei

2009 hiking out the kill

LETTING THE 4 YEAR OLD TRAIL LEAD

FINDING A  PLACE TO FERRY KIDS

RIGHT AFTER THIS...HE IS KNEE DEEP...BUT THE TREE IS DRY!

LOTS OF GREAT MEMORIES

This year we had beautiful clear crisp skies so we decided to hike a new area with the absence of weather concerns.  I have never seen so many tracks before.  Elk, rabbit...even our first bear.  Of course scat from all...great for the kids!  There were badger holes and a coyote den.  I have learned to really watch the tracks...with the kids being perfectly snack size still, it is a real concern attracting a predator.  Also not too eager to cross a peeved Bull Elk.  One of the first years, I was cheerfully watching the deer tracks...quite fresh...and was happy to see cougar tracks too.  Then the cougar tracks were 'playing' with the deer tracks..."Deuce, time to relocate".  We have had to relocate a few times over the years.  Being from the Northwest, I am a bit of a nut about trail safety...quite the Cautious Clark.  My back country siblings often mock me, but they will all capitulate that when the kids are in tow, you can't be careful enough.  Always watch the trail and always watch the sky.  Need to add to that list:  watch the garage roof too...it's been known to sneek up.

ANYBODY HOME?

THIS IS WHAT I HAVE TO WORK WITH!

THIS WAS THE "GOOD" PICTURE...sigh

THE GIRLS ADDING MORE BEAR TRACKS

THIS YEARS KILL...NOTE HAMMY ON THE RIGHT

 This year we tried soaking the tree overnight in the pool...an Arizona thing, I'd imagine there are few logistics problems to this up north...supposed to help keep it twice as fresh.  Deuce did say it was twice as heavy to haul out!  Let you know how it worked! ;-)

HOME WARM and SAFE

But the way...the permits down here are only $15...aside from gas and food (and yes: speeding tickets), a pretty cheap holiday adventure!