Project 365 day 21

We went to the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff today. This light fixture was hanging in the Rotunda Museum.

Project 365 Day 20

In April when we went up to the North Rim, diesel was $4.89 per gallon. Today in flagstaff, it was $3.19. I hope it goes down even more.

Stuffed Eggplant, Gluten Free

We have been shopping Flagstaff like kids in a candy store. We have bought everything from new underwear to computer games, from groceries to a new purse, hair cuts, pedicures, a new cell phone, and some new hair barretts. But this afternoon, we went to Frontier Natural Foods, and I was absolutely in shopper heaven!

It’s not that they had a lot of gluten free stuff, they did. It was because the food was arranged for sale so artistically that really got to me. Just look:

We didn’t buy much, because we had already bought groceries yesterday, but they had a few things I just couldn’t resist: some Brie, some fresh basil (OH how I love fresh basil!), some pine nuts, eggplant, shallots, and some chicken and apple sausage. I had apple sausage for the first time last year in Pennsylvania, and I have to tell you, I love it. But you can’t find it in most places, so when I saw it in their butcher case, I got three links of it.

I also found Kinnicknick bread and bagels, which were in the freezer case. As soon as we came home, I toasted one of those bagels. It was sooooo good! I haven’t had a bagel since I went gluten free in April 2007. Now I have four more in the freezer.

I knew I wanted to do some bruschetta since I had all the makings for pesto, but I wanted to cook that eggplant, too. However, I knew I did not want to make eggplant parmesan. I thought about it for a bit, and here is how I cooked it:

3 tablespoons olive oil
1 ½ links of your favorite sausage, casings removed and crumbled up
2 shallots, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
½ cup mushrooms, chopped
1 medium eggplant, cut in halve lengthwise. Scoop out the pulp, leaving the shell intact.
salt and pepper
½ cup Italian blend shredded cheese
½ cup gluten free bread crumbs

Chop the eggplant pulp. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet. Add the sausage, shallots, garlic, chopped eggplant, and mushrooms, and sautee until the sausage is browned. Add salt and pepper to taste. Stir in the cheese and bread crumbs, keeping aside about 3 tablespoons of each for topping. Stuff the mixture into the eggplant shells, top with remaining cheese and bread crumbs, and bake at 400 degrees for 25 minutes.

I served this with shrimp cocktails and bruschetta. FabGrandpa loved it. He said he felt like a KING!

Kielbasa and Potato Soup, Gluten Free

I am currently reading "Sun Kissed" by Catherine Anderson. (Yeah, it is a dumb love story romance) I started reading her books this summer when I found them in the tiny library at the North Rim. One of the characters in this book was cooking for his family and was making Kielbasa and Potato Soup. There was no recipe given in the book, but it sounded so good that I decided to make some.


Here is the recipe I used:


4 large red potatoes, peeled and diced
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 bunch of green onions, peeled and chopped
2 stalks of celery, chopped
2 cloves garic, minced
1 pkg kielbasa, cut into bite sized pieces
1 small can evaporated milk
2 cups water or chicken broth
1/4 cup tapioca flour
1 1/2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon black pepper

Cover the potatoes with water and cook until tender, drain, set aside.


Heat the olive oil in a dutch oven. Add the onions, celery, and garlic--sautee until tender. Add the kielbasa, sautee until the meat is heated through, about 5 minutes. Mash the potatoes coarsely and add to the dutch oven. Add the seasonings and milk. Combine the tapioca flour with the water, then add to the dutch oven. Turn heat down to low, cover, and simmer for 20 minutes.


This soup was thick, like New England Clam Chowder consistency. I served it up with some gluten free crackers and some swiss cheese slices. There was none left to take pictures of.

Project 365 Day 19

Here is my trailer, all packed up and ready to go, with the slide out room brought in. All we have to do now is hitch her up!

Ah, Flagstaff!

And so it came to pass that we left the North Rim and went down to Flagstaff. I had a loose plan of what I wanted to accomplish on our first day there, which included getting my hair cut and getting a pedicure and a manicure. Not such big and impressive plans that they could not be accomplished, right? Wrong.

It could have just been that I was having an incredibly bad day (Or I was just cranky). The trip from the North Rim to Flagstaff is only 200 miles. It only took about five hours, including stopping for breakfast one last time at Jacob Lake, which was quite delicious. But as soon as entered the Flagstaff city limits, everything changed. At least for ME it did, but maybe Flagstaff is just a more laid back kind of town so that it was business as usual for the people there.

We arrived at Greer’s Pine Shadows RV Park, and I went to the office to register, but though the door was open, no one was in the office. I waited. And waited. And waited some more. After about a half an hour the office dude sauntered up with his dog, and said, “Can I help you?”

We finally got checked in and and went to our site to set up the trailer. But right next to where we were to park, they were working on the road with one of those hole digging machines. It was so loud that we could not hear each other talk, which is a detriment to setting up a travel trailer. After about two hours, we finally got things in order and went to town in search of hairdo and nail places.

While FabGrandpa went to Gamestop, I went into the nail shop down the sidewalk. When I walked in, no one said hello, no one said “we’ll be with you in a minute.” I sat down and waited for ten minutes. Then I walked to the back of the shop where the nail people were doing pedicures for other people and said “Excuse me, can you tell me how long it will be?” And they said, about thirty minutes. I said I would come back.

I left and went next door to the hairdo place. When I walked in at least they said hello. The girl behind the counter asked me what I needed, and I said I would like to get a haircut. She said it would be about fifteen minutes. So, I sat down and waited. And waited. And waited some more. Finally, after about thirty minutes, the girl said she was ready to take me back. And THEN, her co-worker said, “Oh, can you rinse my color for me before you take her?”

So, the girl who was supposed to cut my hair tried to rinse that guy’s hair right off his head. I know this because after about ten minutes, she was still rinsing him. And I walked out of the shop. But by that time, I was fuming mad that I had to wait, and I kept seeing THIS in my head, and I decided it would be better to wait until the next day to get a haircut than to risk having that, or worse, happen again.

Yeah, it could have been worse, but I have not had a haircut since July. My days off were Sunday and Monday, and everyone knows that the hairdo shops are closed on Sunday and Monday. I am not a very frou frou kind of girl, but I am a little picky about my hair. I was READY for a haircut. Now, I am thinking I may just let it grow out long. Maybe.

So what DID I accomplish on my first day in Flagstaff? This:

And there was no waiting in line for it.

Project 365 day 18

I went with FabGrandpa over to the dumpsters and recycle center to through out the trash and clean out the truck. I saw this pile of pipes there and thought they looked pretty cool, sort of like a huge wasps nest.

I Can Not Believe I Forgot To Post Something Yesterday!

Really, I didn't do it on purpose, I just plain forgot. What with all the cleaning and straightening and packing shit up, I just forgot.

So, yesterday was spent cleaning out my side of the wardrobe closet, refolding and rearranging my clothes, and tossing out about half of my shirts because they all had a grease stain in the same place. Right in the middle of my chest, where food always lands when I am eating. I guess I should look into getting myself a big bib!

After I did that, and cleaned out the dresser drawers, I cleaned out the pantry cabinet. I say if we haven't eaten something in a year, we ain't gonna, so that stuff got tossed out, too. When everything was finished, Jim said he thinks I tossed at least 75 pounds of stuff.

Then, I did all the laundry, including sheets, bedspread, and rugs, while we still have access to free use of laundry facilities. That shit can get expensive if you have to pay for it. I borrowed a super duper extra sucking power vacuum cleaner from the admin office, too. So, when I came home from doing the laundry, I vacuumed the whole house (all 280 square feet of it, hahaha), even used the attachments to vacuum the window shades and valances, the ceiling, and the walls. I'm telling ya, this place is spotless!

Today, so far, I have read my emails and my google reader subscriptions, shopped online for a new wireless aircard and cellphone provider, cooked breakfast, talked to Becca on the phone, packed up some things in the kitchen, and called to disconnect my land line for tomorrow. And I still have a gajillion things on my list to do.

For instance, I have to pay bills online sometime today because I don't know when I'll have internet access again, and I don't want to be late on anything. I have to finish packing up the kitchen, figure out what to do with the little refrigerator we bought a couple of months ago, take a shower, and ..... Crap, I better get busy!

Project 365 Day 16

We pass this sign every time we go to the Paiute Indian Reservation to buy fuel for the truck. Does anyone else see the humor here?

If You Love Me, You'll Do This

Just wanted to let my bloggy friends know my daughter, Becca, has started writing here, so go over there and give her some comment love. I know you want to.

Project 365 Day 15

Surprisingly, I was up before sunrise this morning. I was standing at the edge of the Grand Canyon, watching the sun come up. There was this beautiful cloud formation, making it all just exquisite. I love my life.

Project 365 Day 14

Today was a very laid back day. I slept until 8:00 a.m, then didn't get out of my pajamas until after 2:00 p.m. I put some black eyed peas and ham in the crockpot, and made some home made bread using a recipe from The Gluten Free Girl. It was ok, but I didn't have any club soda, so maybe that was why. Also, I have found that I have to use almost twice as much liquid as a recipe calls for when I am baking something up here. I don't know if it is the high altitude or the dry climate, or both, but I had to use more than a cup of water where the recipe only called for 1/2 cup. Oh well.

When FabGrandpa came home from work, I looked out the door and there was a herd of deer out there in the back yard. By the time I got my camera turned on, all but one had scampered off.

Project 365 Day 13

Ok, so Kelley asked to see me in the shirt, so here I am, trying to look all cool while I take my own photo in the mirror. Yep, today I had to turn in my badge and my key, so it is over and tomorrow I am going to sleep late, and probably not get out of my pajamas until at least 3:00 p.m.


And as an added bonus, here is FabGrandpa (on the right for those of you who don't know him), and his boss. He has to work until Wednesday, poor thing!

Project 365 Day 12

Tomorrow is the last day this season for me to wear this shirt. I have loved wearing it, I have loved the job I have been employed in since April. While I will be sad it is over, I am looking forward to some leisure time. In some ways it seems like it was just last week that I started the job, in others it has been such a long, long season. I hope I get to wear this shirt again next year.

Getting Ready To Go To Flagstaff

We will be leaving the North Rim at the end of next week, headed first to Flagstaff. I made a reservation for us at Greer's Pine Shadows RV Park. We had wanted to stay at J and H again, but they close for the winter on October 14th. So, I called Greer's last night and made a reservation.

We'll be in Flagstaff for five days. We want to do some touristy things while we're there. One thing I know for sure is on the list is the Lowell Observatory. We may drive down to Sedona one day to look around down there. I want to, no, I HAVE to get a pedicure and a hair cut. FabGrandpa wants to go to the Game Stop store. We'll probably go out to eat a couple of times. But mostly, we're just going to take a break.

At the end of the five days, we'll be going to Phoenix. Our friends, Charlie and Lynn, are managing a Christmas tree sales lot, and we'll be working for them starting around November 15, getting the lot ready for the opening day the day after Thanksgiving. We'll be there on the sales lot until December 24th. It's going to be a lot of hard work, I know, but we are looking forward to it. We've never done that kind of job before so it will be interesting.

So, that's the plan. If you were in Flagstaff for five days, what would you want to see?

Project 365 Day 11

The snowplow has been sitting over in the corner by itself all summer, just waiting. I don't think it will be much longer before he is in the spotlight again.

Project 365 Day 10

I have been working in campgrounds for 8 years now. I see all kinds of unique RV's in the course of doing my job. This morning while I was doing the rounds, I saw this one. I love the paint job on it. The people who own it are from Colorado, so when they remodeled their trailer, they painted it to match their license plate. Adorable!

Project 365 Day 9

This huge tree fell near the employee parking lot at the admin office some time in the past. It was cut so they could clear the area, but left this giant ponderosa skeleton laying there. I love the natural patterns in the log.

Project 365 Day 8

We went over to the camp store to cash in some bottles. These are the light fixures hanging from the ceiling there. Cool.

Online Sewing Lesson

Yes, even though I am living far away in a travel trailer, I still get those calls from my children asking "Mom, how do you...?" Most recently, my youngest daughter, Emily called and asked how to sew a simple decorative seam so she and her son, the FabGrandson Spencer, could make some handmade Christmas ornaments. (Does she take after her mom or what?) I was trying to explain how to do it, and was not making much progress, so here is a pictorial lesson for her (and anyone else who might like to know):

To make a whip stitch edge:

1. Start with the needle at the back of the project. Bring the thread through to the front:



2. Put the needle a small distance away, into the back of the project again:


3. Before you pull the thread all the way through, put the needle through the little loop, then pull the thread the rest of the way through the fabric:


4. Put the needle a small distance away, through the back of the project again:

5. Before you pull the thread all the way through, put the needle through the little loop, then pull the thread the rest of the way through the fabric, again:


6. And again:



7. And again:



8. And again:



9. This is how the edge seam looks when you get it all done:



Another way to sew a seam is the running stitch:

1. Insert the needle back and forth through both layers of fabric:


2. Pull the thread through and do it again. This what the finished running stitch seam will look like:

This will be Spencer's first sewing project. I can hardly wait to see the results. Have fun, Emily!