book Club

I finally made it to a book club meeting on Wednesday. My good friend Gabrielle invited me to join her book club a couple of months ago and I hadn't had a chance to attend. I had a great time and all of the members were very nice and fun to talk to and drink wine with. I like reading, but in the past I've found it hard to find the time to read and to figure out which books to read. I was hoping that the book club would force me to make time to read and to also provide ideas of what books to read. So far joining the book club has accomplished both.

For those who have the same trouble trying to figure out what books to read I thought I'd try to write about books I'm reading in my book club. The book we read last month was "Honeymoon With My Brother" by Franz Wisner. The author wrote about his experience being left by his fiance on his wedding day and then deciding to give up his house and career to travel the world with his brother. Most of the members in the book club enjoyed the book. I felt the writing was a little choppy, but the message I garnered from the book was good. Difficult things that happen to you in your life can actually force you to take steps to make your life better and more fulfilling.

I would recommend "Honeymoon With My Brother". You can find more information about this book at http://www.honeymoonwithmybrother.com/.

endangered Century Farm

I grew up on my families 500 acre (formerly 2500 acre before I was born) ranch in Roseburg Oregon, Laurel Crest Ranch. Some of my best memories are driving cattle with my grandad, having grand adventures with all of my cousins and eating my grandmothers fried venison, mashed potatoes, pies and cinnamon rolls. I feel I was one of the luckiest kids on the planet to have the experience of growing up on the family ranch. All of my experiences are ingrained in my soul and help make me who I am today.

The family ranch is now down to about 20 acres give or take. My grandmother still lives there and so does my father and my aunt and uncle, but all of the livestock and the acreage are gone. The ranch has sadly been replaced by development over the years. Taxes and the cost of running the ranch for my family just didn't make sense anymore, so over the years they sold pieces of the ranch. Now you'll find large large parcels with houses, subdivisions, a movie theater, banks, businesses, a retirement home, and a mall all where I used to ride my horse with my cousins and have picnics in large green fields under the maple trees.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not against development. It's just sad for me because of all of the great memories I have. The ranch is just not the ranch anymore. I would have loved for my daughter to have experienced the family ranch like I did.

I read an article this morning in the Bend Bulletin, "This rancher and his farm earn a distinction – by staying home". It made me reminisce about my own families ranch and how much I miss it. The story was about the Reads 2300 acre ranch that has been in their family for over 100 years and how they are trying to keep it in the family. The "Century Farm" is becoming very rare in our nation today and in fact the Read Ranch is the only "Century Farm" left in the Central Oregon region. I recommend reading the article. It is a great American story and I hope the Reads are able to keep their farm in their family.

blazers Deja Vu

Wow, Greg Oden will miss most of his rookie season with the Portland Trail Blazers due to a knee injury. I was shocked and very disappointed yesterday when I heard the news. Read the SI.com article. Not only for the Blazers and the fans, but for Greg Oden. He seems like a great guy and the Blazers really needed a player and leader like him after enduring years of the selfish Jail-Blazers.

Does this sound like Deja Vu? I remember the Sam Bowie fiasco back in 1984 when the Blazers passed on Michael Jordan to take Sam Bowie who ended up being injured most of his short uninspiring career? Are the Blazers cursed? Could this happen again with Greg Oden? I was so excited when I heard the Blazers won the draft lottery and were going to select Oden. I saw him lead Ohio State to the NCAA championship last year and he was amazing. I initially thought the Blazers made the correct choice selecting Oden over Kevin Durant. Now I think everyone is second guessing that decision.

It sounds like the microfracture knee injury Oden has is very difficult to recover from. The upside though is that there have been players that recovered successfully from it, one being Phoenix center Amare Stoudemire. I hope for the best for Greg Oden and and the Blazers. Oden is young and can hopefully recover and lead the Blazers back to the playoffs. I guess only time will tell.

old Family Recipe - Tacos

I love food and love to eat and one of my favorite childhood memories is pigging out on my mothers wonderful tacos. The family taco recipe originated with my great-grandmother and we believe she obtained the recipe from her housekeeper when she lived in Arizona many-many years ago.

Even though I love to eat I'm not much of a cook. I believe this is because both my grandmothers and mother were such great cooks anytime I ever cooked anything it just didn't quite taste the same. Well, the other night I decided to cook for my mom. She had foot surgery a couple of weeks ago and can't get around very well, so I thought it was my turn to cook for her. We hadn't had her tacos forever and I was craving them, so I decided to whip up a batch. They turned out great and tasted so good!! Most people probably haven't had tacos like this so I decided to place the recipe here on my blog. Enjoy!!!

Ingredients:
3 large tomatoes
1/2 large onion
oregano
salt
1/2 head of lettuce
grated cheese (I buy the pre-grated 4 cheese blend)
1 pkg of 24 corn tortillas (our family usually eats 3 to 4 tacos a piece)
2 cans sliced black olives
1 pkg of hamburger
coconut oil

Prepare ingredients for tacos. Dice tomatoes and place in a bowl. Chop onion and place in bowl with tomatoes. Add oregano and salt to taste. Mix together. Makes a salsa for the tacos. Chop up the lettuce small enough to add to tacos. If you didn't purchase pre-grated cheese then grate the cheese.

Fry the tacos. Heat coconut oil about 1/8" in a large frying pan. Take a small handful of hamburger and squish it on half of a corn tortilla so the tortilla can still be folded in half. Do not fold tortilla until you are ready to place in the frying pan because they tear easily. When ready to fry, hold each edge of the tortilla and place the middle where the tortilla will crease in the oil until it folds easily. Then sit the taco in the oil on one side to cook. Use tongs to flip the taco to the other side to finish cooking. Remove taco from the frying pan and place in a large rectangle baking dish lined with paper towels. Do this for each taco.

Filling tacos. Once all tacos are fried, fill each taco with tomato salsa mixed earlier, lettuce, cheese and olives. You can add hot taco sauce also. Yummy! Now I'm hungry :)

Enjoy the tacos! We sure did.