32 Years Ago Today

On January 7th 1979, 32 years ago today at 4pm, I, at the tender age of 18, married my high school sweetheart, "J". My first love. My first wedding.

It was a beautiful cold winter's day in the mountains just outside of Las Vegas, Nevada. Our ceremony and reception was held at 7700 ft above sea level at the beautiful and rustic Mt. Charleston Lodge. I just found their website, and much to my surprise, it looks the same as it did way back then! Now I want to go visit and check it out for myself. Have a drink, take in the view. Reminisce on my youth.

It was a casual wedding and reception held in their big open A-frame restaurant/bar room. Such a grand view of Kyle Canyon! Snow on the deck where the ceremony was held outside. Beautiful blue and white flowers adorned the wedding arch where we gathered and said our vows. Our family and friends huddled around us, shivering in the January cold.

My Mom cried and was joyful at the same time. My Dad was busy buying everyone drinks. My best friend "B" was my maid of honor. J's brother, "C" was our best man. That was the whole wedding party. Just the four of us. No drama. No trauma. Just 4 friends helping each other through life.

I wore a light blue gown (my favorite color at the time) that I made myself on an ancient long-bobbin sewing machine that I bought just for that purpose. My groom wore a white turtle-neck sweater and a spiffy blue sport coat and light blue trousers. He was so young and handsome! We were so in love!

I'd post photos of the wedding. I do have them, somewhere. But I can't find the album right now. It's here somewhere in my clutter.

It was the seventies! We were both in college. On winter break. In love with each other and in love with love itself.

Our wedding reflected ourselves, our tastes and our view of the world. Small and casual.

My maid of honor's father was a professional photographer, so his family's gift to us was his photography services, proofs and prints of our wedding. So nice.

A friend of my in-laws made wedding cakes. So her gift to us was our yummy chocolate wedding cake with white frosting decorated with bright blue flowers to match our wedding clothes and flowers. Best wedding cake I've ever tasted. So special to have a friend make it.

Our flowers were simple, inexpensive daisies. Daisies, some dyed blue, some natural white. I remember that the florist had to deliver them on Saturday, because they were not open on Sunday, our wedding day. We kept them in the cold garage overnight to keep them fresh.

Instead of a formal sit-down dinner we opted for a lovely (and delicious!) buffet line of hors d' oeuvres and sandwiches. It was great! Everyone loved it. Everyone could sit wherever they wanted. There was no seating chart. People mingled and gravitated to whomever they pleased.

The lodge had a band playing on the weekends, and this was a Sunday afternoon. So the band played for us and our guests. We took pictures. We danced. We ate, drank and laughed.

It started to snow. So many guests were concerned about getting back down the mountain safely. The party ended pretty early. Just our immediate families remained. Then we gathered our things and ventured out to a friend's cabin on the mountain for our wedding night. They let us have it for the night. A cozy, very small, rustic cabin. Perfect for us! We built a roaring fire in the fireplace, cuddled and celebrated the night away. We were young, in love and just married!

Our honeymoon was our drive back to Austin, Texas to go back to school. This time we took our time and visited all of the tourist places along the way. The Grand Canyon, the Petrified Forest, Carlsbad Caverns, Sandia Peak Tram. We had a wonderful trip and a wonderful time. Good memories for me.

Such memories. So young. So long ago. So much has changed since then. Seems like at least two lifetimes ago. A lot can happen in 32 years.

No regrets ♥.


© Copyright 2011 Mountain Harvest Basket

Future Banana Bread

Future Banana Bread or Artistic Still Life Display??


My house will smell lovely with the scent of freshly baked banana bread. My taste buds will thrill at the sweetness and delicate crunch of that first warm bite.

That is if I can make the time to actually get into my kitchen and bake it.

Soon, say I. I will do it "soon".



© Copyright 2010 Mountain Harvest Basket

Whispering Jessie's Song

I named my sweet Jessie kitty after the John Denver song "Whispering Jessie/Jesse". She has always been a loving and free spirit, like the woman he sings about in the song. It is a beautiful song for my beautiful baby and friend. It makes me cry, especially today. Please enjoy the music and words. Turn your speakers up.




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Whispering Jessie ~ My Sweet Baby

Whispering Jessie Noble
October 1, 1992 – December 12, 2010

My sweet, precious kitten. My very best friend, confidant, and companion. She is the most beautiful of kitties in the whole Universe of kitties, and I told her so every chance I got. She is a sweet, strong and brave girl. She loves me so much, she trusts me with everything, and I love her with all of my heart. There will never be another kitty quite like my sweet Jessie. There is a huge hole in my heart today. A very sad day for me. I will be sad for a long, long time to come. I miss her so.

I named her Whispering Jessie after the John Denver song. Jessie always purred very loudly when happy or when comforting me, but she mewed and meowed in a very soft, whispering voice. Her quiet gentle movements around our home will be missed. Her presence in my daily life filled my heart with love, light and warmth. She taught me so much about love and life. About friendship and commitment, even when times got tough. She taught me to play and to laugh and be happy. She always comforted me when I was sad, upset or crying. She would come to me and purr and rub her face on me, my leg, my hand or my face. Any part of me that she could reach. She was strong and a fighter when it came to adversity. She loved me and trusted me so. Her eyes were bright and deep. Her sweet soul radiated for all to see.

She went quickly and died in my arms. Rest and be at peace now my sweet baby. I love you with all of my heart and soul. Come to me in my dreams and meditations. Visit with me and comfort me. Guide me and love me for all of my days and nights. I know we will be together again. Please let me know it is you when you come to me again. I love you, I love you, I love you more than anyone will ever know. You are the most beautiful of kitties in all of the Universe of kitties. Ever there was.

All my Love Forever,
Mama Jen

©Copyright 2010 Mountain Harvest Basket

Help to Protect Our Pets' Health

My Sweet Friend and Companion

This is an important issue to me, even more important today since now two of my kitty Jessie’s medications are compounded and created specifically for her. “Standard” pills or capsules in “standard” doses will not work for her or many other pets.

I’ve copied this email letter from the compounding pharmacists organization, and printed it below for you to read. I have forwarded their letter to my main veterinarian and to my pet loving friends. I plan to forward it on to other local vets here in the mountain area.

It's easy to follow their instructions on how to send an email form letter to your congressmen as there is a link at the bottom of the email that takes you to a form letter that we can send. Just fill in the blanks provided at the website with your own name and address and they will send an email letter from you to your local congressmen. It only takes about 1 minute to complete this. You can tell them to send you a copy of the letter they send out for your records.

Please join me in supporting and protecting our compounding pharmacies. I use their services and products for my own hormone supplements too. They have improved my life and now my sweet Jessie’s more than I can express.

We need to have the flexibility and convenience of specially prepared medicines for ourselves and for our pets who trust us to take care of them.

Thanks & Love,
Farmer Jen & Whispering Jessie

Here’s the link to use if the one below doesn’t work: https://secure2.convio.net/iacprx/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=219


Text from the compounding pharmacists email letter:


Protect Your Pet's Medications and Help Save Your Best Friends Life

Do you share your home with a pet? Whether feathered or furry, you know they’re an important part of your family and depend on you for love and care.

Part of that care is making sure your pet has access to the medicines and healthcare that’s right for them whenever illness strikes. The International Academy of Compounding Pharmacists (IACP) wants you to know that there’s something you can do – TODAY – to help guarantee that.

Over the past several months, IACP has worked with Congress to correct a discrepancy in the Food and Drug Administration’s policies on prescriptions for pets. The FDA has declared that preparing compounded medicines from pure pharmaceutical ingredients is inappropriate and even illegal. Why they have that policy is unclear, especially since the Agency recognizes the necessity and appropriateness of pure ingredients for human prescriptions.

And that doesn’t make sense. Your pharmacist needs to be able to use bulk products to customize the right dose for your pet. After all, a small kitten has markedly different medicine needs than a large dog, a parakeet has different needs than an iguana.

Yet, the FDA thinks the only “right” way to customizes medicines for pets is to make pharmacists use commercially available tablets or capsules that may contain other ingredients, fillers, or dyes that your pet can’t tolerate.

What can you do to help fix this problem?

Thanks to IACP’s work on your behalf as a pet owner, we have a formal letter from Congress going to the FDA. IACP has worked hard to secure bipartisan support of this inquiry. Congressman Charlie Gonzalez (D-TX) and Congresswoman Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) have agreed to be the lead sponsors and have already begun working with their Congressional colleagues to obtain as many signatures as possible. The more Congressmen that sign the letter, the more powerful it will be.

As soon as you can, contact your member of the U.S. House of Representatives and ask them to sign onto the Gonzalez/Blackburn Veterinary Compounding Letter. Tell them to contact either Cara Dalmolin in Congresswoman Marsha Blackburn’s office at (202) 225-2811 or Julie Hart in Congressman Charlie Gonzalez’s office at (202) 225-3236.

To make this as easy as possible for you, IACP has also prepared an Action Alert e-mail that will automatically send this request to your Congressman. You and your family can each send an individual e-mail by going to the following link – URL here

It only takes a few minutes to call or send an e-mail about this important issue. With your support, we will have as many Congressional signatures as possible. That will show the FDA that their unfounded and questionable position on the use of bulk chemicals/APIs in veterinary compounding is under serious legislative scrutiny.

Background About This Issue

The FDA has asserted (and in one case issued an injunction against a pharmacy on this issue) that custom preparations of medicine made pursuant to a veterinarian’s prescription cannot use active pharmaceutical ingredients (API), also referred to as bulk ingredients. They insist that compounding for animals must be done from finished (not bulk) product, even if this eliminates treatment options or negatively affects the quality of the medication. This interpretation will have a direct impact on your ability to compound veterinary products from APIs.

This position has far-reaching and negative implications for animal health as this would mean that most compounding could not be done or could not be done effectively. For example, converting a medication into a sterile injectable for a dog that is unable to swallow medication cannot be done from a finished pill; making a cream that is rubbed and absorbed into a cat’s ear must be made from API; and preparing medication for tropical fish eliminates the option of using finished product that has fillers that would contaminate their living environment.

The letter being developed asks that FDA withdraw their earlier guidance on this issue and allow an open comment period before its provisions are finalized. It is imperative that affected parties (veterinarians, pharmacists, pet owners, etc.) have an opportunity to comment on such a far-reaching guidance document.

FDA’s current position on this issue adversely affects pet and animal owners and veterinarians. It also adversely affects compounding pharmacies that make these veterinary medicines per prescription, the vast majority of which are small, family-owned businesses.

Click here to take action!



© Copyright 2010 Mountain Harvest Basket

Artisan Bread Stuffing Casserole

*Note ~ this post was originally written in November 2009 and is reposted here from my MotherHen Jen bread blog because I don't have time to write anything new today, and I wanted to share this easy and fresh bread stuffing recipe with you for Thanksgiving. Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!


For many years I purchased the box of dried up bread pieces marketed as "seasoned bread stuffing mix" and added my own fresh ingredients to make a bread stuffing casserole to serve at Thanksgiving dinner. It was tasty enough to please my guests who liked bread stuffing. Me, I never much liked bread stuffing. It didn't have the fresh homemade flavor that I thought it should have. It was either too dry or too mushy for my taste.

Well, this year I decided I could do better than the boxed stuffing mix. So I created a recipe using my own MotherHen Jen artisan breads as the base and then added my other fresh ingredients to make a wonderful and tasty bread stuffing casserole. You can also stuff the turkey with it, but I prefer it as a casserole side dish as I usually stuff my turkeys with a rice & meat based stuffing recipe that was handed down to me from my Mom.


This recipe is flexible on the amounts of fruits, nuts and vegetables that you add in. Add more of what you like best. The broth and juice can be adjusted to your liking as well, depending on whether you like a more moist or a drier stuffing.


It tastes great straight from the oven, warm & moist with a crisp top, but I think it tastes best when served with some nice turkey meat and good homemade turkey gravy ladled over the top.


Here's the recipe:

Bread Stuffing Casserole ~ by MotherHen Jen
for Thanksgiving or Anytime


12-14 oz MHJ Rustic Wheat Bread, (1 small loaf) day old, cut/crumbled into ½ inch cubes
1 C (2 ribs) Celery, chopped
1 C Apple, unpeeled & chopped
½ C Walnuts, chopped
3 Tbs Butter, melted
2 Tbs Olive Oil
1 Egg
½ C Chicken or Turkey Broth
¼-½ C Apple Juice, Apple Cider, Orange Juice or Water
Black Pepper, Cinnamon, Oregano, Basil


Preheat oven to 350 degrees, Butter or Oil a 2 Quart Casserole Dish

1. In a large bowl, gently toss together bread cubes, celery, apple & walnuts.

2. Stir together melted butter and olive oil. Pour over bread mixture and toss gently to coat.

3. Season to taste with black pepper, cinnamon, herbs (fresh or dried)

4. Add egg to cool chicken broth and stir to mix. Add juice and stir again.

5. Drizzle broth mixture over bread mixture and toss lightly to coat.

6. Spoon (use hands) stuffing into the prepared 2 qt casserole dish and bake covered at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake an additional 5-10 minutes for a crisp top. Serve with turkey or chicken and gravy.


Variations:

Substitute other nuts for walnuts or omit nuts

Add raisins, dried cranberries or other chopped dried fruit

Use MHJ Artisan White Bread or Egg Bread instead of Rustic Wheat Bread (or any other loaf of your favorite artisan bread)

To make the savory version, substitute chopped onion for the apples, substitute water or broth for the juice, season with garlic powder instead of cinnamon.

Please tell me about any other delicious variations you create for this stuffing recipe or any recipes using MotherHen Jen artisan bread.

Enjoy!





© Copyright 2010 Mountain Harvest Basket

Best. Cherry. Pie. Ever!

Leaky, but luscious, Cherry Pie

First off, this is a VERY belated blog post. I made this cherry pie way back in mid July at the peak of the summer fruit season. Hot days and balmy nights. The whole summer thing. I've just been so busy since then, that today, over 3 months later, is the first chance I got to compose this post.

I've made cherry pies before, but only from canned tart cherries. This is the first time I have ever made a cherry pie from fresh cherries. This time I had enough fresh fruit available and a very handy cherry pitter to make the best cherry pie I have ever tasted. Ever.

This is the first year that I could use fresh sour cherries from my young Montmorency Cherry tree. (I call her Mary Montmorency.) She gave me just over one cup of fresh tart cherries.


(Mary) Montmorency Tart Cherry Harvest 2010

Well, one cup of cherries is not enough to make a whole pie, so I also used a combination of Bing Cherries and Van Cherries from my sweet dual graft cherry tree. Usually I just eat these nice sweet cherries out of hand for snacking, but this year my dual graft tree produced enough for snacking and some baking projects. I had a bit over 3 cups of fresh cherries, tart and sweet ones combined, for my pie.

Combination of Montmorency, Bing & Van Cherries for pie

For some reason my pie crust turned out especially flaky (not sure what I did right to make it that way), and the combination of cherries made this pie taste wonderful. I can only hope to bake another one just as good as this one with next summer's cherry harvest. If not, well, I have my cherry pie memories to savor.

Tart/Sweet Fruit Filling, Flaky Crust

Looks good enough to eat!


Till next summer's cherry harvest these photo memories will have to do!

© Copyright 2010 Mountain Harvest Basket