This Makes No Sense At All

I picked up my James Beard Cookbook the other day, looking for his curry sauce recipe, which I had not made for several years. In the fold of the book was this piece of yellow lined paper with a handwritten recipe for rum cake. The last time I had made this recipe was maybe 30 years ago, and origin of the recipe long forgotten. We had a need for dessert to share in a couple of days, and on seeing this recipe I was fixated on preparing it. This is not something you want to share with anyone who might be fighting an alcohol problem, but outside of that, delicious, though calorie laden. I was asked to share the recipe, so here it is: No photo - we ate it before I thought of memorializing it. Rum Cake: The cake: 1 cup chopped pecans (optional) 1 package yellow cake mix 1 package instant vanilla pudding 4 eggs 1/2 cup cold water 1/2 cup vegetable oil 1/2 cup Meyers Rum (any strong flavored dark rum will do) The Glaze: 1/4 cup butter 1/4 cup water 1/2 cup rum 1 cup sugar...

Guemes Albergue Camino trails have been an almost annual event for us, but in 2014 a mysterious period of severe leg pains struck Susan, limiting her walking to a hundred yards or so for a while. Throughout 2014 and early this year, she has gradually been extending her distance, more thru ibuprofen and walking through the pain than anything else. When she was able to do nine miles, we decided we were ready to attempt another camino trip, with no commitment as to how far each day, or how far we would get. Camino Norte looked possible, with short enough stages so that we keep most days at 20 km or less, and a max of 25 km. Rest days would be taken when ever we thought appropriate. That's the background. This post is about the facts of the trip you might need to know. The experiences will have to be another story. The spring trip was in May - June from Irun to Bilbao. The fall trip was in Sept - Oct from Bilbao to Vilalba. On the plane trip into Bilbao for the 2nd trip, our c...

Walking through the French Quarter A few posts ago I wrote of This Ain't No Mouse Music and our Louisiana addiction that was displaced by long distance hiking. We've been restless this year, grounded from hiking, no walks through Spain or France. When we spotted a cheap flight to New Orleans, that old obsession beckoned. Five days. Arrive Weds midnight and return Monday afternoon. Our plan was a musical pilgrimage with days to be determined. A 3 day Jazzy Pass for $9 gave us unlimited trips on buses and streetcars (provided they came). Thurs 8:30pm Rock & bowl Chubby Carrier - did this  Fri 6pm dba Tuba Skinny       8pm Snug Harbor Maria Muldaur 8 and 10pm - did the 8pm Sat 6pm Three Muses Hot Club of New Orleans - did this     10pm Tipitinas Art Neville and Treme Brass Band - did Mulates instead Sun 5:30 Rock & bowl Bruce Daigrepont fais do do. - did this This all coincided with a few days of sun and an arctic blast of wi...

When Susan and I are training, or these days, when Susan is still recovering and my body needs to walk, we have a local walk of about ten miles. The incentive is a local bakery, five miles away. A croissant and a coffee primes us for the return. The bakery is at 300 feet elevation, we are at 1100, so mostly down for the first half, and up all the way back. This is a two or three times a week trip, so we seek out little variations, always keeping in mind the distance to the nearest restroom. That means keeping tabs on any construction going on midway either direction, and the associated porta-potty. One of the variants goes down the bear route, where three wood sculptured bears are to be along the way.   This last walk was my day for yards with character or at least interest: They continue up the driveway, representing many happy hours We are having a drought year, so this brown metal sculpture blends right in. A block or two further on This rout...

This sock had elasticized top Chances are, you hot weather hikers have seen something like this. That's my leg you're looking at, yesterday's view, and not much of a concern to me since I knew what it was. The first encounter was a scare - on Susan's leg while hiking in France, and we had no idea what it was. Just it came on while hiking in very hot weather, and was right under the elasticized band of her sock, warm to the touch and puffy, but not painful. A wider, more brilliant band than you see here on my leg. A few days later, the whole foot started swelling in a major way, all the way from toes to half way up the shin, and extremely painful. That ended up with us going to emergency, where a severe infection was diagnosed, treatable with antibiotics, but we had to cancel the trip and it took two weeks for the swelling to subside. The doctors were unable to determine point of entry for the infection. They did x-rays for hairline fractures - none. Final though...

I love hiking and traveling. Each trip brings experiences I want to remember forever. I'm sort of shy though, about assuming others will share the same feelings. Galapagos is the exception, and possibly Torres del Paine . If a trip to the Galapagos Islands is in your realm of possibilities, do your best to make it happen. The Galapagos part of our expedition was an organized two week trip by Wilderness Travel . We added on Otavalo and Quito, Ecuador on our own, since we had gone so far anyway. Since we've got back, I've looked at a number of Galapagos trip offerings from various companies. There is a huge range of content, and I'll make some comments later on what to look for in a trip. But... first look at a video I put together that is just a series of images from the trip, set to music. Watch it and then decide whether to read further: Galapagos 2014 - two weeks on the Mary Anne Almost the entire Galapagos Islands are in the National Park, and tourism is stri...

More tales from grounded hikers. Susan can walk a few blocks but our normal long distance treks are temporarily on hold. So... our meantime activities. Take my word for it, youngster rats are sort of cute. They're also pretty fast, so don't have a photo to prove it. Roof rats are endemic in this area, at least since the white man arrived. The city even has a department to help control them - vector control. I used to be fairly tolerant if I saw evidence of rats outside. However a number of years ago we got back from a trip and found them inside our house, happily co-existing with our two cats, and sleeping in our bed under the pillow. Susan was definitely not happy. I was not pleased either. That was the end of tolerance. Vector Control came out, pointed out my failings, but gave me instruction. I've thoroughly rat-proofed the house, and rigorously inspect it several times a year for any evidence of rats. This year the neighbors report rat resurgence. Our compost pile, ...