I am done whining, back to a recipe! I am certain you are thinking, “It’s about time!”

At the request of a kind follower, Dagmar, I am also putting up a few more pictures of Sedona and Oak Creek Canyon.  Tomorrow, I’ll share a few photos from our trip on the Verde Canyon Railroad, along the the beautiful Verde River.

The recipe may have a long name, but it couldn’t be easier to make. Tri Tip is a classic cowboy beef cut that is thick, nicely marbled, and very flavorful. It is the triangular cut at the tip of the sirloin.

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What the heck, people?!?  I pour my pain, my suffering, and my heart out to you people about my serious ankle injury and the one and only empathetic comment I get is one from my mother-in-law!?!  This just makes me sad. Not sad because my MIL commented – that made me happy and it was very kind and very sweet of her!  No, I am sad because none of the rest of you had anything nice or funny or even sarcastic to say. :-(

OK, I’m going to give you all another chance. Maybe I didn’t post nasty enough pictures of my foot. It’s actually looking worst now, so to get the sympathy I deserve… more photos for you to “man up” and comment on!
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Isn’t this view, oh so pretty!?!

And how about this one?

Yeah, not so much… this is my sprained ankle.

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We spent yesterday in Jerome with Connor. If you’re not familiar with Jerome, you can CLICK HERE to learn all about Arizona’s famous mining and ghost town – turned artist and tourist town.

Besides roaming around downtown, we also toured the Jerome State Park and checked out the mine shaft at The Audrey Head Frame Park.

This is the mine shaft you can look down… it is deeper than the Empire State building is tall… just a bit of a drop!

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Chayote squash is a member of the gourd family Cucurbitaceae, along with melons, cucumbers and squash. Chayote is a good source of amino acids and vitamin C. The pear-shaped green fruit has a thin skin and a flattened pit (seed) that can be eaten, but is generally discarded. Chayote may be eaten raw, but is usually cooked as a side dish. You’ll find it in the produce section sold individually in little plastic sleeves or wrapped in tissue paper, which helps protect the thin skin from being pierced or blemished.

Now that you know all about chayote, it’s time to tell you about the coyote. But first, a little history.

Our backyard is enclosed with 6-foot tall solid block wall. Inside that wall live quail, bunnies, ground squirrels, and (gasp) roof rats. I can live with the cute quail and bunnies, even though the quail are stupid and bad parents and they tick me off and the bunnies eat my flowers. I used to think the squirrels were cute until one snuck into my house.  Well, he didn’t actually sneak in, he walked right in through the open door. It was two years ago, and I’m still not over it. Here is what I posted on Facebook that day – October 26, 2009
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Happy Birthday, Dave!

Have fun golfing today! If there was ever a person who deserved a day off to relax and do the thing he most loves to do… it is you!

You claim you don’t want anything for your birthday, now what am I going to do about that?!? [Read more →]

I want to say thank you to each and every one of you who left me such kind, loving, and compassionate comments – not only here on the blog – but also on Facebook, by phone, and by email. So many of you have reached out and it means more than you will ever know.

And thank you to my sweet neighbors who brought me flowers and my friends who sent sympathy cards. A special thank you to my gorgeous BFF who came by yesterday to help ease my pain and who will help me later today at the reception, held here at the house, after the service. I am truly blessed with wonderful friends and family, I am beyond grateful.

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My parents lost the younger of their two sons and I lost my younger brother, Andy, earlier this week.  In truth, we lost him a long long time ago. And even saying that we lost him earlier this week – that isn’t quite accurate -  he died earlier this month, but we only learned of his death this past Tuesday.

That’s how it is when someone you love gives his or her life away; you never know what is going on with them until it is over or after it is far too late to offer help.

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Dave adores smoked salmon. This is a dish I make for him every now and again and I’m always on the lookout for new ideas. I recently  found an intriguing salad, featuring smoked salmon, in an old Gourmet magazine that I’m going to give a try. I will let you know how it turned out in a day or two… until then, I give you this classic – which we enjoyed with our Roasted Silkie Chicken a few nights ago.

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I’ve scrolled through all 1,577 of the comments left on this site and found that well over 30 of them are from my darling daughter, Marissa, saying something like this – “Send me some!”  “Save some for me.”  “Make that for me when I come home!”  and most recently, “I’ve decided I’m going to comment on every post of something I want, asking you to send it to me, until you actually do send me something.”  

What’s a mother to do? My girl used to live in Tucson, so it was easy to plan a quick trip and just drive down to stay overnight and cook for her and her darling roommates. But now she lives about 750 miles away in San Francisco.  And although I would love nothing more than to hop on a plane every few weeks and spend time in that gorgeous city with my gorgeous girl, that isn’t very practical or even possible.

So I’ve made muffins.  Muffins to freeze and ship to her.  Marissa, please share them with your new darling roommates and rest assured, they are made with enormous amounts of love. xoxo

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