Glorious Okinawan Soba!

Once or twice a year I have to break down and spend the hours it takes to make Okinawan Soba, probably one of my all-time favorite foods.  I spent the last three evenings preparing and precooking.  Here's the culmination.  So yummy!

If you're curious, the pink and white stuff is kamaboko (steamed fish cake), the red stuff is kizami shoga (pickled ginger).  Also, there's head-on shrimp and glazed pork belly.  The pork alone took about 3 hours to prepare, but is ridiculously sweet and delicious.  All on top of buckwheat noodles.

Next time I'll try making the noodles from scratch too.  The right noodles can't be purchased.  In Okinawa the dough is prepared with wood ash water; wood ashes are soaked over night then the water is skimmed off and used as the wet ingredient for the noodle dough.  I know, it sounds weird, but the taste is amazing!

An Avid Hunter!

Peggy is treating a friend's dog and goes to their house once a week to give injections and advice.  She insisted that I come along this week, so I did.  Here's what I saw:

 

This room also has a 12 foot croc on the floor!

They're planning to add a tree behind the Mountain Lion so it won't look like he's attacking from the sky.

All these animals are real except the rhino in the first pic.  Since they are endangered it was a "green" hunt.  The hunter shot him with a tranquilizer then an army of wardens, game managers and a vet take measurements, make medical treatments and samples and then they cast the head and neck.  The hunter then gives the rhino a shot to revive him and runs away to safe place.  Fast!  The mount is an exact mould of the casting taken and I wouldn't have been able to tell if they hadn't told me!

Half the mounts are in the house, then there's another large out-building with a room full.  There's way more than pictured here.  I just couldn't take pics of everything.

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Our Girls in the news (again)

Our sports nuts have been busy! After finishing up the High School volleyball season, Klara joined a competitive club team, joined a recreational club team and started coaching little kids for the Parks and Rec program here in Payson. Klara's skills are developing nicely and she was recently mentioned in the newspaper after some nice remarks from her coach. Here's the article:

"Go Girls Get Going In Show Low 
By Max Foster 
The Payson team entry in the White Mountain-based Go-Girl volleyball club program continues to turn heads. 
Only weeks after rejoining the Go Girl program and racking up a second place tournament finish, the Rim Country team scored yet another silver medal during a six-team tournament Feb. 23 in Show Low. 
Even though the tournament had three fewer teams that the earlier one, coach Arnold Stonebrink was pleased with the runner-up finish. 
“I felt the result was more impressive because out of our eight players, only three were not freshmen,” he said. “Also we had only one middle hitter; our other middle position was filled by committee – four different girls played the position at various times.” 
After compiling a 3-2 record in the tournament’s pool play, Payson took a No. 2 seed and a bye in the first round of bracket play. 
In the semifinals, Payson beat Megan’s Team 21-19 in the first set, but lost 21-18 in the second. In the third and deciding set, Payson won 15-3. 
The “W” propelled Payson into the championship against No. 1 seeded Lady D’s. 
The first set of the gold medal match quickly turned into the mother of all nail bitters as Lady D’s rallied from a tie score to reach set point, 20-17. 
But Payson roared back with three straight points to force overtime. In OT, however, Lady D’s survived the thriller, 22-10. 
The second set turned into a Payson highlight show as the Rim Country net crew ran amuck during a 21-13 win. 
The rubber match to decide the tournament title was a nip and tuck showdown played side out, side out, side out, Stonebrink said. 
Late in the going, Lady D’s held a double championship point, 14-12, advantage, but struggled to score the winning point. 
After a Payson side out, Lacey Standifird’s two service winners and Chloee Connolly’s kill gave the team championship point, 15-14. Payson, however, couldn’t seal the deal as Lady D’s scored the next three points to win 17-15. 
The loss didn’t dampen the enthusiasm Stonebrink has for the young team, “They posted varsity-like numbers, served very efficiently, received well and hit a tremendous .246.” 
Individually, Kaitlyn Wessel paced the team in passing and serve receiving stringing together a 2.65 average (out of 3). Stonebrink calls the mark “A tremendous average to maintain for a whole tournament.”  
He also contends the 2.60 average of freshman Klara Sorensen was equally as impressive, “She moved her feet well, got into perfect position and held perfect form time and time again.” The coach calls her performance, “The biggest and most pleasant surprise of the day.” 
Shayna Neal also drew praise from Stonebrink for her outstanding hitting that included 34 kills in 69 attempts. “She also hit a phenomenal .362, tops among the hitters,” he said. 
Kelsee Stonebrink, the coach’s daughter, hit .400 while playing setter and was second in kills with 21 on 50 attempts. She also finished with just one error and turned in an exceptional serving performance that included 16 aces. 
The Payson team returns to the Go-Girl circuit in two weeks at yet another White Mountain area tournament." 

The coach later told me that a 3.0 average is perfect and is rarely obtained. 

Charlotte had a great season in Cross Country and joined the same competitive volleyball club as Klara. She's also started track for the school team just before spring break started and is loving it. Running is really her thing. Here's a picture of her from the newspaper with other team members after winning their meet:

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Catching up

I've been neglecting the blog lately, so here's a little catch-up of some of our exploits over the past few months.  Of course, there was more, but I can't blog everything.  After all, what would we talk about when we get together...YOU?  I don't think so!

Cody thinks this is his own personal feeder.  Poor Pandora wonders when she gets hers.

When the truck is dead, you gotta make do.  What else is a Lincoln for?

The Lincoln rolls over 100,000 miles during my early morning commute to the Valley.

How to rid yourself of a good-for-nothing rooster.

The girls are still crazy about sports.  Klara is especially fond of Volleyball and played on a club team as well as playing in quite a few summer tournaments and attending volleyball camp.  Here she is making a bump.

Charlotte played club ball too, but she'd prefer Cross Country and Soccer.  She's number 5.

We met with family up in St. George, Utah to attend the sealing of Scott and Kari's little ones.  While there we took in the Aladdin show at the Tuachan.

We also did some wheelin' at Sand Hollow State Park while we were in St. George.  Eric brought the truggy he built and we brought our Jeep.

Eric crawling up a 4 foot ledge as Scott spots him.

Charlotte gives her first 4H judging oral.  She did great!

Charlotte and her lamb (closest to camera) getting some showing tips at a 4H meeting.

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Rodeo Time

A couple of weekends ago we went to the spring rodeo here in Payson.  It was a lot of fun and we went both Friday and Saturday nights.  

Charlotte wanted to do Mutton Busting, but we didn't know about it so we didn't get her pre-registered.  Saturday night she really had her heart set on it so Peggy took her down to the announcer's stand and got her wait-listed in case any of the registered kids didn't show up.

 

A few minutes after that the gal running the Mutton Busting came running after Charlotte and told her she'd get her in somehow.  Charlotte was stoked.  She's been hitting me up to buy her some cowgirl boots for at least a month, but they're quite pricey so I've been resisting.  She immediately asked if I would buy her some boots if she won the Mutton Busting.  I agreed.

Well...she didn't quite win and was crazy upset that she couldn't get boots.  I caved and got them for her anyway.  I hope they last a really long time!  Here she is with her boots and the Mutton Busting belt buckle she won.

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Washington DC, Day 4

Today Peggy took the afternoon off and we cruised down the river for visit to Mount Vernon, George Washington's Plantation.  It was a gorgeous bit of property (and by 'bit', I mean 8000 acres).  We weren't allowed to take pictures inside the mansion, so you'll just have to Google them.

We came back to the hotel for a rest while Peggy attended an evening lecture, then had a late Birthday supper for Klara at the steakhouse.  It was fabulous and Klara chowed down a 24oz. porterhouse!

Across the bowling Green in front of the Mansion

Washington's Tomb

Peggy and Friends

Exploring some of Washington's out-buildings

Klara rescues a kid

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Washington DC, Day 3

Today we ditched Peggy again and went on an all day tour of DC.  We hit most of the best spots.  It was a long day, but very educational.  We'll have to come back for more in-depth tours of the White House and Capitol building.

Capitol Building

World War II Memorial

Jefferson Memorial

Martin Luther King Memorial

Korean War Memorial

Lincoln Memorial

Vietnam Memorial

White House

Old Post Office

Air Force Memorial

Marine Corps Memorial

Tomb of the Unknowns

John  F. Kennedy's Grave

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Washington DC, Day 2

Today while Peggy was in class the girls and I took a water taxi across the Potomac River to Alexandria, Virginia.  Alexandria used to be part of the District of Columbia until it was returned to VA by congress in 1847.

We wandered around the old part of town, read historical markers, shopped and ate lunch.  It threatened to rain the whole time, but I guess the clouds rained themselves out earlier in the day.

Water Taxi ride, Alexandria in the background

Big flag!

We went to the Temple!  ( The George Washington Masonic Memorial, actually)

I love George and that quote!

Waiting for the water taxi to take us back.

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