A Uke-filled Easter

What a fantastic day!

Went cross-country skiing again at Mt. Bachelor!  We met up with a few ukers for skiing, tailgating, and playing music.  Perfect warm weather, soft snow, delish food, and good times.

Emil was crazy enough to bike up, and I met him there with all his ski gear.  24 miles uphill.  Sounds so much fun. *sarcasm.*  He beat his best time last year, and this ride was his first time out!  2 hours and 24 minutes.  Way to go!

Victory!

Emil and Linda

"Bad Moon Rising"

Singing another classic song! "Ripple" by The Grateful Dead.

Love everyone's big smiles.

Nancy's washboard and measuring spoons.

As we were coming down from the mountain, our good pals, Bob and Debi, called to hang out.  Homemade pizzas at their house.  Yes, please!

Bacon, caramelized onions, red bell peppers, fresh mozz.  Hello!

After we tuned up the ukes, Debi suggested we sing some gospel-like songs like "What a Friend We Have in Cheeses," and "Five Foot Nine from Palestine."  Fun!  It's all part of her Uke Easter festivities.  Then, she suggested we go Easter Caroling.  Why not?   

Serenading all the neighbors.

Me and Debi!

We sang at five houses, and it'll now be a tradition every Easter.  Looking forward to it already!

Skiing and Uke-ing

We uked. We skied. We're sore, at least I am.

Our uke group played a gig at Mt. Bachelor Nordic Center today for their Aloha Sunday festivities.  What fun! In return for an hour of music, they gave us a free day pass and equipment rental.

12 people in our group!  100 members in the entire uke group.

Hula Hooping to the music

Our playlist varied from The Beach Boys to Bob Dylan.  Quite a wide range, and most songs were sing-a-longs.

After the music, we quickly changed clothes, grabbed rental equipment, and were off!  As usual, I walked down the first hill as a "warm up."  HA!  Come on ... it's been three years since I've skied and fallen down many times at Russian Jack.  Note to Lori:  Remember going down the hill again and again and again?

Mt. Bachelor is behind me.

Toes, Knees, Nose, in a line.  "Tony Knowles" is the way to remember it.

We skied for 1 1/2 hours, and I didn't wipe out!  What a relief.  It was probably the inappropriate ski clothing motivating me not to fall.  My winter ski stuff doesn't fit anymore, so I wore yoga pants and Emil's bike shirt.  Would've been cold if I got wet from falling!  Thankfully, the weather was not too cold.

Note:  I'm not bragging at all about my beginner skiing abilities.  I just happen to be the least coordinated person ever (not limited to walking.  Have you seen me attempt to match clothes??).  It was just amazing that I didn't fall the entire time.  If I kept count of the number of times I've tripped walking from the kitchen to the den, it would be in the hundreds.  Plus, tripping over the Yam, the cat.

Busy busy week ahead of me, so I better get ready!

Perfect Pizza

Our neighbors down the block have an ah-mazing pizza oven using three different kinds of heat: convection, conduction, and radiation.  This means a pizza will cook in two minutes at 1000 degrees!  Add a smorgasbord of toppings, homemade dough, mini-lesson in pie-making, and a gorgeous evening! 

Everyone brought a topping to share.

The chicken was cooking in the pizza oven when we arrived.

Steve and Linda.  He gave good instruction in cooking your pie.

Two minutes???  WOW!

Butch and the flying pie.

Get ready to slice and share!

My pie:  red sauce, artichoke hearts, shrooms, and bit of cheese.

Kevin was the master pie-maker!

What a fantastic time!  We hung out around the fire pit, looked at stars, and then walked home as light snow flurries came down.  No accumulation though.  Sunny weather this morning.

Cheater

Sometimes, I have to cheat on my dairy-free diet.  It's really hard.  I dream about butter.  Seriously.

I've made two vegetarian recipes this week that bombed.  Substituting tofu for pork doesn't always turn out well.  Emil's comment was "I always wondered what eating a kitchen sponge would be like.  Now I know."  Yep, it was truly awful.  He's a champ though and ate dinner AND the leftovers.

The second recipe was a thai burger made with ground up chickpeas (which I dislike, but willing to try), oats, cilantro, ginger, and garlic.  Blech.  Not even a good Crustini bun and sliced pineapple could save it.  Pass the tater tots for a second helping. 

After those meals, I made a delicious posole tonight with pork.  And, homemade cornbread slathered with lots of butter.  Glorious butter! 

So, a little cheating every now and then is okay.  Especially with this week's cooking.  Next week's menu is filled with new recipes, so fingers crossed!