Cooking Class.....En Papillote

The focus for Judy's Cooking Class this month was En Papillote (In Paper/Parchment). Twelve women gathered in her kitchen for a demonstration lesson. She has a class every Wednesday and repeats the "theme" for the month. (iPhone photos)

We assembled Salmon En Papillote and Lamb Shanks en Papillote with Leeks, Carrots, Rosemary and Orange.

The lamb was cooked in individual foil packets with vegetables, herbs, vermouth, and a silver of butter then roasted until luscious and fork-tender. Foil was needed as this dish bakes for 2 1/2 hours.

The salmon was cooked in parchment as it only took 12 minutes to cook. It was cooked with sautéed mushrooms and herb butter.

The lamb was so yummy and the carrots were incredible.

The cool thing about this dish is that you can cook the lamb the day before and prepare the bags 1-2 hours ahead of cooking. Judy served both the lamb and salmon with polenta with parmesan cheese. Mashed potatoes would also be a nice side dish.

Truly elegant dishes for company.......and easy to prepare!

Cemetery Tour and Fall Color

The Northern Gila County Historical Society sponsored a tour of the Payson Pioneer Cemetery one Saturday this month. I am now on the Board of the Historical Society.....a great bunch of volunteers who maintain the Rim Country Museum and the Zane Grey Cabin.

Jinx Pyle, local historian, led the tour. Jinx has so many stories about the folks that are buried in the cemetery. The Payson's Women's Club maintains the cemetery. You have to be an important person in Payson in order to be buried there.

John Meadows moved his family to AZ from CA in 1877 to homestead an area called Diamond Valley Ranch. In 1882 a band of renegade Apaches raided the Meadows ranch, killing John and his brother, Henry. John was the first person to be buried in what would become the Payson Pioneer Cemetery. The raid ended at the Battle of Big Dry Wash, where the Apaches were defeated by General Crook and his troops. John's son, Charlie, better known as Arizona Charlie, was the co-founder of the Payson Rodeo. Charlie also spend some time with Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show and met folks like Annie Oakley, Zane Grey, and Will Rogers.

Our photography class was searching for fall color this past week. We ended up in See Canyon in the "town" of Christopher Creek. (About 25 minutes east of Payson.)

Christopher Creek is a beautiful spot. There is a creek running through town which includes a general store, restaurants and campgrounds.

There are maple, aspen and oak growing along the creek which is lined with mint, ferns and grasses.

Our fall color has not been great this year but we are managing to find a bit. We will probably be headed to Sedona next week.

A Wedding at Leonard Lake

Family and friends gathered at Leonard Lake Reserve (between Ukiah and Willits) for five days of fun, food, togetherness and celebration.
Son-in-law Stuart, and grandsons Wren and Dakota enjoyed rowing on the lake....and also fishing. Wren ate a small mouth bass that he caught for breakfast!

Randy enjoyed canoeing. He tried to coax Cooper into getting into the canoe....no dice.
We drove to the lake from AZ so that we could visit my son Jake in Sacramento and take Cooper.

We were surrounded by beautiful redwoods.

We relaxed, ate wonderful food and enjoyed badminton, ping pong, swimming, fishing and hiking.

Dakota found a fort in one of the redwood trees.

The water was cool but still a lot of fun for the kids.

Jake got his seven month old puppy, Roscoe, into the kayak.

Such a picturesque spot. We rented all 5 houses on the property. The houses had beautiful antique furniture in all of the rooms. We stayed in the "Big House" with a kitchen that could seat over 30 people and sleep about 20.

Wren enjoyed climbing trees and exploring.

Tents were set up on the deck of the "Barn House" and places were set for the wedding feast.

Jake and Kirsten are all dressed up and ready to enjoy the wedding festivities.

Emily and Alex after the "I dos." We blew bubbles to celebrate. Alex is from Wales and that's where they are living.

A family shot........it was a wonderful time!