Monday, November 2, 2009

Gas Prices and a lesson learned


Last night, we stopped in Amarillo, TX. Actually on the outskirts of the city. We hate rush hour traffic so this is perfect for when we leave. Our travel day was nondescript. Boring driving along hwy I-40. We stopped and had lunch at a rest area but other than that it was just long, long stretchs of road and land and bushes. The gas prices haven't been as bad as we thought they would be. When we left CA we were paying $2.83 per gallon and yesterday we put gas in at $2.51. In Amarillo, we noticed gas prices were $2.49 per gallon. At the RV park we learned a very valuable lesson. When I closed the door to the RV it wouldn't lock but I was sure it was closed and sat down in the seat to follow the guide to our RV parking spot. As he was guiding us into the space he began waving his arms and telling us to stop. We were driving into the sun and couldn't really see to much. Suddenly we saw this streak of white heading for a tree. The door had swung open and Oliver spotted it and out he went. Luckily, he headed for the tree to pee. I went out and retrieved him and we parked. Now, Skip is fixing the door. The thing is that I'm always the one nagging him about making sure it is locked before we drive. Like I said, Lesson Learned! As I promised here is a picture of Oliver in his new coat. Today we are heading to Arkansas to the Crater Diamond State Park.

Sunday, November 1, 2009

Acoma, New Mexico

We spent two nights in Las Vegas. Mark and Marisa got the keys to their house and we were able to see it. It is a two story house...3 bedrooms, 2 1/2 baths, plus a family room and a hot tub. Lots of space for the dogs to run. On our way home we'll stop by and see the changes they have made. We spent way too much time driving yesterday! I was able to finish sewing Ollie's fleece jacket. He looks so cute. I'll try to put a picture on tomorrow. It was Halloween and so many little things happened to me yesterday that were very frustrating. Today they are funny...sort of! I had put my glasses on the center section of the RV and somehow they fell to the floor. I never saw them until Ollie was chewing on them. By this time, I had obviously stepped on them, bending the frame all out of shape. Ollie managed to put a few more scratches on the lens. Okay, so now I twist and turn them but they still look like I swiped them from a street lady who lives under the bridge. We drove to a casino and parked in the RV Park and waited for the shuttle to pick us up and take us to the hotel to register. 15 minutes and 5 phone calls later we gave up and walked down there. It's COLD here in New Mexico at 7 at night!!! Still no shuttle in sight. The customer service of the hotel staff was awful. We decided to have dinner and a buffet sounded good BUT I refused to pay the price. $23.50 for a buffet at an Indian casino. The restaurant also had a regular menu so we ordered off of that. My brother, Henry called during dinner so I had a nice talk with him. When the phone rang I got up from the table and talked to him where I wouldn't bother others. When I came back, the lady behind us got a call and sat there and talked on her phone. I was peeved but managed somehow to control my big mouth. I ate a little more of my steak and asked the waitress for a to-go box/bag but they don't provide them! I couldn't believe it so I took the tin-foil that my baked potato was wrapped in and wrapped up my steak. Good thing I didn't want to take my soup with me!!! Guess what, now we have to wait for the shuttle to take us back to the RV Park. We waited for about 10 minutes with another man who had also had to walk down from the RV park because the shuttle never came. His wife had decided to play in the casino and wasn't taking the ride back up the hill with us. The shuttle van arrived and the driver jumped out and came around the van with a perlexed look on his face. He said that he only had room for 2 people because he only had 2 seats. Really only 2 seats in this van. Skip and I straddled the one seat and the other man rode up front. That was the topper to our day. Around 2 a.m. Skip got up and discovered we didn't have any water. A light bulb went on in his head and frozen water lines came to mind. The water in the hose that brings water into the motorhome had frozen. He disconnected the hose and left the faucet drip inside so that it didn't freeze. We ran the furnace the rest of the night which is something we just never do. This morning it is cold but sunny and clear. Now it's on to another day of adventure...

Thursday, October 29, 2009

ON THE ROAD AGAIN

We are on the road for a month or so. We are heading to Illinois for Thanksgiving. Most RVers are heading west and south but not us. We chose to head east and north. You know we have never been followers. Right now, we are in an RV park in Henderson, Nevada. Since we have been in one place for some time it was harder than we thought to pack up and prepare to be on the road again. It was late afternoon before we left the Elks Lodge. The decision was made to leave even though it was late so that we would have less hours to travel the next day. Our drive only lasted for three hours. When we did stop we chose to stop in a small town where they have an Indian Casino...Lemoore, CA. We did go inside and played the slots for a little bit and then ate dinner before returning to the RV. We were both exhausted so we called it an early evening. The casino didn't care if we spent the night in their parking lot and we felt comfortable because they had security who came around every 15 minutes. It was actually very quiet or we were so exhausted and just couldn't hear a thing. Oliver was a good traveler but he wanted to be on my lap the whole time. When Lucas (our English Springer Spaniel who died last year) traveled he would lie behind the driver's chair on the floor. He never ate or drank until we stopped. Well actually, he would eat an ice cream cone or cheese. Those were the only things he would eat if the RV was moving. True!! We tried beef, sausage, treats, etc. and he would just look at us but if I got up and made an ice cream cone he would come out from behind that seat in a snap.
Thursday, our 2nd day of travel began at 5:30 a.m. We took the back roads from the Casino and began to wind our way towards highway 99. Luckily, we also had Alice with us and she was a great help with the navigation. Alice is our GPS. Oliver continued to be a lap dog but he had to have a blanket on him because it was just too cold. I had a healthy breakfast of a fiber one bar and diet pepsi. Oliver helped me eat the fiber bar. We stopped in Bakersfield and bought gas at Costco. $2.83 per gallon for a total of $153.15! Once we got into Nevada we stopped at a rest area where we all stretched our legs. We decided to stay in Henderson at Sam's Town RV Park. Once we were parked I just had to take a shower. It felt wonderful! I called our son Mark and made plans to take Oliver over to their place to meet their dogs. Oliver, Jackson and LinLee became friends. We then went out for a bite to eat. That's about it. Now the real traveling will begin....I will try to post each day and hopefully add some pictures.

Sunday, September 6, 2009

Homemade pizza and more...

Friday I couldn't decide what to make for dinner...so what else is new! Every woman has this problem I'm sure. Friday really is a pizza night, right? I started the dough by heating some water and putting in the butter to melt. While this was cooling, I grabbed some Italian sausage out of the freezer and took it out of the casings. Then I put it in a french saucepan to cook. Using a french saucepan is better since the meat doesn't brown and get overcooked. There is something about the shape of the pan that keeps the sausage moist. Once I proofed the yeast and mixed the dough, I started to make the sauce using tomato sauce, spices and a little sugar to cut the acidity. Meanwhile, back to the dough. Guess what? I made a mistake...yes, I made a mistake. I put to much water in so I had to add more flour. Well, now I have this extra dough. So, I made it into sticks and rolled them in sugar and cinnamon. I put them on the pan to rise...I couldn't waste the dough. Now, I had to go back and spread the dough in the pizza pan and let it rest for about 5 minutes. I poked the crust with a fork so it didn't bubble up. I popped it into a hot (450 degree) oven for about 10 minutes. Then I put the sauce, parmesan cheese, sausage, mushrooms and mozzarella cheese on to the partially cooked dough. Cooked it for 15 minutes. It sure smelled good. Once the pizza was done I popped those cinnamon sticks in to bake. While we were eating our pizza the smell of cinnamon sticks baking filled the motorhome. I can't remember the last time I made homemade pizza. There really is nothing better than homemade pizza. When the children were home we use to make 2 large pizzas but now we just need a medium for the two of us. There were 2 pieces left over. It really didn't take that long to make once I got started. Sometimes getting started is the hardest thing. The next morning we had cinnamon sticks with our coffee.

It's a long weekend but we don't have any plans to travel anywhere. We plan on relaxing and going to Julie's for BBQ chicken on Monday. Paige leaves for college on the 18th so we want to spend a family day with her before she goes. She is going to UCLA. Brandon left last month and is at Lewis University in Illinois and Ryne is at ASU in Arizona. Jessica, Brett and Kennedy are also all settled into their new school routine. The grandchildren are getting so old when their grandmother isn't...how does that happen?!

Thursday, August 13, 2009

what to cook, what to cook...

I'm just trying to think of what to cook for dinner tonight. Chicken burritos sounds good to me right now. I have all of the ingredients but I just can't get started. The hardest part of it all is making the tortilla's. It's been some time since I made them from scratch. You know it is very easy to just pick some up at the store but we're out in the country and that would mean driving the 10 miles (round trip) just to pick up tortilla's. Doesn't sound like a very practical thing to do. So I will make the tortilla's. It's kind of fun to mix the dough, shape into ball, rubbing crisco on each ball and roll them out. Quickly tossing each one onto a griddle to cook. I have always wanted to throw them right on the open flame...saw that on TV a couple times...maybe I will try that or maybe not. Guess I'll start the chicken and have it simmering in a sauce while I round up everything to put in it. We each build our own burrito because we have different tastes. There will also be a salad to prepare but that is pretty easy. I didn't make a dessert but there is root beer float ice cream in the freezer. Sounds good to me. Did anyone see Andy Rooney on 60 Minutes the other night? His segment was on kitchen gadgets! I had to laugh because I had all the gadgets he showed. He wondered if he needed them or not but in the end I believe he just put them back in the drawer in case he needed them someday. That's right, just in case he might need them. When I started this blog that was one of my passions I talked about...kitchen gadgets. The oldest thing I have is a soup laddle that my Grandfather made for my Busia and the newest thing I have is an Olive Spoon. I bought the olive spoon in San Francisco about a month ago. It is so cute and it was a really weak moment when I bought it. I still haven't used it but "someday"...

Saturday, August 8, 2009

Blueberry Muffins in the morning...



Here it is! My kitchen!! I just had to take a picture so you could see my working space. I do have covers that I put over the sinks but that really doesn't work too well when you need to use the sink. Yesterday, I went with daughter, Julie and granddaughter, Kennedy to the movies. We saw Julie & Julia. The movie about Julie who writes a blog about creating all the recipes in the Julia Child cookbook. The movie was funny at times but a little slow at other times. I enjoyed it but did not rush home to debone a duck...I picked up a pizza! Now here it is 7:30 the next morning and I just baked 2 dozen blueberry muffins. I also cooked the potatoes and eggs for a potato salad I'm taking to the lodge later today. I discovered that I have 3 muffin pans in the RV. Surprise. One for regular small muffins, one for large muffins and one for making muffin top muffins. Doesn't everyone have those pans in their kitchen? Why, you ask does someone who lives in such a small space do such things. I guess because I can. I feel if I keep doing these things it helps keep me from getting too "old". When we retired our dream was to travel in the RV but I couldn't see me giving up cooking just because I was in the RV. Cooking has always been something I really enjoyed. That doesn't mean that I cook every meal. Heavens no! When we travel, we like to try the local cuisine. As you travel around the United States the food is amazing. Sweet corn in Iowa, Lobster in Maine, cajun in Louisiana, pizza in Illinois, etc. You get the picture. That's about all for today but I would like to share my recipe for my muffins...

Blueberry Muffins
1/2 cup milk
1 1/2 cups flour, plus 1 tablespoon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup cooking oil (vegetable)
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
1 cup fresh blueberries
Do not use a mixer...hand stir!
Sift flour, sugar, salt and baking powder. Beat egg slightly into milk; add vanilla. Create a well in the center of the flour mixture. Add milk/egg mixture. Add oil and lemon juice. Stir just until moist...batter will be lumpy. Carefully fold in blueberries. Fill muffin pans about 3/4 full. Bake at 400 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes. This makes 12 regular muffins or 6 large muffins.

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Doing it in an RV...

Doing anything in an RV is possible. You just have to make a few modifications to the way you do it. Using the washer/dryer is great but you have to do much smaller loads. Basically, do a load every other day. We have a washer/dryer in a cabinet in the hallway. At first, I didn't want it but the salesman assured me that I would "love" it. Well, at first I hated it because all of the clothes came out wrinkled. Yes, wrinkled. Once I learned the different settings and how long to run the dryer it worked wonderfully. It's a washer dryer combination. Once the washer part is finished it goes right into the dryer cycle. You can opt out of the dryer cycle and that's what I do with a lot of shirts and pants. There is sadness in paradise because the washer is leaking water so I had to go to the laundromat. The first clue that it was leaking water was when Tom stepped onto a wet carpet when he got up in the morning. Of course, the poor dog got the blame for that at first until we discovered it wasn't him. We had just had the washer fixed in January...the computer memory board had gone out. It is just possible that all that is the matter with it now is that the valves are loose. We did turn the water supply off to the washer so it is no longer leaking water, That leads us to believe it is the hose connections. So tighten them you say! Since it is in a cabinet in the hallway we have to remove the doors and figure out how to convince someone to help us get it out. It is in there very tight. Just another "perk" to living in an RV. We once woke up to water all over the living room and kitchen areas because the water heater sprung a leak. Of course, the heater is under the kitchen sink which requires you find a very, very small person to help you. Tom did replace it himself but it wasn't easy. Drying out the carpet was also another project.

Saturday, July 25, 2009

Just another day in paradise...


You know it is just another day in paradise here in California. The weather was perfect yesterday and will be the same today. No rain, it doesn't rain in California in the summertime!! I have added a picture of Oliver since I'm sure I'll be talking about him alot! I seem to be getting new plugs on my appliances because of Oliver. He is a cute puppy who loves to chew.
I spent my day cleaning and sewing. I went through the bathroom cupboards and disguarded lots of out of date medicine. Luckily, we don't take much medicine but those things like motrin and cough medicines have all expired and there were almost full bottles. One expired in 2003! Well, at least the bathroom is clean.
I am making aprons for a shrimp feed dinner we are working the end of August. My next sewing project will be a sweatshirt.
Today is a good day to make a cherry pie. I have some canned cherries so why not. Cooking the cherry juice with sugar and cornstarch is about the hardest part of it. I do add a couple drops of red food coloring to the cherry mixture just to give it a little color. Rolling out the pie crust isn't too bad. To cut a design in the top crust, I use minature cookie cutters that Jessica gave me. I brush the top crust with milk and then sprinkle it lightly with sugar. We don't like a heavy sugary crust. Just keep it simple. Way back in the stone ages I baked a cherry pie and won a blue ribbon. That's when I was in high school. Those home economics classes sure have helped. I remember one of the first things we learned to make was popovers! I have never made them since...don't know why. Maybe I should give them a try again.
We had chinese last night for dinner so we will be eating up the leftovers tonight.
Once I finish the pie, I will sit outside with our puppy, Oliver and read a book.

Thursday, July 23, 2009

Trip to LA...

This has absolutely nothing to do with surviving in an RV...I'm back from a day trip to LA. Granddaughter, Paige was going to UCLA for her orientation so I rode along. She went off with confidence to her orientation and we walked around the campus. I'm not a person who likes the heat nor large groups of people. As we walked up and down the campus hills it became hotter. I was able to see Paige's dorm and toured the bookstore. There were lots of young people there for orientation plus lots of younger people there for sports activities and workshops so it was very crowded. With all the people it just became too hot so we decided it was time to leave and see a few things in LA before heading home. Once we left the campus, we decided to go to a grocery store in Beverly Hills. Julie is also a cook and it just seemed like a natural thing for us to do. There was lots of fresh produce and an awesome deli. Once we had toured the market, we drove over to PINKS hot dog stand. It is an LA icon and has been around since 1939. They are known for their chili dogs and onion rings so that's what we had. Then we drove around some of the posh neighborhoods and looked at houses and landscaping. We also saw lots of trendy shops but did not take the time to stop at any of them. Next we went for ice cream and cookies and then drove back through the campus before we headed back north. All in all it was a nice relaxing day.

Monday, July 20, 2009

My Mom...


My mom was an excellent cook. She didn't make any fancy food just plain food. The kind we now call comfort food. I remember watching her and Busia (Polish Grandmother) make homemade bread and chicken and noodles. Those are my comfort foods. There is nothing like a piece of homemade bread and a cup of coffee in the morning. Then curl up on the couch to watch the news! When I was little we would go up to Wisconsin and visit family. My cousin and I would come down those stairs and smell that bread and it was like heaven. So when I get that longing feeling I'll bake some bread and think of my family. Yes, I do bake bread from scratch in the RV. No, I don't use a bread machine. It's just not the same. It's not something you do all the time but it can be done. Back to Mom's food, all of those polish dishes are great. The sausage, dumplings, perogi's, sauerkraut, etc. Watching Mom and Busia make sausage was really something. Grandpa had made Busia a sausage stuffing machine and it was a family treasure. We all need to bring our ethnic heritage into our cooking. My husband loves kuglis which is a Lithuanian grated potatoe dish. I like to make this because we do it together. He hand grates the potatoes and I cook the bacon and onions and add all the other ingredients. I have been out of the RV for a week, staying at our daughter's while they are out of town. The last meal I made in the RV was chicken and broccoli stir fry. It has been in the 100's so I don't think I'll be cooking today.

Sunday, July 19, 2009

Cooking in an RV


Welcome to my blog about our RV travels and some kitchens stories.

I have always loved to cook so when we sold our house, I took all those gadgets I had collected over the years and we moved into our motorhome. How can I possibly survive without a crab cracker, a lemon zester or 3 different size whisks!! You know it seemed logical to me at the time. I must admit that every now and then I get rid of a couple unnecessary things in the RV but I'm really stubborn about getting rid of those necessary gadgets. I have pie pans (3), a bundt pan, 2 individual size pie pans, a 9 x 11 cake pan, a 9" round cake pan, 2 different size cheese cake pans, 3 loaf pans...you get the picture. I'm an addict!!! I love to cook and bake and I figure that just because I have a kitchen the size of a bathroom stall that it shouldn't stop me from creating some culinary delights. Well, that's my thoughts for today.