Johanne's Journal, 19 September 2012

Last weekend, I went to an SCA event in northern Iowa. It was an arts and sciences competition for novices and I was a judge. It always amazes me to see the talent and skills displayed at these things. We had 72 entrants and I wouldn't call most of the entries "novice". They were far too amazing!

After, due to my dietary restrictions and several vegetarians in the group, we went to a Pakistani restaurant instead of staying for feast. I got my favorite, aloo gobi, and three of the group got dishes with goat meat. At the end of the meal, the cook came out of the kitchen to see how we enjoyed our meals (and probably to look at the silly people dressed in weird clothes . . . oh, and did I mention that the cook was a young HUNK?) Anyway, he asked if I had tried the goat. I told him I often eat lamb because my DIL raises sheep, but I had never had goat. He told me to wait a minute and disappeared back into the kitchen. I thought he might have gone to get me a taste, but he came back with a 3 lb, sealed bag of goat meat! Color me shocked (and did I mention he was quite gorgeous?)

Soooooo, last night, I made a Crockpot full of Middle Eastern Goat Stew. The house smelled amazing when I woke up this morning. I'm going to put it up in containers. The second week-end in October, the people we stayed with up there are coming down for a "Pink Ribbon" event down here. I'm going to distribute the stew to all and sundry and send a sample back to my handsome Pakistani, to taste what I did with his gift. LOL!!!

I spent part of the day clearing brush around the garage. Now that it is getting considerably cooler, I can get back to clearing the property. As I brought down the small trees that have sprouted up, I also picked the wild grapes that are growing all through them. I will try to get the rest of the grapes tomorrow. They are much higher up in some of the bigger trees. I need to be on my A game when I bring them down. I'm going to try to make a few pints of wild grape jelly. They taste so sweet, but are so tiny!

I'm off to bed so I can get an early start. Love you all!

I'm thankful for:

Waking up.
Goat meat gifts from handsome strangers.
Wild grapes, free for the picking.
My wonderful friends on FS who have been so forgiving and encouraging.
The ability to still get around and have new experiences.
Learning something new, every single day!

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1656 kcal

Fat: 55.06g | Prot: 59.98g | Carb: 240.15g.   Breakfast: Diet Cranberry Juice, Truvia, Gluten Free Rolled Oats, Almond Milk, Smart Balance, Scrambled Egg, Coffee. Lunch: Nathan's Franks, Johanne's Two Bean Chili, Uncle Ben's Brown Rice. Dinner: Dole Sliced Strawberries, Uncle Ben's Brown Rice, Thick Hummus-Style Soup. Snacks/Other: Smart Balance Omega, Gluten Free Oatmeal, Dole Blueberries, Viactiv. more...

2464 kcal

Activities & Exercise: Resting - 16 hours, Sleeping - 8 hours. more...