2010 November | Rocky Mountain Woman

Archive for November, 2010

THANKFUL

Written by Rocky Mountain Woman on November 24, 2010 – 1:07 pm -

I am thankful that November is almost over so I won’t have to drag my butt out of bed at the crack of dawn to write anymore! I’ve learned a lot this month though:

1. I am really really lazy
2. I am a slow writer
3. I like to write, but I love to cook!
4. I hate winter
5. I have to do something about my hair, seriously…
6. Horses get really angry when you don’t feed them on time
7. Wine and popcorn is not a good substitute for dinner
8. I love butter
9. I really need to go on a diet – see #7 & #8
10. Writing is hard

I am also extremely grateful that I don’t have to go to work today. This is what my driveway looks like

Yikes…

After this month, I plan on continuing to write this book, but probably not every single morning. Starting December 1, I plan to work on some character sketches for the novel (thanks, Pondside!). I may or may not post them (any suggestions?), but I think if I get to know the characters better, they will be more believeable. I am looking forward to getting back to puttering around in the kitchen (maybe a cookbook should be the next project?), finding lots of great new wines for you guys to try (hiccup!), getting back to writing the ongoing saga of my battle with the idiot I hired to build my house, and running down celebs with my pickup (Sundance is next month…Arggg…)

Anyway, I’m thankful you all stuck with me and still showed up on Thursday and even read some of my very amateur novel (creative writing class, maybe?)

I love you guys and hope you have a great Holiday season!

xxoo,

RMW

Posted in She Shoots | 28 Comments »

I GET ANGRY ENOUGH TO CALL AN ATTORNEY OR ROCKY MOUNTAIN WOMAN BUILDS HER DREAM HOME PART XIII

Written by Rocky Mountain Woman on November 17, 2010 – 1:20 pm -

This post is in honor of the letter “I” and Jenny Matlock’s Alphabet Thursday. For more intriguing “I” posts, click here http://jennymatlock.blogspot.com/

My new routine consisted of the following: Get up and dress at the hotel, stop for a coffee, stop at a “Doggie Day Care” and drop off my little dog, stop at the boarding facility and check on my horses, go to work. Then when I finished work I would: stop and pick up my dog, stop and check on my horses, go through a drive through somewhere for some food, get back to the hotel at about 8:00, take my dog for a walk, eat my gourmet meal and then collapse.

On the weekends, I hung out at the hotel or begged my friends to let me hang out at their houses so I could do a little cooking or laundry. Sheesh! I had a mortgage I was paying, but I was homeless!

After a month or so of this, I called Dick.

Me: “How’s your wife?”

Dick: “A little better, she’s out of the hospital.”

Me: “When are you going to start on the house?”

Dick: “Well, there’s a bunch of snow up there right now, I probably can’t start until spring.”

Me: “So, March?”

Dick” “Well, probably more like June, the land is at 6500 feet you know.”

That last comment dripped with condescension and sarcasm.

I could feel my blood pressure rising…

“I am living in a hotel, my horses are in a boarding facility that costs a fortune, my 15 year old dog has to go hang out with puppies at a day care all day because I don’t have a home. You spent the summer fishing and golfing when you should have been building my house and now you tell me I have to do this for seven more months?”

“Look, there really isn’t anything you can do about it, you signed a contract and you’re stuck, so just deal with it. I’ll start the house when I feel it’s time to start the house.”

Me: “Do you remember what I do for a living?” (I work in the legal industry).

Dick: “Are you threatening me with a lawsuit?”

“Ahhhhh..yeah. I guess I am.”

CLICK – He hung up on me!

I looked at my cell phone for a minute or two and then called an attorney that a friend had recommended.

I told him my tale of woe and made an appointment for the next night after work.

The attorney was sympathetic and incredibly smart. He was the senior partner of one of the biggest law firms in Utah. What Dick didn’t know was that I had connections and I was going to use them! The attorney wrote a letter to Dick explaining that Spring wasn’t good enough and that he needed to commence construction or I would consider the contract null and void and would hire another contractor.

When Dick got the letter, he left a message for me at work riddled with obscenities and threatening me with all kinds of retribution if I tried to hire another contractor. I forwarded the message to my attorney who called him and calmed him down a little. He promised my attorney that he would start the house as soon as he could dig which would probably be in late February or early March. By this time, it was November so I felt a little better. I guess I could handle a few more months of hotel living. I could move back into the trailer in the Spring and move my horses back up on the land. Sigh….

For the beginning of this story, click on the “She Builds” category…

xxoo,

RMW

Posted in She Builds | 32 Comments »

HOW TO MAKE HOME MADE HABANERO HOT SAUCE

Written by Rocky Mountain Woman on November 10, 2010 – 1:04 pm -

One time when I was dorking around on the internet, I saw a recipe for “Homemade Hot Sauce”. The idea was intriguing, so when a friend gave me a few Habanero and a bunch of Kung Pao peppers, I decided to try and make my own.

If you happen to have an empty 12 oz bottle of rice vinegar around, it’s perfect for this recipe. If not, any empty bottle (preferably with a shaker top) will do.

Wash whatever bottle you have with hot soapy water, rinse thoroughly and let air dry

Ingredient list:

five or six cloves of garlic
1 T of Kosher Salt
15 or so black peppercorns
1 bay leaf
several hot peppers, any variety
1 cup of cider or white vinegar

Peel five or six cloves of garlic

add them to the bottle

add the kosher salt and peppercorns

bay leaf
rinse the peppers and dry them with a paper towel

cut them into a size that will fit in the bottle

pour vinegar over the whole thing

cap and let it sit on your countertop looking pretty for a few days

then just put it in the fridge and use it like you would any other hot sauce, on eggs, meats, vegetables, ice cream..you get the picture.

I also tried just chopping a bunch of Kung Paos up in the food processor and putting them in a jar with white vinegar

and it was hot! It tastes like peppers, pure and simple. The other sauce though is complex and much more interesting. I have used it on/in scrambled eggs, I’ve added it to the egg mixture I use before breading chicken to fry (quite good, it just added a little kick!).