Archive for August 2014

Hoh Rainforest   4 comments

One of my all-time favorite hikes was a midnight hike in this rainforest, as a part of a Woodbadge training … what was then the most advanced training for the trainers of Cub Scout leaders.

If you’ve never been, go experience the rain forest. It is a unique place in North America.

Hoh Rainfrest, Olympic National Park. Tweeted by the US Department of the Interior, 8/29/14.

Hoh Rainfrest, Olympic National Park. Tweeted by the US Department of the Interior, 8/29/14.

Tanalians Falls   2 comments

Tanalians Falls. Lake Clark National Park. Tweeted by the US Department of the Interior, 8/26/14.

Tanalians Falls. Lake Clark National Park. Tweeted by the US Department of the Interior, 8/26/14.

Posted August 30, 2014 by henrymowry in National Parks

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M I Z   2 comments

0:41 – Run on/Missouri Fanfare
1:44 – Missouri Waltz
3:15 – Tiger Rag
4:12 – Eye of the Tiger
5:34 – Give a Cheer
7:17 – Treasure by Bruno Mars (arr. by Matt Schmitz)
9:29 – Locked out of Heaven by Bruno Mars (arr. by Matt Schmitz)
11:52 – Marry You by Bruno Mars (arr. by Matt Schmitz)
15:20 – Mizzou Drumline
21:38 – Hey Baby
23:42 – Every True Son/Fight Tiger
25:15 – Old Missouri

Concert on the Quad
Francis Quadrangle, Columbia MO
August 24th, 2014

Drum Majors:
Sean Hayes
Adam Spirk
John Stahl

Directed by:
Dr. Brad Snow
Dr. Fuller Lyon

Tuolumne Meadows Wilderness Center   11 comments

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Tuolumne Meadows Wilderness Center, inside Yosemite National Park. Photo: Sean Goebel. Posted on Tumblr by the US Department of the Interior, 8/25/14.

Alta Vista Trail   3 comments

Alta Vista Trail, Mt Rainier National Park. Tweeted by the US Department of the Interior, 8/19/14.

Alta Vista Trail, Mt Rainier National Park. Tweeted by the US Department of the Interior, 8/19/14.

Bright Angel Trail   10 comments

Bright Angel Trail, Grand Canyon National Park. Tweeted by the US Department of the Interior, 8/19/14.

Bright Angel Trail, Grand Canyon National Park. Tweeted by the US Department of the Interior, 8/19/14.

Posted August 26, 2014 by henrymowry in National Parks

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Which Is Prettier?   7 comments

Glacier National Park. Tweeted by the US Department of the Interior, 8/24/14.

Glacier National Park. Tweeted by the US Department of the Interior, 8/24/14.

More

Glacier National Park, Montana

Grinnell Lake

Posted August 25, 2014 by henrymowry in National Parks

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Bacon Corn Chowder   1 comment

Yum! A thick and hearty dinner soup. Serve with hot bread.

Ingredients

  • 1/2 pound bacon
  • 1 medium onions
  • 1 cup celery, diced
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 7 Tbsp flour
  • 6-7 medium red potatoes, diced medium chunky
  • 4-5 ears fresh corn on the cob
  • 2 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp pepper
  • 1/2 tsp thyme
  • 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
  • 1 cup chicken broth
  • 4 cups whole milk
  • 1 cup cream

Instructions

Chop bacon and fry in soup pot til almost crisp. Add onion, celery and cook 3-4 minutes til translucent, add garlic and stir 1 minute. Add flour and stir 1-2 minutes. Add corn(sliced off cob), potatoes and barely cover with chicken broth. Simmer for 10 minutes. Add milk, salt, pepper and red pepper flakes and simmer til bubbly. Check to see that potatoes are tender. Add cream and stir. If too thick add more milk. Sprinkle in thyme. Adjust salt, pepper or red pepper flakes to taste.  To serve top with cheese and chopped raw onion. Crisp bacon sprinkled on top adds even more yum.

Serves 8.

Posted August 24, 2014 by henrymowry in Recipes

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The Last Bookcase?   Leave a comment

MrsMowry asked me to build a couple of bookcases for her new classroom (!). I was happy to oblige. It did make me wonder, though … how much longer will bookcases be something woodworkers build?

A pair of bookcases was my very first DIY project, back before “DIY” had entered the lexicon. Velda and I had set up our first apartment in Newhall, CA, while I went to grad school … and we were awash in albums (remember those?) and books. It was 1978.

I bought some pine and a sheet of 1/4″ ply – plus a Skil Saw and a carpenter’s square – and built 2 bookcases. Shelves were held in place with 1″ x 2″ cleats and 6 penny nails. Simple, clunky but effective. One bookcase was 3′ x 4′; the other was 4′ x 5′. Even then, I knew how to design a project to use all of a 4’x8′ sheet of ply.

The bookshelves moved with us to our first house, but didn’t make it to our second house. We demanded better … and bought them. I wasn’t really a woodworker back then.

My skill set – and my tools – have improved since that first set of bookcases. For MrsMowry’s commission, I used dadoes for the shelf joints, with the plywood screwed & glued into place. The edges got 1/2″ red oak trim, which was glued and then secured in place with my nail gun. My, how the times have changed.

Prior to this project, I had only made one bookcase since 1978. That got me to thinking. Will I ever build another one?

Woodworking projects, you see, reflect the times that the project lives in. Woodworkers used to make pie safes. CD Racks. Bread boxes. Today, not so much.

English teachers in junior high classrooms still need bookcases, apparently. But I wonder … for how much longer?

 

Posted August 23, 2014 by henrymowry in Woodworking

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Velda’s Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo   1 comment

Ingredients

  • 1/4 cup butter
  • 1 Tbsp olive oil
  • 1 cup whole milk
  • 1 cup heavy cream
  • 2 Tbsp flour
  • 10 cloves garlic, crushed
  • 1 cup Parmesan cheese, freshly grated
  • 1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped
  • 2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts
  • 1 lb fettuccine

Instructions

Season chicken with garlic, salt and pepper.  Pound to 1/2″ thick.  Brown in olive oil for 3-4 minutes on each side, remove to cool slightly and then slice thin.

Cook fettuccine according to package directions.

Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium/low heat.  Add garlic and stir for 1 minute. Sprinkle flour over butter garlic mixture, stir to cook lightly, add milk, sliced chicken and stir. Add cream and simmer for 5 minutes, then add cheese, and whisk quickly, heating through.  Stir in parsley.  Add cooked fettuccine.

Serves 6-8.

Posted August 22, 2014 by henrymowry in Recipes

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