Fishing trip to Fish Lake, UT

When Holly asked me what I wanted for Father's Day last June - I told her I wanted to go fishing to Fish Lake where my father and grandfather had taken me fishing when I was a young boy. So we made some reservations and planned our trip. We drove down Friday afternoon and set up camp in the Makinaw campground. Grandma and Grandpa Strong were able to come with us and they were a great help!

We were successfull and caught more than a handful of fish. Some Rainbow trout and some perch. The first fish was caught by Holly and it ended up being a contender for the biggest fish caught by our party, only to be ousted out of first place by a 6 year old little girl named Jessica with a $14 spiderman fishing pole!!! Yep that's right, our little Jessica is quite the fisherwoman! She caught two respectable fish - with the biggest one being quite the jumper as it jumped out of the water mutiple times as she reeled it in.

Everyone caugh fish (Aspen even caught 2 on one cast!) and we all had fun!!! We did however make some resolutions for our next trip to fish lake. # 1 - A camper would be nice! #2 plan for more days - we had a lot fun and would have liked to have stayed longer. #3 If you visit a restaurant and the bathrooms are dirtier than the campground bathrooms and the restaurant is completely empty (nobody eating there) - DON'T eat there. We were leaving around dinner time and stopped at the Fish Lake Lodge to let the kids take a look a this old log building, they had a restaurant and we gave it a try. The food wasn't horrible - but it was also not worth half of what they were charging. Oh well - you live and learn.

Jackson is going to be a great fisherman - he has already mastered the task of fishing and sleeping at the same time!

Click on the link below for a slide show of pictures from this trip. (I'm having issues getting the slide show to post here - the link will work for now. If anybody is a pro at blogs/slideshows - I could use some help.)

http://www.slide.com/r/uv7puutV4j-uOPBoSk16eeChG0DtZhF7?previous_view=lt_embedded_url

Good Harvest!!!

Tonight I picked 158 tomatos from our garden! To realize how remarkable this is you need to see how small our garden is!

Sent from Brad Lambert's iPod

Cooking 101

Holly was gone tonight supporting her sister Beckie with the birth of her baby. Aspen & Jessica are with my Mom up Hobble Creek Canyon on a girls retreat, and Jackson ate dinner at Julie's house. So I was left with the task of feeding myself and myself only. This combined with a fridge full of tomatoes that we haven't eaten or given away yet (we have started giving tomatoes away to family and friends - we can't keep up!!!), I decided to make something for dinner using some of the 47 tomatoes I picked (tonight alone!). With no other mouths to feed, or complain if it didn't taste good, I decided to forgo any recipes or instructions and make something up. Instructions are for wimps anyway!

I looked in the pantry and at the bowl of freshly picked tomatoes looking for something that might spark an idea. It didn't take long and I had a dish in mind - no doubt the gormet version of this idea was more than likely stolen from something my Mom made or something I saw on Mindy's blog - The Bad Girls Kitchen. Here is what I came up with...

Vine Ripened Cherry and Grape Tomatoes & Anaheim Peppers picked fresh from from our Home Grown Backyard Garden and Fire Grilled Marinated Chicken Tenders (left over from last nights dinner). All Sauteed in some Extra Virgin Olive Oil and seasoned with some Fresh, Coarsely Ground Black Pepper and some good old Table Salt. All of which was placed on top of some instant Rice a Roni Fettuccine Alfredo pasta mix. I know, I know, all you real cooks out there are screaming " Sinner! " in you minds as you read this - for mixing all those fresh ingredients with instant, preservative and sodium packed, Rica Roni - but hey - I did the best with what I had at the time! :) Additionally, although I could have handled cooking some real pasta - there is no chance I could have made an Alfredo sauce from scratch - I can't even spell "Fettuccine Alfredo" with out spell check or looking at the box!:)

It actually turned out pretty good - better than I expected. Good enough that I ate the hole plate by myself - leaving nothing but some dirty dishes in the sink. :):):)

MORE Tomatoes!!!

The flood has begun! We know are picking more tomatoes than we can eat. Even with Jessica who I would bet would rather eat a tomatoe than a piece of candy can't keep up! I guess it's time to make some Salsa!