Polly's Summer Break at Yosemite National Park, California

It has been a challenge since my knee injury.  But finally I am getting better enough to go hiking.   My first attempt in hiking up Upper Yosemite Fall  - 3.4 miles.   I know I have to have enough time up and come down safely.  Since I arrived there on 7/5th late and started my hike around 2:30 pm, my first hike was short 2 hours total.   But found the first view point.  I decided to return to hike higher the next day, 7/6th.

Many travellers on their way back home.   And, I am just now going.

 Fire from the Natural Mother Nature.   But I've seen a "lazy and irresponsible cigarette smoker" flicking out a butt out of the car window and started a fire.  Luckily it was not in the Yosemite park, another car and myself stopped to put the small fire out on the side of the road.

Picture of the Half Dome from one of the Village campsite's parking lot.

 Lower Yosemite Fall - Just enough water ...

 The trail starts from Camp 4 site.

 Well built hike trails

 This is the beginning of the 2nd switchback to the higher point.

 Time to leave and return.

 I hiked to the next switchback to the Upper fall.... still fall short.   Hiked 4 hrs total.  I arrived still too late at 1 pm.  But knowing how and where the 2nd trail is, I was determined to return on Saturday, 7/12th.   I arrived there at 11:30 am.  Not bad, but I know I will suffer as it was a hot day at the Yosemite. 
I pressed on and finally made it.    I made it to the Upper Yosemite Fall in 2-1/2 hrs. Total of 5 hours of hiking.  The view is beautiful up there.

Nice stream of cold water flowing out of the rock.  Making this area cool and interesting, but walk fast!  Mosquitoes awaits.

 Made it as far as I can the 2nd time on 7/6th, but it's getting late.  Need to turn around to get back to the valley.

 It was a muggy hot day with plenty of cloud.  Sprinkled a bit randomly in the area.

Thanks to all the volunteers to made the trail so accessible.  They put a lot of work to the building of this trail.

( Used slow speed of the camera to catch the water fall.)

 

 

 

 

 Until next time, it is time to hike down.

 

My next goal is to hike all the way to the top and 4 miles longer to the west to the El Capitan.   I hope I will make it there.

 Comparison of the Yosemite Fall in 2013 and 2014.  Due to lack of rain and snow, we are back to 15 years ago.  Dry valley.

 

 I saw many tourist young and old hiking up the trail.  Some carried no bottled water at all or back pack.  Be aware of the Sierra weather and always carry 2 quarts of water for this hike to the Upper Yosemite Fall.   Bring with you extra clothing in case of inclement weather when hiking east side of the trail that is much more windy.   Spray your clothing lightly with bug spray.  There will be mosquitoes to greet you as you get closer to water source.  Be courteous and take out what you take up and don't litter.   Form a single file when hiking up or down with multiple people in your group when passing others by; and greet each other.  The purpose of the greeting is not only just to be friendly, but also to check the condition of the other hikers.  I like to use my hiking walking sticks.  It relieves my knees from pressure when going down the trails.

Polly's Lotus - Pink Lips 2014 Update

If you are interested in growing Lotus Plant, I recommend Pink Lips.   It has survived the last four years, and still growing.   Last year's seedlings have grown up also, and I am waiting for it to wake up.
This morning, I caught it greeting the sunrise and slowly releasing its fragrance to make known of its presence.

The seedlings growing up from 2013 Pink Lips.  The container is half the height of the Mother's above.  Hope it will grow a beautiful princess.

July 1, 2014 morning.  Hello, World!
The true color is in the photo below using "Daylight" Setting.    'Flourescent" and "Tungsten" seem to have over emphasized the Pink/Purplish color.    But still Beautiful either way.

Using Camera's  'Daylight' setting.... I think it's more true to its color.

If you have Lotus Plants, please cut open the Seed Pod as soon as they are mature and Germinate them.   Don't wait till the seed is dry and brown.  The outer shell can turn into an extremely rock hard armor to protect it for...  500 years!!

Pink Lips can be purchased from http://tenmilecreeknursery.com/pink-lips-p-154.html

Not sure if the vendor is still in business, but this is some of the information they gave me about this PINK LIPS Lotus.

"We will certainly get a "Pink Lips" to you in a few weeks when we can 
be sure that it will arrive without freezing. This variety is a brand 
new hybrid developed by our friend, Dr. Daike Tian, while he was a 
graduate student at Auburn University. I wanted to check and make sure 
that you realized how big it gets. It will need a large, deep pot 
(about 48" in diameter and 3-4 feet in depth) because it is a large 
lotus. It will probably be between 6-8 feet tall. Does this still 
sound good?"

Because I planted Pink Lips in the Rubbermaid brand Trash Container as a planter, it managed to survive and grew up to 4 feet and reincarnate itself every year after a peaceful dormant winter period.     If the planter is very shallow the lotus could suffer in the winter from frost, rot, and die -- like my CHAWAN BASU and Pink Lady in the shallower planter.

Homemade Sandwich Baguettes

What a wonderful way to appreciate good sandwich with homemade mini-bugettes.

The Tip here is the amount of water added to the dry ingredients.  Make sure the dough has the right amount of water for the condition (storage)/age of your flour.   Make sure the dough does not feel tough already before the kneading starts - add a teaspoon of warm water at a time until the right tenderness of the dough is achieved before kneading begin.  And yes, depending on the type of bread you are trying to make, but tough dough has resulted often in a disappointment with the home oven.
7/1/2014 NOTE:  * Forgot to mention that Preferment / Poolish is part of the important ingredients to make light think crisp crust.     So give yourself a night before to make the Poolish.   Then add to the main dry ingredients. 

 Tender, airy, and light - Whew! 

How to Prep your Oatmeal Breakfast for Microwave cooking

Most likely everyone has experienced with cleaning after a microwave oven's glass tray and bowl covered with gooey overflowed oatmeal.  Whether it's a 800 Watt or 1000 Watt microwave or however large the bowl you use, it just overflow.  To minimize this lava flowing dilemma and the mess, give yourself a 30 minutes head ways before cooking your favorite morning oats and cereal grains by pre-soaking the oatmeal with hot water.   Then, cook the oatmeal in microwave as you would normally. 

The lava effect is much less and you spend time enjoying the oatmeal rather than spending time cleaning and eat a full bowl of oatmeal rather than half less a bowl of it.

Polly's Thick Homemade Flatbread or Gorditas

 

Thick and chewy homemade flatbread or Gorditas are so easy to make.   It is easier than standing in front of tortilla isle in the grocery store.   By-the-time you are done reading the ingredients of some of the packages, you are done putting ingredients in a bowl and started mixing.   By-the-time you line up at the cashier register, you are done mixing up the dough, and ready to rest the dough.  Start cooking meat, etc.  And you have peace of mind that your flatbread or Gorditas does not contain ADA.

This is great for breakfast to go roll up breakfast, too.

Ingredients:

1 C to 1-1/2 C of flour - "Wheat Mountain" Natural White, NON GMO, Unbleached, Unbromated

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4  C unsalted butter, cut into small chunks

1/4 C sour cream

2 to 3 TBsp warm water

Meat filling:

Organic ground beef

Chopped onions

Mexican chili / taco spices

Shredded Sharp Cheese - Tillamook

Shift first three ingredients together.   Cut the butter into flour mixture and mix well with fork.   Add sour cream.  Mix.  Add water.  Mix all ingredients together.  

Flour the work surface and turn the dough over it.    Flour your hand and fold dough over and under about 10 times.  Flour the dough as needed to keep it from sticking onto hand.   

Divide into four. Cover and let rest for 10 min.  

Prepare organic ground beef.  Chopped onions.  Add Mexican chili/taco spice mixtures.  Set aside.

If you have prefrozen shredded Tillamook Cheddar cheese, bring out 1/2 C to the room temperature.

Or prepare bacons and scrambled eggs, etc.

Roll out the dough.

Grease flat pan "lightly" over medium heat.

Place the dough over the pan.  Cover with a lid.

Turn it over when its brown -- about 2 min or 2-1/2 min. (depending on your gas stove's BTU).

As you lift the flatbread/Gorditas up, brush the pan surface lightly.  Cover with lid, and cook for another 2 to 2-1/2 min.

Serve with prepared meat, shredded cheddar cheese without artificial coloring; salsa.

Or  with bacons and scrambled eggs, etc.    

Or just eat it with butter, honey, or preserves.

Homemade Snow Cone Strawberry Syrup

Cool treats during the hot weather is challenging to prep, especially for children who depend on adult for them.  And it's challenging to find natural, organic, non-GMO, no artificial color ingredients, etc, etc.  Snow cone is fun to make and children love them.   But how about those artificially flavored and colored syrup?  There are varieties of flavors available, but I kind of decided to stay them away from my grand-children this year.  This year -- going natural.   Picked some fresh strawberries from the garden about 2 Cups.   Wash them, stem them, cut them, and boil them with 3/4 C of sugar until syrupy.

 Make snow ice in a bowl and top with homemade fresh strawberry syrup.

Eat up!G-kids.

ADA Aware Week in your Flour Product

There is no ADA Aware Week, of course.   Nowhere in the world.  I made it up.
But if you have not caught on or even aware that your local market's 'Fluffy' bread / flour products may contain this additive ADA - Azodicarbonamide in it, then, you should be curious enough to check into it.   And if you love to bake, be aware of the flour manufacturer's process.   Find out what Dough Conditioner chemicals are being used to manufacture your Flour -- Bromated vs Nonbromated, Bleached vs Unbleached;  Find out about market's Artisan bread vs Fluffy stay on the shelf well French Bread vs Home Baked Bread, etc.  These are all worth the research.

If you live in the parts of the world where ADA is not banned from the food:
http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-02-27/how-a-rubber-chemical-found-its-way-into-500-food-products   << this site has a pop up Ad that pops up.  Just don't touch the pop up Ad for about 5 seconds.  It should go away from the screen.  Or go to any other site that has ADA info.  In the search engine, type>  "ADA in flour" 

In this Businessweek site, it explains ADA as:  (straight copy from the site)
"Underlying the concerns are two chemicals released  when bread is baked with ADA: urethane, a recognized carcinogen, and semicarbazide, which causes cancers of the lung and blood vessels in mice but poses a negligible risk to humans, according to nonprofit advocacy group Center for Science in the Public Interest."
"The Food and Drug Administration approved ADA as a food additive in 1962, according to research by the Environmental Working Group. The additive gained popularity as a substitute for another common dough conditioner, potassium bromate, that was banned by California authorities in 1987 after it was found to cause cancer in test animals. etc, etc."

Here is the info in our very own FDA - But guess who those decision makers are and who did they work for before joining FDA.  
http://www.fda.gov/Food/IngredientsPackagingLabeling/FoodAdditivesIngredients/ucm387497.htm

After all, we all foodies who love to bake depend on these flour manufacturers to provide us with 'Flour' but as they are not required to label non-food items on the label (at this time yet in many places), then, let's be aware.  

I think those home made HOKKAIDO Soft Loaves and TANG ZONG bread are the best.  Try some of these recipes found and posted by bloggers.  But please purchase Flour without the ADA for your family's health sake.

Easter Bunny Sugar Cookies on a stick

Being with grand-children are such a blessing.  Even when you cannot move anymore, they can keep you going.  
Tomorrow is Easter Sunday, Wish Everyone a Great Remembrance of Communion, Fellowship, and Maranatha.

Vanilla Sugar Cookies On-A-Stick recipes found on the wrapper of the Bunny cookie mold.  This cookies taste so delicious that I was so tempted to eat them before icing them. 
Ingredients:
1 C (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1-1/2 C granulated sugar
1 egg
1-1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp almond extract
2-3/4 C AP Flour - Shifted 1 one time, then, measure them out to 2-3/4 C, then, add 2 tsp baking powder and 1 tsp salt and shift 2 more times.  If you don't have a Shifter, just use the hand WHISK and mix everything thoroughly.
Prepare the cookie mold - spray or rub vegetable oil or thinly run butter or Crisco oil and coat the mold with flour.
Shake excess flour off the mold.
**If the cookie molds are coated with butter and flour, the bottom of the cookies will turn brown fast.
To avoid burnt cookie, stay close to the kitchen when baking. 

Tip:  Hand mix soft butter and sugar before turning on the electric mixer to avoid sugar from flying up into mixer's motor.
With Beater attachment - Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy... pale yellow. 
Add egg and extracts.  Beat well until egg disappears.  Scrape the bowl often with spatula. 
Preheat oven to 400'F
Add flour mixture to the butter mixture.  Hand mix them together thoroughly.   *No need to chill the dough.
Eye guess the amount of dough per mold - form into a ball and flatten it between your palms.
Place on top of the cookie mold and shape into bunny form.
Fill the dough 1/8 below the mold.
Insert cookie/cake pop stick 2 inches of end.
Press the top of the cookie with something flat -- like plastic pastry bowl cleaner.
Bake on middle rack for 8 to 10 minutes, depending on your oven's BTU.
Bake only one sheet at a time.
Visually check the cookies at 5 minutes.
Cool 5 minutes.   Press the cooling rack against the cookie sheet and carefully invert the pan over.
Tap gently on the mold, the cookie should dislodge itself onto the cooling rack.
Cool completely before decorating.
Wash pan and repeat the process.

FROSTING:  Crispy and Shiny
1 Cup Powder sugar
1 tsp milk
1/4 tsp almond extract
1 tsp Heavy Corn Syrup
Food colors or make your own natural food color
Mix all together.  Divide and add food color.  Make parchment paper piping bag and decorate the cooled cookies.
To fill the face of Bunny, pipe an outline then add more frosting to the middle.  Smear the frosting smooth with slightly moistened finger tip.   You need to work with the frosting a little bit when you try to smooth them across the cookies.  Some of it will lift off.  Just move your finger round and round gently with the frosting at the same time to spread it over the cookie to cover.  The motion is very slight and very very gentle.  The surface of the finger is 'floating' over the frosting to spread.
Leave the cookies out for the frosting to harden.

Woops!  someone ate their ears!