Streams speak to me. The rushing sound of water over rocks, just the movement as the water quietly propels itself down. Out. Over. Under. Wider. Narrower. Bubbling. Burbling. Gushing. Quietly pondering. The stream-speaking thing dates back to my childhood when my family went camping (tent type) for our annual summer vacations in the California Sierra Mountains. Often we set up the tent within a dozen feet of a stream, and it lulled me to sleep at night and gently awakened me in the mornings. Often I would grab a book and take a walk – some location where I could read peacefully and listen to the water.

I feel like I’m in contact with God when I have the ability to sit in silence by a stream and open my ears to God talking to me. I wish I could say I made time to do that on this trip – at this place. No. If I’d asked Dave if he’d mind sitting in the car reading, he’d probably have said sure. I didn’t think to do it then, but as I look at the photo, I wish I had. Even for just a few minutes. My DH has no affinity for the sounds of rivers or streams. He’s a sailor, so only the sound of the ocean sends him off to another sphere. He’d tell you about how he comes face-to-face with God every time he sails at night, when he’s sailing to Catalina island and as he watches the waves, is blinded by the brightness of the night stars and the moon, he knows there’s a God and that he’s watching over him. The little bobbing boat out in the middle of the ocean. As he words it, he knows then that God makes the water blue and the grass green. And that he (God) is in charge.

Back to Arizona . . . after we left Sedona, we drove north through Oak Creek Canyon. I posted a photo I took with my iphone when we reached the northern edge of this canyon. If you’ve never been to Oak Creek, you’ve missed some awesome beauty. In the summer the river is fully enclosed in leafy trees, and it’s harder to see the river.

Way back a long time ago I stayed at a rustic resort in Oak Creek Canyon – we drove into it on this trip but the sign warned visitors that you needed to be a guest to drive on through, so we didn’t continue. But in order to reach Garland’s Oak Creek Lodge, you have to ford the river (or stream, depending on the time of year). My DH was petrified when we crossed over – I was driving, you see – he worried that the water level was too high. But having been there before, I knew that lots of people, without SUVs surely had forded the stream without a problem. The water was about 10-12 inches deep, I would guess, at the deepest. The river bed is lined in cement so there’s no chance of getting stuck. The photo below was taken just before we  made the return trip. FYI: if you ever want to go there, reserve well in advance (it was mostly full the days we wanted to be here, so we stayed at another place instead). The resort is made up of a bunch of adorable, but rustic cabins. A couple of them very close to the creek. And if you stay at Garland’s, dinner and breakfast are included.

Garland’s Oak Creek Lodge
8067 N State Route 89A
Sedona, AZ 86336-9696 (located several miles up highway 89A from Sedona, very secluded)

Where we stayed, near Sedona:
Canyon Villa B&B
40 Canyon Circle Dr
Sedona, AZ 86351 (in the Village of Oak Creek, south of Sedona)
The Canyon Villa is a modern B&B, with gorgeous views of the red rocks of Sedona. It’s lovely, and the owners are very gracious. The rooms are beautiful. Romantic. Canyon Villa is not in the busy, touristy part of town. We drove through that part, but didn’t stop except to see another resort (read below).  There are plenty of good restaurants in town. Trails to hike upon. And Navajo rug stores. And trinket shops with questionable “authentic” Indian jewelry. But it’s peaceful there. The stars are close enough you think you can touch them. We had dinner one night at Fork in the Road. I didn’t take any photos, but I’d highly recommend it. Not cheap. But delicious food.

There’s also another gorgeous place to stay in Sedona. I’ve never stayed there, but an email from Gloria, a new reader of my blog, told me we just had to stop there. L’Auberge de Sedona is within close walking distance of downtown Sedona, but you’d hardly know it since it’s down below town, right on the river’s edge. It’s lush. Expensive. But breathtakingly beautiful.

We’d just had breakfast at our B&B, otherwise we’d have taken my reader’s advice and enjoyed breakfast within a few feet of the rushing stream. I took several pictures there, but these two are representative of the beauty. Just behind where I was standing (the photo below) are numerous wrought-iron tables for dining.

The resort has cabins and rooms, plus first class dining. It would be very nice to stay here. I don’t think I’d ever leave, but rest most hours in that chair with my book at hand. And I’d allow God to speak to me.

– – – – – – – –
A year ago: Bittersweet Choc Chip Cookies
Two years ago: Chicken Breasts with Spinach and Gorgonzola

Tweet

You’ve heard of serendipity, right? It’s when you’re standing in line at the Bellagio Hotel and a roaming manager beckons you to a new line. He asks how long we’re staying – one night I said – he said is that your husband standing over there [with our luggage]? Yes, I said. Dave was wearing shorts so his artificial legs are quite obvious. He said his mother is a double amputee too and he’d like to upgrade us to a suite.

Oh my goodness was it ever gorgeous! A living room, a bedroom, two bathrooms in the bedroom (a his and hers) AND a guest half bath that we didn’t use. On the 33rd floor requiring us to use a different keyed elevator. A view toward the east and unlimited viewings of the famous water show.

We had a lovely dinner last night and now it’s time to pack up and leave. I’ll have more photos hopefully tomorrow including a couple of the room. Meanwhile below is a photo I took in the gardens here at the hotel a few minutes ago. Oh yes, part of the suite upgrade was a “line card” that entitled us to go to the head of the line in the two breakfast restaurants. THAT was very nice.

Tweet

Yesterday was such a pretty day in Northern Arizona. We drove through Oak Creek Canyon and stopped at a viewpoint that looked south.

Tweet

One of the more scenic rocks just south of Sedona. We’re staying in a really nice B&B in the Village of Oak Creek. We sat out around the pool for much of yesterday afternoon, enjoying the lovely weather . . . and the view. Reading and glancing up at that mountain, plus the one below.

All we had to do was turn our heads slightly to look at both. The colors are more brilliant than the photo shows. Seems kind of incongruous, I think, these two stark mountains. And the pool. We did drive into downtown Sedona, but it’s such a tourist trap, we didn’t even get out of the car.

Today we’re off for points north. I don’t think I have wi-fi where we’re staying tonight, so I may not post tomorrow. Maybe I’ll try my iphone app and see if I can post from it!

Tweet

Certainly I knew about Frank Lloyd Wright, the famous American architect. And have, all my life, admired some of the homes he designed. There’s one in Pasadena, I believe, but it’s privately owned. Most of his early life he lived near Oak Park, Illinois. And several homes there were designed by him.

But it wasn’t until I read the book, Loving Frank: A Novel, that I learned more about his life. I wrote about it here on my blog at the time. The book is a history of his love affair with Mamah Cheney. Considering the time (around 1905) it must have been titillating conversation amongst all of the upper crust society. Wright was married and the father of several children. Cheney, also married, had two young children at the time, and she basically abandoned them to be with Wright. The two of them lived together in Europe for awhile, then they returned to the Illinois area and eventually moved to the hinterlands in Wisconsin because it was private and was fenced to keep out tourists and curiosity-seekers. Unfortunately, in the middle of building Taliesin (the one in Wisconsin) there was an horrific fire and murders – in which Mamah and her two children were murdered along with 5 others, by a deranged employee (a kind of butler, or handyman). Wright was devastated, but he never lived long without a woman beside him. He and Mamah were never married, but he did eventually divorce his first wife, Catherine. He married again, was divorced within a short time, and married for the 3rd time to Olgivanna (his last) in 1928. They were married for 31 years.

Suffering from lung issues, he was advised to move to warmer climates, so he began looking, and settled on a large piece of property outside Phoenix, east of Scottsdale. It was several hundred acres, far from civilization at the time (this was the late 1930’s), without power and water as well.

Taliesin (pronounced tal-ee-ess-in, from a Welsh word – Wright was half Welsh) West started out (and still is) an architectural school where Wright convinced promising young students to help him build a magnificent home. He utilized many ideas that were ones he’d mulled in his mind for most of his life. With his apprentices working by day – remember, no electricity –  the home was visualized and constructed over the course of many years. It was mostly open to the air, year ‘round (since his death in 1959 air conditioning was installed). He utilized a kind of white canvas as a roof, which provided diffused light and cover. The main living room has the canvas covers (but has some kind of clear roofing over it) which did provide a warm, soft light.

The house had spacious living areas, all utilizing quartzite stone and cement, redwood (which all had to be replaced eventually since redwood does not survive in dry climates). The bedrooms were quite small. There were two theaters, and a huge workroom that is still used for the current architecture students (we saw most of them working when we visited). Wright’s old Steinway piano still sits in the living room (and one of the people on our tour actually sat down and played it, which was very special). The home is very much lived-in. The architecture students have their own little cabin type rooms that dot the landscape – all of these small utilitarian structures were designed and built by students, over the years. Each one is unique. There is a communal dining room (large) and kitchen (where cooking duties are shared by the students on a rotating basis). Wright’s office, a separate structure, was the first room we visited and the guide gave us a good overview of Wright’s life and the kind of work he did there. Almost all of Taliesin West is built on a triangular design – with roof lines that matched the nearby mountain peaks. Everything about Wright’s designs there incorporate nature, the soil, the rocks, with particular attention paid to enhancing the views (which are magnificent from the home).

Photos, clockwise from top left: the main view of Taliesin from one end of the long building (notice the unusual shapes to the roofline); A pond just outside the back of the living quarters; the view from the breezeway that separates the main living quarters on the left and the communal dining room, kitchen and the workrooms toward the right; one of the many petro glyphs unearthed during the construction of Taliesin.

Photographs aren’t permitted in the living room and bedrooms, so I snapped some photos around the grounds, which you can see above.

Photo at right is a sculpture on the grounds (not Wright’s work, but done by a full-time artist-in-residence sculptor at Taliesin.) Our guide was superlative at giving us an in-depth explanation about the man and his life. Very impressive, I thought. During the tour itself the guide did not mention Mamah Cheney, but when someone asked where Wright is buried, she told the story. (And by the way, the book, Loving Frank, was not apparent anywhere in the Taliesin bookstore.) What was interesting, is that after Wright died in 1959, his request was that he be buried next to Mamah Cheney (remember, he had been married for more than 30 years to Olgivanna) in Illinois. And he was. BUT, some time later when Olgivanna was very old (and living at Taliesin) and in failing health, she told her minions to unearth Frank Lloyd Wright from his grave in Illinois and bring his body to Arizona. Nobody was consulted, and it sounded like the act was done in dark of night within hours of Olgivanna’s request. Following her death, at her request, their bodies were both cremated, the ashes comingled and the ashes were buried in some unknown place at Taliesin West. Our guide said that she thought someone knew (someone who is part of the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation, the entity that runs both Taliesins and the architectural school), but it’s kept top secret.

It was a fascinating tour, but even more so because I’d read the book about Wright and Mamah Cheney. I’d highly recommend you do so also, and then go visit one or more of Wright’s homes or buildings. And if you’re ever in the Scottsdale area, you should visit Taliesin West.

A year ago: Margaritas
Two years ago: Chocolate Chunk Cookies with Dried Cherries and Oatmeal

Tweet

Can you tell we’re on a trip? We left on Monday, but I just plain refused to pay $12.95 a day for internet service at our Marriott hotel in Scottsdale. Really, I should set up my iphone so I could post from it. It’s do-able, but I haven’t bothered to set it up. So I’ve been offline for a couple of days. Time for us to unwind.

The above picture was taken just inside the Arizona border with the beginnings of the desert mountains. It was a beautiful day, as it’s been every day since we left home. It was hot in the Phoenix area (low 80’s).

We took a tour of the Frank Lloyd Wright home, Taliesin West, yesterday, and I’ll write up a separate post about that, probably tomorrow. We ate some terrific meals in Scottsdale, which I’ll also write up eventually. Now we’re in Sedona and I’m online for free here at the lovely B&B where we’re staying. More on that later, too. Meanwhile, I’m going out by the pool to read. 🙂

A year ago: Rice with Pecans, Garlic and Spinach

Two years ago: Chicken Breasts with Bacon & Mushrooms

Tweet

So I read about an appetizer on somebody else’s blog, and it got my mind to thinking. About a cheese torte that I’ve made numerous times. It was called Provolone Pesto Torte. Very yummy, but kind of a pain to make. Then when I read this recipe online I thought I could change that recipe and make it like that torte, but so much easier! I didn’t have any grated Provolone, so I used Parmigiano-Reggiano instead. I didn’t have any cream cheese, but I had goat. And I had the garlic. Hence this appetizer which is VERY easy.

In the photos below – left to right – the goat, Parmigiano and a garlic clove; then it’s slathered onto an attractive serving plate (mine was about 8-9 inches in diameter). Then it was spread with the Trader Joe’s pesto. That was cinchy easy. And the toasted pine nuts went on top. The finished appetizer at top is the result.

printer-friendly PDF

A year ago: Pear Martini
Two years ago: Pork Tenderloin with Lemon Herb Pesto & Sherry

Tweet

Did you know that Trader Joe’s now carries fresh little, baby slider buns and matching little slider-size hamburgers? They come 8 in each container. Our grandkids wanted hamburgers, if you’ll recall, last week. I got these and they doctored them up to suit themselves. Ever so cute.

Tweet

In memory of my friend, Norma

She received a transplanted lung about 6 years ago
because she had pulmonary fibrosis, a fatal lung disease that chooses randomly.

She developed very serious skin cancers because of a particular anti-rejection drug that she had to take, and the radiation damaged her salivary glands. That’s why I prepared lots of soft  foods for her – puddings and smooth things that she could swallow.

She’d been able to attend our last book group meeting about 2 1/2 weeks ago. She thought she was coming down with a cold. Little did we know it would be the last time we’d see her. I saw her very briefly a week later when I delivered some cooked apples to her, just a few hours before her husband Mike rushed her to the hospital because she couldn’t breathe. She’d developed pneumonia and had a fungal infection (a common problem for lung transplants) in her lung. The doctors tried, but then everything started to go wrong. She fought a valiant fight.

She was a dear friend.

Tweet

Just yesterday I mentioned that I have a bunch of posts for which I need to take my own photos. I’m ticking them off my list one by one. This pasta dish is a favorite. Not only because it is fabulous tasting, but it’s also incredibly EASY. The photo above shows, probably, a bit more basil than is realistic. I posted this recipe way back in 2007 and haven’t talked about it since. Have made it a time or two (but forgot I needed to take pictures of it). So that got rectified the other night. We had this with hamburgers – delicious.

The photo just above is the sauce. The one on the left is the just mixed sauce. Once it sits for awhile (and you stir it a time or two) the cheese begins to blend into the tomatoes as in the right photo. This sauce is nothing more than a chunk of cream cheese, canned tomatoes, fresh garlic, red wine vinegar, olive oil, slices of fresh basil and freshly grated Parmesan cheese. You make the sauce and let it sit out at room temp (the health police will be after me, but this is the way it was made for me the first time and nothing’s ever happened to me in the dozen or so times since then that I’ve made this). It can sit for several hours. Then you make pasta (preferably penne) and pile it in on top of the sauce, stir, add more basil and the grated cheese. That’s IT. Takes about 5 minutes to make the sauce. 10-12 minutes of boiling the pasta and you’re done. Trust me on this one, okay? I’m not going to re-insert the whole recipe here – go look at the 2007 post about it.

A year ago: Spanish Pork Braise (a soup)
Two years ago: Pork Tenderloin with Maple Mustard Glaze/Sauce

Tweet