Sopapilla Cheesecake Pie

http://www.clearlakevacationsonline.com/recipes/sopapilla_cheesecake_pie.pdf <<printable version

http://www.clearlakevacationsonline.com/recipes/index.html <<all recipes

Celebrating our 7th Wedding Anniversary

Our day started quite early this morning. We had planned on going over to Jim & Shirley's this morning, but they called yesterday afternoon to let us know that they wanted to take Ev & I out to brunch on Sunday.. sounded good to us..
Jim & Shirley arrived here about 9ish..that would be in the “am”.. uummm… got up early got showered and ready for the day. I wanted to help Shirley with how to upload photos to her email.. I showed her, but not sure that I really got much accompliced..? Hope soo.. Will take care of it another day.. We had some Lady of the Lake, pear champagne, so we popped the cork and proceeded to indulge in some “toasts” for our anniversary and finished off the bottle before leaving for the Blue Wing Saloon for brunch. Jim & Shirley love listening to David Neft from here in Lake County.. David is a Jazz Piano musician.. David would be playing at the Blue Wing Saloon this morning.. We arrive and David came over and spoke to us along with another jazz musician/comedian Mike from Portland, who plays Sunday through Thursday evening 6-9pm until March 3rd.. We hope to go over one evening for dinner and music…
Today was lovely but cool. We decided to stop in at the Boat House in Nice for a cocktail and enjoy the views of the lake. On our back to “home”, we decided we needed to go to Brassfield Winery for some wine tasting. It was only about 130 and thought it would be nice way to spend the afternoon. When we arrived “Bob” our favorite person that pours was on duty.. He treated us all very well. I do believe we were there about 3 hours! We walked around the lovely grounds, enjoying the architecture, landscaping, really one of the more beautiful wineries of the day! When walking out to the car, I noticed we had a FLAT TIRE!!  Can you believe it? With all of our efforts we got the tire changed and on our way back to our house we came.. Enjoyed some “Tequila” tasting, along with a little “brandy” tasting as well..Had a wonderful and fun day with friends Jim & Shirley.. Thank you two for a FANTASTIC Day!! Love you both!

Wedding Anniversary VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Murdered at Cactus Gulch by way of Spring Valley, CA..

On Saturday morning we met with the group of people that were going to host an interactive murder mystery we were going to take part in that evening at dinner. Rob & Gayle had invited us earlier in the month to take part in a murder mystery to take place at their annual Valentines Day dinner/dance and now murder mystery!.. There were Rob, Gayle, Sonia, Lee, Laura, Sue, Mill, Gary and Everett and I.. We all tried to dress the era of this mystery, however with only about 7 hours notice?? I think we all did pretty well, you will have to check out our get ups!! We all had different characters to play and most of it is adlibbed, and sooo fun! We all carried out our parts quite well I thought considering most of us had never done this sort of thing before. When the guest all were arriving to the clubhouse, we all introduced our selves (the players in the “who dun’ it) and also welcomed them to “Cactus Gulch”, in the Arizona Territory, just south of the Grand Canyon.. The audience was well involved and did a great job getting involved and participating in the challenging event of trying to figure out who murdered “Dusty Jones”.. “Cactus Gulch Murder Mystery”, the names were changed to protect the innocent..
A very nice evening.. Thanks to Rob & Gayle for helping making this night a fabulous success!!

Cactus Gulch in the Arizona Territory/Spring Valley VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Bill Hann’s 93rd Birthday at the Moose..

I am in charge of the pie table at the Moose for Friday nights fish fry. That is where someone has to drum up enough free pies/cakes/cookies/etc.. to sell for fundraising at our lodge.. Where also it is Bill’s 93rd Birthday celebration.. Greta (sweet heart that she is) picked up Bill and drove up to the lodge (Bill doesn’t drive at night). Bill sat up at the bar just watching all the people having a wonderful time. People coming by and wishing him a happy birthday, buying his “cokes” and giving him lots of well wishes. Women giving him hugs and kisses!! He loved all the loving attentions he was getting. After dinner we at the moose lodge got his cake ready and we all sang him a happy birthday!! Bill was overjoyed with all the birthday wishes, it brought tears to his eyes.. He was so happy and said that was “The Best Birthday Ever”!! He is 93.. ?? Might have had some other great birthdays too in that life span.. But tonight was extra special..

Bill Hann's 93rd B-day VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Viva Las Vegas!! 2012

                                   Wink and a Smile Harry Connick Jr  http://youtu.be/TIwqw_2J6H8 

Viva Las Vegas!! Lindsy & Chris and Ev & I left for Vegas on Saturday 2/11/12 to celebrate our 7th wedding anniversaries! We stayed at the Desert Rose Resort. Nice place.. We stayed in the first two nights and had barb-q and stayed in those nights. Enjoyed the hot tub and pool on Sunday evening..
On Monday we met up with Rich & Judy in Laughlin for the day. We all enjoyed lunch together, did some gambling a little shopping. Rich & Judy were only in Laughlin for a couple of days and then back to Lake Havasu for some nice warm weather.. It was a short lived day, due to the long drive from Las Vegas to Laughlin about 94 miles..
Tuesday (our last day) Lindsy & Chris went their way and we went ours.. Ev & I did a nice long walk in the morning (2hours) walked up to the Welcome to Las Vegas sign and got our photo taken (above), walked through the Mandalay Bay Resort.. what a gorgeous place!
When we got back to the resort we cleaned up and then walked down to the Flamingo to meet up with  Mike & Maryann. M & M were there celebrating Maryann’s birthday and Valentines Day!! It was great to see them both! We went to see a comedy magic show at the Flamingo, Nathan Burton.. He was pretty funny and his “illusions” were fabulous! All of us then went over to the Paris to have a nice romantic dinner at the Paris (buffet).. Oh my it was soooooooooo good! Of course the French are known for their delicious pastries/desserts!! soooooooooooo good.. This was our last night in Vegas and had a long day on Wednesday with travel so we said our goodbyes early about 930pm..

Viva Las Vegas 2012 VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Dirt Ranch Dinner

Gayle & Rob called us this past week to ask us out for dinner, for which we gladly accepted. We picked up Lee & Laura our way out to the “Dirt Ranch”. When we arrive Gayle & Rob were out to greet us all smiles and giggles. Gayle had already been hard at work cooking/barb-q’ing a Cajun Turkey.. uummm uummm good! They had their dinning room all decorated in the Valentine motif.. sooo cute.. Love it! We all got to sit out on the deck before it got too cool.. So peaceful and quite there. Of being that it is winter everything is pretty stark and grey, but the fresh air was wonderful. Not to mention the fun company we were enjoying.
As soon as the turkey was cooked we all went inside and helped get the food on the table.. Soon we were all sitting enjoying the fine food Gayle & Rob had put before us.
Great evening, Thanks you guys had a great time! We will be happy to come back again!!

Dirt Ranch Dinner VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Make Your Own Vanilla Extract

Printable Version of “Make Your Own Vanilla Extract” >>
http://www.clearlakevacationsonline.com/recipes/purevanillaextract.pdf

Recipes
http://www.clearlakevacationsonline.com/recipes/index.html

'Bon Appétit Y'All

See all my recipes/cookbook at>>
You need to click here!!!>>http://www.clearlakevacationsonline.com/recipes/index.html

Crab Feed at the Moose Lodge 2/4/2012

Our 6th annual Crab Feed at the Moose Lodge in Clearlake Oaks. We had a whopping 160 plus people who had reserved seats at our crab feed this year! Thomas DeWalt our new (2011) Administrator with the help of many other volunteers did a fantastic job of organizing a very successful crab feed! We had another GREAT kitchen crew. Thomas, Gil, Eric, Irma, Steve, Ed, Jamie. Thomas & Jamie’s children, Josh & Casey,more help always by John & JJ (this guys help so much!!).. Bartenders, Tommy and Donna.. Cocktailing by Amanda and Jamie!! Thank to our Senior Regent Peggy Seifert! And so many other donated items that we are all so grateful for.. Thank you all!! If I have forgotten anyone?? sorry.. You all did such a fantastic job and we all Thank You!!!We had Charles as our live auctioneer! Charles always does such a fantastic job. He has the talent of getting everyone involved to participate!! He gets enormous amount of money for desserts! Sometimes in excess of $100!! Charles does a fantastic job!!!
Larry &Lynn are the “ole” faithful of long standing setting of the tables, taking the money for tickets at the door, plus the many many other jobs they do with out be acknowledged!! Thank you all for all you do! You are appreciated! HONEST!We had fabulous participation with donations of baked goods, thanks to Judy DeWolfe who called people to get the donations! We also had several donations from other Moose patrons, as well as some very sexy gift baskets. Everything was donated in the baskets, they were silent auction items.
We had great participation from our guests! Thank you all for making this evening such a GREAT success!!

Crab Feed Moose Lodge Feb 4, 2012 VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Fishing on Clearlake 2/2/12

While I was in the kitchen about dinner time I looked out to see that we had another spectacular sunset! So I rushed to find the camera so I could take the shots you will see below. I never knew Clearlake had so much to offer, very diverse, before moved here in 2003. We have world renown wineries, best bass fishing in the USA (WOW), Clearlake is one of the oldest lakes in the world (can you believe that? true). Click on this link >>“Fun Facts about Clearlake” to learn more about Clearlake.
A terrific amount of outdoor activities to enjoy. We just love it here! Of course if “shopping” is your thing, you won’t have much to select from. However day trips to Santa Rosa, Ukiah or Vacaville are from about an hour to 2 hours drive.. not bad, you get used to it. The positive about living here, is the peacefulness, the serenity and nothing surpasses the beauty.
A friend of mine commented, "These are stunning frame worthy pictures. Love them!" Sandy Waddell.. Enjoy the photos..

Fishing on Clearlake VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

These photos were taken at sunrise 2/2/2010. This was the most fog I have seen over Clearlake since we have been here.