The Tenacity of One Branch.

On the outside of our fence stands an old apricot tree; probably dates back to when the pioneers settled in Monticello.  The land my home sits on was a farm once, and happily a couple of apricot trees, and many Italian plum, still remain.  Last year we did not get any fruit, as a killing frost hit the trees in May, and destroyed all the blossoms.  The same occurred this year, so the change of fruit was none again. 

One day last week I was playing ball with one of my dogs, Lucy; and it got stuck behind a pile of wood near the fence.  Lying on the ground I saw these small orange colored balls and wondered, "What the heck?"  They were apricots and I looked up into the branch that was over the fence and sticking into the yard.  Well that little bugger of a branch was a smart one; it had hidden itself inside an over hang on the tool shed we had just built last year, and it was full of fruit!  By doing that, the fruit blossoms had survived the frost and given us a small bounty.  Hurriedly I got my gathering basket out of the garden shed, and picked all the fruit that was ripe, and bugs and/or birds had not gotten to yet.  I ended up with 40 apricots; Roy ate about 16 of them, and I decided to bake a dessert with the remainder.

Now the only dessert I'd ever made with apricots was a crumble; last time Roy told me he was bored with this one.  I'd been on a pie making binge lately, so had an extra pie crust in the fridge; a pie it was then!  In the freezer was half a pint of blueberries, and thought to add these to add color and taste. 

Apricot Blueberry Pie

 

Ingredients:

 

2 dozen apricots, washed and pitted

1/2 pint frozen blueberries

1 Tbsp. sugar

1 (9 inch) deep dish pie crust

1/2 cup old fashioned oats

2 Tbsp. butter, melted

2 Tbsp. brown sugar

 

Preparation:

 

Preheat oven to 425F.

 

In a medium bowl, gently mix together apricots and blueberries with the sugar; set aside.

 

Spread the oats onto the bottom of the pie crust; spread the fruit mixture over the oats.  Bake for 40 minutes.

 

Drizzle the butter over the fruit filling; sprinkle brown sugar over; bake for 5 minutes, or until the brown sugar is melted.  Remove from oven and let cool for 15 minutes before serving.

 

Makes one pie.

 

Roy loved the pie; tart yet sweet; juicy and very flavorful.

 

Mary Cokenour

2nd Annual Abajo Enduro; Race to the Food.

Andy Platt

On Saturday, August 1st, mountain bike enthusiasts took to Monticello’s local mountain range for the 2nd Annual Abajo Enduro Race (website: http://theraceexperts.com/endurorace/ ). Organized by Andy Platt (husband of San Juan Record’s Merri Allyson Platt), and with the aid of fifteen sponsors from both Grand and San Juan Counties, it was, once again, a huge success!!!









Using the Monticello Welcome Center as a staging area, racers were afforded a shuttle service to the 13.3 mile start of the Robertson Pasture Trailhead; ending at the Foy Lake area. Racers endured terrain of a hard packed, dirt trail twisting and turning throughout the majestic Manti-La Sal forest. With the recent rains the mountains had been gladly receiving, no biker was spared a mud free experience. A fall here and there? No major mishaps thankfully; and I bet a good excuse was “taking time to admire the beautiful, natural plant life along the trail”.





Foy Lake on a stormy day.

The racers may have been exhausted, but the happiness on each rider’s face was beaming! On to the food tent they either continued to race, or at a leisurely speed. Peace Tree Juice Café (of Moab and Monticello) provided a well-deserved meal of five different wraps (Turkey, Club, Thai, Chicken Caesar and Veggie); plus five fruit packed smoothies (Strawberry Twist, Tango Mango, Pina Colada, Watermelon Burst and Berry Banana). The volunteer servers for this day were employees Kaitlin and Brandin; with help from their friend, Andrew….give these three a round of applauds.

Even Mountain Bikes Need a Rest.



Andrew, Brandin, Kaitlin

Brandin Serving up a Wrap

Here’s a description of each wrap to entice you to visit one of their establishments.

Club Wrap House - sliced roasted turkey, ham, bacon, avocado and spring mix with your choice of ranch or cilantro dressing on a whole wheat tortilla.
 
Turkey Wrap - Avocado, sprouts, tomato and red onion with your choice of ranch or cilantro lime dressing and spring mix on a whole wheat tortilla.

Thai Wrap Chicken, - rice noodles, tomato, cucumber, raw peanuts, chow main noodles, spring mix and Asian dressing on a whole wheat tortilla.

Chicken Caesar Wrap - Chicken, romaine, croutons, parmesan cheese and Caesar dressing on a spinach tortilla.

Veggie Wrap - Tomato, shredded carrots, cucumber, crisp lettuce, avocado on a spinach tortilla (Note: not listed on the menu, but ingredients from observation)

Chicken Caesar Wrap

Club Wrap

Thai Wrap

Turkey Wrap

Veggie Wrap

…and the Smoothies.

Strawberry Twist - Strawberry juice, pineapple sherbet, strawberries, banana.

Tango Mango - Peach mango juice, orange sherbet, peaches, banana, coconut.

Pina Colada - Pineapple juice, non-fat frozen yogurt, pineapple, coconut.

Watermelon Burst - Note: not listed on the menu, but full of watermelon goodness!

Berry Banana - Raspberry juice, non-fat frozen yogurt, raspberries, banana.

Perfect Lunch - Club Wrap and Pina Colada Smoothie

Smile, you're on Candid Camera!

Exhilarating mountain bike racing, great food, awards, and sharing the experience with family and friends; the Abajo Enduro Race has a long life ahead of it. Ride On!!!

Mary Cokenour

Fruit Pie Without the Pie Pan.

Recently there was a bake sale at the Monticello Welcome Center; all funds raised were being donated to the upkeep of the Big 4 Tractor.  The Big 4 is the only one left in the United States that is still running.  It appears in the Pioneer Day Parade every year, and goes to other events.  This tractor is rare and priceless, so efforts are being made to have it declared a National Monument.

Since I had already planned on making a birthday surprise for Dave, the retired manager of (who still volunteers at) the Welcome Center; why not make extra for the bake sale.   While flipping through cooking magazines, I came upon the photo and recipe for "Rustic Fruit Pie".  Now I've said it before, and I'll say it again, baking is not one of my favorite culinary activities, but I do try from time to time.  However, I was able to figure out how to cheat on the recipe, make it simple for myself, and even make extra for the bake sale.  I call mine "Artisan Rustic Fruit Pie"; artisan for handcrafted, rustic for country style; hence the use of both descriptive words.  By the way, you might see such names as tart or galette used to describe them; whatever works for the baker, I say.

Artisan Rustic Fruit Pie

 

 

Ingredients:

 

1 package refrigerated pie crusts (2 in a package)

2 cans (21 oz.) fruit pie filling

2 Tbsp. butter, melted

 

Preparation:

 

Preheat oven to 425F; line baking sheets with parchment paper.

 

Unroll each pie crust onto center of parchment paper. 

 

 

Apple Filling, Raisins, Nutmeg

In a medium bowl, use a fork to take all the fruit out of the can; all the liquid is unnecessary, so don't worry over leaving it.  It might come in handy later on to serve over ice cream.

 

Now comes the truly fun part, creating a unique filling.  While the pie filling itself might just be enough; the addition of spices such as cloves, cinnamon or nutmeg will kick up the flavor of apple or peach.  For cherry or blueberry, I usually have bags of frozen stored in the freezer, so add a nice handful to the canned fruit.  Slivered almonds can be added to the fruit, or used on the crust; raisins go great with the apple.









Onto the center of the pie crust, spoon all that lovely goodness; try to keep as much as possible piled up.














Put a little water into a small bowl, not much as you'll be using this to wet your fingertips only.  First, wet those tips, now carefully lift up the crust and crimp a section; the water will help keep the crimp sealed; repeat all around the filling, making sure to draw it close to the center, but not cover it entirely.

Almost done all around.



Done!

 

 

 

 



 



With a pastry brush, let me digress for a moment; you don't have to get a fancy name, expensive pastry brush.  In any hardware store, you can buy those small hair bristle brushes for about $1 each.  Yeppers, you can use them for pastry brushes; make sure to clean them in soapy hot water and dry upright before storing them away.  They last indefinitely!

So, use the brush to paint the melted butter all over the exposed crust.  Afterwards, you can sprinkle cinnamon and sugar (use large or coarse grain sugar, found in the baking section) over the crust, and don't forget a little bit over the filling too.  For the cherry and blueberry, I used brown sugar; and this is where you can add those slivered almonds too.

Large Grain Sugar

Cinnamon and Sugar over Crust and Filling

Ready to Bake Apple (on left), Peach (right)

Bake for 30 minutes.  Now it's going to be a given that they might leak as there is no pan keeping them from expanding; after the 30 minutes, remove from the oven and let them rest for 15 minutes; the leaks will seal themselves.  Each pie will look unique which gives more credence to using the terms "artisan" and "rustic".  To get the pie onto a plate, cut the parchment paper around the pie, grab one end of the paper and simply slide it off the baking sheet and onto the plate.  Serve warm from the oven alone, or with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.  To store, cover with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator; warm up a piece and don't forget the ice cream!

Apple Raisin

Blueberry

Cherry

Peach

..and there you have them, rustic fruit pies using store bought items.  It might be cheating, but it's still homemade, and delicious!!!

Mary Cokenour

Another Breakfast Burrito.

That's right, hubby wanted breakfast burritos one morning, but instead of making the one with bacon, he wanted the lunch style with Frito chips and smoked sausage.  Problem was, I didn't have any Frito chips or Mexican white cheese, so I did what I always do...used what was available!

Breakfast Burrito with Smoked Sausage

 



Ingredients:

1 - 10 inch tortilla
1/4 cup sharp Cheddar cheese
1 large egg, cooked scrambled style
1 smoked sausage, cut in half lengthwise (I prefer Johnsonville)
1 Tbsp. chunky salsa, medium heat
1 Tbsp. butter, margarine or butter substitute


Preparation:






Place tortilla on a large plate or flat, clean surface; spread the cheese in the middle.


















Spread the cooked scrambled egg over the cheese; place the split sausage on top.

Spread the salsa down the center of the split sausage,







Now here comes the fun part, sealing up the tortilla; and I'm proud to say I'm getting better at it each time.




Fold one long side over the ingredients sitting in the center of the tortilla; fold the second long side over.  If the fold won't stay, use a toothpick to hold it together; remove before frying.

Now it's time to fold over one short end; not too close up to the ingredients; you'll need room for the cheese to melt.  Second short end after that, flip the packet over to seam side down and you're ready for the fry pan.

Depending on how many I'm making, I'll use an 8 inch skillet for one; 10 inch skillet for two; you want room to be able to flip the burrito over to brown both sides.  Melt one tablespoon of butter in the pan, over medium-high heat, and place the packet seam side down to ensure a good seal.  Depending on your stove, type of skillet used, it could take one to two minutes; lift up one end to make sure it's nicely browned before flipping to the top side.  You shouldn't need to add anymore butter, but do if you feel the pan is too dry.  Again, brown for one to two minutes, check, and place on your plate (seam side down).  Be brave and take that first hot bite with your mouth, or cut it in half to allow some cooling.

This recipe makes one delicious breakfast burrito with smoked sausage; or use any meat you desire like ham, bacon, sliced steak, even a cooked hamburger.

Practice makes perfect, so enjoy making a breakfast burrito; especially enjoy eating it!

Mary Cokenour