This is the time of year for persimmons and one of my absolute favorite ways to eat a persimmon is how my mother-in-law makes them. When there’s a good harvest from the persimmon tree at the ranch she peels them, slices them, rolls them up in a piece of prosciutto with a jalapeno slice, and bakes them until the prosciutto is nice and crispy. Prosciutto wrapped persimmons with jalapenos are the perfect spicy, salty, and sweet appetizer for your dinner table. Just how we like it here in Texas!

This recipe is a part of the Gojee Potluck series. Gojee.com is on of the leading visual recipe searches on the web. Starting on Thursday, January 26, check out other potluck dishes fellow gojee contributors shared. Go to gojee.com and enter “gojeepotluck” into I Crave.  You can also follow #gojeepotluck on Twitter.

Prosciutto Wrapped Persimmons with Jalapeno makes 16

• 2 persimmons
• 1 jalapeno
• 8 slices prosciutto, thinly sliced

Place the wrapped persimmons on a parchment lined baking sheet and place in the oven. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes until the prosciutto is golden and crisp. Allow to cool before serving. 

I don’t know about you, but fall is absolutely my favorite time of year. It finally starts cooling down here in Texas (except for this year), Hatch Chiles are in season, football is everywhere and hunting season begins. Now, I haven’t been a big hunter in the past. I grew up fishing and love to bass fish at our family ranch but with water scarce and my love of cooking and eating wild game (view most favored wild game recipe on ISMS) I figured it was time for me to join the boys and start hunting.

With hunting license in hand I was off to help Texas control the white wing dove population or blow my head off. No, I really didn’t believe that I would shoot myself. That would be silly . What I really was worried about was shooting the husband… or a cow. My father-in-law would have been very mad if I shot one of his cows.

Although he didn’t say it, I knew that the husband was a little worried about getting shot as well when he dropped me off by a brush pile with gun and ammo and high tailed it out of there to the other side of the tank.

So, there I sat having shot many guns before just not at a moving target thinking this is either going to be epic or it’s going to be an epic fail.

I waited and waited and…waited. I waited amongst the humming of the bees hoping they wouldn’t sting me like the demented wasp my sister-in-law and I went to war with and lost to earlier in the day.

With my ADD getting the best of me, I put down the gorgeous old shotgun and picked up my camera. It was quiet. A little too quiet. I took a picture of this thistle that kept scratching me. *whistle whistle whistle* Still quiet, not a single dove. Then a rustling in the brush pile next to me made me throw down my camera, grab the gun to shoot the obvious 10 foot rattle snack that must have been hunting me this whole time. I waited for it to show it’s face, thinking, “great! I’m 40 miles away from the nearest hospital.” Now I’m shaking a little, my mind overtaking all sensible thinking. I’m trying to remember what the heck did Bear Gylls say you’re supposed to do with a snake bite! Holy crap. Why didn’t I listen? Am I supposed to suck the venom out? Run, scream, and jump in the water? Act bigger than it is? No that’s not it. Knowing that crazy fool I’m probably supposed to catch it and eat it’s beating heart or something like that. Yeah, that must be it. I can feel my heart pounding through my chest while Bear Grylls voice is ringing in my ears when suddenly I hear the husband scream, “SHOOT SHOOT!” I then hear the flapping of wings as a dove flies right over my head and I immediately focus all attention on the dove. Because who cares if I get bit there’s antivenom, right? I shoot twice, miss by a foot, blow a limb off a tree and sigh. It’s then I remember I was in battle with a 20 foot man eating rattlesnake and turn to the brush pile to see the verocious animal that was making all of the terrifying noises rumbling around in the sticks JUMP OUT right in front of me. AHH! With it’s terrifying little beak and wingspan as big as my hand, the man eating “snake” (also know to normal people as a Finch) flew away.

Hmmm… so maybe my imagination got the best of me. I laughed, thankful no one was there to witness that but realizing I would most likely tell you and you would confirm all suspicions you have about me that I was certifiably crazy.

I reload and wait…and wait again.

Time to take pictures again. That’s me wondering where the flip are the doves?

I wait and reflect on how much I love this place. How many great memories I have here and how nervous the husband was when he proposed on the highest hill and I said yes. I also stop and gasp when I realize how this land has taken a beating this summer and how everyone in Texas and surrounding areas has been affected by one of the worse droughts in years. Here’s a comparison:

This is the largest creek and spring fed tank on the ranch. Here: September 10, 2011.

Same spot on September 23, 2010.

It was then in the quiet that I heard noises behind me…right behind me. I turned to see…

this amazing sight. I see deer all the time on the ranch but to see them so close without any fear (as I’m holding a gun… no one said they were Mensa members) was breathtaking. What you can’t see is the 6 doe that are right in front of me drinking from the lower water level. Why did I not bring the 250mm lens? Why!

As the sun set and no birds were in sight, I heard The Husband grumble something about whisky in the distance and I knew it was time to pack up. A pleasant beautiful night brought a harvest moon and I knew at that moment I was hooked. Once that cold front comes through and brings the doves I will be back and every year after that.

There’s my dove hunting story but I’m not done yet. I’m going to leave you with two of my favorite shots from this weekend (not birds obviously).

Here’s Mrs. Gumpus. Usually the first when there’s food and always the first to get right in my face when I’m trying to get anywhere. She does not like me. Just look at the snarl she greets me with every time. If anything should happen to me and you don’t hear from me for awhile, she did it.

And here’s my two loves. Tim after his run with Jack that caused a stampede and Mia screaming, “faster faster!”

This is Jack. Jack recently ran into my arms on my front porch and never left. This past weekend we took Jack to the ranch for the first time. He was in absolute heaven. It was on a walk one morning that he smelled an irresistible smell he had never experienced before. In seconds he was after the trail to… the corral.

I fell in love with him even more to see him this happy and was surprised when he obeyed all of the comands we have been working on except…

“JACK DON’T ROLL IN THE COW POOP!”

That’s not dirt. Oh no no no.

“What?”

I’ll just remember him from this weekend this way.

• 3 cups shredded cooked chicken, I use a store bought rotisserie chicken
• 3 cups of finely chopped fresh baby spinach (about an 8oz package)
• 4oz goat cheese, softened
• 3 cups finely shredded Monterey Jack cheese, plus 1 1/2 cups for topping
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 20 flour tortillas
• cooking spray, I use Pam
• 2 cups of salsa verde, make your own from this past salsa verde recipe or use store bought

Preheat oven to 375°.

a part of my heart is always here…

the brother-in-law and niece

Years ago in a bar in Denton, Texas just south of the line where the red dirt turns black a young wide-eyed blond hair girl meets a wild, one of a kind, guitar playing boy. Boy flirts with girl and girl turns him down because of her bartender boyfriend. Boy returns monthly to play a show at the bar and of course girl is always there. Half a year later and single, girl finally gives into boy when she can no longer resist the boy’s charm and songs. Boy takes girl on their first date and boy asks girl to marry him three hours later. Girl smiles and thinks he’s crazy but knows it’s true. She has to look no further. Forty-eight hours later after a marathon of John Wayne movies and endless talking the date ends and girl returns home with her heart bursting out of her chest. Two weeks pass. Boy takes girl to the family ranch, sings a song of dreams to her and she knows she will never leave the boys side. Months pass. Girl leaves school for the summer and follows boy and his music to Canada. Girl falls deeper for boy, sees bears, smells flowers taller than she, drinks Canadian beer and finds herself “getting married” by a drunk Canadian priest in a small bar somewhere in the mountains of Canada where everyone has a crazy accent after one of the boy’s shows. Girl falls even deeper for boy and the cigar wrapper she has for a ring. Weeks later girl finds herself back in Texas in the desert dancing with a 100 year old man with a crowd watching while the boy sings a song he wrote for her in a little place called Terlingua. Later that night the boy and girl dance for hours under a full moon in the desert with no one around except for the coyotes serenading not too far away. The girl’s heart hurts from being so full. After a while, girl returns to college and leaves boy behind. With the boy in her head school was hopeless and eventually girl leaves school for boy. As time passes the adventures don’t. Despite a horrifying car wreck, running from a crazy gun toting Mexican horse cartel, long nights on the road, and being places she never imagined she would ever be, girl still falls deeper for boy. Finally, after a year of a whirlwind love, boy takes girl on up on the highest hill of his family’s ranch, the same place he took her a year before, kneels down on one knee and officially asks her to be his bride. After a year of romance, roaming bears, crazy Canadians, dust devils, moon lit deserts, howling coyotes, and Mexican horse thieves girl says yes to boy with gunfire bursting from the valley below. Six months later on July 30 2005, with family and friends surrounding them, the girl has an answer to the boy’s first question to her three hours into their first date…

I Do.

Five years later, our family is complete with our “little bear.” Our lives are greatly different but I still love you just as much and even more than that moment on the K when I told you I would be yours forever. We have gone through rough roads, climbed high mountains, experienced loss, and witnessed a miracle. I can’t imagine anyone else that I would rather be with…and yes, I do dream of you too. Happy anniversary.

Love,
Your Bear

Dream of Me ©Tim Steele Music 2005

For the first time since Mia was born the husband has a week off that, of course, coincided with his “last” birthday. He calls it his last because next year he hits the big 40 and refuses to celebrate anymore. I tell him not to worry because you’re only as old as your wife is so you have a ways to go.

Having all of that said, I am taking the day off to go play. I’m leaving you today with a short post of some shots of a very rainy day at the ranch celebrating Tim’s birthday with our family. Unfortunately, I couldn’t get out on the land to take shots of my beloved cows so you are stuck with us siting on the porch watching the storm come in. Hope you enjoy your day as much as I will.

…and yes, the torrential downpour and 50 mph wind did not stop the boys from finding some sort of shelter to enjoy their cigars. priorities

I love springtime at the ranch. Everything is refreshed and begining a new cycle of life.

Speaking of new cycles of life, In Sock Monkey Slippers will soon be making some changes. New look, new address, and new features coming in May!

Tomorrow’s post: Meredith had a little lamb. It’s now in her oven. Happy Easter!

I’m steering away from the recipes and the SAHM bewilderedness for a while to introduce the first round of calfs at the ranch this year. Sorry to do this to you but how could I pass up cute pictures of baby cows? Especially one in particular.

Every once in a while there comes a calf that you just love. The last one was four years ago when a very curious calf drank my beer while I was fishing. So, we named her  Hefeweizen. Her tenacity and boldness made her stand out. Even though she did not have the qualities we look for in a cow to add to the herd she stole everyone’s hearts and now she’s here to stay. Ha ha ha, sorry Mike.

This year I think it’s happened again. I spent about an hour with this new calf born a couple of days ago and now I can’t get enough. What to do? We’ll see come next year if she will stay at the ranch. Fingers crossed!

Meet Z and some of her brothers and sisters…

Z, her mamma, and Hefeweizen’s bull calf.

I love this time of year!

and just because I have to… here’s my baby

A quick look at the soaked north quarter. I couldn’t even get back to the southern end of the ranch.

If you know me you know I love spending time at my husband’s family’s ranch. It’s a home away from home and dear to my heart. It was the place my husband took me on our second date and sang me the first song he wrote for me. It’s the place where we used to sneek off to and meet when I was in college at North Texas and he was a wondering musician in the hill country. It’s the place where you can see the most amazing sunsets and sunrises in your life. It’s the place where the water runs clear and the air smells sweet and fresh. It’s the place you can let everything go and just run. It’s the place where you will never find me without a camera and most importantly it’s where Tim took me up on the highest hill and proposed to me. So here’s a little look from the past years of the place where I truly love to be.