Creamy Fettuccine With Romano Cheese Sauce

After some thought about what I should add next to my blog, I decided to add some of my favorite own recipes that are not only tasty but add a bit of elegance to your cabin or camping experience.

That being said, on your next overnight camping adventure, become the hit of your campsite with my version of fettuccine with a creamy Romano cheese sauce. This is easy to prepare and the ingredients will not take up a lot of room in your camping cooler.

Here’s what you will need:

½ package fettuccine noodles.
½ cup Romano cheese (you can substitute parmesan but I wouldn’t recommend it)
½ cup sour cream
½ cup butter or margarine
½ cup sautéed onion
1 tablespoon garlic powder
Seasoning salt and pepper to taste
Chopped tomato (optional)

Suggested additions to sauté with the onion:
Ham
Shrimp
Sausage
Chicken

Cook the noodles as per package instructions in a fairly large pot (you will be using this to mix your noodles with the other ingredients…less dishes to clean up you know). When the noodles are done, be prepared to move fast as this recipe requires to mix everything while the noodles are still hot! Drain the noodles into a colander and immediately put the butter, sour cream and Romano cheese into the pot the noodles were cooked in. Put the drained noodles right back into the pot on top of the ingredients and mix together to create a wonderful creamy sauce. Now add the sautéed onion, the tomato and the meat of your choice along with the seasonings. I believe you will find this to be a 5 star restaurant quality dish that will make you an instant success!

Enjoy,

Mike Powers
http://www.clearwatercabinliving.com/

Catch and Release Fishing

 

 

Fishing is a sport, but it has become less about survival and more about fun in recent decades. There is an issue of fish becoming depleted and many anglers are now employing the practice of catch and release fishing. Catch and release fishing is a great theory, but many people are doing it incorrectly and as a result many fish are dying. A few steps should be followed when trying to catch and release a fish. Once you get the hang of how to do it correctly, you will be able to enjoy your hobby and keep the population of fish full in your favorite stream or lake.

The best place to start is with the hooks. A fish that has a hole through its mouth is going to be more likely to survive than a fish with a hole in its lung or gill. If you happen to hook a fish in the gut, the best thing to do is to cut off the hook as much as you can then release the fish. Many times the hook will dissolve and the fish will spit it out, but they can also live with a rusted hook hanging from them. Whatever you do, do not tug on your line to pull a hook out or you will severely hurt the fish. If you are able to easily remove the hook, use a pair of needle nose pliers. The process of pulling the hook out is easier if you remove the barbs from the hooks, but try not to wiggle while you pull the hook out.

Fish are obviously unable to survive outside of the water. Therefore, the longer that it takes you to release them, the more it becomes as if you are suffocating them. The way that a fish is gripped when out of the water will make a big difference. For instance, avoid touching a fish’s body with your bare dry hands. The fish have a slimy protective coat that will be stripped if you touch them with your hands. If you have to touch a fish, make sure your hands are wet. You may want to wear gloves to protect your hands from cuts or permeating fish smells.

Part of the fun in fishing is to “play out” the fish. The struggle can be what some anglers wait all day to do. Fish are like humans; when they “work out,” they build up lactic acid. When you are fighting a fish, they are fighting too. Just like when someone works his or her body out and it feels sore, a fish experiences the same thing. The build up of lactic acid can be toxic to a fish even days later. Therefore, if you are going to practice catch and release, try to keep the struggle to a minimum.

Try not to let a fish flop around when you catch them. A fish that flops around can bruise or damage its internal organs, causing them to die later from the injuries that are incurred. You can also revive a fish if you need to do so. A fish is likely to run out of oxygen and pass out, so to speak. In order to revive a fish, you place the fish in the water with their belly down and gently grasp their tail. Start to slowly move their tail back and forth until they give you the signal that they are ready to take off into the water. Sometimes you will need to repeat the process more than once, but don’t let a fish go until they are ready. A fish that is not ready to swim could get carried away and swept into rocks or embankment and cause serious injury.

More than anything, when you are practicing catch and release, have everything ready to go. Make sure that your camera, pliers, and gloves are in reaching distance. Try to take the precautions necessary to preserve fish and one of America’s favorite pastimes.

Staying Focused on Your Decorating Project

Very often we begin a project with a specific goal in mind, only to find ourselves sidetracked. It happens every day in every way. The phone or doorbell rings, one of the kids needs help, or your spouse hollers something unintelligible from the basement. Anything can and often does happen to break our concentration. Murphy's Law is alive and kicking.

However, one can stay focused on the current project. Focusing on the current project to satisfactory completion will enable you to move on to the next project, without that nagging realization that you didn't finish this one. Returning to a previous enterprise in order to tweak or fix something is actually a waste of your time whereas, if you had been focused, you wouldn't have to "do" it again. Isn't it amazing how often it is that we have the time to do it again, but often don't have the time to do it right the first time?

In order to stay focused, one should prepare an outline. Preparing a written outline is a surefire way to stay focused on your project. You can prepare different plans for separate projects, with several projects ongoing at the same time. During some projects you may encounter "waiting times", for any number of reasons. Having different project outlines available will ensure that "waiting time" does not necessarily mean "wasted time".

When writing an outline, it's important to cover each aspect of your project, from start to finish. Always ask and answer the Who, What, Where, When and How questions. This may sound elementary, even redundant, but it works. And no-one can fault what consistently works.

While preparing your outline, ideas will pop into your head. The "what ifs", and "could be's" will enable you to see a great many possibilities to incorporate into your project. Or not. Whether or not you use those ideas will determine the completed product. Those ideas and their quality may or may not be incorporated into the final product, but having those ideas now is certainly better than wishing you had planned for them, when it's too late. You may need to revisit some aspect of your outline. It's much easier and less costly to revise the plan, than to revise the project after beginning. An outline will enable you to "see around corners", so to speak. To look ahead and foresee possible problems. It all comes from writing it down. Most of us don't plan to fail, but very often we fail to plan. Failing to plan is tantamount to planning to fail.

Your outline doesn't need to be fancy. Depending upon the intricacy of your project, a numbered or bulleted list may serve your purposes. Of course, the more intricate your project, the more intricate your outline will become. You can even incorporate check boxes, so that when those distractions come, as they usually do, you'll know exactly where you stopped.

Your outline should flow from beginning to end just as if you were actually working on the project. This will help you keep the various phases in perspective. You may need to plan the various phases in detail. These phase plans will become part of your overall plan. For the purposes of building your outline, pretend you're building a house. The foundation would naturally come first, then the walls, finally the roof. Your outline should follow this "building code". All worthwhile structures follow this example. The fleshing out of your outline would be the same as the landscaping and decorating of your house. Save them for last. In other words, start with the basics: What, When, Where, Why and How, (the foundation). Then move on to the tools, resources and knowledge, (the walls). Next comes the finish (the roof).

The "outline" stage of your project is where you'll do most of the learning required to reach a successful conclusion of your project. For example: What tools do you need? Where will you find those tools? How much do they cost? What resources can you find to help you? What resources do you have? Where can you go, or who can you see to gain the necessary know-how? These questions and many more need answering before you can expect to be successful in your project. When you ask yourself these questions and get them answered, often you'll find the project is within your capabilities. When you write down and follow your plan, one step at a time, the project becomes less daunting. The longest journey begins with one step. When you write your outline and re-read it a few times, your memory will be "unlocked" and sometimes you'll be amazed at what you already knew.

Now you're ready to go back and flesh out your outline. (The landscaping and decorating.) This is where you can get bogged down with the details if you lose sight of the "big picture". Take your time with the details; after all, quality is also part of your project. But put together the details in such a way that they can be changed. This is an outline, not a plan carved in stone. You can make revisions, additions, deletions, substitutions and corrections. It’s easier to make those changes now rather than later.

Open ended projects have a tendency to stay "open". So unless your project is collecting Manchurian artifacts, or some such, it should have an end date or time. You may need to extend the completion date or time, but you'll be much closer to the end if you have a completion schedule, than if you don't.

With the outline you've created, you can go on to create a formal plan with all the diagrams, drawings, measurements, etc. All an outline really does is give you a starting place. If your project is fairly simple, maybe this is all you need to use as a guide to finish your project. In any case, you now have that first step.

Cowboy Up with Western-Style Home Decorating

Itching to add some western-style or cowboy-style home decorating?

Great choice! There is something timeless and enchanting about this style of home decorating. Closely related--and possibly the same--are rustic style, log cabin style, and mountain style decorating.

Regardless of what you call it, this type of interior design will center upon the use of natural materials. The first thing you'll want to do is evaluate how you can add more natural wood, metal, rock, and leather to your room.

When it comes to furniture, Western style is most often large and bulky, but simple in design and structure. Look for lots of bare wood. Fabrics tend to Native American prints, Cowboy prints, or outdoorsy-kinds of prints. If busy prints are not your cup of tea, consider matte-finish leather, denim, suede, or nubbly weaves.

Colors should be those found in nature, such as rich browns, dark greens, dark reds, golds, etc. Other colors might include rock gray, metal black, and cream.

Add Western motifs such as knickknacks, blankets, wall hangings, pillows, and more. This would include motifs such as cowboys, saddles, horses, Native American crafts, wild animals found in forests and mountains, rivers, wildflowers, etc.

Vintage items will go well with Western home decorating too. Look for bold-colored quilts, old saddle blankets, barrels, weathered farm tools, and so on.

If you're crafty (or know someone who is), you can really let your imagination run wild when it comes to cowboy (or cowgirl!) home decorating. Use old horseshoes as candle holders on your wall or as bookends. Take bandannas and sew them into pillows, quilt squares, or even lampshade covers. "Plant" dried flowers in old Mason jars and scatter them around on your side tables and bookcases.

Your floors in a western style home should also be natural... preferably hardwood or recycled plank flooring. But they could also be made from flagstone. Be sure to scatter western-style area rugs around though, because natural floors can be cold!

If you can, don't use window treatments... just leave them bare, especially if you have a great view of the mountains or other natural settings. But, if you must use window coverings, keep them simple, such as plain valances, straight panels, or shutters.

Lighting needs to go with the western style of your home decorating too. Vintage lamps are great, but you can use almost any lamps made from wood and metal. Lampshades made of stretched rawhide will really add to that cowboy feel. But the rule here is plain and functional.

Other decorative details might include beading, fringe, twig accents, nailhead designs, metal drawer pulls and doorknobs, and anything made from logs. Pottery and stoneware will also enhance the look.

So, do you see how easy it can be to add western and cowboy touches to your home decorating? Whether you go "whole hog" into it or just add a few touches here and there is up to you. Whatever changes you make, though, are sure to give your home decorating a whole new look.

Tips For Accessorizing Your Home Or Cabin

Accessorizing your home is a very important aspect in the decorating process. When you buy a new outfit it is greatly enhanced with jewelery, scarves and purses for women and ties or watches for men. A home is no different! You can add character and beauty to a home in many ways just by following a few inexpensive changes.

First look at your home and decide what theme you want to accomplish. Is it a contemporary, country, southwest, traditional or ethic style that would suit your personality? Look in magazines, books or the internet to get a flavor of the accessories you would like to see in your home. Have at least one piece you treasure in every room! Purchase accessories that go with the theme and color of your room. Color choices should compliment the main color in the room.

Occasionally it is simply a matter of rearranging some of your accessories on a shelf. It is recommended to group your accessories in odd numbers rather than even numbers. Different heights and textures are also attractive. For example, a night side table can have a lamp, picture frame and small pot of flowers as a grouping.

Entry ways should be uncluttered. This area of the home is the first hint at what the rest of your home is like. A side table with your most dramatic or unusual accessories will set the tone in this important area of your home!

Pictures or art work are often hung too high. The rule of thumb is the picture should be hung so that the middle of the picture is at eye level. Art work should be placed no more than five to eight inches above the sofa or seven to ten inches above a table. Try to align pictures in different geometric shapes (vertical, circular, triangular or rectangular groupings) in various sizes for a different effect.

Bookcases are often found to be too cluttered and full of small knickknacks. Try to vary the size of the shelves vertically for interest. Vary the heights of books with the tallest in the middle. Don't put small books next to tall books. Take off dust covers from books to show their often rich colors. The upper shelves can be used for candles, family pictures, fancy bowls or larger ornaments in odd number groupings of 1, 3 or 5 pieces. You can also mix and match books with ornaments, but make the books the focal point. Don't leave a gap between the ceiling and the top of the bookcase. Place a plant on the top shelf for balance.

Lighting is an important element in accessorizing your home. Accent a large picture with a spot light to enhance a focal point in a room. Lighting creates ambiance and should coordinate with the theme you want to create. Get creative with an old lamp by adding tassels, beads or decorative finials. Use faux paint or wrap funky fabric around the base to give it a new lift.

Area rugs can define a space and pull a room together. Place furniture completely on the rug for a warmer effect. Area rugs used under a dining room table should be large enough to also accommodate the chairs when fully pulled out.

Use many pillows on the bed as this can add a splash of color in a bedroom. Vary the colors and patterns of the pillows and graduate the sizes from large to small. Pillows are also great on a sofa and will add tremendous character to a dull living room.

Mirrors are great to expand a smaller space. Try a large mirror that stands on the floor attached to the wall behind a small dining room table. Try leaning a tall mirror behind a bed as a head board for a dramatic look! These mirrors can be five to six feet tall. It has an amazing effect!

Bathrooms can have a spa appeal by placing clear glass bowls filled with colored soaps, bath salts or bubble bath beads on the bathroom counter. Candles are also nice on a bathtub. Low lighting with lit candles will sooth all your troubles away!

Kitchens also can be accessorized to create a gourmet feel. Hang copper pots and pans from a wire rack above to add color. Don't be afraid to hang plants from any bare ceiling corner to give a lived in feeling to a plain kitchen. Grow a few herb plants on a kitchen window sill to use in your cooking and add wonderful aromas. Accessorize your counter tops with small attractive appliances or cooking utensils. A large bowl of fruit on the kitchen table can be fresh or artificial. Prints are also a welcome addition on kitchen walls.

Have fun trying out new things. Shop around for different accessories for your home. Try antique stores, consignment shops or flea markets for ideas. There are many craft books available that you can also explore. First impressions are lasting. Do not mix beautiful furniture with cheap accessories. Accessories can make or break the ambiance of your home. Be creative and trust your instincts!

Use Native American Drums For Unique Rustic Tables

Native American drums used for rustic tables are the exact opposite of the cold look of contemporary style and ultra modern decorating. People are making a strong shift in their expectations for their furniture’s comfort and design by embracing Native American. Drums suite both form and function when one desires to build a sense of home into their design. Warmth and friendliness have become the emphasis of this popular décor with Indian drum tables, antler lamps and rawhide lamp shades leading the way. The congeniality of a country smile or closeness with dear friends is the atmosphere sought after in today’s rustic design and becoming a reality through Native American drums.

Drums, Native American designs and natural materials are playing a big part in the reversal to comfort and simplicity. By combing various accents, decorators are creating rustic home décor with down home feel that is affordable and interestingly beautiful. Native American drums seem to fit the bill perfectly. Large pow wow drums are used as center or coffee tables while smaller Indian drums make perfect end tables. The primitive natural rawhide of the drums and the rich wood tones bring a rustic theme to the room that harmonizes all of the elements. It’s truly amazing what a unique look can be accomplished by using tables made from Native drums.

Native American drums as furniture hasn’t found a place in the lime light of flashy magazine photos of contemporary homes with hard steel and glass, but Native drum tables certainly have found a place in the hearts of Americans, Native or not. The homey relaxed feeling that it’s ok to take off your shoes and sit on the furniture is made with fabrics of homespun character, quilts and rag rugs, bent wood rockers and cedar drum tables.

Table drums also help the flow of the room because of their rounded corners. Coffee table drums help keep the room from looking overcrowded. Some of the greatest examples of rustic décor using Native American Indian drums are those that have a feeling of a country cabin or lodge, open and warm. Tarahumara Indian drums in particular are a type of Native American drum especially well suited to rustic furniture adding a rough hewn look with warm color for a great cabin look. Tarahumara pedestal drums range in size from 12” to 24” diameter making them just right for corner and end tables, while the larger powwow drums can be as large as 42” in diameter. Both use a perfect combination of beautiful rawhide with natural pine and cedar for an inviting feel.

Think Native drums American style, by using country crafts to warm your whole room and add a touch of rustic charm. Imagine the rekindling of by gone days when Teddy Roosevelt made the masculine hunting lodge style so popular. Antler chandeliers, bears carved from logs and antique hooks for hats and coats. Try using a lot of wrought iron lamps and accessories with your new drum tables. If you love western furniture as well as southwest style, try an old horse collar mirror or wrought iron horseshoe wall decoration. Native American drums as rustic furniture may be a new concept to some, but there is nothing more warm and simple than a Navajo rug under a Native drum, with Indian pottery and a log ladder near by to make a subtle but amazing affect. Southwestern designs on wool throws and tapestries are also perfect for this style. So make a bold statement in your favorite space with beautiful Native American drums.

Craig Chambers is the director of Mission Del Rey offering Native American drums, rawhide lampshades and southwest or western home decorating accessories from the Tarahumara Indians.

http://www.missiondelrey.com/native-american-drums.html

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