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Here are some winners of the Western Region Green Team Photo Challenge...

Mushroom Lasagne Serves 4 to 6

1 ounce dried porcini or morels
Béchamel Sauce using 2 ½ cups of milk, 4½ tablespoons butter, 4½ tablespoons flour, salt and white pepper, 1/8, teaspoon grated nutmeg
1 pound Portobello mushrooms, stems removed and caps thinly sliced
¼ cup olive oil
4 tablespoons butter
1 pound white mushrooms, thinly sliced
1/3 cup chopped parsley
3 large garlic cloves, finely chopped
Salt and freshly milled pepper
1 pound instant lasagne, dried lasagne, or Egg pasta
¾ cup freshly grated Parmesan

Cover the porcini with 1 cup warm water and set aside to soak. Make the béchamel sauce Cook it in a double boiler over simmering water or over low heat along with the stems from the Portobello mushrooms. After 30 minutes, remove the stems. Strain the porcini and add the liquid to the sauce.

Coarsely chop the porcini. Heat half the oil and butter in a wide skillet over high heat. Add half the white mushrooms and sauté until they begin to colour around the edges and pepper, and remove them to a bowl. Repeat with the remaining mushrooms, including the porcini. Add any juices that collects to the sauce.

Butter a 9 x 12-inch baking dish. Cover with a layer of pasta, then with ½ cup béchamel sauce, one-fourth of the filling, and 2 tablespoons grated cheese. Repeat this layering until you have four layers of filling. Spread the final layer of pasta with the remaining sauce and cheese.

When ready to eat preheat the oven to 400°F. Cover the lasagne with foil and bake for 20 to 30 minutes or until heated through. Removed the foil and continue baking until browned in spots on top, 10 to 15 minutes more.

You can have this fragrant mushroom lasagne ready for baking in less than an hour if you use instant lasagne. I make only four layers of mushrooms with dried lasagne; with fresh, which is thinner, I prefer to make six.

It's winter now. It snows, leaves and then snows again. Need new boots!

Canada Day July 1, 2006 at Lonica's and David's camping spot on Lake Koocanusa.

A preview of sights to come including a recent shot of Kevin's. Check his Bolivian photos out at the link on the right.

Bought my ticket to Bolivia TODAY!

December 25
5:15 AM drag ass out of bed to cab it to the airport
6:20 AM check in
1 hrs and 20 minutes of downing all available liquids before I board
7:40 AM Calgary, Alberta, Canada (my seat is over the engine to experience the full power of the jet and of course close to the bathroom)
3 hrs 50 minutes of non-stop flying time
2:30 PM Dallas, Texas, USA
3 hrs 50 minutes of sitting around in the Dallas airport observing things Texas size
4:00 PM Dallas, Texas, USA
2 hrs 45 minutes of non-stop flying time
7:45 PM Miami, Florida, USA
3 hrs 30 minutes of sitting around in the Miami airport
11:15 PM Miami, Florida, USA
6 hrs 20 minutes of non-stop flying time
December 26
6:35 AM La Paz, Bolivia
20 hrs 45 minutes of total travel time

I have 4 weeks before I reverse the travel itinerary on January 24:
La Paz, Bolivia to home

Green Team Photo Challenge 2006 Submissions

This shot was taken on the Highway 22X.

It's been a while since I have visited. Soon I will be sleeping in my new home in Bankview. A lot of change and a lot of work.

No Title,
April 2004

The tiles are white, as is her body
she sits in the bath
her toes interrupting the faucet's stream
her thoughts drowned out by the water's pressure
their beginnings evaporating, dissipating with the rising steam
she sinks into the tub trying to completely submerge her curves
the passage of time prevents her
taking a breath, she lowers her head below the water's surface and
remembers a time when she used to float in bathtubs
stretching her legs and arms out, trying to reach both ends.

Damn, I have been surfing around the blog pages and its over whelming. Why don't these things have spell checkers. Well they don't. So mang blogs...I guess you blog for yourself. I think that is why I will. What if all of a sudden though, the blogs are gone. And then my record is gone. Who cares. I cling to things and people too much. The past the past, archive it, remember it, store it, protect it...fuck it. I need to be more about the future. The computer is sucking me in in in in. I don't have the friends network here in Calgary so I enter into cyber world. Its so distracting. Today I bought these voltaire candle holders from Chapters...been waiting for them to go on sale and on sale they did. 75% off...and buy them...two sets! Crazy crazy crazy. I want to go to bed. Up early...and out in the field tomorrow by myself. A little anxious but it will go fine and I think it is good for my confidence to go by myself. Dig here, picture there...remember the tunes. Remember the tunes.

This is my first post with blogger. I found this via goggle. I liked the Google graphic they had up on February 3, 2004. But its not there anymore. I look forward to future postings.

Cheers