National Peanut Butter Day!

I detest shopping, finding it extremely tedious and boring.  And I am most definitely not a name-brand girl.  Therefore, when I have to get something, you will not find me at Neiman Marcus or Nordstrom or such.  Instead, you will find me doing a quick ten-minute flip through the racks at a nearby discount store.  I always seem to luck out in the dress aisle at Ross.

However, when it comes to food, it is a completely different scenario!  With certain ingredients, I am name-brand loyal through and through, no generic or one-off brands will do.  Just to name a few:

Butter:  Challenge – It’s what my mother used; it’s what I use
Mayonnaise:  Nothing can compare to Best Foods
Pickles:  Unless I make my own (my latest obsession!), a crisp Claussen calls my name
Canned Beans:  S&W – thanks again, Mom

And finally, today’s honoree, Peanut Butter…
Skippy brand is the absolutely only one allowed in our house!!  Creamy or Super Chunk makes no nevermind, both adorn our pantry shelf at any given time.  Trust me, Pat got an earful when he dared to come home with Jif one time, just because it was on sale!!

My dad has always been a peanut butter freak, of sorts.  I have a picture somewhere of this one birthday when we gave him six different sizes of Skippy jars and he stacked them in a tower.  Perfect gift for him!  My sisters and I grew up with a spoonful of Skippy as a quick snack, and I still do the same today.  Several members of my family, myself included, have hypoglycemia, so the protein and nutrients in peanut butter help level out our blood sugars nicely.

My mom was a fan of peanut butter, too, and taught me to enjoy it in an unusual way — with dill pickles!!  Hence the love of Claussens.  It might sound bizarre, but nothing beats a dill pickle and peanut butter sandwich.  Lightly toasted sourdough (Francisco International Brand, of course!), thin layers of creamy Skippy on both slices, and sliced dill pickles sandwiched in the middle.  It’s the perfect combination of cool, creamy, crunchy, tangy, and even a little sweetness from the peanuts.  It was definitely my mom’s and my special treat together.  Love you, mom!

Today, January 24, is National Peanut Butter Day!  Yes, when you are retired, you have time to look up all the quirky holidays!  There are over 1,500 of them, by the way!  So I had to decide how I would celebrate this food source I love so much, and there are so many options.  Do Pat and I have a simple PBJ for lunch… Reese’s peanut butter cups for a midday treat… or chicken satay with peanut sauce for dinner?  hhmmm…..

Well, traditional peanut butter cookies won the toss!  I rarely make them and tried this new recipe that turned out perfectly.  Lightly crisp on the outside, tender and chewy on the inside.

So cheers to Marcus Edson, our Canadian friend who patented the first peanut butter in 1884!  Happy Peanut Butter Day!!

The Very Unexpected!

My hubby set up our first trail cam on our Idaho property in September, right before we left to spend a few months in Southern California.  We got back up to Idaho yesterday, and a few of the images and videos we found on the trail cam were nothing we could have ever expected!  More on that in a minute….

On my morning trek in the freshly fallen snow (yay!!), I kept thinking about the expected and unexpected incidents in our lives.  We tend to live our lives according to design, with most days unfolding ‘as expected,’ as we plan them.  However, is it not the unexpected moments that add richness and texture to our days–that make the very best memories?

Getting a random text from an old friend, simply saying he is thinking of me – very special
Remembering the party when my aunt walked through the screen door not once, but twice – hilarious
Having GPS send me the wrong direction, only to stumble upon an amazing trailhead – stunning views
Receiving a beautiful card in the mail from a friend, encouraging me through a difficult time – so loving
Running out of gas on the way to Vegas with my mom and cousin, oh my – unforgettable adventure

From the simple to the silly to the stressful and beyond, embracing life’s surprises is a huge gift.

Back to the trail cam….
We live rurally on five acres, off the beaten path.  Our mountain home is nestled into a forest.  Just as you would expect, we see lots of deer, turkeys, and black bears just off our back door, and once we saw a mama moose and her babies just down the road from us.  On our drive north yesterday, I told Pat that I knew we would see deer on the camera and was seriously hoping to see bears, but that a moose, elk, or a mountain lion would be awesome!  I knew some of these were not very likely to be spotted, but it is not unreasonable to expect that those animals might come through our property.

So last night, my husband went through the images.
Deer – yes!
Bear – yes!
Strange Man in Speedo – WHAT??!!!

Yep!!  Talk about the UNexpected!  Who the heck is this man???  We were flabbergasted, but roaring with laughter!!  Watch the videos and note the temperatures, too!  I’ve included a couple of still photos as well.

There is a little trail through the back part of our property that crosses some neighbors’ land, also, so there are few of us around here that use it to walk dogs, snowshoe, or such.  We all just share which is great.  But we have never seen this man before and have absolutely no idea who he is!  And it’s actually a little creepy and unsettling to find a stranger roaming through our property, in a Speedo and running shoes no less!!  Definitely a mystery to be solved!

So, yeah, seeing all those elusive animals I listed above would have been amazing!  However, this quirky, very strange discovery makes for a hilarious memory and only adds to the texture of our experiences here in North Idaho!!