Here's a new one: In celebration of "February birthdays," a large sheet cake was provided at our company meeting yesterday. (That's not what's new.)

I didn't get a piece because I was too busy talking. (That's not new either.)

A few minutes ago, I mentioned a craving for chocolate and a coworker said, "I think there are few pieces of chocolate cake from yesterday's meeting in the fridge upstairs. You should go grab one!"

Sure enough, there were four, nice, 3" x 3" square pieces of chocolate cake sitting on a plate in the fridge...all without any icing on them!

It looks like someone took a big knife and just scraped all the icing off the cake in one fell swoop.

I'm sorry, but you don't get to just eat the icing. That's like getting dessert without eating your dinner! If you want one, you have to eat the other!

Annoying, passive-aggressive, cake-icing-eating coworkers... <grumble, grumble>

This is a great cold-weather soup. It's not too hard to make and if you don't load on the cheese (like I do), it's pretty healthy!

Ingredients

• 9 cups chicken broth
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 3 celery ribs, chopped
• 1 red bell pepper, chopped
• 1 yellow pepper, chopped
• 1 green pepper, chopped
• 1 10-oz. can of chopped tomatoes and green chilies
• 1 4-oz. can of chopped green chilies
• 1 36-oz. can of cooked Great Northern Beans (Navy Beans work too)
• 2 tsp. ground cumin
• 2 tsp. dried oregano
• 1/4 tsp. ground cloves (optional)
• dash of cayenne pepper (Tobasco sauce works too)
• 3 or 4 cooked chicken breasts, chopped
• 1 bag of shredded Monterey Jack cheese

First, get your chicken stewing!

• Fill a large pot with water, a couple of carrots, several celery ribs, a little salt and pepper, and your raw chicken breasts.
• Bring this filled pot to a boil.
• Once water is boiling, turn heat down to very low and let simmer for 30-45 mins.

Second, get your soup cooking!

• In another large pot, bring the chicken broth to a simmer. (You can use purchased chicken stock from the grocery store soup aisle, or use the liquid from the chicken stew pot once chicken has finished cooking.)
• Add everything to pot -- except chicken and cheese.
• Simmer on low heat for 1 1/2 to 2 hours.
• Add chicken pieces.
• Heat thoroughly.

Ladel soup into serving bowls, topping with Monterey Jack cheese.

A few photos from my recent trip to Sedona, Arizona (May 31-June 6).

Southern Utah -- Near the Bryce Canyon area on the way to Arizona.

Navajo Bridge, Arizona -- looking towards Lake Powell direction

The Navajo Bridge crosses the Colorado River/Marble Canyon in northeastern Arizona. Depending on which way you turn after crossing the bridge, you can head to the Northern Rim of the Grand Canyon or Lake Powell/Glenn Canyon Dam. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Navajo_Bridge)

California Condors (with fuzzy close-up)

In 1996, a captive breeding program began in California and Arizona for the nearly extinct California Condor.Thankfully, the condor population has risen to almost 400, with roughly 75 birds located in Arizona. The Arizona condors nest in the remote Vermillion Cliffs nearby, but occasionally hang out on the Navajo Bridge. I was lucky enough to see a pair just chillin' on the bridge! (http://www.azgfd.gov/w_c/california_condor.shtml)

Navajo Bridge/Marble Canyon, Arizona -- looking towards Grand Canyon direction

This is the view of the Colorado River/Marble Canyon from the other side of the Navajo Bridge. If you were to launch boat from here (which many people do), you would end up in the Grand Canyon. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marble_Canyon) And yes, the rocks in the background are that red. These are the Vermillion (red) Cliffs.

Sedona, AZ --  Bell Rock hike, overlook. It was an overcast evening, which isn't great for photos but is good for long hikes.

Sedona, AZ - Mund's Trail with the "Carousel" rock formation.

Sedona, AZ -- Mund's Trail with the "Cow Pies" and "Carousel" rock formations.

Sedona, AZ - A very patient photo subject. Or maybe he was just frozen in fear for his life? :)

Sedona, AZ - Me, at Devil's Bridge overlook, threatening to jump if anyone tries to make me go back to cold Montana.

Sedona, AZ -- The actual Devil's Bridge on the Devil's Bridge hike.

Sedona, AZ -- Prickly Pear cactus in bloom. Most Prickly Pear cacti had yellow blossoms, but there were a few with purply-pink flowers. Very pretty.

Sedona, AZ -- Every morning this group of Gambel Quail would cross the road in front of the hotel room balcony. I couldn't tell if this was just a daily outing for the Gambel Quail Day Care (2 adult females supervising a lot of unrelated children) or one REALLY profilic pair of adults. What's that TV show -- "27 Kids And Counting?"

Sedona, AZ -- Sunset at Red Rock State Park.

Over the last several days, Montana has seen some record low temperatures.
Last night, the mercury dropped to -23F and the night before it reached
the -30s. Once the temperature hits the -20s, you really stop caring and
begin pondering why exactly you live here.

One of my biggest challenges in weather like this is dealing with my dogs.
They are big dogs who need big exercise. In a normal week, I take them for
a 45 minute hike about every other day.

When it gets this cold, I quit caring about the outside world and the dogs
can't be outdoors very long either. Without protective booties, the dogs'
feet are at serious risk of frostbite. The dogs will either start standing
around or they will sit on their butts and raise their rear legs in the
air, trying to get their feet off the cold ground. I shouldn't laugh when
they do this, but I do. We then go back inside.

At -23F, this entire event takes about all of three minutes.

The problem is that if the dogs can't burn off energy by exercising
outside, this extra energy gets stored up for other extracurricular
activities.

Which is exactly what we have here in the pictures.

So what's missing in the top picture? Well, it's all over the floor in the
bottom picture.

Yes, that's a nice large sisal placemat...in about 20 pieces.

Koa decided that since she couldn't get outside, she's just do a little
redecorating while I was away. I know this is Koa's work. She's the mouthy
lab mix. Even at eight years of age, she's still a chewer. Amazing. Daryl,
the Plott Hound on the right, just sits amongst the mess and uses his
giant striped tail to swish placemat pieces around.

I can't be that mad. It's just a placemat and the dogs haven't been
outside in five days. I also know that when I get cabin fever I start
threatening to move to the desert or the beach or anywhere warm. At least
Koa hasn't packed a suitcase yet.

Recently, I mentioned cooking a Southern specialty - hot water cornbread.
While Southerners eat a lot of cornbread in a lot of different ways, this
is one of the more traditional versions. The cornbread patties are
ultimately fried in a skillet, but the use of hot water during batter
preparation is what gives this recipe its name.

Ingredients:

1 cup cornmeal (I prefer yellow cornmeal, but white is fine.)
1/2 cup flour
1 1/2 tbsp sugar (You can add even more if you prefer sweet cornbread.)
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 cup boiling water
1 tbsp bacon grease*
2 tbsp oil (for pan frying the patties)

Instructions:

In a medium-size bowl, mix all the dry ingredients. Slowly pour the
boiling water into dry mix. Stir until mixed thoroughly. You should have a
dough that's pretty stiff. Knead in bacon grease.

With damp hands, make cornbread patties slightly smaller than your palm.
Be careful. The dough may be warm.

In a medium-size skillet, heat oil on medium-high heat. If you sprinkle a
few drops of water in the oil and it sizzles, the oil is ready to go!

Place cornmeal patties in the hot oil and pan fry on each side until they
are a light golden brown. Only flip the patties once.

Serve warm with honey butter or plain butter.

*You can omit the bacon grease, but be forewarned...you'll be committing a
Southern cardinal sin.

To steal a line from Matt Shane..."The Derby Pie is the second best thing to come out of Kentucky and it contains the first best thing -- bourbon."

This fine concoction of chocolate chips, pecans and bourbon is traditionally served around Kentucky Derby time (the first Saturday in May), but most folks will eat Derby Pie any time!

9" Pie Crust:
1 1/2 cups flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup Crisco
3-4 tbsp cold water

Mix flour and salt. Cut in shortening. Combine until mixture resembles coarse meal or tiny peas. Sprinkle water over mixture, one tablespoon at a time. Add enough water so pastry will hold together when pressed gently into a ball. If dough is still crumbly, add a little more water or Crisco. Roll out dough, place in pie dish. Trim and crimp pie shell top edge.

Pie Filling
1 stick butter (1/2 cup), room temp or slightly melted
1 cup sugar
2 eggs, beaten*
1/2 cup flour
pinch of salt
2 tbsp bourbon
1 cup chopped pecans
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350F. Cream butter and sugar. Add beaten eggs, flour, salt and bourbon. Add chocolate chips and pecans. Stir well and pour into your unbaked pie shell. Bake for about 45 minutes. If top is beginning to brown too much, cover with aluminum foil and continue baking.

Serve slightly warm with a dollop of whip cream. For those feeling extra indulgent, add a splash of bourbon to your whip cream before whipping it.

*High altitude note: I add an extra egg white to the 2 eggs. I live at 6000' and have had a hard time getting this pie to cook thoroughly. While the filling should be moist, it should not be goopy and I've had several pie centers come out goopy. The additional egg white seems to fix that problem. I also whip the butter, sugar and eggs for a few minutes to add a little air into the mix.

Last night, as I was staring at a bottle of KABOOM! in our kitchen, I asked the medical professional boyfriend for an explanation of how Billy Mays died. While Mays was no Michael Jackson, I still liked the guy. I've never purchased Mighty Putty, OxiClean or ZorbEEZ, but those corny commercials are certainly stuck in my head. Corny or not, that's the sign of a successful ad campaign.

In the article I read about Mays' death, the coroner stated Mays had hypertensive heart disease. So I said, "What does that mean in layman's terms?"

I didn't exactly get layman's terms, but I will try to convey the lengthy and technical explanation I did receive. Obviously, we don't know Mays personally or the details of his death, but there might be a good lesson in his passing for all of us.

Essentially, hypertensive heart disease means you have some serious high blood pressure issues. The higher your blood pressure is, the harder your heart pumps. The heart, being a muscle, increases in size the more it works out (just like a weighlifter). The walls of the heart actually thicken in hypertensive heart disease.

The problem with this kind of high blood pressure workout, as opposed to a jog or bike ride, is that the heart never gets to take a rest. Uncontrolled high blood pressure works the heart out 24 hours a day.

In everybody, the heart contracts and pumps blood out to the body. After this contraction, the heart relaxes and refills itself for the next pump. If the heart walls are thick, the heart has a hard time relaxing and thus has a hard time refilling.

Since it can't refill, the heart muscle itself starts starving for oxygenated blood. No oxygenated blood equals a muscle cramp.

If the heart is cramping up (which is what a heart attack is), it can't pump blood and that in turn can end life as we know it.

Some people survive heart attacks because only a part of the heart muscle is affected and the rest of the heart can either keep things going or recover quickly enough to keep them alive. Or the big hunk of cholesterol that is blocking blood flow to their heart passes through. Or they get the hospital and receive medication, etc.

With hypertensive heart disease, the entire heart is overworked and struggling. The entire heart cramps up, quits pumping blood and you fall over. If the heart can recover from this cramp, it will start pumping blood back to your brain first, which is the organ that tells your body to breathe. But if the heart is down for the count, then the brain is down for the count and that means you are down for the count.

The boyfriend made two interesting remarks at the end of my cardiac care lecture.

1) 25% of adults don't know they have heart disease until they fall over dead from a heart attack.

2) Most folks don't see a doctor on a regular basis between the time they leave their pediatrician in high school and find themselves in the care of a cardiologist in middle age.

Obviously, this post is not meant to be taken as serious medical advice and I'm sure my more knowledgeable friends will have corrections, but it might make us all think about how to avoid falling over dead at 50.

Now where did I store those dusty workout videos...

My brother, Tighe, lives a pretty cool life in San Francisco. It's a great
place for restaurants, concerts, sports games, museums, events, etc.,
...but apparently not for cars.
 
Several weeks ago, someone cut the intersection corner too close to his
apartment and clipped the front corner of his black Honda Civic.
 
And they didn't stop. Of course.
 
So, after getting the car back from the body shop, Tighe said, "I'm no
fool! I'll park one car length back so if someone else cuts the corner, my
car will be safe!"
 
At 6 a.m., Sunday morning, a police officer knocked on Tighe's apartment
door. "Um, good morning, Mr. Herren. Two cars have been hit by another
vehicle and yours is one of them. I thought I'd talk to you first since
your damage is worse."
 
Always a good way to start the day :)
 
Who knows who hit -- and totaled -- Tighe's car. They crashed into it
sometime in the early morning and then drove off. Somebody saw the
accident and called the police, but left no name or number.
 
We're not sure what's more impressive:
 
A) The car was hit with such force that it was shoved clear on to the
sidewalk. (The car was originally parked on the street against the curb.)
 
or
 
B) Whoever hit Tighe's car still had a drivable vehicle and was
able to leave the scene. (Tighe joked that they must have been driving a
tank.)
 
The police officer asked Tighe is he had any ideas of who might have done
this, although it's most likely it was just a drunk idiot.
 
Tighe's response?
 
"I have no idea, but whoever hit my car last month decided they needed to
come back and finish the job. My insurance company is going to love this."
 
R.I.P., lil' Civic :)

One of the best things about my last job was that there was a small health
club below our office. I have belonged to many gyms over the years, but I
really enjoyed this club because many of my coworkers belonged too. Their
motivation to work out motivated me to work out.
 
Now that I'm doing freelance/contract work from home, I am also trying to
save a few bucks and work out at home.
 
While the new workout space is fine, the new workout partners are not.
 
Normally, Daryl and Koa could care less about what I'm doing, but for some
reason they find the exercise equipment very interesting. They like to sit
next to it, under it, and as you see -- on it.

And harass me while I'm trying to use it.
 
But perhaps I should look at it this way? Sit-ups have never been harder
since I have to crunch my abs and block Daryl's wagging tail of death at
the same time!

Yesterday, I walked out our front door and noticed this navy Subaru wagon
across the street. My first impression was that the rear hatchback door
was just up and someone was getting groceries out or something.
 
The closer I looked, the stranger the car looked.
 
As Dave stepped on to the porch, he took the words right out of my mouth.
 
"Does that car have a back end?"
 
Nope. Apparently not.
 
What was more impressive was that the neighbors were still driving the
car. Who knows if that's legal, but who cares. It is Butte, ya know :)