LIVE, LOVE, LAUGH, AND BE HAPPY: Trip to South America and Christmas

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Trip to South America and Christmas

I am planning to count off a couple of the 100 things to do before I die list in December. I'm going to South America and cruising throug the straight of Magellan and around the southern most tip of South America (Cape Horn), thats a picture of the cape above. From what I've read I also should be able to see the Southern Cross along the way. This photo reminds me of our relative insignificance in the universe.

We fly to Valparaiso, Chile from Orlando. The stops are Punta Arenas, Chile; Tierra Del Fuego Argentina; Cape Horn; Pt. Stanley Falkland Islands; Montevideo, Uruguay;Buenos Aires, Argentina and Rio De Janeiro Brazil.

I'm so looking forward to the trip! I leave on the 7th of December and don't return until the 23rd. I will miss most of the Christmas preparations (the part of Christmas I enjoy the most) but I think this trip is worth it.

Favorite Recipes

CELIA'S SANTA FE SOUP

1 LB. GROUND BEEF
1 CAN BLACK BEANS – DO NOT DRAIN
1 CAN WHITE BEANS
1 CAN ROTEL TOMATOES
1 CAN SHOE PEG CORN (Regular white corn works too)
2 CANS WATER
1 PACKAGE RANCH BUTTERMILK DRESSING MIX
1 PACKAGE TACO MIX

Brown the Ground beef and pour everything else into the pot with the meat. Heat. How easy can you get?

I'm getting a little more daring. This just plain sounded interesting so I tried it out on my family. Its a salsa type dip and is delicious. Serve it with corn chips that won't break easily.

WARNING: Wear latex gloves when preparing the jalapenos! My hands burned 24 hours after handling them. If you don't take the stems and seeds out this will be too hot to eat.

Classic Texas Caviar

2 (15.8 ounce) cans black-eyed peas, drained
1 (14.5 ounce) can petite diced tomatoes, drained
2 fresh medium jalapenos, stemmed, seeded and minced
1 small onion, cut into small dice
1/2 yellow bell pepper, stemmed, seeded and cut into small dice
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
6 tablespoons red wine vinegar
6 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin

DIRECTIONS
Mix all ingredients in a medium bowl; cover and refrigerate 2 hours or up to 2 days. Before serving, adjust seasonings to taste, adding extra vinegar, salt and pepper. Transfer to a serving bowl.

FAVORITE QUOTES

The greatest and most important problems of life are all fundamentally insoluble. They can never be solved but only outgrown. — Carl Jung

"I didn't think I could get here from there. I couldn't but We could." Katy

"Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it." Goethe.

"For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. II Timothy 1:7

"Man is not angry and resentful over what's been done to him but over what he has failed to do." Unknown

"We often choose to disqualify any statement that depends on extenuation because we so believe in the rightness of our judgement we invalidate evidence that does not confirm it. Nothing that can be called truth can ever be arrived at by such means." Paraphrase of Marilynne Robinson

"When we choose independence over relationship we become a danger to each other." Unknown

"We don't see other people as they are. We see them as we are." Robert A.

100 THINGS I WANT TO DO BEFORE I DIE (Some of the 100 are done and not on the list)

Ask women across America "What's in your purse?"
Bathe in the Blue Lagoon in Iceland
Drive across the US, coast to coast on non-interstate roads
Eliminate profanity from my conversation
Enable someone to accomplish a goal from their own list
Feel an earthquake (from a safe distance)
Get a tattoo
Invest in a stock that multiplies my money by 10
Learn conversational Spanish
Learn to whistle through my teeth
Place a wager on a horse
Read 100 works of classic literature (NY Times List - 79 to go)
Ride a cable car in San Francisco
Ride a Harley Davidson alone
Ride on the Orient Express
Sail around South America via Cape Horn
See a polar bear in his natural habitat
See an ice berg calving
See everything mentioned in "America the Beautiful" (I have 3 things left)
See myself reflected in my grandchildren's eyes
See the eagles in Alaska
See the green flash
See the Northern Lights
See the southern cross
Set foot on each of the 7 continents (I have 4 left)
Spend Christmas in New York with my family
Stand on the artic circle
Stay in a mountain cabin alone for 5 days
Take a hot air baloon ride
Visit all the states (There are 19 I haven't visited)
Visit an active volcano
Visit area 51
Visit Australia
Visit Easter Island
Visit New Zeland
Walk on the Great Wall of China
Watch a meteor shower in the desert

LIVE, LOVE, LAUGH, AND BE HAPPY

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Trip to South America and Christmas

Favorite Links

Blog Archive

Favorite Recipes

FAVORITE QUOTES

AUTHORS I REALLY ENJOY (mostly mystery writers)

100 THINGS I WANT TO DO BEFORE I DIE (Some of the 100 are done and not on the list)

Some Favorite Songs