Mountain Musings

Deep in the Heart of Texas ~ Flowers of Texas

This week I'm participating in MsGreen Thumb Jean's Bloomin' Tuesday. Instead of our flower gardens in Virginia, this post features flowers from the heart of Texas as a continuation of our Deep in the Heart of Texas series.

Everywhere we traveled we saw very beautiful flowers and healthy lush greenery, most blooms and names unknown to us, however. 

First, the beautifully landscaped grounds at the Alamo in San Antonio:These colorful purple flowers were located by the Alamo stone columns and greeted us as we entered the grounds:This flowering yellow bush below reminded me of our Yellow Rose of Texas plant:Another beautiful purple plant:Below in the background you'll see one side of the Alamo...and in the foreground the cacti that are everywhere: Jonathan took this next unusual plant picture. It's always very interesting to see what catches someone else's eye when we get home and review everyone's photos!Leaving the Alamo, we toured other areas of the city. Here's a beautiful yellow flower:And this red one:A beautiful blue flower:This one's a different bloom:And last is a photo we took near our friends' front porch steps when we visited...a Bougainvillea:Thanks for coming along with me to see some of the flowers we saw in Texas. Next week we'll get back to the gardens in Virginia.

Other participants can be found over at Bloomin' Tuesday.

~Deb

Next Up: Deep in the Heart of Texas ~ Friendly Hospitality

Deep in the Heart of Texas ~ Flavors of Texas ~ 2

Today's post is all about the interesting and delicious food we ate while in Texas...beginning with the waffles served for breakfast each morning in our hotel! This was definitely a unique enough waffle to photograph before adding the butter, jelly, and syrup.

Hey, let's wait until after the food conference to put into practice the healthy things we learned. It's not likely we'll get Texas-shaped waffles back in Virginia!

For almost all of our lunches we brought our own sandwiches and veggies in a cooler from home and found a place to eat quickly before the next session began. Here we are right outside the Gonzalez Conference Center as we weren't allowed to bring food inside. Since it was almost 100 degrees, it made us really appreciate the cool air back inside. The Achiote Restaurant below is along the River Walk and very close to the conference center.  This is where we ate the first evening:

I ordered the Cilantro-Lime Chicken Pinchos as did both Hannah and Sarah. We all loved our meal which consisted of: sweet peppers/onion/poblano peppers, zucchini/yellow rice with pigeon peas and local harvest vegetables with sweet-sriracha mango sauce. Excellent!

Tom and Jonathan ordered the Peruvian Lomo Saltado, Stir Fry Beef Tenderloin with tomato/ onion/jalapeno/fried potato/rice. Ooh, the jalapeno bread they served was great, too! Here's Jonathan enjoying his meal:

We knew we had to try Mexican food at least once in Texas...so off we went walking the streets to LaVillita Village to find a restaurant. Here we are in front of Guadalajara Grill ready for an authentic Mexican meal:

Here are two delicious plates we were served--yum!:

Doesn't everyone take pictures of their food on vacation? Just wondering...because we always take pictures at unique restaurants! :)

Another interesting place was County Line Barbecue located alongside the San Antonio River Walk:

Everyone wanted to taste brisket while we were in Texas. And this was the place! We enjoyed eating outside on the patio while watching the riverboat cruise down the river. The food was super delicious!Here's another view of us at our table. Sarah's taking a video of the area:

We also enjoyed some great food with friends at their home in southwest Texas, but I'll write about that on a future post. (Other posts in this series.)

~ Deb

Next Up: Deep in the Heart of Texas ~ Flowers in Texas ~ Bloomin' Tuesday

Deep in the Heart of Texas ~ Flavors of Texas ~ 1

Since we've been writing about The Reformation of Food and the Family Conference, surely I should post some pictures of food since that's what this conference was all about!

"Calling all bakers, cooks, and home-spun food enthusiasts! You are officially invited to submit your food creation to The Reformation of Food & the Family Conference Cooking and Baking Competition."

When Hannah and Sarah read those words in the conference brochure, they really wanted to participate! But how can you whip up your best dish in a motel room 1400 miles from your own oven? So we were just content to browse the entries that other folks prepared. Here are some samples:

Everyone was invited to the room where the food judging competition would be held. We circled the room and checked out all the entries on the various tables. Some looked yummy:

While others looked...well, you decide. Don't get me wrong...I actually like asparagus, but I'm not sure I could have been a taste-tester on this one:

Hannah and Sarah spoke with one of the food monitors stationed behind the table. The monitor's job was to make sure no one but the judges sampled the entries. The pies were very tempting!

There were many different entries on this table which I had never heard of--I should have written down the titles so I could have identified these photos:

Here's another entry with great presentation:

And here's Mr. Phillips presenting some of the first place winners with their check for $250:

Well, let's save the rest of the food pictures for the next post...which will be about the food we ate while in Texas. (Other posts in this series.)

~Deb

Next Up: Deep in The Heart of Texas ~ Flavors of Texas ~ 2

Food & Family Conference Audio Available

Before I write the next post in the Deep in the Heart of Texas series, I wanted to post the link to the Conference Audios in case anyone wanted to purchase the CDs or MP3s of the Food Conference as Vision Forum has made them available until August 7th.

Here's what Doug Phillips has to say about the CDs:

Here are some of the benefits I believe you will receive from these messages:

• Wholehearted encouragement and practical wisdom for stewarding your body and the health of your family 
• Timely medical and nutritional wisdom related to detoxification and the influence of genetics on health
• Legal wisdom on how to defend your family from State usurpation of your right to feed and disciple your children
• Spiritual wisdom on how to promote charity and unity in local churches where differences in food philosophies may surface
• A Christian, strategic response to some of the great food controversies of our generation, including the genetic modification of animals, toxicity in the food supply, glutens, and fast-food lifestyles
• A theological response to radical food movements that stand in opposition to the biblical view of creation

You can listen to:

• Chef Francis Foucachon share one of the most refreshing messages I have ever heard in my life on the blessing of food and the importance of prioritizing mealtime — powerful! 
• Joel Salatin as he brings down the house with his principled, innovative, and distinctively biblical view of animal husbandry, food production, farming, and independence from statist control of our businesses and the food supply
• Gary Powers’ phenomenal message for men called “The Seven Pillars of Exceptional Health” (this was a personal favorite of mine and is exactly what you need to give to the men in your life as it is truly a call to manly discipline, stewardship, self-conrol, honor, and leadership)
• Dr. Michael Bernui as he explains the latest information on the genuis of the genes
• Michelle Duggar and other ladies share their passion for “extreme” Christian hospitality
• Nancy Campbell explain the power of the family table in the life of a woman, and its blessing on the family
• Bill Potter give the history of the tea leaf, and Joshua Apple explain the fascinating history of coffee
• And lastly, a number of ladies’ panels in which you can benefit from the collective wisdom of our distinguished panelists on issues ranging from frugality to “food as medicine” and the way we can fight cancer and Alzheimer’s Disease with wise food choices

Check out the conference audios here.

~Deb

Deep in the Heart of Texas ~ Friends & Fellowship

Continuing our Deep in the Heart of Texas series, some of our best memories of Texas are the old friends we reconnected with during the conference and also the new friends we made while there.

On the first day as we were waiting for the conference doors to open, we looked around at the folks gathering and spotted a family Jonathan recognized from having visited their website. So we introduced ourselves to the energetic and sociable Wahlquist family:

And the girls and I met Beth, one of the three daughters in the Wahlquist family. Little did we know at the time that Beth would figure prominently in the weekend:

We also reconnected with the friendly Petersen family from California whom we met last year at the Gospel Centered Marriages Conference in North Carolina. Here I am with Mary:

And here's a picture of the whole Petersen family taken after we ate lunch together one day:

Tom contributes:  Also during the conference we met up with Joel and Theresa Salatin, our friends and local neighbors from Polyface Farms here in the Valley. We got to know them 10 years ago in a church fellowship when we first moved to the Valley, but we have not seen them much in recent years. It took traveling 1400 miles to south Texas to meet up with them again!

Joel was one of the keynote speakers at the conference, and Jonathan attended every one of his workshops:

Tom contributes: Then there’s the cheerful M. family (below), hailing from Tennessee. We were first privileged to meet some of them at the Gospel Centered Marriages Conference in NC last October. This time we got to meet the whole family – very nice folks who love the Lord. Here are some of us having a chat with Arthur and the boys:

And here are some of the M. ladies sitting on the lower level of the conference center below where the guys were talking:

Here's Hannah talking with a couple of the young ladies: Elizabeth, Amanda, and little Mary Ann.

And last, but certainly not least...in fact, it was a big part of the conference! Our friend, Erich--who lived here in Virginia for a few years, was part of our church, and worked with Jonathan at the airport--came strolling up to us between sessions and announced, "Girottis, I have news."

Between dinner break and the next keynote address at the conference on Friday evening, Erich and Beth were betrothed to be married! We were very excited for them both...because we liked Beth when we first met her! The wedding will take place possibly in October. Congratulations, Erich and Beth!!

"And I will betroth thee unto me forever; yea, I will betroth thee unto me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in lovingkindness, and in mercies. I will even betroth thee unto me in faithfulness; and thou shalt know the Lord." ~ Hosea 2:19-20

Well, I've certainly enjoyed writing about all the folks we were with during the conference. I hope you've enjoyed tagging along with me to Texas!

~Deb

Next up: Deep in the Heart of Texas ~ Flavors of Texas

Deep in the Heart of Texas ~ Food Conference

Today begins a series of several Deep in the Heart of Texas posts to catch you up on what we experienced at The Reformation of Food and the Family conference sponsored recently by Vision Forum in San Antonio, Texas.

This was our first trip to San Antonio and for some of us our first trip to the state of Texas. Here we are pictured at the Henry Gonzalez Convention Center during one of the lunch breaks before workshops begin:

Below: Doug Phillips of Vision Forum introduced the speakers for the three-day event beginning with Joel Salatin of Polyface Farms located here in the Shenandoah Valley. Joel spoke in workshops and as the keynote speaker including the topics Redeeming the Earth; Local Food to the Rescue; and Holy Cows and Hog Heaven.

All of us Girotti ladies enjoyed the various ladies' forums which included hearing Michelle Dugger speak on Revitalizing and Reforming Hospitality; Practical Tips for Feeding a Large Family; and Frugality and Health: Feeding Your Family A High Quality Diet While Staying on a Tight Budget:

One of my favorite workshop speakers was Nancy Campbell (below) who spoke on A Glorious Vision for Femininity, Food, and Hospitality in the Christian Household; The Family Feast: How to Transform Meal Time into a Feast for Body, Soul, and Spirit; and The Power of the Family Table.

I loved her sessions because they all dealt with hospitality, and she was a unique and enjoyable speaker. I'll have to start putting into practice some of the things we learned!

Other sessions included learning about A Practical Approach to Addressing Environmental Toxins, Treating Chronic Illness, and Restoring Health; Lyme Disease and the Way to be Well; Nutrition in Fitness; Diet and Dementia: Care for Aging Parents Suffering from Alzheimer's Disease; and Food as Medicine: Eat Well and Be Well.

Here's Dr. Michael Bernui who spoke on Your Genes Are Not Your Destiny: Why Lifestyle and Diet May Trump Genetics in the Battle for Your Health and Understanding Seven Types of Toxins and the Proper Response to Them:

Guest speaker French Chef Francis Foucachon (below) spoke on The Joy of Food in the Christian Home; Starting Your Own Restaurant; and What We Can Learn From the French About Food.

There were many more speakers and topics that made up the conference. Suffice it to say that it was a very full three days! Deciding which 10 of the 40 workshops to attend was quite difficult.

Our family enjoyed the food conference and feel that we learned some practical ways to improve our health. In a nutshell: eat less food, eat more often, and drink more water!

Next up: Deep in the Heart of Texas ~ Friends and Fellowship at the Food Conference

~Deb

Deep in the Heart of Texas!

It's been quiet around the ol' Mountain Musings homestead for the past ten days as we've been away attending The Reformation of Food and the Family conference sponsored last weekend by Vision Forum in San Antonio, Texas.

We also visited family friends and enjoyed an extra couple of days of family vacation while there.

We're just unpacking our bags today so stay tuned for photos and some blogging about our trip soon!

Observation: Texas is a very long way from Virginia!

~Deb

Other posts in this series:

Deep in the Heart of Texas ~ Food Conference

Deep in the Heart of Texas ~ Friends & Fellowship

~ Food & Family Conference Audio Available ~

Deep in the Heart of Texas ~ Flavors of Texas ~ 1

Deep in the Heart of Texas ~ Flavors of Texas ~ 2

Deep in the Heart of Texas ~ Flowers of Texas

Deep in the Heart of Texas ~ Friendly Hospitality

Deep in the Heart of Texas ~ Fabulous Fabric

Deep in the Heart of Texas ~ Family Fun!

Bloomin' Tuesday ~ Daisies, Phlox, & Fennel

This week's Bloomin' Tuesday features my dinner bell flower bed--aka "the jungle!"

Jean, over at MsGreen Thumb Jean's, often talks about her wild beds. This is my wild bed! It definitely needs dividing once the timing is right. After the hot summer is over I'll tackle painting the bell and post!

Above: the redbud tree you see on the left anchors this bed, and it was blown completely over against all the daisies during our recent derecho (windstorm) here in Virginia about ten days ago. It's now pulled back and staked, and I hope it survives!

Below: Phlox and yarrow are thriving by the picket fence garden.

Below: More phlox and daisies alongside the driveway just opposite the dinner bell bed.And last is the fennel plant. I've never used fennel in cooking (maybe Hannah has), but the licorice aroma is very evident when you walk by this garden plant and crush its leaves. Caterpillars often make their home here, and beautiful butterflies abound.

To see other bloomers, head over to MsGreen Thumb Jean's!

All photo credits this week go to my sister Betty who took lots of garden photos when she visited recently. Thanks, Bet!

~Deb

Surprise!

We'll each take a part in telling our side of the surprise birthday story! There are so many behind-the-scenes arrangements to be made when attempting to put on a party, while keeping it from the mom of the house! We are grateful for all those who lended a hand and prayed for us, and we missed those of you who could not attend.

Granny reminisces:

"Wow! What a great day. Aunt Bet and I were on our way back down to South Carolina on Saturday since Deb didn't have power at her house after the big storm when Jonathan called and said the power was on again! I was so glad to hear that. So Bet and I turned around and headed to Deb's. That way we could be there the next evening to see the surprised look on her face! It was good to see so many of her friends. I'm thankful to be part of her past, present, and future."

Aunt Bet writes:

"My job in the great surprise birthday caper was to occupy the birthday girl while the rest of the family made final preparations for the big reveal! Easy, right?

I begged for an afternoon visit to the Verona Antique Mall--not much persuading was necessary when I mentioned my request to Deb. We got to the mall, wandered several aisles, and I realized that time was fleeting. My job was to get Deb back to the house by 4:45.

Amazing how fast time flies in an antique mall! She couldn't understand why I was ready to go. I used the "I'm overwhelmed by all these antiques and choices" excuse. But she kept wanting to visit one more booth in the mall until finally I persuaded her we really needed to go. While I was making a little purchase (another potato masher for Granny!), Deb went to cool the car. I made a quick phone call to Hannah letting her know we were on the way home.

Driving up the driveway, Deb began to suspect something was up. "Who are all those people and what are they doing?" The gang had gathered at the top of the driveway to welcome the birthday girl home.

Her mouth dropped and she started pointing out various people, hardly believing they were all there to celebrate her birthday. What fun! We finally surprised the person in the family who is least likely to be surprised by anything!"

Jonathan relates:
"Before Mom and Aunt Bet got back from the antique mall, I went out to retrieve the Leaning Tower of Pizzas.  On the way home, I saw Dad's truck pull onto the road ahead of me! Yay! He was able to make it back from working the storm for a little while. He was there to surprise Mom when she drove up and stayed for a quick chat before he had to return to work. We were so glad that God answered our prayers that he would be able to be part of the celebration!

We thank the Lord for His providential sovereignty in giving us a godly mother and for His grace in allowing the party to come together despite the chaotic weekend!"

Sarah explains:

"Hannah and I had a ton of fun planning the decorations and how everything would be set up! Taking inventory of our party supplies, we found blue and red plates, flag napkins, and plastic utensils. On our way back from market last week, we were able to quickly stop by the dollar store and pick up some balloons, streamers, tablecloths, cups, and star confetti for the tables. Hannah cut out red, white, and blue paper triangles for a bunting, made some paper pinwheels, and snuck out early Sunday morning to pick fresh flowers for a couple of simple, beautiful arrangements.

As we were planning out what the menu would be, we knew it would have to be something easily prepared and stored secretly. The pizza would be taken care of with Jonathan running out to pick it up while Mom was away. Vegetables and dip would work too, but we had to buy extra veggies to supplement what was in the fridge. Not wanting Mom to wonder where they came from, we stored everything in a cooler in an upstairs room. :) It was convenient that we were bringing vegetables for snacks at church and could at least prepare some without arousing suspicion.

For dessert, I made chocolate cupcakes and homemade peach ice cream. Finding the time to bake 90 cupcakes was a little tricky, but thankfully Aunt Bet, Granny and Mom went out shopping on Friday, and I was able to rush around in a tizzy baking them. Since it was my market baking day anyway, all my ingredients and supplies were ready to go.

Frosted and sprinkled, the cupcakes were hidden away in the guest room, awaiting the big day. I found these printable cupcake toppers, cut them out with scalloped scissors, and taped each one to a toothpick. On Sunday, once it was time to bring out the cupcakes, some of the guests and I stuck the toppers in. (Thanks, Mrs. O. and Laura!)

The quadruple batch of peach ice cream had to be frozen in the ice cream freezer in 2 installments, AFTER Mom had left, so it was a bit of a mad rush to get it done in time. Aunt Bet brought some huge, fresh picked South Carolina peaches just for the ice cream, and they were so delicious." 

Hannah adds:

"Guests came from near and far away to join us for this special event. Mom was excited to talk with many dear friends who were present.

It was soon time for the pizza party to begin! Everyone enjoyed gathering in the shade behind our house to escape the evening's sun. Families scattered around the yard and porch munching and fellowshipping.

Perfect spot for a picnic!

The sweet W. family were all dressed patriotic for the occasion.
It was a great opportunity for some to renew acquaintances and make new friends.

Mom has always wanted to invite people for a hymn sing, but plans for one have been put on hold...until now! She never suspected that her desire would actually come to pass as a special birthday surprise. After we finished up Sarah's delicious ice cream, we gathered the chairs and hymn books and sang for awhile into the evening.

Several people requested favorite hymns, and we even had a few budding musicians playing along on some numbers with banjo and guitar.

Joining our voices together in song to God was a wonderful end to the evening."

Deb shares:

"Oh my! I couldn’t believe this gift when I opened it! It’s beautiful! My friend, Chris, made this creative and colorful quilt using the Scrappy Spools quilt pattern, and I absolutely love it! What a special remembrance of this special day! Thank you, Chris!

All around this was a wonderfully surprising day--I think I like surprises after all! I’ve been so blessed and honored by everyone who came—some traveling from across town and others traveling up to three hours to get here! I am amazed and humbled!  Your presence was the very best gift of all! Thank you so very much!

I’d especially like to thank all my family for cooking up all this fun and going to so much trouble to keep it from me! Ahem...

And I'd like to thank all my friends and family for the emails, phone calls, birthday cards, gifts, and well-wishes you sent my way. I don't think I'll ever forget my 60th!"

Old Glory

We wish everyone a safe and happy flag-waving Fourth of July! Our holiday will be a bit different this year...the devastating windstorm which we experienced last week here in Virginia has resulted in thousands of folks still without power.

Tom has been working lots of hours--through the weekend, my birthday, today's holiday...and beyond. The projected goal is to have everyone up and running by next Monday or possibly Tuesday.

We have much to be thankful for since our power was out for less than 24 hours; trees only fell across the driveway and not onto our vehicles or home; no one in our family was hurt by the storm; and we didn't lose any food from the freezer. We were well blessed!

"Have you hugged a utility worker today?"

~Deb