A rock

(A rock between two hard places.)

Opposition is a natural part of life.  Just as we develop our physical muscles through overcoming opposition — such as lifting weights — we develop our character muscles by overcoming challenges and adversity.

~ Stephen R. Covey

This is another of the leftover photos from our trip.  It was taken at Freeman’s Run at Austin Dam Memorial Park.

In other news…

I’m off to pick up the broccoli as soon as Hilgert’s market opens (at 8:00am).  The next two days will be all about the blanching and freezing process.  I’m not sure where I’m going to put it all.  Reorganizing the freezer didn’t make as much space as I’d hoped.

We finished up the last packet of last year’s broccoli at dinner last night.  It was a fitting goodbye to the old as we get ready for the new.  And it was delicious served with grilled salmon and potato cakes.

One of the big search terms around here lately is about blanching broccoli.  Or rather, about freezing broccoli without blanching it.  Every year around this time a lot of someones want to shortcut their way to preserving the broccoli harvest.  I would not recommend it.  The blanching process retards the activity of enzymes that cause the vegetable to become tough as well as lose its flavor and nutrients.  I realize it would be easier and less time consuming to cut up the broccoli, throw it in a bag and into the freezer.  Blanching takes time and work.  It’s worth every moment of it when January rolls around and you taste the almost-fresh flavors of the broccoli picked in August.

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