January 2, 2013 Getting the year started right

It’s surprisingly cool here.  Actually, I would call it cold but Nancy tells me I am being a wimp.  We had a frost warning a couple of nights ago and although it has warmed up a bit, it’s just 45 degrees outside now, and that feels pretty cold to me!  I have totally acclimated to the no-snow regions and don’t know how I would survive a Midwest winter now.

I have also acclimated to retirement - I honestly don’t know how I ever found time to work!  Where does the day go?  Today, for example, I got up just a little after 9, took the dogs for a walk, did some laundry, took a shower at 1pm and then it was time to go sight-seeing.  Clyde and Nancy have been here for a few weeks so they are showing us some of the sights.  Is it a coincidence that most of these “sights” involve food?  Today we went to the Queen Creek Olive Mill, where they have a large variety of flavored olive oils, wines, cheeses, and a small restaurant called del Piero.  The sandwiches are good but I think the little savory bites were probably better.  These are picks with 3 or 4 morsels on them, such as stuffed olives (of course), salami, cheese, red pepper strips, pepperoni - things like that.  Each one is $1.00 so it’s easy to get a tasty assortment.

Next we went to Schnepf Farms, which is just down the road and around the corner.  It’s a working family-owned farm where they have figured a way to do a great business as a tourist destination.  They have about 300 acres, most of it in farmland that supports a lively “pick your own” business of fruits and vegetables.  The rest of it includes a petting zoo, pig races, hay rides, little buildings designed to look like old-fashioned businesses, and a small train that rides around the whole thing.  They have several festivals during the Snowbird season, when things get really busy.  Now the season is winding down so most of the events were closed, but we still got to sample some good fudge.  We also learned they have an outside ice skating rink!  How does one maintain an ice rink in Arizona?  Not with ice, that’s for sure.  The “ice” is hard white plastic that is covered with water and gelatin.  It seems to work just like ice.  

And we also went to what seems to be a great butcher shop, called the Pork Shop.  We had some samples and bought a few items to try.  You can never have too many sources for good food!