A pause from paddling

All fueled up and with rested arms, we continued our journey down the river.  Another couple of hours later we had finished canoeing the New, with no mishaps, no turnovers, and nothing and no one wet that shouldn't be wet.

  

Marion gets a break.

We had ambitious plans for a Spanish dinner feast with some new recipes from the latest issue of Vegetarian Times magazine.  The main dish was fideua (fid-AY-wah), a noodle-based Catalan dish similar to paella.  For a side dish we would try the garlicky mushrooms recipe in the same issue.

  

Chefs Heather & Ken

After lots of chopping, dicing and slicing of the 12 ingredients for this Spanish style stew, we finally got the food on the stove.  We were lucky to have five people assisting in the prep or we might still be working on it.  Though our version didn't look exactly like the one in the magazine's photo, the fideua turned out great, and we all enjoyed it.  The garlicky mushrooms were less successful.  The two cups of wine which the recipe indicated would evaporate had to be poured off, but not before it completely overpowered the garlic flavor.  Next time, we'll drink all but two ounces and add that to the 'shrooms.

Finally after dinner, the tooth that had been wiggling around in Emma's mouth for the last few days, broke way to freedom.  There is a small possibility that her tongue might have encouraged this release, but we have no definite proof of that.

  

Baby tooth, be gone!

Relieved of her tooth-loosening responsibilities, Emma was free to create a new game for us to play.  Called Adventure Challenge, the game had rather complicated rules, that seemed to change frequently.  That was the challenge part.

  

Not sure but guessing Emma may win the Adventure Challenge game.

It was the perfect way to cap off another day of family fun in the North Carolina high country.  We lost one of our group today as Ryan had to return home to work tomorrow.  And now we are five, missing both Grandma and Ryan.