Are youlooking for a great get away for this Memorial Day?  Come enjoy thesplendor of the Klamath Corridor in its springtime beauty.  At thistime of year we have both the Klamath and the California Salmonavailable to meet all levels of rafting abilities.  The canyons aregreen and lush and wild flowers are everywhere.  Spring snow melt makesthe California Salmon one of the Northwest's premier spring runs.  Ifyou are not up for the Class IV –V drops of the Cal Salmon join us onthe Main Klamath in the afternoons and take the mornings to enjoy somebeautiful spring trail riding, shooting on the range or hiking.  Asalways Marble Mountain Ranch has something for everyone!

3 night / 4 Day Cal Salmon Package –  $ 810.00/person
3 nights private lodging
2 days on the California Salmon
Monday morning trail ride and Shooting Range
All meals from dinner Friday night thru lunch on Monday

3 night / 4 day Klamath River Package - $810.00/person
3 nights private lodging
2 afternoons on the Wild and Scenic Klamath River
3 mornings trail rides and shooting range
All meals from dinner Friday night thru lunch on Monday

Marble Mountain Ranch is far removed from any connection to municipal services such as electrical power, drinking water, and septic disposal.   If we want these services, we have to create them.  When we came to the ranch in 1994 I recall the paradigm shift in my thinking as I came to realize that throwing on a light switch did not necessarily mean that the light would glow.  I previously always took it for granted that the water spigot would flow freely every time I opened the valve.

We regularly have natural events here that make me realize just how exposed we are by living in the human condition.  Our forests are endemic to fires, the rivers regularly flood, the roads slip off the mountain, the mountains slip to the rivers, and on - and - on.  A few weeks ago we had a 6.5 magnitude earthquake 10 miles off the coast from Eureka and the North part of the state was well shaken.  However, decades of following our civic leaders in construction practices utilizing the uniform building code, and the grace of God helped us to survive this one without any fatalities and with relatively small increments of damage.  Just as I was feeling smug about how in control and self reliant we are here, we got word about the quake in Haiti. Now my heart bleeds for a nation broken.

I am not really sure where I am going with this blog entry, other than to say my heart hurts and that  I commit to be as self reliant and prepared for emergency as I possibly can be.    I suppose this is the point, now that I have arrived:  There is little I can do as an individual for a distant nation, but there is much I can do as an individual for preparing myself,  my immediate family and for being at the ready for service to my home community. 

We do in fact, already open our doors to host firefighters during those Summers that we are called to battle forest fires in the area.   We have opened our doors to neighbors with riparian homes threatened by floods.   We continue to live as much in a self reliant and prepared fashion as we are capable of doing.   Still, my thanks go to those who are dirtying their hands and growing their hearts while in service to the souls of our neighbor nation - Haiti.

I think that self reliance and preparedness goes beyond having the physical infrastructure to survive a natural catastrophe or personal life trauma.  I think it connects to emotional stability, and generally optimistic views of reality.  It means more than fiscal preparedness or owning deep savings accounts.  It means having a full memory bank of good life moments while navigating the vicissitudes of our lives. 

OK< time to step off the soap box...Meanwhile, here are some views from  some good times at our home on the Klamath River:




Later, 
Doug

It seems that our past season has not only motivated movie producers to change life styles, but we have invaded the realm of teenage fashion trends!    This is a fun response from our last Thanksgiving e-mail blast that you might enjoy reading as well:

Hi guys,
Phil and I so want to do this, but Phil’s great-grandmother will be visiting over the holidays whom we never see.  She lives in Miami. So the families are all putting together a family party that weekend.  I was waiting to talk with Phil’s mom before I responded.
 
The ranch has provided the girls with such fond memories.  During their first week back at school they needed to write about their summers in class.  They both wrote pages and pages about their experiences at Marble Mountain.  We hope to make an annual visit out to visit you guys.  Also, I thought you’d appreciate this – I took Breanna to buy an outfit for school.  We walked around and around and she could’nt decide on any one thing.  I finally said:  “Why can’t you pick something?”  She said:  “Well I think the problem is I’m a cowgirl now, and I don’t really fit here J.”  She ended up with a plaid shirt and jeans…
 
We hope you are all well.  Please keep us in the loop with updates, and we haven’t forgotten about the photos.  Phil will send.
 
Hugs to the family…
Aly Ben-Joseph

Heidi and I felt an unusually close kinship to the Ben-Joseph family and we look forward to to many return visits.  As to the fashion trends, we suggest that Breanna visit our daughter Cierra in the forthcoming "Marble Mountain Ranch cowboy fashion walk" as the girls demonstrate the proper application of the cowboy boot in formal dining settings.  I particularly am fond of the fixed blade bone handled sheath knife as a strikingly daring fashion statement.   Oh, Breanna, also never under estimate the attention demanding qualities of the foot-Teva tan.   This is a sure sign that you are a tenured river runner.   The foot-Teva tan is also particularly effective as an attention getter in highlighting minimalist shoe styles at formal events.  Ya know, I think it also might be a good time to build a ranch retreat with an agenda  of "How to properly accessorize for a dude ranch holiday"    

On a closing note Breanna, let me highlight a couple of our favorite forward thinking fashion trend setters that you can aspire to  imitate in your dude ranch fashion aspirations.  Please pay special attention to the on-going development of their "Teva-tans" and we suggest less dependence on the plastic cup as a fashion accessory.


Well, gotta go find my plaid shirt and start the day.Doug

We have enjoyed reading the responses from a short e-mail blast we did to this years customers.  We simply wanted to say "hi" and to put the word out about a Thanksgiving program we are offering.  Everyone has responded back with wonderfully heart-felt thanks for the experiences that they had with us.  One response in particular was overwhelming.

The family I am talking about was a father (Hollywood producer for special effects on movies such as Spiderman, Pirates of the Caribbean, etc) and his sons.  Mom had to stay back to tend the newborn family addition.  Their visit with us was so profound, that he sold is current production, moved to Omaha, and changed lifestyles to more closely mirror what they found here!   I think you might find this interesting enough that I am going to post it in it's full form with the names removed:

Dear Cole's:
 
Thank you so much for your invitation to spend Thanksgiving with you, but we're going to have to pass this year.  You see much has happened since our visit, and a big part of it relates to you.  Our visit to Marble Mountain had a profound effect on the boys and me, and Erin and I decided to pack our bags and head back to the Midwest.  We're living in Omaha now and looking at several farms in the general area.
 
I sold the rights and screenplay to my project, which funded our decision, and I'm currently producing and directing a musical theater production in Omaha.  It's an original thing that I wrote based on the civil rights movement in Omaha, which was quite tumultuous - the damage created is still an intense problem that haunts the city.  Hopefully, I can build some bridges.  At least I feel it's God's work, so it's all good.
 
In any event, have a great holiday.  We'll be thinking of you.  It sounds fabulous.
 
All the Best,
John Doe

Sometimes I feel a bit like our business has a second calling in the Karma of the globe.  In addition to the obvious fiscal funding of our  "families Cole", the profit motive is intertwined with a welcome invitation to the world to enter our home and for a brief period experience the net result of the traditional nuclear family raised in a rural, work laden, God fearing, peace filled setting. 

As we serve our guests in the course of the week's activities, we are able to bond with new friends of every religion, race, creed, politic, and lifestyle.  It seems that the vast majority of our guests are joined by a common search for soul enriching experiences.  Sometimes these moments come at unexpected moments as we share our time together in clean recreation, relaxation, and soul sharing.  Over 40 years ago, I experienced a connection with my life calling when I leaned back on my guide raft in the morning and felt the warming rays of the sun as I waited for the rest of our guide team to finish rigging their boats.  I have spent much of my life recreating that very moment from my first year of guiding 

The growth and enrichment is not just uni-directional, but lightens the lives of the Cole family as well.  This last Summer, I saw our guest, Joan, and I new she was experiencing her version of that same moment as she watched her son playing in Rock Creek, and as she too was warmed by the sun.


 
We love our life together on the ranch, we hope you can join us in the future, and we hope all of our guests who joined us this past year have had their lives touched and enriched.  Doug

"Over the river and through the woods, to Marble Mountain we go...."  Plan for the best Thanksgiving ever!  Imagine spending your holiday fishing for steelhead, horseback riding, cutting your own Christmas tree, shooting sporting clays, or taking a thrilling jet boat tour to the mouth of the Klamath!   To top it all off, we will do all the cooking and the dishes!  Get ready to enjoy the most relaxing and memorable Thanksgiving ever.

This all inclusive Thanksgiving vacation package is  5 nights/ 6 days and costs only $1100/adult, $999/youth (4 - 13 years), and $500 / little Buckaroos (2-4 years).  Give us a call so we can go over the details.  The food will of course be stellar and set to holiday themes.

Hope to see you here!   Doug and Heidi

Last week we took an unusual call from a couple asking if they could be married at the ranch on the following day.   My first thoughts were questions about the nature of the wedding, but it turns out that our Siskiyou county court house simply does not perform weddings and they hoped to get married NOW!   Since I am licensed to perform marriages, and since I find good karma in doing such, I said "yes - come on down"

I don't charge for performing a marriage.  It seems somewhat blasphemous to go there, so I do it for free.  The ranch was in it's spring glory of flowering bulbs, and the lawns were somewhat long, but they wanted simple, natural, and quick.  They got all three.  Both sets of our family in-laws were visiting for Easter, so we even had a bit of a seated crowd.   Here is a shot of the couple's hands...no permission yet to show the glowing faces!   Oh,...my daughter sang a marvelous rendition of "the prayer"


Sometimes the Somes Bar Redundancy club of Somes Bar rears it's ugly head, and here I go again with the Doug montra:   I love my job.
I get to ride horses, shoot guns, and marry people.   Some times all on the same day.   I love my job!

What’s in the Fridge?
     Just as I expected the Orange Mustard Sauce is great on Salmon.  We even tried it on some steak the other night with grilled mushrooms and zucchini and liked that as well.  
     Yesterday I had to throw a batch of cookies together in about 30 minutes.  With St. Patrick’s Day just around the corner I wanted something with chocolate and mint.  I whipped up a batch of my favorite chocolate chip cookies found in our cookbook – Simply Good – and substituted one of the teaspoons of vanilla for 1 tsp. of mint extract and used giant milk chocolate chips.  They were yummy! If you have any recipes that you would like to have some new variations for please email me at guestranch@marblemountainranch.com.  See you in the kitchen soon.!  Heidi  

Spring has arrived at Marble Mountain Ranch!
     Even though mother nature is still in the snow mode (for which we are very grateful), the animals are moving on with spring.  New arrivals this week are a baby bunny named ‘Oreo’.  He is black and white all over and very cute as you can see from the picture.  We also have 12 new baby chicks and two mamma dogs who are due to have puppies within the next few weeks as well as a mamma cat that will have kittens sometime soon.  Whew!  That’s a lot of babies. Our children’s petting zoo is going to be busy this summer.

What’s in the Fridge Tonight?

Well, I didn't’t expect to be searching my fridge again quite so soon,  but today we had two delightful young women drop in from North Dakota who did not realize that March is COLD here on the mountain.  While  Doug took them on a horse ride during a brief break in the storms I madly searched for what to serve them for dinner.   When I cooked the chicken for last nights meal I had cooked 4 extra pieces, intending to use them in chicken salad for our ongoing diet.  I opened some jars of spaghetti sauce from our food storage and simmered it with onion, garlic, and basil.  I cut up the chicken in strips and added it to the sauce.  I served this over penne noodles with a green salad and some stir fried veggies along with a homemade loaf of French Bread.  They loved it, but the crowning jewel was the dessert I pulled together out of 3 very ripe pears and 1 cup of dried cherries that was in the pantry.  I am calling this one Pear Cherry Tart and it will definitely be showing up in the next version of my cookbook and on the dessert table this summer.  I think it will work great with some of our fresh raspberries from the garden in place of the cherries.  This one is company worthy!

Pear Cherry Tart

Crust:
1-2/3 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cup sugar
2/3 cup cold butter
1/3 cup chopped pecans

Filling:
3 medium pears, peeled and thinly sliced
½ cup sugar
2 Tablespoons cornstarch
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. grated lemon peel
1 cup dried cherries
½ cup orange juice

Topping:

½ cup all-purpose flour
½ cup packed brown sugar
1 tsp. grated lemon peel
¼ cup cold butter
1/3 cup chopped pecans

1) Place 1 cup of dried cherries in small saucepan with enough orange juice to cover, approximately ½ cup.  Simmer for about 10 minutes until cherries plump up and are softened.  Drain off orange juice and set cherries aside to cool.

2) Crust:  Mix flour, sugar, and nuts together in medium bowl.  Cut butter into small pieces and work into flour mixture with your hands until it resembles coarse crumbs.  Press into the bottom and sides of an ungreased 11 in. fluted tart pan with removable bottom.  Be sure to build up sides of tart equal to thickness of bottom of tart.

3) Filling:  Combine pear, sugar, cornstarch, cooled and drained cherries, cinnamon, and lemon peel.  Toss gently.  Pour into crust. Bake at 425 degrees for 20 -25 minutes.

4) Topping:  In a small bowl, combine the flour, brown sugar, nuts, and lemon peel.  Cut in butter until crumbly.  Sprinkle over tart and continue to bake for about 15 minutes until topping is deep golden brown.  Cool on wire rack.  Remove sides of pan and place on serving platter.  Sprinkle lightly with powdered sugar if desired

.

     As co-owner and executive chef at Marble Mountain Guest Ranch for the past 15 years I often have guests ask me or my family “Do you eat like this all the time?”,  to which our children usually respond with “no, and thank goodness”.  They get tired of the fancy guest meals and long for winter comfort foods.  Living on the ranch through the winter presents many challenges, one of which is often the inability to get to the store due to severe weather, slides, and the 4 hour round trip.  For that reason I have often found myself asking “What’s in the cupboard tonight?”  While I’m sure all of you have found yourselves in the same situation, for me there is no possibility of just running to the store for a few missing items or ordering take out. Some of our favorite family meals have been created out of whatever was left in the refrigerator and on the pantry shelves.  Tonight was another such night and I have decided to start a New Blog Entry entitled “What’s in the Fridge tonight?”  In this blog I will share with you recipes that I create while scouring my kitchen.  I invite you to send me a list of some of the items that you most often find yourself left with in your own kitchen on nights such as this and I will attempt to create recipes with only those items.  No running to the store or borrowing from your neighbor!!

    To complicate the cooking for this evening, Doug, Cierra, and I are still attempting to loose those extra pounds we put on traveling this past fall, followed by a yummy holiday season.  Low Calorie, high value, and filling are my main goals for this month.   So tonight here’s what I found between my fridge, freezer, and cupboards.  Shopping day is Wednesday!!!

Leftover rice                                    Litehouse Cranberry Salad Dressing                  Celery
Cilantro                                           zucchini ( on it’s last leg)                                     onion
Canned black beans                       freeze dried basil                                                1 orange
Frozen Orange Juice                       3 chicken breasts                                               chili powder
Dijon Mustard                                 Guittards Champagne Dressing                           olive oil
Green Apple                                    fresh spinach                                                       Gorgonzola

Here’s what I created…

Winter Rice Salad

In a bowl mix 2 cups cooked rice, 8 Tablespoons ‘Litehouse’ Cranberry dressing, ¼ cup chopped celery, 3 Tbsp. minced Cilantro, ¼ cup peeled, diced zucchini, ½ cup black beans (drained and rinsed), ¼ cup minced onion, 1/3 cup diced apple, juice from one orange, 1 tsp. freeze dried basil, 1 cup cubed, cooked sweet potato, fresh ground pepper to taste!  Toss all together and place in the refrigerator while you prepare the chicken.  This made 5 cups.  172 calories per 1 cup serving





Orange Mustard Sauce for Chicken (I’m thinking this will be pretty good on Salmon as well)

1 cup reconstituted Orange Juice
2 Tbsp. minced onion
½ tsp. Chili powder
1 tsp. Dijon mustard
½ cup light Italian Dressing (I used Guittards Light Champagne)

     Place Orange Juice, onion, and chili powder in saucepan and simmer until it has reduced by half.  Stir in Mustard and dressing.  Set aside



Lemon Chicken

Place 1 chicken breast per person in hot pan coated with 1 – 2 Tablespoons Lite Olive Oil.  Sprinkle each piece with Lemon Pepper.  Brown lightly, Turn chicken and lightly sprinkle additional Lemon Pepper on other side.  Continue cooking until done.  Don’t overcook!!!  It will be dry.

To serve:

Place about 8 spinach leaves on dinner plate.  Put 1 cup of Winter Rice Salad on top of Spinach.  Place chicken on plate, spoon 1-2 Tablespoons of Orange Mustard Sauce over Chicken.  Place two slices of tomato on plate and sprinkle lightly with crumbled, Gorgonzola cheese and fresh ground black pepper.  Enjoy!  (Whole dinner is about 378 calories)

Talk to you again soon on “WHAT’S IN THE FRIDGE TONIGHT”