Café Rio Salads (chicken tacos)

This is the recipe Jackie cooked for us while we were at Almanor. It was soooo good that I ate till I was stuffed...and didn't have room for the banana splits they served for dessert. But that was OK with me because I loved this recipe so much.

Dressing:
1 buttermilk ranch dressing packet (make as directed with 1/2 cup mayo and 1/2 cup sour cream along with 1 cup buttermilk)
2 medium tomatillos (3-4 small) cut in quarters
1 bunch cilantro
1 clove garlic
juice of 2 limes
1 jalapeño (use seeds for more spice)

Assemble in a blender or food processor and mix until blended.

Spicy Chicken
1 small (8 oz) bottle of Kraft Zesty Italian dressing (Jackie uses more)
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 tablespoon cumin
3 cloves garlic, minced (Jackie uses more)
5 lbs chicken breast.

Cook all together in a crockpot for 4-5 hours, shred meat and cook 1 additional hour.

Serve with: the dressing recipe from above, guacamole, shredded cheese, tomatoes, lettuce, sour cream, tortilla shells, and Zataran's Black Beans and Rice mix (mix and cooked as directed and add 1 can black beans if you want more beans).

Lake Almanor

On our first morning at Lake Almanor, Glen and I took a walk, and this is part of the scenery...don't know who the fishermen are, but I thought they made a nice picture

It was the 14th annual Perazzo Clan vacation last week. We had our first clan vacation back in 1995. Last year was the only year we didn't have one due to the adults going on a cruise to celebrate my in-laws 50th wedding anniversary.

The first 6 years we went to Donner Lake. Since 2001 we've been to Lake Almanor (at Camp Conery, south end of the lake) 7 times and to Camp Little Bear (or whatever it was called!) in Paradise, Utah once.

The weather was wacky...hot the first few afternoons, pretty chilly the next few, and it rained on us (when we left the forecast said 0% chance of rain for the entire week). But it was wonderful!

My mother came up on Monday and left on Thursday. I think she had a really good time. We even had her play in our pinochle tournaments. Couldn't get her to play volleyball or square dance with us, however--but she enjoyed watching! Thanks for coming, mom!

I was in charge of lunch on Sunday (sandwiches) and then all the meals on Monday (cold cereal and bisquick coffee cake for breakfast, sandwiches for lunch, and Hawaiian haystacks for dinner--my menu never varies much).

We had some wonderful meals that week. Jackie made chicken, black beans and rice tacos with a delicious cilantro sauce. I will post the recipe when I get it from her. We also were served sweet and sour spare ribs, lasagna, chicken, and ham on other nights. Simply divine.

So, now for the best part: pictures.

Saw this bird (eagle? hawk?) while on a walk with Glen

Niece Amanda giving us a "Stomp" style performance

My mom and me (our cabin is in the background)

On square dancing night, there was also some "limboing" going on...some (Alex) had it easier than others (I had it pretty easy as I didn't even try)

Eric, Ryan, Hannah, me, Alex (with Caramel Cracker Jacks), and Glen in front of our cabin the morning we left