I use a recipe from the Iowa State Fair's Blue Ribbon Cookbook: Ingredients: 2Lb Boneless Beef Chuck, cut into 1" cubes. 1 medium (About 1.5 Lbs) Beef soup bone. In Iowa, these are from the leg shank. 1 Carrot, pared & quartered 1 Celery Stalk with green leaves attached cut in half or thirds depending on the size. 1 Medium onion Quartered 1 Bay Leaf 1 Teaspoon salt 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper About 8 cups water 2 Cups home made beef stock or 14.5oz store bought beef stock. 12 ounces egg noodles. NOTE! Store bought noodles just don't work well with this recipe! I make my own using 1 egg, 2 cups flour, pinch of salt & 1/8 teaspoon white pepper. (see Below) If needed for thickening: 2 Tablespoons Flour 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/2 cup water Method: In a large,heavy bottomed stock pot or ceramic lined cast iron pot, add the first 8 ingredients: beef cubes, salt, pepper, bay leaf, soup bone, celery, carrot, water to cover (about 8 cups). Cover the pot and heat over high heat until it reaches a boil, then reduce the heat to low and simmer until the beef cubes are fork-tender about 1 hour 15 minutes. Remove from the heat and using a slotted spoon, remove the beef cubes and place in a bowl. Remove the soup bone and trim any lean meat, cut into bite-sized pieces, and add to the beef cubes. Discard the bone. I usually remove the marrow and add to the stock or give the whole bone to a worthy dog. Cover the bowl of meat and refrigerate. Strain the remaining stock with a sieve into a bowl or Large measuring cup discarding the vegetables and bay leaf. Measure the liquid and make a note of how much you have. Pour the liquid into a large mixing bowl and refrigerate. When cold, use a tablespoon or large spoon to skim the congealed fat off the top of the broth and discard the fat. Cover the remaining broth and refrigerate. All of the previous steps can be done ahead of time, even the day before. 30 Minutes before serving: In a large pot, add the reserved broth, and enough other stock to total 10 Cups of liquid. stir to blend. Cover and bring to a boil over high heat. Add the Noodles to the boiling stock/broth. boil uncovered until slightly soft (about 8 minutes) add the beef cubes, boiling briefly until heated through. If the broth looks thick enough, like a thin gravy, you are done. If it is too thin, make the thickening out of the ingredients listed above. By adding them to a seal-able jar, cover and shake vigorously until smooth and all clumps are gone. Add this thickening sauce to the pot and simmer briskly until the broth thickens. (About 2 minutes) Serve immediately. In Iowa, they are served over mashed potatoes, but are delicious by themselves. Egg Noodles: On a large surface, put the 2 cups of flour in a mound, making a well in the center. Break the egg into the well, and using a fork, stir the egg only until well mixed. add the salt and white pepper to the egg. Continue stirring more and more of the flour into the egg until a dough ball begins to form. Knead until smooth, and roll out thin, dusting the board with flour to keep from sticking until the dough is about 1/8". Cut the dough into 4" strips, placing one on top of the other adding a light dusting of flour between each layer. Once all the strips are stacked, turn so you can cut the 4" side into the desired thickness. (I like about 1/4 to 3/8" thick noodles.) The finished noodles will be 4" x 1/8" x 1/4". Place the noodles on a large cookie sheet and dust well with flour to keep them separated until they are dried out, about 2-3 hours. Shake the majority of the flour off before adding the noodles to the broth.

Thanks, murraysmom. It's nerve wracking at times being the Dad, but he enjoys the physical challenge, the excellent pay, and a chance to spend a lot of time in the wilderness. He's done it for 5 seasons and will be heading out again in just a few weeks.He tells me every life counts. Ron

Rusty, I live in St. John's, Newfoundland, Canada. That trail is called North Head Trail although most people just call it the Signal Hill Trail. It winds around Signal Hill. It's quite steep in places but at least there are stairs to climb. I typically start at the bottom of the hill (on the other side) and walk up the road to the top, then take the trail back down. Many, many people jog this trail but I am not a runner. It looks worse than it actually is, although there are no rails, only a few steps with handrails. In one section where the trails is especially narrow and steep there is a chain bolted to the cliff face so you can hang on to it. I rarely do, quicker to just go without holding onto the chain. It usually takes me 48 minutes to do the entire trail. I haven't done it much this year because I've been doing other trails but last summer I used to do it 3 or 4 times a week. It's a great workout!

Go to "Your Houzz" - then click on "edit profile" (box on the upper right). From there, click on advanced settings and scroll down. You'll see a place for messaging and you can turn it on there. If you don't want to receive messages after you get the link, you can go back in and turn it off.