Rock and Shoals Ramble December 17 2013

This Ramble Report was written by Don Hunter. Don's photo album of the ramble is here. The photos included in this post are all Don's.

On Tuesday, December 17, 2013, twenty-one eager and kindred souls gathered at the Barnett Shoals Elementary School, on Barnett Shoals Road, for a ramble through the Rock and Shoals Natural Area, organized by Ramblers Joan and Sandra.  It was probably still in the 30’s as we all arrived and mingled a bit at the school, enjoying hot coffee, chocolate banana bread, cranberry bread, both still warm from the oven, and mixed fruit, all kindly provided by Joan and Sandra.  

Recipes from Rock and Shoals Ramble

Yesterday's ramble at Rock and Shoals began and ended with homemade treats provided by Joan and Sandra. Several people asked for the recipes and Joan kindly provided them. Enjoy!

Cranberry Bread

2 C flour

1 C sugar

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking soda

3/4 C orange juice

1 Tbs. orange peel (grated from 1 large orange)

2 Tbs. shortening

1 egg

1 1/2 C cranberries (fresh)

Preheat oven to 350. Mix flour, sugar, powder, salt and soda in large bowl.  In another bowl, mix OJ, peel, shortening, and egg, then add to the dry ingredients.  Stir in cranberries.  Bake in a greased 9 x 5 x 3 loaf pan at 350 degrees for about 55 minutes.

Banana Bread

½ C brown sugar

¼ C butter (1/2 stick)

2 eggs

1 ½ C Mashed Banana (3-4 ripe bananas)

1 Tbs. lemon juice

2 C flour

3 tsp. baking powder

½ tsp. salt

3/4-1 C chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350.  Cream butter and sugar.  Add eggs singly beating after each one.  Stir in bananas and lemon juice.  Add flour, baking powder and salt.  Mix quickly.  Fold in chocolate chips. Bake in a greased 9 x 5 x 3 loaf pan at 350 degrees for about 1 hour.

Nature Rambling photo year in review

As all you regular Nature Ramblers know, Don Hunter has been photographing our rambles for much of the year. I thought it would be appropriate to have a year-in-review summary of Don's work just to remind of us of all the wonderful times we've had rambling around the State Botanical Garden's natural areas. Rather than picking out my favorites I'm including a link to Don's facebook albums home page (which has many other wonderful photos, not just the Nature Rambles) and links to each of his individual Nature Ramblers albums.

SCNC Ramble Report Dec. 3 2013

Announcements

• ·        The next trail walk at Sandy Creek Nature Center (Nature Center, not the Park) will be on Wednesday morning, Feb. 5, 2014, at 9AM, followed by coffee, tea and homemade goodies. Everyone is invited! There will be no walk in December or January. The walks next year will be on the first Wednesday of the month. Mark your calendars!
• ·        One of our Ramblers, Alice Woodruff, is a potter and invites all you Ramblers to her Christmas Sale open house, Dec. 7-8, 10AM to 5PM at 35 S. Main St., Watkinsville, GA; phone: 706-207-5175.
• ·        Reminder: Dale or Hugh will be happy to have company whenever they ramble at the State Botanical Garden this winter. They will notify all the Ramblers of the date and time by email. (It is likely not to be early in the morning and the days/times may vary, depending on weather. Think of it as a group of friends just spontaneously getting together. The Ramble Reports will also be on winter hiatus.)

Be sure to visit Don Hunter's facebook album to see all the photos from this walk. 

This post is written by Dale Hoyt and Emily Carr.

We began in front of the SCNC Education and Visitor Center with 18 people, a mixture of Nature Ramblers, newbies and folks who have previously participated in SCNC walks. It was a wonderful turnout for a warm (for this time of year) morning when rain was forecast.