Just Kickin’ It on a Mellow Monday

Home Sweet Home – it’s great to get away, but oh so nice to be back home again. You know me, I don’t share our travels and adventures until they are behind us. No sense in advertising to the world that the home front is empty.

This trip was a mixture of sadness and strange, new emotions. In a few more years we will be pulling up stakes and heading east. There is a lot to the west coast that I will miss. So in that sense our travels are bitter sweet. There was more to it this year.

Our Boo (our daughter) died of cancer in 2020. She had but one request – to have her ashes scattered along the ocean. Before any of you start, I know there are federal laws against scattering human ashes within 3-miles of the coast. Some states also have their own regulations, as do certain counties and so on. So I’m not going to go into detail as to where or how we carried out her final wishes. Let’s just say we did our homework first. Just as I know what the Church has to say about scattering ashes rather than a burial on Hallowed Ground. In 1963 the Church lifted its centuries old ban on cremation. That said, scattering of ashes remains forbidden. The Church sees it as turning a person into bird and worm food, as an undignified way to treat our dead. Scattering of ashes is done at the request of our dying loved one. It is a beautiful final act of love. The Church simply does not understand. God does.

In addition to finally saying good bye to our baby, we were also saying good bye to the California and Oregon coasts. When our children were younger (when we were younger, too) every year for Labor Day we said enough of the heat in the central valley – and headed first west and then north. Talk about a beautiful drive – round trip 900 miles, with almost 400 miles of winding coastal highway. It seemed fitting that we take Boo on one final drive up the rugged coastal route all of us together.

Bitter sweet pretty much sums up this trip. Yet I feel very much at peace, knowing that I was finally strong enough to let go. I will miss her all the days of my life, but there is confort about knowing she is resting with the Lord.

One thing about road trips is that you eat. Every time we pile into the car we pledge not to bring so many snacks. Yet it seems road trips go one of two ways. Either you start out with good intentions and then stop at every market along the way or to fill the car with snacks to last a lifetime.

It’s nice to have a home-cooked meal again, even if it’s a sheet pan delight. Hope everyone is happy, healthy and most of all loved. Here’s to the end of an era.

Sheet Pan Brats and Caramelized Onions
2 large Yellow Onions
Olive Oil as needed
Hickory Balsamic Vinegar
Salt
5 Johnsonville Bratwurst Sausages
5 Sausage Buns
Brown Mustard as desired
Ketchup as desired

Heat the oven to 400-degrees. Line a large rimmed baking sheet with foil for easy clean up. Set aside.

Peel onions, cut in half from root to tip. Slice into half-moon slivers. Toss onions with some olive oil, a splash of hickory balsamic vinegar (for flavor and color) along with a pinch of salt. Spread onions out over the entire pan. Lay bratwurst sausage right on top of the bed of onions.

Place in the heated oven to roast for about 30 minutes or so, flipping the brats once midway through the cooking time. Once the sausage is blistered and brown and the onions are a soft; golden color dinner is ready. Serve the brats and onions straight from the pan into the buns.

Great with seasoned tater tots and an ice cold beverage.

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Alleluia, alleluia.
Blessed are the poor in spirit;
for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven.
Alleluia, alleluia.