Our Recommendation List

Planning way ahead where the bridesmaids will go

Having been in the wedding business for many more than a few years now, we’ve had a chance to experience some of the best vendors to participate in the event at Red Corral Ranch.  With this mentioned, I would like to encourage wedding groups to seriously consider the vendors on our recommendation list.  These are vendors that have consistently and with high praise provided their brides and grooms with a most excellent and wonderful experience for their weddings and receptions.

Many of them are local, like caterers Sullivan St. Catering, Wimberley Lavender Farm and Riley’s.  Arnosky’s and their flowers are only a few miles from here.  Some offer a multi-service package like Altered Weddings and Royal Fig.  In addition, we have a wonderful list of Wedding Coordinators who know the Red Corral Ranch like nobody’s business, like Christina Lewis at Wedding Warriors and Alisha Anderson at Texas Hill Country Events in Wimberley.

Obviously, there are many more on our recommendation list.  I mention these as just a sample of the many people that we know who have the experience, skills, creativity and a comprehensive understanding of how to bring about the wonderful dream wedding that you want at Red Corral Ranch.

I encourage you to check out the vendors on our list.  What they provide is some of the consistently best service and best results you’ll find anywhere.  We’ve seen it first-hand with the people on our list throughout the years we’ve been having weddings and working with these people.

Jodie, the Innkeeper

Making Lemon Curd – Beware!

Making lemon curd is not as easy as SOME PEOPLE say.  (They know who they are.)  First of all, if you’re an unsuspecting bachelor-type guy, thinking people are hoping you recreate a dish or recipe they make and others rave about, beware.  Assume whoever gives you a recipe has an agenda right from the start when they say, “Sure.  It’s so easy to make.  You can do it.  Heh, heh, heh.”  Prepare yourself, guys, for pain and suffering.

In the daunting task of making lemon curd, the recipes by the hundreds on the internet call only for sugar, butter, lemon juice and eggs.  By themselves these ingredients seem so innocent and so gentle.  They appear to be normal items, and perhaps by themselves, they would always be innocent, and nice and normal.

But, when combined, oh, what a deceptive combination.  Easy on the outside, but full of lions and tigers on the inside – like the words “nitro” and “glycerine” when brought together.  Heed my words now.

First of all, when they tell you, “Use the juice of 3 lemons”, that’s a bright red warning flag for ‘Danger! Trap ahead. Don’t go near here.’  Bells and whistles should be going off.  You should hear dogs barking and howling outside.  You might even feel the ground rumble under your feet.  These should be early warning signs to you!  Be very afraid!

What they haven’t told you is whether the lemons they’re talking about are slightly larger than a golf ball or if they’re the size of grapefruits. (Yes, they exist in Texas.  Remember, everything is bigger in Texas- even this story.) Plus, they’re not telling you how to measure lemons already sliced up.  So, be forewarned.  There are dragons nearby.  Big mean dragons with long pointy teeth.

And the dragon’s teeth come out when the recipes say, “Grate the lemon rind.”  More horrible words I have never read.  First, you can’t use an electric grinder on these even though no recipe ever comes out and says you can’t.  I can truthfully say that some of my blood went into this dish.  I know that’s a cringing thought, but it’s not as horrible as what happens when lemon juice gets on your scraped bleeding knuckles from trying to “GRATE THE LEMON RIND!!!”  My poor cats ran away at this point and hid under whatever they could find.  Screaming does that to cats.  Lemon juice does that to scraped knuckles and fingers!

And what about the pulp?!?!?!?!  What do I do with the pulp?!?!?!?!

And how long does it take before the lemon acid burning my fingers and knuckles will stop hurting?   None of the recipes answer these questions!  Why not?!

Next, when measuring sugar, make sure you have what must be an actual real measuring cup.  Guestimating from an enormous coffee cup that says “Man-size” on it is not going to work.  One cup of coffee in this does not equal one cup of sugar… apparently.

And another thing, do not use dark brown sugar if you’ve run out of white sugar.  Unless you want a dark brown final result.  This will not look anything like lemons.  There will be no “yellow” look to it, which apparently is extremely important to actual people when it comes time to consider eating it.  (As written below, no one eats dark brown anything that’s supposed to be ‘lemony.’)

Fourth, beating eggs together is easy enough – NOT!  It’s easy like an eye of a hurricane and a drill is not a good substitute for an egg beater.  But again they don’t tell you that, or when to add the eggs or other different ingredients to the pot.  If they didn’t tell you about melting large sticks of butter, then you can begin having that sinking feeling at this moment.  (Oh, the red flags.  Start drinking heavily at this point.)

All recipes then say mix all the ingredients together in a pot and stir until thick.  What does that mean???!!!???  How thick?  What is thick?  How does it get thick?  Why is the butter still in solid bricks?  Are the eggs supposed to be doing this?!?!?  Should there really be so much lemon juice?

Oh, the humanity.  Oh, the mess in the kitchen.  Oh, my scraped knuckles and fingers on fire.  Oh, my acid burned mouth from tastings.

My advice to myself in the past (and to anyone else if you’re trying this and have ignored my earlier warnings to ‘don’t go there’) is stir until your arm stops working.  I wish I had known that “thick” to one unsuspecting person isn’t even close to thick to someone who you hope might one day eat some of what you’re trying to make.

The recipes were very creative in what containers to use, and one even mentioned “a pie shell”?!?!?!?!?!  I was still lost in my oblivion when I figured the frig should finish the job of solidifying it.  Looking back, it was an act of the purist optimism to think this thought in the first place – optimism that was only shattered when it was time to take the dark brown lemon liquid curd pie out of the frig and take it to the holiday gathering.

A word to the wise – when the mixture is sliding around in the “pie shell”?!?!?!?! while you’re carrying it into the gathering from the vehicle,  hoping that no one will notice, hoping they’ll just absent-mindedly try it (yeah, right) and hoping it will actually be enjoyed by someone, remember, it’s not your fault that no where in any recipes did it say, “Hide it in the back of the desserts area.”  This is simply the “traps” unfolding.  Because, at the end when it’s all over, with it sitting on the counter with the other desserts, and it comes to the end of the meal, don’t be surprised when normal people shun it at the table.  No one will go near it.   (Is it really this bad?  Why do you think all my warnings are here in place?!)

Finally, you’ll be taking it home to eat it all by yourself for weeks and weeks on end thinking ‘it’s not that bad’ (the first few days only) knowing that you’ve been had.  Lesson coming now:  When someone gets raves about their recipe, don’t believe that they will ever give it out, even if it only has 4 ingredients.  Accept doom and defeat like a man.

Now, is all this true?  Did I really do this?  Uhmmmm.  Nyaaa.  Of course not.  It’s only a make believe holiday story.

And I’m only typing this because my fingers and knuckles have stopped burning and my skinless lips are not useable for speaking for several weeks.

Jodie, the Innkeeper

PS.  Honest, the recipe looked so innocent.  In the mirror, I look so naive.

‘Tis the Season

I’m sitting in the office listening to the rain outside and Christmas Carols on the radio.  It’s actually a nice and relaxing evening.  It’s the Christmas season, and we have a wedding tonight here at Red Corral Ranch.  The rain didn’t put a damper on the ceremony, the Bride & Groom’s happiness, or the guests.  I guess everyone knows we need rain.

It’s just a relaxing night even though a wedding reception is happening at the Big Red Barn.  Pappas Catering has great food and Altered Weddings supplied the DJ.  The heated barn is providing a warm and cozy place for the guests and I’m warm inside drinking hot chocolate.  I like it.

Not everyone is having a relaxing night out in the world, but I’ll remember them in my prayers and thoughts – more so now.  Although many argue the point, I still will say, if Santa Claus didn’t come once a year, this world would be in terrible shape.  Thank God for the Christmas season.  Know what I mean?

Jodie, the Innkeeper

The Bastrop Fire

I traveled to College Station, TX, the other day.  To get there I drove through Bastrop, TX, on Hwy 21.  Hwy 21 goes right through the middle of where the Bastrop fire had burned last August.   Even though I knew so much devastation happened from the fire a few months ago, I still wasn’t sure what to expect.

I half expected the road to be damaged, so as I drove through the area, I was relieved to see that it wasn’t.  I then wondered if the whole of the damage might not really be that bad.  As I entered the piney woods area outside Bastrop on Hwy 21, I saw more green needles in the pine trees than I expected.  I really wasn’t sure what I’d see before, but seeing some green in the upper half of the trees gave me some comfort.   As I drove, I also didn’t see many signs of dwellings damaged.

I found out as I kept driving that this beginning sight, unfortunately, was deceiving.  As I continued to drive through the park area of Hwy 21, I started seeing more of the fire damage.  In places where I could drive along before and not see into the woods because of the thick brush and trees, I noticed that now I can see a lot further into some of the areas, because all the brush and small trees were burned away.   From the road, I also could see hundreds of pine trees damaged – scarred and blackened, their pine needles all gone, with only their larger, now black branches still attached to black trunks which reached high into what was now a seemingly empty sky.

I did see a few trailers in place, but they looked rather new.  They may have survived, but I don’t know, because I soon began seeing the sites where homes once were.  Now, all I saw were blocks of cement buried in ashes.  The blocks were what the homes were sitting on, and it was obvious that the deep ash was all that was left.

To see all this first gave me a horrible awareness of the tree loss and wildlife loss and it quickly turned into a deep awareness of everything that people lost – their homes and belongings.  I don’t think anyone can see these sites with the ash burying the cement blocks and not get hit by the great loss to the people that lived in these homes, and the great loss of this unique wilderness area.

I saw burned out vehicles and yards where everything that could burn did, filling the yards with more ash.  As I continued driving, I realized that there were a few odd places that didn’t get burned.  Not everything was destroyed but so much was.

Then I realized that I had driven for quite a while and was still in it.  I had traveled for miles and I was still seeing dead trees going deep into the landscape away from the road.  I was still seeing sites buried in ash.  It made me realize that the stretch of highway I could see destruction was many miles long.  I didn’t get this awareness until I drove those miles.  As I saw thousands of trees killed by the fire, I also realized that with the full area the fire burned, it meant there were millions of trees killed by this fire.  It may be hard to believe, but on seeing this devastation, it made me think the animals, some pets, and birds killed must number in the hundreds of thousands.

Having lived near Oakland in 1991 and witnessing the firestorm that hit the Oakland/Montclair area destroying 3000 homes, I was recognizing another devastation along the same lines.  Maybe not in home numbers, still, in utter devastation and destruction it equals the Oakland fire, in my opinion or maybe surpasses it.

Later that evening, I drove back home from B/CS.  It was nighttime, and I didn’t see the trees as I drove the road.  But I knew when I entered the area, because the area is still filled with a “scorched” smell.  It stayed in my truck for those miles that I drove through the park area.  As I emerged in the city limits of Bastrop, the smell left.

Earlier on the first trip through that day, I did see cleanup going on.  I saw new mobile homes being set up and I saw the few businesses carrying on.  I also saw a lot of trees being cut and moved off.  No doubt there will be cleaning, repairing, cutting, building and healing going on – not for months, but for years, yet.   When we live through an event of any type of devastation, though very difficult, we do eventually begin again, as is evidenced.  It is what we humans do.  We recognize the extent of what we’ve been through, and then hopefully one day wake up and decide to begin moving forward again.  It is because we choose to keep on living.  There is more to life than a devastating, horrific event, and somewhere inside us, we know this.

From October, 1991 in Oakland, California, to August, 2011, in Bastrop, Texas, it seemed like there was great distance and time separating the two.  Not anymore.

Jodie, the Innkeeper

PS.  I’m not posting pictures of the devastation because they’re already all over the internet.

The Unique Offerings of B&Bs

I had a chance to travel to San Antonio several weeks ago and visit two friends who were vacationing in San Antonio and staying at a B&B near the center of the city.  The Alamo St. Victorian Inn is a wonderful example of another place that is special (besides the Red Corral Ranch, of course).  I mention it because B&B’s like RCR and ASVI are wonderful examples of places to stay where the owners and employees have taken great care to make the guests’ stay into a truly memorable and enjoyable stay.

Stillpoint Cabin

There really are some fantastic B&B’s that make this type of overnight stay unique.  There are so many personal touches that go into making B&B’s different from the usual place you’d find on a trip.  This is true from the history of the place to the different furnishings and items in each room, as well as the people that run them.

Hotels are certainly nice, but it’s rare to get enjoyment just from the uniqueness and personal touches of the building or the rooms.   If you think the argument that hotels are cheaper than B&Bs is true, do some searching.  You’ll find the opposite is true many times.  When many hotel rooms are running $80 – $100 per person a night or more, a stay at a B&B can sometimes offer a better deal.   It’s worth a little looking.

Of course, there are pros and cons to every choice available and your own likes and dislikes are what should decide but do consider B&B’s.  We offer unique amenities that some hotels will never be able to offer, and at comparable costs.  It’s a different taste to try.

Jodie, the Innkeeper at Red Corral Ranch

Settlement Home for Children – 2011

It is a fun time when I go to the HUGE and hugely popular Settlement Home for Children Garage Sale.  This 4-day event, held each Fall (this year it’s the 36^th annual event on Nov 3-6, 2011) at the Palmer Events Center, is both enjoyable and helpful.  All proceeds go to supporting the Settlement Home for Children in Austin, Tex.   The diversity of the items, which probably realistically number in the 100,000’s if not millions, would rival any Mall.  I kid you not.  In addition, the items, all donated with some being brand new, are at garage sale prices.

So many items/banner's/departments, so little time.

I tend to budget for this event because, I know that any money I spend (on things I actually need, of course) is going to help Children and Families that are in real need of help.  Of course, I also go knowing that I’ll save money on items I buy, and  that my spending as much as I want is not a problem during this event.  I’m frugal and thrifty during the year, and it shows by my attending this event.  However, the awareness that what I spend is helping, gives me a great gladness.

The people that work the events  – a few are employees of Settlement Home for Children, but so many – the biggest majority of the workers are volunteers.  Some of these volunteers have been working for months, if not all year round, to help make this event a success each year.

Needless to say, I enjoy myself.  I have a wonderful time talking to the volunteers working the event, and I have a wonderful time finding great “finds” at great low prices.

The Red Corral Ranch has been a sponsor for this event for decades, and our own Bobbie Mae worked at the Settlement Home for a few of those decades.   Knowing Bobbie has given me every confidence that the children at the Settlement Home are receiving the very real help they need still.  It’s who Bobbie Mae is.  It’s who they are.

Jodie, the Innkeeper

PS.  This time, my sister attended with me, and she was just as amazed as I always am.  I purchased shoes, tools, and many, many other items, some of which were surprises that I didn’t expect until I saw them.

All the information is at the Settlement Home’s website or call (512)836-2150.

Signing His Name

When I lived in the Bay Area of California, I missed the lightning storm extravaganzas that I was used to happening when I lived in Texas.  The conditions just weren’t right for them.  So, at times when I’d return to Texas, I’d park my car on the side of the road and just watch the lightening shows.  Anyone living in Texas knows why I would do that.  These are shows in a very real sense and amazing to watch.  The air would feel great, too.

The same is with sunsets.  Again, while in the Bay Area, I would search for tremendous sunsets, but wouldn’t find them.  I came to realize that the conditions just weren’t right for them in that location –(the Pacific Ocean).  And so when I returned to Texas, I would be walking across a field at dusk and just stop and stare at the sunsets, mesmerized and captivated by the explosion of colors from orange, yellow, maroon, pink and what seemed like hundreds of unnamed colors in between.  The sky would sometimes erupt in such a beautiful display that I would imagine God using this as His signature at the end of another day He put together.

Don’t get me wrong about the Bay Area.  What I loved about that location is the tremendous diverse culture that exists in one place.  I didn’t have to travel the whole world to experience many cultures because the whole world was represented in the Bay Area of California.  Oh, sure, people will joke about it, but those who have been to the San Francisco Bay Area know just how wonderful it is to experience so many cultures and diversity – especially with the restaurants.

But, it doesn’t have lightening shows and it doesn’t have explosive color in their sunsets – two more things that are really important and make being back here in Texas, very, VERY special.

So far, I think the porch on Colleen’s Cottage and the Meadows Cottage have the best vantage point if you want to just sit and watch the sunsets at the end of the day here at Red Corral Ranch.  The Limestone Lodge area does, too.  Of course, the whole ranch has some great locations to watch the sun go down and the explosion of colors that once again lets one sit back in a chair watching as God signs His name.

Jodie, the Innkeeper

Commitment Ceremonies at Red Corral Ranch

We at Red Corral Ranch are very happy to be a venue of choice for couples who choose to celebrate their Commitment Ceremony with friends and family. We recognize that the best that life has to offer – finding love among the noise and chaos of life – is the single best thing of everything that being human offers. There is nothing better than love.

We at Red Corral Ranch also choose to build a better guiding principle having decided between two choices – whether we will be among the last to follow many old ways and attitudes of the past, or be among the first to lead new ways and choices for living in the future. It is a challenge we work to face every day both individually and as a company.

There are many examples in history of when people chose to follow old ways and attitudes of the past. History remembers people who chose to follow harmful attitudes of the past rather than lead better ways into a positive future. When we look back at those people, very few today want to be those people. Many of us can look back in history and think to ourselves, “no, we would never make mistakes like the people following old attitudes of the past have done.” It’s easy to think this way today, because society has already changed away from a few harmful ways of living. Except not completely.

A Wonderful Place for a Wedding or Commitment Ceremony

As human beings, we can choose at any time to copy or be the last to follow harmful ways of thinking from the past for whatever agenda or reason chosen – those ways that today cause us to be shocked or ashamed how people have acted then. Choosing to follow ways of the past is easy and safe when we’re among like-minded societies. Following ways of the past requires no change or courage to do what is already done in our societies. But, to lead in creating and developing new ways for the future requires a willingness to do what is too often considered unacceptable by those who choose to follow old attitudes. So many times it is easy to be among the last to follow old attitudes of life. Sometimes, it is difficult to be among those that lead in creating new supportive ways.

With all this, at Red Corral Ranch, long ago we have chosen to seek better ways. We choose Holistic Land Management, we choose saving energy, we choose green efforts, we choose to aggressively recycle, we choose wildlife management, and we are very happy to be a venue of choice for couples who choose to celebrate their Commitment Ceremony with friends and family.   And if you’ve ever been here to see Red Corral Ranch yourself, you know that it pays off in many ways because it also makes for a good business.  And as my friend, Bobbie, reminds me, “it also brings more Love into the world – the thing the world most needs at this time.”

Jodie, the Innkeeper

Good Luck With That

The other day while talking to a soon-to-be groom, a woman friend remarked about he being in love with his fiance. Jokingly, I said, “Good luck with that”. He jokingly said, “Thanks” and we laughed. And while my woman friend was surprised, I told him, “I understand.”

Was this an affront to his fiance? No, and this is why. While we men love that most wonderful woman in our life, (yes, it’s true), while we adore that one special person, (also true), while we worship the ground they walk on, and while our world revolves around that one we want to be our bride, (yes, it’s all true) there is still the fact that we will never fully understand the opposite gender. Oh, alas, and woe to us men, to understand the female, for us guys, is a hopeless cause. Believe me, we’ve tried. It would require us to become women to understand women, however, as men, we will never be women.

Reports come in to me all the time about the efforts to more fully understand the female of the species. We share notes at our monthly guy meetings. We make every effort, climb every mountain and forge every sea, but the daunting task of fully understanding our woman, … well, … to all you grooms, “Good luck with that.” The “Brotherhood of Guys” will be praying for you. Thank God that for some of us, we have a whole lifetime to be with the one we love and to work at understanding the one we want to be with. For the rest of us, God help us.

The best advice I have to grooms? When in doubt on understanding something, from the “Men’s Big Book on Understanding Women” – fall back on love. It’s your best shot. (The book only has one page and this is what is says on everything.)

If you think it will help, memorize this next line,

“I love you. I don’t understand, but I love you. So, I’ll try.”

So, to all you grooms out there, I say, “Good luck with that.”  Being a guy, I understand.

Jodie, the “wishing there was more than one page in the Big Book” Innkeeper.

10 Ways to Keep Cool in a Drought or Heat

So, I’ve come up with 10 ways to be cool in the heat of this (colorful metaphor) drought.

1. Keep liquids ready and within arm’s reach at all times.
2. Listen to Jazz.  That’s just the way life is.
3. Keep a cool clothe on the back of the neck.
4. Wear a big floppy hat.
5. The packaged alcohol wipes swiped across the forehead really do help to lower the forehead temperature.
6. Walk inside a walk-in cooler (like the one we have at our barn here at Red Corral Ranch.)
7. Wear cool sunglasses.   Everyone who wears cool sunglasses is cool by default.
8. Visit Alaska, Minnesota or North Dakota for the day.  They’re up there near north Texas, somewhere.
9. Clean your AC coils – not just the filter.
10. Sit in a bird bath with all your friends like these guys.

Glad I could help.

Jodie, the Innkeeper

Mother of the Year

The children are growing.  Our peacock chicks are three months old now.  They’ve shown themselves to be eager to eat whatever they can find which, of course, is why they’re growing so well.  In fact, the other day, the mother was showing them how to get into the cat food.  They learned that one quite quickly.

June 17th

The peacock hen has been quite a mother to watch.  She is aware of where they are every moment.  If one or more of the chicks get separated from the group, she is quick to call to them, clucking, rather than squawking.  The clucking sound is a sound I’ve heard her make only to her chicks.  She guides them with this sound and calls to them with it.   If they don’t come right away, she’ll go after them, and with some exuberance I might add.

It’s really been quite an experience having this opportunity to observe the nurturing that the mother peacock does with her chicks.  Here at Red Corral Ranch, we’ve had a unique three months watching her behavior and theirs.  Since the peacocks live amongst the buildings, we’ve gotten to watch the chicks as they grow and learn.  I think her attentiveness and persistence is what I’ve noticed most.

June 20th

I’m sure many will be quick to diminish this quality that we’ve witnessed with the peacock mother.  They’ll say it is instinctual and never think twice about it.  If it is only instinct, would they say “caring” is instinctual?  Ask any mother out there who cares for their child whether this quality should be minimized to a label called “instinct”.  Personally, I don’t think motherhood should be diminished or minimized in any way or with any species.  The question is why are we so surprised when motherhood’s nurturing is observed so often in nature.   It actually gets airtime on TV.   If the term ‘instinct’ is used in nature to explain everything, then it becomes a useless term that explains virtually nothing.

We’ve had a wonderful opportunity to watch the caring that exists within motherhood via the raising of these five peacock chicks.

Jodie, the Innkeeper observing motherhood at Red Corral Ranch

Tips on How to Make Your Wedding Green

Choosing to have your wedding at Red Corral Ranch is like having automatic greening happening for your wedding.  It is not necessarily by having a green colored wedding dress, but rather making the whole event more eco-friendly.

Green with Blue Peacock

At Red Corral Ranch, one of the things we do already is recycle as much as we can.  We’ve been doing this for years.  In fact, we work hard to recycle and have recycling bins at every cabin.  At your receptions and dinners, we have multiple recycling bins.  This is because we recycle all glass (beer, soda, and wine), all aluminum (cans and foil), all cardboard, all metal, the plastic water bottles, as well as the bottle tops and wine corks.  (These events generate a lot to recycle.)  You know those dry cleaning bags that the table linens come in?  We recycle those bags.  We also recycle the hangers the linens come on.   Not only does it provide the regular recycling benefits, but it reduces a significant amount of the trash that goes to the landfill via our venue’s regular trash service.  Wedding venues generate huge amounts of trash and many times we’ve cut ours in half by recycling.

There are other things that can be done to help make your wedding weekend or wedding events have a smaller carbon footprint.   Many of these are already happening with us.

• Have your guests come to the ranch via buses.  There are many transportation companies in the Hill Country area and many of them are familiar with driving to Red Corral Ranch.  This also makes it easier and safer for the guests, as well.  Check out our referral webpage for links.
• And another green point we already have happening at Red  Corral Ranch – when you see the website pictures of the big oak tree lit up like a huge Christmas tree – all those lights on the big tree are LED lights. 
• Using local vendors is also a step towards greening.  Local vendors use less gasoline to travel to the event, and many times, the local flower suppliers, local food suppliers, and local staffing can bring down prices for these events.  Going green doesn’t always cost more ‘green’.  This depends on the situation and items selected.   Sometimes spending less green can be a green step in itself.
• Did you know that having the ceremony and reception at the same location can be a “green” step?  With this step, there is no longer a need for all the guests to drive to different locations.  That means anywhere from 20 to 80 vehicles (on average) will not be on the road during that time.  Sometimes in the Hill Country there are dozens of weddings happening within a 100 mile radius on the same day.  If all those were in their individual one location for their event, that can be a significantly fewer number of vehicles on the roads.  Think about this in terms of how many cars times how many weddings on that weekend day times how many wedding season weekends.
• More and more ideas and efforts towards the “greening” of weddings are happening all the time.  Many of these are posted on the internet, so don’t hesitate to do some online research. (I suggest going to Ask.com and type in “How can I make my wedding green?”)

Wedding groups have used all of these steps at one time or another, and these steps have proven themselves worth doing.  Finally, what is the one single thing you can do to make your wedding “greener”?  Have it at Red Corral Ranch, of course.  Your guests will be green with envy.

Jodie, the Innkeeper at the ranch where red and green go together all year round.

PS. Not all wedding venues recycle.  So, I invite the other wedding venues to steal these ideas for their own places.

Margaritas, Cactus and the Red Corral Ranch

Margaritas seem to be one of the more popular drinks at weddings here at Red Corral Ranch.  Because of this, the variety of flavors is increasing.  Whether it’s a traditional wedding or non-traditional wedding, the creativity of recipes for drinks is increasing.  I’ve seen the caterers and bartenders bring in the regular green lime Margaritas, and that is both frozen and on the rocks.  Then I’ve also seen blue Margaritas, possibly with blue curacao, although I wouldn’t put “blue berries” past anyone’s imagination.  Being in the Hill Country of Texas near many of the Blanco area lavender farms, I’ve seen many a lavender flavored margaritas.  In addition, Central Texas is rich in Prickly Pears and so the use of Prickly Pear syrup is becoming common in Margarita drinks.   Here’s one recipe for just that.

Prickly Pear Margarita

3 oz. Tequila
½ oz. Triple Sec
1 ½ oz. lime juice
2 oz. Prickly Pear syrup
Salt for rim

If you don’t know what a prickly pear is, it is the purple fruit of the spiny cactus that we have in so much abundance here in central Texas.  Oddly enough, the cactus has magnificently beautiful flowers and a very unique fruit, not to mention the spines that we’re so familiar with, and which calls for the use of pliers to pull out the big spines.  (Don’t ask me how I know.  I don’t want to talk about it.  It’s painful just to think about it.)

Although I usually don’t try the different flavors of the margaritas, I did have a sip of the Prickly Pear Margarita – just for revenge, of course.  Not bad.

Jodie, the Innkeeper.

New Chicks at Red Corral Ranch

We have 5 baby peacock chicks.  There are 3 blue ones, that will have the recognized color, and there are 2 white ones.  Red Corral Ranch is famous for its white peacocks.

Yes, everyone is fawning over them.  Everyone that we let see them, that is.  They are in a very vulnerable state right now, and so we have to watch out for animal and human disturbances.  Peacocks are an integral part of Red Corral Ranch.  They provide much for this venue, and so these little ones are a new generation and much cherished here at Red Corral.  We want them to thrive.  Yet, they are so tiny still – so tiny that all 5 can fit underneath the mother hen without any of them being seen.  But, they’re large enough to follow her around.

While watching the group of 6, I could see the chicks watching very closely how the mother did things like peck, eat, and drink.  The chicks are learning how to do these themselves, from the mother.   Peacocks are not like chickens.  Peacock chicks have to learn how to do the basic things from their mother or another mother figure. 

The fun part is watching them follow the mother through the yard observing her every move.  And then watching them maneuver through or over the yard obstacles trying to follow the mom.   We’re hoping they can have a healthy life here.  I’ll add them to my prayers.

Jodie, the Innkeeper at Red Corral Ranch

Red Corral Ranch’s 10 Tips on Saving Water

Every drop counts

We’re all feeling the effects of the drought.  In the struggle between the sun and the rain, this season, the sun has won out.  We’ve listed only a few of the many water conservation tips that can help.  You may have seen some of these water conservation tips before.  Maybe there are some new and practical ideas here for you.

1. A front loading clothes washer generally uses in the neighborhood of ½ the water of a top loading washer.  And from my experience and my opinion, they get the clothes cleaner, too.
2. Dishwashers use less water than washing dishes by hand.  Run the dishwasher when it’s full.
• Also in the kitchen – keep a container of water in the refrigerator for cold water.  It beats running the tap and waiting to get cool water.
• Use an empty squirt bottle to mix liquid dish soap and water for use when washing dishes by hand.  The soap/water mixture is still strong enough to clean, suds up faster, and you need less water to rinse since the soap is no longer so concentrated.  I even think it helps the liquid dishwashing soap not be wasted, too.
3. Showers can definitely use less water, but don’t always because of what each person wants in their shower style.  A “submarine”-style shower uses the least water of all styles – wet oneself down, turn the water off, soap up, turn the water on to rinse off.
4. Water the garden/yard in the evening or at night.  Not only is this on most plants’ natural leaf/water intake cycle, which is during the night, (did you know that about plants?), but it allows the water to stay in the ground longer for root water absorption without evaporating.  Watering during the day in the heat means you’ll lose a lot to evaporation during the watering process and from the soil drying out faster.  It also means the plant will have less time to soak up water through the roots, and leaf intake of water will be minimal.
• Adding mulch around plants’ bases helps to protect the soil from the sun drying it out.
• In the same vein, raising the blades of the lawn mower one inch means less evaporation from the soil and more protection for the grass roots – it keeps the grass roots from drying out and dying.
5. A great place for water flow inhibiting products is the sink faucet.  Washing anything in the sink can usually be done with ½ the water coming from the spigot, especially when we have an aerator.  The tendency is to automatically turn the faucet on as much as possible without even thinking about it.  Install a flow inhibiting product and see for yourself.
• Related to this – avoid using the garbage disposal.  Throwing food waste in the trash uses no water whatsoever.
6. In the bathroom:  Guys-Shaving.  Oh, come on, now.  If you want to waste water, just admit it, turn the water on all the way and walk away from it leaving the water running.  This is exactly what we’re doing when we shave and let the water run during the entire time.  Time how long it takes to shave, and see for yourself.  And if you’re wondering, yes, I’m being sarcastic and not at all suggesting wasting water.  Measuring the time it takes to shave is a very illuminating thing to do.
• More in the bathroom – leaking toilets are very cheap to fix.  For only a few dollars, constant running toilets can be stopped.  Plus they are so easy to maintain that a plumber isn’t needed at all.  Anyone who can figure out how to use a pen can stop minor toilet leaks.  It’s all a matter of “willingness” to do it, isn’t it?
• Remember, don’t flush anything down the toilet that it wasn’t designed for.
• And yes, many people already keep a bucket in their shower to catch cold water waiting for the hot water to arrive.  Why not do it, too.
• Brushing your teeth.  Develop a different way to brush teeth.  The way of turning on water and letting it run while brushing is what they taught us in the 60’s and 70’s.  We don’t have water to throw away like the “disposable” generation of the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s.  But, we’ve held onto some of the habits – like how we brush our teeth.
7. Do a search online for “Water conservation tips” to find more ideas, of which there are many.
8. Give up thinking that we have an endless supply of water.  There is no such thing.  That way of thinking is the past, and isn’t even close to being true anymore, if it ever was.  Gambling on future water levels being better, when resources will be spread thinner, and demand will be much greater is monumentally unwise and guaranteed to contribute to even worse water conditions for individuals in the very near future.
9. I think it really is okay to pray for rain or healthy weather or whatever you choose.  Some think this is tricky and playing with “fire,” with the belief that we would probably get a flood.  I say two things – I think God helps those that pitch in, and God’s answer to a problem has never been “Don’t pray.”
10. Remember, we need water to live.  We are going to need it in the future, also.

Jodie, the Innkeeper