Dirt Bike Riding: Florence Junction 2

8/13/2010

We went back to the same location between Florence Jct. and Florence to do some more trail riding. Along the way we stopped to gather some more prickly pear fruit. I've mentioned them before and they are very good to just eat out on the go, though kind of tedious to get around the little glochid spines. This time I wanted to try to make something out of them so before we went out I gathered a few recipes found online and decided I needed at least 20-30. We gathered them and kept riding. At home I made a very good dessert dish that everybody thoroughly enjoyed. The following is the recipe I found and used to make this dessert. There are different ways to prepare the prickly pear juice that I've found but I kind of combined a few and did it my own way. I sliced the ends off so I would have something to touch with no glochids. Then I sliced off the skin with a serrated knife so there were no glochids left on. Then gathered them all in a bowl and put them in the blender. I blended it so that there were no more chunks. I suppose some water could be added though they are juicy enough to blend up nicely. Then strain the broken up seeds out and there is your juice to use in the recipe. Next I want to try cookies and jelly, and of course this dessert again. 

Desert Dream Delight

1. Crust: 1 cup flour

1 stick butter

1 cup chopped pecans

Mix together and press in 9" x 13" pan.Bake at 350 degrees F until brown. Let cool and add second layer.

2. Mix: 8 oz cream cheese

1 cup poudered sugar

1 cup Cool Whip (large carton)

Spread evenly over cooled crust.

3. Boil: 1-1/2 cup prickly pear juice

1-1/2 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

Mix 1/2 cup corn starch and 1/2 cup water to make a smooth paste, add to boiling mixture gradually, stirring constantly. Cook until thick and remove from the heat. Combine 4 beaten eggs and 1/2 cup lemon juice. Stir into mixture. Return to heat and cook stirring constantly until it bubbles. stir in 4 tablespoons butter. Remove from heat, cover, and cool until lukewarm. Pour over cream cheese layer. Spread evenly. Top with remaining Cool Whip.

--Nancy Hutto   

As we continued to ride I stopped abruptly when I saw a white lizard run between bushes. I got off my bike and pulled out my camera hoping to get a shot of what could have been a Desert Iguana. I noticed it stopped and realized it was just a Zebra-tailed lizard. A species that is much more white than the pictures and previous lizards I had seen. Can you spot it in the picture above? The picture to the right is a close-up of the lizard. While I was looking at this lizard my brother and friend noticed another and followed it into a pronghorn cholla. I came over and snapped the following picture. It was a Desert Spiny Lizard. It's amazing how their armor scales protect them so well they just run along on cactus spines. 

Dirt Bike Riding: Florence Junction

7/09/10

Today my brother, friend and I went dirt bike riding near Florence Junction on the way to Florence. It was a nice day with some cloud cover. Shortly after riding I noticed some snake tracks in the path. I made note of where they were so we could check on it on our way back. Heading on we saw two large jackrabbits running near the trail and then off into the desert. As we were riding, I noticed that the prickly pare cactus had its fruits in bloom. All year my brother and I have been waiting for them to bloom after reading that they are good to eat. So now was our chance. You have to be careful with these because they have many glochids on them, each with tons of tiny hairs that are a big nuisance if they get in your fingers. So we carefully removed one from the end of the pad. They are redish pink in color on the tops of the green pads. I cut a hole in one and squeezed the oozing liquid and seeds out into my mouth. I sucked the liquid from the many seeds and then spit the seeds out. The flavor was pretty sweet and good. Because there are so many seeds they are a little annoying but not bad. They remind me of pomegranate because of the seeds. And a good source of food if you are lost out in the desert at this time of the year. I had read that they taste like kiwis and watermelon but my brother thought they tasted like cherries. I think they all have some credence. We took three with us and headed back to the truck to put it in the cooler. 

On the way back we stopped at the snake tracks. We followed it into some holes around a creosote plant and out of another. There were three different tracks either going from a hole along the path to the desert, or the desert to a whole, or right across the trail. But there was no sign of the snake. It was most likely a rattlesnake or a gopher snake. Both would easily eat the Round-tailed Ground Squirrels in the area. After some more riding and grabbing some more prickly pare fruit to take home we called it a day.