In Conclusion...

I awoke this morning to snow covered trees, a bright blue sky, and frigid temperatures. It is 3 degrees outside right now, and that is officially the coldest temp I have ever experienced (for now). As Dr. H left for another 30 hour shift today, he said, "Happy last day of 2010." This got me thinking,  "What did I do in 2010?" While the whole world is focusing on what they want the upcoming year to be like, I would like to take a few minutes to reflect on what has happened in my little life this past year.

2010 in a nutshell:

Dr. H and I lived in Portland, OR;  Orange County, CA; Atlanta, GA; and Spokane, WA all in 2010.

We drove up and down the West Coast, visiting Napa wine country, Monterey Bay, Portland, Seattle and finally Spokane.

We traveled all over Western Europe, Spent a couple of weeks in NYC, visited friends in Boston, and looked for bears in Glacier National Park.

Dr. H graduated from Medical School

I earned my Masters degree

We grew our family with the addition of Monty the cat.

I went both skiing and snowboarding for the first(ish) times ever.

I both applied for, and got in to graduate school, and made the difficult and very grown-up decision not to attend.

I grew my first vegetable garden, and made plans for big improvements on this years garden

I wrote a bunch of songs, painted some pictures, and did a ton of crafting this year

I helped put on Dr. H's big graduation/birthday bash

I helped organize a major fund-raising event for a local environmental group

I searched and searched for a job, and when I found out the job I want doesn't exist here, I went out and made myself a position.

***"Designed the landscape plans for my aunt's back yard and did some very heavy duty construction projects like; rototilling, rock wall building, flower bed building, tree planting, sod laying, flagstone path making, and slate floor tiling" :) Thanks Aunt Molly

All in all, 2010 has been a pretty full year. Now I just need to figure out an appropriate way to celebrate the closing of this year, and the dawning of the next.

What were some some of the major events of your year?

Back to Real Life

The family has departed, Dr. H is at work, and I have chores on my agenda. It is back to normal ladies and gentlemen. Too normal in fact. I will be spending this lovely winter day getting my trunk fixed down at the local Honda dealership. Boo. The stupid thing won't stay stay closed. There are few things I dislike more than getting my car fixed, so to make up for having to spend my day waiting around for my car, I plan to treat myself to something warm, liquidy, and sweet.

Belated Weekend

My weekend in brief:  Busy, Physically demanding, Crowded, Tasty and Cleanly. This weekend was a whirlwind of activity. Dr. H had his golden weekend (a whole weekend off. gasp!) and we used this time to complete our holiday shopping, get our gifts wrapped and in the mail to friends and family in distant lands, go snowboarding (my first time. LOVED IT), bottle our first batch of beer, and bake up some super cute gingerbread houses. To glue the houses together I used Rachel's brilliant idea from over at HeartofLight. It was definitely a bit scary, but those suckers are stuck for life! Fun Fun Fun~ Last night we had a couple of friends over to decorate the gingerbread houses. It was so much fun, and the houses all came out so cute!

 And because our house is patrolled by a hungry kitty, our houses have to spend most of the time safely hidden inside the oven. What a lovely display case.

 Now my house is clean and trimmed, I'm redonkulously sore, and I have a nice pot of mushroom leek soup simmering on the stove for dinner. I'm digging this domestic DIY holiday.

Goodbye Snowman

Tragic, isn't it?

O Christmas Tree

This big guy was too cute not to take  home with us. I'm a sucker for tall, gangly men, er... trees!

I love how sparse this tree is. It brings a very woodsy feel to my house.  It is an alpine pine, and was harvested from below power lines. Usually the areas below power lines are basically clear cut, and the trees are discarded and left to rot, or are harvested for firewood.  Most Christmas Trees come from tree farms, and a few are thinned out of overgrown forests. Taking trees from under power lines was a new idea to me, and it seems like a pretty inspired one.

I also found a bunch of new (to me) ornaments from a cute antique store.  Bonus: they are made of wood so my crazy cat cannot break them! Not the best pictures, but you get the idea.

Crafting and Cooking

Outdoor Wreaths

This week  I have been crafting up a storm. Unfortunately though, since they are all Christmas presents I cannot post them on here. In addition to crating gifts, I have been able to squeeze in making some fake wreaths for the outside of my house, making some holiday cards to send out to distant friends and family, and cooking a lot of delicious meals. Speaking of delicious meals, last night I made a new soup that was fabulous and very veg friendly. Since I just made it last night for the first time, there are no photos, but I'll add some next time I make this.

Mushroom Leak and Orzo Soup

8oz mixed mushrooms. Use whatever kind you like
2 medium leaks, sliced thin and cleaned thoroughly
1/2 cup uncooked orzo
1/2 lb (1 bag) baby spinach
2 tbsp butter
1tbsp olive oil
1-2 cloves fresh garlic
1/2 cup dry white wine
6 cups chicken or vegetable stock

Melt butter in large soup pot over medium-high heat. Add olive oil and leaks. Saute until leaks begin to soften, then add mushrooms. Cook until mushrooms begin to soften and leaks are translucent. Add 1/2 cup dry white wine, and cook until liquid is reduced by 1/2.  Add chicken or veggie stock, and add fresh garlic. Season with a bit of pepper and let simmer for 10-15 minutes.

15-20 minutes before serving, bring soup to a rolling boil and add Orzo and Spinach.  Orzo will take about 9-10 minutes to cook through,  but be sure to check every few minutes to see if it is done. When Orzo is cooked through, reduce heat to low, and you are ready to eat.


Seriously, this is good and really really simple. If you are a mushroom lover, you can always add more mushrooms too!

Christmas Mashed Potatoes

Today is a post-call (30 hour shift) day for Dr. H, so he will be spending the rest of the day snoozing away. While he regains his strength, I intend to do some serious cooking. On this weeks menu we have a mushroom, spinach and lamb shepherd's pie, a mushroom and leek soup, potato soup served in homemade bread bowls, and tofu tacos. Guess which one is easiest. I still have a ton of potatoes in cold storage, but they are starting to go bad; hence all the potato dishes. Right now I have a couple pounds peeled and cubed and ready to be turned into delicious mashed potatoes to top tonight's shepherd's pie. In honor of this tuberous bounty, I am going to share my special Christmas Mashed Potato recipe. These can obviously be enjoyed at any time, but they were the first dish I ever contributed to a Christmas dinner, so they got stuck with this moniker.

Christmas Mashed Potatoes

Ingredients:
Roughly 5 pounds of your favorite potato (I like red)
3 carrots
1 stick salted butter
8 ounces sour cream
1/4 cup chopped flat leaf Italian parsley
1/4 container of onion cream cheese


Peel and cube potatoes and carrots. (hint:as you peel potatoes, toss them into a bowl full of cold water to keep them from turning brown while you work on the other potatoes) Put potatoes and carrots in a large pot and cover with water and a dash of salt. Boil until potatoes are fork tender. Drain and mash until mostly smooth.

In a large bowl, mix together sour cream, softened butter, cream cheese and parsley.  Mix in hot mashed veggies and season with salt and pepper to taste. The heat from the veggies should help wilt the parsley. If making this recipe ahead, place mashed potatoes in a crock pot and keep on low until ready to serve. I make mine the day ahead and they are perfect by dinner on Christmas.
Enjoy!

Beer Glorious Beer!

For a long time now, I have been planning on getting Dr. H a beer making kit for Christmas. Well Christmas came early, and we now have five gallons of (hopefully) delicious IPA brewing in our guest bedroom closet. We had set everything up in the basement, but Dr. H worried that it would be too cold down there for proper fermentation, so the whole shebang has been moved upstairs. Beer making is actually a fairly simple process. It can get quite fancy depending on the type of beer one is trying to make, but the essentials are pretty straight forward. You steep some specialty grains (barley) in a pot of hot water until it reaches a boil, add in super condensed malt extract and dry malt  and let boil for a while. Then toward the end you add your hops. Once you cool this "Wart" down you add it to your "Carboy" (basically a big glass water jug) and fill the thing up with cold water. Add your yeast and that is basically that. I have skipped some steps here (like making sure everything is sterilized) but you get the general idea. Now on to some pictures!

heating up  malt syrup

the beginning: steeping the specialty grains

steeping

supplies

I intend to take some pictures of the beer while it is fermenting, when we rack the beer to the secondary fermenter, and then when we bottle. So many fun steps!

Decorating on the Cheap and Playing in Snow

It is a balmy 33 degrees outside, and the two feet of snow we have accumulated over the past week and a half is starting to melt. It is hazardous to walk under the trees around here right now, because every couple of seconds a small avalanche crashes down from the branches above. I got caught in one of these snow showers while venturing out to take a picture of the snowman Dr. H and I made yesterday.

Since I have essentially been snowed in since our return to Spokane, I have been making Christmas decorations from some of the supplies in my craft-stash. I am also sewing up some presents, and getting a lot of good tv time in. Here are a couple of the little items that are currently decking my halls.

Once I find a ladder, we will get our outside lights up and this place will start to look festive!

First Ski Trip

As is wont to happen from time to time, some of my big plans for yesterday did not get realized. The large amount of snow fall prohibited our seeing a movie (we would have to venture down our steep slick hill), and we never found a sled to take out. We did work out, clean the house, make a fabulous meal and trek over to a nearby store in search of Christmas lights. The plan for today, however, will not fail! We are going skiing! This is my first time out on skis, and I am very excited. My hope is that I spend most of the day skiing, and only part of the day falling. Luckily for me, there is a ton of new powder on the mountain, so if I do fall a lot, well at least it will be a relatively soft landing. I'll report back later to tell you all how sore and bruised I am :)

Home

After a whirlwind trip to Southern California to visit with our friends and families, Dr. H and I are restored to our calm, wintry abode in Eastern Washington.  We had a wonderful time getting to visit with everyone, and enjoyed to food, company and festivities of two family Thanksgivings. While we were down soaking up some 40-50 degree weather (I was still cold all the time), poor Spokane was going through a serious cold snap. I am happy to report that our little trip excused us from some nights of negative degree weather. We also missed a blizzard, and have returned to a winter wonderland! There is at least a foot of snow coating this whole region, and we are putting our Subaru to the test on our unploughed streets. "They" also say to expect another 5 inches to fall tonight.  Fun! In this post-card perfect land of ice and snow, I am finding it easy to get into a holiday mood. Tomorrow we plan to sled, cook, go see a movie, and start our decorating. I love this time of year!

Vacation Time

Today was the first official day of our vacation, and it was fabulous! We went snowshoeing on Mt. Spokane, then treated ourselves to some holiday drinks at the dreaded Sbucks (2 for 1! I love you!) We then came home to shower, pack and ready the house (and our cat) for our extended absence as we fly off to Southern California (no it's not SoCal. Actually it is NEVER SoCal) for Thanksgiving. We're both very excited to get to see our family and friends, and we know that this trip is going to be way too short. If you are reading this and are only now learning that we will be back in town, don't feel bad, just call me! Or text, or email.  In fact I have a list of people I fully intend to call as soon as we touch down. (I fully intended to call before today, but somehow the days have gotten away from me)
In any case, we hope to see you soon! And if you are not near California (Mom and Dad) I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving.  Eat some scrumptious food, enjoy a game or a James Bond marathon (or a terrible ABC family movie), and relish your luck at getting to spend time with good people. These are all things I am looking forward to, and things for which I am thankful. 

Snow I'm Not Kidding!

This morning I was roused out of my peaceful slumber by Dr. H yelling, "Snow!" in the other room. In my dreamy state, I thought he was yelling, "NO!" and I imagined the horrors our cat Monty must have committed to elicit such a big reaction that early in the morning. Luckily, Monty had only misbehaved a little in the night, and Dr. H was excited, not angry. There were a good 2-3 inches of powdery wintry precipitation covering the world outside my window, and it stayed there until around 10:30 this morning when it got a bit warmer and the stuff started to melt.

I have known since we moved here that we live on a hill (yes I am observant!), but until this morning I didn't really realize how much of an elevation gain there is between my house and the city at the bottom of the hill. This fact came to light today when I drove from our snowy abode down the hill where the snow abruptly stopped. There was nothing on the ground, and I was the only car coated in snow. I actually got a few looks from other drivers ostensibly wondering where this all came from. So increased snowfall is another reason to like living on a hill.

Art Projects Galore!

Oh the weather outside is frightful! But I'm cozy inside by my fireplace with my new sewing machine, and a bunch of art supplies. When it is cold and rainy outside, what's a girl to do but craft? Some of these crafts can be found in my etsy shop (check out the tab on the right!), and some are for my own personal use. There is a shocking lack of sewn projects so far, but I have a "get to know my new machine" sewing class later this week, so I'm sure to have some fun sewn project up after that. Today I decided my little crafting nook needed some brightening up, and so I painted this:

I bought a paint sharpie especially for this painting, since i love the cartoonish-quality outlining gives.
What do you think?

First Snow and Holiday Boutique

This morning the residents of Spokane awoke to gently falling flakes of snow. In our house at least, this is happy news. I love the snow. It is only 8am, and the thermometer is hovering right around 30 degrees, so I know this snow won't last. But there is something so romantic about watching if fall. This also creates the perfect wintry backdrop for some holiday crafting I have been doing. I'm about to launch my holiday craft boutique at Autumn's Fancy Etsy! Can you feel the excitement?!

Homemade/homegrown pizza

Last night we used the very last of this season's crop of tomatoes to top our delicious homemade pesto pizza. These tomatoes I picked and brought inside when just barely pink-ish. They slowly ripened inside the house away from killing frosts, and I have to say they were delicious! If we have a super short growing season again next year, I am definitely going to bring in all the slightly pink tomatoes before the first frost.

This pizza was made using the following dough recipe (which is basically this recipe with a couple of tweaks)

Pizza Dough
Makes 1 large pizza (size of a cookie sheet)
Oven temp 400 degrees F
Prep Time: 40 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes

1 cup warm water
1 .25 oz packet active dry yeast (.25 oz = 2 1/4 tsp)
2 tsp sugar

2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp salt
2 tbsp olive oil

 extra olive oil to oil pan, and semolina flour to coat bottom of pan

In a small bowl mix warm water, sugar and yeast. Stir until no clumps of yeast remain. Let proof for around 10 minutes, or until mixture looks creamy. Add olive oil.

In a large bowl, or in a mixer, add flour and salt. Pour in liquid mixture, and mix until dough pulls from the sides of the bowl. Add a bit of oil to the bowl to keep the dough from sticking, and cover with a warm damp towel.

Make sure to set your dough in a warm spot to rise. I set mine next to my fireplace, because the rest of the house was too cold! Let rise to about double it's original size. This will take around 30-40 minutes.

Roll out dough. I rolled mine out directly onto the oiled cookie sheet. When rolled out to around the right size, pull dough off and coat pan with semolina flour. Return dough to pan and press around the edges to fit the dough to the pan.

Add whatever toppings (we added homemade pesto, tomato slices and fresh mozzarella)
Bake at 400 degrees F for 20 minutes, or until edges are golden brown.

Enjoy!

Sewing and Caffeine

I bit the bullet and bought my new sewing machine last night. ~LOVE~ So...this morning I spent my time sewing up a couple of wallets and drinking too many cups of coffee. Seriously, I have the caffeine shakes! I looked up around noon-thirty, and realized I hadn't eaten anything yet. I had, however, downed something like 4 cups of coffee. Woah! That's a lot for me, especially on an empty stomach. I'm feeling better now and am getting ready to do the other two things on my list for the day: go on a walk, and finish raking up all these pesky leaves. But first I figured I would post on here to give you all a little taste of what I am making. Cutesy pink wallets! You like?

The thermometer is hovering around 30 degrees this morning, and a thin layer of frost is coating the world outside my window. On mornings like this I am grateful to be able to snuggle up inside my house with a cup of coffee and a book. My reading material of choice today is "Three Cups of Tea"by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin. I am not going to offer a true review of this book; but I will say that if you are at all interested in education, mountain climbing, Middle Eastern politics, or philanthropy, then this is a book you should read.
In other news, I'm on a sewing machine hunt today. I found a little shop here that specializes in Bernina sewing machines (aka extremely fancy machines), and they sell used machines! I'm going to go check it out to see if I could possibly get a high-end machine at a low-end price. I'm really interested in getting a machine that will last for a long long time. I'll definitely be more willing to get a machine serviced if I know it is worth more than the cost of servicing. I also have some more work to do out in the yard (darn those pesky leaves), and I have a nice clean canvas prepped and ready for my brushes. Yay!

Great Sewing Machine Drive!

Well.... it had to happen someday, but I was hoping it wouldn't come so soon. My sewing machine is kaput. More accurately, it has lost its ability to sew even stitches without eating the fabric. Sew.... (haha get it?) I guess I'm getting a new machine. In order to make this purchase possible, I have a proposition for you: for a mere $25, I will make you one of these beautiful and functional wallets. I have a variety of fabrics and colors to choose from in my fabric stash, and should you have a specific color request, I can always go out and buy some more fabric to make your order. All I need is for 4 people to decide that they can't live without this wallet. With only 4 orders I will be able to purchase  

a rather mediocre machine that will enable me to make fabulous stuff! Or, if I decide to just go ahead and buy the better machine I'm drooling over, 4 orders will help make the decision to spend more relatively painless. AND you get a beautiful wallet. Seriously, I carry around both of these, and I get tons of compliments.

So.... let me know what you think!
P.S. Here is (soon to be) my new sewing machine.  I'm super excited. If you are in the market, this machine is almost identical to the Janome DC2010, and it is fabulous!

Lazy Sunday

It is a cold and drizzly day here in the great Inland Northwest. The leaves are falling as steadily as the rain, and the trees will probably all be bare by Wednesday. We are actually expecting a little dusting of snow later this week, and I have to say, I'm looking forward to it. Dr. H just finished one of his more strenuous rotations, and we are enjoying the first full weekend we have had together in a while. Yesterday we raked all the leaves in our yard into a couple of huge piles, only to have the ground covered almost immediately with more leaves. We are telling ourselves that by raking what was down yesterday while it was dry, we saved ourselves some heavy work. I don't know if it is true or not, but it makes us feel better. Actually raking leaves was pretty fun. We took a ton of pictures, and jumped in the piles when we were done. There is something comforting in the earthy smell of a pile of leaves. If I could have been assured that I wasn't jumping into a big pile full of spiders it would have been even more fun.

Boo!

I am frustrated. My darling sewing machine has decided that it is fun to break the upper thread and eat my fabric every ten inches or so. I have tried adjusting the tension and all the other trouble shooting things I could think of, but alas, it is still misbehaving. I guess I am just going to have to take it in to get serviced. It is really a bummer too, because I am finally back in a crafting mood.

The other day I made this lovely little piece of paper crafting genius.

This art form is commonly called Scherenschnitte meaning, you guessed it, paper cutting. The English translation (according to some online translator) is literally "shearing cuts". I guess it is probably closer to "scissor cuts". However you say it, this art form is fun, challenging, and creates some beautiful simple art. It is also the cheapest craft I like. All I need is paper and an exacto blade. So since my sewing machine is on the fritz, I guess I will be scherenshnitte-ing for a while.

Ski Swap, Halloween and Sore Muscles.

So this post is basically a little weekend update. In my last post I bragged about being up (comparatively) early, and going to yoga. The thing about yoga is, I haven't hadn't gone to a class in a little over a year. While I was pleased to discover that I was pretty much able to keep up with the class while we were there, I was totally unprepared for how sore I would be afterward. I mean OH- MY- GOODNESS! I am sore in places that I didn't even realize I had muscles to get sore: like on my ribs. It is kind of good to be sore though. It reminds me that I did some real work!

In addition to yoga on Saturday, Dr. H and I went to the annual Spokane Ski Swap. This is a very cool event. How it works is this: people sell their old ski/snowboard equipment to the swap on Friday, then the swap opens on Saturday and Sunday and re-sells all that stuff at great prices. Dr. H and I both got outfitted with downhill skis, boots and poles for less than $80 each, and I got a snowboard and boots and bindings for $50! Unheard of! We also got ourselves some snowshoes, so bring on the snow! Since I am still looking for work, this expenditure is a bit stressful for me, but I'm calling it Christmas come early, and it makes me feel a little better.

And finally, Halloween.  It is officially interview season for medical students and residency programs, and Dr. H's residency plans "get-to-know-you" dinners the night before every interview day. Last night was our first. I refuse to give up the opportunity to get dressed up for Halloween, so I went to this dinner dressed as a talking doll. My costume was complete with pull string, and I have to say I felt pretty cute.

Hurray for Holidays! 

Good Morning!

It is 8 am, and I am up, dressed and on my way to a Yoga class with a friend. I keep asking myself, who is this person looking at me in the mirror. Surely this go-getter resembles me in form, but the Autumn I know likes to sleep until 10 and is groggy and grumpy even then. This morning I seem to be hearkening back to my old work-a-day self. Maybe this is progress?

A Poetic Musing

Autumn is the denouement of Nature's novel

The hopes and plans of middle-March played out

In violent golds and gory reds

Winter's breath steals in by night

To kill the works of August sun

And so return the leaves and buds 

To the ground from which they sprung.

Pumpkins, Farms, and Autumnal Outtings

It was a beautiful chilly October day when Dr. H and I drove out into farm country in search of the perfect pumpkin. Instead of one, we found three of them! We also found some delicious caramel corn, and a million other people who had had the same idea for how to spend their Sunday. Lucky for us we had beat the church crowd, and were happily munching on our snacks and  speeding down the two lane road when the throngs of people really started to pour in. The road out was free and clear, the road in was in a state of gridlock reminiscent of the 5 freeway in LA at rush hour. It was a strange thing to see in that rural little town.

Now, pumpkin carving is one of my very favorite holiday activities. I'm not much into the fake blood and creepy scenes associated with Halloween, but I'm a big fan of low-pressure art projects and candy. I also love roasted pumpkin seeds, and I'm a bit of a mess-maker at heart. So Hurray for Halloween! As long as they don't decompose too soon, these three little guys will greet trick-or-treaters on our front porch. 

Junk 2 Funk

Hurray the fashion show and silent auction are done! And were very successful! Here are a couple of quick images of the venue and the silent auction area. I'm pretty proud of how it turned out!

Unfortunately, I didn't get any shots of the outfits since I worked through the show, but if you're interested in seeing any of them, here is a video of the show finale.
 

Tonight's the Night

It is finally here. The Kootenai Environmental Alliance's Junk 2 Funk Fashion show fundraiser is tonight, and I am already tired! I volunteered to run the silent auction part of the event, and am part of a two-man committee for venue decoration. Yesterday, a small team spend ALL day getting it ready, and I must say, it looks fabulous! This promises to be a great event, and will hopefully raise all kinds of funds for KEA. I intend to take tons of pictures tonight, and will post them on here when I get a chance. So stay tuned! And if you happen to be in the area, join us!

Cabbage and Noodles: Yes I'm Serious

So I have recently gotten some flack from people who think cabbage and noodles sounds either a) gross, or b)crazy. I'm here to set the record straight and say that this amazing old Bohemian dish is neither of those. What it is is a delicious no-fuss dinner perfect for times when you have 3 dollars left in the bank, and a whole house full of hungry people. For you nay-sayers out there, I am posting the recipe and issuing this challenge: Make the damn cabbage and noodles and just try to tell me you didn't like it!  (If you dislike cabbage to begin with, well then you are excused from trying this as there are only four ingredients and Cabbage is the main one) I want to see comments on here people. Mostly comments telling me what a blessing it is having me in your life to supply you with yummy recipes for unusual meals. So get cooking!

Cabbage and Noodles (Mama E's Recipe)
1 head of cabbage  (green, savoy, doesn't matter) cored and shredded
1 onion or a bunch of leeks (your choice. I use whatever I have on hand) coursly chopped
1 stick butter  (1/2 cup. You CAN use less, but butter makes everything better. I never said this         was healthy!)
Enough noodles to feed number of people. I use bowtie noodles, but egg noodles are also good!

Start pot of water for noodles. Melt about a tablespoon of butter in LARGE pan. Add onions and saute until translucent. Add cabbage and slices of butter until all cabbage is in the pot and cooking. Cabbage is done when it is bright green and a bit limp but still has a bit of a crunch in the center. Meanwhile, as soon as the water reaches a rolling boil add pasta and let cook until al dente. You don't want it to become a sticky mushy mess. Drain pasta, and add it to the pan with the cabbage. (Honestly I don't have a pan big enough to hold both the pasta and the noodles, so I just put them all back into the pot that cooked the noodles.
Now for seasoning: Add salt and pepper to taste. That's it! And please for the-love-of-dogs use fresh ground pepper.

Now eat and start singing my praises. Or rather, sing the praises of Dr. H's   Polish and Czech ancestors.

Seattle Overnight

Dr. H and I took a quick trip to Seattle over the weekend to visit with my bestie, and eat some delicious ethnic food we can't really get this side of the hills. We drank in Seattle's legendary rainy, low-60's weather, and sipped fabulous fall drinks made of pumpkin and magic. In the down time between meals and drinks, we managed to walk around a ton, visit a few cool music shops, and visit the Seattle Locks. The locks, in case you're not in the know, is basically a fancy elevator for boats going from one lake to another of a different elevation. At the locks there is also a fish ladder and viewing area where we got to see tons of salmon making their pilgrimage, and a HUGE seal eating our fishy friends.  Definitely a cool unexpected place to visit. Even though I lived in Seattle for college, I really don't feel like I know the city at all. I guess that just means I have some more exploring to do on my next visit!

Guests, Pie and Cinnamon Whipped Cream

Our warm spell has broken, and in its place we now have clouds, rain, and cool temps. Perfect weather for some warm autumnal treats. Dr. H's mom is in town, and we have been indulging in some of the areas favorite restaurants. It is now time, however, to look a bit closer to home for some culinary treasures. On our menu this week we have cabbage and noodles (a budget friendly favorite), french onion soup, and another red curry squash pie with a homemade cinnamon whipped cream. Yum!

Carrot Soup

I have been pretty lax recently about trying to use up all the carrots I get in my CSA box each week. This has resulted in a huge pile of carrots residing in my fridge. When I pulled yet another bunch of carrots out of this weeks box, I decided enough was enough and began a quick carrot ginger soup. These soups are so simple, delicious and jam packed full of vitamin A.

Carrot Soup + your choice of seasonings

carrots: peeled and cubed. Use as many carrots as you like, I have about 3-4 pounds in mine right now.    But 3 large carrots would be fine.
1-2 Onions chopped
2 tbsp butter (can sub olive oil, but butter is delicious)
1-2 medium potatoes (optional) peeled and cubed
garlic 
salt and pepper
enough vegetable/chicken broth to cover
heavy cream for garnish

Spices:
grated ginger
nutmeg and cinnamon
herbs de province and a bay leaf
any other spice combo you like! Get creative.

Melt butter in large stock pot. When it begins to bubble at the edges, add in onion and some salt and cook until translucent. Add garlic and spices (if using ginger wait to add until closer to the end). Add carrots and potatoes and enough broth to cover (roughly 5-6 cups). Cook 15-20 minutes, or until carrots and potatoes are very soft. (Add ginger if using) Blend soup in blender in small batches (fill the blender about half way), or use an immersion blender. You want the soup pretty silky, though I don't mind a few chunks left.
Garnish with salt, pepper and 1-2 tsp heavy cream. Enjoy with some warm bread and butter.

Happy Autumn, Pie Style

I can't believe it is already Friday night. I don't know where my week has gone. Time is just flying by.  Somehow, I missed the first day of Autumn, and the autumnal equinox, so here are belated wishes for a happy harvest season! On that note, I thought I would send out a delicious autumn pie suggestion: use a different squash. I know, I know, pumpkin pie is delicious, and other winter/autumn squash are scary. Take my advice though and take the plunge! I recently made a pie out of a red curry squash, and it was delicious! Dr. H thinks it might be his favorite type now, and he is a die-hard pumpkin pie fan. I can't take credit for this pie, though I would like to! Check it out, and give your taste buds a sweet surprise!

Good Times in Glacier

It is only about a four and a half hour drive from my front door to the west entrance of Glacial National Park, and you can bet your tuchas I will be going again. Though we didn't see any of the amazing wildlife in the park, (seriously, not even a deer), we did see craggy peaks jetting out of crystal clear glacial lakes. We also saw the foliage beginning to turn, and drove on moonlit roads through silent forests. This is a beautiful place! The only drawback to our trip was the weather. It rained most of the time we were there, and we were very happy that we had decided on getting a hotel room. What with the rain, and the bear scare, we didn't do too much hiking. We went on one tiny hike to a beautiful waterfall only about 1/4 mile off the road, and I was nervous the whole time. Grizzlies. Sheesh.

Trail head to Waterfall

Waterfall "Hike"

The plains on the eastern edge of the park