In OCTOBER nonetheless!
(If you look closely, you can see my snow angel!)
Friday, October 30, 2009
Snow Day!!
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Calling All Horrible Drivers
It's your time to SHINE!!
The first winter storm is blowing it's way through Colorado. Schools are closing, drifts are forming, roads are icing...it's the real deal. And it's not even Halloween! If only this continues through the winter, it will be a great snowboarding season!!
Monday, October 26, 2009
Treats, Treats, and More Treats
This past Sunday my friends and I had a full blown "Fall Day," and we did it right. To be perfectly honest though, we didn't get it all done. We had plans to sip on apple cider all day while making pumpkin bread, caramel apples, pumpkin seeds, and carving jack-o-lanterns, but we only got to the first three because studying took up more time than planned. Pumpkin seeds are carving jack-o-lanterns got rescheduled to this coming Tuesday (tomorrow); I'm sure I'll have pictures and stories to come.
If you want to have a nice little 'fall day' of your own, just follow these simple recipes and enjoy! (All recipes came from "A Taste of Heaven," a cookbook my parent's Sunday school class put together a few years ago. I have yet to come across a recipe I don't like.)
Spiced Cider: (Compliments of Carla Fields)
1 gal cider
2 qts water
1 cup sugar
2 tsp whole allspice
4 sticks cinnamon
12 oz frozen orange juice
12 oz frozen lemonade
Combine all ingredients in a large pan and simmer for 1 hour.
(The men chose to enjoy this drink with 1 oz of whiskey per mug of cider while watching football. Yeah, they weren't too involved in our 'Fall Day' except for enjoying the products of our labor.)
(Picture compliments of Google Images. Honestly we just bought apple cider, but the recipe sounds delicious and I recommend anyone try it!)
The pumpkin bread, however, we made from scratch and it was delicious! Mmm, so moist and good. (The picture is still borrowed from Google Images because I forgot to take a picture of ours, but it looked very similar.)
Pumpkin Bread: (Compliments of Mary Ann Ryan and Kris Spengler)
1 cup oil
3 cups sugar
2 cups pumpkin
4 eggs
2/3 cups water
3 1/2 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp baking soda
1 heaping tsp cinnamon
1 heaping tsp nutmeg
Mix together oil and sugar. Add pumpkin, slightly beaten eggs, and water. In a separate bowl, sift together flour, salt, and baking soda. Add dry ingredients to liquid ingredients, and mix well. Add spices, mix well. You may use two large greased loaf pans or 4 smaller ones. Bake in 350 degree oven. For large loaves bake 1 hour. For small pans bake 35-45 minutes. Bread is done with toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool in pans for 10 minutes; then remove from pans to cool completely. Wrap in plastic wrap or foil for storage.
Finally, we made some caramel apples. This was a pretty simple process, and the recipe followed was on the back of the bag of caramels we used. The sticks for the caramel apples were also in the bag of caramels. Simply take 5 apples and wash and dry them well. (If they aren't completely dry the caramel will not stick to the apples.) Insert popsicle sticks into the stem side of the apples. Place a piece of wax paper on a large plate, spray with cooking spray, and set aside. In a medium saucepan over medium-low heat, combine 1 bag of caramels and 2 tbsp water. Stir constantly until caramel is completely melted and smooth. One at a time, dip the apples in the caramel and spin until apple is covered in caramel. Scrape the caramel off the bottom of the apple and place on waxed paper, drizzling top of apple with caramel if needed. Repeat with the other apples, and place in the refrigerator for 1 hour. Optional: prior to placing in refrigerator, dip in chopped peanuts. Enjoy!!
If you want to have a nice little 'fall day' of your own, just follow these simple recipes and enjoy! (All recipes came from "A Taste of Heaven," a cookbook my parent's Sunday school class put together a few years ago. I have yet to come across a recipe I don't like.)
Spiced Cider: (Compliments of Carla Fields)
1 gal cider
2 qts water
1 cup sugar
2 tsp whole allspice
4 sticks cinnamon
12 oz frozen orange juice
12 oz frozen lemonade
Combine all ingredients in a large pan and simmer for 1 hour.
(The men chose to enjoy this drink with 1 oz of whiskey per mug of cider while watching football. Yeah, they weren't too involved in our 'Fall Day' except for enjoying the products of our labor.)
(Picture compliments of Google Images. Honestly we just bought apple cider, but the recipe sounds delicious and I recommend anyone try it!)
The pumpkin bread, however, we made from scratch and it was delicious! Mmm, so moist and good. (The picture is still borrowed from Google Images because I forgot to take a picture of ours, but it looked very similar.)
Pumpkin Bread: (Compliments of Mary Ann Ryan and Kris Spengler)
1 cup oil
3 cups sugar
2 cups pumpkin
4 eggs
2/3 cups water
3 1/2 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp baking soda
1 heaping tsp cinnamon
1 heaping tsp nutmeg
Mix together oil and sugar. Add pumpkin, slightly beaten eggs, and water. In a separate bowl, sift together flour, salt, and baking soda. Add dry ingredients to liquid ingredients, and mix well. Add spices, mix well. You may use two large greased loaf pans or 4 smaller ones. Bake in 350 degree oven. For large loaves bake 1 hour. For small pans bake 35-45 minutes. Bread is done with toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool in pans for 10 minutes; then remove from pans to cool completely. Wrap in plastic wrap or foil for storage.
Finally, we made some caramel apples. This was a pretty simple process, and the recipe followed was on the back of the bag of caramels we used. The sticks for the caramel apples were also in the bag of caramels. Simply take 5 apples and wash and dry them well. (If they aren't completely dry the caramel will not stick to the apples.) Insert popsicle sticks into the stem side of the apples. Place a piece of wax paper on a large plate, spray with cooking spray, and set aside. In a medium saucepan over medium-low heat, combine 1 bag of caramels and 2 tbsp water. Stir constantly until caramel is completely melted and smooth. One at a time, dip the apples in the caramel and spin until apple is covered in caramel. Scrape the caramel off the bottom of the apple and place on waxed paper, drizzling top of apple with caramel if needed. Repeat with the other apples, and place in the refrigerator for 1 hour. Optional: prior to placing in refrigerator, dip in chopped peanuts. Enjoy!!
The recipes were delicious and we had a great day. I hope you all (if anyone reads this) gets a chance to enjoy these recipes too. And if you do, enjoy your treats!
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Well, Hello Winter!
Yes I know it's not really winter, but if you lived in Colorado you just might think it is.
One ski area (at least) opened October 9th! And then, the next day, it snowed/sleeted down in Denver (and this wasn't even the first snow). Man was that a cold, dreary, lazy Saturday. We made chili and watched TV all day. I'm not going to lie, I kind of enjoyed it. :o)
The next weekend was beautiful -- thank you, Colorado weather. We had 60-70 degree weather and beautiful sunny skies! Then, naturally, it snowed at least 6 inches the very next Tuesday.
You would definitely think it was winter here, except for the few remaining leaves on the trees and the pumpkins sitting in front of most people's homes.
Hopefully it's nice for trick-or-treaters!!
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Oh How I Love Fall!
You know that question, "What's your favorite season?" I have a hard time answering that because there are certain things I love about each season. I love Winter because I LOVE snow, and I love sledding and snowman-making and snowball fights and snowangel-making, and I especially love snowboarding. In general, I like playing in the snow. There is also a certain feel of coziness that comes about in the winter, especially around Christmas time, another reason I love winter. I love Spring because that is when everything comes back to life, flowers are blooming, trees are budding, days are getting longer. It's just a fresh feeling of being alive. I also used to run track, which I loved, and it was in the Spring. I used to love Summer because of the long break from school. However, I still do love it for the long days, fresh summer produce, cookouts, warm weather, swimming/boating/etc., outdoor nighttime activities, and the many other wonderful summer traditions that come to mind when I think of Summer.
And then there's Fall; oh how I love Fall. Everything about it makes me happy -- crisp mornings, changing leaves, apple orchards, pumpkin patches, apple cider, carving pumpkins, caramel apples, pumpkin bread (I like apples and pumpkins if you can't tell), football games, bonfires, roasting marshmallows, hayrack rides, haunted houses, trick-or-treaters, candy...doesn't it just make you excited reading this?! It does me. So you can imagine my minor disappoinment last year when I realized Colorado wasn't quite as awesome as Illinois when it comes to fall activities. Leaves turn color and fall pretty quick here (within about 2 weeks), and the climate isn't ideal for apple orchards and pumpkin patches. Not to mention there aren't as many cornfields for hayrack rides, corn mazes, and haunted activities. In general, fall just doesn't have quite the zest and appeal it does in Illinois. But this year, I found a pumpkin patch, and you can bet you butt I didn't miss out on this opportunity. Even though it was an entire pumpkin festival, complete with games, activities, and food, (also meaning it cost money!) I coughed up the money to attend this delightful event. Of course, I also dragged my boyfriend along with me (I think he wanted to go, even if he pretended to feel otherwise), and my friend and her guy came too.
The morning of the Pumpkin Festival, we got up and headed to the pumpkin patch about 10am. Much to all of our surprise, there was a line to get into the parking lot, and it was no short line. It took about 20 minutes just to get parked. This place was packed!! And it only got more crowded as the day went on. It was pretty funny to look around because this was clearly meant to be a family function (there were games, activities, carnival rides, pony rides, face paintings, etc.). Everywhere we looked there were parents with their children. Literally, we only saw one other couple that didn't have at least one child with them. We joked about borrowing a child for the event...we felt kind of out of place. But I didn't care. I was at a pumpkin patch and I was pretty excited about it. So, off we went in search of the perfect pumpkin! And out we came with our prize.
There was even a pumpkin daycare; that's right, you could leave your pumpkin at this daycare and enjoy the rest of the festival knowing your pumpkin was safe. It was pretty cute.
And then there's Fall; oh how I love Fall. Everything about it makes me happy -- crisp mornings, changing leaves, apple orchards, pumpkin patches, apple cider, carving pumpkins, caramel apples, pumpkin bread (I like apples and pumpkins if you can't tell), football games, bonfires, roasting marshmallows, hayrack rides, haunted houses, trick-or-treaters, candy...doesn't it just make you excited reading this?! It does me. So you can imagine my minor disappoinment last year when I realized Colorado wasn't quite as awesome as Illinois when it comes to fall activities. Leaves turn color and fall pretty quick here (within about 2 weeks), and the climate isn't ideal for apple orchards and pumpkin patches. Not to mention there aren't as many cornfields for hayrack rides, corn mazes, and haunted activities. In general, fall just doesn't have quite the zest and appeal it does in Illinois. But this year, I found a pumpkin patch, and you can bet you butt I didn't miss out on this opportunity. Even though it was an entire pumpkin festival, complete with games, activities, and food, (also meaning it cost money!) I coughed up the money to attend this delightful event. Of course, I also dragged my boyfriend along with me (I think he wanted to go, even if he pretended to feel otherwise), and my friend and her guy came too.
The morning of the Pumpkin Festival, we got up and headed to the pumpkin patch about 10am. Much to all of our surprise, there was a line to get into the parking lot, and it was no short line. It took about 20 minutes just to get parked. This place was packed!! And it only got more crowded as the day went on. It was pretty funny to look around because this was clearly meant to be a family function (there were games, activities, carnival rides, pony rides, face paintings, etc.). Everywhere we looked there were parents with their children. Literally, we only saw one other couple that didn't have at least one child with them. We joked about borrowing a child for the event...we felt kind of out of place. But I didn't care. I was at a pumpkin patch and I was pretty excited about it. So, off we went in search of the perfect pumpkin! And out we came with our prize.
There was even a pumpkin daycare; that's right, you could leave your pumpkin at this daycare and enjoy the rest of the festival knowing your pumpkin was safe. It was pretty cute.
Friday, September 18, 2009
So I've been MIA for a while now...
Sorry about my absence, yet again. I have been pretty busy until recently though. The most exciting thing that happened after my trip to Arches was graduating my internship!! What a huge task completed! And what huge tasks left ahead - job searching, studying, test taking -YIKES! Anyway, a few days after my internship wrapped up, I moved my stuff into a storage unit in Denver and headed home to Illinois.
I was in Illinois about two days, and then it was off to Tennessee to work for ASP one final summer (HUGE sad face). What a great chapter that has been in my life. It changed my world - the way I see things, my attitude about every situation, the direction my life has gone... I could go on. (But I won't because I have a busy day ahead of me.) I completed my summer's work with ASP in early August, and then decided to drive over to North Carolina to see a great friend of mine who I worked with my first summer on staff. I spent two days with her, her fiance, and her family. It was so great to catch up, reminisce, and talk about things to come in our lives. And we cooked with her mom, which is always a treat since she's a wonderful southern cook. We made crab cakes, home-made tartar sauce, and a delicious salad - YUM!
My next journey was a 15 hour drive home to Illinois. Along the way, I got stopped in an hour of standstill traffic (I still don't know why) and slowed to 45 mph on several occassions for road construction and several bouts of terrential downpours. It was quite the drive, and I was exhausted when I got home.
The best part about my summer though, might have been the two weeks at home, relaxing with my parents, puppy, and friends. As much as I love it out West, I do miss the cornfields and simple beauty of central Illinois. The sunsets there still take my breath away. And the weather was absolutely amazing! (for the most part). I spent my days playing with my dog; reading magazines outside; biking with my parents; boating, swimming, and wakeboarding; going to the fair (more than I think I ever have!); cooking; and catching up with friends. I also took a day trip up to Chicago to see another great friend of mine, which was a blast. The first night we had dinner at a sidewalk cafe bar & grill, caught up on life, and relaxed with a movie. Then on Saturday we took the L downtown and walked over to Lake Michigan for the Air and Water Show. It was really cool to watch the jets and planes fly around in formation and do different tricks. I'm not sure what the 'water' part of the show was about though, because we never saw anything in the water. After watching the show for a bit, we walked downtown to the Water Tower (I think is what it's called) and had lunch in their food court. It's really neat. You get seated, then you go select your food from a variety of places, then you get a receipt and pay for it all as you leave. As I write that it doesn't sound that neat, just like your basic cafeteria; but I guess I was expecting a normal mall food court. Next we walked over to Navy Pier, wandered there for a bit, and then continued walking downtown towards Grant and Millennium parks and Buckingham Fountain. On our way we made a detour to Baskin Robbins and got some ice cream. I enjoyed some rainbow sherbet - my absolute FAV! We were pretty tired at this point (it was about 5 pm and we left at 9am - only stopping to sit for lunch), and we had a long way to get to the L, not to mention back to Wrigleyville (where my friend lives) and not much time to do it in. So we hopped a Taxi. Then my friend drove me to meet the ladies I rode up to Chicago with, I had dinner with them, and then we left for home. It was a busy day and a half, but so much fun!!
Finally the day rolled around when I was to head back to Colorado. Thankfully, I had a roadtrip buddy for this 14 hour drive. I did a lot of driving this summer, most of it alone, and it can get kind of boring. I topped 100,000 miles total in my car this summer, and put at least 3,500 miles on just in the two month time I re-capped above. I also saw almost all 50 liscence plates on the road during my travels. I only missed 4, and two of them weren't Hawaii and Alaska! That's right, I saw Hawaii and Alaska plates in my travels across the country; I even saw Washington DC (I didn't even know they made plates) and Ontario, Canada. I didn't see North Dakota, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, or Vermont. I know you may be thinking I'm lame or easily entertained for playing a child's game, but that's okay, because that game DID keep me entertained and excited for hours as I drove. At least it gave me something to do and helped me stay awake. And there were hours and HOURS of loud singing and talking to myself. Hey, a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do.
Now that I'm back in Colorado I've been spending most of my time job searching, studying for the RD exam, and hanging out with my boyfriend and friends. It's good to be back here!
I was in Illinois about two days, and then it was off to Tennessee to work for ASP one final summer (HUGE sad face). What a great chapter that has been in my life. It changed my world - the way I see things, my attitude about every situation, the direction my life has gone... I could go on. (But I won't because I have a busy day ahead of me.) I completed my summer's work with ASP in early August, and then decided to drive over to North Carolina to see a great friend of mine who I worked with my first summer on staff. I spent two days with her, her fiance, and her family. It was so great to catch up, reminisce, and talk about things to come in our lives. And we cooked with her mom, which is always a treat since she's a wonderful southern cook. We made crab cakes, home-made tartar sauce, and a delicious salad - YUM!
My next journey was a 15 hour drive home to Illinois. Along the way, I got stopped in an hour of standstill traffic (I still don't know why) and slowed to 45 mph on several occassions for road construction and several bouts of terrential downpours. It was quite the drive, and I was exhausted when I got home.
The best part about my summer though, might have been the two weeks at home, relaxing with my parents, puppy, and friends. As much as I love it out West, I do miss the cornfields and simple beauty of central Illinois. The sunsets there still take my breath away. And the weather was absolutely amazing! (for the most part). I spent my days playing with my dog; reading magazines outside; biking with my parents; boating, swimming, and wakeboarding; going to the fair (more than I think I ever have!); cooking; and catching up with friends. I also took a day trip up to Chicago to see another great friend of mine, which was a blast. The first night we had dinner at a sidewalk cafe bar & grill, caught up on life, and relaxed with a movie. Then on Saturday we took the L downtown and walked over to Lake Michigan for the Air and Water Show. It was really cool to watch the jets and planes fly around in formation and do different tricks. I'm not sure what the 'water' part of the show was about though, because we never saw anything in the water. After watching the show for a bit, we walked downtown to the Water Tower (I think is what it's called) and had lunch in their food court. It's really neat. You get seated, then you go select your food from a variety of places, then you get a receipt and pay for it all as you leave. As I write that it doesn't sound that neat, just like your basic cafeteria; but I guess I was expecting a normal mall food court. Next we walked over to Navy Pier, wandered there for a bit, and then continued walking downtown towards Grant and Millennium parks and Buckingham Fountain. On our way we made a detour to Baskin Robbins and got some ice cream. I enjoyed some rainbow sherbet - my absolute FAV! We were pretty tired at this point (it was about 5 pm and we left at 9am - only stopping to sit for lunch), and we had a long way to get to the L, not to mention back to Wrigleyville (where my friend lives) and not much time to do it in. So we hopped a Taxi. Then my friend drove me to meet the ladies I rode up to Chicago with, I had dinner with them, and then we left for home. It was a busy day and a half, but so much fun!!
Finally the day rolled around when I was to head back to Colorado. Thankfully, I had a roadtrip buddy for this 14 hour drive. I did a lot of driving this summer, most of it alone, and it can get kind of boring. I topped 100,000 miles total in my car this summer, and put at least 3,500 miles on just in the two month time I re-capped above. I also saw almost all 50 liscence plates on the road during my travels. I only missed 4, and two of them weren't Hawaii and Alaska! That's right, I saw Hawaii and Alaska plates in my travels across the country; I even saw Washington DC (I didn't even know they made plates) and Ontario, Canada. I didn't see North Dakota, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, or Vermont. I know you may be thinking I'm lame or easily entertained for playing a child's game, but that's okay, because that game DID keep me entertained and excited for hours as I drove. At least it gave me something to do and helped me stay awake. And there were hours and HOURS of loud singing and talking to myself. Hey, a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do.
Now that I'm back in Colorado I've been spending most of my time job searching, studying for the RD exam, and hanging out with my boyfriend and friends. It's good to be back here!
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Arches, Mountain Bikes, and Lizards
That's what our road trip to Moab, Utah consisted of! I'll let the pictures do most of the talking (they're a little out of order though).
This is our last day. We went mountain biking in the morning and into the afternoon. It was supposed to be an easy downhill ride, but we decided to make it a round-trip. Needless to say, it ended up being a grueling 28 mile ride, half of which was straight uphill. You'll notice I'm walking up the first of the hills... Then, after a nap and some food at our campsite, we went into Arches National Park to hike (for the second time) out to Delicate Arch. We heard it was pretty amazing at sunset. Although it was amazing, I think it's even better at a different time of year when the sun doesn't cast shadows onto the arch as it sets.
These pictures are from our second day. (We were there Thursday - Sunday morning, but we didn't do anything but leave on Sunday.) We spent the majority of this day hiking around to different arches, climbing on rocks, and, in general, playing. The first few pictures are of Double O Arch and of us on top of the arch. The long arch is Landscape Arch. It's pretty incredible, and just a few years ago (I think 2003), a 70 foot chunk of rock fell off the under-side of the arch making it even thinner!
This is still the second day (Friday). These pictures are of our first hike out to Delicate Arch. It is incredible! I could sit and look at it for hours!! I also caught a lizard on this hike, but then flipped out and let it go, all within about a 5 second span. It was pretty funny - at first I was amazed and proud of myself, but that quickly changed to fear that it might bite me, so I let go and ran away.
Close-up under the arch! We look like ants in the other one.
I forgot that cacti bloom! They were so pretty!
And this is our campsite. The tent didn't have a rain fly, and we were scared it was going to rain that afternoon. This is our pathetic attempt to cover the tent (the tarp wasn't big enough!) Quite a charming little location though. The other picture is of the sun shining off the rock wall on the opposite side of the road from our campsite. There were some pretty brilliant colors with all the red rock!
These pictures are from the day we arrived. We went to Double Arch, pictured first, and also The Windows, pictures last. The big arch in between was near The Windows, but I don't know if it had a name. The mountain range in the background is the LaSalle Mountain Range.
Arches is a pretty amazing place! I recommend everyone try and get there at least once in their lifetime.
This is our last day. We went mountain biking in the morning and into the afternoon. It was supposed to be an easy downhill ride, but we decided to make it a round-trip. Needless to say, it ended up being a grueling 28 mile ride, half of which was straight uphill. You'll notice I'm walking up the first of the hills... Then, after a nap and some food at our campsite, we went into Arches National Park to hike (for the second time) out to Delicate Arch. We heard it was pretty amazing at sunset. Although it was amazing, I think it's even better at a different time of year when the sun doesn't cast shadows onto the arch as it sets.
These pictures are from our second day. (We were there Thursday - Sunday morning, but we didn't do anything but leave on Sunday.) We spent the majority of this day hiking around to different arches, climbing on rocks, and, in general, playing. The first few pictures are of Double O Arch and of us on top of the arch. The long arch is Landscape Arch. It's pretty incredible, and just a few years ago (I think 2003), a 70 foot chunk of rock fell off the under-side of the arch making it even thinner!
This is still the second day (Friday). These pictures are of our first hike out to Delicate Arch. It is incredible! I could sit and look at it for hours!! I also caught a lizard on this hike, but then flipped out and let it go, all within about a 5 second span. It was pretty funny - at first I was amazed and proud of myself, but that quickly changed to fear that it might bite me, so I let go and ran away.
Close-up under the arch! We look like ants in the other one.
I forgot that cacti bloom! They were so pretty!
And this is our campsite. The tent didn't have a rain fly, and we were scared it was going to rain that afternoon. This is our pathetic attempt to cover the tent (the tarp wasn't big enough!) Quite a charming little location though. The other picture is of the sun shining off the rock wall on the opposite side of the road from our campsite. There were some pretty brilliant colors with all the red rock!
These pictures are from the day we arrived. We went to Double Arch, pictured first, and also The Windows, pictures last. The big arch in between was near The Windows, but I don't know if it had a name. The mountain range in the background is the LaSalle Mountain Range.
Arches is a pretty amazing place! I recommend everyone try and get there at least once in their lifetime.
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