living here now

today...

i am grateful for...

a fridge full of fresh veggies

i laughed when...

(need to work on laughing more today)

i was moved by...

this article about an family with an autistic son and how Disney movies helped them all

i heard...

the voice of my dear friend, Kathleen

i indulged by...

making chocolate pudding and eating it with strawberries

i learned...

that moving to Nevada is going to be a lot of work

watermelon rinds

today...

i have wanted to make pickled watermelon rind for about 4 years now. one time, about 4 years ago, i even peeled all the rinds and left them in my mom's fridge, planning to pickle them. they ended up going bad when i never got around to doing the pickling. well, today is finally the day.

first, i sterilized all the jars.

i have a big canning water bath pot that my aunt gave me. i like to wrap a handkerchief around the hand so it is easy to lift off.

then i made the syrup. apple cider vinegar and sugar flavored with cinnamon, lemon rind, and fresh ginger. 

to the syrup, i added just a splash of leftover beet juice from pickling beets the other day. the beet juice should give the watermelon a nicer color, i hope.

the rinds have been soaking in a brine overnight in the fridge. it was a huge amount of work to peel them.

rinds packed tightly in to jars.

then i poured the syrup over the rinds and worked out the air bubbles with a chop stick.

boiled them in the water bath for about 10 minutes.

now we wait. i think i will open the first jar in about a month to taste it.

i based my methods on this recipe:

Martha Stewart's Pickled Watermelon Rind

pennsylvanian-dutch red beet eggs made in nederland

today...

i packed up all my canning supplies and headed up the mountains to nederland. my dear friend, who lives in ned, invited me up to help her make one of her favorite, but strange treats: pennsylvanian-dutch red beet eggs. i have never even tried pickled eggs before, but now i can't wait until they are ready.

we also pickled chard stems, carrots, yellow beans, garlic, onions, and cucumbers. we tried out the citrus & savory brining spice from the local spice shop for these pickles.  

after spending a few hours in the kitchen, it was time to get outside. right from her house we could walk to boulder creek. 

don't eat baneberry. it is extremely poisonous and just two berries could kill!

the late afternoon sun was beautiful through the horsetails.

then we collected berries from a juniper bush. what should i do with these berries once they are dry? supposedly you use just a few to flavor marinades ans sauces.

spice up the spice cabinet

today...

in preparation for moving, i decided to sort through my overflowing spice cabinet. there were many duplicates that needed to be combined, old jars that needed to be tossed out, and sorted in to groups. 

i had 3 jars of cayenne!

i made 5 groups: 

1. herbs (basil, oregano, etc)
2. savory cooking spices (lemon pepper, tumeric, etc)
3. baking/sweet cooking spices (cinnamon, nutmeg, cream of tartar, etc)
4. hot peppers and chilies
5. salts and peppers

then i painted the lids with leftover paints i had in the craft supply box. can you guess which colors are for each group?

now all the spices are back in the cabinet and ready to be packed up in a couple weeks when we are ready to move.

timberline lake trail hike near leadville, co

last night we went to a concert in Aspen with B&T.

we saw Ryan Adams perform at the Belly Up.

it rocked!

we had a fancy dinner out with B&T before the show. then we met up with my dear friend, Stepho, who lives in Aspen now. while cruising the town with her we saw the rock star himself out at diner. there was much debate about whether or not one of us should approach him. in the end, we left him alone.

after the show, we camped on the other side of Independence Pass, near Twin Lakes. we slept in as much as we could in the morning, and then woke up to make coffee and eat blueberry muffins.

then we drove over towards Leadville and Turquoise Lake for a hike.

Timberline Lake trail was beautiful. summer wildflowers everywhere! the dogs ran around, and then we made it up to the lake.

Ade caught a fish right away. T through a stick into the lake for the dogs. B and i made a little snack picnic for everyone out of fritos, bean dip, cheese and granola bars. i must remember to pack that bean dip on future hikes. yum.

lunch in Leadville at Top of the Hill Coffee Shop. delicious!

amazing laser-cut wood art of mountainscapes from Precision Peaks decorated the walls.