Catching Up

Well, it's been quite a while since I posted anything. I've been traveling for the new j-o-b while trying to stay on top of emails, emails, emails.

Here's what's been going on...

I've been seeing more and more white falling from the sky. The dogs are loving it!

Even with the temps dropping and some white on the ground, radishes were hanging on strong.

I've finally finished my office. After finishing my desk, James put together a quick DIY shelf. We found a plank of wood on our property, and I found these two brackets for $20 at an antique store. And there you have a shelf for scarves and bags. We found the big cedar chest in North Carolina at an antique store. It's great for sweaters and other bulky items that take up space in drawers.

One other DIY project that James and I did together is a coat rack. We needed a place for hats, rain gear and heavy coats. I found this old piece of fence on our property and we cut it down smaller with a skill saw. (My first time using a skill saw! It kind of makes you feel like a bad ass.) Then, we screwed on some rustic curtain rod brackets that I found for a $1 each. I love this $4 project.

We're off to Flagstaff to visit friends for Thanksgiving!! One of the many benefits of living out west...we get to see great friends that were once too far away.

Have a great week!

B

Best time of year

Okay, I'll admit that it is just a matter of opinion, but I firmly believe that fall is the best time of year. The smell of fireplaces being lit for the first time in months, leaves changing, pumpkins, Halloween, and cool, crisp air. And yesterday, I walked out the back door and caught a nice view of an early fall moon.

The leaves are starting to change around here, and the nights are getting chilly!

Out of our own backyard, we've got grapes! They are a little tart but ready for picking. The vines are a gnarly mess right now, but I am digging in as much as I can.

As I mentioned last time, we have been loving our local farmer's market. We stocked up on tomatoes recently. I just can't resist a summer tomato. The first dinner I made was roasted tomato soup. Perfect for a chilly, fall evening. Toss halved, seeded tomatoes in olive oil, garlic and herbs. Then, roast in the oven. The rest I can't remember (haha) but basically put together a few simple, classic ingredients and blend into a soup. Some chicken stock, onions, fresh basil, and a little half 'n half should do it. I quickly sauteed some bread cubes in butter and garlic for homemade croutons.The second recipe the tomatoes went into...pickled vegetables. Okay, you have to really like vinegared, pickled things to try this one. I found some cukes at the farmer's market to add to this as well. Quarter tomatoes, slice fresh garlic cloves, quarter yellow onions, and add pickling spices to glass canning jars (Mom hooked me up with a bag full). Pickling spices are whatever you want them to be. For me, yellow mustard seeds, whole peppercorns, sliced horseradish, basil leaves and dill sprigs. Dissolve kosher salt in cider vinegar on the stove and then let the mixture cool. Add the cooled mixture to the jars and put in the fridge. The longer they sit, the better they are. I did the same thing with cukes and red onion.

B

What's growing on?

It has been an adjustment learning that the growing season out here is a month or two behind what I am used to in the tropical climate of the Carolinas. Tomatoes just started rockin a few weeks ago, and now we are harvesting summer squash. We plucked our first zucchinis last week. We spread them across three meals. First, we grilled some and then we roasted some more. YUM! I love veggies roasted in the oven with simple olive oil, S & P.The remaining. we stuffed. We scooped out the middle, boiled the shells to get them soft. We put the pulp we had scooped along with onions, mushrooms, and any other veggies we had around in a skillet on the stove for a few minutes. Then, tossed that mixture with bread crumbs and a beaten egg, filled back up the zucchini shells and cheese on top. Finally, bake and then enjoy.

Back to the garden...her are some pics of what's growing, zucchini, acorn squash, apples, grapes, and a few cantaloupes are trying like crazy to tough out the chilly nights. We have had a few nights of frost, so we are keeping the tarps handy for covering

.

This past weekend was beautilous! We rode bikes everywhere...breakfast, farmer's market, bar....in that order.

The farmer's market is something I look forward to every week. There are so many reasons to love it...it's supporting local farmers who don't get subsidized from our government and are in a continuous struggle to maintain quality and variety over cheaply priced, poorer quality, generic options at the grocery store. There are about 7,500 varieties of tomato. At your typical, major, grocery store chain you may be able to buy 3-5 varieties all year, always the same. There are so many more to try, buy, or grow your own.

Along with variety, other reasons to visit your local farmer's market are supporting a local economy in your community, it's a lot more fun than the grocery store, and of course, prices.

Here's what we took home for $20.

Enjoy your week!

B

"This Must Be The Place"

This past week was a week we spent at home. We cooked, worked on the house and hiked. It's been really nice to start feeling somewhat settled and "home." Home is where you make it, right? Well then, this must be the place.

We've officially finished our first room. It's the main bathroom on the main floor. As I've mentioned before, this house looks like it hasn't been touched in about 30 or 40 years.

Here's a pic of the before:

And...drumroll....the after:

Yeah, modern day!

Along with working on the inside, we have been spending some time on the outside. The raspberries are rockin. I've frozen some so that when you peeps come visit, you can enjoy them!

One evening while picking, we caught a nice view.

The grapes are going strong, slow and steady.

I've recently become addicted to unsweet tea. I know...I can hear you from Utah yelling "Traitor!" I can't help it...I'm obsessed. James gave me an idea of an easy, homemade way to get my daily fix. Sun tea! Directions: water in glass jar, add tea bags, add whatever else you like in your tea (lavender sprigs, lemon slices, mint sprigs, etc), and place outside in direct sun for 1-8 hours, whatever works best in your schedule. We are currently sucking down about 1 pitcher every 2 days.

We've also spent some time exploring our area. A hike after work last week hit the spot.

And today, we took it easy along the river. Not a bad Monday.

Ash has inspired me to write more about our meals at home. Tonight, we filled our bellies with a mushroom, pea, proscuitto, white wine sauce over spinach fettichini. Some red wine and I'm fat, happy and sleepy....perfect.

Weekend

The weekend was filled with getting things down at/for the house. Oh, I also managed to cook some. Although it was nothing fancy (I don't really do in-depth, fancy recipes), it was so easy and yummy. The recipe is officially called "Skillet Barbecue Shrimp," however, there was no bbq sauce or grill involved so I prefer to call it "Skillet Shrimp".

With the shrimp, we had grilled peaches (yum, peaches are so good right now) and a cold salad. The salad was so easy and something great to keep around for a snack. For the salad, grab a bag of broccoli slaw, a can of garbanzo beans/chickpeas, and Italian dressing. Rinse the beans and mix the ingredients together...voila! Serve it cold.



I also planted my first pots of herbs. I hate buying herbs from the grocery and never using all of them so I'm determined to grow my own. Determined is the key word because I do not have the green thumb in the family as is evident by not being the one living on a farm! I will admit that I had to make multiple phone calls to Brit when buying the pots and soil.

H-O-A-R-D...yeah, you know me

Have you seen the show "Hoarders"? It's another one of those reality shows. Exposing the big, bad, ugly world of people who hoard to the point where they can't sleep in their bed or get out of their front door. A friend of mine, Jessica, lovingly commented that right now my house could probably be on that show. Okay, so I can at least get to and sleep in my bed, but I will not hide the fact that I cannot get out of my front door right now due to a pile of empty boxes that we have finally begun to unpack.So, when the claustrophobic feeling gets to be too much, I go outside.

Last week, we harvested cherries! As I picked, I did some taste testing. Fresh picked, sun ripened cherries....yum! I also picked some fresh lavender to hang dry and use in tea, baths, and anything else I can think of.

I love the idea of drying out herbs, flowers or even garlic in order to use later. Yarrow is next on the list of things to hang dry. I plan to do that this week.

Grapes and raspberries should be ripe for the picking soon!

This weekend we made it out to Park City for an outdoor concert. We sat back, listened to music, enjoyed the view of the mountains, and sipped wine. Perfect ending to a crazy week!

As we begin our new week, I am happy to report that our kitchen is unpacked, I have caught up in my last three weeks of emails, and I get my car in a few days! It's going to be a good week.

Happy Dog Days....

Brit

The Move Has Just Begun

Big news! We finally got our stuff! The PackRat man came today and delivered my life in a metal container that sits in my driveway. It's been there since 9:30 this morning (that's 11:30 to you east coasters). I went to open it up and make sure it was my life in there and not someone else's. Yup, it's definitely mine. I took one look, closed it back up and haven't touched it since. For all the excitement I felt upon it's arrival, that excitement has turned into exhaustion. I took an hour long nap after contemplating the effort it will take to unpack that sucker!

Along with anticipating our "stuff" arrival, we have been painting like fools lately. This house looks like it hasn't been touched in about 50 years. How people have lived in this old house with dark paneling or a pepto pink tile/wall bathroom for the past 50 without so much as new paint is hard to imagine. We're dressing this old girl up! I can't wait to show you before and after pictures, but you will have to wait...furniture first. I want you guys to get the full effect. Is the suspense killing you?

While the inside of the house needs a lot of work, thankfully, the outside doesn't. It seems as though someone has loved and cared for this land for a long time. This past weekend we discovered an apple tree and a cherry tree. The cherry tree is rockin! It's a day or two away from picking time. I can't wait to climb up that tree as high as my guts can stand to play a real life game of Hi-Ho Cherry-O!

So, while we pick the paint out of our hair and clean the 1960s from our house, I leave you with this...

You're going to come a long way baby.

Brit

First Post - First Weekend

We just had our first weekend in our new home out west! And while my southern roots are reaching extra deep for good friends and cocktails, I have been so thrilled with what we have found here. The people, scenery and weather are nothing to complain about. Although my southern skin is not quite sure what to make of this dry air, the rest of me is living it up! We have already made great friends and continue to meet other friendly folks. While we haven't gotten our "stuff" (read - everything but one mattress, computer, and a suitcase of clothes), we have made it work and it's been quite fun. In our first weekend, we got the garden ready, went on a hike and cooked some meals at home....finally!

James and I got down and dirty digging trenches and mounding up dirt for eight large garden rows. It was hard work!! We have the blisters and sore muscles to prove it! The irrigation is in, and now it is just time to seed. Just as we finished up the garden and got inside to clean up, we noticed we had new neighbors. Four doe were strolling through our new garden and wanting to know what was for dinner. We sized each other up and without much thought, I think we all agreed, they win! Now, the challenge is how to feed them and us at the same time.

We spent the last day of our 3 day weekend hiking. The word that comes to mind...perfect. It was a challenging, 8 mile hike in gorgeous weather that ended at a secluded lake. While I napped on a rock and the dogs swam in the lake, I thought...."yeah, it doesn't get much better." Okay, so it does....if everyone we just left in the Carolinas could have been there, it would get much better.

We have been trying to eat more healthy and more at home. A new friend down the street brought us oodles of lettuce out of his garden. Right now the challenge is to found out how many ways you can get creative with lettuce. Tonight's dinner: beets, goat cheese and salmon on....you guessed it...Lettuce!!

We miss everyone reading this blog terribly! Please stay in touch, emails, phone calls and snail mail.

Love to you,

Brit