26 Years

Yesterday I turned 26, which as my brother assured me, "Statistically, makes you more likely to make it to 27," and as my old/older friend Drew explained (from 26), "It is all downhill." Not a particularly climactic birthday, eh?

Nonetheless, I celebrated in style... well at least my favorite kind of style: good food and a long walk.

Matt, turned gourmet chef, made me orange-cinnamon french toast for breakfast, and an amazing pan of dark-chocolate brownies for dessert.  Both were delicious!

The best french toast and brownies EVER.

After our morning meal, we braved the elements and went for a very long walk/hike that took us along a raging creek, up into the woods, onto snow and ice, through the rain and wind, and finally to some beer, salad rolls, and red curry!

The raging creek.

Woods and "the view."

The icy road home. Red Curry and beer: not pictured. 

We returned wet, tired, and prepared to demolish some brownies and ice cream. As it turns out, I am my father's daughter, and ended my birthday at precisely 10 p.m..  It's good to be old. 

I really appreciate all the well wishes I received from friends/family over the last couple days-- thanks!  I had a truly lovely birthday, and am very much looking forward to the year ahead (perhaps there will even be some upward slopes along the downhill!). 

Chickens Meet Snowman (In Photos)

Happy Granola Year

It is officially 2012, so our household (and all the other lucky government employees who managed to take the bulk of December off) must return to work. 

I'm ready for the change, but I've been trying to prepare some convenient foods for quick meals.  I'm also trying to trick Matt into eating less donuts.  So, this morning I made a big batch of granola, and I believe it will get both of my proverbial birds stoned at once.

The nice thing about granola is that you can pretty much throw whatever you want in it and assume it will turn out OK.  I used what we had on hand, but was pretty disappointed to not have some raisins to mix in.  Next time.

Honey and Sunflower Seed Granola 

(loosely adapted from here)

8 cups rolled oats

1.5 cups sunflower seeds

1 cup flax meal

2 T cinnamon

1 cup honey

2/3 cup olive or vegetable oil

1 T vanilla

Preheat Oven to 300°  F

In a large bowl mix the oats, sunflower seeds, flax meal, and cinnamon together. Then, in a saucepan over low-medium heat combine all the liquids.  This step isn't totally necessary, but makes coating 8 cups of oats in honey much easier. When the liquid mixture is quite easy to stir pour it over the dry ingredients and stir together very well. If more liquid is necessary add a little more honey or a small amount of water.  

Then, on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper distribute about 1/3 of the mixture. This recipe makes 3 trays worth, but could easily be cut in half. Cook for 27-30 minutes stirring every 7-10 minutes. Allow to cool completely on parchment paper before attempting to move. Enjoy.

Hitched--12/22/11

On the shortest day of the year we signed some papers, consumed enough pizza, beer, and carrot cake to feed a small army, and slept in a little lakeside cabin.  It was definitely the best wedding I have ever been to, and a sweet way to legally join myself to the man I love so much.  

Behold: The Royale

Since becoming poultry parents our ladies have enjoyed free reign over the backyard.  This has been great, as I've never seen such happy hens, but we don't own this property, and the chickens have worn the yard down.  So, in the interest of letting the yard recover, not further exacerbate the situation, and to offer full-time security from predators, we have decided to confine the ladies.

While cooping up our chickens was the obvious choice, it has been a bit sad for us, as they really love to range as free birds. To console them, and us, Matt (with friends) built the ladies the luxurious, expansive, and super secure Coop Royale. 

The ingenious Coop Royale design connected our original tractor (to still allow them as much sunlight as possible and a cozy roosting box) to the dilapidated boathouse at the back of our yard.  There is a high school a few blocks away, and we couldn't seem to keep the teenagers out of the boathouse.  They like to skip class, smoke cigarettes, and guzzle energy drinks back there -- so now it will be locked and full of chicken shit.  That should do the trick.
  

The coop features a veritable chicken playground, with lots of places to climb and roost.  There is also a secluded nest box for the ladies to do their laying business in.  

We hope our beloved hens will appreciate the Coop Royale.

Checking In

So, it has been a little while, huh?  Now, I don't presume that any of my 5 (4? 3?) readers are put out by my month long absence, but I initially intended to update this joint about once a week.  And you know... it's good to have goals, so here I am, recommitted.  I aim high, you know?

So to catch all 3-5 of you up...

About a month ago we headed east to spend Thanksgiving weekend fishing, eating pie, and visiting with assorted members of my family. It was a pretty tasty time. I won't even mention the utterly disgusting staph infection I contracted somewhere along the way, but jesus, I can't help myself... sorry folks.

Back home, I finally made it onto the über exclusive VIP substitute teacher list (you think I'm joking...), the ladies started pumping out hella eggs, and vacation rolled around once again (oh, education).

Then, despite recent raccoon sightings, we left the ladies home alone in their fortified coop (just think of the coons as Joe Pesci),  and headed south on the train.  We made stops in Eugene, Portland and Cannon Beach-- the donuts were delicious and the weather stupendous. 

We made our triumphant return late last night, and boy oh boy is it nice to be home.   I can finally focus on working my way through the last few episodes of Trailer Park Boys.  Like I said, I aim high.

(watch this, but not if you are easily offended...)

Happy Festivus (for the rest of us)!