Spring Break, Part II

We had a leisurely morning on Thursday, seeing the Fosters off on their skiing holiday and then getting ready for the day. We packed some food and headed to the Glenwood Springs Hot Springs pool.

The kids wanted to be there in the evening when it is dark, so I did not want to arrive too early.

There is one giant pool and one much smaller, hotter pool.In the smaller pool you can also sit on bubble chairs, which is much like being in a hot tub.

It was fun seeing some cycling friends that we had not expected to see. It was also kind of nice being just another person in the crowd, too. I ducked out a bit early to grab a few minutes to read. I am part of a committee putting on a Teen Literature conference next week and I am trying to get all of the books read by each of our keynote speakers. I am happily buried in Requiem, the third book in Lauren Oliver's Delirium trilogy.

Between things we also played on the zipline in the back yard.

We also treated Coach Kathy to a nice dinner since she stopped to see us on her way to Moab to do a bit of riding on Slick Rock.

On Friday I spent a little time in town taking in the shops on Main Street. They have some really fun stores. Ellie and Kohlton had shopped a bit on Wednesday and Ellie bought a fun appliqued owl change purse from Pollux. I happen to stop by there, too and found that I loved the way they did their displays. Here are two of the cute girls who work there with their awesome display.

There were also some fun art on the strip.

I also really loved the Seasons store and Girlfriends. The official greeting kitty Season was a good reason to hang around a bit. I also found that they sold some of the art from an artist that I really like.

Sunny Times in Grand Junction

Ellie finally feels well enough to be more than a hot lump on the couch. We decided to make the best of the time we have left of Spring Break and headed to Grand Junction. Our friends, the Fosters, live there and they invited us to stay. It is a great place to be. It is warm enough for shorts weather and accessible to make great places to bike.


The trip over the pass was slushy and yucky. I had my windshield wipers going for a long time and I used a ton of wiper fluid. In Frisco traffic was almost at a stand still. We left the house very early, so we still arrived with plenty of time to do stuff. Ethan and a few of his friends were on their way camping near Grand Junction so he called to warn me about the road conditions and a speed trap. He is a good and thoughtful boy.

When the Book Cliffs came into view I knew we were close. That made me very happy.

Natalie and her family are heading out to Crested Butte to go skiing so we got down to the serious business of visiting very quickly.

We went to Enstrom's Candy and picked up a few treats. Natalie also gifted us a nice assortment of chocolates. Back home, the kids started to play. They spend some time on the zipline and riding bikes around.


We cleaned up the bikes so that Glenn could take Ellie and Kolhton for a ride on Lunch Loop before it got dark.

The first day of Spring Break was a success!

Ethan's New Beanie

I recently made a new beanie for Ethan. It was a pleasure to knit up using Malabrigo yarn.


He wanted a Coyote Tan color. I could not find that, but this was so much more lovely than a solid color would have been anyway. Once it was done, he was very happy with it. He took it camping on Wednesday as he heads up to the Book Cliffs near Grand Junction to go camping with Scott and James.


I cast on 104 stitches onto size 3 circular needles. After doing a 2x2 ribbing for about 2", I switched to size 5 circular needles to knit the rest, until I got to the crown. Once there I went back down to size 3 double pointed needles. I was extra careful to make sure that there were no holes in the top of the crown. My knitting has improved a lot in the last year or so.

I think Ethan worries about loosing or wrecking the things I make for him. I told him that I would rather the hat come home with some small holes from use around a camp fire or from snagging in a tree than to have it sit on the top of his dresser unused. I believe that made him feel more comfortable. My hope is that it will help keep him warmer on these cold winter night camping in the dessert.

Whole Orange Cake

On Sunday I met for brunch with a few girlfriends from work. We went to Jill's house. She recently remodeled it; I felt like I was in a house from a magazine. She provided a base salad and the rest of us brought things to add. I took pound cake and strawberries to dip in chocolate. I thought we needed a bit of decadence. Mari brought along a lovely, not-too-sweet whole orange cake. I thought the recipe was worth posting:


Photo borrowed from Sunset Magazine Website

Whole Orange Cake
via: Sunset Magazine, March 2013

Cooking-oil spray
1 cup butter, softened
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
3 large eggs
2 oranges (about 1 lb. total), ends trimmed, then cut into chunks and seeded
2 1/2 cups flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
2 tablespoons plus 1 tsp. orange juice

1. Preheat oven to 325°. Coat a 10-cup Bundt pan with cooking-oil spray. In a large bowl with a mixer on medium speed, beat butter and granulated sugar until fluffy. Beat in eggs.

2. Whirl orange chunks in a food processor until mostly smooth but not puréed. Add 1 1/2 cups orange mixture to batter and beat until blended. Add flour, salt, baking soda, and baking powder to bowl and beat until smooth. Spread batter in prepared pan.

3. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with only a few crumbs clinging to it, about 55 minutes. Cool pan on a rack 10 minutes, then invert cake onto rack and let cool completely.

4. Whisk together powdered sugar and orange juice in a small bowl. Drizzle over cooled cake. Let glaze set, then slice cake.

The Silly Tale of Three Mittens

I love to knit mittens and each pairs gets a bit better than the last. My mother admired the mittens that I made around Christmas time and so I decided that she would get the next pair. I thought she would want red and white gnome mittens, but after purusing all of the options on Raverly, she picked a lovely pattern, one I would not have even considered for her.

She opted for the Rainbow Mitts by DROPS. I carefully choose yarn that was warm, but easy to care for and durable. I picked a nice variegated yarn that had just a small touch of sparkle. I set about happily knitting a nice mitten. I was pleased to watch the design growth from my needle.My favorite part of the design is the three lines that run the entire side of the mitten and thumb.

I quickly finished the first mitten and cast on the next one. Once I was about 3/4 of the way through that mitten I went to try them both on to compare how the lines of colors between the mittens. That is when I realized that I had blindly followed the pattern and had knitted two right hand mittens. Silly me. I was a little amazed that I had been so automatic about it and had not even considered that I was simply making a second mitten exactly like the first. I thought about whether I should tear it apart and start a new left handed mitten. In the end I realized that I had enough yarn to make another mitten. The third mitten seemed to go a bit more slowly, but I am pleased with the result. They will look even nicer once I block them. My mother will be happy to have them for the next storm which happens to be rolling into town tomorrow evening.

Here's what we had for dinner tonight. It was pretty quick and very popular.

Sweet and Spicy Sriracha Sauce BBQ Shrimp
via: MyMansBelly.com

Serves: 2-4

¼ Cup Low Sodium Soy Sauce
⅓ Cup Tangerine Juice
1 Teaspoon Sesame Oil
2 Tablespoons Palm Sugar
2 Tablespoons Sriracha Sauce
1 Clove Garlic (minced)
1½ Teaspoons Tangerine Zest
1½ Pounds Raw Shrimp (head on or at least shell on)
2 Tangerines (sliced thin)
Lime Juice
Kosher Salt
Chopped Green Onions

Add first 7 ingredients to large pan and heat over medium high heat.
Heat, and stir, until the sugar has melted and it begins to boil.
Continue cooking another 2-3 minutes so that the liquid thickens a bit.
Add the shrimp to the hot pan.
Cook, and stir, until shrimp are pink and curled.
Continue to cook until liquid thickens up (about 2-3 more minutes).
Toss in 5 or 6 of the tangerine slices and stir them around so that their juices get added to the pan.
Give a good squirt of lime juice over top of the shrimp and stir to combine.
Taste the sauce add salt, if desired.
Garnish plate with remaining tangerine slices and chopped green onions.
Serve.

Notes: When you add the shrimp, you may think the pan looks a little dry. Don’t panic, the shrimp will add some of their liquid back into the pan. If you really don’t think it’s enough liquid, add 1-2 tablespoons of water to the pan.

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Orange Julius Smoothie
via: Sweet Treats and More blog

1/2 cup low-fat or skim milk
1/2 cup cold water
2 tbs sugar or sugar substitute
1 tsp vanilla extract
4-5 ice cubes
6 oz frozen orange juice concentrate (I cut a 12 oz can of frozen orange juice in half and save the other half for your next smoothie)
**add one egg white (optional-helps make it frothier!)
Instructions
Place everything in a blender and blend for several minutes until smooth and frothy.

Happy Spring Equinox

Happy first day of spring! Festive touches of the approaching season have been spotted in our garden during the last week:

The crocus are always the first happy signs of spring. This year they were just a bit later than usual. This was only the second time since Ellie was born that her birthday was not the first day that we had crocus blooming in our year. Here, they are joined by a bright yellow dwarf iris.

I love the foliage in the garden.

The hens and chicks are hardy, abundant and welcoming.

And of course, we will watch the tulips closely. Two years ago I put in 200 bulbs - when they are in bloom it is glorious!

Ethan Begins our Garden

Ethan and I have been gardening together since he was tiny. In fact, one of his favorite photos is one of us standing in our veggie garden, a forest of corn behind us, a swath of gourd plans in front of us. So much greenery that you can barely see us.

On Friday evening we watched a documentary about garden, "Back to Eden."

On Saturday Ethan drew up garden plans to scale and began to lay down what would go where.

We took stock of the potatoes that we had saved for seed potatoes from last year. We had three kinds from last year. I loved the colorful sprouts from the purple potatoes.

He is even planning to convert a small patch of the lawn in the front into more garden space. He cleaned out a bit by the small fence and planted a few things there. That bed has two kinds of peas and will add spinach soon.

He also amended the cold frame next to our house and planted a bunch of stuff including: Danver's 1/2 Long Carrots, Lunar White Carrots, Big Detriot Red Beets, Sugar Beets and Butter Crunch Lettuce.

In the back yard he fixed up a place where the wooden retaining wall had rotted. He reworked that soil and planted white potatoes, purple potatoes, Dwarf Curled Blue Ccotch Kale and both kinds of carrots.

On Sunday night, after it was too dark to dig, he planted (Yellow) Alpine Strawberries and California Wonder Peppers in pots that we will start inside.

Today he has worked on cleaning out another bed. We were very much in need of more dirt and Ethan found that a neighbor had free dirt available due to a remodeling project. She lives just a few streets over and the soil is lovely. I perfect solution for both parties.

I love watching Ethan garden. He is happiest when he is working outside and feeling productive. It does my soul good to see the young man he is growing into. He continues to work at improving our gardens. We will be planting more stuff in pots to start inside this evening.