HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SARAH DEAR!

Here's to a very happy, merry birthday to Sarah, the best mother east of Rock Springs, Wyoming. She's the most wonderful wife to Jonathon, and daughter-in-law to us, that anyone could dream up. We can't possibly think of enough superlative words to describe her, and even if we could use up all those words, you wouldn't understand how we really feel about her. I thank my lucky stars and every other Source of Good in the universe for Sarah showing up in our lives. We are richly blessed by our association with her, and we thank Jonathon for having the good sense to snap her up when she came along. We love you Sarah! And may you have many, many more happy birthdays.

Family Traditions

We were eating Sunday dinner early today, and I had a moment of nostalgia from the days when church times were split, and we had Sunday School in the morning and Sacrament meeting at night. Since the family was all home in the afternoons, that is when we had our big meal; usually roast, potatoes, and something else I wouldn't eat (I was the picky eater of the world until my children and grandchildren were born...must be genetic).
Well, here is the tradition that brought the attack of nostalgia to me: Sunday evening, after church, we always had grilled cheese sandwiches, tomato soup, and then! TA DA popcorn to eat while watching the Sunday night movie, brought to you by Kennecott Copper. (Big Dramatic Music).
Now you know what my comfort food is. And it only takes a gentle nudge to bring on the nostalgia if I think of grilled cheese. It takes so little to make one happy, doesn't it?
Love to all.

A Fall Trip to Boulder

We squeaked in a last fall journey to Escalante last week, just before the winter weather arrived.
Here is a preview on the road from Torrey to Boulder, which has so many micro-climates, we didn't know what kind of weather awaited around the bend. On one side of the summit it was snowing, and a half mile the other side, it was dry and sunny.
We stayed at Boulder Mountain Lodge, a lovely resort on the Burr Trail, and here is the morning sunrise outside our window.


This is the building our room was in, and you see the dog run to the lower left. Yes, we took the dog, because they had "dog-friendly rooms", and at only $15.00 per day extra, it was still cheaper than putting Champ in doggy-daycare.

Our favorite hike was along (and through) the Escalante River, where we viewed a Natural Bridge, an arch and Anasazi ruins, complete with petroglyphs. We were prepared with our neoprene socks and mesh hiking shoes to keep our feet, well, un-sandy from the river bottom.


Here is a view from the petroglyph site, looking down on the Escalante River. The cottonwoods were spectacular, neon-gold, backlit, breathtaking.






We took the slow way home, through Kodachrome Basin, and hiked the Panorama Loop trail.
Here is the view from our lunchtime stop at the wonderful little campground.

We're sure this is the prototype for the gnome in the French movie, Amelie. (no, not John.)
The funniest part was when we got home very late, put the dog to bed, and the next morning, he went outside, ran back in the house, climbed the stairs and put himself back in his cage and wouldn't come out for several hours. I guess he'd had enough of hiking in the cactus. Eight mile hikes each day pretty much did me in, too, and I was envious that the dog could go back to bed.
love to all. xo

Edited post Chocolate Fudge Zucchini Cake (zucchini optional)

After eating all of Jonathon's birthday cake without sharing, I have the guilts, so I thought I'd post the recipe (from scratch, of course). Even without frosting, it resembles German Chocolate Cake, because of the coconut. Don't be tempted to leave out the nuts, unless an allergy is involved. Let me know if you make it, and how you like it.

Cake: Preheat oven to 350, grease and flour a 12-cup Bundt pan

1 c. butter, melt on low with 1/2 c. unsweetened cocoa powder.
Beat 2 large (or 3 small) eggs with 2 c. sugar, 1 c. buttermilk, 2 TB. vanilla extract.
Add 2c. flour, 1 tsp. baking soda, 1 tsp. baking powder, 1/4 tsp. salt +/-, and 1 c. shredded coconut.
Add the butter/cocoa mix, 1 to 1 1/2 c. shredded zucchini, and 1 c. nuts, chopped.
Blend well. (My batter was quite thick. You could add 1/4 c. water if your zucchini is dry.)
Pour into bundt pan and bake for 40-45 min. Let cool and remove from pan.

Note: Since the batter was quite dense, it took a bit longer to cook at my high altitude. Also, it raised to the top of the Bundt pan, so make sure you grease and flour all the way to the top. Be sure to let it cool a bit before taking from pan. I didn't, and some of it broke away and stuck to the top of the pan. John loved eating that part before dinner.

Since we don't do frosting here, we ate it without. For those who want frosting, here is the recipe:
Melt 1/2 c. butter in saucepan, low. Whisk in 1/4 c. whole milk, 1/2 c. specialty dark cocoa powder, and 2 c. confectioner's sugar. Whisk until glossy. Add 1 TBSP. vanilla extract, pinch salt, and 1 c. shredded coconut. Pour glaze over cake after it's removed from bundt pan. Could serve with ice cream or real whipping cream. Enjoy!!
(p.s.) For those of you who don't know, Jonathon is in Tennessee, and I'm not, which is why I didn't share.)
I've just had a note from my friend, Mary, who sent a hilarious note about her experience. She took it out of the oven, waited 15 minutes, tried to remove it from the pan, and it fell apart all over her and the kitchen. It wasn't done. So she loaded it all back into the pan, put it in the oven, and finished it. They ate it with ice cream on top, and her guests never knew the difference. Suggestion: Let's try this in a rectangular baking dish....just to be safe....or cook it longer in the bundt pan...well greased. xoxox

Out of hibernation for a day

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JONATHON, my first-born son, my favorite son.

I hope your day brings you sunshine, fresh air, health, happiness, success, prosperity, wishes, hopes, dreams, and many, many hugs and kisses from your wonderful family. I made you a chocolate zucchini cake and it was delicious. Thanks for sharing it with us.
....."And many more....."

On Hiatus, Sabbatical, or Summer Vacation

Wishing you all a nice break from this blog. If you are a regular subscriber, you might want to delete this from your feed, since it will be pretty boring with nothing new showing up. Why, you might ask? No reason, except for lack of motivation and inspiration.
Love to all.
M.

Book Crafts

Famous Artist's Book Crafter, Daniel Kelm, came to town for a book intensive last week: Two wire-edged bindings and when to use them. We spent 4 solid days crafting this project which morphs into several shapes. The binding in the center is a piano hinge technique, and the rectangles are sewn together with a figure eight pattern, tied with square knots, and super glued and trimmed. You really should check out Daniel's museum exhibition at Smith College.