3 of 7: rainy day activities

I'm gettin' serious about this daily photo business. I've been known to focus on tasks. I can take a given project and focus on it so intently, my head explodes. I've got 13 (!) photos to share with you, all taken today. Because I'm an overachiever like that. Sometimes. Actually, not really.
Today was a bit of a blustery day. Rainy, gray and windy. Doesn't this weather just scream for comfort food? I thought so.
Now, I've been talking about girl scout cookies, chocolate covered oreos, holiday weight gain and so forth. So it's high time that I share at least one thing I eat that's not completely sinful.
Madeline's 1/3 Bad For You Chili.
In true Pioneer Woman style, here are the cast of characters. By the way, if you haven't checked out Pioneer Woman's blog yet, please do. I highly recommend it. I read it more often than Dooce. And she has lots of mouth watering recipes on there, too. I've adopted saying "Lawsie Mercy" and "Tarnation" a lot recently thanks to her. Nothing's stranger than an Asian-American California girl saying "Lawsie Mercy that was one crazy rain storm we had last night" or "where in tarnation did I leave my readin' glasses?".

Back to business:
I use 1/2 an onion and about 7-10 garlic cloves. This recipe is inspired by my BIL's recipe that uses 35 cloves of garlic. And 2/3 Italian sausage, 1/3 full fat ground beef. I've made a few modifications to suit my tastes. But I must admit that his tastes WAY better. So if you're feeling sassy, try it fully loaded. I pulverize the onion and garlic. Jimmy doesn't like biting into onions or pieces of garlic. Come to think of it, neither do I.
With all the aromas starting up, it's time to pour myself a beverage. You might chose a glass of chardonnay, but I'll enjoy a can of sparkling diet Mountain Dew Code Red.
Sauté the onions and garlic in a bit of olive oil. This is the only added fat in the whole pot. So far so good.
Add all the meat. That's 2 packages of lean ground turkey breast and 1 package of hot Italian sausage. That's the 1/3 part that's bad for you. But it adds a lot of delicious flavors. Much tastier than ground beef. There's also sweet or mild Italian sausage if hot is too spicy for your tastebuds.
Brown the meat. Since I'm using turkey breast, it doesn't really get brown, even with the Italian sausage. Drain all the fat and liquid. There isn't much since I'm using lean turkey breast, but I wanna take out as much fat from that sausage as possible.
Dump in 2 cans of diced tomatoes, 1 can of tomato sauce and about 1/2 a can of water. For the first time, I'm using a can of fire roasted diced tomatoes with garlic. Deliciously flavorful.
In Carroll Shelby's chili kit, there are 4 packs of seasonings. Dump every bit of the chili seasonings, salt and cayenne pepper. Reserve the masa till the end in case the chili needs a little thickening.
We like things spicy so I add more Tabasco and cayenne pepper.
I normally don't add fresh thyme, but I have some left over from some chicken soup I made the other day. It cracks me up that you have to buy so much fresh herbs, when a recipe usually calls for a mere tablespoon or so. I need to figure out what to do with the rest of this thyme. If it weren't for the 2 sticks of butter it calls for, I'd make Pioneer Woman's Buttery Thyme Bread. But I prefer to spend my calories on girl scout cookies and chocolate covered oreos.
Stir it all in and simmer for at least 2 hours. Sure, the package of Carroll Shelby's says 15 minutes, but we all know that chili tastes better the longer it simmers. And make a lot of it because we also know it's better the next day. That's why my pot is nearly overflowing even though it's just for me and Jimmy.

While the chili is simmering that gives me 2 hours to play the guitar on Rock Band.
Just kidding! My jaw still hurts from playing this game. I've played it 2 times since being diagnosed with TMJ over a week ago, and there is a definite correlation. I can play the drums or karaoke without any pain, so it's related to the guitar. The guitar is the funnest.
_

The Long Road Home

Jimmy and I had a quiet 3 days to ourselves at the hideaway. One of the days we spent 6 hours exploring trails that hadn't yet been discovered - by us that is. We made a big loop by driving south on Highway 108, north on Highway 49, east on Highway 4, east on Hwy 89, south on Hwy 395 then back down Hwy 108. We didn't start our adventure till 4:30, so we had less than 3 hours of quality daylight to shoot some photos. However we did have the full 6 hours for quality time together...till I fell asleep about 5 hours in. But it was more like a long blink. :)

Angels Camp
One of the highways we drive on our way to the hideaway is Highway 49. Its number is derived from the gold rush of 1849 and runs along gold country in the Sierra Nevada Foothills. Angels Camp is on the 49 just a bit north of where we turn off so we don't typically get to see the town. It's most noted for its Jumping Frog Jubilee. We saw a couple of sculptures in town; this one was in front of the fire station.

Lake Alpine
About 60 miles east of Angels Camp at an elevation of 7300' is Lake Alpine. We got there around 6:30 and it was a crisp 61 degrees outside. There were several campers, but compared to our nearby Pinecrest Lake, it was practically deserted. In fact, there was only 1 boat in the lake and less than a half dozen people along the shore. On Pinecrest, there would be at least a dozen boats and over 50 people on the shoreline, even at that time of day with that cool temperature.

Dardanelles
One of the coolest part of our road trip was seeing different views of landmarks we've only seen from Hwy 108. The Dardanelles Cone is one of those landmarks. This is the view we're used to. And this one, too. Gotta admit that it's cool looking from Hwy 4, too.

Mosquito Lake
Probably the most picturesque place during our adventure was Mosquito Lake. Don't like that name though. Ewww. But the sun was at that perfect 'golden hour' angle and was shining on this cabin beautifully. The lake is at a breathtaking (literally) 8300'. But we traveled higher still to...

Ebbetts Pass and Tioyabe National Forest
Just as we crested Ebbetts Pass at 8730', we saw this momma deer and her two little does grazing along the highway. She was a lot more cautious with us humans in our big motorized killing machine than the other clueless deer we had encountered this weekend. The deer in this neighborhood really don't seem that frightened by cars. You'd think they would be because many of them have unhappy encounters with vehicles. And visa versa, too. Not only should they be afraid of our cars, but they should just be afraid of us in general. Because hunting season is right around the corner and really, they are just too easy of a target. And I think that at the VERY least, the human with the rifle should have to get out of his car. Now I'm sure there are hunting rules about where you can and can't shoot your rifle, but I'm just sayin'.

Ebbetts Pass is on the eastern side of the Sierra Nevada mountain range and in the Toiyabe National Forest.
I just learned that most of Toiyabe National Forest is in the state of Nevada, which shouldn't be that surprising since Nevada is probably less than 25 miles as the crow flies from where we took this photo. (V, if you've read this far, that link was for you!)

This remote cabin is probably boarded up for the winter and won't see its owners till late spring unless they have a snowmobile. The highway closes at first snowfall and doesn't re-open till May or June.

This was the only waterfall we saw during our 6 hour road trip. We joked that now we could go home! And we were about half way thru - it was 7:30pm.

Carson River
We stopped along the East Carson River to eat dinner - sandwiches I had packed. It seemed like a relatively popular place to camp and fish. Personally, it's a bit rural for me. This was the last photo of the evening. Darkness quickly fell upon us. But we decided to drive the 6 miles out of our way to Markleeville, the county seat of Alpine County with a whopping population of 197. We figured we should at least drive thru the town since we were so close and will never be in this area again.

We got out of the car one last time on Hwy 108 at Sonora Pass. It was after 9, we were at an elevation of 9624' and it was a chilling 51 degrees outside. But the stars filled the sky. Jimmy even saw a shooting star.

A long and winding road
Along the way, Jimmy's trusty Volvo crossed 194,000 miles. That car has seen us through quite a lot of adventures. It's been to New York, eastern Canada on the Trans-Canadian Hwy, and countless trips up and down California. I hope it will see us through quite a lot more.
_

It's midnight and

the doors and windows are wide open because it's still hot in the house.
Temperatures were warm today. It wasn't too hot, but the house certainly warmed up to nearly 80 degrees.

I think this is a camilla, does anyone know? It's a large tree in the neighbors yard, over 12 feet tall.

Home Alone

Jimmy's in Dallas so I'm solo for the weekend. The odd thing about this is that it's normally me that leaves him home so I'm a little out of sorts figuring out what to do with myself. Actually, I have a massive pile of DVD's waiting for me to watch, so I know I'll be cozy on the couch most of the time. Maybe, just maybe, I'll do a little crafting, too.

It was pouring rain when I dropped him off this morning, but by the time I left to meet one of my girlfriends to celebrate her bday at Junnoon's in Palo Alto, there were white fluffy clouds and blue skies. This place was awesome, so any of my bay area friends who occasionally read my blog, I highly recommend it if you like Indian. They call it "eclectic modern Indian." I just call it really good. It's kind of a special occasion restaurant and a little uber trendy but oh so worth it.


Afterwards, I wandered to downtown Los Altos and did a little window shopping. I was this || close to buying a Waterford crystal bowl because...well...I love crystal, and Waterford? Hello, can't go wrong with Waterford, AND it was 25% off. But I talked myself out of it because really, who "needs" a Waterford Crystal Bowl even if it was only $33. V, if you had been with me, you so could have talked me into it! But I walked away, hoping to find something more useful to spend my ducats on. Like cake.

No, actually, I didn't buy cake from this place. I certainly was tempted, but instead got the best fruit ice tea and a small package of cashew butter cookies. I would go back for the ice tea alone. Almost...almost as good as sweet tea from the Cracker Barrel and I don't have to go to the south to get it. Phin, it's "earl grey tea with syrup and assorted fresh fruit". And they describe themselves as "Japanese innovations of European style cakes." I know. Hard to believe that I walked away not buying a slice, huh?

On my way home I noticed fresh snow on Mt. Hamilton. (Click on pic to enlarge and see the snow, really, it's there)Now, I know there's a lot of controversy about driving while talking on a cell phone, but no one's ever said anything about driving while trying to focus an SLR digi camera, have they? Well, I learned today that you can clearly watch the road thru the little viewfinder and totally stay within your own lane. I digress. Yea, so that snow was from this morning's storm. And it was sunny when I took that photo. And my temperature gauge thingy in my car read 61 degrees. Cool!

So I came home and decided to make a big pot of beef stew. Jimmy doesn't like stew, so I could eat it the whole weekend. After all the ingredients were in and I was patiently waiting the 2 hours for it to cook, I heard the rain again. It was practically pouring. With the sun shining. Weird freaking weather we're having today.

Perfect stew weather, me thinkith.
Beef Stew
4 T olive or canola oil
1 C flour
1 T garlic powder
2 t kosher salt
1 t black pepper
2 pounds beef for stew, cubed
12 small boiling onions
4-5 large potatoes, diced chunky
6-7 carrots, sliced chunky
3-4 stalks celery, sliced chunky
32oz beef stock

-In a large pot heat oil over medium heat. In a resealable plastic bag, mix together the flour, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Add a handful of meat at at time, shake and coat well. Brown small batches in hot oil till browned, about a minute per side. Remove and set aside.
-Brown onions in remaining oil for about 3 minutes per side. Drain any excess oil.
-Add to pot with the onions: carrots, celery, meat and beef stock. Stir and bring to a boil. Stir, cover and reduce heat to low for 1/2 an hour.
-In the meantime, peel and dice potatoes. Keep potato chunks fairly big if you don't want all of them to break down. Some will breakdown, which will create the thick stewlike gravy.
-Add potatoes and continue simmering for another 1 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally. Makes a lot.

I'm chillin'

I'm also illin'. It's raining and I'm sick, but I'm resting at our hideaway, which is a good place to re-coop. There are few distractions to pull me away from taking it easy and resting and not infecting a bunch of other people, aside from my husband (hopefully he's drinking enough oj and staying clear enough so he won't get sick either).

I was surprised at the lack of pukey cute romantic comedies on TBS/TNT etc. this weekend before Valentine's Day. I would have figured I'd have a plethora of Meg Ryan movies to watch. So I settled on watching a few home improvement shows and What Not To Wear's. and napping a lot.

We've had a severe lack of snow this winter though. It's been raining all weekend, but that's not enough to fill all the reservoirs that count on the snowfall. Hopefully we'll get more precipitation and can avoid a drought this year.

Old Man Winter

Has arrived in the Bay Area. It's C.O.L.D.
Quite a difference from S. California. Although it was pretty moderate while we were there, in the high 60s. But I just heard that the cold is heading their way, too.

Sunday, Phin and I went to the Celebration of Craftswomen - "San Francisco’s largest holiday fine crafts retail fair, and the largest event celebrating the craft of women in the nation." I was able to find a few Christmas gifts. I usually have trouble finding things there because I'm never sure if the recipient will appreciate the craftwomanship that went into it.

When we left, it was quite cold and raining steadily.
There was a dedicated athelete swimming without a wetsuit in this Oh So Very Very Cold Water. Props to him! I suppose the rain didn't bother him since he was already in the water.
We walked up to Ghirardelli Square for lunch and of course...sundaes.
Sundaes in that weather?? Um. Well, yea. How can you turn that down? Although, as Phin and I were saying, post consumption, we really need to share one instead of indulging in our own.

Tomorrow's temperatures are suppose to be record lows for the area.

I'm not gonna complain because my cousin is dealing with snow right now. Before the snow, she had 4 weeks straight of rain.

The heater's on, the blankets are out and I just bought a brand new winter coat. I think I'm prepared.
Although I think I hear an evil snicker coming from Old Man Winter...

Pineapple Express

That's what the meteorologists call the storm that's currently in the Bay Area, not my niece in Hawaii after I told her to pose like this. :-)

We're finally getting a little bit of moisture. It's nice. And even nicer that it's accompanied by warmer weather. It was 72 degrees today. If I had an ocean view and a pina colada in my hand, I would have thought I was back in Hawaii.

Another Hot Day

Oh how I wish we were at the lake.

Today's temps in San Jose peaked at 108, muggy and partially cloudy. The air was thick. Blech. We were watching the Weather Channel this evening and saw that 75% of homes in the nation have air conditioners. I was surprised because I'm sure that less than 40% of the homes in the Bay Area have AC. Because of this, people are seeking refuge outside of their homes. We went to the movies today and the line was long. The people behind us said "Is this the end of the line for air conditioning?" People joked about how they didn't care what they movie they saw, just let 'em in the theatre. Unfortunately for one viewer though, it was too late. Jimmy and I took our seats and the poor woman in front of us was having a heat stroke. I'm not exaggerating. She was young and fit, in her 20's. But she was delirious, foaming at the mouth, eyes rolled back and sweating uncontrollably. The paramedics came, gave her oxygen and took her out. It was very sad and scary. I hope she's ok now.

We saw "The Lady in the Water". It was very good and totally not what I expected. I'll end with that lest I give anything away.

Blazing

I try not to complain about the heat. Growing up in the Mojave Desert, 112 degree summer days weren't unusual. But I haven't lived in the desert for over 18 years. And today was uncomfortably hot. Broke all kinds of record highs in the bay area.
We spent the day at my inlaws. Happily, they have air conditioning. But we kept thinking about our poor kitty left behind in our sweltering little duplex. This is what she looked like when we got home at 8pm. Poor thing, trying to keep cool on the wood floors. It was over 90 degrees and muggy as hell in here.
That's downtown San Jose and the Santa Clara Valley. A very hazy day.

I know everyone in the country/world is suffering from the heat. Our humidity usually stays below 40% so I still feel pretty fortunate.

How hot is it where you are?