KITCHEN - Tomatillo salsa

I find it hard to believe that tomatillos are so closely related to tomatoes. They have a similar shape - but they are so very different in texture, color, and taste - BUT, they do lead to an amazing salsa! I picked these guys up at the farmer's market - $3 for a good sized basket (I bought three).

Cooked them up with some onions and peppers from the farmer's market and garlic from our garden...

And voile - 7 pints of tomatillo salsa. I'll be so happy with myself when the snow is falling.

HOME - Here's what's happening in the backyard

Butternut invaders! We planted 4 butternut squash plants as an afterthought - they decided to take over the garden and surprise us with an overwhelming number of squash!

Here is one of the plants that went through the garden gate. We can no longer close it! There is one squash hanging from the fence inside the Russian Sage (purple flowers to the right). 

Some dogs love carrots. Rob asked why I was feeding our bounty of carrots to the dogs. I said, because they appreciate them more than any human ever could - and I really enjoy watching them munch on veggies. They are very serious about the importance of night vision. 

Hippity-hip-HOP! Our first hop. Granted it is really 1 of maybe 4 hops from our plant - but at least we got a handful. Maybe next year we'll water more and add a little nutrients to the soil. 

One of our wedding trees. Yes, this is a 4-year-old tree - bonsai wedding tree! It is finally living in the soil after being dragged around Idaho and Utah in a pot. I hope it enjoys it's outdoor location and grows tall and healthy in the great outdoors.  

KITCHEN - Real food for the trail

I run to be outside, to enjoy nature and good company - or no company at all. Why is it then that the foods I bring along on trail runs are, well, not real food. On my recent trail marathon  I consumed a half package of stinger blocks, cliff blocks, a honey stinger gel, and a bite of snickers. Hmmm - that sort of negates the healthy benefits of running doesn't it? Not to mention that by mile 22, I was starving. I have never been a good eater on the trail. I despise gels. Thankfully I came across this post on 'marathon chunks.' I went to work making these as soon as I got home the other day b/c fortunately, I had all the necessary ingredients. I made some minor changes to Ashley's recipe and they turned out great!

This is all you need (plus a little maple syrup and vanilla).

Trail bars / chunks
1 c raw cashews (could use any other nut)
1 c dried cranberries (could use any other dried fruit)
1/2 c peanut butter (you guessed it - could use any other nut butter)
1/3 c pepitas (pumpkin seeds) - roughly chopped (or sesame seeds)
2-3 T maple syrup (maybe honey would work too)
1 t vanilla

To Do
1. In the food processor, combine nuts, dried fruit, butter, maple syrup, and vanilla.

2. Turn mixture into a medium bowl and combine seeds.

3. Remove from bowl and press (FIRMLY) into a foil lined 8 x 8 baking pan. As you can see - I used a 6 x 8 or so pan so my chunks were a little thicker.

4. Place in fridge overnight and cut into 1.5-2 inch squares. Mine were a little crumbly so be sure to use some muscle when pressing them into the pan. 

Enjoy. 

HOME - Bathroom upheaval - almost there

We have put some serious energy into our bathroom. I am SO very happy with the results. Just a little reminder about what we started with. I had a hard time finding any before shots - I think we didn't want to admit this was our bathroom. 

We removed more than 1/2 of all the plaster walls (b/c they were crumbling) and replaced them with drywall; replaced the window, toilet, sink, light fixtures; installed a ceiling fan and light; put in a new sub-floor and tiles; removed the plastic shower insert and tiles the surround...  It's almost done here! Really we are just wrapping up the laundry chute closet area behind the shower (notice, there is no photo - hopefully it'll be done very soon). 

shower view - don't mind the unfinished wall

Close up of the honed river rocks - this was my favorite part to do. I posted a couple photos (bathroom work in progress post) of this task - it was harder than it looks! 

I fought for this dual flush toilet. Also notice the bathroom print above the toilet. It's from the Liberty Park Comfort Station (down the block from us) in 1913 (the year our house was built). We ordered the digital image from the Utah Historical Society - they have an amazing archive of photos.

Air vent and floor tiles. I wanted to create a vintage bathroom and Rob wanted an earthy one - so we met in the middle and came up with this design. We are both very happy with it.