Guanella Pass

Saturday Ben took me up to the mountains to see the fall leaves. Gorgeous! We drove to Georgetown, then up the pass, over the summit, and back via 285 through Conifer. Look at how the landscape changes throughout the drive. We think most of the other cars on the rather busy back road were doing the same thing as us. (Lots of pictures, go do something else for a moment while they load)

One Year Old

Today marks the anniversary of buying our first house. Yea! We still love it! Oh no, there's so many things that I meant to repair that I haven't done yet! The Shame!

Weekend with the parents

What fun we had! The mantra was food food food. Pretty much the whole weekend we were either eating out or cooking or shopping for food. These photos were all taken by my father.

First, the folks saw Brian's new place. Dad was quite taken with Brian's toy collection (this picture shows maybe half or less)

Gold's Grocery had aisles of Scandinavian food! My larder is fully stocked.

Then to Whole Foods at Belmar, but we were surprised by an Italian Festival. Sorpresa!

I got a stalk of brussel sprouts at a gorgeous farmer's stand.

After seeing the hilarious King of Kong, we had dinner at Little India's.

Finally, a morning at the dog park with many new beagle pals.


Thanks for coming! We had a great time and my freezer is full for winter ;-)

Late Summer Cooking

Now I know the secret to making a perfect steak:

Salt the heck out of it 1-3 hours before cooking. Wash. Dry. Put in super hot oil. Perfect.
I found the instructions here. A little pat of compound butter never hurts either. This here is a ribeye, salted for 1.5 hours. The salt pulls into the meat, changing proteins and seasoning throughout the meat, making it tender with a mouthwatering beefy flavor. Jem was tortured.

I also made pizza with dough from scratch! and marinara from scratch! and basil I grew! and pepperoni I cured! Ok, that last one is a lie.

Then a corn chowder using lots of veggies, potatoes from Idaho (Thanks Miranda!) and topped with leftover steak. Oh, and homemade cheddar-parmesan biscuits.


Here are some honey mustard chicken wings with avocado, corn, blue cheese salad. On the right are some delicious toffee bars.

Behold! I make salsa now! I loves it so. Julia suggested a salsa making party. It was fun and tasty.

And we discovered a new use for Jem. She's a thorough paper shredder.

Labor Day in San Diego

What fun! For the last summer holiday the whole family went to California to visit more family.

Amanda brought weird foods and souvenirs back from Russia.

Andy couldn't figure out how to make a breakfast taco. Hint: don't use whipped cream and fruit topping. Those are for waffles.

Grandpa showed his new plane to me and Ben. Ben got to go for a ride!

Sea World! Still a fun place to go, even on a crowded holiday weekend.

They had cats that did tricks!!! CATS!!



Ben drove the rented Lincoln Town Car.


Buffet dinner! I realize these pictures are not that great, but I was too busy eating to bother moving around for better composition.

Then we went to the beach at Torrey Pines. I haven't been in the ocean in a long time. We saw a pod of wild dolphins!

And then back home :-) in time for school on Tuesday. We had kept Jem at the kennel recommended by our friends, Beds n' Biscuits. They were sooooo much better than the last place we took her. Instead of keeping her locked up all day they have indoor and outdoor play yards where she can run around with dogs all day - her favorite past time. They're very polite and accommodating and they do cute things that are totally cheesy, but I love anyway. Like sending her home with homemade biscuits and a report card.

It says "We enjoyed getting to know Jem! She did great in the play yard and met lots of new beagle pals! She will want lots of rest and treats when she first gets home (she told us to make sure to mention the treats) :-) We look forward to her next visit."

I totally love that. We already have a reservation for Thanksgiving. Indeed, she was very tired and slept for most of the next two days. Like they say, a tired puppy is a happy puppy.