Tuesday Trails: Gray's Peak

Gray's Peak, Fawnskin, CA

~7 mile out & back
~1200' gain
Approximately 3h 20 minutes (at fairly slow pace)
Moderate difficulty (gain, altitude, length)
Warm season

One of many interesting rock formations.

I did this hike exactly two years ago, on July 1, 2012. That was my first year back to hiking after many years off, so my trip report reflects my relatively beginner state of fitness and hiking savvy:

Steepish climb becomes gentle, then more intense again toward the top. The trail is beautiful, with frequent views of Big Bear Lake. It passes through forest, boulder fields, and burn area for a wide variety of view and terrain. Observing how the forest flora is regenerating after fire is fascinating; our pine forests are becoming chaparral burn by burn.

The slowish pace made this a pretty easy hike. There are beautiful panoramic views from the top of the peak, which is easy to get to from the end of the trail. This is allegedly the easiest of the Seven Summits of Big Bear (an assessment with which I agree).  We couldn't find the register, nor did we find any survey markers.

The view from the top.

I would happily do this trail again. It's easy, a good workout distance, with money shot views all over the place. Plus, I like big rocks, and this hike has plenty! There is little cover in the burn area, however, so it can get hot. Make sure to wear sunblock and take plenty of water.

Beautiful blue skies and wildflowers juxtaposed with a forest burn area.

Foto Friday: High Lake, Sierra Nevada, CA

High Lake, California, USA - taken September 1, 2013

The Art of Photoshop

I'm making myself a 2013 hike yearbook in Photoshop and InDesign. When I'm done, I'll publish a hard copy via Blurb.
When I hike, I don't take my best camera because it's heavy, and I worry I will kill it. So, most of my hike pix are taken with a Canon Elph or my iPhone.
While I can still get (usually) the composition I want from the lesser cameras (more so with the Canon, because it's hard to see the screen of the iPhone in daylight), it's impossible to get the same quality out of the box.
Using Photoshop to enhance the information that's already in the image is the art of telling the story I wanted to capture with my camera.

Before:

Sunrise View from High Lake

After:

Post-processing

PinTest: Eggs Baked in Avocado

This pin and variations of it have been viral on Pinterest for ages. I pinned it to my Recipes to Try board 40 weeks ago, and finally gave it a whirl this morning.

Reading the comment sections of recipes can be super helpful, and I'm glad I did in this case: adding water to the baking pan kept the overspilled egg whites from burning, which would have set off the fire alarm, which in turn would have sent the dog cowering into the corner to glare at me. Since he spite-pees, I try to avoid annoying him. 

It took 15 minutes for the egg whites to set up instead of 10-12, and even then, one was still a little translucent and wiggly with a runny-ish yolk, while the yolk of the other was no longer runny, and the white was fully set. 

The toppings are a nice start, but to add some flavor dimension, I added sliced radish to the other toppings, which I mixed with the scooped-out avo, and a generous tablespoon of cottage cheese to each avocado half.

Here's the finished result:

I still found it boring, flavor-wise, so I added Cholula. Even this didn't give it the depth of flavor I hoped for.

Since I have, as of today, 398 other recipes to try from Pinterest alone, I probably won't make this again. If I did, though, I would swap the cottage cheese for sharp cheddar or Manchego, and add crispy bacon or crisped lardons. 

Oh well, can't win 'em all!

NeoRen: Anklet Commission

via Instagram http://ift.tt/1b3ZG6l

"All Retch, No Vomit"

What do YOU desire?


Alan Watts: What do you desire? from Omer K. F. on Vimeo.

Monday Inspiration: Jim Henson's "Business, Business"

I was turned on to this video via the fantastic site Brain Pickings. Although this skit, first performed on the Ed Sullivan Show in 1968, was before my time, the message is just as relevant now.

The idea that business and financial interests and concerns are mutually exclusive goals from the more abstract and (arguably) more important pursuits of love and happiness is depressing, but to large extent, our reality.

I'm inspired today to reflect on how I can reconcile my financial interests with my desire to be happy. I think the answer largely lies in determining how much I really need, how much is truly enough, and refusing to allow the propaganda of our corporation-run consumer-centric culture to influence my decision-making process.

AFHS Countdown: 7-9

7. Earrings featuring Swarovski crystal, German silver, and Czech glass on sterling silver. $30

8. Bracelet featuring blue agate, matte quartz crystal, and German silver on sterling silver. $75

9. Earrings featuring amethyst and jade balls and brass beads on gold finished findings. $9.50

AFHS Countdown: 4-6

These three items I made earlier this year. I finally got around to costing them out so I could price them.

4. Bracelet featuring matte quartz crystal, jade, puffed ceramic, and glass on copper. $23

5. Bracelet featuring blue aventurine, freshwater pearls, quartz crystal, snowflake obsidian, Swarovski crystals, and a large sterling silver focal star on sterling silver. $44

6. Earrings featuring rose quartz and Swarovski crystals on sterling silver. $45

Art for Heaven's Sake 2013

I'm thrilled to be showing in Art for Heaven's Sake this year after a many years-long hiatus from the show. Now that I've juried in, though, I'm freaking out! I better make some stuff, quickquick, otherwise it is just going to be me, alone in my booth, doing interpretive dance.

So, I've set myself a goal of having a minimum of 100 pieces ready for the show. I've been entered as a multiple media artist, so I will have jewelry, glass (stained, fused, +/or slumped), photography, and random other items. Luckily, I have some things already made, so I don't have to make all 100 between now and October 18, when the show begins. But, I do have to price, tag, and package everything, so I have plenty to do. Thank goodness for wine.

So, here begins a countdown of the 100 items that will be found with me, in my booth, saving you and your loved ones from having to suffer through my interpretive dance routine, which frankly needs a lot of work!

1. Bracelet featuring pink feldspar, jade, faceted aquamarine, and German silver on sterling silver findings. $60

2. Bracelet featuring pink feldspar, green serpentine, faceted aquamarine, and German and Thai silvers on pewter findings. $21.50

3. Earrings featuring turquoise drops with garnet and German silver beads on sterling silver findings. $36

Monday Inspiration: Isabel Allende and Passion

Mondays are hard.

What better time to seek inspiration?

Isabel Allende, one of my favorite writers, is my inspiration for today. Witty, worldly, funny, she softens up her audience with humorous tales of her experience as an Olympics torch-bearer with Sophia Loren before passionately stating her case for feminism, and the sadder state in which we would all live without it.

VW Classic 2012

Since I dove face-first into the world of classic Volkswagens earlier this year, I have been obsessed with all things VeeDub. You can regularly find me cruising the pages of TheSamba.com or reading John Muir's trippy "How to Keep Your Volkswagen Alive" as I try to learn all I can about the newest members of my family. 

I'm lucky to live in Southern California, where the VW culture is not merely alive, but thriving. Nowhere else is this as obvious as at the VW Classic, the grand finale event capping off almost a week's worth of VW-related shenanigans celebrations.

I love the shape of the Beetles: rounded, yet still edgy somehow. That quasi-sexy silhouette and the multitude of colors inspire me. Here are some of my favorite pictures from the Classic, taken with my Pentax K-x or the iPhone Hipstamatic app: 

 

A string of Things

Early Type IIs

Pure California

A 21-Bug Salute!

Lavender Lemonade

Last month, I went to the Lavender Festival at Highland Springs Resort in Cherry Valley, CA. Highland Springs is the largest producer of organic lavender in Southern California. They also have an excellent steakhouse onsite.

After gorging myself on lamb kebabs, roasted corn, and lavender cheesecake, I hit the lavender booth and bought lavender EVERYTHING: a cookbook, sugar, hand sanitizer, lotion, etc. I really need better supervision at these things.

Paging through the cookbook, I found a recipe for ginger-lavender lemonade, which sounded delicious, especially as the temps here have been flirting with the triple digits.

We have our own organic lavender plant, and a lemon tree that has produced some spectacularly ugly lemons that are nonetheless saturated with essential oil and produce a lot of juice. So, I tried making an adapted version of the recipe from the cookbook and it was delicious! There is something about the ability to feed (or in this case, make a tasty beverage for) oneself with products that came from your own yard that is immensely satisfying.

Lavender-Lemonade

1 recipe Lavender-Lemon Syrup
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
4 cups water (I used spring water)

Mix ingredients together in a pitcher; serve over ice.

Lavender-Lemon Syrup

3/4 cup organic sugar (1 cup if lavender sugar is unavailable)

1/4 cup organic lavender sugar (make your own, or whole foods may have it)

zest of 2 lemons

2 T culinary-grade lavender buds

2 cups water

Add all ingredients to a small saucepan and stir to combine. Heat over medium-high to a boil, stirring occasionally. Boil one minute, then remove from heat. Strain out solids and allow to cool to room temperature.

Gregg Barnes' Follies Costumes

I saw the revival of Stephen Sondheim's Follies last night. What a treat!
The staging, especially the moving "ghost girls" as set pieces, was masterful. The voices and talent were stellar.

Jan Maxwell as Phyllis (from folliesbroadway.com)

However, Gregg Barnes' costuming was easily my favorite aspect of the show.

(from centertheatregroup.org)

(from playbillvault.com)

Each piece was a spectacle, with the pieces de resistance being the astounding showgirl costumes in the Loveland number.

Beautiful Girls (from centertheatregroup.org/follies)

Barnes is a creative genius, having drawn from the best elements of Follies costume history without, believe it or not, going completely overboard.

Completely overboard. (from haremofpeacocks.blogspot.com)

Here's an in-depth article on Gregg Barnes and the costuming for Follies.
Follies costumers in general have been incredibly creative, from those costuming the famous Ziegfeld girls of the early 20th century:

Ziegfeld Girls (from splendidred.typepad.com)

Louise Brooks as a Ziegfeld Girl (from artdecoblog.blogspot.com)

to Erte:

Erte's Twilight (from www.thehipcircle.com)

I know what I'm going to be for Halloween this year... I'd better start doing some crunches!

Frito Pie

I first had Frito Pie at the Woolworth's in Santa Fe, New Mexico, which was famous for possibly being the birthplace of this awesome dish. Sadly, the Woolworth's is long gone, but then again, so am I from New Mexico, so I guess we're even.

This is my super-easy version I make ALL THE TIME. It's great for large parties, because I can just leave the meat on the stovetop or in a crockpot on low heat with all the toppings nearby and people can help themselves.

Ingredients:

Fritos (if you want to be totally authentic, get the little snack bags and serve the pie directly in the bag.)
1 lb. ground sirloin
1 1/2 cups Kick-Ass Red Chile Sauce

Toppings:
sweet onion, chopped
tomato, chopped
extra-sharp cheddar, grated
cilantro, chopped
Mexican crema (you can swap in creme fraiche, as I did here)

Brown the beef over medium-high heat, about 7 minutes. Ground sirloin is not as fatty as regular ground beef, so often there will be little to drain off. If there is fat in the pan you want to get rid of, scoot all the meat to one end of the pan then tip it so the fat separates out. Use a clean dry paper towel to wick up the fat.
Add the chile sauce and stir until thoroughly incorporated. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to simmer until there is almost no liquid left in the pan, approximately 10 minutes.

To assemble:
Fritos first, then meat, then whatever you want on top.

Serves 4 polite eaters, 3 hungry ones, 2 beasts.

Rosemary's Baby

I came up with this cocktail over the weekend when I decided to experiment with the bourbon.
A custom cream reduction tames the big kick.
(Thanks to JR for coming up with the name. All I had was "off-the-hook bourbon cocktail.")

Ingredients:

1 1/2 oz. bourbon
4 oz. OJ
1 Tbs Rosemary, vanilla, & black pepper-infused cream
fresh rosemary, rinsed & patted dry

Fill cocktail shaker halfway with ice. Add OJ and cream and shake to blend.
Add bourbon and swirl or stir to mix in.
Pour into old-fashioned with light ice.
Garnish with rosemary.
Be prepared to repeat this cycle several times if you share this with others. Be prepared to do it at least once more if you're drinkin' solo (ya boozer).

If you're less lazy than me, a bit of orange peel would be a nice addition to the garnish.

Glazed Berry Pie

Boysenberry season is here, and since I can actually get them at our tiny farmers' market, I take advantage. Boysenberries are hard to find, and are usually only available at farmers' markets that are geographically close to the growers. The season is extremely short, and because boysens are fragile, they don't travel or store well. If you find some, use them within a few days or they will crap out on you.

I've loved boysens since I was a kid; a visit to my grandparents in Anaheim always meant at least one trip to Knott's Berry Farm for fried chicken and boysenberry pie at the creatively-named Mrs. Knott's Chicken Dinner Restaurant. I'm pretty sure that riding the mini-train out front with my grandpa is what started my lifelong love of train travel, and my grandmother's patience while I rode Montezuma's Revenge 10,000 times enabled my penchant for thrill-seeking and roller-coasting. I can only imagine how many dish towels she knitted while I rode until I made myself hurl.

A couple of years ago, I found a recipe for Boysenberry-Strawberry Glazed Pie in the Los Angeles Times. I made some adaptations to it, and now we have it at least once per season.
If boysenberries aren't available, you can swap in blackberries.

Ingredients:

1 basket boysenberries, rinsed & divided
1/2 basket blackberries, rinsed & divided (not shown because they were a late addition when I realized I didn't have enough boysens)
1 cup water
1/2 cup sugar
3 Tbs cornstarch
Pinch salt
1 basket strawberries, rinsed (slice the large ones)
1 Oreo cookie crust
Rosemary, vanilla, & black pepper-infused cream, optional

Crush 3/4 cup boysens & 1/4 cup blackberries into the bottom of a small saucepan (I use the bottom of a measuring cup to avoid scratching my non-stick surface). Add the water and cook over low heat long enough to soften the berries, around 2 minutes. Push the berry mix through a fine-mesh strainer over a bowl to extract the seeds then return the juices to the pan.

In a small bowl, use a fork to combine the sugar, cornstarch, and salt. Gradually pour this mix into the berry juices in the saucepan while whisking constantly to avoid clumps. Cook over medium-high heat, and continue to whisk until the sauce starts to thicken, about 4-5 minutes.

Work that wrist!

Place a layer of strawberries in the pie shell. I use the sliced ones in this layer. Scatter half of the remaining boysens and blacks on top of the strawberries. (In order to prevent the crust from getting soggy, I roll the berries around on a paper towel to soak up the rinse water beforehand.)

Top with a thin layer of sauce. Repeat with a second layer, adding the rest of the berries and sauce over the top. Use the back of a spatula to spread the glaze evenly over the top of the berries and to smooth out the top.

Chill pie at least 30 mins in the fridge before serving.
Serve topped with the infused cream, if using. You can also swap in creme fraiche or regular whipped cream.

I don't have a pie server.

Super-easy, no-bake yum!

Kick-Ass Red Chile Sauce

This sauce is one of my basics. It's a heavily-adapted version of a recipe I originally found in the Weekly Alibi several years ago.
I use it on everything: enchiladas, chilaquiles, burritos, and it is the key ingredient in my Frito Pie.
It's cheap, easy to make, and it freezes very well.


Ingredients:

12 dried red chiles (10 if you want to tone down the heat a bit)
1 large sweet onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 Tbs canola oil
3 cups chicken broth (you can use vegetable broth to make this vegetarian/vegan-friendly)
heaping 1/2 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground cumin
1 1/2 tsp kosher or sea salt

Rinse the chiles under warm water, removing the stems and as many of the seeds as possible while keeping the body of the chile intact. Place the chiles in a large bowl and cover with very hot water. Let sit 15-20 minutes to soften.

Gently stir the chiles a few times while they are softening; this helps release more of the seeds.

Using tongs, remove the chiles to a colander to drain. 

In a large saute pan, heat the canola oil over medium-high heat. Add onions and saute until translucent and soft, around 5 minutes. Add garlic and saute 2 minutes more, stirring. Do not let the mix brown. Stir in the salt and spices, cooking 30 seconds. Adding the spices before the rest of the liquid brings out more of their flavor. Add everything else.

Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat.

If you don't need to use the sauce right away, let it cool in the pan for at least 20 minutes. That way, you can puree it all at once rather than doing it in batches.
Puree the chile mix in a blender or a food processor until smooth.

The easiest way to transfer the sauce to a freezer bag is by pouring it into a baggie that's stuffed into a pint glass. It stays upright and there's no mess at the zipper.

One batch makes about 4 cups - enough for at least 3 dishes. Enjoy!