Fresh Mint Ice Cream

July 29, 2014July 29, 2014 by Katie | Leave a comment

Mint is our ingredient of the season. In the kitchen we’ve made a few alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks, salads, and meatballs. For the bathroom we made a refreshing foot scrub and some non-toxic deodorant.

You know the mint ice cream in your grocer’s freezer section? This is nothing like that. This ice cream gets all of its minty flavor from fresh mint, and with that comes a deep, green, earthy flavor from the plant. That description may sound crazy for ice cream, but when you eat fresh mint you taste so much more than the isolated mint flavor that’s added to commercial ice cream. By infusing the milk and cream with fresh mint, you’re adding those layers of complexity to this very simple dessert.

As I was sharing a cone with A. Max this afternoon, I was trying to think of another way to convey the flavor of this ice cream. At our house growing up, there was so much mint growing around the edge of the garden that it would get cut with the lawn mower. Have you ever experienced that? Mint getting cut with the green grass on a hot summer day? That’s this ice cream.

Summer Reading!

July 28, 2014April 16, 2018 by Katie | Leave a comment

Did you have a fun weekend? Sarah and I had a blast, albeit, doing very different things in different parts of the country. Her weekend started with a celebration of her birthday, complete with an adventure with Ca$h that deserves to be shared. My weekend involved our first every family road bike ride up the mountain to Maroon Bells.

Today we’re taking it easy and planning for the week ahead. One thing we’re thinking about is Friday’s post. Rather than our semi-regular links post this Friday, we’re going to discuss our first summer read, Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight: An African Childhood.

Did you have a chance to read it yet? Sarah and I both loved the book, definitely not because it was a fairytale, but because of its amazing power to transport us to a time, place, and situation that we’ve never experienced.

If you haven’t read it, we strongly encourage you to pick up a copy and join us on Friday. The Kindle version is under $8.00, and totally worth it.

If you have or are reading the book, here are some discussion questions that we came across and thought would make for an interesting discussion:

Given their dangerous surroundings in Zimbabwe, Malawi, and Zambia and a long streak of what young Bobo describes as “bad, bad luck,” why do you think the Fuller family remains in Africa?
What do you think of Fuller’s mother and father? How would you describe them? Do you think they were good parents?
Animals are ever present in the book. How do the Fullers view their domesticated animals, as compared to the wild creatures that populate their world?
Consider Fuller’s interactions with black Africans, including her nanny in Rhodesia and the children she plays “boss and boys” with, as well as with Cephas the tracker and, later, the first black African to invite her into his home. Over the course of Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight, how does the narrator change and grow?
By the end of the narrative, how do you think the author feels about Africa? Has the book changed your own perceptions about this part of the world?
The back cover calls the book “unsentimental and unflinching”. This is especially true of her description of the racial attitudes of white settlers: she does not apologize for them nor explains them away, but neither does she justify or excuse them. Do you find this this unsettling or do you appreciate the honesty. How do you react to this choice?

We hope you’ll join us on Friday! And until then, we have some good stuff planned for this week.

In Season: Playing with Food

July 25, 2014July 24, 2014 by Katie | Leave a comment

I saw so many fun food-related ideas on the interweb this week. And the list was born.

These macarons are amazing! I am a total sucker for anything that has the top-view of citrus cut in half printed on it. That was a complicated description, do you know what I mean?

Along those lines, if you live in Florida (Kandy), you should hang this in your kitchen!

How awesome is the stormy seas cake in this post? Now I want Little A to have a sea-themed party.

I really want to print fabric with an ear of corn… but what to make with the finished panel? A scarf? Something for A.max? Ideas please!

Did you see the cute gum drop ice cream cones by Oh Happy Day?

Name that kabob!

Colorado Hike : Chautauqua Park

July 21, 2014April 4, 2018 by Katie | 4 Comments

We love to get out for hikes as often as possible and thought it would be fun to document these little adventures, like our recent trip to Maroon Bells.

Last weekend we decided to stay close to home, wanting to explore more of what Boulder has to offer, so for our weekend hike, we headed to Chautauqua Park (pronounced with a soft “shhh” for the CH – I’m still getting the hang of it!). Chautauqua was one of the older open space areas purchased by the city over 100 years ago when it began preserving wild lands. The park is home to the Colorado Chautauqua Association, which provides cultural and educational programs throughout the year. Among its many buildings and features, the Association has a dining hall, general store, and cottages that you can rent! On this particular day we skipped all of the buildings and headed straight for the hills, but we’re hoping to stop into the dining hall for brunch after our next hike.

**Before moving to Boulder, I was unfamiliar with Chautauqua, the adult education movement. Were you?

Arriving at the park, we knew it was a popular weekend destination, but were overwhelmed by just how many people were there. These pictures don’t do the crowds justice. At all times there were people in front of us, behind us, scaling the rock face to our right and left. There were babies laughing (and crying), there were more college-age girls chatting away than I wish to remember. Ugh, it was crowded. But, the scenery totally made up for it, and I can’t wait to get back out there on a weekday. A friend also tipped me off that if we start at Four Pines on King St., then we won’t hit the crowds. Keep that secret.

Before heading out, we asked for some trail recommendations and received a number of excited responses suggesting Royal Arch Trail, but it was still closed for raptor nesting. So, with all of the well-marked trails in the park, we decided to wing it. We headed up Chautauqua Trail, made a left on Blue-Baird Trail, and then came back down on Bluebell Trail. In total, the hike took about an hour.

As you hike up the hill you leave the grasslands behind, entering the pine forests and areas of exposed bedrock and boulders of the Flatirons.

There are two climbers in the photo on the right above! They are near the top of the single pine tree that’s growing out of the rock face. Eventually, you reach a few open areas overlooking the city.

Just like last week’s hike, there were plenty of flowers blooming here with a promise of more to come.

On our way back down the hill (mountain?) we left the pine trees behind and welcomed the grasses again. As you can see from these photos, the skies were overcast for our whole hike, but I think that worked to our advantage, keeping us cooler and less worried about sunburns as we walked.

Extra Details:

Knowing that the area is popular on weekends, we were worried about parking but easily found on-street parking a few blocks from the entrance.
I had a hard time finding a good trail map online until I looked to Google. Google’s map of the park is great, with all trails well marked!
A hiking-with-kids tip: We knew we were heading out during Little A’s nap time, so rather than take the hiking carrier that doesn’t offer him anywhere to rest his head, we put him in the Ergo on Calder’s back. It was an easy carry for this short hike, and within a minute Alex was content and sleeping with his head supported between Calder’s back and the Ergo’s hood.

Mint in your Lamb Meatballs?

July 16, 2014July 26, 2017 by Katie | 1 Comment

Mint is our ingredient of the season. Of course we made mojitos. We also made some salads, iced tea, agua fresca, a body scrub, and… deodorant!

I’ve been sitting on this recipe ever since Sarah and I picked mint as the ingredient of the season. It’s not that mint is the star of the dish, it’s just that, when do you ever expect to see mint in a meatball recipe? You might think it’s expected in a lamb meatball recipe, but the cookbook actually refers to these as beef meatballs. And mint isn’t the only thing flavoring this dish; it calls for four different fresh herbs and over a half dozen spices! If that sounds complicated, it’s worth the effort.

This recipe comes from the cookbook Jerusalem. If it sounds familiar, I shared a couple of recipes from the book in April. Or maybe you read a review of the book, or heard that a Jerusalem craze is taking over the nation (it’s the #1 cookbook on Amazon in the natural food cooking category). I have to admit that I didn’t realize it was that popular until writing this post, but I completely understand the compassion for this book. The range of recipes are exciting, they are made from ingredients that I want to eat, the book’s photographs are wonderful, the descriptions of places and history transport you… Through food, this book blends religions and cultures, if only it could bring peace to a troubled land.

Minty Fresh Deodorant

July 15, 2014March 24, 2016 by Katie | 2 Comments

Mint is our ingredient of the season. We love to use it in drinks, both alcoholic and not, in salads, both savory and sweet, and in the shower!

There couldn’t be a better time for this post. Why? Because it’s about deodorant, and I bet you’re getting your smell on by late afternoon this summer. And because this recipe requires coconut oil, which is sure to be in a liquid state on any given 80+ degree day, making mixing easy!

Now, to back this truck up, today we’re talking about making our own non-toxic, totally biodegradable deodorant that’s safe for your body and smells great too! I’ve been using this exact recipe for close to four years now and feel no need to go back to the store-bought stuff. You may already have the ingredients in your house, but if you don’t, they are relatively cheap* and each have other uses in your house/kitchen. Finally, it’s always fun to mix up a potion, particularly one that you can personalize with your favorite scents!

Colorado Hike : Maroon Bells

July 14, 2014April 4, 2018 by Katie | Leave a comment

They say that the Maroon Bells, those two mountain peaks in the photo above, are the most photographed and famous scene in Colorado. I had never been, so we made it one of our small adventures over the Fourth of July weekend.

The area is breathtaking in summer. Wildflowers are blooming everywhere you look. In early July there was still some snow on the mountains, reminding you just how high you are, yet it’s melting quickly, so the streams are roaring adding an element of excitement to every bridge crossing. And as if it couldn’t get any better, there were signs of beavers and a couple of moose!

Maroon lake was created by glacial deposits, but there are also some busy beavers on the lake working to build up the dam. We followed the Maroon Lake Scenic Trail along the lake, over the roaring Maroon Creek, through an aspen grove, and around to a small active beaver pond.

We were standing at the pond, taking in the tranquil scene, when all of a sudden someone realized that we were looking right at a moose! Can you see him in the lower center of the photo below, to the left of the pond? This was my first moose sighting and I was ecstatic, the other members of my party – not so much. Apparently, moose are extremely dangerous. So much to my chagrin, we turned around and headed back the way we came.

Wildflowers were blooming all along the trail, but particularly in the riparian and shrubland areas around the lake. We visited just at the beginning of the blooming season, but if you want to see everything in peak bloom, schedule your visit for late July into August.

When I got back to the house and was identifying plants, I couldn’t believe that we saw the most poisonous plant in North America. A piece of the water hemlock’s root the size of a marble can kill an adult in 15 minutes! Even more frightening, children have died while playing with the hollowed out stem, using it as a peashooter and such. Crazy!

Walking along the Scenic trail, you get a fantastic view of the beaver’s home. Unfortunately, we didn’t see any beavers, but just being close to their dam and home was fun. Fun fact from Calder: beavers can get up to 150 pounds!

From this vantage point, you can also look back towards the dam and see the crowds along the shore. The photo below is the mountain version of those beach paintings/photos where everyone is just a colored speck in the ~~sand~~ grassland, isn’t it?

As we were driving back down into town, we noticed a group of cars pulled off to the side of the road. There was another moose! This one was far enough away that no one was in danger, so I hopped out and took a few more photos. Two moose in one day, I was a happy camper.

Before you go:

The Scenic Trail was an easy hike with a few steep spots, but overall there was relatively little elevation gain. Waterproof shoes with good traction are recommended as there were muddy areas.

Wild at Heart is a fantastic resource if you’re planning a visit. It’s a field guide to the plants, birds, and mammals of the Rockies, with a particular focus on the Aspen-Snowmass area. I know that it’s out of print and not available on Amazon, but I’m pretty sure you can still pick it up in some of the shops around Aspen and Snowmass (I just received my copy as a birthday present, so it’s out there!).

Getting there:

Traffic is restricted from mid-June through September
The site is open to all traffic from 7:00am-9:00am and 5:00pm-7:00pm
With a few exceptions, all visitors are required to take a bus from 9:00am-5:00pm. You catch the bus in Aspen Highlands Village (where you can park for free). The pass fee is $6/adult, $3/child.
Cars with children under 2, disabled passengers, or groups of 11 or more are allowed through from 9:00am-5:00pm if they pay a $10 fee.
You can also drive up if you are camping in the area
For detailed information see this site.

In Season : Renting Style

July 11, 2014July 8, 2014 by Katie | Leave a comment

This week Alex and I finally joined Calder in Boulder. I was excited to see the townhouse we’re renting in person (I saw a few photos and videos, but it’s not quite the same thing). It’s a great place and I think it will make a perfect home for us for the next year or so. Right now I’m still unpacking and figuring out where to put things, what to keep in storage, and what goes on our shopping list. It’s fun to think creatively about how to set up the space – trying to make the space work for us without investing too much work into projects that we would lose when we move. Thus today’s list of low-work home upgrades, space savers, and simple decorating ideas.

We have three bathrooms in this place! Unfortunately they all lack storage. So I’m thinking a small cart or slim shelving unit would work well in a few places. Maybe organizing my doodads is a job for FINTORP? And what do you think about hanging veggie baskets in the showers?

I was really excited to try out some temporary wallpaper, but arrived to textured walls! bummer.

Our kitchen is much smaller than in our last house. We’re finding it easy to work with by keeping a lot of our extra kitchen supplies in storage. We’re also thinking about how to use the wall space. Calder found these beautiful magnetic knife racks and this spice rack on Etsy!

We left the highchair on the east coast and are back to using this booster seat. It is nice to have that floor space back.

Our new deck has a 5 foot wall on two sides. It could be fun to buy a planter with a trellis and fill it with some flowering vines to make the wall a little softer and less boring.

I just placed our order for Sibley’s Backyard Birds of Western North America poster. We had the eastern poster hanging in our last house, so it will be easy to slip this one in the same frame and hang it near a window.

Photo from the Oakland Museum of California.

It’s my birthday, and I’ll spell how I want to…

July 10, 2014July 10, 2014 by Katie | 8 Comments

errr, not quite.

It is my birthday (hooray!), but I don’t want to be the atrocious speller that I am. Hands up if you’ve caught the many spelling mistakes that happen over here? We’re taking a break from our regularly scheduled posts for a good, old-fashioned confession and giveaway!

I’ve been a life-long bad speller. Apparently I’m not the only one. You’ve probably noticed. It’s atrocious, right? Calder laughs at my grocery lists and then grades them.

I have absolutely no clue how to spell some words and no amount of studying helps. My family still jokes about an infamous 8th grade end-of-year multipage spelling exam. I got the second lowest grade out of 100+ students (yes, I take it as a point of pride that I didn’t get the lowest grade). That test asked you to pick out words spelled wrong and spell them correctly. I did the opposite. My rules were simple: if a word had double letters I took one out, if it didn’t have any, I’d put one in. For the longest time that test sat on our pop’s desk, giving him a chuckle whenever he looked at it. We can’t find the exam now, but if we ever do, I may have to frame it.

Spellcheck has been a godsend, but it doesn’t help when I misspell one word only to spell another. I put a few of my more recent misspellings into the graphics in this post. Did you catch some of these on the blog? You might not have seen the bowel misspelling, because it didn’t happen here, it happened when I was commenting on another blog (embarrassed much?).

Here’s our giveaway – comment below with a misspelling of ours that you came across while reading the blog. Can’t find or think of any? Then tell us about your ~~best~~ worst spelling mistake. We’ll pick one lucky winner and they’ll receive a good, old-fashioned birthday goodie bag!

Welcome July!

July 9, 2014July 9, 2014 by Katie | 2 Comments

Can you still say welcome when we’ve already passed the big fourth of July mark? Usually we post our monthly welcome on the first Wednesday of the month, but last Wednesday was a bit crazy. After a late night flight on Tuesday, Alex and I woke up in our new home (rental) in Boulder! We were so excited to be here that we took off on our Taga for a ride around the city and Sarah filled in beautifully with her killer pizza post.

So I’m finally here with a late and lazy welcome, but isn’t that how everything should be in the middle of summer? Fashionably late and a little drowsy from a day out in the sun? Toss in a slice of watermelon and that’s what our house looks like every day around closing time.

Earth and Sky

Last month we shifted gears and told you about some of the more extreme migrations taking place across the globe. Wondering what’s going on with those animals now?

The poor wildebeest are just reaching the first big hurdle of their migration, the Grumeti River. The rains make this river particularly deep, which would be challenging enough, but the river is also full of crocodiles waiting to take advantage of the herds as they cross. And the wildebeest aren’t the only animals taking the plunge, zebra and other antelope will cross the river as they follow the same migration route.

The caribou from the Porcupine herd have begun moving off of their summer calving grounds along the coast of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. They are moving with their calves into the foothills and mountains south of the coastal plain as they seek out cool, breezy areas that will give them relief from the mosquitos along the coast. In this post you can read more about what sounds like a beautiful day when the image of the caribou that I posted here was taken.

If they haven’t done so yet, the Arctic Tern’s eggs should hatch very soon. Both parents will care for the young, feeding them a steady diet of fish. After about 21-24 days the chicks will fledge, meaning that they’ve now developed the muscle strength and feathers for flight. Soon after, they will begin to learn to feed themselves, which requires plunging into open waters to catch fish!

Turning our heads to the sky, it’s a rather uneventful month. There’s a full moon on July 12th and the new moon on the 26th. The Delta Aquarids meteor shower peaks towards the end of the month from July 28-29th with about 20 meteors per hour. While that’s not a spectacular show, between the dark moon and warm summer nights, it should make for some great meteor viewing!

Fields and Festivals

Oh, there’s so much going on out there! July is a big month for festivals of all sorts. Showing a little PA pride, Sarah and I love the Boalsburg People’s Choice festival with PA-only venders. There’s a fine art and craft festival at this weekend’s Boulder farmers market that I’m excited to explore. Any fun or odd festivals going on where you live?

Expect your farmer’s fields to be bursting with produce. What’s in season? It’s easier to list what’s not (rhubarb, you’re gone in a flash! apples, we’ll be seeing you soon.). It’s time to buy local, buy ripe, and enjoy every nutritious bite! Not sure what to do with your market score? Our rosemary roasted veggies are a great place to start. I’m missing our farm-share like crazy, but am already researching local farms for next year. In our house it’s going to be a whole lot of farmers’ market visits this month and next. We’re going to the Boulder market for the first time tomorrow. We hear that in addition to the farmers’ stands there are great food truck options for dinner, so we’re hoping to make an evening of it.

If you’re looking for a farmers market in your neighborhood, I found this handy directory from USDA. It probably doesn’t list every market, but I tested it for a few locations where I’ve lived, and was happy to see my favorite markets listed.

Get out there and fill up on everything delicious, because those overflowing produce bins won’t last forever!

A nature-inspired lifestyle blog.

Author Archives: Katie

Fresh Mint Ice Cream

Mint is our ingredient of the season. In the kitchen we’ve made a few alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks, salads, and meatballs. For the bathroom we made a refreshing foot scrub and some non-toxic deodorant.

Summer Reading!

In Season: Playing with Food

Colorado Hike : Chautauqua Park

We love to get out for hikes as often as possible and thought it would be fun to document these little adventures, like our recent trip to Maroon Bells.

**Before moving to Boulder, I was unfamiliar with Chautauqua, the adult education movement. Were you?

Extra Details:

Mint in your Lamb Meatballs?

Mint is our ingredient of the season. Of course we made mojitos. We also made some salads, iced tea, agua fresca, a body scrub, and… deodorant!

Minty Fresh Deodorant

Mint is our ingredient of the season. We love to use it in drinks, both alcoholic and not, in salads, both savory and sweet, and in the shower!

Colorado Hike : Maroon Bells

Before you go:

Getting there:

In Season : Renting Style

Photo from the Oakland Museum of California.

It’s my birthday, and I’ll spell how I want to…

Welcome July!

Earth and Sky

Fields and Festivals

Wildebeest image from here. Caribou image by Fritz Mueller. Arctic tern eggs from adakbirding.com.