Monday, August 24, 2009

Tasty Summer Lunch

This summer my favorite lunch has been hummus with whole wheat flat bread, so I thought that I would share the recipe! I got it from The America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook (shout out to Liz, our favorite editor there)and it is super easy and really good.

HUMMUS

1 (15.5 oz) can chickpeas, rinsed
1/4 cup tahini*
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 cup water
1 garlic clove, minced
1/4 teaspoon salt
Pinch of cayenne pepper
3 tablespoons lemon juice

*Tahini is sesame paste, and I found it in the international/Asian food aisle of the store. You have to stir it up pretty well before you use it because it separates in the can.

I throw all of the ingredients into the food processor until they are mixed, put it into a container, and refrigerate it for about half an hour before enjoying. In addition to being a great dip for flat bread, it is good on vegetables too!

Monday, August 17, 2009

City of Rocks

Joe and I put an offer on this house, the location is great, and there is a lot of room for us to put our personality in it.

This last weekend we drove down to the Idaho/Utah border and visited the City of the Rocks and Castle Rock. We had fun climbing around on the rocks and seeing the various formations.










Idaho City

We made our second annual excursion to an Idaho ghost town. Last summer we went to Silver City, and it was awesome. This Summer we went to Idaho City which actually isn't too far from Boise. Idaho City and Silver City led to the rise of Boise as a center of commerce. Idaho City experienced a surge in population when gold was found on Grime's Creek. It was the largest town in the Northwest during its heyday. On our visit we were able to see many of the original buildings, and visit a museum (this museum was hilarious and also houses the largest collection of glass bottles in the region) where we saw many varieties of barbed wire and other oddities. We walked around the dusty streets, and on the old wooden side walks. Finally we settled down for some ice cream and saspirilla Joe, unfortunately is not as big of a fan of ghost towns or dust as I am so I usually can only visit one a year, after the memory of the last time has faded somewhat.





McCall

I finally found my camera, so now I can catch up on my summer adventures. At the end of July we went to a Vaterlaus family reunion in McCall, Idaho, one of my absolute favorite places. I love all of the trees, the woodsy smell, and the lake. One morning I went running through Ponderosa State Park and got to run alongside the lake, pretty cool, but the altitude left me panting for air. We did some boating, and then the next day we took a bike ride around the lake. It was pretty awesome. I had a great time with my cousins, and I LOVE McCall.

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Big Week

I have two excuses for lacking a blog post for the last month or so: 1. I lost my camera in the back of our car, which is currently parked at my dad's office having the timing belts changed for the last week and a half, and 2. I set two goals for myself this summer and was coming down to the wire to get them accomplished. I did have one week where I was so overwhelmed that I didn't even make the beds one day, had a melt down, and almost didn't shower. That is saying a lot for someone who prizes cleanliness like I do.

Goal #1: Take the GRE and do well enough that I will not ever have to take it again. I finally took the GRE last week and did much better than I thought that I could do. I actually scored higher than I ever did on any of the practice tests, and when I took the real GRE I thought I was literally doing so badly that I was about to cancel my scores. Now I just need to get the rest of my stuff together and graduate school here I come!

Goal #2: Finish a half marathon, and actually run the whole thing. I have had a series of injuries that have made this goal illusive, but this summer has been mostly injury free (I HIGHLY recommend cross-training, I was faster and less sore when I rode the stationary bike 2 times a week). I signed up for the Provo River Trail half marathon, and my sister Emily and I drove down last weekend to run. We had an awesome road trip, despite the fact that she would not let me listen to Johnny Cash in the car. The race was great. We started pretty far up the canyon and had a ton of down hill stretches, so I did not feel too tired, but it was a lot harder on my muscles. I was able to do between 9 1/2 and 10 1/2 minute miles, pretty speedy for me, and didn't stop once, not even to drink water (I did however try to drink and run, and that resulted in most of the water running down the front of me). I could not walk for about two days after, but I am so glad that I did it.

Max, I am pretty much a big deal.