Daily Fluff

Last week, Stud and I went hiking in the White Mountains.  Since it's about four hours away, we were committed to an overnight.  And it was supposed to rain.  We planned to hike the following day when the weather was supposed to clear up, so we could sleep in the rain and hike in the clear mountain air.  Well....that didn't happen.  It rained more on our "hiking" day than the day we drove up.  So our six mile loop with two summits of over 4,000ft mountains turned into about a three mile hike with a summit of Mt. Avalon, not one of the 4,000 footers in the White Mountains.  We were wet, tired, and ready to get back on the road.  Someone who did have a BLAST??  Beau.  That dog must have been a mountain goat in another life.  There were some STEEP ascents and Beau flew up them without a problem.  And don't worry, when we got anywhere close to a ledge, he went back on his leash.

Block Island

Last week, Stud had a rare day off that was not a shift switch, so we decided to take advantage of the beautiful day and went over to Block Island!  It is a tiny little island about an hour by ferry from the mainland, and it's a gorgeous spot.  So quiet compared to some of the beaches in Rhode Island!  I woke Stud around 9:30 so we could head down and catch the 11:00 ferry. Dogs are welcome on the ferry and on all the beaches on Block Island, so Beau came along for our adventure.  He DID NOT like the horn on the ferry, but other than that seemed to enjoy his first boat ride.

When you arrive on Block Island, there are tons of small beach front B&Bs and little hotels and a small little town with some really cute shops and restaurants.  Stud and I packed lunch and ate it on the ferry, so we were ready to get going once we got on shore.  Our first stop was about a mile walk, the island has plenty of bike and moped rentals, but we wanted to get some exercise, so off we went to the Southeast Lighthouse.  There are two main lighthouses on the island, but this one had a really close beach as well!  And not too shabby of a lighthouse...

From there we walked about 20 feet to the Moheagan Bluffs lookout which has a little path down to a beach.  We walked down the beach and found a spot where Beau wouldn't be harassing strangers and set up for an afternoon at the beach.  The ocean was great, it was a nice sandy beach and Beau was playing the in water the whole time we were there.

As you can tell, we had amazing weather for our day on Block Island...we went through a substantial amount of sunscreen (I was tan...Stud was a tomato).  After the beach, we walked back to town, did a little shopping, and grabbed dinner at a little seafood restaurant.  While waiting for our 7:30 ferry, we had a cocktail on the beach and just relaxed.  I think it was good for Stud to actually sit and do nothing after a stressful first week in the ER.  Our ferry back was during the sunset, it was an excellent way to finish a great day on Block Island.  I think we will be back for sure!

Food for Beau

Since I always represent the dietary choices of Stud and me here on this little blog, I wanted to make sure you all knew that Beau Fluff was not abandoned in my culinary adventures.  99.9% of the time, he does not get any human food.  Sometimes his brown eyes get to me and he gets a little nibble, but always out of his bowl.  Beau also wanted to give all of his furry friends some Christmas presents, he is such a kind spirit.  So, I made these extremely easy cookies, and they seemed to be a hit.

 Pumpkin Dog Treats
2 1/2 c. flour
2 eggs
1/2 c. canned pumpkin
2 T. smooth peanut butter
1/2 t. salt
1/2 t. cinnamon

Combine all ingredients together, the dough should be really dry. Roll out the dough to about 1/4-1/2" thick and cut the cookies out in any shape (I used holiday shapes!).  Bake in a 350 degree oven for about 40 minutes, until the cookies are dry.  I think mine were a little thick, so I had to bake them for about an 75 minutes.

These were a huge hit, but they should be used up pretty quickly since they are not full of preservatives.  Beau loved them and would run away if we gave him one so he could nibble on it without being disturbed.

Daily Fluff

We took Beau on his first off leash walk over the weekend...major success! We all made it home in one piece and Beau ran about ten miles. Tired pup.

Not so Spicy Peach Jam

Stud wanted to plant a habanero plant this summer.  So we did, along with four tomato plants, a bell pepper plant, and the typical parsley, dill, basil, tarragon, rosemary, and thyme.  The tomato plants baked in the summer heat and I have one left, the bell pepper plant never really grew, but the habanero plant?  I have probably 50 habaneros.  By far the most successful of our summer plantings.  I decided it was high time we started to use some of them, so I set out to make peach habanero jam.  I was (past tense is key here) so excited about this recipe!  Sweet peach jam made with fresh summer peaches with a hint of heat from one of our habaneros…sounds delicious right??  I had heard about the power of habaneros and their high score on the Scoville scale, so I got some gloves to protect my skin from the pepper power, finely diced one and threw it in my jam.  I thought they smelled funny, but I had never smelled fresh habaneros, so continued along.  As the jam finished up, I tasted it and discovered Stud and I had managed to grow flavorless habaneros. Confirmed when my dad took a bite from a raw one.  HOW DOES THIS HAPPEN? The bell pepper was hotter. I have no idea and it ruined my spicy sweet jam, but I still have delicious peach jam that tastes just like summer.

Peach Jam

2 ½ lbs fresh peaches, peeled, pitted and diced into ½ cubes

1 ½ c. sugar

2 T. lemon juice

Put the diced peaches and sugar into a large pot and let sit for an hour or so until all the sugar has mostly dissolved.  Once  the sugar has dissolved, turn on the heat.  Once the mixture starts to boil, set a timer for 25 minutes and cook the jam, stirring frequently.  Once it’s finished, skim all the foam off the top and put in jars and enjoy!

I didn’t bother canning the jam since I knew we would go through it quickly, but it would be great for canning.  And it was super easy.  The hardest part was prepping the peaches.  I am loving the jam on my bagel in the morning and since the temperatures are starting to plummet, it’s been a great lingering taste of summer.

Oh, and I have been “stressing” my habaneros by refusing to water them, I don’t think it’s making them any spicier.  We had great plans!  Hot sauce! Mexican food! Salsa!  Alas, I have about 50 bland habaneros.  Even Beau stole one and thought it was a toy.  They are that bland.

Day Two - WINE!

Day two brought wine and sunshine.  We spent the day in wine country with Stud’s aunt and uncle and their friends.  We went into Sonoma to an area which primarily makes red Zinfandels. Our first stop was Chalk Hill, by far the tastiest wine (and most out of our price range) of the day.  So needless to say, the $10 fare for a 5-6 glass tasting seemed like a deal when one of the bottles at one point retailed for $450.  From there we headed towards Healdsburg and lunch, but not before a stop at Seghesio which I think had my favorite wine of the day, their Block 8 Zinfandel.  Bottle #1 – purchased.  We had a delicious lunch at the Healdsburg Bar and Grill, and then it was off to more wine!

 We made a quick stop at Coppola, but it was so crowded!  Granted, the place also serves as a hotel, but we had already grown accustomed to the smaller crowds.  So as soon as we finished up our tasting, we were out of there!  Next was Wilson winery which had just won a couple awards the night before!  Bottle #2 – purchased.

 We attempted to go to Preston, but they had just closed so we quickly swung into Talty, where they were kind enough to bring the tastings back out for our group.  We were the only people there and the guy leading our tasting was great.  He has his own label with Talty making Syrah instead of Zinfandel, and he was so knowledgeable, and entertaining.  Bottle #3 – purchased.

 I loved just driving through Sonoma, the vineyards were so pretty.  And as we pulled back into SF, the sun disappeared and the fog reappeared.  As we crossed the Golden Gate bridge back into the city, you could not see any land there was so much fog.  That night, Stud and enjoyed a nice Thai dinner and then it was off to bed.  We spent out last morning wandering around downtown window shopping before we had to head to the airport back to KY.  All of the wine made it home safely, and two bottles have already been consumed.  We thought it was an appropriate way to thank our parents for helping me out with this psychotic creature while Stud was gone for a month.  He also just celebrated his second birthday.  Maybe he'll calm down soon?

Beau and his new toy!

Daily Fluff

So Beau figured out that the "pond" in my parent's backyard isn't that deep.  He just hopped in, realized he could stand, and is now obsessed.  He will just sit in there.

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Another way Beau stays cool in the summer...by relaxing in the baby pool at the dog park.

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So work has been crazy busy and combined with class on Tuesday, Thursday, AND Saturday leaves little time for cooking or blogging.  But I have some good stuff to post...soon.  Here is a lovely photo of Beauregard to tide you over.  It's part of a new series titled "How Beau keeps Cool in the Summer."

How Beau keeps cool in the Summer - Chilling in the fountain in the Park!

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This is how Beau sleeps.  Laughing first thing in the morning is pretty awesome.  This dog is a constant source of entertainment. 

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Last weekend, Beau joined Stud and me in watching the World Cup.  Such an avid sports fan.

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Beau admiring the view.

Weekend Fun!

I hope you all had a wonderful Memorial Day weekend!  Stud and I sure did.  We went and saw Hangover 2 on Friday night, camping on Saturday night, and spent Monday at the track eating crawfish!  It was a little hot, but we maximized our time outside.  

Our camping excursion was into Red River Gorge, our favorite place to hike/camp in Kentucky.  Beau tagged along with us, his first overnight camping experience!  He was a great camper.  We made him carry his own food and he really did not seem to care in the least.  He also got to play in a creek, chase wildlife, bark at hikers, and eat tons of sticks.  I think he is confused as to why we aren’t always hiking.  

We were worried it was going to be packed and we would have trouble finding a camping spot, so we started our hike around 2:30 to make it four miles.  Our favorite trail has a long stretch along some cliffs and we wanted to set up camp on the ridge for a) a breeze, b) the sunset and c) so we would have a short hike out in the morning.  We had plenty of time to get to the ridge, set up camp, and eat before the sunset.  There were some clouds, so I was worried we would miss the sunset.  But I was so wrong.  It was one of the prettiest sunsets I have ever seen.  We sat on the ridge for an hour watching the sun go down and enjoying some bourbon we had brought along.  It was so relaxing and so nice to be outside on such a beautiful night.

Daily Fluff

Everyone got presents from Burlington this weekend! Stud got a pint glass, Everest flags, and half a sandwich from the Red Onion (turkey, bacon, apple, red onions, Swiss cheese and sun dried tomato mayo with toasted sourdough.  It was a good present).  Beau got a toy I am hoping he won't be able to destroy in 3.7 seconds, so maybe he can have something other than the plastic toys.  It's made by Jax and Bones and rated for aggressiive chewers.  Beau and Babar have been inseperable today and Babar is still alive.  Looking good seeing as they are snuggling on the floor as I type.

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My dog is also a teddy bear.

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Beau got to hang out with Chuckles last weekend. Love. 

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The weather has cooled back off around here and you know what that means...someone is VERY snuggly again.

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OK so I know, two posts about Beau in one week might be over-doing my obsession, but this picture.  Oh my.  I can't stop laughing.  He was looking all cute so I went to snap a pic and he decided to attack....and this is what I captured.  I feel like this is a much more accurate representation of my life than the little snuggle creature he appears to be in most pics on the blog.

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Things Beau has missed with the warm weather: the sun roof.

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Beau loves watching Life.  Especially when the lions fight the hyenas.