Back on the wagon

Quite some time has passed and yet we haven't been up to too much. This summer was our 4th in the valley and yes, just like the three previous it was occasionally more than toasty.  On the bright side, we are proud to say that our solar panels did a fantastic job of keeping our power bills low and occasionally nonexistent.

In early August I returned to DC for a whirlwind weekend trip to attend one of my best Rutgers buddy's wedding.  Jonathan was not able to attend because of work, but enjoyed his own adventures in Arizona, to be explored in just a little bit.  Traveling about in the nation's capital brought back fond memories, and truly makes me miss the flair of living in the DC metro area.   But each time I thought, I could certainly move back here, I reminded myself of the winters and laughed at how absurdly expensive it is to live in the area.  A handful of fellow scarlet knights were also in attendance at the wedding, which made for a lovely opportunity to catch up and enjoy the company of great friends.

 While in DC I received a text from Jonathan including a great picture of a very happy Jackson during their apparent hike.  Little did I know that shortly after the picture was taken Jonathan would be trucking down a hiking trail with Jackson tucked under his arm like a football in an attempt to outrun lightning. I eventually learned that during his ascent he happened to notice a storm in the distance. So despite encouragement from lady hikers to turn back he followed the encouragement of guy hikers, go figure, and eventually made it to the top.  Coincidentally the storm too was enjoying new sights as it continued to make its way closer to Jonathan's location.

Picture taken and views admired Jonathan decided it was time to head down the mountain. I cannot say for sure when during the trek that it happened but Jonathan noticed the dark clouds were nearing and out of the corner of his eye he saw lightning strike nearby. This was about the time he felt the hair on his arms stand up.  Maybe now would be an appropriate time to get he hell off the mountain. 

 
Jonathan was chuckling and Jackson's tale was wagging while the story was being shared and all I could do was stare wide-eyed and slightly dumbfounded at him.  Yes, I'm grateful that he and Jackson made it safe and sound, but for the love of rice, kindly be a bit more careful when adventuring in a state that tops the list of death by lightning strike each year.

In the realm of cooking, we've tried a few new recipes with great success.  Jonathan made some fantastic spent grain soft pretzels, tasty spent grain cheddar crackers and I made some devilishly fantastic spent grain blondies.  We are running low on spent grain so selfishly I'm hoping Jonathan brews soon to replenish our grain stock.  In addition to baking we have ventured into the world of sashimi or potentially more appropriate, ceviche style dishes with a recipe found on NPR for Ahi Poke. The recipe, or rather my variation of said recipe, can be found below.  My only modification was the use of paper-thin-minced shallot vs the green onion that is listed in the recipe.  Just this last week, I accompanied the Ahi Poke with a tasty kale salad that included Dino kale, pomegranates, chopped almonds, and avocado. For the cooking finale of this post, Tuesday night Jonathan made some fabulous, three meat meatballs. I'm not a meatball fan, but the meatballs he makes are hands down the best I've ever had.

Now that the weather has cooled a bit we will surely be up to more adventures, likely including a few weekend trips, lightning free hikes, and outdoor projects. Hint, said projects will undoubtedly include some more glorious rock moving, woowhoo!

Tuna Poke: http://www.npr.org/2013/07/24/204925394/on-hot-summer-days-cook-your-fish-without-fire

Blondies: http://brooklynbrewshop.com/themash/recipe-spent-grain-blondies/