Another Day at Work

So here I am, up at Snowbird, near the top of Little Cottonwood Canyon, one of my most favorite places in the world. This canyon has become a sanctuary, a gym, an office, a place of worship, a social venue, an escape. Today I'm working in the Clinic, a small modpodge medical facility sitting beneath the iconic Tram. My titles here are varied: CCT, EMT, and 590 (my assigned ski patrol radio number). If you ask patrol, my job is to drive the white clinic van around all day, known as "the vehicle." If you ask my friends down in the valley, my job is to be up in the mountains playing in the snow. But like other jobs in the medical field, I am inside a building sitting among gurneys with pristine white exam paper and various machines for examination. But there's something about just knowing I'm in the mountains that makes it different. To be continued... another patient is checking in...

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Early Bird

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This is what Snowbird looked like a little before 7am this morning. It was so beautiful going up the dark dark canyon, then seeing the silhouettes start to take shape as the sky went from black to indigo to blue. The clouds were billowing through like puffs of smoke and you could see the entire sphere of the moon, with a thin crescent illuminated.  Winter is coming...!!!!

Yesterday was beautiful. I accidentally ended up on a 16 mile trail run up in the fall leaves of Millcreek Canyon. I was too cheap to pay the $3 parking fee, so I parked at the base of the canyon and ran a mile on the road to the first trailhead. I headed up Rattlesnake Gulch to the Pipeline Trail, past Birch Hollow to Elbow Fork. And then turned around and ran back to my Jeep. I had no idea is was going to be that far, a situation I notoriously find myself in over and over again.

And then I decided to be domestic and can multi-colored jars of tomatoes (photos to come soon...)

And then for dinner Rich and I made these delicious homemade raviolis-- everything from scratch, starting by making the dough, rolling it through the pasta rollers seventeen-million times, then using the ravioli press and filling them with a yummy ricotta/mozz blend (rich put sausage in his too). Since sauce usually requires a lengthy process to bring out the best flavors, I did a simple sauce from cherry tomatoes we picked in the backyard with headlamps. I think Syd wanted me to put recipes on here, so I'll add those when I get a little more time (along with a couple more pictures).

Cherry Tomato Sauce
1/4 cup olive oil (actually a little less than that)
chopped garlic (3-4 cloves because I LOVE garlic
onion (I just had a little chunk left I chopped up)
bowl of cherry tomatoes, cut in half
s & p
thinly sliced fresh basil leaves for garnish

In a sauté pan over medium heat, warm the olive oil. Add garlic and onion and cook until tender (about 2 minutes). Add the tomatoes and sauté, stirring occasionally, until they start to blister and brown (3-5 minutes). Season with salt and pepper, reduce heat to low and keep the sauce warm until ready to serve.

To be finished soon... gotta run

O nappy brush

I bought a brush today. I haven't owned one since maybe elementary school. I honestly don't remember the last time I used a brush. I certainly wouldn't borrow one of someone else's (gross) so it has been years, at least. Problem: I don't know how to use it. This could be interesting.

update: it is now mid-july 2012 and I still haven't used the brush :)
update: october 2012. returned the brush (embarrassing) because I didn't use it once all year.

october 2011

peach butter

I was out at the farm a few weeks ago and mary asked if I could use some peaches. They were falling off the tree by the growbox, so we backed the suburban up to the tree for a ladder and picked all we could reach. I came home with a box from the tree and a box from the ground.

As I was sitting at work shortly thereafter, I was chatting with someone about the canning he had been doing and peach butter was mentioned. So I had to make it.

Using an entire box (I think it was the one from the ground because I had to cut out lots of spots), and 18 hours later, I had 3 small jars of delicious peach butter.

lots of peaches, peeled, sliced/chopped to fill the crockpot (I'm guessing mine was about 3 1/2 qts). I added a zested lemon and its juice, a scarce cup of sugar, grated some nutmeg and added a splash of vanilla.

cooked in the crockpot overnight. I jarred it, but then decided I wanted it smooth instead of chunky so I opened the jars, put it in the food processor, heated it back up in a pot, spooned it into 3 jars while hot, turned them upside down on a dishtowel for 5 minutes, then righted them. sealed. bam.

this is going to be ever-so-delicious in plain greek yogurt with granola or on cream biscuits or on a piece of toast or in oatmeal or on waffles!!

recipe adapted from here: pickyourown.org