Butano State Park

Today we explored Butano State Park near Pescadero, CA.  Matt predicted in the car that we could see 13 banana slugs, a fairly high number compared to the other hikes we've been on recently.  After 10 minutes of hiking and counting, we quickly spotted lucky number 13, so Matt revised his estimate to 50.  When we spotted our 50th not long after that, he revised the estimate to 100, as a joke.  Then he had to re-revise to 200, as a joke.  And then to 400 slugs, also as a joke.  On our 3 hour hike, the final count came in at a whopping 436 banana slugs!!  At certain spots, there were so many banana slugs that we were calling them off by the second.  We also spotted 11 rough-skinned California newts (less impressive than 436, but still a lot of newts). The hike itself was absolutely beautiful -- lots of mossy redwoods and picturesque views along Butano Creek.  The park was almost all ours today, making the hike that much more enjoyable.  We plan on going back as soon as possible for more hiking and camping.

Roasted Peeps

I finally decided that my plan to build a fire pit out of discarded (or possibly still being used by someone??) bricks at the elementary school behind our house was a bad idea, so I broke down and bought one. And thanks to an Easter care package from my parents, we happened to have some peeps in the house. What to do? Clearly skewer and roast them. The granulated sugar on the outside caramelizes into a nice hard shell around the gooey center. Yum!!

Happy Easter!!!

Mango salad!

The sun is out, Matt is firing up the grill, and it's time for mango salad!

Ingredients:

1-2 champagne mangos, diced
2 pickling cucumbers, skinned and diced
1 avocado, cubed
1/2 red onion, diced
3-4 tablespoons (or one big handful) of cilantro, chopped
zest and juice from 2 limes
2-3 tbsp crushed peanuts
a few shakes of red pepper flakes

Instructions:
Combine all ingredients, top with crushed peanuts and a few leaves of cilantro.  Goes well with a frosty margarita and a sun-drenched afternoon.

Spicy Chickpea Stew

We tend to gravitate toward anything involving the chickpea, so when we saw this recipe, we had to give it a try.  We've added a few modifications to the original.

Spicy Chickpea Stew

2 cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed

2 Tbsp olive oil

1 medium red bell pepper, chopped

1 medium onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, diced

1/2 tsp dried oregano

1/2 tsp dried thyme

1 tsp red pepper flakes

2 cans of diced tomatoes (we used Trader Joe's diced fire-roasted tomatoes for extra kick)

1/2 c barley
1/2 c wild rice

2 c low sodium vegetable broth

Boil 3 c. of water in a large sauce pan and add barley and wild rice, reduce to low heat and simmer for about 1 hour.  Drain and rinse, then set aside until the rest of the stew is ready.  Heat olive oil in a saucepan over med-high heat and add chopped onion.  Stir and cook about 5 mins or so, until onion begins to brown and soften.  Add the bell pepper and garlic and continue to cook on low heat for about 3-5 mins.  Drain the chickpeas and rinse well. Add vegetable broth, chickpeas, tomatoes, oregano, and thyme, then simmer for about 30-45 mins.   Add red pepper flakes and barley, simmer for another 5-10 mins.  Seaso with salt and pepper to taste. Serve with a hunk of your favorite whole grain bread and a dollop of sour cream.

Weekend in pictures

Exploring the Marin headlands and finding the best views of the Golden Gate

Impromptu rock climbing at Castle Rock State Park

Spectacular views on a sunny Sunday

Spring gardening!

Last weekend Stacey and I started our vegetable garden.  We planted: tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchini, miniature bell pepper (red, yellow, and purple), soybeans, fennel, dill, basil, and strawberries.  YUM!

Zucchini sprouting

Soybeans

Dill weed

Sam McDonald Park

Today we hiked in Sam McDonald park, a lesser-known preserve nestled in the Santa Cruz Mountains.  We hiked about 5 miles, starting at Heritage Grove Trailhead to the Ranger's station, then over the Towne trail to the Sierra Club hiker's hut, then back to the trailhead.  The hike was filled with beautiful coastal redwoods, about 16 million banana slugs, wild turkeys, snakes, lizards, quail, deer, one coyote, lots of streams, and plenty of wild flowers (and a partridge in a pear tree).

Cherry blossoms in DC

This past weekend, I was in DC for a nanobiology conference, and I got to spend a few extra days with my parents. We took Saturday morning to walk down to the tidal basin and enjoy the peak of the cherry blossoms, which I haven't seen blooming in probably 6 or 7 years.  It was a beautiful day!

There were lots of people out taking in the cherry blossoms.  My favorite tourists of the day were these two little girls dressed in pink, who spent about 10 minutes under this bough vamping for the camera:

I got some cute shots of mom and dad, too:

More photos here.