Big Basin - Berry Creek Falls

Last weekend, Stacey and I did a longer hike in Big Basin Redwoods State Park, ~11 miles round trip. We took Skyline to the Sea trail out to Berry Creek falls, spotting banana slugs left and right.  Then we turned north on Berry Creek Falls trail to see Silver Falls and Golden Cascade Falls, where we stopped for lunch.  From there, we climbed up out of the redwoods into a higher alpine elevation for a few miles before descending back down (and up and down again) on Sunset trail.  It was a longer hike than usual, and we were glad we did it.

The trail leading up to Berry Creek Falls

Berry Creek Falls (about 70 ft high)

Silver Falls

We found this California newt in a pool below Silver Falls

Our lunch spot

Higher elevation alpine habitat

We're both breaking in our hiking boots in preparation for Mt Washington

Cool yellow caterpillar

A rare photo of the two of us :)

Rainy hiking

Well it's been unseasonably rainy around here lately, but that hasn't kept us inside! The past couple weekends we've gone hiking at Big Basin and Huddart Park, both mossy and filled with happy banana slugs.

Big Basin

Huddart Park

Huddart Park

Huddart Park

Backyard Bounty

Ok, post number 1 million about the garden (and not the last)... This past weekend we purchased some additional planters to spread things out. The lettuce, cucumbers, and peppers were all looking over crowded. We also transplanted the avocado tree into a larger pot. And, while we were at it we decided to make our first harvest of the year - green lettuce! Yum!

Pizza!

We've made this pizza a bunch of times, and thought it was about time to document it.

Pizza Dough:

A few tablespoons of honey

A drizzle or three of olive oil

Seasoned salt

Garlic powder

Onion powder

1 cup warm/hot water

1 packet yeast

3 cups flower (this time we used 2 cups white, 1 cup whole wheat)

Directions: Add the yeast packet to one cup warm/hot water. Mix and let stand a few minutes. While waiting for the yeast, combine honey, olive oil, salt, garlic powder, onion powder. Add water/yeast mixture and stir until evenly mixed. Add flour, 1 cup at a time. Knead the dough for a few minutes. Makes enough for 2 medium pizzas, or one large and one small.

Toppings:

Pizza sauce

Red/yellow pepper

Kalamata olives

Mozzarella cheese

Goat cheese

Fresh basil

Caramelized onions

Directions: Cook onions covered on med/low heat with olive oil and brown sugar until tender, uncover and cook on med/high for a couple minutes to reduce and brown.

Pizza Directions: Preheat pizza stone in oven for ~20 minutes at 450F while preparing the dough and onions. Once everything is ready, pull out the stone, lay the dough on the stone, and top quickly! The dough will start to cook as soon as it touches the hot stone. Place back in oven and cook for 7-8 minutes. Enjoy!

Apricot orange quickbread

Rainy Saturday mornings are perfect for baking.  This morning I tried this apricot orange quickbread from the Moosewood Restaurant's New Classics cookbook as a surprise for Matt:

Grated orange peels smell divine

The finished product, dusted with powdered sugar

Apricot Orange Quickbread

The original recipe is found in Moosewood Restaurant's New Classics cookbook, but I've modified it a bit for more orange and cinnamon flavor, and a tad bit healthier.

1 1/2 c chopped dried apricots

1/4 c freshly grated orange peel

1 1/2 c fresh orange juice

1/4 c vegetable oil

3/4 c rolled oats

1 c whole wheat flour

1 1/2 c unbleached white flour

1 tbsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 c melted butter

1/2 c honey

2 eggs

1 c milk

1. preheat oven to 350, lightly oil two 8x8 loaf pans.  Alternatively, you could split the batter between a loaf pan and a muffin tray.

2. place apricots, orange peel, and 3/4 c orange juice in a sauce pan and bring to a boil over high heat.  Remove from heat and place aside to cool.  In a small bowl, combine oil and remaining 3/4 c orange juice.  Add in the oats and stir well.  Set the oats aside to soak for at least 5-10 mins, or until you're ready with the rest of the ingredients.

3. In a large bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.  In a separate bowl (you use a lot of bowls for this recipe), combine butter, honey, eggs, and milk.  Whisk wet ingredients together until smooth and custardy.  Now mix in the cooled apricot mixture and the oats.  Add the custard mixture to the dry ingredients slowly and stir until just mixed.

4. spoon half the batter into the loaf pan, and the other half into muffin trays or into another loaf pan (you could also use 9" round cake pans).  Bake loaf pans for 40-45 mins, and bake muffins for about 30-35 mins, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  Serve warm, fresh from the oven with a bit of butter and a sprinkle of confectioner's sugar.  This would also be delicious with a smear of apricot jam and cream cheese for brunch.

Backyard gardening, update!

This weekend is shaping up to be rather rainy and unseasonable here in the peninsula.  So I am taking the morning to catch up on a few things around the house while Matt sleeps in.  Last weekend we hosted a Memorial Day BBQ for my Hungry Ladies club, and before everyone arrived, I had a chance to sit quietly in the garden for about an hour and just soak in all of its goodness.  Ziggy joined me.

Zucchinis (we have quite a few of them now!)

Red leaf lettuce getting bigger by the day.

I am most proud of my little garbanzo bean sproutlets. They were just dried garbanzo beans not that long ago! In the week since I took this picture they've gotten even bigger and more numerous.  It might be time to re-pot them soon.

Our parsley has been doing very strange things these days.  Several weeks ago it grew a huge stalk of flowers right smack in the middle of the plant.  Have you ever seen that before? I have not.

The beast, tentatively eyeing the outdoors.  He only comes out when one of us is there to protect him.