This was our second year walking with my friend’s team, Keeping the Headlights On. Our friend’s mom is a breast cancer survivor, so every year my friend and her sister rally to get friends and family together to participate in this event. Like last year, we got up early and met at my friend’s house, a little sleepy but ready to walk, not realizing what a day it would be. It’s a day of celebration for the survivors, a day for remembering lives lost, but most importantly a day for hope.

The walk itself is a fun experience because everyone dresses up, and the road is paved with high fives and cheerleaders, getting everyone excited to be there. By the time you make it to the end, happy to be there and happy to have done something to help the fight against breast cancer, you feel why you’re there.

It’s hard not get teary eyed watching the survivors hugging family after the race, grateful to be there and fight another day. It’s hard not to notice a young girl sobbing as she wears a t-shirt that says, “we’ll miss you, Grandma Vi”. And it’s extremely hard to see a friend in tears over the recent passing of a family friend. Her daughter was there walking (a breast cancer survivor herself) on Sunday, even though she had just lost her mother on Tuesday. There was a moment yesterday when I looked around and felt so privileged to be there, as if I were on the outside, looking in. I felt humbled.

The Seattle Seahawks drum line, Blue Thunder, was even there to lead the survivors to center stage, to be cheered on and celebrated.

The pain and sadness are awful, of course, but if you can see past that, you see that the hope is inspiring. I’m not an expert in advocacy for the fight against breast cancer, I’m not an advocate for the Susan G. Komen Foundation, but I am an advocate for people helping people. Do something small, do something big, but do something. Your heart will thank you.

xo

 

We went to Glacier View campground on Lake Wenatchee, about two hours east of Seattle, for Memorial Day weekend (and for my annual birthday trip). We have been to this campground before and really enjoyed it so we decided to pay it another visit, but this time we brought a lot more friends, eighteen friends to be exact. The sites are first come first serve, so you have to get there early enough to beat the long weekend rush. Luckily my husband and some of our other friends, who went up a day early, were able to snag three neighboring campsites on Thursday afternoon. Upon arrival, everything was set up, so I grabbed a beer and immediately immersed myself into camp life, turning off my phone and no longer worrying about the time. The views were spectacular from our site, so I found a little patch of sun on a log and took it all in. It was a fantastic weekend full of laughs, beauty and friends.

Since we are fairly seasoned campers, I thought I’d share a little about the food, especially since we tried some new things that worked out great.

BREAKFAST // Eggs two ways, yes please.

Breakfast Burritos: You can make these ahead of time for the easiest, most delicious breakfast ever. (The genius behind these, Mel, used 6 eggs and it made 7 burritos.) Prepare the corn salsa; chop red onion, finely chop the cilantro, and mix in corn. Thaw and drain some frozen peppers, and be sure to get all of the moisture out using paper towels. She used about 1/2 the bag of frozen peppers. Shred 1 1/2 cups of pepper jack cheese. Barely scramble the eggs and season them to your liking. The eggs should be clumping together but still a little gooey. Combine the eggs, cheese, peppers, corn salsa, and some more fresh cilantro. For the carnivores in your group, you can add chicken sausage, or whatever meat that might strike their fancy. Now would also be a good time to add some hot sauce. Once you have everything you want, divide it up into the tortillas and roll them up. Wrap them in foil and store them in freezer bags until they are ready to make. You just need to throw them on to a camping stove, a grill, or the campfire. We made ours on a camping stove and it took about 15 minutes. I accidentally left one on for much longer, more like 30 minutes, and it was just fine. The tortilla was just a little crispier.

Breakfast Sandwiches: This is a tradition for our group, and they are a great way to start your day. You’ll need a pack of English muffins, eggs, cheese, and deli meat for the meat lovers. On the camping stove, make an to your liking. I always try teeter between over medium and over hard. While that’s cooking (and it’ll take a while on a camping stove, about 10-15 minutes), slice an English muffin in half and toast the inside first, just for a couple minutes, directly on the grill. Flip the English muffin over and  add some cheese so that can begin to melt. Put some of the deli meat directly on to the grill and allow it to get some grill marks. Once the deli meat is done, gently fold it over the top of the melted cheese. By now, your egg should be done, so add it to the sandwich, and there you have it a hearty breakfast for a day of hiking.

HOBO PACKETS // Pure genius, worth the prep time.

Thai Coconut Shrimp with Peppers : Mel used Thai noodle soup packets as a base (4 packets).  Genius! First, slice and saute 1 package of button mushrooms. Next, clean and de-vein your raw shrimp. Soak the noodles from the soup packets in hot water for 2 minutes and then drain. While those are soaking, chop some cilantro. You’ll need a can of coconut milk, and 1 can will be enough for 4 hobo packets. Shake well and stir it if needed. Lay out a sheet of foil and begin layering in items: noodles, spread them out a bit, a drizzle of coconut milk, a small amount of the seasoning packet, mushrooms, peppers (use the other 1/2 bag from the breakfast burritos!), cilantro, shrimp. For the shrimp be sure to only do a single layer so that they don’t overlap. Drizzle the shrimp with the oil packet from the soup mix, and add more of the seasoning packet. You’ll only need about half the packet. Bringing the long sides of the foil together, fold it over a few times, making it fairly flat. Then roll up the sides so everything is well contained.

Lemon Pepper Asparagus & Mushrooms:  I made this one up because I had the ingredients on hand. Using about a 1 1/2lbs of asparagus, 1/2 white onion, a container of mushrooms, and a cup of brown rice, will make four packets. (You can add chicken sausage for the carnivores in your group.) I cooked the brown rice, let it cool, then placed it in the center of the packet. I chopped the veggies, mixed them together in a large bowl, and then added them to the packet around the rice. For the seasoning, I added about 1 tbsp of butter (place it in the center, right on top of the rice), a generous helping of lemon pepper and a dash of sea salt. Bringing the long sides of the foil together, fold it over a few times, making it fairly flat. Then roll up the sides so everything is well contained.

With that said, how about some fun photos from the trip?

 

I know that camping isn’t for everyone, but there is something really amazing about it. We spent 5 days entertaining ourselves with conversation, playing games, hiking, and sitting around the campfire. How many people can say they do that nowadays? If you’ve never tried it, maybe give it a chance.

xo

On Saturday morning, we braved the cold and set out on a hike to Snow Lake at the Snoqualmie Pass. When I say that we braved the cold, I mean that we were prepared to encounter some snow and perhaps endure a soggy hike; however, we were not prepared to go the whole hike in the snow. AT. ALL. Well, as the story goes, it was a very cold and very snowy hike. It was absolutely beautiful and 100% worth it, but next time we intend to wear an extra layer and our waterproof gear. The trail itself was actually pretty easy at 6.4 miles roundtrip, and with only a 1000 foot climb. The toughest thing we had to deal with was the snow. It was a bit icy and slippery at points, which slowed us down a bit, and the trail was very narrow, so if you came across fellow hikers, it was a tight squeeze, even if you were pulled off to the side in knee deep snow. We were actually surprised at how many hikers were out, but the biggest shocker was the trail runner making his way up when we were coming down. I was so impressed. Also impressive, the very relevant gear that other people wore on the trail. We saw people in their North Face jackets with their hiking poles. I bet they didn’t fall on their bums. Oh, did I not mention that? Yep, I slipped on my bum twice. Fear not, it was graceful and in slow motion both times, so there are no injuries to report. I was also very quick to get up because my pants were not waterproof. For the record, I was donning my awesome hiking boots with wool socks, lightweight cargo pants, a tee with a flannel layered over, and my water resistant hooded jacket, topped with a headband to keep my ears and head warm and some lightweight gloves. This was not my proudest fashion moment, but sometimes being warm trumps trend. Okay, enough babbling, time for photos!

Good night!
xo

We celebrated our anniversary on Saturday night by going to the Washington Artisan Cheesemakers Festival. The festival featured endless cheese tasting, local beer, wine and cider. We had a great time, such a great time in fact, that I spaced on taking photos. I did snap a few but most importantly, I remembered to photograph the cheeses we purchased. I have to stress that there were a ton of delicious cheeses and we chose to buy the ones that really struck our fancy. If we could buy them all, we would have. We LOVE cheese.

I am so excited to use the queso jalapeno in tamales! The gouda is almost completely gone already, and the blue cheese won’t last much longer. The cheesecake served us well on Sunday morning as breakfast, and I must say, with a cup of coffee, absolute perfection. Cheese fest, thank you for showing us such a good time! We can’t wait for next year!

Happy Monday!

xo

We started my husband’s birthday weekend off by enjoying a date night. I heard from friends that The Station was really yummy,  and then I read an article about it in Sunset Magazine and I was sold!

The Station boasts a huge wood-fired pizza oven, a fantastic menu, local brews on tap and great atmosphere with a super friendly staff.  The restaurant was packed so we had a beer on the adorable patio while we waited. Christmas lights and cool, brisk autumn air are essential for a good date night in October. While snuggling on the patio, we got a really good look at the menu and although there were not many vegetarian options (I’m a pescatarian, have been for 12 years), I had my eye on a pizza called Boss Lady and intended to order it without chicken. It has Maytag blue cheese, basil chiffonade, fresh eight vegetable medley, and Serrano pepper…hello there, Boss Lady, yes please. Allow me to digress for a moment and share my disappointment about NOT trying the Boss Lady pizza. It is so popular that they ran out of vegetable medley! I was so sad. I asked the waiter if it would be worth it without it and he said no way, so I’ll just have to go back and try it another time. *Sigh* Okay, so my back up order was the classic Margherita Fresca, always a good choice. My hubby had the Albatross, pictured below, which has house-smoked pork belly, Serrano pepper, grana, and a sunny-side up egg. He was over the moon with his selection, and I enjoyed the freshness of the ingredients and the fantastic crust. It was hand tossed and perfectly crispy, not overly seasoned . On to drinks! My first beer, not pictured, was a Fort George Sunrise Oatmeal Pale Ale and my hubby tried the Triple Horn Irish Red. Both were delish and we would definitely order them again. For dessert they had a pretty tempting menu, cannoli, panna cotta, fresh baked cookies, gelato…aye yi yi! After pizza and beer, we had to go a little on the lighter side, so we went with gelato. We tried 3 flavors, lemon, chocolate peanut butter and spicy chocolate. The clear winner was chocolate peanut butter because of the ridiculously gigantic peanut butter chunks. It was a great meal and a great time with my hubby.

If you’re in Woodinville, taste some beer and/or wine, and stop by The Station for some seriously good pizza. I can’t wait to go back and try more items off the menu!

Have a great Tuesday!