Getting lost in Podunk

Don't ask me why I'm making a post about this, except that it was a really strange night and since I had the camera in the car, I figured I might as well document it;-)

So, Jo and I decided it would be a good idea to take a little drive around 10:00 at night, simply because we were both a bit bored and not too sleepy. We headed east towards the plains and basically got lost on the backroads. We followed the most random roads we could find and eventually ended up on some dirt road out in the middle of nowhere. Hi-lites of the night were:

1. the cute farm dog who came out to visit with us, even if it wouldn't get too close
2. the random house out in the boondocks that was all decorated for Christmas, even though there was no one there to see it
3. the power plant, all lit up

Here's an eerie looking power plant we saw in the distance. We decided to head toward it to see how close we could get.
Here are the close-ups. It ended up being the plant for Excel Energy.


Wanna hear our cool idea for a Twilight Zone episode? Wouldn't it be cool if we drove back in time, and the cars started to get older and eventually gave way to horse-drawn carriages? Or here's another one: what if we drove for only an hour or so, but then found ourselves in another state, like Idaho? CRAZY!

This idea was inspired by the eerily old-fashioned town of Mead, CO, where we randomly ended up. It's probably just another little farm town during the day, but everything is spooky and strange at night.

Rabbit Mountain with Berkley

Rabbit Mountain is not so much a mountain than a series of large hills, which is only about 20 minutes from our house. It's a popular trailhead for hikers, bikers and horse-riders, not to mention dog walkers, like us! We decided to take the sniff-happy Berkely to Rabbit Mountain, instead of walking him along the usual suburban streets. He LOVED it. Jo and I hadn't been to RM in a while, so it was nice to revisit it. It's prettier in spring; right now everything is quite brown and dead looking.



Trail conditions were good, so we were ready to go.

Here's the view from the top. Like I said, very brown this time of year. Still pretty in its own way, though.

Jo and Berkley, who was in doggy heaven, sniffing to his little heart's content.


We were there when the sun was going down, so we were able to catch the sunset, which was very pretty.

A nice walk outside. Even though it's not as "out there" as we really like, it's always nice to be able to get away from the city and enjoy nature.

How to make flan

Jo and I decided to make a vegan dessert for Thanksgiving, since his folks are following a vegan diet. We decided on vegan flan, which neither of us has made before. Here's how it went...

HOW TO MAKE VEGAN FLAN

Step 1: Make the caramel. It's pretty easy, but make sure not to burn the sugar, as it will smell awful. Simply melt 1/2 cup brown sugar and 1/2 cup water in a saucepan.

Keep stirring, for about 10 minutes, until you have a thick, golden sauce.


It will look all bubbly and cool while it's cooking.

Once it's done, pour the caramel into a cake pan.

It will look something like this.

Let that hang out while you move onto the next step, which will be to combine 1/2 C tofu, 1 1/2 Tblspn sugar, 1 Tblspn vanilla extract and a pinch of salt into the blender.

It will look something like this.

Next, grab 1 Tblspn agar-agar flakes...

And 2 cups soymilk...

And combine them in a saucepan.

Turn on the flame and start stirring the mixture until it comes to a boil, then stir for another five minutes or so.

It's important to keep stirring to get the right consistency.

So keep stirring....

and stirring...

and stirring...

Until you're done!

Pour this mixture onto the tofu mixture in the blender, and blend until smooth.

Remember that cake pan with the caramel in it?

You'll need that now. Pour the blended mixture onto the caramel and let sit in the refridgerator for about an hour or two, until everything's set.

It should look something like this. Now you are almost done. All that's left is to flip the flan so that the caramel's on top. The best way to do this is to soak the pan in an inch or so of hot water, then put a plate one top of it and flip it over in one quick motion.

Hopefully, it'll remain in one piece. This time, we got lucky.

And, voila!

Thanksgiving

Jo and I had a fun Thanksgiving. We spent the morning in the kitchen, making vegan flan and TOFURKEY!! Everyone's always grossed out by it when I tell them about it, but those who actually try usually really like it. The funniest thing about it is its shape. It's shaped like a football, as Jo is demonstrating...

"Show them what they've won, Jo..."

We went over to Jo's folks house to have dinner with them. Jo's mom and stepdad are on the RAVE diet, which is essentially a vegan diet, which meant that we had a vegan Thanksgiving. I've never had a vegan Thanksgiving before, but I thought it was a pretty cool twist on the traditional holiday.

Here's the tofurkey after being cooked.

Mashed potatoes and a uber healthy stuffing.

Cabbage rolls and potatoes.
Cranberry sauce

Pumpkin bread and wheat bread

All in all, a good time. Afterwards, Jo broke out the games, which he loves. This one is called Rukshuk. The goal is to stack abnormal shaped rocks into specific formations. I don't like to play this one very much because I'm not good at it, but after a bit we broke out Catch Phrase, which is an absolute blast to play. A great way to end the night!

Walkin' the dog

Meet Jo. You know him by now. If you haven't met him, he's the love of my life, the only man I can imagine myself with. He's a very good sport, and agreed to come along with me to walk my friend's dog. I'm walking the dog, whose name is Berkley, because my friend, whose name is Eva, recently had knee surgery and can't take her pup out. She lives in Longmont as well, which makes it convenient for us.



Meet Berkley. Isn't he a cutie? He's an eight year old mutt who LOVES his walks.

It was snowing lightly outside, and it was the type of snow that had turned into lovely, perfectly formed snowflakes. We had a hard time capturing the buggers on film, but here's one that actually turned out.

We took Berk out to the Rough and Ready trail, which he absolutely loved. All those fun smells!

Such a sweetie.

What dogs do best.

On the way back home, a random tree with lots of exposed birds' nests.

The first snow!

Brrrr! This is a late post. These pics were actually taken a week before Halloween, but I've just now had time to upload them. So, yay for the first big snow of the year! It was so big that schools (including colleges) were closed down. Not having had snow days as a kid, this is a special treat that was thoroughly enjoyed.


Here is Jo standing in the field next to our place. It's like a winter wonderland. There were icicles on all the gutters and on our neighbors truck.

This is the street we live on, transformed by the blanket of white.

Jo
Jo couldn't resist eating the snow. He's like a dog.

For the record, both Jo and I lovelovelove the winter. Even though the snow can be a hassle, it's still so fun to play in and it is so very condusive for watching movies and drinking hot chocolate. Right now, we're working on the amazing series called "Planet Earth," and loving it! When it's cold outside, one of my favorite things to do is to curl up with Jo on the couch, underneath a warm throw, and watch movies.

The tree next to our house, lookin' right at home under that blanket of snow.

I don't know what's with us taking shots of our feet, but we're starting to amass quite a collection of these shots.

Icicles or thorns? Hard to tell at first glance.

And, in parting, meet our little friend Blackie. He's the resident black squirrel who loves to eat the peanuts we throw out for him, as well as our Halloween pumpkins.