Alaska Adventures Part 2

One of the cool parts of the cruise was getting to take the boat through what they called the Tracy Arm, which is basically a passage through a glacier.  It was awesome!  We were cruising through giant mountains!

 Floating in the water were icebergs and the boat just sailed on through them.  They say that the icebergs are only 8-10% outside of the water....which means there is a whole lot of ice floating around down there!

In Skagway we took a train ride up to White Pass (the route the gold miners took when they came to mine)

 There were some gnarly wood tressels.

Alaska Adventures Part 1

Last week Bryan and Emily and Brian and I took an Alaska cruise and it was so much fun!  Our Alaskan Adventure started from Seattle, which is fantastic because there is no flying involved!  We cruised on the Sapphire Princess ship headed for Ketchikan, Juneau, Skagway, and Victoria, BC.  The weather was phenomenal...it was actually hot, we were in tshirts, we got sun burns!  Cruising was fun, I think we ate, ate and did more eating...

This is what the front of a cruise ship will do to your hair!

 The scenery was just awesome!

 The boys discussing float planes.

 In Ketchikan we were able to zipline through the rain forest!  Super cool!  Its really fun to be tethered to a cable floating hundreds of feet in the air!

 TOTEM POLES!  Everywhere!

 Emily and I pretending we were the totel poles!

 This is called a Uni-Mog and the boys each wanted one!

 I think Ketchikan was my favorite town because of the way it was built up around the creek.

 This is about the extent of the wild life we saw....which was disappointing actually.  Guess we will just have to go back!  

 I think the boys spent half the trip like this...it cracked me up!

More Alaskan Adventures to come....stay tuned!

Spring Sunsets

Spring time sunsets are the best.

Black Bean and Corn Goodness

I don't know if I should call this a salad or a salsa. Either way is fantastic, its great with chips, on a taco, on a bed of lettuce or by itself!

Black Bean and Corn Goodness

2 cans black beans

1 small bag frozen corn

1 bell pepper

1 shallott

Grape tomatoes

1 bunch cilantro

4 or so lemons

salt and pepper

Drain and Rinse black beans.  In a bowl add beans, frozen corn, slice tomatoes in half add, chopped bell pepper, minced shallots, chopped cilantro and lots of fresh lemon juice! Made the night before so all the flavors combine!  

Gathering at the Watering Hole

Today when I went to water the cows, they were quite happy to see me!  Especially number 77.  He was really curious at what the thing in his face was.  He has become the friendliest, but number 340 (the black one in the left of the picture) is still very curious of me.

 I am pretty sure he was posing and he thinks his left side profile is his best look, or he wanted me to see his 'pretties' in his ear as Baby Ruth called the tag.  

 Mad-Dog hasn't debuted on the blog in awhile...she was feeling left out.  Look at those sad eyes!

Roche Lake

After planting some trials up in beautiful British Columbia Brian and some of the guys from his work got to go to Roche Lake in Kamloops for a day of fishing!  He actually took pictures this time...maybe my nagging is paying off.  Haha!!  It looked like a very cool place!  Nice catch dude!

Out Roaming Around

Last night Brian and I decided to go on a little 4 wheeler ride since it was such a nice night.  We explored place around our house we haven't been, it was kinda fun!  

In Bloom

I think I have decided Spring is really my favorite season...the blooms around here are just too pretty not to take pictures of!

Granola Bars

Granola BARS!

2 cups rolled oats

3/4 cup rice bran or oat bran

1 cup of nuts, crushed (pecan, walnut, cashew, macadamia, almond, etc.)

3/4 cup seeds (sunflower, pumpkin, flax, sesame, etc.)

2/3 cup brown sugar

• 1/2 cup honey (or 1/4 cup honey, plus 1/4 cup maple, agave, or brown rice syrup)
• 4 Tbsp butter
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 cup chopped dried fruit (cherries, cranberries, blueberries, apricots, coconut, etc.)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
2. Line a large rimmed baking sheet with foil. Mix together all dry ingredients (oats, bran, seeds & nuts) on the baking sheet. Place the sheet in the oven and toast the dry ingredients for 10-12 minutes, stirring every few minutes to prevent them from burning. As soon as the ingredients are toasted, remove the pan from the oven.
3. While the dry ingredients are toasting, line a 9x13-inch rimmed pan with waxed paper and spray it lightly with cooking oil.
4. Next, place a small saucepan over medium-high heat and add in the brown sugar, honey, butter, cinnamon and salt. Bring the mixture to a strong boil for 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Turn off the heat and stir in vanilla.
5. Place the toasted ingredients in a large bowl, and stir in the dried fruit. Pour the hot liquids into the bowl and stir aggressively until all the ingredients are moist and well combined.
6. Using a wooden spoon or heat resistant spatula, scrape the mixture into the prepared baking sheet, pressing down to evenly spread out the mixture. I found wetting a rubber spatula with water helped to keep the granola from sticking, but still allowed me to press the mixture down hard enough. Set the baking sheet aside and let the bars cool for 2-3 hours until they are hardened. Cut into bars or square and ENJOY! 

I made these and they were awesome.  One mistake I made....don't add chocolate chips...in my head I figured I would have nice chocolate chunks to bite into...well I forgot to factor in that chocolate chips melt when boiling hot liquids are poured over them!  Stick with dried fruits!

 

I love crunchy flax seeds!

 Don't over toast your dry stuff either, another mistake of mine.

 TA-DA.  Crunchy, chewy, and delicious!  

Asparagus Picklin'

It's that time o year again. Asparagus picklin' time. It's a great time of year!

 Amber came over and we pickled a few batches.

 This picture is an example of what happens when Brian's hat covers the flash...he does this often...

 Shelley came over the next day and did some more picklin' 

 The final product...oh so tasty!