Drum Roll Please...

Presenting: The reason Claire hasn't blogged in over three months!

Head on over here (http://bright-eyeddelicious.blogspot.com/) to see the unveiling of my latest project.

I think I've finally found my niche, people. And I'm quite obsessed.

Weekend Adventures: The Wildlife

I feel like I'm a boring writer lately. I've tried a couple times to type this story out, but each time sounds more dull than the last. So here's the gist: Two weekends ago we attempted a backpacking trip up Big Cottonwood Canyon. Two miles in, we heard large branches snap and crackle as a big something with brown fur stepped through the brush to the left of our trail!!  Husband sent loud staccato claps into the air to ward off the brown furry thing and any of its friends. This frightened me even more. Not much later, I about-faced and sprinted back down the mountain to safety. Adrenaline alone carried me two miles down a trail that was alive with gnarly roots, trickling streams, and large boulders. With a full backpack on my back. In hiking boots. I did not stop for breath or rest until we reached a point of the trail that I knew was near our car. Chad graciously kept up with me as I fled, not as hyped up on adrenaline as I was. He's brave. We were both very tired. Instead of falling asleep under the stars, we ended the night watching The King's Speech on our bed. Safe and sound.

Imagine my surprise when the next time we ventured into wilderness territory, we sighted another wild living thing, equally as dangerous (in my mind) as the bear we had seen the weekend before (for a bear is what I am calling it): a rattlesnake! Good heavens, it must be time for Claire to sharpen up her senses and quicken her reaction time, because these wildlife creatures suddenly want to be close friends. While silly freshman boys yelled threats into the air--let's chop off its head and cook it over a fire! let's cut it up! let's kill it!--one of the more sane boys agreed with Chad that someone should move Mr. Rattlesnake off the trail. The boy searched the brush for a large stick, which he found, and began urging the snake towards the bushes. With one final fling, the boy got just the right leverage under the snake and sent it flying through the sky. Below is photographic evidence. What will our next wild-animal encounter be? Just wait and see. Another creature is sure to come our way sooner or later.

Happy Independence Day!

We're going to Stadium of Fire tomorrow night and moseying through our small-town festivities for the rest of the weekend. I love this holiday! Enjoy the patriotism!

A Splashy Day at Utah Lake

It's a stormy day in the neighborhood, which thrills me. Watching the rain plummet and splash, hearing the thunder clap its big hands, widening my eyes as the lightning forks across the sky--these things strike up a creativity that nothing else can imitate. To help set the mood for you too, I present to you some photographs filled with splashes and raindrops from a blustery day we spent at Utah Lake a couple weeks ago. I attribute my love for precipitation to my growing up years in Washington state, and though Chad doesn't share that love, we both spent an hour marveling at the waves and the wind of Utah Lake from the safety of our car. Raindrops have a calming effect for me, so perhaps these splashes will bring you a little calm today too.

In the Kitchen: Blackberry Coffee Cake

Okay. I love food. Like, it's a serious obsession of mine. Since the things I create and consume are healthy things, I've decided that mine is a perfectly acceptable obsession. For at least six months, I've been photographing practically every dinner and dessert I make, with plans of putting the pictures and recipes on this blog. Today is the day when that plan finally presents itself!

I hosted a Relief Society breakfast at our home yesterday morning, and served this blackberry coffee cake with cantaloupe slices and scrambled cheese eggs with parsley and chives. I found the recipe in an article about farmer's markets in a magazine called Where Women Cook, sent to me by my bosom-friend mother. I made a few changes to the recipe, mostly to adapt to my own tastes and health goals, so I am now pleased to call this recipe my own. It's important to let the cake settle and cool before slicing into it, because the middle still oozes a bit when it first comes out of the oven. Don't worry; this is good and okay! Have the patience to let it sit for a little bit before digging in, and the slices you serve will be much more intact. Chad and I have been snacking on the leftovers throughout today; though the cake loses its crispiness when it's day-old, it's still moist and perfectly delicious to eat leftovers the day after baking it. The fresh blackberries keep their succulence and juiciness in this not-too-sweet cake, and I'm sure you could substitute them for raspberries or blueberries and get an equally splendid result.

Blackberry Coffee Cake
Serves 8
Adapted from Where Women Cook

Cake
1/2 cup coconut oil
1/2 cup demerara sugar (aka unrefined brown sugar)
1/4 cup agave nectar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1 cup whole-wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup Greek yogurt
2 cups fresh blackberries (about 12 ounces)

Streusel Topping
3 tablespoons cold butter
1/4 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 cup demerara sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 1/2 cups pecans, chopped (I left these out purely because I was out of pecans when I made it. I'm sure they are a fantastic addition.)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly butter a 9-inch springform or glass cake pan. Set aside.

Prepare streusel topping: Using a pastry cutter or two butter knives, combine butter, flour, sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg until butter is around the size of peas. Stir in chopped pecans, if using. Set mixture aside.

In an electric mixer, mix oil, sugar, agave, eggs, and vanilla. Beat until smooth, about three to four minutes. Mixture will be light and frothy.

In a medium bowl, sift together flours, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add to creamed mixture alternately with Greek yogurt. Beat until just smooth. Fold in blackberries.

Pour into prepared pan and spread streusel evenly on top.

Bake 40 - 45 minutes, or until topping is golden brown. Cake will be slightly oozy in the center, but will set as it cools. Cool in pan completely before serving.

This cake is not too sweet to serve with hot chocolate in the cold months, and will always be lovely with a big glass of milk. It's pretty enough to serve on its own, but equally fabulous alongside eggs and bacon. Enjoy!

A Jaunt Through Town With a New Friend.

Friends, we recently purchased the coolest camera. No really, it's the coolest. We are not fancy photographers; we just wanted a little contraption to help us better capture the beautiful moments of our lives. Since I can't really take a picture of the camera with the camera, here's what it looks like. Stunning, isn't it? We sure think so.

The husband and I have been taking swarms of snapshots, all of which are safely stored on my laptop. But I realized today that no one has any idea what beauties we've been snatching up with our new lens. So here's a peek!

First location: all up and down and around Center Street, home to some of our favorite homes ever. Here are some of our choice picks, unedited so you can see the true splendor of Mr. Nikon for yourselves.

Happy weekending!

Words of the Wise -- Rodney Yee

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"As we look deeply within, we understand our perfect balance. There is no fear of the cycle of birth, life and death. For when you stand in the present moment, you are timeless."

 

--Rodney Yee

Yellowstone, II

As mentioned in my last post, we ended up seeing huge herds of buffalo all over the place: lying in the grass, walking in the middle of the road, and grazing next to our car. On top of all the wild life, though, we also fell in love with how varied the landscape of Yellowstone is. One second you're driving through a forested environment, and the next minute the views out your car windows are filled with skyscraper-steep rock faces, and then the next minute you're on to sulfuric orange splotches that resemble the pictures of Jupiter I used to marvel at in my children's encyclopedia. So cool! Our favorites were the "Paint Pots" that literally looked like boiling pots of chalkboard paint, and the deep, deep, deep pools of water that looked like they were filled with Sobe.

The funny little joke of the weekend was the fact that we never saw any actual yellow stone. We figured the place would be covered in it. Our second to the last stop, though, presented us with more than we could've hoped for: a yellow stone canyon complete with a stellar waterfall and cliffs steep enough to have snowball-throwing contests (let's be honest: nothing is too shallow or too steep for the boys to have a contest of some sort). That spectacular canyon threw the cap onto our Yellowstone adventure, and we drove home exhausted, but so content.