Biscuits

I was thinking about sounds I love.


The zipper of a tent. Not just any zipper, but a tent zipper, that fast zzzippp, zzzippp!


Dustin's motorcycle pulling up to the garage. It seems like I can hear it a mile away. 


The chugging of a train. Where I live now there are no trains, although sometimes my ears are tricked. 


The air popping out of a milk glass when you use it to cut biscuits. This was the way my mom always cut biscuits and the way I always will, too. There is something very satisfying about making something with only your hands and a milk glass. 

Try it. 

Mom's Baking Powder Biscuits
2 cups flour
3 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
3/4 cup milk
1/4 cup oil (whatever you like, I use olive)


Preheat oven to 375. In a medium bowl combine all dry ingredients. Use your hands. Add milk and oil and combine. This time think a happy thought about how good these biscuits will be with whatever you're making. On a floured surface, press dough to about 1/2 inch thickness. Grab a milk glass and cut biscuits out with the open end. Savor the air popping sound. Arrange biscuits on a baking sheet. Bake until lightly browned, about 10-12 minutes. Enjoy! 


Psst! These are by no means a fancy or fluffy biscuit. They are great for dipping into hearty soups and complimenting just about any main course. Add cheese and herbs if you want to gussy them up. 

Denver Eats

We played. We drank. We put blue feather extensions in our hair. We reminisced about piano bars and cute boys and Halloween costumes. This equals good times in Denver with great friends.

And we ate.

Much needed hair-of-the-dog bloody mary's at a French bistro for brunch.

Veggie burrito at Illegal Pete's.

Local "beer" my friend was sold after asking for something made in Colorado. Note: it says malt liquor on the can. Heehee.

Candy apple from Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory. I realize they have these shops in virtually every mall in America, however we do not have one where I live, so this was exciting. I also bought Dustin a piece of chocolate covered bacon.

Yummy locally brewed beer where we met Denver's most eligible bachelor (according to 5280, but I can't find the article to link to, sorry!)

This is where I ordered the rattlesnake and pheasant dog. You read that right. It was delicious, however, it wrecked my stomach. I think I'm just not used to eating snake.

Jessica snapping away for her amazing blog, love, ayi. Click on over and check it out!

Please do check out Biker Jim's if you are ever in Denver. Unique and delicious. Score.

Also, feather hair extensions really get the party started. Mine is still nestled in my hair. It may or may not be forming a dread lock.

This is not me. You really don't want to see the dread lock.

Dinner for Two: our week in food

This week should really be Dinner for One since I spent most of the time out and about with my girls in Denver and backpacking with my friend here on the Big Island. Let me tell you, it was an interesting week of food and my tummy really needed a break by the time I got home. This is just a sneak peak of all the Colorado goodies we found, will be posting more about Denver food shortly.

Jessica floating down Larimer Square 

Saturday: Shepherd's pie with Colorado lamb at the Wynkoop Brewing Co. in Denver, followed by bar hopping and good fun with my Americorps pals. A night like that brings a girl right back to her early 20s.

Sunday: Cup of tortilla soup and a strawberry margarita at the Rio in Denver. We used to come here for happy hour all the time back in the Americorps days.

Monday: Rattlesnake and pheasant sausage with fried green tomatoes at Biker Jim's in Denver. Could not pass up the chance to try snake, plus where Anthony Bourdain goes, I follow.

Photo by Love Ayi

Tuesday: Airplane cheese and fruit platter. Blegh. Stomach and liver detox in order due to eating snake and drinking too much beer.

Wednesday: Broccoli soup with carrots, onions, and absolutely no cream. Recipe to come. My version of a detox is a fruit and vegetable only diet for as many days as it takes for my tummy to calm down.

Thursday: Badass backpacking trip with my girl Rae led us to a secluded valley on the northern part of the Big Island. Bliss. Camper's salad of garbanzo beans, cucumber, tomato, Swiss chard, and macadamia nut oil.

Friday: Scrambled egg, tomato, cheddar cheese, and avocado on a roll made by my loving husband after coming home tired from camping.

Highlight of the week: How can all of this have happened in one week?!? Seeing my Americorps pals again was exceptional!

Have a great weekend!

Microscope Heart

I have been pondering the smallest thing that makes me happy thanks to the Microscope Heart series on one of my favorite blogs, Vintch. My post on the fork was featured today so go check them out! It is a very interesting and insightful blog that I love to read. 

The smallest thing that makes me happy is the fork. 

The fork can mash, the fork can feed. The fork can work magic with cold butter and flour. The fork is my trusty go-to kitchen utensil. It never fails me when the food processor won't process or the beaters won't beat. It knows when the meat is done and how much longer the potatoes need cooking. 

My mother was not much of a cook, but when in doubt she'd advise you to use a fork to stir the biscuits or mix the cookie dough. And she's right. All you need is a fork and your hands. It lets you feel the texture of the ingredients, the weight and the thickness. The fork brings me back to the taste of things, the enjoying of things, the slow mixing together of sugar and eggs. 

The fork doesn't mind if you scrape the bowl or smash the bananas extra hard because you're mad. It keeps quiet when you eat just one more bite of cake. We can do this thing called cooking, me and the fork, and we can certainly do the eating, too.  

The Doors are Closing

I'm enjoying the glow after a brief but satisfying visit with friends in Denver. As I mentioned on Journal Day, my exit from Denver was filled with turmoil and I never felt quite at ease with the way I left this city. Closure was due.

Denver, CO

Joining Americorps in Denver was important to me. At that time, it was the most important thing to me. I didn't take choosing to leave lightly, however it was a choice I made suddenly. Feelings were hurt and matters were settled unpleasantly with some of my friends.

My first fall colors in 5 years:)

The openness with which I was received the last few days by these same friends was heartwarming to say the least. We move on. Our lives change and sometimes, it's just better to remember the good times.

Morrison, CO

Life just wouldn't be as sweet without the tough choices I had to make. As the voice on the airport tram announced, "the doors are closing," after facing my big "what if," it is with absolute certainty that I write these words with no regrets.

Found: on a garbage can on Sante Fe St. in Denver

Goodbye Denver.

Dinner for Two: our week in food

birdAve

Sunday: Vegetarian musubis. I made them with brown rice and jalapeno tofu. They were tasty, but totally fell apart. Will have to explore further options.

Monday: Crostini with roasted onion, eggplant, and brie served with a tomato and arugula salad dressed with basil infused macadamia oil.

Tuesday: Safeway pizza. Dustin claims this is the best take and bake around. I'm on the fence.

Wednesday: Teriyaki veggie stir fry with brown rice.

Thursday: Pizza, smoked salmon straight from Alaska, and my coleslaw at a beachside "Welcome Home" picnic for my brother in law. He has been away fishing salmon for the summer in Alaska. Glad you're back Brendan!

Friday: First day in Denver! Ate bar food that is too embarrassing to share. Let's just say I'm not certain it was food.

Journal Day: A Haircut Can Change Your Life

Here is today's prompt from Sometimes Sweet:
Looking at all of the life you've lived so far, can you pinpoint one time frame or instance that you feel truly contributed to your growth as a person?  This may be a turning point, a positive or negative experience, a moment or collection of moments that stand out in your mind...something that changed you as a whole. 
Write about your own experience on your blog and share it with me and Sometimes Sweet in the comments. Links welcome!


This journal prompt couldn't be more fitting as I pack my belongings to head off to the place where the biggest turning point of my life occurred some six years ago. I'm flying to Denver tomorrow for an Americorps reunion and while my flight itinerary say DEN, my emotional itinerary says OMG. You see I abruptly left my Americorps assignment that year, and all my best gal pals, on a stroke of intuition.


My life in Denver was great. I was just out of college, my colleagues were the most interesting and fun people I'd ever spent time with, and I was adjusting well to a new city and a new life. All this despite facing the end of a two year live-in boyfriend situation, working seven days a week, and making very little cash. I was on a serious mission to be the most independent, fearless bitch you ever met. And oh baby, did I ever accept that mission full-force. It was just so great to be free; free from boyfriends, free from living near anyone I knew, free from college, free of expectations. I had never felt more like myself. In no time at all I had an amazing group of friends, a new boyfriend, and dreams for the future I'd never even considered. 


And then came the ring. My live-in boyfriend situation showed up in Denver unexpectedly and asked me to marry him. I said yes. I didn't think, I just said yes. Yes to a man that in some weird knowing way, I always knew I'd be with. 


He came to Denver and moved in with me. Everything changed. I couldn't be Denver Gwen anymore because here was this person who knew me in a very different context and it just didn't work anymore. We fought. I wanted my Denver life and the ring. It just didn't work both ways. 


He rented a U-Haul and started to re-pack his things. We cried all night after making the decision to split, again. The day he was to leave I was sitting in a salon getting my haircut. 


And then.


And then something hit me hard in the guts. As I watched the stylist comb my hair I knew that this wasn't how it ended. Something else took over and there was no way I was going to let him leave like that. I blew off work and rushed back to the apartment. We went for a walk. As we circled the park again and again, I knew it was time to go, this wasn't going to work in Denver, in the context of my new life. 


So we bought some plane tickets that very hour and got the hell out of there. 


This was the hardest choice I ever made. But those rocks in your gut don't lie. Do I miss my friends and think about how different my life could be? Yes. Do I have an amazing husband and life I never could have dreamt of in a million dreams? Hell yes. 


It just doesn't work both ways, and that's ok, this is how it's meant to go.