I thought winter was all sledding and snow-man making

It's not. There are long stretches of time where it is just cold. I guess living in Texas for so long I got the idea that when you went North it was cold and there was snow on the ground. Apparently, you do not get snow every time the thermostat goes below 32 degrees. This makes sense because it does not rain every time the thermostat goes above 32.  I somehow missed this logical connection for years - I just figured every time it got this cold you would be rewarded with fun fluffy stuff to play with. In fact, I have yet to build a single snow-man because we have not had enough snow to make one!

However, the same logic works in your favor, at least when it come to driving.  I thought every time I got on the road during the winter my 2 wheel drive Nissan would be skidding across the lanes, but when it does not snow there is a lot less slippy stuff on the road! (I don't know where the small amount of slippy stuff comes from, and I probably don't want to know). Again, a fairly logical conclusion I somehow missed in my years of driving in the South.

I am sure that in the future I will become one of those jaded Coloradans who grumbles about the first "big dump" of snow, but right now I cannot wait for it to fall so I can get over to city park and sled with all the other first timers and small children who still wonder at the snow. Right now I'll just have to be satisfied with the measly 1/2 inch hanging on from a few days ago, and the fact that my boots make a uniquely-winter crunching noise when I walk outside. Oh, and the Hot Toddys, which require no precipitation at all.

Leftover Sunday Dinner

Traveling back from West Palm Beach was not the easiest. It takes about 8 hours of travel to go from sunny Florida to wintery Colorado - plus a 50 degree temperature shift. So, when we finally got home we didn't really feel like doing much, especially not cooking. However, we felt less like going back out in the cold to pick up food, so we were stuck trying to make a quick dinner with whatever had been left in our fridge for a week.

We settled on making a quick veggie spaghetti with a garlic based sauce. The "veggies" I had were some leftover carrots, an onion, some garlic and a bag of frozen stuff I usually use to ice my knees after a run (luckily I couldn't find the gross lima beans at our Safeway that I normally grab for my ice down).
I threw the spaghetti in the pot with the carrots and tried to figure out a quick sauce to put on it. I had some extra virgin olive oil and mixed it with some balsamic vinaigrette and put the onions in to cook. I after a bit I put the garlic in and added some herbs de province to flavor it. Then I crossed my fingers that it wouldn't taste bad.

A few minutes before the spaghetti was done I tossed in the frozen veggies. When it was done, I strained them all and coated them with some bread crumbs for texture. I then just put on the sauce and some parmesan cheese and we ate it up while watching the Modern Family that we'd missed. It tasted pretty good for week old fridge food - but nowhere close to all the delicious things we had eaten this past week. I think I'll keep the recipe in the back of my mind though, because it only took about 20 minutes, the time it took to cook the noodles, and tasted pretty good. Later this week I'll get back to my more complicated dishes, and maybe some old family recipes I stumbled onto this past week!

4ish out of 5 on Yum scale

Thanksgiving Day 3: Ham Dumpling Hangover

By the Saturday of Thanksgiving we had eaten a lot of food, but the holiday wouldn't have been complete without ham dumplings, a.k.a grey clouds. They are a great "food hangover food" [ i.e., a hangover from eating too much, not from drinking] because they are relatively simple. They consist only of flour, potato and a ham bone, which conveniently is usually hanging around after a big holiday dinner. It starts off by pealing and chopping up 12 potatoes. Luckily we had some ringers come in and help out.

The boys helping out with the peeling and chopping

Next you puree all the potatoes. This step always takes a lot longer than I expect, and it produces this awful looking gunge that you are later expected to eat. I believe that it's the pureeing that speeds up oxidization and adds the unappetizing red/brown color to the potato mush. It's always at this point that I wonder if grey clouds are worth it. But, then I remember how good it tastes in the end and dive ahead, adding about 2 TBS of salt to the gunge.

yummy!

Next you take about 3-4 pounds of flour and mix it in slowly. This is also an arduous process and requires a lot of arm power. Gena started off with it then passed it on to Carina who finished it off like a champ. You can do it either with a big wooden spoon, or just stick your hands right in there and kneed it. It doesn't really matter which you do, but kneading is messier, so obviously my preferred method. It depends on how large the potatoes are as to how much flour, but the goal is to get it to a beige color and a consistency that is no longer sticky.

I think carrying the baby so much has added to
Carina's arm strength

Lastly, you put large spoonfuls of the dough into boiling water with the hambone already in it. The ham adds a nice flavor and some grease to the water to keep things from sticking together. Also it's where the name comes from. You boil it for at least 15 minutes, but it can be left in there for however long you want, as long as you don't boil out the water. I think we waited about an hour before we got to actually eating it.

There are different methods of how to dress up your ham dumpling once cooked, depending on whether you are a sweet or savory person. My favorite is just pouring on melted butter, but my cousins swear by about a TBS of honey per dumpling. I've also heard of adding some spices like basil to it, or just eating it plain.

We don't add ham chunks s shown in this picture
5 out of 5 on yum scale

Unfortunately, I was too interested in eating the dumplings and forgot to take a picture of the final product. I got an image off the web, though, that appears to have the same consistency as our family recipe. It is always a great meal that stays well as a leftovers - I was just sad that I couldn't take some on the plane back with me.

After 4 intense days of cooking, eating, and board game playing, it turned out to be a fantastic thanksgiving with tons of great food. It's no wonder that I now write a cooking blog with these genes. I can't wait for the next holiday get-together in less than a month!

Thanksgiving Day 2: An Assortment of Images

Yesterday during our Friday Thanksgiving I was a bit more focused on food than blogging - go figure. Unfortunately, that means I don't have that many pictures of the amazing meal we ate, but I did manage to snap a few shots that typified our non-traditional turkey day.

My Dad and Uncle David grilling the turkey

First off, we decided to do our turkey on the grill instead of the oven. And by grill, I mean The Green Egg - the best invention in grilling since the smoker. It gets incredibly hot and cooked our 23 lb. turkey in 3 hours and 45 minutes. Even with that heat, it was still super juicy and had this great texture to the skin. We started this tradition last year, and I think it's going to continue on. The best part is the boys like taking over the bird cooking now that it's on the grill...but I don't think it's too much of a chore.

The day was full of an all around team effort, with everyone helping out in the kitchen. The one ever present person was Matto, the matriarch, guiding everyone though the thanksgiving menu. And when people were not to be trusted in the kitchen, they were given the manual labor tasks, like sucking corn and peal/mashing potatoes. She was a very good taskmaster.

Matto leading Mercedes in
potato mashing

Ian shucking corn

One this did remain traditional, at least following the Dullum tradition - there was a ton of dessert. From fudge, to brownies, to 3 kinds of pies, everyone had a dessert to themselves. My favorite dessert, possibly because it is one that requires an assembly line of cooking, is Cotty's cookies (named after my Great Uncle Cotty). I don't feel like it is truly the holiday season until I've eaten one of these cookies. Here's the recipe:

1 Cup Butter

5 TBS Sugar

2 Cups Flour

1 Cup crushed pecans

Gen putting the cookies into the oven

First thing you do is crush the pecans. The best way I've found is to put them into a plastic bag and beat them with a tenderizer mallet. It's fast and surprisingly fun. Next, you rub the butter and sugar together, then add in the flour. This is all done with your fingers so you can get nice and messy. Then, you form the dough into 1 inch balls then smush them onto an ungreased baking sheet. Put into the oven for 45 minutes at 300 degrees. 

After they are cooked, the assembly line comes it. You take the cookies while hot then roll them in powered sugar. You have to do it while hot so the sugar sticks to the cookies, but about halfway through your fingers get too hot and someone else has to tag in. It's not a long assembly line, but it is one that you can make a bit of a mess with (maybe this is why I really like it?). When done place them into a tin lined with wax paper so the powered sugar doesn't come off. They are best hot, but they last forever without going bad - I never make it except in double batch. 

Very short and messy assembly line

I don't think I can give away any more family recipes without risk of revolt, but trust me, with how many amazing cooks we had in the kitchen, everything was beyond delicious. It was great to have family everywhere, and I can't wait for the last day of feasting before we head back to the real world. And I think Sophia enjoyed her first Dullum thanksgiving as well:

My adorable niece, Sophia with her first taste of meringue 

Thanksgiving Day One: Lime Meringue Pie, A Labor of Love

This year for thanksgiving the Dullum clan is having a family reunion. About twenty people descended upon 2 houses in West Palm Beach, Florida to celebrate the holiday...and my Dad's ability to mix a fantastic rum punch. Our official turkey day celebration is going to be Friday (we didn't want the football games to upset our meal), but every day we've been in town there has been at least one feast. I'll fill in with the other family recipes we've broken out this week, but I think I'll start with an homage to the Lime Meringue Pie, the ultimate labor of love.

This pie is a favorite in my family, and only me and my grandmother will attempt it. And, with so many people this year, they decided we must have at least two.  The thing about Lime Meringue Pie is that you can't just double the recipe, you have to do every step twice for each new pie (according to Matto, my grandmother).  Thus, the three step process must be repeated every time, making it a grad total of six complicated steps for one dessert.

Step 1: Pie Crust

This is no store-bought crust. In fact, you have to make the crust a day before so it has time to chill in the refrigerator. Also, one thing Matto loves to say is "dough does not like to be warm," so any second you are not working on it, back in to the fridge it must go. It's a simple recipe of:

1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 TSP salt
1/2 cup shortening
2 TBS butter
1/4 cup cold water
1 egg white

Actually sifting!

You have to sift the flour first, which I rarely do, but with Matto in the kitchen the step cannot be missed. Next you combine the salt, shortening and butter, cutting it together until it is slightly more corse than cornmeal. Then,beat the egg white and combine with the water. Lastly, slowly add in the water/egg mix and from into a ball. This will make one large pie, or two small.

You then put the crust into the fridge for the night to cool. The next day you roll out the dough and place in the pie pan. Prick the dough to let it breath and cover with foil (shiny side down!) to preserve the shape. Then bake at 350 until golden, 30-45 minutes. Take it out and let it cool.

Shiny side down, for some sort of physics reason

Step 2: Lime Filling

The lime filling takes a bit more finesse. The recipe calls for:

1 1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup cornstarch
1/2 tsp salt
2 1/4 cup boiling water
3 egg yolks (save the whites for meringue)
1/2 cup lime juice
1 1/2 TBS lime rind
2 TBS butter

Juicing

Just starting with the ingredients is tough. Zesting and juicing the limes is not my favorite thing to do - we roped Ian into zesting and Gena into juicing. Next you have to separate the eggs to get the yolks for the filling and the whites for the meringue. [Sidenote, make sure the egg whites are in a newly cleaned bowl, they are finicky if they touch oil].

Next you combine the sugar, cornstarch and salt and put it in the double boiler over boiling water. Slowly add the boiling water.  Stir constantly until it has thickened and is a milky color (this is a step that you have to do with the master, Matto, because you just have to "know" when it is thick enough").

Double Boiler!
The base before the lime juice is in.

Once thick, cover it with let it cook for another 11 minutes, stirring occasionally so it does not burn on the bottom. In the meantime, beat the egg yolks, and when the cornstarch mixture is ready, add in the eggs slowly. The key to this step is to add some of the cornstarch mix into the egg bowl THEN slowly add that into the double boiler, stirring constantly. Cook for another 2 minutes then add the butter, lime juice and lime rind. Cook for 1 more minute, then remove form the heat. Put in the fridge and let cool.
Once it is cool, pour it into the cooled pie crust. It's a good idea to sprinkle the pie crust with powered sugar before to make sure it won't get soggy later. Take a breath, the hardest step is the last.

Almost there!

Step 3: Meringue 

The last step is my least favorite. Not only does it have the highest likelihood of failing, but I also don't like the taste of meringue very much, and would rather my pie naked. It is, however, most people's favorite part of the pie - so the laboring of love has to go on. The ingredients are deceptively simple:

12 oz sugar
water enough to cover the sugar in the pot
3 egg whites

You pour the sugar into the pot then cover it with water so there is about 1-2 cms above the sugar line. Then boil the sugar "until it is done," another Matto quote. As far as I can tell, it is when the bubbles have shrunk until the size of small pearls and when you stick a spoon in the mix, the syrup creates strings as it drops off - again something that is easier once seen. While waiting for this to happen, you beat the egg whites in a blender until foamed. Lastly, you slowly pour the hot syrup mix into the foamed eggs, beating the entire time. Then just beat it until stiff. The way you can tell is that if you lift a section out on your spoon, it not only hold it's shape, but the ridges in it from the blending. It's a finesse ordeal that I have had to toss out and start again more than once.

To finish it all off, you pour the meringue onto the filling and texturize it by dipping a knife into it and quickly pulling upward, so there are little peaks. It takes about a day and 1/2 to make this pie, but it is worth it. Everyone loves it, and when made right, everyone is your best friend for at least an hour. I know most of thanksgiving is a labor of love by whomever is in the kitchen, but I feel like this pie exemplifies it best. I'll post the other labors later this week, with some helpful Matto tips along with them! Happy thanksgiving everyone!

5 out of 5 on Yum scale...if done right

Thanksgiving Warm Up

Ian and I leave for Florida to celebrate an epic Thanksgiving/Dullum reunion on Tuesday. My family is known for loving sweets, especially chocolate, and since I haven't been baking so much as cooking lately, I thought I should have a sweets warm up. I settled on Chocolate Truffles from "The Cookie Book" - the same book that I got the delish greek honey cookies and caramel bars recipes. It was a quick mix up of coco powder, flour, sugar, eggs - youe basic chocolate cookie recipe.

Assembly line

You let it chill in the fridge for a while,  then roll them into balls and cover them in powered sugar. I don't know why, but I love to make food that requires and assembly line, especially if it ends in making a bit of a mess. I think it comes from cooking flat chicken, my favorite family meal, which requires both egging AND bread crusting before you fry it (very tasty, but not very healthy, like most things on this blog).

Lastly, you just pop the cookies into the oven to "let it set." I wasn't sure what "let it set" meant, I assumed it had to do with getting the powered sugar to stick to the cookies. However, when they came out of the oven, the cookies had lost the ball-like shape that truffles are known for, and were a bit more crispy than I'm used to.

4 out of 5 on the Yum scale

I think it was too much heat for too long. Perhaps it is some altitude issue? Though I thought that temperature adjustment went the opposite direction, requiring you to keep things cooking longer. Whatever the reason, next time I am going to put them in the oven for less time and sugar them afterward. That's what I do with Cotty's Cookies - a family recipe for walnut cookies covered in powered sugar - and it always works out great. Plus then I can re-shape them while hot to make them more round.

He just looks so happy

Despite being a bit misshapen, they still taste really yummy. They are super rich and chocolatety, but not in the over sugared way. Also, the recipe only made about 12 or so cookies, which is a manageable number. I feel often times cookie recipes make enough dough for 50 cookies, which you neither want to or should eat by the time they go stale. Best of all, I got to break out my snow-man cookie jar a little early. I normally have a very strict post-thanksgiving requirement for Christmas decorations, but since I had the cookies, and we are only a few days away from turkey-time, I thought I could bend the rules a bit. On that note (in case I can't blog down in Florida) happy thanksgiving and travel safe!

Music + Cleaning = Not So Grumpy

All this cooking has made my kitchen a mess daily. Thus, I am having to do the down and dirty, put on those grungy shorts no one else can see, cleaning a lot more often than I am used to. It's been tough adjusting since cleaning is one of my least favorite chores, but I've found that if I have the right music mix to match my mood, things go a lot faster. So here goes, my list of mixes that get me through the muck:

When mellow:

• Avett Brothers, I and Love and You 
• Iron and Wine, Our Endless Numbered Days 
• Carla Bruni,  Quelqu'un M'a Dit

When happy:

• Ben Folds, Rockin' the Suburbs 
• My personal 80s mix called "My Time," featuring Journey, Queen, Billy Idol, Guns N' Roses, etc. 
• Justin Timberlake, Futuresex/Lovesounds [I HATE this album title and forgot until I was just looking at my itunes now]

When already kinda pissy about cleaning:

• Kate Nash, Made of Bricks 
• Fratellis, Costello Music/Flathead [though this is always a staple on my running mix, so if I run later I get pissy all over again because I had to clean, I'm a very complex person]
• Ghostland Observatory, Live at ACL

When I want to close the blinds and sing with the music:

• Michael Jackson, Greatest Hits, Vol. 1
• Legally Blonde, The Musical 
• De-Lovely, Soundtrack from the De-lovely movie

I've also noticed that in other things I don't want to do - long drives, raking up leaves, editing - listening to music that fits my mood helps as well. However, with the extra cleaning I've been doing, I've been running out of music choices that I like. Do you all out in the interwebs have any suggestions, by category or not? Thanks!

Pan Seared Steak With Stuffed Mushrooms and Gnocchi

Last night I felt like it was time to challenge myself with some Mastering cooking in prep for thanksgiving. 

3 out of 5 on Yum scale

I started off with my now nemesis, gnocchi. For the third time I boiled, mashed (sans potato ricer still), and dried the potatoes. Then I made the pate a choux - fancy French for flour/butter/egg paste - and mixed it in. I then dutifully stood by the pot and simmered it for 20 minutes. STILL some of them broke apart. I think I have figured out the problem though...the recipe calls for 3-4 potatoes. I am guessing that when MC [Ms. Childs] wrote Mastering in the 60s potatoes were a bit smaller. Thus, the pate a choux/potato ratio is wrong. Now, I'd like to say that I am going to try out my theory, but right now I am a little sick for making gnocchi. I kinda of want to make a  baked potatoes and cover it in light sour cream just to spite gnocchi - I've gone to the irrational potato place. Thus, I'll wait for a while for my sanity's sake. It still tasted pretty good, and I covered it in a white swiss cheese sauce that I'd pretty much eat on anything. 

4.5 out of 5 on Yum scale

Next I made stuffed mushrooms, they were de-lish! It was a mixture of choped up onions, shallots, butter, bread crumbs, swiss and parmesan cheese. You just stuff it into the caps of the mushrooms and bake for 20 minutes or so. It was the easiest thing I made that night as well as my favorite! I would definitely bring that dish back for another round - without the subsequent mental break down that's probably going to come with my next potato venture. 

Steak - 3.5 out of 5 on Yum scale

The last thing I tackled was the steak itself. Since I used a thin cut to get less fat on the meat, it just took a quick 3-4 minutes on each side. MC didn't call for any marinating, but I couldn't help myself and put salt, pepper and onion powder on it. I also made an herb garlic butter to put on top of it and keep moist. I've never made a flavored butter before, but I LOVE it. You just have to whip the butter until it is soft then toss in whatever you like and it infuses in! It then melts into the food and doubles the flavor. I highly recommend it.

The best part of the whole meal was the wine reduction sauce I made. I've made a few wine sauces before, so I thought I would try the seasoning myself. Here's what I used:

1/2 cup wine

2 TBS chopped onions

1 TBS herbs de provence 

1 clove garlic

Red wine reduction - 5 out of 5 on Yum scale

I just put everything in the pan where the steak was to keep that flavoring then did a hot boil until it was a syrup texture. Took about 5 minutes and it was super yummy. I would put this sauce on any meat. I had a glass of the same wine with dinner, and it was a perfect match! I'm getting really excited about experimenting with all these new recipes I'm trying - I didn't think I would get this far so fast. 

Wedding Photos - The Outtakes

Since we moved/had a ridiculous-crazy 2 months after we got married, it was a bit hard for our photographers to track us down and get us our pics. BUT yesterday we got a big package in the mail with over 1,000 4x6 prints and a CD full of the crazyness that was our wedding. I'm going to put all the obligatory ones on facebook - the first dance, cutting the cake, etc. - but my favorite thing to look at were all the hilarious "bad" photos in the bunch. Apparently, I make a bunch more rediculous faces OTHER than longface. So, without further ado, the outtakes:

Apparently I smile like this a lot -I'm going to assume
this grimace means I'm happy

Apparently grimace-smiles are in

Flower lady dress - it split right before going down the aisle

and the flower ladies were crafty enough to fix it in time!

My awesome flower ladies warmed up the crowd by doing

hilarious little stunts - like throwing flowers at them.

Sadly this was the only action shot.

I married that

This was my face right before I walked down the aisle.
Way to go.

Happy? Or crazy?

Face I make right after I get married.
This crazy arm thing developed into a theme throughout the night....

Next time I raise my arms in celebration - PUT THEM DOWN

I think I look gooood

Ian and Lisa think they look gooood

It devolved from there

And then some more 

And then some more

The blushing bride, and her not so blushing friends

Everyone in this pic thinks it is a bad idea. 

So arm is up, face is stupid - but my favorite part of this photo is
looking at the faces from the center out, it goes from "woo! party!" to
"sometimes I have fun!" to "what is WRONG with these people!"

Seriously, next time I get excited tie my arms down and put
a paper bag over my head

So, on facebook there is one pic similar to this one where
Ian and I look serene and happy at the end of the
night - this one is a bit more accurate.

As you can tell from just the outtakes, we had a great night. And while I will put the beautiful photos of us up throughout our house, I think it's these ones that really show the character of the wedding.

Chicken Tortilla Soup with Jalapeno Cornbread

All this cold weather has made me crave more soup, and as I said yesterday, I am missing Texas a lot. So to meet all my needs I made Chicken Tortilla soup last night. It's a dish that my good friend from law school used to make whenever we had a big group gathering. I'm sure there was a set recipe at some point, but it seemed to change every time we had it (in a good, "look what I found at the grocery store!" way). Here's what I decided to put into it:

1 quart chicken broth
3 quarts water
1 jar medium salsa
1.5 jalapenos diced and seeded
3 chopped carrots
2 chopped celery stocks (leftover from my last soup, along with the carrots)
8 pearl onions (my new favorite thing to put in soups/everything)
1 can whole corn
2 chicken breasts, cooked then shredded
salt, pepper & cumin to taste
1 avocado
1/2 cup cheddar cheese

Baked at 350 for 25 minutes

The way I did it was to bring the water, broth and salsa to a boil then dump all the veggies into the pot. I then seasoned the chicken with salt, pepper, onion powder and cumin and set it in the oven for a while to bake. Once the chicken was done I took it out to cool then shredded it and put it in the pot as well. Leslie used to make it with the canned chicken, that honestly tasted about the same, but with my affinity for getting food poisoning, I figured I would make it with ones I had cooked. Also, it's not like I am hurting for time.

4 out of 5 on the Yum scale

After that, I just let it simmer for a while, letting all the flavors set. Lastly I seasoned the soup to taste and then served with avocado slices and cheddar cheese on top.  It was yummy and not to hard to make - though I don't think I could ever make it taste as good as when we'd eat it coming off the slopes during our annual law school ski trip. That may have had something to do with the company/inevitable feeling of starvation that comes after snowboarding all day.

3 out of 5 on Yum scale

I used the leftover jalapenos and cheddar cheese to spice up the cornbread. In retrospect I should have just made the cornbread myself, but I had impulse bought the insta-mix stuff at the store. It was fine and the jalapenos gave it a Southern kick, though it did dry out kinda quickly by the next day. all in all, it was a good meal and got me warmed up while making me feel like I hadn't left Texas too far behind. Maybe next time I can tackle enchiladas and perhaps even a mexican martini!

The Real Red Rocks

In Denver there is a famous concert venue called Red Rocks. It's an open air venue built into the mountain. Unfortunately, I've never made a show - they are only in the summer, and I was a bit busy earlier this year. While I am sure that place is great, Ian and I got to see the original, and I'd venture to say, more impressive red rocks of Sedona, Arizona this weekend:

Cow Pies formation in Sedona

Ian and I were in Sedona visiting his mom, and I have never seen anything like it. Everything was a vibrant red color that changed as the sun hit it in different angles. Apparently the color comes from an iron rich sediment from when the area was the bottom of an ocean. The wind, water (now gone), and internal erosion has made some fantastic formations that some even think have medicinal and "higher" power. One major theory is that there are "vortexes" over certain areas. These vortexes are thought of as a tear in the veil between dimensions, swirling with spiritual energy. The major ones are focused on the circular rock formations, such as Bell Rock.

Bell Rock, spiritual vortex

Sadly, we ran out of time and were not able to visit Bell Rock or any of the other known vortexes. Now, I am not one who easily buys into spirituality without any science behind it. But, there seem to be a lot of stories surrounding these vortexes - some of them involving healing people and some where people can sense they are on a mapped vortex without having any idea of where they are located. Whether or not they have real powers, they are beautiful formations and well worth seeing.  For more information on vortexes, see here. 

Chapel of the Holy Cross

Also in Sedona is the famed Chapel of the Holy Cross. It is a beautiful chapel built into the red rocks. After all the hype I figured it would be a huge structure, but it was not. The beauty of it seemed to be in the simplicity and how it fit in with the already breathtaking surroundings. 

The entire town was both very spiritually and artistically based. I think it is because they are surrounded by such impressive nature that they look for some answers. Like I said, I've never been very spiritually based, but I did find the atmosphere calming and everyone there seemed to be very happy and open. 

While we spent a lot of time bumming around Sedona, Ian's mom actually lives in Cornville, AZ - population 4,000. Cornville is not so aptly named since there is no corn. Apparently, it was named Coenville, but the postmaster made a mistake and it has been Cornville ever since. (I have a feeling that mistake may have had some anti-semetic undertones).

Ian's mom feeding the animals - note the goat!

There are, however, lots of small farms in Cornville.  Ian's mom does not live on one, but is surrounded by them. One of the favorite activities of the weekend was to feed the neighbor's "pets" carrots. They consisted of 2 horses, 2 mules and a surly looking goat. It's pretty well known that I am not a super-outdorsy person, but after this weekend I can see the appeal. The views you get are amazing, and there is a quiet that I haven't felt in these past few years living in cities. Don't get me wrong - I am still holding out on living just in the 'burbs and don't expect to ever move out to the country, but I understand it now. 

Overall it was a great weekend. We got to relax in the relative country and in relatively warm weather. It made me miss Texas a lot, and when we got back Denver didn't want to make us feel better:

Yup, we woke up to a few inch dusting of snow this morning - no t-shirt and jeans welcome home weather for us! In true CO style it was gone by the afternoon and it's predicted to be back up in the 50s tomorrow. Go figure.