Snacktime: Muddy Buddies/Puppy Chow Chex Mix


In additional to making classic Chex party mix for our recent road trip, D also requested that I make up a batch of "Muddy Buddies" Chex mix (also known as "puppy chow"). I first had a taste of the puppy chow Chex mix my freshman year of high school when my friends and I put together a potluck lunch on one of the last days of school. Though its name may suggest otherwise, this peanut butter and chocolate flavored Chex mix is delicious and a bit dangerous to have around. Once you start eating it, it's hard to stop! I stayed close to the original muddy buddies recipe, though I decreased the amount of butter slightly and used milk chocolate chips in place of semisweet ones.
SHARE:

What's For Breakfast: Alton Brown's French Toast


French toast was the highlight of our breakfast on Christmas morning. The secret to making a good French toast is choosing the right bread. Regular whole wheat sandwich bread just doesn't do the trick -- you really need to use a nice light, eggy bread such as brioche or challah. Though in the past I've made a simple custard with eggs, milk, and vanilla, this time around I followed Alton Brown's French toast recipe. The 498 reviewers are right -- this decadent recipe is definitely worth five stars. One tip I can share is this: if by chance you forget to leave your fresh loaf of bread out over night to get a little stale, just pop the sliced bread into the oven for a few minutes while the oven is preheating to harden the bread up a little bit. I found that this trick worked like a charm and prevented the bread from getting too soggy before cooking.
SHARE:

Snacktime: Chex Party Mix


You can't go on a road trip without filling the back seat full of snacks, right? For a recent long-haul car ride, I made up a large batch of Chex party mix. Sure, you can now buy the stuff pre-bagged, but it's pretty easy to make it yourself, plus you can have a little more fun with the seasonings if you make your own, too. Chex party mix reminds me of my friend Rachael and the epic Christmas parties she used to host along with my friends Jen and Maggie at their then-shared garden apartment in Chicago. (And which also was my home during a six-month stretch when I camped out on their pull-out couch before finding a job and eventually an apartment of my own.) A party just isn't a party without bowls of Chex mix scattered strategically throughout the room! I didn't reinvent the wheel in making my large batch of Chex party mix (you can find that recipe here), though I did decrease the amount of butter to just four tablespoons and used all-purpose seasoning in place of the seasoned salt.
SHARE:

What's Baking: Russian Teacakes


Just because Christmas is over doesn't mean you have to stop baking holiday cookies! These round cookies combine together the sweet taste of powdered sugar with the savory flavor of chopped hazelnuts.

Russian Teacakes (printer-friendly version)
makes 48 cookies

1 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
3/4 cup finely chopped hazelnuts
1/4 teaspoon salt
powdered sugar for dusting

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
2. Use an electric mixer to cream together the butter and powdered sugar.
3. Stir in the vanilla extract.
4. Stir in the flour, chopped hazelnuts, and salt.
5. Form the dough into 1" balls. Set the balls on an ungreased baking sheet about two inches apart.
6. Bake 10-12 minutes, or until the cookies are set but not browned.
7. Remove from the oven and roll the cookies in powdered sugar while still warm.
8. Set on a wire rack to cool.
9. After the cookies have cooled completely, sift powdered sugar over top to coat.
SHARE:

Nepal: Going Home

I'm taking a trip down memory lane with a look back at our trip to Nepal last December. For all of the entries about our trek, click here.


The day after Christmas marked our departure from Nepal. We spent the morning enjoying a leisurely continental breakfast before departing the hotel grounds for a quick trip to the Boudhanath stupa, which was located just a short walk away. I was hoping to find a few last-minute souvenirs, but nothing caught my eye. We got a little turned around trying to find our way back to our hotel, but after a few trips around the circular stupa, we found the right alleyway that led us back to the Hyatt.

We then grabbed a quick lunch before heading onto the hotel shuttle bus to the airport. At the airport, we managed to check our bags through to Denver. One less thing to worry about upon our arrival in Delhi! Our flight was originally scheduled to depart around 3:30p, but we ended up taking off around 5:30p due to foggy conditions in Delhi. In the meantime, we enjoyed sitting in the departures hall, watching WWE matches being played on a big screen TV in the front of the room.

Our flight from Kathmandu landed in Delhi around 7:30p. Though I had managed to print our British Airways boarding passes for our flight from Delhi to London at the Hyatt, apparently they weren't good enough to get us through to the international terminal. Instead, we got to sit around in the transfer limbo zone outside the terminal. Our names were finally called around 10p, and we gladly took our official boarding passes and headed through security to the international terminal. By this time, most of the restaurants were closed or in the process of closing, so I stopped at the WH Smith bookshop to grab a snack and magazine to read.

I think our flight was originally scheduled to depart around 3:30a on December 27th, but our flight ended up being delayed until 5:30a. At this point, a pretty thick fog enshrouded the airport, so most flights were delayed (we kept listening to flights continually being pushed back and were a bit worried that our flight wouldn't take off at all -- which was a little concerning, as we needed to get home due to our imminent cross-country move). Interestingly, there are a lot of lounge chairs situated around the gates, but by the time we were looking for a pair, all had been taken. Eventually, we found a spot to call our own, and D camped out on the floor, and I smooshed myself into a chair and used my backpack as a pillow to take a nap for about an hour. Around 3:45a we made our way to our gate; our flight began boarding around 5:30a. Once in my seat, I promptly fell asleep. When I woke up about an hour and a half later, we were still taxiing. Eventually we took off and were on our way to London, only 3.5 hours off schedule.

We arrived in London around 9:45a and once off the plane, promptly headed to our respective bathrooms to do a little refreshening. Luckily, our flight to Denver was scheduled for 12:35p, so our delays leaving Delhi didn't cause any problems with our travel plans. We were very glad that we had a direct flight to Denver as the East Coast of the US had been clobbered by a snowstorm and most flights to anywhere along the East Coast had been cancelled.

I have to admit I did stop off at a Starbucks kiosk in the airport for my first nonfat chai latte in nearly a month. It was just as good as I remembered. : ) Our flight from London to Denver was uneventful, and I spent much of the flight watching movies and reading the magazines I had picked up along the way. Upon our arrival in Denver, we made it through passport control and customs without a hitch, and we greeted my parents at the arrivals area soon after. From there it was a quick trip up I-25 to Fort Collins, where we would spend the night at the Edwards House before completing the journey back to Laramie. Our trip was officially over.
SHARE:

Kathmandu: Christmas Indulgence

I'm taking a trip down memory lane with a look back at our trip to Nepal last December. For all of the entries about our trek, click here.


After overindulging the day before, my first stop Christmas morning was at the hotel's gym. After a 45-minute sweat session, I headed back upstairs to grab a quick breakfast before I'd have to return back downstairs for a trip to the spa. Nothing like spending Christmas morning getting a (much-needed) massage and facial! While down in the spa/salon I decided I might as well get my hair done as well (my hair was still a little mad at me for not washing it for 10+ days during our trek) so I got a wash and style, too. 

Following my beautifying, I returned to our room to meet up with D and head back downstairs to the Christmas Day BBQ held outside on the back deck by the pool. While eating plenty of plates of grilled veggies, pizza, and other goodies cooked to order, we listened to an excellent jazz band play and at one point were entertained with an enthusiastic version of "Feliz Navidad" sung by a guest from Fiji. 

After lunch we took a short walk around the hotel's grounds. The one downside of being at the Hyatt was that once you're there, you're kind of stuck there unless you take a cab elsewhere. Luckily, we found plenty of ways to entertain ourselves and the grounds were quite beautiful and fun to explore.

After partaking in another evening cocktail hour, D and I headed downstairs where we had plans to meet Prim, who would drive us to La Dolce Vita to meet up with Bharat for Christmas dinner. While at dinner, we exchanged Christmas presents. Bharat gave us each a t-shirt screenprinted with the route of the EBC trek -- an excellent reminder and souvenir of our fantastic time in the Himalayas. Following dinner we returned to our hotel, and Bharat presented each of us with a khata prayer scarf and we said our final goodbyes. Our trip was officially (and quickly) reaching its end. 

{Bharat, me, and D after our Christmas dinner}
SHARE:

Kathmandu: An Upgrade For Christmas

I'm taking a trip down memory lane with a look back at our trip to Nepal last December. For all of the entries about our trek, click here.

{Christmas decorations at the Samsara Resort}

As our trek was nearing its end, D and I mulled over what to do during our final few days after we returned to Kathmandu. We originally considered taking a short trip to Chitwan National Park, but given that we likely wouldn't see any wildlife due to the season, we decided it'd probably be a better idea to just hang out in Kathmandu instead. However, we did decide to splurge a bit, and upgraded from our standard room at the Samsara Resort Hotel to a club-level room at the Hyatt Regency Kathmandu. 

After breakfast at the Samsara and second breakfast at Pumpernickel Bakery, D and I stopped back at Pilgrims Book Shop to pick up a Christmas present for Bharat. Then we returned back to our hotel (where they had started to decorate for Christmas) to check out and move to new digs across town. We originally planned to take a taxi, but given that there was a student strike recently in the area where we need to go through, taxi rates had skyrocketed. We ended up taking the hotel's car service to the Hyatt Regency instead.

Upon our arrival at the hotel's grounds, our car was stopped at the gate and was security checked before we were allowed in. Once we arrived, we were ushered up to the sixth floor where we checked in. Oh my, our room was amazing. Perhaps the best part was the huge bathroom with both a ginormous shower (with plenty of hot water) and soaking tub. The first thing I did upon our arrival was take a nice long bath. One bonus of staying at the Hyatt was that their electrical power was pretty much seamless. Due to an overtaxed electrical infrastructure, Kathmandu has multiple power outages during the day (and night). The Samsara typically ran their generator when the power went out at night, but during the day, when the power went out, that was pretty much it until it came back on. At the Hyatt, the power would go out for a short second before the generator kicked in. Pretty nice!
{Hyatt Regency Kathmandu room and ginormous bathroom}

In the afternoon, D and I headed to the hotel's restaurant on the bottom floor for lunch. We both opted for Western meals -- fish and chips for D and a tomato and mozzarella panino for me. While there, we decided to sign up for the hotel's Christmas Eve buffet dinner. Prior to dinner, however, we headed to our floor's lounge area for the evening cocktail and hors d'oeuvres hour at 5p. I may or may not have tried just about one of everything on offer. After stuffing ourselves (okay, myself) silly, we headed downstairs for dinner. The buffet dinner featured a wide variety of options including Mediterranean fare (hummus, tabouli, and the like), traditional Christmas dishes (roast turkey with all the fixin's), and traditional Nepali fare. D and I enjoyed our dinners along with glasses of mulled wine. We completed our (beyond satisfying) meal by sampling several of the desserts on offer. After reaching our fill, we basically rolled ourselves back to our room for the evening.

{lunch, cocktail hour, and Christmas Eve buffet at the Hyatt}

{Christmas Eve}
SHARE:

What's Baking: Spritz Cookies


My mom was kind enough to send me her cookie gun, so I got to make spritz cookies this holiday season after all! Mmm, these are quite a delicious reminder of Christmases from my childhood. If Santa were around, he'd totally get a plateful on Christmas Eve!

Spritz Cookies (printer-friendly version)
makes about 60 cookies

1 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 egg

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
2. Use an electric mixer to cream together the butter and sugar.
3. Stir in the remaining ingredients.
4. Place the dough in a cookie press.
5. Press the cookies onto an ungreased baking sheet.
6. Sprinkle with colored sugar crystals or other holiday decorations if desired.
7. Bake 6 to 9 minutes, or until the cookies are set but not brown.
8. Remove immediately from the baking sheet and place on a wire rack to cool.
SHARE:

Nepal: Back in Kathmandu


I'm taking a trip down memory lane with a look back at our trip to Nepal last December. For all of the entries about our trek, click here.

The theme of our first full day back in Kathmandu after our trek was food. After enjoying the buffet breakfast at our hotel (toast, muesli, and the like), we headed off to Pilgrims Book Shop to find new books to read as D and I had both finished reading the books we'd brought with us on our trek. On our way back from the bookstore we stumbled upon Pumpernickel Bakery, and decided to enjoy a second breakfast of pastries and hot beverages. I opted for a cinnamon roll and hot chocolate, while D chose a chocolate croissant and cup of coffee.


{goodies from Pumpernickel Bakery}

Following our stop at the bakery, we headed back to our hotel, where we sent off some of our dirty clothes from traveling and our trek to be laundered and caught up on email. In the early afternoon we headed out for another meal, this time to the Roadhouse Cafe, which featured wood-fired pizza on its menu. Unlike our first attempt to find this restaurant the second night we were in Kathmandu, we were able to find the cafe this time around with little problem. Following a lunch of (too much) pizza, we ordered a couple of coffees and hung out at the restaurant for awhile longer while we read our books.

{pizza for lunch at the Roadhouse Cafe}

Later in the evening, we met up with Rajan back at our hotel, and we all made our way to Nepali Chulo, a former rana palace, for an evening of traditional Nepali cuisine and a cultural show. We ate our weight in delicious food and had an excellent time listening to the songs and watching the dances that exemplified different regions of Nepal.

{traditional Nepali banquet meal}
SHARE:

Nepal Trek Day Fifteen: Lukla - Kathmandu


I'm taking a trip down memory lane with a look back at our trip to Nepal last December. For all of the entries about our trek, click here.

Today marked the final day of our trek in the Himalayas. It was definitely a bittersweet moment -- the trip I had dreamed about taking for 10 years was nearing its end -- but I have to admit I was looking forward to returning to lower elevations, warmer temperatures, and hot running water.

We were up early for breakfast, as our plane was scheduled to leave fairly early in the morning. After breakfast, we packed up our big red bag one last time, and Dilip schlepped it over to the airport. Upon our arrival at the airport, we learned that no planes had left Kathmandu due to clouds. To bide the time, the four of us wandered over to a nearby "bakery" and got some hot beverages to drink. Shortly after, Dilip said his goodbyes and headed back to Namche. After our snack, D, Bharat, and I headed back to the airport to continue the wait for our flight. 

{Bharat, Dilip, and me}

 {Lukla airport}

 {runway}

D and I hung out in the airport waiting room for awhile, then headed outside to bask in the sunshine. Bharat waved us back in around 9:30a and we went through "security." Unfortunately, I forgot that I still had my multi-tool in my backpack that I was carrying on and it was confiscated. Eventually our plane arrived, and as soon as the arriving passengers de-planed, it was our turn to board. Bharat was on it and made sure that we got prime seats on the righthand side of the plane. Forty-five minutes later, we were back in Kathmandu.

Upon our arrival in Kathmandu, Prim was waiting for us at baggage claim, and we quickly loaded up the car and were back on our way to the Samsara Hotel. Once we arrived back at our hotel (which took a bit of time due to the chaotic traffic of Kathmandu), we said our goodbyes to Bharat, but made plans to meet up on Christmas day. We dropped our stuff off at our room and made our way back down to the hotel's restaurant for lunch. Right after lunch we found our way to a local "department" store, where we stocked up on sundries including shampoo, soap, shaving cream, and razors. Once back at the hotel, I enjoyed a much-needed long, hot shower. We spent the remainder of the afternoon relaxing and making use of the hotel's free wi-fi.

D and I consulted our Lonely Planet guidebook to find a place to eat for dinner. We decided on La Dolce Vita, an Italian restaurant. Oh, it was so good. We feasted on bruschetta, pasta, red wine, and had tiramisu and espresso for dessert. Our bill came to 1990 rupees -- about $24 --  and it was totally worth it.
SHARE:

Nepal Trek Day Fourteen: Namche - Lukla



Over the next three weeks, I'm taking a trip down memory lane with a look back at our trip to Nepal last December. For all of the entries about our trek, click here.

Today marked the final day of our trek -- well, at least the final day of actual trekking, anyway. Today we would walk from Namche all the way back to Lukla. Following breakfast, we hit the trail around 9a. The coolest sight of the day was spotting an impeyan pheasant - the brightly-plumaged national bird of Nepal. A second interesting sight of the day was watching porters carrying HUGE loads of empty plastic bottles up to a bottled-water facility in Namche -- particularly as they attempted to navigate the steep turn to get up on a suspension bridge. At one point, a few people helped to push one porter along as his giant load got caught in the rocks. Craziness! 

We stopped for lunch around 1p at the same lodge in Phakding where we had spent our first night. While the trail from Namche to Phakding had been mostly downhill, the trail to Lukla featured a slow slog upward. We finally arrived in Lukla around 4:45p. On our way back through town I took a photo of the Lukla "Starbucks" -- really just an Internet cafe, I think. (It was closed for the season.) We wound our way through town to our lodge for the evening, which was located near the airport. This evening our fully-furnished room featured a private bathroom with a hot shower! D opted to shower while I decided to hold off one more day until our arrival back in Kathmandu (the lack of towels and cold air being the deciding factor for me). 

During dinner, the lodge owner showed a vintage 1950s-era documentary about Edmund Hillary's expedition to summit Mt. Everest. All of my travails during our trek paled in comparison to what those porters and climbers faced!


{leaving Namche}

{impeyan pheasant - national bird of Nepal}

{last view of Mt Everest}

{porter loaded down with a huge load of water bottles}

{agrarian view on our back to Lukla}

{Lukla Starbucks -- not really}


{our lodge in Lukla}
SHARE:

What's Baking: "A Crummy Commercial?!" Cookies


My all-time favorite Christmas movie is "A Christmas Story." Yes, it's cheesy at times, but there are just so many good lines. "You'll shoot your eye out!" "Ho . . . ho . . . ho!" "Fra-gee-lay. That must be Italian!" "Show me how the piggies eat!" And of course, "Oh, fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuudge." One of my favorite scenes is when Ralphie finally gets his secret decoder ring in the mail, and uses it to solve a message from the Little Orphan Annie radio show. After frantically writing down the numbers, he uses his ring to figure out the letters. And the resulting message? "Don't forget to drink your Ovaltine." Ralphie is devastated to find that the secret message is just a "crummy commercial." 

Remembering this scene from the movie, I figured it would only make sense that I'd add a recipe for malted chocolate sandwich cookies to my Christmas baking list. As it turns out, this is one of D's favorite cookies, so he was all for me baking up a couple batches, too. I switched things up a little bit by baking square cookies rather than circles. I also used a large cookie cutter to make jumbo-sized sandwich cookies. Feel free to make your cookies smaller. Regardless of the size and shape, these cookies are delicious, and make a fun alternative to traditional holiday cookie options.

"A Crummy Commercial?!" Malted Chocolate Sandwich Cookies 
makes about 20 large sandwich cookies

For the cookie:
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
6 ounces good-quality milk chocolate chips, melted and cooled slightly
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 3/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons good-quality unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

For the filling:
1 stick unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup Ovaltine
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups confectioners' sugar

1. Use an electric mixer to cream together the butter and sugars. On a lower speed, stir in the melted chocolate and vanilla.
2. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt.
3. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients in small batches, stirring between additions. Stir on low speed until the dough just begins to come together.
4. Place a large sheet of parchment paper on your work surface. Place the dough on the parchment paper and form into a disk shape.
5. Put another piece of parchment paper on top of the dough, and roll it out until the dough is about 1/4"-inch thick.
6. Place the dough, sandwiched between the parchment paper, in the fridge to chill for at least 15 minutes.
7. Once the dough is chilled, use a 2" round or 2" square cookie cutter to cut out the cookies. Place the cut out shapes two inches apart on a parchment or silpat-lined baking sheet and chill in the fridge for an additional 10 minutes.
8. Bake in the oven for 10 minutes, or until the cookies are set and look dry in appearance.
9. Remove from the oven and let cool completely on a wire rack.
10. While the cookies are cooling, prep the filling by creaming together the butter, ovaltine, vanilla, and powdered sugar.
11. Place the prepped filling in a pastry bag with a 1/2"-inch plain tip.
12. Prep the cooled cookies by flipping them over. Squirt a small dab (about a one-inch mound) of filling onto the center of half of the cookies. Sandwich together with the remaining cookies, smooshing gently to spread the filling evenly within the sandwich. Serve.

(adapted from this Food & Wine recipe)
SHARE:

Nepal Trek Day Thirteen: Debuche - Khumjung - Namche

Over the next three weeks, I'm taking a trip down memory lane with a look back at our trip to Nepal last December. For all of the entries about our trek, click here.

We made our breakfast order the previous evening, with the stipulation that we'd like to eat at 6:30a. Typically, we would order our meal in the morning, and then wait around in the cold (since the woodstove was usually not lit in the morning) until our food arrived. Given the cold mornings of late, we hoped that we would arrive just in time for our food. Alas, our food arrived in the dining room 15 minutes after we did. Luckily, we were bundled up in our down jackets, hats, and gloves anyway, so we didn't freeze too much.

After downing our breakfasts, we packed up our stuff, and headed back on the trail around 7:30a. Day thirteen featured two highlights: seeing several musk deer and even more exciting, seeing a purported yeti scalp! We had heard that the Khumjung Monastery was home to a yeti scalp, and we couldn't leave the area without seeing it for ourselves. Thus, we made a quick detour on our way to Namche with a stop in Khumjung to see the yeti scalp with our own eyes. But, I'm getting ahead of myself.

Our morning hike took as back up to Tengboche, and we stopped for a moment at the monastery. After taking off our shoes and making a donation, we entered the monastery, and quietly walked around the sanctuary as the young monks completed their morning prayers. Soon after we were back on the trail, which included a lot of hiking down-down-down to the river, and then hiking back up-up-up the other side of the mountain. On our way down to the riverside, we were lucky enough to spot several musk deer. What cool-looking creatures! Both male and female deer have upper canines that extend out of their mouth and look like fangs. (If you look closely, you can kind of see them in the picture below.) Musk deer are often the target of poachers as their musk is used in a number of different Chinese and Korean traditional medicines.

After a long-haul of upward hiking, we made it to Khumjung around 11a. We stopped in at Bharat's friend's house, where his friend's wife served us black tea and offered to also cook us lunch. While she cooked, Bharat, D, and I headed over to the Khumjung Monastery to check out the yeti skull. After paying our 100 rupee donation, the lockbox was opened, and voila, the yeti skull! It was definitely an interesting sight to behold.

After eating lunch, we headed back on the trail to Namche, taking the roundabout way to get there, as I wanted a few last pictures of Mt Everest before we headed into town. Poor Bharat was tasked with taking a zillion photos of us. He was a good sport about it, though. After having my fill of Kodak moments, we headed down into Namche, arriving around 3p.

D and I dropped our stuff in our room, which this time featured its own private bathroom with sink and flush toilet. (Oh, how I had missed flush toilets! Though, I suppose my quads did get an excellent workout from all the squat toilets.) Our first priority was heading down into town to do a little souvenir shopping. We ended up purchasing a few yak bells (my favorite sound from the trek), a couple necklaces, and some prayer flags. After getting our fill of souvenir purchases, we headed to the Namche Bakery. During our first visit to the bakery, we decided that our return visit to Namche would include a "day of gluttony" at the bakery. I opted for a slice of chocolate cake while D got an apple strudel. We both sipped on espressos, too. For round two, D got a cup of coffee and I got a Sprite. Pretty delicious. As we were paying, D asked the shopkeeper if he knew where we could find a tokma, a T-shaped walking stick used by porters to rest on while carrying their heavy loads on their backs. The shopkeeper ended up taking us right to the tokma dealer, and D chose his favorite one from the bunch to purchase. Our purchases finally complete, we headed back up to our lodge for dinner.

One of the things that D and I immediately noticed about the Namche lodge was how bright it was compared to all the places we had recently stayed at. Given Namche's hydropower, the lodge was lit by a number of fluorescent lights, including ones in our room. Most lodges up at higher elevations had solar-powered or small LED lights that emitted little light, so being in such a bright place was a welcome change. Our day of gluttony continued with veggie cheese pizzas for each of us and a shared plate of "fingerchips." After listening to a few more podcasts of This American Life, D and I called it a night. Our stay in the Everest region was quickly coming to a close.

Here are a few pictures from day thirteen of our trek:

{me and D leaving Tengboche Monastery}

{morning light}

{more mountain views . . . and me}

 {musk deer}

 {save the musk deer!}

 {yeti skull/scalp in Khumjung}

{the story of the yeti skull}

{me and D with Mt Everest in the background}

{loving it}

{slice of chocolate cake in Namche}

{D enjoying an espresso}
SHARE:

What's Baking: Cookies For A Friend


It's been awhile since I last made a batch of oatmeal raisin cookies, and after having a bite of one of these cookies, I've definitely decided to add it back into the rotation. Chewy, soft, and full of raisin-y and oatmeal goodness. It doesn't get much better than that!

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies (printer-friendly version)
makes 18 cookies

1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon aluminum-free baking powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 1/2 cups old fashioned rolled oats (do not use quick-cooking)
3/4 cup raisins

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Use an electric mixer to cream together the butter and sugars. Stir in the egg and vanilla.
3. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
4. Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients in batches, stirring in between additions.
5. Stir in the rolled oats and raisins by hand until the ingredients are just combined.
6. Use a cookie scoop to scoop out 2-tablespoon portions of dough onto a baking sheet. Place the dough balls about 2 inches apart. Use the bottom of a flat glass, sprayed with cooking spray, to slightly flatten each cookie.
7. Bake in the oven for 11-13 minutes, or until the cookies are set and golden in color.
8. Remove from the oven and cool on the baking sheet for two minutes. After two minutes, place the cookies on a wire rack to cool completely.

 (adapted from this recipe)

SHARE:

Nepal Trek Day Twelve: Dingboche - Debuche

Over the next three weeks, I'm taking a trip down memory lane with a look back at our trip to Nepal last December. For all of the entries about our trek, click here.

The worst part of our twelfth day of trekking was that I woke up that morning with little sleep as I had spent most of the night up with a horrible cough (this marked only day five of my antibiotic regimen). We hit the trail around 9:15a after breakfast. Today's hike included a lot of retracing our steps. I was super-happy to hear that we would be heading down toward Lower Pangboche, rather than taking the death-defying trail out of Upper Pangboche on our way to Debuche. 

We arrived in Debuche around 12p and immediately headed to the dining room for lunch. Following our meal, D and I got a small pot of black tea to share and relaxed while listening to a few more episodes of This American Life (our new favorite activity) on my iPod. Later in the afternoon, Dilip was tasked with taking D and me up to the Tengboche Monastery, where we spent some time wandering around the grounds. 

We returned to our lodge around 3:30p and spent some more time chilling (literally and figuratively) out before dinner. We were both still a little hunger after our meal, so we ordered some apple pie (really, more like apple baked inside a dough roll) to share for dessert. It was pretty tasty!

Given the low-light conditions (we ate dinner by the light of our headlamps), we soon headed off to bed. We'd be up early in the morning to make our way from Debuche back to Khumjung and on to Namche for the night. 

1. Ready to leave Dingboche, 2. Morning mountain view, 3. Along the trail, 4. Along the trail, 5. Trail view, 6. Gateway, 7. Stupa along the trail, 8. Suspension bridge!, 9. Hey little buddy!, 10. Lodge menu, 11. What're you looking at?, 12. Tengboche Monastery, 13. Me at the Tengboche Monastery, 14. Dilip, 15. Our lodge in Debuche lodge
SHARE:

Nepal Trek Day Eleven: Dingboche - Chukkung - Dingboche

Over the next three weeks, I'm taking a trip down memory lane with a look back at our trip to Nepal last December. For all of the entries about our trek, click here.

Today was another nice and easy day. D left for his hike around 5:30a while I slept in for another couple of hours. The original plan was to meet up with Dilip for breakfast in the dining room, but when I arrived, Dilip was still asleep in a pile of blankets in the corner of the room. Since I had no where to go, I just sat and read a little, drinking some black tea to keep warm. Eventually one of the lodge workers came around to take my breakfast order, and I opted for the chocolate pancake. (Why not?) By the time I finished breakfast, Dilip was up and at 'em, and after he ate his meal, we both headed out to Chukkung. Since Dilip didn't speak much English (or in the very least, was too shy to try), our walk to Chukkung was fairly quiet, but that was fine by me. 

Bharat met us as we crested the last hill before Chukkung, and we all walked together the rest of the way to where D was waiting in the lodge where we would be eating lunch. D and I shared a small pot of milk tea and coconut crunchies while he regaled me with the tale of his morning hike and summiting of Chukkung Ri. The most astonishing event was that he and Bharat saw a (super-elusive, and rarely-sighted) snow leopard as they left Dingboche in the morning. I was definitely ruing my decision not to go with them in the morning -- as that would have been an awesome thing to see. Pretty amazing. 

Following lunch, we all headed back to Dingboche as a group. Bharat pointed out where he and D had seen the snow leopard in the morning, and D and I stopped to see if we could find any prints or other evidence of the cat. No such luck, however, especially since yaks had since made their way through the area as they grazed. 

The rest of the day and evening were mainly uneventful. D and I spent some of the time sharing the earbuds of my iPod and listening to a couple of podcast episodes of This American Life. I had a repeat of last night's veggie burger dinner, and it was just as good as the previous night's. We opted to call it a night around 7p. Tomorrow we would start making our way back toward Namche; the end of our trek was quickly approaching.  

1. Along the trail, 2.  Hiking into the sunshine, 3. More mountain views, 4. Lodge menu, 5. Chukung, 6. D pointing to Chukung Ri (which he summitted that morning), 7. Nibbles the horse, 8. Climber memorial, 9. Along the trail, 10. Construction zone
SHARE:

Nepal Trek Day Ten: Pangboche - Dingboche

Over the next three weeks, I'm taking a trip down memory lane with a look back at our trip to Nepal last December. For all of the entries about our trek, click here.

{Dingboche at dusk}

I woke up feeling a bit better today. After breakfast, we packed up our stuff and headed onto the trail around 9:15a. Today's hike was pretty low-key as it was mostly flat with just a few steep inclines. So much better than yesterday's hike! We arrived in Dingboche around noon. After dropping our stuff into our room, we headed to the dining room for lunch. After lunch D and I got a small thermos of hot chocolate to share, and sat outside for awhile reading our books (I spent the majority of the trek reading The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo). After awhile, I retreated back to our room after the wind picked up (we were at 14,000+ feet so it was already quite chilling to begin with). Luckily our room had a window seat, where I perched with a pillow and continued to read for a while in the warm sunlight. 

Later in the afternoon, D and I took a short hike around the village, and I took a few photos of the surrounding mountains in the last light of the day. Pretty gorgeous views as usual. We headed into the dining room for dinner around 5p. Tonight I ordered a veggie burger with "finger chips" -- oh, it was so good. Kind of embarrassing that one of the best meals I had to date in Nepal was a veggie burger, but there you go. 

Prior to retreating to bed, we discussed our plan for the morning. D and Bharat would head up to Chukkung Ri around 5:30a, while I would stay back at the lodge and eat breakfast. Later, I would head to Chukkung with Dilip leading the way, and there we would meet up the other two after they had summited the mountaintop.

1. Village of Pangboche, 2. Along the trail, 3. Mountains views, 4. Bird!, 5. Himalayan goats, 6. Rimpoche holy site, 7. Me and the mountains, 8. Bridge crossing, 9. Mountains around Dingboche, 10. View from our lodge room, 11. Lodge menu, 12.  Sunshine hitting the tops of the mountains, 13. Evening lights hits the mountains around Dingboche, 14. Dingboche at dusk , 15. Veggie burger and finger chips (yum!!)
SHARE:

Nepal Trek Day Nine: Phortse - Pangboche

Over the next three weeks, I'm taking a trip down memory lane with a look back at our trip to Nepal last December. For all of the entries about our trek, click here.

My chest cold worsened overnight in Phortse. I was awake for most of the night coughing up a storm. When I finally fell asleep, it was a semi-lucid sleep, in which I thought I was dreaming about singing, but apparently I was humming like a crazy person. D spent the evening flashing his headlamp in my direction to get me to wake up and shut up. I'm sure our neighbors in the rooms surrounding us loved all the noise I was unconsciously making all night. Oh well. 

Following breakfast, I finally took the first dose of levaquin, a strong antibiotic we had on hand with us, to combat my respiratory issues. (D consulted his doctor friend in Laramie before we left as to what we should have with us, and he suggested levaquin, vicodin (in case of broken limbs on the trail), and ambien (for the long plane rides to and from Nepal). (If only we had also gotten some diamox!) 

Following breakfast, we packed up our stuff and headed out on the trail to Pangboche. I think today marked the worst of it in terms of walking steeply up and down trails alongside ledges. I had a bit of a moment when I was stymied by about four feet of loose-gravel-covered trail located on a steep downward angle alongside a deep ravine. I was paralyzed with fear as I watched Dilip nonchalantly walk past me carrying our large pack and saw the trail give way slightly underneath his weight. Bharat came back to me and took me arm to lead me across the small portion of trail. Soon after, he took my pack, which he carried on his front, while he carried his own on his back, for the rest of the day. Without the added weight on my back, I felt a little bit sturdier and balanced on the trail, though I still spent most of the day in abject fear of falling over the edge. As I wrote in my journal, "For several hours, my eyes were glued solely on the trail ahead of me and where I would next place my foot -- and not at that steep drop-off to my right." (Dramatic much?) Long story short, I don't have many pictures from the day's hike, as my camera was in my bag carried by Bharat, and I really wasn't so interested in taking pictures at the time, anyway.

Once we arrived at our lodge in Pangboche (which was a glorious sight to behold that day), I headed directly to our room, where I stripped off a few layers, and then took a much-needed nap. Given the lack of sleep from the previous night, I managed to sleep through lunch. Around 3p I roused myself awake and D and I headed out to explore the village. One funny thing was that there was a group from REI camped out in the courtyard in front of our lodge (perhaps the very REI trip we had initially looked at being a part of?) -- I have to say I was very glad we opted to stay in teahouses rather than tent camp. I can't imagine how cold it must've been to overnight in a tent, especially at the higher elevations along the way. We were frozen many nights, even in our lodge rooms!

 {death-defying trail to Pangboche}

{village view}

 {arriving at our lodge in Pangboche}

 {REI camp in the courtyard below our lodge}

 {carved rocks}

{Pangboche}

{Pangboche stupa}
SHARE:

Nepal Trek Day Eight: Dole - Phortse

Over the next three weeks, I'm taking a trip down memory lane with a look back at our trip to Nepal last December. For all of the entries about our trek, click here.

"Why does Phortse have to up a ginormous steep hill?" is the first line of my journal entry from December, 15, 2010. Oof -- after a fairly easy walk from Dole to Phortse Thanga (which was located down alongside the river), the climb up to the village of Phortse was ridiculously steep (and seemingly never-ending). As I recall, D was practically jogging up the hill, while I slowly huffed and puffed my way up the trail. It didn't help that my strengthening chest cold was deeply hampering my already reduced lung capacity. As seemed to be the case in many of our overnight stays, our lodge was at the very top of the village. After dropping our stuff off in our room, we headed to the dining room for lunch. After eating, we spent most of the rest of the early afternoon chillaxing in the warm sunshine of the dining room, catching up on reading, and drinking several rounds of black tea. 

 {Phortse lodge}

 {waiting for lunch}

Later in the afternoon, D and I bundled up and headed out to explore the village. Though getting there was fairly challenging (for me, at least), the benefit of being at such a high vantage point was that the views of the surrounding area were quite stunning. I took a million photos of the scenery, as was typically the case with most of our stops. I also spied what looked to be our trail for tomorrow, and given its location alongside a deep ravine, I could already feel the nervousness creeping in.

{view looking down on Phortse}

{prayer flags and mountains}


Our stay at Phortse marked one of the few times when we weren't the only or one of a few guests staying at a lodge. This time around there was a group of Aussies also staying at the lodge, and my, were they a loud and bawdy group! But it was fun listening to them talk and getting the run-down of events to come from their guide. Prior to dinner, D and I taught Bharat and Dilip how to play gin rummy, and we wiled away some time playing several rounds of cards before our food came. Soon after dinner, we headed to bed in the darkness and cold. As it turned out, I would have quite a restless night ahead of me. 
SHARE:
© A Less Processed Life. All rights reserved.
BLOGGER TEMPLATE MADE BY pipdig