Today the Dutchess County Fair started. It gets big hype from everyone I've talked to in the area. It's been fun to see the carnival ride trucks rolling into town. At the Grandstand, big names like George Jones, Montgomery Gentry, and Foreigner are playing....but since tickets went on sale in May, I probably won't be going.
I can't wait to check it out! Mmmm, funnel cake! Although I won't be riding any ferris wheels... once, a very long time ago, I got stuck on one for what seemed like hours (I think I was about four, so it was probably only 20 minutes)! I've never liked them since!
It's been raining a lot here, so my adventures have been a bit hampered. I'm hoping to go hiking in the Catskills soon, maybe this weekend!
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Saturday, August 14, 2010
Fun with a Bread Machine!
I'm borrowing a bread machine from my landlord. It's awesome. And easy! Making bread is a snap with this thing... no messy hands from kneading sticky dough, no leaving bread out on the counter to be inspected by nosy cats, just nice, neat, and orderly bread making!
Here's my recent attempt at cinnamon-raisin bread:
Here's my recent attempt at cinnamon-raisin bread:
It was delicious! Next time I'll add more cinnamon. This weekend, I'll be trying the "chocolate cake" recipe. Perhaps bread making isn't as exciting or daring of an adventure as hiking in the desert or camping in the mountains, but it sure is a tasty one! Adventures in domesticity, why not?
P.S. Those peaches were maybe the best ever. And from a local farm stand! yum.
P.S. Those peaches were maybe the best ever. And from a local farm stand! yum.
Friday, August 13, 2010
Welcome to My World.
I live behind a painting. Literally.
I'm staying in an unfinished dance/art studio, and the painting serves as a door between the dance studio (landlord's storage space) and the art studio (my living quarters). Every time I squeeze behind the painting, I imagine I'm entering my own secret world. Currently, my secret world has a lot of partially unpacked boxes and disorganized stuff.
It's only till the end of the month, when I get to move into my real new home. But for right now, there's no oven or stove top (since there's no real kitchen) or shower. I like to cook things, so the no-stove/oven has been challenging. I also like to be clean. The solution? Improvise! I've been learning to be a gourmet chef with my propane camping stove, a microwave, a rice cooker, a wafflemaker, an electric skillet, and a bread machine! I am especially enjoying the waffles and the bread, yum!
The cleanliness solution is found at the local college's gym. I didn't like that at all at first, but got used to it pretty quick. It sure beats feeling dirty! The students working the front desk always seem a bit confused when I've only been there for 20 minutes... I guess most people don't go to the gym just to shower. Who'd have thought?
Since moving, I've been spending my time trying to figure out where I packed that random thing, unpacking it, getting necessary things (like that trip to IKEA... I didn't buy anything I didn't just have to have! lol), exploring the area, and looking for a job. Hopefully I'll find something good. For now, I'll just keep popping through the picture, like Mary Poppins through a chalk-drawing!
I'm staying in an unfinished dance/art studio, and the painting serves as a door between the dance studio (landlord's storage space) and the art studio (my living quarters). Every time I squeeze behind the painting, I imagine I'm entering my own secret world. Currently, my secret world has a lot of partially unpacked boxes and disorganized stuff.
It's only till the end of the month, when I get to move into my real new home. But for right now, there's no oven or stove top (since there's no real kitchen) or shower. I like to cook things, so the no-stove/oven has been challenging. I also like to be clean. The solution? Improvise! I've been learning to be a gourmet chef with my propane camping stove, a microwave, a rice cooker, a wafflemaker, an electric skillet, and a bread machine! I am especially enjoying the waffles and the bread, yum!
The cleanliness solution is found at the local college's gym. I didn't like that at all at first, but got used to it pretty quick. It sure beats feeling dirty! The students working the front desk always seem a bit confused when I've only been there for 20 minutes... I guess most people don't go to the gym just to shower. Who'd have thought?
Since moving, I've been spending my time trying to figure out where I packed that random thing, unpacking it, getting necessary things (like that trip to IKEA... I didn't buy anything I didn't just have to have! lol), exploring the area, and looking for a job. Hopefully I'll find something good. For now, I'll just keep popping through the picture, like Mary Poppins through a chalk-drawing!
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Got Your Fishing Pole? Let's Hunt Mushrooms!
This weekend I had my first encounter with the wild world of mycology. I joined other intrepid forest scavengers for a mushroom walk!
There are all kinds of mushrooms that grow in the wild --- some delicious, some deadly. But how do you know what is safe to pick and eat? I've always wondered this, and thought it would be cool to know, in sort of a surviving as a hunter-scavenger sort of way. I'd always been afraid to try mushrooming on my own --- what if I mixed up the poisonous and non-poisonous ones? oops! I knew that some of the deadly ones looked deceptively like the tasty kind. So when I saw a posting for a mushroom walk with people who knew what they were looking at, I signed up right away!
What fun, to wander through the woods and find food to eat! We spent the morning patrolling the woods for hidden gems poking up through the ground cover. We started at a known patch of oyster mushrooms:
Collecting wild oyster mushrooms for some fine dining.
These guys taste like oysters, hence their name. I'm not a fan of seafoody things, so I passed on this one. After harvesting some of them, we spread out and found lots of different mushrooms!
Lactarius, exquisitely tasty (so I'm told) Chanterelles, boletes, amonitas, and more I didn't learn the names of!
At the end of the morning, we gathered to compare our finds and discuss the identification of some unknowns we'd picked. A local expert helped us figure out what some of them were, and then took many to use in a class later in the week.
I had a great time learning about mushrooms, and can't wait for the next fungal foray!
A note about mushroom gathering: Don't try this unless you really know what you're doing! There are some really deadly fungi out there. Also, you can't gather mushrooms just anywhere. Make sure you know the rules and regulations before picking mushrooms on public lands.
There are all kinds of mushrooms that grow in the wild --- some delicious, some deadly. But how do you know what is safe to pick and eat? I've always wondered this, and thought it would be cool to know, in sort of a surviving as a hunter-scavenger sort of way. I'd always been afraid to try mushrooming on my own --- what if I mixed up the poisonous and non-poisonous ones? oops! I knew that some of the deadly ones looked deceptively like the tasty kind. So when I saw a posting for a mushroom walk with people who knew what they were looking at, I signed up right away!
What fun, to wander through the woods and find food to eat! We spent the morning patrolling the woods for hidden gems poking up through the ground cover. We started at a known patch of oyster mushrooms:
Red russulas
Lactarius, exquisitely tasty (so I'm told) Chanterelles, boletes, amonitas, and more I didn't learn the names of!
Not sure what this is...
And a tiny, bright orange salamander!
Comparing mushrooms we found throughout the woods.
I had a great time learning about mushrooms, and can't wait for the next fungal foray!
A note about mushroom gathering: Don't try this unless you really know what you're doing! There are some really deadly fungi out there. Also, you can't gather mushrooms just anywhere. Make sure you know the rules and regulations before picking mushrooms on public lands.
Saturday, August 7, 2010
New Furniture? Yes, Please!
On Friday I had my first IKEA experience. The drive into New Jersey was harrowing! But WOW! IKEA is a big place. Despite spending all day there (including lunch...they have a cafeteria!), I managed to spend only a bit more money than I should have....of course, a lot less than I could have spent! My new place is going to be ultra-sleek and modern. Well, not really, but I can pretend. I did get a pretty neat chair, and a new duvet cover!
Adventures in shopping, hooray!
Adventures in shopping, hooray!
Friday, August 6, 2010
Two Cars, Three People, and a Crazy Cat Make the Trip from Vegas to New York in 3.5 Days!
Wow!
The road trip from Vegas to New York went by really fast!
Wednesday: In the morning, we packed the cars, and hit the highway by early afternoon. The traveling party was made up of three capable drivers and a slightly neurotic (but oh so lovable) cat, all piled into two very full cars. Driving through Utah provided gorgeous scenery (I expected nothing less!). I definitely want to get back to the eastern part of Utah to see Arches National Park, Escalante, and other sights in that area. We made it to Grand Junction, Colorado the first night and collapsed with exhaustion from the packing and driving. However, Mr. Crazy Cat decided that the room was much too quiet at about 3 A.M., and provided us with full-volume crooning for the rest of the night.
Thursday: The drive through Colorado was really cool! We drove past Vail and through the high mountain peaks... our loaded down cars didn't like it so much, but we made it! Going down-hill on the other side was a lot of fun! Then, Kansas. It was pretty flat. But, they do have lots of really pretty sunflowers! We stopped somewhere random for dinner at an IHOP. That night we stayed somewhere unmemorable outside of Topeka, Kansas, another night full of cat howling.
Friday: I think we were all pretty sick of driving and tired of cat howling by Friday. Only withplenty of too many Starbucks Doubleshots were we able to make it to Dayton, Ohio for the night. Oh! But we stopped in Indianapolis for dinner. We were craving real (good) food for a change, so Driver #3 used his magic phone to find us a Turkish restaurant named Bosphorous. It was AMAZING! I think I ate the best baba ganoush I've ever had. It was an incredibly satisfying and refreshing dinner after several days of sitting in the car.
Saturday: We left Dayton in the rain and made the trip across Ohio, through a smidgen of West Virginia, and into Pennsylvania. We dropped off Driver #3 at the train station so he could get back home, and continued north towards New York. The plan was to stop in Scranton. We did stop there, but quickly found out that we were going to have a long night. Unfortunately for us, it was time to Shake and Bake! NASCAR was in town, so no motel rooms for miles around. We'd already driven twelve hours, but pushed on, stopping at each new exit with a motel. Three hours later, we found a room! Exhausted beyond belief, we slept despite the late-night serenades of our feline friend. We'd made it to New York!
Sunday: Having driven three hours extra the day before, it was only another hour and a half or so to our new home. Driving into the Hudson Valley was surreal. After living in the desert where you can see for miles, driving through the flats and rolling hills of the midwest, and through sheets of rain, winding down country roads walled with trees was a bit unnerving. But we'd made it! We arrived at our new abode and started the process of settling in. Home at last!
I didn't do much but unpack a bit and sleep for the next few days, and almost a week later am just now feeling fully recovered! I'm excited to explore the Hudson Valley. There are lots of events and festivals, and the fall foliage is supposed to be amazing! New adventures here I come!
The road trip from Vegas to New York went by really fast!
Wednesday: In the morning, we packed the cars, and hit the highway by early afternoon. The traveling party was made up of three capable drivers and a slightly neurotic (but oh so lovable) cat, all piled into two very full cars. Driving through Utah provided gorgeous scenery (I expected nothing less!). I definitely want to get back to the eastern part of Utah to see Arches National Park, Escalante, and other sights in that area. We made it to Grand Junction, Colorado the first night and collapsed with exhaustion from the packing and driving. However, Mr. Crazy Cat decided that the room was much too quiet at about 3 A.M., and provided us with full-volume crooning for the rest of the night.
Thursday: The drive through Colorado was really cool! We drove past Vail and through the high mountain peaks... our loaded down cars didn't like it so much, but we made it! Going down-hill on the other side was a lot of fun! Then, Kansas. It was pretty flat. But, they do have lots of really pretty sunflowers! We stopped somewhere random for dinner at an IHOP. That night we stayed somewhere unmemorable outside of Topeka, Kansas, another night full of cat howling.
Friday: I think we were all pretty sick of driving and tired of cat howling by Friday. Only with
Saturday: We left Dayton in the rain and made the trip across Ohio, through a smidgen of West Virginia, and into Pennsylvania. We dropped off Driver #3 at the train station so he could get back home, and continued north towards New York. The plan was to stop in Scranton. We did stop there, but quickly found out that we were going to have a long night. Unfortunately for us, it was time to Shake and Bake! NASCAR was in town, so no motel rooms for miles around. We'd already driven twelve hours, but pushed on, stopping at each new exit with a motel. Three hours later, we found a room! Exhausted beyond belief, we slept despite the late-night serenades of our feline friend. We'd made it to New York!
Sunday: Having driven three hours extra the day before, it was only another hour and a half or so to our new home. Driving into the Hudson Valley was surreal. After living in the desert where you can see for miles, driving through the flats and rolling hills of the midwest, and through sheets of rain, winding down country roads walled with trees was a bit unnerving. But we'd made it! We arrived at our new abode and started the process of settling in. Home at last!
I didn't do much but unpack a bit and sleep for the next few days, and almost a week later am just now feeling fully recovered! I'm excited to explore the Hudson Valley. There are lots of events and festivals, and the fall foliage is supposed to be amazing! New adventures here I come!
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