Colorado’s Burning
I suppose it’s time to acknowledge that I’m living in a state that’s all aflame.
Some states have hurricanes, some have earthquakes, and Colorado, well it has fires. And while I’ve lived in Colorado for 22 years and am totally used to fire season, what’s happening right now is something entirely different.
Two weeks ago, I walked outside to go to work and there was no ignoring the fact that there was a bad fire nearby. The air was hazy and smell was overwhelming. Little did I know there were several other fires burning and now I think there’s somewhere around 15 fires in Colorado. Some are worse than others, but they’re all heartbreaking. I don’t like to think that any of my home state is being destroyed.
Natural disasters are so frustrating because there’s really nothing you can do to stop them from coming. Even if you really want to. I’m just crossing my fingers that no new fires start and that the ones that are blazing now get taken care of as soon as possible. And feeling really really lucky that I don’t know anyone who’s in danger right now.
(Totally did not take this picture, by the way!)
Honey Yogurt Pancakes
I’m not really into yogurt.
I mean, I’ve definitely gone through yogurt stages before, but it’s not really on my list of favorite foods.
But.
My co-worker brought Noosa to lunch last week and I was immediately reminded that… I love that yogurt. I mean yoghurt. And if you’ve never had Noosa, you’ve never lived. I can’t even begin to explain how amazing that brand of yoghurt is. It’s not just yoghurt, it’s like velvety custard. I don’t know what their secret is, but I’d pay good money to find out.
On Sunday morning, I was kind of being a crab. Here’s how crabby I was being. Joey reminded me it was Pancake Sunday and my reaction was basically this. “Ughhhh, I don’t want toooo.” Who says that about pancakes?! But Robert Irvine was showing me how to make hasselback potatoes and the couch was really comfy. Then I remembered I had Honey Noosa in the fridge and Pancake Sunday was on.
Honey Yogurt Pancakes
Or yoghurt, if you’re lucky enough to have Noosa on hand.
- 2 cups whole wheat flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 heaping teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 cups milk
- 1/4 cup honey-flavored yogurt (or whatever yogurt you have on hand)
- 1 egg
- In a large bowl, mix flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt.
- In a second bowl, whisk milk, yogurt and egg.
- Add wet ingredients to dry and mix just until combined.
- Turn your skillet on, grease it and let batter sit while the skillet heats up.
- Drop batter onto skillet by the 1/4 cup-full and cook until slightly browned and ready to be flipped, then cook on the other side.
Top with what have you.
Have you ever had Noosa Yoghurt?
Are you much of a yogurt eater?
What instantly makes you in a better mood? My answer: being in Disneyland, but I guess that’s kind of a long trip to make every time I’m in a bad mood.
Quandary Peak
Places I’m Sunburned: behind my ears, right underneath the hairline on my forehead, from mid-calf to the top of my ankle.
Things That Are Sore: my butt, my quads, my calves. Basically the lower half of my body.
Things I Have Hanging Around My Apartment: a Go Lite backpack, half-eaten bags of pretzels/trailmix, dirty socks and sunscreen that obviously wasn’t used very well.
Guess where I was yesterday!
Oh you know, just hiking my first 14er. No big deal.
We were up at 4 AM and on our way up the mountain by 6 AM.
The very beginning of the hike up Quandary Peak is kind of steep. I would be lying if I said I wasn’t kind of freaking out in my head because we were 2 minutes in and I was already so out of breath. I wasn’t sure I was going to make it, but it eventually flattened out.
Our friend Chris has hiked a bunch of 14ers, so he served as our mountain guide. All good mountain guides have hiking sticks.
Our backpacks were lifesavers.
Stopped for snacks and a chance to take in the breathtaking scenery.
Then we just had to make it up to the summit. Every time I looked up, the summit looked like it was right there, but it so wasn’t. And when you have to stop every few minutes to catch your breath and let your burning legs rest, it can feel like getting to the top is taking for.ev.er.
But then you get there, eat a peanut butter and jelly pita and it all seems worth it. Oh, and the views, those are pretty good too.
You know how when you’re hiking and you’re legs are burning and tired and you can’t wait to go down and then you start going down and your legs feel like jello and your knees and ankles feel like they’re going to break and you’re never sure if the rocks you’re stepping on are stable or if they’re going to slide out from under your foot? Oh you don’t? Me neither…
Things I Loved: the scenery, the camaraderie between all of us hikers, the fresh air, the company, the mountain goats, the feeling of doing something amazing.
Things I Did Not Love: waking up at 4 AM, wanting to go to bed a 5 PM, the sunburn on my legs, the pain in my calves, how bad I had to go to the bathroom the entire way down, the fact that a dad carrying his 4-year-old son on his shoulders beat me up the mountain.
But give me a couple weeks to forget all the hard parts and I’ll probably want to do another one.
Lauren Loves Good Food 