NYC Stopover

We had 8 hours in NYC so we decided not to waste it!  First stop: cheesecake lover's paradise, Junior's!  Just three days before I had watched "Throwdown with Bobby Flay," and they'd done a cheesecake throwdown at Junior's.  Best cheesecake of my life!

It wouldn't be summer in NYC without 96 degree heat and a slice of pizza! 

Mmmm, best cheesecake ever!

I got plain, Marie got Devil's food.  Mine was better :)

This is a cool urban getaway, Café Habana, or Habana Outpost (can't figure out what the actual name is), but it was a fun and funky bright green bar and eatery right in Brooklyn.  Marie's friend Kate took us there and it was the best way to beat the heat of a hot summer afternoon.  Check out the margarita's and roasted corn with chile and cotija cheese.  http://www.habanaoutpost.com/locations/location/habana-outpost

Iceland Itinerary 2012

Day 1: Reykjavík, Blue Lagoon

Day 2: Visit Hraunfossar waterfall, hike through lava tubes, hot pots next to ocean in Drangsnes
Day 3: Drive through Westfjörds, Heyðalur, bathe in hot pots, drive to Isafjörður. 

Day 4: Kayak through fjörds, Dynjandi waterfall, Látrabjarg bird cliffs and Rauðsandur red sand beach

Day 5: Hot pots next to ocean, ferry ride to Snaefellesness Penninsula, drive to Raykjavík

Day 6: To Landmannalaugur (awesome hot pots) and hike 12km to Alftvatán.  590m vertical climb.

Day 7: Alftvatán to Emstrur hike, 12km mostly downhill.

Day 8: Emstrur to hike, 15km.

Day 9: Final trek into Þorsmörk (Thorsmork), 15km.

Day 10: Bus back to Reykjavík, visit National Museum.

Day 11: Golden Circle-- Geysir, Gullfoss, Þingveiller National Park and UNESCO World Heritage Site

Day 12: Keflavík

Day 13: Reykjavík, ferry to Viðey island.

Day 14: Hitchhike to Blue Lagoon and back to Keflavík.

Day 15: Home!  Takes longer to get from NYC to Porland than from Reykjavík to NYC.

Making Cheese... for real!

Making fresh mozzerella...  Websites all over the Internet claim it's really easy, but I did not have that experience.  From now on, I will buy my mozz.

Heating the milk and rennet.  Curds and whey form and then...

...You strain off the curds...

and let them drain for a while,

Then the stretching!

Then the eating. The consistency wasn't quite right, but it worked.  

Like I said, I think you're better off purchasing cheese. 

Hiking the Pacific Crest Trail 8/2011

Jill and I spent 3-4 days hiking in the Sisters Wilderness in Central Oregon.  Fun days of hiking, camping, campstove cooking and swimming in mountain lakes.

 

 

Other June-July 2011

On the beach in Le Havre, which was completely destroyed during WWII.

Me, Damien and Elsa enjoying the brief Normandy sunshine.

Moi et Gildas sur la Côte d'Albâtre à Fécamp

I never get sick of this view.

Taking students to France was a great experience! Introducing teenagers to a place they will love forever, seeing old friends and eating really great food... what more could one want from a summer?

Bagel Making!

Kneading

Rising

Forming

Resting

Boiling

Eating!

Making bagels with Uncle Dave and Aunt Jill on Kainui. Fun and delicious (but so much work... I will buy bagels from now on)!

February 2011

Meet Olivia! She likes to go on hikes, get the mail, chase deer and eat cheese and peanut butter. From February through July, 2011, I had the amazing opportunity to house sit a large, beautiful home in the foothills of Corvallis. In that time, I became friends with the neighbors, chased a turkey and a deer who chased Olivia (on separate occasions), drank a bottle of champagne that did not belong to me and could not be replaced, went on lots of hikes in the MacDonald forest, and had a really good time living in a real home, complete with copper gutters, a slate roof and a music room.