On The Fridge

December Activities.

2011-12-08T21:22:00.001-08:00

Randoms. But good ones.

Delicious hotdog joint at Park City Mountain Resort. Started at the summer park in Mt Hood, and followed the 'jibber park kids' to Park City last winter. This summer they built a permanent structure with a deck and everything.

They get Rob's approval.

Finally tried the sweet potato cupcake recipe I'd been holding on to for a few weeks. Rob helped by 'toasting' the marshmallow toppings.

Mid-cupcake toast.

Few more Holiday-esque recipes:

Candycane Biscotti

Chocolate Chip Walnut Mini-Loafs (from my new Pampered Chef Mini-Loaf Stone!)

Peppermint Martini

And a Girl's Night In Craft Night ... Homemade Wreaths!

Thanksgiving Aspen Adventure

2011-12-08T18:13:00.001-08:00

We spent another wonderful Thanksgiving in Colorado in 2011, with plenty of food, libations, and a little bit of skiing.

Rob helped make the cranberry apple pie.

Hickory House smoked turkey feast.

Sunny day skiing at Ajax.

Talk about ski-in/ski-out.

Something you can't find in Utah, $15 Happy hour pitchers of margaritas.

Aspen Trees.

Fireworks over Ajax.

Stomach Stretching Pizza Feast

2011-12-08T18:10:00.001-08:00

Two years officially makes it a tradition, right?

Well it does in our book.

Monday before Thanksgiving we hosted the 2nd Annual Stomach Stretching Pizza Feast. Rules are simple: everyone in attendance brings a medium pizza from one of the many take-out places in Park City, and then we eat until we can possibly eat any more.

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Farm

2011-11-06T09:03:00.001-08:00

We experienced the best meal either of us have ever had in Park City last night at a new-ish restaurant called the Farm. It is located at Canyons ski resort and works with local farmers/growers to create all of their dishes.

We started with a delicious lavender-infused vodka lemonade and a manhattan with local High West Double Rye whiskey. For appetizers we has pork belly with sautéed spinach and bee hive cheese, and pork corndogs with local honey mustard.

For our main course Rob had a delicious Buffalo Osso Bucco, and I had a bourbon porkchop with mashed sweet potatoes and blackeyed peas.

The dessert menu looked amazing, but we were both too stuffed from dinner to try anything on it.

The portions were very generous, especially for Park City dining. We were both very impressed by the food, atmosphere and overall experience. Can't wait to go back, but next time will be sure to save room for dessert, and bring home leftovers!

Moe.

2011-10-29T10:45:00.001-07:00

Moe. The newest addition. An itty bitty kitty that Rob found living under our back porch.

Moe really likes smoked pork shoulder.

Spaghetti is not Moe's favorite.

Diamond Fork Hot Springs 10/16/11

2011-10-17T11:58:00.001-07:00

Went exploring this weekend and found a new spot in Utah, Diamond Fork Hot Springs. About an hour and 1/2 drive from Park City there is a 2 mile hike up to natural hot springs. Easy hike, and there were still come fall colors to be seen. Cant wait to try it in the winter when the snow is falling!

Mid-Mountain Colors - 10/1/2011

2011-10-17T11:56:00.000-07:00

Took advantage of warm Fall temperatures and the beautiful changing colors and went for a mountain bike ride on Park City Mountain Resort behind our place.

First flat tire of the season. And I got two in one ride.

Mendocino County California

2011-10-17T11:52:00.000-07:00

Friday Night was the Welcome Dinner/BBQ for Kate and Eric at Kate's Aunt and Uncle's house. Beautiful house tucked up in the foothills and Vineyards. We decided to pull Kate and Eric aside to give them their wedding gift away from all the other guests and before the craziness of the wedding began. We were lucky enough to be able to use our friendship and fresh cookies as leverage to have two custom pairs of Moment skis made to commemorate their wedding day. Needless to say they were pumped.

The next morning we found a cute little breakfast spot across from our hotel in Hopland. It wasn't really hard to find, it was the only place besides a grocery store and a donut shop in the little town of 700 people. The food was great, and the brought us a bread basket full of pastries to start the meal.

While the mountain biking was a bust, we were still able to do some pretty amazing exploring in Mendocino County the morning before the wedding. Drove up Cow Mountain which was supposed to have 17 miles of mountain biking trails. All we found were shotgun shells and more shotgun shells. But we did get a great view of the valley below.

And yes, a little brand tagging.

The town of Ukiah held some gems of its own. Including a Buddhist Monastery, peacocks, and this guy.

The wedding was held at Jerico Estate which is a "tread gently upon the Earth" vineyard with beautiful Mediterranean-style architecture and 180 acres of vineyards. It was a beautiful setting for the wedding.

The wedding had a very heavy ski theme, was really well done!

Great dinner, dancing and drinks, had a fantastic evening.

Even though we took 3 days to drive to California, we decided to tackle the whole drive back in one day. This time drove South through Napa and Sacramento. The drive through all the vineyards and past all the wineries was beautiful, and we couldn't have asked for better weather for the drive. The highlight of the 14 hour drive home was finding a roadside BBQ stand that had all the meats smoking outside over an open pit.

Driving To Cali - A 3 Day Adventure

2011-10-17T11:13:00.000-07:00

788 Miles and 14 Hours in a car, totally better than flying.

We decided to drive to Northern California in early October to attend Rob's college roomate's wedding. Driving would allow us to take our bikes, and as many other things as we thought we would need for the 4 day weekend without worrying about airline restrictions. Did we ride our bikes? Did we need 6 pairs of shoes, 5 ties and 4 dresses? No. But we sure had quite the adventure driving there!

Wednesday

We made the decision to leave on Wednesday after work and drive strait through to Reno so we would have a full day there to mountain bike and hangout with our Moment friends. Wednesday night was also when the first big storm of the winter decided to roll through Utah and Nevada. We made it about 45 minutes out of Salt Lake before we hit a wall of rain and 45 MPH crosswinds. In the dark. After about 5 minutes of driving in this at 50 MPH we both decided that getting a hotel room in Wendover was the best decision. Boy was it ever. $60 got us a very clean room at the classiest casino in town, a huge king bed, and some amazing people watching.

Thursday

Thursday morning we woke up to snow on the mountain tops, and along the hwy for a good portion of our drive.

Made it to Reno in time for some In-N-Out, and a tour of the new Moment show room.

I also found the shining star of Reno ... a nail salon where you can get a mani-pedi all while enjoying a delicious non-Utah margarita. Sold, will visit Reno anytime.

Friday
Friday noonish we started our last leg of the drive to California Multiple people encouraged us to take the more scenic 2-lane road instead of 1-80. Being up for an adventure we said "Why Not" and took off in to the deep words of Northern Cali. Drove through snow, Olive Orchards, Vineyards and some pretty interesting little towns.

The last 17 miles and hour of our drive was over the Hopland Pass, one of the "steepest and most difficult to drive of any California highway" we later found out. It is 17 miles of 10 MPH hairpin turns overlooking steep drop offs and eroding road. It was white-knuckle driving at its best, but the views were amazing.

Wasatch Crest Ride

2011-09-11T17:18:00.000-07:00

A crew of us decided to take advantage of the nice cool Fall weather and go for a mid-day Wasatch Crest ride on Saturday. The Crest runs along the ridge between Big Cottonwood Canyon and the Park City area, stretching from Deer Valley Resort, north to the Canyons Resort. The views along the ride are breathtaking and expansive. You can look to the West and see Big Cottonwood Canyon and Brighton Ski resort, or look to the East and see Park City and surrounding Valley.

Laboring Away - 3 Days of Anything But Work

2011-09-11T17:01:00.000-07:00

Stuck around Park City/Salt Lake area for this Labor Day and had plenty to do to fill the three days off work.

Saturday we headed to Miller Motersports Park in Tooele Utah to watch the Bonneville vintage GP. Rob's friend Donnie was racing his Honda for the first time, so we went to watch. Between all the old motorcycles, the smell of gasoline and exhaust, and the ever present sound of engines, I think Rob was in heaven.

Donnie's bike:

Sunday we went for a bike ride up the new trail they just put in by our house. It is an uphill traffic only trail which is nice because you don't have to worry about people barreling down on you as you are climbing. The only downside ... once you start you are committed to making it to the top since you cant ride your bike back down! The trail does provide you with some amazing views of Park City.

Also noticed the colors starting to change ...

Labor Day in Park City provides a lot of entertainment ranging from a Pancake Breakfast, Parade, the "Running of the Balls", (a race of over 5,000 golf balls down Main Street), and my favorite, the Mucking and Drilling competition. The competition is an exhibition of the way mining was done back in the late 1800s and early 1900s and uses old mining equipment.

Mucking:

Drilling:

And I can't forget to mention the true highlight of the long weekend ... Rob made his amazing ribs. Yum.

Jackson Hole Trip - August '11

2011-08-22T20:37:00.000-07:00

Spent the weekend in Jackson Hole, WY, biking and enjoying all the delicious food and drinks the town has to offer.

We stayed with our friend Jim who has a house right outside Grand Teton National Park. Looking out the back windows you see the Grand Tetons and Snake Mountain Range.

Jim took us on some epic mountain bike rides with plenty of gorgeous scenery and plenty of climbing.

Sunday Jim had to work, so Rob and I explored on our own. We were able to find just as much climbing.

A Saturday afternoon storm lead to a phenomenal sunset that evening.

Go-Karts - at the race track

2011-08-15T20:01:00.001-07:00

Rented out the track at Miller Motorsports Park for some go-karting as part of Rob's birthday hoopla. These aren't your average go-karts. These things required you to wear a helmet and a neck-brace, and went up to 50mph!!

The Orange Bike

2011-08-08T18:03:00.001-07:00

Finally got the Schwinn World Voyageur from Dad. Here are a couple of pics.

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Tie-Dye Saturday!

2011-07-25T16:31:00.001-07:00

Rob was inspired to throw a 'Tie-Dye' party ... So we got some white shirts, dye, invited over a crew of friends, and got our hippy on!

And the finished product ...

ACK 2011

2011-07-19T19:02:00.000-07:00

July started out right with a 12 day vacation to Nantucket.

Unfortunately it was slightly postponed by 2 hours by rain at JFK.

We finally made it and first things first, headed to the beach. Elizabeth, Bob, and Rob did some fishing. It was short-winded as a storm rolled in and we barely escaped to the car before the downpour!

Didn't have to wait long for sun ... had amazing weather the rest of the trip.

Rob and E at Cisco Brewery on the 4th.

Best donuts on the island ...

Matt Fee Tea from Something Natural ... my favorite place on the island (besides the beach, of course!)

Flower cart on Main Street

Cisco Brewery Beer Pulls

New England Clam Chowder and Life is Easy at the Brotherhood after a day at the beach. Living was hard.

Flying Dog 7/16/11

2011-07-17T09:27:00.001-07:00

A perfect Saturday for a 16-mile mountain bike ride up Flying Dog.

Croquet party

2011-06-05T09:29:00.001-07:00

We were the most prep, naturally. Although Rudy the dog made a good showing.

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Location:Park City

Donnie's Garage

2011-06-04T09:54:00.001-07:00

Donnie Stiff works as an Industrial Designer at Skullcandy. He also happens to be a wizard at building and fixing vintage Hondas like mine. The CL360, or "tangerine nightmare" as I like to call it, is an ongoing project. Here are some photos:

This is from last year, but it wouldn't be right not to show her looking her best.

View from outside the shop.

Welding mask = street cred

Now you can see Donnie's 350 vintage racer project, and if you look closely, two or three more bikes in back.

Signals chopped, new bars installed. Only thing we haven't done is take out the engine.

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Memorial Day Weekend

2011-05-31T09:33:00.000-07:00

Moab - May 21

2011-05-23T09:54:00.000-07:00

Backyard Vistors

2011-05-23T09:49:00.000-07:00

Dusk Skiing

2011-05-05T10:04:00.000-07:00

Pura Vida! Tamarindo, Costa Rica

2011-05-02T14:45:00.000-07:00