Tu Tu Tahoe

A great convergence occurred in the mountains.  From Santa Rosa, Napa, Oakland, and Seattle we ascended to Tahoe for a weekend of feasting, gaming, extreme sporting, experimental mixology, and general purification of the soul.

Charlotte, Me, Mike, Jake, Lindsay, Macy, Professor Butterpockets (Molina), Johnny, and Zack Bob after an afternoon of sledding.

I took home a bronze medal.

Charlotte made an exquisite brisket to satisfy our ferocious mountain appetites.

Day Two

I have been initiated into the cutthroat world of a card game called Palace.  An ambrosia salad mixed drink helped take the edge off.

We decided to stay local and do some sledding in the neighborhood of our rented house, after which a dip in the hot tub was in order.  "Wet Vibes"

We had many laughs and took in some beautiful scenery.  It was a wonderful weekend, and I feel very lucky to continue getting to know these fabulous people more and more as time goes on.

Yummy Mushrooms!

Thank you to my dad and Gail for the gift that continues giving.

Here was a nice flush of tree oysters from back in November.  These were probably sauteed with onions and eaten in tacos.

 And here is one of the two big lion's mane mushrooms that have grown so far.  There were a number of smaller ones that didn't grow to this size, but I'm not sure why... Perhaps the more extreme cold of winter restricted the mushroom's fruiting?  Anywho, we freestyled this recipe together and found it quite heartily delicious!  Basically, we sauteed: onions, cubed mushroom pieces, celery, apple, walnuts and thyme and served over rice.  Shown here with a side of beet salad, mmmmm........

Ruminating on February... Big Sur, Big Beards, Big Fun

At the beginning of the month we took a weekend trip down to Big Sur with Charlotte's family to celebrate Selene's birthday.  She and Hal had rented an exquisite house right next to Nepenthe restaurant, with an equally stunning view!

I enjoyed the little whipped-up merengue peaks of the cloud layer over the ocean.

~~~Sunset~~~

~~~Sunrise~~~

We had to get up early for it, but it was so beautiful and peaceful to watch the world come to life from the deck.

Up-n-at-'em for this industrious little fellow!  This red-breasted sapsucker spent seemingly all day tending to its sap-holes in an oak tree that was on the property.  It's a type of woodpecker that feeds on sap, as well as bugs that get stuck in the sap.  I was interested to read that hummingbirds are known to feed on the sap created by them as well, also ingesting the occasional bug - counter to popular understanding about hummingbird diet.