Ho ho ho!

Ho ho ho!, originally uploaded by sunpath.

Dylan as the neighborhood Santa...

Late fall in Arizona

Late fall in Arizona, originally uploaded by sunpath.

Javalina's on parade

Javalina's on parade, originally uploaded by sunpath.

We saw Rory in Sedona today...

A lot of updating...

Holy hell! Was my last post really on September 30th? WOW. Well, my only excuse is that I've been madly cooking and blogging over at Scraping the Skillet. I do have a lot of things to update y'all on, though. Really, there should have been a bunch of posts between September and now...here's a brief recap of what's been going on:

NINI AND ADAM GOT MARRIED! Yes, my little sister is married! I have a bunch of photos posted on Flickr, but here's one to get you started...

I was back in Chicago for a glorious 10 days around her wedding. It was great to spend time with family and friends - we don't get to see them enough! Highlights? Bocce ball in Merrimack Park. Glorious fall leaves. TO DIE FOR Italian food (by an Irish chef, no less). Oh yeah, and the wedding. That was pretty awesome too ;)

2. I took a new job. Actually, I did this before the wedding by a few months. It just didn't seem top of the list. It's not an exciting or challenging job, but it is flexible and the people are nice. Now you know why I've been flakier than usual about returning e-mails, etc. Job + Food Blog = crazy busy.

3. Dylan and I have made a new resolution to go hiking more often. I mean, we live 5 minutes from a National Park but we haven't hit the trail in over a year? Crazy. The first hike was The Bellota trail up on Mt. Lemmon. Gorgeous scenery and a relatively easy hike. Amazing views after just a short hike to the ridge. Here we are:


This weekend we hiked up and around Sabino Canyon. It was also beautiful and we got to see lots of cool stuff, like a desert box turtle and a desert kitty cave. Check Flickr for pictures soon (D took the camera with him to Miami).

4. Speaking of Miami, the Canyon Ranch Miami project that D has been working on since we moved here is opening! He's there now for the soft soft opening. I was starting to wonder if this would ever happen!

5. Caleb has been battling some peeing issues. He's gotten all blocked up twice and had to spend the night at the Vet (he relapsed after the first drain). To help him manage better in the future we have officially put him on the Weekly World News Juice Diet. Mrow.

That's all the news that's fit to print.

I'll leave you with this thought:

A. Homer Hilsen

I know it's now been months since D finally got his baby, A. Homer Hilsen. I've been meaning to share pictures of this beautiful beast since the beginning but just haven't gotten to it until now. Here's one of D with the bike...you can view several more pictures of his bike here.

More cowbell?

More cowbell?, originally uploaded by sunpath.

I'm not sure, exactly, why someone would have this vehicle.
Off roading? Prolly not.
Hauling? Only a 12" tall driver could access that bed.
Why?
Do these exist everywhere? In bigger cities? Tell me if you've seen one in your neck of the woods. I hope you haven't but won't be too terribly surprised if you have...

(don't miss the cowbell hanging from the hitch)

Sigh

Sigh, originally uploaded by sunpath.

Just that, sigh.

Ever vacuumed yourself?

Neither had I, until today.

fur.jpg, originally uploaded by sunpath.

Shoe for scale, W's size 9.
This is what the FURminator can do to 2 cats in an hour. This thing effing rocks!

Needless to say, Rory and I are not friends right now...and Caleb is my new best friend.

Helpfulness...

Helpfulness..., originally uploaded by sunpath.

The conversation went something like this:

Me: Caleb! Please, how about you lay on this chair - or the kitchen counter - instead.

Caleb: (jumps off counter where I have placed him as , apparently, the paper I set up for him there (bills!) is not adequate for his needs)

Me: sigh. As long as you leave the piece I am working on alone.

Caleb: (makes a nice nest before determining that his chosen paper is missing a key component. A sort of je ne sais quoi... Oh yes, my undivided attention, that's it)

Me: No - Caleb! Why do you have to lay on the one piece of paper I need to work with?!?

And so on ...

I e-mailed this picture to Dylan...for a midday laugh. His response?

"Of course! That is what he lives for :)"

And, of course, he is right. Paper? All over the table? Caleb must have died and gone to heaven.

Tucson in July

Dear, dear friends,

I want to share with you some insider information. Call it a pitch, or take it at face value. Up to you.

Most people think that the best time to visit our corner of the US is in winter and spring. Mostly, they come for warmth - to escape their bleary winter days and experience some sun in the middle. Here, in my opinion, is where they go wrong.

NOW is the best time of year to be here. Why? You ask. Let me pontificate.

Once the monsoons begin the weather here is paradise. It's not 105 anymore (that's usually just May and June). In fact, it's a high of 90 or 95 with glorious breaks in the day when there is a lovely thunderstorm and it is 70 degrees! Now, before you wince at the 90 -95 degree declaration, remember what the humidity is like in the desert. You know, it's a DRY heat ;) What that means is that it's probably about 13-15% humidity. Midwesterners: BEAT THAT!

When it rains all the plants in the desert do a happy dance. That dance (called photosynthesis and growth) makes everything around us green and beautiful. Seriously, it looks Hawaii in them thar hills! The roadsides are flanked with green grass. For anyone who has already come to visit, I'm sure you can attest that your first reaction to Tucson was "it's so brown." Not at this time of year, friends. Not at this time of year. I've attached a picture (poor though it is, taken with my camera phone while driving) as proof. Look at the hills! Green! Be still my beating heart.

Finally, because most people choose to visit in the winter and spring (and are not privy to this insider info) the plane tickets to Tucson are the cheapest during the summer. Talk about a deal for a get away or a vacation!

Ok, I'm getting off my soapbox. I just wanted to share this with everyone. This season should last thru August and then it's on to "second summer." If you have a free weekend and you're looking for a get away, call :)

Stir-Fried Chicken with Crispy Basil in Sweet Chili Sauce

Crispy Basil Chicken Stir Fry, originally uploaded by sunpath.

I am lucky enough to be helping Jaden (of Jaden's Steamy Kitchen fame) test recipes for her forthcoming cookbook. Of course, I'm not the only one testing, there are a number of people from all around the world. It's pretty neat to read the comments from folks overseas about what they can and can't find in their local Tesco.

Above is one of the dishes I've tested for her. I won't post a recipe, but I will tell you that those basil leaves are deep fried and crispy...a very interesting twist.

Want to see more? Well, one of the others I tested was the Thai Red Beef Curry. If you follow that link you can start flipping through to see other yummies too...

Meme Mosaic

Meme Mosaic, originally uploaded by sunpath.

I got the idea for this meme mosaic via Flickr from the Boastful Baker...It seemed like a fun break from what I've been working on so I went for it. Here's how it works:

Rules:
a. Type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr Search.
b. Using only the first page, pick an image.
c. Copy and paste each of the URLs for the images into Big Huge Lab's mosaic maker.

Questions:
1. What is your first name? (Micha)
2. What is your favorite food? (Sushi - though this was really hard for me)
3. What high school did you go to? (OPRF)
4. What is your favorite color? (blue)
5. Who is your celebrity crush? (Johnny Depp)
6. Favorite drink? (green tea)
7. Dream vacation? (India)
8. Favorite dessert? (brownie)
9. What you want to be when you grow up? (free)
10. What do you love most in life? (Dylan)
11. One Word to describe you. (creative)
12. Your flickr name. (sunpath)

(incidentally, it's amazing how little of what comes up on the first page of a search is actually a picture of your search term...)

1. Poldi, Micha, Schweini: " Viel zu hoch ! ", 2. "What? Sushi? What is it?", 3. Dandelions at dusk, 4. Just hanging around, 5. JOHNNY DEPP, 6. green tea & sunshine, 7. Taj Mahal, 8. Cho Cho Cho, 9. Mulher Maravilha, 10. *waves*, 11. air, 12. sunpath.

Nap time

Nap time, originally uploaded by sunpath.

Yes, that is Caleb curled up asleep in the shower! Silly!

More posting soon...I have pictures and tales from our recent California road trip to share...just gotta finish those to do items for the food bank first...

Longevity Noodles

Longevity Noodles, originally uploaded by sunpath.

The recipie for Jaden's Long Life Fertility Noodles with Happy Shrimp can be found here.
This photo is a good example of why I don't usually photograph dinners...the sun is down and the lighting is less than ideal. Oh well. It sure tasted good :)

Me and my Honig

Me and my Honig, originally uploaded by sunpath.

...in all our garrish-clothed glory!

We rode with the Canyon Ranch group as part of Tucson's first ever Livestrong ride. Hilariously, when giving a proclamation that May 13th will henceforth be Livestrong day in Tucson, Mayor Walkup pronounced it Lyvestrong (you know, like cats have 9 lives). Clearly he didn't get briefed on what was going on before he showed up...

Click on the pic if you want to see a couple other shots from the morning.

Dylan at the finish line

Dylan at the finish line, originally uploaded by sunpath.

On Sunday Dylan rode in the Tour of the Tucson Mountains. He finished well, at 3 hours and 12 minutes. That makes his average speed 21.8 mph for the 70 mile course (and there was a head wind almost the whole way!).

Wish the pic was a little more in focus...I guess I'm really not a sports photographer ;)

W is for...

Picacho Peak Poppies, originally uploaded by sunpath.

Wednesday and Wildflowers!
I headed up to Picacho Peak this Wednesday to check out the spring blooms. Not as huge a display as in past years (so I'm told), but looking at this shot, the first thought to your mind would hardly be "desert."

*if you click on the photo you can visit my flickr page and see the rest of the set.

Freitag!

Freitag!, originally uploaded by sunpath.

TGIF (Freitag, that is)!

Cardamom Lime Sweet Rolls

Cardamom-Lime Sweet Rolls, originally uploaded by sunpath.

This is an easy recipe at the very end of ths month's Cooking Light. I HIGHLY reccomend that you give it a go. It is really lite and delicious..not heavy and nauseating like some sweet roll recipes can be. If you are interested in the recipe and aren't a CL subscriber, shoot me an e-mail.

Craving Satisfied

Craving Satisfied, originally uploaded by sunpath.

whoa...needed that!
OK, the brew is mass produced...but the orange is from our next-door neighbors tree :)