San Antonio, Texas: Part I

It has been over two years since I've travelled anywhere with my friends, so this weekend Ashley, Steve and I headed to San Antonio, Texas for a weekend of shopping, sightseeing and warm weather.

Over the last few days, dozens of people have asked me why we chose to go to Texas. Ashley and I have already been to San Francisco and New York, and our only criteria was a new city to explore, with the promise of sun. Phoenix or LA would have raised fewer questions, but San Antonio hit the mark rather nicely.

San Antonio is a beautiful city. It has dozens of historic buildings, a unique blend of Texan (and Mexican influenced) culture, a variety of cuisine, and a well maintained river walk that runs in a loop through the downtown. On our first day in San Antonio, we explored the Rivercenter Mall, and wandered down the Riverwalk.

Outdoor stage on the Riverwalk.

The photo above is of an outdoor stage along the Riverwalk. We heard that one of the scenes in Sandra Bullock's "Miss Congeniality" movie was filmed in this very location. Near the outdoor theater we explored the Villita, an artisan village just off the Riverwalk. There we looked at ceramics, stained glass, paintings and a variety of other artwork.

In the afternoon and evening we had our pick of dozens of restaurants, pubs and taverns along the river. Cheerful umbrellas and tables lined the riverbank, along with an assortment of river fowl such as ducks and pigeons. We had margaritas on the river where a ballsy duck pecked me in the foot while begging food from the patrons at the table next to us.

Flowers in bloom in January!

I don't think the weather could have been better. It was an average of 25 degrees, balmy and humid each day during our trip. Flowers were blooming all along the riverside.

On our second day in the city, we rented a car and drove to San Marcos to do some serious outlet shopping. Since we hadn't made a reservation, the rental place had two options-- a Dodge Caravan or a Mustang. We enthusiastically selected the Mustang, but eventually relented and took the Caravan. The van had a built in GPS system, while we would have had to rely on map navigation in the Mustang. Steve took to driving the Caravan like a Mustang though...

Ashley and Steve in front of the Caravan.

Ashley has a successful shopping adventure, while Steve and I bought a few piddly items. Consolation items, really.

Ashley to the rescue at the outlet mall.

From the mall we headed to the Natural Bridge Caverns-- an underground system of limestone caves. The entrance to the caves is at the mouth of a sinkhole where only a narrow natural bridge remains.

Natural bridge.

The cave is 21 degrees year round, but with almost 100% humidity. For about an hour, we tromped through the cave while the guide told us about the various limestone formations, and pointed out the most impressive stalagtite and stalagmites. This is the third cave I have been in with Ashley and Steve. The first was in Australia, but I have few memories from the cave, and therefore figure it must not have been very impressive. The second time was when we went on a full-on spelunking trip into the Rats Nest Caves in Alberta-- those were good times. The limestone formations in this set of caverns was much more impressive than either of the previous caves. It was definitely an interesting side trip.

Limestone formations.

Black beetle.

When we exited the cave, I spotted this beetle hanging out on the sidewalk. Ashley immediately got down to business and started poking it. With her finger. Personally, I think she was pretty brave (brave is code for CRAZY)-- check on the mandibles on this guy!

On our way back to the Caravan, we took full advantage of the cheesy dinosaur photo op to take a series of ridiculous pictures. I'll post them at a later time when I have procured them from Steve's camera... For now, I've only got the one below.

Ashley, Steve and I at the Natural Bridge Caverns.

To round off the day we hit a Target Superstore before heading back into the city to meet up with Tom, who was flying in from Houston where he had completed a course for work during the week.

Stay tuned for Part 2: Historical San Antonio!

My New True Love (Sorry, Tom!)

A few months ago, I discovered my new true love....

ZUCCHINI FRIES!

My God, why did no one ever tell me about these before? What a fantastic way of incorporating vegetables into a meal! You have a crispy and flavourful coating on tasty vegetable. They come together to produce pure deliciousness.

I found this recipe while perusing Pinterest (I died a little inside admitting that), and decided to give it a try. They've now become a regular in our weekday meal rotation.

Ingredients.

Baked Zucchini Fries

Serves 6

Ingredients
3 medium zucchini,  sliced into skinny sticks 
2 large eggs, beaten 
3 heaping Tbsp. flour
1/2 cup bread crumbs (I used panko) 
2 Tbsp. grated Parmesan cheese 
1/4 tsp. garlic powder 
Salt and pepper, to taste

Directions
Preheat oven to 425°. Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray. Set aside.

In a small bowl, beat egg with a fork until frothy. In another bowl, place flour, and in a third bowl, place your bread crumbs. Toss the breadcrumbs with garlic powder and Parmesan cheese, and set aside.

Dip the zucchini sticks into the flour, then egg, and then into the bread crumb mixture. Make sure all sides get coated well. Place the sticks on the prepared baking sheet.

Bake at 425° for about 20 minutes, or until golden brown and crispy. Serve warm with Ranch dressing, marinara sauce, or just as is.

Enjoy!

Sliced zucchini.

Panko breadcrumbs, parmesan, garlic salt and paprika.

Whisked egg, flour and breacrumb mix.

Floured zucchini dipped in egg.

Unbaked zucchini fries.

Finished product-- delicious!

Between prep time and baking, it'll probably take you about 30 minutes to make these. I flip the zucchini pieces halfway through the baking time so both sides turn golden delicious.

Give them a try! You won't regret it.

2013: 358 Days to Go

Seven days into the New Year. One week down, 51 more to go.

 

Still sick. In fact, I've now been sick for three weeks straight. Ten days with cold number one, twelve days with cold number two. It's finally starting to clear up, and all I can say is-- at least it wasn't the flu.

I've never been a big fan of New Year Resolutions, but I do like to look forward and think about what I'll be doing for the year.

Here are some things I'm looking forward to in 2013.

1) My second half marathon-- and maybe even my third! I'm planning on improving my 2012 time of 2:13 to 2:06 or faster.

Photo Credit

2) Chinese brush painting. I recently saw a commercial for the Chinese Cultural Center that advertised brush painting classes. HOW COOL IS THAT!?

Photo Credit

3) Amanda + Steve + Ashley in San Antonio, Texas. Are they ready for us?

4) A wedding. I'm so happy for these two!

  

 Photography by Heath O'Fee.

5) More hiking. Where will it be this year? North Cascades? Olympic National Park? Or maybe even Yosemite?

Cables ascending Half Dome in Yosemite National Park. Photo Credit.

 

6) BOSTON. For a much needed visit with a long time friend. Hopefully she'll give us a personal tour of Harvard campus!

7) More travel. Tom and I haven't figured out when or where. But we've thrown around locations such as Italy, Germany or Greece.

8) Maybe... A house? 

There's plenty to look forward to in 2013. I anticipate being very, very busy.

Emerald Lake, Snowshoes and Fever

2012 is quickly coming to a close, so Tom, Andrew, Ashley and I made an end-of-the-year excursion to Emerald Lake Lodge near Field, B.C.. Tom proposed to me at this very lake in July of 2009, and Andrew proposed to Ashley there earlier this year, so we all attach some sentimental meaning to this particular lodge. Or at least...  I do!

This was the first time we have been to the lake in the winter, all of our previous experiences have been in the warmth of the summer. Our first matter of business was to go snowshoeing!

Tom modelling his snowshoes.

The four of us always seem to have good luck with weather, whether it be winter sports or summer hiking. It was about -5 at the lake, perfect weather for a walk in the snow.

Tom and Andrew trudging along lakeside.

Tom was the first person to fall into the snow, and he did so multiple times during our two hour outing. We saw a few other individuals out on cross-country skis. But for the most part, we were on our own in the quiet.

A view of Emerald Peak.

Ashley and Andrew taking a break on a snow covered bench.

When we finished snowshoeing, we took a dip in the hot tub. Of course, Tom and Andrew decided to run from our cabin to the hot tub barefoot in the snow. It's no short distance from the cabin to the hot tub-- probably 150m at least. As Ashley and I trailed behind them (shoed and clothed), one of the Emerald Lake employees called after us, "At least you're wearing shooooes!"

Within hours of returning from our outing, I started to feel not-so-hot. I was struck down with a second cold in a mere two weeks! SO UNFAIR! I spent our last night at the lodge huddled in bed with a mild fever, while everyone else watched a movie in our adjoining rooms.

Tom and I.

Now that I'm home, I'm stilling dealing with a runny noise and a pesky cough. Hopefully I'll be able to beat it quickly.

2013 is almost upon us. Stay safe, and have fun! 

Happy New Year!

Penguin Plunge

Nothing saying Christmas Eve day like penguins, right? Right?

The Penguin Plunge exhibit has been open since February at the Calgary Zoo, and I have wanted to check it out for months. However, rumours of hour and a half waits kept my enthusiasm at bay. It was a high of -22 degrees  today, and people had better things to do than go to the zoo-- so Tom and I decided we wanted to spend out afternoon there.

At the entrance of the park, we were greeted by a group of penguins huddled together in the snow. You can see from the photos that the penguins are very close-- basically within touching distance. Although a sign warned us, "We hang by the glass but it does NOT mean we want you to pet us or give us weird things to eat! Help our keepers care for us by giving us space and keeping your belongings to yourself. P.S. We bite too!"

King penguins hanging out by the exhibit glass.

King penguins.

When we entered inside the exhibit, the only other soul's were the volunteer and trainer. The volunteer told us that the exhibit stays at 5 degrees year-round. She also told us that all of the penguins have been raised in captivity. The King penguins had never seen snow before their arrival at the zoo, so the zookeepers leave a door open so they have the option to go outside if they want. Clearly the King penguins love the snow-- they were ALL outside.

Gentoo penguin in a slow belly slide.

The exhibit is constructed so that you can get up close and personal with the penguins. This also means that it is relatively easy for the penguins to escape from the exhibit. The trainer told us that the penguins often make escapes when there are few people inside. Once the penguins are out, they immediately want back in! The trainers or volunteers will then have to corner the panicky penguin (squawking, pooping, and generally freaking out), and the zookeeper will walk the penguin to a back door to let it back inside.

Two Rockhopper penguins warming up after a meal.

We could see penguins playing with squid (i.e. lunch) in the exhibit. And we spotted to Rockhoppers who had apparently just gorged themselves. The volunteer told us that when the penguins eat a lot, their body temperatures drop, so they will shiver to warm themselves up. The Rockhopper on the left in the photo above will often do a little jig to warm up.

It was actually quite nice with the zoo being so empty. Many of the animals were sleeping out of sight-- presumably keeping warm on such a chilly day. But the animals who were out were very active with only a few people out and about to watch them.

Two Bactrian camels smile at us while munching away.

This camel was busy scratching his butt on the hitching post. He (or she?) seemed quite content in the snow.

Bactrian camel hanging out in the snow.

The only elephant in the viewing area was the male elephant, Spike. He pushed his ball around, and entertained us by feeling around inside a locked box for food.

Spike, the only male resident elephant at the zoo.

In the African Savannah exhibit, we viewed the hippos frolicking in their enclosure, and the giraffes nibbling at some branches. We also viewed the Rock Hyraxes taking an afternoon nap, and the warthogs family snuffling about.

Two Rock Hyraxes snuggled in their home.

Male warthog.

All in all, we spent about two and a half hours at the zoo before we joined the rest of our family for Christmas dinner. Not too shabby of a day, if you ask me!

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

Nuts for Christmas

A few years ago I was browsing through a Cosmo or Glamour magazine when a photo caught my eye. It wasn't a photo of shoes or clothing, it was a photo of a yellow bowl overflowing with pecans and pumpkin seeds. On closer inspection, I saw it was a recipe for homemade bar nuts. 

Spiced Pepitas and Pecans recipe.

I was intrigued by the unique combination of spices-- cinnamon, allspice, cumin and cayenne pepper, and decided to give it a try. This will be my third year making this nut mixture for Christmas. I love making it! It fills our house with the most delicious smell, and the taste is even better. The recipe is very simple. Although it only calls for pumpkin seeds and pecans, I have modified the recipe to include almonds. I mean, really, you can't go wrong with almonds!

You may recall that I posted about this nut mix last year. But I love it so much, I decided to document my "making of" this year.

1) Preheat oven to 300 degrees.

2) In a small bowl, combine sugar, salt and spices. Set aside.

Sugar, salt and spices.

Almonds, pumpkin seed and pecans.

3) In a large bowl, beat egg whites and water until frothy.

Nuts in the frothy egg and water mixture.

4) Stir in pepitas and nuts, then add sugar mixture. Toss until all are completely coated.

Nuts completely coated.

5) Evenly spread pepitas and nuts onto a parchment lined baking sheet. Bake 20 to 25 minutes, until crispy.

Nuts ready for baking.

The prep work for these nuts take less than 10 minutes, and you can clean up while they are baking. Afterwards, I like to portion them out into individual treat bags and give them as holiday gifts. So... Co-workers, if any of you are reading this, expect a bag coming your way in the near future.

Of course, there are always a few people out there who are allergic to nuts. So I will be making Mint Blizzard Chocolate Chip Cookies as a substitute.

Nut mix in our Christmas tree!

Only five days of work until the holidays begin! Hooray for Christmas!

Metric-- Live!

 A few years ago Tom (and X92.9FM) introduced me to Metric. Metric is a Canadian indie rock band from Toronto. I have listened to hours worth of their music, and I was happy to hear that they would be touring through Calgary again. Jeff, Steve, Billy and I picked up tickets right away.

Jeff and Steve had seen Metric in concert before, and they promised me crazy dancing from the lead singer-- but I guess she's changed up her act. There was no crazy-dancing to be seen.

Nonetheless, I enjoyed myself! Here are some shots from the night.

Emily Haines.

Emily Haines and James Shaw.

Emily Haines and James Shaw.

Exiting from the encore.

One of my favourite Metric songs:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BEz8N8AT-yo