blueberry hunting

We had heard rumors of wild huckleberries growing in our local mountains and over the weekend we decided to do a little foraging.

And wouldn't ya know it, we found ourselves a giant blueberry field!  p.s. I'm not sure why we were so surprised...they are called the Blue Mountains afterall!

They were so tiny and delicious and I was not mad about the lack of huckleberries at all.

So we picked and picked and picked until the sun went down.

And the next morning Evan whipped up some blueberry pancakes.  I found a new recipe to try because I wanted incredibly fluffy and delicious pancakes, with no trace of healthiness in them at all :)

And they were out of this world delicious!  I know that pancake recipes are everywhere, but I thought these were special enough to share.  Like if I ever open up a breakfast restaurant, this will be the pancake recipe I use (that's how good they are).   And if you don't happen to have some freshly-picked-wild-blueberries on hand, well I suppose you could use store bought :)

Fluffy Pancakes

from allrecipes.com

INGREDIENTS:

3/4 cup milk

2 tablespoons white vinegar

1 cup all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons white sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 egg

2 tablespoons butter, melted

cooking spray

DIRECTIONS:

1. Combine milk with vinegar in a medium bowl and set aside for 5 minutes to "sour".

2. Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large mixing bowl. Whisk egg and butter into "soured" milk. Pour the flour mixture into the wet ingredients and whisk until lumps are gone.

3. Heat a large skillet over medium heat, and coat with cooking spray. Pour 1/4 cupfuls of batter onto the skillet, and cook until bubbles appear on the surface. Flip with a spatula, and cook until browned on the other side.

* we used 3/4 c. + 2 tablespoons buttermilk instead of combining milk and vinegar and it was scrumptious.  This recipe made 8 pancakes and I was left wanting more... next time I'll double it for sure :)

cannon beach

 

 

 

 

 

 

We took a little trip to the Oregon coast last week.  I really wanted to have a little last hurrah before baby boy comes and things get more complicated, and I'm so so sooo glad we made it happen!  We fit so much into our trip (including a three hour stop at ikea--poor Evan!), and I hope to be visiting again soon.

p.s.  This happened while we were gone.  Even though we hadn't known each other very long, I had grown rather fond of mr. tree limb and am sorry to see him go :(  

our february weekends

We haven't been skiing much this winter.  Aside from the snow conditions being a little dangerous (hello avalanche!), and the warm winter we've had, we are just a little burnt-out on making the big drive to the mountains.  So we have spent most of our Saturdays in the foothills just outside of town.  And even though it's hard to compete with snow-capped peaks, these rolling hills are really growing on me.  The sky seems so big and it makes me hope I always live in a place with wide open spaces.  They make me feel good.

Holly+Evan: Storm Chasers!!

We have been thoroughly entertained by the weather since moving here.  Lots of pretty clouds and lots of storms.  Evan and I have turned into storm chasers.  It usually goes something like this:

Storm clouds start gathering, sky is darkening...

...I look at Evan, he looks back at me.  We nod in unison.

He grabs the camera, I grab the dog, and we jump in the car and drive up to the rims overlooking the city.

We don't always make it in time, or come away with cool pictures, but when we do, we feel like real life storm chasers.  Gesso too, because if you look closely at our car (the one on the left), you can see him peaking out the back window.  He is so hard-core.

Lupine Love

All flower photos taken by Evan.  I still can't believe I was lucky enough to marry a mountain man who loves flowers and takes killer pictures.  Lucky lucky me.

Good Morning Mountains

The mountains are finally waking up after a big snowy slumber.

Wildflowers are peeking,

snow is melting,

rivers are RAGING,

and we are happy.

So so happy.

 (did you see Gesso's big grin?)

Family Portraits with Gesso are very tricky (and a little bit funny)

Good enough.    What part of 'look at the camera' does he not understand?  Sheesh!

Life is but a dream

A little late in coming, Spring is finally here to stay.  I think.   And it's making up for it's tardiness with bursts of color everywhere.  Perfect weather for bike ride dates  :)

Weekend Report

*Shooting Star (look familiar?)

* Prairie Crocus

 Before moving here, I was pretty sure Montana was all huckleberries and mountains (it's not).  And this past weekend, instead of driving west to the mountains, we drove east to Steamboat Butte.  It was so lovely and we even saw some wildflowers!

 And on the ride home, we concluded that it's ridiculously easy to get a good cloud photo in Montana.  Because the clouds here are amazing.

*flower photos by Evan

Weekend Inspiration

The Mountain from Terje Sorgjerd on Vimeo.


Time lapse footage of the milky way captured by Terje Sorgjerd between April 4th and 11th, 2011, from atop El Teide, Spain's highest mountain. 


This makes my soul ache....absolutely stunning.   Happy weekend!

Winter is fun

Nearly every Saturday and every other Friday we hop in the car and drive to Red Lodge.  It is a happy place.  There are art galleries, chocolate shops, and most importantly, big, jagged mountains.  Happy.  And in the winter, said mountains are covered in fluffy snow.  Which is good.   Remember last year?  Yeah.  Miss it.  

This year, we decided that instead of skiing at a resort, we would do something a little bit different.

It starts in the parking lot.  We put skins on our skis.  They help us walk uphill.  Kind of freaky, no?

Up up up.  I let Evan break trail.  It helps him feel macho.

These two are always waiting for me.  But I'm taking pictures, so that's why I'm so slow.

Cute.  Two hours later we reach the top.  I feel like laying down and taking a nap.

Now comes the fun part.  Where Gesso chases Evan down the mountain.  I let him go first again.  Nice.  Really, I am just letting him trigger any avalanches.  Not so nice.

And five minutes later, we are at the bottom.  Only to start all over again.

So very worth it.  Winter is fun.