Hey there!

I am SO excited that it's almost time to be in NYC!

Train tickets, hotels and cars have all been booked and reserved!

Now I Just have to survive work until Thursday :)

2012 Mexico

Things I love about Mexico (this could get out of hand):

-Amazing food

-Very friendly people. Have you noticed how everybody is always having fun in Mexico? 

-White sand beaches in the Riviera Maya

-Ruins galore! 

-Ruins ON white sand beaches!!!!

-Colonial Spanish Architecture

-Drinking cafe con leche in a zocalo/plaza de armas

-Tequila!!!!!!! 

-Jungle/Jungle noises (hello howler monkeys, yes I do hear you at 3 in the morning going crazy in the trees outside of my tent) 

-Basically just everything

Roasted Red Pepper Soup

Please bare with me in my horrible food picture taking skills! If anybody has tips, please share...like, how do you get that perfect lighting??? 

Anyway, I cook a lot of soup. Mostly because it's super easy and the ingredients are cheap. I'm a vegetarian and most soups can be easily modified to be veg-friendly which is also a plus.


I got this recipe from Martha Stewart at her website here and really didn't modify anything other than the type of stock.

Things you will need: 

·         2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
·         1 onion, chopped
·         2 cloves garlic, sliced
·         Pinch red-pepper flakes
·         4 red bell peppers, roasted and quartered
·         3 cups vegetable stock
·         Coarse salt

I like to cook soups in a enamel cast iron pot, it heats really evenly and it's really hard to burn things unless you are scorching them. Clean up is pretty great too! 

What to do: 

Slice peppers and roast in oven until soft and slightly charred. Make sure to flip frequently to get an even roasting. Spraying with olive oil helps prevent sticking.

In pot, heat oil. Add onion, garlic, and red-pepper flakes and cook until soft. Add roasted peppers and stock. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer. Let cool slightly, then puree in a blender until smooth. Season with salt and pepper. 

Mike's mom gave me a hand blender last year. If you make a lot of soups this is seriously a life saver, just don't burn yourself! 

Waiting

Well, we're off to NYC and DC in a couple of weeks time and I could not be more excited! Unfortunately, that usually means that we stick close to home and save up our paid time off hours for our trip. Oh, the trials of being an adult! Basically this means that we (okay, maybe just me) sit at home watching Netflix or indulge our dog by going up canyons and dog parks.

Lately, it's been the latter.

The last weekend of June was a friend's birthday, which means an annual camping trip. We hit I-80 west and headed out to the Uintas! It was absolutely gorgeous. There are small, pristine lakes in every nook and cranny created by the mountains. 

This 4th of July weekend we headed up American Fork Canyon to Silver Lake. It was amazing and is so close to home, I really love having all these canyons within 30 minute drive. 

Which brings me to.....America the Beautiful pass! This is the best thing ever to have if you live in Utah and you go out into the wilderness lots. Why? I'm glad you asked!  Because this sweet little pass gets you into Federal Recreation sites including National Parks and National forests. We use ours all the time and we've had one every year for the past 3 years. You also usually get a discount for using camp sites. It's $80 per year, but if you are military (including dependents) or a senior citizen you get a free or discounted pass. We are planning on taking ours to DC (hello White House, hello Washington Monument).  Honestly, if you find yourself going to a lot of federal recreation sites than this pass pretty much pays for itself. Some of these places cost $15-25 to get into people!