Anniversary Hike

A little over 2 years ago, the hubs and I were married in front of our friends and family and nature in Waynesville, NC. Waynesville is an adorable small town just outside our favorite town, Asheville. Since then, we've returned to Asheville often. Last year on our anniversary, we spent the weekend retracing our steps. For our adventure that year, we went ziplining with these guys, http://www.navitat.com/asheville/ so much fun. Can't wait to go again!

This year, our anniversary fell on a Wednesday or some crap like that so we didn't get to do anything adventurous on our actual anniversary. Instead, we cooked dinner together, ate at the table with a bottle of wine (our favorite Pinot Noir that we served at the wedding) and played an epic game of chess instead of watching TV and zoning out. All in all I think we had a successful anniversary. But we still planned to return to Asheville.

The weekend before last (28th to 30th of Sept) we packed the MINI with our backpacks, the dogs and their packs and headed off to uncharted territory, STIZ backpacking. Luckily a few months prior to this experience, we bought a truck from a nice guy named Chip who just so happened to plan and guide backpacking trips in the NC Mountains. We picked his brain for good loops to start on, what to pack and for reassurance that we weren't nuts. He told us about Shining Rock, a mountain that is topped with HUGE outcroppings of Quartz, told us about Mountain House freeze dried meals and confirmed that we were slightly nuts, but not because we wanted to go backpacking. Chip recommended we hike up Shining Rock Trail and back down Old Butt Knob. But because we think we're bad ass, we decided to hike up Old Butt Knob and down Shining Rock Trail. Yep....

Our awesomely giving friends, Anthony and Lorena lent us their guest bedroom on Friday night. We stayed up until 2 am killing 3 bottles of wine and laughing at Anthony's pictures from the 80's. He's a good sport. Somehow, and I blame this on Steven (because I can), we slept in until 12pm. We never sleep that long. Even after the Slip and Bleed when we were far more intoxicated. I guess we needed it. This did put us in a pickle though, we wanted to start climbing by 1pm. So yeah...that wasn't going to happen. A mad dash to shower and fill our water bladders ensued. Then a slower dash to get breakfast and wait for the most anticipated grilled cheese I've ever had (which ended up mediocre at best).

Finally, around 2pm we were heading towards Brevard and towards the Shining Rock Wilderness. This is when I realized that I don't remember packing the water purification tablets...crap. Quick detour to the local REI. This ended up being handy because we needed clarification on how to find Old Butt Knob anyways. The nice guy behind the counter pointed to the parking lot and the main trail and said "You'll walk along this trail for a while, it'll be mostly flat and then when you see a trail to your right that goes straight up, that's Old Butt Knob. Nothing is marked out there and there's a bunch of fake trails."  At this point Steven was becoming discouraged...and green...pretty sure his Tuna Sandwich was tainted.

By the time we reached the trail head, Steven needed a moment to collect himself. The super tight winding road didn't help him. Around 3:30pm, we were on our way. I wore the damn GoPro the entire way up and never turned it on....

The dogs were loaded down with 2 meals worth of food and 2 liters of water (not each). Steven and I both had a little over 20 lbs on our backs. It is me or does the combination of my HUGE Keen hiking boots (they look huge but they're really not) and my HUGE pack (it is huge...) make me look Hobbit-like?

We followed Shining Rock Trail for a while until we saw a trail to the right then went straight up. We were on Old Butt Knob, we were sure of it.

That looks straight up, right? It felt like it was straight up...

We bumped into a couple other groups hiking the same trail. One couple had two dogs with them. One of which was very fond of mounting Masi and Gunnar. After the 3rd attempt of the owners trying to stop the dogs by gently saying "Oh, No, Stop..." and grabbing the dog by the neck but not really moving it, I was fed up and smacked it across the head the next time it tried to mount Masi. The dog left ours alone after that. Come to think of it...so did the people. Whoops. The other group was 3 guys from South Carolina who had planned to hike 20 miles that weekend but had become lost on a fake trail. All 7 of us thought for sure we were on Old Butt Knob trail. It turns out, we were all wrong.

You see, Old Butt Knob was a ridge line hike. You see this,

That's Shining Rock Creek. That was beside us the whole time. Creeks don't flow on ridge lines... Which meant we had accidentally followed Chips advice anyways. We were on Shining Rock Trail heading towards Shining Rock. The trail twisted and turned and at one point we were certain we had lost it or were on a fake trail but then it would clear up again. Finally, after hours and hours of climbing and being sure the summit was just around the corner, we made it. Well at least we made it to where everyone camps. It took us a loop up and back down the trail to find a suitable camping location under a HUGE pine with some awesomely soft ground. We were nearly set up when the group of 3 guys showed up. There weren't many camping sites left and we were happy to have the company, so we invited them to set up in our area.

The sun set quickly and a cloud rolled over the mountain top. It made for an eerie yet beautiful scene. We spent the night sitting by the fire with the 3 guys from the trail and the 2 guys from the site next to ours. Eventually the clouds parted and the whole area lit up with a full moon. It was pretty amazing. I've camped plenty before in campgrounds that seem so remote. But I've never camped in an area that was so perfectly quiet. Even still I slept like crap. Every time Rhea moved, her scratchy pads made tons of noise. I finally put ear plugs in and was out.

The next morning we enjoyed some re-hydrated freeze dried omelets and our Starbucks VIAs in the warm sun. Who ever said roughing-it can't include good coffee?! If they did, they lied.

After packing up and refilling our water from the Shining Rock Creek (which had gone from a rushing river to an iiitttyy bittty trickle way up in the mountain), we went for the summit. Oh what a summit it was. Big, huge boulders of quartz shining in the morning sun. It was...it was wow.

I am particularly fond of the look I'm giving Steven in this photo.

I think we were looking at the dogs in this picture and not the person taking the photos. There was a cliff edge behind us, we didn't want them falling off.

Packs are not flattering...

I love my fuzzy mountains.

Then we started the hike down on Old Butt Knob. It started off so nice. It runs the ridge between two mountains (one of which is Old Butt Knob). The dogs were doing great on their second day with the packs. We let Gunnar have the day off and gave him a lighter load and made Rhea carry the water this time.

Periodically there'd be views like this. The leaves were so vibrant already.

Then it started getting steep. This is me down the trail from Steven. I'm maybe 4 steps away from him.  (again..packs are not flattering....)

This is the flip side of that photo. Steven up the hill from me.

Our mountain goats were fine.

The terrain became so steep, I like to describe it as a staircase of boulders. I'm so glad we didn't hike UP this the previous day. Near the middle of the way down, we started hearing vehicle traffic and Shining Rock Creek periodically. We stopped at an outcropping to rest, water the dogs and eat a snack. At the point we had run into the 3 guys from SC again.

We decided it was a good opportunity to strap the GoPro to my chest again. We kinda stopped taking photos for a while so please feel free to view the video to see what the rest of the trail was like. Oh and just to whet your whistle, I do about bust my ass on video. Enjoy.

We made it down by 3 or 4pm. We were spent, the dogs were spent, my legs were shaking... Oh and I forgot to mention this. At some point the night before, a tab had fallen off my pack and made my pack sit WAY low on my hips. It was restricting and painful. I was so glad to take that bugger off.

She may seem alert but she's exhausted...I swear. 

We took a short detour into Asheville for a quick bite and a beer at Asheville Pizza and Brewery then headed east.

Another successful Asheville Anniversary I think. 

Liz DiNatale

Everyone deserves cake on their birthday

Everyone deserves cake on their birthday. That is a fundamental belief of mine. Ranking high with fundamental beliefs like the "Golden Rule" and LOTR. Sadly, birthdays become less and less exciting as you age. This year, my 27th (on the 5th), was probably my least anticipated. That's not to say I didn't enjoy my day and that my husband didn't get me an awesome huge monitor with which to edit photos on without straining my eyes...because I did, and he did. I also had a cake for my birthday. First I had cupcakes that my friend, Chrissy, baked for me (because she's awesome like that) and then at dinner I shared a Tartufo with the hubs (because he's awesome like that). And then we shared a couple Limoncellos with the large Tuscan owner of the restaurant. mmmmm

Since the first birthday I spent with Steven, I baked him his favorite cake. Even though it kind of goes against my morals (because it uses a box cake), what baby wants, baby gets. At least concerning cakes. 

This cake is a Beer Cake (really a spice cake made with beer) with brown sugar frosting (terrible to work with). I could never figure out how to stack this cake because the frosting always sloughed off. However, this year, I had a moment of clarity. What if I made a perimeter of a harder, denser, stickier frosting that would contain the brown sugar frosting. A lot of frosting recipes would work for this but I chose royal frosting. Because it hardens and it's easy and you can pipe it. 

And that's what I did and this is how it came out. 

I even made a perimeter line for the middle layer of frosting.That brown sugar frostingly goodness wasn't going anywhere! 

As usual my planning wasn't the best and I scrambled to bake this cake last night before we went to dinner (he had to have his cake with dinner, I would have it no other way). This is my kitchen afterwards. 

Actually doesn't look too bad from the photo but let me tell you, brown sugar and confectioners sugar was EVERYWHERE. 

If you would like the recipe to this awesomeness, please feel free to comment on this blog and I might just edit the post to include the recipe. If not, no biggie, I'll keep it to myself *insert evil laugh*. 

Liz DiNatale

P.S. Happy Birthday to all the September birthdays out there!!! 

Cooking for the freezer

I decided to cook for an army the other day. I picked two recipes that I love, my family's lasagna and Chrissy's Chicken Pot Pie. I thought it would be quite the undertaking but it was actually quite simple. I made enough lasagna for 2 pans and enough pie filling for 2 pies. I bought a bunch of those aluminum mini loaf pans from the store and set out to fill them. 

I didn't take many photos of the Lasagna since that is a family recipe and I have to like you a lot to share it. And with how simple Lasagna is you can easily guess the recipe just from pictures. But after boiling the noodles, cooking the meat, spreading the cheese and filling the pans, here is the result. 

One pan for dinner

And 8 single serve pans for the freezer. 

Now onto the Chicken Pot Pie. Chrissy's Chicken Pot Pie is one of the tastiest I've ever had. But a whole pie is way too much for a two person meal. So...single serve!

You'll need an onion, some chicken broth, veggies, milk, butter, pie crust....and of course chicken. 

Chopped onions with the broth in the back. I added extra broth because I had read that the freezing and then baking process takes some goodness out of the pie and adding some extra broth helps. 

Melted butter to saute the onion. mmmm buuttteerrr... Just call me little Paula Deen...without the accent...

Everything in the mix now. This smells like childhood. 

Since I was prepping these for the freezer instead of the oven, I cooked the chicken thoroughly in the pot. 

After letting the filling cool a bit I loaded up the tins. I did my best to cut lots of rectangles out of the circular pie crust. It wasn't pretty so I didn't photograph it. 

And thats how you turn 3 hours of cooking time to weeks worth of food. 

Now that's domesticated...

Liz DiNatale

It's aaalliiivveeee

Everything is growing. The rain we've been having has been feeding our lawn and garden steroids. The only downfall is now we have to mow every week and in a few weeks I'll be overrun with tomatoes. I have about 50 green ones now. I know, I know, terrible things to complain about. 

So far this weekend I've been immersed in awesomely domesticated tasks. Lawns and weeds and vacuums, oh my. But what struck me the most is how well everything is doing (even the weeds, much to my dismay). 

I planted these a while ago on our deck and have since forgotten what they were. Dalhias maybe? They're finally blooming and I heart them. 

Then there's these guys. We have 4 of these trees in our yard and I have no idea what they are. All I know is they bloom every year, they're super pretty and they grow like weeds. 

 The garden is also doing well. I realize though that I planted far too many tomatoes. I have 3 rows. I'd better learn how to can them. 

Cucumber ready for the picking. 

I'm crossing my fingers that this little guy grows into a squash. I don't have any luck with squash (which is odd b/c they're the weed of veggies). 

 The other side of awesomely domesticated: The domesticated male. Steven has so far spent the weekend working on vehicles and bikes. That gets him greasy. 

And silly. 

Haha this photos totally makes my day. What a goof. 

I can't believe it's already August, this summer is flying by. As much as I want the months to drag on until I have to take the PE, I am seriously ready for the heat to go away. The mosquitos can go with it. Ugh.

Liz DiNatale

Cleo's Tribute

My kitty Cleo died on July 16th and I wrote most of this post the day after. It's my tribute to her. She was an amazing cat. 

When my father married my step-mom, I gave away my cat. My s-mom was very allergic to cats and my cat was very much a cat. I promised myself that the instant I moved out of my parent's house I would have a cat again. And I did...about a week after moving into my first apartment at 17, I took Aurora home. She was a sandy colored mutt of a cat. She was sporadic, not very tame and did not trust people. She eventually warmed to me but even years later she would hide for days at a time. I eventually adopted two more kittens, Cleopatra and Persephone. I found Cleo and Persephone in the News and Observer's classifieds. They were an "oops" litter to a family in Clayton.   

I remember the day I met the kittens. I arrived to their house, greeted by a big lovable Rottweiler and showed to the kitten's box. Persephone was a big poof of white fluff. She had light blue eyes and was absolutely adorable. I had to have that one. Then they brought me this tiny orange slightly less fluffy kitten. They said they were thinking of keeping her because she was the most outgoing of all the kittens. She was strikingly adorable. I claimed the white poof and the orange poof (if they decided to adopt her out). 

A week later when the kittens were old enough to be separated from their mom, they let me have her. She had one black eyelid and one pink eye lid. She had stripes from her face that reminded me of Egyptian paintings. I decided about 5 minutes down the road that she had to be called Cleopatra.  

The 3 were a great trio.

I kept all the cats as indoor cats because I didn't want to lose them to cars like I'd lost so many cats as a child. 

Aurora escaped when someone left the door open and I can only hope she is alive and happy. 

Persephone now lives with my old roommate's parents.

And Cleo died too early.

On Sunday, July 15th, I returned home after catching Magic Mike with a couple friends, to find her laying on the floor, panting. Panting is generally not a good sign in cats. When I lifted her head, she was listless. I broke several speed limits and passing laws on the way to the emergency vet. They injected her with a heart drug and a steroid and started pumping her full of oxygen. The emergency vet told me that once a cat goes into heart failure, they usually don't come out. I was floored, how could Cleo have heart disease let alone heart failure!

Instant blubbering mess.

I call Steven...between incoherent sobbing he says he's on his way.

I was sure this was the end. I was sure I wouldn't have a cat by the end of the day.... But then a glimmer of hope. She bounced back dramatically. The emergency vet brought her in to see me. She was walking, she was alert, she was breathing normally. She was a motor of purring. 

That was the last time I heard her purr. 

They thought it could have been asthma, they thought it could have been anaphylactic shock, but then they heard her heart murmur. Regardless of how she rebounded, she had heart disease. I left her there to be observed for 8 hours. When I called to check on her at 6 hours, she had had 2 more episodes, so I left her there for the night. 

The next morning I picked up a sluggish, swollen looking kitty, and a greasy, British sounding emergency vet told me how bad a murmur is for a cat. That it does not bode well. That something is seriously wrong with Cleo. Oh and that they also did several more tests that would costs a couple hundred more. Thanks. Salt,  meet open wound. 

We brought her straight to our vet who did her own exam and sent us off to NC State Cardiology for a chest ultrasound. It's about 10 am now and this is the 3rd vet Cleo and I have been to so far. The cardiologist told me more of the same. Heart murmur rated at a 3 out of 6. She's the right age for heart disease. No idea why she bounced back or why her liver values are up. I leave her to them for an ultrasound and hopefully an answer on how to keep her alive. About when she was due to be picked up, they called me and told me the results. They confirmed that she had severe heart disease. Her left ventricle was very enlarged. She was likely in heart failure on Sunday. However, because she is presenting so oddly, they ask if they can do another XRay and blood test for a teaching opportunity. 

About 2 hours later I can finally pick her up. Her Xray showed the fluid in her lungs from Sunday had cleared. That's good! The cardiologist said with medication, she could last another 6 months to 3 years.  They pile me with pills and directions on how to give them, strip me of more money and send me home to try and get her to eat and drink. It's 5:30pm. She spent over 24 hours with vets, and it still didn't save her...

She wouldn't eat, she wouldn't drink. I gave her the anti-nausea drugs, nothing. I checked on her periodically and she didn't so much as move around the bed. At about 10pm, she started breathing heavier. So I force fed her some water and gave her the two heart drugs we'd been given. She was really irritated with me and hid under the bed...cat's hide before they die.

At about 11:20pm give or take, I went up stairs to check on her one last time before bed. She was under the bed, breathing heavily, staring, unblinking. I'll spare you the details, but she passed about 10 mins later. That was the hardest thing I've ever watched. My heart broke several times as I watched her struggle for what felt like an eternity.

We were inconsolable. I was glad that she left on her own accord. I wish I could have made it more comfortable for her but I'm glad it was at home on one of her favorite resting spots instead of a metal cage. I'm glad I was there for her passing even though it hurt to watch. I'm sorry she spent the last day of her life being poked and prodded but I had to try and save her. I so much wanted to hear her purr again.

I don't pray much anymore. But I prayed to spare her and when she wasn't, I prayed my thanks for letting her be with me.

Because of how unique her disease was, we're allowing NC State to do a necropsy on her so they can learn what went wrong. I'm glad she's contributing to the advancement of veterinary care. Afterwards she'll be cremated and returned to us. 

This morning when we moved her into a container to bring to the vet, the place where she died, the place where she laid in our house for the last time...it was still warm.

"The flame that burns twice as bright, burns half as long"

Liz DiNatale 7/17/2012

Today Steven, Kate, Will and I laid her ashes to rest in the dirt of a newly planted Saucer Magnolia. It will bloom around the time of year that she was born and give us a short reminder of how beautiful she was. 

  

I searched high and low for a Saucer Magnolia and only found one yesterday at the farmer market. It's the only tree that I felt would do her justice. 

I miss her presence in the house. It feels like something is missing. At least I had her for 8 purr filled years. And at least she's not struggling or in pain anymore. 

Liz DiNatale

Cleo: May 2004 - July 2012

My very own recipe

I love baking and I'm pretty fond of cooking. I find that these, above most of my "adventures," are deemed domesticated. Which is fine. I enjoy eating - baking and cooking allow me to eat. If that's domestic well then at least I'll try to be awesome at it. 

I started baking before I was tall enough to reach the counters. I believe I used a step stool. I remember one Christmas in particular my Mom had not been able to do any baking whatsoever until Christmas eve. So she took my sister and I into the kitchen, gave us each a recipe book, told us which cookie to make, said she was doing fudge and let us loose. I haven't looked back since. Then during my parent's divorce I made cookies every Thursday night so my brothers and sister and father would have a cookie in their lunch on Friday (I used to make the lunches too). I didn't really know what I was doing then and would add all the ingredients into the bowl at once and stir as much as my wee arms would let me. 

My brothers used to call those cookies cement. 

I've gotten better.

I swear. 

Now a days I tend to save my baking for Christmas. Mostly because I love making fudge and cookies and pies. It also saves me the calories throughout the year. However every other month or so a couple bananas get a bit too ride and then...I just have to make them into bread...what else do you do with ripe bananas? 

Last Christmas we attended our friend's Tacky Sweater party and munched on some super yummy Buffalo Chicken Dip. I hated the thought of what was in it...boxes and boxes of cream cheese. I was eating my weight in calories. Sometime between that party and our annual New Years party with the Butlers, someone told me how Greek yogurt can be used in place of sour cream and sometimes cream cheese in cooking. Lightbulb....

This is when I created my very first, my very own recipe. My crazy brain thought this one up from scratch and it actually tastes good! I've been wanting a way to share it but I hadn't made it since that day. Well today we're heading back over to the friends who had the Tacky Sweater party and this time, I'm armed with my style of Buffalo Chicken Dip. Give it a go but don't tell anyone it's actually healthy until they can't stop eating it. 

Ingredients:

1 Cup Texas Pete (or other) Hot Sauce

17.5 Ounces diced chicken booby (that's chicken breast: one big can, one regular can)

2 Cups drained Greek yogurt (you drain it with cheese cloth, if you can find cheese cloth)

1 Ranch Dressing dip mix

1/2 Cup Shredded Cheddar Cheese (or whatever you have in the fridge...like me)

1/2 Teaspoon cumin

Flour to thicken

Directions:

Strain the chicken and shred it to little bits. 

It's amazing how well a potato masher works for this. 

In a medium saucepan combine yogurt,

Chicken and ranch dressing packet,

Set to medium heat and mix. 

Add hot sauce and cumin

Mix and cook until nice and bubbly

Add cheese and cook a little longer until cheese is good and melty. The dip will be rather soupy at this point. Add some flour to thicken. I end up adding about 1/4 cup of flour I believe. It will depend on how wet your yogurt was. 

Serve and enjoy! You can serve it hot or let it cool (as it cools, it thickens more). 

I like to serve it with cut up celery to really emphasize the healthiness and also celery goes really well with hot sauce. 

Omnomnomnom

There ya have it. That's healthy Buffalo Chicken Dip. Create, devour, don't feel bad about it!

If you have any questions about the recipe, leave me a message and I'll try to answer them. 

Liz