Happy Easter!

Hope you all are having a wonderful, relaxing day, celebrating however you choose!

This is a photo I took last night when Jake and I ventured up to Asheville's Sky Bar for the sunset - we live in such a beautiful world!

Sunday Sunrise

I'm so happy I have someone in my life I can convince to wake up at 5 on a Sunday morning, drive an hour, and hike straight up a mountain - all to watch the sunrise!

365 day 93

I really think we live in the most beautiful place in the world. See more pictures on my Flickr account.

Sunny Saturday

(best popsicle ever. Raspberry, Peach, Ginger. so good!)

Now off to knit and watch some basketball! Hope you're all enjoying a sunny Saturday where you are!

Friday afternoon walk

Looking Glass Rock

Happy Valentine's Day! Although I'm not a huge "valentine-r" myself, I do want to say that I appreciate each and every one of you that read & comment (and those that read & don't comment!) on my little blog. It means so much to me!

Although we didn't really do anything today, we did go on an amazing hike yesterday. We drove about an hour to Looking Glass Rock and started the trek up to the top. Click the link for a picture of the mountain from a distance - it's gorgeous!

We hiked up to the top, which is a bald, rocky outcrop. As you can imagine, the views were stunning.

It was a great hike! The weather has been absolutely gorgeous recently, and I love seeing signs of Spring popping up all over the place.

There's also a gorgeous drive-by waterfall near the trail head, called Looking Glass Falls, so we stopped by for a couple of photos.

I spent this afternoon laying in the park down the street from our apartment, reading in the sun. Feels so good to have sun on my skin!

Wishing you all a wonderful valentine's day - the Avett Brothers put it best - "if you're loved by someone, you're never rejected" - and each and every person in the world is loved by someone, so celebrate it!

Craven Gap

In sticking with my new year's resolution to get out and explore Asheville's beauty more, we went out for a hike today off the Blue Ridge Parkway, on a trail called Craven Gap. It was a beautiful day, and one of the neat things about this trail is the cacti. Yes, cacti. They're not looking too pretty right now, with it being winter and all, but it was still pretty neat to see them.

365 day 37

It hasn't snowed in weeks and has been relatively warm, so I was surprised to see these huge icicles hanging from a rock. There were so many - and the sound of the water dripping from them and the occasional one falling off were the only sounds to be heard on the trail.

I just love the little details in nature. Doesn't this look like a small world within a rock? Makes me think of Horton Hears A Who!

Loved all these tiny little mushrooms - 

Such a beautiful Sunday! Not sure if we'll be watching the Super Bowl tonight or not, but I know I'll be knitting no matter what! I'm almost done with one project, and already have a couple more lined up. I'd love to see and hear what you're knitting on!

absence

A little over a week ago, our computer got sick and wouldn't turn on. We feared the worst, and dropped it off at the computer doctor, but picked it up today and only had to spend $30 for all their doctoring. Such a relief. Anyway, that semi-explains my longish absence.

This past week was a long, rough, emotional week. I won't go into detail, but just know it's been hard. And I'm struggling. But the good news is that it will get better, and life will go on. And positives will come from life's hardships.

On a brighter note, Jake and I got to take a nice hike a couple of weeks ago - to an amazing frozen waterfall! It was perfect - there was no one else around, the trail was covered in snow and ice, and the end result was just breathtaking -

I also finished up a couple of knitting projects! First off, my Oatmeal Pullover - it's been finished for a little while now, but I finally got some pictures while we were out hiking

And that thing I have around my neck? It's the fun pattern from Melynda Bernardi of French Press Knits! It's supposed to be an ear warmer, but I prefer wearing it as a cowl. 

Hope you all are having a wonderful Monday and are spending time with the ones you love.

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2011!

2010 was a rough year for the Sadlers. Needless to say, we're both glad it's 2011. It's a new year, which brings - of course - the resolutions for the year to come. Now I'm not going to kid anyone. I'm not a resolution keeper (ah, 12 days of cooking anyone? although, i did cook most of the recipes, I just haven't blogged about them yet - that will come though!). I know saying "oh, I'm going to blog EVERY DAY!!" is just misleading. That's not going to happen. But I do have a few things I'd like to improve on this year. And, what's even awesome? I've already started on one!

our white Christmas - we got 12 inches of snow!

- be more organized! This is the one I've started. I've started by winding up all my skeins of yarn, taking pictures and uploading them to my Ravelry stash page. This is still in the works, but I've done a good chunk of my yarn. This will help me to remember what all I have, which will help me with my next goal, which is....

- stash busting! 2011 will be the year of knitting with yarn from my stash. The only time I plan on buying yarn is if I need more for a project that I'm working on, or am ordering for a specific project that I am going to start as soon as the yarn arrives.

- continue to experiment with new recipes. I've really enjoyed my 12 days of cooking, even though I haven't done that great of a job documenting it.

- spend more time exploring the beauty of Asheville. Id' like to try and go hiking once a week, but seeing as how right now it's winter and it likes to snow here, I'm just going to say that we're going to do a better job of getting out and spending time outdoors.

- take more pictures! I got a new camera for Christmas, and I'm SO excited to put it to good use.

There are other things I'm sure I'd like to try to improve on, but these are at the top of my list!

Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and New Year - cheers to a happy and healthy 2011!!

sunset at The Grove Park Inn

FO: Sweet Potato Sweater

It's been a while since I've finished something that wasn't a Christmas gift, and it's been even longer since I finished something for myself. So I'm very pleased to show you my Sweet Potato Sweater!

ravelry link

I love everything about this sweater - the color, shape, fit - everything! You can read more about it on my ravelry pattern page.

12 Days of Cooking: Day 5 - Tofu Burgers

Now I know that not everyone that reads this blog is a vegetarian, and that's fine. I'm a vegetarian for my own reasons - reasons that I will not push on anyone, nor will I judge anyone for not being a vegetarian. Just wanted to say that first off, because I know a lot of vegetarians who are judgmental and pushy about their beliefs, which I feel makes people dislike vegetarians.

That being said....I do realize that not everyone will enjoy this recipe! It was, however, very good. I left out the mushrooms, as I think mushrooms are totally disgusting, but they probably would have been good for holding the burger patty together a little better.

Ingredients:
1 tbsp olive oil
1 red onion, finely chopped
7 oz Swiss brown mushrooms, finely chopped
11 oz hard tofu
2 large garlic cloves
3 tbsp chopped basil
2 c breadcrumbs
1 egg, lightly beaten
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
2 tbsp sweet chilli sauce
1 1/2 c extra bread crumbs and extra olive oil for shallow-frying

Heat oil in frying pan and cook onions over medium heat for 2-3 minutes, or until soft. Add mushrooms and cook for another 2 minutes (or not. because they're gross.). Cool slightly. Blend 9 oz of the tofu with the garlic and basil in a food processor until smooth. Transfer to a large bowl and stir in the onion mixture, breadcrumbs, egg, vinegar and sweet chilli sauce. Grate the remaining tofu and fold through the mixture, then refrigerate for 30 minutes. Divide the mixture into 6 parts and form into patties, pressing together well. Coat them in the extra breadcrumbs. Heat 1 cm of oil in a deep frying pan and cook the patties in two batches for 4-5 minutes each side, or until golden. Turn carefully to prevent them from breaking up. Drain on crumpled paper towels and season with salt. Serve on bread rolls (toasted!) and with any extra toppings you'd like (we used a salad mixture, tomatoes, and a little cheese).

This was a great, pretty simple and quick meal - and it was good for leftovers the next day! We had sweet potato fries with ours, and molasses cookies for dessert - it was a great meal!

Last night we helped my parents set up their Christmas tree - it was really nice, since our apartment is way too small to fit a tree.

12 Days of Cooking: Day 4 - Oatmeal Pumpkin Bread

This was the first time I was making bread without the help of my bread machine, so I will admit, I was a little nervous. It worked out great though! Instead of using a bread tin like the recipe called for, I used one of our pizza stones, and the bread came out with such a great crust on it - nice, flaky, crispy crust (now I'm wishing the bread wasn't all gone so I could eat some right now!)

It's not the prettiest loaf in the world, but that's okay! I could have done with some more pumpkin flavor, so next time I make it, I think I'll add a little more pumpkin than the recipe calls for. The recipe came from the book Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day, a wedding gift from our dear friend Ashley, who always gives me cooking inspiration!

Ingredients:

1 pie pumpkin (or can of pumpkin puree - I opted to use a real pumpkin and it was fun!)

2 cups lukewarm water

1 1/2 tablespoons granulated yeast

1 tablespoon salt

5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

1/3 cup honey

1/2 cup old fashioned oats

3/4 cup whole wheat flour

3/4 cup rye flour

4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

neutral tasting oil for greasing the pan

(Skip this step if you use canned pumpkin) Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Split the pumpkin in half starting at the stem and place cut side down on a lightly greased cookie sheet. Bake for 45 minutes. Pumpkin should be very soft all the way through. Let cool & scoop out seeds. Scoop out the roasted flesh of the pumpkin and mash it with a fork or puree in the food processor. Set aside 1 cup for the dough and use the rest for something else pumpkin-y (i saved mine for pumpkin biscuits and will be making them tonight!)

Mix the yeast and salt with the water, melted butter and honey in a 5-quart bowl, or a lidded food container (not airtight).

Mix in the oatmeal, pumpkin and flowers without kneading, using a spoon, a 14-cup capacity food processor or a heavy-duty stand mixer. If you're not using a machine, you may need to use wet hands to incorporate the last bit of flour (I didn't use a machine and had no problem getting everything together to make a dough. It takes a little longer, but when you don't have a machine to use, your hands are the best machine!).

Cover and allow to rest at room temperature until the dough rises and collapses, approx. 2 hours.

The dough can be used immediately after the initial rise, though it is easier to handle when cold. Refrigerate in a lidded (not airtight) container and use over the next 9 days (The amount of dough this recipe makes can make up to 3 loaves of bread, but I recommend using it all fresh. I made it into two loaves and the first was significantly better tasting than the second, which I baked 2 days later).

On baking day, lightly grease a 9x5x3 inch nonstick loaf pan. Dust the surface of the dough with flour and cut off a 1 1/2 pound piece (cantaloupe sized). Dust with more flour and quickly shape into a ball by stretching the surface of the dough around to the bottom on all four sides, rotating the ball a quarter turn as you go (if you do what I did and take the pizza stone route, you can make a bigger loaf).

Place the dough in the prepared pan (or stone!) and allow to rest and rise for 2 hours, or 40 minutes if you're using fresh dough.

20 minutes before baking, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F, with an empty broiler tray for water on any other shelf that won't interfere with the rising bread.

Place the loaf on a rack near the center of the over. Pour 1 cup of hot tap water into the broiler tray and quickly close the over door. Bake for 45-50 minutes, or until deeply browned and firm. Allow to cool before slicing or eating.

Definitely recommend this recipe - the bread was just delicious! And if you're like Jake and me, you'll have a hard time waiting until the bread is cooled off to eat - I mean, who doesn't love fresh, warm, soft bread right out of the oven?

And for all you in warmer places than myself, we've had terrible wind around here making the 19 degree temperatures feel like -1 and -2, so I've been making myself at home, well, at home! Although Jake convinced me to go out and take a walk the other night - it was beautiful!

Hope you're all staying warm! And can you believe Christmas is only 11 days away???

12 days of cooking: day 3 - black bean and rice soup

As simple as this recipe sounds (and was!) it was so perfect for a chilly late fall evening. Something that can be made very quickly and simply, this was very filling, super yummy, and really healthy! The recipe comes from an old International Vegetarian cookbook I bought at a used bookstore when we lived in Portland.

Ingredients:
1 lb (about 2 1/2 cups) dried black beans
6 cups water
4 cups veggie stock
1/4 cup olive oil
1 large onion, finely chopped
4 to 6 cloves of garlic, minced or pressed
1 1/2 teaspoons each of cumin and oregano leaves
2 tablespoons salt
1 1/2 cups cooked rice
2-3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
2 cups sour cream
4 green onions, including tops, thinly sliced
6 radishes, thinly sliced
lime or lemon wedges

Rise beans and sort through, discarding any foreign material. Drain well. Place beans and water in a 4 to 5 quart kettle and bring to a boil over high heat. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer until beans swell and absorb most of the water (30-45 minutes). Add stock and continue simmering, covered, until beans are tender (about 1 hour.)
Meanwhile, heat oil in frying pan over medium heat. Add onions, garlic, cumin and oregano and cook until onion is soft. Set aside.
In a blender or or food processor, whirl about 2 cups of the beans and a little broth until smooth. Return puree to kettle. Stir in 2 teaspoons salt, onion mixture, rice and vinegar. Cook over medium heat until soup is steaming.
Serve with sour cream, green onions, radishes and lemon or lime wedges on the side.

The great thing about this recipe is that it requires very minimal supervision, and the beans can be left cooking while you do other things. And if you don't have time to use dried black beans, you can opt for canned and have dinner ready even faster! I left off the sour cream, green onions and radishes, and added fresh cilantro and topped with a little cheddar cheese. It was delish!

I've got my second loaf of Pumpkin Oatmeal Bread in the oven as I type, and can't wait to tell you all about it!

It's also snowing again - we got a couple of inches last night and are expecting a couple more through tomorrow evening. This is the second Sunday in a row that it's been snowing, and we've been enjoying the snowy mornings by walking down to the local bakery, enjoying some coffee and a bagel and walking home, taking in the beautiful cold snow.

The kitties are also enjoying their snow days :) 

And I'm getting some more Christmas knitting done!

Hope you are enjoying your Sunday afternoon!

Beautiful Dawn

The leaves are slowly turning here in Asheville and fall is definitely in the air! We went hiking on Sunday and enjoyed a nice drive on the Blue Ridge Parkway, taking in all the sights, sounds and smells of Autumn. And, of course, with Autumn comes....

Wooly worms!! Ahh, I love these guys. Near Boone, where I went to college, every year there is a wooly worm festival - it's so awesome. People bring a furry little worm and they have races, and the winner is used to help predict winter. They were out in full force during our hike, so I had to snap a few pictures - they're just so cute! The scenery around here is just amazing - I'd almost forgotten how beautiful it is in the mountains....

The weather is starting to get chilly, the colors are rapidly changing, and life is good.

I've got a new pattern available! A few months ago, I picked up a gorgeous skein of thick and thin yarn from Maya at SpringtreeRoad. I have a thing with thick and thin yarn - it's just simply beautiful. I love the way it looks. But what do you do with it? It creates such an interesting fabric when knitted up, I just knew it needed to be turned into something beautiful. So, here's what I came up with....

The Beautiful Dawn Neckwarmer

I absolutely love it! The cable is beautiful and runs the entire length of the neckwarmer. The texture is amazing - and the versatility of it even better. The buttons are placed so that it can be worn multiple ways, and because of the fabric of the thick & thin, there's no need to make button holes! It's available on Ravelry and Etsy, and you can find plenty of yummy thick and thin yarn in Maya's shop!