Snowpocalypse

No, there is still no snow in Boulder, but the mountains are getting hammered. 2.5 feet in Crested Butte. In one day. How is that possible? We were up for an epic weekend at Vail and ABasin. Previous trips to Vail have been pretty frumpy, but we paid to park in the garage to avoid waiting and hour for the stupid bus, and were glad that we did. The back bowls were big, epic, and very fluffy. I think a day like that on my birthday excuses us from not having snow this Christmas. Matt and I both forgot our alpines at home, so we got a serious thigh workout (on my new fat teles!) Looks to be a good season ahead.


Even though the weather hasn't been festive down here, we're been having a lovely time making ornaments, baking cookies, and being with friends. I had a group of ladies over for a cookie baking party, and was pretty impressed with our output. Cornflake wreaths were the most photogenic, though the mint-frosted red velvets were lovely too. We've recently become enamored of a four-person board game called Blokus, which consistently challenges our spatial skills and our friendships. Somehow, we got the hairbrained idea that we should try to fit all the pieces on the board following the game rules. The boys were enthralled for about an hour until we got this final result:

Pooped from exertion

I'll admit, I'm not really into Christmas. I love spending time with family, but the materialism really gets to me, and the religious appeal blows right by me. It does usually mean empty slopes. We've been trying our hardest to get people to NOT get us presents because our 700 sq. ft. apartment has about reached is carrying capacity. Our tree (which lives in a box of rocks because we don't have a tree stand) adds to the festivity, but it will be alone for Christmas. Off to Australia tonight! We're hitting Tasmania for some backpacking, Cairns for some diving, and Sydney for city culture. And food. Packing camping equipment into two small backpacks has eluded us, so we'll be taking the huge ones. We're bringing 10 pounds of dried foods (hooray for the bulk aisle), as we'll be arriving on Christmas and are not confident that we'll find fuel before we hit the trail.

I've been sending family delicious things in lieu of more formal gifts this year. I've always thought fruitcake was kind of gross, but my sister and dad think its heavenly, so I made a batch to send Amanda for finals week. Even though I'm not usually a fan, I found this recipe pretty delicious (maybe because I accidentally doubled the sugar. . .). Have a lovely holiday.


Fruitcake

• 1 (8 oz) tub candied cherries
• 1 (8 oz) tub candied citron
• 1 cup raisins
• 1/2 cup delicious booze of your choice (brandy, rum, etc.)
• 1 cup flour
• 1 cup almond meal (or grind your own almonds)
  
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ginger
  
• 4 eggs
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1/2 cup molasses
  
• 5 cups pecans

1. Preheat oven to 275F
2. Grease two 9x5 loaf pans and line with parchment paper. Grease the paper too.
   
3. Soaks fruits in your booze and let sit overnight or longer.
4. Mix together flour, almond meal, powder, salt, and spices. Pour onto fruit and mix in until coated.
5. Beat eggs until frothy and beat in the sugar and molasses. Add to the dry mixture and stir until incorporated.
   
6. Stir in the pecans.
7. Spoon into the prepared pans and bake for 1.5 hours.
   

Finally the season for our plates,
though we use them all year round.