quinn's place

we recently came to my blog to find our backpacking trip photos from last june, and i had never posted the pictures. for shame!

we could all use a dose of pretty nature photos right now since we can’t really get out or be outside very much anymore, so here we go - a belated backpacking trip to the enchantments from last summer!

and here’s a link to our enchantments backpacking trip in 2018.

beautiful colchuck lake!

pete won the enchantments lottery for overnight camping at colchuck, so we ended up staying 3 nights by this gorgeous lake, hiking around to other areas during the daytime.

^ we always take a photo of the trailhead area and a selfie in case we go missing, haha. sounds dark, but i’d hope someone would somehow find these images on the cloud, and crack the case as to where we are, should something happen.

the details are all coming back to me seeing these photos almost a year later. it completely down-poured as soon as we started up the trail, of courseeeeee.

hair soaked with rain and also just sweat, not gun lieeee. i’m always huffing and puffing on big hikes like this.

but wowowowowwww, what an amazing beautiful sight to behold. felt like a magical mermaid lagoon.

you can’t see it here because of the fog rolling in, but we’d later hike up that snowy part of the mountain, aasgard pass.

you can probably guess that it rained A LOT more over the next few days. classic pacific northwest in june. one day we spent probably 6 hours in the middle of the day playing cards & dice games just sitting in our sleeping bags in the tent. we were both totally fine with it and it was fun, just a bummer that we couldn’t go outside in the middle of the day.

just tried hard not to gobble up all the astronaut food and drink up all the boxed wine, haha.

always eating sooo many freeze dried meals. we are connoisseurs of the mountain house brand. love anything you can stick in a tortilla and douse in black pepper. really bulks up the meal while taking up very little space in our backpacks.

^ our cooking spot!

^ haha. re-enacting the goofy people on the front of the mountain house packaging.

that rainy tent day. i love my sleeping bag :)

beauuuutimus maximus.

pete will try and try and try with that tiny fishing pole he insists on packing.

^ has never caught a fish with this teeny pole.

appreciate the enthusiasm, tho.

need a canoe!

one day when the sun was out, we hiked up (and back down) aasgard pass. i would personally say this is a hardcore hike/scramble. poles are a must! great hiking boots are a must! if you have bad knees or hips, stay far far away from this place, lol.

most people hike up aasgard from colchuck lake and just continue onto another area of the enchantments or another lake, but we had to come back down aasgard pass to get back to our campsite at colchuck at the end of the day since that’s the area we had a permit for.

it’s another world up there!!!!!!! so wild and stunning.

just a bunch of mountain goats plunking around.

more astronaut food with my cute dude.

so funny that mountain goats are the majority at the top of aasgard pass. there were very few other humanoids passing through when we were there.

crazy, yah?? looks and feels like another planet.

my face is smiling, but my knees are crying for help.

OOOOOH AAAAAAH.

^ tiny billy goat quinn passing over this snow bank. this was much scarier than it might look.

in fact, now that i’m reviewing these photos, i’d say “scary” would best describe my impression of hiking up aasgard. and “joint pain” would describe my summary of hiking back down.

i woulda been dead in a crevasse without my poles! fully granny-ing it back to camp like “wtf just happened to my body??!”

^ a very accurate portrayal of my poopT feels when we got back down. the very best moment of the trip is when you can rip off your sweaty boots & socks, wiggle your toes and strap on your tevas! and a very well deserved happy hour by the lake to round out the day.

all-around eventful, beautiful, successful & memorable backpacking trip to colchuck & aasgard!

or what we now refer to as, “the quarantine 15.”

wow wow wow. such strange times we are living in right now. i haven’t posted a recipe or blog post since just last month, but within that short time span, the entire world has turned upside down. you don’t need another coronavirus backstory, but it’s not to be glossed over either. these are super scary, unprecedented times for the whole world and our modern history. it’s all happening and unfolding right now as i type this. and while this post is about food & cooking, it’s a huge nod to all the time we are currently spending at home (even more-so than usual), cooking, baking, and trying to maintain our sense of safety, health, comfort & sanity.

i’m feeling very, very grateful to have a safe place to quarantine with people i love and trust and feel safe with. also so lucky to have business opportunities that allow me to work from home in a certain capacity; same goes for my husband. i know that countless people don’t have the same access to work opportunities, food, and a safe sanctuary in which to quarantine, stay healthy and financially stable. i’m just feeling so grateful for what i have, and i think this process of quarantining is really opening peoples’ eyes & minds to all the things in life that actually matter; things that seemed like problems one month ago seem so trivial and unimportant now.

we are safe, happy & thriving here; i feel lucky to be able to say that, and i do not take our situation for granted.

all that to say - i continue to be head-over-heels for all-things bon appétit. here are some of the delicious recipes made under this roof during the month of march!

[disclaimer from the future, mid 2020: reading this section back of myself singing all the praises of BA is definitely cringeworthy given the very public reckoning that bon appetit has faced over the course of this year. it is safe to say that i have been thoroughly disappointed in discovering their unfair compensation practices amongst beloved staff members and phony strides toward a “diverse” and “inclusive” publication/workplace. it is a reminder to carefully examine all of the things that we think are great, and to really consider the reality of what may going on behind the scenes. this applies to many things that have been brought to light this year - as for my own interests, that includes BA, the ellen show, and many brands and people i’ve admired. it is a healthy & necessary exercise to be aware, curious, and informed of any dangerous or harmful inner-workings of large companies. i want to fully support the mission behind brands i love before blindly giving them such high praise, or funnel my dollars back into their toxic system. needless to say, all the previous content i’ve written in major support of bon appetit is a bit embarrassing now in retrospect - i won’t delete it, as it has been a part of my learning and unlearning process. it has been a part of this year’s huge cultural paradigm shift and so many incidents that have opened my eyes to many types of injustice. we all need to better examine the content that we each choose to consume and decide if it’s really worth or supporting.]

{…back to the past:}

ooomahhhgaaawwddd, i forgot about this glossy cookie dough. whoa baby. this is a top-notch cookie recipe.

i’m learning that i probably need a baking scale - my cookies are always too dense & poofy, so i’m probably using too much flour. very good cookies, though. will make again - even if its just to freeze the dough for future dough cravings snack :)

BA Brown Butter and Toffee Chocolate Chip Cookies

couldn’t have jumped on this recipe faster. i made these biscuits the day they released the recipe on instagram. wowweeeee, they were amazing - flaky, buttery, flavorful. i didn’t have sour cream and subbed greek yogurt and a little cream cheese - they turned out fabulously! i’ve been wanting to find a reason to make them again already, but we’ve been going a bit kooky krazy with all the carby items around here, lol. blessed be all the youtube workout videos that exist.

BA Sour Cream and Onion Biscuits

it took me longer than i’d like to admit to understand why this recipe is called “billionaire bars” - which was actually a fun little riddle once i’d had the epiphany. this is probably extremely obvious, but these bars are super richhhhhhh. get it?!? 🤪derp. i’m just slow sometimes. holy moses, these will knock your sweet cravings right outta the park. veryyyy delicious, but will give you the sugarz if you don’t move around after eating one. i can see that if you don’t care for sesame flavors or tahini, you won’t be a fan. you could get crazy and use creamy peanut butter instead of tahini in the butterscotch layer, but that would be, like, “trillionaire” bar status. i think the tahini brings in an earthiness that somewhat tones down how rich the dessert is as a whole. approve!!!!!

BA Tahini Billionaire Bars

and for the superbowl snack i never made but wanted to - queso!

this queso recipe is freaking delicious. i was inspired to randomly make it the other day because we had american cheese from some burgers we’d grilled. and it did not disappoint the squad that got to eat it pipin’ hot and ready! will absolutely make again and again.

BA Queso, Not From a Jar

simply a bon appétit adjacent, the alison roman caramelized shallot pasta:

very enjoyable and opened up our anchovy-closed minds. duh, it makes all the sense. anchovy usage as saltiness, just like using fish sauce in thai food, etc. i’d put up a hard wall against anchovies in my life because i don’t like fish, but it makes sense all broken down in this salty, shallot-y sauce!