A Perfectly Proportioned Piece of Paradise

Did you know actual scientific studies have been conducted on the topic of chocolate and depression? Now, no one had to convince me of a link (I mean, the only thing that made me feel good every day [pre-meds] was - you guessed it - CHOCOLATE), but there's always the guilt factor canceling out a bit of the bliss. Unless, of course, you're like me, and you search for a recipe that can be cut down to guiltless proportions. That's right, folks. I found a triple chocolate brownie recipe that was easily quartered. It takes 20 minutes to make and bake and fits in a loaf pan. (Cue the Hallelujah Chorus.) Here it is:

1/4 c. unsalted butter

1/2 c. sugar, rounded (i.e. heaping)

1/3 c. cocoa powder

1/4 t. salt

1/4 t. baking powder

1 t. vanilla

1 egg

1/3 c. flour, rounded

1/2 c. chocolate chips

(I use mostly semi-sweet with some milk chocolate thrown in for good measure).

Optional: 1/4 c. chopped nuts

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease a loaf pan.

1) In a microwave-safe bowl, or in a saucepan set over low heat, melt the butter.

2) Add the sugar, stirring to combine. Remove from heat.

3) Stir in the cocoa, salt, baking powder, and vanilla.

4) Whisk in the egg, stirring until smooth.

5) Add the flour, chips, and optional nuts, again stirring until smooth.

6) Spoon the batter into the prepared pan.

7) Bake the brownies for 15 - 20 minutes, until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean. The brownies should feel set on the edges, and barely set in the center. (I bake mine for 15 minutes, then turn the oven off and leave them in there for another 5). Excellent with milk and/or cream cheese frosting. (Cream cheese, vanilla, and powdered sugar.) Enjoy!!! Original recipe: King Arthur Flour Brownie Bites

Yosemite!

Last Thursday night we got a call from Shaine and Kevin, inviting us to join them at a campsite in Yosemite. After much seesawing (Athey/Klimas: we apologize for the drama) we ended up going for it. Five hours later we arrived at Hodgdon Meadows. (And I have to say, I finally get at least one reason for the corkboard up by the campsite entrance, and I'm VERY grateful for it! S&K, thank you for the note/directions.) We had a great time lounging around the campfire, headed to bed around midnight, and slept soundly (ha!) in the freezing temperatures.

Saturday morning chef Kevin supplie

d a delicious breakfast, and we all rolled out to the valley. Having never been to Yosemite, may I just say "WOW."

A glimpse of Yosemite Valley:

Everybody marveling at Yosemite Falls:

Yosemite Falls

(and curious onlookers staring at Robb as he lay on the ground for this shot):

Awwwwww.....aren't they cute??? ;-)

El Capitan...

...and the bus.

(Bottom left corner.)

All in all, a fun, relaxing day of sightseeing, "hiking" (aka walking), and wondering at the masses of people in attendance.

Looking Back: Robb Becomes a Proud Papa

I mean...owner...of a 1975 VW Bus. A Westfalia, or "Westie", complete with pop-top camper, two fold out beds, a sink, a stove, and an icebox/fridge, he/she/it (a name has yet to be chosen) sleeps four comfortably and puts some major sparkle in the proud papa's eyes. We flew out to Phoenix this past Valentine's weekend, and spent three days driving it back to San Jose. The Grand Canyon was gorgeous (Robb's first visit), Hoover Dam at midnight was movie-set surreal (a first for both of us), and Death Valley was interesting (my first time there).

Miraculously enough, we made it home safely, and I have to say that, while I may not love the bus unequivocally, I do think it's pretty freaking awesome. If Robb hangs onto it long enough to be able to fix it up entirely (we're talking YEARS, mostly because it'll take that long to save the money for the minor body work and major paint job that need to be done), it will be absolutely amazing. For now, I'll just squint and pretend to be able to ignore the green-faded-to-blue curtains clashing with the orange-black-green plaid. :-)

Shaine and Kevin's Wedding

Yesterday the one and only Shaine Klima married Kevin Athey. It was a beautiful day at the Oakland Temple, and fun times both before and after the ceremony with friends from Long Beach and beyond. All in all, a fantastic time to reconnect with a lot of excellent friends.

And Shaine and Kevin, we all hope you're having a FABULOUS honeymoon.

:-)

The radiantly beautiful bride:

The happy couple:

The happier couple:

The shoes that inspired the outfit:

And the only picture I have of the LB/OC/DC crew.

(Patty and Carrie, I'm trusting you have much better pictures!)

A few more Ecuador pictures

How to keep Ecuadoran drivers from using a lane under construction:

fill it with rocks and branches.

A couple (out of hundreds) of the orchids in Loja's orchid garden.

Robb's favorite purchase:

a "cabeza del diablo" mask for his brother.

The best thing about Ecuador!

Ecuador, Part 3

After Christmas Eve in Quito we flew to Loja. (Ahem...well, after a LONG wait in the Quito airport. HINT: If you're ever waiting for a domestic flight in Quito, head over to the International terminal. Waaaaaaaaaay nicer.) It was truly wonderful to see my parents and have the opportunity to see first hand all the things they've told us about.

We went to Parque Jipiro (the coolest city park I've been to in a while - full of replicas of famous buildings in which we had fun playing around), an orchid garden, the city zoo (though we're told it's really not worth it anymore since the giraffe died - random!), and both ends of Parque Nacional Podocarpus - the high altitude end (ridgeline/cloud forest) near Loja and the rainforest-esque low altitude end (near the city of Zamora).

We ate frogs legs and guinea pig and Ecuadoran corn cakes, and we saw a lot of interesting (and random) sights, such as sections of road covered in rocks and small trees, to keep people from driving on them until construction is done. (Driving in Ecuador is only for the fearless. It doesn't matter how many lanes there appear to be - there's always only one lane: the one going your direction. My favorite memory? Passing another car on the left while being passed on the left. Oncoming traffic, schmoncoming traffic!)

After five days with my parents we had to head out, so we took a bus north to Cuenca. The city is full of beautiful colonial-era buildings, most noticeably the "new" cathedral (1800s), which has three blue-tiled domes. We saw some real (and really eerie) shrunken heads at a local museum, bought some cool handicrafts, and listened to some great ethnic music. On December 31 we passed numerous sidewalk stands selling yellow women's underwear (brings good luck if worn on New Year's Eve), and made our way to the airport. It was a fantastic trip!

Me, coming down a cement slide on the miniature Kremlin at Parque Jipiro.

Parks outside the US are so fantastically, dangerously fun! :-)

My mom, with her half-guinea pig (cuy).

Visiting the Sotomayor family with my parents.

The new cathedral in Cuenca.

I couldn't have said it better myself.

Ecuador, Part 2: Shall we dance?

After 4 days in the Amazon we went back to Quito. We spent the night in our hostel and went up to Otavalo and Cotacachi the next day. Otavalo is the site of the longest-running and largest indigenous market in South America (it's been in existence since the Incan era), and Cotacachi is famous for its leather goods. (As we drove up to the town the air smelled like leather - it was pretty cool!)

We spent another night in Quito and found a few cool spots on La Ronda - a colonial era (1600s) street full of shops, galleries, and cafes. My favorite memory from our time in Quito was from our second to last night there. Robb and I were starving and tired (so I was rather grumpy), and we were walking up and down La Ronda, looking for a good place to eat. As it was the 23rd, there was a LOT of loud celebrating (and karaoke, oddly enough) going on. I was not in the mood for a noisy crowd.

We finally settled on a VERY small cafe on a side street (mostly because their sidewalk sign said they had pizza.) ;-) We sat down and ordered, and as we waited for our food the cafe owner very kindly changed the radio to American Christmas music. We started up a conversation with the lady and her husband, drank her amazing, out-of-this-world-delicious hot chocolate, ate our pizza, and talked some more.

Robb had been drumming on the table as we ate (a common occurrence) and we talked about rhythm and then dancing. When the owners found out Robb didn't know how to do any Latin dances they decided to change that. He, of course, protested, but they shoved the other two tables out of the way, cranked up the music, and the señora pulled him out of his seat and started teaching him how to cumbia. All in all, we had a fabulous time dancing with this older couple in their little 10x10 cafe. It was definitely one of my favorite experiences from the trip.