Monthly Archives: February 2011

Random Wednesday Rants: Books

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It saddens me to read so much news today about Border’s bankruptcy and store closures. I am a real fan of Borders. They were the only big chain book store I have ever found with a legit Catholic section.

Although I must confess; just a couple weeks ago I found an amazing book of photography at our local book store. At first I was willing to slug on the seemingly high cost book because it was a must have but then we found it for half the price on Amazon through our phones. While I presently try hold my allegiance with the printed word, even now I’m currently reading a free e-book because the printed copy is just too expensive. It’s truly sad but consumers have to worry about the bottom line too.

On a related topic I’ve had an obsession with bookshelves lately. When Mark saw how much I admired our bookshelf when it was first assembled in our home he warned me it would not stay so “pretty” for long.

Everything was so neat and organized; each shelf categorized by book topic and having a personal trinket to add extra decor. Now this is what it looks like; with other books stacked all over our home.

We really need another shelf but I’d rather just wait until we move again. I’m hoping I can cover my walls the way some of these creative people have. The shelf designs make me say “Ewww” and “Ahhh” but the nerd in me is really drooling over all those books!!!

Source: homedit.com via Nathalie on Pinterest

A personal favorite! Admittedly because of how great Texas looks!

Source: None via veanad on Pinterest

Source: lh6.ggpht.com via Ruta on Pinterest

recipe: carrot cake cupcakes with cream cheese frosting

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This Valentine’s has been truly special! We didn’t do anything extraordinary, it just seemed more awesome than most (well that mountain was kind of a big deal). Maybe it’s because this is our first Valentine’s as husband and wife.

I asked Mark last week what he wanted me to bake to for Valentine’s day and he said Carrot Cake Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting. It kind of caught me off guard because that sounded pretty difficult but at the same time I was pretty giddy because 1) it was a baking challenge and 2) it means he takes my baking serious and believes I can make good stuff!

I haven’t done a recipe in a while so here is my latest creation!

CARROT CAKE CUPCAKES
(via MarthaStewart.com with minimal alterations)

Ingredients

  • 1 pound medium carrots, peeled and finely grated
  • 3 large eggs
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 1 1/4 cups vegetable oil
  • 1/3 cup buttermilk
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
  • 1/2 cup golden raisins (optional)
  • 1 cup walnuts or pecans, toasted and finely chopped
  • 3 cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

*To toast the walnuts: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spread nuts evenly on a rimmed baking sheet; toast, stirring occasionally, until fragrant, 8 to 10 minutes (watch carefully to prevent burning). Transfer sheet to a wire rack; let nuts cool completely.

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line 2 standard muffin tins with paper liners. In a bowl, whisk together carrots, eggs, sugar, oil, buttermilk, vanilla extract, and raisins and nuts if desired. In another bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and cloves. Stir flour mixture into carrot mixture until well combined.
  2. Divide batter among muffin cups, filling each 3/4 full. Bake, rotating tins halfway through, until testers inserted into centers come out clean, 23 to 28 minutes. Let cool in tins on wire racks, 10 minutes. Turn out cupcakes onto wire racks, and let cool completely.
  3. Frost cupcakes with cream cheese frosting. (see frosting directions below)


CREAM CHEESE FROSTING
(via JoyofBaking.com)

Ingredients

  • 8 ounces (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
  • 3 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions

Beat butter and cream cheese with a mixer on medium-high speed until fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes. Reduce speed to low. Add sugar, 1 cup at a time, and then vanilla; mix until smooth.

I believe this was actually my first time making cupcakes and I’m surprised how well they turned out. (I tried my hand out on cookies over the holidays and they just don’t seem to be my forte.) Mark wanted to eat several and they received rave reviews from my coworkers! When I made them I actually only used 1 cup of vegetable oil because the commentators had said 1 1/2 cups was too much. I think I will go with 1 1/4 cups next time to make it a bit more moist. But I definitely think I’ll be making these again!

FELIZ SAN VALENTIN!

weekend adventures: the long way home

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Mark and I haven’t ever celebrated Valentine’s Day the Hallmark way; we’ve always made it our own. I do believe this weekend is one that will definitely go down in the books, or blog.

I have been telling Mark that I wanted to go up Camelback Mountain for a while now. Of course my loving husband wouldn’t take me on the easy trails of Camelback. NO! He took me on the most difficulty of all the trails. Well I take that back. Not the MOST strenuous but the closest to it.

Here are the stats from the website:

Summit Trail. ( Echo Canyon)

Unless you’ve ever hiked to its summit at 2700 feet, you’ll never experience the quiet tranquility overlooking the spectacular beauty of the cityscape horizon. It’s a magnet that attracts over 300,000 recreation hikers every year from around the world. Trail ascends through spectacular sandstone rock formations and unparalled views from the summit into Greater Phoenix.

Trail Length: 1.2 miles
Elevation Gain: 1,264 feet
Summit: 2,704 feet
Difficulty: Strenuous
Open: Sunrise to sunset

I must mention that due to limited parking and Mark always thinking ahead, he decided we’d get to the mountain on bike… just a short hour ride to and from. He’s determined to kill the fat girl I have in me if it’s the last thing he does!

I would like to be able to say that I completed another task on my list of 27 things to do before I’m 27, but I only completed half of #8: hike to the top of a mountain (without complaint). Yea, that “without complaint” stipulation I added on a lot of my goals has really set me back! I was already whining when we got to the mountain because of the long bike ride.

The only thing that gave me the extra distraction to keep going was seeing the “Praying Monk” from a distance. Personally, I think it is St Francis but I could be bias since he is one of my favorites. Isn’t nature amazing?!?

Unfortunately, I didn’t keep St Francis on my mind when we finally made it to the base of the mountain. That is when I found out we were climbing Echo Canyon. Just earlier this week a couple guys at work were discussing how hard this climb was and the fact that I knew this threw Mark for a loop. He tried to reassure me by saying it wasn’t hardest there was still one that was harder. Thanks love! Real comforting.

I managed to walk up the stairs before declaring I was taking a break… behind a huge rock… in the shade.

It was a good thing I had no idea what was ahead of me or I may still be sitting in that same spot right now. Apparently Mark didn’t believe the site when it said strenuous because the first climb took him by surprise too! The photo we took does NOT capture how steep this section truly was! At the top all the dogs were even hesitated, having to be coax down by their owners.

I won’t comment about this photo of my wonderfully Mexican husband.

We didn’t take too many more photos until we reached the summit, mostly because I didn’t want to break my lens on a rock and I was trying not to slip and die.

There were many times I wanted to turn around and go back but Mark kept reminding me not to let the mountain defeat me. I had one of those “this is stupid and I don’t need to prove anything to myself” moments in my head but ultimately I ended up continuing the climbs. By no coincident I’m sure I had many small (or not so small) reminders when I did want to stop. Besides the Praying Monk at the beginning, I heard a man remind his friend about sacrificial love while his friend was complaining about his wife. And if that wasn’t enough to light a fire under me to keep climbing when I really wanted to stop a boy climbed past me wearing a grey shirt with “ST FRANCIS” written in big black Old English print on the front. Nothing more. Just ST FRANCIS… patron Saint of nature. I take it he just wanted to give me a friendly reminder that it wasn’t that serious! Mark said he never saw the boy wearing that shirt, but I saw him pass me both going up and back down. I definitely got the message!

I am so glad that I made it to the top because the view is absolutely breathtaking! It gives you just enough of a relief to forget the climb up and give you the motivation to climb the whole thing again back. Although, some guys at the top were talking about the people that have made it that high and decided there was no way they were going back down. They actually will come and pick you from the top in a helicopter… at an extremely high cost.

Now the next time I heard someone talking about Echo Canyon I can say, “Oh that little thing. Yea I did that!” … maybe I’ll be a bit more modest for fear they may invite me to join them next time!

Here are some more amazing views during the climb.

my greatest desire

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This weekend was another Native filled weekend. The annual Hoop Dancing Competition was held at the Heard Museum. I’ve mentioned before how great it has been to be surrounded by so much culture here in Arizona. I have both sides, Mexican and Native, to embrace here. It fills me with so much pride!

At the same time it can be quite painful. The earliest I can remember having this deep longing to truly know my ancestral roots would be middle school. Don’t we all go through an identity crisis in middle school? But  my deep desire still hasn’t ceased.  I know on my mom’s side I’m at least the 4th generation born in Texas and on my dad’s side no one can really even say when we made Texas home. There are both roots in Spain and Native American ancestry on that side but I haven’t found out any times. It takes a lot of time and digging, which I haven’t committed to yet.

I don’t blame anyone for my lack of cultural identity growing up. It’s a extremely unfortunate side-effect of assimilation in this country. Some people are perfectly fine with their lost cultural traditions, but for me it has never set right. Now that I’m adult I can only blame myself for the lack of effort.

Over half the people I face on a daily basis at work are either Native or Mexican. Out of all my coworkers they gravitate to me because I look like them. Then I have to tell the Spanish speakers “No I’m sorry I don’t speak Spanish” as I guide them to my white co-workers that do. It kills me inside.

Every Powwow and events such as the Hoop Dancing Competition makes me tear up because of the extreme pride Natives exhibit. I have that pride in both sides that make me who I am, but I want to be able to flaunt it! I want to be knowledgeable and I want to teach others… most especially my own children. It’s an extremely heavy burden that I’ve carried for so long.

Mark has helped me so much in that struggle, but as I mentioned before ultimately the responsibility falls on me. I hope that I can obtain what I long for sooner than later.

Here are some of the photos and videos I captured from this weekend.

That little smile just makes my heart melt!

 

I definitely cried when she was dancing. She showed so much passion!

She was an amazing dancer... and mother of 3!

 

I thought he was absolutely the best we saw that day!

An amazing elder, age was "north of 60"! After having a horse fall on him he was told he would never dance or walk again. But he knew they were wrong!

 

Cheers to MANY more years!

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Maya & Chicle.
My two four-legged loves.

Today my loves are 21!… in dog years. Maya was actually born February 6th with Chicle following soon after but on February 7th. I don’t know where I would be with out these two little four-legged creatures. They have truly made me a better person. They have taught me self-sacrifice, patience, unconditional love, and loyalty.

It is quite apparent that Chicle is My Dog and Maya belongs to Mark. I go so far as to call him “My Chicle” as if that is his full name. The funny thing is that we were never suppose to have Chicle. Maya was the chosen one. But when they were 6 weeks old and it was time to bring Maya home we suddenly found ourselves with two dogs.

Mark had agreed to “watch” Chicle for a few days for his sister because he was a whiny pup and she wanted a break. But before we had been on the rode for 30 minutes, Chicle and I were inseparable. We were destined for each other.

Mark and I constantly find ourselves laughing at the ridiculous conversations we have about Maya and Chicle. They bring joy to our life every day… while at the same time keeping us humble!

Happy Birthday Chicle & Maya! Cheers to 21 more year… in human time!!!