Blooms and Butterflies and Blown Glass
Posted: May 20, 2013 Filed under: Big Cities, Wildlife | Tags: Botanical Gardens, Butterflies, Chihuly Glass, Photography, Wildlife 2 Comments »
Yikes, I really fell off the blogging map this spring. I am going to blame a combination of rainy weather and one too many irons in the fire, but I am happy to say it is green and pretty in Carlisle, and I am ready to get back to adventuring!
And it seems appropriate that my first post back is all about beautiful things: butterflies and blown glass. Last week, I traveled to Columbus, Ohio to spend time with family and during my visit I went to the Franklin Park Conservatory. It is a place that holds both nostalgia and excitement for me. The nostalgia comes from my time working as a volunteer in the butterfly garden every Sunday during one summer break in college. I was quiet, and a little awkward, and loved escorting people through the double door system (to keep the butterflies in) and watching their faces ripple with wonder as the small, striking creatures took flight in front of them, sprinkled through the air like tiny drops of fairy dust.
That summer, I also helped release newly hatched butterflies into the garden, delicately pinching their wings between my fingers and freeing them with the quick flick of my wrist. It made me feel like I was part of something bigger, something unique and beautiful. Now when I visit, I get that wonderful feeling of returning to a special place that has changed, yet somehow still feels familiar in just the right kind of way.
Stepping back through the double doors on this trip, I was amazed to see so many butterflies in one place. Instead of being sprinkled through the air, as I remember, the butterflies coated the room like stars across a night sky. The air seemed to vibrate with them. We spun in circles watching them land, feed, and spring to the air again. Some flew in tight groups, like swirling leaves, while others dipped and glided alone. A little girl near us held out her hand and one landed, perched on her finger like a snowflake, gone before she had time to breathe. It felt almost magical.
In addition to the butterflies, the conservatory is also speckled with Dale Chihuly’s incredible glass artwork, which only adds to the swept away feeling of stepping into the gardens. Originally part of a visiting exhibit, some of the Chihuly pieces where purchased by the Friends of the Conservatory, a private nonprofit group, to remain as a permanent collection. Every time I see his work I find myself in awe. The glass seems to embrace art and nature and color all in one breathe.
My favorite piece is a bright red and yellow, twisting sculpture set in the Pacific Island Water Garden, which also happens to be the home of the butterflies. The piece seems to rise out of the green like a volcano and the butterflies have taken to it as their own personal resting place. It is a combination of my two favorite parts of the conservatory: a swirling, spinning, quiet reminder of all things bold and bright.
I think I still have butterflies on the brain!
Gettysburg National Military Park
Posted: February 15, 2013 Filed under: Hiking, National and State Parks | Tags: Civil War, Gettysburg, landscape, Photography, Travel 2 Comments »
Last weekend, Lucas and I spent the day wandering through the battlefields of Gettysburg. This year is the 150th anniversary of the battle, and yet, I still found myself holding my breath and whispering as we walked across the fields of a place where so many people died. It is somehow amazing and horrifying and real.
It was nice to be there during off-season. Often we found ourselves alone or mostly alone on the various stops, and we were free to read every sign as quietly and slowly as we wished. And from the observation towers we could stand and look, unobstructed, for miles in every direction until the constant gusts of chilly wind forced us down.
My favorite places in Gettysburg are Little Round Top and Devils Den. A section of the battlefield that stretches from the rocky hill-top to a catacomb of boulders that served as an outpost for snipers during the battle. Some of the stone walls the soldiers built for cover on Little Round top are still there, making the ghost of the past that much more real. And Devils Den still feels as damp and narrow and cryptic as I imagine it did so many years ago, even with children (and adults) slithering through the cracks and crevices once inhabited by soldiers.
But the place that makes me the quietest, and the saddest, is the field were Pickett’s Charge took place. As I look out at the exposed, dry-grass of a naked field slowly rising to the high-water mark of the battle on Cemetary Ridge, all I can imagine is fear. How impossible it must have felt to walk out onto that field as the Union artillery rained down. Over 6,000 confederate soldiers died trying to cross this field, and it became the turning point of the battle, and most agree, the war. What a strange combination to face in this little Pennsylvania town.
Croissants with Julia Child
Posted: January 18, 2013 Filed under: Baking, Food | Tags: Croissants, Food, Home Baking, Julia Child, Recipes 3 Comments »
I have a bit of a foodie crush on Julia Child. Maybe it is the dipping cadence of her voice, or her role as woman in the industry, or her height, or the fact that she loved bread and worked with Raymond Calvel, one of bakings greats. Whatever the reason, I get really excited when I come across something that lets baking and Julia Child collide. And these croissants are it!
I will admit, making croissants had me a little nervous. All the folding and butter, I was afraid I would end up with flat, pathetic blobs. But, I didn’t. They turned out great. Light and flakey…not perfect, but we loved eating every last one. It takes time, the first day is all about letting the dough rest, the second day your rolling-pin becomes your best friend, but it was fun and challenging and rewarding. A perfect way to spend a gray winter weekend. Not exactly, healthy, but everyone deserves a Julia Child inspired treat once in a while. So, treat yourself to a fabulous breakfast for dinner kind of day!
Croissants
Adapted from From Julia’s Kitchen by Julia Child
What You Need:
1 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
3 tablespoons tepid water
2 teaspoons sugar
1 3/4 cups (8 ounces) all purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
2/3 cup tepid milk
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
4 to 7 ounces (1 to 1 3/4 sticks) chilled unsalted butter
Eggwash
To Make:
Day 1…
In a small bowl mix the yeast, water and sugar. Blend the milk and oil with the yeast mixture.
In a large bowl, mix the flour and salt. Add the yeast mixture. Mix until well combined, then turn it out onto your floured work surface.
Let it rest for a few minutes, then knead until the dough feels smooth and begins to draw back into shape when pushed out during kneading. You’ll probably need a dusting of flour during kneading, but try not to add too much.
Put the dough in a bowl and cover it with plastic wrap. Set aside until the dough has tripled in size, about 3 hours.
After the first rise, turn the dough out on a floured surface and fold it over a few times. Then put it back in the bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and let it rise until doubled in size, about 1 1/2 to 2 hours.
After the dough has doubled, turn it out onto a floured plate, cover it with plastic wrap, and refrigerator overnight.
Day 2…
Take the butter out of the refrigerator and beat it with a rolling-pin to soften it so you can spread it. (This is a bit messy.) Do this quickly so it doesn’t get warm. Scrape the butter up with a dough scraper, fold it over, and whack it again if needed to get it soft. You can use the palm of your hand.
Turn the dough out onto a floured work surface. Roll it into an 14×8 inch rectangle and spread the butter over 2/3 of the dough. Fold the uncovered third over the buttered center, then fold the other side, like folding a brochure.
Lightly flour the dough, and roll it into a 10×16 inch rectangle. Fold it into thirds like you did before (no additional butter). Flour the dough, wrap it in plastic, and refrigerate it for at least 45 minutes.
Take it out of the refrigerator and roll it into a 10×16 rectangle. Fold in thirds as before. Then roll and fold one last time.
Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours. Prepare two baking sheets.
Roll the dough to a rectangle about 20×5 inches. Cut it in half and return half to the refrigerator. Roll the half you’re working with to about 15×5 inches. Cut it into thirds so you have three 5×5 pieces.
Cut your 5×5 piece diagonally into two triangles. Stretch the base with your fingers and roll the triangle toward the tip. Bend the two ends to form the curve of the crescent.
Place the roll on the prepared baking sheet. Continue until all the dough has been cut and rolled (makes 12).
Cover the baking sheets and let the croissants rise until they have tripled in size, about 2 hours. They should feel puffy and light.
Preheat the oven to 475 degrees. Brush the croissants with the egg wash and then bake at 475 degrees for 12 to 15 minutes. Let them cool on a rack for 10 minutes and serve.
Enjoy!
Adapted from Cookistry.
Happy 2013! And my 100th post…
Posted: January 5, 2013 Filed under: Central PA, Winter, Writing | Tags: landscape, Photography, Snow, Winter, Writing 5 Comments »
I have been doing a lot of reflect over the last few days and it seems fitting: It’s a new year. I added another notch in my birthday belt two weeks ago, and it is my 100th blog post on becominganomad. I am still having a hard time believing that it has been over a year and a half since I started blogging our first days in Alaska, and it seems even harder to believe that since then we have camped, hiked, backpacked, and eaten our way across the country to our new home in PA. I still get misty-eyed when I think of Alaska, so it seems fitting that today as I reflect on the last year, and this blog, that I have snow on the brain.
I smile to think that in elementary school I was one of the only kids who always voted winter my favorite season, and it carries over to today (although fall is creeping up there at a very close second). Something about being able to see your breath and boots and snow days and forts created out of piles of snow and the way the world transforms in white has always left me breathless. I still press my nose to the cold window glass near the end of fall wishing for snow. Lots of snow.
As you get older snow has more practical consequences, like shoveling and tough driving, but I still can’t seem to help myself. I will always wish for snow. I love the way the world looks when it snows. Suddenly everything is different: brighter, quieter, cleaner. It is almost like a fresh start.
This winter (in stark contrast to Michigan’s Upper Peninsula and Alaska) I feel as if I am playing hide-and-go-seek with snow. It is teasing me. It appears, bright-white, wet, and heavy, blanketing the street and the trees, only to melt into clumps of gray, crusty-chunks bunched in piles near my car. Everything melts too fast for me to sink into the quiet of snow.
It seems strange to still be heading out to walk in just a fleece. Like spring. Snow transitioning to ice and disappearing all around. The walking path a sheet of crumpled glass. The creek near our house running deep, cold, and clear. The broken edges of a snow pile giving way to green. Although I am missing the depth and scope and beauty of a pure winter, lately, I have also been enjoying the battle. Here and gone and in-between.
But, I still have my fingers crossed for piles and piles of snow. Don’t be mad folks that are ready for winter to be over 
Cheers to snow and the new year and a 100 more adventures to come!
Roasted Cauliflower and White Cheddar Soup
Posted: December 21, 2012 Filed under: Food | Tags: Cauliflower, Cheese, Food, Recipes, Soup Leave a comment »
It is a perfect week for soup: gray, rainy, and the kind of wet-cold that makes you want to stay in bed all day long. So last night we tried a new soup that has been sitting on my pinterest board for months, and it is a total winner! I must admit, I love pretty much any soup that involves cheese, and Lucas and I have been on a cauliflower kick, so this seemed like a good match. What I loved about this soup, beyond the way it made our house smell, was the depth of flavor even with so few ingredients. I think roasting the cauliflower helps make the flavors so robust and, of course, I added a little extra cheese, which never hurts. Overall, it was a perfect, warm, cozy soup for a cold, rainy night. How I wish it had been snow instead! Still keeping my fingers crossed for a white Christmas.
Happy Apocalypse Day! And enjoy the soup
Roasted Cauliflower and White Cheddar Soup
What You Need:
Adapted from Closet Cooking
In the blink of an eye…it’s almost time for a happy holiday!
Posted: December 19, 2012 Filed under: Beer, Big Cities, Central PA | Tags: Chihuly Glass, Photography, Travel, Troegs Brewery, Washington DC 2 Comments »It seems like the end of November and the begining of December slipped right through my fingers: a blur of Thanksgiving and grading (so many freshman composition essays!) and rain and mini-weekend trips and suddenly it is Winter Break. The holiday season is upon us.
Yesterday, I finally ushered in the first day of winter break, and the end to my first semester teaching four classes of freshman English at a local university. I am SO ready for a break from grading, but I am glad I will have more freshman to keep me on my toes next semester. But for now, I am looking forward to spending time with family, baking (my list includes recreating Julia Child’s crossant, yes please), reading (for fun), dreaming up summer vaction plans (backpacking here we come), and finally tackling my non-school-related to-do list items.
But late fall (we are still snowless here), wasn’t all grading and gray. We packed in a few local adventures to satisfy our traveling taste buds!
Washington, DC
Making our way to the monuments on a cool Novemeber day
Phipps Conservatory Winter Garden
Plus, Chihuly Glass!!!
Troegs Brewery…nothing like a pint of local beer
More from the kitchen soon…
Daydreaming of Lake Superior
Posted: November 9, 2012 Filed under: Hiking | Tags: Lake Superior, landscape, Photography, Travel 6 Comments »Today in Carlisle it is bright, the sun is polkadotted across the brick wall in our backyard, and for whatever reason, it has sent me into a pleasant daydream about Lake Superior. It is hard to imagine it has been over a year since I last lived along the cold, clear water of this lake. It seems that everyone who has lived there is captavated. It is an ocean-of-a-lake and is equally spectatular in its beauty and storm-raging power.
So in honor of this sunny, crisp, fall day, here are some of my favorite images from a place that is close to my heart…
Happy Friday!
Fall Colors and Campfires and Water on the Move: A Weekend at Ohiopyle State Park
Posted: October 29, 2012 Filed under: Camping, Hiking, National and State Parks | Tags: Camping, Fall, Hiking, landscape, Ohiopyle State Park, Photography, Travel 3 Comments »
I love the fall because it is, without a doubt, the best time to camp. The bugs are gone, the nights are dark and cool, campgrounds are mostly empty, and you can hike for hours without getting too hot. The perfect storm of camping.
So I was more than excited to head off into the woods for the weekend, especially since it was also an opportunity to recreate and re-imagine a father/daughter camping tradition from my early days out in the woods. Our little group of four has since expanded, and isn’t strictly father/daughter any more, hurray for Lucas joining our gang. But it still held the essence of what made all those early camping trips so wonderful: way to much food, laughter, walks in the woods, building campfires, long morning breakfast (fire included), and lazy evenings.
There is something so special about turning your cell phone off, forgetting about time or meetings or deadlines, and drifting into the pleasant cloud of the moment. Sitting around the campfire at night we sometimes just watched the fire crackle and hiss and lick at the logs in long, blue flashes.
Beyond the joy of camaraderie, we also experienced a spectacular display of fall colors, rushing rivers, and waterfalls. Ohiopyle State Park is one of my favorite places in Pennsylvania. I have been there several times, and I never get tired of seeing the Youghiogheny [yaw-ki-gay-nee] River rush in sweeping twists around corners and over boulders slowly carving a tree-lined gorge.
Along the banks of the river, and above our heads on the trail, the leaves rustled in bright shades of fall. My favorite are the yellow leaves. Crisp and striking against the blue sky, like blots of paint flung haphazardly on a blank canvas.
A wonderful fall weekend!
Tractor Square Dance
Posted: October 22, 2012 Filed under: Road Trip | Tags: apple harvest festival, Fall, Photography, Tractor Square Dance 1 Comment »
Fall is starting to crackle in our neck of the woods… finally. Last week I wore long sleeves, stared out my front window through thick drips of condensation, and crunched over leaves on my walk across town. I am still waiting for the leaves to melt into the deepest oranges and reds and sunset yellows, but they are coming. A few bright trees pop out from the green like balloons of color dotting the hills and the streets. I’m ready. Bring on fall.
I have been waiting for cool weather and pumpkin everything and the magic of a season shifting into something new. Part of it is because last year at this time we were in Alaska and fall had already faded into the onset of winter by October. It was thick frost, bursts of snow, and cold temperatures. Last week in Fairbanks, AK it was 15 degrees. In Carlisle it was in the 50s.
But I have to say I am happy that fall stretches out so long here. I am looking forward to enjoying every minute of crisp air and colorful tree. So when we realized that Lucas’ parents visit would coincide with The National Apple Harvest Festival in Arendtsville, PA, it seemed like an appropriate fall activity to attend.
The festival is in fact more like a fair, long rows of vendors pedaling fried food and crafts, a 4H barn, a classic car show, and a variety of musical performances and family friendly activities. It was a beautiful day, sunny and cool, and the place was packed.
But the thing I most loved: the Tractor Square Dance.
Yep. Put on by the Middle Creek Tractor Swingers this amazing show is just want the title portrays. Tractors square dancing. There are “male” tractors, a little bit larger, and “female” tractors, a little bit smaller. To start they lined up on the outside edges of the fenced off “dance floor” with their partner and the caller proceeded to progress them through a series of square dances.
My favorite tractor was Rosie, a little pink two-seater, driven by the only woman in the show. The other “female” tractors were driven by men dressed up as women. Rosie, made tight, clean turns, and anchored many of the difficult dance “steps.” One of the most impressive moves was when Rosie and another female tractor moved to the center and pivoted on one wheel in a circle as other tractors joined in a long line swinging around the floor like the hands of a clock pointed at 12 and 6. Seeing tractors glide across the dirt is what I imagine it would be like to watch football players dance ballet, strange yet surprisingly entertaining. A wonderful fall weekend!
A New View: Central PA
Posted: September 17, 2012 Filed under: Hiking, National and State Parks, Uncategorized | Tags: Hiking, landscape, Photography 4 Comments »
After nearly a year of “becoming Alaskan,” we are back in the Eastern Time Zone and, honestly, not exactly sure how to settle back into life in the lower 48. Things seem fast, and hot, and crowded. Where there always this many people on the east coast? But maybe we are just missing Alaska, and having a hard time saying good-bye, and, maybe, that is okay. For now.
But in the spirit of remembering, yet moving forward, this weekend we did what always makes us happy…we set off for the woods.
Luckily, our new town, Carlisle, PA, is surrounded by a handful of state parks that make the outdoors a short 30-40 minutes away. The Appalachian Trail stretches through our new “backyard,” and it is finally getting cool enough to enjoy being outside without loosing half your weight in sweat.
Yesterday, we drove through the country, up into the hills, to Colonel Denning State Park. The 273-acre park is small, cute, and, for the most part, quiet. We hiked the short Flat Rock Trail (2.5 miles one-way) to Flat Rock, a scenic ledge overlooking the Cumberland Valley.
The view was clear and crisp. I loved the patchwork of farm land linked by thin lines of trees like a living quilt, and the soft arch of the hills mirrored on the other side of the valley. Three hawks played in the breeze, dipping and crossing like paper air planes caught on a current of air.
It reminded me that there is always a new place to explore.
