Perusing Woodburn Circle

Hanging out at the ‘Lair

Waiting for the Drunk Bus

Checking out Oglebay

Knock knock!

Everyone loves to hang their head out the car window

Click on any picture to go to my Flickr set with more adventures!

Click through to Flickr to see more of Ricky Martin’s adventures!

Janiece may well be the MOST awesome person in the entire world.

I… I have no words…

We didn’t pay $40/person to tour the houses, because we only had part of an afternoon. Despite that, it was fascinating.

(there are more pictures of this tree if you click through.)

Plus, a columbine flower.

Drive from Fort Collins to Denver

Fort Collins

It was somewhat odd–I’m used to cemeteries around here, and found myself somewhat shocked at how recent the stones of the founders were. Of course, I’m pretty sure at least some of the stones had been replaced.

Plot and stones of the founders of Parker, Co.

These seem like original headstones:

These seem likely to have been replaced at some time in the past half-century:

I really liked this headstone. The local rock with the metal plate inscription I think is a lovely touch.

This headstone made me almost inexplicably happy. (As perhaps a bit of clarification, I used to collect stones and pebbles to give to my grandmother when I was little. She saved them in a glass jar in her kitchen.)

But aside from that, it was a beautiful day, and there were lots of spring flowers.

Our first trip was to Dinosaur Ridge, which is a free park. It was a steep hike in parts, but beautiful, and I was sorry my ankle didn’t like the climbing, because I would have liked to have spent more time there.

This didn’t make a lot of sense to me…

…until a later walk along Sulfur Gulch clarified things for me.

Here are some of the dinosaur tracks:

And then the hike:

And we found a baby rattlesnake! (No one was bitten)

That really isn’t anywhere accessible to young, gullible kids.

2 quarts strawberries, sliced
2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar or lemon juice
1/2 cup sugar

Whipped cream

Preheat the oven to 425 F.

Whisk together the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and sugar.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the vanilla, egg, and buttermilk.

Cut the butter into small pieces and then cut into the flour mixture.

Pour in the buttermilk mixture and gently fold until the liquid is absorbed.

On a floured surface, bring the dough together (gently!) and then roll out to about half an inch thick. Using a biscuit cutter, cut out biscuits. (If you do not have a biscuit cutter, use a knife to cut squares. Do not use a drinking glass–this will smoosh the dough not cut it.)

Bake for 12 minutes on an ungreased cookie sheet.

While biscuits are baking, macerate the strawberries in the sugar and lemon juice (I used balsamic vinegar because I didn’t seem to have any lemon juice.)

From Bakers’ Companion

We were walking across the Pleasant Street Bridge when I noticed chalk marks on the wall over to the left.

This may have been a mistake, but at least I enjoyed the walk.

Crust
16 Oreos
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Filling
1 cup bittersweet chocolate chips
7 oz marshmallow creme
4 ounces neufchatel cheese, softened
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup peanut butter
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1 tablespoon caramel topping
6 ounces caramel topping
1/2 cup walnuts, chopped

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Toast the walnuts, for about 8 minutes.

In a food processor, turn the oreos into chocolate dust. Mix together to cookie crumbs and butter, and press into a pie pan. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes.

Gentle spread the chocolate chips in the hot pie shell, allowing them to melt. After about 5 minutes, spread them over the crust.

Place the pie shell in the refrigerator to firm up. (I think the freezer would be a whole lot faster if I make this again.)

Once the crust has firmed up, sprinkle the chopped nuts over the chocolate, then pour the caramel topping over everything. Put the crust back in the refrigerator.

Whip together the cream cheese, heavy cream, peanut butter, marshmallow creme, butter, and ONE tablespoon of the caramel topping.

Spread the topping over the caramel layer, and refrigerate for at least two hours.

They called for shaving chocolate curls over the pie, but that seems way too much for this pie. If I make this again, I may ditch the chocolate chips entirely.

Adapted from Cook’s Country Chocolate Desserts

Rhododendron

Forsythia Vahl