Master videographer Karen put together this feature presentation from our trip to the Southwest just in time for Oscar consideration:

The Hangover NWHikers Style from sKareCrowe Films on Vimeo.

I really need to stay behind the camera.

Whenever we get visitors from the old country, we do our best to impress them with our fabulous adopted state.

Once in a while the weather cooperates and we can pretend that we don’t live in the American version of Bergen. Other times the monsoon will be out in full force and the poor out-of-towners can stay here for weeks on end without catching as much as a glimpse of our beautiful mountains. To this day, my brother thinks Mount Rainier is a figment of my imagination.

Luckily Marthe and Olle timed their visit perfectly with a stretch of unseasonably clear autumn weather, so in addition to touring Discovery Park, the Space Needle, and Pike Place Market, JK and I lured them down to Mount Rainier National Park for a hike, buttering them up (literally) with donuts along the way.

Actually, if you stay at our house you are contractually obligated to go hiking with us. Consider it rent.

Rent in the form of amazing views…

…and wildlife encounters. Foxes!

Black Bears!!

Cascade Mountain Gorillas!!!

We hiked through the fresh snow up to Panorama Point. JK and I have been there, oh, about 756 times before, but we still love it. Especially when we get to share this piece of our new life with people from our old life.

My brother needs to come back and see that we’re not making this stuff up.

My favorite food at the moment – I’ve been making a batch of this stew every week and eating my way through it for lunch almost every day, mixed with a fresh batch of the kale and shrooms. Once you get used to preparing the kale, it’s very simple.

Curried White Bean Stew:

1) Heat (medium) 1 tablespoon or so of olive oil. Stir in 1 tablespoon curry powder (I use Simply Organic Curry Powder)
2) Stir in 1 chopped onion, 3 cloves finely chopped garlic, 1 tablespoon grated ginger and your preferred amount/type of chili pepper (I like this stew spicy!)
3) When onion is softened, add 1 can diced tomatoes, 1 cup vegetable broth, 1 chopped red bell pepper and 2 cans rinsed white beans
4) Stir and let simmer until reduced to your preferred stew thickness. I like to add 1-2 cups of chopped fresh spinach towards the end, then smash things up a little bit with a potato masher
5) Salt and pepper to taste!

Garlicky Mushrooms and Kale:

Follow the recipe from Appetite for Reduction (change amount depending on how much kale you want). The recipe is also available here.

I usually reheat some stew in the microwave, then top with 1 tablespoon ground flax seeds (for healthy fatz) and stir in the kale mix. Very chewy, flavorful, filling, warming and perfect for cold November days.

I seem to have neglected you.

Well that’s a lie, as I have definitely not been neglecting the internet, but I have neglected this blog.

I only seem to post trip reports here these days, and lately not even that (this is related to my impressive procrastination skillz when it comes to processing photos). I’m having trouble deciding what to share on this blog, how personal to make it. My favorite bloggers share a lot of themselves and that’s what makes their writing interesting, at least to me…but then I get self-conscious, knowing that so many people from my non-interwebs life read this. You know, all the people who, unlike you, don’t live inside my computer.

On a totally unrelated note, I’ve been thinking a lot about Everest lately, namely trekking to Everest Base Camp. I’ve wanted to do this ever since I read Into Thin Air (though I realize that any sane person would be motivated to stay as far away from Everest as possible after reading that book) back in ’07, but I assumed it would never happen since JK shows no interest in spending his hard-earned vacation time freezing, hypoxic, and riddled with food poisoning. Then it occurred to me, why not just go on my own? Join a guided tour and meet some like-minded mountain lovers while sharing a bowl of dal bhat by the cozy heat of burning yak dung?

I’m turning 30* next year, so methinks it’s time for one last hurrah before I qualify for Medicare.

*holy crap!