Kruegers Do Disc Golf

One thing we do pretty often is walk Downtown Flagstaff after eating somewhere down there. It is nice just to take a stroll a few blocks extra on the way back to the car. In the middle of June, we stopped at one of the local outdoors store to peruse. Somehow, we happened to walk out with two multi-use discs and a map for one of Flagstaff disc golf courses. And thus this adventure began!

The first day we headed out to the Thorpe Park course and we decided it would just be fun to see what happens. We also packed a few beers to add to the casual atmosphere of "a fun day activity". It was a warm Sunday before the monsoons hit. There were lots of people out and about and lots of trash. We even saw some abandoned pants and a stash of toilet paper. Despite all the riff raff, we had a great relaxing afternoon tossing plastic frisbees at metal baskets and strolling through the woods.

We had so much fun that we both looked up other courses in our area. Next on our list of courses was the course at McPherson Park. I think this is our favorite course thus far! We went late in the afternoon on a Sunday. This course is smaller and more compact, and it was a beautiful walk in the woods. Not to mention the area was a lot cleaner. Personally, this one was my favorite. The holes were all different. Some were short with interesting terrain and lots of "hazards" and others were very long, like the hole shown above. 

I am looking forward to adding the NAU and Snowbowl courses to our lists soon as well! One thing we are really intent on is keeping this as just a hobby. It makes getting through courses a little slower and using more throws than the average player but that element of relaxed fun is just what we need this summer.

Horseradish Cheddar Pumpkin... What??!

Today's post was supposed to be this awesome recipe for a super creamy mild horseradish mac and cheese with an aged white cheddar. I had found this beautiful aged white horseradish cheddar to use in some sandwiches. All day I had been thinking about making this delicious cheesy goodness with a kick.

Things were going great. The pasta was boiling with the sauce base (milk, half and half, seasonings, mustard). The cheese was ready to be added. I was just waiting for the noodles to get just a little more tender. I noticed that the sauce was really starting to thicken and I wanted to add a splash of half and half.

I reached into the fridge grabbed the bottle and splashed it in and back in the fridge it went. As I was mixing, I noticed a sweet, vanilla scent coming up. I looked back in the fridge. Instead of grabbing the half and half, I just added vanilla caramel coffee creamer!!

Berkeley came to assess the situation. As soon as he entered the kitchen, he could smell the creamer. I added more milk and salt and pepper. It only seemed to make it more potent! My perfect mac and cheese just turned into a weird mixture of creamy sauce base with the tang of vanilla and caramel. I still had a can of pumpkin puree. Into the pot it went along with all the cheese.

Now it wasn't the worst thing ever. It wasn't even the worst thing I had ever made. However, it just wasn't the creamy horseradish mac and cheese I had been dreaming of all day!

What was your biggest kitchen flub?

Ten Favorite Christmas Movies

There was some great feedback about last week's list of Ten of my Favorite Christmas Songs! I am back with another list of Ten Favorites for the holiday season. This time it is movies.

Christmas and movies go together like Santa Claus and cookies. Many movies use this joyous time of year to get their heartwarming message across, and still more have used Christmas simply as a setting for stories not otherwise holiday-related. Since I know it will come up, this is just a list of movies and will not include those that were originally shown as televised specials. No Charlie Brown, No Rudolph, No Snow Miser. I may just do that next week!

Again, in no particular order

You've Got Mail//Shop Around the Corner

So I realize that many of you are out there scratching your head going "WHAaaaaa...?!" I realize that both of these films aren't Christmasy per say but they both remind me of Christmas. Both adaptations of this story are based on the Hungarian play Parfumerie by Miklós László. I love them both.

In Shop Around the Corner, the main characters' disdain for each other is fueled by the tension and stresses of working the Budapest gift shop during the holidays. Alfred Kralik (Stewart's character) finally confesses that he is Klara Novak's (Sullivan's character) penpal that she had been falling in love with on Christmas Eve.

You've Got Mail is less christmas based and spans almost a full year with plenty of scenes throughout all the seasons, but for some reason some of the scenes that stand out most to me are the Christmas scenes. Plus, those are some of the most pivotal ones! Like when Fox Books first opens, and ShopGirl  (meg Ryan) turns to NY152 (Tom Hanks) for help, and when they decide to meet and Kathleen Kelley does not realize NY152 is really her arch enemy Joe Fox. All scenes during the holiday season!

A Christmas Story

A Christmas Story is a Christmas classic! Oh Ralphie it just wouldn't be the same without you and your devotion for that Red Ryder BB Gun. Every child has a year or a few where they are entirely infatuated with one gift that they want from Santa. Except for me. I cannot think of a single year that I begged for one and only one item. My sister on the other hand had one special thing she longed for. She never wrote a Christmas list because "Santa knows..." and my parents would have to pry it out of her or read her "journals". Without fail the one gift she wanted would be the "IT" kids toy that every other little girl wanted. My parents would have to scour every toy store to try to find that one thing.

Anecdote aside, this movie is one of those films that just exude "The American Family" to me and is the utter representation of Christmas!

Batman Returns

Even the villains love to wreak havoc during the Christmas. And Heroes love that mistletoe! Just a note this will not be the only Tim Burton masterpiece on my list!

National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation

"Where do you think you're going? Nobody's leaving. Nobody's walking out on this fun, old-fashioned family Christmas. No, no. We're all in this together. This is a full-blown, four-alarm holiday emergency here. We're gonna press on, and we're gonna have the hap, hap, happiest Christmas since Bing Crosby tap-danced with Danny fucking Kaye. And when Santa squeezes his fat white ass down that chimney tonight, he's gonna find the jolliest bunch of assholes this side of the nuthouse."

 That quote right there is the reason why this movie should be one EVERYONE'S list of favorite holiday movies! Also, John Hughes is a genius.

ELF

After watching this movie even the scroogiest of Scrooges can't deny the holiday cheer! Buddy the Elf (Will Ferrell) even got his old curmudgeon of a dad (James Caan) to get into the Christmas Spirit. Plus, it's Zooey Deschanel again, for the win!

The Nightmare Before Christmas

Considering that this movie gives every Christmas lover an excuse to watch a Christmas movie in October, who doesn't love this movie? Jack Skellington dreams of more than Halloween and earnestly tries to get the rest of HalloweenTown on board with the venture. Isn't that what Christmas is all about? Helping out mankind? Unfortunately, Jack Skellington's efforts end up scaring the poor humans! It's still heart-warming to me.

How The Grinch Stole Christmas

We all have a favorite misanthropic friend whose heart swells three times during the holidays. Jim Carrey really brings this story to life and gives the ol Grinch some great flair! His evilness reigns up until he gets all discombobulated by the Who's singing instead of Christmas crying.

The Santa Clause

This movie is just chalk full of great moral lessons. Don't steal someone's vehicle or you'll end up stranded in some crazy snow covered town. Don't lie or you'll get warm soy milk. Don't hold strangers' kids on your lap or people will think you're a creep.  Don't forget to read the fine print or you'll end up in a lifelong commitment that you weren't prepared for and will get people thinking you're crazy!

Also please never forget David Krumholtz with pointy ears, dreads, and ridiculously festive clothing as Bernard the Christmas Elf!

Gremlins

What happens when you ask for something read odd for Christmas? A horde of malicious little devil creatures attack you and everyone you know during the "Hap, Hap, Happiest" time of the year! With the ordeal coming to head in a critter war in a department store with both sides bench testing Christmas goodies in ways the manufacturers never thought of.

The Muppet Christmas Carol

Jim Henson + Sir Michael Cain + Christmas = MAGIC! The End.

What are your favorite Christmas movies? Do you have any movies you HAVE to watch during the holiday season?

 Stay tuned for next week's list!

Goooaaalllll!

Today was haircut day! BK and I both ended up with hair appointments with Aveda Red OTS in the Basement Marketplace downtown. This is somewhat of a big deal for me. You may be wondering why. No, it is not that our appointments were together. But more that it was the first time I have even thought about cutting my hair in about 18 months. I know, I know, you are supposed to get it cut every 6 weeks to 6 months. But the last three people to touch my hair in this town have jacked it off and/or cut it way too short. How so? Well, that is a great question and I am glad you asked!

I noticed a few years back that it was time for a trim. Not a full on cut, but a trim. A friend of mine worked at Trade Secret and said she had a few openings. Supposedly, the stylist they had staffed was great with curly hair. So I agreed. first of all, he was a total ass and unprofessional. He kept trying to hit me up for a ride to another part of town to pick up his car. that's creepy. Then he took about 5+ inches off my hair and layered it to hell. He claimed it was good for my curls, but I don't care about the natural wavy. I want long golden locks. Not gonna happen if it is always being chopped off! Ever since then up until now, the stylists that have touched my hair have cut it off.

Finally, I found someone that knows something about hair like mine. Has a genuine concern about building a returning clientele. Not the best conversationalist, but I am not paying to talk to someone, if so I would have been on a couch spilling my life story to licensed therapist. I also don't go to the salon to hear the latest gossips about who is doing who. So it was nice. I ended up taking 2 to 4 inches off. Not ideal for me, but my hair was in a bad way and for some reason there was a huge chunk missing from my lower hair layer. I am mostly pleased with the outcome.

After the cuts, we wandered downtown and ran into one of our good friends. He is a wildland firefighter with Forest Service just like BK was. This friend of ours was headed to The Lumberyard Brewing Co to sit in the bar and watch the USA vs. Ghana World Cup match. Man, I am so glad we went. We got there a little after the start of the game, but we were able to see the equalizer goal from Landon Donovan (Mmmm). It has been a while since I was in a bar for a sporting event I was actually excited to watch. It was a lot of fun besides the fact that the US lost. But I am routing for Uruguay anyways. It was a good dose of Man Candy and great food.

Before we get on to the food, I want to talk about the place we went first. It deserves a little attention just due to it's history. Between 1887 and the mid 1990's, Lumber was one of the foundations of Flagstaff's economy. After the BNSF line was built through town, as well as Historic Rt 66, many sawmills and lumberyards popped up around the area too. In 1890, the Flagstaff Lumber Company built its building, which is now located at one of the busiest and most historic intersections in town. This building is the last remaining building from that era.

When threatened to be torn down due to structural instability, some awesome people bought it and decided to make a brewery of it. They have kept the original structure of the building, all of the bricks and have salvaged a lot of the wood from inside the building. All these saved materials were used in constructing the seating, bar, and other fixtures throughout the entire restaurant and brewery. It is truely a beautiful sight to see something so historic preserved as best as possible instead of letting it just be torn down. Now back to the day's events.

We ordered the nachos and I personally got a half liter of White Wine Sangria! The nachos were great, but most nachos in Flagstaff are. It is like the unofficial, official food of Flagstaff. All the good places to eat serve them and they are made well and each in their own special way. Now on to the important thing, the sangria. IT WAS AWESOME! I am not the biggest wine drinker. I am sure you are all shocked to hear this coming from someone that was raised in close vicinity of some of the best wineries in country. And if you are like me and prefer white wine to red, then this is a drink for you!

They make it by the 2-3 gal jug and you can either order it as a half or full liter. They chill it with fruit inside to build the flavor. They fill the carafe with some ice, pour in the sangria and add even more lemons and grapes. It was amazing. The full liter is listed for 5-6 people and the half liter, which I had, for 1 or 2 people. I finished mine without even realizing any effect from the wine, which is not usually the case after sangria. My carafe was almost gone after 3/4's of the 120 minute game had passed. I was ready for another carafe! Bad I know. But it was so good. It was light, airy and fruity without being too sweet, or winey. I hate when the tannins in wine overpower the fruits of the sangria because the traditional serving of sangrias was as fruity wine punch. This was just perfect. Although I cannot comment of the red wine version, I do however 100% endorse The Lumberyard Brewing Co's White Wine Sangria ;) In fact, I look forward to football season so I have a reason to wear a sundress and sip sangria while rooting on my favorite teams for hours on the weekends this fall!

So now you all know the way to my heart... Sangria and Sports! I have definitely found the new place to enjoy both at. So if you are ever in the area, you need to go check out The Lumberyard Brewing Co. We will definitely be going there more often.

Baby Kurt!

Things have been a little silent on the home front. Life has been busy and bustling. My posting last weekend was centered around a great dining experience and the newest member of the growing Humphreys residence. So far the tomatoes have taken off again and Hubert is hanging in there. I am thinking the sun was a little much for him this week.

It has been so packed, that picking a starting point has seemed a little difficult. Once making the decision to stick to the topics pertaining to the blog. So mainly stuff about me and my hobbies. I will start this off with another oops moment for me.

After BK's parents left, now close to two weeks ago, BK and I went to church. On the way home we hit the ATM. I just figured I would hop out quickly, deposit a check and be on our way. Boy was I wrong. First, the ATM didnt like the check. Then I was I getting into the car. My foot slipped through the grating of an antique storm drain in downtown Flagstaff. Man, was if ever gnarly! I am doing mostly better, I just have a huge scab across the the top of my foot. It wil somewhat interesting. At least there were no slivers embedded in lips to deal with.

Another big news item this past week has been Wildfire! Saturday, the Hardy fire started in the Southeast region of Flagstaff by a transient. Luckily, by nightfall, the fire was pretty well handled. Not more than 18 hours later, the biggest fire I have seen in a long time started. This one, which has burned nearly 15,000 acres, was started by a lazy camper who couldn't properly extinguish his coals while camping in Schultz Pass. The smoke stack Sunday looked as if a bomb or volcano had gone off. If the Hardy fire hadn't been contained so quickly, I believe there would be a lot more land lost, if not homes. The photo to the right is of the fire from June 21. This photo is one of many gorgeous images taken by Charlie McCallie. It seemed at night, the winds died down enough to not have a huge plume of smoke billowing up. I have a few images I took from throughout the week that I will share at the bottom of the post.

Thankfully, this fire is a fair distance away from where I am living, but I do have a pretty decent view of the aerial action from the front porch. It also helps that my current house mate is a Forest Service Wild Land Firefighter at heart and is fully prepared to properly handle things if need be. Which leads me to the title of the post.

We officially have our own internet at the new house! Hooray! Since updating have been the biggest pain, telling about the weeks dealings has not been the biggest priority. As I am typing these updates and dealing with internet life stuff. BK is sitting across the living room dozing off while pretending to be engrossed in the conversation. Every now and then he snaps out of it and kinda peeks to see if I noticed. His father does the same thing so I have been calling him baby Kurt. The initials are the same for both too! I keep telling him to go to bed, but he refuses saying he isn't tired or he is just that plain stubborn. It is pretty funny.

It is getting late, so I better wrap this up. Thanks for reading and if you got this far, you should know that the upcoming post will pertain to recipes, another review for WildFlower Bread Company and some more day to day fun!

Ohhh Shiii....

On my quest to starting a blog, many suggested that I document my day to day stories because they can be very entertaining. So Halley, here's one for you!

There is nothing like sitting in church getting ready to bow your head when someone shrieks. This loud call of surprise is even more alarming when you attend church with a fairly calm and lowkey congregation. No chanting and speaking in tongues here.

So there BK and I were getting ready to bow our heads as the prayer was said before taking communion when out of nowhere this usually meek and quiet young girl calls out "Oh Shhii..." just one consonant away from cursing as she threw all here papers up and away from her and jumped from the pew and to the back of the church in about 5 seconds. She hysterically apologized profusely and exited out into the lobby area. Out of the corner of my eye, I see the preacher get up, stomp something in the carpet and leave after her. Her sobbing continued to resonant throughout the church and overpowered the man leading the prayer.

I can only guess is that it was a spider or bug of that sort. I hoping that the hysterics and waterworks were due to a bruised ego or mounting stress and pressure of her upcoming nuptials and not just downright fear of bugs. I must say though that it was quite a comedic performance. Not because her getting scared was funny, but the rest of church was VERY serious. Part of me hopes that every Sunday there is some kind of mishap.

In other news, Tonight I am enjoying half of an Avocado BLT with Macy's delicious fake bacon. Oh man is it amazing!! I paired it with my standard iced soy Chai. A great start to the week!