Random Catching up.

Did I make the Jr. High School Peanut Chew bars that I blogged about earlier this week?
You bet your bippy I did!
(Remember when everyone used to go around betting their bippy?  What exactly was a bippy anyway?)

The recipe proved itself.
The bars were exactly as I remember them tasting back when I was about 14 years old.
If only my metabolism was the same as a 14 year old was.
I had to slice up the jelly roll pan full and tuck most of the bars away in the freezer and made plans to foist them off on family and friends.
Otherwise I would have probably eaten the entire pan in a day or two.
My "bippy" would likely have enlarged itself tremendously!

So let's talk about smaller.
As in tiny dish gardens, which to me are even more exciting than tiny doll houses.
Isn't this one adorable?

The moss "lawn"...the one tiny succulent used as a bush.
Ahhh.
Adorable!

One of our non-chain garden centers has staff that create dish gardens to die for.
If I had to live in a place without a garden I would snap up these dish gardens to sooth my garden loving soul.

The white pine planted desert scene was pretty big...it would almost cover the top of a card table.
I would of added a small ceramic jack rabbit to the scene. 

Check out the pine cones!
So cute...unlike the pine cones that our 40 foot tall pine tree rains down on us by the bushel full each year.

The weather has been just perfect this week.
Just a tad brisk in the morning; just a tad warm by late afternoon.
I have made it a point to go walking in the morning while it is still cool and the sun is just rising above the snow jeweled mountains. 

Flowering shrubs abound in the neighborhood. 

I watch for nests; this nest being the same one that I photographed in the snow on April 1st. 

So pleasant to see snowballs that are fragrant.

That bush towers over head and creates a dazzling display against the rich blue morning sky.
The bird song fills my ears as I walk and I once again am thankful for the beauty that surround me here in Utah.

Forty years later....

Oh. My. GOODNESS!!!
Last week one of my High School Facebook buddies tipped me off about the La Jolla Triva facebook page, and the La Jolla High School face book page.
The sites have gone viral in the past two weeks: what began as about thirty folks reading and commenting has swollen to around 900. The things I have learned about what went on at my High School and Junior High School has been simply astonishing.

(Eyes crossing here...smiling...and some frowns too...)

But the craziest fun was seeing this recipe posted by the younger sister of one of my classmates. 

First I have to tell you that EVERYONE eagerly awaited Peanut Chew Tuesdays at Muirlands Junior High School.   To arrive at school without the cash (like 50 cents?) needed to purchase the bars on Tuesday was a terrible thing. 

To be delayed in getting to the cafeteria and discovering the peanut chews were all sold out...a disaster!

Now my friend was from an extremely gregarious family.  They were high energy and would talk to anyone and made friends everywhere they went.  I was jaw dropped to see that D. had the smarts to just go ASK the cafeteria ladies for a copy of the Peanut Chews recipe.

As a seventh or eight grader no less!  I personally would never have dreamed of doing such a thing...

Anyhoo...for forty plus years I have from time to time recalled the chewy sweet peanut bars that were sold in squares and the wax paper that stained from the oil oozing and icing on the bar. 

Never would I have ever imagined that my friend had a handwritten, straight from the horses mouth copy of that very recipe!

She posted a picture of her original handwritten recipe on Sunday; today, Tuesday, something like 48 comments have arrived:

Her mom (who is still a best buddy of my own mom) added the words jelly roll to indicate a jelly roll pan was an option.
The icing...just milk and powder sugar mix. Not worth giving directions for that!

As it stands right now as I write at least one person has whipped up a batch and said it was just as she remembered it to be.
I so want to make a batch myself...and probably will soon...calories be darned...

And as my friend said in the FB posting...she will NOT be held accountable for her spelling!

First Fishing Trip 2012: Currant Creek

Saturday...we drove two hours out to Currant Creek for a bit of fishing.
The trout had had a long winter and were ready to bite.
Nice big fish, caught on dry fly, then released to fight another day.

While Bernie fished, I surveyed the new greening in the area.

The snow was all gone, earlier than we have seen before, and the leaves on the trees were so tiny they looked like confetti when views through to the sunlight.

I like the all season rock colors too.

The river flow was moderate.
This year's snowfall was not as deep as usual and the river flow was gentler because of that. 

Upstream another fisherman was enjoying being with his dog.
And his dog was clearly enjoying being with him.

Usually I can pick faces out of the rock.
My imagination must have been on the fritz as I couldn't really see any faces in this view. 

Bernie in the lower center left side.
He actually caught two fish that I saw. 
Maybe more while I was wandering about?
I should ask.

A sandhill crane was walking through this area, but ducked into the brushy area before I could get a picture of him.

In a few more weeks this area will be home to loads of butterflies and red wing blackbirds.

As we drove futher up the river I happened to glance at Bernie's leg.
It was COVERED with seeds.

He told me he had already brushed most of them off before he had hopped into the car.
Kind of gave me the creeps.

Usually we wear a nylon ripstop kind of pants that won't allow seeds to cling like this.

Then we went to Switzerland.
Just kidding!
When I look back at pictures of our trip to Switzerland I am astonished at how often Swiss scenery looks exactly like Utah scenery.
This is Currant Reservoir.

The wind was cold.
You can tell by looking at how choppy the surface of the lake appears.

There is a campground on the other side of the lake.
I am hoping we can come here camping in summer when it is a tad bit warmer.

We had a discussion about pontoon boats and how fun it would be to own one for this lake.
Of course where would we store it?
And how often would we really use it?
Questions like those are such a buzz kill.

The spring yellow aspen mimic the fall golden colors on the hillside.
Just a bit more yellow-ish than gold though.

There is a road that leads to an area known as Red Cliffs.
This time we decided to take that drive too.
The cliffs are seen if one faces away from the lake.
The road was rutted but do-able with our all wheel drive.

The trouble with aspen:  It is almost impossible to stop taking pictures of them.

I kinda didn't even try to stop...

**click**

**click**

and one more...

Just one more... 

Hey...don't leave me!
I am almost done.

Ok.
Done.

Red Cliffs 

Blue flower

Blue pond with evergreens.

Red rock, green trees...

Another week and this scene will be totally different.
And wouldn't it be amazing in autumn? 

The view back down the mountain to the reservoir.

The road back down the mountain.

The reservoir playing peek-a-boo through the tiny spring leaves.

Wonder when the tall black trees will leaf out?

(Scenes like this make me want to learn how to use lens filters.  The sky and lake were blue but the distance washed them out.)

I know for a fact that in two weeks these trees will be a deep green instead of the spring yellow green.
Still...pretty this way too!

Another confetti view.

I was on the look out for birds.  Apparently this robin was dispatched to keep me happy: I can say I did see ONE bird!

He was singing up a storm too.

I suspect the area really didn't get much snow if the dried flowers of autumn are still standing.

Doesn't it look like it would be a tasty treat for hooved creatures?

I know the area is deer population intense.
Why hasn't it been nibbled down by now? 

Pretty stuff for now.
At least until the spring wildflowers appear.

I liked the composition of this shot.
For some reason it says "baptism" to my brain.
Gail... :-)
Gail...I wish you had been along too!
It was so nice to be out in the back country again!
Fish take notice:  Bernie's coming your way soon!