3 3/4 cups flour
3 cups sugar
2 tsp. baking soda
2 or more tsp. cinnamon
1 or more tsp. salt
1 or more tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp or more ground cloves
Sift above together, place in bowl and make well in center. To this add:
1 cup melted butter
1 can solid pumpkin (Libby's)
2 eggs, beaten
2/3 cup water
Mix until moistened. Place in 2 ungreased loaf pans and bake for 65 minutes at 350.
Check with toothpick to see if done.
Sunday, October 28, 2012
Friday, October 19, 2012
White Bread 101
Easy and consistent bread.
Just follow the directions here, with these slight additions:
1. When letting dough rise (each time), use oven (turned off, of course) with hot water in a tray below the dough.
2. Use clear wrap sprayed with oil over bread pan with towel over that for proofing.
3. Always use a large spoon to fill up the cups of flour and level off with the back edge of a knife.
4. Soften butter in the microwave for 5-10 seconds.
King Arthur Flour Bakers Companion
Page 198
Just follow the directions here, with these slight additions:
1. When letting dough rise (each time), use oven (turned off, of course) with hot water in a tray below the dough.
2. Use clear wrap sprayed with oil over bread pan with towel over that for proofing.
3. Always use a large spoon to fill up the cups of flour and level off with the back edge of a knife.
4. Soften butter in the microwave for 5-10 seconds.
King Arthur Flour Bakers Companion
Page 198
Wednesday, October 17, 2012
Trail Log
September/October 2012 was very busy on the trails front:
September 23rd
I solo camped for two nights at Cascade Lake Campground near Davidson River Campground (it had filled up minutes before I arrived) after dropping Stephen off at UNC-Asheville to visit with Andrew over the weekend. I fished the Avery Creek tributary that feeds into the Davidson River right at the Riding Stables. It was small water, but had some active, small, Rainbows in it. I also fished above Looking Glass Falls (proceed straight instead of turning to go the popular hatchery area of the Davidson) and put in just above the falls. Again, small water, with active and small Rainbows. I also briefly fished the South Mills (between Brevard and Asheville, right off the highway at the bridge) which looked promising, but I didn't get a lot of action there in my brief stint fishing there. I then took a quick peak at the North Mills, but had no time to fish as I was off to pick up Stephen by that time.
After picking up Stephen and Andrew, we had a good lunch at Pack's Tavern in Asheville. Stephen and I then headed down the Blue Ridge Parkway to Graveyard Falls (BRP 418) for some really nice hiking to the waterfalls in the area. There are some nice camping spots there also. We then went to Black Balsom (BRP 420) and caught a great sunset at the peak further along from the main/popular one. We hiked back in the dusk to dark and then camped in a nice wooded area by the road where the Art Loeb trail crosses. It was very cold and the coyotes were quite active that night. This place is worth another visit for sure.
The next weekend (September 28th) was my first backpacking experience. We started at Carver's Gap at about 6:00 on Friday night, hiking over several balds with great views. We hiked in the dusk and dark a total of a couple of miles in and camped at a nice spot on the left about a half mile before the Over Mountain shelter. The next morning was foggy and a bit rainy. We hiked from our camp to Little Hump bald. By the time we arrived there it was extremely foggy and raining quite hard. We had no visibility and thought we had hiked to the summit of Big Hump bald due to lack of visibility and guesswork as to how far we had come. We had enough after getting soaked to the bone on that hike so we took a break at Over Mountain Barn on the way back to our camp, had some peanuts and such, and decided to pack it in to our safety shelter in Montreat. Next morning (September 30th), I was surprised to have enough energy to convince Stephen to hike Greybeard. We ended up doing a speed hike in order to get to Asheville in time to have a late lunch with Andrew again at Pack's. This was a very good hike. Steep, but good views. Not many overlooks but nice ones.
Next, Wendy and I went to Charleston and then Foscoe/Banner Elk (Oct 7-14). In Charleston, we stayed at our second VRBO and it was a cool office converted into appartment right over "Slightly North of Broad". The only downsides were loud music late at night from a nearby bar and low water pressure and hot water that took forever to warm up. Highlights were eating at Hymans, Jetines Kitchen, McCrady's, Husk, and Basil. Also, met a nice caricature artist and his Italian wife, so I got to practice my Italian a little as he did our drawing. We stopped in a gallery to see a painting we both really liked (sold thankfully since it was expensive) and I got to play on the nice Yamaha grand piano for about an hour (the artist/proprietor encouraged me to stay on after he closed while he did some work so I took full advantage). Wendy had to come to Charlotte Thursday for work so we left Charleston and after she wrapped up at 2:00 or so we headed to Foscoe. There we stayed in another VRBO that was really great. A three bedroom (one a loft) with hot tub and and awesome view of Grandfather Mountain. We hiked Linville Falls and found it spectacular, but a bit crowded. The weather was great and the leaves were almost at peak color. Next we made several stops on BRP and ended up on the Grandfather Mountain "Tanawah Trail" starting at Stacked Rock Falls (at the BRP overlook), down to the Linn Cove visitor center and back to Beacon Heights which was well worth the effort. Great views from bare rock faces.
The next day was super ambitious. Big Hump bald approached from 19E at Elk Park and the TN line. The first hard part is finding the AT since the parking area on 19E is (on the left heading toward TN) only big enough for three cars. It is basically at the bottom of a long downhill run of the highway at a T intersection with a road I meant to get the name of, just after a large rock face. There is more parking by the road that intersects 19E. Look for the Apple House sign. The AT will have some ads and such at the end and a white blaze with an "S" if you go down it a bit. Long story short, the approach from 19E is great, but a very steep ascent for about an hour before it starts to level out some while still ascending gradually to Big Hump. The weather was fantastic this Saturday (October 13th) and we took full advantage of the 360 degree views from the bald for the 15 minutes we had time to spend snacking and admiring the views. It took us from 11:30 AM to 5:00 PM round trip for the 10.8 (estimated) mile in and out hike. I met a father/daughter backpacking pair who had "put in" where I had thought about trying to find parking. A road that leads up to the Over Mountain Trail, near the Over Mountain Barn shelter is where they had parked and hiked in about a mile to camp at the shelter. I will keep this in mind for future backpack and/or day hikes. Afterwards, we ate BBQ down 105 near Banner Elk and the $9.95 for a half pound plate deal was good, but of course we were starving at that point. On the way out of town Sunday we drove through Julian Price Memorial Park, which is an old childhood haunt that always brings back good memories. We then stopped at Moses H. Cone Memorial Park, where it was much colder. We looked around the gift shop and viewed the nice overlook from the mansion. I wonder if the lake can be fished as it supposedly is stocked with trout. I need to research that for later. The trails all look easy, but there are lots of them. Seems like it would be great for jogging. I am now more interested in hiking down to the lake for some fly fishing.
VRBO Links:
Foscoe:
High Country Fever (Really in Foscoe, despite the address being Banner Elk)
134 Shadow Mountain Lane, Banner Elk, NC 28604:
http://www.vrbo.com/27693
Halloween 2012
Stephen and I hiked in about 3 miles in Croatan National Forest, walking in sand by the Neuse, up and down the bank, through some bogs, with Harrier Jets doing fly overs while landing at nearby Cherry Point Marine Base. The jets went on with practice starts/takeoffs/landings/etc until around 11:00 PM. Stephen slept in the "Copperhead Landing" shelter and I used the tent. We woke at 7:30 AM sharp to live munitions and blaring megaphone announcements at the base. Very relaxing! We decided to head a bit further down the trail before breaking camp for our next (main) destination. Did not make it far before hitting a bog that unlike the other major bogs until that point had no wooden footbridge. We quickly decided we had seen the highlights of Croatan at that point and headed back to the Neusiok Trailhead (northern end).
November 1, 2012
We rented two kayaks in Swansboro, and headed to Dudley island (the private island before the Bear Island camping area for Hammocks State Park). After some poor navigation and getting lost a few times in the reeds, we made it to Dudley island and found the awesome, free campsite there. We had a great time. Plenty of good firewood and starter. A great fire pit. level tent pad, and a great view of Bogue Inlet. Sunset was magnificent. The temperature was just right. We could even wade in the sound without getting too cold. The next day we paddled over to Bear Island in heavy winds and against the incoming tide. It was fairly crowded given the time of year (ferry runs stop November 1) so I was very glad we had stayed at Dudley Island.
November 10, 2012
After dropping Stephen off at CLT for his flight to Vail, we (finally, after a detour home for Wendy to take care of a work emergency) headed to Crowders Mountain for a hike. It was much more impressive than I had expected/remembered. Nice views from the top and cliffs being used by rock climbers. We had to to hurry the hike back due to Wendy having a continuation of the work crisis, but it was a challenging/rocky hike that was quite fun. Definitely worth a return visit.
September 23rd
I solo camped for two nights at Cascade Lake Campground near Davidson River Campground (it had filled up minutes before I arrived) after dropping Stephen off at UNC-Asheville to visit with Andrew over the weekend. I fished the Avery Creek tributary that feeds into the Davidson River right at the Riding Stables. It was small water, but had some active, small, Rainbows in it. I also fished above Looking Glass Falls (proceed straight instead of turning to go the popular hatchery area of the Davidson) and put in just above the falls. Again, small water, with active and small Rainbows. I also briefly fished the South Mills (between Brevard and Asheville, right off the highway at the bridge) which looked promising, but I didn't get a lot of action there in my brief stint fishing there. I then took a quick peak at the North Mills, but had no time to fish as I was off to pick up Stephen by that time.
After picking up Stephen and Andrew, we had a good lunch at Pack's Tavern in Asheville. Stephen and I then headed down the Blue Ridge Parkway to Graveyard Falls (BRP 418) for some really nice hiking to the waterfalls in the area. There are some nice camping spots there also. We then went to Black Balsom (BRP 420) and caught a great sunset at the peak further along from the main/popular one. We hiked back in the dusk to dark and then camped in a nice wooded area by the road where the Art Loeb trail crosses. It was very cold and the coyotes were quite active that night. This place is worth another visit for sure.
The next weekend (September 28th) was my first backpacking experience. We started at Carver's Gap at about 6:00 on Friday night, hiking over several balds with great views. We hiked in the dusk and dark a total of a couple of miles in and camped at a nice spot on the left about a half mile before the Over Mountain shelter. The next morning was foggy and a bit rainy. We hiked from our camp to Little Hump bald. By the time we arrived there it was extremely foggy and raining quite hard. We had no visibility and thought we had hiked to the summit of Big Hump bald due to lack of visibility and guesswork as to how far we had come. We had enough after getting soaked to the bone on that hike so we took a break at Over Mountain Barn on the way back to our camp, had some peanuts and such, and decided to pack it in to our safety shelter in Montreat. Next morning (September 30th), I was surprised to have enough energy to convince Stephen to hike Greybeard. We ended up doing a speed hike in order to get to Asheville in time to have a late lunch with Andrew again at Pack's. This was a very good hike. Steep, but good views. Not many overlooks but nice ones.
Next, Wendy and I went to Charleston and then Foscoe/Banner Elk (Oct 7-14). In Charleston, we stayed at our second VRBO and it was a cool office converted into appartment right over "Slightly North of Broad". The only downsides were loud music late at night from a nearby bar and low water pressure and hot water that took forever to warm up. Highlights were eating at Hymans, Jetines Kitchen, McCrady's, Husk, and Basil. Also, met a nice caricature artist and his Italian wife, so I got to practice my Italian a little as he did our drawing. We stopped in a gallery to see a painting we both really liked (sold thankfully since it was expensive) and I got to play on the nice Yamaha grand piano for about an hour (the artist/proprietor encouraged me to stay on after he closed while he did some work so I took full advantage). Wendy had to come to Charlotte Thursday for work so we left Charleston and after she wrapped up at 2:00 or so we headed to Foscoe. There we stayed in another VRBO that was really great. A three bedroom (one a loft) with hot tub and and awesome view of Grandfather Mountain. We hiked Linville Falls and found it spectacular, but a bit crowded. The weather was great and the leaves were almost at peak color. Next we made several stops on BRP and ended up on the Grandfather Mountain "Tanawah Trail" starting at Stacked Rock Falls (at the BRP overlook), down to the Linn Cove visitor center and back to Beacon Heights which was well worth the effort. Great views from bare rock faces.
The next day was super ambitious. Big Hump bald approached from 19E at Elk Park and the TN line. The first hard part is finding the AT since the parking area on 19E is (on the left heading toward TN) only big enough for three cars. It is basically at the bottom of a long downhill run of the highway at a T intersection with a road I meant to get the name of, just after a large rock face. There is more parking by the road that intersects 19E. Look for the Apple House sign. The AT will have some ads and such at the end and a white blaze with an "S" if you go down it a bit. Long story short, the approach from 19E is great, but a very steep ascent for about an hour before it starts to level out some while still ascending gradually to Big Hump. The weather was fantastic this Saturday (October 13th) and we took full advantage of the 360 degree views from the bald for the 15 minutes we had time to spend snacking and admiring the views. It took us from 11:30 AM to 5:00 PM round trip for the 10.8 (estimated) mile in and out hike. I met a father/daughter backpacking pair who had "put in" where I had thought about trying to find parking. A road that leads up to the Over Mountain Trail, near the Over Mountain Barn shelter is where they had parked and hiked in about a mile to camp at the shelter. I will keep this in mind for future backpack and/or day hikes. Afterwards, we ate BBQ down 105 near Banner Elk and the $9.95 for a half pound plate deal was good, but of course we were starving at that point. On the way out of town Sunday we drove through Julian Price Memorial Park, which is an old childhood haunt that always brings back good memories. We then stopped at Moses H. Cone Memorial Park, where it was much colder. We looked around the gift shop and viewed the nice overlook from the mansion. I wonder if the lake can be fished as it supposedly is stocked with trout. I need to research that for later. The trails all look easy, but there are lots of them. Seems like it would be great for jogging. I am now more interested in hiking down to the lake for some fly fishing.
VRBO Links:
Foscoe:
High Country Fever (Really in Foscoe, despite the address being Banner Elk)
134 Shadow Mountain Lane, Banner Elk, NC 28604:
http://www.vrbo.com/27693
Charleston:
Pasadena:
Links of Interest:
Stephen and I hiked in about 3 miles in Croatan National Forest, walking in sand by the Neuse, up and down the bank, through some bogs, with Harrier Jets doing fly overs while landing at nearby Cherry Point Marine Base. The jets went on with practice starts/takeoffs/landings/etc until around 11:00 PM. Stephen slept in the "Copperhead Landing" shelter and I used the tent. We woke at 7:30 AM sharp to live munitions and blaring megaphone announcements at the base. Very relaxing! We decided to head a bit further down the trail before breaking camp for our next (main) destination. Did not make it far before hitting a bog that unlike the other major bogs until that point had no wooden footbridge. We quickly decided we had seen the highlights of Croatan at that point and headed back to the Neusiok Trailhead (northern end).
November 1, 2012
We rented two kayaks in Swansboro, and headed to Dudley island (the private island before the Bear Island camping area for Hammocks State Park). After some poor navigation and getting lost a few times in the reeds, we made it to Dudley island and found the awesome, free campsite there. We had a great time. Plenty of good firewood and starter. A great fire pit. level tent pad, and a great view of Bogue Inlet. Sunset was magnificent. The temperature was just right. We could even wade in the sound without getting too cold. The next day we paddled over to Bear Island in heavy winds and against the incoming tide. It was fairly crowded given the time of year (ferry runs stop November 1) so I was very glad we had stayed at Dudley Island.
November 10, 2012
After dropping Stephen off at CLT for his flight to Vail, we (finally, after a detour home for Wendy to take care of a work emergency) headed to Crowders Mountain for a hike. It was much more impressive than I had expected/remembered. Nice views from the top and cliffs being used by rock climbers. We had to to hurry the hike back due to Wendy having a continuation of the work crisis, but it was a challenging/rocky hike that was quite fun. Definitely worth a return visit.
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