Sequoia + Kings Canyon

This weekend it was Sir's 29th birthday.  We took a little trip up to Sequoia National Park.  I was looking to see some green since I'm getting sick of the brown dirt and rocks around San Diego, and I was not disappointed.  Everything was so beautiful and there was still snow (quote from me: "what's all that white stuff?").

First off we stopped off at the General Grant Tree in Sequoia's Grant Grove.  The General Grant tree is named after Ulysses S. Grant and is the third largest sequoia tree in the world and is estimated to be over 3,000 years old.  That's one huge old tree.

Upon arriving at our destination, Cedar Grove in Kings Canyon, we hiked the Mist Falls trail, which was 8 miles, round trip.  Along the way we saw this deer having a little snack in the middle of the trail.  We stopped and hung around until she was done and then continued on our way.  We saw many deer on our trip.  I'm glad it was deer we saw and not bears or cats as it very well could have been.

Our final destination:  Mist Falls.

Aside from driving through the depressing dairy farm-town on the way there and the less than luxurious lodge we stayed in, it was a great trip and I'm really glad we got out to experience something new.

I Earned My Angel Wings

These cookies are light and buttery and remind me of the cookies you would find in a tin at Christmas time.  Not only were they super delicious, but they are also really easy to make.  Only four ingredients!  There are a few steps involved, which is kind of annoying (I hate waiting!), but they are definitely worth it.  Here's what you'll need:

1 1/2 cups flour

1 cup cold butter

1/2 cup sour cream

sugar (lots, just keep the canister out)

Place flour in a large bowl; cut in butter (I used a pastry blender) until mixture is crumbly.  Stir in sour cream until completely blended.  Place dough on a piece of plastic wrap and form into a square block.  Wrap up the block in the plastic wrap and refrigerate for 2 hours.

Cut dough into four even sections, and working one section at a time (keep remaining sections refrigerated) place dough on a piece of wax paper sprinkled with sugar.  Sprinkle dough with some sugar and place another piece of wax paper on top.  Roll out dough in wax paper until you get a rectangle, adding sugar as needed.  (Roughly 10-in x 5-in)  Roll up each side lengthwise until you reach they meet in the middle.  Wrap log in plastic wrap and refrigerate.  Repeat with remaining 3 sections.  Chill for 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 375-degrees.  Unwrap dough and cut into 1/2-inch slices. Gently dip each side into sugar and place on a foil-lined baking sheet, about 2 inches apart.  Bake for 14 minutes, or until a light golden brown.  Turn cookies over and bake an additional 5 minutes.  Cool on wire rack. Enjoy the buttery goodness!

Torrey Pines State Beach

Last week I received two emails from different people with pictures of lovely flower fields:  one of the Antelope Valley Poppy Fields and the other of the California Goldfields near Lake Henshaw.  Well I decided I wanted to see some lovely flowers myself.  We decided to go to the  flower fields in Carlsbad.  Well once we got there, I promptly decided it looked pretty lame from the street.  Having driven all the way up there we decided we needed to do something, so we stopped at Torrey Pines State Beach on the way back and wandered around for a while.

I guess a place where you can take a short drive to somewhere like this isn't so bad.  I feel like I take the ocean for granted and I should visit it more.  It's weird to think some people have never seen the ocean. Like  I've never seen falling snow.  I think I might be missing out on something.  But I still want to see some flowers.