use real butter

Our trip to New Zealand was great! It’s good to be home, but for the first time, I sort of wish I could have stayed longer (or indefinitely). I am happy to see the pup again. We did get quite a bit of rain (and snow), but we also had a lot of fun tramping for miles on end in the mud (and rain), kayaking, eating fish and chips, and visiting Puzzling World in Wanaka (sounds like Chanukah). Back at work nothing has really changed. Makes me wonder if I should have just stayed on the South Island to open up a pumpkin pie and rice crispy treats shack. We met up with Laura at Mt. Cook NP (in the rain, no less)! We had a great time hiking (in the rain!) and then having a 4+ hour dinner at the Old Mountaineers Cafe because it was warm, dry and we wanted to dry out our clothes before going back to the tents in the freezing cold. Yes folks, it is nearly summer there, but it was colder than it is now in Los Angeles. Go figure – ha ha! Her hair is bright purple and I love it. We shared stories about crazy women and their weddings, talked about food (it’s a love of ours), and discussed general feelings about school and work and what to do with our lives.

I think I ate a lot of fish and chips. It was an obsession. Considering how much calorie debt we were in on our hiking days, I think it was okay to eat the seriously fried deliciousness. We didn’t stay at the Glenorchy Hotel, but we ate there twice (fish and chips, and some soup and a kiwi burger) and played chess during our meals. Jeremy’s pretty good, but I love catching him off guard and taking the rook, or the queen – I guess I should have tried doing that with the king… I don’t really know all of the rules, but he says I’m an unpredictable player which makes things interesting. He won all of the games, but some of them were REALLY close… Back to the food, our US dollar didn’t go as far as last time. We did purchase a lot of juice because I love the stuff (passionfruit, mandarin, apple, something juicy blend…) and chit chats, cheds (cheddar crackers), and starburst fruit gummies. **Jump for more butter**

I’ve been hearing all of these Thanksgiving stories on the radio, from co-workers. How people hate cooking t-giving dinner and how people love eating it but hate cleaning, etc. I’m not doing any of that this year because we’ll be in New Zealand hiking, but I do love to cook Thanksgiving dinner. Stuffing and gravy are my favorites! I’m sad we won’t be celebrating t-giving with friends or family here, but that is completely and utterly outweighed by the fact that we’ll be in New Zealand getting rained on. Actually, we’ll probably cook a t-giving-ish meal upon our return – no reason why we can’t eat turkey for a week. We’re both huge fans of leftovers. Turkey salad sandwiches, mmmmm. Turkey reubens, drool. As all of my friends know, I have an ongoing love affair with sandwiches.

I would love some mint ice cream about now. Not the green stuff, but the pink peppermint ice cream that Purity makes in central NY with little crunchy bits of dark pink peppermint candy. Oh, that is really good ice cream. I think the fat content is through the roof on that one. Best for me to stay away from it though considering my lactose intolerance and also how it goes against the ARP (Ass Reduction Plan).

Oooh, I found this on the Recipe Source (I took out the food coloring, that’s bullshit):

3 egg yolks, beaten
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup milk
1/4 tsp salt
2 cups heavy cream
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup crushed peppermint candy

Mix egg yolks, sugar, milk and salt in 2-quart saucepan. Cover over medium heat, stirring constantly, just to boiling (do not boil). Refrigerate in chilled bowl 2 to 3 hours, stirring occasionally, until room temperature whipping cream and vanilla into milk mixture. Add crushed peppermint candy sticks. Pour into 1-quart ice-cream freezer. Freeze.