Black Friday Hiking Report

Longtime readers of my blog (hi Mom and Dad) know that Benjamin and I go on a hike on the day after Thanksgiving; it is our way of refraining from over-consumption, avoiding getting trampled, and recovering from any Thanksgiving excess. Since Malcolm arrived, we haven't taken any long or strenuous hikes, but we have made an effort to at least go somewhere we don't normally go for a walk. This year, we headed up to Russellville (about an hour's drive) to try out the Bona Dea Trails.

It is a trail system that combines a fitness trail, jogging trail and some hiking (sort of), in the city limits of Russellville. The entire loop (about 3.5 miles) is paved and in good condition, so it is wheelchair and bicycle accessible. That means isn't a particularly difficult hike, but it was a good fit for us at this time, with our toddler, stroller, grandmother and two dogs.

It was chilly, but sunny - good weather for a long walk. Malcolm walked at least a mile and a half of the trail by himself. As long as he is in the mood, he is a very good walker/hiker. We all had fun on the fitness parts of the trail, trying out the various exercise stations.

The scenery wasn't spectacular, but it was peaceful, and it is supposed to have good wildlife viewing opportunities if you visit near sunrise and sunset.

Although I doubt we will make the trip up to Russellville just to use the trails again soon, it is definitely somewhere I would go to run or ride my bike if I lived in the area. It might be worth a return visit when Malcolm is a bit older and can ride his bike around the entire trail.

Thanksgiving dinner

Since this is apparently now primarily a food blog, here is the Thanksgiving dinner we had this year. As you can see, it isn't the traditional turkey, stuffing and mashed potatoes. Some years we go to all that trouble, but more often we prefer to make something different. It is more fun, usually less work, and perhaps even a little bit healthy. This year, we had turkey-zucchini meatballs and sumac sauce from the Jerusalem cookbook. (Here is a slightly modified version from Simply Recipes, if you don't want to seek out the book. But you should at least get it from the library, since it is a beautiful book, as well as full of good recipes). The recipe calls them burgers, but I call them meatballs.  Either way, they are delicious, and the sauce is good enough to justify seeking out sumac. (You can order it from Penzey's, here.)

To accompany the turkey, I made acorn squash stuffed with black beans, corn, and broccoli from a recipe I found at the New York Times website. It was intended as a vegan main course, and I think it would definitely be good for that, but it was also a perfect side. It is very American too, with the squash, corn and beans. I left out the optional rice, since we made our own wild/brown rice as well. To round out the plate we had sweet potato biscuits brought by a friend.

I neglected to get a picture of the pumpkin cheesecake that we had for dessert. Too busy eating it. It also turned out really well. I used ginger snaps in place of the graham crackers in the crust, and they added just enough snap and flavor.

In short, we had a lovely meal, and I heartily recommend giving alternative menus a try for the holidays.

Thanksgiving recap

Malcolm wasn't thrilled with the overalls, but they are just so darn cute!

Here are some pictures from our busy Thanksgiving weekend. On Thanksgiving we headed to a friend's house for authentic homemade Louisiana gumbo and other deliciousness. No, no turkey this year. I think in the 11 years we've been married, Benjamin and I have had turkey 4 times for Thanksgiving, and two of those were when my parents came to visit and my mother did the cooking. Usually, if it is just going to be us, we make enchiladas.  This year, I was happy to not have to do any of the cooking, since I would have had to do it around Malcolm. I did bake a pumpkin pie, using store-bought pumpkin for the first time in probably 13 years, and it was a complete failure. The pumpkin puree tasted like the container it came in - musty cardboard - and was pretty much inedible. Major bummer! And it was a reputable organic brand too. I guess that will teach me not to cut so many corners again! Anyway, on Saturday we roasted a chicken and I made an apple pie to make up for the lack of pie leftovers.

Benjamin and his helper elf.

Since it is fall here in Arkansas, we took some time to rake leaves. We got 10 or 12 giant bags, and didn't even finish the backyard, not to mention the front. There are still plenty for my dad to rake in a few weeks when my parents arrive for Christmas.

And we took Malcolm on his first of what we hope will be many post-Thanksgiving hikes. We figured he wouldn't have the stamina (or patience) for a long hike, so we chose Woolly Hollow State Park. The hike there is only about 3 miles, and the drive is about an hour from Maumelle. We've done it before and have enjoyed it. This time, the weather was almost perfect, just a little windy and cold up on the exposed ridge side.

If you look closely at this picture, you will see the death grip Malcolm had on my finger. He sucked on that finger for much of the hike, so much so that I had drool running down my palm and dripping as I hiked. Ah, babies!

 

 I did convince him to suck his own fingers at some point.

In the end, we didn't make it the entire 3 miles - he was getting too hungry and tired - but he did pretty darn well. He definitely enjoyed facing forward in his new carrier that I got from our neighbors - so much easier to see out that way.  I just bought a backpack style carrier that we will be using once he is able to sit up on his own. Then he will be able to play with our hair while we hike!

Post-Thanksgiving Hike Photo Massacre

This is the only picture that survived my photo accident last weekend. We went to Lake Catherine State Park for our annual post-Thanksgiving hike. The main trail we planned to hike was closed for no apparent reason (at least not apparent to us) but we managed to put together a decent hike from the other two loops.  It had rained all day Thanksgiving, so there was actually a good amount of water in the little creeks and the waterfall. It would probably be a good place to go swimming in the summer.

Thanksgiving

Just look at the size of those biscuits.

Thankfully, my pictures from Thanksgiving were not among the pictures lost in the, er, accident.  We had a lovely meal - roast chicken with roasted root vegetables, stuffing muffins, Quaker bonnet biscuits (which somehow puffed up to almost life-like proportions), roasted broccoli with walnuts, pumpkin pie, and an apple crostata.  Yum yum.

Crystal was unable to go home for Thanksgiving, but we were very happy to add her to our table (not to mention her pie and broccoli).

It was a lovely evening, the food was splendid, the company delightful, and the weather suitably rainy.