Carrots from 6,000 feet above sea level

You'd think that the arrival of digital photography would speed up my photo turnaround. Since I no longer have to wait on photo processing and my ancient scanner, I should have uploaded pictures from our trip to Mt. Hood last weekend on, oh, Sunday night.

If laziness (l) was not also a variable in this equation, the solution would have equaled a reasonable turnaround of photos, or:

(Photos Taken on Saturday (p) + Time to Download Photos (t) + Uploading Photos to Internet (u)) - Original Film Processing Time (f) = Reasonable Turnaround of Photos (r)

(p + t + u) - f = r

Instead, I got this:

((p + t+ u) - f) + l = b (Breaking of Kate's Self-Imposed Blog Deadline)

If you solve this equation for l, you can calculate the exact amount of laziness I have added to the end product (b). Math is not one of my strong suits. Oh well. Onward and upward!

Raymond and I celebrated four years of marriage (yay!) over Memorial Day weekend by enjoying some live jazz with friends from KMHD on Friday, then taking a day trip to Mt. Hood on Saturday.

By early afternoon, the clouds hovering near the Columbia River Gorge had disappeared, and Hood River, Oregon, was sunny and covered in spring green. It seemed like our whole route from Hood River to Mt. Hood was lined with peach and cherry orchards - on both sides of the road. We stopped to buy some strawberry-rhubarb jam and take some photos of the mountain rising from the fields (as in the photo above) before pressing on.

We listened to A Prairie Home Companion and climbed Mount Hood Highway until we found our destination at 6,000 feet above sea level, the Timberline Lodge. As we walked to the lodge's entrance, I remember saying to Raymond, "Look at how gigantic it is! It reminds me of the Overlook Hotel in The Shining."

looking down from the second floor

No wonder I got the heebie jeebies: all of the external Overlook Hotel shots in The Shining were actually pictures of this lodge. (You won't find the Timberline's website trumpeting that fact, but you can learn more here.)

Constructed in the Great Depression as a WPA project, the Timberline Lodge now attracts skiers, snowboarders and random tourists (like us) all year round. Actually, over a million people visit annually to ski, stay overnight, enjoy a formal dinner or roast their toes in front of the giant lobby fireplace. Raymond and I ate dinner in one of the informal bars, and we got the best mountain views! Other visitors kept stopping by while we ate to check out the scenery.

Raymond, engrossed in a brochure

We enjoyed our meal--he chose a pulled pork sandwich and I had a cheese and smoked salmon plate--but they both arrived with a mountain of carrots. Between our two plates, the chef blessed us with almost a whole pound of baby carrots. We tried to finish them. Heroics were involved. We filled every available stomach nook with carrots, enjoyed the view, and then redoubled our efforts.

But we failed, of course. It's a pound of carrots! Plus dinner! With heavy hearts (and stomachs) we took the carrots home, drove down Mt. Hood and an hour-and-a-half back to Portland with a carry-out container of shame. On Sunday, I cooked them in butter and brown sugar and some garden herbs. You know, it's hard to strike out with leftovers when they're cooked in butter.

Glazed carrots and zucchini
serves 2

• 1/2 pound baby carrots
• 1 small zucchini squash, diced
  
• 2 Tb. unsalted butter
• 1 Tb. brown sugar
• 2 sprigs fresh thyme, chopped
  
• 1 small sprig fresh rosemary, chopped finely
• sea salt to taste
  

Melt the butter over medium heat in a small skillet. Stir in the brown sugar and raise the heat to medium-high. Add the zucchini and carrots, and stir until they're all coated in sweet, buttery goodness.

Saute the veggies, stirring occasionally, for 10 - 15 minutes, or until the zucchini starts to develop a light brown skin and the carrots are tender. Toss in the fresh herbs and a pinch of sea salt. Cook for a minute more, then serve hot. Pairs well with a Stephen King novel.

If you liked this post, you may also enjoy:

Slow-roasted tomatoes
Butternut squash gratin
Three-minute strawberry salad