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| Roaring Fork Loop |
Just back from a weekend in the Smoky Mountains, Gatlinburg, Tennessee ... one of my most favorite places to be. Since daughter Sarah couldn't get home from college for Father's Day we took Father's Day to her and celebrated with our favorite Italian food Saturday night and the best pancakes ever from The Pantry on Sunday morning. It just doesn't get much better! Happy day to my wonderful husband, Chris who is also a pretty fabulous Dad to both Sarah and our son, Jonathan.
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The picture above was taken on our drive on the Roaring Fork Nature Trail loop. We intended to hike to Grotto Falls but just before we got to the trailhead the heavens opened and blessed us with a downpour and a half ... the hail I could have done without, though. Never thought I would take up hiking in my old age but I guess it gives the ticker a good workout and hopefully tightens up a few muscles here and there. As you can see, I made it to the top of Clingman's Dome a couple of weeks ago and with enough energy left to give the lookout tower a bit of support! But nevertheless, in spite of the weekend rain the Roaring Fork drive was lovely and the rain added a freshness and perkiness to the rhododendrums in bloom and the summer greenery, and even cleared enough for an occasional stroll.
This was also the weekend I decided to start a blog. Chris, with the patience of Job, walked me through the setup and now you have The Bean Counter at the Kitchen Counter. I crunch numbers all day in my real job but after hours enjoy cooking and trying new recipes - especially cakes, cookies, breads and all other things of a baked inclination. This page will record my meandering through a fairly decent assortment of cookbooks and recipes collected from family and friends - add to that a sizeable pile of magazine clippings. To me a good road trip isn't complete without a stack of magazines to go through, clipping out all the recipes that I may want to try some day. After several feeble attempts over the past few months to sort and organize and conquer my ever-growing "some day" collection it seems the only thing left to do is to start cooking ... so, here you go.
The picture above was taken on our drive on the Roaring Fork Nature Trail loop. We intended to hike to Grotto Falls but just before we got to the trailhead the heavens opened and blessed us with a downpour and a half ... the hail I could have done without, though. Never thought I would take up hiking in my old age but I guess it gives the ticker a good workout and hopefully tightens up a few muscles here and there. As you can see, I made it to the top of Clingman's Dome a couple of weeks ago and with enough energy left to give the lookout tower a bit of support! But nevertheless, in spite of the weekend rain the Roaring Fork drive was lovely and the rain added a freshness and perkiness to the rhododendrums in bloom and the summer greenery, and even cleared enough for an occasional stroll.This was also the weekend I decided to start a blog. Chris, with the patience of Job, walked me through the setup and now you have The Bean Counter at the Kitchen Counter. I crunch numbers all day in my real job but after hours enjoy cooking and trying new recipes - especially cakes, cookies, breads and all other things of a baked inclination. This page will record my meandering through a fairly decent assortment of cookbooks and recipes collected from family and friends - add to that a sizeable pile of magazine clippings. To me a good road trip isn't complete without a stack of magazines to go through, clipping out all the recipes that I may want to try some day. After several feeble attempts over the past few months to sort and organize and conquer my ever-growing "some day" collection it seems the only thing left to do is to start cooking ... so, here you go.
