Saturday, August 29, 2009

Fall is Coming!

After a couple of months on the mountain, we're finally starting to settle into a routine. Rusty is working weekends now, but doesn't got in until after lunch on Saturdays, so we've started a new Saturday tradition! (Some of you will remember our regular Saturday morning hikes when we were in Cameroon :)). Our local Farmer's Market opens on Saturday mornings, so shortly after breakfast we packed into the car with tote bags and cool packs in tow and headed for Boone. What a Farmer's Market it was! It was the first time we'd been on a Saturday (it's also open on Wednesday evenings), and it was packed! It's not hard to see why--a huge parking lot was flanked with rows of white tents and open air booths, most with tables of brightly colored produce, although some artists set up shop with photographs, pottery, jewelry, and other handmade goods. We let the girls strap on their quilted elephant backpacks from Cameroon to help carry our goods in, so they wore happy smiles as we strolled around the loop. It was a beautiful almost-fall morning. Rain clouds were sailing away on the breeze and autumn leaves glittered in the sky with every gust. It made me anxious for fall!

After our marketing was complete, we headed back to the car and drove a couple of miles to the Greenway Trail for a jog. It was the perfect weather for a mid-morning jaunt, and we thoroughly enjoyed trapsing through parks and next to streams and even through a tunnel of arched evergreen branches at one point. The air smelled like nature's own potpourri, scented with the leaves of trees and flowers and the morning rain. Rusty and I are always amazed at how beautiful the mountains are, no matter the season or weather. Each change has its own beauty.

Well, anyway...in honor of the much anticipated advent of fall in the mountains--and my recently acquired fresh produce from the market!-- I'm posting a link to the recipe for one of our favorite quick breads: Chocolate Zucchini Bread. When the weather gets cooler, it always puts me in the mood to bake! This recipe is moist and tasty, and makes two loaves so you can put one in the freezer and break it out when the first one is gone (or if you're like us, you probably won't need to freeze it before the other one is gone!). I usually leave out the melted unsweetened chocolate so that it's less like a dessert and more like a snack, especially for the girls, and it is still slightly sweet and delicious. A slice of bread, a cup of tea, and a chair out on the deck overlooking the mountains...there must be something like this in heaven! :) Enjoy!

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