Yummy yum yum

Heidi just came over for dinner for the 2nd Sunday in a row. Last week she brought over her homemade wild rice soup and some buttermilk biscuits that were one of the best things I've ever eaten. Ever. I mean, wow. And I made a spec-tic-tacular potato & ham soup. Topped it all off w/ a pie that Heidi's been stashing in my freezer since summer--apple & cherry w/ homemade whipped cream. It was great, but I was so incredibly full afterwards that I wanted to die.

This week I made scallops w/ a breaded topping and a creamy risotto (out of a box) (shhh...). Heidi brought devine asparagas in a foil pouch. And steamed broccoli. So much healthier and I don't want to die. Although the 5 gingersnaps I ate (made them this afternoon--Betty Crocker is absolutely genius) are a bit ridiculous.

On a related note, I got up this morning and thought...hmm...what to do, what to do. So Ruffers and I went for a long 3+ mile walk. Before breakfast. We went along the old railroad bed that runs far above the Yellowstone River. Ruffers had to be on leash b/c it's Park land, but other than that, the walk out was very nice. At one point, we came around a bend and saw, in the distance, two Canada geese walking along the trail. Just kind of poking along, looking around. They eventually left the trail when they noticed us coming up behind them (an eager dog and human walk much faster than two Canada geese). As we approached the spot they'd "ducked" out, we all scared the heck out of each other as they took off in an explosion of wings and honking. Ruffers was very excited.

After we got over the goose shock, and tired of walking along the river w/ no views of the Gallatins, I decided that we should climb the steep slope on our left and catch the gravel road that should have been just out of sight. We climbed the steep slope, and then the one after it, and came out with no view of the road. Drat! So now were were going cross country in Yellowstone. And the other part of "we" is of course the dog. Which is a species not allowed off trail. So we hot-footed it further along and I breathed a real sigh of relief when we got within 100 ft. of the road and we were once again inside the law. It actually wasn't a good idea at all to leave the nice sheltered trail--out on the exposed highlands, the wind came whipping along, bringing desultory snow. I had an earache within seconds. And, we couldn't see the mountains b/c of the low snow clouds. Dang it! But it was good to get out and we saw pronghorn antelope, elk, and a snowshoe hare. Ruffers was particularly interested in the hare. All in all, a good thing to do on a chilly Sunday morning.