Creek Running North

Hello up there! (From somewhere in the picture.)

yes!  right there!  are there golden eagles circling below you?

Looks like a loverly day at the crest of the Santa Cruz Mountains.  Congrats on getting out in the fine fall air!  Wish I was there.

You always make me miss being in the US. I have been only once, for four weeks, but I want to go back so badly and do nothing but hike and enjoy those awesome landscapes.

Stunning. I would like to not come down from there. Ever. Kthx.

Mountain lions!

No golden eagles, embee, but red-tailed and sharp-shinned and i think roughlegged hawks, a prairie falcon and an unseen loud falcon stooping WHOOSH behind my head like ripping bolts of silk, and about eight thousand turkey vultures.

And a puma shrieking off in the distance. UNless that was Sherwood.

And cranberry cookies. Which are all gone now. (Thanks!)

Cranberry cookies = favorite winter cookie. The recipe was originally made for Alaskan wild cranberries which are about a quarter the size of the commercial ones.  So I usually just stick a bunch on top instead of mixing them in, so the cookies hold together.  The more cranberries the better.

Beat wet ingredients together till smooth:

1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1/3 cup milk
1 egg

Separately mix dry ingredients:

2 1/4 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

Add dry ingredients to wet mix.  Batter will be stiff.
Then mix in:

2 Tbsp. grated orange peel
1/2 cup walnuts (or more if you like)
2 1/2 cups cranberries (or just stick cranberries on top—lots!)

Form on cookie sheet, stick walnuts or cranberries on top as desired.  Bake at 350. Don’t wait till they turn brown on top though—catch them when they’re barely done, or they’ll turn hard. Ten minutes or so? up to you.