Boy in his element

On Sunday we went to a natural spring up in the San Mateo mountains (southwest of here) and had a wonderful day hiking, playing in the water, and wandering around. Lucydog had a blast -- she managed to use up just about all of her terrier-mix puppy energy. Lazarus had fun, too, hiking up with mama to the spring in his backpack carrier and then sitting and crawling around in the spring (which used to be a big pool-like bowl that got washed out a few weeks ago):


We got some rain there, so Laz had to hang out with Papa in the truck to warm up while William, Steve, Lucy and I hiked down the canyon, walking mostly in the stream. We were almost never able to do this in L.A., at least not without driving three hours in heavy traffic and still encountering lots of people, which meant we tried to get out into the wilderness once in a while but mostly gave up. Sunday was a rare treat, then, though it won't be so rare from now on.

I'm looking for apricot and peach recipes today. Antonio bought two bagsful from a roadside vendor and I want to put them to good use. So I might try Apricot Nut Bread (with whole wheat flour and minimal sugar) and Apricot Lentil Soup, and Peach Cobbler (reducing the sugar), muffins, and bread (low-sugar, whole-wheat flour).

Of course, the Apricot and Peach Fried Pies sound mighty tasty, too, but... I'll have to pass on those.