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Home About Manifesto Useful Tools Adventure Some More Adventure in Your Life Today nbsp Get Feed or Subscribe by Email Categories Examples Food Gear Local Adventures Personal Photography Planning Travel Best Of Plan Your Adventure Re Defining Adventure Links Around The Great Lakes Art of Backpacking LifeNomadic Nomadic Matt Travelin Local Support Meta Register Log in Entries RSS Comments RSS WordPress org Natural Bridge Patterns Photo by Matthew April 7th 2009 Hello fellow adventurer glad to have you stop by You may want to subscribe to my RSS feed so you can follow along Thanks for visiting This message will self destruct after 5 visits There are many different things to see when one approaches the Natural Bridge One can easily be over whelmed by the sheer size and magnificence of the bridge itself or be captivated by the views out across the valleys especially when the fall leaves are in their full explosions of color If you take the time to look even closer though you can see that there are even more less obvious beauties ready for viewing This pattern is a part of the bridge itself Located on the base of the bridge it 8217 s foot this pattern in the stone caught my attention when I first approached The multitude of colors surprised me and the pattern was interesting to try and follow Even though many people walked by only my wife and I stopped to look at the less 8220 spectacular 8221 of the views Click to see full sized Filed Personal Photography Tagged Hiking Ideas Photography No Comments 187 How Do You Define a Place by Matthew April 6th 2009 What makes somewhere worth visiting After leaving why do you gush about one place and forget another I 8217 m sure that everyone will answer these questions differently However there is an easy way to determine your personal definition of a place Think about your favorite trip or the one you dream about What first comes to mind Is it the people food the landscape music or something else Whatever it is that is how you define that place it may be different for different places The first few weeks my wife and I spent here in Ireland we visited the largest cities Dublin and Cork are fabulous places full of amazing buildings and historic places However we came away less than thrilled Neither of us are city people we much prefer the wild places When we pictured Ireland we both saw a rolling green countryside criss crossed with stone walls the fields dotted with sheep all watched over by thatched roof buildings The cities of course offered none of these things Finally we headed to Galway and spent all of one night there before heading out to The Burren Irish for Rocky Place This was the country that we had been picturing we saw our rolling hills endless stone walls and sheep We also visited the Cliffs of Moher I got to wave 8220 back home 8221 across the ocean The weekend was far too short and the bus did not stay at any of the stops nearly long enough We will definitely be returning When you go somewhere be sure and seek out what really interests you Don 8217 t allow yourself to get caught in the trap of seeing what everyone else recommends You might have different tastes than they do Many of our fellow students are most interested in seeking out new pubs with traditional music While we enjoy the music we have no interest in visiting the pubs So we seek out our own adventure Our own adventure includes not only the amazing landscapes but also local foods We are visiting local eateries in search of traditional foods and yes this did include a stop at a pub for a pint 8230 gotta try it out after all Our collection of recipes is growing so that we can prepare our favorites when we return home You can see a soup recipe here As you can see your definition of a place might not be a single thing but a combination My wife and I view Ireland as the places the food and the people In the places where we don 8217 t experience all of these things to our satisfaction we will leave disappointed and they will slip from our minds Once you know how you define a place you will know what you need to search out in places you visit to ensure that you have a fulfilling and warmly remembered experience Filed Personal Planning Travel Tagged Example Ideas Travel Types No Comments 187 Natural Bridge Views Photo by Matthew April 4th 2009 The Red River Gorge in Daniel Boone National Forest is full of amazing features and views My wife and I have spent more than one weekend exploring around the Natural Bridge there Here are a couple of views from the top of the bridge Click to see full sized Filed Personal Photography Tagged Hiking Ideas Photography No Comments 187 Irish Soda Bread by Matthew April 3rd 2009 The idea of making my own bread fascinates me There 8217 s nothing like the smell of bread fresh from the oven and there 8217 s nothing like the taste of that same bread sliced while still warm and then smothered in butter I haven 8217 t tried many bread recipes and none that involve a packet of yeast there 8217 s an art to yeast bread it seems I 8217 ve learned from the ones that I have tried and will continue to make them Irish Soda Bread When people talk about Irish country bread they mean bread made without yeast leavened by bread baking soda or baking powder The Irish love this traditional bread and its solid nourishment gives them more pleasure than almost any Irish food It also gives them a feeling of continuity with the past the Irish have never stopped making soda bread at home It is doubtful if anything was weighed much in the old days people just didn 8217 t have time They threw handfuls of flour and oatmeal of different sorts into a bowl and mixed them with buttermilk When the texture felt right the dough was crossed deeply and bundled into a hot oven or cooking pot Forty minutes later it had become a loaf which was robust and individual Making Soda Bread No bread pan is needed for country bread It bakes far better when placed straight onto a floured baking sheet in the oven You will need a wire rack and a clean tea towel dish cloth to wrap the loaf in after it is baked Ingredients 1 cup white all purpose flour 3 cups brown whole wheat flour 1 1 2 tsp bread baking soda 1 1 4 tsp salt 1 1 4 cups buttermilk approx This is the classic Irish recipe for brown soda bread You can make white soda bread by using 4 cups of white flour Some people put herbs into their bread with good results After you 8217 ve tried it a time or two feel free to experiment and see what you can come up with Directions Sieve sift the flour salt and baking soda into a bowl Make a well in the center Pour in most of the buttermilk to make a loose dough adding more if necessary Turn the dough on to a floured board and knead it lightly Form a round loaf Turn the smooth side up Flatten it carefully and cut a deep cross in the top of the loaf Place on a baking sheet and bake at 400 F for about 40 minutes The loaf should sound hollow if you tap the base you may need to turn it over for 5 minutes or so to achieve this Wrap the loaf in a clean dish towel and put it on a rack to cool Some Advice I 8217 ve made this hearty loaf a couple of times now and plan on doing so well into the future While I greatly enjoyed my first loaf be careful not to add too much buttermilk as you can end up with a sticky mess of dough to contend with Likewise it does make a difference if you flip the loaf over for the last 5 or so minutes to let the bottom fully bake you might have some doughy spots in the bottom if you don 8217 t If you don 8217 t sift the flour you can end up with a brick like loaf if you don 8217 t have a sifter use a spoon to scoop out the flour so that it doesn 8217 t get compressed in the measuring cup Enjoy A few slices of this bread make for a quite filling sandwich or a single buttered slice for a snack A thick slice goes wonderfully with a soup or stew I 8217 m comfortable enough with the recipe to start experimenting now I will be trying various herbs some sugar perhaps even some molasses Who knows what I 8217 ll end up with Now it 8217 s your turn Spend a few minutes mixing set the timer for the oven and enjoy your freshly baked homemade bread Filed Food Local Adventures Personal Tagged Cooking Example Ideas Just Do It Quick n easy Recipe Traditional No Comments 187 Fresh Drinking Water Photo by Matthew April 2nd 2009 During the second week of our honeymoon my wife and I returned to the Red River Gorge in Daniel Boon National Forest Kentucky This park is where we were engaged and also where we were married It seemed only fitting that we also visited for part of our honeymoon A multi day backpacking trip was in order Along the way we used our filter to get safe water Is there any fresher water than some from a spring in the mountains Nice and cool definitely refreshing I don 8217 t think it gets much better than this Click to see full sized Filed Personal Photography Tagged Camping Ideas Photography 2 Comments 187 Indoor Picnic by Matthew April 1st 2009 Is the weather not quite right to head outside for a picnic Have one indoors Indoor picnics have a number of advantages It doesn 8217 t matter what the weather is It doesn 8217 t matter what time of day it is You already have everything you need You have a wider range of cooking options Setting up Clear an opening on the floor a carpet or rug provides some padding and spread out a blanket or sheet Put some placemats down and 8220 set the table 8221 with dishes silverware and glasses I generally opt to go with the nice dishes and long stemmed glasses Turn down the lights and set up some candles Cooking Since your kitchen is readily accessible you can make anything you want Pick your favorite meal and get to cooking I would suggest putting some focus on presentation It doesn 8217 t have to be fancy but since you 8217 re using candles for lighting you can easily create a dramatic effect Serve and Enjoy Serve your meal sit or lie down and enjoy No worries with bugs gusts of wind or sudden bad weather Ahh 8230 it doesn 8217 t get much better than this What are you waiting for There 8217 s no excuse needed for an indoor picnic Celebrate Wednesday the fact that you 8217 re alive and well or just some good food Enjoy Filed Examples Food Gear Local Adventures Tagged Cooking Example Ideas Just Do It Quick n easy No Comments 187 Hiking Above the Clouds Photo by Matthew March 31st 2009 This photo was taken shortly after Saturday 8217 s My wife who had just become my fiance the night before and I were walking back to our campsite in the Red River Gorge We were on a ridge above the clouds down in the valley They were evaporating and the valley below us was beginning to emerge Here you can see the forest slowly 8220 waking up 8221 Click to see full sized Filed Personal Photography Tagged Camping Ideas Photography No Comments 187 It 8217 s Picnic Time by Matthew March 30th 2009 The weather 8217 s turning warm the flowers are blooming and everything is beginning to turn green It 8217 s picnic time My wife and I love going on picnics We are always on the lookout for new places to stop You can too What you need Picnics can be as plain or as fancy as the situation calls for Sometimes we just carry our meal in a lunchbox and use a picnic table in the park Other times we load up the picnic basket and find a secluded beach or grassy field to spread our blanket out on I looked at a number of local stores before finding a picnic basket that I was happy with This meant a few weekends of exploring shops looking for just the right one If I had started out by asking family members I could have saved a bit of time as it turns out that there were two sitting unused in attics hint hint You can pick up a number of different varieties online such as this one this one or this one Most of these come with a set of dishes If not you can get a set from the local 8220 everything for 1 8243 store insert the name of yours For only a few dollars I had a set of plates bowls silverware long stemmed glasses napkins placemats and candles Due to the low cost I can easily replace any that happen to break I picked up a set of sheets at a yardsale for about 2 and have been using them as a blanket Cheap easily cleaned and can be doubled up if desired My whole picnic set cost around 30 40 Packing tips It took me a couple of tries to figure out how best to pack everything inside my basket I don 8217 t take everything if I don 8217 t expect to need it the bowls often stay home Generally I start with the plates on bottom layering a napkin in between for padding The silverware is wrapped inside the other napkin and tucked inside a glass The glasses are rolled inside the placemats for protection and laid on top of the plates The candles tea candles in small glasses are tucked into the corners of the basket All of this takes up about 1 4 of the basket I generally lay the blanket sheet on top of the dishes and begin packing the food The heavier sturdier tupperware thermos bottle items go on the bottom with the other items stacked on top What to eat I don 8217 t know that there is such a thing as a 8220 picnic meal 8221 I 8217 ve had everything from sandwiches to grilled chicken It all depends on your location how much time you have and most importantly your tastes If the picnic is only part of a larger day you will want something that travels well such as sandwiches or a salad Is the picnic the main focus Try something a bit fancier grilled chicken rice and veggies Whatever you choose it doesn 8217 t have to be fancy You might find that food you have everyday tastes better simply by having it in a new setting This means that a sandwich and chips might be exactly what you want Try some bread and cheese a selection of fresh fruit and a nice drink to compliment them Maybe you won 8217 t want more than a salad See what sounds good and go with that Where to cook Where are you going to prepare the food If I 8217 m having a picnic later in the day say lunch during a day trip I often choose to go with sandwiches and just pack the ingredients I can actually put the sandwich together at the location so that it is freshly made When the picnic is the main focus I sometimes prepare the food at home just before leaving This generally means that I have to pack it so that it stays warm Soup and liquids will go in a thermos chicken and other solids are often wrapped in aluminum and then in a towel for insulation Sometimes I take one of my camping stoves and simply prepare the meal at the spot Where to go Now that you 8217 ve got your equipment and decided what you 8217 re eating it 8217 s time to figure out where to go There are countless options available here You can go to the local park and either use one of the picnic tables or find a grassy area where you won 8217 t be interrupted Perhaps you want to find a spot overlooking a ball game Find a stream or beach and eat beside the water Go hiking to a favorite overlook Boat out to an island and eat there My wife and I have tried all of these options and are continually on the lookout for new ones Make it special It 8217 s easy to add those few small touches to make a picnic extra special Have some fresh fruit for dessert Bring some long stemmed candles be sure to catch the wax with something or it can get stuck to your blanket I always try to surprise my wife during our picnics so I do all the packing I try to slip in a bottle of sparkling juice some favored dessert or something else to make it special for her Picnicing alone For those times when you don 8217 t have someone with you picnicing can still be greatly enjoyable A past job of mine included traveling about the area and I enjoyed the opportunity to eat my lunch in many wonderful locations I focused on the good food that I had and on the beautiful settings I was in A picnic is as special as you make it It 8217 s picnic time Paper bag or a hand woven teak basket makes no difference Doesn 8217 t matter if it 8217 s the same sandwich you have every day or chicken breast in a special sauce Bench in a park or an island all to yourself it 8217 s all the same Savor your food drink in your surroundings and focus on the good things in life What is important is that you get out there and go picnicing Banana Leaf Picnic Basket Filed Examples Food Gear Local Adventures Tagged Cooking Example Ideas Just Do It Quick n easy 3 Comments 187 Sitting Above the Clouds Photo by Matthew March 28th 2009 Took this picture one morning in the Red River Gorge in Daniel Boon National Forest My wife girlfriend who became my fiance the night before woke up early walked down the trail a short way and sat on the cliff 8217 s edge We watched the clouds in the valley dissipate Click to see full sized Filed Personal Photography Tagged Camping Ideas Photography 1 Comment 187 Pick Up an Old Skill by Matthew March 27th 2009 Following up on Wednesday 8217 s post about learning a new skill maybe you are unable to pursue new interests at the moment Perhaps the necessary equipment costs more than you can currently afford you really don 8217 t have time for a new hobby or some other reason these become more than excuses when they are true If that is the case and you still want more excitement in your daily life what about pursuing a previous interest Perhaps you used to paint play a sport or instrument or maybe you collected baseball cards It could be that you have a punching bag hanging in the garage or fishing tackle in the attic Whatever it was you likely still have the necessary equipment you just have to invest some time and energy into it Personally I have always had an interest in juggling I bought a copy of The Klutz Book of Juggling some years ago and learned the basic three ball cascade After a few weeks of messing around with it I worked at a grocery store as a stock boy and would juggle the bruised fruits in the back of the store I quit progressing and gradually lost interest During my tour of the school here in Ireland I discovered that there was a juggling club My interest was piqued I went to the first meeting that I could and there I learned the basics of juggling clubs I also had some good practice with juggling balls I did some research online and discovered many new tricks that I could learn Want another example I 8217 ve been drawing or painting in some form since I can remember at least up until recent years I allowed myself to get busy with other things and quit making the time However I have a pretty good supply of materials Recently I stumbled across The New Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain at the library and decided that I should work through it Not only would I get back into practice but I could learn some new skills while I was at it My re entry to this beloved hobby cost nothing more than the time I checked out the book grabbed a drawing pad that was lying around and the pencil that was beside it Your hobby doesn 8217 t have to be new and 8220 in fashion 8221 As long as it is something that interests you that is all that matters So get out there and pursue your interests Filed Examples Personal Tagged Example Ideas Just Do It 2 Comments 187 laquo Previous Entries copy Adventure Some powered by WordPress designed by damien allen
