Christmas Letter 2016

Christmas Letter 2013

Dear Friends and Family,

The year of 2013 has kept us running, both literally and figuratively. We

remain in Loma Linda where Barry has finished his third year of medical school and is now taking a year to complete his Masters in Bioethics. Christy is now halfway through her nurse practitioner program and will graduate in the spring of 2015.

In addition to our studies, we have both enjoyed various other pursuits. Barry continues to lead Loma Linda Street Medicine and has begun a research project investigating emergency room utilization by the homeless population. He has also been running in the Loma Linda hills and surrounding mountains. In October, he ran a 50K (31 miles) in Auburn, CA and in November, completed a challenging 50 mile race with 15,000 feet of elevation gain in the hills of Santa Barbara, CA.

In August, Christy transitioned from working in the adult Cardiac ICU to the Pediatric Cardiothoracic ICU. She has really enjoyed this change and loves taking care of the babies and children who come to Loma Linda for heart procedures.

Together we have also spent many hours backpacking and enjoying the mountains of the West. Late July found us backpacking on Mt. Hood, and during the months of August and September we took several trips to the Southern Sierra’s. We were also able to spend time back East in late August where we enjoyed a relaxing week camping at Metallak Island in Maine.

We greet the New Year in a cozy new-to-us apartment that we moved into last July. Advertised as a “1930’s bungalow”, we find ourselves enjoying its rustic charm while trying to stay warm inside its thin, uninsulated walls. However, we find plenty of warmth and good cheer in each other and the love of family and friends. These blessings are inestimable and we feel very blessed this holiday season.

Love,

Barry & Christy Howe

Carrot and Lentil Soup, with Lime

I'm liking Emily's idea of being more loose and free with recipe trials.  If something works, write it down with a few notes about your tweaks and fails.  And for me, that means even if I don't have a great picture.  If the tummy loved it, it deserves to be remembered for that time I can't think of anything to make!  I have a little black book for this purpose... but I haven't used it for over a year.  Which obviously means it's not working.

Which leads me to this mustard colored soup.  It's delicious.  I was rather dubious at first.  I mean come on, lentils and carrots.  But what's a girl's to do when her husband is out swimming in the cold rain and his return is imminent and he's sure to be shivering and class is soon afterwards and her cupboards are missing so many key soup ingredients.

So this girl went to her trusted online recipe folder of "things to try one day" and scanned through the soup recipes.  Nope, don't have onions. Nope, I don't have potatoes. Nope. Nope. Nope. Nope. Hmmm... carrots and lentils...

Here's the recipe:

http://angiesrecipes.blogspot.com/2010/10/carrot-and-lentil-soup.html

Tweaks 

i.e. what I did

~2 cups green lentils

3 carrots, shredded (that's all I had)

water

McKay's chicken seasoning

Ground cumin

Garlic powder

Onion Powder

Tumeric

Squirt of Bragg's Liguid Aminos (for that umami depth)

salt/pepper

juice of 1/2 a lemon

Savory cashew cream/mayonnaise stuff I had in the fridge.  I'm sure yoghurt, milk, or coconut milk would work great too.

On Top:

Fresh Lime juice (don't skip, this made it DELISH!)

Cilantro

Drizzle of extra virgin olive oil

Mt. Hood, Part 2

Scenic shots from our backpacking trip on Mt. Hood.  See Part 1 here.

Mt. St. Helen's as viewed from our camp site on Mt. Hood