Polly's Cherry Garcia Cookies

What to do with those extra fresh cherries?  I thought of just eating them, but why not bake with them.... but I didn't have enough for cherry pie or cobbler, so I came up with Cherry Garcia.   Ben & Jerry's Cherry Garcia is one of my favorite ice-cream.  So, I decided to make my own recipe for the cookies.  Well, this picture show them in a muffin cups.  I guess it can be a muffin at the same time a cookie.

Ingredients:
1-3/4 C butter softened and whipped to fluffy pale yellow by adding 1/2 C sugar and 1/3 C light brown sugar.
Add 2 tsp Vanilla extract and 2 eggs into the butter mixture.   Beat in eggs one at a time and blend until smooth. 
Preheat oven to 375'F.
Measure pre-Shifted 1-3/4 C flour that has 1 tsp of baking powder already in it.  Plus 1/4 tsp of salt.
Add about 1 C of Unpit cherries, tear into halves.  Add Cherries and 1 C semi-sweet chocolate chips  to butter mixture. 
Scoop into muffin cups, if you would like to; and bake in 375'F till browned.

Farm to Fermentation Festival

Farm to Fermentation Festival was an eye opener.  I didn't know there are so many Pickling and Fermentation enthusiasts.  Tasting my way round all types of pickles and checking out the pickling and fermentation utensils were great education.   I learned from workshops how to make Honey Mead and Ginger Bugs, and UMEBOSHI or pickling with NUKA.  Here is my photo journal of the festival.

 Pickle jar gadget

 Artisan Breads

 Great tasting cheeses

 This is what Air Lock does.

 

 My Ethiopian lunch

 Making Honey Mead with Strawberries

 Making UMEBOSHI

 Ginger bug

Hiking to Upper Yosemite Fall - "Keep Fighting!"

Have you ever wonder what is at the very top of the Upper Yosemite Fall?   I finally completed my hike up to the Upper Yosemite Fall.  It was a very challenging hike for me.  My knee was still in recovery mode, but I just couldn't pass the opportunity of the wonderful weather for this hike.  What encouraged me to finish the hike that day just when I almost told myself to come back next time much earlier than 12 pm to start the hike, there was a cheerful voice and smile of a German girl who was coming down the trail telling me, "Keep Fighting!"  That's what I did.  Even though the waterfall has dried up compared to back in early July, the view from the Upper Yosemite Fall was just as grand and breath taking  3.2 miles should be easy on the pretty level trails, but these well maintained switchbacks were a killer for my knees.  But then, I did it, and I got to see what is up there!  Awesome view!  next - Half Dome!?