Happy Trails

It was a bittersweet end to the week.  The ranch closes at the end of the summer, and with business winding down to a crawl and not enough work for even five employees, I said goodbye to my lakeside cabin and moved (yet again) home to Denver with my parents.

I spent my last couple of nights in the mountains canoeing, four-wheeling, and watching the sunset light up our mountain range a warm shade of pink night after night.

I don't think I could have chosen a better week to leave my mountain home.  The Aspens are in full bloom, so to speak.  The mountain looks like it is on fire every morning the sun comes up.  The shades of bright yellow, orange, and red make you almost want to put on sunglasses.

I also caught a fish (my first one ever!), gutted it (gagged the whole time), and fried it up fresh.  Chef Jeremy and Justin shot a couple of ducks one night, and we ate duck corn chowder with wild rice. 

Julian also decided to whip up a batch of his dangerous caipirinhas.  I say dangerous because you can barely taste the alcohol through all the tangy limes and sugar.  Trust me, you'll understand once you're halfway through your first glass.

The first time I had one of these was for my 22nd birthday in Argentina.  Julian decided that we were going to celebrate both the night before my birthday, sort of a midnight celebration, as well as the actual day of. 

What can I say, I'm a lucky girl. :-)

We ordered empanadas for dinner, my favorite, and Juli cut about a dozen limes and put them in a bowl.  He dumped in endless amounts of sugar and vodka, and this is what came out.

That night, I sat on the couch sipping my "caipi", watching Juli mix more and more of the tasty, toxic batch.  We only realized after half an hour into an intensely deep conversation that the drinks might have gone to our heads... it's easy to drink them a little too fast.  Ever since, it's become one of my favorite South American drinks, perfect for a hot summer night on the patio.

 Caipirinhas

10-12 limes
vodka (I prefer Smirnoff, but any regular flavored vodka will work)
sugar to taste
water to taste

Slice limes and place in large bowl of ice.  Fill the bowl with 3/4 vodka, 1/4 water.  Add sugar to taste; err on the heavy side with the sugar.  Mix well and serve in chilled glasses.  Makes 3-4 servings.