Nutella S'mores and Flagstaff Trail Runs

For my last free weekend this month, and with Phoenix temperatures pushing 100 degrees, 9 friends headed 2 hours north to Flagstaff. The elevation is 7,000 feet, with the largest peaks in AZ on the horizon's edge. Our dear friend J. invited us to his beautiful mountain home (which he actually physically help build!). Lots of gorgeous natural materials from around the world were used in the construction. Lots of beautiful stone, each with great names that I'll never remember. 

We quickly "built" a fire in the outdoor fireplace (propane may or may not have been used to supplement....). This is glamping my friends.

A pre-arrival run to the store yielded great results for our s'mores bar done right. We have cinnamon graham crackers, honey graham crackers, dark chocolate, milk chocolate, sugary Jif peanut butter, organic regular peanut butter, marshmallows, NUTELLA (!!!!), and Reeses PB cups (!!!!). 

We debated the perfect marshmallow. I think it should be puffy, perfectly browned, never burned, but still a little crispy. We had others in the group who burned every last ounce of the exterior to a crisp. I think this is crazy. Why eat hot, charred sugar???

Chatting, laughing, snacking for hours and hours led to a glorious nights sleep in a fluffy, big bed. This is what I woke up to.

I looked up and saw this

I looked down and saw this

Then I laced up my shoes and took the most gorgeous 4.5 mile trail run with my darling friend D. through yellow, red and orange trees. Huge fir and spruce trees that could easily be used at the White House for Christmas. Past galloping horses, whinnying at us to say good morning. Families stretching as they unzipped their tent doors and stepped out into the cool morning air. 

post run! D. made me promise to crop her. I am unashamedly sweaty, or, glowing, rather...

Before we left, the early birds said "we'll have breakfast ready when you return". What great friends. Waffles were part of the menu. Some had Nutella, others had peanut butter. Some used both, with whipped cream on top! Decadent breakfast eaters - love it.

And Chef Boyar-J had an omelet bar straight out of a fancy hotel kitchen! I taught him the term "mise en place". 

In college, I had to take gourmet cooking classes 
(thank you Hospitality Admin. degree!) and we learned the French term, which basically means that everything is in it's place prior to cooking. You have all your ingredients prepped and ready to be used, all accessible, chopped, separated, whatever it takes to be prepared. It's an organized soul's dream concept. It makes sense why the French would have coined such a term. Their easiest recipe has at least 20 ingredients with 47 steps. I suppose preparation is a must.

To work off the Nutella, we jumped into our cars and headed to hike through a meadow to a large Aspen grove. It was absolutely gorgeous!

I looked up and saw this

D. our yogini showed how head stands truly can be done just about anywhere. No moving cars were involved in this picture....

We hiked to the grove and I laid down on a beautiful fallen tree trunk. This was my view. The Aspen leaves rustling in the wind sounded like rushing water. It was silent except for the sounds of hiking friends, leaves blowing, and trees swaying. It was so peaceful. 

Beautiful couple

Snow still dusts the mountain tops in the distance, but we hiked in the 71 degree perfect sunshine. All in all, the most amazing quick get away. It was just enough to recharge, refresh and renew myself. I met some wonderful new friends, ate delicious delicacies, and enjoyed the outdoors. Phoenix's heat wave has got to break soon, right???