packing up the boxes... or rubbermaid storage containers.

today i went up to the cabin and met pete, the owner of the land the cabin rests upon. 

he's a photog by day, biker inbetween gigs. he's great, and he'll make the best neighbor (next door, of course). 

pete and i discussed many different random topics, including mountain lions in the area, insulated window coverings, chimney upkeep, bear-proof garbage containers, etc. 

with cabin key and paperwork in hand, i set out to explore my new surroundings, in particular evergreen, the closest little town to my cabin. 

after a few hours of walking main street, poking my head into little shops and cafes, i headed back to loft city (my lovely apartment complex, grr...) to get things settled before the move. 

i've successfully used up the majority of food i had built up in the pantry and now am going to the market on an almost daily basis, making one meal at a time as to avoid the build up i've worked so hard to wipe out. 

in the meantime, i've got a lot of things to do. laundry, homework, packing, cleaning, an unexpected detour to the post office (property management 'accidentally provided the wrong apartment number' to the p.o., saying my place was vacant, jerks) to pick up a stack of mail have my hands full. 

my last move from a friend's couch to the loft was during a point in my life where i was obsessed, OBSESSED with doing whatever i could to reduce my consumption and reuse whatever i could. in the spirit of reuse, i purchased about six rubbermaid storage containers to move my belongings in, not realizing how heavy those suckers get when filled to the brim with books, dishes, etc. now i cannot simply get rid of them, i MUST reuse them, however inconvenient they may be, because that's precisely why i purchased them (after this move they're out, donating to the arc ASAP). 

go ahead, get a good laugh. i do now, looking back. 

in order to lighten the load (and use up a baguette sitting on my counter), i made a french toast bake topped with sweet peaches to tide me over and have for breakfast tomorrow morning. this is a great recipe, so easy to use, so delicious. 

french toast bake topped with crunchy sweet peaches

one baguette (i used wheat, but i bet it's pretty good with whatever, seriously)

4 whole eggs

4 egg whites

1 cup milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

5 cups peaches (i had frozen some sliced peaches from the summer, frozen works just fine)

juice of 1/2 lemon

3 tablespoons brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

grease a 9x13 pan.

slice baguette and arrange in pan to cover in one layer.

whisk together eggs, egg whites, milk and vanila and pour mixture over baguette slices. 

toss the peaches with the lemon juice and evenly layer over baguette slices. 

mix brown sugar and cinnamon together and sprinkle over peaches. 

bake at 350 for 40-45 minutes. 

i like to serve a generous slice of the peach french toast with some freshly whipped cream along with a slice (or two...) of really good, crisp turkey bacon. 

so wonderfully decadent!

happy weekend to you, back to packing for me.