by Krista | Apr 20, 2010 | Spring
It was barely 5 o’clock in the morning when we rose bleary-eyed from our beds, packed our things and set out to explore Old Town Ljubljana in Slovenia. The streets were deserted, dusky, and still as we wended our way past restaurants, shops and graffiti.
I love the fierce dragons guarding the Zmajski Most – the Dragon Bridge. They are the symbol of Ljubljana, standing for power, courage and greatness. They’re all qualities the Slovenians have needed over the centuries as they battled Huns, Magyars, Fascists, Nazis and Communists before finally gaining independence in 1991.
The Ljubljanica River flows serenely through town, lined with apartments, shops and cafes.
The moon was still visible as we walked, craning our necks to look up at towers, turrets and gables.
Next time I’ll take you along the river, across the square, and share the best gas station breakfast I ever had!! 🙂
by Krista | Apr 19, 2010 | Bootstrap Monday
I’ve been a huge fan of Limoncello since “Memo The Beautiful” served icy glasses to me and my friends on a sun-warmed terrace in a tiny mountain village in Italy last spring.
I never thought of making it myself until I stumbled across Mary’s One Perfect Bite post a couple of weeks ago. It looked so fresh and inviting in that lovely glass that I immediately sent it to some of my CEC friends to see if they’d like to make it with me. Much to my delight, they said yes!! 🙂
So we got together and hunched over cutting boards with knives, oh so carefully separating lemon peel and lime peel (we decided to try Key lime-cello while we were at it!) from the bitter pith.
We slipped the pieces of peel into big glass jars, covered them with vodka and let them steep.
Four days later we got together again to complete the process. The vodka was no longer, but vivid yellow and pale green.
While Darren prepped the simple syrup and washed the bottles, Cameron fired up the smoker and I made Smoked Salmon with Caramelized Onions and Roasted Potatoes with Dill for dinner.
After eating our fill, we knuckled down and got to work. Mike and I strained out the citrus peel, Darren mixed in the vodka with the simple syrup, and we took turns pouring the mixture into bottles. We were SO proud to see the bottles glistening and full. 🙂
We finished it so quickly that we also had time to bottle the mead we made several weeks ago. It should be ready in time for our medieval feast this summer. 🙂
Mary’s Limoncello
Salmon with Caramelized Onions
Ingredients:
1/2 wild salmon
2-3 large onions, sliced
1/4 -1/2 cup butter
1/4-1/2 cup brown sugar
Few drops liquid smoke
Directions:
- Melt butter over medium-high heat and add onions. Cook, stirring regularly until onions are brown and caramelized.
- Add brown sugar and stir until melted and onions are coated.
- Add liquid smoke and stir.
- Place salmon skin side down on a tray made of aluminum foil. Cover with onions.
- Smoke or grill to desired doneness.
Roasted Potatoes with Dill
Ingredients:
3-4 Yukon gold potatoes, cubed
Olive oil
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper
1 Tbsp dried dill
Directions:
- Mix all ingredients in a bowl and spread on cookie sheet.
- Roast or smoke until potatoes are crispy and browned.
by Krista | Apr 16, 2010 | Fabulous Friday
“History, despite its wrenching pain, cannot be unlived, but if faced with courage, need not be lived again.”
Maya Angelou
This quote cheered me so much today. 🙂 The past month has been a doozy, one gutting situation after another. It’s been rough but liberating, a healing letting go of toxic people, memories, experiences, and an embracing of true friendship, love, and a beautiful life.
Mums brought me these. 🙂 Aren’t they lovely?!My friend
Marie has been an inspiration. She wrote me the other day: “If I’m gonna feel lousy, I might as well enjoy it as much as I can!” I love her for that. 🙂 I love watching how others practice making a beautiful life right in the midst of pain, rejection and other sufferings. It takes such courage to peer through the gloom and find something shiny and bright to hold onto until the fog lifts and sunshine streams in. My friend T listens to Michael Buble and Louis Armstrong to brighten her day, M gardens and goes for long walks, C and T write, write, write, then dance like mad, R takes glorious pictures of everyday things, and S sings at the tops of her lungs. 🙂
Today I’m delighting in very little things. My “treasure” from my trip to Slovenia, a hand-crafted necklace the color of
Lake Bled that I got in a lovely little market we stumbled across. I promised
Passage Paradis that I would post it. 🙂
Flowering lavender and hibiscus tea.
And an Artichoke Sun-Dried Tomato Tart I got to share with dear friends last night. 🙂 I used my gluten-free tart crust but halved the sugar and added garlic, onion and rosemary. The filling was artichoke hearts, roasted red peppers, sun-dried tomatoes, and roasted green chilies in a creamy, garlicky coconut milk base. It paired beautifully with a chilled
Nell chardonnay from Australia.
This weekend I get to visit my dear friends,
Trish and
Todd for three days of yakking, old movie watching, and utter relaxation. I can’t wait!
What beautiful “little thing” do you have to cheer you, dear ones! 🙂
Gluten-Free Artichoke Sun-Dried Tomato TartTart Shell Ingredients:
1 cup gluten-free all-purpose flour mix
1 stick butter, melted
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp onion powder
1 Tbsp chopped rosemary
Directions for Tart Shell:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Mix everything together and press into 9″ tart pan with removable bottom.
- Par-bake for ten minutes while you prepare filling.
Ingredients for Filling:
1/2 cup coconut milk
2 eggs, beaten
1 can quartered artichoke hearts, drained
1 small jar roasted, marinated bell peppers
1 small jar sun-dried tomatoes, cut into 1/4 slices
1 small can roasted mild green chilies
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
Directions for Tart:
- Combine all ingredients and stir until coated with coconut/egg mixture.
- Pour into par-baked crust and bake for 30-40 minutes until browned.
- Serve hot or cold.
by Krista | Apr 15, 2010 | Plucky Thursday
We’ve had the most scrumptiously warm weather this week! No jackets needed, scarves removed by noon, short sleeves and breeze-catching dresses the order of the day for my afternoon walk.
On the last few minutes of my walk today I rounded a corner and came face to face with a pert little miss riding her bicycle, blond hair mussed in the wind, training wheels clattering as she braked to a halt. “Hello!” she called cheerily. “Do you want to come get some purple flowers from my mom?” Grinning I said “I’d love to but I have to get back to work right now.” Without a seconds hesitation, she thrust out a drooping cluster of white flowers she had clenched in her fist, and bestowed them on me. I thanked her profusely for her gift and she bid me farewell. As I turned to walk back to work she shouted in delight, “That’s MY path! I’ll go with you!” So she pedaled like mad to stay a bit ahead of me, stopping now and then to smile back at me until we parted ways at the corner. She totally made my day. 🙂
With this gorgeous spring weather, I knew I wanted food that was nourishing, tasty and cold. I found just such a thing in this marvy Cauliflower Curry with Green Peas. Originally intended to be served piping hot over rice, I chilled mine and found it just as yummy, cool and delicious on a warm afternoon.
Very easy to make, this curry does call for some unique spices like ground mango powder and asafetida. I didn’t have the mango powder, so I used ground pomegranate powder instead and it worked just dandy. 🙂
Served hot or cold over Bhutanese red rice or some other whole grain rice, this dish is made even better with a sprinkling of zesty goat cheese.
Cold Cauliflower Curry with Green Peas
(Adapted from Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone)
Ingredients:
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2 tsp toasted ground cumin
1/4 tsp asafetida
1/4 cup peeled and grated ginger
4 tsp toasted ground coriander
1/2 tsp cayenne
1 tsp turmeric
1 onion, thinly sliced
1 large cauliflower cut into bite sized pieces, including the stems
Salt
1/2 pound sugar snap peas, strings removed (I didn’t have these so I used frozen peas, thawed)
2 tsp green mango powder (I didn’t have this so I used ground pomegranate powder)
1 tsp garam masala
Directions:
- In a white pot heat the oil over medium high heat. Add cumin and asafetida and cook for 30 seconds, stirring constantly.
- Add the ginger, coriander, cayenne and turmeric and cook for 30 seconds more.
- Add the onion, lower the heat and cook until limp, stirring occasionally, about 4 minutes.
- Add cauliflower and 1 1/2 tsp salt. Mix everything together.
- Pour in 1/2 cup water, cover pot and simmer until vegetables are tender, about 10 minutes.
- Add peas and cook for a few minutes more, until they’re bright green.
- Add mango/pomegranate powder and garam masala, stir together, taste for salt, and serve.
by Krista | Apr 14, 2010 | Compatriot Wednesday
It was breakfast for dinner at CEC this week as we dug into gluten-free crepes filled with all manner of loveliness!!
We started with glasses of sweet Spanish wine with red-pepper hummus, chips and a platter of wafer-thin, salty capicola.
Cameron fried up a whole mess of bacon and more capicola, and oooeee, that platter was picked clean in no time flat! 🙂
Then it was time for the crepes, piping hot off the griddle where Michael and Selwyn were busy pouring batter and flipping crepes as fast as they could.
We had all sorts of delicious fillings, from Cameron’s Icy Peanut Butter Banana Mascarpone…
…to Kat’s food grade lavender buds and…
…orange blossom honey.
We slathered some with Deb’s Nutella and Toby’s bananas…
…and others with Toby’s strawberries and my fresh goat cheese.
I loved every configuration but I think my favorite was Nutella with lavender. Like chocolate perfume! 🙂
Darren ended our feast with frosty glasses of the limoncello we made last week…but I’ll tell you all about that another day. 🙂
Gluten-Free Crepes
Darren had Pamela’s Gluten Free Pancake and Baking Mix, so Michael used it, adding vanilla and sugar.
Cameron’s Icy Peanut Butter Banana Mascarpone
Ingredients:
1 cup Smooth Peanut Butter
2-4 frozen bananas
Small tub mascarpone
Directions:
- Blend everything together in a food processor until smooth.
- Spread on crepes or eat right out of the bowl.
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