by Krista | Dec 9, 2010 | Plucky Thursday
I really love hiking in stormy weather. I like how the rain makes everything clean and glossy – leaves, rocks, branches. It’s especially beautiful here in the Pacific Northwest with the ocean, mountains and woods as stunning backdrops for blustery winds and steady downpours.
The Nooksack River that wends through Whatcom County, Washington is one of my favorite places to amble on a rainy day. Every bend provides a stunning view of thick forests, frothy rapids, and unexpected delights like these towers of river rocks.
There’s something so peaceful about a river. I like finding a damp seat on a big rock right near the water, watching it tumble past in a steady cadence that would lull me right to sleep if I was tucked in a sleeping bag in a nearby tent.
There’s something mysterious and mesmerizing about the fog rolling in over the mountains, filling up the river bed and snaking its way through the trees.
On such days I like to return home to dry pajamas, wool socks and hot, comforting food like this 5-vegetable curry. Made with diced potatoes, carrots, green beans, zucchini, and petite corn, this dish requires a lot of chopping but is well worth the effort. I like to make a big batch and freeze the leftovers for quick lunches. I don’t care for much heat in my curry. I’d rather savor the delectable tangle of coriander, turmeric and 5-spice heightened with lime juice and a sprinkling of fresh cilantro.
What is your favorite thing to eat after a trek in the rain?
Vegetable Curry
Ingredients:
2-3 large Yukon gold potatoes, diced
3-4 carrots, diced
2 cups corn
2 large handfuls green beans, diced
2 small zucchini, diced
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 tsp turmeric
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (more if you like it hot)
2 tsp ground coriander
2 tsp 5-spice
3 bay leaves
1/2 jalapeno, minced (more if you like it hot)
2-3 cups chicken broth
1-2 tsp salt
lime juice
cilantro
Directions:
- Heat oil in saucepan over medium-high heat. Add spices and bay leaves and stir.
- Add carrots and cook 3-4 minutes. Stir occasionally.
- Add potatoes and cook 3-4 minutes. Stir occasionally.
- Add green beans and cook 3-4 minutes. Stir occasionally.
- Add zucchini and cook 3-4 minutes. Stir occasionally.
- Add jalapeno, chicken broth, salt to taste. Bring to boil and simmer uncovered 8-10 minutes until vegetables are soft.
- Just before serving stir in lime juice and garnish with cilantro. Serve alone or over rice.
by Krista | Nov 25, 2010 | Plucky Thursday
Happiest of Thanksgivings to my Yankee friends! 🙂
I was so excited to waken to this gorgeous winter wonderland!!! I scrambled out of bed, donned hat, scarf, gloves, jeans, two jackets, wool socks and boots, and off I went to explore this beautimous morning.
I trudged happily through the fluffy drifts and was soon coated in a thin layer of snow. I gaped at snow-covered trees, delighted in orange berries with their snow caps, and sighed in rapture at a stream smooth like black glass, bordered with lacy white branches.
It was wonderful!!! Now I’m back home, sipping coffee, eating crisp maple bacon and boiled eggs dusted with salt and black pepper, trying to warm up my numb backside.
I’m so glad today is Thanksgiving because I’m fairly bursting with gratitude. Not because things are perfect or easy – mercy me, they certainly aren’t – but because there is goodness in the midst of all the crummy stuff.
The last few weeks have been very rough. I’m in constant pain these days, but I discovered that a glass of wine or a shot of Bailey’s does wonders for relaxing the achy bits and giving me some reprieve. So thank you wine makers and Bailey’s brewers of the world!
I’ve been missing my siblings and extended family so much, but I’m turning 36 this weekend and am SO happy that I get to spend it with two of my three brothers, my sis-in-law and a houseful of beloved cousins. I can’t stop smiling. 🙂
I’m thankful for other things too:
- a heater, a heating pad, and a fireplace that makes me feel warmer even if it just has candles in it.
- windows that look out onto woods so I can see this winter fairyland from any room in my house.
- a library that lets me get fabulous movies, books, audio books and music for FREE. How amazing is that?
- my parents for letting people they don’t even know come over for Thanksgiving, just because they’re my friends.
- wool socks that look like they were knitted by cute Scandinavian grandmothers.
- red candles that drip and make me feel like I live in an Italian restaurant.
- the best friends and family a girl could ever hope for.
- old family recipes that taste the same every year and carry the most treasured memories.
And I’m grateful for you. X Thank you for loving and supporting me through this first year of my little blog. You brighten my life every day.
Happy Thanksgiving to you! I’d love to hear what you’re thankful for today. 🙂
by Krista | Nov 18, 2010 | Plucky Thursday
It was a misty August day when my sister-in-law Kendra, our friend Amy and I set out on a grand road trip from Kendra’s home in Boblingen, Germany. We had some guide books, a large bag of candy and snacks, and a rather finicky GPS system that liked to randomly send us off into the hills or meandering through strange neighborhoods.
Through much confusion, hilarity and sheer nerve, we managed to find a guest house just over the border in Switzerland, then decided to take a drive down to Zurich, stopping wherever we liked along the way.
For a while road construction and detours thwarted our initial searches for interesting stops, but finally we spotted a simple brown sign featuring a waterfall and off the highway we went. You really can’t go wrong with a waterfall!
It was raining in earnest now, but that didn’t stop us. Out came Amy’s umbrella – I ALWAYS forget an umbrella! – and we climbed down stone steps to the river’s edge.
We were greeted by the thunderous boom of cascading water and bursts of mist shrouding the nearby hills. Not only had we found a waterfall, we had inadvertently found Europe’s LARGEST waterfall: the Rheinfall in Neuhausen, Switzerland.
I have since heard warnings of large crowds and hordes of tourists shoving and clamoring for a good view, but that was not our experience. Perhaps the rain kept most folks away, because we nearly had the place to ourselves.
Although we were content to amble along the shore, stopping by damp stone walls to take it all in, you can also take boat cruises, and clamber around at Schloss Laufen on the other shore.
It was a gorgeous, awe-inspiring sight, but after a while we were cold, wet and hungry and off we went to Zurich in search of sustenance. We happily wandered the riverfront, then found a marvelous fondue restaurant where we warmed up quickly with good beer and savory fondue.
What is your favorite thing to eat after a rainy day of exploring?
by Krista | Nov 11, 2010 | Plucky Thursday
Good morning! Brrr, it’s SO cold in Washington this week. I’m huddled under a quilt, have my apple cinnamon tea at hand, and am happily noshing my way through my first bag of mandarin oranges. Woohoo!! Those little beauties always feel like the holidays to me. 🙂
Today I thought we’d continue our walk through stormy Paris, admiring gold-tipped wrought-iron gates and stunning apartments while thick, black clouds roll in, preparing to drench us.
When in Paris I am compelled to wander, amble and stroll. There is something so lovely about not having a specific destination, simply starting out in one direction and seeing where it takes you. I even like not knowing what I’m looking at. It’s much more fun to imagine the stories behind those stern gates, curved windows, and massive doors.
I wonder if the people who live or work in the above building ever climb that tower for a stolen moment to read or watch the people passing by. I know I’d have to.
Who are the people living in these apartments? Do they mind not having a yard or a patch of grass to sit on? I wonder if there is a rooftop garden hidden behind those chimneys? Or perhaps a courtyard in the middle? I’d sure like one if I lived there. And maybe some window boxes overflowing with red geraniums, pink petunias, fragrant alyssum and royal blue lobelia. Wouldn’t that cheer things up beautifully?
If you could spend a month in Paris, where would you like to stay? A fancy hotel, modern apartment, gabled attic room, a creaky walk-up, a villa hidden behind gates?
by Krista | Nov 4, 2010 | Plucky Thursday
I don’t talk too much about my past here. Mostly, I think, because I want this blog to be a place of peace, beauty, and hope where anyone, including myself, can feel safe and loved. But there’s also some fear. I’m afraid my abusers will read this and smile that I still struggle with what they did to me. I’m afraid people won’t believe me. I’m afraid that in thinking about those things, my nightmares will return.
But I don’t need to be afraid.
I am safe. I am loved. I am free. I’m also strong and brave, and my abusers can’t get to me anymore.
I want to tell you a little bit about my past today because of my friend Andrea. She and I met as teenagers in a religious cult based in the Midwest. It was a traumatic time for both of us as we endured emotional, spiritual and physical abuse, daily brainwashing and neglect. I was in the cult for ten years before I found the courage and strength to escape. Andrea was stronger and got out before me, and I didn’t see her again until just a few years ago when she rang me up out of the blue to see how I was doing.
I was a bit of a mess. I was afraid of everything and everyone. I went from one abusive relationship to the next because that’s where I was comfortable. I kept stuffing down my past because it was too painful to deal with.
Then Andrea rang. She cried with me, relived those years with me, said “I understand” and I believed her, because she did. She gave me hope that this lost, dark, scared feeling wouldn’t last. She helped me to see I was much stronger and braver than I thought. And she showed me that the only way out of pain was straight through the middle of it.
Over the past four years her honesty, compassion and unbelievable bravery have helped me through the darkest time of my life. I’ve never known anyone so real, open, and utterly unashamed to be herself. Coming from a world where every word, expression and behavior is calculated, Andrea’s larger-than-life personality was a glorious breath of fresh air. She helped free me up from years of brainwashing, figure out who I was under all that fear and insecurity, and find that beautiful peace, happiness, and freedom I had only read about but never experienced.
In case I haven’t made myself clear, I love that girl to bits. 🙂
I tell you all this because Andrea needs our help. Since a dear friend of hers lost his battle with drug addiction, Andrea has had a soft spot for those with similar struggles. In July 2010 she realized that several guys from a local Recovery Home were closet musicians. A brilliant musician herself, she invited them to an impromptu Jam Night and they loved it! She had no idea how that one night would spark a tradition that has turned into an amazing place of healing, creativity and inspiration with a marvelously crazy group of recovering addicts she absolutely adores.
Their little group has blossomed and is meeting such a vital need in the community that they are seeking funding from the Aviva Community Fund to provide instruments and music for this great group of guys trying to change their lives. All they need are our votes. If you are interested, could you take one minute today to vote for them? Just click here to vote. You can also see photos, read more about the group, and watch a great short video where you can meet some of the guys.
In the meantime, here are photos of the roast pork pie I made this week. 🙂 I will have to give you the recipe later today because I’m going to be late for work! Yipes!! 🙂
Love you all. 🙂
by Krista | Oct 27, 2010 | Plucky Thursday
Eating at my Mum’s table is always a wonderful experience. Guests are greeted with warm hugs and beaming smiles and ushered into her beautifully decorated living room where they’re regaled with jokes from my Dad as Mums bustles about getting everything ready.
Last week was no exception. Our cold weather made its first appearance and when I arrived just moments before our friends Art and Donna, I made a beeline for the heater in the corner. Mmm, the house smelled so good! We took our seats around the table and started on a fresh green salad topped with candied almonds, dried cranberries, mandarin orange segments and a Raspberry Pecan vinaigrette.
Next Mum brought out steamy bowls of Red Lentil Dal and a basket of grainy bread that we slathered with butter and dipped into our soup. It warmed us up beautifully and we happily chit-chatted through second helpings.
Dessert was a marvelous rum-drizzled Hot Fudge Pudding Cake and we tucked into it whilst watching the delightful A Month By The Lake that had us positively DYING to go to Italy!!! If you haven’t seen pictures of Lake Como, click here to be whisked away to a place of stunning vistas, welcoming villas, and, well, George Clooney. That guy shows up everywhere! 😉
Does your Mom like cooking? If yes, what is your favorite thing that she makes?
Mum’s Dal Soup
Ingredients:
2 Tbsp butter
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 onion, chopped
1/2 tsp.turmeric
1 tsp garam masala
1/4 tsp chili powder
1 tsp ground cumin
4 cans diced tomatoes
1 cup dry red lentils
2 tsp lemon juice
2 1/2 cups vegetable stock
1 1/4 cup coconut milk
Sea salt and ground pepper
Garnish: cilantro and lemon wedges
Directions:
- In a saucepan saute butter, garlic and onion until onion is transparent. Add spices and coo, stirring constantly, for 2-3 minutes.
- Add lentils, lemon juice, vegetable stock, coconut milk and bring to boil.
- Reduce heat to low and simmer uncovered for 25-30 min. until lentils are tender. Season with sea salt and pepper.
- Garnish with chopped cilantro and lemon wedges.
- Serve with warm naan bread.
Mum’s Hot fudge Pudding Cake
(Serves 8)
Ingredients:
1 cup flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
3/4 cup sugar
1/8 cup cocoa
1/2 cup milk
2 tbsp. oil
1 cup walnut pieces
1 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup cocoa
1 3/4 cup hot water
1/4 cup rum (optional)
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Sift together flour,baking powder, salt, sugar, and cocoa in a bowl.
- Stir in milk and oil. Add walnut pieces, stir well then spread in 9″ prepared square pan.
- In small bowl mix sugar and cocoa and sprinkle over batter.
- Over the whole thing pour hot water and bake 45 min. Cake rises to the top, sauce settles to the bottom.
- Drizzle with rum and serve warm with ice cream.
