carrot tahini soup
This is my Saturday night version of a pantry meal, and I created it all myself! No recipe, no trip to the grocery store, just seeing what I had in the kitchen and going for it. Going to the grocery store is something that I do far too often. I am no good at deciding the week’s meals ahead of time (spontaneity is much more fun you know) and planning accordingly making only a weekly trip to the store necessary. No. I go everyday that I cook because inevitably I don’t have that one ingredient (or all the ingredients) I need to make what I just decided was for dinner that night. There is something exciting and nostalgic about shopping for ingredients right when you are about to use them. I can imagine myself at an open air market picking through today’s fresh produce and returning home with still warm bread and veggie just out of the ground. Maybe there is a violinist playing some sad French sounding song in the street creating the perfect scene (cue spotlight stage left on said violinist). Unfortunately, this is not (usually) my reality. This wasn’t so bad when I lived more in town and would ride my cruiser to the store and load up the handlebar basket and bike home. But now that I drive to the store, it is no longer so sustainable to start the car and make a special trip for just a few items. So with this meal I decided to be creative and use what I had.
I was also pretty proud of myself for putting together this new (for me) combination of flavors. It’s one thing to make chicken noodle soup without a recipe but an entirely different animal to put together something new without a recipe. And even better, it tasted good…ish. Continue Reading →
carrot layer cake
The main reason why I made this cake was not because I had a hankering for some carrots and cream cheese, but because I wanted a reason to show off my beautiful new cake stand I got for Christmas (thanks John and Marge!) and have not yet had an opportunity to put to use. Isn’t it pretty? I’m going to have to start making a lot more fancy cakes, or at least piling up some cookies inside for daily use. Sorry about the weird reflection from the sliding glass door in the cake stand dome. I’m still working on this whole “photography” thing.
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I also really dropped the ball on this picture. PAC-MAN looks hungry. Hungry for some lemons, or maybe some slices of bananas, or some other small yellow circular food item. But now this will have to do. Continue Reading →
montalian wedding soup
Winter=soup season. I’ve been making soup pretty much non-stop for the past few months. Many of these soups are vegetarian, light fare, full of pureed veggies, almost channeling veggie smoothie-dom. Many of these soups fall into the category of “girl food” according to Andy. Not that he doesn’t appreciate this, but apparently sometimes a man just wants some meat and potatoes. This soup was my idea of a good compromise. Italian Wedding Soup! Plenty of greens and plenty of meatballs. But not just any Italian Wedding Soup, Montalian Wedding Soup. Ground elk meatballs and loads of kale (which for some reason I think of as very Montanan, maybe because when I grew it in my garden last summer I didn’t pick the last of it until weeks after there was snow covering the remaining plants. It was all still wonderful — not at all affected by the cold and snow. This cannot be said of many garden plants that I have experience with. It is also full of vitamins A, C, — not just for citrus anymore —and K. I love kale). After that ode to kale, here is a pretty pot o’ soup:
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crunchy granola bars
Yesterday was the big day. My first participation in the King and Queen of the Ridge, the annual ski/hike-a-thon that takes place at Bridger Bowl to benefit the avalanche center. It was a loooong day of type two fun (as Dawn says): the kind of fun that isn’t so fun while you are doing it but it’s fun to talk about over beers later. I was a part of Team Ale Works, and I must say, we killed it! The team did a total of 297 hikes, with the most badass guy doing 25, and badass girl doing 18. I beat my goal by doing 11 during the five hour competition. GO TEAM, GO! It was a beautiful 40+ degree, bluebird day. What a great day to play outside from sunup to sundown. I made these little beauties to share with my teammates and provide some much needed fuel throughout the day.
chicken mole quesadilla with salsa verde
I used to be a huge football fan. The Vikings were my team of choice. I kind of wish I could say I still was a huge Vikings fan, but the truth is, I have other things I’d rather do with my time these days than watch football. Sure I’ll catch part of a game here and there, but I no longer plan my Sundays around a 12:25 kick-off. And watching a team that I have nothing vested in (aka not the Vikings) doesn’t really do it for me. But if it were the Vikings who played Sunday you could be sure that I would be glued to the tv with my number 84 Randy Moss t-shirt, my lone Vikings memorabilia, on! I’m sorry Vikes, we’ve had some good times, but I’ve moved on. Now you’re just some team that I used to know.
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