Hatch Green Chiles in Granby

The gang making chiles!

Mountain bike riding

Getting busy with Pam

Close-up

Cutting lots of garlic

Getting ready to bike ride

Going down hill nice and slow :)

talking grills with Rich

Pam, posing with the salt. Me, in action, chopping! :)

Big chile family

Did I mention I shot two guns? Two pistols. Notice my serious look on my face?? :)

I freaked out and didn't do so well, but that wasn't the point.

Our targets.

Rich however knows his stuff!!

What another wonderful day in Granby!!

House fun

Justin, being an idiot, putting with a driver in the house into a drinking cup.

House paintings: can you guess mine (middle= starr!!). Gina's on the right, Justin's on the left. We used painters tape to make designs and then paint around the tape.

Justin being happy and golfing.

Gina being a buisy helper in the kitchen. 

Our adorable apron holder and hanging fruit basket in the kitchen.

Lucky cat: house mascot. 

Second set of house paintings: this one is going to be a family portrait sooner or later. 

Have I said that I LOVE my roommates?!?!?!?!

Last Sunday's dinner: Tofu noodles & Apple pie

I made tofu noodles to go with the zucchini, corn and broccoli. 

My roommates, ready to eat dinner.

First family dinner!

Apple pie. I made 3 and this one was for us (the other 2 were for our neighbors) with the leftover dough. 

Upside down pineapple/peach cake

Gina and I wanted to do something nice for Justin's coming home party (his brother had a destination wedding in Napa this past weekend). Justin had a pineapple in the fridge and I got peaches from the market. We made vegan peach/pineapple upsidedown cake!

http://blog.fatfreevegan.com/2007/08/peach-upside-down-cake.html

Ingredients

Dry ingredients:
1 1/2 cups unbleached white flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 tsp ginger
1/2 cup natural sugar (I used demerara for all the sugar in this recipe)
1/8 teaspoon salt

Liquid ingredients:
1 cup vanilla soy milk mixed with 1 teaspoon lemon juice
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 teaspoon lemon zest (or 1/4 teaspoon lemon extract)

4 cups peeled and sliced peaches
2 tablespoons natural, raw or brown sugar
1/4 cup natural, raw or brown sugar
2 tablespoons water

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350.

Combine the dry ingredients in a medium-sized mixing bowl. Combine the liquid ingredients in a separate bowl. Set aside without mixing them together.

Combine the peaches with the 2 tablespoons of sugar. Wipe or spray a 10-inch, well-seasoned cast iron skillet with oil. (This step is very important if you want to be able to get the cake out of the pan.) Begin heating it and add the 1/4 cup (or more) of sugar and the water. Heat and stir until the sugar is completely melted. Continue to cook and stir until the mixture is bubbly and slightly reduced (but be careful not to burn it). Place the peaches on top of the sugar and remove from heat:

Add the liquid ingredients to the flour mixture, stirring briefly just to moisten. Pour and smooth the batter over the peaches, covering them entirely. Put the skillet into the oven (you may want to place a cookie sheet or foil on the shelf below it to catch drips) and bake until the sides of the cake pull away from the edges of the pan and a toothpick comes out clean (about 30-40 minutes):

Allow the cake to cool in the pan for about 15-30 minutes. Then, run a knife around the edges of the cake to loosen it from the pan. Place a large plate or serving platter over the top and invert the skillet. Remove the skillet carefully from the cake:

Be sure to scrape any caramelized juices from the pan and smooth them over the peaches. Voilà! Peach Upside-Down Cake:

Quinoa bean cakes

My night for family dinner. Gina and I went to my favorite Farmer's Market on Sunday morning and then she joined me in the kitchen for some serious vegan exploration. It turned out wonderfully, thanks to her support!

The veggie medley that Gina helped me concoct to go alongside the quinoa/bean cakes. There are a few zucchini, bell peppers, onions, garlic, ginger and carrots in there. We seasoned it with ginger powder, S& P. Added some cilantro in too. 

Step 1: put cakes on plates. Cakes have cooked quinoa and bean paste that I made in food processor. Combined the two and formed three large cakes that I then baked. The bean paste consists of pinto beans, some mong beans, left over peanut potato soup, jalapeno peppers, ginger, garlic, onions and a little peanut oil. And cilantro!

Step 2: Spread left over bean paste onto quinoa/bean cakes. 

Step 3: Pile high with sauteed veggies on cakes. 

Step 4: Drizzle extra potato/pumpkin soup around the cakes. I doctored up soup with some peanut oil, cilantro and ginger. 

Step 5:  Add fresh chopped cilantro on top. 

Ta-da!!! (sideways!)

Roomie Love

My two new roomies are amazing. They've poured out the love this week with support, gifts and artwork. Here are a few examples:

As a thank you for helping get the house set up, they bought me an adorable reversible apron that came with a mini apron for a bottle of wine or olive oil container. The print includes the California state flower, the poppy. So cute! It also came with two matching hot pads too!

One morning I awoke to some beautiful art on the fridge, a la Justin with Gina's touch too. The image on the left is Justin, me and Gina. Gina printed a cute poem on the back about the wonderful house we live in. The colorful art on the right has a secret message on the bottom that says "Karly is #1!" Lastly, the little magnet top left is a magnet where you can box which emotion you're feeling at the moment. They created a new option that is in a little box to the right of the magnet that says "Today I feel....Thankful for Ms. Comfort." So adorable!

This is the home-made, home-decorated gift wrap that enclosed the box with the apron in it. There are an assortment of images on there expressing their love for me. to the right, the dead looking body, is me wearing a t-shirt that says "YOGA." 

Here's the wonderful note on the wrapping: "Karly, Thank you for putting so much work into the house. You really are #1. --Justin and Gina." Then, on the bottom, it says "You are so cool." I think they are really getting to know me :)

Banana Bread Bonanza

I had lots of extra bananas thanks to my beloved gym. I decided to make lots and lots of banana bread. 2 recipes. The first is from my childhood favorite ABC Alpha-Bakery Children's Cookbook by Betty Crocker, 

http://jensfavoriterecipes.blogspot.com/2008/02/banana-bread.html
3/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups mashed bananas (3 large bananas)
3/4 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs (egg replacer)
2 cups flour
1 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup chopped nuts, optional

Heat oven to 325 degrees. Grease a loaf pan. Mix sugar, bananas, oil, and eggs in a large bowl with a wooden spoon. Stir in remaining ingredients. Pour into pan. Bake until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 60-70 minutes. Let cool in pan 10 minutes, then loosen sides of loaf from pan and remove from pan. Let cool completely before slicing.

http://www.theppk.com/2011/11/marbled-banana-bread/

The second recipe is a chocolate-banana marble bread recipe from my new favorite vegan website "The Post-Punk Kitchen."

1 cup mashed very ripe banana
3/4 cups sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 tablespoons canola oil
1/3 cup almond milk (or your preferred non-dairy milk)
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
6 tablespoons boiling water, divided

Prepare boiling water, no need to measure yet. Also, preheat oven to 350 F.

Mash the banana in a large mixing bowl until relatively smooth. It should take 3 average sized ones, but spoon the mashed ‘nanas into a measuring cup to make sure, then return to the mixing bowl. Beat in the sugar, canola oil, milk and vanilla.

Now add the flour, baking soda and salt and gently mix just to incorporate. It’s okay if there is some flour still visible, just be careful not to overmix at this point.

Scoop one cup of the batter up and transfer it to a separate mixing bowl. Now, in a small tea cup mix the cocoa powder with 3 tablespoons boiling water and stir vigorously with a fork until the chocolate is dissolved. Add this chocolate mixture to the one cup of banana and mix until the chocolate is thoroughly smooth and incorporated.

Now back to the original plain banana batter; add 3 tablespoons of boiling water and mix the batter just until relatively smooth.

Here comes the fun part, it’s time to marble! Lightly grease an 8×4 loaf pan. Scoop alternate 1/2 cupfuls of chocolate/banana batter into the loaf pan. Nothing has to be precise here, in fact, the more random, the better. Once all of the batter is in, take a butter knife and swirl it through the batter in circular directions for about 10 seconds.

Bake for 55 minutes. Use a butter knife to test for doneness. Let cool and enjoy!

Strawberries Galore!

I went to the farmer's market today and bought 8 packets of strawberries, a flat, for $5. I used 5/8 containers today in a variety of ways. Here's a glimpse of the madness that went on in my kitchen...

Strawberry Yogurt Muffins

Yields 12 muffins
1 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour1/2 cup sugar1 teaspoon baking powder1 teaspoon baking soda1/2 teaspoon salt (optional)2 eggs, lightly beaten1/4 cup nonfat plain yogurt 1/4 cup oil2 teaspoons vanilla1 1/2 cups strawberries, chopped

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line or grease 12 muffin cups. 

1. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.  Set aside. 

1. In a separate bowl, combine eggs, yogurt, oil and vanilla until blended.  Add to flour mixture and gently mix until combined (Be careful not to over mix).  Gently fold in strawberries.

1. Divide batter evenly between muffin cups.  Bake for 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  Let muffins cool in pan for 5 minutes.  Transfer muffins to wire rack and let cool completely.

I made a LOT of muffins!!

 Strawberry Syrup

Ingredients

• 1 cup water

• 1 cup white sugar

• 2 cups quartered strawberries

Directions

1. Combine water and sugar in a saucepan over medium-high heat; stir until sugar is dissolved. Mix strawberries into saucepan and bring to a boil; boil for 10 minutes. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until strawberries are mushy and sauce is thick, about 10 minutes. Strain liquid into a bottle and refrigerate.

Turned out a bit like jam by the time I took it off the burner. It was so liquidy at first though, I wanted it thicker. I think when I eat it I'll heat it up and serve it on top of the pancakes like a jam/syrup!

 

Strawberry Pancakes

Ingredients

1	tbsp	oil
1 1⁄2	cup	all-purpose flour
1	pinch	salt
1 2⁄3	cup	milk (almond)
3	tsp	Ener-G Egg Replacer
2	tsp	baking soda

Instructions

Heat a little oil in a small frying pan until hot. Sift flour and salt together. Beat in milk, Ener-G Egg Replacer and 1 tablespoon oil until batter is smooth. Pour in batter and fry at medium-low heat until golden brown. Turn & cook second side. Keep warm until served. Use batter immediately. Do not let batter sit or the pancakes will lack volume.

Dinner :)