travels – Peaceful Reader

Summer Vacation

{miles and miles of gorgeous forest}

I flew to Colorado last week. I’ve not flown for years and it always freaks me out a little bit when we take-off, while we fly though, and when we land. The only part I love is how quickly I get there-that always amazes me! Last summer Groovy Girl and I drove to Denver and it takes us two days, flying, of course, took an hour and 1/2. Big difference of time yet you do miss all the cool stuff along the way.

We spent two days in Denver, hanging with my brother and his family. I especially loved just sitting on the patio soaking up the warm Colorado sun. We visited Odell’s Brewery and a fresh Mexican restaurant called Lola. And then after our down time in Denver we headed to Estes Park, one of the gateways to Rocky Mountain National Park. While in the park I saw a very large male moose with a huge rack, several elk, and a baby brown bear. We hiked to Alberta Falls which was a long walk up and luckily we found a shortcut back down. There is something about the fierce rushing water sounds that makes me feel small. I also love to dream about the first people to come upon something as beautiful as this falls for the very first time. The trails were packed with many other humans and while I’m glad the park is being used it would be so cool to be there by yourself.

We headed to Castle Pines after Estes to stay with Janice and Dean for a night. We ate at Duke’s and took a drive to see a whole herd of bison and their babies. The next day we spent the morning sitting out on the porch watching a hummingbird flit back and forth. They’ve had a mama bear and three cubs roaming nearby and actually captured footage on their animal cam. This morning Janice let me know that the mother and one of the babies had been shot and killed by a local resident. Why are you up at 1am shooting at a mama bear? I am just sickened by the thought of this on so many levels. Why would you not just call animal control? I can’t get the video to transfer to my laptop so you can see the bear video. I’ll keep trying and share another time.

It was a great trip! I love being in the mountains, I love the view. Blessings to all.

Friends and Salads

This is my friend Jennifer. We’ve known each other for 20 years. We’ve laughed and cried together. She’s seen me at my best and my worst. She was my maid of honor when I married Greg and she was there for the birth of my first child. We bumped bellies when our daughters were in utero-our girls are two months apart in age. I love her dearly and she truly is like a sister to me. I miss her terribly because some how we ended up in two different states; she stayed in Colorado and I moved to Iowa. We travel back there every couple of years but I’ve always wished our children could grow up together. These last few weeks I’ve been in Colorado for an extended stay and it was perfect. I hung out with her four beautiful children while she worked and when she was off we played. The photo above was taken at the Denver Zoo.

Some of my earliest adult food memories are shared with her. We used to make lunch together and one of our favorite meals was grilled cheese dipped in ketchup. Yep. Healthy. We were vegetarians together for years. We loved sushi with saki and Mexican food~usually accompanied by several margaritas. While we did make some margaritas one night our eating was a little more healthy this time around. She’s turned into a fabulous cook and whipped up several great meals while we were there.

She shared two recipes with me that we made together and I will make again soon

on my own, thinking of her.

(Our beet salad next to magazine photo)

Tomato and Beet Salad

(adapted from Everyday Food by Martha)

Roast 1# beets

Slice 2# garden fresh tomatoes

1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved

Arrange tomatoes on platter

Remove beets from oven and run under cold water, using a paper towel to remove skin. Be careful-they are hot! Once skin is removed slice beets and add to platter.

Sprinkle 1/4 cup (or more) feta cheese crumbles over top. Add 1/4 cup chopped cilantro. Drizzle with olive oil and sea salt and fresh ground pepper.

Garbanzo Bean Salad

(We dug in so quickly we forgot to take a photo)

1 can garbanzo beans or soak your own

1 shallot, thinly sliced

1 English cucumber, thinly sliced

olive oil (more)

red wine vinegar (less)

sprinkle sea salt

Mix together and eat. Yum.

Thank you Jen for such a fabulous holiday! You are courageous and even more amazing now! I love you and hope our friendship continues to grow for more years to come.

This post is linked to the ever friendly Beth Fish Reads weekend cooking meme hosted by Candace. Feel free to head over there by clicking on the link and read other food-related posts.

Weekend Cooking; Buttermilk Coffee Cake from La Jolla, CA

Okay, I’m not really there but one of my favorite cookbooks is Southern California Cooking from The Cottage by Jane and Michael Stern and Laura Wolfe and it makes me feel like I’m there. I whipped up this breakfast cake for overnight guests from a visiting church choir. I adore this cookbook and I remember purchasing it because of all the great breakfast recipes and I think it was the first cookbook I sat down and read like a book. It has great stories about how the restaurant was purchased by the Wolfe’s mixed with surfing and restaurant memories. I have several starred recipes with penciled in notes about when I made each and how it turned out.

The cookbook is divided into 10 typical sections (breakfast, breakfast breads, soups, salads, sandwiches, dressings and sauces, sides, dinner, and desserts) but the recipes that fill each are extraordinarily yummy!
We love breakfast at our house and I could easily make every single recipe from the two breakfast sections. Everything from Country French Toast, Breakfast Chiliquiles, 3 different eggs bene’s, to Laura’s Meatloaf Hash which uses leftover meatloaf. I’ve not made that one but now that I have several sources for good, local beef it could happen.

The sandwich section is my second favorite part of this book with recipes like the B.L.A.T (we love avocado here too), the Eggplant Panini, and the Brie, Avocado and Sun-Dried Tomato Melt. Yum! Who’s ready for lunch??

Here is the Buttermilk Coffee Cake recipe:

A great cake to serve in the morning or anytime during the day. Buttermilk Coffee Cake has been a staple at the Cottage since the beginning. We offer bites of it to customers waiting for a table when the place is packed on weekend mornings. (I love these little notes for their ability to place me right there, waiting for a table.)

1 cup canola oil
3 1/3 cups flour (unbleached)
1 cup granulated sugar
1 1/3 cups packed brown sugar
1 T. ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
1 egg
1 1/4 cups buttermilk
1 tsp. baking powder (aluminum-free)
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1/2 cup chopped walnuts (I had pecans so I used them)

Preheat oven to 350. Grease a 13 x 9-in pan. In a large mixing bowl combine the oil, flour, sugars, cinnamon, and ginger. the mixture should be crumbly. Set aside 1 1/3 cups of this batter. To the remaining batter add the egg, buttermilk, baking powder, soda and salt. Mix well. Pour the batter into the baking pan. To the reserved batter add the nuts and spread topping evenly over the batter. Bake for 25 minutes or until cake springs back to the touch. Makes 12 pieces of (warm, crumbly) cake. (52)

Weekend Cooking is hosted at Beth Fish Reads-click there to find many more food-related posts.
Some day I hope to take a food journey to La Jolla so I can sit at the cottage and enjoy the casual ambiance.I might even have a Sam Smith Organic Lager listed on their drink menu. Click here to see The Cottage website.

Happy Cooking!