Muesli makes my day!
Monday, January 5, 2009
Ever get that pang of regret when you realize that there’s been this wonderful thing in existence and you have only just found out about it?
I had that experience with muesli last week. Why did no one tell me that this sloppy muesli was way better than the dry stuff? I’ve never been a big lover of the “horse food” that my husband calls breakfast, but when served after a night of soaking up a soupy juice-yogurt mix - yum!
There are lots of commercial varieties of muesli available, but they’re usually laden with sugar or cost a small fortune for a tiny box. Muesli and experimentation are two peas in a pod, though, so this will be my new project for January. A search of the internet has yielded as many versions as there are breakfast cereals. I’m looking to make something that is modeled closely after the original whole-grain masterpiece invented by Maximilian Bircher-Benner - a combination of overnight-soaked grains, nuts, dried fruit and yogurt.
These will be my building blocks. It makes two servings, so Nick can weigh in on the results.
1/2 cup yogurt
1/2 cup juice
6 Tbsp rolled grains (oats, rye, barley, etc.)
2 Tbsp dried fruit
1 Tbsp nuts
1 Tbsp wheat germ
2 tsp honey
1/4 tsp vanilla extract (optional)
pinch of spices (optional)
1/8 tsp salt
I’ll simply combine everything the night before and eat it with my morning tea. If I’m feeling really daring, I’ll grate some apple and pear over the cereal too! Stay tuned for the results of my experiment.
Thanksgiving wishes
Thursday, November 27, 2008
Back row (L to R): Bruce, Evgeny, Rob, Jack, Carolyn
Front row (L to R): Sylvia, Nick, Carry, Dave, Karen, Mark, Marla
Turkey dogs: Odin, Bailey, Whimsy
There was some debate this morning whether this was the fourth or fifth annual “earn your turkey” hike. I officially organized four, but it turns out our friend Bruce carried the proverbial torch the year that it poured down rain. Either way, today was a fine day for a hike to Poo Poo Point on Tiger Mountain. Marla, Evgeny, Sylvia, Carolyn, Jack and Rob came for the first time. Joanne, Nicole, and Carrie aren’t pictured (what happened?), but guaranteed they were there. Special mention also goes to Nick, Dave, Karen and Mark - the four that have joined me on all of the other hikes (except the mystery hike that Bruce led).
Tasty turkey wishes to you!
May your turkey be plump,
Your pies take the prize,
And your Thanksgiving dinner
Stay off your thighs!
- Burma Shave
Mexican Monday: Chilaquiles Casserole
Monday, October 13, 2008
It’s Monday, and you know what that means...Time for Mexican food! My dad is out of town, so I’m ditching Nick in favor of dinner with some climbing friends. My contribution is a veggie-packed chilaquiles casserole. Normally chilaquiles is made for breakfast or lunch with eggs or chicken. Who’s to say you can’t have breakfast for dinner, though?
Do you know what time it is?
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
GREEN TOMATO JAM TIME!
Plum-licious
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Yesterday represented the first time in six years that we harvested the plums in the rain. We picked 65.2 pounds yesterday, and Nick will finish off the job today.
The plums are still a little on the green side this year, owing to the cool summer we had, but we felt that getting them off the trees now would serve us better than letting the squirrels throw half-eaten plums on the ground to rot. Let the plum-processing begin!
Update: Nick finished picking all the plums we could reach. (Some are too hard to get at, so we’ve left them for the squirrels.) Total harvest for 2008 is 73.2 pounds - down a little from years past, but not bad!