It’s been quite the week, dear friends, and I’m so glad for Friday and sunshine and fried potatoes with sausage and apple vanilla tea and a movie night with dear friends and naps in the sun and the hope of getting better.
Doc told me yesterday that I was dying before they got the right meds in me this week. It was a sobering thought. Made me sit quietly and do a lot of thinking.
I have a park down the road from me that is a good place for thinking.
I wandered through the trees and looked up into a glowing canopy of green.
I rounded a corner on a little trail I found and discovered this lovely perch. I clambered aboard, found a good sitting spot among the moss and ferns, closed my eyes and just sat. The trickle of water over stones, birds singing merrily, sun warming me up beautifully, it was just what my heart needed.
And I thought you might like it too, so I took a shaky little video. If it makes you seasick, just close your eyes and listen, the creek sounds wonderful. 🙂
Hello, dear ones! I’m still basking in the utter bliss of a sunshiny weekend. It may still be cold here in Washington, but this gorgeous weekend gives hope that spring weather may be just around the corner.
I had to rest most of this weekend, but today I was able to get out for a walk and oh, how wonderful it was!! All sorts of folks were out and about: kids cheering and laughing over a game of volleyball in the park, a father and daughter fishing from a bridge over the creek, and an elderly couple strolling through the woods with their sturdy walking sticks in hand. It felt so companionable to bid each other hello, smiling in shared enjoyment of a glorious day.
Everything looked beautiful today, from the glittering stream to the sun-dappled leaves in the forest, but my favorites were the white flowers positively beaming in the sunlight. Do any of you know what these ones are? There were whole trees filled with blossoms.
It was a peaceful, happy sort of afternoon, with breaks to sit on fallen logs and listen to the wind in the trees and the gurgle of the creek wending through the woods. It was just what I needed to clear my head, fill my lungs with fresh air, and remind me how beautiful life is.
While I recover from these wretched viruses I have to avoid wheat and corn. It was OK the first few days but then I started craving bread and baked goods something fierce. My friends Darren and Nicole are also going wheat-free for a while and having similar cravings, so I decided we simply had to have something decadent to eat to help us be good.
I made my favorite Dark Chocolate Tart but used buckwheat for the crust instead of wheat. It worked just dandy but turned out so dark it was almost black! I decided to view it as looking “extra rich” instead of “burnt to a crisp.” 😉 The buckwheat is very hearty but somehow the maple flavoring softens it and makes it a good wheat-free alternative for the luscious truffle-like chocolate filling. It was a lovely treat on a sunshiny afternoon.
1 stick butter, melted 1/4 cup sugar pinch salt 1 tsp maple flavoring 1 cup buckwheat flour
Ingredients for Filling:
1/4 cup Hershey’s Special Dark Cocoa 1 cup coconut milk 6 Tbsp sugar 1 1/4 tsp instant instant coffee or espresso powder 1/2 tsp vanilla extract 1 large egg, lightly beaten
Directions for Crust:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
Mix butter, sugar, salt and maple flavoring in medium bowl. Add flour mix until just blended. Don’t worry if dough seems too soft.
Press all of the dough evenly into bottom and sides of 9-inch tart pan with removable bottom.
Bake 20-25 minutes, or until crust is deep golden brown.
Directions for Filling:
While crust is baking, place butter, sugar, cocoa powder and coconut milk in a medium saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring, until mixture is blended, smooth and begins to simmer around edges.
Remove from heat and stir in espresso powder and vanilla.
Just before crust is ready, whisk egg thoroughly into hot chocolate mixture.
Directions for Tart:
Pour filling into hot crust and return to oven. Turn off heat.
Leave tart in oven until it quivers like soft Jell-O in the center when the pan is nudged, about 10-12 minutes. Cool on a rack.
I woke this morning to SNOW!!! I could hardly believe it. So of course I had to listen to Christmas music and sip hot apple vanilla tea and nibble on dark chocolate. It just had to be done. 😉
How are you today? How was your week? Are you oh so ready for some down time this weekend?
I’ve been so wretchedly sick this week but there have been such bright spots along the way that I can’t stop grinning when I think of them.
Like an afternoon spent by the creek, admiring the new leaves and brilliant yellow blossoms, and watching a muskrat busy himself. He scrabbled about for foliage on the creek bank, secured a wad of leaves in his mouth, then slid into the water and paddled across to his home under the forsythia. If I had to live on a creek bank, I’d be pleased as punch to have a bright yellow forsythia guarding the entrance.
I’m not a fan of tagging in nature, but I had to smile at this cheery heart spray painted on the side of a tree.
I’m avoiding too much sugar these days, so I’ve been concocting all sorts of fresh juices like mango, apple, and clementine, and mixing them with soda water to make drinks that feel like something special. My favorite one this week was Pear Ginger Soda made with bright green pears, fresh ginger and several glugs of club soda. Served in a fancy-shmancy glass it made me feel quite spoiled.
What little thing are you going to spoil yourself with this weekend?
PS – I’ve been upgrading my blog and all sorts of things this week. Those bright colored buttons to the right will link you up with all of them should you be interested in connecting through places like Flickr, Tumblr, and YouTube. I’d love to join you there. 🙂
Pear Ginger Soda
Ingredients:
1 pear, washed and cored 1 inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled and chopped 1 cup club soda, chilled
Yesterday I had a good day, a beautiful day, all sunshiny and happy with an extra long lunch hour. I was finally well enough to get out a bit, so I drove to one of our city parks and found a bench right near the creek. I just sat for a good, long while, grinning my head off as I basked in the feel of sun on my face and the sounds of gurgling creek, kids dashing about, and wind rustling through the trees. It was so good to be part of the world again.
Pink was the color of the day with profusions of cheery blossoms everywhere, their papery petals so striking against the vivid green and velvety leaves.
Even the magnolias were out, the tightly wrapped buds reaching up for the sun, just waiting for one more day or two before they burst into bloom. Who would think that such thick fuzzy husks would hold such glorious blossoms. They remind me of rich ladies shedding their fur coats to reveal gossamer evening gowns. 🙂
With all that lovely fresh air and sunshine I was happy to dig into my lunch, a scrumptious hodge-podge of a quiche I had thrown together with leftover bits and bobs in my fridge: 5 eggs, oven-roasted tomatoes, crispy roast asparagus, flaked salmon, and creamy chevre. Mmm, mmm, good! Add a few drops of green Tabasco and it’s a perfect spring-is-really-here celebratory meal.
What is your favorite thing to eat after an afternoon at the park?
Gluten-Free Asparagus Roasted Tomato Quiche
Ingredients:
5 eggs 8-10 oven-roasted tomato halves (click here for recipe) handful roasted asparagus (steamed will work just as well), chopped into bite-sized pieces 1/2 cup salmon, flaked 1/2 cup Chevre, chunked (feta would work well too) seasoning salt
Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
Beat eggs with seasoning salt. Set aside.
In greased pie plate layer tomatoes, asparagus, salmon and chevre.
Pour beaten egg over ingredients, jostle them a bit to let the egg get in all the cracks.
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