Canada and Peaches

Nestled along the south-east edge of Okanagan Lake in British Columbia, is a little slice of paradise called Naramata.  Long-time family friends David and Kathy moved there about twenty years ago, and since then my family and I have been making the occasional summer visit.  I quickly fell in love with this place as a child and always look forward to returning.  Last month I took two weeks off work to drive up with my family.  

David and Kathy's home, overlooking the lake and vineyards, complete with an organic peach orchard (the best peaches I've ever tasted!) and an amazing garden has always felt like the closest place to paradise I'll ever experience.  While there we enjoyed an abundance of peaches, daily garden-fresh meals, and lots of much-needed relaxation time.  Peach margaritas and lake swimming made up a perfect last hurrah of summer. 

Awhile back I seem to have begun a new blogging plan called "post-whenever-the-heck-I feel-like-it". Which is, apparently, never.  Lots has happened in the past few months and I've been a little overwhelmed taking it all in.  Now that things have slowed down and free time feels more abundant, I feel inspired to be on here again.

For now here are a few recent photos from a trip to the beach with friends

Okay so it's been about a million years since I last posted.  First it was winter break and I was spending all my time relaxing and enjoying life in the real world and then as I was gearing back up for school and internet productivity my laptop died. I enjoyed a good few weeks computer-free and actually started to wish that I didn't need one for school and photo stuff.  But alas, my computer dependence runs too deep and I finally bought a new laptop.

Then the longer I go without writing on here, the more daunting the task becomes and I start to avoid it. For some reason I always feel the need to explain myself after a long absence and then I ramble on about why I haven't posted just like I'm doing right now.  

Anywho, I'm back (with a fancy new computer!) and I plan to make an honest attempt to keep up a little better.  And now that I've got all my excuses out of the way I can move forward and share with you a few of my current inspirations.

photographs of family by Julien Magre:




Kike Besada's beautiful collages:

food illustrations by Alice Pattullo:

sunday brunch + orange cardamom yogurt cake

Things have been crazy around here lately as I scramble to finish all my school work before the semester ends.  It's been the small moments of reprieve in between all the insanity that have allowed me the peace of mind to keep going.  A few weeks ago, a friend visiting from out of town provided a much-needed excuse to stuff my face, drink mimosas and ignore school for a few hours.  

I made this cake, as recommended by my friend Jen, and it was just too good not to share.  Enjoy!

Orange Cardamom Yogurt Cake

via 5 & Spice

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting the pan

2 teaspoons baking powder

3/4 teaspoon kosher salt

1 cup sugar

1 tsp. ground cardamom

1 – 1 1/2 tsp. orange zest

3/4 cup plain Greek yogurt

1/2 cup olive oil

2 large eggs

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350°. Butter a standard loaf pan and dust with flour.

Combine 1 1/2 cups flour, baking powder, cardamom, and kosher salt in a medium bowl and whisk until thoroughly mixed. 

Using fingers, rub orange zest into the sugar.  Next, combine orange/sugar mixture with yogurt, olive oil, eggs, and vanilla extract and mix until well blended.  Gently fold in the dry ingredients just until just combined.

Pour batter into prepared loaf pan and bake until top of cake is golden brown and a tester poked into center comes out clean, about 50-55 minutes.  

Let the cake cool in pan for 15 minutes before loosening edges with a knife and inverting cake onto a cooling rack. Cool completely before serving.

I'm thankful to have found time to get outside on some of the few nice days we've had lately.  And for how beautiful everything around here looks this time of year.

PS: I promise I'll stop reposting instagram photos and pull out my real camera one of these days.  

PUMPKIN SCONES

Last night I curbed my election anxiety by baking pumpkin scones (the real deal, with fresh pumpkin puree!) while I watched the results trickle in on NBC. Just as the scones were done the newscaster declared Obama's victory.  Fresh scones have never tasted so sweet.

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PUMPKIN SCONES (from roasted sugar pie pumpkin puree):

For the pumpkin puree: 

Preheat the oven to 400ºF

Halve one medium-small sugar pie pumpkin and scoop out pumpkin guts (clean + save seeds for baking!)

Place halves face down on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and bake 40-50 min until pumpkin shells are soft and meat is easy to scoop out.

When pumpkin is cool enough to handle, scoop out flesh and puree in a  blender or food processor.  Extra puree can be refrigerated for later use.  


Scone Recipe 

For the scones:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup and 3 tbsp granulated sugar
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp cloves
1/4 tsp ground ginger
6 tbsp cold butter, cut into 1 inch cubes
1/2 cup canned pumpkin puree
3 tbsp half-and-half
1 large egg

For the spiced glaze:
1 cup plus 3 tbsp powdered sugar
2 tbsp milk
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
1 pinch ground ginger
1 pinch ground cloves

Preheat the oven to 425ºF. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper; set aside.

In a large bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and ginger. Add the butter and toss with a fork to coat with the flour mixture. Use a pastry cutter or fork (I used my hands) to mix in butter until the texture resembles coarse cornmeal, with the butter pieces no larger than small peas.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the pumpkin, half-and-half and egg. Fold wet ingredients into dry ingredients, and form the dough into a ball. Pat out dough onto a lightly floured surface and form into a 1-inch thick circle. Use a large knife to slice across the center of the circle, and then again to create 4 "pie shaped" pieces. Cut each quarter twice more so you end up with 12 triangular slices of dough. Place on prepared baking sheet. Bake for 14-16 minutes, or until light brown. Place on wire rack to cool.

While the scones are cooling, make the powdered sugar glaze by mixing the powdered sugar and milk together until smooth. When scones are cool, drizzle icing over each scone and allow to dry before serving (about an hour).


///// enjoy!


adapted from this recipe by Sweet Pea's Kitchen

WEEKEND AT HOME

Anyone who knows me knows that I'm a huge grandma when it comes to weekend happenings (and just about everything else). Convincing me to do anything that isn't either relaxing or productive during my free time is usually a big task. The craziness of the past few weeks has left me with almost no time at home, so by the time this weekend rolled around all I could think about was lazing around the house and checking off some of the long-overdue items on my to-do list.  I spent a good amount of time outside in the garden (mostly fending off pests- cabbage worms have become my arch nemesis) and organizing/cleaning in the kitchen. I finally jarred and labeled my loose herbs and teas (see above photo).

I also made some porcelain beads which I'm really excited about and will post about later provided that they come out of the kiln unharmed.

And now here's an unrelated picture of Nina because she's too cute and I can't help it:

With a clean kitchen, of course now I have the itch to bake and mess it all up. Here are a few recipes I'd like to try:

1. Apple Galette from 3191 Miles Apart

2. Pumpkin Pie (with fresh pumpkin!) from Reading My Tea Leaves

3. Apple Chips from The Little Red House

4. Blackberry Rhubarb Crisp from Apt. 2B Baking Co.

5. No Bake Blueberry Yogurt Cake from Bake Noir