Tuesday, April 17, 2012

TWD: Baking with Julia - Lemon Loaf Cake

Yum, I like lemons! And I like cake! I was pretty excited about a Lemon Loaf Cake, so we decided to make it last week after we took a bike ride and it turned out great.


We started out with the getting the lemons zested!


Then we mixed up the flour and heavy cream and lemon zest and the eggs. There was more in it, but I can't remember... you can check out the recipes on the hosts of this week's recipe at Treats or The Beauty of Life. They have some great pictures!


We got it all mixed and into the oven. The recipe said to let it cook for 50-60 minutes, but in the world of breads I have learned they take a lot longer. I blame the Colorado altitude! So, after about 70 minutes in the oven, it looked done, even though the top didn't split, so I used a toothpick and it came out clean so I called it fully cooked!  After letting it cool for a approximately four seconds, I cut a piece and had the first bite!  I really waited a lot longer than four seconds, but I was anxiously awaiting it to cool!



I was a little surprised at how non-lemony it turned out to be.  We thought about making some lemony icing to put on top, but figured we didn't need that much sugar and that it was excellent by itself.  I think it would be great for a strawberry shortcake type of dessert and I think I would make it again someday!

I also learned that it needed a lot of grease in the pan... but somehow we didn't mind eating the bottom that got stuck in the pan!  Don't tell!


Saturday, April 14, 2012

The Dog Blog!

So, I would think if you are reading this, you are probably familiar with the fact that Mikey is allergic to every animal know to man. Well, except maybe a fish, but a dog in our house is probably never going to happen. Which is why when some friends and I went for a walk with all of their dogs I couldn't resist the opportunity to play and take pictures of them!!

We headed to the Santa Fe Trail for a four mile loop trip from Woodmen Rd to Ice Lake. Everyone but Aaron and I have dogs, but we all had a great time! Here are the dog blog pictures!

First we have Aaron and Kirsten with Kahlua and Lucy. Then there is the Tameaka with Zen with Aaron and Kirsten. Then the back of Keli with Powder and Zen in the lake. Then the only picture of me, with Kirsten and Lucy. Then Tameaka and Aaron's engagement picture... well not really, Tameaka is marrying Roger in July!!! Then there is Keli and Kirsten with Powder and Lucy. And lastly is the whole group getting some water! Hope you could tell which were dogs and which were people!!


While walking, we came across two snakes and the following deer leg bone... a gross nature walk somehow got thrown in to our beautiful weather dog walk. But it was a great walk, and hopefully we all can get together again for another dog blog! Don't let this last picture haunt you! hehe.

Tuesday, April 3, 2012

TWD: Baking with Julia - Pizza Rustica

Well it's Tuesday, which means another baking adventure story is coming your way! This week's recipe was called Pizza Rustica, but I think it is better described as a quiche with a lot of cheese! The hosts of this week were Emily of Capitol Region Dining and Raelyenn of The Place They Call Home. You can check out the full recipe at their sites if you are interested!

The recipe said it was considered a casual finger food in Italy, even though it looks a bit fancier. It started with a sweet crust, kind of like a pie crust and not a pizza crust. Then there were some eggs followed by a lot of cheeses - ricotta, mozzarella, and pecorino romano. And some parsley and prosciutto. I decided to throw in a few chopped onions and that was about it! It was easy to whip together, except the proscuitto was a little hard to get into small pieces. Mikey helped out with shredding it! Then I made a lattice crust topping and stuck in the oven. Here are a few pictures we took along the way. I made them a little bit smaller than usual, but you get the gist.



After we got it in the oven, we were hoping it would turn out ok because we planned on eating it for dinner! It was actually pretty good! I was a little surprised that I liked it because it was not like any pizza I had ever had. I am not sure we would make it again, but I am glad we tried it. We might try it again if we are actually back in Italy for the real thing!!! Well, that and some gelato!

Sunday, April 1, 2012

Bike Rides

We mentioned last weekend that we bought some bicycles at the REI, and we had taken them out twice. This weekend had glorious weather, so we couldn't let it pass without taking our bikes out once again for a ride. We are going to have to get better at the picture taking thing, because we took our camera but forgot to take any pictures.

Anyway, there is a cool brewery just down the road from us named Trinity which brews artsy beers, has some tasty food (lots of bacon) and tons of hippies.  They have bike racks outside, which meant it was a perfect riding destination, and a good excuse to stop a rest a while in case the ride was intense.

We brought some sandwiches, chips and granola bars on the ride with us, and we sat at a nice picnic table in a park on the way.  There were kids riding their bikes, and a few kids climbing trees even! 

Fortunately the ride on the way to the brewery was all downhill, even the park, so we didn't have to put out much effort on the way there.  Once we got there, the bike racks were almost full, but we found a spot and grabbed a table.  I had a beer (it had hints of sarsaparilla), Julie had a watermelon soda and we shared a slice of terrific chocolate orange cheesecake. 

The initial plan was for Julie to drive back home (we left the Jeep down there earlier in the day) and for me to ride uphill back home.  It was such a nice day we both decided to ride back home, which was a great decision.  We had a great time, stopped a few times for water and to catch our breath, and made it home without trouble!  Unfortunately we didn't put on enough sunscreen for the longer ride, so we both have a few red spots on our legs and arms which need some aloe.  Other than that, we had a great time today!

We took some pictures of our ride last weekend just around our neighborhood.

Check out her new bike!






The mining scar behind Julie

Riding in style!



Flying downhill!