Food and Cooking

Orange Loaf from Fresh Orange Juice

Posted on February 7, 2020 by Be Encouraged

Our orange tree has been beautiful with fruit for a couple of weeks now and we have enjoyed lots of oranges, orange juice, and spritzers. However my family’s favorite use for the harvest is an orange loaf bread from the Happy Foods Tube Website. It’s not too sweet for breakfast but I preferred a slice mid afternoon with tea. If you would like to try a fresh citrusy loaf, I’d recommend this one at https://www.happyfoodstube.com/orange-loaf-cake/

The only change I made to Julia’s recipe was substituting coconut sugar for granulated, which gave it a little more flavor and a deeper color.

It was a messy bowl but the results were so good.

I hope you enjoy the recipe and this slice of California sunshine. Blessings.

Herbicides on Wheat & Organic Self Rising Flour

Posted on January 16, 2020January 17, 2020 by Be Encouraged

My family loves warm banana nut muffins with blueberries, like the ones I made today and with self rising flour they come together in no time. These muffins used up the last of the plain white self rising flour bought for making quick breakfast breads over the busy holiday period. I really enjoy the convenience of having the baking powder and salt already added to my recipes, not having to pull out the measuring spoons seems to make baking exponentially easier.

But I can’t find an organic version in the stores and worry about the risk of herbicides and pesticides in flour today. I recently heard from a friend that non-organic farmers were spraying herbicides on their wheat crops to dry it out uniformly just before harvest. Wow, that was shocking so I had to do some research on the subject. I wish I could say it wasn’t true, but all I can say is the on-line information is contradictory and confusing. I’m sharing the link to a Snopes article which dispels part of the story as an exaggeration but states it is a practice some farmers use and the practice is not illegal or banned.

https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/wheat-toxic/

There are other articles defending non organic farmers which say that weed killers such as Roundup being sprayed on wheat before harvest is not routine and that only small amounts are applied.

https://texaswheat.org/glyphosate-treated-wheat-claims-vs-facts/

I feel for the farmers today, from the little I know about their situation it’s a hard way of life without much in monetary rewards. The information about the risks of using a herbicide like glyphosate is muddled and the task of feeding their world is large. However, for myself even a rare case of herbicide in my flour is a problem. So for some good news finally, at Safeway the cost of generic organic flour is only about 30 cents more a pound and you can make a self rising mix yourself for those early morning biscuits (ironically it will probably be the butter that kills me).

To make your own self rising flour, in a large bowl (make it large or the flour can scatter when stirred ) mix very well 4 cups of flour, 6 teaspoons of baking soda and 2 teaspoons of salt. Store in an air tight container and remember the effectiveness of baking soda will decrease if not used within a couple of months or stored in the freezer. I made my batch with half organic whole wheat flour and half organic all purpose flout. I’ll let you know how my biscuits and pancakes turn out. Please let me know your results if you have tried a homemade flour mix. As always thanks for stopping by my site.

Food and Cooking, Travel, wine

Santa Cruz Wine tasting

Posted on September 27, 2019January 16, 2020 by Be Encouraged

We are taking a short virtual drive for “Travel Thursday” this week to two Santa Cruz foothills wineries. There are many wonderful wineries in the region for great Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, and Pinot Noir. No secrets there, even Condé Nast Traveler called it one of the best wine regions to visit in 2019 (link https://www.cntraveler.com/gallery/best-wine-regions-to-visit ). However, limiting my tastings to keep my balance and sense of taste, (don’t even suggest spitting out good wine) I chose Testarossa and House Family Wineries two beautiful wineries close to home.

From San Jose we approach the area via the Silicon Valley town of Los Gatos in the Santa Cruz foothills, which has a charming historic downtown of top notch restaurants and shops. We drive past a plethora of nice stand alone tasting rooms on the way but I like the ambiance of a working winery tasting room so up the hill we start.

Our first stop is at Testarossa Winery which is my favorite for Pinot Noirs. It also has great outdoor dining, music and special events. This time we just did a tasting in the main hall but we also enjoy having a glass of wine and snack outdoors, enjoying the mediteraen climate and listening to music.

These pictures of Testarossa are courtesy of Tamara at Tamaraitsmylife.wixsite.com , since my Testarossa pictures disappeared, darn wine. Thanks Tamara, that was a fun day.

With my bottles of the 2016 Pinot tucked safely away, we head north on the Saratoga Los Gatos Road to the House Family Vineyard for some Cabs. This is wine tasting with a view of the San Jose Valley and surrounding vistas. Here is the pretty path through the vineyard from parking:

The view from the tasting room:

The 2016 Estate Cabernet Sauvignon did not disappoint, a bit pricey but with club membership there is a discount and tasting is complimentary for four. We have also come up on a Friday night to hear music and just do a tasting so the experience is reasonable.

They have a small menu and we ordered a cheese plate and loaf of French bread, which is baked on-site and amazing. So, as I sit here thinking of the crusty french loaf and delicious glass of Cabernet, I leave you with this quote:

The gospel needs a family of sinners, saved by grace, committed to tearing down the walls, throwing open the doors, and shouting, “Welcome! There’s bread and wine. Come eat with us and talk.” Rachel Held Evans

Blessings,

Food and Cooking, Travel

Lake Tahoe Summer Vacation

Posted on September 18, 2019October 29, 2019 by Be Encouraged

It’s Travel Thursday so I’m sharing about our trip this summer to beautiful Lake Tahoe in the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range. Forever, we had heard of magical summer trips to Tahoe where the water was gloriously cobalt blue, the beaches were warm, the water sports abundant, and the views were picture perfect.

View of Lake Tahoe from the west coast of lake.

Tahoe is only about four hours from the South Bay so we drove across and nestled our travel trailer among the towering pines in the Fallen Leaf Lake Campground. It’s in an alpine canyon between Fallen Leaf Lake and Lake Tahoe, 1/4 mile from Fallen Leaf Beach where the water was warmer then Tahoe (though still invigoratingly chilly) and just a 10 minute drive to the views and activities of South Lake Tahoe. The campground was rustic with the feel of nature as we hoped. Here is a picture of one of our neighbors who was rough and a little grumpy but kept to himself. https://tahoesouth.com/stay/fallen-leaf-lake-campground/

So this should be the travel blog where everything is lovely and we have a wonderful time (cue the menacing music). It looked like we were in for a great vacation until our trailer went all Cujo on us with toxic gas and all night alarms. The folks at Fallen Leaf were great to help us with our difficulties and we were still in a beautiful location but I was frazzled not relaxed. So instead of hiking or renting a boat we took a scenic drive then enjoyed the town of South Tahoe.

“The Pour House” in South Tahoe had a good food rating with live music on the patio, so we headed over for lunch and were happily surprised to find it was a self pour wine bar. This is the best idea ever! Once a tab is established you are given a card that activates the wall taps and you are only charged for the wine poured. The wines were labeled with descriptions and on the wall they ranged from crisp light whites to full bodied reds, which is the order to serve in a winery tasting room. So I tried just a mouthful of five wines without feeling tipsy and losing my sense of taste (for me the typical winery pour is a lot). Then I went back to the crisp Chenin Blanc for a full glass with my salad. By the way I have been looking for a self serve wine bar in the Bay Area without luck, so it you know of any pour houses here please let me know. This is a brilliant idea. https://www.tahoepourhouse.com/

Well, this wasn’t the vacation I expected and I don’t have as may pictures as usual but I can say there is something for everyone in Tahoe whether you are there for the views, water sports or fresh mountain cookery with wine.

Blessings,

PS. Sorry that I haven’t posted since January. Our family lost it’s wonderful patriarch then and I needed to finish mourning before I started posting about my life again. My father-in -law was someone I had always respected but really grew close with over time. What helped me heal through this mourning was crying, sharing my feelings, doing small things to honor his values, and remembering his life. I’d love to hear the ways you have worked through loss to healing.

There is no shame in crying when the world loses a good person and I shed some even at Nordstrom before Father’s Day when I didn’t have a gift to buy this year. I enjoyed talking about my time with him and helping my husband talk about his feelings too. We sent a donation to the NRA in his name honoring his commitment to live in a free democratic society. It’s been eight months since he passed on to his next adventure but he will never be forgotten.

craft, Food and Cooking

Thank you Katie Cakes!

Posted on November 28, 2017December 12, 2017 by Be Encouraged

I’m so thankful today for the all wonderful friends and family in my life. This is a thank you card for one of those special people, my amazing friend Katie who shares her gift of baking so generously. I recently invited her to an Island Wedding Murder Mystery Party and she brought a drunken rum cake from her business Katie Cakes, and two pies as well. The night was extra special beause of her company, delicious deserts, and over the top crazy beauty queen costume. Katie do you want to share that picture in the comments😃?

Card created with the Anna Griffin Lace Trimmings embossing folder and die collection, my Cricut Cuttlebug and Creative Memories Cherish paper.