Peach Festival

Our home town before moving to Costa Rica was Lafayette. It’s about a 20 minutes drive East of Boulder. Every year they have two fun festivals; Oatmeal Festival in January and then Peach Festival in August. We were very excited to attend as we missed last year’s due to scoping out where we were going to move to in Costa Rica. This years was even bigger than two years ago. More art, food, games for kids, live music, and of course peaches!

It was a hot sunny afternoon so we drove with the windows down and listened to Jim’s new “Indie Mix.” (I love that he’s getting more into music I like. Hahaha.)

When we first started walking we were excited to see The Styria Bakery stand. Styria is the part of Austria where my sister-in-law and her husband got married just last month.

So many people! Our first stop was to get Jim some peach cobbler (which he shared a bite with me) and then walked around. We got there late in the day so many of the food vendors were running out of food so i missed out on falafel. Oh well.

They had rides for kids too, which they didn’t have a couple years ago. After walking up and down Public Road checking out all the options and comparing the prices of peaches I decided I needed some roasted corn. We got some and found a nice shady spot in the grass.

Jim put some spicy stuff on his.

I loaded up on pepper (or course) and a little salt.

Happy to have eaten such juicy sweet corn!

We went back to the peach vendor we liked and got a large sack of peaches (some of which we’ll eat right away) and others we’ll freeze before heading to my good friend Coleen’s wedding this week. The stand we chose was local and organic and also had the cutest shirts that said “Don’t squeeze the peaches.”

We then headed over to our friends Kate and Sita’s house. They bought a place in Lafayette just as we were moving back to CO. We now live in Kate’s old place in Boulder. I was SO excited to check out their garden. Kate built the beds!

They have all kinds of goodies growing including tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, carrots, beets, chard, and melon!

Kate and Jim used to work together at HP and are super fond of each other. Scratch that, we’re all fond of each other!

It was nice to relax, eat a little (I brought a veggie and bean quinoa pilaf), and chat with people. They have such nice friends and family.

While sitting there an old war plane flew overhead. I had such a fun time watching some boys at the party play together. Remember when it didn’t take much for us to be entertained, all we needed was to be outside? These boys reminded me of the simple joys of life and the never ending curiosity and wonder that’s inside us all.

Now, did you notice that I forgot to take photos of both the peach cobbler that Jim ate and the sack full of peaches we bought?! I know, it doesn’t seem like much of a Peach Festival without the photos, but trust me, peaches were the focal point.

Lovely Saturday Morning

Went out with a dozen friends last night and had a blast, but I was thrilled to come home and get back to reading some the the incredible books my sister Kylie sent me. She’s been collecting these since I was in Costa Rica, reading most, but decided that during her last couple semesters in school I’d have more time to read them. Check out all that she sent:

The only thing not pictured is a pink heart shaped Pez dispenser with “Dream” printed on it. I gave it to Jim as he loves Pez and I wanted him to feel included in the package receiving.

But seriously, look at all those goodies!!! I had already read most of Skinny Bitch and Food Rules, but I’m happy to get to read them again. (I already read Food Rules in the bath tub 2 days ago.) I’ve also been reading Ani Phyo’s book (which Kylie won in a blog giveaway!) and The Coconut Oil book. I’m coo coo for coconut in all it’s forms but I had no idea that coconut oil has helped so many fight yeast problems. This was awesome information for me as I am highly susceptible to yeast problems (which I’ve been able to keep under control only by diet and daily probiotics). All the other books I’m so excited to finally read, rather than just flip through in airports or bookstores. Also, I’m pumped to watch the documentary Food Fight. Kylie actually got to meet the maker, helped do some promotion for the L.A. premier, and got to attend the premier too. I’m loving how many documentaries on food have been coming out. Totally rad.

So after reading until my eyes started to close, I went to bed, sleeping in! This is such a luxury since I wake up at 5am Monday through Friday for my new job as the baker and sous chef for Gindi Cafe (which I love). OH! I also had my first catering gig for 12 people a couple weeks ago. It was such a success but I’ll tell you more about that another time. For now, let’s get to breakfast…

This was awesome! Gluten free oatmeal (cooked) with chia seeds, some coconut flour, and coconut butter. I then topped it with large flakes of coconut, walnuts, a dash of cinnamon and a splash of almond milk. So coconuty and SO GOOD! I also had a glass of Amazing Grass’ Original Amazing Meal blitzed with frozen bananas and almond milk. It was good, but I’m obsessed with their Chocolate flavor!

Next up, Lafayette’s Peach Festival!

Homemade Nutella!

I don’t know about you but Nutella is one of my favorite things ever. Unfortunately the brand Nutella has stuff in it I don’t want to be consuming. I’ve found other kinds, but I was curious if I could possibly make my own as I’ve made other nut butters. I tried and succeeded! Thick, Creamy, Rich, Spreadable, and Delicious!

I love it on tart green apples, but I also had some fun making Ants On A Log, using both black and fire ants! Aren’t they cute?! Goji berries are awesome by the way.

Yum! Jim found this to be a big hit too! He savored half of the plate with me.

The day after (I actually had some left) I used some as a topper/mix-in for Banana Mango Soft Serve for Jim and I. SO GOOD!

To make it I used a combination of hazelnuts (which I toasted for their incredible flavor), cocoa power, vanilla, and some finely blitzed dried sugar cane crystals. To make this raw next time I’ll be using raw hazelnuts, cacao powder, vanilla bean bits, and raw agave.

Seriously, if you haven’t tried making this and you love Nutella half as much as I do, you must make it. All you need is a food processor.

For Kylie with Love

So my sister Kylie (AKA Zippaloo or Zip) of All Things Food has been nagging strongly encouraging me to get back to blogging about food. Every time we talk or Skype I tell her about all the fun and tasty things I’ve made since we last spoke. She’s been requesting photos, recipes, etc. So here’s a few desserts I’ve made since moving into our new place…

Carrot Cake (free of animal products, gluten, and refined sugar)

Cashew Creme

Ingredients:

1/2 cup Cashews, soaked for 3+ hours then drained

7 dates, pits removed

1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract

1/4 +1/8 your choice of nondairy milk (I used my homemade almond milk)

Tiny pinch of Sea Salt

Optional:

Spices like cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, etc.

Directions:

Blitz ingredients in food processor until creamy.

Note:

Keeps for a week in fridge.

Next up…..

Mmmmm Mango…

Raw “Cheesecake”

Ingredients:

Crust:

1 rounded cup Almonds

3 Dates, pits removed

Filling:

1 cup Cashews, soaked overnight then drained

Agave to your liking (I don’t like mine to be too sweet)

2 tablespoons Lemon Juice (If you make it too lemony you’ll end up with Lemon Bars like Kylie’s did.)

1 tablespoon Vanilla Extract

pinch of Salt

Directions:

Blitz Almonds to your desired consistency in a food processor then add dates and blitz again until it forms into a ball.

Press the crust into a bread pan, slightly oiled if you’d like (I used a little coconut oil). Put in freezer until you’re done with filling.

Blitz  all the filling ingredients in a food processor, blender, etc. until smooth. Taste and adjust sweetness and spice if adding. Layer the filling over the crust, smooth it out, then put in fridge until ready to eat. Cuts easily and is great with fresh fruit.

Note:

Keeps for a week in fridge.

And a very common dessert in the Ahern household…

Banana Soft Serve

It was just frozen bananas this time, but I love to add other fruit, nuts, cocoa, almond milk, spices, etc. Check out my next post for a delicious mix in I made.

P.S. Kylie, thanks for your encouragement to get back to blogging!