Setting Up Our New Place

Our new place is a walk-out basement of a 100 year old house. Our address includes “1/2″ which I find to be charming as if it belongs in Alice in Wonderland. Luckily all our windows look straight out above ground. That makes the space so light and cheerful.

We lucked out with this place by knowing the previous tenant (who just bought a house). The landlord was born in this house and then moved to the house next door when he was young. He inherited both houses when his mother passed away. Another thing about our landlord is that he’s hard of hearing and very adamant about us being non-smokers (which we both are, thankfully) as both his parents died of lung cancer. He and his wife (with the help of some others) did a ton of work on the place before we moved in, including new carpet and linoleum, paint on the walls, adobe-like plaster on a few walls, and a new stove and hood. His wife also gave us a bunch of huge pots to plant in which I was ecstatic about. The funny thing about our landlord is that he really likes all the old details (check out the cupboards) that keep the place looking like it did when he was a boy. Our landlord’s main handy-person is this man who rents a room in a trailer, wears a crystal around his neck, talks like Jimmy Stewart, and communicates with cats via his higher self. He’s pretty much awesome and loves Sasha and Lita.

So our place is pretty great. It’s 3 blocks from my favorite Sip House, Ideal Market (AKA mini Whole Foods), and a bunch of other neat things. We’re also 5 blocks from Pearl Street, which is rad. It’s been great to walk down to Pearl for dinner or to meet up with friends. As for the house itself, we’ve got a great big open yard that we share with the house next door. It’s got a lovely apple tree (which is great to hang a hammock from), a picnic table, and along one side of the house there is garden space. Inside it’s about 600 square feet, 1/4 the size of the townhouse we owned before leaving for Costa Rica, but we’ve found we don’t need much space. We still haven’t really used the space off the kitchen. Jim pointed out that no matter where we live, we always don’t use one space. My favorite part of our place is our red claw-foot tub.

The first night at our place (which was the day the stove was put in) I cooked up a curry meal for us and we watched a movie, before sleeping on our blow-up mattress (which we did for almost 2 weeks before getting out bed). We hadn’t moved everything into the place yet, so check out the plants on chairs, and our nifty laptop console.

The following day Jim built a fence for the girls. Actually, it’s really for us, so that we don’t always have to put on a lease when they just need to go potty or want to lay in the dirt in the sun.

Check out that cute butt!

The girls were very interested in sniffing everything out in their new hang out place. They approved!

While Jim put the last touches on the fence I planted in the massive pots we were given. Lots of flowers, including organic edible ones, and a bunch of fresh herbs, which took 2 weeks to become fully vibrant and cheerful.

My next post will be on the garden space along the side of our house, but here’s some lovely Irises that were there already.

Jim’s 28th Birthday

Jim’s birthday was April 1st. Yes, his birthday is April Fools Day. Poor guy. He may not have been made fun of for his name, but sharing your birthday with a holiday based on fooling people couldn’t have been great.

Jim told me that the day before he turned 28 he remembered that ever since we was a teenager he was sure he was going to die when he was 27. I mean both Jim Morrison and Jimi Hendrix died when they were 27, so it makes sense right?!

Anyway, since we had guests arriving Jim spent much of his birthday cleaning, but he was determined to surf, and I was determined to make a birthday dinner of his choosing. Well the surf sucked that day (and the next, but thankfully it was much better the following morning) and rather than mixing all my ingredients together for the vegan, refined sugar free, coconut lime ice cream before adding them to the ice cream maker I added them one at a time and it just didn’t work. (Thankfully I was able to salvage all the ingredients and do it again the following day.)

Alright, so as I mentioned I made Jim a dinner of his choosing. (This is a birthday tradition of my family’s.) He chose homemade pesto (with Parmesan, although he likes my vegan version too) over penne pasta with chopped tomatoes. I also made a small salad with my simple balsamic vinaigrette.

Jim’s favorite dessert is key lime pie. Well they don’t have key limes down here, but they do have his favorite tropical fruit, passion fruit. (They also don’t have graham crackers but coconut cookies made for an excellent crust.)

So, before I continue with photos and recipes and such, I need to share something. I’ve only been baking vegan, gluten free, refined sugar free food for over 6 months now, BUT this was an exception. It’s what Jim loves and it was important for me to be truly generous, rather than make him what I think he ought to have. (He also loves my raw lime tarts, so back in the US we’ll be doing more of that, and I may try a raw passion fruit tart, I just think the avocado and the passion fruit will make the filling an ugly color. Suppose I should just try though right? Plus I’m dying to work with Irish moss.) Lastly, I ate some. It may not be a big deal to some, but I want to be honest about what I’m consuming (more on that in another post) as I’m eating mostly vegan these days.

Alright, so here’s the pie and ice “cream”:

Passion Fruit Pie
Ingredients:
Crust:
1 bag coconut cookies, crushed (~2 cups crumbs)
3 tablespoons Sugar (I used brown)
1 cube (1/4 lb) Margarine or Butter, at room temp or slightly melted but not hot

Pie Filling:
5 large or extra large Egg Yolks
1 14 ounce can Sweetened Condensed Milk
3/4-1 cup fresh Passion Fruit Juice (3-4 passion fruit) Acquire juice by briefly zipping up the passion fruit seeds and pulp in a food processor, then strain, squeezing out any excess juice.

Directions:
Crust:
Mix the ingredients and press them into a 9″ pie plate.  Bake in a preheated 350F oven for 10 – 15 minutes until lightly browned. Place on a rack to cool.

Pie Filling:
Use an electric mixer and beat the Egg Yolks until they are thick and turn to a light yellow, don’t over mix. Turn the mixer off and add the Sweetened Condensed Milk. Turn speed to low and mix in half of the Passion Fruit Juice. Once the Juice is incorporated, add the other half of the Juice, continue to mix until blended (just a few seconds). Pour the mixture into the pie shell and bake at 350F for 12-20 minutes to set the Yolks and kill any salmonella in the eggs.

The pie was such a hit with Jim and our friends who helped us finish it off the following day that I made a second one (that was also eaten quickly) with part passion fruit juice, part lime juice.

Jamie Oliver’s Food Flash Mob

Jamie Oliver taught 1000 people to cook a stir-fry dish in 5 days! This is only one of the ways he achieved it. I’ve been a mega-fan of Jamie’s for years and I’m so thrilled about his mission to help change the way people eat by teaching them how to cook.

Baby O & his parents (Brad and Chandler)

I won’t wake up at 3am and drive 2 hours to the airport for just anyone. Luckily Brad, Chandler, and Baby Owen are a few I would.

Our last visitors have arrived and we’re thrilled to have them. After grabbing some breakfast we all headed back to the house to be greeted by the girls (who remembered them and gave Owen a few drive by kisses) and then crashed for a few hours.

After waking Jim and I found that Brad and Owen had already walked to the beach and back and had showered a few times already to stay cool. (It is hot as all get out here. I mean, seriously, HOT.) Jim and I headed into town to grab groceries for dinner. We either missed the farmer’s market or it didn’t happen today (as it is Good Friday) but we picked up some goods from the store and the fish guy.

Came back to Chandler and Baby O in the hammock and soon we headed to the beach were Jim surfed while the rest of us (including Sasha and Lita) walked and played in the waves.

After washing up, Baby O went to bed and the rest of us ate Corvina (Sea Bass), Broccoli, and Potatoes followed by some of Jim’s Birthday Passion Fruit Pie with Vegan, Refined Sugar Free Coconut Lime Ice Cream.

Brad joined Owen and after a game of rummikards Jim and Chandler headed to bed. Even though I was exhausted, I stayed up. Why do I do this? I don’t know, but I wanted to catch up on some of my favorite blogs.

I’m thoroughly impressed by how cheerful Baby O is. At 11 months this is not only his first trip to a different country, but his first where we took a plane. We adore him. (His folks are alright too.) It’s awesome to have them here and I’m excited that moving back to Boulder on the 22nd will allow us to have them be more a part of our life again.

Quinoa

I’m crazy for quinoa. It’s such a wonderful grain. I’ve been slowly introducing it to my family and friends who don’t know about it. Many people compare it to couscous, but it tastes better to me. Plus, it ’s full of protein and is a great source of fiber and iron. Quiona grows in Colorado, so it was easy to find in Boulder. I missed it so much when we moved to Costa Rica that I had a friend bring me a large bag of it.

Super easy to make, cook with 2 cups to every cup of uncooked quinoa. Bring to boil and then lower to simmer and cover for 15 minutes or until it starts to spiral out slightly. I can have a whole meal finished in 20 minutes!

Like most grains it takes on the flavor of whatever you put with it. I love adding raw and sauteed veggies, fresh herbs, and spices with it. I’ve ended up with many variations (Middle Eastern inspired ones with cumin, some with a more Latin American Flare, and I’ve even made it for breakfast, similar to oatmeal). I’ve been trying to get away from eating pasta as much as I do (as much as twice a week which isn’t good for my digestion, plus it’s like eating a bunch of white bread with sauce on it), but quinoa paired with sauteed veggies (like zucchini and eggplant) and my homemade tomato sauce is killer good.

Here are some other ways I’ve used Quinoa:

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