Day of incredible light

I love the woods in fog.

Last night, a wintry mix of rain/sleet/snow left an inch of new slush. As the sun rose and started warming things up…fog.

I also love a beardog in the woods in fog.

A long work day later, Bear and I took a quick trip to town. The sun had been out a few times during the day and as the sun set through heavy clouds to the southwest, it lit clearing skies to the north and northeast.

The ski runs of Big Mountain. The lights on the runs open for night skiing.

Beautiful to see the lights and they always trigger such wonderful memories. I was fortunate to have several night skiing experiences with incredible light: “fairy dust” from the lights on freezing fog, a night when the full moon rose as the sun set in a clear sky…Flathead Valley and Lake below, skiing alone on the lighted runs on perfect snow in the quiet night when even the lifties spoke in near whispers. Magic nights of incredible light and incredible skiing.

The mountains, an old cabin, a farm pond.

Day of incredible light.

Gettin’ fresh

The more I make from scratch, the more I make from scratch… Bear’s dog biscuits, a fresh batch of ginger syrup and oh, boy! – I am enjoying the citrus this season!

While I typically throw an orange or lemon into the Vita-mix with other stuff for a smoothie, with this year’s variety of wonderful citrus…I let it stand alone in a mixed citrus soda. My current favorite blend is meyer lemon, wild lime, clementine and blood orange sweetened with a bit of rosemary infused simple syrup and topped with my own well water, carbonated by me.

Delicious and pretty and fresh :) !

Marinara, et. al.

It has gotten seriously ugly of late. The temperature has been above freezing for several days and it has been raining. It is a damp, slushy, drippy, icy mess! I guess the good news is that it is supposed to stay warm for the foreseeable future so we should be back to bare ground in a few days and ready to give Winter a fresh restart.

Meanwhile, something warm and comforting food-wise seemed like a good idea.

Last Winter, I started making a marinara from roasted veggies. I toss tomatoes, cauliflower, carrots…usually also broccoli – in a baking dish…spritz with olive oil, add salt and pepper and slowly roast everything in a low oven (275). When everything is tender, I add the veggies and a can of tomatoes with their juice to my Vita-mix and puree the lot! I simmer the result with oregano, sweet basil, garlic…adjust seasoning to taste.

The result is beautiful and delicious. I use it on pasta, with meatballs, for pizza sauce and for soup. This jar is only half the sauce made.

The rest, I freeze flat in Zip-loc bags…an idea I saw on Karin’s blog: Paper Route Designs.
Karin is the designer of the jar labels I use and love! Freezing sauces and broths flat allows you to break off just a little as needed.

I need only a small chunk of sauce for a single-serving pizza, pasta or bowl of tomato soup.

Soup, it was on this dreary day! A chunk of marinara, some vegetable broth, some cannelini beans – all in the Vita-mix and the result is a faux-cream* of tomato soup. I doctored it a little further with some chopped kale, pumpernickle croutons and a bit of parmesan. Perfect!

Bob says to save some for him, he’s on his way in!

*I’ve used pureed white beans: cannelini, navy and even garbanzo – to make brothy soups creamy. They do not taste “bean-y” to me but you get the added benefit of protein, fiber and other nutrients from the beans.