Taking The Long Way Home

For some reason the Cooking Devas have been talking to me a lot lately. Recipe ideas just fling themselves into my head out of nowhere, and there's nothing to do but write them down and then try them out. Last night I made the best Fettuccine Alfredo ever . No kidding. And totally vegan and healthy. This morning I tried out some oat scones made with quinoa flour. Another success! Then a salad stood up and yelled, "Make me! Make me!", so Rick is as the store getting what I need for that, as well as a savory variation on the scones that I want to try with a good "Carribbean" black bean soup that surfaced last week. Here are this morning's scones. Beautiful and tasty! This is crazy and amazing. A new channel for inspiration and creativity. And there's also a seedling of an idea for a book mixed in too. I know I've threatened that before, so don't hold your breath. I have no idea how to write a book. But I'll do some recipe sharing here once ...

The other day, before I had The Bike, I walked to the mailbox at the end of the road. There are lots of neighbors with barking dogs, and most of them are in fenced yards. But one family has a habit of getting puppies at regular intervals, letting them run loose for several months, and then putting them on a chain for the duration of their lives. These people have two chained dogs now, on opposite ends of the yard, with tiny, flimsy shelters and no sign of food or water. These dogs are mean, as you might expect, and lunge to the ends of their chains whenever someone passes by. There's a younger dog there too. He's a cute brown lab mix, under a year old, and he's been running loose for months. When I walk by, he runs after me, barking and bristling, but when I turn around he skitters off, afraid of me. The other day, the kid who lives there was in the yard, yelling at the dog to leave me alone, so I stopped and asked if the dog would bite me. His reply was, "He shouldn...

Before we headed out on the road with our trailer (getting close to two years ago now), we sold most of what we owned, and traded two smaller vehicles for one big-ass truck. It made sense at the time.  Back in Taos now, it makes much less sense. Rick uses the truck for work, in his growing Rent-a-Rick handyman business, so most of the time, I'm sort of stranded here at home, with nothing in walking distance except the mailbox, which is about a quarter mile away at the end of the road. I'm going a little stir crazy, but it's just not possible for us to buy me a car at this point, things being what they are and all. So the other day I started mumbling that I wanted to get a bike. Rick thinks it's a bad idea to ride around town, and he's probably right. But I can't be stuck here without wheels of some sort, and the dirt roads are too rough for roller skates. At dinner the other night with our friends Deborah and Thomas, I mentioned my bike idea, knowing they woul...

So busy today I can barely remember to breathe... A quick Daily Bling, and tomorrow I'll tell you about my BIKE! Moondrops

I've been craving a good vegan burger lately, but the frozen ones always leave me, uh, cold, and all the recipes I've tried have been not-quite-right in one way or another. But last night Inspiration struck in the form of a bowl of leftover quinoa... If you're not familiar with quinoa, it's a small, round super-grain. It has all the essential amino acids, making it a complete protein, it tastes good, and it cooks up much like rice, but in only about 15 minutes. It's pronounced keen-wah, not qwi-noah, which is a handy thing to know when you want to impress your friends with your new discovery, or ask for it in the grocery store. Buy it in bulk in most any natural foods section. Be sure to rinse it well before you cook it, or it will have a bitter taste. Use 2 cups water to one cup quinoa, bring it to a boil, cover, and simmer on low heat for 15 minutes, or until all the moisture is absorbed. Easy! To make last night's Bean-Wah Burgers, I opened and rinsed a ca...

It's cold out there. Really cold. Too cold. Or maybe I'm just tired of cold. It snowed last night, but the sun's out this morning, at least trying to warm things up. Sun on snow is always a cheery sight anyway. It brings out the snow-diamonds and sparkles in a lovely, blinding way. I got a small order of new gemstones the other day, along with some terrific new chain nose pliers. My hands were really beginning to feel the strain of the cheap hobby tools I'd been using. These new beauties are a gift from the gods, and my hands are so grateful. I opened the box and set right to work, making earrings out of these amazing faceted quartz crystals. They sparkle like diamonds in the snow, and have a lovely, edgy, earthy glam that I just love. In the summer, when it's hot and we're all wishing for snow again, I'll wear some of these, and feel instantly cooler... AlchemyJewelryStudios.com

Oh, did you see that moon last night? As it slipped out from behind the Sangre de Cristo Mountains here in Taos, it took my breath away, and then, of course, inspired some killer earrings. Rummaging through my stash, I found a strand of dear little moonstones that just begged to be turned into some serious moonlight. If I don't sell these, I will be very happy to keep them... Moonstone Cluster Earrings