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Recipe: coconut sorbet

We just wrapped up a very snowy and then very frigid week here in Crested Butte. Four feet of snow kissed this beautiful land and turned the town into a snow globe. Once the storm moved out, the skies cleared and what little heat was hanging around radiated into space. We went into a bit of a deep freeze and had to wait until midday before it was tolerable enough for a skate ski or to walk Neva. She would, of course, be willing to run about in -20°F temperatures – but this is why Neva needs humans to make some (most) decisions for her.

skis like fluffy puffy fluff

wind-sculpted features on a 2°f skate ski

we got as low as -29°f, but waited until noon to get above zero

neva wants to know when she can go out to play in the snow

Because it’s so easy to feel warm and comfortable all bundled up inside when it’s cold outside, we make a concerted effort to get out and be active. It’s simply good for the body, the mind, and the dog. Back on the Front Range in Nederland, the winds can get pretty strong. They had 100 mph gusts on Christmas Day in town and we wondered if our home had blown away (it had not). When you endure days like that, it makes any excuse to not get outside in Crested Butte – where winter is so much nicer – pretty weak. Sometimes you have to understand how bad things can get to appreciate how good they are, right?

it warmed up to 4 degrees!

the crested butte sled dogs truck drove past us in town

a morning uphill ski before the big storm arrives

snow is starting to pile up (jeremy and neva for scale)

I know some of my friends on the Eastern Seaboard are crying foul over the recent presence of frozen water in their yards, their roads, their hair… Believe it or not, there are people in Colorado who freak out over snowfall, too. Most of those individuals live in the eastern half of the state and you have to wonder if they understand that they live IN COLORADO. But I am aware that winter is not a popular season among people in general. I’m actually cool with that, because it means fewer people tracking up the freshies. I hereby offer something else that is white and frozen and guaranteed to be far more pleasant than shoveling snow off your driveway. Ever tried coconut sorbet?

coconut milk, coconut water, sugar, salt, lime, shredded coconut

measured out and ready to begin

Making this frozen treat is really simple. Super simple! Zap the ingredients in a blender, then churn it in your ice cream maker, and pop it into the freezer. That’s pretty much it! If you start with chilled coconut milk and coconut water, the mixture can go straight from the blender to the ice cream maker. If you didn’t read that part of the recipe (we’ve all done that), then pop the mixture into the refrigerator to chill for a couple of hours before churning it.

pour everything into the blender

churn the mixture in your ice cream maker

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Recipe: apple fritter bread

It’s my last post of the year, so before I continue with a visual recap of our holiday shenanigans, I hope you all have a fun and safe time ringing in the New Year this coming weekend. However you may feel about 2016, each day is a chance to turn things around. Maybe you want to start right now or perhaps it helps you mentally to start on the first day of 2017 or after a week of getting familiar with writing or typing 2017 instead of 2016. Whatever works for you! Just promise me you won’t go into the new year already defeated. It might be exercise, better eating habits, volunteer work, activism, professional goals, learning something new, getting organized, finances, taking care of things you’ve been putting off, reconnecting with someone, spending more quality time with people. Many of the more challenging objectives in life require baby steps, patience, and perseverance. So be patient with yourself. Be kind to yourself. You will get there.

It’s been a wonderfully snowy week in Crested Butte with sunshine in between powder days, allowing us to rotate through several flavors of skiing. I’m talking quads of steel! Neva has been enjoying snowy romps around the neighborhood and a few ski tours (we have to ease her back into it because… she’s crazy). When she isn’t losing her marbles in deep snow, our girl likes to curl up on a plush blanket on her bench by the window – watching people and dogs walk by while she soaks up the sunshine, dozing off on occasion. I never said she wasn’t spoiled.

neva’s impersonation of a traumatized reindeer

neva’s christmas goodie plate – she is totally spoiled

jeremy drops in on a gorgeous powder day

sliding off the ice throne

working up a sweat skate skiing on a single digit day

ripping skins after an uphill ski, ready to ski down

another delicious powder day

christmas morning on the lift – fresh tracks and free refills!

I debated punting on a recipe this week since we are between holidays, but I am also a creature of habit. Besides, I like sharing recipes with folks since I can’t easily make something and serve it to most of you. This happens to be the perfect kind of breakfast/brunch/tea/snack/dessert cake for this time of year without involving pumpkin spice, peppermint, or eggnog. Don’t get me wrong, I like all three of those flavors (not together, though), but enough is enough is enough. Let’s make some apple fritter bread.

cinnamon, cornstarch, brown sugar, sugar, sour cream, butter, vanilla, apples, flour, confectioners sugar, eggs, nutmeg, salt, milk, baking powder

dice the apples

toss the apples, brown sugar, cinnamon, and cornstarch

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Recipe: homemade almond joy candy

The first full week of December has more than made up for the dismal snowfall of November. Not only have we received decent snowfall, but snow is slated to continue for another week! This is good news for snow lovers as well as our snowpack, which provides our water all year and is responsible for the beautiful streams and wildflowers in summer.

neva’s nose was wiggling all over as she sniffed the snow in the air

it was quite chilly for a few days – neva got bundled into a snuggy blanket

the view from indian peaks chair at our local hill

Our backcountry has a nice layer of snow, but our ski poles hit rocks and dirt at the bottom because we’ve had no base. Hopefully this series of storms will build a good base for the rest of the season. I haven’t been willing to get my skis waxed and tuned until I stopped hitting rocks! Better late than never.

our skin tracks

i spy a baby moose peeking from behind the tree

crazy little neva sports her orange booties and orange ball

happy girl with a stylish snowbeard

I am in full candy making and cookie baking mode over here. It’s a good thing the holidays coincide with the shortest days or I’d be ditching all of my gift-making duties in favor of skiing. As it is, our evenings have been filled with lots of chocolate, sugar, butter, nuts, flour, candied ginger, lemon zest, more chocolate, and piles of dirty dishes. The main recipients of my annual kitchen frenzy are Jeremy’s administrative staff. I’ve been giving them an assortment of homemade treats for almost a decade. Over the years I’ve received feedback on certain cookies such that they have become regulars in the gift bags. But I do try to mix things up a little and introduce a new cookie or confection each year. This year’s newest addition is a homemade Almond Joy, which should really be called a Coconut Joy because the almond is just a small part of it. Anyway, these are easy and delicious and I had to make a second batch because Jeremy looked so sad when I said I had just enough to distribute to recipients.

vanilla extract, chocolate, flaked coconut, powdered sugar, almonds, salt, sweetened condensed milk

There is no cooking involved in these treats except for the toasting of almonds and melting of chocolate. Stir stuff together, mold it into a desired shape, pop a nut on top and dip it in chocolate. That’s how simple it is. Joy‘s version called for unsweetened flaked coconut, but I grabbed sweetened flaked coconut instead. You know what? It worked great. I mean, it’s candy – it’s going to be sweet and you will just have to climb an extra thousand feet of elevation in your skis to burn it off. No big deal.

adding vanilla to the sweetened condensed milk, sugar, and salt

stir in the coconut

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