Burnt Walnut Carrot Cake

Written by Andrew- Posted by Laura

This light and fluffy cake would be a great addition to any Easter dinner.


4 large carrots 
2 cups cake flour 
3/4 tsp. baking powder (this is for high altitude, use 2 tsp baking powder and soda at sea level)
3/4 tsp. baking soda 
1 tsp. salt 
1 1/2  tsp. cinnamon 

1/2 tsp. nutmeg

1/2 tsp. allspice

1 1/2 cups sugar 
4 eggs 
1 1/4 cups canola oil 

Grated zest of 1 orange 

Generous amount of vanilla to taste

1 cup walnuts, chopped and then cooked with 1/4 cup sugar until the sugar is melted and the walnuts taste slightly burned 

For the cream cheese frosting: 

1/4 cup butter

12 oz. (1 1/2 packages) cream cheese, at room temperature 

 powered sugar and vanilla to taste

Grate carrots and set aside, then sight the ingredients in order from the flour through the allspice into a medium bowl.  In another bowl mix the sugar through the vanilla.  Beat in the carrots, then fold in the dry ingredients until almost combined, then add 1/2 cup of the walnuts and fold until combined.  Pour into a greased 13" x 9" pan.  Bake at 350 F for 25-30 minutes at high altitude or 35-40 at sea level.  After cake has cooled, spread the mixed frosting onto it and top with remaining walnuts.

Eat lots. 

Green Smoothies in Mason Jars

It works!
I recently saw on pinterest that you can just use a mason jar with your blender so I decided to give it a shot.


Todays smothie consisted of 1/2 green apple, a small mango, some frozen papaya, as much spinach I could stuff into the spaces, and a dash of frozen OJ.

A delicious single serving of green smoothie! It's a bit messy though :)

Honey Cloud Pancakes with Blueberry Syrup

Today I decided to make breakfast in bed for Andrew, but ended up making so much noise that he got up and ultimately started to help.

First I started with a blueberry syrup

1.5 cups of blueberries
1 cup sugar (I would prefer honey, but AJ likes sugar)
3tbs lime juice (you can use lemon too)
1/3 cup water

Bring blueberries to a boil and then let simmer on low until it thickens a bit.

Simply jar the rest!

Now for the Honey Cloud Pancakes, it has a nice ring to it huh?

• 1 large egg and 1 egg white
• 1/4 cup of warmed milk
• 1/4 cup of flour (plain will do, I used 00)
• 1 pinch of salt
• 2 teaspoons of honey
• 1 dash of vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon of butter
• Soft fruits
• Honey

How to make them:

1. Heat the oven to a little below 400
2. Heat a small 6″ oven proof frying pan
3. In one bowl whisk one egg white until it is white and peaky
4. To make the main batter, in another bowl, mix the the other whole egg with flour, salt, honey, and vanilla then whisk in the warm milk
5. Gently fold the egg white into the batter with a metal spoon
6. Melt one tablespoon of butter in the hot pan
7. Pour the batter in and cook on the hob for a few minutes until starting to set at the very edge
8. Sprinkle some fruit on top if you wish, we decided not to 'cause of the syrup we made.
9. Bake the whole lot in the hot oven for 7 minutes until puffed up and golden
10. Drizzle with honey

I started off with the flour and egg...

Then I freaked out! I've never seen a gross bloody egg before. Andrew insisted we used it but as he was reading something online about how it's perfectly fine and edible I was flushing the thing. 

It pretty much went downhill from there...

 I think I added too much honey.

 It tasted really good- because of the blueberry syrup.

Then I made a meme on indesign! 

I like to think I'm a good cook, but somedays I just don't flow in the kitchen. 

Besos! 

-Lalo

New Year's Resolution

Mix more lemonades.

Like Kiwi Lemonade!

Banana Ginger Ice Cream

Of all the ice creams I've made so far, this one is by far Kirsten's favorite, so it's probably one that I will be making again and again. Also, as far as ice cream goes, it's a really simple recipe.

Banana Ginger Ice Cream


1 Can evaporated milk
1 pint cream
1/2 C sugar
2 very ripe bananas
1.5 Tbs vanilla (this is a lot of vanilla, but I love vanilla)
2 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground cinnamon
dash of clove
dash of sea salt

1. Mix the milk, cream, and sugar until the sugar dissolves.
2. Mix in the bananas. Use a hand blender or mixer to incorporate the bananas into the mixture.
3. Mix in all other ingredients.
4. Transfer to ice cream maker and follow instructions.

And then you have some most excellent banana spice ice cream! You can also use pumpkin, about one cup, to replace the banana, but the banana flavor is stronger. If you use the pumpkin, add a bit more sugar, less ginger and more cinnamon.

Sauteed Apples and Onions with Shrimp

One crazy night, I thought of the idea of sauteing apples. Then I googled it and realized that lots of people do it all the time, and that it is not, really that crazy of an idea. Which is good for me because it means I am not crazy.

Any how, here is my take on sauteed apples (which are delicious) and onions together, making apple more of a savory dish than a sweet one.

Sauteed Apples and Onions with Shrimp
Slice apples, cut them horizontally against the core rather than with the core to get the pretty star pattern (though regular sliced apples would be fine.)  Use a crisp and sweet variety, like Honeycrisp or Gala, or maybe even granny smith. Mushy apples or mild/bland ones won't do you much good here.

Chopped onions, generously sliced for larger pieces.

Salt and Pepper to taste.

Fresh parsley, for some nice, mild flavor.

Add a dash of vinegar.

There are any combinations of spices and herbs you could use here for delicious flavor, just remember that the apples and onions together will be pretty sweet, even if the dish is savory.

Saute in olive oil until the apples and onions are both soft, but not soggy.

Remove the mixture from the pan, leaving just a few onions and apples in the pan, then cook whatever meat or sauce you want to go with the apples and onions. I mixed in some shrimp, cooking them in the pan to let them get the flavor of the apples and onions, then tossed them all together once it was done.

Delicious.

Sweet Potato (or Acorn Squash) and Pear Soup

My friend Monique gave us some recipe books when she was cleaning out her closets last year, and one of the books that she gave us was Veggie Food, edited by Kay Scarlett. Because I love soups, I was excited to find that there is a whole section of veggie soups, lots of which are rich and creamy. There are several chilled soups, which I want to explore, but so far the favorite in our house has been the Sweet Potato and Pear soup, which I've adapted here, to use with sweet potatoes or acorn squash.

Sweet Potato (or Acorn Squash) and Pear Soup
1 Tbs butter
1 sweet white onion, medium-small to medium (larger if you like lots of onion flavor)
6-7 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed,
       or 2 medium acorn squashes, roasted and peeled. Might also use a large butter nut.
3-4 firm pears
4 C vegetable or chicken stock
1 C cream
Black Pepper to taste
A pinch of cinnamon and/or nutmeg if you're feeling adventurous

-Saute the onions in butter
-Add the cubed potato or squash, cook for 2-3 minutes
-Add the cubed pears
-Add the stock, bring to a boil then cook an additional 20 minutes, or until potato/squash are soft.
-Using a hand blender, or by transferring the soup by batches to a stand blender, puree the soup.
-Just before serving, add the cream.  (I actually only add about 3/4 C cream, but I think I prefer less cream in soup than the average person.)
-Salt and pepper to taste. (maybe a pinch of salt, but I like a generous amount of black pepper.)



Kirsten tells me that she prefers the soup with the squash, but I liked the potato iteration better. They were both really good. You could make this basic soup with lots of firm, winter vegetables: almost all of the winter squashes will work, potato, yams, etc. It is a rich, creamy soup that is great for cold days. We served it with a side of sauteed veggies and some hearty whole wheat bread to round it all out.