Cranberry Rosemary Refresher

I have been told by numerous people that the life of a food blogger seems really glamorous. I think sometimes when we see a picture of a beautiful dish, we imagine the chef/photographer standing in their kitchen, leisurely making a delicious meal about to be served to their family, while casually stopping to snap a photograph or two. As a food blogger, I can tell you that this is rarely how it happens. At least, not in my house.

Instead, here's the scene: a rainy Saturday morning.  At home, alone, with two crazy cats. The best light in my house is in my living room, with giant windows that face a main road. There I am, still in my pajamas, standing on a stool above a table to get the best angle as people walk by and shoot me puzzled looks.

Randomly a rogue cranberry falls from the table, inspiring one of my cats to bat it around the living room with all his might. As I'm trying to balance on a stool, ignore the passerbys, and get a decent shot, I knock over the martini glass and spill cranberry juice across my living room.  By now both of my cats are engaged in a cranberry-chasing battle and all of this running has managed to make one of them lose his lunch. Clean-up on aisle five, please?

Nevertheless, I managed to get a decent photograph of an amazing drink that you need to try this holiday season. Whether you leisurely enjoy this at a beautiful dinner with your loved ones, or simply use it as a reward for cat clean-up duty, I promise that it will energize your taste buds while flooding your body with nutrients.

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Spiced Orange Cranberry Sauce

I understand that Thanksgiving is over. I know that it's time to move on from lentil loaves, mashed potatoes, and roasted yams. My brain is on board with this. But, my tastebuds? That's a different story.

I made this spiced orange cranberry sauce this year for Thanksgiving and have been indulging myself every day since. I've had this sauce over lentils, spread this on toast, and eaten it after dinner for dessert. If this keeps up, by New Years you might have to send me to cranberry rehab.

In my defense, it's important for you to know that this isn't any ordinary cranberry sauce. This one isn't overly sweet or loaded with refined white sugars like the typical canned cranberry sauce of my youth. Instead, it is sweetened with a few dates and spiced up with ginger, fresh oranges, and zest.

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Chia Agua Fresca

I am not one of those gals that enjoys clothes shopping.  In fact, it downright stresses me out.  What basics do you need in your closet?  How do you figure out your size?  What is the heck is the difference between flared and boot cut jeans?  Do shoes that look nice, don't hurt your feet, and are waterproof even exist?  

The nice thing about summer is that I tend to do well with bright colored tops, capris, and sandals.  This is a winning combination in my book.  And if I lived somewhere where these things could be worn year-round I would probably be a much more fashionable person.

My talent lies in the kitchen.  I can stock a kitchen pantry like nobody's business.  I can take random bits from your fridge and create a meal any day.  And I can always take some produce just-past-its-prime and turn it into something incredible.

The inspiration behind this week's chia agua fresca is that I just needed a way to use up half a watermelon.  Done and done. And delicious.

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Winter Citrus Salad

Consider this salad your reward.  Your reward for surviving a hard week filled with a late-night trip to the animal hospital, three sleepless nights in a row, some not-so-great medical news about your cat, and lots of worrying. This salad is for you, stressed-out mama.  So put your feet up.  It's the weekend and you deserve this.

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Watermelon Mint Popsicles

Is it too late for me to tempt you with a popsicle?  I have a feeling that it may already be past popsicle season... as leaves sweep across my front porch and rain pounds the pavement, I fear that you might pass up these beautiful creations for a warm cup of tea.  But as long as these are sitting in my freezer I'm going to pretend that the summer sun is still shining, watermelon is still in season, and neon blue nail polish is perfectly acceptable.  Just let me have this moment.

Today all of my biking from this summer paid off as I rode the Cycle The WAVE (Women Against Violence Everywhere) in Issaquah.  Cycle The WAVE is a non-competitive women's ride meant to inspire awareness and hope for domestic violence victims.  This year's proceeds will support the Eastside Domestic Violence Program, DAWN, and New Beginnings. 

This ride was really important to me because I spent eight years of my life doing anti-violence awareness and recovery work with women.  The best statistics we have suggest that one out of every three women will be abused at some point in her life, whether that is emotionally, mentally, and/or physically. However, given my experience, I would say that statistic is actually closer to one out of two.  I find it incredible how many people and families are affected by domestic violence and, yet, many of us still struggle to recognize it in our own homes.  My hope is that the more that people become aware of what violence is, the more that we can help to spread awareness and end the cycle together.




I originally signed up for the 42-mile route, but the past two weeks I've been having some severe knee pain while riding and running.  Everyone keeps telling me I'm "doing everything right" (i.e. rest days, ice, stretching, strength training, cross training, getting new shoes, having my bike fitted, wearing supportive knee braces, etc), yet, I haven't been able to get the pain to go away.  Three days ago I saw my doc and she ruled out any long bike rides until the pain got better.  

I was really disappointed after training all summer, but in the end I had to do what was best for my body. Instead of riding 42 miles, I rode the "Little Sister" route of 12 miles.  Even though I was a little emotional about it before the ride, by the time I got out on the road I was just grateful to be able to ride at all.  

For anyone interested in being part of a ride for the first time, I would definitely recommend Cycle The WAVE.   Everyone was super nice and the "Little Sister" route was mostly flat road with one big hill towards the end.  One of my favorite parts of the ride was actually the hill because they had signs along the road with inspirational messages.  It sure helped me to feel motivated to make it to the top!  

I also felt pretty motivated to finish knowing that I had these tasty treats waiting for me at home.  These popsicles taste like a frozen agua fresca and you can even throw in a squeeze of lime if you'd like.  I preferred to rely on the sweetness of the watermelon, but you can always sweeten these up a bit more for your taste buds.  These are the prefect way to end a day of cycling, use up your last watermelon of the season, and celebrate the beginning of another.

Watermelon Mint Popsicles
Makes 6 (depending on the size of your mold)

4 cups of seedless watermelon, rind removed, chopped
1/4 cup fresh mint leaves
Sweetener of your choice (optional)

Blend watermelon in a blender until liquified.  (Depending on your blender, you may have to add a tablespoon of water or so to get it going.  If you cut the watermelon into smaller chunks it is easier to blend without liquid.)  Add the mint and pulse until leaves are incorporated into the liquid, but not completely blended.  Add sweetener of your choice (if using).

Pour the mixture into your popsicle molds and freeze overnight.

Summertime Sparkling Fruit Slushie

Should I start with some good news or bad?

Today I found myself Googling "When does summer end in 2011?"  And there is was, staring me in the face:  September 23rd.

The doomsday is approaching us, people.

The bright side of this is that we all have three weeks to get out there and live it up before we have to part ways with sun, sandals, and summer salads.  Oh how I'll miss the salads.

The other piece of good news is that I discovered one of the most refreshing and delicious drinks I've had all summer.

What's been keeping you hydrated this season?  Besides good, old-fashioned agua, I've been a huge fan of iced chamomile tea, fresh coconut water, fresh vegetable juice, and green smoothies.  Last summer I kept my freezer stocked with these little goodies, but I've been a little lax in my popsicle-making duties this year.  So, when you're in a pinch and you have to have a tasty cold little treat, the slushie becomes your next best friend.

Slushies traditionally involve crushed ice, water, and some flavored syrup.  This slushie is a much healthier version that uses fresh fruit and a little agave for sweetness.  And, the best part:  it can literally be made in less than one minute!

This is the perfect drink for summertime because you get to experiment with all of the wonderful fresh fruit we have in season right now: cherries, peaches, nectarines, apricots, blackberries, raspberries, blueberries... yum.  I used a mixture of lapin cherries and blackberries in this particular slushy, but I absolutely adore a mix of peaches and cherries.

Summertime Sparkling Fruit Slushie
Serves 2

2 cups ice cubes
1 cup fresh or frozen fruit
16 ounces sparkling water
Juice from 1/2 lemon
1  Tablespoon agave nectar (or more to taste)

Pulse ice in blender until pebble-sized.  Add fruit and continue to pulse until it reaches a slushy texture.  (You want the ice and fruit to be crushed, but you don't want it to be melted into water.)  Add sparkling water, lemon juice, and agave nectar.  Stir and serve.