guns & curry

Whoa - so having two sets of guests within two days of each other makes life busy! My brother and his girlfriend pulled in late Tuesday night after driving all day (from Texas) and we've been catching up since! Seriously great to have them in town, but it leaves little time for anything else!

So let's go back a few days. Saturday, when Greg and Christina were still here, we headed out to the Y bright and early for a game of raquetball (Nic, Greg, Christina) and some lovely time cross-training (Kier). After that and a quick lunch of homemade veggie pizza (YUM!) we headed out to the shooting range so the boys could play with their toys.

Nic and Greg were excited to teach Christina how to shoot (it was her first time) and I sat back, took photos and kept the crazy pup away from all the action.


Getting the basics



Learning how to aim (and how to keep your eyes open while you pull the trigger - yeah, there is totally a reason why I remained behind the camera lens instead of a gun barrell!)



Ready...aim....fire!





They also tried to teach Christina how to throw a clay pigeon. It took a few tries....





And a few different techniques...



But she finally got it!





Hey - those things are tricky!  I've tried a few times and have given up all hope.

The weather was deceivingly beautiful and although the boys could have stayed out there a lot longer, it was really cold and we were ready to head back to the house to make supper.









Confession: While Nic and Greg were shooting, and while Christina was trying to master the pigeon thrower, I was paging through my new "How to Cook Everything Vegetarian" cookbook for an inspiration for dinner.

Yep - total dork.

But, no one could complain, because they enjoyed one of the best curries that has ever been made in the PS household!

I was inspired by the squash curry recipe since I randomly had a butternut squash - but then of course I added a lot of this and a lot of that and ultimately ended up with my own thing.

Butternut Squash Curry



In the mix::

• 1 small butternut squash - peeled and cut into 1 inch cubes
• 1/2 onion - diced
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1 jalepeno - diced (seeds and ribs left in or removed depending on how spicy you like things)
• 2 carrots - peeled and cut into 1 inch pieces
• 2 parsnips - peeled and cut into 1 inch pieces
• 6 oz mushrooms - rinsed and sliced
• 1 inch fresh ginger - peeled and diced
• 2 T canola oil
• 1 can plus 3/4 cup coconut milk (I used both regular and lite)
• 1 cup veggie stock
• 3 T curry powder
• 1/4 t cinnamon
• 1/8 t nutmeg
• 1/3 cup raisins

In a large skillet over medium heat, heat the oil and then add the onion, garlic and jalepeno. Saute until onion begins to soften. Add the curry powder and ginger and saute 1 minute. Add the squash, carrots, parsnips, mushrooms, ginger, coconut milk, stock, cinnamon and nutmeg. Cover and simmer until veggies are tender, stirring occasionally. Test for seasoning. Add raisins and simmer 2 more minutes.

Serve over brown rice, pour yourself a glass of white wine, and enjoy!

This was amazing curry. Eight thumbs WAY up and Nic and I were secretly praying that Greg and Christina would leave before lunch so we could hoard all of the left overs!

We followed up the meal with vegan brownies (that we totally topped with full fat dairy ice cream!) but that recipe needs to be tweaked before I share it.  It was a winner - the entire pan was polished off in 2 days.

Lots more great recipes coming your way - especially the vegan lasagna that we had for dinner tonight.  Another eight thumbs WAY up!

weekend visitors

This weekend Nic's best friend, Greg, and his girlfriend, Christina, made the trek down south to visit.  We had a seriously jammed packed weekend full of conversation, wine, beer, racquet-balling, guns, food & documentaries.



Greg, Nic and myself go all the way back to high school where we all rocked out the back of the bus clique on the nordic ski team.  Yep, we were cool!

Greg is the world traveler out of the three of us and Nic and I work really hard to visit him wherever he goes.  We've made it to Alaska - about the tamest place he's been.  Since, he has lived in India and Kenya.


Getting ready to embark on a three day, 36 mile (or maybe it was just 20 some miles...) backpacking trip in Alaska.

The four of us go "way-back" and even began a tradition of getting together for a yearly camping extravaganza.  Okay...so we only have met up once a few years ago, but I know that it is a tradition that will pick right back up as soon as they stop traveling the globe.

Look at us young kids!


The first (and only) annual S-E camping extravaganza in Okoboji, Iowa

Thankfully Greg and Christina, being the world travelers that they are, are not picky eaters at all - and were totally down with vegan/vegetarian fare that I concocted today and yesterday.  I experimented quite a bit and have a few good to awesome recipes that are worth remembering and including into our monthly meal rotation.

We all rolled out of bed quite late on Sunday morning, thanks to daylight savings time and the copious amounts of wine, beer and whiskey we drank last night. Actually, I was up early, being the good hostess that I am, baking up a storm before the guests stirred their weary heads. Before I set a toe on our chilly floors, Nic informed me that the coffee was ready to go and all I had to do was hit start, and then promptly rolled over and went back to sleep.  What a saint!

For breakfast/brunch I baked up loaded muffins and an awesome feta, olive & mushroom quiche. Both recipes are keepers.

Loaded Muffins


These cinnamon spiced muffins are studded with apples, raisins, coconut and carrots. With no butter and very little oil, these are a dense muffins that are perfect start to a lazy weekend morning when paired with a hot cup of coffee!


In the mix::

• 4 T ground flax
• 4 T warm water
• 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
• 1 cup old fashioned oats
• 1/2 t salt
• 2 t cinnamon
• 1/4 t nutmeg
• 1/4 t ground ginger
• 1/2 t baking powder
• 1/4 t baking soda
• 1 cup coconut
• 1/2 cup raisins
• 1/2 cup chopped nuts
• 1.5 bananas - mashed
• 1 apple - diced
• 2 carrots - grated
• 1/2 cup honey (or maple syrup)
• 1 T molasses
• 1 t vanilla
• 1/2 t almond extract
• 1 T canola oil
• 3/4 cup lite coconut milk (or other milk)

Pre-heat oven to 350*

In a small bowl, mix 2 tablespoons of the flax with 4 tablespoons warm water.  Set aside.

In a large bowl, mix the remaining 2 tablespoons flax with the dry ingredients (flour, oats, salt, spices, baking powder and soda, coconut, raisins, and nuts).

In a small bowl, combine wet ingredients (mashed banana, apple, carrots, honey, molasses, vanilla, almond, oil and coconut milk). Stir in your flax "egg."

Fold wet ingredients into the dry mixture. Do not overmix.

Pour batter into a muffin tin (I had enough batter for 16 muffins).

Bake at 350 for 30-35 minutes.



Check that out! Seriously dense and every single bit is loaded with great flavors!

Feta, Mushroom & Olive Quiche with a Quick Oatmeal Crust


A lovely combination inspired by the flavors of Greece! The olives and feta provide a nice salty bite and make this quiche one to remember - even for the husband, a self proclaimed hater of quiche!

This was a last minute addition to our morning brunch as I was expecting Nic to create some of his awesome weekend eggs + potato hash dish again. But when he did not roll out to the dining room until nearly 9:00 (or was it 10??!), I knew I needed to dish up a heartier brunch for both him and our guests.

In the mix::

• 1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour
• 3/4 cup oatmeal
• pinch salt
• 1 T olive oil
• 4-5 T almond milk (or other milk)
• 1/2 onion - chopped
• 1 clove garlic - minced
• 5 baby bella mushrooms - chopped
• 1 very large handful spinach - chopped
• 8 eggs
• 1/2 cup almond milk
• 10 kalamata olives - pitted and chopped
• 1/3 block of feta cheese (about 1/2 cup)

Pre-heat oven to 350*

In a bowl, mix flour, oats and salt. Add olive oil and 4-5 tablespoons of almond milk, mixing until it begins coming together. I used my hands and stopped adding the milk while the mixture was still a bit crumbly.

Press dough into a greased pie plate and bake at 350* until slightly browned.

Meanwhile, over medium heat, lightly coat a pan with olive oil and saute onion, garlic, and mushrooms until soft. Add spinach and saute until it just begins to wilt.  Remove from heat and set aside.

In a large bowl, beat eggs with almond milk.  Stir in onion and spinach mixture and then fold in the olives.

Crumble the feta over the partially baked pie crust.  Pour egg mixture into the pie crust and return to the oven for 35-40 minutes, or until middle is slightly jiggly and edges are browned.



I love love love having the cheese on the bottom of quiche.  I find that when you mix the cheese into the egg mixture, you tend to lose the taste and sometimes when you top the quiche with cheese it can get overly browned.

The crust, while simple, is awesome.  Crunchy oats, whole wheat flour and no butter = amazing!  I'd take a guess that you could probably omit the olive oil and it would be just as tasty!

Sadly, all good weekends must come to an end.  After sitting around the dining room table for a few hours over coffee, bags were packed and our guests were ready to hit the road.  We all caravanned up to Iowa City to grab a farewell drink (water for most of us!) and a light lunch.

It was seriously a great weekend and Greg and Christina were instructed to sing the praises of Iowa when they return to Minnesota to try to get a few more of our friends down here for a visit!!

I'll have to recap Saturday in a different post.  Be ready as it will be an interesting one including stories of racquetballing, shooting, beer, wine and quite possibly one of the best curries that I have ever eaten.