Springtime Sunshine and Snow

Good morning everyone! Long time no Blog! but here we go... Some pictures from Kauai, some recipes and some knitting project updates :-) Hope every one is having a great week, lots of sunshine!  I am actually trying to type this rather quick because there is a spider lurking around this keyboard somewhere, and it's Freaking me out!

 Here we go!....

Somewhere in Kauai :-)

Kilauea, Kauai Sunset

Outside the Marriot Hotel in Poipu- Jim surfed right of those rocks.

Spicy Tofu Toco's

Salsa:
1/2 onion
1 serano- sliced thin
1/4 orange bell pepper- sliced thin
1/2 med carrot- sliced thin
1/4 cup cilantro leaves
2 large mint leaves
1 lime- juiced
1 Tbs Passion fruit syrup
Salt& pepper
Mix all ingredients together, adjust seasonings to your liking

Tofu:

Banana sauce- jufran
Soy sauce
Mango BBQ sauce- maui jelly factory
Sherry wine vinegar
Salt& pepper
Grill mates- roasted garlic & herb


- even parts- adjust to liking, marinate for at least 4 hours- bake @ 350. For 45min, turning over every 15.
you can also pan sear the tofu, if you prefer-
Serve as tacos on corn tortillas

Every trip Jim and I seem to take comes with a complimentary house cat-

This one was named Henry, and he was huge!

Matt caught a toad for us! and he let it go in the house!-

He didn't hop far though :-)

MORE RECIPES ! 

Roasted garbonzo bean salad

(Sorry no picutre... it's delicious though, I swear!)

2 cans garbonzo beans- rinsed & drained
1 med onion sliced
3 roma tomatoes- quartere
2 cloves garlic- minced
1 medium carrot sliced
2 Tbs green onion- diced
2 Tbs olive oil
1 Tbs smart balace
2 tsp herbs d'provence
salt & pepper
1 tsp garlic & herbs seasoning



Saute onions in smart balance & olive oil unil softened. Add garlic and saute a few minutes more. Place in bowl. Sprinkle carrots with olive oil and seasoning. Broil carrots until softened- 5-7 minutes. Add carrots to bowl. sprinkle chickpeas and tomatoes with olive oil & seasoning- broil until chickpeas are golden, and the tomatoes soften -7-10 minutes- add to bowl. Adjust seasonings and topp with spring onions- serve warm or chilled
 
 

Spicy Onion Chutney

(Again no picture, sorry- this one was gobbled up to fast!)

2 medium onions sliced
2 medium carrots grated
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp mustard seeds
2 Tbs grapeseed oil
1 habanero diced
1/2 cup golden raisins
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
Salt to taste
2 Tbs brown sugar
1 lemon juiced
Zest from one lemon
2tsp balsalmic vinegar reduction
1/2 cup oj



Saute seeds in oil on medium heat until they pop. Add onions and saute until onions soften. Add carrots, raisins & habanero. Add spices- cook for a minute. Mix together remaining ingredients in a small bowl, adjusting tastes to preference. Pour liquid into saucepan- and let simmer on low for 20 minutes, or until thickened- stirring occasionaly. (obviously if you don't want to use a habanero you don't have to, a serrano will work just fine)
 
 

More sunset photos- Hanalei Bay, Kauai

The pier @ Hanalei Bay

The start of the Napali Caost Trail, It's 11 miles one way....

we only hiked in two :-)

Napali Coast Trail- one of the few days it wasn't raining on this side of the island!

View from the St. Regis Princeville... The last day of our trip :-(

We left Kauai, with the beautiful weather and the beautiful surf...

Only to return to Colorado where we were greeted with this.....

Delightful. Plus it snowed for the next 4 days off an on!

Brrrrrrr... what happened to spring?

But on a lighter note, here is the next brew we just bottled.

Big Ben Pale Ale with paradise seed and orange peel..... it tastes yummy :-)

I was super stoked to find this little gem in the free book bin @ the thrift store-

It has some sweet patterns- I have already started making some slippers for jim....

Yes the pattern was for small children or women, but I modified it to fit Jim's size 12 feet--

he thinks there cozy :-) I still have to finish the other one!

But alas, the snow has begun to thaw, (We have had two beautiful days in a row!) and our garden has begun to shine again :-) Time to get stuff done! Jim just took out our back deck, and is going to replace it with a beautiful flagstone patio, and I just went on a cleaning frenzy after watching the TLC show hoarders- (which is a scary scary show about people being burried alive in there own crap- it freaked me out.) But other than that Life is grand, and I wish you all the very very best rest of the week!

I'll leave you with a picture of some of our daffodils... we never seem to be around this time of year to enjoy them!