ive always wanted to have a garden.
when we first got to austin we bought 5 really beautiful pots (along with our chiminea) at Miguel's imports. but it wasnt until yesturday that we actually planted anything in them. we stopped by a local garden nursery and bought some winter flowers, agave, hot peppers and some seeds. my friend adam gave us some seeds also for a house warming present (upon my request) and i had planted the basil and dill seeds awhile ago. the basil sprouted quickly and died shortly after but just to be safe i moved the pot from the kitchen to the railing outside to see any of the seeds survived. surely enough one sprouted! the dill did really well and i definitely over planted the tiny pot i put them in. so yesturday i replanted a bunch of the sprouts into individual tiny plastic pots to see if they will keep growing now that they have more room. also i planted about 9 arugala seeds in individual pots to get them started. hopefully its not to late for them. next to them on the railing is a baby cactus, a tomato plant, a replant of the pepper plant, more dill and last but not least- a bull skull that stephanie found on her way to her soccer game 2 weeks ago. so its a good start to hopefully a future of gardening, once we have a big yard. im hoping to learn a lot more about when things are in season and what thrives in shade, what needs full sun, etc. i like this.

bouldin creek coffee

Karina's Maple Meatloaf

1 3/4 lbs. organic grass fed free-range ground turkey
1 small sweet or red onion, peeled
1 medium to large organic carrot, washed and trimmed
4-5 cloves fresh peeled garlic
1/4 cup pure maple syrup
1/4 cup Muir Glen or Annie's Ketchup
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
2 organic free-range happy eggs- or omit for egg-free
1 scant cup (gluten-free) rolled oats, or your favorite gluten-free bread crumbs
A pinch of nutmeg
A pinch of allspice
A pinch of mild curry
A pinch of cinnamon
Sea salt and pepper, to taste

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Put the ground grass fed beef into a large bowl and using a fork or spoon, break it apart it a bit.

Roughly chop the onion and carrot into same sized chunks and place them into a food processor; add the garlic cloves; pulse until the veggies are uniformly diced- fine- not too chunky; add them to the meat. Toss lightly with a spoon or fork to quickly distribute the veggies. Add the maple syrup, ketchup, balsamic vinegar, eggs (if using), oatmeal or crumbs, and spices. Mix it all up- but try not to over-mix it into mush (over-mixing makes for a dense loaf).

If the mixture is too dry at this point, add a little more ketchup. If it's feels too wet, add more crumbs. You want a nice stick-together balance. Very ying-yang.

Spoon the meatloaf mixture into a standard size loaf pan and firmly press into place, smoothing and rounding the top of the loaf so that the sides are lower than the edge of the loaf pan (you don't want the glaze spilling over the sides later on).

Bake in a pre-heated oven for 45 minutes.

http://glutenfreegoddess.blogspot.com/

it was time

'pause permanently'

i had my first visitors! two of my bests. and we did our best to show them some of our fav spots but there wasnt much time since we spent most of the weekend going to funfunfun fest. but as always we had a great time together! jenna, shannon and i are living in 3 different states right now and we rarely get to see each other, but every time we do it is like we have never been apart. they are the type of friends where they travel half way across the country to see me and it is ok to just sit around the house and talk, without the pressure of feeling like you have to always be doing something. thats one of the many reasons i love them so much. im glad that they can now picture my new life here.

prosecco sunset

mt bonnell
the highest point in austin

the first lighting of our chiminea

apple pie with crumble topping

-Apple Filling
* 7 medium apples, peeled, cored and very thinly sliced. Use mildly sweet to tart very crisp apple (such as Granny Smith, Braeburn, Cortlands)
* 1/2 cup sugar
* 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
* 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
* 1/4 teaspoon salt

-Crumble Topping
* 3/4 cup light brown sugar
* 3/4 cup gluten-free flour (See above)
* 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
* 1/3 cup butter, chilled & cut into small pieces

1. In a large bowl mix apples, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt.
2. Set aside and let the juices mix.

***Crumble Topping Instructions***.

3. In small bowl mix together brown sugar, GF flour and nutmeg.
4. Next mix in the chilled butter and cut it in with a fork or other tool until you have a course crumbly mixture.

5. ***Assembling your Pie***.
6. Preheat oven to 400°F.
7. Spoon apples in to GF pie crust, mounding in the middle and pouring the sugary juices over top.
8. Sprinkle your Crumble Topping all over the top (use it all).
9. Use tin foil to cover edges of crust as it will burn easily.
10. Bake for approximately 35 minutes, topping will be lightly browned and filling will be bubbly.
11. Let cool for at least an hour before serving.

http://www.recipezaar.com/

frida and kahlo