Our Big News and Yummy Blueberry Bliss Shake

At last Spring has sprung! Yippee! The lovely vibrant green of fresh new leaves and grass can be spotted everywhere, flowers are blooming and the joyful sound of birds singing fills the air. This season speaks of renewal and changes and these are manifesting particularly strongly in our lives at the moment.

For one thing we will soon be moving from the cabin to our friends' property where we will be camping for the coming months. And so we've been busy packing our (thankfully few) possessions and dropping a couple of truck loads off.  I'm certainly glad we don't own very much, as moving is never fun. 

Photoland
A few weeks ago we took the plunge and invested in a professional camera. Woo hoo! I suppose it's no big secret that I love photography; although I've never had any formal training I seem to be able to recognize a good shot when I see one. I come from a family of professional photographers and film makers so perhaps some of their talent has rubbed off on me? Anyhoo, I've been feeling increasingly limited by our point and shoot camera, especially after seeing the beautiful food pics that Don's niece Jaime took for my recipe books with her Canon Rebel.

Don, ever the researcher, took on the project of learning about digital SLRs. He must have spent 2 solid weeks researching the best ones out there. In fact he has written a post on Raw Freedom Community with details of his findings here in case you're interested. We wanted a camera that would give better pic definition, had good macro capability for the food closeups, and was easy to handle.It also needed to stand the test of time as we don't intend to look again for many years, and allow us to grow into it as we learn and improve our skill. While the Rebel T3i - my initial favorite - ended up as one of the top finalists, we finally opted for the new Sony Alpha a57.

It will certainly take some time to figure out how to make the most of all of the camera's nifty features, however the automatic functions already yield photos of amazing quality. Promises some exciting photographic creative time ahead!

Here's some shots taken with our new Sony a57...

I'm particularly thrilled at the prospect of being able to take better macro shots; a must for Nature and food pics.

 

Of course Miss Pu had to come see what I was up to. hehe

Flowers & Fur

She's such a cutie, especially now that she's shed some of her winter weight.

 A good camera turns the most 'ordinary' looking flower into the true art piece that it really is.

Perfect, a little visitor just showed up!

Brand new leaves unfolding

More gorgeous purple flowers...

The beautiful Slocan Lake across from the cabin.

I'm fascinated by its water's stunning turquoise color that can be glimpsed in places. You can sorta see it towards the bottom right corner of this next photo.

 

The following pics were taken in the provincial park located just a few meters away from where we live.

 

The first day that it's warm enough for me to wear a skirt! Yay!

Another cool and unique feature of the Sony a57 is the ability to automatically create portraits. All you have to do is shoot the subject and the camera does all the appropriate calculations and cropping. Technology, eh?

Mr. Donnie looking very serious indeed. ;-)

Oh and here's me taking my very first food shot.

 

A Home of Our Own
But our biggest (quite literally! lol) news is that we have finally found a new home on wheels!!! *doing the ecstatic dance*

Given our nomadic lifestyle, last summer we came to the conclusion that it would make our lives a great deal easier if we had a vehicle more suitable for living 'on the road'. So we started to comb ads both on the internet and in local papers for a used RV - or Raw Vee as we came to refer to it. ;-) By fall we still hadn't found anything suitable in our price range so we put the search on hold and rented a cabin for the winter. As soon as the snow was melted, though, Don was back on duty in our quest for the right RV.

About 10 days ago as I was lying on the porch soaking up the sunshine Don yelled to me: "Carm, I think I've found it!" There was an ad for a 1996 27' fifth wheel with a slide on the Spokane Craig's List that looked very promising. Spokane is only about a 4 hour drive from here so it was actually closer than some parts of BC where we were looking. Still, when you find a really good deal you usually have to move fast before someone else snatches it. The guy we talked to was kind enough to agree to hold the RV for us for a couple of days until we could get there.

It's definitely an oldie and wasn't in as good a condition as we'd been led to believe, but it's nothing that a little TLC can't take care of. On the positive side it meant that we were able to considerably bring down the price and it didn't have to undergo federal and provincial inspections. And so, after stocking up in frozen fruits at Trader's Joe's (don't you just love that store!?!), we headed back to Canada the next day with our new home in tow. Donnie was a little nervous, not having towed a large trailer like this before and with a new truck, but the trip went very smoothly.

We had our first picnic by a lovely lake about an hour north of Spokane.

 

Here's a look at the other side of the trailer. As Don pointed out, it does look better in pics than in real life as you can't really see the signs of wear in detail. ;-)

I can't tell you how thrilling the prospect of living in our new Raw Vee is for us!!! To think that we no longer will have to pack and unpack at every stop, set up our tent, carry water, prep food outside come rain, shine or mosquito cloud... Such sheer luxury is almost too hard to fathom! I guess it won't fully hit me until we are officially moved in.

We pretty much just dropped the fifth wheel off on our friends' land and headed back to the cabin, so I won't be able to give you a proper take of the inside until we're settled in, but you can at least have a peak at the sleeping area. Surprisingly the previous owner left the bedding and duvet - a nice touch - so we were able to sleep in it overnight before taking the journey back.

But enough of all that, time to talk food!

I'll leave you on a scrumptious note with a delicious smoothie inspired by the Strawberry Banana Shake in my Deliciously Raw book. I love love this tasty velvety drink and never get tired of concocting new variations of it.

Blueberry Bliss Shake

Serves 2

2 cups almond milk
2 medium frozen bananas
2 cups blueberries, fresh or frozen
1/3 cup young coconut meat
1/4 cup soft dates
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract or liquid vanilla
2 tablespoons lucuma
½ ice cubes
Water, as needed

Process all ingredients in a high power blender until smooth and creamy, adding water until the desired consistency is reached.

If necessary, adjust sweetness by adding raw agave nectar or honey and blending again briefly. 

Enjoy!

Have a fab weekend everyone!

Donnie is turning 64 on Sunday so I'll do my best to whip up something yummy in spite of the fact that all my fancy dessert molds and specialty products are already packed up and gone. Ooops, guess I've had too much on my mind lately! ;-)

A Little Update and Sundried Tomato and Olive Cheeze Recipe

Hi guys! *waving*

Spring has arrived at last to our corner of the world! Yippee! I was surprised to see the snow (including the 7 some feet bank right by the deck!) completely disappear in a matter of just a few days. We have a long rain spell as well as some much welcomed sunshine to thank for that. Several streams have formed by the side of the road we live on, carrying the melted snow into the Slocan river. I love the sound of gushing water... so peaceful!

 

For the first time yesterday I noticed buds coming out, unmistakable signs of Nature's awakening. Woo hoo!

A few ducks happened to bob along the river at the exact moment I took this shot. See them?

Here's a closer look at those little guys. I'm amazed by how lovely and clear the river is; you can literally see the rocks at the bottom. We are so very blessed!

Views of the snowy mountains as we make our way back to the cabin.

Furry Tale
As I mentioned briefly in my previous post, we sure miss our dear furry friend Kylo. I get super excited whenever I encounter a dog on our walks, especially large ones, which I guess is another tell-tale sign of the grieving process. It's so hard to shake off the feeling that our little family is incomplete. Ah well, nothing to do but feel the pain of his absence and ride it out.

Needless to say that all of our attention is now turned on our other furry companion, Miss Da Puss. She's loving those extra cuddles (can you ever get enough?), although it took her several weeks to adjust from the shift brought about by Kyky's departure and my coming home. She's now back to her sweet self, sleeping close to us at night and jumping on our laps as soon as we settle down somewhere.

We've learned that animals seem to go through different behavioral phases. For a while, when the temps were cooler, she got into the habit of scratching at the covers so that she could crawl underneath. First she would completely disappear under the duvet, then we'd wake up later to see her head sticking out and resting on the pillow. Sooooooo cute!

 

Two very sleepy (and cozy!) girls

 

Don and I always joke about the fact that she's a "heat seeking missile." lol  She loves to hang out (sometime seeming dangerously!) close to the wood stove and is notorious for jumping on our seats the moment we get up to take advantage of their precious warmth.

Darn, she just stole my knitting spot again!

 

She, of course, has a great fondness for warm laps too. She often joins me while I'm knitting, as not only does she get a sublimely comfy bed but there's the added treat of having a wool project - in this case a cabled sweater I'm making for Don - sit on top of her as well. Sheer bliss!

We always shake our heads in wonder at how relaxed she can be and sleep in just about any position. hehe

It's all very well to be 'paralyzed' when you're busy doing something, but what happens when you're done? I have to admit that, after all these years, I still have a hard time disrupting Pu' from the comforts of my lap. At least there's always meditation... ;-)

In my Knitting Corner

As I've mentioned before, I have recently picked up my knitting needles again after several years. I'm so enjoying this quiet and meditative craft! I don't intend to blog per se about my knitted creations but I thought I'd at least share the finished results in case you're interested. Detailed info about my projects can be found on my Ravelry account.

A lovely lacy and bell sleeve sweater called Niobe

Mythos: a cardigan made with a super clever construction. I just love love the fabric created by the variegated yarn!

I was finally able to replace my go-to acrylic hat with a handmade merino wool one! Yay! This is the Milanese Lace Topper which was such a fun knit!

 

Pu' giving me a paw with the hat's blocking. She does have a soft spot for lying on wet clothes for some reason.

In my Sunny Kitchen
And up last is a quick look at what's been happening in our (sunny - yeah!) kitchen. Actually, for the most part we've been keeping our meals rather simple; crackers and cheeze, Tostadas, Miso Soup, lightly steamed veggies like cauliflower, broccoli and Brussel sprouts that we otherwise don't really raw... Sometimes we just have a couple of raw soups for dinner.

We did have a 'D Day' (that's 'Dehydrator Day' in case you're new to the Sunny Raw Kitchen) during which Don and I filled up our 9 tray Excalibur in record time. (I'm soooooo grateful to have a kitchen assistant; it makes such a world of difference!) We made Sprouted Corn Chips, a double batch of Onion Bread which has remained a staple for us over the years, and Garlic Bread - Russell James' beyond generous recent offering to the raw community which became instantly a house favorite.

Since we doubled the recipe for the Garlic Bread I was careful to divide the ingredients so as to do two separate batches in the food processor. In that way I was hoping not to have to finish mixing the batter by hand, which I suspected increased the contact of the mixture with air and contributed to giving the dehydrated bread a dark color in some places.

I altered Russell's recipe slightly by replacing 1/4 cup of young coconut flesh with zucchini and 1/4 cup of the psyllium husks with ground flax. I think it prevents the slight slimy texture his had.

Don is so thrilled to have finally found a good raw alternative to bread that he insisted on forming some of the loaves himself! lol

 

The two loaves that I shaped turned darker brown while the color of Don's remained intact. They were made in the exact same way, so go figure! I guess the mystery is not meant to be solved... *shrugs* If you look closely you can see the difference in shade between the two sets of bread. Thankfully the discoloration (seen in the furthest loaves) doesn't affect the flavor at all, but it certainly doesn't look as appealing.

 

Things continue to be uneventful in the sweet department. I'm still in a mostly nut-less phase so that eliminates a lot of the raw dessert possibilities. There's always chocolate candy, though, and we've been slowly munching our way through the beyond delicious Chocolate Coconut Haystacks I made for Easter.  Once I also whipped up the Lemon Meringue Pie from Sweet Gratitude which I made in my mini-cheesecake pans. The recipe only calls for a bit of cashews in the Meringue Topping and otherwise uses Irish moss, young coconut meat and coconut oil to provide firmness. In keeping the amount of nuts to a minimum I made the macadamia-coconut crust super thin.

My nut consumption has been pretty much limited to the occasional almond milk and Cultured Cheeze. Our vegan cheeze of choice, however, has been the ingenious formula created by Jo Stepaniak, author of The Ultimate Uncheese Cookbook. These cheezes rely predominantly on agar agar to give solidity to the mixture and use as little as 1/2 cup of cashews per batch (as opposed to 2 cups for the same amount of Cultured Cheeze.) A definite go-to recipe for the low fat conscious.

We've been making the Onion, Dill & Horseradish Cheeze and the Gouda Cheeze variations in the past and they are both phenomenal. I decided however to get a little creative while still using the same basic recipe. The result was the following Sundried Tomato and Olive Cheeze which I must say I am particularly happy with. Not only is it super flavor-full but it's also very pretty. You can enjoy it on your favorite cracker or bread, grated on top of salad or as a component to a stunning pizza like we had last night.

Sundried Tomato and Olive Cheeze

1 1/2 cups water
1 1/2 tbs agar powder
1/2 cup cashews
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
3 tbs lemon juice
2 tbs tahini (or sesame seeds)
1 tbs onion powder
2 tsps Dijon or prepared mustard
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp dry mustard
1/4 tsp salt
---
2 tsps Penzey's Spices Bonnes Herbes (chive, dill, basil, tarragon, chervil and white pepper) or your favorite herb blend
3 kalamata olives, finely chopped
10 thin slices of sun-dried tomato, finely chopped (not re-hydrated)

Set aside a 2 cup plastic storage container.

In a blender add the cashews, nutritional yeast, lemon juice, tahini, Dijon and dry mustards, onion powder, and garlic powder.

Combine water and agar in a small pan and  bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer, stirring often until completely dissolved, about 5 to 10 minutes.

Add mixture to the other ingredients in the blender and process until completely smooth, scraping down the sides of the blender jar as necessary. 

Transfer to a bowl and fold in the Bonne Herbes or herb blend of your choice, diced kalamata olives and sundried tomatoes and mix by hand.

Pour into container and cool uncovered in the refrigerator.

When completely cool, cover and chill several hours.  (I usually serve it after 1 hour or so).

To serve, turn out of the container and slice.

Store covered in refrigerator.  Will keep 5 to 7 days.

Enjoy! 

Last night's feast: Herb Pizza Crusts topped with grated Sundried Tomato and Olive Cheeze and marinated mushrooms, spinach, red pepper and green onion.

Omni Blender April Giveaway Promo
Oh and a quick reminder that you have just about one week left to take advantage of Thomas Fox's Omni Blender April 2012 Give-Away Promo. You can find out all the juicy details here.