Articles by Colleen

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See It

The present moment is filled with joy and happiness. If you are attentive, you will see it.

Thich Nhat Hanh

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marigold
zinnia
orange horned poppy
prickly poppy buffet
rabbit brush
morning glory
hawk
visitor

The final garden hurrah is upon us, with a cold snap to arrive by the end of the week. It was a challenging summer: the deaths of two beloved children, a horrible job left, a knee injury, a surgery, and wretched COVID. We are ready to move forward, to welcome the frost and snow. A new season to begin again. Cheers to that!

Eye Candy

A perfect Sunday morning at Cheyenne Mountain State Park. Only a select few trails are open to dogs, but since my surgical wounds linger, and we are not fully recovered from COVID (so close!), we didn’t need a terribly long hike before feeling tired. Worth it, still. How lovely to have spirits lifted by the beauty of nature.

No Barriers

Love recognizes no barriers. It jumps hurdles, leaps fences, penetrates walls to arrive at its destination full of hope.

Maya Angelou

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Since I have been feeling kind of poorly for nearly a month, I have not done much in the kitchen. We’ve eaten a lot of cereal, grabbed meals at the grocery, and made a few fast food runs. On better days, there’s been salad and vegetables dipped in home made ranch, with handfuls of dried apricots and cherries.

I am still a library regular and love checking out new cookbooks. I found a very Colleen-style on my most recent trip, Snackable Bakes, which are pretty quick and easy. I was craving cupcakes and whipped up a small batch of vegan chocolate. I topped them with the marshmallow frosting in the book, and WOW! Super buttery yum.

White miso and mirin cod. Simply delicious.

Another craving, this time for alfredo sauce. I doubled down and made the pasta, too. And since poblanos are in season, I topped it with a fresh roasted. There were some sweet sighs at the lunch table!

Finally, another milk! Greg and I use our almond milk pretty much exclusively for coffee. We prefer the flavor, and it takes effort to make, so we want it to last. Pictured above is our cashew and rice blend. It comes together super quickly, doesn’t need to be strained, and is our go-to for cereal. Like the almond, it is super creamy and doesn’t separate. Here’s the recipe if you’d like to try it. It is easy to scale up, with a ratio of 1 part nut/rice to eight parts water.

1/4 cup raw cashews

2 tablespoons white rice (I’ve never tried brown)

filtered water

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon xanthan gum

To a large, high-speed blender jar, add the cashews, rice, and salt. Add 1.5 cups boiling water. Let sit for a minute or two, which kills bacteria and softens everything up. Blend on high for one minute. If you want to use it for cereal, or something else on the cold side, right away, add 1.5 cups ice water. If you can wait, use filtered water. Blend on high for another minute. Add the xanthan gum and blend on the lowest setting for one minute. Store in a sterilized glass container, and use within a week.

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