Pure

Raw beauty.  It's what I like best.  

People, food, pigments.  The purity of these gifts from nature before they are altered by our hands, machines, chemicals, and more.  

Step back and behold these rare untouched moments. 

The unconditional love of a person's heart, a genuine smile from a stranger, the sound of your beloved's voice.  Pure goodness of people.

Juice from a fresh-squeezed orange, the crunch of a raw carrot, and a lip-pucker from a slice of lemon.  Pure tastes of real food.

Vibrant color, minerals that shine, stones that sparkle.  Pure pigments which color our world.

Purity is precious.  Seek it.

Quinoa with Carrots & Cabbage ~

I'm on a mission to use what I have on hand and not let food go to waste.  In doing so, I rummaged through our fridge and came up with carrots, cabbage and arugula.  Quinoa is always sitting pretty in a jar, and my little family never turns a nose up at this delicious seed-like healthy substance.  Instead of cooking the carrots and cabbage, I chose to dice them up and add them raw to the cooked quinoa.  I'm a fan of raw vegetables...the crunch and taste is as pure as you can get.  And when it came to tossing in a flavorful dressing, I kept that at a 'raw' minimum too.  With a lemon and garlic on hand {must-have winter essentials}, I knew olive oil would be my binding ingredient, and for an extra kick, a few tablespoons of shoyu sneaked in.  This is a really simple and easy recipe, and you could substitute most raw vegetables to your liking.  

Quinoa with Carrots & Cabbage

serves 4

1 cup of cooked quinoa

 1 1/2 cups of chopped carrots

1 1/2 cups of red/purple cabbage chopped

2 cups of arugula

sea salt to taste

Dressing:

1 clove of garlic minced or crushed

1 lemon {juiced}

4 Tablespoons olive oil

2-3 Tablespoons shoyu

In a large bowl, mix quinoa, carrots and carrots.  Add sea salt to taste. Whisk together all ingredients of the dressing, mix and toss with quinoa and vegetables.  Either blanket bottom of bowl with large handful of arugula or add arugula to mix just before serving. 

[Reverie-Daydream Images] 

Winter in the Wine Country ~

About 90 days after the first autumn rains, mustard begins to push through the vineyard soils to beautifully embellish the resting Winter vines.  This dormant stage in the grapevines is very important to the vineyard health and performance in the upcoming season.  

Throughout January and February, severe winter pruning takes place on all the vines.  The Mustard Season is one of the most beautiful times of the year in the Wine Country.  Its golden blooms blanket the floor of the soundly sleeping vines, and as the sun shines, the landscape glows in a daydreaming brilliance. The rainy season will provide nourishment to the terroir promising a Spring of bud break and phenomenal wines to come. 

This is Winter in the Wine Country ~ a time for rest and renewal with a sparkle of gold.

A Simple Comfort Food ~

We all have our chosen comfort foods.  The recipes we go to when we need to feel all warm and cozy inside, cheer our bellies and soothe our minds.  Banana Bread does it for me.  A warm slice with butter and a cup of hot tea underneath a wise old walnut tree was the perfect treat on a sunny winter afternoon. 

Banana Bread

{adapted from Sophie Dahl}

5 1/2 tablespoons of soft unsalted butter

4 ripe bananas

3/4 cup of light brown sugar

1 egg

1 tablespoon of vanilla extract

1 teaspoon of baking soda

1 pinch of salt

1 1/2 cups of spelt flour

1/2 cup coconut flakes

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

1/4 cup dark chocolate bits {or chips}

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease a 9x5-inch pan.

Mash bananas in a big mixing bowl.  Add the butter, sugar, egg and vanilla extract and mix together with bananas.  Add the baking soda, salt and flour.  Mix well.  Stir in coconut, walnuts and chocolate last.  Pour into the prepared pan.  Bake for 1 hour, remove, cool for 5-10 minutes, then serve.

[Reverie-Daydream Images]