Colorado hiking, wildflowers and a Blueberry-Lemon Cornmeal Cake

To me, hiking and Colorado are synonymous.   It’s my favorite activity during summer trips.  Easy as it seems, for us Texans it’s not something we can dive into upon arrival.  We sea-levelers fight altitude sickness and a serious lack of oxygen that has us panting and gasping for air every few feet we rise further from the sea.  

My all-time favorite Colorado hike was a few years ago when we started off at the Smiths’ cabin at Pearl Lakes, near Creede.  Led by resident Eagle Scout, Ralph Smith, we hiked for four hours until we reached the rocky summit of Finger Mesa - a rise of over 2,000 feet!  At the time, favorite Son was working on his Camping merit badge (on his way to Eagle) and one of the requirements was a hike such as that.  Challenging at every vertical step, we traversed beautiful valleys and rocky wind-swept fields, and soon realized that objects were always a lot further than they appeared!  Just when we thought we were at the summit, another valley or steep slope presented itself as a challenge. 

The payoff was worth every altitude-induced headache:  the vista was an unobstructed 360 degrees of mountain ranges and peaks for miles and miles in the distance.

Alex and Teague appraising the scenery

This year, we came across this tiny stream (pictured at the top).  It is so much prettier in reality.  My friend, Stacey, thinks that the picture would make a great jigsaw puzzle because when we’re not hiking, fishing or playing darts, we’re putting together 1,000 (tiny) piece puzzles.   Would you like to try matching the leaves, flowers and grasses of that one, Barbara?

Stacey, Barbara and Emilia working on puzzle #3

Back to hiking…..During our hikes, we stumble upon so many lovely wildflowers and of course, I have to photograph just about every one of them (brace yourselves for a slew of pictures taken by this amateur!).  Great variations in altitude (3,500’ to almost 15,000’ above sea level), climate, and terrain allow for a plethora of flora.  Early in July, we went for days without seeing the state flower and finally found these two Colorado Columbines behind Castle Rock:

King’s Crown blooms

 Elkslip Marshmarigold growing in a tiny creek over 10,000 feet above sea level

  Wild Iris

 Rachel and Emilia taking a break from the climb near Castle Rock

We walked through an aspen stand (it felt like we were being watched!)

Early morning dew

If you get up early enough, you might see a shaggy-coated mule deer behind the cabin

Baby pine cones 

Alpine Wallflower

Silky Phacelia

Geum triflorum, purple avens, or simply ‘old man’s whiskers’

And then there are the controversial four-wheelers, only for when a hike would be too long…right!   I’m not a big fan of the noisemakers and even the slightest tilt makes me feel like I’m falling off (a daredevil I am not).  But they did afford me a trip up the ridge to a most beautiful lake:

Black Lake

Karley led me to Black Lake.  She’s the cutest teenager and when I asked her to slow down on the way back because I am not a speed demon and I wanted to take a few pictures, she casually put her left hand on her waist and we cruised back.

I made a Blueberry-Lemon Cornmeal Cake before I left Houston and it travelled well over two days in the car.  I believe the time spent sealed in a tin allowed the cake to become very moist, and the tartness of the lemon and sweetness of the blueberries to blend beautifully.  Next time I’ll try it with fresh cranberries for an über tart cake!

Blueberry-Lemon Cornmeal Cake   adapted from Fine Cooking, September 2006

1⅓ cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1/4 cup finely ground yellow cornmeal (I used Goya’s Harina de Maiz)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs

zest of 1 lemon
juice of 1 lemon, or about 2 tablespoons
1/2 cup buttermilk
1½ cups fresh blueberries, rinsed and dried

Preheat oven to 350° F.   Lightly butter the bottom and sides of a 9 x 2-inch round springform cake pan.  Line the bottom with a parchment round cut to fit the pan.  Lightly flour the sides, and tap out the excess.
In a medium bowl, combine the flour, cornmeal, baking powder, baking soda, and salt until blended.  In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or with a hand mixer), beat the butter and sugar.  Add eggs, one at a time, beating well until the batter is smooth and fluffy, about 3 min.  Add the lemon zest and lemon juice (the batter may appear curdled; don’t worry).
On slow speed, fold in half of the dry ingredients, then the buttermilk, and then the remaining dry ingredients until just combined.  Do not overbeat the batter.
Scoop about half of the batter into the prepared pan.  Spread with a spatula until even.  Spoon blueberries in a single layer on the batter in the pan.  Scrape the rest of the batter on top of the blueberries and spread evenly.  Bake in the preheated oven.  After 35 minutes, test the cake for doneness with a cake tester or toothpick.  If it comes out clean, it’s done. 
Let the cake cool on a rack for 15 min.  Remove side ring of the springform and cool completely.  Carefully invert the cake and peel the parchment off the bottom.  Flip it over onto a serving plate.  Dust with confectioner’s sugar or ice with my Cream Cheese Icing, if desired.  Serves 8-10.

Prijatno!

A Spring Fling with the Darling Bakers!

My favorite time of year is Spring.   It’s a short season in Texas, and we spend as many evenings outside before the 90’s are upon us – that’s temperature and humidity, and voracious mosquitoes!   It’s time to admire the wildflowers, in particular the bluebonnets that line our highways and carpet the landscape.  The pictures above and below were taken by the lake in my neighborhood. 

I can’t resist the profusion of color and aromas that seem to appear overnight in our garden.  The grass is suddenly greener, the crepe myrtles leaf out quietly and the azalea bushes are a burst of color, alas, for only a couple of weeks.   Let’s see what’s blooming in my garden this Spring.

Here are blooms from our Formosa azalea:

The delicate flowers of the African Iris plant dangles upon long stems:

This Firecracker plant lives up to it’s name:

The Mexican flame vine attracts bees, butterflies and birds.  This makes Husbie very happy!   He plants native species in order to attract small, interesting critters around the yard.

A busy bee on the Meyer lemon blossoms.  It didn’t take long, did it?

A Monarch butterfly caterpillar chilling on the Plumeria:

A variety of vegetables and herbs, now planted in the garden.  This makes moi very happy!

 A fig lover’s delight!  Makes moi so happy I can hardly bear it!

Mexican (Key) lime blossoms – I know what you’re thinking!

The elegant Calla Lily:

Cat’s whiskers!

And finally, a fabulous Knockout rosebush that blooms all year and never fails to impress:

I am honored to belong to a group of lovely ladies called the ‘Darling Bakers’.   I’ve been getting to know them on another website, and boy are they a talented and interesting lot.  Our theme this month is ‘Spring Fling’.

One of the things I look forward to in the Spring is fresh, ripe, sweet strawberries.  For this occasion, I would like to share with you my recipe for Muesli, which includes a healthy portion of them.

Years ago, when I first moved to Houston, I enjoyed muesli at Marshall-Field’s department store in the Galleria.  A German woman who worked in the little cafe made it and she called it Birchmuesli.  I tried to coax the recipe out of her but all she offered were vague instructions on how to prepare it.  I immediately began experimenting, and my latest version is right on!  I’ve included variations for you to experiment with.

This recipe makes a healthy and delicious breakfast.  It combines raw oats with crushed pineapple, nuts and fresh fruit.  You can adjust the proportions to suit your taste.  Begin the night before you plan to eat it. 

Muesli

Serves 2

1 cup raw oats (not minute or instant)

1 8-ounce can crushed pineapple in it’s own juice (you will use the pineapple and the juice)

2-4 tablespoons plump raisins, cranberries, dried blueberries, dried cherries, or a combination.

2-4 tablespoons cream, half and half, milk or yoghurt.  The cream will make it rich and creamy – go for it!

2 teaspoons brown sugar (or honey), optional

1/4 cup chopped pecans, walnuts or almonds, toasted

fresh fruit of your choice, cut into bite-sized pieces - strawberries, blueberries, apples, bananas, peaches, raspberries, blackberries

The night before you plan to eat the muesli, combine the oats, crushed pineapple and its juice, and dried berries in a bowl until well mixed.  Cover and refrigerate overnight.

The next morning add the cream, half and half, milk or yoghurt to loosen the mixture.  It should be easy to stir but not too thin.  Add the sugar (optional), chopped nuts and fresh fruit.  Enjoy!

Prijatno!

TWD Berry Surprise Cake and an Inauguration!

This is a short post today because I’ve been distracted by the Inauguration. Who was Michelle Obama wearing?  A sparkling Isabel Toledo creation in my favorite color – yellow!   We have a new President and first family and I wish them well. 

Today’s Tuesdays With Dorie recipe, Berry Surprise Cake from Dorie Greenspan’s book Baking, From My Home To Yours, was chosen by Mary Ann of Meet Me in the Kitchen.  My DSN (dearest sweetest neighbor) Carolina and I decided to combine our efforts for this one, and we baked two smaller cakes using only one recipe.  She did the math using the well-known kitchen formula: pie are squared! and the 5” and 6.5” round pans combined  were close enough in area to the specified 8” pan.

We had heard from other TWD bakers about the cake falling in the middle.  To prevent this we added 2 tablespoons of meringue powder with the flour.  It’s a new nifty tip for me and our cakes held their height quite well once they cooled.

A hole was cut out in the centre and we liberally doused it with simple syrup spiked with cherry liqueur.  The cream cheese filling was not very sweet, but was complemented by the sweet whipped cream topping.  Carolina was lucky to find decent raspberries and blueberries at this time of year and they added to the elegant presentation.  This cake would make any occasion special.  Try it!

 

Here’s a photo I entered in the CLICK! The Photo Event 

for January, 2009.  The theme is RED!

Berry Surprise!

Prijatno!