End of summer

Summer has come to an end here in Denver and the weather is cooling down. This summer I very much enjoyed cold drinks of all varieties. I'm normally a hot drink person, even in the summer, but the pregnancy tipped my preferences towards cold drinks. I wanted to share a quick recipe for iced coffee that I found and loved this summer. I've never been an iced coffee person (more of a hot black coffee with nothing added type), but this one hit the spot for me.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup fresh ground coffee
2 cups cold water

How to:
Put the coffee grounds and water into a french press. Do not push down on the press. Put the french press into the refrigerator and let sit for 12 hours (I let it sit overnight), then press down. When you are ready to drink, mix one part coffee concentrate with one part milk (I use soymilk). Add ice, and enjoy!

I found that doing it this way takes longer than using hot water and adding ice, but prevents the acidity, giving way to a smooth taste.

This year's menu

We put the finishing touches on our Thanksgiving menu tonight! This year we're having a few friends over for dinner. There is a nice combination of repeats from last year and new recipes we're trying:

Turkey (12 lb Bowman Landes turkey from Weilands)
Apple-pecan cornbread stuffing
Gravy
Roasted purple yams
Green bean salad with almonds
Pumpkin pie

Friends are bringing:

Mashed potatoes
Cranberry sauce
Wine

I'm excited! W is handling everything except the salad, which is my job for the night. ;)

W's Birthday Weekend

Hubby turned 32 this weekend.  My mom sent a package with some gifts for him and this bag for me.  You can fold up the bag real small, button up the eyes, and stick it in your purse.  Thanks Mom!

For W's birthday we went to the zoo.  I had planned on doing a food truck adventure but in the end, being the animal lover that he is, he wanted to see the animals.  My favorite were the penguins:

I must say that we were pretty impressed with the zoo here. Having been to the Lincoln Park Zoo (Chicago) in June and the LA Zoo in July, we thought the Columbus Zoo animals were much more lively, and the zoo was set up really well.  We topped it off with dinner at our favorite vegetarian Indian restaurant.

On Sunday we had dinner with his co-worker and her fiance at their home.  It was delicious:

The menu was cous-cous (with lamb, goat cheese and dried cranberries), asparagus, kabocha squash, and a salad we brought.  This salad is becoming one of our favorites.  I had it once at our friend Karen's home back in Chicago. Here's my adapted version:

red leaf lettuce

watercress

beets

garabanzo beans

red onions

anjou pear

avocado

heart of palm

{served with Brianna's poppyseed dressing}

hobakjuk recipe

i don't remember the last time i posted a recipe. or if i ever posted one myself.

i finally made hobakjuk on monday night. although i do have butternut squash, both my mom and will's mom said to use kabocha squash, so i did.

i adapted a recipe from maangchi. you can watch her video if my recipe confuses you.

ingredients:

for the juk -

1 kabocha squash

water

honey to taste

salt to taste

for the dduk -

1 cup sweet rice flour

1/2 cup boiling water

dash of salt

process:

juk -

1. cut the squash into smaller pieces (i cut it in half 3 times lengthwise to make 8 pieces).
2. put squash pieces in a large pot, pour 3 cups of water into it, and steam over medium heat for about 30-40 minutes.
3. when flesh is soft, spoon it out into a pot. throw away the rinds. add water (about 6-8 cups) and boil.
4. add honey and salt to taste.

dduk (optional)-

1. while squash is boiling the first time, make the dduk. boil some water.
2. add 1/2 cup boiling water to the sweet rice flour. mix with a wooden spoon, and then knead with hands into one big piece of dough. wrap in plastic and let sit for 20 minutes.
3. put 2 TBS of sweet rice flour in a bowl. then take pieces of the dough and roll them into little balls (a bit larger than a jellybean). put them in the bowl with the sweet rice flour (so as not to stick to each other). keep the big dough wrapped in plastic so as not to dry it out.
4. after the squash has boiled the second time (without rinds), add the dduk balls. the balls are ready when they have inflated from original size.

a couple of notes:

• we didn't add very much honey or salt because the squash itself is so flavorful.
• the dduk is a bit labor-intensive. i read somewhere that it's easier to just cut up the dduk used in dukbokki and put it in the porridge. i made extra balls and froze them for easier use next time. although it took time to do it, i thought it added a lot to the juk.

good luck!

homemade yogurt

i made my own yogurt! i am never going back to store bought yogurt. it's much cheaper to make your own. and it tastes reeaaallly good. and it is very easy (although i messed up the first time). and i'm happy that i no longer have to feel guilty about accumulating those plastic containers.

i got the recipe from larissa (surprise, surprise). if it seems like i get all my recipes from her, it's because i do! try it and see for yourself.

baking

i tried larissa's pumpkin chocolate chip cookie recipe and granola recipe over the last few weeks.  both were good, especially the granola one.  i don't think i can go back to buying granola after this.  it is so much fresher when you bake it yourself!  will and i could really tell the difference.

i'm already getting ideas for ways to mix up the recipe.  next time i'm going to use vanilla instead of almond extract, raisins instead of currants, honey powder instead of brown sugar, and whole wheat oats instead of regular oats.  also, i did use agave nectar instead of maple syrup last time, and it worked out great.  

although there were some "start-up" costs to the recipe (flax seeds wheat germ, extract) i think making it myself is going to save money in the long run.

i like larissa's recipes because they are pretty simple and doable without any crazy ingredients.  thanks larissa!

also, another health note:  in addition to drinking 8 cups of water every day, i'm trying to intake 5 servings of fresh fruit and vegetables every day too.  right now i think i'm averaging 5-6 cups and 3-4 servings.

live strong

we don't have many friends here, but whenever i post, i keep referring to them as "friends". our closest friends here are will's best man and his wife. i will call them "R" and "E" from now on.

anyways, E told me about lance armstrong's health website last week. it's called livestrong. E goes on there daily and takes one thing from it. it can be a bit overwhelming, but i've been making an effort to go on a few times a week.

for example, i always knew that olive oil is the healthiest oil to cook with. but i learned today that it's really good for you, and great for your skin! but there was one thing i didn't get. they say:

Ingesting about 3 tsp of olive oil each day will help to keep your skin strong and supple, but it can also be used topically to prevent and reduce wrinkles as well as combat acne.

does that mean to cook with olive oil and ingest it, or straight up ingest it? maybe i can dip bread into it.

will and i are generally pretty healthy. we eat lots of produce, cook a lot and don't like processed foods. but i've been inspired to continue to be healthy, both through this website, and also fellow blogger friend larissa, who blogs about health frequently. she resolved to drink 8 cups of water each day in the new year. i've been trying to do that.

and i also want to try her homemade granola recipe soon. it's one of our staples and it would be great if i could make it at home regularly. we'll see how i do.