What is lefse?  According to Wikipedia…

Lefse is a traditional soft, Norwegian flatbread. Lefse is made out of potato, milk or cream (or sometimes lard) and flour, and cooked on a griddle.

Traditionally, my family spreads butter on the lefse and then sprinkles cinnamon sugar, and rolls it up before noshing down.  There are, of course, many other ways to eat lefse, but this is by far my favorite.

The problem with lefse?  The inclusion of both cream and butter in the recipe my mother had…  So what is a girl with a dairy allergy to do?!  IMPROVISE!  And guess what?!

On our first attempt at ever making lefse, my mom and I got the dairy free version to work! – And no one could tell it was dairy free!  It took her a while to get me the recipe, but she finally did, and I couldn’t think of anything better to do than share it with all of you – and all the dairy free/vegan folk out there!

So, here goes nothing.

A “New” Norwegian Lefse (vegan!)

• 3 pounds of russet potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
• a bit of Earth Balance (1-2 tbsp)
• a bit of almond milk

Per 5 cups riced potatoes (you should have about 10 cups from the above)

• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tsp sugar
• a bit of almond milk
• 4 Tbsp of soy cream
• 2 cups flour

Peel and cut the potatoes into chunks.  Boil in water until the pieces can be pierced with a fork easily.  Then drain.  Mash them with a little Earth Balance and almond milk.  — This is really what my great great grandmother’s recipe calls for – ‘a little bit.’  As such, my mom and I added like a 1/4 cup of almond milk and 1-2 Tbsp of Earth Balance.  It’s a little bit of trial and error.

Then cover the mashed potatoes with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.  The next day, rice the potatoes. 

(its just as hard as it looks.  my mom’s arms – and mine – got a workout)

Then take 5 cups of rice potatoes, slightly packed, and add the soy cream, salt, sugar and flour.  Mix till well blended – this CANNOT be over mixed!

Turn on lefse griddle to 450-475.  Then shape into balls that aren’t too sticky (the WHOLE recipe will make about 14-15 balls, or 14-15 lefse).  If the kitchen is hot, keep in the fridge, in a covered bowl (otherwise keep covered on the counter).

(The lefse griddle – I’m pretty sure most Norwegian/Swedish families have one…somewhere in the depths of an attic or basement.)

Roll out each ball on a covered board with covered rolling pin, adding flour to prevent sticking.  The goal is to get the lefse as thin as possible without it tearing or sticking to the covered board.

(Momma hard at work!)

Lift with a wooden lefse stick onto the hot lefse griddle (450-475 degrees), and bake first side until the bottom has some brown spots and the lefse begins to bubble.  Flip with the lefse stick and bake on the other side. 

Remove, and fold in half and lay between the folds of a towel to cool, adding each lefse to the towel as its done.  As the lefse begin to cool, place in a second towel to completely cool – the towels are important as they help keep the lefse from drying out.

When completely cool, fold into thirds or quarters and wrap well in plastic wrap.  Refrigerate or freeze (if you freeze, make sure to keep them in ziplocs).

Then enjoy as a snack or with a meal!

What traditional foods from your heritage do you love making for holidays or every day enjoyment?  Are there any you really want to learn how to make?  Next on my list?  My family’s Swedish meatballs….

What I haven’t done yet?  Run back-to-back weekends of half marathons.  So, when the opportunity presented itself this spring, I jumped on it.  On April 1 I will be running the Santa Cruz Half Marathon and April 8, the San Francisco US Other Half Marathon.

This new back-to-back racing has me a little nervous, so I’ve ditched my usual “make-it-up-as-I-go” training plan and adopted my HM2FER training plan:

This is still a rough draft, and I’m a little afraid I have too many actual running miles on here – but I really wanted to have an 11 mile and 12 mile back-to-back weekend of training to get a feel for how its going to be with two half marathons in the same manner.

Thoughts?  Suggestions?  Some of my runs will be speed intervals, involve hill climbs (training requirement for SF), and of course this is subject to change (and I’m sure I’ll have a few rest days added in besides my yoga days), but I like the idea of having a plan, and so I’m definitely going to try to stick to it (though some days running may turn into elliptical/crosstrainer miles if my knee acts up).

So, without further ado, I’m off to body pump to get started on week one!

Have you used training plans before?  If so, have any suggestions for me?  I looked a little at a few online, but found that they were a little running intensive for someone like me who has had a few knee surgeries and errs on the side of caution when it comes to protecting my joints.

At Foodbuzz Fest 2011, we had Bonny Doon Vineyard wine at the Friday night cocktail hour.  I love their Ca de Albarino, the crisp, fruity, fresh taste.  I’m not a huge white wine fan, but this one is definitely a favorite of mine.  After tweeting about their delicious wines, I got in contact with one of their sales reps, who set me up with a complimentary tasting at their tasting room here in Santa Cruz.

So, at the end of last quarter, on a ridiculously beautiful sunny winter day in December, I headed to the tasting room to try out some of their other wines.

Walking in to the tasting room, I was blown away by the décor – it was gorgeous, comfortable and most of the furnishings were from the wood of old wine barrells and bottles.

The tasting started off with a couple of white wines.  First up was the 2009 Sparkling Moscato.  I’m usually not a Moscato fan, but this one was delicious.  It wasn’t too sweet, it was nice, crisp and a little bubbly.  Highly recommended for a Moscato. 

The second wine I tasted was the 2009 DEWN Grenache Blanc.  It’s a fruity wine, tasting like citrus, almond, honey and green melon.  The wine connoisseur suggested that it had a very buttery after taste – which it definitely did, and I loved.  I actually loved it so much that I bought a bottle to bring home to my family for Christmas.

The third wine I tried was a red wine.  Specifically, the 2007 Syrah “Alamo Creek.”  It is a dark, meaty wine with a peppery taste.  It wasn’t my favorite wine, it was a little too tart, but I could see the appeal to some.

The next wine I tried was the 2008 Cunning.  This is one of Bonny Doon’s most popular wines, and I definitely understand why.  I LOVED it – and brought a bottle of this to my parents as well.  It had a nice mixture of fruity/cherry flavors with wild spice.  It was such a smooth wine, with no tart aftertaste lingering.  Definitely recommend this one.

The next wine I tried was 2007 Le Cigare Volant.  It had a fruity, herbal and earthy taste along with a little pepper.  It was very good, but a more youthful wine, and I think after a few years it wouldn’t be so sharp tasting.

Next up was the Ca de Albarino (I requested a tasting of this since their 2010 just came out, but they only had the previously tasted 2009 on hand).  It was just as good as I last remembered, but I just wish I had had some hummus to go along with it, like we did at Foodbuzz.

The last wine I tried was a dessert wine, the 2010 Mourvedre “Mon Doux.”  For a dessert wine, it wasn’t too overly sweet, but I definitely couldn’t have more than a small glass.  This wine is made from the raisinated parts of the grapes, resulting in a very sweet, kind of thick, wine that tastes like dried plum, fig, and cherry.  I thought it would be delicious drizzled over a little icecream.  Or over a chocolate cake…

Overall, I loved my experience at Bonny Doon, and hope to return there for another tasting when my family is in town this spring. 

If you want more information about Bonny Doon Vineyard, or how to order their wines, check out their website, or follow them on Twitter!

*My tasting was comped by Bonny Doon, but the opinions are 100% mine.

(1) I ran the 100th Anniversary Bay to Breakers (and walked back through it, and forwards again…covering 19+ miles in one day in costume)

(2) I ran my first triathlon on my 25th birthday – and placed first in my age class!

(3) I placed 3rd in my age class in three other races — Coyote Hills 5k, Half Moon Bay International Marathon, and the Alameda Turkey Trot 10k (11/24/2011).

(4) I PRed in the 5k (12/25/2012), half marathon, and marathon

*This was in Minnesota in late December…I think that deserves extra points for not freezing off my California-spoiled ass.

(4) I finished 10 races in 2011

This was a year of firsts for me, and it has definitely helped me shape my new fitness goals for 2012.  I’ve learned a lot about myself, and that I love a good challenge Some are pretty ambitious, but I love challenge.

2012 Fitness Goals

(1) Run 4 half marathons
(2) Run a sub-4 marathon
(3) Do a Sprint-Olympic triathlon weekend
(4) Complete a HIM
(5) Do 5 unassisted pull-ups
(6) Do an adventure-type race (Tough Mudder, Urbanathlon, etc)
(7) Improve rock climbing – advance to a V2/V3 in bouldering and up to a 5.10/5.11 in climbing.
(8) Track miles run

How did you stack up in 2011?  What are your 2012 fitness goals?

This year for Christmas, as a graduate student, I was a little strapped for cash.  As such, I was searching for creative gifts that everyone I was planning on gifts would love.  Due to my great love of food, I settled on one I know I do well: nut butter.

The problem was determining what kind of nut butter.  I love my Almond Joy Nut Butter, but know a lot of people aren’t coconut fans.  I finally settled on the main ingredient of maple, but knew something else needed to be added.  I tried a few different combinations, and finally settled on maple, vanilla and cinnamon.  And thus I created:

Roasted Maple Cinnamon Vanilla Almond Butter

• 3 cups almonds
• 3 tbsp maple syrup
• 1 1/2 tbsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1-3 tbsp grapeseed oil
• pinch of coarse salt

Preheat oven to 375.  Line a cookie sheet (with edges) with parchment paper or use a baking mat.  Put the almonds on the baking sheet and pour maple syrup over.  Mix up until the almonds are coated.  Bake for 15-20 minutes until the sugars start to crystalize.  Stir every 5-7 minutes to prevent burning.

Let almonds cool.  Pour vanilla, cinnamon, salt and grapeseed oil into the food processor (you need a 6 cup + food processor, a mini one will not work). 

Once the almond have cooled for about 30 minutes, add into the almonds.

Food process for about 10-15 minutes.  After about five minutes, you’ll have a powder-like consistency.

Once the nut butter is ready, it should be very creamy, and spread/pour fairly easily.  Once its reached the desired consistency, sterilize your ball jars and lids (you don’t need new lids as you will not be canning them.

Let cool completely in the jars, then cover with lids and store in the cupboard or fridge.  In the cupboard the nut butter will last 3-4 weeks (with certainty of not going bad), in the fridge it will last up to 3 months (though mine definitely did not…).

Enjoy!

Do you make gifts for your friends and family?  If so, what have you made & for what occasion?  Or do you tend to buy?

Sorry for the absence, but post-Thanksgiving led right into finals, and its been a whirlwind few weeks since then.  I literally didn’t have a chance to sit down and take a breath until yesterday – and then all I really wanted to do was sleep.

I made it through the fall quarter of my second year of classes!  I came out partially scathed, but I’m alive and ready for a nice long break (filled with lots of paper writing) with adventures taking me through Minnesota, New York and Chicago!  I can’t wait to travel again – its been faaaar too long!

I’m off to the airport here soon to start the first leg of my trip!   So, while I’m flying through the air to the frozen tundra, I thought I’d leave you with this delicious recipe that my friend Lydia and I snagged from our friend Kat, and that we currently have stewing in our cupboards, ready to drink in the new year!

Cranberry Liqueur

• 16 oz cranberries (we used frozen)
• 1 1/2 cups vodka (we used ever clear)
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 3/4 cup water
• 1/2 lime peel
• 1/4 orange peel
• 1 stick cinnamon
• 1/8 tsp ground allspice

Food process the cranberries until its the consistency of grits (small bits).  Then, place in a 1 1/2 liter jar with a screw top lid.  Use a zester to get the zest of a 1/2 lime and 1/4 orange.  add to the cranberries.  Then, add the cinnamon stick and allspice. 

In a sauce pan, lightly boil the sugar and water for about 10 minutes, or until it comes to be a syrupy consistency.  Then add the sugar water (aka simple syrup) to the jar and the vodka.  Then put on the lid and seal the jar.

Then, for the next month, store the jar in the cupboard or on the counter, and make sure to shake up the jar at least 1x per day.  This is important to help infuse the liquor.

After a month, pour the mixture through a cheese cloth into another jar/container.  Then use a funnel to pour the liqueur into a pretty jar.  I haven’t done this yet (ours will be done in January) – but I’ll show you the finished product when we’re done!

This recipe can be easily doubled, tripled or quadrupled, and when put into fancy bottles can make great gifts!  (If ours had been done in time, I would’ve gifted it for Christmas this year – instead, I’ve got another great recipe I’m going to make this week for gifts to share with you soon!)

 Have you ever made edible or drinkable gifts before?  If so, what?  (Feel free to share recipes!) I’ve made cookies in a jar before, as well at chocolate and mint dipped spoons for hot cocoa – a great fun party favor as well!

I started the day off with a turkey trot in Almaden, where I ran into Alisyn, who was running the 5k.  [Race recap to come, as soon as I get photos.]  It was so great to see you!

Once I got back from the race, it was time to tackle the main ordeal of Thanksgiving.  Meet our 20-pound turkey, Felix (yes, I name my food).

Felix was rubbed with lemon juice on the inside, salt and pepper, and stuffed with parsley, celery and carrots.  On the outside I massaged him with melted vegan earth balance, and seasoned him with salt, pepper, fresh thyme and fresh rosemary.  He browned very nicely in a short 4 1/2 hours.

Me and Felix (and the bourbon we utilized for the evening’s manhattans)

Although I was the chef de jure, I passed off the carving to one of my cohort members.  We utilized this video to get the most meat off of a bird that I think is possible.

Once the turkey was cut, the feast was served.

My plate – plus massive amounts of nibbling as the evening went on.

I also decided to make some non-traditional desserts.  I had vegan lemon bars, vegan chocolate raspberry brownies and a vegan apple raspberry crisp (which somehow eluded all photos…)

Other delicious desserts included pecan pie and  chocolate dipped pecan balls (amazing)

And with dessert served, our evening of good food and debauchery was just getting started.

I’m so thankful for my family, back home, who I sadly had to be without this Thanksgiving.  I’m also thankful for my wonderful friends who I wasn’t able to see.  And I’m extremely thankful for my fantastic cohort members and other friends who made this Thanksgiving one to remember.  It wouldn’t have been the same without you!

How did you celebrate your thanksgiving?  What are you thankful for?

What was your best Friday deal?

This recipe is one that’s been in my family for as long as I can remember.  And they’re a staple at all holiday get togethers.  Kind of like my family’s sweet potato casserole (its seriously the best in the world – in my completely biased opinion).  Recipe will come this weekend!

But for now….

Do yourself a favor, and make these.  Stat.  The combination of cranberries and orange is sweet yet tart, and oh so delicious.

Minnesota Cranberry Orange Muffins (12 muffins)

• 2 cups flour
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 tsp grated orange peel
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 large egg
• 3 tbsp vegetable oil
• 3/4 c orange juice
• 1 1/2 c whole cranberries (fresh or frozen)

Grease muffin tins or use muffin liners.

Preheat oven to 400.  Sift together flour, baking powder and baking soda in large bow.  Stir in sugar, orange peel and salt.

In a separate bowl, beat together egg, oil and orange juice.

Make a well in the center of the flour mixture and add liquid.  Mix well, and then fold in cranberries.  Spoon batter into the muffin tins until they are about 2/3 full.

Bake 15-20 minutes or until nicely browned and toothpick comes out clean.

Then let cool (if you can wait!) and enjoy.

What food always makes an appearance at your holiday get togethers?

Since it was raining on our walk to the Hyatt, the other girls huddled under the umbrella, while I ran with my coat over my head towards cover.

Once we got to dinner, we were served Alexia fries for appetizers.  The fries were the new flavors created by fellow bloggers – look for them in stores soon!  (I can’t remember the flavors…I’m a bad blogger )

Then, there were more appetizers once we got into the dinner.  Vegetarian sushi, veggie samosa and butternut squash risotto bites.

Before dinner, we had a special guest do a tasting demonstration: the handsome, charming and talented Tyler Florence!  He cooked up a pork chop and spaetzel dinner – it smelled and looked fantastic.  Sadly, we didn’t get to eat it… 

He also announced and honored the bloggers who created the new Alexia fries flavors (the ones we tried during cocktail hour) – congrats to the bloggers who created the flavors!

One Tyler’s demonstration was over, dinner was served.  Well, everyone else’s dinner was served…

Through a string of miscommunications from the wonderful people at Foodbuzz to the kitchen and servers at the Grand Hyatt, my server had no idea what to do about my no-dairy diet.  I was served a salad with blue cheese – which I had to send back.  Then it took 10 minutes to get me a salad without.  And another 10 to get me some salad dressing  vinegar and oil(I kid not).  By the time I got it, my table was long done.  Bibb lettuce salad with honey roasted pears and glazed pecans. 

And then dinner, I’m not even sure what my entrée was…but it looked like this:

It was supposedly dairy free, but I have this sneaking suspicion it wasn’t.  [Case in point: I had my typical reaction to dairy consumption take over Sunday morning mid-race until Monday evening.  Worst 48 hours I’ve had in 6 years.]

Luckily, dessert (for me) was redeeming.  Fruit never looked soooo good.

Taste the rainbow.

And my dessert was incredibly better than that served to the regular crowd.  Have you ever seen a bread pudding that stuck to your fork like this one?

Yeah, neither had we…

And, I had some amazing tablemates: Julia, Mellissa, Melissa, Kathleen and Kara.

After dinner with these amazing women, we headed back to the hotel where I promptly crashed (and eagerly took advantage of that extra hour of sleep) because I had stupidly (yes, you were right Melissa) signed up for a half marathon Sunday morning.  A half marathon I quickly regretted when my stomach started to turn (excuse my french):

And then when it didn’t go away, it hit me: I was having a dairy allergy attack.  And the next day when I was still in pain it was confirmed:

Le sigh.  Besides the allergy attack, and the lackluster food, but delightful company Gala dinner, the weekend in San Fran for Foobuzz was a blast!  I had a great time making new friends, finding out about different products, and just having two days away from all that is econ and graduate school.

Have you ever had a problem with servers not understanding your order or special diet needs?  Have you ever sent a meal back? 

Have you ever had a bad reaction to food or food poisoning?  What was it from – and do you eat it anymore?

Though there were a ton of products I truly enjoyed, I thought I’d share with you a few of my favorites:

Perhaps the best thing I’ve eaten in my life: Honey Walnut Spread served over goat cheese, provided by California Walnuts.   It’s a great appetizers piece – expect to see it make an appearance at my holiday meals! (The recipe can be found here.)

It was a serious food orgasm, no joke.  I ate at least 4 of them.  I stopped counting after 4.

Vignette.  Wine Soda – alcohol free wine.  All of the flavor, none of the alcohol.        

21st Amendment Brewery – I sampled the Watermelon wheat beer – made with real watermelon, which would be a great summer drink.  Though, lets be honest: I wanted to drink it for the can designs alone…

Sonoma Syrup.  Hand crafted syrups, extracts and drizzlers that will make you drool.  After trying their vanilla bean simple syrup, I was in love and wanted to lick my spoon until I could taste it no more.  They also gave me a bottle of the vanilla bean to try at home – look for it on top of delicious recipes soon: I’m thinking drizzled on top of cinnamon rolls, apple crisp, vanilla soy icecream…

Culinary Twist all natural sauces.  They were flavorful, but not over powerful and made with ingredients of which I could pronounce everything – and they even had some gluten free options!  My favorite was Maya Bay, a Thai marinade, sauce and dip.  Really awakened my tastebuds.

The station I fawned over for hours: Redwood Hill Farm Goat Cheese and yogurt (not pictured).  I love their products, that it’s a small, organic farm that treats their goats with love and feeds them right, and provides a quality product to their consumers.  Its one of two goat cheese/yogurt products I buy, and will remain so.

Fat Toad Farm Goat Cheese Carmel from Vermont.  It’s a product currently being featured in the Foodzie cooking box, and one I recommend checking out if you’re looking for a new twist on carmels for the holiday season.  I tried all four flavors, and my favorites were the Cinnamon and Vanilla Bean.  Sooooo good.  I tried to run away with a box of it, but they didn’t let me

I also really enjoyed the House of Balsamic vinegars.  I was actually so in love with their product (though to be honest, I can’t really afford it), that I forgot to take photos.  But their 6, 12, 25 year balsamic vinegars made me want to make love to the spoon it was on.  And their white balsamic made me swoon – the flavor and price — and I actually was given a bottle to try at home, so I’ll hopefully be sharing recipes with you soon! .

The bbq sauce that stole the show was J. Lee Roy’s Dippin’ Sauce.  It was true bbq flavors, with none of the preservatives or ‘bad stuff.’  Natural ingredients of which I could pronounce every single one of them!

And I also couldn’t help but be won over by the wonderful, cheerful owners!

And on the way out of the Pavillion, these TCHO bad boy’s caught my eye.  Decadent chocolates – where the flavor comes from the type of cocoa, and no two batches taste exactly the same.  LOVE it!

Julia and I, post-three-hour-eating-binge after the Pavillion.  We had a great day.

There were so many other wonderful products at the Tasting Pavillion, but I don’t have photos of them all, so these are just a few of the most memorable.  I had a great time networking with companies and trying new products, and I’m excited to use some of them that I just can’t live with out on a more regular basis to ‘spice’ up my meals!

Is there a product listed above that you would love to try?!  What is your favorite ‘indulgent’ product to cook with or have around the house?