Gazpacho

Summer is winding down but here in Southern California it’s still in the upper 90’s & 100’s. Tomatoes and cucumbers are full of water and electrolytes and gazpacho is perfect on hot days. I started making this several years ago, sometimes the ingredients vary a little but this is pretty much always my base. My husband called it martian salsa on Facebook once, haha! Eating spicy things when it’s hot seems counter intuitive but if you look at cultures near the equator they often eat lots of spicy food. I used yellow heirloom tomatoes for this version. If your cucumbers have a thick skin you can remove some or part of it. If you prefer something mild, remove the seeds and membrane of the jalapeño. The longer this sits the spicier it gets. Eat by itself or with avocado (everything is better with avocado) and tortilla chips.

Gazpacho

2-4 cucumbers depending on size
1 jalapeño
1/2 bunch of cilantro
1 onion
6 tomatoes
2 limes
kosher salt
fresh ground black pepper


Cut half of the ingredients into chuck then blend/purée in the blender pour into a large bowl. Chop the and vegetables and pour into blended mixture. Add the juice of the limes, the rest of the cilantro leaves. Salt and pepper to tasted (I used about 1 tsp of salt 1/2 tsp of fresh ground pepper). Serve immediately or store in the refrigerator until you’re ready to eat. Enjoy!

Blood orange lemonade

Sometimes it’s difficult to know what to do with all the fruit you have when you have fruit trees, especially lemons or limes. Back in March when all of the lemons were ripe at once, I stripped the tree and juiced all of them. I poured the juice into ice cube trays and froze them. Once they were solid I put them in a freezer safe container. Since it’s been warmer I’ve been making lemonade. Blood orange lemonade and strawberry lemonade are our two favorites. Blood oranges are coming to the end of their season but you could definitely use regular oranges or a combo or oranges and strawberries or raspberries and still get the same beautiful color and similar flavor. Here in the Riverside, Corona area, there is no citrus shortage. The citrus industry pretty much put this area on the map in the 1800’s. Anyway, enough of the history lesson….here’s the recipe. If you’ve never made your own lemonade, you’re in for a treat.

Blood orange lemonade

1 cup fresh lemon juice

1 cup fresh blood orange juice (or strawberry purée)

1-1/2 cups organic sugar

4 cups of water

In a medium pan make a simple syrup by boiling 1 cup of water and adding the sugar. Make sure all of the sugar is fully dissolved and set aside. Pour your lemon juice and orange juice (or strawberry purée) through a strainer. You will still end up with some pulp so you can do this a couple of times or you can strain it through cheese cloth if you don’t want any pulp. Once you have them strained just pour everything into a large pitcher and chill until ready to serve. You’ll end up with about 6 cups. It’s delicious, refreshing and a great way to use up your lemon juice! Enjoy! (I’m sure it would also make a great mixer for your favorite cocktail.)

Vegan Persimmon Pudding

This is one of my favorite desserts, it just tastes like Christmas to me. It’s one of the first desserts beyond sugar cookies I learned to make back in high school. You have to have super ripe and squishy persimmons for this. I get mine from the farmers market, they save them for me every year. I used walnuts but you could also use pecans. If you like raisins you could add those as well. For the pulp I strained the persimmons through a colander into a large bowl. (Remember to compost the skins and stems).

Persimmon pudding

2 cups of persimmon pulp

3 egg replacement (I used Follow Your Heart’s)

1 1/4 cup sugar

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp ginger

1/2 nutmeg (or pumpkin pie spice)

1/2 cup melted vegan butter

2 1/2 cups almond or cashew milk

1 1/2 cup whole wheat or unbleached flour

1 cup chopped nuts

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  In a large bowl add the egg replacement to the persimmon pulp, whisk in the sugar.  Add baking powder, soda, salt and spices.  Pour in melted vegan butter, stir & pour in the almond milk.  The mixture will be sort of soupy, whisk in flour, fold in chopped nuts.  Pour into a greased 9 X 13 pan.  Bake for 1 hour or until knife comes out clean.  Serve warm or room temperature with vegan whipped cream.

Finding exercise you love

When it comes to exercise, I am a big believer in doing something that you love, or at least develope a like for. I have always told my kids to find something they like otherwise you won’t do it. The same is true for us as adults. I was lucky enough to spend part of my childhood living in Mammoth Lakes, CA where I was exposed to a lot of physical activities.

Our school skied every Wednesday during the winter and spring. My dad worked at the mountain and I got to stay the whole day instead of just half because he was present. Mammoth also had an incredible gymnastics program, I got to do the balance beam, uneven bars etc. During the summer we hiked, swam did yoga and played tennis. I also lived part time at the beach with my mom, so bodysurfing, swimming, riding my bike were all big parts of being a kid. I had a pink bike at the beach and a red bike in Mammoth.

Once I moved to the Corona, Riverside area I was really into roller skating, I think every kid in junior high was and I rode my bike and swam as much as I could. During high school I was a cheerleader so I got to use a little of my gymnastics and during that time a football player introduced me to lifting weights. Yoga and lifting weights are the things that I favor in this season of life. I also walk and every once in a while run for a bit.

Erskien has always been into endurance sports along with gym workouts. When the kids were little he rode his bike….a lot! I think he has logged something like 750,000 miles in the span his 23 yr stint in high level cycling!!

Back in 2007 he took interest in ultra distance running that evolved into barefoot running. He also uses his bike to supplement and freshen up his legs as desired. He’s even taken a likening to an occasional yoga class with me.

Our kids didnt take to athletics nearly as early as I, but I have always encouraged them to find something they like to do. I think the only thing we probably all like to do is hike.

So, that was a lot of back story. If you are looking to start a journey of fitness, it doesn’t take much, you don’t have to join a gym. Get out and go for a short walk, maybe eventually it will become a run. There are tons of free yoga and other exercise videos online. Your city might offer classes, or maybe a YMCA. Sometimes I work out at home with weights and a resistance bands. As in my husbands case research or reach back on questions about natural running form, or anything cycling related. We both love sharing what we’ve learned along the way.

So, what ever you choose it all starts with 1 step. I encourage you to find something you love.