Asparagus Pizza

      So, you know there has to be a back story to asparagus pizza, right? Well, I hadn't thought about dinner ahead of time and it was Monday night, so I wasn't feeling very festive. Everything we had was frozen, and I was in the mood for vegetarian anyway. My tummy being what it has lately, I knew I couldn't handle rice and beans. So I started looking around in the fridge and there was the pizza dough that Andy had brought home a few days before. It was still good! Now for some mozzarella. There was none. Crap, now what? Think, think, think. OK, there was a little goat gouda left, a smidge of cream cheese, and some shaved parmesan. Great, now for some pizza worthy veggies! Let's see, I had carrots, kale, red cabbage potatoes and onions. Bleh. What's in the freezer? Rhubarb, cauliflower, edemame, peas, and asparagus! Bingo, asparagus wins. I don't know about you all, but I need a little acidity with all that cheese, so I found me a box of crushed tomatoes. Yes, I said box. I prefer things in glass or those boxes that the Italian tomatoes come in. I'm a little worried about all the stuff about the toxins from cans leaching into my tomatoes. Anyway, I made a quick little marninara with the tomatoes, some olive oil, garlic & herbs (basil, oregano) cooked it for about two minutes then put the pizza together. First, I got the dough all round and put it onto parchment paper while heating the oven (with the pizza pan in it) to 500. Then I smushed the smidge of cream cheese over the dough. Then I poured my instant sauce over that. Next came the goat gouda which I had sliced as thinly as possible. By this time the asparagus had defrosted enough to chop in to bite sized pieces and I spread them around. I topped it with the shaved parm and into the oven she went! 25 minutes or so later, Andy and I were devouring this deliciousness! You should come join us one of these days :o)

The Mountain Has A Name!

   So, here's how it happened. We had been trying to figure out what to call the place since before we moved here. I figured the mountain would "tell" us what we should call it.
Well, it didn't. I tried things in German, in Norwegian, in English, nothing seemed to fit. One of the things that Andrew and I have always said to each other was how quiet, how peaceful it is up here. But I was stuck on what it was we were doing up here. Teaching Yoga and Meditation, Massage, Cooking/Canning, Organic Gardening, Painting, Blah blah blah.

   So anyway, last Saturday night, (5/19/12) we were sitting on the front porch in our rocking chairs, listening to the birds singing, the cows down valley mooing, the occasional whinny from one of the horses on the nearby farm and enjoying the warm breezes, when , for the eight millionth time, we looked at each other and said: " God I love it here, it's so peaceful". And, "we have to come up with a good name for our Mountain!" That's when Andrew sat up a little straighter and said "you know, my grandfather in northern Norway had a cabin that he called "Stille" I got pretty excited because it sounded the same as the German word "stille" which means "silent, calm, peaceful" So we looked it up in both dictionarys and not only did it have the same meaning, it had the same spelling!
   From now on we will refer to the mountain as "Stille".

Gluten Free Bread Machine Bread

3 Large eggs, lightly beaten
1 Tbsp cider vinegar
3 Tbsp olive oil
1-1/3 cups water (room temp)
1 cup lentil flour
1 cup coconut flour
1/4 cup GF oat flour
1/4 cup GF oats
1/2 cup tapioca flour
1/2 cup corn starch
2 tsp xanthan gum
3 Tbsp packed brown sugar
1-1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 cup non fat dry milk powder
2-1/4 active dry yeast


Combine wet ingredients plus 1 Tbsp brown sugar; pour into bread machine.
Sprinkle dry yeast over wet ingredients.
Measure dry ingredients and mix well to blend. Add to bread machine.
Set to normal/white cycle and start machine.
After mixing action has begun, help unmixed ingredients into the dough with a rubber spatula, keeping to the top and sides to prevent interference with the paddle.
Do not skip this part!
This is a dense bread that slices easily and is best sliced very thin. 

Bee Hives Are Coming

Don't get too excited, we don't have Bees yet! But it is part of the plan. We think Bees are so important to the ecology and we get to have honey.

A Slice Of Life On The Mountain

  No matter what angle you look at it from, life on the mountain is good. You can get a massage out on the deck when the weather is good, indoors when it's not. We believe in taking good care of ourselves. 

The Vision is Becoming a Reality!

It has been a long time from the first little tiny vision of how we wanted to live our lives on the mountain. We cleared the land, built the house, started the apartment and put in the organic gardens. I healed from my surgery, took back my Yoga practice and even started teaching again! It's almost time to share more of our dream with the world. Eventually, Andrew will build me my studio and the mountain yoga studio and retreat center will be complete (sort of ) :o) There will always be more to do, more to learn, more to experience! In the meantime, we're livin' the dream!

African Almond Soup

2lbs plum tomatoes, chopped

2 medium onions, chopped

6 cloves garlic, chopped

2 Tablespoons olive oil

5 cups water

1 8oz can tomato sauce

1/2 cup fresh mint

1 Tablespoon chili powder

2 teaspoons ground cumin

2 teaspoons salt

red pepper flakes to taste

2 cups swiss chard, spinach, or collard greens

3/4 cup almond butter

2 cups cooked beans

1/4 cup chpped, toasted nuts (almonds, walnuts or pecans)

Combine the tomatoes, onions, garlic & oil in large stockpot.

Cook & stir over high heat for about five minutes or until tomatoes are softened & onion is transparent.

Turn down heat to a simmer.

Add water, tomato sauce, 3 Tablespoons chopped mint, chili powder, cumin, salt & red pepper flakes.

Simmer 10 - 12 minutes.

Add greens & almond butter, cook 3-4 minutes stirring constantly.

Serve with a garnish of toasted nuts & chopped mint!