2009 May | The Road Home

Rhubarb Coffee Cake

You start with this…

This link for the recipe: Smitten Kitchen’s Rhubarb Coffee Cake. I made a gluten free version using Pamela’s Ultimate Bread and Baking mix. I also used all of the rhubarb pictured, a bit over 2 cups – the recipe calls for 1/2 pound. I had about 3/4 cup of rhubarb earlier in the week, added some pie cherries and made this recipe. I thought it needed more fruit and less sugar – the crumb topping is very sweet. I decreased the sugar in the rhubarb and the topping and only used 2/3 of the topping.

I added a few chocolate chips to about a third of the cake also. These are Ghiradelli 60% cocoa – BIG chips and GOOD chocolate!

The cake bakes for 45-55 minutes, but the gluten free combo seemed to need a bit longer – 15 minutes longer at my house. Then it has to completely cool… **

So Karl and I went for a walk.

The sun was already high in the sky at 7:30 a.m., but a few rays were lighting up the peaks. And it was warm enough (for me :)! ) to walk in shorts.

The cake was cool when we got back and this piece was enjoyed with a last cup of coffee…on the Front Porch!

**this recipe tastes best the 2nd day. If I was making it for others, I would make it the night before. Last batch leftover I warmed slightly and topped with a bit of fresh whipped cream. And the chocolate chips were great!

Mountain Dew

More than you wanted to know about lupins and my life

Lupin or Lupine, that is the question… I googled lupin to make sure that my spelling was ok and found that while Lupine is the typical North American spelling, Lupin is the original. Lupins were so named after the latin for wolf, as it was originally thought that they “wolfed” the soil of nutrients. As it happens, it is the reverse. Lupins add nitrogen back to the soil, enriching it for other growing things. Additionally, they are a larval food, hence Fuzzy and many of his brethren that were all over the lupins…

Now, to the my life part of the post… I have had a business trip to San Francisco area pending since November. It is now to happen but there is no room at the inn for Karl, ( K9 Kamp) – it is full and it is full for several weeks.

I really wanted to do this trip by RV. There is some indication that more than one meeting might be necessary. My original thought was to go and park near and be available for awhile. Yippy-Skippy, that is what is going to happen. Wild Thing and all of her crew are cleared for take-off and will depart late next week bound for South San Francisco. All of this getting ready for the meeting, getting ready to go, getting the house ready to leave…it takes time. Posts might be skimpy or missed.

But once we hit the road things should be fun. New places to see and share photos of. Adventures to be had, all shared at From the Front Porch. Karl, Bob and I are going to Californ-i-a!

See, more than you wanted to know about lupins and my life.

Fuzzy lupin

Photo taken at Wayfarer’s Park 5/14/2009. Wildflowers, bushes, grass – at the park, by the lake, they are about a week ahead of those by my home. The lupins will be blooming this weekend at the park.

You can see drops of water on “Fuzzy” as well as in the lupins. It rained off and on all day. As Karl and I walked the upper loop at the park, late this afternoon, I could see the rain coming across the lake. A dark wall of cloud and rain moved towards us and the first drops hit just as we got back to the parking lot.

The wind blew, the rain came in torrents and a bit of it tried to be sleet. We arrived home in a lull and Karl did not hesitate getting out of the Jeep and into the house.

We had several soaking rains this week. Good news as next week is supposed to be 70 and a record breaking 85 on Monday. Fuzzy ought to be nice and dry this weekend.