Colorado

I recently had the opportunity to travel down to Colorado. Those few short days that I got to spend away from NYC, away from the noise and the rush, were one of the best things I've done for myself in awhile. Just being in a quieter and slower surrounding helped my body slow down and recharge, and all the new things I saw stirred my curiosity and fascination once again. Now I feel more enthusiastic about doing new things, and more inspired to keep things interesting at home. That's why I love to travel! 

Below are some pictures of my time in Colorado:

Green all around.

Blue also all around.

People watching at the famous Red Rock Amphitheater.

Feel like I'm in an old Italian painting.

Gagh, so beautiful I can't take it.

The drive to Boulder with the Rockies in the background.

The beautiful Shiba Inu that shared the back seat with me.

More snow cap mountains.

Oh my darling Clementine (Cake)!

Last week was Chinese New Year, and I decided to bring home a little something this year. I wanted to bring dessert, but the problem is my parents don't like anything too sweet. Asian parents I tell you. They are the only two people in the world that I know that do not like chocolate (BIZARRE, I know.) So I thought whatever I make, it has to be something flavorful but not too sweet. That's when I remembered while watching Walter Mitty, one of the characters made a clementine cake.

Clementine cake! It's actually quite perfect for the occasion since clementines are considered to be good luck in Chinese culture. So I quickly googled a recipe (here) and turns out it only requires five ingredients! That's right, FIVE.

• 6-7 small clementines (think golf-balls)
• 6 eggs
• 2 1/4 cup of almond meal (I heard you can also use almond flour if you can't find almond meal but I have not tried it)
• 1/2 cup of sugar (half of what was called in the original recipe)
• 1 tsp of baking powder

Be warned you DO need about 3.5 hours to make this. Two-thirds of that time though is just boiling the clementines (which you don't even have to be there for.) Just make sure you set a timer!

So let's get to work. How does one make a clementine cake?

1.  Rinse the clementines and place them in a pot of water (skin and all) and wait for it to boil. Once boiling, reduce to low heat and simmer for 2 hours.

2. When the clementines are almost done, mix together almond meal, sugar, eggs, and baking powder.

3. Once clementines are done, drain and rinse them gently in cool water.
Be careful, they are hot and delicate!

4. Once cooled, rip the clementines in half and remove any seeds. Place them in a bowl and mash with a fork or hand. You may also use a food processor but I found it quite easy to do with hands.

5. Finally, mix all the ingredients together into a cake pan (greased with butter for easy removal later).

6. Lastly, bake in oven at 375 deg. Fahrenheit or 190 deg. Celsius for 40 minutes, or until knife or toothpick comes out clean when inserted. Once that's the case, cover the cake with foil and bake for another 20 minutes. The foil will help prevent the cake from burning. The result should have a nice brown, golden color on top.

Soft, flavorful, and delicious!

Asian parents approved.

Hop on the green juice boat yo!

I know, I know, YOU too?? Yes, I've become one of them. A green juice fanatic.

Slicing and crushing things with my blender was fun, but THIS was a whole new level. I repeat, blending does not equal juicing, and the same goes for smoothies and juices. Two completely separate things. 

After I got my juicer, like the amateur that I was, I didn't know where to start. There were so many recipes online, one could literally search for days. After about an hour I finally gave up, hopped off my chair and just went to the supermarket. I used my instincts and just bought anything, literally anything that was green.

Then finally in the kitchen I asked myself:

What do I do with the seeds? Do I remove them?

Being the silly person that I am I actually did with my apples, then I realized how pointless that was because my juicer literally obliterated everything. Quite fun to watch.

Do I have to wash everything? 
This may be common sense but yes you should. Trust me, you do not want dirt from your organic spinach floating around and I imagine it is not so good for the blades in your juicer.

How long will the juice stay fresh in my fridge?

From what I heard, juice if kept in a sealed container will remain fresh for up to 3 days, but I usually down all mine within two. 

Is it hard to wash a juicer? 

Not hard, just annoying. I do appreciate that mine came with a cute little brush for scrubbing down.

Should I get a really expensive juicer? 

No, I do NOT recommend throwing hundreds on a juicer if it's your first time. How will you know if you'll even use it more than once? Mine is from Amazon for around 60 bucks. Here is the link.

After trying a couple of recipes, this was my favorite.

(Makes 2 servings)
1 whole apple
1/2 of a large cucumber
4 large stalks of Celery
A handful of spinach





The result?

Hulk juice.