Friday Flashback: Animal Tracks

A week of light snow in Upstate New York has been really exciting. It set the mood for our snowboarding day we've planned with Bill's sister. I've never snowboarded on the east coast, and it's kind of different, especially because most of the snow was machine made. Bill's sister never skied before, so she took lessons and really made some impressive progress. We all left exhausted, having had the best of times, with bruises to show for it. Afterwards, we had some hot cocoa and eggnog. Dumplings for dinner.

Doesn't this picture make you want a cup of hot cocoa or tea?

The morning of the first snow, I took some pictures around the area and got some interesting duck track pictures. So I thought I could have a round up of animal tracks we've seen and photographed so far. Most of them were in Alaska, as you would imagine.

Matanuska Glacier State Park, Alaska, Winter 2009, Moose Tracks

Denali State Park, Alaska, Summer 2009, Bear Track

Denali State Park, Alaska, Summer 2009, Wolf Track

Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, Summer 2010, Caribou Track

New York State, Winter 2012, Mallard Duck Tracks

Some ducks walked all the way across the pond.

We saw some pretty awesome animals in the wild during our stay in Alaska. If you ever considered taking a trip to Alaska, you should do it.

Maybe we'll get to add a few more to the list in the future. Perhaps a kangaroo or a koala?

Easy Spring Rolls

I'm on a roll with carrots. ;) Last weekend, we had these carrot cake cupcakes after a dinner party. For the appetizer, we had spring rolls with lots of carrots, cilantro, and bean sprouts. It's the healthiest dish in the world, if not for the dipping sauce.

The ingredients are all sold at the Asian grocery market, or even at your local grocery store. (If Alaska's grocery stores have them, you would think surely upstate New York would too. No so.)

The hardest part is getting the rice paper to not stick to itself. I've tried dipping it in a pot of water, but it's very difficult to unfold it. Then I tried adding a small amount of warm water to a plate before placing a sheet of dry rice paper on the plate. Add some water on top of the rice paper and wait a minute or so for it to soften. This technique is much easier to keep the rice paper in check, but rolling is still an art that I've not yet mastered.

Easy Spring Rolls
Makes 10 spring rolls

20 cooked and peeled shrimp
1 cup (1 pack) vermicelli (green bean noodles)
10 rice paper
2 cups mung bean (green bean) sprouts
2 cups cilantro
1 cup thin carrot sticks
Spring roll sauce for dipping
Lime slices for serving

Cook vermicelli noodles in boiling water for two minutes. Prepare softened rice paper on a plate. Add bean sprouts, cilantro, and carrots towards the bottom of the rice paper. place two shrimps on top. Fold in the sides, and tightly roll up the rice paper. Cut in the middle for serving. Serve with lime slices and spring roll sauce.

Carrot Cake Cupcakes With Walnuts

This is a deliciously moist cake. Healthy without the frosting, decadent with it. I'm still in love with my Orange Chocolate Dream Cupcakes, so there's more orange zest in the frosting. I love the different textures between the fluffy cake, soft carrots, and crunchy walnuts.

Carrot Cake Cupcakes With Walnuts
Adapted from flour
Makes 15 cupcakes

2 eggs
1 cup packed brown sugar
3/4 cup canola oil
1 tbsp sour cream
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup plus 2 tbsp all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground ginger
2 cups shredded carrots
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Frosting:
8 oz cream cheese, softened
6 tbsp butter, softened
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
zest from 1 orange

Beat the eggs and brown sugar in a stand mixer until light and thick. Mix in the oil, sour cream, and vanilla extract. In a small bowl, mix together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and ginger. Stir into the egg mixture in three batches. Stir in the carrot and walnuts. Pour into cupcake liners and bake for 35 minutes at 350 degrees, or until a toothpick comes out clean from the center of the cupcake. Let cool on a wire rack.

Beat cream cheese and butter with the powdered sugar. Add the orange zest. Frost each cupcake generously. There's a LOT of frosting to go around.

Winter Lager Beef Stew

As snow covered upstate New York, I craved this satisfying and soul warming beef stew.

Chopping vegetables is easy and fun now with a never-dull ceramic knife, thanks to my thoughtful husband.

It doesn't hurt that beer is involved either.

Winter Lager Beef Stew

1 tbsp olive oil
1 clove garlic, smashed
1 lb. stew beef
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 carrot, sliced
1 celery, chopped
3 small potatoes, chopped
1 onion, quartered
1 tomato, chopped
15 cherry tomatoes
1 bottle Samuel Adams Winter Lager
2 cups water
15 whole black peppercorn
1 bay leaf
1/8 tsp ground cloves
1 tsp salt
3 tbsp flour

Heat the oil on medium high heat. Add garlic and beef. When beef is half browned, add the Worcestershire sauce. Stir until beef is browned, about five minutes. Add beef to a crock pot. Add the remaining ingredients except the flour. Mix and cook on high for 5 hours or low all day. Mix occasionally. Scoop a cup of soup out. Add the flour and stir. Mix it back in the stew. It smells as wonderful as it tastes!

Orange Chocolate Dream Cupcakes

Did I say Dream? I meant Cream for the sour cream in this recipe! But they're my dream cupcakes. These are the most delicious, fluffy, light, and everything cupcakes. All the other cupcakes I've ever made seemed dry and dense and overly sweet in comparison. Slightly adapted from Lemon Cream Cupcakes.

Orange Chocolate Cream Cupcakes

Makes 12 cupcakes

1/3 cup butter, softened

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1 egg

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1 1/3 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 cup dark cocoa powder

3/4 cup sour cream

Frosting:

2 1/2 tbsp butter, softened (rest of the stick)

3/4 cup confectioner's sugar

zest of half an orange

1/8 tsp vanilla extract

1 1/2 to 2 tsp milk

Demerara sugar for sprinkling

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream butter with sugar. Beat in the egg and vanilla. In a separate bowl, stir flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and dark cocoa powder. In separate batches, add the flour mixture into the butter mixture and mix. Mix in the sour cream. Fill each cupcake liner with batter two-thirds to the top. I used silicon ones because they're usable. Save the environment! Bake for 25 minutes. Cool on wire rack before frosting.

While cupcakes are cooling, make the frosting. Cream butter with sugar. Add the orange zest and vanilla. Whisk in the milk until frosting reaches desired consistency. Spread on each cupcake and sprinkle with sugar. The frosting is very sweet and fragrant with orange zests, which balances out the smooth and dark chocolate cake. These cupcakes are very lightly frosted, and they're good this way. Very very good.

I can't wait to bake another batch. If you like orange, or chocolate, or chocolate oranges, you must try these!