one. two. three. days in the snow.

We had an action packed weekend around here, involving nonstop play in the snow.

Saturday started at Copper Mountain, with a handful of friends.

The weather was fairly warm, with no wind, but also no new snow.  The trails were pretty sun baked + icy.

Saturday night we headed to Steamboat Springs, and skied/snowboarded there on Sunday.  The snow was much better than the previous day at Copper, and we lucked out getting a few fresh inches during the day.

We took a few hikes to the top of the mountain.

Nothing else like it!

The boys.

Heading down.

Rest stop.

Too bad we had to leave Sunday night.  Steamboat ended up getting TWENTY SEVEN inches of snow after we left!!

On Monday, we took our friend Will [who was visiting from out of town] up to Cameron Pass.  It’s about 1.5hrs west of Fort Collins.

Conditions started off windy + cold, with a LOT of new snow.

I snowshoed up + down the mountain, while the boys rode their way to the bottom.

It was a hairy trek up, with nothing but steep terrain for a good 1 hour hike.  Then the boys skied about 2/3 of the way down, and I followed.  Then back up to the top!

Are we there yet??

The sun finally started to peak through.

While it would have been fun to snowboard down, I didn’t feel like toting my snowboard on my back all the way up.  I was happy to make my way by foot.  I also didn’t want to lug the dslr camera.  Knowing me, it would have ended up burried in two feet of snow.

I basically ran the entire way down the mountain.  It feels like a mix between bouncing + floating with snowshoes on, and not at all like real running.  I absolutely love it.

A completely exhausting, but fabulous long weekend.

Anyone have a hot tub I can borrow?  My legs are like jello!

Ashley

blueberry cake doughnuts

Today was a very special day.

One of my dearest friends, Laura, had her baby shower.

Laura + I go way back.  All the way back to architecture school at Ohio State.  We’ve stayed extremely close over the years and now only live about an hour away from one another.  I was ecstatic when Laura told me she was expecting a baby boy this spring.  It seems that most of my friends are either getting married this year or having a baby.  Super exciting!

I was on doughnut making + photo taking duty for the shower.  This morning was a little crazy.  Why is it that when you actually need baked goods to turn out perfectly, something always goes wrong?  Or am I the only one?

After finally making it out of the house, 20min into the drive I had to slam on my breaks, which obviously made the 2 pans of doughnuts fly into the back of the driver’s seat.  Luckily, there were lids on the pans, but the blueberry doughnuts still made quite the mess.

Somehow, I was only 15min late to the party, and thankfully managed to scribble down the recipe in the chaos that was my kitchen this morning. 

Two new flavors of doughnuts made the table.

Blueberry with Blueberry Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting

and

Maple Cinnamon – 1/2 with a coconut maple glaze and 1/2 with a maple frosting

I didn’t really get to write down what I did for either maple frostings, so this recipe will have to wait.

There was a lovely fruit + nut quinoa salad, among many other delicious dishes, fresh veggies + fruit.

Laura’s friends did an excellent job decorating.

And Laura did an excellent job being her cute self.

A few little ones made the party as well.

Hi.  I’m adorable!

I thought this was a really clever idea, that I’ve never seen done before.

Everyone left with a favor that was either tea or hot cocoa.  Whenever Laura goes into labor, one of her friends will send out an email letting us all know.  That will be the cue for everyone to drink their tea, thinking of Laura, wishing her well during labor.

We also worked on a blanket project for Laura.  We each brought ribbon that reminds us of Laura and attached a little piece of fabric to it with our name and a message to her little one.  The ribbons + messages will all be sewn onto a blanket.

Can you believe we got a group photo with everyone’s eyes open??  Thank you self-timer.

I love that the whole frame is filled with smiling faces.

Love her.

Such a fun + hilarious book!

The Dangerous Book for Boys

For one of Laura’s gifts, I just had to get her a baby food cookbook.  I decided on Tyler Florence’s Start Fresh cookbook, after consulting you lovely people on twitter.  Thanks for the recommendation!

Happy day.

That ended with a few sweet bites.

Blueberry Cake Doughnuts

yields 6-8 doughnuts, depending on the size of your pan – my recipe makes 6 – adjust the baking time as needed

• 1/2 cup gluten-free oat flour
• 1/2 cup sweet rice flour
• 3 Tablespoons almond meal
• 1/3 cup sucanat
• 2 eggs
• 3 Tablespoons oil
• 2 Tablespoons unsweetened applesauce
• 6 Tablespoons unsweetened milk
• 1/3 cup frozen blueberries
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

1. Preheat your oven to 350* + grease your donut pan with butter, coconut oil or cooking spray.
2. In a medium sized bowl mix together all dry ingredients.
3. In a small bowl, whisk together all of the wet ingredients, except for the blueberries.
4. Stir the wet into dry, until just combined and than gently fold in the blueberries. Do not over stir.
5. With a spoon or spatula transfer the batter to your greased pan, filling about 1/8-1/4” from the top.
6. Bake for 20-25min. 
7. Test with a toothpick for doneness.  You want a slightly moist toothpick.  Not gooey but not bone dry.  The tops of the donut should be golden brown and set.
8. Let them cool in the pan for 5min, then loosen around the edges with a flexible spatula or fork, and turn out onto a cooling rack. 
9. Add toppings when cooled.

tips/substitutions:  Use any type of unsweetened milk you like.  Pure cane sugar can be subbed for the sucanat. High altitude, set your oven to 375* and decrease baking powder to 3/4 teaspoon.  1 batch will make 24 mini doughnuts.  If using a mini muffin pan, they about 15min to bake.  You can grind your own gluten-free oat flour from certified gluten-free rolled oats, or gluten-free oat groats.  Bob’s Red Mill packages gluten-free oat flour as well.  To make almond meal at home, grind raw almonds until flour-like and no crunchy pieces are left.  You can also find a 16oz bag at Trader Joe’s for $3.99.  If using fresh blueberries, you may need to add 1/2 Tablespoon extra milk, as the frozen release a lot of liquid.

Lemon Blueberry Cream Cheese Frosting

• 1 Tablespoon lemon zest
• 1/2 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 1/4 cup cream cheese, softened
• 1 Tablespoon butter, softened
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 1/4 cup blueberries

1. Beat the cream cheese, butter and powdered sugar until fluffy and smooth.
2. Beat in the lemon zest, juice and blueberries until fully incorporated + blueberries have broken down a bit.
3. *If the mixture is too thick for your liking, add milk in 1t increments and beat until smooth. 
4. Keep refrigerated.

tips/suggestions:  Make sure to let your cream cheese + butter sit out for at least an hour before creaming.  Do not microwave to soften.  You can make powdered sugar at home, by putting 1 cup pure cane sugar + 1 Tablespoon arrowroot starch [optional, prevents caking + helps to thicken…I prefer arrowroot starch over corn] in a blender and blend until powdery.

…

And another new week begins!

Ashley