fall hiking in colorado + farmhand's choice granola

Walk away quietly in any direction and taste the freedom of the mountaineer. Camp out among the grasses and gentians of glacial meadows, in craggy garden nooks full of nature's darlings.

Climb the mountains and get their good tidings, Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you and the storms their energy, while cares will drop off like autumn leaves.  

Fresh beauty opens one's eyes wherever it is really seen, but the very abundance and completeness of the common beauty that besets our steps prevents its being absorbed and appreciated. It is a good thing, therefore, to make short excursions now and then to the bottom of the sea among dulse and coral, or up among the clouds on mountain-tops, or in balloons, or even to creep like worms into dark holes and caverns underground, not only to learn something of what is going on in those out-of-the-way places, but to see better what the sun sees on our return to common everyday beauty.

- John Muir

My mother always told me to, “try try again” and more often than not those words would be accompanied by the story of the “Little Engine That Could.” I don’t believe in perfection, but I do believe in improvement, determination and getting back up. 

Though our most recent trip to Aspen didn’t go according to plan, I wasn’t going to let one failed vacation deter us from attempting another adventure. So last weekend we loaded up the car and drove west, and then north, in pursuit of mountains, roaring rivers and bugling elk. We found them all…

Enjoy your autumn adventures wherever they make take you. And if at first you don't succeed, try try again. 

xo,

Batya

Rocky Mountain National Park  (Bear Lake trailhead to Nymph Lake/Dream Lake/Emerald Lake.  The Kawuneeche Valley. Trail Ridge Road.)

Guanella Pass 

Trails near Georgetown, Colorado

* * *

A few months ago our friends Ori + Jenn came to visit us in Denver. In addition to bringing their two young daughters - Olive (3) and Sophie (5 months)- they also brought treats. 
By treats I mean really good treats like  Stumptown coffee and chocolate babka from Russ and Daughters, a NYC landmark known for its appetizing spreads and babka- which might very well be the best in the world. They also brought a giant bag of homemade granola that I couldn't stop eating. Below is the recipe for that granola…(perfect for fall hikes or most any other time). 

Farmhand's Choice Granola (Courtesy of  Brooklyn's Early Bird Foods Nekisia Davis via Martha Stewart)

Yield: Makes about 7 cups 

                Ingredients

                3 cups old-fashioned rolled oats

                1 cup raw pumpkin seeds, hulled

                1 cup raw sunflower seeds, hulled

                1 cup coconut chips

                1 1/4 cup raw pecans, coarsely chopped

                3/4 cup pure maple syrup, preferably Grade A

                1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil

                1/2 cup packed light-brown sugar (you can also use coconut sugar)

                Coarse salt

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.

Place oats, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, coconut, pecans, syrup, olive oil, sugar, and 1 teaspoon salt in a large bowl and mix until well combined. Spread granola mixture in an even layer on a rimmed baking sheet. Transfer to oven and bake, stirring every 10 minutes, until granola is toasted, about 45 minutes.

Remove granola from oven and season with salt. Let cool completely before serving or storing in an airtight container for up to 1 month.

rocky mountain arsenal wildlife refuge + a breakfast shakshuka

If you are a parent with a small child (or children), my guess is that you are about to (or already have) spent a whole lot of time with your kids. It's winter break and most preschools are closed for the holidays. My own children have been off since December 20th and classes don't resume until January 7th! Yup. There's a whole lot of quality time taking place up in here...

Since winter break began, we have visited the Children's Museum, the Clyfford Still Museum, the Denver Art Museum, and the Museum of Nature and Science (also referred to in our household as "The Dinosaur Museum"). Joyce, our fabulous realtor, cooked a five-course dinner at our home for some friends (party!) and we ate lots of delicious food at Christmas Eve dinner…and even more yumminess at a lunch the following day. I felt like a walk was in order and I wanted to do something new…

So when my friend Kelly asked me if I wanted to go to the Rocky Mountain Arsenal Wildlife Refuge, I was game. It was also going to be 60 degrees in Denver (we are having a stretch of mild weather), so really, how could I refuse? I don't know why I hadn't visited the refuge before-- it's so close and so cool!

The refuge sits on about 15,000 acres and it's only 10 miles outside of Denver. I would liken it to the distance between Manhattan and Jacob Riis beach; you can't believe it's so close and yet it seems so far away. The refuge has gone from Native American hunting grounds, to homesteader farmland, to a WWII weapons arsenal and an Army chemical manufacturing facility (I believe sarin and mustard gas were produced here), to land leased to the Shell Oil Company. The arsenal was quite controversial until it closed in 1992, but then it was cleaned up (a major urban achievement) and turned into a wildlife refuge, managed by the Fish and Wildlife Service. Today you can find more than 330 species of wildlife at the former arsenal.

We parked in the lot near the Visitor's Center and immediately spotted two coyotes. The kids colored coyote masks, howled a bit, alarmed some of the other visitors, and we snagged free exploration packs (borrowed for the day), complete with magnifying glasses, nets and bird charts. Then we set off in the direction of the bison (you have to drive, you can't walk or bike due to safety concerns).


After viewing some bison (we saw calves too!), we walked around both lakes and set up a picnic lunch. The views of the Rocky Mountains were breathtaking. If you are looking for someplace near the city and want to see wildlife, this is the place to do it! It's a hidden gem that's right in your own backyard. 





 


Getting there: It takes about 15-20 minutes from our home in the Congress Park section of Denver (close to the Botanic Gardens). 
Admission: Free!
Activities: The new Visitor's Center has a lot of information, colorful wall panels and a kids activities room. Pick up an exploration pack too!

***

Hiking or walking on an empty stomach is a big no-no in my book. I get grumpy and so do the boys. So before we set out on our arsenal excursion, I made this simple and super tasty dish. Shakshuka, eggs poached in a spicy tomato sauce, is one of my favorite things to eat in the morning and it's relatively easy to make. I've posted the dish before and I've been playing around with the recipe ever since.
For that post I used an old Saveur recipe, adapted by Smitten Kitchen. This time I futzed around with the original recipe and made a few adjustments- but they were pretty minimal. Instead of using 8 cloves of garlic, I used 5. I also used 3 jalapeño peppers instead of 5 Anaheim chiles. Instead of crushing the tomatoes by hand, I pureed them (I like the sauce a little bit smooth, though there is some bite thanks to the peppers and onions) and I cooked the sauce longer than suggested, until the garlic was really soft (that's just my preference).
I firmly believe that recipes are meant to be tinkered with, so fool around with it until you find what tastes best to  you. 
Eggs Poached in Spicy Tomato Sauce, Shakshuka
(Adapted from Saveur)
Serves 4-6
Ingredients

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

3 jalapeños, stemmed, seeded, and finely chopped

1 small yellow onion, chopped

5 cloves garlic, crushed

1 tsp. ground cumin

1 tbsp. paprika

1  28-oz. can whole peeled tomatoes, undrained (I puree them)

Kosher salt, to taste

8 eggs (I always use at least 6)

1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese

1 tbsp. chopped flat-leaf parsley

Warm pita, for serving

1. Heat the oil in a 12" skillet over medium-high heat (I love using my cast iron skillet for this dish). Add the chiles and the onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft and golden brown, about 6 minutes. Add the garlic, cumin, and paprika, and cook, stirring frequently, until the garlic is soft, about 2 more minutes (this step takes me 5-7 minutes).

2. Put the tomatoes and their liquid into a medium bowl and crush them with your hands (see note above, I favor pureed tomatoes). Add the crushed (or pureed) tomatoes and their liquid to skillet along with 1/2 cup water, reduce the heat to medium, and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the sauce is thickened slightly, about 20 minutes (sometimes longer, taste it). Season the sauce with salt.

3. Crack the eggs over the sauce so that the eggs are evenly distributed across the sauce's surface. Cover the skillet and cook until the yolks are just set, about 5 minutes. Using a spoon, baste the whites of the eggs with tomato mixture, being careful not to disturb the yolk. Sprinkle the shakshuka with feta and parsley and serve with pita, for dipping.

You can find the original recipe here.

Share it with a group of friends, a loved one, some kids…or just gobble it up yourself! Enjoy!
xo,
Batya

Other shakshuka recipes that I can not wait to try:
This one from David Leibovitz
This one from Kate Bradley's Kenko Kitchen
This one from Melissa Clark at the New York Times

hiking mondays: st. mary's glacier (and the sprouted kitchen's ranchero black bean breakfast tostadas)

The other day, Otis turned to me and said, "Mommy, I love Colorado..." (whereby his 'r' was pronounced like a 'w'). I asked him what in particular he liked about our adopted home state and he replied, "I like the sky. I like the sunset. I like the mountains. I love the cupcakes. I like the ice cream. I like the farms. I like the rivers. I like my room. I like you. I like daddy and baby. I like the dinosaurs...(and so on and so forth)." That's when I realized that he simply loved our life here, and that we had done right by him and his brother. I also recognized that he has a serious sweet tooth.
Someone once gave me a bit of parenting advice that went something like, "start 'em young"- which is what we have tried to do with our children. We've exposed them to art and music and we hope we've given them an appreciation for books and the ability to think creatively. And every week, despite their young age, we've shown them how wonderful and spectacular their environment is, right here in this beautiful place called Colorado. On Mondays we get dressed, slather on the sunscreen, grab our hiking buckets (which aids in the collection of rocks) and set out on a trail...Nothing, and I mean nothing, can beat nature. I've often said that being out in the wilderness is the closest I come to feeling any sort of spirituality or religiosity, and it's one of the few ways I can really clear my mind. At the very least, it helps put things into perspective. The mountains here are so breathtaking, the sunsets are nothing short of spectacular...and the fact that so many incredible places are only an hour's drive from our urban oasis, makes me happy and thankful. Yesterday we went to St. Mary's Glacier. We've been once before, but this time the boys did a great majority of the ascend and descend by themselves. Theodore excitedly jumped over the boulders and Otis loved skipping rocks once we got to the glacial lake. We all got a big kick out of the snow-shoers and sledders who were having fun on the glacier (look closely and you'll see them! They are the little black dots on the widest swath of snow.).
While we were laughing and walking up the mountain, something happened that brought me to tears. As we were rounding a bend, a youthful, female Rottweiler-Labrador mix came running around the curve. She took my breath away. I was standing next to Theo who screamed out, "Omar. It's Omar, mommy. Look, you see?" But as many of you know, Omar is no longer with us. The dog, Abby, bore the most striking resemblance to Omar that I have ever seen, and as we pet Abby I began to cry. 

I thought about Omar the rest of the way up the mountain. But as we got to the glacier and saw the lake, I had this feeling that everything would be okay. The vastness and the beauty of nature makes us feel like, even in times of loss, we can still go on...because there is still so much beauty remaining. And so, as I sat with my boys and my husband by the lake, I thought about how good our life is, despite the heartache and challenges that come with the journey...and I thought about a dog named Omar, whom I still miss dearly. 

location: St. Mary's Glacier is near Idaho Springs, exit 238 off I-70 and follow the signs. 

elevation: 10,000 feet.
duration: 3/4 of a mile each way.

hiking terrain: Rocky boulders all the way up until you get to the lake and the glacier. 
things people do at the lake: picnic, walk, snow-shoe, cliff dive (I'm not endorsing this one), climb trees, sled.

other stuff: There is a $5 fee for the parking lot. Do not park on the side of the roadway or you will get towed. Walk up the hill from the parking lot. On the left-hand side, past a gate, you will see an opening and a sign for St. Mary's Glacier.
and a final caveat: The traffic coming back into Denver on I-70 can get pretty bad due to tunnel construction. Bring good music and/or a book (if you're not the driver). You'll need it!

* * *

Before heading out, I made this. It was simple, tasty, and filling-- it kept me going the whole way up and the whole way down from St. Mary's Glacier. 

Ranchero Breakfast Tostadas
barely modified from A Sprouted Kitchen: A Tastier Take on Whole Foods (by Sara Forte)
Serves 4
Notes: I used canned beans, but you could soak fresh ones overnight. I topped the tostada with a fried egg, but a poached or scrambled egg would work just as well.

Ingredients 
Black Bean Mash
2 cups cooked black beans (I used canned in the interest of time)
1/4 to 1/2 cup light sour cream (I liked it better with, not surprisingly, the 1/2 cup)
2 green onions, white and green parts, chopped
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon sea salt, plus more to taste
1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

8 small corn tortillas
Extra-virgin olive oil, for brushing
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
8 eggs
1 cup shredded white Cheddar cheese
2 avocados, peeled and thinly sliced
1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1 lime, in wedges
Hot sauce, for serving (optional)

Preparation
Whether cooking the beans from scratch or using canned, drain the beans and add them to a saucepan over low heat and warm through. Add about 1/4 cup tepid water, 1/4 cup of the sour cream, the green onions, cumin, salt, and pepper and mash with a potato masher or a large fork until coarsely mashed but not entirely smooth. Taste for salt and pepper, add the remaining sour cream if you'd like the beans to be creamier, then turn off the heat and keep covered until needed.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Brush the tops of the tortillas with a bit of olive oil and lay them on a rimmed baking sheet (it's fine if they overlap). Bake until just lightly browned, 6 to 8 minutes. Remove from the oven and set aside.

Heat a large frying pan with the coconut oil over medium heat. Working in batches as necessary, gently break the eggs in the pan and cook sunny-side up or to your desired doneness, covering the pan if you like your yolks more cooked through. Build a tostada by topping a tortilla with about 1/4 cup of the bean mash, 1 egg, and an eighth of the cheese, avocado slices, and cilantro. Repeat with the remaining ingredients. Serve garnished with a slice of lime and hot sauce to taste.

diner, brooklyn. an inspired brunch (in instagram).

Last week we went back to New York City for a 10 day trip. Our little homecoming coincided with my dad's milestone birthday and the wedding of a very close friend at the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens.
It's always great going home. We love seeing our family and many of our closest friends still live in the area. Sadly, since moving to Colorado almost 2 years ago, we don't get to see everyone as much as we used to. But I do think there's something special about these gatherings now since we don't see people day-to-day. We really cherish the time...  
On this trip we got to have a little vacation within our vacation. My in-laws watched the boys for the weekend and Matt and I spent Friday and Saturday night eating a lot, laughing a lot and (possibly) drinking way too much. I have to say, it was awesome. 

We also got to do something that we rarely do: we brunched! On Sunday morning! It was truly amazing. 
We went to one of my most-favorite spots in Brooklyn, Diner in Williamsburg. Since Diner can get really crowded, we made an early break for it and headed over around opening time. 

Walking through the streets of b-burg, which at 10:30 a.m. were practically empty, I was reminded of an internet show my husband once joked about starting called "Good Morning, Williamsburg." The show would have opened with a line that went something like, "Good Morning, Williamsburg. It's 1 p.m. on this rainy Sunday..."-- which is kind of a joke since people in this part of town don't really get started with their day until after noon.  Youth.
Anyway, the company was fantastic. So was the food. Diner is just one of those places. I want to recreate each and every dish, but it will be hard. This place is pretty much perfection. Thank you for the awesome brunch, Diner. See you again next year... 

1. coffee 2. lemon scones with devonshire cream and strawberry jam 3. zucchini blossoms stuffed with homemade ricotta, radicchio and mustard sauce 4. poached egg 5. the table 6. friends 7. frittata 8. duck egg with spring vegetables 9. us

14,000 Feet and Some Orange Ricotta Pancakes

We moved to Colorado about 8 months ago. This was around the time the uber-delicious Linger opened in Denver (yay!) and many of the mountain passes began to closed for the season. In October, or maybe it was November, we had set out to hike in the areas surrounding Mt. Evans. We soon discovered that the roads were already closed. Snow had accumulated at the higher elevations and the roads were considered unsafe by those in charge.

Mt. Evans is high. I'm talking over 14,000 feet high. I haven't been to such heights since hiking Cotopaxi in Ecuador about 7 years ago...and for those of you who know me, you might recall that hike didn't go very well. Cotopaxi is a stratovolcano and it reaches over 19,000 feet. Now I don't remember exactly where I was, but let's say that it was 16,000 feet. We were well above the tree-line, the air was thin, and I remember that the only sensation I had was to urinate (pardon me, but apparently this is very common). I felt really short of breath and wasn't sure if I could make the hike. In fact, I wasn't sure I was going to make it...period! I told my then boyfriend/now husband to go on without me...to "save himself." And indeed he did. He told me that he would come back and get me after he got to where we were supposed to meet the rest of our group. In the meantime I managed to crawl on all fours and I found my group. I was exhausted. The rest of the story isn't so important. Obviously I made it, but the scars of going up into the sky left their mark on my psyche. I was nervous about being that high again.

After a long winter closure, the gates to Mt. Evans reopened today (May 25th) at 12:00. We just had to go! Thinking like typical New Yorkers we were sure there was going to be a line of cars and weren't even certain we would get in. But there were no big lines, cars went in and out of the gate with ease, and we decided to take the boys on a walk through an alpine forest, right around the tree-line. (I suspect things get crowded on the weekend, but on opening-day things were easy as could be.)

The mountains were absolutely spectacular. Idaho Springs, the closest "city" to Mt. Evans, is only 45 minutes away from our house in Denver. Add another 20 minutes on winding roads with phenomenal views and you can get pretty remote pretty quickly. It's really amazing. As far as feeling nauseated or short-of-breath, the sensations were slight. I guess that is another benefit of living at altitude; I was already a bit acclimated.

Otis didn't seem to notice the altitude and Theo was just happy to be clapping his hands (his newest trick). We then continued on to Summit Lake and from there we got to the very top of Mt. Evans. Amazing. Spectacular. Sensational. And cold. Temperatures in Denver were around 80 degrees today. At Mt. Evans they were 20 something. Brrrr. And beautiful.

On the way down we saw a pair of mountain goats and a some yellow-bellied marmots (cute!). Otis had been on the lookout for mountain goats for about 1/2 hour, but by the time we spotted them he was sleeping soundly in the backseat...

Of course before you head out for high-altitude walks you need to eat a solid breakfast. I made these Orange-Ricotta Pancakes for the occasion. The recipe comes from The Breslin (in the Ace Hotel in NYC). I thought it was a really nice change from our standard buttermilk pancakes and my (relatively-new) favorite oatmeal pancakes. The syrup really added to the pancakes but, truth be told, the consistency was very un-syrupy. I'm not sure what went wrong, as I followed the instructions exactly. Perhaps it had something to do with the altitude. Never the less, they were delicious and a wonderful way to start out the day.

{Note: use a good, fresh ricotta for this recipe...or don't...but I think that makes a difference. I used a local cheese from LazEwe 2 Bar Goat Dairy in Colorado.

Orange Ricotta Pancakes (From The Breslin, by way of Food & Wine)
ORANGE SYRUP
1 orange
1 cup fresh orange juice
1 cup sugar
1 cup water
RICOTTA TOPPING (I omitted this step, but will add it next time)
1 1/2 cups fresh ricotta
1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
3/4 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
Seeds scraped from 1/2 vanilla bean
PANCAKES
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup fine white cornmeal
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 cups buttermilk
2 large eggs, separated
1/2 cup fresh ricotta
Vegetable oil, for frying
Toasted almond slices, for serving
Preparation
Peel the zest from the orange in long strips and julienne. In a saucepan of boiling water, blanch the zest for 30 seconds. Drain and repeat. In the saucepan, simmer the orange juice, sugar, water and blanched zest until syrupy, about 10 minutes. Let cool.
In a bowl, mix together all of the ingredients. (This step is for the ricotta topping)
In a large bowl, whisk the flour, cornmeal, sugar, salt, baking powder and soda. In another large bowl, whisk the buttermilk, egg yolks and ricotta. Fold the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. In a large, clean stainless steel bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff but not dry; fold them into the batter.
In a large cast-iron skillet, heat a thin film of vegetable oil. Drop in 1/4-cup dollops of batter and cook over moderately high heat, 2 minutes per side, until golden and fluffy. Serve about 3 pancakes per person. Pass the orange syrup, ricotta topping and toasted almonds at the table.