Papago Park and Making Time to Celebrate

hole in the rock at Papago Park in Phoenix

The celebratory Nutella brownie bites I made last month for Craft Hack were actually part two of the Travelcraft-Journal-turns-one festivities.

On the actual day of the site’s anniversary, Phillip and I took a little break to commemorate it on our own. It had been a tough day, and he was swamped with finishing up school stuff. So we couldn’t do anything big, but he said “let’s do something.”

So we picked up donuts at our local Tempe favorite, Arizona Donut Co., and headed to Papago Park. (I’m back to eating gluten – at least temporarily, so I’m taking advantage of it. Carpe donut.)

There are some nice picnic areas just beyond the Phoenix Zoo parking lot with ramadas and grills, but we hardly ever see anyone there. It’s a short drive for us, and it’s a very peaceful spot.

It was windy enough that it took several tries to light the birthday candle we stuck in a chocolate coconut donut. The wind blew it out again a second later. Maybe it made a wish.

We enjoyed our donuts and then went down to the little lake to feed crackers to the ducks. There was one that had this super noisy way of paddling that made us laugh.

Our little break only lasted about an hour, but we were both so much happier and more relaxed when we came back.

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PS More info about Papago Park below. Also, Phillip took the donut shop sign pic. Gotta love the dizzying angle! :)

Things to know about Papago Park:

Papago Park is home to the Phoenix Zoo, Desert Botanical Gardens, rock formations (such as Hole-in-the-Rock, which you can see in the background of a photo above), picnic areas, and hiking trails. (There are also several other attractions in the area.)
The park encompasses an area that used to be a fish hatchery, which is why it includes several (manmade) lakes.
The city of Phoenix has a PDF map that shows some of the picnic tables, but there are more out there than the map shows.

June 11, 2014

Nutella brownie bites

To celebrate Travelcraft Journal’s 1st year and to thank a very supportive group of smart, crafty people, I brought Nutella brownie bites to Craft Hack on Monday.

They were super simple to make. The truth is, with all the Phoenix Comicon craziness over the weekend, I had almost forgotten I was even going to make something. Thank goodness I had pinned this little gem at some point last year.

The recipe calls for just 3 ingredients (4 if you add sprinkles or hazelnuts on top): eggs, flour, Nutella. What I had on hand was actually non-Nutella-brand hazelnut spread that we had decided to try awhile back. Its thinner consistency wasn’t great on toast but turned out to be fabulous for mixing into brownie batter.

I had about half a cup of spread left in my jar, so I halved the recipe. I poured the batter into a mini muffin pan, added sprinkles, reduced the temperature a little and checked them after 15 minutes. The result was 18 delicious little brownie bites.

Most of which made it to Craft Hack. ;)

May 24, 2014May 23, 2023

Weekend brunch in Tempe

Phillip and I don’t always do brunch but when we do, it’s because I dragged him somewhere kicking and screaming.

But he likes it once there’s food in front of him.

I finally got him into Ncounter on Mill in Tempe a few weeks ago. It was pretty busy, but the line went quickly. And even though the cashier was moving customers through lickety-split, he still smiled when I joked that he must’ve known Phillip’s name since he handed us the letter P to identify our order.

Phillip ordered the meat and potatoes yin to my fruit and veggie yang. (Does that even make sense? I’m just gonna roll with it.)

The food was good. The coffee was good. We went to Tempe Town Lake to walk it off.

It was a nice day.

Hope your weekend is as lovely as brunch and a walk around the lake.

PS In case you’re wondering about this project, I need to keep you in suspense about awhile longer because of reasons. Keep guessing!

March 10, 2014March 10, 2014

Impromptu Peruvian bean chili

I posted this photo on Instagram of a Peruvian bean chili I made recently. My friend Anne asked me for the recipe, and here we are. Except I don’t really have a recipe. I basically winged it (wung it?), but I’m happy to tell you a story about that and maybe you’ll be able to deduce a recipe from there.

peruano-beans

The thing is Phillip had a guys’ movie night planned, and the other guys were talking about getting pizza. I panicked, forgot there is such a thing as gluten-free pizza (we’re total newbs at this gluten free thing), glanced around my kitchen, and decided I could throw together chili. Even though I started early, I probably didn’t spend more than 10 minutes actually pulling it together.

Here’s what went in there:

Peruvian/Peruano beans, enough to mostly fill the crockpot after soaking. (I get these in bulk from Food City, but I’m sure they’re available at other groceries with Latin American food items.)
Tomato paste, maybe 3 TBS
1 can diced tomatoes (If you’re substituting fresh ones, you may want to wait to add them, so they don’t get weird hanging out in the crockpot all day.)
Rosemary
Cumin
Lots of salt (I never seem to salt beans enough)
Black pepper
A little oregano
Garlic powder (Fresh garlic is a good idea too. Maybe better if you’re in slightly less of a rush.)
1 red pepper
Sriracha, as much as you can stand

Soak the beans overnight, then throw it all in the crockpot the next day. If it happens to be sriracha week, make the sriracha and red pepper into a smiley face and Instagram it. Cook 4-5 hours on high or 8ish on low. You may want to make the chili a day ahead, refrigerate, and let the flavors blend. It will be even more delicious the following day.

Also, if you’re not particularly attached to the vegetarianness of the recipe, some bacon probably would be a delicious addition.

Happy belated sriracha week to you all!

March 4, 2014

Daily Bread

I realized the last couple posts here have been named after meals (Breakfast at Arcosanti and The world over dinner). This could be because I’ve really had food on the brain lately.

We’re getting ready to try going gluten free for a bit to see if that helps with some issues we’ve (mostly I’ve) been having.

This is not going to be an easy transition for me. I love bread and cereal and pasta and cookies etc. I like being able to say I’ll eat almost anything and enjoy trying new foods when I travel. But I’ve been reading up on how to make this diet work, and I created a Pinterest board of gluten-free recipes and resources.

At one point, Phillip and I made a whole gluten bucket list of places to go eat before making this change. But the list kept getting longer and time was getting shorter, so we abandoned that idea. I did stop at Liberty Market yesterday, though, so we could relish one last blueberry scone. (I recommend you do the same if you ever happen to be in Gilbert, Arizona.)

Since there’s not really ever a good time to do something like this, we decided that Lent would at least be an appropriate season for denying ourselves. The 40 days begin tomorrow. And, even though our reasons for going gluten free are more health-related than spiritual, there is something about giving up something you love (maybe too much) that can refocus your heart and be good for the soul.