Orange Cranberry Almond Cream

Can you even believe it’s February already?  Let alone careering into the middle of if.  I just don’t know where the time goes, but this year is scooting right along.  It seems like just yesterday that we were kicking this glorious New Year off with a bang and a blog post.  And now here we are eating Orange Cranberry Almond Cream.

Later this week I am heading south on a shooting trip to California, and, if I’m honest, I hope to snag a little downtime.  Since I started creating recipes last April, and since the podcast was launched last July, life has got a little lot crazier around here. It’s a life I love, despite it being a tad ridiculously hectic.

While I adore living in the Pacific Northwest, I admit I am pretty darn excited to feel the sand between my toes, the sun on my face, and the ocean breeze messing up the mop of blonde on my head.  I am almost giddy at the thought of hurtling down the I-5, sunroof thrown open with abandon, singing – although I am not sure how accurate that term is – at the top of my lungs, and smiling at all the truckers; I often think I should’ve been a trucker, you know, since driving for 12 hours straight is one of my very favorite things to do.

I’ve got a new set of beastie tires, fresh oil in the engine, emergency kits stowed, and copious quantities of beef jerky ready to set up camp on the passenger seat.  Ten days of driving and shooting awesomeness.  Yes! Please!

January only conceded a couple of shooting opportunities – New Years Day, and then a thin sliver of time somewhere in the middle when I ran away from the kitchen and the computer for half a day to catch my breath.  It may seem to you that I cannot get enough of whipping up scrumptious and nutritious concoctions.  You might imagine me spooning contentedly with my Vitamix every night, or waking up to find my kitchen scales slumbering quietly beside me.  You may well believe that I have a magical oven that bakes rainbows & unicorns into everything that I put in it.  You might think that mixing and slicing and kneading and chopping and peering excitedly through the glass door of the oven with baited breath never gets old to me.  And you would be right; on all counts except spooning with my Vitamix and waking up to my kitchen scales.  That’s taking things an incy-wincy bit too far, even for me.  However, as much as I love playing in the kitchen, there are just some times when I know that I need to step out of it for a while if I am going to give it my best when I am in it.

On the day I decided to run away, my lengthy to-do list yelled at me that I didn’t have time to, but I ran away anyway; because I knew I’d be way more effective afterwards if I did.  You know the saying, “Stop and smell the roses”?  Yeah.  Like that.  I highly recommend it as a strategy for getting things done.  And staying sane; the other kind of sane.

This, then, is where I live.  I don’t have to go very far to get inspired.  Love that.

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Sometimes the simplest things are all we need to turn us right-way-up again.

Like a few hours doing something we love.

Like having a temporary media black-out.

Like sitting with a friend and chatting over a cuppa.

Like this dish of deliciousness: Orange Cranberry Almond Cream.

This Orange Cranberry Almond Cream is so very simple, but these days I’d rather eat this than any number of complicated pastries or fancy desserts.

Creamy, crunchy, chewy; with a delicate hint of orange.  I ate it for breakfast.  Then I ate it for a snack.  Then I ate it for dessert.

Life can be simple and awesome.  So can your food.

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