I got up early to drive through the Colorado mountains. I found myself in Coal Creek Canyon on a small road with houses but few tourists. The view from WOnderview at the top of the ridge was spectacular. But that Kind bar I had eaten two hours earlier wasn't holding up.
That is when I spotted Coal Creek Coffee. To be open 8:30 AM on Sunday morning was astounding. The staff was very nice, as were the patrons. One of the locals asked to be sure that they still had "hippie sugar" which turns out to be turbonado. That was a good one.
My muffin didn't make the photo---too hungry. But I managed to slow down a little to enjoy some of my coffee while I surveyed the collection of board games. After a few minutes, I got back in my car to take in more mountain beauty.
I made candied ginger a few years ago. It's not something I would do every day but I had a lot of fun doing it. I recently acquired a pressure cooker and it inspired an interesting idea to me: why not make candied ginger in the pressure cooker? It should be very soft and flavorful. Here is the result. I peeled two large ginger roots, cut them into small cubes, and put them in the pressure cooker with heavily sugared water. The traditional method first boils the ginger in plain water to soften it and then again in sugar water to candy it. The resulting candy was very tender but still with the characteristic ginger texture. It was also sweet without being overpowering. The traditional method leaves a lot of sugar crystallized around the ginger. The pressure cooker gives a much more subtle result. The ginger stays moist even after it cools but you can dry it in the oven at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes. That inspired me to dip it in chocolate. While I was in the b...
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