Fire and Ice

Some say the world will end in fire,
Some say in ice.
From what I've tasted of desire
I hold with those who favor fire.
But if it had to perish twice,
I think I know enough of hate
To say that for destruction ice
Is also great
And would suffice
~Robert Frost

The longer I live in the Pacific Northwest, the shorter the time between rainy seasons. Last year it didn't stop raining until July 1st. (And then it actually rained some in July and August.) It started raining again at the end of September. This year it also seems like the sunshine made a late appearance. I don't remember signing up for ten months of grey, wet weather out of twelve, but it could be worse. It's still sunny now! I did get spoiled living in places like Santa Barbara and Albuquerque, where the sun shines 300 or more days out of the year. (Heaven!) I think Bend, Oregon is beckoning to me.

We received the first few drops of rain yesterday, so fall is surely on it's way! Before the clouds set in, I spent some time catching a few remaining precious rays in my backyard. While basking in the sun, I became thoroughly enchanted with the way the sunlight played off of the leaves on my fig tree, so I snapped the photo above. I thought this particular leaf had a really interesting pattern, too—almost like a nautilus. 

Recently, I've been busy in the kitchen playing with recipe ideas for the new So Delicious seasonal coconut milk beverages that will be coming out this fall. (Coconut Nog and Mint Chocolate!) These Coconut Nog Muffins were mighty tasty. 

We may be short on sunshine most of the year, but one thing we're not short on is fabulous food companies. Oregon is home to Turtle Mountain, Turtle Island, Chocolate Decadence, Dave's Killer Bread, Bob's Red Mill, Soy Curls, Living Harvest, Chocolate Fantasy, and Heidi Ho Organics. A few weeks ago I discovered a new company, Karry's Chipotle Sauce, while shopping at my local Market of Choice. Karry was sampling her deliciously sweet and spicy sauces, and I was charmed by Karry and blown away by the flavor of these fruity sauces. 

There are so many ways to enjoy them, I couldn't wait to start experimenting. I knew they'd be great with peanut butter, but I wanted to try something a bit bolder, so I paired the Raspberry Sauce with a bit of Justin's Chocolate Hazelnut Butter. WOW! That was crazy good!

I poured some of the Peach flavor over some succulently sweet fresh strawberries, and all I can say is "Oh, yeah!"

But what I really wanted to do was pour some Marionberry sauce over a scoop of So Delicious No Sugar Added Vanilla Coconut Milk Ice Cream. Sweet and spicy, fire and ice. Major yum. Very nice.

There are lots more great recipe ideas on Karry's website. I am looking forward to making salad dressing with the raspberry sauce. What would you make, and which flavor would you choose? Leave me a comment with your most creative culinary idea, and I'll pick a winner at random and send you a jar of Karry's sweet and spicy chipotle fruit sauce and a free VIP product coupon for your favorite So Delicious Coconut Milk frozen dessert!*

Speaking of winners, the lucky person who won a copy of Hannah Kaminsky's spectacular book, My Sweet Vegan is ... Andrea Gardner! Congratulations! Please send me an email with your postal address, and we'll get that book right out to you!

Who will win today's delicious giveaway?

Update: Congratulations to Melinda Dalke, who won the giveaway for Karry's Chipotle Sauce and So Delicious Coconut Milk Ice Cream! Thanks to everyone for participating! 


*Sorry International friends. Giveaway is only open to US residents.