Chill in the air? Warm the tummies!

What is it about the cold…that makes me want to bake and eat baked goods? After three cool, damp nights deep in the redwood trees of Cotillion Gardens RV Park, just north of Santa Cruz, California, we ventured on to San Francisco. From there, we moved to Roseville, north of Sacramento. It was the halfway mark to stage ourselves for the drive through the Sierra Nevada’s to see our longtime friends Phil and Rebecca, now in Reno, Nevada.

Campsite at Cotillion Gardens RV Park north of Santa Cruz CA

Sunset at River Reflections RV Park around Oroville CA

While in the Santa Cruz area, where the temps were a good 10 degrees cooler than Joshua Tree National Park, which was 10 degrees cooler than Scottsdale, we availed ourselves of the delicious baked goodies at Gayle’s Bakery and Rosticceria in Capitola CA. My talented artist cousin Maggie Renner Hellmann introduced me to this wonderful place when I met her for a morning walk along Capitola Beach and neighborhoods. Dennis and I made 2 more trips to the bakery before we left the area. First, an almond bear claw and egg breakfast sandwich, then an Olallieberry turnover and Three-Ginger Gingerbread, and then a half loaf of rustic French bread for the road. I know you’re asking, “how does this fit in with your healthy ‘grains, greens and beans’ eating habits?” My reply: everything in moderation. 😊

After settling in Roseville for a night where the temps dipped to 35, I woke to my head swirling with muffin, waffle and pancake recipes. Which would I make first? Which did I have all the ingredients for? Blueberry muffins? Yes, but I made those in Tucson. How about pumpkin nut muffins? Yes, but make the healthy ones with oatmeal and yogurt, and throw in a few chocolate chips for fun. Waffles? Yes. Pancakes, yes! I convinced myself muffins were healthier because they wouldn’t be slathered in butter and maple syrup. We had just spent a quick overnight in a Walmart parking lot, thinking our next move was Reno. A Walmart parking lot didn’t seem the right place or time to bake muffins, however much I wanted them.

A quick check of the weather app showed its optimistic forecast for Reno was a little too rosy. Instead of high in the low 60’s and low in the low 30’s, we were now looking 50’s and 20’s respectively, thanks to an inversion! Ugh. Too cold for HaRVee without the heating pads on the water tanks. We were really trying to avoid that purchase, but we so wanted to visit our friends. After a quick call with them to confirm the cooler forecast, we decided to push the trip back a few days, hoping the warmer temps for Wednesday on would hold true. This would give us 3 days to buy and install the heating pads for gray and black tanks.

Can you find Dennis installing the heating pads on water tanks?

Now we had to find a better place to stay than the Walmart parking lot for three nights. A quick check of the road atlas and the AllStays app helped us decide to move north an hour to Oroville CA. Its more moderate farm valley temperature range gave us better comfort with mid 60’s to low 40’s. As soon as we set up camp by the peaceful Feather River, I made it my mission to fix a hot dinner (linguine with kale and artichokes from Castroville CA) and bake some pumpkin oatmeal nut muffins, a new recipe found on Pinterest.

From the Artichoke Capital of the World - 5 for $5!

All I can figure is when it gets chilly outside, my instinct is to warm the tummies and home with the oven. Baking is a comfort task for me. It makes me feel at home and calms my nerves. After 3 months, I still haven’t come to terms with riding/driving HaRVee. Being in it on the road is stressful to me. Being in it as a stationary tiny home, I have no problem.

As we end another day of our RV journey, our tummies are full. We are now sitting at our table writing about the day. The pasta was quite tasty. We ate it as the sunset disappeared into the clear indigo night sky and listened to electro swing (Alice Francis) on Pandora.

Artichoke and kale linguine

The pumpkin muffins taste OK, not great as I was hoping. Maybe the flavors will blend better overnight. Sometimes, though, when it comes to making baked goods healthy, you can cross the line and lose the flavor altogether. This “Pumpkin Oat n Honey Muffin” recipe from Spokane Dinner Club used plain Greek yogurt in place of the oil and egg, honey instead of brown sugar and ground oatmeal in lieu of flour. I used Sigi’s vanilla yogurt for a bit more flavor and ended up adding more pumpkin spice and a few tablespoons of pure maple syrup when the recipe seemed to dry and flavorless. After baking half the batch in my 6-muffin tin, I threw in a handful of chocolate chips to the remaining batter. The latter batch tasted better. We’ll see how they taste in the morning with a cup of strong, hot coffee.