use real butter

Recipe: shrimp toast

I’m done processing my photos from Yosemite and I think the latter half of any shooting trip always suffers. By the end of a multi-day shoot, I’m less inclined to sit around trying to get the perfect shot and by the end of my photo processing (which proceeds chronologically) my threshold for photos to even bother processing goes way down.

foothill poppies and lupine

yosemite falls (upper and lower)

You can see selected photos from the trip on the photo blog: waterfalls, flowering trees, Yosemite valley shots, foothill wildflowers, and wildflowers within Yosemite. After Yosemite, we spent three days getting stuffed to the hilt on amazing Chinese food. I can’t keep doing that. Next time I see Grandma, we’ll have to make a deal that we only eat out once a day and nosh on fresh fruits and vegetables the rest of the time. After the third meal out, I feel as if I’m going to blow up from all the sodium intake. Of course, the menus never fail to entertain.

you can always find chinglish

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Recipe: strawberry macarons

I know you weren’t gone. I was, but it’s like you were gone. Now that I’m back, my regular brand of crazy can resume. I haven’t had a moment to really wade through my photos properly, but I have a few preliminaries to share of Yosemite and some of our visits in the bay area. You might even see some folks you will recognize.

we caught the tail end of the dogwood bloom in the valley

and some spectacular wildflower displays outside of the valley

and witnessed impressive volume in the falls around the park

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Recipe: ricotta gnocchi and butter poached lobster

What? Daring COOKS?! You thought it was Daring Bakers, right? Well, I *am* a Daring Baker. I have the scars to prove it. But, I am also a Daring COOK. That’s right kids, double the craziness – the Daring Cooks have launched, so buckle that helmet and fasten your seat belts!

daring cooks – serving up whoopass soup since may 2009

This maiden recipe is hosted by our very own goddess founders: Lis of La Mia Cucina and Ivonne of Cream Puffs in Venice. Yes, these are the women who brought you thousands of cheesecakes, metric tons (tonnes) of buttercream frosting, and vats of chocolate ganache glaze to your web browsers. Now they will do the same this month, with ricotta gnocchi from the Zuni Café Cookbook.

whisking eggs

combining the gnocchi ingredients

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