use real butter

Recipe: chinese stir-fried shrimp with snow peas

Daring Cooks: Sorry DCs! Just like the last DB challenge, I was unable to squeeze this one into my schedule. Hope to be back in business next month.

H’okay! Now we are all set. I got my new lens in the mail on Friday and this morning the filter arrived. “The circle upgrade is now complete. When I left you, I was but the learner; now I am the master.” I feel a little giddy holding this thing in my hands.

my first of the holy trinity of lenses

Fall is here, kids. We had a big cool down on Saturday replete with cold, damp fog, rain, and a minor frost overnight. It has warmed back up a little, but the mood is settling in quickly – that desire to throw on a snuggy, soft fleece. When I close my eyes, I can feel the warmth radiating from the oven, see apples in the golden autumn light, and smell cinnamon on the air. We took Kaweah for a quick walk yesterday and encountered a mother moose and her baby (which is as big as a Honda Civic) racing across the trail and disappearing into the woods. They’re really quiet. Jeremy didn’t even hear them, he only looked up when I stopped and said, “Moose!” Kaweah didn’t notice a thing (too busy sniffing for deer poop).

fading daisies

our old girl and her favorite rocks

Today is Jeremy’s birthday, which he actually missed – literally. That’s because he was flying over the International Date Line last night and jumped a day ahead to the 15th. I joked that this might be the fountain of youth… but if you’ve ever flown coach from the US to Sydney it’s more like the fountain o’ misery. So happy birthday, Jeremy! We’ll have a proper celebration when things settle down. For now, we’ll settle for a tiny celebration of sorts. I don’t know about you, but shrimp is always a festive ingredient for me. Maybe because it’s expensive (granted, I typically buy fresh, wild-caught shrimp), but I think it has more to do with how happy shrimp looks. It’s what I consider decorative with its curly, pink and white flesh. A perfect morsel to pop in your mouth.

mise en place: snow peas, raw pink shrimp, garlic, green onions, water chestnuts

butterfly the shrimp

**Jump for more butter**

Recipe: candied lemon slices

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Despite being insanely busy and turning down a lot of fun, exciting opportunities and events this month (only because I’m doing a ton of other fun, exciting things already!), I promised myself that I would participate in Barbara‘s annual LiveSTRONG: With a Taste of Yellow event. This is important to me, not because I was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2007, but because I know a lot of people who had or have cancer. I have lost beautiful friends and family to cancer. And just last night, I learned that someone who saved my life is fighting for his own right now – fighting cancer. Barbara holds this food and wine blogging event each year in support of The Lance Armstrong Foundation to raise cancer awareness around the world. Last year was the first time I participated.



So if you want to participate there is still time (Barbara has extended the submission date to September 18th). Whip up something yellow – be it savory or sweet, and hop over to Barbara’s page for instructions on how to be a part of LiveSTRONG: With a Taste of Yellow. My submission is past the jump.

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I’m in the middle of the “getting to know you” period with my new camera. I haven’t taken it out for serious shooting yet, but I have managed to screw around a bit. Of course, the inaugural photo had to be Kaweah.

our sleep olympian hard at work on her exhausting training regimen

But you didn’t see the first few captures because I always shoot in RAW and my software was not compatible (i.e. it’s OLD) with the latest Adobe RAW version. After yet another upgrade (phase 4 now complete), we are now cooking with gas! I jumped from CS2 to CS4 (sorry CS3, never knew ya) and I like it so far… as long as it doesn’t require a desktop upgrade because we have all of $.52 to our names now.

the last of the harebells

the local stands are still predominantly green

Our nights are flirting with frosts again and it is starting to smell like autumn. I have apples on the brain too! Okay, but we have just under two weeks left of summer, so let’s not shortchange anyone.

organic lemon

**Jump for more butter**

Recipe: grilled pizza

I love those holiday weekends where you get three days off! Jeremy and I actually worked for most of the weekend, but I quite enjoy his company – even when we’re working. Of course, it feels like Monday today even though it is Tuesday and I’m starting to freak out that I am missing a day where I thought there should be more time. September is FRENZY time, but in a very very good way (as long as I don’t lose it, then yes, ’tis good). Last Thursday, my lovely Manisha and I met with Marc and his good friend, Brian for a quick happy hour nosh in Boulder. The guys were on a road trip across (and around) the country. Marc is the husband of dear, sweet Bri (Figs with Bri), one of our own – a fellow food blogger who passed away last November from breast cancer. It was a delight to finally meet Marc. He is as gentle and warm as anyone you could ever find. We all had a wonderful time before the fellas had to hit the road.

marc and brian on their way to carbondale

Phase 3 of my upgrade is complete (now on to phases 4 and 5). Phase 3 is the reason for all of the other upgrades because this bad boy is a pretty demanding little brat (but he’s MY demanding little brat now). Don’t think for a second that the price tag on the camera body is your only cost, because it isn’t. *sob*

i call it (on the left) the big one

Okay, before people start emailing and asking if they need a D3x to take pictures for their food blog, the answer is an unequivocal “NO. Are you insane?!” You’d have to be smoking crack to think you need 24.5 megapixels to shoot a cookie to post on a blog, because… YOU DON’T. I continue to shoot with my old camera in the kitchen which is more than adequate. The new camera is intended for outdoor use, under adult supervision only…

the color is coming

**Jump for more butter**