use real butter

Recipe: red currant cake

Today, August 1, is my sister’s birthday. Kris would have turned 43, but it’s been over five years since she passed away and so there are no pranks for her best gang of gals to pull on her, no flowers to send, no cakes to order, no surprise parties to plan, no phone calls to make, no cards to send. When I remember my sister, I find myself bursting out laughing more often than I need to reach for a tissue. I like that.

there were many laughs

I have no patience for Drama. It sucks up so much energy and is incredibly unproductive. So I make myself scarce on days like today, going with Jeremy and the pup into the high country where my thoughts are my own and Nature reminds me of how wonderfully insignificant I am. I take comfort in that.

some flowers i think she would have liked

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Recipe: mallows

I feel as if every two weeks I’m doing something Daring. Oh wait, it’s because I AM! Daring Cooks, then Daring Bakers, then Daring Cooks then…

the daring bakers knead to bake

I’m not sure if I can keep this up before I start to lose my shit, kids. At least I made it through July.

The official line: The July Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Nicole at Sweet Tooth. She chose Chocolate Covered Marshmallow Cookies and Milan Cookies from pastry chef Gale Gand of the Food Network.

Awesome founders: Lis of La Mia Cucina and Ivonne of Cream Puffs in Venice.

We were given the option of one or both of the cookie recipes this month, so I chose the mallows because I have been wanting to make marshmallows for over a year. First, we start with a graham cracker base. The dough was simple enough to slap together, chill, roll, and cut out. For some reason, the recipe claims the yield is about 2 dozen cookies for 1/8 inch thickness when in fact, I used a larger cutter and wound up making about 4 dozen cookies. No idea what was up with that…

2-inch cutter

set cutouts on parchment to bake

Next up was to make the marshmallow which essentially involved boiling sugar to soft-ball stage (I boiled to 218°F instead of 235°F because of my altitude, subtract 1° for every 500 ft. above sea level), mixing it with softened gelatin, and beating it into whipped egg whites.

heating the sugar

stir in the gelatin

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Recipe: blueberry (and raspberry) streusel bars with lemon-cream filling

The summer solstice was a month ago. When the winter solstice passes, I watch the daylight hours increase with great interest. But when the summer solstice occurs, I don’t really notice the shortening of the days because it’s so hot that I cannot wait for the sun to drop behind the mountains each evening. However, when we wake up at 5 am and the sun isn’t popping over the horizon, I become keenly aware of the approaching equinox. I start to feel giddy and panicky at the same time. Giddy, because I relish those cooler days and panicky, because there is far more left on my summer todo list than there is time to do it all.

But that doesn’t keep a kid from trying.

mango mojito at aji in boulder

mister hyde and his precious

jeremy on pawnee peak

columbines in bloom in the high country

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