use real butter

Recipe: korean bulgogi

Uh, it’s getting hot around here *tugs at collar*. Am I the only one who closes her eyes and dreams of snow? Dreams of The Tele*? Don’t get me wrong, I do enjoy my summer. I am currently enjoying the hell out of my summer such that there is very little time. Peter recently tweeted that summer is a slow time on the blogs. It’s very true. I’ve also noticed Blogger Blah has been going around the ‘hood. People blog for different purposes. It isn’t wholly unexpected to one day find your mojo has disappeared. Mine is more of a waxing and waning, but that is easily remedied. I have two rules regarding my relationship with urb:

1) Maintain a repository of recipes for those stretches when you can’t or don’t feel inspired to cook or bake. I got into this habit during my treatment last year. While I like to maintain a steady posting schedule, life doesn’t work that way.

2) Life always comes before the blog.

* Tele – short for telemark skiing referring specifically to the telemark turn which differs from the alpine (downhill) turn in that only the toe of the boot is connected to the binding and the heel is free to pivot resulting in a graceful technique and skiers who deem themselves superior to all others (and rightly so). *snort*

the view from east maroon pass

I know that second one sounds like common sense, but it’s really easy to lose priorities when you’re into the mucky muck of blogging. I’m talking about the big picture like life and death. More life than death, of course! As I told Andrew the other day, “don’t dwell on death except to recognize it as a boundary condition to life” (not that Andrew is the type to dwell). Get out there, yo! Part of the value of blogging is sharing information and experiences – things you keep fresh by living your life. I’m busy, but I’m also enjoying the summer. I command you to do the same, however it is you choose to enjoy it. Just don’t hurt yourself or anyone else, alright? Have some fun while you’re at it.

So, just a couple of flower pics and we’ll get this ball rolling. You can see the rest at the photo blog: day 3 and day 4.

king’s crown

sunflowers and larkspur

**Jump for more butter**

Recipe: barbecue chicken

Tartelette told me she couldn’t keep up with my posting! It’s true, I have been posting daily since the calendar flipped to July because there is just so much going on that if I don’t write them up – posts will get buried! Not to mention, I’m on my steroid regimen again and I am running with the overflow of energy. I’ll probably crash and burn in 24 hours, but I’m okay with that. After feeling like complete crap for several months, it’s hard to take for granted the improvements I now feel. I can finally get out to see the mountains I love, find energy to cook wonderful food (and even taste and digest them!), and have the patience to capture the beauty of our summer season with my camera. These are happy times. I’m also wired and exhausted, but I relish it – I really do.

This morning we took another hike up to a lovely lake nestled in an alpine basin at roughly 11,300 feet. Invigorating! There was still plenty of snow, which is a good thing because it has been so hot here lately. Several more varieties of wildflowers were beginning to bloom, but the lake is still under a lot of ice and snow. I’m crazy for the mountains.

marmots out and basking in the sun

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Recipe: danish braid

The DBs (Daring Bakers) made DBs (Danish Braids) this month! You can find the whole gang of Daring Bakers at the blogroll. Our co-hosts for this challenge are Kelly of Sass & Veracity, and Ben of What’s Cookin’? It was nice to get a break from uber-sweet bakes. This recipe allowed for some flexibility, which I loved.

we knead to bake!

The entire month of June was a bit of a clusterfuck for me, but I managed to get this done after several intended starts that were postponed for various scheduling conflicts. I had seen a lot of DBers post their results on the DB forum and I felt uninspired… why? Because 95% were sweet fillings and I was pretty burned out on all of the sweet challenges of late. I wanted something savory.

wet ingredients for the dough

**Jump for more butter**