use real butter

Recipe: italian sausage pizza monkey bread

It keeps snowing over here. Our snowpack is inching ever closer to the average, which is pretty exciting. We have sunny bluebird days the rest of the week and then HELLO, chance of snow at the start of next week. Right on. It’s ALL GOOD in my book. I’m in that mood – I could trail run, ski, ride in the mud, whatever. April has been a hella busy and exhausting month. My short hair and I are ready for May.

skiing the backcountry trails after a big storm

then there was another storm

kaweah prefers her walkies in the snow

Rest assured, as long as there is snow on the ground, I am still running the oven. I’m not on pinterest much at all except to piece together ideas for a few projects. I figure it’s best for me to avoid spending (wasting) more time on the computer and it really seems as if the majority of recipes on pinterest call for jello, food coloring, cake mixes, and Pillsbury refrigerated biscuit dough. That scares me. But the monkey bread idea was something one could unscarify if you made it all from scratch. Most of the monkey bread recipes I saw were of the sweet variety, but I wanted savory (of course). So that’s what I did.

pizza dough, mozzarella, italian sausage, garlic, butter, mushrooms, spinach

melt the butter and garlic together

grease the pan with the garlic butter

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Recipe: chili cheese fries

It’s been a working weekend over here, both of us sitting at our computers processing photos or data, listening to my recent compilation of songs from the 80s and 90s. [I'm realizing that was a really long time ago.] We took a break on Saturday to go over to our favorite neighbors’ house for dinner. They served grouse, which they hunt each year in Canada. We’ve never had grouse before, although we’ve seen and heard a lot of them on mountain trails. The meat is sweet and tender, an absolute treat on top of the wonderful evening spent chatting with people we like. As we walked across the driveway to go back home, their flood light caught snowflakes racing past in night. By morning, our local hill had reported a foot of fresh snow for this, their closing day of the season. Dear snow, where the hell were you in December?! We scarfed down some breakfast while pulling on our ski pants and rushing out the door. This is Colorado. You don’t turn down a foot of freshies!

happy and rosy-cheeked after catching the powder

There is MOAR snow on the way too. Folks on the lift were bemoaning the snow that would come after the end of the ski season. Most of the big mountains have shut down their operations. Heck, I’m just getting started. The backcountry beckons (after the snowpack stabilizes – it has been a horrendous avalanche year). I still reminisce about skiing fresh powder on the first day of summer in 2011. One can always hope.

No matter what is flying through the air – be it snowflakes or hummingbirds, there are some foods that have no season… like chili cheese fries. Oh, I remember the first time I was introduced to chili cheese fries my freshman year in Southern California. What insane deliciousness was this?! I’ll tell you what it was. It was a pile of greasy hot french fries, fake orange cheese, and a glop of chili (I use the term loosely). These days we still indulge in the occasional chili cheese fries, but we tend to opt for a more flavorful and healthy homemade version.

cheddar cheese, potatoes, chili, salt, pepper, cayenne, olive oil

slice the potatoes

place in a pot and cover with cold water

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Recipe: mac and cheese (two ways)

We are basically following the rhythmic swing of a pendulum between snow and sun. What I’m preparing at home mimics this oscillation: salads and springy foods to soups, bakes, and comfort foods. Comfort foods like mac and cheese. Mac and cheese is like chocolate cake for me – I’m always on the prowl for the best recipe.

snowy day? make mac and cheese

Growing up, I was aware of two kinds of mac and cheese: Kraft mac and cheese and the kind that you got in school cafeterias. I can’t really endorse either one. It wasn’t until the last decade that I’ve begun to enjoy mac and cheese. That’s probably because I’ve been eating at better restaurants and they put things like lobster in their mac and cheese. I tend to prefer the creamy versions that have a baked crust of cheese and bread crumbs. And I like penne over elbow macaroni because elbow macaroni is squirrely. So when I see a recipe titled “World’s Best Mac and Cheese”, I’m eager to put it to the test.

cheddar, jack, butter, flour, salt, chipotle powder, garlic powder, whole milk

grate the cheese

two cheeses at the ready

This version of mac and cheese is based on a bechamel sauce made of butter, flour, and milk. When the sauce is hot and thickened, the cheeses are stirred in and you have your cheese sauce. It is lightly seasoned with some garlic powder and chipotle powder. I didn’t have chipotle powder, but I found some in the bulk spice section of my local Whole Foods. [I'm pretty sure I could find it at Savory Spice Shop, which I shall do in the future because I love them.] It adds a dimension of spice and smoke to the dish.

whisking the flour into the butter to make a roux

whisking in the milk

stir in the cheeses

adding chipotle and garlic powders

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