use real butter

The first of May is such a happy day. It ushers in a good mood. People make plans. Plants are having sex (hence all of the flowers). Hummingbirds appear around our house. The first of every month, Jeremy tells me he’s glad he met me. Well, he tells me that all the time, but it’s always special.

the world opens up

Anyone who has followed use real butter for more than a year might recall that today is the anniversary of my sister’s unexpected passing. It’s been five years and I still miss her. She was my best friend. That makes May 1 sort of bittersweet.

kris and my nephew (photo by elena yang)

My last words to Kris were, “I love you too.” That is how we always ended a conversation. Always. I suggest you let the people dear to you know that you love them. Today. Perhaps now if you’re so inclined. If you can tell them every day, that is even better. xxoo

The lunar new year is almost here (15 minutes!). Our friends left a little while ago, full on food, dessert, conversation, laughs, friendship. No recipe tonight, but I’ll include links to recipes for the dishes I served. Then you can sit back and scroll through the day in pictures. Gong xi fa tsai! Jing nian quai le. Wung shir ru i.

the menu
scallion pancakes
chinese potstickers
hot pot
rui tsai (lucky ten ingredient vegetables)
chocolate bags

beautiful new snow this morning

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Recipe: bouillabaisse

By now, just about everyone is nearly done with Christmas. I hope it was a good day for all. Just an update on Menu for Hope: Pim has extended the deadline to purchase raffle tickets to December 31, 2008. If you haven’t bid yet, I implore you to head over and have a looksee at the awesome prize offerings and perhaps purchase a few tickets. All of the pertinent links are listed on the header of my blog until the 31st. So get on it, kids! And thank you!

kaweah enjoys a christmas apple

While we don’t make a big deal of Christmas, I do like to prepare a nice meal on Christmas Day. I try to avoid spending all day in the kitchen, but unfortunately another project had me spending a couple of days in the kitchen, including Christmas (getting pretty cheesed off to boot - but more on that at a later date). I personally cannot stand the feeling of being stuffed, so I relish the thought of preparing a delicious treat of a meal that leaves me feeling satisfied, but able to run in an hour.

our simple christmas spread

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