use real butter

Recipe: teriyaki salmon collar (or fillet)

In my undergraduate years at Caltech, there was a weekend between the end of classes and the start of finals each quarter. It was officially referred to as Decompression – a time when the student association would host a free barbecue and entertainment (the improv groups were my favorites) on Friday and Saturday nights for the entire campus. I volunteered at the grill many many times, serving burgers and hot dogs to my fellow students and earning a free Decompression t-shirt with a different design each quarter.

Even though I haven’t been in school for eons, I still look to that weekend wedged between classes and finals as “decompression” because Jeremy’s schedule is tied to the academic calendar. This past weekend was THAT weekend. It also marked the end of a pretty stress-filled April with all manner of work deadlines, travel, business matters, and headaches courtesy of people who can’t seem to do their jobs (airlines come to mind). So this weekend was one in which we could take a breather, focus on things that needed attention, and be thankful for a quiet couple of days in which we regrouped and made plans for the next few months.

it also meant spending time with this little girl

Despite the frenetic pace of the past several weeks, we have noticed that Kaweah seems to walk further and stronger in the mornings than she does in the afternoons or evenings. We’ve only started her on morning walks since the weather has warmed a few weeks ago, but this change has been a nice improvement in her overall mobility and general well-being. And when she wants to dawdle and sniff every last mother-loving blade of grass, I let her. She is definitely growing more deaf and sleeping more, but she remains our sweet, dumb, cuddly pup. We’ve also noticed that she no longer stands at the baby gate with her head cocked to the side when we head out the door with our packs and gear. She just lies down on her bagel bed and takes a nap.

there’s still good snow in the high country

climbing up

skiing out

Jeremy and I went to check out the snow coverage in the high country on Sunday. It was partly cloudy with stormy clouds swirling over the high peaks. We were snowed on (yay!) and it was surprisingly quiet for a weekend. Fresh air and exercise was just the right medicine. When we got home, I made chile-lime-beer beef enchiladas. But I had to fight the urge to head to Boulder for sushi. We always crave sushi after skiing. It’s not sushi per se, but goodies from the kitchen like tempura or miso soup or one of my favorites: salmon collar (sake kama). I always get mine teriyaki-style. Making it at home has been one of those things nagging at me for years. Last week, I asked at the Whole Foods seafood counter if they had salmon collar. And they did!

four collars

i also picked up some nice sockeye salmon fillet to teriyaki

to make teriyaki: mirin, sake, soy sauce, sugar

Whenever I’ve had salmon collar in Japanese restaurants, it’s pretty small and makes for a nice appetizer. The young man helping me at the seafood counter gave me incredibly generous portions. In fact, I think he included as much as a decent-sized steak with each collar and charged me the ridiculously reduced rate for “fish bones”. I know some of you are thinking that the collar is the part you throw out – but it’s not! It’s the fatty, flavorful, tender, amazingly delicate part of the fish. Unfortunately, they only had collars from arctic farm-raised salmon because that’s all they had whole. As a rule, I purchase wild-caught, but I made an exception this once. I’m sure the wild caught salmon will start coming in whole as soon as the season ramps up. If you can’t deal with or can’t acquire salmon collar, you can easily do this recipe with salmon fillets or steaks instead.

mixing the teriyaki marinade

place the collars in a ziploc bag

if you are doing fillets, place the slices in a ziploc bag

**Jump for more butter**

Recipe: mushu pork burger

It’s been months since Kaweah has been able to walk up the stairs on her own. She walks down the steps just fine, albeit slowly (with an escort to catch her if she stumbles). But one of us will carry her up to the main floor several times a day. Of course, we can’t ask our dear neighbor to carry Kaweah up a flight of stairs when she lets the pup out while we’re gone all day. So we’ll typically keep Kaweah on the first floor – where there are only three steps. Except now, Kaweah can’t get up those three steps either. I figured a ramp would be a good solution to let Kaweah wander up to the front door when she pleases (she likes this as she can look to see who is coming and going). I dropped a wad of cash on a dog ramp at the store and it turns out that it’s too narrow for our aging dog. Kaweah’s hind leg kept slipping off the edge and it scared the hell out of her little doggy self. We returned the ramp, went to the hardware store, and bought some materials.

et voilà!

Some plywood, hinges, support beams, wood screws, and foam cushion bathmats ($13 each at Costco) made for a nice, solid ramp. At first Kaweah was reluctant, but after some coaxing (i.e. treats) she got the hang of going up and down the ramp like a pro. Yay, success! Why the foam cushion bathmats? She seems to get better footing on these than on standard carpet on an incline. Also, we know she likes them because she always stands on them in our bathroom.

no prob

she is all about the treat

It was a simple DIY project, but I love making things to my specifications. The same goes for food. Actually, I think food is easier because I work with food all the time. A few days ago, Jeremy and I were reminiscing about the California roll burger. We’ve only ever made it twice, but it is so unbelievably GOOD. And it got me thinking about burgerfying other dishes… like mushu pork.

ground pork, green onions, fish sauce

mix it together with some salt and pepper

form the patties

**Jump for more butter**

Recipe: vietnamese grilled lemongrass pork (thit heo nuong xa)

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My wonderful friend, Jennie, lives in New York City and has a great post with links on how to help with relief efforts as the city tries to recover from Hurricane Sandy. If you are so inclined, please click on over. Thank you! xo

And a reminder to please GO AND VOTE on Tuesday if you haven’t already voted! Thank you, again!

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We set our clocks back Saturday night and the morning felt much brighter when we woke up. Of course, come sunset (and it came fast and early) Kaweah was already petitioning for her dinner two hours early. Jeremy dreads the overall shortening of the daylight hours and I think he makes it worse by counting the days. He told me this evening that it will be six weeks until the shortest day of the year and then another six weeks to get back to the amount of daylight we have right now. Well, yes – this is how it works with the Earth and the Sun. I accept the reduced daylight hours as long as there is some snow in the deal. I want my snow, please. If we get another repeat of last year’s lame snow season, I’ma gonna spit.

But before sunset jumped to 5:00 pm (and I’ll not complain since my girlfriend in Alaska is dealing with far more drastic diurnal shifts), we put our 5-6pm time slot to good use. On our 20 year smoochiversary, we went to Frasca for dinner, because it’s Jeremy’s favorite restaurant in Colorado. Who am I to tell him no?

brussels sprouts, duck prosciutto, pickled turnip salad (jeremy had pumpkin soup)

polenta-stuffed pasta with rabbit and chanterelles

my pork four ways: tenderloin, belly, bacon with spaetzle, and sausage

jeremy’s beef four ways: ribeye, marrow, beef cap, and carpaccio

fig hazelnut frangipane tart (me), pumpkin upside down cake with caramelized pecans (jeremy)

And we enjoyed the last of the evening walkies with Kaweah. For the next few months they will have to be afternoon walkies. We have some nice local trails around our neighborhood that have seen improvements over the years. I love trails so much. LOVE them. We were delighted to see another extension of a Boulder Parks and Open Space trail network finished. Kaweah was happy to give it the sniff down too.

yay! new trails!

and home in time for the last colors of the day

on the horizon

As I have indicated (read: complained), we haven’t had a whole lot of snow yet. When I say snow, I mean enough snow to last the winter and spring. The trails we slogged through last week are now dry or have a thin layer of ice at best. It’s been sunny and warm. Ahhh, shoulder seasons… So instead of sulking about, wishing for ski season to start already, I sulk about and run the trails. And I’m sulking and grilling. Actually, I’m not really sulking, because this Vietnamese grilled lemongrass pork (thit heo nuong xa) is crazy good.

pork shoulder, garlic, shallots, lemongrass, oil, pepper, brown sugar, dark soy sauce, fish sauce

roughly chopped garlic, shallots, and lemongrass with light brown sugar

pop the garlic, shallots, lemongrass, and sugar into a blender or food processor

**Jump for more butter**