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Recipe: moroccan butternut squash chickpea stew

I feel like it’s late in the game even though we’ve just finished the first week of December. I get that way when it comes to time. I like to plan things out so that I’m not doing stuff at the last minute, not rushing around – because it stresses me out and I’m supposed to reduce my stress in general. I was super happy this week when I woke up and was able to get out of bed without much pain. I thought to myself, “Now I can work on all of those things that need to get done!” And then I looked at the calendar and had a little freak out moment because I lost a week somewhere. Better get crackin’… There is a long list of homemade goodies scrawled out on my notebook because I like to give a sampling of treats. I don’t plan orangettes every year because they are an enormous pain in the ass to make, but I know how much Jeremy loves them and that makes it worth the effort. Plus, he’s so sweet – he washes all of the dishes!

the first phase of making orangettes

The only two people in the world who specifically get Christmas presents from me are my niece and nephew, because they’re kids and because my sister celebrated Christmas when she was alive. I used to make something for them every year, but quickly exhausted my paltry sewing and knitting skills and got tired of thoroughly sucking at it, feeling like a bad auntie, and feeling like I let the kids down… let my sister down. These days Jeremy and I try to select thoughtful and/or educational toys as my parents have the fun (and expensive) stuff covered. Well, we try to include fun stuff too! I probably overthink it. I’m sure I do. December does it to me every time.

kaweah is especially attentive when i’m shooting food on the floor

We were sitting in the single digits (Fahrenheit) for a few days straight, but have since bounced back to the balmy 20s, which I love. When we dip into single digits and below, we have to watch Kaweah when we let her out. She wanders into the yard, does her business, stands around sniffing the snow, and then suddenly discovers that her paws are freezing cold and gets stuck. Luckily for her, Jeremy is standing by ready to run out into the snow, pick her up, and bring her back into the warm house. So yeah, we’re glad it has warmed up a little. 20s are my perfect temperature for backcountry and resort skiing. 20s are also tolerable for standing around outside waiting for things like sunset, sunrise, or total lunar eclipses. You’re gonna catch the lunar eclipse this Saturday, aren’t you?

snow dunes on the frozen reservoir

they could easily be sand dunes

So there’s this Moroccan stew that I wanted so badly to love, but wasn’t sure I would. I like to incorporate squashes into our menu come autumn because they’re local, good for you, and beautiful. [Spaghetti squash scares the hell out of me, though. I fear for my fingers trying to cut those in half.] It’s a good thing butternut squash doesn’t spoil quickly because it took me forever to get a final ingredient: preserved lemons. My local Whole Foods used to have them at the olive bar and the day I bought the butternut squash THEY WERE OUT. I checked back the following week. Nope. I tried Cured. No dice. I finally tried Peppercorn and paid an arm and a leg for a jar (then I found out that Savory Spice Shop carries them too – doh!). But at long last, I could make this recipe.

butternut squash, potatoes, onion, tomatoes, olives, garlic, chickpeas, preserved lemons

minced garlic, diced onions, spices, butter, olive oil

sauté the onions, garlic, and spices in the oil and butter

**Jump for more butter**

Recipe: chinese honey walnut shrimp recipe

Some time last week (Nov 7th) marked seven years since I began blogging. I hadn’t even realized this until today as I’ve been bogged down with so much. It seems fitting though, because I’ve been talking with some blog friends lately about blogging “back in the day” compared to now, today. It’s quite different. But I won’t bore you with those musings. I remember how excited I was in the early days to find a handful of blogs that posted Chinese recipes I wanted to make. The two I loved most were Jaden’s Steamy Kitchen and Bee’s Rasa Malaysia. They still crank out reliable recipes and I often reference their blogs for all manner of Chinese (or other Asian) cooking help.

Bee recently released her first cookbook, Easy Chinese Recipes, a lovely collection of favorite Chinese recipes and beautiful glossy photos to entice the reader to make every single dish. Bee’s style in her book is no different from her exacting instructions and helpful background information on her blog. The recipes are easy to follow even if you’ve never cooked Chinese food before. But I’ve cooked Chinese food before. LOTS. OF. IT. Yet, I still found plenty of recipes that I’ve been wanting to make and never found a good recipe for until I flipped through Bee’s book.

easy chinese recipes: family favorites from dim sum to kung pao

As any cook is bound to do, I compared some of my family recipes with Bee’s versions and they totally jived. There was never any doubt. I dog-eared several pages – recipes to revisit when I had more time. I finally settled on a restaurant favorite that I never had the guts to try at home, until now…

shrimp, honey, walnuts

marinate the shrimp in salt and egg white

The shrimp are raw despite their pink color (these are wild-caught Key West pink shrimp from Whole Foods), so be sure to use RAW shrimp and not cooked shrimp. It’s a straightforward process considering there is frying involved. Peel and de-vein your shrimp, then butterfly them if you like. (I like to butterfly them because they take on a pretty curled and flared shape when cooked.) Marinate in salt and egg white.

candied walnuts

mixing up the sauce

**Jump for more butter**

Recipe: chicken salad puffs

Good people, you still have until Monday, August 29, 2011 noon MDT to enter the raffle for a fine art print of your choice. Thank you!!

Lately it seems everyone is asking the same question, “Where did summer go?” In the case of my Seattle friends, they’re asking, “Summer who?” The start of the academic year tends to be a major social signal that summer is over. If I step outside my house in the afternoons, I can hear the children at the elementary school screaming and laughing at recess. If I drive through Boulder, it takes me twice as long to get anywhere because of all the new (and disoriented) freshman at the university. While I am already daydreaming about 4 foot powder dumps in winter (okay, I’ve been daydreaming about that since the last time I skied on June 21), I know that will come with a little time and perhaps some patience on my part. Autumn is surely coming, but we’ve still got some weeks of summer left as is evidenced by our near 100°F temps, daily thunderstorm cycle, the height of color at the farmer’s market, and meetings in the park with friends on blankets.

kaweah basking in the sun, unaware of the approaching thunderhead

beets the color of candy at the boulder market

calliope eggplants

brilliant carrots

my little buddy getting a snuggle from his mama

I haven’t shot a recipe I’ve made in a couple of months and it feels like forever. It isn’t for lack of mojo as there are several scraps of paper (both carbon-based and silicon-based) strewn about reminding me of recipes I want to try making and blogging. The mojo is there, just not the time. So I’ve dug deep into the queue and found a recipe for the chicken salad puffs I served at the afternoon tea I hosted a while back. It really was a while back – it was in November of last year. I’m hanging my head in shame at my lameness. But I assure you these chicken salad puffs are far from lame!

chicken, grapes, celery, almonds, parsley, onion

prepped and chopped

**Jump for more butter**