use real butter

Recipe: darling pasta

I’ve been busy this weekend with visitors. My aunt (one of my dearest friends) and her family are staying with us. They’re in the Denver area for some business and I am delighted to have our first guests in many many months. It is the first time I have seen her since my diagnosis and we had a tearful, heartfelt reunion on the sidewalk outside of Sushi Tora in Boulder. Yes, we had sushi. She is as much a sushi whore as I am (we are related, mind you).

So I wasn’t able to get online until late last night when to my delight, I learned that beloved Chuck of Sunday Nite Dinner has revved up Food Gawker, a budding replacement for Tastespotting. Good on ya, Chuck, and thank you thank you thank you for stepping up to the plate. A lesser cook could not have done this so quickly, so elegantly. You are superfly, babe.

Now, I have to be quick with this recipe because I need to make brekkie shortly and I am still managing random and annoying side effects (yes, they linger long after chemo – stupid chemo…).

I chose my partner well, this is obvious. Jeremy is never a cause for strife or stress in my life – he always makes everything better. But you can’t be guaranteed the same for your partner’s family. Luckily, my in-laws are incredibly sweet and loving people who treat me as if I were their own daughter. And they love to cook! Every time I see them, MIL and I always wind up exchanging recipes and sharing new dishes. We’ve been doing this for over 15 years and some of my favorite recipes come from the early days.

Recipe: martha’s mac and cheese

the ski whore report
Can I say w00t?! I went ski whoring this morning. I just love being a local. There were some decent freshies with a few inches of the sweet stuff, but the groomers were nice too. I hit the blacks in the back and caught up with some of my tele betties. Oh! Babes who tele are hot! Okay, but seriously – men who tele well make me swoon. Our local hill has a huge number of ski patrol on teles and I get my jollies when I see the tall ones ski, strut, or just stand around. Oh my. *fanning a blushing face* And today while I was contemplating more moguls on a favorite run, a gentlemanly hottie in his late 20s paused next to me and said, “after you” except I was still catching my breath so I told him he could go ahead. We exchanged polite greetings and he was off in the most graceful yet athletic tele turns – like silk. I had to catch my breath again.

Recipe: roast chicken artichoke pasta

You’re probably familiar with artichoke dip. It’s a great goto appetizer for guests and especially when I used to host stitch-n-bitches. It really boils down to a lot of fat with fiber, I mean a lot of delicious fat with fiber! I’ve had it in restaurants and I can’t stand their versions because they skimp on the arties and load it with even more creamy filler. Blegh.

I made so much soup and stew and curry last week that we were working on leftovers when I remembered I had planned on roast chicken. The chicken wouldn’t wait and I didn’t want to chuck it in the freezer, so I went ahead and roasted it, then put it in the fridge. Instead of having it straight, I had a smack of inspiration.