use real butter

Recipe: crock pot roast beef

Whoa. It’s spring. Even here in the Land of Ephemeral Summer, it’s bleeping spring. Talk about a mind fuck what with Daylight saving, another round of chemo, and the warm spell this weekend – I have awoken to a world that is now a lot… hotter. Not that I mind spring. Despite my love for winter, I actually embrace the arrival of all seasons because it’s a refreshing change. To be honest, spring here is really a warmer version of winter with nice big snow dumps paired with longer sunny days. Makes for great mountaineering conditions and who doesn’t love to ski some of that corn snow in the backcountry? Tap tap tap – waiting for the snowpack to get just right. Oh, my tele days are not over yet – not by a long shot.

And let’s not forget the bounty of spring produce. I get all excited in anticipation, although I’ll have to figure out which foods I can and cannot partake of because of my treatment. Still, a creative cook can make her way around some of those obstacles. Even though we’re still days off from the official start of spring (and in my neck of the woods it doesn’t feel like spring until May) I got started on my spring cleaning of sorts: closets, cupboards, paperwork, projects… While I was at it, I remembered that I had several recipes squirreled away for posting and some of them are “wintry” dishes. Best to get on those soon, eh?

Oh but first, more goodies in the post – a surprise from dearest, sweetest Anita of Dessert First! I have to say that food bloggers are some of the nicest people in the world. Add to that the fact that they also have teh best taste in food stuffs and you will never be more pampered and showered with love by a better person or persons.

i nearly peed my pants when i saw where the yummies were from!

Isn’t she a dear? What a complete delight to have these to look forward to after my treatment. Anita, you are the best! xxoo

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Recipe: guacamole

Christine had commented on the avocado mound that was sidling up next to the stacked enchiladas from a few days ago. Funny that, since I was planning to blog it! She’s an observant one.

My first true exposure to the beauty of avocados was the first time I lived in California. My pal, Melinda, had two giant avocado trees in her backyard and she always asked me to make the guacamole whenever they hosted parties for the club volleyball team. Then before we’d head home for the evening, she would grab me by the arm and foist a grocery bag full of avocados on me. “Take these!” she would insist. Gladly, Mel.

the goods: avocados, sweet onion, tomato, jalapeño, garlic, lemon, salt

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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.

south arapaho peak in the distance – a great climb

**Jump for more butter**