use real butter

Recipe: apple galette

I have lost my mind and joined NaBloWriMo again! What is NaBloWriMo, you ask? It’s insanity! But it’s fun insanity, so there I am. Basically, I’m posting every day for the month of October and NaBloWriMo is short for National Blog Writing Month. Insanity…

Oh hey, I was recently interviewed by the Daily Camera (Boulder’s local paper) for an article on food photography. Check out the online version if you’re bored.

The fall colors are getting wacky this year, but I just returned from a 3-day shoot and considering all of the circumstances (dull color, high winds, stripped stands) we managed to get some pretty decent captures.

beth was my shooting partner on the trip – she is awesome

fresh snowfall on the sneffels range

golden mature aspen stands

I’m heading out again Friday for another 3-day shoot. Keep fingers crossed for me that it won’t be a bust! Winter keeps huffing and puffing at Colorado’s doorstep. I think fall will be short-lived this year. That’s both good and bad. Based on my up close and personal interactions with the weather these past few days, it is safe to say that summer is dead to me now. If standing in a shower of gently falling (sometimes violently flying) golden aspen leaves doesn’t make you think summer is over, then 45 mph winds blasting 20°F air and pelts of snow certainly will. And with fall comes apples. Lovely, juicy, crisp, sweet, tart apples.

let’s make an apple galette

peel the apples

**Jump for more butter**

The winner of the drawing: yes, I had a great scheme to pick the winner in San Francisco, and instead, was utterly distracted by our jam packed schedules and all of the beautiful, shiny people I met. So tonight, Jeremy and Kaweah played a few games and Jeremy produced a random number of 469 based on Kaweah’s ability to dig a treat out of her kong toy several times. Congratulations to Maressa! Because I’m hitting the road in less than 5 hours, I will email you at the end of the week (or you can email me) for your mailing address. Thank you to everyone for sharing your awesome autumn memories with me. Unfortunately, I was craving pumpkin and apples ALL WEEK :)

I’m home just in time to leave again! As some of you know, I was in San Francisco over the weekend for the BlogHer Food conference. If you want me to attend anything, hold it in San Francisco or Seattle, and I’ll be there. So while I’m about to hit the road to hunt down some Colorado Gold (leaf peeping), you can peruse the photos from the conference (it will be like you were there, and in some cases, you WERE there!) and read over my random musings regarding the weekend.

But before we get started with the conference, here is what was happening down the road from my house today:

aspen canopy

this guy was huge

a different bull elk, bossing everyone around

Helen (Tartelette) and I met at SFO for the first time! It’s old hat now when you’ve been friends for over a year that when you finally meet in real life (IRL) all the jokes and laughs come tumbling out. We made our way into the city and had ourselves some sushi for lunch at Akiko’s.

helen at akiko’s

white tuna belly sashimi

**Jump for more butter**

Recipe: lobster vols-au-vent

**I’m not really here, I’m in San Francisco yukking it up with all of the food bloggers at the Blogher Food conference. If I’m in the hotel room geeking out, then I’ll post some pictures. If I’m with Helen getting lit on cocktails, then I’m not in any shape to post any pictures anyway!**

Roll the tape, Harry! [Who is Harry? I dunno… it’s late.]

I made doubly sure I did not miss this month’s Daring Bakers challenge because I had an opportunity to recreate a favorite dish I enjoyed as a kid in a fancy pantsy restaurant. So there ya go!

the daring bakers do it ninja style!

And the official line is: The September 2009 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Steph of A Whisk and a Spoon. She chose the French treat, Vols-au-Vent based on the Puff Pastry recipe by Michel Richard from the cookbook Baking With Julia by Dorie Greenspan.

Did I mention how much I adore these two women: Lis of La Mia Cucina and Ivonne of Cream Puffs in Venice? Well I do. They are the founders of the Daring Bakers (Daring Anythings) – and I bow to their awesomeness.

So let’s hop to it! Our challenge this month was to make vols-au-vent pastries – savory or sweet. I barely had time to brush my teeth in the mornings, so there was only one option for me – savory. When I was little, I ordered lobster vols-au-vent at a restaurant (probably the Williamsburg Inn). It was heavenly. Flaky puff pastry drenched in a creamy sauce with lumps of tender, sweet lobster meat. Never thought to make it myself, just never occurred to me until I saw this month’s challenge. We’ve made puff pastry once before (Danish Braids) but this was a little different and… I love homemade puff pastry. Store bought puff pastry leaves this crazy horrid film all over my mouth because they use some sort of fake fatty compound – I don’t know what it is, but it’s disgusting. I hate eating it because I feel like I just sucked a coating of wax inside my mouth. So, when the DBs say “Make puff pastry!” I say, “Yes, Sergeant!”

score the dough

fold the rolled out dough around the butter

**Jump for more butter**