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Recipe: puffy hearts and rings

When I was a little kid growing up in Virginia, snow storms would catch me by surprise. The only way I knew anything was in the works was when Kris would stay up late tuning the radio to find out if school would be closed the next day. On those very rare snow days we would stay home playing games, running around the house like maniacs jumping off the stairs, building forts, watching television, lip syncing Shaun Cassidy while standing on top of the coffee table, and sledding down our steep driveway. I have a lot of good memories of Kris.

Living in Colorado, we can get snow as early as September and as late as May. It snows in our mountains in June and July too. Even though it is a common occurrence I still get excited – I just don’t lip sync Shaun Cassidy from the coffee table anymore (I have that very coffee table in our great room). These days I suit up and head out.

hit the lifts early to beat the late morning rush

that’s jeremy freezing his bum off on the lift

After we return from a ski – be it at a resort or in the backcountry – it’s Kaweah’s turn to play in the snow. When she was a wee pup in Ithaca, New York, we’d take her out into the snow and find the deepest drift to drop her in. She’d expend an enormous amount of energy bounding about in the snow and would sleep all night long at home. Yay! Now in her golden years, Kaweah doesn’t wander as far into the snow nor does she handle the cold as well as she did in her crazy years (years 0-10). She sleeps much of the day and all of the night.

she’ll always be a puppy to me

sun setting on a quiet, snowy day

when the storm moves out, we get blue skies once again

As a kid, I never remembered being cold when I played in the snow. Maybe that’s because as kids, we’re crazy people? I would barely recognize myself today, grabbing a warm hat, gloves, boots, jacket, sunnies, chapstick, sunblock… While thinking back on those snow days of my youth, I grew nostalgic for my mom’s baking projects. She wasn’t much of a baker, but she did have a handful of sweets she could make for potlucks and parties. What I loved most were these things called puffy hearts and rings.

stick of butter

stir in flour

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Recipe: potato leek soup

My friend sent me the coolest package in the mail the other day. We both shoot Nikon and since he got one for himself, he decided to get one for me too. It was so generous of him, but I think it might be hard to distinguish between the 24-70mm 2.8 Nikkor that he sent me and the one that I already own.

practically identical

It’s disconcerting how similar they are, because one is a lens and the other is…

a mug

But I love it, because I’m a Nikon fangirl and ’tis the season for hot drinks. I only drink hot beverages from December to March because it’s too warm for me the rest of the year. I have nothing against hot beverages. They are especially appropriate after a day spent outside in the snow.

like a day at vail

the view west from one of the back bowls

When we get home from the slopes or the backcountry, the first thing we do after greeting Kaweah and putting away our gear is heat up some soup. We have four different kinds of soup in our refrigerator right now. It’s the best kind of food to warm you up and rehydrate your body. One of my favorites is potato leek soup.

leeks, potatoes, parsley, salt, pepper, and butter

slice the leeks in half

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Recipe: chinese salt and pepper squid

I made a new friend last week. Despite being around him for the past several months, the reason he’s my new friend is because he was only just born a few weeks ago. Erin and I went to visit with our friends – the proud new parents – and with little Felix. He’s a charmer and I am obsessed with his little feet. There was much discussion of how to craft some telemark skis for him.

adorable toes

The past week we’ve spent more time on trails than at the big resorts because we are spoiled brats who don’t like skiing with crowds of holiday or weekend skiers. Plus, there is something to be said for the beauty and solitude of our local backcountry. I know some of you will think skiing is skiing, but there are many flavors of skiing. I call this one “delayed gratification”. But really, it’s great exercise and a lot of fun.

trees provide some shelter from the winds

my skins are put away and i’m ready to head downhill

jeremy securing his cables

another gorgeous colorado day

As some of my friends know, I had lost my Chinese cooking mojo for a while. I just wasn’t feeling it. Sure I could think of things to make, but I had no desire, no spark to actually want to make any of them. Then in the last few weeks, I’ve developed cravings for various Chinese dishes that I’ve only had in restaurants. Perhaps it is because Chinese New Year is just around the corner (next month) or because I’ll be seeing my beloved Chinese Grandma on my next trip to the Bay Area? Whatever the reason, I began scouring my Chinese cookbooks for a favorite recipe I had been wanting to learn to make for years: salt and pepper squid.

green onions, thai chili peppers, sichuan peppercorns, salt

slicing the squid

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