use real butter

Recipe: sweet potato rolls

Daylight Saving doesn’t really bother me the way it bothers some folks. I have never paid much attention to it except when we get that extra hour in the fall. I kinda like that extra hour. But certain people get really bent out of shape over the revisited darkness in the mornings. I’ll let you in on a little secret… both Jeremy and I are really looking forward to setting our clocks ahead this Sunday. You know why?

because of this girl

Neva still wakes up at 5:30 every morning. EVERY. MORNING. Lately, we’ve been leaving her crate door open and she sleeps through the night without a problem. I sleep on the right side of the bed, and because of my lymphedema in my left arm, I sleep on my right side. Like clockwork, Neva shoves her nose into my face at 5:31 am (presumably she takes a minute to get out of the crate, stretch her front half, stretch her back half, rub her left side against the bed, then rub her right side against the bed, and shake off). It scared the hell out of me the first time, but now it’s just really sweet except for the puke-thirty in the morning feeling when your REM sleep has been interrupted. I’ll feed her a couple of treats so her empty tummy doesn’t revolt, and then she jumps up onto the bed to snuggle between Jeremy and me… for all of ten seconds. Then she jumps down off the bed and trots around the room and jumps back on until Jeremy wakes up, dresses, and takes her out to potty. We are hoping after Sunday, that Neva will wake up at 6:30! Right!? I mean, it’s got to work for at least a few days, yes?

Meanwhile, we are patiently waiting for the big snows that have yet to deliver this month. They said March would be snowy, but we’ve only gotten dribs and drabs interspersed with loads of warm weather. February was four whole weeks of freakish mother-loving sunshine. I feel as if I wouldn’t know what to do if we DID get a big dump powder day. Actually, I would totally know what to do – I’d SEND IT.

local benefits: ski the powder then go to work

It’s clear that winter skiing is fast becoming a faded memory. The sun is getting higher in the sky each day and the snowpack is feeling it. When we pack up for a backcountry ski, we dig around for lightweight gloves instead of super warm gauntlets. And during my weekly menu planning, I’m thinking more and more about summer barbecues, summer fruits, and well – summer foraging. But let’s talk about barbecue. I’ve always been a fan of barbecue and the assortment of sides that come with it: baked beans, coleslaw, macaroni salad, potato salad, cornbread, rolls, mac and cheese, the list goes on. Last year I was getting barbecue at a roadside stand when I saw “sweet roll” as a side option. When I asked what it was the guy said, “It’s a sweet potato roll.” I couldn’t figure out if he meant it was a potato roll that was sweet or if it was a roll made with sweet potato or what. I bit, and it was – nice. So I set out to make some myself, because homemade is almost guaranteed to be better.

sweet potato, flour, yeast, water, butter, salt, honey, eggs, warm water

peel and cut the sweet potato into chunks, then boil

mash the sweet potato and let cool

**Jump for more butter**

Recipe: grissini

There’s never a dull moment when you have a dog. Or perhaps I should say, there is never a dull moment when you live with Neva. She managed to impale herself on a stick at doggy daycare last week, but never let on to anyone that she had a hole in her side – not at daycare, not during her bath, not after we toweled her down. It wasn’t until we noticed a pink smudge on the couch that evening and tracked it back to Neva that we realized what had happened. It didn’t seem to bother her, but it looked terrible. Instead of our intended 6 am departure for Crested Butte the next morning, our dear vet took a look at Neva the minute he got into the office at 8 am and cleaned up the wound. He chuckled that she must have been having a great time to not even notice it. It’s healing nice and fast since she’s a strong and healthy little puppy.

neva’s sporting that wound like a champ

We started our Crested Butte weekend with what we’ve dubbed the freeheel ski trifecta: skate ski in the morning, telemark ski on the mountain, and then a late afternoon classic nordic ski with Neva. I could barely move the next day, but that might be because I managed a massive biff in the terrain park when I slid on water (that would be melted snow) off the ramp. February is trying to act like April… What is up with that?

skating into middle earth

telemarking down the mountain

oh, and stopping for a colorado bulldog (white russian with coke) at the ice bar

taking neva for a ski on the nordic trails

happiest dog on the planet right there

Neva’s progression into doghood has been gradual such that we didn’t really notice when she became super chill about us leaving the house without her. We are now able to get back to the restaurant scene, have friends over without Neva losing her mind, and get out for our own exercise. It’s almost like life before puppy, except it’s better because it’s now Life with Dog.

checking out a newish restaurant

having wonderful friends over for a dinner party

skating paradise park (it feels like paradise!)

Today’s recipe is for grissini – a thin, crisp, Italian breadstick. You can find them in grocery stores, but they tend to be fatter than what I want. Grissini are also pretty fragile, so they don’t handle transportation too well. Most of the time I buy them in the store for parties, I wind up with at least half of them broken. All the more reason to make them at home. The process is straightforward, and rolling the dough out into long, thin, and irregular sticks might be especially fun to do with kids. Plain is probably my favorite, but I divided my dough into thirds and made three kinds of grissini: plain, herbed (thyme), and black sesame.

you’ll need: warm water, olive oil, herbs (optional), salt, yeast, honey, black sesame seeds (optional), all-purpose flour, and whole wheat flour

proof the yeast (water, honey, whole wheat flour, and yeast)

after ten minutes you should see bubbles

add the olive oil, flour, and salt

knead the dough until smooth

coat in oil and let rise

**Jump for more butter**

Recipe: pretzel bites

Our most recent storm brought nearly 3 feet of snow to us in Crested Butte. And while we have been getting our fill of the powder (and then some!), there is the issue of clearing the snow on and around our house so we can get in and out, and so Neva can potty in the yard without disappearing completely. The thing about snow in Crested Butte is that it doesn’t really melt away until late spring. This morning was a balmy -18°F. So yeah, no melting here, just moving snow to make room for more snow. But the deep freeze is also what keeps the powder stashes fresh for days.

the snow in the yard is piling high (neva and jeremy for scale)

when neva is not outside, she wants to be outside

getting turns in the fresh stuff

we’ve never skied such deep and fluffy powder

jeremy getting after it in the trees

Alternatively, you might not be a snow lover (WHY??!). I can’t say I understand, but I know people who dislike the cold and snow of winter. Maybe you prefer to sit at home and watch a bunch of dudes hurl themselves about a rectangular field. Every person has their “thing”. No matter which thing is your thing, there is no denying that a batch of warm, soft pretzel bites would be a good thing!

brown sugar, butter, yeast, egg, salt, baking soda, pretzel salt, water, vegetable oil, flour

stir the flour and kosher salt together

get the water to around 100°f

mix melted butter, warm water, yeast, and brown sugar together

**Jump for more butter**