use real butter

Recipe: blueberry scones

Right now, part of my work involves getting up early and hiking to alpine basins to assess the state of the wildflowers. You don’t always hit pay dirt, but I like that it gets me outside into the backcountry and that I’m not sitting on my bum all day. And in summer, you’re almost always guaranteed to be greeted by many familiar friends in the high country. I saw several favorites up high in marshy alpine meadows.

mountain bluebells

magenta paintbrush

I paid the price for those flowers too… in blood, so to speak. I wake up each morning with new mosquito bites despite my efforts to don pants and long-sleeves when I’m hiking and photographing. I have two requests for enterprising individuals: 1) please make a sunblock that I can take in pill form and 2) please make a mosquito repellant that I can take in pill form. I would pay good money for those things. And some mornings I want to see things a little faster than the pace of a hike, or even a trail run.

mountain biking makes it harder for the mosquitoes to get you

and then you ride to the local coffeehouse and wait in line with a random cute dog

Another part of my job is knowing when certain slopes or basins are reaching peak bloom and what time of day or which conditions are ideal for the images I want to capture. It starts to feel a little frenetic if you cover a wide area, especially if it takes half the day to reach some of these places. And by evening, when the mosquitoes are in their swarming frenzies, my mind often wanders to questions like, “Why haven’t more creatures evolved to hunt and eat mosquitoes?” Why, indeed.

tall larkspur

iphone behind the scenes (courtesy of jeremy)

Jobs have been on my mind lately because I recently sent a package of baked goods to my friend, Jamie, to thank her for the beautiful cutting boards she made. I sent it USPS priority and they said it was delivered two days later – except she never received it. She inquired after the package and with a little digging, I think the USPS realized that THEY SOMEHOW LIED ABOUT THE DELIVERY because they found the package and gave it to her 11 days after it was supposed to have been delivered. WTH?! More like USPOS. Of course, the baked goods were dead on arrival, because they were blueberry scones made with fresh organic blueberries. Smooth move, USPS. At least I had sense enough to send the second package via UPS (and those guys wear cute brown shorts). So let’s make some blueberry scones and have sense enough not to entrust them to the US Postal Service EVER AGAIN.

you’ll need: blueberries, flour, butter, lemon, eggs, sanding sugar, granulated sugar, baking powder, salt, cream, and vanilla

whisk the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt together

cut the butter into the flour

grate lemon zest into the dry mixture

**Jump for more butter**

Recipe: blueberry hand pies

I’m sleep-deprived and behind on my work, but I’m not (too) stressed out because I’m having a good time. I got to watch and minimally participate in the filming of a television segment for Frank Bonanno and my good friend, Ellen, in Denver last week. I say minimally because I really REALLY did not want to be on camera. Besides, it was HOT in the kitchen. We were all happy when that part was done so we could head outside to watch the filming of the cocktail segment.

prepping for cocktails

Aside from my desire to support a good friend, do you want to know the real reason I left the mountains to head to Denver (because it usually takes a plane ticket to get me to drive down to Denver)? A hedgehog. SQUEEEEEEE!!!!!

her name is rosie and she belongs to frank’s kids

My parents arrived Friday evening and we met with them to go out for dinner. It used to make me a little crazy and headachey when they would both hold simultaneous, yet separate conversations with me. But now… now I just laugh and try to listen to both, and laugh some more. They came up to our house for dinner over the weekend. It feels good to cook for my folks – to spoil them since they were always spoiling me (and now us). More than ever, I just feel that I want my parents to be happy. Isn’t this what we wish for the ones we love?

this dish never fails to please: pan-seared scallops on fresh corn and roasted tomatoes

The weather got uncomfortably warm right around the time the pine pollen got ridiculous (i.e. everywhere). But before all of that happened, I made some fruity pies. Remember the mad loot I scored in the way of organic blueberries from Whole Foods? I used one of those pints for something other than jam. Pie is great and all, but HAND PIES are like… presents.

puff pastry, blueberries, egg, cinnamon, salt, lemon, cornstarch, sugar, turbinado sugar

mix the cornstarch, sugar, cinnamon, and lemon zest

mix the blueberries, lemon juice, and salt together

**Jump for more butter**

Recipe: green onion buttermilk pancakes

Jeremy and I are back in Crested Butte getting our offices up and running, squaring away various details, and meeting many of our wonderful neighbors (including their pups like Ryder, Meatball, Lilly…). We have settled into the new digs enough to finally get out and do a little exploring this past weekend – both around town and on the trails.

gâteau fab, who tells me she gets lots of inspiration from foodgawker

a busking biologist at the farmers market

cb farmers market opening day

which baked goodies to choose?!

Living in two mountain towns allows us to draw the inevitable comparisons. So many similarities and yet so many differences. Whenever we tell locals that we live in Nederland, they always ask about the Frozen Dead Guy (aka “Grandpa”). Thankfully, Crested Butte doesn’t boast a frozen dead guy (we really don’t need two of them), but she makes up for it in titles like Wildflower Capital of Colorado and the Birthplace of Mountain Biking. Because we’re both such wimps about the heat, we’ve been riding or hiking in the mornings and evenings. The peak bloom should be in another month, but we’ve already witnessed several early bloomers and their green precursors blanketing whole mountainsides. Just the other evening I told Jeremy that I felt like I was witnessing the party planning stages of a giant celebration. Crested Butte is magical at every turn.

false hellebore or corn lily

meadows of green and yellow

crimson columbines (the first i’ve spotted this season)

sundown on lush hillslopes

the lupine are getting ready

And speaking of magical, you need to get in on this wondrous savory pancake. I grew up eating scallion pancakes of the Chinese persuasion, but these scallion pancakes are of the western variety. They are buttermilk pancakes with green onions. The first time I had them was at The Pinyon (which is now closed) – two green onion pancakes tucked under fried chicken with a side of syrup. Now that I can’t get them at The Pinyon, I have to make my own. Challenge accepted!

buttermilk, milk, eggs, butter, baking soda, baking powder, salt, green onions, flour

mix the dry ingredients together

slice the green onions

whisk the wet ingredients together (except the butter)

**Jump for more butter**