use real butter

Recipe: french silk pie

I was packing a few last kitchen items Tuesday evening when I looked up to see a nice rosy glow on James Peak. It’s been a while since I’ve had the leisure to notice sunset because our time has been sucked up with a project of sorts.

sunset on james peak

Early Wednesday morning, we piled a bunch of stuff, ourselves, two mountain bikes, and the dog into two cars and headed west because we had an appointment at noon. Jeremy took Kaweah in the Outback (Subie) and I followed in the WRX (Roo). He told me later that she faced backwards for the first 30 minutes to see where I was before she settled down for the 4.5 hour drive.

the view from the gas station at copper mountain

road trippin’ through colorado

we closed on a great little place in crested butte!

i celebrated with a raspberry lime fizzy drink avec umbrella

This post is coming to you from the new Crested Butte branch of use real butter! Butter headquarters remains in Nederland (near Boulder), but I’ll be working periodically from the CB office too. We’re still unpacking stuff, but Kaweah really digs the new place and every window has a view of a towering snowy mountain (because we are surrounded by towering snow-capped mountains). So let’s celebrate with some pie – some French silk pie. It’s super smooth which might be why it has “silk” in the name, but if you’ve ever chomped on silk (which I have), it’s got NOTHING on this pie!

am i right?

Start with the crust. I made a chocolate cookie crumb crust. Actually, I originally crushed a bunch of organic chocolate graham cracker bunnies (Annie’s brand), but the color was too light for what I had in mind. Those crumbs went into a bag for later projects and I resorted to an organic Oreo cookie (Newman-O’s). You know the drill, split the cookies open and scrape off the cream filling, then introduce the chocolate cookies to the food processor.

for the crust: organic oreos, butter, sugar, vanilla extract

scrape away the cream filling

combine cookie crumbs, sugar, vanilla, and melted butter

press into a pie plate or baking pan and bake

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Recipe: chocolate zucchini cake

So much can happen in a few days… or in a matter of moments. I’ve struggled with my feelings since the Boston Marathon bombing earlier this week, just as I do whenever things don’t make sense. In times of crisis, I try to understand what is happening because sorting it out in my head helps me deal with difficult situations. But the truth is, I will never comprehend the motivations of those who willfully do harm to civilians. And while we know that there are always good people who will put their lives on the line to help those in dire need, it makes my heart hurt knowing that someone intentionally set the violence and destruction in motion in the first place.

Upon learning the news on Monday, I scoured around for more information, checking in with friends in the area or those who might have run the marathon. Past the first hour it became apparent that the news was just a cycle of regurgitation, confusion, and sadness. I pushed away from my desk and stepped outside to clear my head and maybe ease some of the sorrow I was feeling. It has been snowing here like gangbusters – all of the snow we should have received in January but will gratefully take now. It’s high enough (about 2 feet) that Kaweah can only go where I break a trail because she’s too weak to bound around me and run off like she did in her prime. I took in the silence of snow falling and muting all sounds. Except there were chirps and flutters that caught my attention.

perched in the aspens

cedar waxwings

many cedar waxwings

I’m no birder, but I enjoy making note of the birds that pass through our woods. Through the falling snow they looked like a dozen or more LBBs (little brown birds) constantly flitting about to find the perfect branch. Only when I examined the photographs could I see the splashes of bright yellow and red in their plumage to determine they were cedar waxwings (thanks Google!). When I went back outside to see if I could get closer (birds are skittish), they had moved on. Still, it was a lovely little gift on such a sad day. Life is fragile, yes. Life is also resilient. Most of all, it is precious.

As you can see, it has been dumping this past week after many ski resorts closed for the season last weekend. Some are re-opening this weekend to take advantage of the 2+ feet of new powder. And while we are always glad to get snow to ski, the mountains and the foothills are breathing a collective sigh of relief because our snowpack is approaching 90% of normal. Hopefully that translates into a less eventful wildfire season, beautiful mountain streams and wildflowers late into summer, and more food for the wildlife. For now though…

we ski

jeremy breaks trail

april in colorado

I’m still in the mood to bake, which will diminish as the sun climbs higher into the sky and dawdles about dragging its bedtime later each day. I was cleaning out a pile of old recipes when I found a chocolate zucchini cake recipe from a friend back in graduate school. The recipe itself didn’t tickle my fancy, but the idea of a chocolate zucchini cake did and so I went searching for a recipe that suited my preferences. I tend to prefer cakes that use sour cream or yogurt or buttermilk because they bake more stably at my elevation.

butter, chocolate, eggs, sugar, oil, flour, cocoa, leavenings and salt, zucchini, buttermilk, espresso powder, and vanilla

shredding the zucchini

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Recipe: chocolate bread pudding

I’ve tried to be patient all week, waiting to get a glimpse of this comet… comet Pan-STARRS. It was finally visible for the Northern Hemisphere starting at the beginning of the week, but our horizon was obliterated by a bank of clouds and screaming winds. My consolation prize was snow on Tuesday morning, but I would have gladly given up any snow for a shot at the comet. I was prepared thanks to my friends at Pro Photo Rental.

1-foot ruler for scale: nikkor 200-400mm f4 & 500mm f4

Well, I got a lucky break Wednesday night. It was cloudy then not cloudy then the clouds returned. The winds were active too. I could see the crescent moon and knew the comet would be below and to the west of it, but where? Streaky clouds made it impossible to know if I was seeing things or seeing IT.

crescent moon

With each passing minute, I knew the comet was getting closer to setting. I began to scan the sky with the 500mm lens, one frame at a time down from the moon. The skies were still light enough that stars weren’t showing up on the horizon. And then I spotted it and I yelled to Jeremy to come out and see. We enjoyed it for a few minutes and then it was gone. But I’m happy we got a chance to see it. It should be in the sky for the next month, but it’s kinda special with the crescent moon. I love seeing these phenomena. It totally makes my day!

just a tiny dot

comet panstarrs and tail setting on the continental divide

Spring can be so volatile around here as we pendulum from “cold and snowy” to “warm and sunny” and back and forth. The other day, I caught myself saying aloud, “Oh, I can’t wait for summer.” My eyes got big and wide and I turned to Jeremy. He looked as if I had confessed that I was an alien from another planet. What I meant was that I was excited to be able to entertain in summer again, because I was collecting so many great dishes to share with friends. I mean, spring skiing is a whole season ahead of us! I recently found a winner of a dessert that even *I* like… chocolate bread pudding with Frangelico crème anglaise.

for the crème anglaise: eggs, cream, milk, sugar, vanilla, almond extract, frangelico

pour the cream and milk into a pan

whisk sugar and egg yolks together

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