use real butter

Recipe: elote (mexican street corn) fritters with lime crema

***********

Hi guys, I finally caught up on answering comments from the past 6 weeks. My apologies for being a slacker, but you know… stuff and things. xo -jen

***********

Whenever the snows begin to melt in late spring and the sun rises higher in the sky like an overachiever, I start to panic internally about the onslaught of summer. I call it an onslaught because it feels like an assault – the intense sun burning the skin on my arms, seeking relief in our basement because the rest of the house is so hot, pine pollen dusting everything with a thick coat of yellow. But the oppression eventually (hopefully) gives way to the southwestern monsoon some time in July, which delivers relief in the form of daily afternoon cloud buildups, big temperature drops, and that oh-so-heavenly release of rain that washes over the land, the animals, the trees, the flowers, the rocks, everything. The monsoon was a little late getting here this year, but it has finally arrived. It is spectacular. For me, there are three parts to summer in the mountains: 1) the sucky part with the hot, dry, and pollen-filled air 2) the delicious part with the monsoon rains and 3) the cooldown which is really pseudo-autumn. We are now well into summer part 2, and it is glorious.

bluebells at 11,000 feet

blue columbines greet the day

at the top of my 2000 ft. climbing trail run to 11,500 ft.

paddling long lake in the indian peaks wilderness

snow and ice floating on blue lake (indian peaks wilderness)

cascades and parry’s primrose

happiness is a colorado mountain dog

thank you for the rain, clouds

You know what else I love about summer part 2? The arrival of local Colorado Olathe sweet corn. You all probably don’t know about our amazing Colorado Palisade peaches or the Olathe sweet corn – we eat it all up such that there isn’t any left to ship out of state, so it’s a secret *wink*. Ever since we moved to Colorado, I only buy corn in summer when it is at its sweetest and most delightful. We like to eat it straight up boiled or grilled, but every now and again I’ll splurge on the calories and make Mexican-style corn (elote). And then last week I tried a recipe that makes our summer trail runs very necessary – elote fritters.

white corn

brush a light coat of vegetable oil on the cobs

grill the ears until moderately charred

cut the kernels off the cobs

There are three ears of corn in this photo sequence, but in hindsight, I would have used four ears (which I indicate in the recipe below). I grilled my corn, because it’s easy for me to do and because I like that charred flavor and texture. If you are grill-less, then you can boil or steam your corn, cut the kernels off, and brown the kernels in a little vegetable oil in a skillet or sauté pan. Once the kernels are ready, they get added to butter-sautéed onion and jalapeño.

minced jalapeño, minced sweet onion, butter, salt, corn

fry the onion and jalapeño in butter until just soft (but still crunchy)

add the corn

let the corn cool

**Jump for more butter**

Recipe: strawberry butter

It’s been a good week in Crested Butte. We’ve been out on the trails daily, either hiking, running, or foraging. Neva has enjoyed plenty of exercise and play and snacks. I love watching the mountains shed their winter tones to reveal brilliant spring greens and yellows and blues. Spring cleaning is underway, although the actual “cleaning” has yet to happen (it will…). Spring Administration is probably the more appropriate term. That includes mapping out our summer, which makes me simultaneously excited with anticipation and disappointed that it is so brief. At the end of each day when I turn out the lights, I reach over to hold Jeremy’s hand in the dark and give it a squeeze before we fall asleep.

a fast moving storm brought on cotton ball-like mammatus clouds

the aspens are starting to leaf out

neva inspects my sewing project

found a morel on my trail run

Today’s recipe is wonderful and simple, because it’s strawberry season and because I have a ton of dandelions to pull out in the yard. Strawberry butter is best made when you have access to ripe berries. And since butter is the main ingredient, I recommend using a good quality unsalted butter. Make sure the butter and strawberries are room temperature before you start.

butter, strawberries, powdered sugar, a pinch of salt

Hull and wash your strawberries, then pat them dry. I find that any excess water on the berries tends to dilute the flavor of the butter and the berries. Obviously, the more ripe and juicy the berries, the more flavorful the strawberry butter. I dice my berries pretty fine. As long as the berries are ripe, they should mash nicely into the butter. If you aren’t using ripe berries, then a finer chop should make up for their lack of mashability.

minced strawberries

add sugar and salt to the beaten butter

**Jump for more butter**

Recipe: hot cheesy green chile dip

Since last week’s recipe was so long, I didn’t post any photos from the week’s shenanigans. I thought it might be nice to include them this week since I’d rather share some uplifting images rather than try to sort out what I’m thinking.

a beautiful sunrise

moose in the mountains

neva incognito – as a leopard

ice crystals along a streambank

I’ve also stepped back from Facebook because that place is just a freaking black hole of suck. A washing machine of emotions and assholery on spin cycle (I’m still pretty active on Instagram, though – so go find me there). Last week, I agreed to cook at one of Andrew‘s dinner parties, but as Friday neared, I felt so drained and exhausted that I wanted to bail. In the end, I decided not to. And I’m glad I didn’t. Engaging with people – with good, kind, positive people – energized me. Cooking with friends and feeding others got me out of this funk. Also? I learned about barbecue using a smoker from Andrew’s friend, Ben, who is now my friend, too.

ben and andrew manning the smoker (full of brisket and ribs – oh lordy!)

some of the dinner attendees getting ready for dinner

ben’s texas-style brisket

Cooking was a team effort with Ben at the helm on the barbecue, Andrew picking up the side dishes, and me bringing the start and the end of the meal – appetizer and dessert(s). In my ongoing attempt to use up frozen roasted Hatch green chiles from prior years, I stumbled across a crazy delicious dip that everyone seems to love. My neighbors gave it their approval a few weeks ago, so I figured it would be a good dip to start the dinner party at Andrew’s house.

cream cheese, jack cheese, diced roasted green chiles, mayonnaise, parmesan cheese, minced garlic

**Jump for more butter**