use real butter

Recipe: angel biscuits

Beggars can’t be choosers. While it’s a lean year for snow in our part of Colorado, I really ought not complain. There haven’t been any “sick” or “epic” days to crow about, but at least I can ski. We’ve got the climate, the topography, and the big resorts. It’s embarrassing what I now consider to be a sub-par day.

weekday skiing is where it’s at

and we even found a little scritch of powder

It’s a good feeling to be satisfied with something that isn’t perfect. Some people have accused me of being a perfectionist, but I am not. I don’t have the patience to be a perfectionist. I do have high standards and expectations when it comes to certain things, but perfection – no. About a year ago, I set out to reproduce a favorite biscuit that I could only get at home. These were called silver dollar biscuits from Crums Bakery in southern Virginia and they would sell out during the holidays weeks in advance because every good party must have silver dollar biscuits stuffed with thin slices of Virginia ham.

you didn’t think i’d come back from virginia without some good old country ham, did you?

cut the shortening into the flour

**Jump for more butter**

Recipe: aspen apple cake

If you ask anyone who knows me, they’ll tell you that I’m pretty social. I really look forward to spending time with the people I like. But, I tend to be ambivalent when it comes to plunging myself into an environment where I only know a few of the people or none at all. My emotions run the gamut from very excited when I RSVP to feeling like I would rather do anything else just before it starts. It has happened frequently enough that I know I will come away happier for having gone. My brain overrules my heart and I make myself attend. So it was with PodCamp Boulder 2 this weekend, run by the awesome Jeremy Tanner.

brainstorming discussion topics friday night

session on copyright and creative commons licenses

PodCamp is an unconference where people get together and talk tech about SEO, CMS, blogging, social media, podcasting, video, photography, storytelling, design – whatever the group wants to talk about. They break out into sessions and everyone participates as much or as little as they like. It’s free, it’s fun, it’s informal, it’s spontaneous. I learned quite a lot and was even able to share some knowledge and information of my own (who knew!?). I connected with more of this fine community and consulted with my go-to guys (Andrew and Jeremy) on holding and hosting workshops.

andrew joins us for some intersession banter

jeremy addresses how to host events

What’s that you say about hosting a workshop? Why yes, I’m hosting a workshop on food photography this summer in Boulder, Colorado! I’ve been hammering out the details and consulting with my fellow instructors on syllabus and logistics. You may have heard of them… Helen of Tartelette, and Todd and Diane of White On Rice Couple? You can just imagine how excited we are putting it all together. Be sure to stay tuned for the announcement in a few weeks!

amazing sunrise the other morning before we went skiing at breckenridge

Between all of the things I have going on, I did manage to squeeze in a recipe that I’ve had dog-eared for over a year. When Aran recently told me that tomato season is starting in Florida, I nearly choked on my breakfast. I can’t let myself start thinking about spring produce let alone summer produce right now. No, this cake is all about warm flavors and apples because it is very much winter here (with snow in the forecast – squeeeeeeeeee!).

whisk the dry ingredients together

peel them apples

**Jump for more butter**

Recipe: pomegranate chocolate dessert

I thought I might find a little time to do some festive baking, but it seems that I won’t have much time this season for a variety of reasons. There has been one recipe I’ve been wanting to try out for a couple of months now ever since pomegranates arrived in our markets. Pomegranate seeds are little jewels. We have five large pomegranates sitting on our counter right now. I tend to stock up on them because Jeremy can put away quite a few. My enjoyment of pomegranate seeds increased tenfold several years ago when I learned I could EAT the crunchy center. How about that?

the glamour girl of the fruit world

boozy version

PAMA had sent me a bottle of their pomegranate liqueur last month to inspire and shoehorn me out of this creative funk I’ve been wallowing in. Well, I suppose lack of time and funk are not the same thing, but I have noticed that lack of time can be an inspiration-killer. Jeremy’s immediate reaction was pomegranate martini! Oy, martinis and I have a checkered past. I thought something more tame like a dessert, was in order.

had to try making pomegranate molasses

cutting the cake bases

**Jump for more butter**