use real butter

Recipe: pan-seared black cod with summer vegetables

[I completely forgot about this interview with Friday magazine earlier this month! Click on over if you’re bored and haven’t heard enough of my yammering. It features some other food bloggers you might recognize too.]

It was hot this weekend! This is what they call Indian summer, right? Summer is pretty brief where we live, so we welcome it with open arms in the mountains. It’s glorious. As summer winds down, Jeremy and I are both pretty happy to move into autumn – which arrives right on schedule around these parts. Taking advantage of these last hot and sunny days, we distributed the compost in our yard to make room in the compost bin, cleaned out the basement, did heaps of recycling, and replaced our hot water heater. Okay, the hot water heater sort of demanded replacement when it died and flooded the basement, but I’m glad we took care of it in summer rather than winter.

and kaweah got a much needed bath

Our fall colors are arriving in full force to the south. I’m looking forward to a cool down because when I see yellow aspens, I want to be wearing fleece – not sweating my brains out in a short-sleeve t-shirt getting sunburned, which is exactly what happened on Sunday’s shoot. But have a gander at what we found. [See the full set on the photo blog.]

colorado gold on deep blue skies

healthy pines and golden aspens

a lovely mix of colors

brilliant

aglow in early afternoon light

When I was in Seattle, my friend Caroline had complained that they didn’t get a real summer and that she wasn’t ready to let it go just yet. One evening we went to the grocery store to pick up ingredients for dinner. Hmmmm, what to make for dinner? Caroline went to grab some black cod to bake and Erin asked me to come up with a vegetable. I remembered Caroline’s comment about summer and picked up some summery vegetables for a simple sauté to go with the fish.

corn on the cob

slicing the kernels off

At home, I wanted to try the same vegetables with pan-seared black cod. I too didn’t want to let summer go just yet. There will be time for pumpkins, apples, pomegranates, and butternut squash. Our corn is still sweet. The zucchini are still plentiful. And tomatoes… I am a sucker for the sweet sweet lovin’ of summer tomatoes.

dicing zucchini

cherry tomatoes in the last light of summer

diced into jewels

**Jump for more butter**

Recipe: green chile cheeseburger

Have you heard about the Threadcakes contest? It’s a fascinating event where entrants select a favorite Threadless t-shirt design (really cool t-shirts, by the way) and make a cake based on that design. Wait a second – they don’t just make a cake, they create edible works of art. This year (the second Threadcakes) I was one of the judges for the competition and WOW! I always talk about how less is more to me, and with regard to cakes it’s because I suck at cake decorating. So to flip through and marvel at each of the entries was an exercise in shouting out to Jeremy, “Come look at THIS one!” again and again until he gave up and just sat down next to me to see all of the lovely interpretations. Please hop over and have a look at the Threadcakes winners – while you’re there, you can grab a discount code for a purchase at Threadless too. Nice. Congratulations to the winners!

soaking up that september sun

I’ve noticed the light is changing around here. The sun is dropping lower as it crosses the sky and my local mountains are starting to take on a faint hint of autumn. It is ever so faint and the shift is subtle. In a couple of weeks it will be that familiar and welcome golden light streaming through the glowing yellow aspen leaves against our deep blue, gorgeous skies. That is Colorado autumn and it is my favorite time of year.

Many years ago, Jeremy and I flew from Ithaca, New York to Albuquerque, New Mexico to attend his grandfather’s funeral. Grandpa was the kind of gentleman who quietly walked you out to his garden in March to show you his tomato seedling projects. When he spoke to me, he would lean forward, smiling sweetly as if sharing a joke. One Thanksgiving when the entire family (and I do mean the ENTIRE family) sat around the long dinner table as dessert wound down, Grandpa sat down next to me and opened his genealogy project notebook. He showed me how much progress he had made in his research by connecting with people on the internet. He eventually turned to the later pages and pointed to Mom and Dad, and then to Jeremy and his brother. His finger moved back to Jeremy’s name which had an empty space next to it. “I’d be honored to have your name there some day.”

The funeral was in October – not a time we typically visited New Mexico. Hot air balloons dotted the skies and you could find Hatch green chiles roasting on several street corners and markets. This is quintessential Albuquerque in October. But for me, there will always be the memory of the sleepy, warm light of fall filtering across the speeding landscape as we transported Grandpa to The Santa Fe National Cemetery. So it was last week when I spied a little chalkboard sign outside of Whole Foods advertising Hatch green chiles from New Mexico. Inside, an employee was loading bags of diced chiles into a small freezer – these were not what I was hoping for. He pointed me to the cauliflower and said there were fresh chiles right next to them. While I stood running my hands over the chiles, the mental associations came flooding into my head. I remembered Albuquerque, Jeremy’s parents’ old house, his old pups (black and chocolate labs) Smudge and Chaco, Grandpa, Grandma, Uncle Bill’s awesome pies, looking in wonder at the dozens of colorful and odd shapes that drifted over the horizon during the Balloon Fiesta.

finally, i can show you fresh hatch chiles

for scale

**Jump for more butter**

Did any of you catch the Perseids on Thursday night? Jeremy, Kaweah, and I spent the night on the deck. Those two slept while I shot the meteor shower. We had clear skies and even when a few clouds began to build on the Continental Divide, they dissipated after a little bit. I don’t think I’ve ever experienced such good viewing conditions before! But first, you need to see the Milky Way from my deck. It’s gorgeous.

our galaxy, the milky way

The reddish lights are town center, but they didn’t interfere too much with my shoot. The rest of the Milky Way photos are here. We saw many many meteors Thursday night (a lot fewer Friday night, but still at least a dozen after sitting around for an hour). If you didn’t get to see any, these shots are for you to enjoy!

here’s a nice streaker

satellite (white), meteor (color), jupiter (bright dot upper right), andromeda (oblong dot bottom center)

And you can find the rest of the Perseid meteor shower photos on the photoblog.

My parents are visiting with us for a few days and Kaweah has been in heaven because my dad spoils her like crazy. They are loving the cooler and drier weather here (in comparison to hot and humid southern Virginia) as well as the lovely Colorado scenery. Saturday was my mom’s birthday, so we went to celebrate in grand fashion at Flagstaff House for dinner. We all had the Chef’s nine course tasting menu. I’ll leave you with photos from the night’s meal. Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

lovely little flowers at our table

hors d’oeuvres and a special birthday wish on the menu

complimentary appetizer of thin pastry over duck confit with mushrooms

kusshi oyster, lime, tanqueray gin

ahi tuna carpaccio, terrine of foie gras, arugual, extra virgin olive oil

alaskan halibut over sweet corn and mussel chowder

australian barramundi, lump crabmeat, eggplant caviar, roasted garlic, nicoise olives, zucchini

grilled pancetta-wrapped quail, king trumpet mushrooms, white truffle infused polenta, sauce of garlic

marsala-braised kurobuta pork cheeks, haystack goat cheese agnolotti

snake river “kobe-style” gold ribeye cap, twice baked potato, asparagus, black truffle sauce

the sugar plate (accompanies coffee)

blackberry, kiwi, and white peach sorbet trio

sticky toffee pudding, bourbon toffee sauce, minted white chocolate ice cream

petits fours and birthday surprise