use real butter

Recipe: braised beef short ribs

I am so boned. No. Really.

It all started with the ginormous dump of snow that fell on our house starting Thursday night. The storm didn’t let up until Saturday afternoon. We lost power several times on Friday (I think people in Kansas could hear me scream when I lost all of my work on the computer for the second time in an hour – time to get a UPS) and then it was out Friday night through much of Saturday. Bored? Nah – we had about four feet of heavy, wet snow to shovel into 7-foot walls lining our driveway. That should be a sport – shoveling and throwing heavy snow over a 7-foot barrier. We were running out of places to put the snow.

kaweah was so frolicky and happy

That picture was “early” on in the shoveling phase (the handsome man there is about 6 feet tall). With no power in the house and lots of snow shoveling, my mind wandered and I began to think that perhaps I should grab my desired usernames on Twitter before someone else does – not because I have a desire to tweet (I don’t even like talking on the phone), but because I am a paranoid twit. After our power returned, I registered a couple of accounts. Wacky hijinx ensued (thanks Diane, love ya, girl!), but you can now follow my inanity my tweets at @userealbutter.

**Jump for more butter**

My head hurts this morning and I all I had last night was a sip of Jeremy’s Sauv Blanc. The hell? [I’m pretty sure it was my 2-hour cardio workout because my ass hurts when I walk right now.] A very good friend of mine is in Colorado all the way from Sydney. She and her husband came to Boulder last night to meet up with us for Community Night at The Kitchen. Oooooh Comm Night…

herbed gioia ricotta and fennel confit wood roasted flatbread

This was our fifth time at Comm Night. Come hungry and wear elastic waistband pants: fixed menu, family-style dining with a bazillion courses! Well, to be honest, over the past 4 years, Comm Night has gone from serving *insane* amounts of food to just *quite a bit* of food. I don’t feel like I’m going to pop and die at the end of the meal anymore. Or perhaps I’ve just learned to pace myself. Either way, it’s still a big treat partly because we don’t typically eat like that and partly because we aren’t made of money. Because our friends know their food (the hubby is a chef in Sydney), we thought Comm Night would be a perfect meal to share with them… and the dozen other diners at our table!

marinated shell bean salad with prosciutto, country terrine, grilled bread

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Recipe: lasagne of emilia-romagna

There is a lot going on this week at urb and much of it is happening while I am away (skiing). What now? Daring Bakers challenge time! If any of you follow the DBers, we have a sweet new home at The Daring Kitchen. You should go and check it out some time. And while we’re at changing homes, I had to say goodbye to my Bond-esque whisk-toting Daring Baker in exchange for…

the chopping ninja – haya!

Alright, here’s the party line: The March 2009 challenge is hosted by Mary of Beans and Caviar, Melinda of Melbourne Larder and Enza of Io Da Grande. They have chosen Lasagne of Emilia-Romagna from The Splendid Table by Lynne Rossetto Kasper as the challenge.

And let’s not forget our fearless, awesome, ass-kicking, super sexy founders: Lis of La Mia Cucina and Ivonne of Cream Puffs in Venice. They make all of this possible (with the help of several others – you know who you are! We love you!).

flap steak, ground veal, prosciutto, pancetta, pork loin

someone was really excited about the country style ragu

**Jump for more butter**