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Recipe: pear liqueur and pear garden cocktail

The nights are getting longer, but I’m sleeping less thanks to all of the goings on of fall. This is when events and people converge on my calendar in the same place and time, squeezed into the little spaces between shoots. It is the most frenetic time of year for me and also the most glorious – especially when the leaves are so good. I’ve been plowing through my latest photos because I hate having an enormous backlog to process. The way this season is shaping up guarantees a backlog at some point. Here are some photos from the road trip to Crested Butte and Aspen.

healthy gold stands near gothic

the maroon bells at sunset

confetti slopes

reds

There is something magical about aspen stands in autumn, as if they give off more light than is actually present. Our aspens (the quaking aspen or American aspen) glow when they turn yellow. Even when the sun isn’t shining on them, they appear like a beacon of golden light. This is usually because they keep company with dark green pines. Aspens are the first trees to move into alpine meadows and scree slopes around these parts. Although they can be found between 5,000 and 12,000 feet in elevation, we typically encounter them between 7,000 and 10,000 feet. Aspens create a nice nursery for pine saplings which grow and eventually overtake their shelters. So when you walk through the forests in our Colorado mountains and step from the shade of the pine forest into an aspen stand, it’s as if someone poured a bucket of sunshine on your head. Stand quietly and wait for a breeze to move through the aspens. You’ll be surrounded by the sound of a million little leaves clapping joyfully. It makes me feel like clapping too.

mount elbert (14,440 ft)

afternoon clouds moving in

sunlit

understory of wild rose

orange aspen with red tips

You can find the entire set on the photo blog.

But autumn isn’t just about the colors. Up the road from where I live is a place you may have heard of… Rocky Mountain National Park? I don’t spend much time there except to take out-of-town guests. We have equally excellent wilderness closer to our house without the throngs of tourons. While Rocky has some decent stands of aspen, it doesn’t get me excited the way the southwestern quarter of the state does. I’ll tell you what is a sure bet and a lot of fun to shoot in fall: the elk. Elsewhere you can shoot the elk or shoot the elk, but in the national park, you can only shoot them with a camera. So that’s what Jason and I did the other day. It’s the rut, when the bull elk are continuously running around salivating, bugling, trying to hang on to their harem of cows while chasing off any other male competitor. It’s exhausting just watching them.

sparring in the tall grasses

bugling

it’s all about the ladies

I love the sound of elk bugling, especially early in the morning when mist hangs low over the frosted ground in the backcountry. They don’t tend to noodle about too much during the daytime, but in Rocky Mountain there are certain locations where your chances of seeing elk are better than good. This particular male was dealing with two competing bulls, one of which stole a cow while the male was off challenging the other bull. He never rested long if ever. Just keep in mind that you shouldn’t approach or harass bull elk during the rut (or ever, but especially during the rut) because they can be incredibly aggressive and do you some serious harm.

i am aggressive

you’re not the boss of me!

The entire set from Rocky Mountain National Park can be viewed on the photo blog.

And of course, let’s not forget fall fruits. They are the subtle and sophisticated flavors that follow in the footsteps of their summer cousins. I haven’t quite had my fill of heirloom tomatoes yet (I don’t think I ever will), but I know their season is ending soon and it’s time to move on. I have a slight obsession with vodka infusions and the latest one is just in time for your fall bounty of pears. I did a little research and learned that comice or seckel pears are the sweetest and best to use for vodka infusions. They actually had both at the store which meant I had to try both…

comice on the left, seckel on the right

peel, core, dice

**Jump for more butter**

Recipe: caprese sticks

There is a slight dilemma when the weather fines up around here. On the one hand, I want to invite friends up to our place and feed them, because it’s absolutely glorious in the mountains come summertime. On the other hand, I don’t feel like digging into elaborate cooking projects because it’s hot and because I’d much rather spend my hours outside in that glorious mountain summer. A couple of weeks ago I had a small wine and cheese party and planned a few appetizers to go along with the wines and cheeses. As if someone somewhere had read my mind, I received Matt Armendariz’s new book On a Stick! in the post just days before the party.

oh the possibilities

Jeremy rarely if ever takes interest in the cookbooks I receive, but we both spent an hour flipping through Matt’s book together because it is so damn creative and beautiful and cute and fun – just like Matt. Sometimes when I get books for reviewing I feel as if it’s a chore to find a recipe that I really want to make. I’m not the type of person who likes to be told what to cook and when to cook/shoot/post it. Completely different feeling with Matt’s book – I couldn’t wait to make more than half of the 80+ savory and sweet recipes. They’re simple and clever and so appetizing.

these are the fanciest toothpicks i own

sun-dried tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, fresh basil, pearl mozzarella

Slap these elegant babies together in mere minutes. Seriously. These are especially perfect in summer when you can get your hot little hands on some fresh cherry tomatoes and basil. I mean, if you can stab a tomato with a toothpick, you’ve got the skills necessary to produce this lovely appetizer.

pierce the tomato and basil

top it off with a mozzarella pearl

**Jump for more butter**

Recipe: sweet onion dip

I let blogging get away from me these past few days. In truth, I kind of left it there – abandoned it, if you will. The weather was cold, snowy, even foggy at times. I just had to get out into it!

as did kaweah

We had a freezing fog blow in one morning. It doesn’t happen all that often, but when it does happen, it’s quite amazing because it coats everything in rime ice. This one was short-lived. Due to the flow of the fog, the ice crystals developed on one side of everything.

nature’s bad hair day?

branches that resemble candy

There was also the requisite “scoping out” of the snow. It’s soft, fluffy, and deep in places… windswept in others. We did *a lot* of postholing, which I guess is an effective form of the Ass Reduction Plan (ARP). Note to self: bring the skis until June.

heading into a squall

jeremy scouts the weather to the west

Jeremy is counting down the days until the solstice, because he can’t wait for the days to start getting longer. He’s a big fan of daylight. Me? I like daytime, nighttime, anytime. The short days don’t bother me at all. I have plenty of things to get done after the sun goes down.

our local sunset is around 4:30

latest acquisition of quilting flannels

While most folks kick entertaining and social functions into high gear come December, I’m actually trying to stay under the radar. I am keeping our social calendar pretty empty. Instead of indulging in the copious calorie-laden goodies, we’re eating simple fare that centers around what needs to be cleaned out of the freezer. And I’m exercising regularly because of Todd and Diane… or rather because of Todd and Diane’s sweet onion dip.

a baguette, cream cheese, mayonnaise, parmesan, sweet onion, and black pepper

I call it spreadable crack and damn it if they aren’t the pushers! They served this at the dinner party they threw when I was visiting them in Southern California. It’s so unbelievably good that even my friend Jack, a man sworn against white condiments, gobbled it down.

slice the baguette

brush with olive oil (both sides, please)

**Jump for more butter**