use real butter

Recipe: espresso chocolate sorbet

kaweah’s big giveaway
I am loving all of the responses to the Kaweah Birthday Giveaway! It looks like the majority of entrants are thinking: Dutch oven, knife, KitchenAid stand mixer, food processor, or baking equipment. Thank you for all of the sweet birthday wishes! You have no idea how many wags and butt wiggles Kaweah would be sending you if she could comprehend anything outside of the Here and Now :)

menu for hope 6
Please take a look at the Menu for Hope 6 post! I definitely encourage you to check out the master list of bid items, but if you are a local in the Denver-Boulder area or plan on a trip out to our beautiful part of the country then please consider placing a few raffle tickets toward two of the terrific items I’m hosting from two amazing local businesses: 1) a $100 gift certificate to The Culinary School of the Rockies (UW24) and 2) a $100 gift certificate to SALT the Bistro (UW25). Thank you for supporting this great campaign!

where are i now?
I find it incredibly cute and entertaining when Californians are bundled up in scarves and hats and it’s 50°F out. Our car rental lady said, “Keep warm!” when she handed us our paperwork. Jeremy and I laughed. We are in the bay area taking care of some matters for my grandma while having a pleasant visit with her. California is so different from where we live. They still have leaves on their trees – some green, some brilliant reds and yellows! We’ve been relishing the array of ethnicities walking about town, the sound of so many languages. We practically cry tears of joy at the countless Mexican, Thai, Viet, Chinese, Korean, Japanese, and Indian restaurants. When we lived in Southern California we used to take year-round flowers for granted. This morning I squealed with delight at the sight of some weeds blooming on the side of the road. To think just a couple of days ago we were telling one another how warm it was on the slopes.

21°f is positively balmy

Don’t get me started about more Trader Joes than you can shake a stick at. And booze – it’s EVERYWHERE. Not that I’m a big time boozer (you could hardly call me a small time boozer), but it makes me realize how much I truly loathe Colorado’s antiquated liquor laws. Anyhow, let me shut up already and get on with the recipe because I have to get up early…

coffee and chocolate – an alluring combination with dusky charms

**Jump for more butter**

Recipe: rum raisin ice cream

NaBlo-Freaking-WriMo day 21.

Okay, it’s not actually NaBlo-Freaking-WriMo, but that’s how I’m feeling about it. [Oh! Please don’t forget to vote for my charity on the Good Bite/Quaker Oats video competition – clicky clicky on the linky linky. Look for Cherries Jubilee and help Farm to School win $10,000. Thank you!] Present Me wants to go back and smack Past Me upside the head for signing on because far too many things are falling into the neglect pile. Well, it’s time for a recipe so I’ll quit with the chit chat and git-a-goin’.

I don’t care what time of year it is, it is never too cold for ice cream. Boozy ice creams are particularly welcome during the winter holiday months. Cream and booze – so festive! I make a lot of ice cream because it is my favorite way to use up all of those egg yolks. I don’t tend to indulge much though… tummy aches. I serve the ice cream to dinner guests or I’ll assign Jeremy a couple of flavors to finish so I can clear the freezer for more ice cream. But there are a few flavors that I have a little love affair with: pralines and cream, butter pecan, and rum raisin.

that’s right, rum

four yolkie dokies

straining the custard

stirring in the cream

**Jump for more butter**

Recipe: candied lemon slices

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Despite being insanely busy and turning down a lot of fun, exciting opportunities and events this month (only because I’m doing a ton of other fun, exciting things already!), I promised myself that I would participate in Barbara‘s annual LiveSTRONG: With a Taste of Yellow event. This is important to me, not because I was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2007, but because I know a lot of people who had or have cancer. I have lost beautiful friends and family to cancer. And just last night, I learned that someone who saved my life is fighting for his own right now – fighting cancer. Barbara holds this food and wine blogging event each year in support of The Lance Armstrong Foundation to raise cancer awareness around the world. Last year was the first time I participated.



So if you want to participate there is still time (Barbara has extended the submission date to September 18th). Whip up something yellow – be it savory or sweet, and hop over to Barbara’s page for instructions on how to be a part of LiveSTRONG: With a Taste of Yellow. My submission is past the jump.

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I’m in the middle of the “getting to know you” period with my new camera. I haven’t taken it out for serious shooting yet, but I have managed to screw around a bit. Of course, the inaugural photo had to be Kaweah.

our sleep olympian hard at work on her exhausting training regimen

But you didn’t see the first few captures because I always shoot in RAW and my software was not compatible (i.e. it’s OLD) with the latest Adobe RAW version. After yet another upgrade (phase 4 now complete), we are now cooking with gas! I jumped from CS2 to CS4 (sorry CS3, never knew ya) and I like it so far… as long as it doesn’t require a desktop upgrade because we have all of $.52 to our names now.

the last of the harebells

the local stands are still predominantly green

Our nights are flirting with frosts again and it is starting to smell like autumn. I have apples on the brain too! Okay, but we have just under two weeks left of summer, so let’s not shortchange anyone.

organic lemon

**Jump for more butter**