use real butter

The workshop kicks off on Monday.

This evening we had long-time out-of-town food blogging friends up to our place for dinner (and to meet Kaweah).

We’re rarin’ to go!

todd pours the champagne

who’s gonna take this glass?

popping the second bottle

a toast!

and dinner

Thanks for teaching me to sail when I was 9 years old.

Thanks for taking so long to explain math theorems to me that I got impatient asking you for help and learned the material myself.

dad as graduate student

Thanks for being the silliest one of us all.

Thanks for making me sit and watch all of those NOVA series with you so we could learn about science together.

Thanks for those 3am fishing trips in which we caught the BIG striped bass!

Thanks for teaching me not to take BS from anyone.

Thanks for bringing home those Mars Viking Lander photos from work for me to daydream about space exploration.

dad makes his specialty lion’s head meatballs

Thanks for cooking all of those special meals whenever I come home to visit.

Thanks for outfitting me with fly fishing gear when I moved to Colorado.

Thanks for being my moral support when that company didn’t have any ethics.

Thanks for raising me to stand on my own two feet.

thanks for being my dad

My friends back home reported several inches of snow that fell a few days ago in Colorado. I might have felt that I was missing out except we got snow in Yosemite early this week. It melted out quickly enough, but spring is a little behind schedule as the blooms in the valley aren’t nearly as far along as they were this time last year. Regardless, the dogwood blossoms are starting to peak, the waterfalls thunder as the high volume of runoff cascades in feathery sheets down the granite cliffs of Yosemite valley, and there are delights at every turn.

dogwoods dotting the forests

blooms

jeremy walking in the woods

pinks (these weren’t in the wild, but i can’t resist pink dogwoods)

morning mist along the banks of the merced river

some sort of berry flower (not salmonberry)

stellar’s jay

among the pines

new lupine in a burn zone

snacking streamside

The western foothills are starting to transition from green to gold. Driving west from the Sierra Nevada through California’s central valley we passed fruit stand after fruit stand. Each one entices with hand-painted signs boasting juicy, fresh-picked strawberries and cherries. We rejoiced in a taqueria that served solid Mexican food and partook of some wine tastings. It’s been a good trip, but I’m looking forward to getting home soon. See you on the flip side. Have a great weekend!

oaks in the foothills

perfect weather

the zin bin

roses adorn the rows of grape vines