use real butter

Recipe: bacon-wrapped venison and garlic-herb butter

Last week it was unseasonably warm and sunny, so Kaweah spent a good bit of time on the deck as I worked inside. While I love spending time with my pup, she can really get underfoot when I’m shooting or cooking anything involving meat, or vegetables, or fruit, or cheese or peanut butter… Basically, anytime I work with food (which is all the time) she is my little shadow.

perfect weather for a kaweah

And I needed to get a lot done without constantly dodging the dog or worrying about tripping over her while carrying camera equipment, sharp knives, or fragile dishware. I was trying to get a jump on my work schedule which seemed to have blown up in the span of two days. That, and my folks arrived in Boulder last week. Even though I see them a lot more than I used to, it’s important to me to spend time with them. We just have to agree on things that we all enjoy because I loathe shopping (they are avid shoppers) and they don’t do the outdoor stuff that Jeremy and I like to do – especially anything in the cold.

picking them up at the bus station with roses for mom (because i’m a good chinese daughter!)

we took my folks to try some awesome korean barbecue at dae gee in westminster

One evening when I took rolled pistachio baklava to my neighbors, Ann went into the kitchen to retrieve a plate to return to me. She set a little package wrapped in butcher’s paper on top and told me Herb had returned from his hunting trip in the Midwest (he’s a bow hunter). It was venison. She asked if I’ve prepared venison before and I said only once – when I had no clue what I was doing and Google didn’t exist yet. I assured her that I would find a good recipe. The next day, I was chatting with Herb and Ann in the driveway when Herb rattled off a quick and simple recipe for the venison. It sounded amazing.

let’s start with the garlic-herb butter: butter, parsley, garlic

chop the parsley

grate the garlic

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Recipe: frozen grapes

Guys, we need to talk. Have you heard of Holiday grapes? I saw them last week at Whole Foods. I tend to be particular about grapes. I like them to be sweet, crisp, juicy, and preferably without seeds – but I’ll make an exception for the seeds if everything else makes the grade. I gently squeezed one of the giant round grapes between my fingers, surprised at the firmness. I plucked one off and popped it in my mouth. Delightful! Since then, I’ve purchased several pounds of this variety. Apparently they are typically available from mid-October to early November. That means now. That means – get ye to the market and find yourself some Holiday grapes.

holiday red seedless grapes

The check out guy scanned the grapes and then said, “You know what I love to do with these? I put the whole thing in the freezer and snack on frozen grapes. It’s so good!” I’d never frozen grapes before, but I wasn’t sure I wanted to try this with such precious, lovely and expensive grapes. When I got home, I plucked three from the stem, washed them, and popped them into the freezer.

give them a wash

pat dry

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Recipe: roasted carrot soup

This past week was a really good one for me. Jeremy was out of town for the last half, so I plowed through heaps of work in addition to spending quality time with Kaweah. Warmer than normal weather meant Kaweah could sprawl out for countless hours on the deck (something she loves to do) without freezing or overheating. I packed my schedule to free up more leisure time when Jeremy came home.

kaweah soaks up all of the morning sun

and she periodically got up to sniff the latest news

i was quite excited to get new trail runners in the mail

And then late Wednesday night I got a message from a friend, asking if I was free to meet up for a last minute lunch or coffee the next day. Absolutely. I moved everything around in my schedule and drove into Boulder because you see, this was my best friend from high school who lives on the East Coast. We’ve known each other since fourth grade. We hadn’t seen one another in over 20 years.

meet clark

I waited outside The Kitchen, sending an email to a client when I heard a familiar voice call out, “Yuie!” The best people in my life give the best hugs and Clark is definitely one of them. It’s been a long time, I thought. All of the events since we last saw one another hit me in a wave and I blinked back the tears. It’s often said that good friends can pick up from wherever they left off and we immediately began sharing our lives, talking about our families, discussing happiness, life choices, aging dogs. The natural back and forth of conversation, so relaxed yet enthusiastic, made me realize just how close we were and still are. Two hours is such a short window of time to catch up on 20+ years, but it left both of us with the promise to get our families together and smiles that would last the rest of the day.

a great sunset to close out the weekend

That visit put my mood in the stratosphere. Good relationships are important for feeding your soul just like a good soup feeds your body (and your soul). I have fallen madly in love with this roasted carrot soup – so much so that I’ve made it three times in the last week. When Jeremy landed in Denver he texted me about dinner plans. Should we meet in Boulder at a restaurant or eat at home? I was already making the soup. After an entire day of travel, I figured he might enjoy relaxing at home with a nice meal, a glass of good wine, and perhaps unwinding in front of a movie.

so simple: celery, onion, carrots, olive oil, chicken broth, butter, salt, white pepper, ginger

dice the carrots

toss with olive oil

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