use real butter

Recipe: indian dal

I hope you all had a good weekend. I think I had a good one, assuming I can remember everything that’s been happening. Perhaps that is why I take so many photographs – to jog my crappy memory? Our lecture/workshop at Denver Botanic Gardens was great. We had a lively and fun crew at the cooking workshop on Friday – really engaging and wonderful people. Todd and Diane taught how to make their signature amazing Viet spring rolls, Manisha demoed onion fritters with two chutneys and chai, and I made Chinese scallion pancakes.

sarah of dbg welcomes everyone

sniffing herbs that todd and diane brought from their garden

introduction to more herbs

There was plenty of nibbling and sampling of the goodies as well as laughs. I love workshops that have great participants because I think they are the other (very important) half of the equation. First, you need a great team running the show and then you need enthusiastic, friendly, and hard working people on the receiving end. They give back too. It’s all a give and take. That’s what makes it so special and ultimately rewarding for me.

diane schools us on nuoc cham while todd crushes garlic

mmmm, spring rolls!

manisha mixes the onions to make fritters

just pick up a small amount and drop it in the hot oil

After a jam-packed exhausting 24 hours, Todd and Diane came to our place (after we dined at The Pinyon – AMAZING dinner) to spend some time with Kaweah. We have a lot of visitors lined up this month, so Kaweah is getting pretty spoiled. But I think she especially loves Todd and Diane, which makes sense because they are two of my most favorite people on this good planet.

she’s not even supposed to be on the couch

who me?

wha?

definitely spoiled

I had signed up for a canning class at Escoffier Boulder (formerly Culinary School of the Rockies) almost two months ago. I’ve been wanting to learn to can properly at my altitude for several months now – always looking longingly at 1) all of the great produce coming out of friends’ gardens and 2) all of the canning my friends did with their bounties. At long last I could learn how to do it safely. The home cook classes at Escoffier are awesome. My fellow students were all spunky and eager to learn which made it doubly terrific.

my partner prepping beets

cutting pears for the pear and vanilla bean jam

tomatoes to be turned into basil garlic tomato sauce

into the hot water bath

pickled beets, ftw!!

Before I embark on my next trip (in less than 7 hours), I have to talk about a recent addition to my soup repertoire. They are predicting a snowstorm this week at home while I’ll be turning back the clock on fall and shooting colors elsewhere. There is nothing I love more in winter than to curl up with a hot bowl of soup after a good ski. I really dig on salads in summer, soups in winter. Sandwiches are a year-round affair (and I do mean affair as in love affair). One soup that I’ve been craving of late is dal.

red lentils (dal)

shake them out on a baking sheet to pick out imposters

**Jump for more butter**

Recipe: jicama pepita garbanzo salad

As I mentioned in my last post, Jeremy and I went skiing on the summer solstice. On fresh snow! Just a few inches of fresh snow in the backcountry and it all went to mashed potatoes by mid-morning, but it was totally the best first day of summer I’ve ever had. The winds were all crazytown and stormy clouds sat on the divide all morning, however we enjoyed intermittent blue skies overhead.

jeremy moves up the valley wall

the fun part

skiing out is fast

Everything (I mean the snow) is melting in earnest now and it’s unclear if we’ll get another fabulous backcountry ski day like that for the rest of the summer. But it’s not so bad to be without snow for just a little while. I kinda look forward to hiking trails in comfy trail runners instead of my tele boots and carrying a small pack instead of a pair of skis on my back. I’m also anticipating our thunderstorm cycle 1) to wash away the pine pollen and hence my allergies and 2) because lightning is fascinating. Clouds make for interesting sunsets sometimes too.

lighting the belly

there were even some jesus rays

We like being outside year-round, but in summer it is mandatory to get out and take advantage of the fact that the winds aren’t blowing snow and rocks around at 65 mph. All of that outsiding plus a few hours of sleep leaves little time in the day for cooking. To be honest though, on the really hot days I just want to drink ice water, eat watermelon, and stick my head in the freezer. On the not as insanely hot days, I find myself craving salads and other things that don’t involve convective, conductive, or radiative transfer.

simple is good

lettuce consumption is up in this house

In the last few years I’ve begun to mix my own salad dressings from scratch. It’s really quite simple and requires only a little more effort than twisting open a bottle of store-bought dressing. The difference in flavor and quality is light years apart. Most of the time I like a simple balsamic vinaigrette, but lately I’ve been on a different vinaigrette kick. It works with so many of the salads I make.

olive oil, vinegar, dijon mustard, thyme, shallots, salt, pepper, a pinch of sugar

combine the dressing ingredients except for the oil

whisk the oil in

**Jump for more butter**

Recipe: chinese dry-cooked string beans

It’s the last day of spring and there is a winter weather advisory issued for our mountains until 6:00 this evening.

I am not complaining.

3-8 inches of fresh snow in addition to the 30+ feet in the backcountry is our reprieve for the zero (0, nada, nil) days of skiing we managed in March when so much glorious powder fell at the big ski resorts. We were busy, we were traveling, I got sick… We’re still busy, but we’re not traveling (at least not in June) and thankfully, we aren’t sick!

yes, still skiing

the lower alpine lakes are thawing

Yesterday was Father’s Day. On Mother’s Day you expect every brunch joint to be packed out the door. On Father’s Day, we brace ourselves for the onslaught of families who want to take Dad to the mountains for a hike or to burn things (I really do not understand the obsession of people from the flats who come up to our mountains to burn stuff). But this year, the campgrounds remain under snow in late June. The trails are under snow. Even the parking lots have a few feet of snow lingering about where cars would normally be. I like it like that, for obvious reasons…

putting the skins away after the climb up

the anticipation of skiing out makes my mouth water

wooo! jeremy gets his turns in (in june!)

Also, this is my 1001st post. 1000 is a nice round number, but it was a special post for my dad, so I didn’t want to detract from it. 1001 is a palindrome, which I love more than round numbers – so there. The only significance of my 1001st post is that I clearly never shut up.

String beans (green beans) are in the markets and they’re looking pretty good. I’ve been wanting to make Chinese dry-cooked string beans for a while, but it always goes to the bottom of the list because Jeremy has a slight allergy to string beans. They make his throat itchy. That’s a real shame because my mom cooks them up better than any one or any restaurant I know of. Oh well… more for me.

string beans

trimming the ends

I suppose the name “dry-cooked” refers to the fact that there isn’t much liquid used in the recipe. I found that a little confusing considering that the beans are essentially fried in oil – a lot of oil. But you don’t consume all of that oil, thank goodness. Aside from the beans, the other main ingredients are ground pork (this is optional), dried shrimp, and Sichuan preserved mustard green tsa tsai. The dried shrimp and preserved mustard greens you’ll most likely have to get at an Asian grocery store.

dried shrimp and sichuan preserved vegetable

cut the beans into 3-inch pieces (i just cut them in half)

**Jump for more butter**