use real butter

Recipe: carnitas

We are three weeks away from the Food and Light Workshop! Todd, Diane, Helen, and I have been working like mad to put this event together. We have a fantastic group of attendees converging on Boulder at the end of June including some of my favorite food bloggers. It’s not too late to snag a spot! There are a handful of spaces left and if you’re flying into Denver, Southwest Airlines has a Rapid Rewards double credit program for any flights into or out of Denver. (I know this because I just booked two flights out of Denver).

pussy willows

the thaw is well under way

Productive weekend? Fun weekend? Hot? Busy? All of the above (or rather, everything to the left) for me. Jeremy and I managed to get quite a bit taken care of for work and around the house. We even took Kaweah for a swim. Each year it gets harder and harder for her to make it to the high alpine lakes, so we try to ease her into the hiking season. She still loves it and she’s still a complete nut.

in search of the stick

scooby snack

throw the stick!

It’s been uncommonly humid in our neck of the woods this weekend and that makes for interesting weather. As we walked Kaweah back from the lake, we saw some striking mammata in the sky as the sun dropped closer to the horizon. The hot air from the day gave way to the flow of cool air coming off the melting banks of snow in the forest. The mountains are invigorating. Jeremy and I sometimes get bogged down in the work we have to do and forget how much good it does to just step outside and breath the clean mountain air and drink in the gorgeous surroundings. I climbed an embankment to get a shot of the clouds and then called down to Jeremy, “We live in AWESOME!” We really do.

mammata just before sunset

Okay, but Awesome became awesomer after I learned to make carnitas. Can you tell I’m on a taco kick? It’s because of our trip to California and that lovely Mexican food in the Central Valley. It’s been on my “want to make” list forever and I referenced my go-to book for all things wonderful and New Mexican – The Border Cookbook.

cumin seed, chiles de árbol, mexican oregano, garlic

blend with salt and pepper

**Jump for more butter**

Recipe: chile-lime chicken tacos

I love a good day!

1) I like waking up early in the morning and getting heaps of things done. It makes me feel like my days are fuller… I guess they ARE fuller because I don’t go to sleep any earlier (that’s the vicious sleepless cycle of summer).

2) While I did my sit ups, Kaweah sat at my feet and licked my shins. Every time I laughed, she wagged her tail and stamped her front paws because she wanted to play.

3) I tried out a new recipe that rocked my socks.

4) My lens is under full warranty for major repairs. Yay!

5) I bought another camera. The circuit is now complete. Something something Dark Side…

6) Met with Dan of Savory Spice Shop in Boulder to discuss sponsorship of the Food and Light workshop. I picked up several beautiful herbs and spices to boot. And my girlfriend, who was passing by on the street, saw me and popped into the shop to pinch my bum! Wooooo!

7) Had dinner with my buddy Jason while he helped me get my new search tool installed on the blog, and then we went to a local blogger meetup.

at the meetup (jason was still working on the search tool)

8) I brought fresh baked cranberry oatmeal cookies (and chocolate oatmeal cookies) for Jason and my pals Manisha and Kath at the meetup.

actually, these garlic fries weren’t so good, but jason liked his mojito(s)

iphone whore

9) Ran into my friends Jo and Jeremy plus a fellow Ignite Boulder speaker Peter! Met several local bloggers including a darling woman Rose (Rosie?).

lovely manisha

rosalicious addresses the group

And those were just the highlights of the day! But wait, here’s another highlight: chile-lime chicken tacos. After downing an exquisite taco from a taqueria in California’s Central Valley, I began thinking about all manner of Mexican food that I hadn’t had in a while. It’s just not the same in Colorado, you know? At least not until my friend opens his new Mexican Taqueria in Boulder – but I’ll tell you more about that later!

fresh lime juice

trimmed chicken thigh meat and chile powder

**Jump for more butter**

Recipe: lemon bacon goat cheese flatbread

You still have until Sunday to enter to win a Wii console and a Wii Fit Plus package! So if you haven’t entered yet… go do it!

I was all set to sit down and post Wednesday night when our power went out due to some awesome thunderstorms rolling through. And then I had surgery the next morning. I tried to log on from the surgery wing, but their wi-fi was really hosed. I was negotiating local anesthesia and sedation with the anesthesiologist, but he was a no go – he told me the pain levels would be too much for that and so I had to get general anesthesia. Then he asked me why and I replied, “Because I have stuff to do?” Hey, I tried. He promised it would wear off quickly. It was thankfully outpatient surgery, yet it left me feeling queasy and in a fog for the remainder of the day. I wasn’t sure if that was the pain or the drugs, but I don’t fight it so much anymore. I’ve learned my lesson after a lumpectomy, chemo, radiation, and that blasted emergency appendectomy (traditional, mind you, not that nice less invasive laparoscopic kind). I know by now when to push myself and when to let the body rest. And now it’s Friday. I have to remind myself that scheduling surgery is not like scheduling a haircut… But I’m feeling much better today! Thanks for all of the emails, FB comments, and tweets :)

A few months ago I was meeting up with my ladies for happy hour. As my dear Nichole sat down, she handed me a page torn from a magazine and said in her sweet tone, “Would you make that for me!? It looks sooooo good!” It was a picture of a pizza with lemon slices and greens and bacon – maybe some caramelized onions? It was lovely. “Sure!” I said, as I looked around for a description. Oops, that was on the other page, which was still connected to the magazine which was… not here. It was in my queue of recipes to try when Nichole posted on her FaceBook page that she and Luke had made the pizza. I was still determined to try it. Of course, my memory of the photo was further diminished after having recycled the page. You can tell this is going to be a winner.

i’m guessing bacon, onions, goat cheese, arugula, meyer lemon

slice the onions because we want to caramelize them

**Jump for more butter**