use real butter

Recipe: parmesan bacon crackers

There was frost on the ground when I was waiting for the sun to rise. I wasn’t alone. A few other nutjobs were scattered about, standing in the dark and cold, all pointed toward the mountains. We were waiting for magic. Jeremy was in the car either reading a scientific paper or getting some shut eye. Shivering in the blue glow of twilight, I moved my feet in a silly little dance to keep warm. But, I do like sunrise shoots better than sunset shoots. Mornings tend to be quiet, thoughtful. By sunset, I’m usually tired, hungry, hot, dusty, and smelly. Sunset requires a little more discipline to remain inspired.

i love mornings

On this last shoot, Jeremy accompanied me for the 1000-mile drive around southwestern Colorado. This is my fifth year shooting the fall colors in Colorado and I think I’m starting to get the hang of it. I know the location of remote favorite stands of aspen better than how to get to most of my friends’ houses in town. The aspens feel like old friends. There is something to be said for the tranquility you find among mature aspens – majestic white trunks, shimmering yellow and red canopy, gold leaves gently floating down around you. Autumn delights and soothes. And winter is just around the corner.

token “we were here” photo

my subaru ad

the moon high overhead

Normally, I don’t think about winter during the fall shoot unless there is an early season snowstorm. There hasn’t been a real snow storm yet. In fact, it’s been outrageously hot. However, we swung by Telluride to scope out the colors and some of the trails. As we stared down from the top of a grassy green field dotted with late season thistles and salsify, I looked up at the sign: a black diamond run. I got antsy for ski season. Despite the sun beating down on me, I envisioned the gorgeous mogul field which must grace that slope in winter. I turned to say as much to Jeremy whose glazed over look indicated he was dreaming of tele turns in hip-deep powder. Oh Telluride…

On our way back, we spied the Telluride airstrip. Jason wasn’t kidding when he told me it’s a cliff.

it’s a cliff

As far as my schedule goes, the fall shoot is done. Stick a fork in it! I have my sights set further west for the next couple of months and then hopefully by then it will be cold enough to start cooking again – I mean really cooking. But if you want a quick baking project that doesn’t turn the entire house into a furnace, might I suggest trying homemade crackers? They are so unbelievably quick and easy, and of course they taste better than any store-bought cracker. How is it that we don’t all make our own? There ought to be a revolution.

all you need to know is that there is bacon

…well okay – and butter and cheese

The greatest hurdle to finally making my own crackers was deciding on a flavor. I knew I wanted it to be savory, so that helped to narrow down my choices a little bit. Ultimately the winner was a baconized version of a New York Times Parmesan cream cracker. Well, I made both versions – one with and one without the bacon in the off chance the bacon cracker didn’t turn out to my liking. Off chance, ha!

add cream, because butter alone doesn’t make it decadent enough

this pinch test is quite handy

**Jump for more butter**

Recipe: chinese stir-fried scallops

That cool down was a lie. It cooled down for all of one day and then it flipped back to summer. Nature is a fickle lover and so it is that I am waiting for and chasing and waiting for and chasing her fall colors. She flirts and teases and disappoints. Right when I think I have had enough, she flaunts a little more and entices me to chase again. And I can’t help it, because I am so in love with her.

autumn’s grandeur is a little diminished this season

sparkling sunlight through the aspens

Nature photographers and lay persons have very different standards for what a good leaf show is, or so we found out from all of the locals’ reports. The average leaf-peeper passes miles of forest taking it all in without commitment to any of the colors, the light, the trees, the landscape. It’s purely passive. They don’t crawl around looking, thinking, analyzing, choosing, gaining intimate knowledge of the surroundings. Jeremy has asked me if photography has ruined my enjoyment of the outdoors. Yes and no, but mostly no. It’s a heightened sense of what is there, much the way becoming a connoisseur of fine foods might enhance your appreciation for food. But in addition to that soaring joy of getting the shot when the light and the land and the planets align, I can actively back away from shooting and love the mountains and forests for what they are. Because ultimately, this is about love and passion – the fire in my belly.

i’d love this for a living room floor

in stand

aspens provide a nursery for young pines

dusk

You can find the rest from this trip on the photo blog.

My friend Shauna is always talking about joy in the belly because that’s what she and Danny bring to people. They are pretty amazing at it too. Me? I’m more about joy in the heart because I like FIRE in my belly. That’s right. Figuratively speaking, it is what drives me to do what I do. When Jeremy’s stomach is feeling unsettled, he seeks dairy to soothe it (uh, that would be disastrous for my lactose intolerant self). When my stomach is unhappy, I look for spicy foods to make me feel better. I’m the one who wakes up in the morning craving kimchi, jalapeno potato chips (Tim’s Cascade are Diane’s and my favorite brand), or salsa. So when I tried this recipe for Chinese stir-fried scallops, mine was of the fiery persuasion.

chinese cooking wine, soy sauce, scallops, ginger, garlic, cornstarch, sugar, chinese black bean paste

soak the scallops in the cooking wine and cornstarch

**Jump for more butter**

Recipe: apple tarte tatin

I really meant to check in over the weekend and slap a quick post up, but it was a matter of priorities. Sleep won. You’d think if the leaves weren’t stellar that the shooting schedule would ease up some. It did a little bit, but Colorado is a big state. We covered a lot of ground. We saw baby raccoons scrambling, birds of prey hunting, fake deer, real deer, real elk, happy hunting dogs wagging their tails, and angry tree squirrels.

i spent my weekend here

This trip turned out to be more recon than shooting, but I’ll share some photos later this week. For now, I’ve got a few trip shots (for fun) of food, my shooting pal Jason, and my friend Josh, who wanted to know what our shoots are like.

the smart phone as appendage

jason and i split a greek salad at secret stash in crested butte

and then we split this lovely beast (the woodward)

chicken dinner at slogar (crested butte)

woody’s rollin smoke bar-b-que and cookshack in marble

patio dining

pulled pork and beef brisket

It was a good trip despite the state of the colors/leaves. I think any time you avoid injury (okay, I did smash my face with Jason’s car door… ow!) or death, accidents, major arguments, food poisoning, and loss of or damage to equipment, it’s a good trip. Because really, it’s about what you make more than what you find. As Jason’s daughter’s favorite saying goes: You get what you get and you don’t throw a fit. Jason and I recited that ad nauseam (to one another) – partly as commentary on the conditions and partly to just annoy the hell out of each other. We do that. It’s fun. We probably drove poor Josh insane.

jason shortly before flipping me the bird – good times!

The lure of autumn is big for me. Not only am I keenly tuned in to the fall colors around Colorado, but I live for that cold snap when the chill in the early morning lingers long into the day. It happens when I no longer run for cover from the sun’s burning rays, but turn a smile into it. I smell the faint hint of smoke on the air from people lighting their fireplaces. In those spare moments when my mind jumps from one task to another, thoughts of fall fruits get squeezed into the gaps.

i like them apples

Back when it was summer, I got an issue of Fine Cooking in the mail and tucked it into my bag. It would make for great reading on my flight to Seattle. It did make me somewhat nervous though. I mean, on the cover were the words “The Cook’s Guide to Thanksgiving” which instills just a little bit of panic because Thanksgiving is the end of November and wasn’t it just March the other day?

butter makes great pastry

pulsing in the egg and water

I see glorious food porn all the time. It’s part of what I do. I’ve gotten to the point where it generally doesn’t phase me, but the recipe for Tarte Tatin in the Fine Cooking issue hijacked my brain for a good many days. I already had several recipes shot and lined up to share over the course of the next two months because my schedule is fraught with travel and commitments, and yet I had to make this last week before my road trip.

the dough is ready if it holds when pinched

roll the dough out after chilling

**Jump for more butter**