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Recipe: pickled red onions

Just under two weeks until official summer. There is Summer the Season, and then there is Summer the Mindset. And even though it may not appear to look like summer around here, we are most definitely in the mindset.

supervising yard work in the evening

hiking snow

hiking wet rocks

hey what are you trying to get a picture of there?

It’s not the temperature so much as the light. So much wonderful light and for so long into the evening. I’ll gladly bike, hike, run, ski if it means I can be outside, feeling my heart beat, seeing the transition as the snowpack gives way to streams, mud, and flowers. I don’t mind stepping into the mud and walking through deep puddles. It means I’m alive.

forest canopy reflected in a muddy shallow pond

a moose spied us before we spied her

sunset: fire on ice

Admittedly, I am spending a lot of my spare time outside. It’s good for my head, good for my body. My oncologist agrees. It also means I’m spending considerably less time in the kitchen making things that require long stretches of attention or babysitting. Anything that is going to make me hot and swear a lot is on hold until autumn.

onions make me cry

I’ve tolerated onions all my life. I was never a picky eater. In fact, when my sister and I were growing up, she’d pick all of the Chinese mushrooms, green onions, and other ingredients she didn’t like and put them on my plate. I wasn’t in love with onions, but I’d eat them if they were there. In the past decade I’ve gone from tolerating onions to liking onions. I don’t really attribute that to my tastes so much as my exposure to amazing ways to enjoy onions – and much of that exposure in the years since I began food blogging and dining with my food savvy friends.

ginger slices, star anise, cinnamon, bay leaf, red pepper, cloves

slice the onions

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Recipe: caprese sticks

There is a slight dilemma when the weather fines up around here. On the one hand, I want to invite friends up to our place and feed them, because it’s absolutely glorious in the mountains come summertime. On the other hand, I don’t feel like digging into elaborate cooking projects because it’s hot and because I’d much rather spend my hours outside in that glorious mountain summer. A couple of weeks ago I had a small wine and cheese party and planned a few appetizers to go along with the wines and cheeses. As if someone somewhere had read my mind, I received Matt Armendariz’s new book On a Stick! in the post just days before the party.

oh the possibilities

Jeremy rarely if ever takes interest in the cookbooks I receive, but we both spent an hour flipping through Matt’s book together because it is so damn creative and beautiful and cute and fun – just like Matt. Sometimes when I get books for reviewing I feel as if it’s a chore to find a recipe that I really want to make. I’m not the type of person who likes to be told what to cook and when to cook/shoot/post it. Completely different feeling with Matt’s book – I couldn’t wait to make more than half of the 80+ savory and sweet recipes. They’re simple and clever and so appetizing.

these are the fanciest toothpicks i own

sun-dried tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, fresh basil, pearl mozzarella

Slap these elegant babies together in mere minutes. Seriously. These are especially perfect in summer when you can get your hot little hands on some fresh cherry tomatoes and basil. I mean, if you can stab a tomato with a toothpick, you’ve got the skills necessary to produce this lovely appetizer.

pierce the tomato and basil

top it off with a mozzarella pearl

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Recipe: kimchi fried rice

I hope everyone had a good weekend. And for those of you in the US, I hope you had a good long weekend as Monday was Memorial Day. Mine had a little bit of family, friends, food, outdoors, work, and all of that good stuff. But I was also mindful of those who died in the service of our country (the purpose of Memorial Day) as well as those who have served and those who are serving now. My friend’s husband just deployed to Afghanistan and some of us are feeling protective of her – we’re going to provide support and love to her here while he’s there. So it’s been on my mind a lot lately. As usual, the big things in life put in proper perspective the ridiculous things that get our panties in a wad. I wish more people had that perspective.

Our weekend kicked off with a little wine and cheese party so some of my friends could meet my parents. On Saturday we took my parents into Boulder to check out the Farmers’ Market before the Boulder Creek Festival got underway. Sunday morning we saw my parents off on their return home and then we tried to resume Normal Life which had basically left off a month ago. Jeremy and I did house maintenance, tended to an injured Kaweah (she re-sprained her neck sneezing, I know, right?!), got outside, watched a few movies (Black Swan – meh, and Inside Job – excellent), and tried to catch up on some work.

party: cheeses, charcuterie, crostini, smoked oysters

party: itty bitty caprese sticks

farmers’ market: pastas

farmers’ market: tomatoes (the good kind)

farmers’ market: radishes

flowers from manisha for my mother

hummingbird season means putting uv decals up on our windows

we went riding and found dirt, snow, and mud

Anyone who knows me well knows that I am a planner. Maybe it’s the OCD in me, but I think it really boils down to the fact that I value my time and try to make the most of it according to my priorities. I even have a general schedule on my calendar for my blog posts. It keeps me on track or else you’d probably never hear from me again. On deck this week was kimchi fried rice mainly because I’m crazy for kimchi. But then I saw Molly’s post this morning and knew that I was clearly on to a good thing!

life is too short to eat crappy food

My mom and grandma spoke often to me of kimchi noodles (in fact, my mom mentioned them again on this most recent visit). I am a self-declared noodle girl and so I asked where they had kimchi noodles. Turns out they made them at home. It also turns out that it was inspired by a series of Korean soap operas they watched. Okaaaaay. But when I saw a recipe for kimchi fried rice in my December 2010 issue of Fine Cooking, the idea for kimchifying my favorite fried rice recipe wedged into my grey matter.

eggs, green onions, pork, brown rice, kimchi

slicing the kimchi

**Jump for more butter**