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Recipe: danish braid

The DBs (Daring Bakers) made DBs (Danish Braids) this month! You can find the whole gang of Daring Bakers at the blogroll. Our co-hosts for this challenge are Kelly of Sass & Veracity, and Ben of What’s Cookin’? It was nice to get a break from uber-sweet bakes. This recipe allowed for some flexibility, which I loved.

we knead to bake!

The entire month of June was a bit of a clusterfuck for me, but I managed to get this done after several intended starts that were postponed for various scheduling conflicts. I had seen a lot of DBers post their results on the DB forum and I felt uninspired… why? Because 95% were sweet fillings and I was pretty burned out on all of the sweet challenges of late. I wanted something savory.

wet ingredients for the dough

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Recipe: grilled marinated flank steak

A yellow dusting of pine pollen appeared on *everything* just two days ago. Pine tree sex has begun in earnest. Before long, nothing that remains outside will be safe from a plastering of yellow pollen – NOTHING! I don’t mind the pollen powder getting all over the place as long as I don’t think of it as a major orgy going on in my yard… But it does wreak havoc on my allergies. It didn’t seem to bother Kaweah much while she sprawled out on the deck this afternoon.

what, is there something on my face?

We were all chilling out on the deck this afternoon because our second visitor P.C. (post chemo) arrived at noon. My dear friend was in the state for a wedding and dropped by our mountain abode for lunch and a short stroll before flying home. Neither of us considers ourself to be an emotional creature, but we could not help a few tears when we greeted and embraced.

a lovely friend on a lovely day

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It was too hot to eat dinner while the sun was still up this evening. Wait a sec… *we* felt it was too hot to eat dinner while the sun was still up this evening. We didn’t sit down to our meal until 9 pm and it was still light out (love that, actually). While I waited for the house to cool down a little, I stepped out onto the deck to admire the skies to the west and enjoy the cooling mountain air. I love clouds because they can form some incredible patterns, but I especially love clouds at sunset because the light can play some beautiful colors.

like a magic show

it almost looks organic

3000 feet lower in Boulder, the daytime temperatures are standing solidly in the 80s (F) and flirting with the 90s (F). What better timing then to continue our sushi tour? On Wednesday, we dined at Amu for dinner. Amu is situated next to and operated by Sushi Zanmai. Zanmai is a darling of Boulder and probably one of the venerated favorites. My experiences at Zanmai have always left me feeling that 1) I spent a lot of money 2) I got mediocre sushi for the price 3) the service suuuuuucks and 4) every damn YUH (Young Urban Hipster) and aging hippie flocks to the place making the wait all the more annoying considering what you get at the end of it all. However, my chemo nurse assured me that Amu was different and very good.

the sign is easily missed

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