use real butter

Recipe: chinese salt and pepper pork

You know what I like about Chinese New Year besides all of the Chinese food? It’s later in winter than the regular winter holidays, which means there is usually better snow. You see, I like winter. But you already knew that.

he likes winter too… i think i’ll keep him

My parents are in Florida right now because (Southern) Virginia is “too cold” for them. I chuckle to myself when they tell me these things. Winter is probably the most maligned of all seasons. I sometimes think people dislike winter because they don’t appreciate it. Or maybe it’s because they have to travel in bad weather? I could totally relate to that. Or maybe they are living in a Bad Winter Zone? I consider Bad Winter Zones to be places that don’t get proper snow. Just the other day, Jeremy and I were discussing the seasons and I declared, “I LOVE winter! I love skiing and getting out into the backcountry, baking and cooking, snuggling with Kaweah, grilling in the snow, crystal clear night skies.”

i shooted it

I paused and added, “And autumn – autumn is great with the changing leaves and the cooler temperatures, the hikes and rides. Oh and spring! Spring mountaineering, spring skiing, wearing a light jacket, longer days…” Of course there is summer. It seems everyone loves summer. I do too, but it’s not my favorite season. Mountain summer is brief, but jam-packed: wildflowers, backpacks, rides, trail runs, afternoon thunderstorms, evening dinners on the deck with friends, dog walks as the sun sets, farmers markets, hummingbirds, alpine lakes, cool mountain air dancing through the house at night. I guess my point (Jen, is there a point?) is that I love it all. I just LOVE being here and being alive. There is something precious about every season, every day. I’m loathe to squander it.

winter love

But back to Chinese New Year. The food – there is so much food that I need to prepare in the next couple of days! Plus, we have to clean the house because once Chinese New Year is here, you are not supposed to clean the house for two weeks (sweeps out the luck). Oh, and don’t buy salt for the rest of the month of February. Bad luck. That’s what Grandma tells me. I made the trek down to Denver to meet up with my pal Kathya at the big Asian market to get groceries for the Lunar New Year. This year I’m keeping the menu “simple” since it’s just me and Jeremy. We’ll have soy bean sprouts, bean thread noodle soup (chocked full of lucky goodies), nian gao (rice cakes), potstickers, and lucky ten ingredient vegetables. How are you going to celebrate the Lunar New Year?

Jaden’s post on Chinese New Year reminded me about avoiding squid. Instead of cuttlefish balls in the bean thread noodle soup, I buy fish balls this one time of year. That’s because the superstition equates squid with getting fired. Eating nian gao (rice cakes), for instance, means a promotion or raise because nian (sticky) gao (cake) is a homonym for nian (year) gao (higher). So you can just imagine what a minefield planning dinner can be if you don’t have a Wise Chinese Grandma advising you on your menu selection. Since I had posted the recipe for salt and pepper squid, I thought it was only fair for me to give you an alternative that won’t get you fired.

this time it’s salt and pepper pork

When I’ve seen salt and pepper pork on the menu, it’s actually salt and pepper pork chops. These aren’t the pork chops that you find in your typical (white person) grocery store. These are cut rather thin and because 1) I have had disappointing results when I ask the butchers at Whole Foods to cut meat the “Asian” way and 2) it’s easier to eat without the bone, I didn’t bother with pork chops. I got a pork tenderloin instead (I prefer the dark meat) and sliced it myself. Control freak. Me.

mix up the flour, cornstarch, and sichuan pepper salt

slice semi-frozen pork tenderloin

**Jump for more butter**

Recipe: breakfast sausage

Last week during some long overdue maintenance on the innards of this blog, I had to go back – waaaaay back – to the earliest posts to close out comments (has to do with spam, not with any of you). It’s been a while since I’ve revisted my old posts. I skimmed several dozen and realized that there was a lot more of me in those posts even though I tore much of the personal stuff out. (Also, my writing was actually worse, if that’s possible). I feel as if there is less of me here lately on these virtual pages.

use real butter used to be a happy place for me. These days I am feeling an ambivalence creeping in that I’ve tried to follow to its source. I don’t hate it, but I’m not loving it like I used to. The world of food blogging has changed a lot. People assume if you write a food blog that you want more traffic, more readers, more links, more stumbles, more, more, more! There are formulaic instructions for writing your blog, shooting your photographs, building community – for “success”. Honestly, it used to feel like a community to me and now it feels like a strip mall surrounded by McMansions. That’s depressing.

Blarg.

The past couple of days have been really good for me. I’ve been working and planning with some exceptional people on several projects – some professional, some personal, but all of them what I want to be doing. I am energized. And I’m happy. Yet I can’t decide if the blog is helping me or hindering me at this point. Can you feel it? I can feel it.

I’m not sure if I just need a kick of motivation or inspiration here, or perhaps a change? Maybe a little change, maybe a great big change? Maybe time away? I don’t know. Don’t fret. I’m thinking aloud which I rarely allow myself to do here and after reading that last string of questions, it’s probably best to rein those loud thoughts back in. All options are on the table. If anything, I’d like to steer myself back to the original purpose of this blog, which was to document the recipes I like (Future Me is always thankful to Past or Present Me for doing it), record some of what I’m thinking and doing, and welcome those who drop by.

after last night’s sunset

I’ve been wanting to make homemade breakfast sausage since forever. I love that stuff. We rarely ate it at home, but I was obsessed with the spicy, salty, aromatic pork patties. These days, I will not touch the store-bought name brand sausage patties. You know why? The two times I ate it (in college, of course) resulted in two separate trips to the emergency room, doubled over in pain from severe cramps, only to be given some crazy awful codeine syrup that knocked me out for a few days. No, thank you!

ground pork

rosemary, sage, and thyme

**Jump for more butter**

Recipe: chinese salt and pepper squid

I made a new friend last week. Despite being around him for the past several months, the reason he’s my new friend is because he was only just born a few weeks ago. Erin and I went to visit with our friends – the proud new parents – and with little Felix. He’s a charmer and I am obsessed with his little feet. There was much discussion of how to craft some telemark skis for him.

adorable toes

The past week we’ve spent more time on trails than at the big resorts because we are spoiled brats who don’t like skiing with crowds of holiday or weekend skiers. Plus, there is something to be said for the beauty and solitude of our local backcountry. I know some of you will think skiing is skiing, but there are many flavors of skiing. I call this one “delayed gratification”. But really, it’s great exercise and a lot of fun.

trees provide some shelter from the winds

my skins are put away and i’m ready to head downhill

jeremy securing his cables

another gorgeous colorado day

As some of my friends know, I had lost my Chinese cooking mojo for a while. I just wasn’t feeling it. Sure I could think of things to make, but I had no desire, no spark to actually want to make any of them. Then in the last few weeks, I’ve developed cravings for various Chinese dishes that I’ve only had in restaurants. Perhaps it is because Chinese New Year is just around the corner (next month) or because I’ll be seeing my beloved Chinese Grandma on my next trip to the Bay Area? Whatever the reason, I began scouring my Chinese cookbooks for a favorite recipe I had been wanting to learn to make for years: salt and pepper squid.

green onions, thai chili peppers, sichuan peppercorns, salt

slicing the squid

**Jump for more butter**