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Recipe: sichuan tofu celery salad

Oh my word, it’s nearly December. By the time most of you read this it will *be* December. I was telling Erin the other day that when I was a little kid a year felt like an eternity. And now… now the days and weeks and months and years are gone before you know it. She said that was a sign of well-lived life. I think it’s the sign of me not being able to keep track of everything I need to get done, but Erin is always kind about giving me the benefit of the doubt. So it reminded me that sometimes we need to stop and walk through those familiar places, to appreciate how they change with the seasons and how we too have changed.

once green, upright, and riddled with blackbirds

now frozen in place

Kaweah is going to turn twelve this month. She looks great for her age, but she’s physically unable to clamber up rocks, leap from tall buildings, and go tear-assing around in the snow anymore. For all intents and purposes, she has entered her golden years. Not long ago she’d bolt across the frozen lake, wipe out while doing the Scooby Doo running-in-place routine, and then butt-scoot all the way back. In her tiny brain, she wants to come with us on hikes and skis – she is all enthusiasm. But it took a lot of coaxing to get her onto the ice the other day. She stood with her paws firmly planted in the dirt, head tilted to the side and down. When we finally got her out there, she was cautious – nothing like the crazy pup we’ve known for over a decade. But she was a good sport and once off the ice, she was happy to finish out her walkie.

a little nervous

maybe this guy has a treat

Winter is my season of reflection more than any other. I think intently about my life, the people in it, decisions, actions, goals, happiness. Perhaps I’m just too distracted by wildflowers, wildlife, waterfalls, autumn colors, or the sprouting of baby green leaves in the other seasons? Winter around here is sublime when the winds aren’t howling. Walking or gliding through a world of cold, silent white has a way of focusing your mind on the important things. While December can be a time of maximum insanity for some, it’s the time of maximum simplicity for me – at least that is what I try to achieve. Lately, I’ve been enjoying this salad recipe that Kitt pointed me to several months ago. It’s mostly tofu and celery.

and all of these flavors

infused in some oil

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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

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Recipe: thai chicken coconut soup (tom kah kai)

People have been asking me all day who is baking the cake. They mean my birthday cake. Um… no one. I don’t have time for cake let alone a birthday because I’m hitting the road tomorrow and I have a to do list long enough to beat out a double roll of Charmin. Jeremy and I have birthdays fairly close together such that we agree to celebrate at a later, more convenient date. Probably in October. September is just insane for both of us. We’re cool with it.

pretty sure kaweah would have liked some cake

I do want to thank all of you for your sweet birthday tweets and Facebookings. It was a special day, because every day is special! So I’ll just share some of what made it all so nice:

not a full double rainbow, but i’ll take it!

grilled ono for dinner

new member of my apple family

The weather has turned from summer to autumn here. Today. Like a switch. I love it! In between all of the frantic work piling up, I spied fresh snow on the local mountains, I got to see my friend Kath, the UPS delivery dude arrived EARLY instead of the typical 5:00 pm (now THAT is a birthday present on a signature-required package), and the very best part of the day? Getting an impromptu ice cream cone with Jeremy. So you see, a very good day – birthday or no. Cake can wait and yeah, *I’ll* be the one baking it :)

Remember that little cold I caught in Seattle? There’s nothing like being sick to make you appreciate being healthy. I kicked that one pretty handily, but being well again seems to heighten my appreciation for the fall colors, the change in the weather, the crisp chill on the air. I’m giddy with excitement just thinking about snow. Okay, but back to being sick… As soon as I got home from Seattle, I bought an organic chicken and made some homemade chicken broth. I swear by it. My mom used to make it for me whenever I got sick as a kid and it made me feel so good. This time, I recovered quickly enough that I still had some chicken broth left and found myself in the mood for some spicy, tangy, luscious soup to jettison that last bit of crud in my chest.

homemade chicken broth, fish sauce, coconut milk

chicken, straw mushrooms, cilantro, lime, kaffir lime leaves, galanga, thai bird chiles, lemon grass

Yes yes yes. Tom kah kai – Thai chicken coconut soup. I was just about to type that it is one of my favorite soups, but I actually love all manner of soups – especially with the cooldown in the weather. As long as you can find the ingredients, it is ridiculously simple to prepare. Kaffir lime leaves, galangal, and lemon grass are probably the toughest ones to find. You can always make substitutions like ginger for galangal, but the difference is striking. Galangal is more floral, delicate.

pour the broth and coconut milk in with the aromatics

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