use real butter

Not the Olympics, but the Olympic Mountains in the northwestern corner of Washington State. I’ve had an obsession with this part of the world ever since I was a little girl, flipping through my collection of Time-Life Nature series books. Anyone remember those? We had The Universe, The Sea, The Desert, and The Forest to name a few. At first I only perused the pictures, but as I got older I could read and understand the narrative that accompanied the images that I had internalized in both my imagination and my understanding of the natural world. They imprinted on me. So much so that when I graduated from college, Jeremy and I took a road trip up the coast and back from Southern California to the Olympic Peninsula, stopping at several national parks and wilderness areas en route. My ultimate goal was to see the only temperate rainforest in the continental US – the Hoh Rainforest in Olympic National Park. A photo, an idea, a place I had fallen in love with and latched onto since I was a five year old sitting on the living room floor with books and pictures of other worlds wide open. Adventure – wide open.

This past weekend, Jeremy and I returned after more than a decade away from this gem of a paradise. There are no roads that cross the Olympic Mountains. Most of the year the high peaks, glaciers, ocean, deep valleys, and skies are obscured by thick clouds. August and September are typically the best weather months for travel into the backcountry there, which translates into the busiest time of the season. Fortunately (or unfortunately, depending on how you view it), the snow pack was a month behind in melting out this summer and we were happily alone at the most popular backcountry destination in the park at the height of the summer season.

crossing the sol duc river

boardwalk trail through sensitive meadow

deer lake

avalanche lilies are first to bloom after snowfields melt away

the “snake pit”

**Jump for more butter**

Recipe: creamy peanut butter pie

Doomed, was I.

By the time my packing was done, I had to be awake in 45 minutes to head to the airport. I debated whether or not to sleep, because sometimes a short sleep like that can make you feel worse than no sleep at all. It can make you feel pukey in the wee hours of the morning when no one else is awake and when you really don’t want to be either.

A mere 6 hours earlier I was in Boulder shooting the Andrew Bird concert at Chautauqua Auditorium. His is the kind of mesmerizing and dynamic performance that can transport you away from the worries of the day, even if only for a little while. And it did just that.

[You can see the rest of the photo set on the photo blog.]

But there was a flight to catch and a promise to keep.

crushed (gluten-free) cookies

melting butter

On Tuesday, Jennie posted a recipe for Creamy Peanut Butter Pie. It was her Mikey’s favorite. She invited all of us to make and share this pie to celebrate her beloved today, the day of his memorial service.

mix together for the crust

press into the bottom of the pan

**Jump for more butter**

“The greatest thing you’ll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return.” -Eden Ahbez

Life has a fast pace – sometimes running in that dizzying manner and it’s all you can do to keep up. You’re chugging along, barely able to juggle the million things on your plate when something sudden happens and you let everything – including the plate – fall to the ground. And then you find yourself looking at the mess at your feet and those things that don’t really matter just fade away. What you’re left with is what matters.

Sometimes that something is the loss of a loved one, taken before anyone was ready. Maybe it’s facing your own mortality. For some it takes that kind of catastrophic life event before they realize what is truly important in life. And there are others who always know what their priorities are and live by them.

Last fall at BlogHer Food, Jennie and I were each tucked in our own hotel beds whispering stories into the drowsy darkness about the important people in our lives – both here and no longer here. Jennie’s words made me laugh and they made me cry, but they also instilled within me a deep respect for this no-nonsense, independent, loving, funny, and intelligent woman. She knew what mattered most in her life.

The food blogging community is reeling right now, because Jennie’s dear husband, Mikey, passed away suddenly and unexpectedly earlier this week. People are in shock and overcome with sadness. Like everyone else, when I learned of the news I held my beloved close to me and wept for my friend, for her Mikey, for their little girls, and for everyone who wasn’t expecting to be without him.

I know folks feel helplessness and despair. I’d like to point to Jennie as a shining beacon in this fog of sorrow, loss, and fear that has settled over so many. The way she talked about Mikey, the way they lived and loved their days together as a family, the time they set aside just for one another – this is love. This is living life. They made the moments count. They did it right.

I can’t think of a better way to honor Mikey than to live life and make it count. Let’s all do it right.

Edit: We can start with this group effort on Friday. Make a Creamy Peanut Butter Pie for Mikey. For Jennie.