use real butter

Recipe: butter-poached cod with powdered flavors

Two posts within 24 hours can only mean one thing… something Daring is going on. It’s the 14th. While my Frenchie friends are dreaming of rolling heads, the Daring Cooks are rolling out their reveals today. Our founders are the same wonderful and amazing ladies as last month and as the month before: Lis of La Mia Cucina and Ivonne of Cream Puffs in Venice. I am really quite fond of them. Our host this month is Sketchy of Sketchy’s Kitchen (site seems to be in need of a domain re-registration at the moment). His challenge this month: Skate with Traditional Flavors, Powdered from Grant Achatz, found in the Alinea cookbook.

daring cooks – yeah baby, i got your onions right here

I’m going to be brief with this one because the challenge itself has already used up its allotment of time suck this month. The recipe is a toe-dip into the realm of molecular cuisine and Sketchy’s intent was to push us to try something new and very different.

the flavors in fresh form: parsley, cilantro, red onion, banana, brined capers, lemon

prepped for the dehydrator

**Jump for more butter**

Recipe: cindy’s molasses cookies

I have amazing welts developing on my knuckles and fingers. Those blasted mosquitoes were so desperate, they tried to suck my blood from my hands. But Jeremy and I suffered the heat, the bugs, the lightning, the rain, the unstable slopes with thousand foot drops to our deaths, and other beautiful things to capture a little bit of what we love – alpine summer. In photographs! Actually, I suffered all of that to capture the shots, and Jeremy endured it because he is the ace number one guy in the whole wide world. I’m only a third of the way through processing 600 shots, but have a looksee.

evening clouds

not a time for allergies

the blue columbine is the colorado state flower for a reason

i’ll be back to shoot these gorgeous aspen stands in the fall

You can see more photos from the first and second days of the trip on the photo blog. I’ll be adding more as I get through them this week.

**Jump for more butter**

[I’m still away shooting and getting caught in lightning storms, but I have been planning this post for a few months. I’m so happy to finally put it up!]

This is a day to celebrate. And even if it doesn’t directly affect you, why not do something… celebratory just for shits and giggles?

It all started with this little thing, A Taste of Yellow, in support of LiveSTRONG day. Barbara of Winos and Foodies has hosted this event for the past two years. I became vaguely aware of it last year from other food blogs I followed. There is a fog that sits in your mind for the duration of chemotherapy which folks refer to as “chemo brain” and so one evening while battling said chemo brain, I sat down and tried to puzzle out who this Barbara woman was and why was she hosting this food event. What was her connection to cancer? I was able to gather that Barbara had cancer.

sometimes it is the little things

I submitted a post between my treatment rounds which Barbara accepted ever so sweetly. She is such a lady. I mean that in the best sense of the word. She is classy. For me, seeking out other cancer patients for support groups just wasn’t my thing. Cancer is not my thing. But there are a few people I connected with, not because they had cancer, but because they had pretty kick-ass attitudes toward life. One day I asked Barbara if she wouldn’t mind telling me about her cancer. And she shared that with me. And we exchanged several frank, honest, and sincere emails across the globe. That’s when I discovered what an incredible woman Barbara is. That’s when I discovered what a tremendous friend she is.

all good things

My chemo finished. Then my radiation finished. Peach fuzz began to return to my head. Meanwhile, Barbara’s oncologist wanted her to undergo another stint of chemo – several months’ worth. Would it help? Hopefully, yes. She emailed me when she was well enough, always the gracious and dignified woman with a little snark on the side. It’s what we all love about her.

hand-dipped in *tempered* chocolate

Barbara gets it. She gets the bigger picture. I’ve cried more than once while reading her correspondences, her realistic yet touching thoughts typed through numb fingers. Brave. I told Jeremy last year if my cancer returned, I would not agree to chemo again. But I watch as Barbara emerges from a six-month string of chemo infusions – her third stint – and I think to myself, how could I not? She reminds me by example that the fight is worth it.

join us

Today, we are celebrating the end of Barbara’s chemotherapy. We toast her health, her beautiful person, her wit, the return of her tastebuds, her heart, her friendship, her inspiration, her loving family. A handful of other food bloggers around the world will be clinking champagne flutes for Barbara too. Keep your eyes peeled! Barbara, we love you. Jeremy and I wish you many good and healthy years with Bryan and the boys and all of those whose lives you have touched. To life, my friend. Break out the bubbles!

Be sure to visit the heartfelt and beautiful toasts of these wonderful bloggers:

Becks & Posh
Bron Marshall
The Cooking Adventures of Chef Paz
Tartelette

cheers, dearest barbara