use real butter

This morning we woke up to moderate winds and figured we’d head for the hills for a little swooshing on the slopes. We were rewarded with some fine spring conditions with temps topping as high as 45 and calm winds! We played mostly on the backside as the snow was pretty good and there were no lines! Until… around 10:30 am it started to get a little crowded. So we squoze in a few more runs until it was really time to mosey into Ned for wine and milk. In front of the liquor store was a 3 month old chocolate lab puppy. She was so damn cute, I played with her twice:

**Jump for more butter**

We had been planning to have our neighbors and the former owners of our house over for dinner for some time. Originally, they were slated to come over on Friday the 30th of December, but then we had to reschedule because we had last minute visitors. We moved it to Monday, January 2nd, but then Madge and Bondy were sick. So we rescheduled for tonight, but Madge had to work until 7, and Tom had to fill the ice rink at 9… Theoretically, we’re on for tomorrow night. So far, there are no conflicts – and some of the ingredients can only be tossed into the freezer and pulled back out into the fridge but so many times! I just pulled the flourless chocolate cake out of the oven tonight. It’s cooling now and will eventually become a rich, dense, chocolate mass of goodness, that is, if all goes well. I have to stop this habit of trying out new recipes on guests because it’s a little less reliable at 8500 feet. At least the raspeberry coulis tastes good.

**Jump for more butter**

This evening when I got home, I wanted to try some skillet roasted potatoes I had read about in the latest issue of Fine Cooking on my busride. It calls for – none other than – yukon golds, which I have touted before as the finest cooking potatoes I have ever met. Turns out they were developed in Canada (hence the name, Yukon) and a cross between a white American potato and a fleshy yellow South American potato. What we end up with is a most versatile, flavorful, and reliable tuber. But I digress…

delicious crunchy outside, soft and fluffy inside

As I fried up these beauts in the skillet, I had to refill my industrial salt shaker. I reached for the salt can and discovered the weight to be on the light side. Oh shit. You know what this means?!? Need to buy more salt. You know what the problem with that is?!!? Chinese New Year is January 29th. You aren’t supposed to buy salt the month before or the month after the Chinese New Year. Why? Because the translation “yien” for salt also means to “be idle”. Chinese interpret the “be idle” to mean unemployment. And even if I thought I could possibly get away with it… my grandmother told me the one year my late uncle went to buy salt during The Wrong Time of Year, he was laid off by GM that same year (seems as if a lot of folks went and bought salt lately who work for GM, eh?). I called my mom and she helped me remember that I did have enough salt in the house – in the dining table shaker, and in the little salt/pepper disposable shakers we bought when we moved into the house before our stuff arrived. Okay, I think I can make it to March. Then my mom said, “Just cook a lot of chinese food that uses soy sauce instead.” Indeed, Mother. Indeed.