use real butter

Recipe: sigara boregi

We saw off our fifth visitor in the past two weeks today. Hey, we planned the visits a while ago – no one figured I’d be having an appendectomy right around the arrival of the first visitor. Well, now that we have the house back to ourselves, we’re relishing it. Actually I’m resting and Jeremy is catching up on work. My healing is slow going and I’m not caring a whole heck of a lot about blogging at the moment as there are other pressing things to worry about. Looks like September will be a slim month on Use Real Butter.

suzanne and kaweah on the deck

I’ve only picked the camera up again in the last couple of days. Our weather was rainy and cool over the weekend. And that meant I had one thing on the brain: snow in the mountains.

start my base, baby

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Recipe: pistachio chocolate chip blondies

We are heading out of So Cal and into my favorite place in the world.

But to round out the weekend, I will have to be quick. Saturday afternoon we drove south to visit with two of my favorite bloggers: Todd and Diane of White on Rice Couple! It is the first time we’ve met in person, but I really felt they were kindred spirits already. They welcomed us into their beautiful home, Sierra wanted me to chuck the ball and Dante sniffed my crotch. Hi-larious dogs, I know Kaweah and Sierra would be bffs. Oh, and when I say “beautiful” to describe their home, it is an understatement. Stunning? Gorgeous? Breath-taking? Magazine-worthy? Words don’t do it justice. It’s a HOME, not a house (must include fabulous yards). It shows great love and care and attention to detail yet it isn’t a museum piece, it’s usable and lived in and HOME, you know what I mean? And that is a reflection of Todd and Diane – people with real substance and sincerity. I just wanted to pack them up and take them home with us (the dogs too).

diane preps us for the tour of little saigon

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Recipe: cranberry oatmeal cookies

Four times a year, the first of the month is a special day for me. Of those four times, only one of those days is one that I had chosen and the rest were out of my control. March 1 is our wedding anniversary because MIL had wised up to the fact that although we had announced our engagement (as evidenced by my engagement mountain bike) mostly to appease the moms, we neglected to plan for the actual wedding. It was at 5 am in the ILs’ living room right before we were headed for the airport that we pulled out a calendar and I selected the earliest first of the month that fell on a Saturday for our wedding date. The first, so that we wouldn’t forget our anniversary as it would always coincide with when rent was due.

November 1 is our smoochiversary or “Happy I’m Glad I Met You Day” or the day that I “robbed the cradle”. Jeremy is my junior and when I was “pursuing” him in the dorms, my friend Ernie leaned over and said, “Jen, if you hit on Jeremy any harder, you’re going to knock him clear out of the cradle.” This date means more to us than our wedding anniversary.

May 1 is the anniversary of my sister’s death and August 1, today, is her birthday. Kris would have turned 42 on this day.

remembrance

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