use real butter

Recipe: homemade limoncello and limon sunrise cocktail

despite the rainy day, the flowers still say it’s summer

As I went around the house flipping all of our calendars (yes, I’m the type who requires calendars and clocks everywhere) my eyes settled on August 1st. It’s my sister’s birthday today (Sunday). How old would she have been? I had to first remember how old I am and add five and… It has been over six years since Kris passed away, but I still think of her every day. People who have lost siblings have told me that you never stop thinking of them. I don’t think that’s a bad thing.

Jeremy came home Saturday evening after a week in Oxford and it feels like life has returned to normal. Whatever normal is, I like it. Today was overcast, cool, and rainy. A nice respite from the heat.

my chinese chives are starting to flower (these buds are delicious in a stir-fry)

But I’m still prepared for the hot weather because I know it’s coming back soon enough. Oh yes. Back in May (which seems so far away now), I purchased two bags of Meyer lemons from Whole Foods as their season was quickly coming to an end. After depleting our supply of Buddha’s hand citron vodka rather quickly, I figured it was high time I tried my buddy Figs’ recipe for homemade limoncello.

scrubby dubby the lemons

harvest the peel

These are the types of projects that require patience, planning, and the ability to forget. You can’t make it and consume it the same day. While the Buddha’s hand citron vodka took 40 days, this took 80 days. I hid it away in my office closet where it could stay in the cool and dark. There were plenty of things to distract me from the limoncello, but when I remembered it, I’d get excited about the day it would be ready.

all of the peel

into the jar

**Jump for more butter**

Recipe: homemade vanilla extract

As I get ready for another shoot, I find myself short on time – again. Consider it your lucky day because this post will be short on words, so you can scroll the photos and see a quick and oh so easy recipe at the end! We have snow in the forecast. A cold front is moving in with winds and that rain/snow mixture and I realized if I didn’t get myself down to Boulder before the storm, I’d miss out on the lovely local blooms. Here is some of our local color in case you think I always travel elsewhere to get my photo on :) Colorado is starting to burst with color and it will continue through October.

there are many different colors and kinds of tulips on pearl street

flowering trees are going gangbusters at the public library

and let’s not forget the lilacs

You can see the rest of the photos on the photoblog: tulips and flowering trees and lilacs.

I had read so much about homemade vanilla extract on other blogs that I knew it was my destiny. When I ordered a few hundred vanilla beans and gave dozens away to friends and family, I still had about 80 left. I’ve been making my way through the stash, but a few months ago – right around the time I made all of that beloved Buddha’s Hand Citron Vodka – I had lots of cheap vodka on hand and remembered what was stored in my cupboard.

when you have a lot of vanilla beans

slice them open lengthwise

**Jump for more butter**

Recipe: lemon drop martini

Wooooohooo! I can’t tell you how happy I am to have the food photography workshop website and registration completed (thanks for your help, Andrew)! I am so jazzed and humbled to be working with three dear friends whose photography and cooking/baking have inspired me from day one: Helen Dujardin of Tartelette and Todd and Diane of White on Rice Couple. For those of you interested in attending, hop on over to the Food and Light website to register. Space is limited to 30 and I have no idea how quickly (or slowly) it will fill up. If you have any questions, do ask me soon as I will be mostly out of communication April 12-14.

The last of the Death Valley photos are done and posted. I am on a roll, kids. Plowing through the list of things to do…

life in death valley

marble slot canyon

blue skies over badlands

sunset on zabriskie point

As promised, I have this absolutely delightful lemon drop martini to share with you. When I first uncorked a bottle of my Buddha’s hand citron vodka, I stood sniffing the magical perfume that emanated from the opening. I had no idea what I was going to do with it. I like to play with the booze. Jeremy is the one who drinks it. He hovered around me asking what we could possibly make with it.

how about a martini?

a twist on a lemon drop martini

**Jump for more butter**