use real butter

Recipe: garlic shrimp pesto pasta with roasted tomatoes

There is still good snow in the backcountry despite the warm temperatures. It’s the intersection of spring and summer which means we did the bike-hike-ski on Sunday. Throw your skis on your pack, hop on your bike and ride in as far as you can (basically up to the snow). Then you can either hoof it by foot or by ski into the high country depending on how strong the snowpack is. If you wind up postholing and cussing a lot, then put the skis and skins on. Ski the (safe) slopes to your heart’s content then ski out until you hit mixed terrain. Put the skis on the pack and hike to the bike. Ride on out. In June. Awesome.

the snow was firm enough for walking

alpine lakes starting to thaw

breaking for lunch

jeremy skiing out

and you end the day with sunset like this

that tranforms into rosy hues in minutes

After a long day of (fun) exertion and exposure to the elements, I’m lucky if I can find the energy to dial for take out. But this past week I threw together a pasta dish on a lark that Jeremy loved so much he asked if we could have it again. It’s relatively easy to make, so we had it for dinner.

olive oil, pepper, fettuccine, pesto, salt, garlic, butter, tomatoes, shrimp

prep the tomatoes for roasting with some olive oil, salt, and pepper

roasted

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Recipe: corn pudding

I was ever so slightly worried that upon our return from Crested Butte, I would be just a little less in love with our home (butter headquarters). I mean, after we were done getting the new place set up and rearranging furniture and learning how to operate and maintain various parts of the house (radiant floor heating FOR THE WIN!!!), we went walking, hiking, mountain biking – it was spectacular.

one of several amazing views

magical sunsets

and more magical sunsets

As I sat on the deck with Jeremy discussing the important items we needed to address this week, I swung my feet back and forth while looking up at the sky and mountains. “Oh man,” I mooned. Jeremy got a worried look on his face and asked what was wrong. “I just… I really love it here – our home. And I love the new place! I love Colorado so much!” I declared. He smiled and exhaled a sigh of relief. You can’t help but wonder if your mind and heart will always drift to the other place – to Crested Butte. It’s a paradise of paradises. But that didn’t happen and I know why… because my heart is always wherever Jeremy and Kaweah are.

happy faces

A couple of weeks ago, I had a hankering for barbecue. And when I say barbecue, that’s not just the chicken, or the ribs, or the brisket… it’s all of the fixins that go along with it. With all of the corn coming into the markets, I had a craving for corn pudding.

made with fresh corn

slice the kernels off carefully (use a sharp knife)

This lovely recipe comes from my trusty copy of The Border Cookbook and it happens to be gluten-free without trying to be gluten-free. I love when that happens even though I eat the hell out of gluten.

roasted green chiles, green onions, eggs, cornmeal, cheddar, corn, goat cheese, butter, buttermilk, salt, sugar, cinnamon, and baking soda

place 2 cups of the fresh corn in a food processor

make a coarse corn purée

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Recipe: italian sausage pizza monkey bread

It keeps snowing over here. Our snowpack is inching ever closer to the average, which is pretty exciting. We have sunny bluebird days the rest of the week and then HELLO, chance of snow at the start of next week. Right on. It’s ALL GOOD in my book. I’m in that mood – I could trail run, ski, ride in the mud, whatever. April has been a hella busy and exhausting month. My short hair and I are ready for May.

skiing the backcountry trails after a big storm

then there was another storm

kaweah prefers her walkies in the snow

Rest assured, as long as there is snow on the ground, I am still running the oven. I’m not on pinterest much at all except to piece together ideas for a few projects. I figure it’s best for me to avoid spending (wasting) more time on the computer and it really seems as if the majority of recipes on pinterest call for jello, food coloring, cake mixes, and Pillsbury refrigerated biscuit dough. That scares me. But the monkey bread idea was something one could unscarify if you made it all from scratch. Most of the monkey bread recipes I saw were of the sweet variety, but I wanted savory (of course). So that’s what I did.

pizza dough, mozzarella, italian sausage, garlic, butter, mushrooms, spinach

melt the butter and garlic together

grease the pan with the garlic butter

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