use real butter

Recipe: macadamia shortbread cookies

It’s almost midnight and I’m sitting here in my skivvies because I’ve packed the pants I was wearing just ten minutes ago. It’s always like this the night before travel. Clean the house, pack the gear, check the weather forecast, run around looking for summer clothes that haven’t seen the light of day since… last summer. It’s definitely not Summer, but this barely even qualifies as Spring down in Boulder.

the tulips are up, but spring is late

so many varieties abound on the pearl street pedestrian mall

hard to pick a favorite

We rarely go to Boulder on the weekends if we can help it. Just nicer to be in the mountains since we usually work in town during the week. However I had a gig to shoot: Downtown Boulder’s Taste of Pearl on Sunday. This event teams local restaurants, local wineries (or meaderies), and local shops together for a tasting tour along beautiful Pearl Street. It sold out pretty quickly which meant I had to duck and dodge many a participant while trying to get my shots. Most of the venues were packed!

art galleries hosted

delectable tastes from the black cat bistro

executive chef of the flagstaff house, mark monette

boulder creek winery

chicken liver pâté from mateo

bobby stuckey (frasca) slices la quercia prosciutto

Although Boulder is beginning to green, the trees are still behind schedule and have yet to really leaf out. I suspect when I return home, the place will have exploded with color. It’s a good time of year. While Colorado tries to shake winter like a bad ex-boyfriend, we are going to be plunged into the perpetual summer of the tropics. I have mixed feelings about this because I’m really really really not a fan of hot weather, but I sure do love a lilikoi shave ice (ice shave for the locals). To get my mindset out of the Colorado Rockies and onto the Big Island, I thought it was fitting to try a Hawai’ian themed recipe.

macadamia nuts

coarsely chopped

People love macadamia nuts. Whenever someone returns from Hawai’i they always bring back Kona coffee and mac nuts. Just don’t feed them to your pups – they’re toxic for dogs. I found this recipe which is a lovely combination of mac nuts and my favorite cookie to bake at elevation: shortbread. See, shortbread doesn’t have leavening issues which makes it ideal for me to bake in the mountains.

adding flour to butter, powdered sugar, and vanilla

mix in the mac nuts

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Recipe: chocolate chip peanut butter cookies

Last week on my way to the airport, I read that Breckenridge had received 16 inches of snow the night before. I felt a pang in my heart as we flew over the snowy Rocky Mountains. But you know what? All of that melted away when I arrived in Seattle. I spent two days visiting with beloved friends, dining at great restaurants, seeing the city and its surrounds. Seattle is one of those places I could spend a lifetime and never get enough of it. But wait! There was more… The whole reason for my trip was a gathering of all the Nintendo Ambassadors to celebrate the launch of the Nintendo 3DS. My reaction and the reaction of all the other ambassadors was simply, “WOW!”

rebekah and erini check out the nintendo 3ds for the first time

at nintendo headquarters

lots of game play, lots of photos taken

in 2d mode

We spent the bulk of Friday learning about and experiencing different capabilities of the new Nintendo 3DS at Nintendo headquarters in Redmond, Washington. Nintendo were gracious hosts giving us a tour of their gorgeous building (sorry, no pics allowed) and access to their employees’ store.

rebekah really getting into it!

jean kicks some virtual butt playing streetfighter 2

president and coo of nintendo of america welcomes the group

discussing research on 3d viewing

After a full day at Nintendo headquarters, we spent the evening in downtown Seattle at various restaurants. I happened to wind up at Black Bottle in the private room with my fellow food blog pal Marisa and my local blog chica Aimee and new friend, Jean. A parade of small plates marched onto our tables, one after another. Broccoli fries (a favorite), hanger steak, ceviche, fried olives (another favorite), sausage pizza… It was dark. Really dark. But look at what I managed to capture for you!

caprese salad on a stick

bean and mushroom salad (winner!)

roe vs. egg

I met a lot of wonderful new people on this trip. Sometimes I think my life is pretty full and I couldn’t possibly cram another friend in… but then there are folks like Michelle, Ilina, Doniree, Victoria, M, and others who make you wonder how it is you could go on in life WITHOUT their smiling faces, witty conversation, and sweet hugs. This Nintendo trip was bursting at the seams with all manner of goodness.

the finest company (left to right): ilina, maggie, jean, marisa

chocolate cake with gelato inside

lemon cheesecake with lavender

co-owner paul chats with us about our visit to seattle

And at the end of the day, I had my own little Nintendo 3DS to take home and share with Jeremy. Thanks for an incredible experience, Nintendo. Also a huge thanks to Justine and team for their flawless execution of the entire event! [Full Disclosure: All travel, lodging, meals, and the Nintendo 3DS were provided courtesy of Nintendo.]

So now you know where I was last week and why! I’m leaving again in less than 12 hours and my shooting partner suggested I could bring that little Nintendo 3DS for him to *ahem* check out for safety and such… Right. Since I barely have time to unpack and repack my bags, there isn’t a lot of cooking or baking going on in the House of Butter. Luckily for Present Me, Past Me anticipated this stretch of kitchen inactivity and so we have some cookies today. Grab a glass of milk… It’s okay – I’ll wait here for you.

start with butter and sugars

plop goes the egg

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Recipe: chocolate banana bombes

It’s easy to catch sunset. You start to notice the light softening and getting longer (in terms of wavelength λ – actually what happens is that the shorter wavelengths are getting kicked out by scattering off the atmosphere) and there are all these signs that it’s going to happen so you have time to get ready. Sunrise is another matter. Sunrise happens backwards and you start in the dark. In winter, you start in the dark and cold and lonely because everyone, including the dog, is snoring away under the covers still happily chasing bunnies in dreamland. Tons of people catch sunset, but not as many catch sunrise. Sunrise is glorious and I usually witness it alone, but it’s lovely to share with others too. I like sunrise because it’s the beginning of the day and I love beginnings. It means the long winter night is over, or it means you have a little peace before the mosquitoes of alpine summer begin to stir (and bite!). Sunrise can be quiet, peaceful, pensive. It also feels like opportunity. I’m feeling it!

pink light of sunrise ignites the tips of our lofty high peaks

If you will recall I discovered the joys of single-ingredient ice cream a while back. I finally found a way to use up overripe bananas as well as make a non-dairy ice cream alternative that is healthy and pretty creamy. It got me thinking about chocolate-dipped frozen bananas and how I had a lot of trouble eating those as a kid because the bananas were frozen solid like a rock. I wanted something similar, but easier to consume.

you just need some chocolate chips

i prefer to temper the chocolate

Okay, I just wanted an excuse to use my bombe molds. They’re so cute and whenever you give someone a bombe, a smile spreads across their face. You don’t have to temper the chocolate, but if you do it winds up with a beautiful sheen and snap. Just a note based on my experience – if you temper the chocolate it’s easiest with a minimum of one pound of chocolate even though you’ll only need a fraction of that amount for the actual coating. The heat capacity of a smaller amount is just too low to maintain a steady working temperature for very long.

paint the bombe molds with three coats

chop some peanuts

**Jump for more butter**