use real butter

Recipe: macadamia nut and chocolate chip blondies

Before I began blogging, the only Crazy emails I received were from people I knew. And because I knew them, I could usually understand the Crazy in their emails (I don’t mean understanding why they were headcases, but just that it made sense to see Crazy in their correspondences). Now, with a public blog, I get lots of Crazy from people I don’t know. That makes it harder to determine if the sender is Crazy, Stupid, or just a Jackass. Thankfully, the majority of the emails that pop up in my in-box from strangers are really very nice. So thank you (you, as in the emotionally stable and well-mannered yous) for being so sweet and polite and funny and for not being a nutjob.

not so nutty: after the big dump, it was a bluebird day

april skiing – get it while it’s good

Sometimes I wish I didn’t have a local’s mentality. We skied up the powder on Saturday and then woke up Sunday morning debating whether or not to ski. There was only 1.5 inches of fresh (snow) overnight. Should we go? Is it worth our time? Won’t be as good as yesterday. Yesterday was soooo good. I’m sure it won’t be that bad… Well, it was freaking awesome. Not as awesome as 10 inches of pow, but pretty spanking. Add to that the calm winds (a rarity for our area) and you really cannot ask for much more. At home, we had a late lunch which I’ll have to blog about next week (the words New Magic Awesome Sauce should stir some curiosity). Spring skiing, I thought staring into the lovely flowers Nichole had brought me on Friday. Good stuff. Here we are straddling two seasons again and I love it.

daffodils inside, snow outside

**Jump for more butter**

Recipe: lemon mousse bombes

It’s the last day of March, kids! Where did all of that time go? Our local farmer’s market is opening this weekend and I’m both excited and a little leery. Excited, because I love farmer’s markets in general and Boulder has a nice one. Leery, because if I recall correctly, early season doesn’t have a lot of fresh produce to offer (particularly the fruit). See how living in Southern California can spoil the heck out of you (me)? I especially miss harassing the asparagus dude at the Pasadena Farmer’s Market (and then the Alhambra Farmer’s Market the next day).

My enthusiasm for cooking and baking and blogging waxes and wanes. There are times when I just don’t want to bake or cook (or at least blog about it) for several days. Knowing this, knowing myself, I have a stash of recipes in queue for just those times. I think I got into the habit when I kept having to dash to the ER last year or when I knew I’d be out after a chemo infusion. But when my enthusiasm is on the upswing, like it is now, I just write a list about a mile long with ideas and recipes I want to make and shoot and I wonder if the old recipes will just languish in the archives for months on end (some are already 6 months old).

start with white chocolate

… and you guessed it, temper the chocolate!

**Jump for more butter**

Recipe: chocolate raspberry macarons

Even though I tell you guys that I blog for you, I have to be honest… I blog for me! I’m not just talking about the mental health aspect, but I find that my own recipe page comes in really handy when I’m contemplating what to make for dinner each week and particularly for planning party menus. As I had mentioned before, I had to take into consideration the soy-free, dairy-free, gluten-free, egg-free, chicken-free issues of some guests. And while I did have something to offer for everyone, I also tried my best not to deprive those guests who can, do, and love to eat dairy, gluten, and all of that other good stuff.

dessert prep the day before

it began to snow before the guests arrived

That’s our patio furniture where my indoor bike trainer usually sits. A second table was brought up to provide more seating. I quite love that our furniture and house are so flexible for large parties. It is even better in summer because we use the deck. In total there were 14 adults, 6 kids, and one Kaweah. Young children make things much livelier and so Jeremy and I took turns between hosting to police Kaweah, who did her best to suck up all of the fallen food.

**Jump for more butter**