use real butter

Recipe: espresso chocolate sorbet

kaweah’s big giveaway
I am loving all of the responses to the Kaweah Birthday Giveaway! It looks like the majority of entrants are thinking: Dutch oven, knife, KitchenAid stand mixer, food processor, or baking equipment. Thank you for all of the sweet birthday wishes! You have no idea how many wags and butt wiggles Kaweah would be sending you if she could comprehend anything outside of the Here and Now :)

menu for hope 6
Please take a look at the Menu for Hope 6 post! I definitely encourage you to check out the master list of bid items, but if you are a local in the Denver-Boulder area or plan on a trip out to our beautiful part of the country then please consider placing a few raffle tickets toward two of the terrific items I’m hosting from two amazing local businesses: 1) a $100 gift certificate to The Culinary School of the Rockies (UW24) and 2) a $100 gift certificate to SALT the Bistro (UW25). Thank you for supporting this great campaign!

where are i now?
I find it incredibly cute and entertaining when Californians are bundled up in scarves and hats and it’s 50°F out. Our car rental lady said, “Keep warm!” when she handed us our paperwork. Jeremy and I laughed. We are in the bay area taking care of some matters for my grandma while having a pleasant visit with her. California is so different from where we live. They still have leaves on their trees – some green, some brilliant reds and yellows! We’ve been relishing the array of ethnicities walking about town, the sound of so many languages. We practically cry tears of joy at the countless Mexican, Thai, Viet, Chinese, Korean, Japanese, and Indian restaurants. When we lived in Southern California we used to take year-round flowers for granted. This morning I squealed with delight at the sight of some weeds blooming on the side of the road. To think just a couple of days ago we were telling one another how warm it was on the slopes.

21°f is positively balmy

Don’t get me started about more Trader Joes than you can shake a stick at. And booze – it’s EVERYWHERE. Not that I’m a big time boozer (you could hardly call me a small time boozer), but it makes me realize how much I truly loathe Colorado’s antiquated liquor laws. Anyhow, let me shut up already and get on with the recipe because I have to get up early…

coffee and chocolate – an alluring combination with dusky charms

**Jump for more butter**

Recipe: mocha truffles

Last night I had some grand plans. Jeremy was observing from 1-4am (in case you are confused, some radio telescopes can now be operated remotely by the astronomer who logs in from a computer in their office or their home) and I thought I’d wake up with him and get a little night photography done. But by 10 pm, a friend tweeted they were getting snow down on the flats. I took Kaweah outside and sure enough, snow on the ground. I looked up for that gorgeous full moon I had seen earlier in the evening and – nothing. Just a blanket of dark gray clouds stretching across the sky while snowflakes rushed down at my face.

By daybreak, a familiar and long overdue sight greeted me. Kaweah develops a certain jauntiness to her step when she runs out into the snow, shoving her snout into the powder, emerging with a sugar-dusted muzzle, and then sneezing so that every bit of her furry self shakes and wiggles out to the tip of her tail.

it’s cold this morning!

kaweah’s modus operandi in winter

I was only disappointed in missing out on my photo shoot for a millisecond. Okay, nanosecond. Because we’re all about the snow here. My world isn’t complete without the snow. December can’t call itself DECEMBER without the snow in these parts. Now I’m finally in the mood for the holidays. Time to bust out the chocolate! Back in October, I received my dear Anita‘s second book right around the time Scharffen Berger sent me some samples of their chocolate. Who in their right mind is going to say, “No thank you, I don’t want any of your fabulous free chocolate”?!?

the geek in me just loves these field guide formats

holiday baking is in my future

Full disclosure: The Field Guide to Candy was a complimentary copy sent to me by Quirk Books. Scharffen Berger shipped me an assortment of their dark chocolates and a 2-gigabyte jump drive (it’s so cute!).

I’ve hosted a chocolate tasting party before. When I was shopping for the chocolates, my hand hovered over Scharffen Berger and then decided to try Green and Black’s Organic. What a mistake. I should have chosen the Scharffen Berger then. Imagine how happy I was as I contemplated what to do with this beautiful stash of chocolate. I don’t eat much chocolate, but I use a ton of it as I enjoy making chocolate goodies to give to people (because PEOPLE like love chocolate). So flipping through my new Field Guide to Candy, I settled on some simple mocha truffles.

espresso powder and cream

let’s use a 62%

**Jump for more butter**

Recipe: chocolate espresso pecan pie

My passport expired last year. I didn’t rush out to renew it because I wasn’t going anywhere, I had no hair for several months, and didn’t want security trouble because of a bald photo ID when I would later have hair. Even when my passport is renewed (with new curly head of hair – thanks, chemo) I’m pretty content to stay put this summer. Our summers are brief in the mountains, but they are oh so amazing. Places with long drawn out summers are absolutely miserable to me: 1) too hot 2) too much sun 3) humid (that is the worst) 4) buggy 5) too many people. Jeremy and I looked at one another this weekend, bikes paused as we overlooked the expanse of green pine forests draped on the flanks of giant snow-capped mountains and asked, “Why on Earth would we want to leave THIS?” As we rode our bikes down a dirt road back toward home, we passed a gentleman walking his dog. He waved hello and shouted, “Another beautiful day in paradise!” That is where we live. Paradise.

melting out slowly

a very happy place

Summer looms on the horizon and I am relishing having my health back this year. There are still various issues to deal with, but they are minor compared to last year’s medical clusterfuck. We’re trail running, hiking, biking, and living what my pal, Cindy calls, “other people’s vacations”. While some can’t stand to stay put, we are more than happy to have the opportunity to explore more of our backyard, our home. Some people get that. Others don’t.

she gets it

**Jump for more butter**