use real butter

Recipe: strawberry sorbet

I haven’t called. I haven’t emailed. I haven’t blogged. Summer is my busiest time of year. We’re still a month out before true summer, but as soon as the snow has cleared from the ground around our house, we call it summer. This is a painful time for me because I can’t sleep in summer what with all of this amazing daylight. You want to do everything like hike, bike, backpack, travel, cook, entertain, and meet up with all of your people. And work. I wake up with that “not enough sleep” headache and then recall all of the great things I have lined up for the day and I snap right out of sleep-deprivation into happy anticipation. The problem is that there is just too much happy going on, which as you know isn’t really a problem…

andrew at atlas

this is what happens when the curious get their hands on your unattended camera

oh i love me some salad (mod market in boulder)

At a recent stitch-n-bitch, it came to my attention that some of my friends cringe at the sight of their photographs appearing on urb. We are, of course, our own worst critics. While my friends are beyond beautiful to me, I’ll just stick to the food and the crafts. This time we had a special SNB for one of the lot who will be wedded in less than three weeks. We made the favors for her wedding and they are oh so adorable – honey from her own bees. Manisha and I will be shooting the wedding, so I guess she knows to expect 95% food shots – KIDDING!

nichole’s fabulous grilled vegetable salad

rose lemonade

the favors are all done

It was a lovely weekend here with sunshine and oodles of bird activity. I have yet to get myself down to the Boulder Farmer’s Market because I really prefer to remain up in the mountains on the weekends. Jeremy and I spent most of the weekend working, but we did manage to get out for a survey of our local woods. The snow is almost completely melted and the aspens have yet to sprout their shiny green leaves. However, I spied many many arnica leaves emerging from the forest floor and to my delight – the pasque flowers are in full bloom. Yay for summer!

kaweah settles into her brutal summer routine

our pasque flowers are in bloom

I’m fairly certain in one month I’ll be moaning and groaning about the “heat” and wishing for fall to bitch-slap us back into reality. For now though, we are very much enjoying those fruits that usher in the summer months. Strawberries do exactly that. When I see those luscious deep red berries appear in the stores it makes me want to jump up and down and clap my hands.

i love me organic strawberries something fierce

hulling the berries

**Jump for more butter**

Recipe: pineapple orange cake

It’s a nice thing to unplug every now and again – to forget about blogs, emails, phone calls, tweets, facebook status updates and just head for the sticks. I learned from our last marathon-road-trip-photo-shoot that all work and no play stresses the hell out of Jeremy. So on this trip, we’re mixing it up a little and I’m working very hard to take it easier. Driving north we popped through wine country with a stop in Healdsburg for a little wine tasting, wine purchasing, and scoping out of things to do for my dad’s birthday this year. Jeremy is in love with wine country. Our first day in the redwoods was spent on the coast. I startled not one, not two, but three snakes. We went in search of river otters but found seals playing in the water instead. The lagoons and beaches are a birder’s delight, full of activity and fishing (I like these birds, they eat sushi).

on the coast

I grew up on the water, but I’m not a beach person. What I really came for were the trees. I am a tree person. We spent the next two days hiking among the majestic redwood forests.

this guy had something to say

lots of ferns

all of that rain has got to go somewhere

oxalis

My timing seems to be sucking this year because so many of the blooms are “late”. Cold, wet spring weather has delayed the rhododendrons. Of course, all of the domestic rhodies in town are in full glorious bloom. I just prefer the wild ones.

the tallest trees in the world: redwoods

Finishing the shoot a little early, we decided to swing through San Jose en route to the next shoot. That was Sunday – Mother’s Day. I called my mom from the road (Jeremy was driving – as a rule, we do not engage in simultaneous phone yammer and driving) to see if she and Grandma wanted to have dinner together. Yes, yes of course! Jeremy and I stayed in town overnight and helped with a few errands in the morning. I have come to recognize that as people age, what they cherish more than anything is time spent with those they love. We had lunch together at Sushi O Sushi before Jeremy and I drove off for the mountains. As we walked out of the restaurant my mom squeezed my hand and said it was the best Mother’s Day she’s had in a long time. That makes it all worth it.

the sashimi was so fresh and wonderful i could have cried

Jeremy and I are working on our laptops, waiting for batteries to finish charging, and reading last minute weather reports tonight. Before I doze off into full banana sleep (a phrase I shouted as I drifted in and out of consciousness on the long car ride north), I have a recipe from my redneck past to share.

yeah, that’s a box mix and other scary ingredients

thankfully the pecans were not produced by a giant food corporation

**Jump for more butter**

Recipe: eton mess

We’ve got three things going on here today, so keep your pants on! Are you ready?

First – I finished processing the photos from Antelope Valley. Serious orange-out is all I can say. That, and California poppies are my favorite wildflowers ever. Okay, I like the other guys too – I just love that there are so MANY of them.

tiny goldfields

poppies glow like little lanterns in the sun

If you want to see enough flowers to make your allergies tickle you can view day 1 and day 2 on my photo blog.

Next – we have a giveaway. I’ve been waiting to give this thing away for about… four months, but it had to get the stamp of approval from the law-talkin’ guys first. No matter, because it is certainly worth the wait. Back in December, I hosted a Nintendo-sponsored Wii Fit Plus party for my gal pals in Boulder! Easiest party I’ve ever had to host because all I had to do was send out invitations and show up. Nintendo took care of the space, the equipment, the food, and beverages.

fruit juice shooters

everyone was let loose to try the yoga and the games after a quick demo

we had a blast

Oh, that was seriously fun. What I love about Wii Fit Plus and the Wii in general is how it’s more than just a gaming system. It gets you moving and it can be a social activity (I’m definitely hosting Wii parties at my house!). Exercise made fun. I’m a big fan of the multiplayer mode. My favorite activity is the Rhythm Kung Fu.

that’s my Mii character

we even have a Mii pet for kaweah

The good people at Nintendo have given me an additional Wii and a Wii Fit Plus game and I’m giving them away here! You merely have to answer the question:

How will you fit some fit in with the Wii Fit Plus from Nintendo?

Let me translate: How are you gonna get your Wii on?

Here are the rules:

1) Leave a comment on THIS POST answering the question above by 11:59 pm MDT Sunday, April 25, 2010.
2) One entry per person. If you submit multiple entries, you will be disqualified.
3) The winner will be selected at random using a random number generator and announced on Monday, April 26, 2010.
4) Contest is only open to US residents 18 years or older.
5) Anyone related to me cannot enter.
6) Nintendo employees are ineligible to win.

Full disclosure: I received a free Wii™ system and Wii Fit™ Plus package (including Balance Board™) from Nintendo. The Wii Fit Plus party was entirely sponsored by Nintendo. The giveaway Wii system and Wii Fit Plus package were given to me by Nintendo, and I’m giving them away.

And finally: the recipe. California strawberries are popping up in the grocery stores around here. Yeah, I know they aren’t local, but who can resist a luscious red strawberry after months of winter? Heck, who can resist a luscious red strawberry ever? My favorite way to enjoy a strawberry is straight up, but a close second is an Eton Mess.

strawberry

separate the egg whites from the yolks

**Jump for more butter**