use real butter

Recipe: strawberry frozen yogurt

Another week, another snow storm. There was a December a couple of years ago when we had snow storms hit every Friday for the entire month (which was awesome). Except this is now May. Better late than never, I say. And it’s still very awesome! In true Colorado fashion, the big dump snow day always has a sunshiny chaser.

wednesday afternoon

dark-eyed gray-headed juncos clowning around (sequence: 6 photos)

thursday morning in all her glory

I love snow as much as the next gal (okay, more), but let’s be realistic here… come August, I will be whimpering and wilting under the summer sun. I don’t do well with the heat despite having grown up in the wet, hot blanket of southern summers. It’s not even all that hot here in the mountains, but I still shrink from the sun for the fifteen hours of the day it is up in the sky. One of the best ways for me to cope with the heat is to drink a lot of ice water. That can get a little dull after a while, so I like to mix up my cool downs with fruity frozen treats. Ice cream is the obvious choice, but it upsets my stomach. Frozen yogurt, however, doesn’t bother me.

strawberry fro yo: strawberry vodka, sugar, yogurt, lemon, strawberries

You don’t have to use vodka in the recipe at all, but I like to include it otherwise my frozen yogurts and sorbets becomes giant blocks of fruity ice. I use strawberry vodka because I happen to have some in my freezer, but regular vodka works just as well. My initial intention was to use Greek yogurt, but as I approached the yogurt section of the store I saw Noosa, which is my favorite yogurt (made in Colorado!). Noosa doesn’t make a plain yogurt, so I chose the next closest thing which is the honey yogurt. Since it is already sweetened, I reduced the sugar added in the frozen yogurt recipe.

slice the strawberries

add the sugar

and the vodka (if using)

**Jump for more butter**

Recipe: key lime pie ice cream

It’s snowing outside the house right now! In fact, there are a few storm tracks marching through to see the month of February out. I’ve been busting ass to get work done these past several non-snowy days so I can be ready if Ullr should bless our mountains with the pow pow. The weather dictates my work schedule (well, the weather and paying clients). Kaweah has been by my side the whole time. If I’m in the kitchen, she is a low and furry center island in the middle of the kitchen. If I’m shooting in the studio, she’s under the table, nearby, or walking in and out of the room onto the deck. If I’m in the office, she likes to curl up on a stack of her three dog beds. Don’t ask how we figured that one out.

she loves it

Tuesday morning, we spent a little time cuddling with Kaweah on our bed. She likes to be squashed between the two of us and lately we’ve been exchanging a few minutes of extra sleep for a few minutes of QT with the pup before we start our day. It was that Tuesday morning when we realized that she is going deaf. We did a lot of tests like calling “treat!” from around the corner only to have her come when it reached a certain volume. I had a good cry over that, but Kaweah has been spunky, happy, affectionate, and sweet. It doesn’t seem to faze her at all and her vision and especially her sense of smell are excellent. Most of our voice commands have been accompanied by hand signals, so the communication is fine as long as she can see us and as long as she feels like obeying.

pork adobado wet burrito at pica’s

So I had a business lunch meeting with Helliemae’s at Pica’s in Boulder earlier this week. There was a natural pause in the conversation after discussing business plans, business solutions, and flavors. My mind wandered to the next kitchen project I had in the queue. “You wanna know what I’m blogging next?” I asked Ellen. Her eyes got that Texan sparkle and the edges of her mouth curled up. “Yes,” she said leaning in, “tell me.” “Key lime pie ice cream.”

here’s what a bag of key limes looks like sans bag

Oh yes I did. I walked past the bagged Key limes in the grocery store a few weeks ago and all I could think about was key lime pie. Key lime pie. I’ve always made Key lime pie with regular limes – hence it was regular lime pie. When I finally got my grubby paws on Key limes, I didn’t feel like making a pie. I felt like making ice cream. Pie-ce cream?

key limes, sugar, eggs, salt, cream, milk, graham crackers

zest some limes

juice a dozen or so to get a half cup

mix the sugar, salt, juice, and zest together

**Jump for more butter**

Recipe: lemon sorbet

The lovely and wonderful Meeta and Jeanne have coordinated and are hosting Meeta’s Monthly Mingle: A Taste of Yellow in honor of our friend, Barbara, who passed away at the end of June. Barbara used to host A Taste of Yellow to raise cancer awareness, and that is how I first met her on the internet. I had decided to contribute a post to her event in 2008. I was undergoing chemotherapy for breast cancer at the time.

the end of the day

I never had the pleasure – the honor – of meeting Barbara in person. But despite being on opposite ends of this planet, we grew close and became good friends. We compared notes on our experiences with cancer: the treatments, the way people react to you (both good and bad), wonderful oncologists, supportive partners, hopes, fears, the pain, regaining the strength to walk, lingering side effects, being able to taste food again. More than that, we tapped out emails to one another on photography, food, travel, friends, family, blogging, bloggers, life. Life was the big one… making the most of it and being grateful for each day. We had both arrived at this directive independently. It cemented our friendship.

We occasionally talked of travel plans – for her to come to the States or more realistically, for me to visit Australia. The thing is, Barbara was always making plans and looking ahead. She didn’t let chemotherapy or radiation stop her. Sure, they slowed her down, but she was not one to wallow in self-pity. Barbara once wrote to me that she didn’t want anyone’s pity. Cancer was not a label she accepted. She was so much more than that. Barbara was a special, classy lady with a fierce fight in her. She ranks up there with my grandma in my Book of Ladies Who Kick Ass. Her words carried the heft of wisdom and experience, wrapped in kindness and love, sprinkled with her great humor and wit.

My favorite comment she left on my blog was from this past New Year’s Eve:
“Happy New Year Jen. I appreciate your friendship. Oh god I do sound formal don’t I. Love ya sweet cheeks. xoxo”

For all of the people who knew her and loved her – love her still – this post is dedicated to my dearest Barbara and A Taste of Yellow. The recipe I chose for my submission is lemon sorbet. It is a perfect treat for summer, the season that most reminds me of Barbara.

get some organic lemons

and a cup of sugar and a cup of water

Whoever came up with that saying “When life hands you lemons, make lemonade” probably wasn’t much of a cook, because I think lemons are terrific. Lemons are bright, tart, almost floral. Pair that with sugar to bring out some of the complexity of the fruit. Instead of making lemonade, we’re going to make lemon sorbet. It’s nearly as easy and it is definitely a welcome relief from the heat.

make the simple syrup

zest a lemon

ready to juice

**Jump for more butter**