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Recipe: green tea crème brûlée

I was feeling quite low Saturday morning. Kaweah’s moderate improvement went down the tubes. She barely moved, cried in pain anytime we tried to help her get up, and looked so depressed. It was completely unlike her, our normally happy little girl. Kaweah has a fairly high threshold for pain and we were both very concerned. Jeremy and I would stroke her belly to comfort her and look at one another wondering if this was it. We called our vet as soon as he got into the office and he added some more pain killers to the regimen of muscle relaxers and anti-inflammatory drugs. Within an hour of taking her meds, she was back to her old self – wandering around the house, wagging her tail, holding her head high, happy.

A college friend of mine had mentioned that he has traction socks for his dog on their hardwood floors. So I went to the store and picked up the only similar thing in stock. They’re little rubber booties. I wasn’t sure they would work, but I was willing to try anything.

pawz

They don’t bother Kaweah like her old hiking booties did (the ones she wore once, in the house and then never again). I think that’s partly because she has lost a lot of feeling in her hind paws. They do offer her incredible traction on our floors and she’s been walking around like a champ these past two days. Of course, we had to modify the booties – a clip at the tops so as not to cut off circulation in her ankles, and several holes on the tops and bottoms because her feet were getting hot and sweaty.

she’s hasn’t been this mobile in over a year

they’re like a doggie version of crocs

The combination of the non-slip booties and pain meds has turned Kaweah into a younger version of herself. We can’t get over how happy she is padding about the house asking to be let out on the deck, asking to be let back in (and so on and so forth). When she walks, the little rubber booties sound like clown shoes squeaking on the floors. As I look to see where my little clown is, I usually catch her tail wagging high in the air as she squeak-squeak-squeaks around the corner looking for wayward treats.

Kaweah’s recovery was just in time because my parents and my aunt (who is visiting my folks) came up to our house for dinner Saturday evening.

mom and her sister

one of five courses: butter-sautéed chanterelles in cream, white wine, and garlic with bacon on pappardelle

I wanted it to be a special dinner since it was my aunt’s first visit to our house and probably the last time I’ll host my parents this summer before they head home to Virginia. As most of my friends know, I serve multiple desserts to dinner guests. I love variety and I want guests to feel like they have a choice… or a sampler! Knowing that my dad is rather fond of crème brûlée, I went for a slightly Asian version: green tea crème brûlée.

matcha green tea powder, eggs (yolks), pinch of salt, sugar, vanilla, cream

add sugar to the yolks

and the matcha powder

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Recipe: whole wheat cacao nib sablés

The weather in Crested Butte put on a good show earlier this week, or so I thought. It wasn’t just Crested Butte, because when we got home there were the same dramatic and unstable atmospheric conditions dumping rain and hail in the mountains. It brought a nice cool down and it meant good things for mushrooms in the high country. Even before my return, Wendy and I had already agreed to go foraging the next morning. I dare say it’s nice to have like-minded friends who don’t balk at having to wake up at 5 am to crawl around in the woods and dirt looking for mushrooms. We like hiking in early because we both despise the heat and sun, but I also had a dinner date to make at my parents’ place to celebrate Mom’s birthday.

mammata over mount crested butte

impressive dance of light and clouds on paradise divide

back home: porcini, bitches

fairy fingers

mom was born in the year of the snake – it’s her year!

I try to keep a lid on my commitments so I’m not overextended. It’s tough to control though, especially in summer as social gatherings seem to kick into high gear. When I am overextended, I feel like life becomes frenetic and my fear is that something important will be overlooked. As I rushed around the house after foraging, I noticed that Kaweah hadn’t gotten out of her bed for 30 minutes. I went over and gently tried coaxing her out so I could let her into the yard to potty, but she wouldn’t move. She was awake (these days I always check to see that she is indeed alive – I know that’s morbid, but I try to be realistic here), but she wasn’t moving. Eventually I lifted her up and saw that she was in pain. Most likely she had lost her footing on the hardwood floors when no one was home and took a spill. A call to the vet’s office and I had some muscle relaxers and pain killers for her and an appointment the next morning. I didn’t want to leave her alone, but I also had an obligation to my parents.

Kaweah was much improved after taking her medications. Jeremy and I rushed home after dinner to find her sleeping soundly in her bed. We gently reached out to pet her so as not to startle her (she can’t hear much anymore) and she opened her eyes, wagged her tail, and rolled over to get a belly rub. She is on the mend now. All of those plans I had for the next few days have been cancelled or cut back so I can watch over the pup and make sure she gets the time and attention needed. Life has a way of telling you to slow down when you’re going too fast. I need to be more mindful of that.

this is kaweah when she’s sad

A pleasant and cool morning for baking presented itself, so that’s what I did while keeping an eye on Kaweah. I had a recent client shoot that involved cacao nibs, which jogged my memory of a cookie made with cacao nibs. My friend had raved about them, then I saw the recipe on Orangette three years ago. It was time to finally make these whole wheat sablés with cacao nibs. I sometimes wonder how many things I will never have gotten around to doing before I go. Then I think to myself that I’d rather have a growing list of things I want to do than no list for lack of interest in life.

organic cacao nibs (from whole foods)

all you need: salt, vanilla extract, cacao nibs, sugar, flour, butter

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Recipe: marinated mushrooms

Another weekend, another set of visitors – both have come and gone. Jeremy’s folks were out to see our new digs and explore the town. I swear Crested Butte is Colorado’s best kept secret. Right now, I’m waiting for the moon to set and hoping that our clear skies hold enough for me to catch some Perseids tonight. It’s been lovely here this past week with plenty of rain, storms, and sunshine. Cooler weather is in the air. I can smell autumn coming and I swear it makes my heart race in anticipation. The mountains are getting ready.

late season bloomers: fireweed

a busy bee, gathering nectar and pollen

alpine lake destination

Clearing afternoon storms always present the opportunity for nice color after sunset. When I have a moment, I step outside and observe how the light bounces around between the atmosphere and the mountains in the hour after the sun drops behind our local divide. It takes a little time to get to know the patterns, but I’m trying to become familiar with them. Most of the time it’s been what I call a fizzle, but the other day was delightfully colorful.

last orange rays graze the mountainside

crepuscular rays and glowing wisps of clouds over paradise divide

The rains have also been good for mushrooms. When Jeremy and I hike, I really try to keep my pace up and not revert to mushroom search mode. But if I happen to spot a mushroom of interest, I’ll stop for a photo because I like documenting what I find, where, when, and the conditions. The great thing is that Jeremy and I love to geek out on plants, fungi, critters, bugs, geology, and weather. I love the fungi almost as much as I love my fun guy.

false chanterelle (it’s a bit early yet for the real deal)

hawk’s wings are so pretty (my size 9 foot for scale)

We did find some porcini, but none that I wanted to harvest since they were a little wormed out. I always leave those in place and give the big ones a pat on the cap in the hopes of shaking out some more spores for next year’s porcini. Obviously, I’ve had mushrooms on the brain since summer began. I blame Wendy because she has porcini fever starting in like… March. But I was craving the marinated kind, something you can make with store-bought button or crimini mushrooms.

fresh crimini mushrooms, parsley, oregano, olive oil, vinegar, red onion, salt, garlic, black peppercorns, coriander seeds

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