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Recipe: pear frangipane tart

Last Friday was the first day of March. And even though the first day of March has everyone running around shouting “Spring! Spring!” that date means a couple of things to me: a) March is typically when Colorado gets her biggest snow storm tracks (HELL YES!) and b) Jeremy and I have to calculate how many years we’ve been married. Sixteen years. How is it that I remember our first date – an afternoon stroll through Old Pasadena – as vividly as I remember yesterday, and yet it feels like Jeremy has been a part of my entire life? Maybe we’re just getting old… I could not have dreamed of a better companion.

14 years ago (kaweah at 11 weeks)

summer hikes in the rockies

hikes in the snow

we love the snow

my best pals

here is to the journey before us

I’m not in denial about spring. I love Colorado spring! Everyone knows (or should know) how awesome spring skiing can be. The arrival of March jolts me out of my winter food mindset too. I set about “spring cleaning” my archives from the last season to make room for new recipes with fresh spring produce. So let’s wave good-bye to February with a pear frangipane tart. Despite the use of a winter fruit, this tart is delightfully bright and cheery any time of year. You can substitute peaches, plums, apples, as you like.

red d’anjou pears

start with the pâte sucrée: butter, vanilla, egg yolk, cream, flour, confectioner’s sugar, salt

pulse the butter and dry ingredients together

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Recipe: thai sizzling beef

The logistics of coordinating a full moon ski where I live can be a tricky business. There are a few criteria to be met:

1) It should be during the full moon (otherwise it’s just a night ski).
2) There needs to be enough snow to ski.
3) It needs to be a clear night (so you can see by moonlight).
4) It can’t be too windy because ground blizzards are pretty miserable by day, as it is.
5) It can’t be too cold, which has more to do with the wind most of the time.
6) You should be completely familiar with the route.

#6 is assumed, but it’s good to state it anyway. Just like you should have plenty of extra layers, hats, gloves, headlamps, food, water. Our local mountains are notorious for brutal winds which in turn scour the snow into 20-foot drifts that border bare ground. It is what it is. I was coordinating a full moon ski with friends, but really I was just hoping Mother Nature would let it happen. Weather forecasts were for cloudy skies and breezy conditions (gusts to 25 mph) five days out. Around here (and perhaps where you live too?) the weather forecast is most accurate right when it is happening. We got a good dump of snow on Sunday, then bluebird skies on Monday. I waited for afternoon clouds to form, but they didn’t. It was go time!

nichole gets felix into his snow suit in the parking lot

Jeremy and I met up with our intrepid friends Nichole, Luke, and their 2 year old, Felix. We marveled at the fat, orange moon rising over the Great Plains as we geared up in the parking lot and braced ourselves against the wind. Heading out toward the lake, Luke pulled the sled carrying Felix (Luke is super fast, this is how we make him ski like the rest of the mortals) while we kept moving to stay warm and keep up. As the moon rose higher, we admired how bright the stars remained overhead. Luke spotted something on the western horizon moving southwest, up, and across the sky. We watched it and ran through the possibilities: not a plane (lights not flashing), not a satellite (too bright), could it be… space station! Well how cool is that?!

felix got out of the sled to ski with us for a bit

luke is ready to head down the hill with felix in the sled

Once home, Jeremy did verify that it was the space station we saw crossing the sky (magnitude -1). I could not have hoped for a better evening with dear friends. Okay, we could have done without the winds, but at least they weren’t gale force. The next morning, we awoke to…

big fluffy snowflakes

taking a break in the afternoon to get a little ski tour

it snowed all day

I love the snow so much. In summer, I remember it with great longing. It lingers in my mind. I obsess about it until the storms return, hopefully in autumn. I get that way with food too. There are dishes I miss from our Southern California days that stir my taste memories. Thai sizzling beef was a favorite of ours at Min’s Kitchen in La Cañada. It’s a marinated beef over fresh spinach with peanut sauce served on a sizzling platter. I’ve been meaning to reproduce it, if I could. I’m no recipe developer, I just know when I like a dish.

flank steak, fish sauce, vegetable oil, sugar, salt (omit the salt)

slice the beef

mix together

marinate

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Recipe: chicken pot hand pies

We were just gifted 10 inches of snow. In past years this might not have been as big of a deal, but it’s the most we’ve received in one storm this season at my house. Jeremy hit the local hill despite our aversion to weekend crowds. I stayed home to work and to nurse a sore back after running icy moguls just a few days prior. A dump of snow is always welcome, but what lies underneath depends on the weather that came before (this is also critical for avalanche assessment). We have had sun, wind, and warm temperatures interspersed with a few inches here and some frozen spittle there. It can be pretty crunchy stuff. And when you’re glad that your skis find ice underneath the powder instead of rocks, you know it’s been a paltry winter. So when Jeremy got home in time for lunch, I asked him if he wanted to step out for a ski tour on the local trails.

the snow was coming down all day

and the trees retained all of their poofballs

silent and beautiful

It’s a lovely thing to be out in the mountain forests when it snows. It’s quiet, peaceful, invigorating. We don’t talk much so we can listen for moose, elk, or maybe spy a winter white rabbit before it tears off into the woods. The focus is on our environment, our energy, the weather, the rhythm of the kick and glide. But once we get to the car, all thoughts turn to what there is to eat at home. This is especially true when there is something particularly good and exciting waiting in the kitchen. This time, we had chicken pot hand pies.

chicken, mushrooms, onion, potatoes, carrots, garlic, lima beans, parsley, rosemary, thyme, salt, pepper, olive oil

dice the vegetables

chopped and minced

I love me a good chicken pot pie, but I think I am completely enamored with savory hand pies. The first time I had a proper savory hand pie was in New Zealand where the ubiquitous meat pie won me over… as did their fish and chips. Then I sampled a small fraction of what Australia had to offer. A few years later I was walking with Todd and Diane through little Saigon when Diane purchased a pâté chaud for me to try. Heaven. And last summer while I was running on fumes at the Boulder Farmer’s Market, I plunked down some cash for the last chicken hand pie at Sharmane’s booth. So much happiness in one tiny pastry package.

mix the vegetables, herbs, and olive oil together

toss

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