use real butter

Plenty of good things to bandy about on the blog today. For one: sushi, which is always a plus for me. More on that in a moment.

I spied some incredible looking mammata as I left the cancer center this afternoon. I had my camera with me (it goes just about everywhere I go) and was able to take a few shots from the parking lot before it dissipated. We get a lot of these in the summertime down on the flats - all of that atmospheric instability makes for gorgeous cloud formations. It made me recall something Tom told me recently, “the best camera is the one you have with you.” So true (what I would have given to have had my camera in my lap instead of in the backseat of the car when a bobcat crossed our path a few weeks ago driving home).

ominous

After that neat sighting, I went and sat in my car and opened a package that had ridden down the canyon with me to my radiation appointment. I had been running late, so no time to open the package. It was from Bee and Jai of Jugalbandi!

so beautiful… whatever could it be?

wonderful wonderful things

A care package is like a hug from far away. I only “met” Bee recently, but what a sweetheart she is. Just look at all of the goodies! Of course, I can’t possibly let this go without a retaliation package. Just you wait, Bee and Jai. Just you guys wait… Thank you so much. xxoo

Jeremy and I resumed our sushi tour after a one week hiatus (just too much shit going down last week). This time we tried Kasa, a relative new-comer to the Boulder scene. It has been in business for a year and we happened across it one day after walking from the post office to Pearl Street pedestrian mall.

kasa means umbrella

The restaurant sits on a prime corner location and the interior is very bright because all external walls are windows onto Pearl and 15th. The restaurant has a hip and artsy black and white theme wrapped all around the sushi bar, sake bar, and table seating.

great natural lighting

We found the service to be a complete mishmash because it seemed that whoever was nearby would take our order, serve us food, refill drinks, give us our bill… Inconsistent in a strange way. There didn’t seem to be a clearcut sushi chef in the traditional sense either. But that was okay because the quality of the fish was superb. On par with the best of them. Here, have a looksee.

start with some light seaweed salad

sashimi deshoku (chef’s choice)

red dragon roll: spicy tuna with avocado and anago

#9 roll: shrimp tempura, crab, cucumber, salmon and avocado

nigiri: tobiko with quail egg, scallop

The seaweed salad was a little less seasoned than I prefer, but it was still enjoyable. Everything else was terrific, awesome, delicious, fresh. The presentation was gorgeous, as you can see. The rolls were quite good, but they didn’t have that magic combination of flavor, texture, shazaam-in-your-mouth experience that we got with other sushi joints.

Here is my beef with Kasa: it is ass expensive. Okay, all sushi in Boulder is expensive, but for some reason Kasa’s sushi and sashimi run a few bucks more per item than other places on the tour. Add to that the fact that their selection isn’t as extensive as any of the other sushi bars (they were out of toro today). Jeremy noted that they must pay an arm and a leg for their rent. Perhaps, but Tora is also on Pearl Street, their chefs are the real deal, and their selection is unsurpassed.

I like Kasa. I mean, I didn’t even need my tripod to shoot because it’s so well lit! We both loved what we ate for dinner, but considering the financial damage I would rather walk the extra 5 blocks to Sushi Tora.

New rankings:
1) Sushi Tora
2) Amu Sake Bar and Restaurant
3) Ai Sushi and Steak
4) Kasa Sushi

Anyhoo, that’s another sushi bar under our belt. After getting home and feeding the pup her dry kibbles (oh shut up, she LOVES that stuff, she loves *anything* - she’s a lab for crying out loud), we went to survey the state of our local columbines. Ramping up and looking good. These are for you, Diane! See the rest on the photoblog.

blue columbines - the colorado state flower

I was going to poll you guys about what lens I should get next, but then I started researching online and basically found the lens that *I need to have* and ordered it just now. And I thought Kasa was expensive… We’ll see what kind of pretty I can wrangle with the new glass once it gets here.

Kaweah is back to her normal silly pup self. Thanks to all of the K-girl fans for their kind wishes.

I know everyone is jazzed about the approach of spring because so many are cursing the lingering signs of winter. While I, myself, am impatient for the arrival of softer, sweeter melons in the markets and the ever earlier dawn each day - I can’t contain my smile when we get sun-snowshowers at our house like today. I think people might appreciate winter more if they actually got outside into it, whether to ski mountains, nordic vast snowy fields, walk along a stormy beach, hike through quiet forests, run a frosty country road, skate on a frozen lake. I love stepping into gentle snowfall, watching white blanket the world, smelling the clean cold air, listening to the stillness, and feeling small flakes settling onto my face.

Being outside does my soul good. I know this, because without it I would have gone ape shit by now. I don’t “do” sick, but sick is what I am at least 50% of the time - as in really bloody sick. So when I’m not ill, I mega-dose on keeping active, positive, and getting my butt outside where the air lifts away my pains, my worries, my sadness. Winter air is what I sought when I started my treatment and Spring air is going to see me through the end of it. I gladly welcome any season that I can breathe in and move through.

After 4 years of heavy usage and abuse (i.e. crumbs, disassembly, reassembly, spilled drinks) we upgraded my keyboard. Normally I wouldn’t make a fuss about it except… except for the fact that my new keyboard is a cross between art and a spaceship.

can it be functional and beautiful?

why yes, you bet your ass it can

Yes, I gush. As Jeremy and I walked out of the Apple store this afternoon (um… we bought more than just a keyboard), we agreed that the joy is worth the extra bucks. I’m not talking about the joy of drinking the punch - because you have to admit that Apple is a cult - I’m talking about the joy of never having to use Windoze. That’s like the joy of never having to undergo chemo again. Hell yeah.

I’m typing with it now. It feels so incredible it’s almost embarrassing. I like to touch it. hee.

Graeme had posted recently about his chicken and avocado club sandwich and invited others to play some of their own versions. Well, I am a sandwich whore. I am also an avocado whore.

smooooooooth

And did I mention that I am a bacon whore? Perhaps you can guess where this might be going…

naughty naughty

I actually had to wait a few days to make this for lunch because I couldn’t eat it. I mean, I couldn’t eat solid foods - I know, it happens every round. But I waited for my infection to clear and for my throat to heal and my taste to return. I thought about the sandwich for 3 days.

oh yeah

I think about food all of the time, probably about as much as men think about sex. Would it be accurate to say I think about sex as much as men think about food? I don’t know. I throw different flavors and textures together in my head when planning our weekly menu or thinking of new recipes to try. So it’s funny when I tell Jeremy what we’re having for lunch and he’s not only surprised, but quite excited. It’s good that he likes to let me plan the food since I don’t like letting him (or most people) plan my food, especially now with my GI tract issues.

jeremy gets avocado, bacon, and egg

i like the addition of tomatoes and a runny egg

My own sandwich was slightly modified from Jeremy’s. I love tomatoes (he fears them) and I also like my eggs to be sunny-side-up. There is nothing quite so lovely as the ooze of a runny yolk. Jeremy is scared of runny yolks, so I cooked his to death. Not so with mine.

good to the last drop

Now ideally, I would have added lettuce and perhaps some turkey. I have to avoid raw leafy greens for now, and since I can’t eat much in one sitting I figured turkey was dispensable. The combination of salty bacon with creamy egg yolk, smooth avocado, and juicy tomato is freaking amazing with a nice sourdough bread. It isn’t a sandwich I indulge in often, but definitely what I would call an indulgence.

Damn Good Sandwich

2 slices sourdough bread
5 thin slices ripe avocado
4 slices tomato
3 strips bacon, cooked
1 fried egg

You know what to do, kids.

I met with my buddy, Leyla, for lunch yesterday at The Kitchen in Boulder. Yup, same place I lost my panna cotta virginity. Leyla is a tele stud who jacked up her knee jumping into crazy chutes at Jackson Hole earlier this season - on ALPINE skis. Let this be a lesson to you all… stick with tele.

the tele betty and the x-ray

Those white stripes in the x-ray are the metal plates, pins, and screws they put into her knee. I hadn’t seen Leyla in a couple of months since her accident. With my chemo and her knee, it was like our tele class was getting picked off one by one. Thankfully, no one else got whacked - just us two sickos. She greeted me with some lovely little gifts. Such a sweetheart.

chocolates and mini silicone molds!

Lunch was fantastic as always. I am never disappointed with The Kitchen and the company was even better than the food.

chopped salad

garlic fries

my pulled pork sandwich

Normally, I could have put that sandwich away. The good news about not being able to stomach much food is that Jeremy got the other half when I picked him up later. He couldn’t shut up about how awesome the sandwich was. Love The Kitchen.

toward the end of lunch i got to meet the kids

Oh, and before lunch I had some time to hit a little sale I had spied earlier and got my hot little hands on these pretty numbers:

all-clad, all mine

I’m feeling saucy now!