use real butter

Do you remember the Go-Go’s song Vacation? It’s so 80s, I know. Hey - I wore the hot pink and turquoise. I watched Duran Duran on MTV. If I have any regrets in my life, it’s being a teen in the 80s. Whenever I’m about to leave on vacay, Belinda Carlisle’s voice enters my head and she is singing that damn song…

Yes, we’re shoving off. Cindy had asked me recently if I ever feel like I’m living someone else’s vacation. I laughed. She always makes me laugh. Believe me, I realize that we live in a fantastic place. I realize this because we spent over a decade’s worth of vacations in places just like our current surrounds! That’s why we chose to settle down here. But that doesn’t keep us from heading out to explore other awesome places.

I’ll still blog from the road when I can and perhaps you will see some familiar faces here… That’s all I’m saying for now.

My question for you: What is your ideal vacation? Is it spent with family, friends, strangers, no one? Is it a particular place? Is it travel, exploration, relaxation, eating, learning? On the water, at the beach, in the mountains, in the desert, in a posh hotel, riding a train, flying, exploring cities, art museums, listening to or watching performances?

I ask because I’m curious. I ask because a lot of people don’t care much for my brand of vacation which usually involves exertion, sweat, and dirt or snow. My friend, Fiona, calls that Fun #2. I am all about Fun #2. My ideal vacation: exploring alpine backcountry with Jeremy in preferably arid climates (wet climates are fine as long as the temp is below freezing).

I’m not asking this for the purposes of evil market research or other crap like that. Right now, the only sponsor of this blog is me. So if you answer my question in the comments section before midnight, August 14 (that’s my mom’s birthday), Mountain Time, you will automatically be entered into a drawing. Jeremy will randomly generate 3 numbers between 1 and the # of comments using trusted Python code, then we will let Kaweah select which of the three will win a matted photo from my gallery.

she’s going to work hard on this

The winner will be the comment # that corresponds to the number selected by the ‘weah. If you have problems with the outcome, you can take it up with teh dawg. Said winner will get to choose an 8×12 photo matted to 12×16 from the following:

the rockburn track, new zealand

the maroon bells, aspen, colorado

aspens, rocky mountain national park, colorado

dahlias at butchart gardens, victoria, canada

I’ll do my best to announce the winner on August 18th, barring any unforeseen disasters. I’ll ship this puppy (the photo, not the actual dog) worldwide. You’ve got a week - so tell me what your idea of the perfect vacay is!

I have been desperately trying to clean out the refrigerator because I hate to leave the house in a state of filth and rotting food. I also hate to waste food, so I handed off several lovely fruits to my friends in town yesterday when we met for lunch. Oy. Better that than exploding into a giant messy fruit salad in the middle of the living room… But I did manage to finish off the fresh figs in a scrumptious salad. I’m all over the salads these days.

pour olive oil over the greens

Arugula didn’t make it onto my radar screen until 5 or so years ago, but I love the stuff. I like the peppery, slightly bitter green prepared in the simplest way: tossed with olive oil, salt, and pepper. I guess that’s the theme for summer here - olive oil, salt, and pepper. You can go quite far on that combination.

tossed

Fresh figs are nothing like dried figs. I am not such a fan of dried figs and I detested fig newtons as a kid. When the teacher would hand those out in class my reaction was, “This is not a treat!” That was a bad scene. Anyway, fresh figs are heavenly and they are available in the markets now. [I will also be visiting a tree that bears the fruit on our trip. I know I will get to gorge on them because the people living with that tree hate figs. Blasphemy, I know!!] Add some halved fresh figs to the greens.

luscious figs

And I cannot help but toss in a few strips of prosciutto. The whole ensemble is a journey through sweet, salty, bitter, spicy. It’s also incredibly easy to slap together without going near the bad bad heat.

some lovely prosciutto rounds out the salad

serve and enjoy

Arugula Salad with Figs and Prosciutto

5 oz. arugula
12 figs, fresh (rinsed)
8 slices prosciutto
3 tbsp olive oil
salt
pepper

Place arugula in a large bowl. Drizzle olive oil, salt, and pepper over the greens and toss to evenly coat the leaves. Slice the figs in half. Slice the prosciutto into strips. Divide the greens into four bowls. Divvy up the figs and prosciutto on the salads and serve.

I had my last radiation treatment yesterday afternoon (Wednesday)!!! Sweeeet.

Surgery: check.
Chemo-frakking-therapy: check.
Radiation: check.

Unlike chemo, radiation is a big lounge scene. I love my radiation techs and because it’s a daily thing, you really get to know the other radiation patients scheduled around your time slot. Last week, one of my favorite patients, Glenda, finished her treatments and I baked up a batch of cookies for her and everyone else. The waiting room is more like a living room for social visits (except half of us are in gowns - people are so used to stripping down at the drop of a hat for radiation). So when I walked in yesterday afternoon with a batch of baklava, I saw the usual crowd… AND Glenda. “What on Earth are you doing here?” I asked her. She told me she called to find out when my last day was and came just to see me. And she had brought me a rose. What a sweetheart.

small gestures, big heart

She gave me a hug and kiss and wished me well. I knew what she meant. When cancer patients say good-bye to one another and wish each other well it’s not the normal “kayseeyabye” that people litter mindless conversation with. No, what we’re really saying is, “I hope that fucking cancer stays away forever and ever. I wish that you never have to do this again. I want you to live and I want you to live happily. I want you to live without pain, without fear.” You can see what they mean when you look in their eyes and you know what they are saying because you are saying the exact same thing back to them. The embrace lingers longer than usual because maybe holding on to each other will help us through it better?

It’s a fraternity that I never wanted to be a part of, but had no choice in the matter. Once in it, I fended off the hazing ritual of pink ribbons and yellow wristbands the way I squirmed out from under pretty dresses and bows as a little kid. I didn’t want to be a cancer victim because I Am Not A Victim. What I didn’t realize what that I would be meeting so many wonderful individuals during this journey, not just patients, but doctors and nurses and techs and staff. The active treatment is over now. One more milestone on this long path to I Have No Idea Where, but I’ll tell you what - I will make the best of it.

Our house is stocked to the hilt with fresh fruit. I went nutso crazy on the fruit shopping the other day because despite my love of winter (ahhhh, triggered memories of tele skiing the fluffy pow!) I am a summer produce whore.

fresh figs are here!

nothing better than a perfectly ripe, drippy, messy, luscious white peach

It’s a bit of a task to stuff yourself with as much fruit as possible before it rots. I’m beginning to feel like a fruit roll up extruder. ha! Oh, but we don’t stop with teh lovely fruits. Summer produce includes vegetables too. One of my favorites: corn.

puppy likes corn

We typically boil our corn, but recently I began grilling corn. I think I’m addicted to grilled food this season. Could it be some primitive attraction to fire? or perhaps the aversion to oven and stove usage? or the easy cleanup? Grilled corn gives those delectable kernels that extra dimension of chewy sweetness with a hint of smoky (sometimes a lot of smoky when we forget to turn the cobs). I tend to like my corn nekked, as in no butter, no salt. Nada, Tostada… But recently I was turned on to one of the loveliest pairings in the food world: lime and corn.

here’s the lime

Actually it is lime, corn, and chili with butter as the rug that ties the room together. It is a fairly simple recipe requiring a smidgen of work and patience.

fo shiz, baby!

Strip the outer leaves of the husk off and then peel back the rest of the husk without detaching so you can remove the silk from the corn. Then cover the cob back up with the husk and soak in water for 30 minutes. While all of that is soaking, I melt some butter and then toss in the lime juice and chili powder.

best not to wear a white t-shirt when making this

After the corn has soaked long enough, I like to pat the insides dry before applying the butter mixture. The husks get a little curly and are a pain to fold back around the corn entirely. Well, those little buggers are gonna burn anyway… Expect your hands to look as if you just murdered a piece of carne asada.

apply the goodness to the cob

Grilling time is going to vary depending on how you like your corn. Less time for tender and plump, a little more time if you like the kernels slightly chewy and charred. If you have a grill that heats unevenly like ours, you can have both on one cob!

yes please

Grilled Chili-Lime Corn

8 ears of corn
1/4 cup butter
1 lime, juice of
1 tsp chili powder

Remove the outer husk of each ear and peel back the inner husk. Remove the silks and fold the inner husks back up. Soak the ears in twater for 30 minutes. Melt the butter in a small saucepan. Remove from heat. Stir in the lime juice and the chili powder. Pat the ears dry. Pull the inner husk back and brush butter onto the corn. Cover with the husks and twist the tops. Grill on medium-high heat for 15-25 minutes (depending on desired doneness), turning often. Serve hot.

This past Saturday marked three years since we moved to Colorado. In celebration, we did nothing. We celebrate living here every day, folks. As if the ski and flower porn weren’t enough to convince you of how much we love it… Actually we did something this weekend, but it had nothing to do with the 3-year mark and everything to do with the summer bloom in the mountains.

yeah, puppy came along too

Talk to people around Colorado and many of them will swoon when you say the words Crested Butte. The skiing is phenomenal, the mountain biking world class, the wildflowers are some of the best in the country. The mountains and forests will take your breath away with dramatic expanses of wilderness in every direction. The town is charming, quaint and high end. Everyone has their reason for loving Crested Butte. It’s also a favorite for nature photographers.

poor air quality due to a wildfire 30 miles away

I called this trip a vacay in the previous post, but it was really work. Anytime I plan to actively shoot it becomes work. We woke up at 4 am in the mornings and weren’t done shooting until after 9 pm (and driving past 10 pm). It’s all dictated by the light and we were exhausted when we got home today. Jeremy commented that he gets much more sleep when I shoot the fall colors ;) True dat.

flowers abound

Probably not a one of you would have considered this a relaxing trip. It wasn’t relaxing, but it was rewarding.

So I have another savory recipe in my archives here… It’s a good recipe because it has bacon in it. Precious, lovely, beautiful bacon. I always double the recipe because it actually tastes better the next day after the flavors have had 24 hours to blend together, but we’re too impatient to wait that long when it comes out of the oven smelling like the dinner you so want to eat.

cutting the shortening

pressed pie crust dough

While I abhor those pre-made pie crusts you can buy at the store, I am just about the laziest pie crust maker ever. I probably overmix my dough and it’s too crumby and not flaky enough. Maybe one day when I start to care, I’ll start to improve my technique. I guess I just add more bacon to the filling, because bacon masks any deficiencies in a quiche.

mixing milk, eggs, and the goodies

toss the gruyère with flour

The gruyère adds a lovely dimension to the flavors. I used to use any old Swiss cheese when I first starting baking quiche. Then one night I had leftover gruyère from a party and used that instead. We have never looked back.

fill the pie shells

baked and ready to serve

The biggest problem I have with serving quiche right out of the oven is the ooze factor. You know what I’m talking about - cut one slice and the rest of the quiche seems to slo-mo vomit into the space you just vacated. This last time I made the quiche, it came out of the oven and we rushed off to… shoot some wildflowers. We were back within 20 minutes, but that 20 minutes of rest time for the quiche set it up nicely and no one was vomiting anything after the initial slice. Nice.

perfect with some salad on the side

Quiche

1 pie crust
3 eggs, beaten
1 1/2 cups milk
6 strips bacon, cooked and crumbled
1 medium onion, minced and sautéed
1 cup mushrooms, sliced and sautéed
1 head broccoli, chopped and blanched
1 1/2 cups gruyère, shredded
1 tbsp flour
1/4 tsp salt

pie crust
from Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book
1 1/4 cups flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/3 cup shortening or lard
3-4 tbsp cold water

Mix together the flour and salt in a mixing bowl. Cut in the shortening until it is in pea-sized pieces. Sprinkle 1 tbsp of water over the mixture and toss with fork. Repeat until all is moistened and form dough into a ball. Roll dough out on lightly floured surface, rolling from center to edges until about 12 inches in diameter. Press and form into a 9-inch pie plate.

Quiche: Line the pie crust with foil and bake at 450°F for 5 minutes. Bake another 5-7 minutes with the foil off. Remove from oven. Reduce oven to 325°F. In a large bowl, stir together the eggs, milk, onion, bacon, broccoli, muhsrooms, and salt. In a separate bowl, toss the cheese and flour together. Add the cheese to the rest of the ingredients and mix well. Pour into pie crust and bake 35-40 minutes. Let quiche rest out of the oven for 15 minutes before serving. The flavor really improves if eaten the next day (which is why I make two quiches at a time).