Please know I don’t normally “do” boxed cakes. Betty Crocker and Duncan Hines don’t usually live in my pantry. But recently, when asked to bake a chocolate cake for a special birthday, I went there. It’s always amazed me how adding pudding in the mix, an extra egg, sour cream, Kahlúa and dark chocolate chips will bake a plain-Jane into fancy Nancy. My chocolate glaze, the icing on the cake, was homemade. When my hostess asked if I’d share the recipe, I did. Some secrets are best shared. (See my blog of August 6th.)
PIMENTO CHEESE ( THE SMOOTH VERSION )
I’ve always believed some purchased food products are better than homemade. Give me all-butter puff pastry, Fage Greek yogurt, Knorr’s Bearnaise and Hollandaise sauces, Fig Newtons and Oreos. Most crackers and chips, marshmallows and, if it’s not a holiday, boxed mashed potatoes are time-savers but still can be delicious. Until last week I would have added Pimento Cheese, the “pâté of the South” to that list.
COCKTAIL HOUR
During my decade living in the South I acquired a taste for pimento cheese, especially the Publix brand from my go-to grocery store. As I recall my appetizer repertoire revolved around Publix’s pimento cheese with saltines and Lipton’s Onion Dip with Lay’s potato chips. When I left the South and with no Publix available, I lost the taste for it.
PIMENTO CHEESE, the chunkier version
This week’s Cook the Book Friday’s recipe choice is Pimento Cheese. Dorie Greenspan adapted this recipe (with its roots in North Carolina) from a friend. I dropped off a mini ramekin to Meredith, my Gant neighbor visiting from Georgia, for a taste test. “Next time I come back from Atlanta,” she said, “I’ll bring you a container of my favorite pimento cheese. It’s delicious.”
That evening she texted me, “I don’t have to… this is the best pimento cheese ever.”
St. Germain, an elderberry-flavored liquor
While pimento cheese with white saltines is humble fare, pair it with a St. Germain Gin & Tonic. Adding elderberry liquor to a common gin and tonic ups the ante for this summer’s favorite cocktail. Here’s another thought. With a bottle of St. Germain sitting in your cabinet, experiment with twenty other elderberry cocktails just posted on the blog The Spruce Eats.
WE SCOUTED OUT SOME REAL ESTATE OPPORTUNITIES DURING OUR EARLY MORNING-HIKES.
After finishing summer school, Emma, my 20-year-old granddaughter, flew to Aspen. It’s been 19 months, Christmas 2019, since I’d seen her. We didn’t waste a minute…..
THE WEATHER WAS FINE, JUST FINE.
WE HIKED TO PINE CREEK COOKHOUSE IN ASHCROFT FOR LUNCH ON THEIR PATIO.
Seared ruby red trout on a bed of peas, turnips, radishes, baby kale, finished with shishito vinaigrette, and steel head roe
SINCE WE ATE MOST OUR MEALS AT HOME, EMMA HELPED ME MAKE HER GREAT-GRANDMOTHER’S PEACH CRISP.
LEFTOVER VEGGIES = LUNCH
ON EMMA’S LAST MORNING WE WERE AT THE MAROON BELLS FOR SUNRISE. SHE SNAPPED THIS BEAUTIFUL PHOTO.
We’ve had rainy days and smoky days this summer which translates to reading days. My favorite books this month included Michael Lewis’s book about the Pandemic titled The Premonition. As John Williams, the New York Times reporter, wrote, “I would read an 800-page history of the stapler if he wrote it.”
AND ,OF COURSE, AUGUST MEANT STREAMING “THE WHITE LOTUS” WITH “NINE PERFECT STRANGERS” COMING UP NEXT.
After Aspen Institute’s CEO Dan Porterfield interviewed MacArthur Fellow Dr. Angela Duckworth, I had to read GRIT. I’ve become a fan of food writer Hetty McKinnon and her cookbooks. The premise of Matt Haig’s novel, The Midnight Library, is unsettling but intriguing.
A FORAGER’S DREAM
Since we’ve had rain this summer it’s been a great month to forage for mushrooms. Friends Judy Wender and Buzz.Patton were hiking in nearby Lenado recently when Judy spotted the motherlode of King Boletes (porcini’s). The upshot was a good hike spoiled. Buzz hiked. Judy harvested.
“I like to sauté them with a touch of butter and some garlic and then freeze them in batches,” she says. “They are also good dried. Nothing better than a fresh mushroom and pea risotto! They are also delicious with eggs, steak and I just made a mushroom, barley and kale soup-yum.”
KING BOLETES (PORCINI’S)
Readers, Let’s take the rest of this challenging summer and make it sparkle.
TO THE ANNOYANCE OF OUR CROWS, LAST WEEK A GREAT HORNED OWL TOOK UP RESIDENCE AT THE GANT. FRIDAY EVENING HE SETTLED INTO THIS COTTONWOOD LOCATED JUST EIGHT FEET FROM WHERE I WAS SITTING ON MY BALCONY. FOR THE HOUR OR SO I WAS THERE, HE JUST GLARED AT ME. IT WAS A BIT UNNERVING.
DORIE GREENSPAN’S PIMENTO CHEESE from Everyday Dorie, The Way I Cook
Yields about Two Cups
INGREDIENTS
Pimento Cheese
One 1/2 oz. Jar of Pimentos 8 ounces high-quality extra-sharp cheddar 2 ounces high-quality sharp cheddar 3 tablespoons mayonnaise ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
DIRECTIONS
You can make this up to a week ahead.
READY TO PULSE
Press the pimentos between sheets of paper towels until they are as dry as you can get them and cut each into a few pieces.
If you’re using block cheese, cut into small chunks. If the cheese is shredded, you’re good to go.
Put the pimentos in a food processor and pulse just a couple of times to finely chop them. Add both cheeses and pulse to begin chopping them. Add the mayo, salt, and cayenne and pulse and process until the mixture has the texture of tiny-curd cottage cheese. (I made it both with tiny-curds and then smoother.)
Remove the blade and, using a flexible spatula, give the cheese a last turn.
Scrape the cheese into a bowl or jar. Press a piece of plastic wrap against the surface of the cheese if you’re using a bowl.
Refrigerate for at least 4 hours. If you can wait a day, that’s even better. The mixture will pick up punch during that time. Serve straight from the fridge.
1 wedge of lime (or lemon) 1 1/2 ounces gin 1 ounce St. Germain (elderflower liqueur) 3 ounces tonic water 1 slice or a few thin lime wedges, a lime twist or a sprig of fresh basil to garnish, optional
Squeeze the lime wedge into a “rocks” glass (short, wide glass). Fill glass with ice.
Add gin, St. Germain and stir. Add tonic water and stir. ( If you wish, adjust the ratios of gin to tonic water.)
Garnish with a slice of lime, add 2 or three lime wedges or a lime twist to the glass. It may also be garnished with a sprig of basil. Cheers!
In the late Eighties my daughter Melissa, a junior at St. Olaf College in Minnesota, spent her junior semester abroad in Sumatra, Indonesia. Michael and I were less than pleased about her destination choice but to no avail. She was headstrong, independent and hell-bent to have an adventure on the other side of the world. ( She must have inherited those character traits from her father.) So off she went.
It was a rocky few months. This was the college’s first experience with sending a woman to Sumatra, communication where she was situated was sketchy and safety was an issue. Let’s just say the President of St. Olaf and I had conversations.
Fast forward to her return. We headed to the airport the day of her arrival home to Des Moines where we lived at the time. We were beyond excited. The plane arrived. No Missy. I know that because when she didn’t deplane, I charged onto the plane and looked under several seats. (As I mentioned, these were different times.)
Melissa and Me, Grand Junction Airport
Michael kept his cool. I did not. The airline said she had been routed to Denver. My brother, who lived in Denver, called when he got to the airport, had her in hand and would stay with her until she boarded a flight for Des Moines. Although my recollections of that incident are hazy (or, blocked), she eventually made her way home.
That was the week I found my first gray hair.
Like last summer, every week Shana and I join a crew who unload, unpack, separate home-grown produce and then pack 50-some bags for distribution to Seniors in Pitkin County. This week we received mizuna, butter lettuce, lavender, garlic, kale and zucchini. Quite a nutritious haul.
So it’s not surprising that last week, after 17-months, when she was finally coming to Aspen, I was at the tiny Grand Junction airport 4 hours before her arrival. We’d had more than 20 different mudslides in our area last week causing ongoing road closures. I was prepared for whatever Mother Nature threw my way. Melissa arrived. We drove back to this beautiful Valley where she once had lived and to my mind, our time together was perfect.
The moral of this story may be Always a Mother, Life is Wobbly, Be Brave and Mind the Gap.
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As I said, Always a Mother, Life is Wobbly, Be Brave and Mind the Gap.
To celebrate a milestone accomplished, I’ve got a little baking adventure for you. Or, if that grinds your gears, sit back and just enjoy reading about mine. Semifreddo is a classic Italian staple that lands midway between mousse and ice cream. It has the consistency of a frozen mousse and the flavor of ice cream. If you’re pronunciation-challenged like me, it’s pronounced SEH – ME – FRAY – DOUGH which means half-frozen in Italian.
Semifreddo is basically heavy cream, sugar and eggs. In the frozen dessert category it’s been called ‘the richest, most luscious and most decadent.’ You don’t need an ice-cream maker to create it. Use any fruit or chocolate you have on hand. Add nuts, if you wish. The last semifreddo I made was peach. In my opinion, adding the meringue topping is an extra detour you don’t need to travel. I usually just puree extra fruit and pour it with added chunks on top. For me, the meringue adds an extra sweetness not needed.
Helping put together a Salade niçoise for a special birthday party
I was in charge of the cake. The birthday girl likes chocolate!
CHERRY SEMIFREDDO adapted from Hetty Lui McKinnon and ZOËBAKES
SERVES: 8-10
Although I feel the Meringue is optional, it is very pretty.
INGREDIENTS:
Semifreddo 2 pounds sweet or sour cherries, fresh or frozen, pitted 1 1/2 cups superfine sugar, divided (if you don’t have superfine sugar, just blend granulated sugar in a food processor for 2 minutes) 3 tablespoons cornstarch 1 1/2 cups (375ml) heavy whipping cream 6 large egg yolks 1/2 cup whole milk
Meringue Topping (optional) 3/4 cup egg whites 1 1/2 cups sugar 1 1/2 tsp salt
The mixture is layered into the pan wrapped in plastic wrap and is ready to be closed tightly and put into freezer.
DIRECTIONS:
Line a 9×5 loaf pan or 9×4 Pullman pan which is used to create the square shape or mini-loaf pans with plastic wrap.
In a saucepan, cook the cherries until they release their juices (this will take longer with fresh cherries), about 5-10 minutes. Whisk together 1 1/4 cups superfine sugar and cornstarch, then add it to the cherries, cook for 3 minutes or until the juices are thick and clear. Allow to cool.
Puree half the mixture until smooth and refrigerate.
Whip the heavy whipping cream to soft peaks in a stand mixer or handheld electric mixer. Don’t over whip or it will not blend well into the mixture. Set aside.
Whip the egg yolks in a stand mixer fitted with a whip attachment until light in color on high speed, about 3 minutes. While the yolks are whipping, heat the milk with the remaining 1/4 cup of superfine sugar until simmering. Turn down the speed of the mixer to low and slowly drizzle the hot milk into the whipping egg yolks. Turn back to high speed and whip until light, fluffy and cool to the touch. Fold the cooled pureed cherries into the egg mixture. Fold the whipped cream into the cherry/egg mixture.
Pour 1/3 of the mixture into the prepared pan. Add 1/3 cup of the whole cherries to the pan. (If the whole cherries are too juicy, just pour most of the juice off and set aside). Add another 1/3 of the semifreddo mixture to the pan and another 1/3 cup fruit over that. Repeat with the remaining semifreddo and 1/3 cup cherries. Cover and freeze for several hours or overnight, until very firm.
Stick the serving trays into the freezer a hour or two before inverting the semifeddo.
Invert the semifreddo onto a frozen serving tray, return to freezer.
OPTIONAL: Once the semifreddo is firm again, make the topping.
To make the SWISS MERINGUE: Bring about an inch of water in a saucepan to a simmer. Combine the egg whites, sugar and salt in the bowl of your stand mixer. Place the bowl over the simmering water and stir the egg mixture with a rubber spatula until it is hot and all of the sugar has dissolved, about 5-7 minutes. You don’t want to cook the egg whites, just steam them.
Remove from heat and place the bowl onto the stand mixer, fit with a whisk attachment. Beat on high speed until very think, glossy and stiff peaks when you lift the beater. Spoon the meringue over the semifreddo and return to the freezer to set for at least an hour before serving.
Let your plated servings “sit” for 5-7 minutes so the mixture turns a bit soft, thus the name for the dessert half-frozen.
For years, as you’ve heard me say, my cardinal photography rule is to never let a picture get in front of the experience. That’s why I missed grabbing a photo of the Mama Bear shepherding her two babies from the Rio Grande Trail recently and the Golden Eagle swooping over Maroon Lake towards the Bells. With this week’s recipe, forget the rule. I want you to taste the experience in spite of the photograph.
While there are fresh veggies available in the farmers markets, this Cold Noodle Salad with Spicy Peanut Sauce should become a rest-of-the-season habit. For those of you unfamiliar with Soba, they are Japanese noodles made with buckwheat flour. Despite the fact Soba noodles are healthy and flavored-packed, brown noodles are brown. They don’t photograph well nor look particularly appetizing. Since this recipe was one of NYT Cooking’s most popular recipes in July, I put together this salad on trust.
For those of us who have forgotten post-Pandemic promises made during quarantine vowing to slow down and pace ourselves (How’s that working out for you?), I also suggested some recipe shortcuts. Start to finish, 20 minutes.
POST-PANDEMIC ADULTHOOD
Post-pandemic adulthood comes with certain small joys that you simply didn’t appreciate enough previously. The last two weeks, these are some of mine.
OWLS
Friends of mine live in nearby Woody Creek on an expansive property which is rich with trees, a pond and skirts the Roaring Fork River. That habitat would definitely attract any wise old owl flying overhead in the late Spring. Birding is not my girlfriend’s passion and she particularly does not love owls. The owls arrive. The ducks on the pond, fearing for their lives, disappear.
But she does love me. Last year, because of the quarantine, I missed seeing their owls. This year she was determined I get a good viewing. Recently, early one morning, my phone rang, “They’re here,” she said. I just happened to be an early morning birding field trip. I was off.
Fifteen minutes later, I was standing on their long, winding driveway, bonding quietly with a family of owls until Papa Owl was done with me. Agitated, he flew near me, settling into another tree. Time for me to exit.
RANGERS
Formally established in 2001 the Forest Conservancy works in partnership with the USDA Forest Service and collaborates with other non-governmental partners to build community, opportunity and awareness of the ongoing challenges facing our 2.3 million acre White River National Forest. Faced with USFS budget cuts, staff shortages and the growing number of tourists, we all are grateful and glad to be back at work this year.
In 2019 we interacted with 107,754 trail users, a 21% increase over 2018. We assisted a record-breaking 325,000 visitors to the Maroon Bells Scenic Area Volunteers provided 11,536 service hours, an in-kind dollar value of $330,000. We’re glad to be back on the trails.
On the 4th of July I arrived at the Maroon Bells very early but not before Wendy who was waiting for me at the Top.
BOOKCLUB
Last week my bookclub met for the first time since February, 2020. We celebrated with a potluck luncheon plus bubbly in a member’s gorgeous garden to discuss “Hamnet” by Maggie O’Farrell.
MOTHER NATURE
Mother Nature didn’t miss a beat during the Pandemic. The flora and fauna are the better for it.
Holiday lunch with the Resident Elk.
COLD NOODLE SALAD with SPICY PEANUT SAUCE adapted from Hetty McKinnon, NYT COOKING
SERVES: 4 generous servings
INGREDIENTS:
SALAD
8 ounces soba noodles
1 medium cucumber (about 6 ounces)
5 radishes (about 4 ounces)
1 bell pepper (red, yellow or orange)
1 1/2 cups of shredded carrots
1 tablespoon sesame oil
½ cup roasted salted peanuts (about 2 ounces), roughly chopped
2 scallions, trimmed and finely chopped
Handful of cilantro leaves
1 lime, cut into wedges for serving
PEANUT SAUCE:
½ cup smooth peanut butter (not natural)
¼ cup soy sauce
2 tablespoons maple syrup
2 tablespoons lime juice
1 tablespoon sesame oil
2 teaspoons chile oil or hot sauce, plus more to taste (optional)
1 garlic clove, grated
PREPARATION
1. Bring a pot of salted water to the boil. Add the soba, stir to prevent sticking, and cook according to package instructions until just tender. Rinse under cold water until the noodles are completely cold.
2. Make the sauce. In a medium bowl, combine the peanut butter, soy sauce, maple syrup, lime juice, sesame oil and garlic. Add chile oil or hot sauce if you want more spice.
TIP: In A Hurry? There are now good peanut sauces available. You can adjust purchased sauces to your taste. However, this homemade sauce is always a better option.
3. Add 1/4 to 1/2 cup water, 1 tablespoon at a time, and whisk until the sauce is a pourable consistency. Taste and add more chile oil or hot sauce as desired. Set aside.
4. Cut the cucumber in half and scoop the seeds out. Slice vertically into 1/8 inch thick slices and then into matchsticks. Slice the radishes into 1/8-inch thick slices and cut then in half, making half-moons. Slice the pepper in half, remove the seeds/membrane and cut into 1/8-inch pieces. Grate carrots. Place them all in a large bowl.
TIP: Cut, slice and grate the raw vegetables as you wish. You want them thinly cut and small sized. I used a mandoline slicer for some of the process but that is not necessary. This salad needs color, thus the shredded carrots and colorful pepper.
5. If the Soba noodles need to be loosened, run them quickly under some water and allow to drain OR they can be easily separated by hand (gloved). Add the noodles to the vegetables, add the remaining 1 tablespoon sesame oil and toss to combine.
5. When you are ready to serve, mix 1/4 cup sauce into the salad and drizzle a small amount on top for presentation. DO NOT over-sauce this salad. The sesame oil provides flavor as well. Top with the chopped peanuts, scallions and cilantro mixture. Serve immediately, with lime wedges alongside.
If you were raised in a small Iowa farm town, you’re probably not too bothered by garter snakes. When two friends who have community garden plots gave me carte blanche to their rhubarb patches, the little guy who slithered under the leaves as I was bending over to pull some rhubarb stalks didn’t prevent me from taking my share. For the next day or two we reached an accommodation. He slithered. I pulled.
HUMMUS with GINGER-RHUBARB TOPPING
We always called rhubarb an “alley plant.” In the Midwest, at least, that’s where it thrived. While my Mom’s rhubarb sauce was delicious, her crisp mighty tasty, it was her rhubarb pie crowned with a mile-high meringue topping that was to-die-for. What I wouldn’t give for just one more sliver.
This week, while birding in a local Aspen cemetery, I came upon this amazing 6-feet tall Green Gentian. Also called a Monument Plant, it does not flower for 20 to 80 years and then, for only once.
Rhubarb, which is a vegetable, is an acquired taste. You’re either Yes or No. Wishy Washy is not a category. Besides making sauce this week I baked David Lebovitz’s Strawberry-Rhubarb Galette and Andrea Mohr’s (The Kitchen Lioness) unique Rhubarb-Ginger Topping. She plops the mixture on homemade hummus, adds a splash of high-quality olive oil, a bit of freshly ground black pepper, some flaky salt and makes a tasty statement. These basic recipes (below) are full of possibilities, just build on their ideas.
Here’s an amazing fact. A Mountain Bluebird is not blue but a color produced by the structure of the feathers. Tiny air pockets and melanin pigment crystals in each feather scatter blue light and absorb the other wavelengths. It’s called light scattering and is somewhat similar to how a prism works.
FOR the LOVE of RHUBARB – Astronaut John Glenn’s father, known as Hershel, was mostly deaf from injuries in WW I. To help out at home, every summer young Glenn sold rhubarb from the family garden throughout his Ohio home town. (story from Bill Dedman)
STRAWBERRY-RHUBARB GALETTE by David Lebovitz
8 Servings
INGREDIENTS:
Use your favorite pastry/galette dough or purchase a pre-made pie pastry at the store. (If available, purchase the all-butter pastry product.)
Filling:
3 Cups diced rhubarb, trimmed and cut into 1/2 pieces.
2 Cups of Strawberries, hulled and quartered
Zest of One Lemon
2/3 Cup of Sugar & 1 TBS Cornstarch
Preparation:
1. Put the rhubarb and strawberries in a medium bowl with the lemon zest.
Sprinkle the sugar and corn starch on top. Do not mix the ingredients together. If you do, theyʼll start to juice and may be overly juicy by the time youʼre ready to use them. (Use this process with any fruit/galette combo.)
2. Preheat the oven to 400ºF. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
3. On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough to a 14-inch circle and place it on the baking sheet. (At this point you can sprinkle 11/2 TBS of almond flour, cracker or bread crumbs, crumbled amaretti cookies or just a bit of flour on the tart dough to soak up any extra juices that may come out of the fruit when it’s baking. I crushed two graham crackers. Worked perfectly.)
4. Mix the fruit together with the sugar and corn starch and place the fruit into the center of the galette dough. Spread it with your hands, leaving 3-inches of space between the fruit and the edge of the dough.
6. Fold the edges of the dough up and over the fruit filling. Brush the crust liberally with melted butter and sprinkle with Turbinado sugar.
7. Bake the tart until the filling is cooked and bubbling and the crust is golden brown, 40 to 45 minutes. Remove from the oven and carefully slide the tart off the baking sheet onto a cooling rack.
SERVING: Serve the tart on its own or with Vanilla Ice Cream, White Chocolate and Fresh Ginger Ice Cream, Cinnamon Ice Cream, or a dollop of crème fraîche. The baked tart is best the same day but can be stored at room temperature for up to two days.
RHUBARB-GINGER TOPPING by Andrea Mohr, The Kitchen Lioness
INGREDIENTS:
2-3 stalks red rhubarb, (1 Cup)
6 slices fresh ginger (washed, no need to peel)
extra virgin olive oil
salt (to taste)
PREPARATION:
1. Cut the washed stalk into slices. Using low heat, cook the slices in a pan with olive oil, sliced fresh ginger and a bit of salt just till soft. That will only take a few minutes. Transfer to a small bowl and set aside to cool. Once the topping has cooled, remove the sliced ginger
2. After placing your hummus in its serving bowl, put the rhubarb mixture on top.
3. If you happen to have fresh pomegranate seeds, add a few to the rhubarb topping. With a splash of high-quality olive oil, a bit of freshly ground black pepper and some flaky salt. You’re done.
JUNE GRADUATION/500 DAYS OF QUARANTINE-DONE
In mid-June Clara graduated from Bishop Union High School in California. Despite being vaccinated and owning my personal Hazmat suit, graduation was a three-day closed affair with the class divided into thirds. Since Clara was the Valedictorian this year, she gave her speech three times! I was watching on television so that was fine with me. She leaves in mid-July to attend Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology in Terre Haute, Indiana, to begin an accelerated four-year program resulting in a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics and a Masters in Engineering Management. Emma, an incoming junior at Point Loma Nazarene University, returned to San Diego last week (after 500 days of quarantine, she points out) where she has a summer job with the university. She is majoring in both Spanish and Child and Adolescent Development. As for what’s ahead with me, I think I might just put up my feet, sit back and watch!
SAY CHEESE!
This past weekend, using cheese selected by invited guests, I put together a cheese board for a good friend’s son’s engagement party.
“If we don’t have a place for nature in our heart, how can we expect nature to have a place for us.” ― Abhijit Naskar.
With its 300 days of sunshine, Colorado is a great place to get right with Mother Nature. One word for Springtime in the Rockies? Glorious. This week I’m sharing that glory with you. You’ll also find something glorious about my Tomato Tart with Mustard, a French classic. Adding ricotta makes for a milder mustard aftertaste. I’ve already baked three of these babies. Your turn.
Mama Moose
The dawdling Baby Moose
Realizing I’m an amateur photographer just trying my best, here’s my one that got away story. When I began taking nature photos, a professional told me to ‘never let a photograph get in front of the experience.’ Last week I joined two Forest Conservancy colleagues to fill in at the Maroon Bells while the USFS Rangers attended an all-day training session. As we first walked by Maroon Lake, a beautiful bald eagle, backlit by the magnificent Bells, flew out of the nearby trees and soared over the lake. As he came closer – I had a shot – but decided instead on the experience.
TOMATO TART WITH MUSTARD and RICOTTA
Although this remarkable tart just begs for heirloom tomatoes, they are pricey and often not available. I used one large and 2 medium-sized tomatoes, adding cherry or grape tomatoes for filler. To avoid excess moisture from the watery tomatoes, either follow #3 in my Directions or sprinkle them generously with salt on both sides and lay them in a single layer on a cooling rack for 2 hours to release excess juices.
Red Fox, hanging out at the Maroon Bells
TOMATO TART with MUSTARD and RICOTTA by Dorie Greenspan, Everyday Dorie, The Way I Cook
Makes 6 Servings
One 9-91/2- inch tart shell made with Pâte Brisée, your favorite pastry recipe or favorite store-bought pastry crust, partially baked and cooled
Partially-Baked Tart Shells
INGREDIENTS
Spotted Towhee
Female American Kestrel. The kestrel is the smallest falcon in North America
2 tsp olive oil
3 cups packed finally shredded greens such as chard, kale, spinach or arugula (I used 3 cups of baby arugula and didn’t cut or shred it at all)
Fine sea salt and freshly ground pepper
About 11/2 pounds of tomatoes, 2-3 large, 3-4 medium or a mix of large, medium and cherry or grape tomatoes
1 cup of whole-milk ricotta
1 large egg yolk
3 large eggs
6 TBS heavy cream
3 TBS grainy mustard
DIRECTIONS
Center a rack in the oven and preheat it to 425 degrees. Place the partially baked tart shell on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or a silicone backing mat.
Warm the olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Toss in the greens, season with salt and pepper and cook, stirring, until they wilt and soften, 1-2 minutes. Scrape them onto the pastry crust leaving any oil in the skillet.
Core the tomatoes, if necessary, and thinly slice. If using cherry or grape tomatoes, halve them. Lay the tomatoes out on a double layer of paper towels, cover with more paper towels and pat away the excess moisture.
Mix the ricotta with the egg yolk and season with salt and pepper. (This may be made ahead, covered and refrigerated for up to 6 hours.)
Whisk together the eggs, cream and mustard and season with salt and paper. (This may also be refrigerated up to 6 hours.) Pour onto the crust and spinach.
Add the tomatoes, arranging them attractively but evenly distributed. Don’t be afraid to let them overlap with each other. Be generous with the tomatoes. Finish by spooning dollops of the ricotta mixture on the top.
Bake for 30-40 minutes until the filling is puffed and firm in the center. Transfer the baking sheet to a rack and let the tart cool for at least 15 minutes before serving or wait for it to come to room temperature, your choice.
Store any leftovers in the fridge.
Mama Red-tail was very angry because I got too close to her nest. Don’t mess with Mama.
I learned to ski in Aspen during the seventies. My first summer visit was with my husband Michael in 1987. I’d never hiked before. Soon after arriving we drove to the Maroon Bells to hike the Crater Lake trail. It’s a rocky 3.4 mile round trip at an altitude from 7,050 to 8,060 feet. I was wearing tennis shoes.
Maroon Bells, Fall Colors Photo compliments of outdoorsproject.com
At mile marker 1/2 mile, dear Readers, I was 100% positive of being near death, leaving my girls motherless. I whined, complained and used very bad words. Michael being Michael agreed and empathized with everything I said but kept on hiking! It was an unpleasant weekend.
On our next trip, equipped with proper gear and having walked up every hill in Des Moines (our hometown), I met the mountain. Call me a “Rock Star.” After moving to Aspen, I loved our hiking adventures. When Life itself got rocky, it was the mountains I’d turn to for solace. I still do.
RANGER WORK
Weather permitting, I am back on the trails doing what, because of the Pandemic, I could not do the summer prior. Many of you have asked what it is I really do? This Ranger thing. Here’s my story.
White-faced Ibis, Spring Valley/ Kindall Road Pond, Roaring Fork Valley, Colorado
In the 1990’s Aspenite Joanne Lyon decided our Forest Service needed “helpers.” The culprit? Government cuts. She answered her call, inspiring three other locals to join her. After raiding the USFS’s storage closet to pull together second-hand uniforms, this ragtag group hit the trails. I was one of the second or third waves to join the group.
MAY READS – “Leave Only Footprints,” Conor Knighton’s one-year journey to all our National Parks; “A World on the Wing,” a Scott Weidensaul book on migratory bird journeys; “Beloved Beasts,” Michelle Nijhuis writes a definitive history of the conservation movement; “The Four Winds,” by Kristin Hannah, another best-selling novel by Hannah. (Note: I’ve not yet read the last two books but if your interested in the subjects of the first two, I highly recommend them.)
It was left to Judy Schramm, another volunteer, to formally organize us. In 2001 she spearheaded the Forest Conservancy’s emergence as a non-profit partner to the Forest Service. We were charged with promoting hiking safety and caring for the natural and cultural resources of the 2.3 million acre White River National Forest. We hired an Executive Director, Marcia Johnson. She’s our Smokey Bear.
Male Bullock’s Oriole, Private Home in Carbondale
Except for 8 years in Nevada, I’ve been on the trails every summer. To begin, we take a training course, receive First Aid/CPR instruction, shadow veteran volunteers and often participate in naturalist classes before becoming rangers. I set my own hiking calendar. Admittedly, my younger, hardier colleagues maintain a more rigorous schedule than I can.
Sometimes you must do the best you can until Help arrives!
Although I work with others hiking various trails, on most Saturday mornings you’ll find me before 7a.m., patrolling alone (my choice), the Crater Lake trail. It’s the staging area for small backpacking groups who hike the Four Pass Loop.
The Hen, Her Shadow and Me: It’s off-season right now. No guests at The Gant. That’s why I’m loving my new buddy who wanders around the property. Last Monday, at about 6:50am, I spotted her patiently waiting by our main office front doors.
I check that each backpacking group has a bear canister, a container used as a physical barrier to protect food from wildlife. No canister. No trip. Hardcore backpackers monitor their own community. Safety matters. I’ve never had to turn anyone around.
East Maroon Trail: Every year Phil, another volunteer ranger, helps me learn the names of all the various peaks of popular hiking areas but I always, always need a refresher course each summer! My Bad.
Each hiking group must self-register and one hiker hangs that tag with destination/participant information on his pack. It’s free, takes 5 minutes to fill-out but hikers often forget. I carry extra tags, pencils, retrieve a copy for the USFS and remind them Moms like to know their whereabouts. That they understand!
This American Robin framed himself using what remains of a deteriorating machine shed at Sutey Ranch near Carbondale.
For the next few hours it’s hiking the trail, answering questions, snapping pictures and encouraging first-timers. Most Saturdays I encounter 300-400 hikers. In high season it’s 1,000 hiker days. (I have a counter.) Besides people, I’ve met bears, moose and mountain goats. What I love most, however, is how in awe of the Bells our visitors are. Many have never been in the mountains. This may be the only vacation time they’ll have all year. My primary job, I’ve learned, is to help make it a safe and unforgettable one.
Three mountain goats were headed our way on the Crater Lake Trail. The 6-8 hikers on the trail with me were pretty cool about it. I suggested we just back off into the trees and remain quiet. A hiker on each side of the goats stopped others from moving forward. The goats were confused, ran back and forth a few times but then ran up the mountain. Actually it was fun for all of us to watch.
ARE YOU A CHILI LOVER?
Spicy Black Bean & Sausage Chili (vegetarian version, also)
Chili was on my mind all winter but for various reasons I never got it made. When Betsy, my food blogging friend of the past decade, sent me her cookbook “Fifty For My Fiftieth,” with 50 of her favorite recipes, this called my name. The quick, flavor-filled recipe is the brainchild of American chef and restaurateur Rick Bayless who is widely known for his PBS series Mexico: One Plate at a Time.
I hesitated to post this photo. This chili can also be served over rice. It’s delicious. A nice change-up. Tastes better than it looks!
SPICY BLACK BEAN and SAUSAGE CHILI by Rick Bayless & adapted by Betsy Pollack-Benjamin
Makes 8 servings
INGREDIENTS
1 Tbsp vegetable oil 1 large onion, chopped 1 medium red or green bell pepper, seeded and diced 8 oz. to 1 pound of cooked sausage (chicken-cilantro, andouille or smoked), thinly sliced (I substituted ground beef chuck) 3 cups of tomatillo sauce or use your favorite jarred salsa 8 oz. butternut squash, diced into 1/2-inch pieces ( I added cut-up roasted carrots because I had them available) 2 cans (15 ounces each) black beans, drained 2 cans (14 ounces each) fire-roasted diced tomatoes, undrained
INSTRUCTIONS
Pour the oil into a large, deep pan and warm over medium heat.
Add the onion and cook until slightly tender and translucent, about 3-4 minutes. Stir in green pepper and cook 1 minute.
Stir in sausage, squash, sauce or salsa, beans and tomatoes. Simmer over medium-low heat, stirring often, for about 30 minutes. (Substitute ground beef for sausage slices or leave out meat entirely.)
Serve in warmed bowls topped with cheese and other toppings of your choice of optional toppings: chopped fresh cilantro, chopped green onion, sour cream or yogurt and crumbled corn tortilla chips.
Mini cornbread muffins are a nice addition.
This chili can also be served over rice.
Osprey, Riverfront Trail, River Valley Ranch, Carbondale
