DIG IN

Last week I flew to Hawaii, scooting out of Aspen just before snow, snow and more snow. Maui will be my sunny slice of paradise until mid-February. For seven years I’ve traveled solo every winter, sharing those journeys, hits and misses, with you.  Blackened Mahi...

How was your Thanksgiving? If happiness is homemade, I hope your plate was loaded with memorable, familiar food and gratitude for it. While my family was celebrating in four different places last Thursday, we all went to bed well-fed, warm, safely in our homes/dorms...

MAPLE-BROWN BUTTER-PUMPKIN LOAF with CINNAMON BUTTER In today’s post we’re going to skip the tricks, not even begin a conversation and just concentrate on the treat. With apologies to other pumpkin bread recipes, it’s time they step aside. Why is this pumpkin loaf so...

Saturday morning I received a FaceTime Call from Emma, my college junior. “Hi Gramma, I just called to see how you’re Celebrating You today?” Believing I was Celebrating Me by opting out of applying make-up, forgetting to comb my hair and on my 3rd cup of very dark...

Each year, in late September, I take inventory of what’s tucked away in my pantry, hanging out on my shelves and threatening freezer burn in my fridge. As diligent as one tries to be, aren’t we all guilty of buying more than we need and using less than we can? But...

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,...

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...

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...

STRAWBERRY-RHUBARB GALETTE 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...

“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...

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...