Month: January 2021

This week I, you guessed it, cooked and skied. Here I am making the tomatoes

for couscous, cherry tomato, and herb salad.

I skied four miles on Saturday morning. I asked Mom to take a picture of the beautiful view. She made me stand right in the middle of it.

It snowed in town. Dad built a little snowman.

I built a ski resort.

It doubled as a ski jump.

Even I will admit I was a bit tired after all that skiing and constructing, but we still had unfinished business in the brownie world. Last week’s brownies were too dry. We had to try again.

I am happy to report that after a delicious bowl of ramen

the Bigs had the world’s best brownies for dessert. I was already in bed. Hey!

Don’t worry, I got one the next day and I made a cool snowman too.

Here I am working on my turns:

Some cross-country skiing at Bachelor on Saturday:

What’s the deal with this chair? I thought it was supposed to take me back up the hill. I think it’s broken.

Sunday was a big day. We went ‘pine skiing, and we finally caught the rainbow chair!

This was without a doubt the highlight of my life so far. I’m afraid it may all be downhill from here.

I’ve been doing a lot of cooking. I find safety glasses prevent my eyes from tearing when working with onions.

I let Mom help with the barley vegetable soup with homemade croutons. She messed something up:

The Bigs are watching the Great British Baking Show after I go to bed. Despite this complete and utter baloney, I still made Paul Hollywood’s brownie recipe for them.

We would be leaving the tent. Overbaked.

The Bigs also took the Yotam Ottolenghi Teaches Modern Middle Eastern Cooking Masterclass at night after I went to bed. This inspired a mezze feast this weekend. We had garlic confit:

hummus, Aunt Cheryl’s beet muhammara, and wheat sourdough.

Tonight I prepared Tofu and Haricot Verts With Chraimeh Sauce (also Ottolenghi) for dinner. You don’t think I made it do you? Silly readers. Never doubt the Emmett. Here I am cutting the green beans,

preparing the sauce,

frying the tofu,

and bringing it all together.

First bite.

I did good.

The Bigs FINALLY picked up on my hints. I started with some subtle ones in November. ‘Remember the fisherman sweater I had when I was in the Big Seed room? It was nice’. That did not work. It must have sunk in when I told Mom ‘I really want another fisherman sweater’.

It was Great Grandma Marie’s birthday this week. We made a gingerbread cake with lemon glaze to celebrate the big day. Happy birthday, GGMarie!

The Bigs went skiing without me again. Guess the karma lesson from last week didn’t make the impact I hoped for.

Check it out. I got a microscope.

Whoa.

Something is not right.

All better. I can’t believe I was using my microscope without my lab coat!

Take the ornaments off the tree. Take off all your clothes. Why not?

Hadley came over. We did some cooking.

We did not make lentil stew

or Dolsot bibimbap.

Mainly we just made a mess, but we had fun and that’s what counts, right?

We did more skiing this weekend. That was fun too.

Guess who?

A few weeks ago Mom tried to explain karma. More on that in a minute.

On Thursday, The Bigs went skiing without me. It was a powder day. I was not impressed. They sat in an hour of traffic and got two runs in over the course of two hours due to wind closures of lifts and large crowds.

That’s karma, right Mom?

This week we had Indian fried rice

and lemon brussel sprout pasta.

For New Years we did not have our usual posole. Instead we had pizza. The Bigs had mushroom and cashew ricotta. I had PEPPERONI.

We did have our usual margaritas, though.

And for dessert, we had chocolate avocado pie.

The next morning we had gallo pinto (Costa Rican rice and beans) for breakfast

and then hit the slopes.

For dinner we had watercress and chickpea soup with rose water and ras el hanout

and avocado toast with coconut bacon for breakfast the next day.

I ‘helped’ out in the afternoon.

Most people cook wearing an apron, long johns, and knee socks, right?

This is why helped was in quotes,

but you’ll clean it up won’t you, Mom?

Was the mess worth it? Yes, we were making Grandma Marie’s Greek cookies (yes, we know there are supposed to be candied cherries on top. They taste good anyway!):

Today we ALMOST made the rainbow chair. So close!

That’s right. NO green circles needed for this guy.

Good-bye 2020. We will never forget you.

How will you challenge yourself this year?

We wish you a VERY Happy New Year.