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.
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,
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.
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.
What? The Bigs had a Christmas guest? Hahaha, this is The Bigs we are talking about, people. It’s just me. Like my disguise?
While it may look like it, this is not a disguise. This is just what I wore on Wednesday.
Time to prepare tapas for Christmas Eve. Cooking chickpeas for hummus:
I let Dad make the bread and baba ganoush:
Time to open presents!
Silly Bigs, there is no such thing as too many gifts.
Seriously, stop grumbling.
Check it out. A superhero apron with a pocket. SO COOL.
New track suit and fire boots:
Christmas breakfast. Coffee cake and Christmas smoothies.
Christmas ski. Santa brought some powder to the mountain.
We worked up a hunger. Christmas dinner time. Tomatoes roasted
for hot charred cherry tomatoes with cold yogurt:
We also made Uncle Jim’s recipe for individual beef croustades:
and a Pan co’ Santi:
We also had a couscous with a pear, walnut, and arugula pesto. I chose the sides. I don’t actually like the tomatoes. The Bigs think my choices were driven by a desire to have a red and green theme.
For dessert we had yule log:
You may be thinking, boy, they eat a lot. I wonder if they are getting chubby. Nope!
Back to the slopes on Boxing Day. Mom took these pictures on the ride up to the mountain. Don’t worry, Dad was driving.
I was in a rush to get there. I was meeting Riley (or as I like to call her, Ri Ri).
We had more fresh powder. The Bigs eventually had to tell me we had to leave.
It was a tiring day. Good thing I have my new husband for lounging…
I didn’t lounge for long though. I had a dinner date with Meera. Her dad made dal. I was in heaven.
Our Christmas Sing-A-Long was this week. The teachers told us to wear a fancy outfit. I chose this:
Plaid and plaid don’t go, Mom? Whahahaha
Dad and I know better.
Skiing in the Pacific Northwest. Saturday = powder.
Sunday = rain.
I thought skiing in the rain was fun. You just need to bring a dry change of clothes and a warm hat.
Something not fun we did this week was buy a new refrigerator. Ours died. Due to the pandemic and the Bend building boom, there were no choices unless you wanted to wait until April, no delivery, and some really grumpy Bigs. I took charge and got that fridge installed.
While we waited for the new fridge, we kept our food in the garage. It was about 40 degrees in there, so almost cold enough. We had some good food despite the issues. Tortilla soup:
Truffle salt pasta with spinach, tomatoes, and SHRIMP:
Lots of skiing and turkey this week. On Thanksgiving day, we went exploring in the woods near Swampy.
I spent most of the time making the Bigs follow my zig-zaggy tracks and finding things to jump off. Sometimes over and over again.
After skiing, it was time to get cooking. Here I am making the mushroom soup for my world-famous green bean casserole (yes, The Bigs made me make mushroom soup and french onions from scratch. Don’t they know they sell these things in the store?):
The finished product:
We also had a spatchcocked heritage breed turkey, cooked on the grill. Hey, who you callin’ turkey?
We also had truffle mashed potatoes and white wine giblet gravy:
And, cranberry walnut bread:
I provided the table decorations:
I was happy:
and so was my belly:
Desert was pumpkin cashew ‘cheese’cake:
Lots more skiing this weekend:
And, lots more snacking:
Sometimes, I even get to go downhill:
And, occasionally, I hitch a ride back up (and Pop was worried about Dad getting enough exercise now that he doesn’t have to pull the Chariot!):
A video of a tow ride:
Looking sharp for my after-ski mini-van lunch:
In addition to being Ski Man, I am also Long-John Man. I have worn my long johns and my buff for four straight days now. The Bigs said I have to wear regular clothes to school tomorrow. On top of all that, I am also Christmas Man. We decorated our house the day after Thanksgiving:
Christmas Man’s room:
Yes, it is much too bright to sleep, but Christmas Man does not care. Christmas Man wrote his list for Santa:
We did some more cross country skiing this weekend.
Okay, enough with the pictures already. Let’s go ski.
Nothing like an ice cold beer after a hard ski.
I made dinner again this week. The Bigs didn’t like what I made, so I had to make them a special meal. I don’t understand why they can’t eat pasta without mushrooms. What are they? Five?
Some of the things we ate. Burrito bowls:
and pad thai:
Dad made bread:
because Mom made soup. Curried cauliflower:
and Turkish tomato, bulgur, and red pepper.
No meal is complete without dessert. Like purple turkey-shaped butter cookies:
