My food processor and I spenda little quality time together

After all, I do not like to go on a ski trip without little jars of stuff. It's part of the Girl Scout in me: I like to be prepared. And if there is one thing I hate to do on a ski trip it is shop. It interferes with the ski-eat-sleep plan. So I have been scurrying around planning menus, gathering up supplies, and grinding up things. 

Here's what we've got:

Pesto Genoese: You know, the regular kind with basil, toasted pine nuts, parmesan, garlic, lemon juice, and olive oil. We'll have this one night with pasta and sauteed shrimp.

Romesco Sauce: We made this here. It's great on a roast beef sandwich. 

Cilantro Pesto: Since we're going away, I'm working on cleaning out the fridge, and something had to be done with the cilantro. It's combined here with toasted almonds, shallot, garlic, white wine vinegar, olive oil, and a few shots of green Tabasco. It's great for perking up a turkey sandwich. 

Citrus Tapanade: This will be great on a sandwich or to dip bread or crackers in. Recipe below.

CITRUS TAPANADE

1 cup Kalamata olives, rinsed and pitted
2 1/2 tablespoons capers, rinsed
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons fresh orange juice (I used a Mandarin)
1 1/2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
1 anchovy fillet
zest of all of the three citruses

Zest orange, lemon, and lime and then juice. Combine all ingredients in a food processor and blend until smooth. 

I've had so much fun organizing big ski trips (much to the exasperation of Husband, who asks "Do you have to make everything a house party???"), but I'm looking forward a trip with just my two favorite people on earth: Husband and Sophie. We have a free condo. (thanks for arranging, Mom and Dad!) in Mammoth, where we were going to meet my parents until my dad broke his leg skiing with us in Utah earlier this year. And our friend Eric, with whom I would like to enter into a polygamous marriage for just ski season each year, cannot get away from work. So it will be just the Fig chickens taking roost. We'll ski Kirkwood on the way down and then three days at Mammoth. We'll ski like demons, hit some wild hot springs, cook, read, eat, and sit around smiling at each other. Because that's what we like to do.