Julie Eats

My Current Favorite Drink

2011-03-25T12:59:00.001-07:00

I was craving this drink, googled it, and discovered that Westword's Cafe Society recently wrote about it. Coincidence? Probably not, since it seems to be the "thing" in Denver and probably else where right now.

The drink is an Aperol Spritz. I actually wrote about it here, when I had it the first time at The Squeaky Bean.

An aperol spritz contains the Italian apertif Aperol. Some of its ingredients include bitter orange and rhubarb. It definitely gives the drink a subtle bitter taste that I crave.

To make the spritz, you combine the Aperol with prosecco, soda water, and what I feel may be the most important ingredient: a Castelvetrano olive garnish (although most websites say to use an orange slice as a garnish). According to the Aperol website, the recipe is 2 parts Aperol, 3 parts Prosecco, a splash of soda, and ice. The olive is so delicious after soaking in the drink, it's like the piece of chocolate at the end of a drumstick cone.

So far The Squeaky Bean has done it best, with Boulder's Pizzeria Locale a close second. I had one at Luca D'Italia too and it was decent.

I've been drinking this, when I could get it, this winter but you bet I'm going to be making it at home as the weather warms up. It's funny, because in my original post about it, I said I probably wouldn't try it at home. Never say never. I have a feeling it's going to be my go-to drink this summer.

Salute!

Neglectful

2010-11-04T13:05:00.000-07:00

Ugh. I have neglected this blog. I've eaten some pretty fantastic stuff lately, but have not felt inspired to record it here. I write this blog for myself, so that I can remember some of these great meals, and I'm going to regret this laziness. But sometimes you can't force things...or maybe you can, and I should.

Off the top of my head, where have I eaten that I should have blogged about? Very briefly, there was

Fruition for my birthday: simply fantastic.
Mizuna for our anniversary: just as good as Fruition, maybe even better. Plus we got the special treatment.
There was a simply awful experience at Black Pearl (although the food was good). Done with them.
There have been fun Justice League of Street Food parties.
A so-so meal at The Corner Office.
Fantastic service and fun times at Cafe Brazil. Plus free tapas at Happy Hour! Book your reservation early. We did tapas and then a meal.
Awful service and blah food at The Lobby.
Possibly the best service of all at SmashBurger in Wheat Ridge, of all places.
Many great meals at Udi's Pizza Cafe Bar in Arvada. We like it because it's close, the kids like it, and we like the food and the cocktails/wine. So hard to find that combo.
I've reported on it before, but yesterday I treated myself to the chicken pho at Pho 95. Went all by myself and perhaps enjoyed the meal best that way, because I could really focus on the food. So good for a Fall day.
A wonderful warm, cozy, and incredibly tasty meal at Venue Bistro.
Great bar food and whiskey at Rackhouse Pub.
Culinary adventures in Columbus (!?!) and Vegas.
Romantic tapas and Spanish wine at 9th Door.

Tonight is girls' night out at TAG. Will it inspire me to jump back on the blogging bandwagon? If the above didn't, it'll be tough. But who knows...

And Now for Something Completely Different: A Movie Review

2010-10-06T08:59:00.000-07:00

I don't usually review movies on here, but Mom Central offered me tickets to see "Life as We Know It" and a gift certificate, if I'd review it. I needed a night out (sans boys), plus we all know I'm a bit of a whore for free stuff, so here we are.

I'll admit it, I'm a bit of a snob and this is not the type of movie I'd normally see in the theater. I'd probably eventually see it, but most likely about a year after it came out on DVD and I'd borrow it from the library. So I wasn't really expecting much, but I love going to movies by myself, so I was definitely looking forward to it.

However, I was really pleasantly surprised by the movie. If you're a parent, you will definitely find it funny. I won't give the plot away, but I did not like the romantic bit of the movie. I thought Katherine Heigl's character should have made her other choice--but whatever. The trials of parents of babies/toddlers were pretty spot on and definitely funny. All in all, the movie was really entertaining, and I'd especially recommend it for parents. But Heigl/Duhamel fans will like it too.

Now if Warner could have just put a muzzle on the guy sitting next to me. This guy--in a big ol' Barry White voice--repeated just about everything the characters said and then commented on it. I'm surprised he wasn't hoarse by the end of the film. But for you lucky people, he's seen it, so hopefully he won't sit next to you when you do.

About “Life as We Know It”:
After a disastrous first date, the only thing Holly, an up and coming caterer, and Eric, a network sports director, have in common is their dislike for each other and their love for their goddaughter Sophie. But when they suddenly become all Sophie has in the world, Holly and Eric are forced to put their differences aside and juggle career ambitions and competing social calendars to find some common ground while living under one roof. Check out the trailer here.

I attended a complimentary screening of this movie to facilitate my review and received a gift card from Mom Central as a thank you for my time. Thanks, Mom Central!

Chef Roy Yamaguchi Answers My Question About Hawaiian Cuisine

2010-09-07T10:17:00.000-07:00

Check out this article by Gorging Global and The Mouthful at Denver Magazine. I got a chance to ask Hawaiian Chef Roy Yamaguchi a question of my choosing. I asked the following:

Because Hawaii is relatively small and composed of islands, I imagine that much of its food is flown in from other places. Has the local food movement gained popularity there like it has in many other states? If so, has this changed the typical Hawaiian cuisine in any significant ways?

Thanks for giving me the opportunity, Denver Magazine!

Grilling with Whiskey-Ginger Marinade

2010-08-27T08:56:00.000-07:00

When it's hot out (like it is right now), we usually grill. We probably grill close to 75% of our meals during the summer. One of our favorite marinades/sauces is this Whiskey Ginger marinade. The recipe in the link is specifically for chicken, but I would think you could use it on just about anything. We've used it on pork chops and it was great. We've served it to guests a few times and they all practically licked their plates.

You certainly don't have to use Stranahan's whiskey. In fact, you might want to save that one for sipping and use a lesser quality whiskey for cooking. It'll still be good. But since Stranahan's is a local obsession of mine, I wanted to post that picture.

Whiskey - Ginger Grill

Ingredients
4 (4-ounce) skinless, boneless chicken breast halves (or equivalent amount of other meat)
1/3 cup bourbon
1/3 cup low-sodium soy sauce
3 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons hoisin sauce
1 teaspoon grated lime rind
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
2 teaspoons grated peeled fresh ginger
2 teaspoons dark sesame oil
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
2 garlic cloves, minced
Cooking spray
1 tablespoon water
1/2 teaspoon cornstarch
1 teaspoon sesame seeds, toasted

Preparation
Place each chicken breast half between 2 sheets of heavy-duty plastic wrap; pound to 1/2-inch thickness using a meat mallet or rolling pin.

Combine bourbon and next 9 ingredients (bourbon through garlic). Reserve 1/3 cup marinade. Pour remaining marinade into a zip-top plastic bag; add chicken. Seal and marinate in refrigerator 1 hour, turning occasionally.

Preheat grill to medium-hot using both burners.

Turn left burner off (leave right burner on). Remove chicken from bag; discard marinade. Coat grill rack with cooking spray. Place chicken on grill rack over right burner; grill 2 minutes on each side or until browned. Move chicken to grill rack over left burner. Cover and cook 5 minutes or until done. Slice each breast diagonally into thin strips; place chicken on a platter. Cover loosely with foil.

Combine water and cornstarch, stirring well with a whisk. Place reserved 1/3 cup marinade in a small saucepan; stir in cornstarch mixture. Bring to a boil; cook 15 seconds, stirring constantly. Drizzle sauce over chicken; sprinkle with sesame seeds.

My New Favorite Zucchini Recipe

2010-07-22T13:48:00.000-07:00

Zucchini Latkes

The zucchini have started producing and it's going to be a bumper crop this year. Friends and family: you know they're comin' at ya! As always, I am on a never-ending search to use these fertile critters. I found a recipe for zucchini latkes that I'd clipped from who knows where, but didn't have most of the ingredients. Switched a ton of stuff out, made changes here and there, and voila! What turns out to be my favorite dish of the summer so far.

1 C shredded zucchini
1 large egg (2 if they're smaller, or batter seems dry), beaten slightly
~ 2 T minced shallots
3 T flour
1/2 C corn (I used frozen, but fresh would be better)
1/2 C bread crumbs
salt and pepper to taste
olive oil

That's it! These were sweet and savory and all around delicous.

Just mix the ingredients. Coat your pan with olive oil and heat on medium. Form the latkes into patties about 1/2 inch thick and fry on both sides until golden brown, turning once.

Root Down Green Restaurant Tour

2010-06-04T09:20:00.000-07:00

Not long ago a friend, L, and I attended the Green Route Restaurant Tour stop at Root Down. When we got there, we still weren't sure what to expect from the "tour." We thought there would be a tour of the kitchen (which is pretty laughable if you see the size of Root Down't kitchen--plus it's pretty open and you can see it when you walk by it to your table). It turned out to basically be free appetizers and drink specials. Woohoo!

Denver's Green Route, it turns out, is "a green map for the City of Denver, showcasing the cutting edge sustainable businesses and organizations that make Denver a global leader in sustainability." The "tour" was a series of evenings at green restaurants in Denver, featuring free apps and drink specials to encourage people to try a new green restaurant (or re-visit an old one). The tour is over for now, but the Green Route host told me there would be another one this summer, so watch their site for announcements. You do need to reserve a spot and have a pass. Definitely worth attending.

I love the retro decorations of the restaurant. It's in an old garage with doors that can be pulled up when the weather is nice. They have this wall of rotary phones in the bar area (photo courtesy here). They have a similar wall of retro scales in the ladies room, which I took a picture of, but can't seem to find now. Check out this slide show at Metromix for some good pictures of the decor and food.

Green Route served us a number of appetizers including sweet potato fries with a toasted curry-lime yogurt dipping sauce, smoked portobello wontons with leeks, shallots, mascarpone & soy-mint "dunk," and sweet potato samosa "spring rolls," my favorite. Some people were lucky enough to get oyster sliders (but sadly not me). We really liked all of the appetizers. L and I drank “42 Below” rosemary-lavender lemonades, which were refreshing and delicious.

We also had dinner reservations. Our server was super nice and wearing some great jewelry. I commented on one of her rings and it turns out they're her own designs. She takes old vinyl records and other materials and melts them down to make really cool designs. She doesn't have a website yet, but she does sell her items at Eve, Inc. boutique on Larimer. I'm pretty certain the black rings and cuffs here are hers. Just go there and ask for Junky Funk Designs jewelry.

Anyways, back to the food. We shared a nice cheese plate and seared diver scallops with plantain hash, lemon-habanero tartar Sauce & crispy leeks. The scallops were a bit underdone for my taste and the accompaniments were super salty. We each had a different slider plate. I had the hoisin duck confit slider with lemon creme fraiche, shoestring sweet potatoes, and arugula, served on an Udis challah bun. This dish was WAY too sweet for my taste (a common problem with duck dishes, I've found), and L had buffalo sliders with Mongolian BBQ, shitake mushroom relish, and arugula, also served on an Udi’s challah bun with burdock root chips, which she enjoyed.

While I didn't love all the dishes, I still had a great time and would definitely go back--especially for appetizers and cocktails.

Tips for the Farmers' Market

2010-06-01T08:47:00.000-07:00

Here's a good article from Serious Eats for shopping your local Farmers' Market:

10 Tips to Take to the Farmers' Market.

I would add an 11th tip: be sure to ask whether the produce is actually local. You'd be surprised how often it is not (unless you're at the Boulder market, where it is required).

Moroccan Carrot Soup

2010-05-28T10:12:00.000-07:00

I made this recipe from Bon Appetit last night and it was great. It was probably not the best idea to make it on the hottest day of the year so far, but the results were worth my sweat. Also, I wouldn't exactly call it a "quick" recipe. Maybe a "moderate amount of time" recipe.

Moroccan Carrot Soup

Ingredients

2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) butter
1 cup chopped white onion
1 pound large carrots, peeled, cut into 1/2-inch dice (about 2 2/3 cups)
2 1/2 cups low-salt chicken broth
1 1/2 teaspoons cumin seeds
1 tablespoon honey
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
1/8 teaspoon ground allspice
red pepper to taste
1/2 cup plain yogurt, stirred to loosen

Preparation

Melt butter in large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onion; sauté 2 minutes. Mix in carrots. Add broth; bring to boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer until carrots are very tender, about 20 minutes.

Stir cumin seeds in small skillet over medium-high heat until fragrant, 4 to 5 minutes; cool. Finely grind--you can do so in a spice mill or with a mortar and pestle like I did. Bon Appetit also recommends that you can seal the seeds in a heavy-duty resealable plastic bag, and use the flat side of a meat mallet or a heavy-duty metal rolling pin to pulverize them.

Remove soup from heat. Puree in batches in blender until smooth. Return to same pan. Whisk in honey, lemon juice, and allspice. Season with salt and pepper. The original recipe does not call for red pepper, but when I make it again, I will add it. A little heat would make it just perfect.

Ladle soup into bowls. Drizzle yogurt over; sprinkle generously with cumin.

The Squeaky Bean

2010-05-14T09:37:00.001-07:00

B and I recently had one of the most fun nights out we've had in a long time, with a night out with another couple at The Squeaky Bean. L and I met the guys (our husbands) there. It was loud and packed and they were waiting at the bar and VERY happy that they were drinking "Man Beer," which is a beer from Bull and Bush. When you order, make sure you do so in a very manly voice.

I ordered a "Squeaky Spritz," which consists of Prosecco, Aperol Italian Aperitivo Liqueur, Rocky Mountain Sparkling Water, and is garnished with a Castelvetrano olive. I had to get it because it sounded like such an odd combination withe the olive. It looks like an orange pop (although this pic looks red)--pretty much the color of that nasty orange drink from McDonalds that you used to get in the big yellow and red jugs. Ick. But it was surprisingly refreshing and not too sweet--just the way I like my cocktails. I'd venture to say it's one of my new favorite cocktails, but unfortunately one I probably won't try to recreate at home, due to the unique ingredients. And the olive just...works. Weird. I got the photo to the left from a nice photo essay on The Squeaky Bean from Metromix.

We started off with the Pig Platter and the fonduta. Seriously, how can you go wrong with something called a "pig platter?" And it is served on the cutest wooden pig tray ever. Basically, it was an assortment of cured pork (duh).

The fonduta was made out of gruyere and pureed potato and was served with grilled bread. Decadent and delicious! I could bathe in the stuff. Seriously.

After we got a table we ordered the crispy medjool dates with cambazola and prosciutto--always a crowd pleaser. We also got the burrata, which comes with butternut squash agro-dulce, micro fennel, and grilled bread. This was the only "disappointment" of the evening and it really was quite good. It just didn't stand up to the other dishes. (Plus I'm totally spoiled by Osteria Marco's burrata and should know better than to order it anywhere else).

We also got the roasted cauliflower salad with medjool dates, smoked trout, curry vinaigrette, and parsley coulis. I would never think to order this, if it hadn't been for this post from Denveater. Please go there to see a gorgeous pic of this amazing dish. Cauliflower is just not something that usually interests me particularly. I have nothing against it. This salad elevated cauliflower to a higher level. Although, I suppose if you mix just about any vegetable with medjool dates, smoked trout, curry vinaigrette, and parsley coulis it's going to be amazing, right?

After so many small plates, we got just two entrees to share between the four of us. By this time (ie., after several Squeaky Spritzes--and let's not even talk about the boys and their Man Beers), I wasn't taking pics and not paying attention to the details of the menu, but one had pork belly and one had kobe beef. The pork belly was awesome and the kobe wasn't my favorite as the sauce was really salty. I seem to recall there being a lot of mint and peas on the dishes, since SB focuses on seasonal ingredients. In fact, I swear I could still taste peas the next day. Plus I was ridiculously full all day the next day too!

At some point in the evening I also tried the Tejon Fizz cocktail, which our server described as tasting just like a gummy bear. It's made of Van Gogh pineapple vodka, muddled cardamom pods, fresh lemon juice, a whisper of agave nectar, and club soda. It was definitely sweet and a little too sweet for me. Plus I just liked that Squeaky Spritz so damn much...

I did not see the kitchen, but I've heard that it is very tiny and has only one convection oven. How they put out so many incredible dishes is truly a feat. This is now one of our favorite places in town. Can't wait to go back!

Making the Most of Your CSA Bounty

2010-05-11T12:28:00.000-07:00

Here's a good article from Serious Eats on making the most of all the wonderful fruits and veggies you get from your CSA.

You can find a CSA here. If you're not familiar with the term, a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) is where you buy "shares" of a farmer's crop and get a weekly box of whatever produce they have available. I currently do something like a CSA with Door to Door Organics. I'd prefer to do a CSA, but I need that home delivery with our hectic lifestyle. I love getting that weekly box of fruits and veggies, but sometimes they can be overwhelming and I hate hate hate letting stuff go to waste. So the above article has some common sense, but still useful tips.

If anybody knows of a local CSA that delivers and I don't have to pick up the box, let me know!

Ruth Reichl Cancelled

2010-04-26T18:21:00.000-07:00

Her Boulder book store and Denver Tattered Cover readings are cancelled. Apparently she broke her foot. Now I have no excuse to not go to the Cub Scout Pack meeting. :-(

Another Reason to Love Asparagus

2010-04-26T09:55:00.000-07:00

Eat Asparagus to Prevent a Hangover

My favorite way to eat asaparagus is to brush it with pesto and grill it.

Orecchiette with Rapini, Sausage, and Garlic Crumbs

2010-04-22T10:49:00.001-07:00

Orecchiette with Rapini, Sausage, and Garlic Crumbs

This dish was a huge hit in our house!

I get a weekly delivery from Door to Door Organics, a company that delivers organic food to your house. It's kind of like a CSA, but of course, in the winter, you're not getting much local food. They do try to do local as much as possible. It's fun to try cooking with new vegetables. This last week I got rapini or broccoli rabe, which I've eaten but never cooked with before. I searched the internet and found this recipe, which is going to stay on our regular menu rotation.

For garlic crumbs:

2 cups fresh (not dry) breadcrumbs (made from approximately 5 slices bread)
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
3 Tablespoons olive oil

For meat sauce:

4 sweet or mild Italian sausages, casings removed
1 Tablespoon olive oil
1 clove garlic, chopped
½ to 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes, to taste
1 bunch (about 1 lb. / 450 grams) blanched rapini, chopped into 2" pieces
Salt and fresh ground pepper, to taste
½ cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
1 (500 g) package orecchiette or penne

To make garlic crumbs:

Heat olive oil in a skillet. Add garlic and sauté on medium heat for about 20 seconds. Add breadcrumbs and stir until all crumbs are coated with oil.
Sauté crumbs on medium heat, watching carefully, until they turn brown and crisp. Remove from pan and set aside. Crumbs can be made in advance and kept in a dry, covered container.

To blanch the rapini:

Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Boil rapini for 4 minutes and drain. Plunge rapini immediately into a bowl of ice water to stop cooking.

To make meat sauce:

In a deep skillet, heat olive oil. Add garlic and red pepper flakes and sauté on medium heat for about 25 seconds. Add sausage meat and break meat up with a spatula or spoon.
Cook sausage meat until browned and cooked through. Add blanched rapini to the pan and sauté for about 2 minutes.
While meat is browning, cook pasta according to package instructions. Drain, reserving 2 Tablespoons of the cooking water.
Add drained pasta to the meat and rapini mixture and reserved pasta water. Stir together until all ingredients are evenly combined. Add garlic crumbs to pasta and toss to coat. Add a drizzle of olive oil if the pasta seems dry.
Season with salt and pepper and serve with grated parmesan cheese.

This made quite a lot, so at first I added only half of the bread crumbs to half of the pasta. That way the breadcrumbs didn't get soggy for leftovers.

Chicken Sausage, Sweet Onion, and Fennel Pizza

2010-04-20T08:46:00.000-07:00

This pizza was the bomb! Even my 6 year old loved it (we won't talk about the 8 year old, who didn't try it. But that was good because it left more for the rest of us). It also proved to my husband that fennel bulb tastes different than fennel seed--not so licorice-y. (See, honey? I'm always right.)

We served it with a nice salad and it made a perfect week night quick meal.

Chicken Sausage, Sweet Onion, and Fennel Pizza

Ingredients
3 ounces chicken apple sausage, chopped
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 1/2 cups vertically sliced Oso Sweet or other sweet onion
1 cup thinly sliced fennel bulb (about 1 small bulb)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 (12-ounce) prebaked pizza crust
3/4 cup (3 ounces) shredded Gouda cheese
1 tablespoon chopped fresh chives

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 450°.

2. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add sausage to pan; sauté 4 minutes or until browned, stirring occasionally. Remove from pan.

3. Add oil to pan. Add onion, fennel, and salt; cover and cook 10 minutes or until tender and lightly browned, stirring occasionally.

4. Place pizza crust on a baking sheet. Top evenly with onion mixture; sprinkle with cheese, and top evenly with sausage. Bake at 450° for 12 minutes or until cheese melts. Sprinkle evenly with chives. Cut pizza into 8 wedges.

A Dish Here, A Dish There

2010-04-14T11:21:00.000-07:00

Seared foie gras with fried bacon bread pudding and fig compote at Solera:

Crappy picture. Great dish.

Ruth Reichl at Tattered Cover April 27

2010-03-26T08:48:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite memoirists (and so much more!) will be at Tattered Cover on April 27th to read and sign from her new book. I'll be there or be square.

From the Tattered Cover website:

Ruth Reichl
Tuesday, April 27, 7:30 pm, Colfax Avenue
A former New York Times restaurant critic, editor-in-chief of Gourmet, and the author of three bestselling memoirs, Ruth Reichl will read from and sign the new paperback edition of her memoir For You, Mom. Finally ($13.00 Penguin), her openhearted investigation of the life of a woman she realizes she never really knew—her mother.

My Latest Obsessions

2010-03-19T12:37:00.000-07:00

Just random thoughts on two food products I'm obsessing over these days. And they just happen to be local.

The first is Chocolove's (from Boulder) Almonds & Sea Salt in Dark Chocolate bar.

At Christmas, a coworker gave me a Chocolove bar with cherries and almonds. It was great. So when I saw chocolove bars on sale at Vitamin Cottage I picked up some of the other flavors, the aforementioned obsession and one with crystallized ginger in 65% dark chocolate. That one could become an obsession if the almonds and sea salt one didn't exist. OMG, just enough salt to make the dark chocolate seem even richer. It is SO good.

My other obsession is Noosa yoghurt, also from Boulder.

And I'm not just saying this because 5280 Magazine just featured this as their obsession this week. I discovered it last week when I visited the relatively new In Season Local Market in Highlands--a very cute (VERY small) market that only carries local products. This place is about the size of a closet! I got one container of the Noosa raspberry yoghurt and the next day had to track down some more. Luckily my Whole Foods carries it. Yogurt doesn't usually excite me, but this stuff is incredible! It's really thick and tastes more like a pot de creme or something. I've tried all 3 flavors (that I could find) and love them all equally.

So run out and get both of these products, if you can. I'm not sure you can get the yoghurt outside of the Denver area, but you can order the Chocolove online.

Queen Creek Olive Mill, Arizona

2010-03-17T10:02:00.000-07:00

My parents winter in Mesa, Arizona, since their WY cabin is too far off the grid to inhabit properly (or pleasantly) in the winter. We recently visited them and they took us to Queen Creek Olive Mill, Arizona's only operating olive farm and mill.

There, they have--in addition--to the farm and mill--a snack bar and shop. The snack bar, del Piero at the Mill, was really quite special.

I had a fantastic antipasto plate with fresh Mozzarella drizzled with fresh basil pesto, artisan cheeses, “Pork Shop” gourmet meats, fruit, roasted vegetables, local pistachios, del Piero Country Olive Mix, and grilled olive bread. I got the plate for one, but it was huge and I shared it with all. I had a glass of chianti with it. B had a sandwich and the boys got nutella and banana sandwiches (the place has kids meals!) with chips and a cookie.

We ate our lunch on their gorgeous, shaded patio area surrounded by herb gardens and lawns.

Don't you like how the olive leaves frame that last picture as if I photoshopped a border? (I didn't.) My only complaint about the place is that "for safety reasons" you can't tour the farm area and see the "real" olive trees. The ones on the visitor's center are all ornamental olives.

The "tour" was short and quick. It started with us seated outside while one of the workers told us the history, etc. of the place. We then moved inside where we got to see the olives being pressed. Here is the "caca," as they called it--or leftovers after the oil has been pressed out of the olives.

Mmmm...appetizing, eh?

But look at these beautiful olives:

We then got to taste the freshest olive oil I've ever tasted (less than 20 minutes after pressing) and a number of their olives.

In the shop, they also have all of their olive oils for tasting. I went a little nuts in the shop. I got truffle olive oil and Mexican Lime olive oil (my favorite--makes fantastic vinaigrette). As a gift for a coworker, I got blood orange olive oil and pomegranate white balsamic vinegar. I also got some sun-baked tomato basil stuffed olives and some Mexican Lime olive oil cakes (these were awesome!). You can order all, but the cakes, through their website.

Here is the recipe for the olive oil cake from their website:

Olive Oil Cake

3 large eggs, beaten
2 cups granulated sugar
10 oz. QCOM Mexican Lime Extra Virgin Olive Oil
10 oz. milk
2 oz. lime juice
3 tsp. lime zest
2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees (325 if convection oven). Grease a 10 inch pan. Whisk the eggs, sugar, olive oil, milk, citrus juice, and zest. Sift the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Mix the dry ingredients into the wet mixture. Whisk until blended. Pour into the prepared pan. Bake for 1 hour.

Queen Creek Olive Mill was low key and delicious. I highly recommend it if you're in the area.

It's All About the Music Today

2010-03-12T09:20:00.000-08:00

Wheee! I just bought my Pavement tickets. Now I can right another old regret.

In addition, I was alerted that one of my favorite bands of the nineties, Th' Faith Healers reformed (apparently in 2006!) and played some dates last year. Now if only I could see them....

For your listening pleasure:

Denver Restaurant Week Update: Panzano

2010-03-09T12:47:00.000-08:00

Last but not least, and a little late since Denver Restaurant Week. Panzano was really doing a nice deal because they offered four, rather than the usual three, dishes for $52.80 (for two people). As you can see on their published menu, they had 3-5 options for each course. They also had $5 glasses of a red wine and $4 glasses of a white, contributing to the good deal.

I started with the "Anatra Mousse con Zeppole," which consisted of duck liver mousse with thyme, parmesan doughnuts and a cranberry maple compote. I've been dying to try this dish ever since I read about it here on Denveater. Check out that link for some good pics too. Who knew that duck could taste so dessert-y? Because this tasted more like a dessert than an app. The donuts were light and a little sweet and a little savory. I believe the duck liver mousse had honey on it (or maybe maple syrup?) and was so creamy. When you put it with the the cranberry maple compote on the donuts, it was totally something I'd enjoy as dessert or as an appetizer.

For the second dish, I had the Truffled Potato Leek Soup. It was my least favorite dish of the night. Not bad, but didn't excite me.

For my entree, I had the Gamberi Griglia: "grilled jumbo shrimp stuffed with Medjool dates wrapped with house pancetta, served over polenta, and topped with gorgonzola cheese." This was a great dish: sweet from the dates, salty from the pancetta, pungent from the gorgonzola (but not overpoweringly). I loved it.

For dessert, I had the lavender Chocolate Pâté with sea salt, micro-basil, extra virgin olive oil, candied orange zest and toasted hazelnuts--quite the plethora of flavors! Yet, somehow it all worked. I've had a lot of things with chocolate, but not basil. I guess I shouldn't be surprised it worked, since dark chocolate and basil are two fo my favorite things. It was a small slab of chocolate, but was so rich and flavorful, you wouldn't want more. I could barely finish it!

Our server was great. Very friendly and helpful.

It's hard to choose which was better for DRW--Rioja or Panzano--if it hadn't been for the entree meats at Rioja they'd "win." I guess I'll leave it at they both were fantastic and a great deal for $52.80.

Denver Harvest Week - Black Pearl Report

2010-03-05T18:11:00.000-08:00

Last Saturday we got a sitter and headed on over to Black Pearl restaurant to celebrate Denver Restaurant Week. They have a nice, cozy space. We sat in the loft area, which was crowded and warm, but overall pleasant none the less.

B was disappointed that they changed their published DRW menu and didn't have the short ribs. What was annoying was that the problem wasn't that they didn't have the short ribs, they just moved them to their "tasting menu" which was a (little) more expensive ($33) and had different choices for the other courses, which he didn't want. They also replaced with the buffalo chili with a curry carrot soup.

I, however, was happy with the changes. The soup was A. MAY. ZING. I could have licked my bowl. I got the cassoulet and B got the snapper (which replaced the short ribs). We both liked our entrees, but switched half way through, because we like the other's better.

For dessert, we shared the two options: a "Butterscotch" Pot de Creme with a chocolate cookie, which wasn't very butterscotchy--more like a custard--but was very tasty; and a cheese plate, which was small, but an okay size for me (and for a DRW menu).

Our server was very nice. There was a snafu with our bread, but she was so nice it didn't matter. BTW, they serve their bread with butter that has a smoky-flavored salt on it. I've seen this salt (or something similar) at Savory Spice Shop and almost got it. Now I definitely have to stop in and pick some up. Yum!

After dinner, we stopped in at Pearl Martini Lounge, above India's Pearl, for one drink. I had a cardamom martini, which was downright nasty, even though I love cardamom and martinis. The cardamom was just too concentrated and perhaps they're too tastes which don't go together). However, it was a nice space and the smell coming from India's Pearl was amazing. We'll be heading there soon, fo sho.

Denver Restaurant Week Update: Steuben's

2010-03-03T10:32:00.000-08:00

We hit Steuben's up for Denver Restaurant Week, because a) it's a place we can take the kids and b) I've been wanting to try their lobster roll. For $52.80 (for two), you each get a big bowl of clam chowder, their lobster roll, pudding, and a Sam Adams. They list "R.W. Pudding" on their published menu, which is a butterscotch pudding, but the night we went, they also had a chocolate pudding. These are all items on their regular menu, except the desserts (I think).

The clam chowder was decent but not thrilling. The lobster roll is served on grilled, buttered Texas Toast and I liked it very much, but B wasn't thrilled. Here's a picture from Westword's Cafe Society:

I had the off-menu chocolate pudding which was salted and had a hint of chile. If you don't like salt with your chocolate, you wouldn't like this, because it was uber-salty. But I must admit I like it that way. The meal itself was pretty darn salty. Our server was not the friendliest I've ever had, but adequate.

The highlight of the meal was the Scorpion Bowl--or as B and I like to call it, the Flaming Moe--which was not this:

but the possibly even more exciting this:

This is for 2-4 people, people--we had 3 and there was more than enough to go around. It's hard to tell in our picture, but that center well is filled with 151 Rum and FLAMING! The drink is 48 whopping ounces and consists of Myers's Original Dark Rum, Three Olives Cherry Vodka, Captain Morgan Original Spiced Rum, pineapple juice, OJ and cranberry juice (in addition to that flaming Bacardi 151). At first sip, I thought, ick. But the more you drink that baby, the better it tastes!

Green Eggs and Ham Pizza

2010-03-02T08:32:00.001-08:00

In honor of Dr. Seuss' birthday, here's a recipe I made tonight called "Egg, Ham, and Spinach Pizza" by Ellie Krieger, but I've rechristened it "Green Eggs and Ham Pizza." (Actually when I made it I wasn't thinking about Dr. Seuss, but today I realized it's a happy coincidence.)

It smelled incredible, was tasty, and VERY easy. Can't beat that!

Ingredients
1 store-bought baked thin-crust pizza shell, preferably whole-wheat, such as Boboli (Or better yet, make your own. I used the easy way out, though)
4 cups (about 4 ounces) baby spinach leaves, thinly sliced
2 teaspoons olive oil
3 ounces prosciutto di Parma, thinly sliced
1/2 cup grated Parmesan (1 1/2 ounces)
3 cloves thinly sliced garlic
4 eggs

Directions
Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Place the pizza shell on a cookie sheet. Scatter spinach all over crust. Drizzle with oil. Evenly distribute prosciutto, Parmesan and garlic on top of spinach. Crack eggs onto pizza, roughly positioning 1 yolk on each pizza quarter. Bake for 12-15 minutes, until spinach is wilted and egg whites are just fully cooked.

Pavement Denver Date!

2010-03-01T11:54:00.000-08:00

At last!

Pavement to Play Broomfield's 1stBank Center in September

Denver Restaurant Week Update: Rioja (and a little TAG)

2010-03-01T08:43:00.001-08:00

The first night of Denver Restaurant Week we went to Rioja. Their DRW menu featured many of its regular items, but some with an upcharge. I started with some kind of pear/almond cocktail that was thick, since it had pear puree in it, but was delicious. They brought around their bread. One thing that Rioja does especially well is homemade breads and crackers. A server brings around a large basket of bread with several choices. I had the lavender sourdough and goat cheese-rosemary bread. I LOVE that lavender sourdough. I mentioned it before when I posted about Rioja's Sips and Snacks. I'm afraid I did not get pictures, so here is one from kevinEats.

For our appetizer, we got the Rioja “picnic” to share--a trio of artisan meats (prosciutto, soppressata, and salami if I remember correctly), gorgonzola, olives, almonds, truffle fennel salad, orange confit, and sweet goat cheese balls with pine nuts that were battered and fried. It came with homemade crackers. It was all delicious, but the salad, confit and goat cheese balls were out of this world. It's an appetizer for two and quite filling. I love me a meat/cheese/ snack plate and this one was exceptional. Here is a picture from Meal Makeover Moms.

Before I get to the entrees, let's talk about dessert. You got to choose one dessert to share for their DRW menu (I don't know what they do if only person orders the DRW menu). We got their famous beignets--sweet goat cheese and black mission fig filled pastries served with a ruby port wine reduction. These beignets were on Denver Magazine's "100 Things You Must Eat in Denver" and rated the highest of that list on Must Eat Denver. Here is the latter's picture:

They definitely live up to the hype. Oh my, the texture. They literally melt in your mouth--it's not just a cliched saying in this case. They have a light crispy outside that starts melting away almost as soon as you put them in your mouth, revealing the sweet goat cheese. There is not an overpowering figgy taste. The figs just add a little more sweetness to the beignet. I swear their little pillows of heaven and may be one of my all time favorite desserts. My only complaint is that there were only 5 in the serving and that wasn't enough to share! If you go this week, order an extra one. You'll be glad you did.

For our entrees, I got the Muscovy duck breast with saffron manchego risotto, pistachio pine nut stuffed Medjool dates, a saffron almond cracker, and spiced citrus jus for a $7 upcharge. I was so looking forward to this and was so disappointed. Everything on the plate was amazing, except for the duck, and sorry, but the meat of your entree is kind of an important part of the meal. The duck was ridiculously tough and chewy. I couldn't cut or chew through it and finally gave up on it (I was afraid it would fly across the room while I tried to saw through it! BTW, Rioja, you need sharper steak knives). The risotto was great and tasted comfortingly like cheesy rice a roni, haha, and I mean that in a good way. The pistachio stuffed dates were sweet and nutty and I would love to try to make something like that for a party appetizer someday. The cracker was so good. And I don't usually get excited about crackers!

B had the Colorado lamb two ways for a $4 upcharge: grilled t-bone, house made lamb merguez sausage, crisp couscous pillows, caramelized fennel, tomato coulis, and preserved lemon yogurt. He was also disappointed. The sausage and couscous "pillow" was very good, but the grilled t-bone was gristly and also hard for him to cut. Bummer! This dish was pictured in the Denver Post article about Rioja recently:

Because the entree meats were so disappointing, we can't help but wonder if they used lower quality cuts for DRW. Or maybe we just got unlucky. Perhaps we have "sucker" stamped on our foreheads? I'm kicking myself for not saying anything. I don't know what I was thinking. So really I'm to blame as much as the kitchen.

But for that complaint, we still had an incredible meal. Everything else was so outstanding, including the service, that it more than made up for the one downside. The rest of the food really was ridiculously good.

I must add a little side note too. Prior to Rioja, we stopped in at TAG next door for a quick cocktail. They were busy, but there was room for a bar. They have the most amazing mise en place for a bar that I've ever seen (Is that term used for bars too? I think so). Check it out:

They had numerous fresh herbs, like thyme, cilantro, mint, etc. They had homemade tonic and grenadine; Little droppers of homemade bitters; and who knows what else. It was gorgeous and so cool! Our bartender was incredibly nice about all my questions and even explained how to make tonic, since I noted that I didn't realize real tonic is not clear and bubbly. To make it, basically you take a bunch of herbs and citrus juice, boil it up, and strain it, and add some sugar. Here's a recipe I found on the web. I don't know how close it is to TAG's recipe, but it'll give you an idea of what I'm talking about.

I had the Full Monty with gin, brandy, lemongrass/coriander syrup, and lemon. It was garnished with a cucumber slice and the bartender carefully placed some coriander seeds on the slice with forceps. So pretty! And delicious, of course. The bartender noted that this drink will be (or has been?) entered in a Hendrick's gin contest. I can see it as a winner. I definitely can't wait to go back to TAG for more than just drinks.

Postscript: The great thing about a restaurant like Rioja is that it's so popular people take pictures of their food and post them on the web. Thanks to all whose pictures I used. I'm never sure of the etiquette of using other pics on the webs, but if any site owners have a problem, let me know and I'll take them down. I enjoyed reading all your posts.

What's in Season...NOW...Where YOU Live

2010-02-22T08:50:00.000-08:00

This is a cool site that foodista posted on Twitter:

http://www.nrdc.org/health/foodmiles/

You input your state and the time of the season it is and it tells you what local produce is available specific to you right now.

For example, in CO right now (late Feb.), the following are available:
Apples*
Onions *
Pinto Beans
Popcorn
Potatoes

* Indicates availability from local hothouse or storage

There's also a full year list available, so you can plan ahead.

Denver Restaurant Week(s) 2010

2010-02-19T18:07:00.000-08:00

In case you live in Denver and have been living under a rock, Denver Restaurant Week (which is actually 2 weeks) starts tomorrow. I love DRW, because it's normally so expensive for us to eat at nice restaurants because we have to pay the added expense of a sitter (which is usually $50 or more). So now, we can get a sitter, but try out a pricier restaurant for only $52.80 for the two of us (granted we usually end up paying much more with drinks!).

Tomorrow night we're going to Rioja, where they will feature most of their regular menu (some of it for an extra cost). Their restaurant week menu is posted on their website under "Events." I've been to their Tuesday night Sips and Snacks before (where we added on an appetizer), but never had a full meal there. Chef Jennifer Jasinski was just nominated for a James Beard award (Best Chef Southwest). Really looking forward to it!

Next Saturday, we're off to Black Pearl--another place I've been meaning to check out forever, but never had a chance to.. You can see the menu at that link.

I may also have a night out with the girls some place. I'm hoping for maybe The Argyll, Ondo's, Parallel Seventeen, Shazz, TAG, The Squeaky Bean (this probably would be my first choice since it's their entire regular menu!), or Venue. How to choose, how to choose? I suppose it will depend on where we can get reservations.

I'm also hoping to convince B that we should take the boys to Steubens (since it is M's THIRD favorite restaurant and all), because we can all go there and I've been wanting to try their lobster roll anyway.

It's going to be an expensive two weeks!

Terroir Restaurant in Longmont, CO

2010-02-01T13:07:00.001-08:00

It's embarassing how long ago I had this meal (hint: First Bite Boulder), but it was a meal worth posting anyway.

We decided to trek to a far, far away land called Longmont. While it was a trek, it was also fun to take a mini "trip" for the evening. Terroir focuses on local, seasonal ingredients, so the menu probably changes regularly. While many of the dishes below were available on the regular menu at the time, they aren't now, although there are some dishes that are similar. I went with the recommended wine pairings with the dishes and they did well with the pairings.

For our first course, B had the blue cheese gnocchi made with White Mountain Farm potato, moucou creamy blue, and rosemary. The blue cheese was not over-done and this was our favorite of the starters.

I had a beet salad made with "My Momma’s Hat" beets (how cute is that name?), Haystack Mountain fresh chevre, candied walnuts, Oxford Garden greens, and a beet vinaigrette. If you love beets this is the salad for you. To me, beets are okay, but just okay. I try them on a regular basis to see if I can figure out the fuss, but I still haven't. This salad was very "beet-y" and was decent, but didn't thrill me. I thought it was a bit over-dressed too. But it was definitely a beautiful salad with the red and gold beets and red dressing.

My main was the hit of the night--for me at least--it was a bit sweet for B. I tell you, I am still dreaming of this dish. If I ever see it on their menu again, I'm making the trek to Longmont. It was maple-glazed duck confit with spaetzle, Long Family Farm bacon, and brussel sprouts. Heck, even the brussel sprouts were tasty! That can be difficult. Unlike B, I did not think the dish was too sweet. Everyone knows bacon tastes great with maple...yummy salty sweet goodness...but don't think there was anything breakfasty about this dish. It was a hearty and filling true "dinner" dish. I practically stuffed myself trying to eat every morsel, it was so good. If we hadn't been in public, I probably would have licked the plate.

B had the River Ranch oxtail ragu with house-made papperdelle, winter greens,and gremolata. This also was a nice, hearty dish for a cold winter night (which it was).

For dessert we had lavender crème brulee, which I really liked. Lavender in a dessert can be overpowering, but this was just the right touch--the lavender really stood out without tasting like a Crabtree and Evelyn soap. We also had a toasted coconut semi freddo, which really did not excite me, but wasn't bad. If they had added some dark chocolate, it would have tasted like an Almond Joy and that would have done it.

There were several hits and no true misses, so if you're up in the Longmont area, I would definitely recommend checking Terroir out.

Coming soon, I hope...

2010-01-25T13:26:00.000-08:00

...a real post! I've had the death flu since before Christmas! January was a complete wash. I'm finally feeling better and once I get caught back up on life, I'll get back to blogging, I promise.

2010-01-25T08:56:00.000-08:00

Cleaving: A Story of Marriage, Meat, and Obsession by Julie Powell

My rating: 4 of 5 stars.

I'm almost afraid to review this book positively, given how many people vehemently hate it. But I don't think the book was horribly written. I find Julie Powell absolutely despicable and was thoroughly disturbed by her while I read the book. But like a train wreck, that made it interesting.
I don't understand her actions and I don't understand her relationship with her husband. While I read the book, I couldn't stop wondering about how he feels about being a cuckold and how he can stand the way he is portrayed in the book. It absolutely confounds me that a marriage could survive her actions and especially the book. I actually found myself googling the guy to see if there were any comments from him on the book (I found none).
The fact that the book kept my attention and bothered me so much, makes it interesting to me, and therefore the good rating.
But I certainly have no desire to ever meet Julie Powell or anyone like her.
View all my reviews >>

2010-01-06T10:11:00.001-08:00

Farm City: The Education of an Urban Farmer by Novella Carpenter

My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Loved this book! Novella Carpenter is a rad (as my friend K would say), ultimate do it yourselfer. She sets up a farm on an unused lot in urban (i.e. ghetto) Oakland. And I don't mean a big garden with maybe a few chickens. This gal also has ducks, turkeys, rabbits, and pigs(!)--all of which she harvests for food. She even befriended a chef who taught her how to cure the pig meat into fancy salume. Yum!

It was very readable and just a fascinating account of someone who's marching to the beat of a different drummer. Lots of lessons for us all to learn on where our food comes from, sustainable eating, etc.

View all my reviews >>

2009-12-24T09:09:00.001-08:00

Don't Follow Me, I'm Lost: A Memoir of Hampshire College in the Twilight of the '80s by Richard Rushfield

My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I really enjoyed the book about a guy who started college the same year I did: 1986. While liberal, make-up-your-own-education Hampshire College is very different from the traditional, state school that I went to, he captures the "feeling" of that era very well. It made me nostalgic for some of the funnest years of my life.

View all my reviews >>

2009-12-24T09:04:00.001-08:00

Confections of a Closet Master Baker by Gesine Bullock-Prado

My rating: 4 of 5 stars
A sweet, light read about a woman (who happens to be Sandra Bullock's sister) who gave up a profitable career in Hollywood to be a baker in Vermont. She cooks German style pastries and cakes and describes the joy of living out your dream, rather than doing what you're "supposed" to do.

View all my reviews >>

Wintergirls

2009-12-24T08:59:00.000-08:00

Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson

My rating: 4 of 5 starsI wish I could give this 4 1/2 stars. It was a haunting and painful book that I know will stick with me for awhile. I listened to the CD version, which was produced very interestingly. It had "tricks" that annoyed me at first, but once I understood them, it really added to the experience. I found myself looking forward to my commute so that I could listen to this book.
It's a story about an 18 year old anorexic, self-mutilator, who is not only dealing with her illness(es) but the death of her ex-friend who died from binging. Not a book for the faint of heart, but beautifully written.
View all my reviews >

Cranberry Bars

2009-12-19T08:12:00.000-08:00

I've been terrible about blogging lately. I have lots of yummy things to post, and will hopefully get to it over the Christmas break.

Right now, I'm posting this recipe for posterity. I posted a link to it last Christmas and went back to get it today because it's holiday baking day in our house. Unfortunately, I had only posted a link and the magazine it was in is now defunct! That'll learn me. Thankfully, I found it posted somewhere else, but here it is. These are truly delicious and easy.

Cranberry Bars

Crust:

1 C flour
1/3 C granulated sugar
1/2 C (1 stick) of cold butter, cut into tablespoons

Topping:

2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 C packed light brown sugar
1/3 C flour
1/2 t baking powder
1/2 t salt
1/2 t vanilla extract
1 C whole berry or jellied cranberry sauce (I use whole berry)
1/2 C slivered almonds

Steps:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease the sides of an 8 inch square baking pan.

2. Make the crust: In a food processor, combine the flour and granulated sugar. Add the butter and pulse until evenly combined.

3. Press the mixture into the baking pan and bake for 35 minutes or until golden. Remove from the oven to add the topping, but leave the oven on.

4. Meanwhile, make the topping: In a bowl, with an electric mixer, beat the eggs and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the flour, baking powder, salt and vanilla. Stir in the cranberry sauce and almonds.

5. Pour the topping over the cooked shortbread bottom and return to the oven for 40 to 45 minutes, until set and evenly browned on top.

6. Let cool completely in the pan on a rack before cutting into 12 bars.

The Pavement Reunion is Happening!

2009-11-13T08:43:00.000-08:00

I think this is old news (from Sept.), but Pavement is really reuniting. There are 3 bands that I've always regretted not seeing back in the 80s: The Pixies, Pavement, and Bad Brains. I've seen the first several times now (although not going to the Denver shows this week). Now hopefully, I'll have my chance to see Pavement. So far, the only date announced that I can see is Sept. 2010 in Seattle. Anybody up for a trip to Seattle? Think I can take the kids to the show?

Pavement is headlining Sasquatch! 2010

Peppery Pasta Carbonara with Poached Egg

2009-11-04T09:28:00.001-08:00

I tried this dish from the second to last issue of Gourmet (sniff!), because I was in the need for some comfort food and I needed something for which I had all the ingredients on hand. It was super simple and very hearty and yummy. B really liked it too. I will definitely be adding it to the repertoire--especially the winter one.

I've doubled the ingredients to make it serve 2, since the original recipe is for 1 (weird!).

Peppery Pasta Carbonara with Poached Egg

4 bacon slices, cut into 1-inch pieces
1/2 pound spaghetti
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
2/3 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano plus additional for serving
2 to 4 tablespoons chopped tarragon OR ~2 teaspoons dried tarragon (can use parsley too)
2 - 4 large eggs, depending on how hungry you are (The original recipe called for 1 egg per person. There was a lot of pasta and we were hungry, so we ended up making 1 more for each of us.)

Cook bacon in a 10-inch nonstick skillet over medium heat until crisp. Transfer bacon with a slotted spoon to paper towels to drain.

Meanwhile, cook spaghetti in a 4-quart saucepan of salted boiling water until al dente. Reserve 2/3 cup cooking water, then transfer spaghetti with tongs to a small bowl, shaking off excess water, and keep pan of water simmering.

Pour off all but 4 teaspoons bacon fat from skillet, then whisk butter into fat in skillet over medium heat. Add spaghetti, reserved cooking water, cheese, and a rounded 1/2 teaspoon pepper and cook, stirring, until sauce is thickened and almost completely absorbed, 2 to 3 minutes. Add bacon and 1 - 2 teaspoon (if using dried - 1 tablespoon if using fresh) tarragon and toss. Season with salt and pepper.

Break egg into a cup and gently slide into water. Poach at a bare simmer to desired doneness (Gourmet says, "we prefer a firm white with a runny yolk, 2 to 3 minutes" and I do too!).

Serve pasta topped with egg (transfer using a slotted spoon). Sprinkle with remaining tarragon if desired.

Above is Gourmet's beautiful picture, because mine, while yummy, was kind of ugly. Comfort food doesn't have to be pretty, does it?

Processed Food May Contribute to Depression

2009-11-03T08:25:00.001-08:00

I know a lot of it depresses me! But seriously, folks, I found this article interesting: "Processed Food Could Have Role in Depression, Says Study.

Stuffed Picnic Loaf With Pesto, Grilled Vegetables, Prosciutto and Provolone Cheese

2009-10-24T09:59:00.000-07:00

It's not too late in the season to grill (actually, in our house it never really is, although our frequency decreases a lot in the colder months). Today's it's sunny and in the 60s and we're having friends over for dinner. I've made it for guests in the past (with and without prosciutto), and it's always a hit

I'll be making this recipe, which is from "The Vegetarian Grill: 200 Recipes for Inspired Flame-Kissed Meals" by Andrea Chesman. I'm making mine non-vegetarian by adding prosciutto.

Stuffed Picnic Loaf With Pesto, Grilled Vegetables, Prosciutto, and Provolone Cheese

6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 large eggplant, peeled and sliced 3/8 inch thick
1 red or green bell pepper, quartered
1 sweet onion (such as Walla Walla sweet)
1 large loaf Italian or French country bread (1 1/4 to 1 1/2 pounds)
1/2 cup pesto (homemade or commercially prepared)
5 ounces provolone cheese, sliced
~ 1/4 # prosciutto
2 large vine-ripened tomatoes, sliced

Prepare a medium-hot fire in grill.

Grill vegetables, turning occasionally, until well browned, 10 to 15 minutes. Remove vegetables from grill as they are done.

Reduce grill's temperature by spreading out coals or reducing flame on a gas grill to low.

Slice the bread in half horizontally. Remove some of loaf's interior to create a hollow space for stuffing with vegetables. Brush loaf's inside with remaining olive oil and garlic, then spread with the pesto. Layer half of the provolone, grilled vegetables, the prosciutto, the tomatoes, and remaining provolone onto bottom piece of bread. Position top half of loaf in place. Wrap loaf in foil.

Place loaf on a low-heat spot on grill, away from direct heat, cover grill and bake until bread is lightly toasted and cheese is melted, about 10 minutes. Do not allow bread to scorch.

To serve, unwrap loaf. Slice into wedges and serve hot.

Makes 4 servings.

NOTE: This sandwich can be assembled up to a day in advance and refrigerated in its foil wrapper. To heat, bake over low coals, turning occasionally, for about 30 minutes. Or heat in oven at 350 F for about 30 minutes.

VARIATIONS: Possible variations on this theme are infinite. Substitute relish or tapenade for pesto. Use different vegetables, replacing some or all of the ones specified with grilled zucchini, yellow summer squash and mushrooms. Cheddar, fontina, Monterey Jack, Colby, Gouda — any semihard cheese with good melting properties — can replace provolone. Or use goat cheese and omit pesto and provolone.

In addition, I'm going to be serving "Rockin' Ginger and Wasabi Wings"--a recipe I got from Foodista this week. If they turn out well, I'll post the recipe and maybe even some pics. It sounds yummy, anyway!

I'm also making that delicious Sour Cream Peach Pecan Pie and I know my friends are bringing some delicious dishes.

Brian just got a keg (for the kegerator) of Avery IPA and I plan on getting into that bottle of Carlson Vineyards Cherry wine that we got in Palisade. I plan on serving it with chocolate-rimmed glasses (the Enstrom's that came with it).

Should be a feast!

Traveling with Pomegranates: A Mother-Daughter Story

2009-10-19T08:03:00.000-07:00

Traveling with Pomegranates: A Mother-Daughter Story by Sue Monk Kidd

My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I really enjoyed this book by the author of "The Secret Life of Bees" and her daughter. It's part travel memoir, but more of a reflection on many feminine topics, including mother-daughter relationships; coming to terms with menopause, aging, and death; and feeling lost as a young adult. The book explores many feminine iconic themes: Demeter and Persephone, Joan of Arc, Athena, and the virgin Mary.

Both writers have beautiful voices and it was a very touching and thought provoking book.

View all my reviews >>

What I Found In My Car This Morning

2009-10-15T11:01:00.001-07:00

Apparently my husband wants me to fill up his Golden City Brewery growler. They're getting ready to tap their pumpkin ale - YUM!

It's good to see that safety is a priority.

50 Ways to Never Waste Food Again

2009-10-14T08:00:00.000-07:00

A good article I saw on Twitter: here. I have an almost irrational fear about wasting food and yet it still sometimes happens in our house. This article has some good ideas--most I've heard of (but they bear reminding) and some I'd never thought of.

Obama Proclaims this National School Lunch Week

2009-10-13T07:48:00.000-07:00

You can see the proclamation here. Unfortunately, Congress pushed back updating the Child Nutrition Act, which includes the National School Lunch program, so I'm not sure what this does other than awareness.

My boys are taking their lunches to school this week, because the menu is not satisfactory. I hope that before they graduate they can get healthy lunches at school.

Ethnic Eats in Golden Part 2 - Empanada Express Grill

2009-10-10T13:15:00.001-07:00

More recently, another ethnic restaurant opened up in Golden, Empanada Express Grill, which serves Venezuelan food. It's a tiny little restaurant on the end of a strip mall, and it was soon packed after we got there.

I first heard of it on Westword's Cafe Society. Apparently it used to be in a trailer and recently graduated to a more permanent home. I haven't had much in the way of Venezuelan food other than the americanized version of an empanada. But the flavors are familiar and I think even my kids might like the food--corn cakes, beans, plantains, cheese, etc. The food is inexpensive too. I got the most expensive thing on the menu, the "Taste of Venezuela" so I could try a lot of different things, and it was still only $10.99. You could eat a nice sized meal for $7 or so.

I broke my camera this week, so all I had was my blackberry. I think the Barbara Walters "soft light" effect is due to some lint on the lens, haha. If you know of any good deals on small, but decent quality cameras (I need one that I can carry in my purse at all times), let me know.

On this plate, you see clockwise from top: an arepa, a cachapa, two tequenos, some fried plaintains, and an empanada.

Empanadas are shaped like a turnover and made of corn meal. They let you choose any of their numerous fillings for the combo plate. I got the Reina Pepiada filled with white cheese, chicken salad and avocado. Arepas are also made of corn meal, but are circular corn cakes sliced in half and filled to make a sandwich. I got the La Gallina filled with shredded chicken, black beans, white cheese and sweet fried plantain. They were both good, but I definitely preferred the gallina over the chicken salad.

Tequenos are wheat flour dough sticks surrounding a melted white cheese center. Cachapas (Arepas De Choclo) are a Venezuelan pancake made with sweet kettle corn and served with melted cheese and butter.

They also serve fresh juices and I got the lime juice, served like a limeade. It was sweet, sour, and delicious. Definitely worth the $3. Unfortunately, they don't have a liquor license. The food would be so good with a beer!

I hope to return soon, explore the menu some more, and hopefully get some better pictures.

Ethnic Eats in Golden Part 1 - Sherpa House

2009-10-10T11:31:00.000-07:00

I hate to say it, but Golden has long had a dearth of good dining. Restaurants come and go fairly quickly and many have had poor service, food, or both. But things are changing.

Earlier this year, Sherpa House opened up, serving Himalayan food (Nepalese, Tibetan, and Indian). It's located in a little house on Washington Street. When you first walk in, you're struck by its decor, as it also serves as a cultural center and is decorated as "an authentic representation of a typical Sherpa house in the Solu-Khumbu region of Nepal," complete with shrine.

There's a collection of photographs of Nepal and even a Yeti replica (that's my little ham).

Speaking of yetis, I recently received an email from them that they are hosting "Yeti Night in Golden" next Saturday, Oct. 15th. From the email:

"An exciting event is taking place in Historic Down Town Golden CO. On Saturday Oct. 15 2009, a group of big and small YETIS (ABOMINABLE SNOWMANS) will be walking through the Historic Down Town of Golden, CO. It will all start from the American Mountaineering center in Golden and end at Sherpa House Restaurant and Cultural Center. The event will start at 5:30 pm at the Mountaineering Center with a Yeti custom making contest. The winner will not only get some prizes, but also get a free dinner at Sherpa House. There will be story telling about the legendary snowman (YETI) and participants get to see the mountaineering library and museum. Once the contest is done, around 7:00 pm, all the Yetis will be walking to Sherpa House Restaurant for a party (five minute walk). Everyone in costume will get a discounted dinner and buy one get one drinks free. Free chai tea for every one."

The patio is lovely too and a fantastic place to hang out on a warm day. It's decorated with prayer flags, tibetan art, and a garden. They serve Golden City Brewery beer, another plus and great for patio-sitting.

But how is the food? Excellent! I always start with the chicken momo (they also have veggie and beef momo)--steamed dumplings with spiced, ground chicken, served with a spicy tomato dipping sauce:

One favorite entree is the Daal Bhat, a "traditional Nepali platter of rice and lentil soup served with a vegetable side dish and a Naan bread. Choice of vegetable, chicken, beef, lamb or yak meat." Yes, they serve yak! They have a number of dishes that you can get with yak. B ordered it once and it wasn't bad. The daal bhat comes with rice, lentil soup, steamed vegetables, and the entree in a curry sauce. A server told me one should mix it all together.

As it comes:

All mixed together:

Other favorites are the Chicken Tikka Masala (tender boneless chicken pieces broiled in a traditional clay oven and cooked in tomato, onion and cream sauce) and Chicken Makhani (marinated chicken pieces barbecued in a traditional clay oven and cooked with onions, tomatoes in a cream sauce). The descriptions, tastes, and even looks are pretty much the same, but both are good.

The Tikka Masala:

and the Makhani:

Occasionally, they'll have fish specials featuring tuna or salmon. I've had the salmon one and it was great. The sauce was so delicious. This picture is so yellow because we were sitting under a yellow awning at the time.

One thing we like about Sherpa House is that it has a kids menu, something which isn't always so common in ethnic restaurants. My 5 year old loves the momos, but my picky 7 year old sticks to the mac 'n' cheese (sad, isn't it?).

Ringling Bros. Circus Report

2009-10-04T18:55:00.000-07:00

On Thursday, we took the kids to the circus. They had a blast. "Zing Zang Zoom" is a very traditional circus, something you don't see much of these days. It has horse, tiger, elephant, and dog acts; and trapeze, acrobat, and magic acts; among others. Both boys liked the dog act best. I must say they were dang cute. They also liked the guys on the revolving things (not sure what it's called, but it's a big circle that spins around and revolves on top of that). That act was right in front of us and was quite thrilling. It was the last act before the grand finale/walk through. We all had a great time!

For discount tickets, enter code MOM in the "MC promotion" box on Ticketmaster. This code gives you 4 weekday tickets for just $44 or $4 off tickets for all weekend performances.

Minimum purchase of 4 tickets required; additional tickets above 4 can be purchased at $44 each during the week and $4 off on weekends. Offer not valid on Circus Celebrity, Front Row, or VIP seating. Cannot be combined with other offers. Service charges, facilty and handling fees will apply. when purchasing tickets.

This is a great deal and a lot of fun for kids and adults alike!

Sweet Potato Linguine with Garlic Red Pepper Sauce

2009-10-04T18:28:00.000-07:00

Tonight's meal was fantastic. When we were at Colorado Winefest, we picked up some of Pastamore's Sweet Potato Linguine:

I wasn't sure what to do with it, so decided to keep it simple and it turns out that was probably my best bet, because the pasta is so flavorful, you don't want to mask it with a heavy sauce. You should have smelled it while it was boiling! The whole house smelled like Fall.

I decided to cook some chicken and zucchini (from my garden, of course!) and then make an easy "sauce" from olive oil, red pepper, garlic, and parsley (seasoned with some salt and pepper).

We paired it with Carlson Vineyard's Laughing Cat Gewurztraminer, which turned out to be just perfect.

The spicy, but homey linguine with the spicy, fruity wine...ahhhhhhh.....

One of My Favorite Meals of the Year

2009-09-30T09:42:00.000-07:00

I've been meaning to post this for awhile, and since I've waited so long, you only have one more chance to get this meal: this Saturday.

We like to go to Golden's Farmers Market on Saturdays--the last one is this weekend, until next year. There is a tortilla stand there that sells tortillas and frozen tamals and meals, including quesadillas, burritos, tacos, and my favorite: pupusas. Pupusas are from El Salvadore and are a thick corn-based tortilla or flat bread, stuffed with goodness. I prefer the pork and cheese-filled ones from this stand. They serve it with a side of salsa and a salad of shredded lettuce, tomatoes, and chiles.

Get your pupusa (or other treat--I've tried the burritos, tamals, and quesadillas, and they're all good) to go. Then hop on over to nearby Golden City Brewery, where you can order a beer and sit at one of the picnic tables with your lunch. Recently they've had a seasonal brew that I adore called Golden Gose. Gose beer is a beer I'd never heard of--a wheat beer brewed with coriander and salt. GCB serves it with a shot of raspberry. Sounds gross, but is delicious! Truthfully, I can't taste the coriander and salt really, but the beer is light and perfect for a summer's day--it doesn't even really taste like beer. And it just happens to pair with the pupusas perfectly.

Another great thing about this perfect meal is that you can take the kids. Mine get hot dogs from the Farmers Market and buy a juice or pop at GCB. There's even a wooden train for the kids to play on at GCB. My boys love it.

In my picture of my perfect meal, you can see the wipes we brought for the kids and even a juice bag (or joosh bag, as we like to call them) in the upper corner. Shown here is my delicious pupusa with salsa and salad spread all over it--the best way to eat it, a pint of Golden Gose and some samples of other brews, which GCB is always happy to let you have.

So get on over there this Saturday! Maybe you'll see me.

ETA: and here are pictures from the last weekend (pardon the fuzzy camera phone quality). Gose is probably still available at GBC, so you can still check it out. I talked to the woman at the pupusa stand and she said they want to open a restaurant but don't know where or even what it will be called. So hopefully they'll be back at Golden Farmers Market next year.

Sour Cream Peach Pecan Pie

2009-09-27T18:55:00.000-07:00

This pie is SO good! We had the best dinner last night. I spent all afternoon cooking, but it was worth it. We had a roast chicken, roast potatoes, broccoli with a dijon vinaigrette (plus I put up the half bushel of peaches we bought in Palisade), and for dessert this pie.

The picture above is from the Taste of Home recipe link. My pie did NOT look pretty, but who cares when it tastes so good.

Sour Cream Peach Pecan Pie

Ingredients:

PIE:
Pastry for single-crust pie (9 inches)
4 cups sliced peeled peaches
2 tablespoons peach preserves
1 cup sugar
1 cup (8 ounces) sour cream
3 egg yolks
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

TOPPING:
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup sugar
3 tablespoons chopped pecans
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 cup cold butter

Directions:

Line a 9-in. pie plate with pastry; trim and flute edges.

In a large bowl, combine peaches and preserves. Transfer to pastry. In a small bowl, whisk the sugar, sour cream, egg yolks, flour and vanilla. Pour over peaches.

Bake at 425° for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, combine the flour, sugars, pecans and cinnamon. Cut in butter until crumbly; sprinkle over pie. Cover edges of crust to prevent overbrowning.

Bake for 15-20 minutes or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean and topping is golden brown. Cool completely on a wire rack for 3 hours before serving. Store in the refrigerator.

I've had a favorite recipe for a "peaches and cream" pie, but this one will be replacing it. It's definitely one of my top pies now.

Picky 7 year old wouldn't eat it, but the 5 year old had two helpings. I wanted two, but controlled myself!

Colorado Mountain Winefest

2009-09-27T15:04:00.000-07:00

Last weekend B and I went to the Colorado Mountain Winefest in Palisade as an early celebration for our anniversary (11 years on 10/2). We did this as a sort of follow up to our big 10 year anniversary trip to Napa/Sonoma last year.

It was packed! This will give you a little sense of the crowds.

This display of t-shirts gave me a giggle.

There were 52 wineries there each with numerous wines to sample. It was overwhelming! We hit the first table and tried each wine. We did the same at the second table. Then we realized that this strategy was not going to work--in fact it was a recipe for disaster! So from then on we only tasted award winners and wines that caught our eye. And we still tasted a lot. We also dumped anything we didn't immediately like. I hate the thought of wasting wine, but I was a dedicated dumper. I don't even know how much wine we must have consumed and dumped--bottles probably. By the end of the day we were definitely wined out. A good way to be! The festival was great for people watching too--especially as the day wore on. I generally hate crowds, but I didn't seem to mind it this day. I guess the wine put me in a good mood.

In our opinion--which is certainly not terribly knowledgeable, we just know what we like--Colorado does white, sweeter wines well, like Rieslings and Gewurztraminers. It does not do reds so well. The only red we bought was from Denver's own Balistreri winery. We ended up coming home with 15 bottles (3 were a gift). More on those later in this post.

On Friday, we visited St. Kathryn Cellars and Confre cellars (in the same building), the first tasting room off the road. It was the only one we went to before the festival, because we got to Palisade just a few minutes before 5 pm. The wines there were not our favorite, and they seemed to focus on fruit flavored wines, which I'm usually not too fond of. But there were a lot of wines to taste, so it's worth a stop if you're in Palisade.

We stayed in Grand Junction and tried a few restaurants in GJ and Palisade, but none that really excited us. On Friday, we tried Inari's in Palisade. The high point was sitting at our table under an umbrella in a hail storm (and sunny!). We were excited by the sample menu online which included "Southern Fried ½ Rabbit With edamame succotash and potato" and a "Colorado Leg of Lamb Braised for 9 hours with tomatoes and red wine." Yum! But the current menu had nothing like this and was fairly uninspired. B got a ho hum pasta bolognese and I got an even more ho hum fish cake dish. Here's my cutie:

And our calamari starter. It was okay. That "aioli" next to it tasted a lot like thousand island. That's a Colorado wine next to it, of course!

B's half eaten bolognese. I never got around to taking a picture of my dish. You can see the hail in this pic, which is why I'm posting, since it's not a particularly pretty table pic.

After we hit the town of Palisade. First we stopped at Peach Street Distillers, where they make all manner of booze: vodka, gin, brandies, and Colorado's first bourbon. They make everything from Olathe sweet corn. You can sample their wares and buy a number of mixed drinks, which they quaintly serve in jars. B had a bloody mary and I had a gin drink. Here you can see our drinks and the brewing casks (is that what they're called?).

This is not the best quality picture, but it shows the distillery's kitty, who was very friendly.

Check out these gorgeous bottles of pear and peach brandy. Yes, that's a pear in the bottle. There's grappa pictured too. The pear tasted like it needed to develop a bit more, but I think it will be quite good. And that bottle is beautiful! Look for the handmade beads in the shape of pears and peaches hanging from the bottle.

Here's the Colorado Straight Bourbon, "Colorado's first bourbon," also with a handmade bead. I bought a bottle.

As you can see, the distillery made me very happy.

The bar tender was very friendly and suggested we go meet her boyfriend who was tending bar at Palisade Brewery just a few buildings over. The beer there was quite good. Like the dragon decoration?

Later that evening we checked out 626 on Rood in Grand Junction for some late night snacks. The lighting was bad so I didn't get worthwhile pictures and the service was lacking, but the snacks were tasty. We got the seared Foie Gras with caramelized blood orange and Cointreau Noir sauce--the sauce was a little too sweet, but otherwise it was a good dish--and the cheese fries with white truffle oil and French sea salt--hard to ruin those and they most certainly did not. Yum!

On Saturday evening (after the festival), we went to Bin 707 Food and Wine, where we did NOT have any wine (we were actually sick of it). It was okay.

On Sunday, we visited wineries. We started out with a tasting at Whitewater Hill Vineyards. We particularly liked their Gewurztraminer, Muscat Canelli, and Zero Below, which I believe is an ice wine.

We then headed to Carlson Vineyards Winery.

My mom had asked me to buy them some of their Laughing Cat Riesling, saying it's one of the only wines my dad likes. It is really quite good, but I thought their Laughing Cat Gewurztraminer was fabulous. They had kitties in the winery too!

I know I said earlier that I don't generally like fruit flavored wines, but I really liked their Cherry Wine, which is made with pie cherries and tastes like it. They served it in a glass whose rim was dipped in chocolate and together they were just like chocolate covered cherries! They sold the wine with or without some meltable chocolate from Enstroms. I bet you can guess which one I bought.

We headed over to Plum Creek Winery, where we got a nice tour in addition to the tasting. Our tour guide, who takes care of the wines (can't remember what the title is), was really knowledgeable and was so nice. We joined the tour late and after he took just the two of us and "re-did" what we missed. Now that's some service!

I got some pictures of the vines and grapes too. That background scenery sure is different from California wine country.

Last but not least, we visited Garfield Estates winery, a small but lovely little place. Here's B here, showing his love for wine:

On our way out of town, we stopped at one of the roadside "stands" and bought a half bush of peaches (which I just put up today), some peach syrup, and some honey. This is from another stand down the road, but it was just too cute.

And last, but not least, a very Colorado picture of B at a rest stop we stopped at in Eagle. I can't believe I didn't get any pictures of the aspens! But they were in full swing. Gorgeous! It was a great weekend. Happy anniversary (early), honey!

The Sharper Your Knife, the Less You Cry: Love, Laughter, and Tears at the World's Most Famous Cooking School

2009-09-24T18:15:00.000-07:00

The Sharper Your Knife, the Less You Cry: Love, Laughter, and Tears at the World's Most Famous Cooking School by Kathleen Flinn

My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Another food memoir and another francophile book. I swear I've never been a real francophile, but I've read so many books focusing on Paris lately that I think I'm turning into one. It's just a coincidence too.

I listened to this book on CD and really enjoyed the reader, which is very important. The book is the memoir of a woman who leaves the advertising world (not by choice) and realizes her dream of studying at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris. She does all 3 "courses:" basic, intermediate, and superieur. Great food writing and an engrossing memoir.

My only complaint is that the recipes seemed to be after thoughts. I suspect she couldn't use Le Cordon Bleu recipes due to copywright issues, but she could have tied in some of the recipes better. Some made sense with the chapter, some did not. Also, she seemed to use her book to "get back" at a few people she didn't like: difficult house guests, a competitive fellow student, etc. It seemed a little petty.

But I heartily recommend the book.

View all my reviews >>

Hothouse Flower and the Nine Plants of Desire: A Novel

2009-09-24T18:09:00.001-07:00

Hothouse Flower and the Nine Plants of Desire: A Novel by Margot Berwin

My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I really enjoyed this odd book about a woman who meets strange men who deal in plants and teach her about spirituality, love, and life. One sells her her first plant the other owns a laundromat, in which the floor is covered in moss, the washers and dryers covered in grass, and the place filled with plants. Together, they manage to send her to Mexico to obtain the Nine Plants of Desire.

Weird and grossly entertaining.

View all my reviews >>

Pasta with Bacon and Summer Vegetables

2009-09-24T17:34:00.000-07:00

This recipe from Cooking Light has been a hit in our house (except for the picky 7 year old). The original recipe never mentions returning the bacon to the recipe--a MUST!

Cavatappi with Bacon and Summer Vegetables

Ingredients

8 ounces uncooked pasta like cavatappi or farfalle (I used the latter because it's what I had on hand)
4 slices center-cut bacon, chopped (sneak in an extra slice and you'll be happier)
2 teaspoons olive oil (just eye it)
1 cup chopped onion
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 medium summer squash (original recipe calls for zucchini; I've used it and yellow squash), quartered lengthwise and cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices
1 cup fresh corn kernels (about 2 ears) (you could use frozen, but fresh from the cob is much better)
1 pint grape tomatoes (this time I used a mixture of grape and chopped larger tomatoes--I just grab whatever I have on hand in my garden)
1/2 cup (2 ounces) shaved Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, divided
1/4 cup small fresh basil leaves
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Preparation

Cook pasta according to package directions, omitting salt; drain.

While pasta cooks, cook bacon in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat 5 minutes or until crisp. Remove bacon from pan with a slotted spoon, reserving drippings in pan.
Add oil to drippings. Add onion and garlic to pan; sauté 2 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Add summer squash; cook 3 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Stir in corn and tomatoes; cook 5 minutes or until tomatoes burst, stirring occasionally.
Add pasta to tomato mixture; toss. Cook 1 minute or until thoroughly heated, stirring frequently.
Remove from heat. Add 1/4 cup cheese, basil, salt, and pepper AND BACON! Toss to combine. Sprinkle with remaining cheese.

Ringling Brothers Circus in Denver - Discount Tickets!

2009-09-23T08:10:00.000-07:00

Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey's Zing Zang Zoom show is coming to Denver and I hvae your discount coupon code.

Tickets can be purchased from Ticketmaster by entering the code MOM in the "MC promotion" box when purchasing tickets.

The code gives you four tickets for $44 for shows Monday - Friday; or $4 off tickets for all weekend performances. Minimum purchase of 4 tickets required; additional tickets above 4 can be purchased at $44 each during the week and $4 off on weekends. Offer not valid on Circus Celebrity, Front Row, or VIP seating. Cannot be combined with other offers. Service charges, facilty and handling fees will apply.

Escoffier - The Game

2009-09-21T20:21:00.000-07:00

Here's a fun little way to waste time on the computer: test your culinary knowledge with Foodista's game, "Escoffier."

They list 4 ingredients and 4 recipe titles and you have to pick which of the 4 recipes includes the ingredients. Addicting and fun.

Zucchini Brownies

2009-09-21T20:07:00.000-07:00

These brownies are so ridiculously rich and delicious, that you'll never notice they have veggies in them. Even my picky 7 year old will eat them, which is truly A-MAY-ZING. I've made other yummy zucchini-containing desserts before and he wouldn't touch them. I think it's because he could see or feel the zucchini.

The key is to do more than just shred the zucchini. You have to totally pulverize it. I use the shredding mechanism on my food processor, then run it through the chopping one until it's zucchini pulp. I don't drain it at all. Since there are no eggs in the brownies, you'll need the moisture.

And these brownies are vegan too! Definitely vegan for the brownie part and if you use margarine (and consider it to be vegan) in the frosting, then that's vegan too. I use butter in the frosting, even though the original recipe calls for margarine, because...well...why use margarine when you have butter? I'm not a margarine kinda gal.

These make a more cake-like brownie. In fact, they remind me more of my mom's recipe for "Rich Chocolate Cake" than a brownie. But nevermind, they're delicious, no matter what you call them.

Zucchini Brownies

INGREDIENTS:
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 1/2 cups white sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups shredded zucchini
1/2 cup chopped pecans (original recipe calls for walnuts)

6 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 cup butter (original recipe calls for margarine)
2 cups confectioners' sugar
1/4 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 9x13 inch baking pan.
Pulverize the zucchini as directed above.
In a large bowl, mix together the oil, sugar and 2 teaspoons vanilla until well blended. Combine the flour, 1/2 cup cocoa, baking soda and salt; stir into the sugar mixture. Fold in the zucchini and nuts. Spread evenly into the prepared pan.
Bake for 25 to 35 minutes in the preheated oven, until brownies spring back when gently touched.
To make the frosting, melt together the 6 tablespoons of cocoa and butter in the microwave or in a saucepan; set aside to cool. In a medium bowl, blend together the confectioners' sugar, milk and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla. Stir in the cocoa mixture. Spread over cooled brownies before cutting into squares.

The Magicians

2009-09-17T12:23:00.001-07:00

The Magicians by Lev Grossman

My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I really enjoyed this book. It's like Harry Potter and C. S. Lewis, but if they were in the real world. Everything isn't black or white and good or evil. Magic doesn't automatically make you happy. The characters act like real teenagers and young people--at least depressive ones.

A very clever book. I especially liked the occasional self-aware and joking nods to H. Potter.

View all my reviews >>

Denver Harvest Week - Steuben's Report

2009-09-16T17:47:00.000-07:00

As you probably know, this week is Harvest Week, a week in which Denver area restaurants create menus that feature Colorado grown and produced products.

We decided to check out Steuben's menu on Sunday evening, after an afternoon at the zoo. I love Steuben's for several reasons, but the top two are

1) THE COCKTAILS!

The Bees Knees III, consisting of honey vodka, ginger liqueur, lemon ginger simple syrup, fresh raspberries, lemon juice, and egg whites.

An Aviation, made of gin, lemon juice, Luxardo maraschino liqueur, and Creme de Violette. Check out how incredibly different it looks than the one I had recently at Colt and Gray. (The latter was better. This was too sweet. I think perhaps too much violette and hence the purple vs. yellow color?)

2) THE KIDS MENU!

There are not many places in town (or anywhere) where you can get good food and cocktails, yet still please the kids. As I mentioned, I think, before, my picky eater says that Steuben's is his third favorite restaurant (after Red Robin and McDonalds--argh). Their $7 kids meals feature veggies w/ranch, a main dish, a side, fruit, a drink, and oh, something else I forget.

Check out this interesting combination of spaghetti and mashed potatoes. This is the picky one. He asked the server if they give refills on spaghetti. He didn't eat much of the taters, but I liked them and they were great as leftovers with my chicken entree the next day.

And another starchy combo of spaghetti and french fries.

Oh wait, I remember the other thing the kids meals include:

CUPCAKES! (or ice cream so your little one should desire)

Other things I like about Steuben's include the funky retro decor, the patio, and the cute kids menus as artfully decorated by my boys:

The Harvest Week menu is here. We decided to try just about everything. There was no room for dessert and I'm not sure why I didn't try the cocktail. I think I got mesmerized by the main cocktail list. I could study that thing for hours and hope to try them all at some point. :-)

We started with the Pork Belly Rillettes and MouCo ColoRouge. This dish was the one I looked forward to the most and liked the least. The rillettes were a little blah. It could have used more seasoning. The MouCo ColoRouge was very good, as their products always are, but it was such a tiny piece that if you put 1/4 of it on each of the 4 steamed biscuits, you wouldn't have been able to taste it at all. The biscuits were good, but perhaps a little overdone, and the pickled vegetables (leeks and ?) were really good--my favorite part of the dish.

B had the Colorado Lamb French Dip with Fries and Stranahann’s Horseradish Sauce. Two different servers warned us that it was "very lamb-y." We both liked the lamby-ness of it. And the horseradish sauce was excellent (although I wouldn't mind it being more horseradishy). It was huge and B ate it all. Impressive even for him.

I had the Peach Glazed Half Roasted Chicken with Local Greens Panzanella. I was worried the chicken glaze would be too sweet. It was sweet, but the dish was sauced with a light touch--just the right amount of sweet. The greens included rainbow chard and I'm not sure what, but they were excellent, especially with the panzanella grilled bread. I've been really into greens this summer and these were some of the best I've had this season.

It was a super fun family night out and mommy got her cocktails, so all was right with the world. We all left full and happy.

Harvest Week is just half over, so get out there and try some local dishes. I wish I could hit a place every night, but this was it. We're babysitterless and saving funds for Colorado WineFest this weekend. Report to come!

Tartin' It Up

2009-09-12T08:48:00.000-07:00

A good vegetable tart is a wonderful way to use those summer vegetables. Here are a couple I've made recently.

Rustic Summer Squash Tart

According to the link above, this was originally published in Woman's Day magazine. I used all three squash mentioned in the recipe (zucchini and yellow squash from my garden and pattypan from the farmer's market), but you could use any combination of summer squash or just one.

I'm changing the recipe a bit, because I found that the filling was way too much for my pie crust. I ended up using 2 pie crusts and half the originally indicated amount in each crust.

Ingredients
1 tbsp Extra-virgin olive oil
1 lb Mixed summer squash (zucchini, yellow squash and pattypan), cut in 1/4-in. rounds
2 Shallots, thinly sliced
2 tsp Chopped fresh thyme or marjoram, plus sprigs for garnish (if using dried herbs, use 1/3 to 1/2 the amount)
1 tsp Chopped garlic
Freshly ground pepper
2 Refrigerated pie crust (from a 15-oz box)--or better yet, make your own! (I didn't have time, though, haha)
6-8 oz Roquefort cheese, Gorgonzola or other good-quality blue cheese (depending on how blue-cheesy you want it)
1 Roasted yellow or red pepper (freshly roasted or from a jar), cut in strips. I roasted mine on the grill. Just grill it until slightly charred--delicious!
1 Large plum tomato, sliced, seeds removed
1 Large egg, beaten

1. Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add squash and shallots and cook, turning pieces as they start to color, 7 minutes or until crisp-tender. Remove from heat; stir in thyme, garlic and pepper to taste. Cool to room temperature.

2. Heat oven to 400F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper; unroll or unfold pie crusts onto the pieces of parchment. With a rolling pin, roll crusts to 13-in. rounds. Crumble 2 oz of the cheese over each crust (4 oz. total) to within 2 in. of edge. Arrange half of squash mixture, pepper strips and tomato slices on cheese on each crust; fold edge of the crust over filling and brush crust with egg.

3. Bake 35 to 40 minutes until pastry is golden. Slide tart, still on parchment, onto a wire rack. Crumble remaining cheese over top. Let cool before serving.

This dish is great as a main dish, a side dish, and for lunches. We served it with potato leek soup for a meal one night and then I took it as lunch to work the next few days.

Chard Tart

I got this recipe from the fun and tasty Seattle-based blog Root Underground Food, written by a couple in which the husband is an old friend of mine I haven't seen in probably about 20 years(!).

Please see their link above for a much prettier picture of the tart. The key is that they used "real" bread crumbs. I usually keep crusts of good bread in the freezer for making bread crumbs, but this time used prepared bread crumbs, which are much finer. If using the latter, like I did, I would recommend cutting the bread crumb amount in half. My crust was consequently very crumbly, but the filling was delicious. If I'd made it right, this would have been my favorite of the two tarts. Plus it has bacon!

2 bunches chard - chopped
2 cups breadcrumbs (if using store-bought prepared bread crumbs, use only 1 cup)
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
2 Tbsp olive oil
3 slices bacon chopped
1/2 med onion chopped
3 eggs
fresh grated nutmeg
salt and pepper

Cover chard with salted water and bring to a boil, cook for 15 minutes or until tender; drain and cool.
Saute bacon and onion until the bacon is crisp and the onions are golden. Cool.
Coat a 9" pie pan coat with oil and press in 3/4 of the breadcrumbs and half of the grated parmesan - like a graham cracker crust on a cheesecake.
Mix cooled chard, bacon and onion mixture, eggs, remainder of cheese, and the seasonings; carefully add to pie pan and breadcrumbs.
Top with the rest of the breadcrumbs and bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour.

Enjoy your tarts!

Want to Know What Those Mystery Produce Codes Mean?

2009-09-11T08:02:00.000-07:00

A good article on "The Daily Table" that explains what the PLU codes on your produce mean.

In short:

"- A four-digit number means it’s conventionally grown. (Or possibly a five digit number if the first one is a 0.)
- A five-digit number beginning with 8 means it’s genetically modified.
- A five-digit number beginning with 9 means it’s organic."

Colt and Gray

2009-09-08T13:07:00.000-07:00

B and I went to Colt and Gray, Denver's new "gastropub" on Saturday. I'm not sure why it's considered a gastropub and not a restaurant. The atmosphere was not what I would consider pub-like--more of a modern restaurant with clean lines. And the bar was fairly small--although, granted, the place is fairly small altogether. But, really, I don't care what they want to call themselves, because the food...oh, the food!

We had a bit of a hard time finding the place. They are not at their published address of 1553 Platte Street, but are around the corner. And they don't have a sign yet. We had to go up and ask some servers standing outside if we were in the right place. We didn't have reservations, but were able to get a seat at one of the bar tables.

The menu ranges from "bar snacks" to small plates to full entrees. I was disappointed to see that the "kids menu" disappeared from the website. I never saw the actual menu, but they had a page "under construction" for it when I first visited the site. A menu that includes the kind of food they serve plus a kids menu gets me really excited. They may still have a kids menu by request, but I didn't check, since we were sans boys. If they don't, I hope they will still create one. We need more good restaurants that kids can go to in Denver.

I started with one of the "classic" cocktails called "The Aviation," a gin and lemon-based drink. B had a Fuller’s Mr. Harry ESB, which they have on tap. They also have a decent beer and wine list.

We decided to stick with small plates so we could get a wider range of tastes:

From the "bar snacks" portion of the menu, we ordered the Long Farm Crispy Pig Trotter. I must admit we were expecting a pig's foot to gnaw on and we were actually kind of excited about it. But we got this:

And we certainly weren't complaining! Other than a pea-sized piece of bone in mine, these were perfectly delicious--a minced pork patty fried in a crispy batter and served with grainy mustard and salad. They were finger-lickin' good.

Next up: Chili Garlic Prawns with Coriander and Cashew Pesto and Avocado Citrus Salad:

This was our favorite dish. The prawns had a smoky flavor and the pesto was so good we practically licked our plate. In fact, B tried to pull a fast one, saying "Look over there!" so that he could swipe his finger across the plate while I looked away. The oranges in the accompanying salad were sweet and tart and fit beautifully with the other flavors.

The Oysters on the Half Shell with Citrus-White Wine Mignonette

were good, but I wanted the mignonette to have a stronger flavor. I enjoyed them, but they just didn't compare to the one's I had recently at Indulge French Bistro. Perhaps, if I hadn't had those in my recent memory, I would have been more excited by these.

We were wanting more so ordered a charcuterie and cheese plate with

house-made country pate, a blue cheese that was not on the menu but the server recommended, Boccalone Nduja, Bresaola, and Collo Rosso cheese (a soft cheese). The plate came with grainy mustard, mango chutney, and cornichons. We both liked the Boccalone Nduja best. It's a spreadable salami and the meat in the little tin above. It's spicy and oh, so delicious. The pate was good. Actually everything on the plate was really good. I would have enjoyed some honey to go with the cheeses (in addition to or in place of the mango chutney), but that's just my personal preference.

Our server was very friendly and knowledgeable and quite attentive until the place started filling up. It took a long time to get our second round of cocktails and we were told that the bar was "backed up," despite the fact that the place was not that full. I'll chock that up to the place being new and won't fault them, because overall the experience was great.

ETA: a friend just pointed out that Ruhlman's blog has a post on the Aviation cocktail. Yummmm!

I can't remember the name of the second cocktail I had but it was another one of their "classics" and was made with chartreuse and calvados (in addition to ?) and garnished with delicious (non-maraschino) cherries.

Recent Dishes from My Garden

2009-09-04T08:55:00.000-07:00

Despite the hail damage, we've been eating like kings on produce from our garden and my sister's garden (thanks, sis!). Here are some dishes we have enjoyed.

Eating Well Magazine's

Golden Summer Squash and Corn Soup.

This is even better as leftovers.

Makes 4 servings, scant 1 cup each

TOTAL TIME: 30 minutes

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium shallot, chopped
2 medium summer squash (about 1 pound), diced
3 teaspoons chopped fresh herbs, such as thyme or oregano, divided
1 14-ounce can reduced-sodium chicken broth or vegetable broth
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup fresh corn kernels (from 1 large ear; see Tip) or frozen
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1/4 cup crumbled feta cheese

1. Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add shallot and cook, stirring, 1 minute. Add squash and 1 teaspoon herbs and cook, stirring occasionally, until the squash starts to soften, 3 to 5 minutes.
2. Add broth and salt; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook until the squash is soft and mostly translucent, about 5 minutes more. Transfer to a blender and puree until smooth. (Use caution when pureeing hot liquids.) Return the soup to the pan and stir in corn. Bring to a simmer over medium heat and cook, stirring occasionally, until the corn is tender, 3 to 5 minutes more. Remove from the heat; stir in lemon juice. Serve garnished with the remaining 2 teaspoons herbs and feta.

There's also a really nice article in this issue of Eating Well called "Building a Healthy Food System in Rural America: How a handful of organic farmers, world-class cheesemakers and a locavore restaurant transformed Hardwick, Vermont—a poor, rural town—into a foodie mecca."

And last, but not least (and in my lunch today),

Pete Marczyk's zucchini recipe printed in Westword's Cafe Society blog:

Zucchini and Corn Latke

2 eggs
1 cup zucchini, shredded
corn, kernels from one ear, cooked
chopped chives
2 tbsp diced onion
3 tbsp flour
1/2 cup breadcrumbs (panko)

1) Mix eggs, breadcrumbs and flour with zucchini and corn. Check for consistency (flour should absorb most of the liquid), salt and pepper to taste.

2) Heat a combination of olive oil ("olive oil and squash are like Rogers and Astaire," Pete says) and grapeseed oil ("higher smoke point," he notes), then take a handful of the mix and and press it down with a fork in the oil until it's about a half inch thick, the size of a small pancake. Cook until brown, turning it once.

Gourmet's Adventures With Ruth

2009-09-04T08:37:00.001-07:00

I'm really looking forward to this new show on PBS and hope my cable/PBS channel will air it. Gourmet's Adventures With Ruth debuts on 10/17. In it, Reichl travels the world with celebrities visiting cooking school.s

I love Ruth Reichl's writing and hope to enjoy this show too.

Cake Wrecks Author at Tattered Cover

2009-08-28T07:43:00.001-07:00

Jen Yates, the author of the very popular and very funny blog, Cake Wrecks, has a new book coming out called "Cake Wrecks: When Professional Cakes Go Hilariously Wrong." She will be at Tattered Cover in LoDo on Sept. 29 at 7:30 pm. Guests are invited to taste cake samples and participate in a cake wrecks cupcake contest. Info on the event can be found here.

Lola

2009-08-27T15:20:00.000-07:00

B and I had a fun night at Lola recently. The kids were with the grandparents, so we hurried out of work and tried to make happy hour on a Friday. It turns out that 5:45 (15 minutes before happy hour ends) is a great time to get there, because that's right about when they kick people off a few tables on the patio to make room for diners. Since we were planning on eating, we got one of these tables right away, and still got to get a round for happy hour--a margarita for B and some sort of basil and lime concoction for me. I was a little disappointed in the latter. While I don't want a strong basil taste in my drink, I'd like to taste it a little. The drink didn't taste much different than the margarita.

We ordered the chips and tomatillo-green apple salsa to start, but got the charred tomato-chipotle salsa (shown above). Call me greedy, but when a restaurant makes a mistake like that, it really peeves me when the server doesn't leave the "wrong" dish there for you to eat. It was whisked quickly away while she went to get the right one. We'd already tasted it--what is she going to do, give it to someone else? I hate wasted food. Plus I would have liked to have had both salsas, of course! If I were the server, I'd bring the requested dish, but leave the mistake one there for the table to eat. Anyways...the tomatillo salsa was especially good.

We ordered the agave glazed pork belly sopes with cactus pickles, green chile mustard, and crispy onions to start. It was tasty--especially the cactus--but a little bland.

I ordered the field greens salad with manchego, fried green tomatoes, and cilantro vinaigrette--mainly because I can't resist fried green tomatoes. And these were especially good. Another peeve--the server brought my salad with our entrees. My entree was the chile blackened yellowtail tacos. These were fresh, but a bit underseasoned. Here are both dishes:

B got the ranchera smothered relleno burrito:

I was a little underwhelmed with Lola. My food was a little bland. The stars were the tomatilla salsa and the fried green tomatoes on my salad. The service was okay, but not stellar (although my server had an adorable hair cut!).

Here we are, with me looking smuggy. We had fun anyway--we were out without kids!

After we stopped in Zio Romolo's Alley Bar for a quick drink. It was a spur of the moment thing and we stupidly didn't realize it's attached to Pasquini's at first. It's an adorable skinny bar with gorgeous bar work (see the website), but my favorite part was the pictures in the ladies room (actually in Pasquini's), like this one:

It makes me laugh, what can I say? The bartender was nice and they had a good selection of locally made booze.

We stopped at Indulge French Bistro on the way home, just to check it out. We sat at the bar with the very loquacious and self-deprecating bartender who looks a wee bit like Eric Stolz (it's gotta be the long red hair). He made me a Manhattan with St. Germaine liqueur, which was good, although very sweet. And, on a whim, we ordered the Island Creek Oysters on ice with mignonette aspic. Oh my, were they good! I swear I could have eaten 7 orders of them. Here's a really crappy pic that doesn't do them justice at all. I will definitely head back there for more tastes sometime.

Denver Harvest Week

2009-08-25T10:13:00.000-07:00

September 12-18, 2009 is Harvest Week for the Denver Independent Network of Restaurants (DINR). A number of excellent local restaurants will feature menus that focus on local ingredients.

You can see the list of restaurants and their menus here.

The Man Who Ate the World

2009-08-24T09:50:00.000-07:00

The Man Who Ate the World: In Search of the Perfect Dinner by Jay Rayner

My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I was surprised at how much I liked this book. I picked it up expecting to not like it, because he kind of annoyed me on Top Chef Masters, but I enjoyed it immensely. And I'm very jealous of his little project to find the best fine dining experience there is. He's pompous, but amusing, which makes the former okay. Now, if I were to see him on Top Chef, I'd appreciate him.

If good food photography is "food porn," then this book is "food erotica." I could read his descriptions of meals anytime.

View all my reviews >>

Mountain Feast

2009-08-21T12:32:00.000-07:00

We had a fantastic lunch at the cabin on Sunday. Take a look at our version of food porn. Every vegetable came from either one of our gardens or a farmers market. My garden has actually been producing some since the disastrous hail storm. And check out the cool Hall dishes my mom has.

First some sliced tomatoes from my garden. I think these are Roma:

Sauteed green beans with onions from my sister's garden:

More of the grilled globe squash with pesto and parmesan (from the farmers market):

Corn bought directly from a local farmer in Eastern Colorado (by my sister):

Grilled yellow squash (I can't remember if this came from my or my sister's garden):

Palisade peaches from the farmers market:

We had chicken (not pictured), but also a little fish that my brother in law caught that morning. My dad grilled it with butter and lemon and it was delicious, even though we each only got a few bites. It's not such a pretty picture, but twas tasty. Here it is on the grill:

It was my sister's birthday and she asked for fruit pizza in place of a cake. Our recipe has a brown sugar, butter, and pecan crust, rather than the traditional cookie crust. Much better, in my opinion.

And I took picture of these awesome tongs that were my grandmother's just because I love them. They remind me of an archaic medical tool. I've already claimed it after the parents are gone, haha:

Mountain Appetites

2009-08-16T08:40:00.000-07:00

We're at my parents' cabin in Wyoming. They live off the grid, yet somehow have satellite internet. No phone, but internet. Strange, eh? They have solar power and well water. They live here all summer and then go to Arizona in the winter.

When we're here we eat like kings. What is it about the mountains (being outside? altitude?) that make your appetite so much bigger and make everything taste better. Yesterday we started with an afternoon snack of s'mores. Nuff said.

For dinner we had chicken grilled with olive oil, fresh basil, and salt. Our sides were some globe squash I picked up at the farmer's market. I'd never tried these before. They taste a bit like zucchini, but sweeter. Maybe even a little cucumbery.

I cut them into wedges and brushed them with pesto, then we grilled them. Just before they were finished I sprinkled them with parmesano romano. They were really good!

We also had one of my favorite dishes of all time: "camp potatoes with the B---- special sauce." This is a favorite dish from my childhood that we only made when camping. Basically, it's just sliced potatoes and onions fried in oil. Slice the potatoes thinly and fry them in vegetable oil. It's best to start the onions in a separate small pan if you can, so that they don't burn. They tend to brown more quickly. Cook them until translucent, then set aside. Add them to the potatoes when done. Pour the dish onto paper towels to drain some of the extra grease.

The "B---" (my maiden name) special sauce is just mayo and ketchup mixed together. Pure white trash heaven. Our family falls into two camps: the mayo camp (led by me) and the Miracle Whip camp (led by my Dad). And god forbid we have only one. The other side will whine like crazy. Poor mom. Each person has to mix up their own with their preferred ratios. Dip forkfuls of the camp potatoes into the special sauce and enjoy the deliciousness.

We also had corn on the cob and I brought tomatoes from my garden to slice and serve w/salt and pepper, but forgot, so I guess we'll have that for lunch. For dessert, my dad made his special homemade vanilla ice cream.

My dad is always in charge of breakfast and he does it well. Today we had bacon and almost silver dollar-sized pancakes. He cooked these on their wood burning stove.

Bacon is always yummy, but it tastes about 20 times better in the mountains. What's up with that?

The kids like to grind the coffee beans in the old fashioned grinder next to the stairs.

That's my mom's first place ribbon for a pie making contest next to it and my Dad's (Chuck) chuck wagon sign. We made the coffee in a French press--the stronger the better, in my opinion. And then sit on their back porch where they have a bunch of feeders set up just outside. It's teeming with birds, squirrels, and chipmunks. There's also a salt lick and water hole and if you're lucky and a mama moose and her baby will join you for coffee. Pure heaven!

I was so busy eating I forgot to take pictures of the food! I really need to stop doing that...

They All Beat Me To It

2009-08-14T14:07:00.000-07:00

I've been eating lots of asian meals in a bowl lately. I've had these pictures to post and then found stuff about both restaurants on other sites today.

First, a recent lunch at Domo, an absolutely stunning Japanese restaurant. It's worth going there just for the decor and garden. But the food ain't bad either. Is it the "best in Denver" as so many say? Not sure about that, but it's pretty darn good. And yes, as everyone says, the service is lacking. And yes, it also annoys me that they are so hard core about the "no condiment" rule. I don't think I'd ask for condiments, but it bugs me that I can't. And they don't bring your food out at the same time as the person you're sitting with. Hate that. But look at these beautiful trays of food:

A noodle bowl with udon and shrimp tempura:

Nabemono with Kara miso (chili and Japanese bean paste) and Tori Nabe (chicken and vegetables):

Both served with 3 country side vegetables.

And delicious Jamaica iced tea: "Jamaica tea is made from the red hibiscus flower and is one of Domo’s most popular herb teas. Jamaica tea is rich in vitamin C and potassium, and said to be good for your heart and digestion. So this season’s harvest is fresh, delicious and good for you too! This robust, citric tea is imported directly from Mexico." It's so yummy and refreshing. Sadly they were out of Sapporo, so B had to make due with a Kirin.

So today, I see that Denveater has a post on Domo. Much more thorough than this one and lots of great pictures.

I also went to Pho 95 for the first time this week. All the rave reviews on that Yelp link are true. The food is so good and comforting and the service is so great. The waiter mentioned is so nice and gave my friend and I a lesson in eating pho.

Here's my seafood pho. My mouth waters every time I look at it.

And our spring roll and the pho "accoutrements" on the side:

So this morning, I see a post on Twitter with a link to "How to Eat a Bowl of Pho" and referencing Pho 95. Another good post with delicous pics.

Tonight: something different--Mexican at Lola. Can't wait!

"Rose Cake"

2009-08-12T12:55:00.001-07:00

Okay, so the way I make this cake has nothing to do with roses. My family just calls it that. It's a recipe that came with a rose shape bundt pan my mother got from Williams Sonoma. I just use a regular bundt pan. Not as pretty, but tastes just as good. The version on their website is for a larger cake. Here is what came with the pan and that I use.

Rose Cake (or Cream Cheese Pound Cake with Lime Glaze)

2 3/4 C flour
1/4 t baking soda
1/4 t salt
2 sticks butter
6 oz. cream cheese
2 1/2 C sugar
5 eggs
1 t. vanilla
2 T lime juice
2 t lime zest

For glaze:
5 T sugar
1 T plus 1 t lime juice (and more as needed)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease and flour bundt cake pan.

Sift together flour, soda, salt.

In electric mixer with flat beater, beat butter and cream cheese on medium until smooth (30-40 sec). Add sugar and beat until light and fluffy, approximately 5 min. Increase speed to medium-high and add eggs, beating well after each one. Beat in vanilla and lime juice. Reduce speed to low and add flour in 3 additions, beating each one until just incorporated. Stir in zest. Spoon into pan, making sides 1" higher than center.

Bake 65-70 minutes. Transfer the pan to a wire rack and let the cake cool upright in the pan for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, make the glaze: In a small bowl, whisk together the lime juice and granulated sugar until blended.

Invert the pan onto the wire rack and lift off the pan. Drizzle warm cake with the glaze.

This cake was a huge hit at a barbeque we went to this weekend. In fact, I heard the host refused to share the leftovers with the rest of his family! But seriously, how can you go wrong with a cake with two sticks of butter, cream cheese, and 5 eggs.

French Milk

2009-08-10T08:41:00.001-07:00

French Milk by Lucy Knisley

My rating: 4 of 5 stars
What an adorable little graphic "novel," although really more a daily diary of a young woman's trip to Paris with her mother. Lots about the wonderful food she eats (my favorite) and some about the panic many of us have in our early 20s (I remember that panicky feeling of "Oh no, I'm an 'adult.' What the heck do I do now?")

You don't have to be a francophile to enjoy this book, but you just might become one after reading it.

View all my reviews >>

In the Heart of the Canyon

2009-08-10T08:40:00.000-07:00

In the Heart of the Canyon by Elisabeth Hyde

My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I really enjoyed this book. It didn't have much plot (I seem to be reading a lot of enjoyable books like that lately). It's about a group of people going on a raft trip down the Grand Canyon and what happens on the trip and the relationships that develop. It was a little unbelievable that so many bad things could happen on such a trip--can you say cursed trip? But it was a great story. I found myself unable to put the book down.

View all my reviews >>

Wine Bar Week - Wednesday

2009-08-05T13:41:00.000-07:00

On Wednesday, we started with lunch at Sherpa House in Golden. Love this place! And hope to post more about it soon. I've tried numerous dishes there and all have been excellent. They have a gorgeous patio too and really cool decorations inside--it's practically a museum. They serve Nepalese, Tibetan, and Indian food.

On this particular day they had some fish specials and I got the salmon. The picture looks ridiculously yellow, because we were sitting under a yellow awning.

We ended up having dinner at Marrakech Cafe on S. Colorado and I was pleasantly surprised. We hadn't planned on going there, but ended up there after a day of mishaps. I judge a middle eastern restaurant by its baba ghanouj and theirs was really good.

We saw Food, Inc. at the nearby theater and it was good, but hey, they're preaching to the choir here.

On our way home we stopped at Sketch Wine Bar. Warning: despite their address and articles about them, they are NOT on Broadway, they are around the corner on 1st. We were full so did not eat, but I had a nice glass of red and some of their white sangria, which I really enjoyed. They limit you to three. I'd like to go to the limit some time. It was very refreshing and not overly sweet. The dj was annoying and unnecessary for a quiet Wednesday night (okay, not so quiet with her loud tunes). Do you really need a dj to play Hall and Oates, and not even mix it with something else? So we sat outside and enjoyed the night air and Baker people watching.

Salsa

2009-08-04T12:40:00.000-07:00

I actually got some tomatoes from my hail-beaten garden! Last night I used them to make my famous salsa--really a pico de gallo. I loosely use Molly Katzen's Moosewood Cookbook recipe, but it's best if you just eye the amounts and don't measure anything too exactly.

Tomato Salsa

Ingredients:
3 medium-sized ripe tomatoes
2 scallions, finely minced
2 medium cloves garlic, minced
A handful of parsley, finely minced
A handful of cilantro, finely minced
1 teaspoon lightly toasted cumin seeds
3/4 to 1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon cider vinegar
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
Crushed red pepper, to taste
1 jigger tequila

Drop the tomatoes into simmering water for 10 seconds. Take them out, pull off the skins and squeeze out the seeds.

Dice the remaining pulp. Combine tomatoes with remaining ingredients in a small bowl or container. Cover tightly and chill. Yield: 11/2 to 2 cups.

Now here's the most important step (and my variation on Katzen's recipe): while you're making the salsa, about half way through, stop and do the shot of tequila. I promise this will make your salsa taste better! You know, the whole making food with love kind of thing.

The longer you leave your salsa, the better it will taste. I often check after about an hour and end up adding more crushed red pepper. It will get hotter with time though.

I tried to take a picture, but apparently when you photograph salsa with a Blackberry it turns out looking like puke.

Anxiously Awaiting Pickles

2009-07-31T10:45:00.000-07:00

I pickled for the first time last weekend. I made dill pickles with regular ol' pickle mix from the grocery store. I needed to do something quickly with my cukes that I had to salvage from the great hail storm (more to come on that).

Earlier that day, I saw some beautiful carrots at the Boulder Farmers' Market: yellow, white, and purple. So I decided to try a recipe I'd seen in Molly Wizenberg's book: Spicy Pickled Carrots with Garlic and Thyme. This was the just about the last recipe that I thought I'd try from this book and it turns out it was the first one! I just couldn't resist those beautiful carrots and I was in a pickling mood.

So I'll be trying both sets of pickles this weekend and will report back on how they turned out. But for now I'm just enjoying how pretty they look in my garage frig next to B's keg of Golden City Beer.

So why was I in a pickling panic? Well, we had the hail storm of all storms about a week and a half ago and it destroyed my beautiful garden. Our roof, a window, 2 screens, and a gutter need to be replaced, but I'm most upset about the garden, which now looks like vegetable slaw.

Just look at the carnage:

I salvaged what I could: about 5 cukes, 2 zuchhini, 2 yellow squash, and a couple of tomatoes. I might still get some tomatoes and possibly some zucchini, but for the most part the garden is toast. And it was my best one ever. Whah!

Wine Bar Week - Tuesday

2009-07-31T08:01:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday of our week with no kids, I met B at Caveau Wine Bar for their happy hour. I had taken the day off and celebrated with a massage at Massage Envy, which turned out to be a mistake. The masseuse coughed and hacked through the whole thing, claiming she had just eaten something peppery. I should have left, since it was uncomfortable, gross, and not even a little relaxing, but I was too chicken. So I was needing a glass of wine. (Who feels like that post-massage?)

Caveau has a nice wine list. Again, it was mighty hot that day and the place was blistering. I noticed they didn't have many wines in their racks--they were all in the temperature controlled coolers. We also shared the meat and cheese plate, which had 3 meats and 3 cheeses.

We later headed over to D Bar Desserts, since it was just down the street. They have a small, but good wine selection. We sat at the bar and watched owner Keegan Gerhard make something delicious, actually painting with chocolate. He was teaching a woman his techniques, which was interesting to watch. The place is definitely an homage to him with Food Network shows playing on a television screen and a digital photo frame displaying his works.

We weren't terribly hungry and I mainly wanted dessert, so I had a watermelon salad and B had the recommended baked mac & cheese made with four cheeses, cheese nips, & panko crumbs. I heard Gerhard tell another person at the bar that the cheese nips were to give it a Kraft mac'n'cheese-like taste.

So then dessert, what we really came for. We started with their famous "Cake and Shake," choosing vanilla on both sides.

It definitely lives up to the hype. I especially enjoyed the shake with the little malted milk balls.

But I thought the ice cream sandwich was even better.

They start with homemade waffles with rock sugar baked right in. And they make the waffles when you order it--they're not premade. They top it with vanilla ice cream and the most heavenly smelling 3-cherry compote. I thought I was going to keel over from the smell of the cherries cooking. It's fun to watch your dessert made to order right in front of you. Talk about making your mouth water! Then they top all that with amaretto cream.

The young man making our ice cream sandwich said he works at D Bar only once a week and works at a sushi bar the rest of the time. I thought that was an interesting combination and you could see a sushi-like attention to detail in his dessert.

My sister is really into baking and desserts and probably should have been a pastry chef. I can't wait to bring her here.

Farmers' Market

2009-07-30T11:40:00.000-07:00

I hit the Wheat Ridge farmer's market today, which runs Thusdays 11 am - 3 pm. A nice little market with lots of produce. Here's my haul:

Kale, lettuce, boiler onions, yellow squash, corn, and cantaloupe.

Get Up In My Grill

2009-07-30T08:30:00.000-07:00

Since it's cold and rainy today, let's talk about grilling. Here are two of my current favorite poultry recipes. Unfortunately, I have them written on recipe cards and don't know who to credit them to. I googled the recipes, but didn't find a source.

Grilled Spice-Rubbed Chicken with Lemon and Garlic Oil

This is one of my favorites, such a flavorful combination of ingredients. B is not too fond of it, since he doesn't like fennel or cilantro, but too bad, we make it anyway, cuz momma loves it.

Mix:
1 1/2 t fennel seeds
1 1/2 t ground coriander
3/4 t dry mustard
3/4 t salt
1/4 t cinnamon
1/4 t ground red pepper

Rinse 4 chicken breast halves. Pat dry and then rub spice mixture all over. Grill chicken.

Mix and spoon over chicken:
1/4 C olive oil
1/4 C minced fresh cilantro or parsley
3 T lemon juice
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 t salt

Curry and Honey Turkey Breast Cutlets with Chutney Raita

Everyone likes this dish. We make it with chicken too.

4 turkey breast cutlets (~ 1 1/2 lbs.)
1 1/2 T curry powder
1 T honey
1 T vegetable oil
1/2 t salt
1/4 C mango chutney
1/2 C plain yogurt
1 T lemon juice

Preheat grill. Stir together curry, honey, oil, and salt and smear over both sides of cutlets. Grill cutlets ~ 8-10 min.

For raita, stir together chutney, yogurt, and lemon juice. Spoon over grilled cutlets.

Cooking Dirty

2009-07-29T15:01:00.001-07:00

Cooking Dirty: A Story of Life, Sex, Love and Death in the Kitchen by Jason Sheehan

My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Sheehan is a good writer. I've enjoyed his work as a restaurant critic for Denver's Westword for awhile and he's managed to take that edgy style of his and expand it into a full book.

This book chronicles his life working in kitchens--not famous ones, just regular ol' restaurants. At times, it got a bit redundant. I wanted to say, okay, we get it: cooking on a line during the rush is like going into battle and the guys who do it are tough. The book could have standed a bit of editing--too many similar stories about getting slammed during a dinner (or late night) rush. The book finishes with a little bit about how he got into food writing.

But all in all, I really enjoyed this book. The book will inevitably be compared to Bourdain's, but while that book is touted as an expose of the restaurant industry, this one is more of a memoir of how Sheehan has used and abused himself and turned out okay in the end.

And I'm wondering if the restaurant in the epilogue is Osteria Marco?

View all my reviews >>

Wine Bar Week - Monday

2009-07-29T12:03:00.000-07:00

The next night we started off with dinner at Osterio Marco. Dinner began, of course, with their famous house-made burrata. It never disappoints.

Look at that yummy cocktail garnished with basil:

B had the house-sausage pizza and I tried the mushroom & asparagus orzo with parmesan fonduta & truffled arugula. Mine was good, but I should have stuck with several small plates, like I've done in the past. I prefer their antipasti and salume. The cheese in the orzo was a little overpowering.

After, we went across the street to Cru Wine Bar. I was surprised to learn that they are a chain, with locations in Denver and Texas. The walls are covered in handpainted "blown up" wine labels, which is kind of cool until you find out that they're really just advertisements and the wine distributors pay to have their wines painted there. Those "peeling edges" you see are painted, not really peeling. Kinda cool!

Our server was really nice and excited to talk about wine, which is always fun. I had the "Latin Affair" flight with two wines from Spain and one from Argentina. The wines were very similar and I would have preferred a more "progressive" flight.

All in all, it's a place I wouldn't seek out as a destination, but if I happen to be in the neighborhood (and that's fairly likely since it's in Larimer Square), I might stop for one glass.

Week O' Wine Bar Crawl (and more) - Sunday

2009-07-28T15:09:00.000-07:00

Yippee--the kids were away at the grandparents' cabin! B and I hit the town each night in search of the perfect wine bar.

First stop (Sunday night): Jonesy's EatBar. Not necessarily a wine bar, but a very good wine list. We actually went there for dinner. And I didn't even start with wine: I started with a "Rocky Mountain Sweet Tea" made with Firefly Sweet Tea Vodka, water, and a dash of Leopold Brother's Three Pins Alpine Herbal Liqueur (apparently they used to be in Ann Arbor--didn't know that until just now). What a dangerous drink! It tastes so much like regular sweet tea and not very alcoholic at all. I decided later that I wanted to make my own, and made the mistake of letting B talk me into buying another brand of sweet tea vodka that was on sale at Argonaut. Nope, you gotta get the Firefly. The stuff I got, although "handcrafted" is kind of nasty.

Here I am with my sweet tea, B's Breckenridge 471 IPA, and our Truffle Fries ("tossed with truffle oil & drizzled with truffle aioli"). Yum Yum. Pardon the crappy phone pic.

Now this really is a crappy phone pic. I had the Coconut Green Curry Mussels with red grapes & fennel. O.M.G. Absolute heaven. They were probably the best mussels I've had all year (and I've had some good ones). Spicy, a little sweet, and perfectly cooked. B had the fried shrimp po-boy sliders with shredded cabbage, tomato & spicy remoulade. They were decent, but didn't even compare with my mussels. For once, I won the menu lottery (B does far more often than me--I usually end up begging him for more bites of his, and being the wonderful husband that he is, he obliges).

My main complaint about Jonesy's (and just about every place we went this week) is that it was ungodly hot (a rough combination with my mussels which were already making me sweat). This was the week that was the hottest so far this summer and pretty much every place we went to was without air conditioning. Not something I'd normally mind, since I usually prefer fresh air, but this particular week, I wanted my a/c. Jonesy's definitely should get a few fans at least for some air circulation.

Since we were in the area and it was our first night sans kids we headed over to my favorite place for

COCKTAILS!

Steuben's, of course. We, as always, had fabulous service at the bar, but when we moved outside for fresh air, it did not fare as well. Oh well, the cocktails make me happy no matter what.

Madmen Me

2009-07-28T15:06:00.001-07:00

I don't even watch this show, but this little app is so cute. That dress is totally something I'd wear in real life too.

Toledo Update

2009-07-22T15:15:00.000-07:00

The Toledo trip is long gone, but I should post a little something. The trip was wonderful and a whirlwind--one of those trips where you don't have enough time to spend with anyone, before you need to run off and see someone else. Fun and exhausting.

On the food side of things, we hit the hot spots (i.e. the main places we wanted to hit, although we could have done so much more...).

I had the Chili Mac at Tony Packo's--a chicken version, new since I was last there.

As B would say, "Maaaa, I need a new plate. Somebody puked on this one," (semi-quoting Calvin and Hobbes). But ya know, sometimes those kinds of plates are the tastiest. I used to have a friend that called food like this "dumbass." And this was definitely a plate of delicious dumbass. Not shown are the huge mound of spicy pickles I ate, regular and fried (mmmmmnggggg....fried spicy pickles....)

We ate at Kotobuki:

I have a better picture of the boat pre-decimation with my lovely friend Phoebe, but since I don't have permission to post her pic, you'll have to go to Facebook to see it. I was so ridiculously excited by the gomae, that I gobbled it up before I got a chance to take a picture of it. And, in the picture above, you can see a little bit of the disappointment in my eyes that this is the biggest can of Sapporo they now serve. They used to serve a mini "keg" of it. I think maybe Sapporo doesn't even sell it now, because I couldn't find a picture of it online. Anyway, we used to go with a group and no matter the size, we'd get the "big beer." Fun times!

The sushi was good, but not as good as I recall. I was disappointed to see that they have succumbed to the non-traditional, what I call "cheesy super americanized" rolls (and what they call "special rolls.") Sniff. Now I can't say that Kotobuki is better than Sushi Den or Sushi Sasa.

Beirut was awesome. No pictures unfortunately--too busy eating. I want their baba ghanouj and Lebanese garlic bread to be the last thing I eat on earth, I think. J (my 5 year old) entertained us (i.e. embarassed us) by standing up at the table, pulling up his shirt, and saying "Boys have bretzles too. They're just little." God love him.

Vegas-Day Three

2009-07-17T15:22:00.000-07:00

We woke up super late and then hit the casino's buffet. God, it was awful. But at least it was only 12 bucks.

We gambled a bit--played a little roulette and the slots. Then we hit the town. We started with drinks at the Four Seasons poolside bar.

Also see drinky pic #4 below. It was hot and snooty, so we just stayed for one, then hightailed it to Mandalay Bay to check out the sites and play some slots.

Then it was time for dinner at Charlie Palmer Steak.

They were having a recession deal called "Sunday Supper:" $48 for 5 courses ($70 with wine pairings).

We started with an antipasti course of Genoa salami, Molinari Coppa, spicy zucchini, marinated mushrooms and olives, and baby fontina. This was paired with Scarbolo 2005 Pinot Grigio.

The soup course was "Early Harvest Corn Chowder" with Oregon morels, bacon lardons, and fingerling potatoes. This was probably my favorite dish of the evening. It was paired with Rayon 2005 Blanc de Morgex.

The pasta course was "Granora Orichiette" with housemade pork sausage, sweet peas, and broccoli rabe. This was also very good. It was served with Castello di Montastero 2005 Chianti Classico.

The entree we chose was yellow fin tuna with acqua pazza braised cannelini beans, balsamic glazed mushrooms, and Yukon Gold potato puree with roasted garlic. This was paired with Movia 2003 Tokai Friulano from Slovenia.

The dessert was chocolate souffle with pistachio ice cream.

The portions were ridiculous. Each dish was the size of a full entree at another restaurant. It was disappointing to leave so much food on my plate! The service was also very slow. I could tell they did this on purpose. I'm all for lingering over a long meal, but I would prefer that it be on my terms, not the restaurant's. Plus it was just absurdly slow. Also, the place is too dark, as you can tell from the picture above, which did not turn out well. I didn't even try to take pictures of the food, because of the dark. It's a very masculine place, as you might expect from a steakhouse. The meal was quite good, but not outstanding. We greatly preferred the meal at Daniel Boulud's (which was also cheaper).

After, we went back to Parasol Up, Parasol Down at the Wynn, because we hadn't been able to see the light/water show the previous evening. We got the best seats right by the water and I had a glass of the same Sancerre we'd had the night before (still trying to find out what it is!). The show is about every 20 minutes and very amusing. There are projections on the waterfall, head shaped video screens that pop up out of the water, and colored balls that move and dance on the water.

Here's the head. Note that it is a separate video screen in front of the waterfall behind it.

And here are the lights in between the show. I loved the pink ones--it made the trees seems Dr. Seuss-y.

We then went back to the hotel, where I finally had to drag Erika away from the slots.

So that's Vegas! The highlights anyway. So what are going to do for Bitchapalooza 2019?

A Homemade Life: Stories and Recipes from My Kitchen Table

2009-07-13T08:03:00.001-07:00

A Homemade Life: Stories and Recipes from My Kitchen Table by Molly Wizenberg

My review

rating: 5 of 5 stars
I absolutely loved this book. It combines the genres of memoir and food writing in the most beautiful of ways. Each short chapter is a memory of the writer's that involves food, followed with a recipe for the dish. I haven't tried any of the recipes yet, but definitely will as they sound wonderful. They range from something as simple as radishes and butter with fleur de sel on a baguette to fresh ginger cake with caramelized pears.

Her writing reminds me a bit of Ruth Reichl and I read a review that called her "this generation's M.F.K. Fisher." She writes lovingly of her relationships with her father and husband. She writes of her time spent in France.

The author is the owner of the food blog "Orangette," which I had heard of but never looked up. Unfortunately, it looks like she's now on hiatus, but I definitely plan on going back and reading past entries.

The book took me awhile to read, because--like a good dish--I wanted to savor it and really took my time reading it. I rarely read books again, but this is one I probably will (especially for the recipes). I hope there are more books to come from Wizenberg.

View all my reviews.

Vegas - Day Two

2009-07-10T13:16:00.000-07:00

We left off yesterday with the beginning of the second day at the pool. Considering how late we got up, this took the majority of the day time hours.

We had early reservations for dinner at Daniel Boulud Brasserie at the Wynn. Right now is a great time to go to Vegas (if you can afford it) because of all the recession deals. The restaurants at the Wynn are offering prix fixe menus called Taste of Wynn. You can see the one for Daniel Boulud here.

The Wynn is absolutely gorgeous. For example, one of the "gardens" inside:

We started off with drinks at Parasol Up, Parasol Down (the down part).

Or you can see drinky pic #3 in the previous post. We had an excellent bar tender, who reminded us of someone we'd hang out with.

We ordered the three course menu and a bottle of Sancerre. The sommelier was so freakin' delicious and Erika made him blush, haha. She took a picture of him, but it didn't do him justice. Thankfully, she also took a picture of the Sancerre's label, because it was amazing and I can't find it online or remember it right now. But I have to get it.

I started with Country Pâté with homemade pickles and farmer’s bread and she got the Artichoke Velouté with brioche crouton and basil oil. I had just a taste of hers but it was great. Look at my beautifully presented plate (and it tasted as good as it looks):

We followed it up with the Moules Frites with bacon and crème fraiche for me and the Scottish Salmon with Asparagus, meyer lemon, and brown butter for her. Look at the colors in my dish! The fries were awesome too, perfectly dressed with vinegar.

The third course was to be dessert, but we had lingered too long and were running out of time before our show at the Mirage. So they kindly allowed us to cancel the third course. Thank goodness we did, because they already had special dessert plates for us since I had told them we were celebrating our 40th birthdays when I made the reservations.

The food was outstanding and the service was excellent. Although I'm not sure our female server appreciated our flirting with the male sommelier and her assistant, as we somehow ended up pretty much being served by them.

By the time we were done, we were seriously running late. We literally ran from the Wynn to the Mirage, where we were going to see Cirque du Soleil's Love.

Here's a picture earlier in the day (not during our mad dash):

Our timing was perfect. We sat in our seats and I swear the second my butt hit that seat, the lights went down. We didn't even have time to pee or (gasp!) get a drink. The show was absolutely amazing. I must admit I always had it in my mind that Cirque du Soleil was cheesy, but this was the best (non-band) live performance I've ever seen. Absolutely riveting and a blast. And our free tickets that came with our hotel/flight package were great seats. You can see videos of the performance here. So I'm now a CdS convert and am looking forward to the next time I get to see a show (although I'm not particularly interested in the Koozi show coming to Denver soon).

After, we hit the strip checking out the Vegas extravangas like the Bellagio fountains and horrid pirate show at Treasure Island. Here's a pic outside Cesars:

We ended up at a tequila bar in TI. Apparently it's part of the group that also owns restaurants like Zengo in Denver. Had some good tequilas.

We hit the Peppermill and Fireside Lounge much later for omelets and drinks (a wonderful combination). Wow, that place is cheesy:

The waitresses all wear long cocktail dresses and are eastern European. Our neighbors were a scary young meth-ed out type with a much older man who was supposedly wheeling and dealing on the phone (at 3 in the morning) to buy her a car. It was an...experience.

We walked back at our hotel, and for some strange reason, at 4:30 in the morning, "Sluts of Fun" is absolutely hilarious.

Finally Getting Around to Vegas - Day One

2009-07-09T11:34:00.000-07:00

Lordy, I've been busy. No time to blog. I can't believe the Vegas trip was over a month ago. It's been a whirlwind since then. Vegas, then Ohio, then Steamboat, and the cabin this weekend. But we get a week without kids this next week, so much adult-oriented eating and drinking shall ensue. Hopefully a movie or two too (tutu, ha).

So Erika and I met at the Vegas airport, our flights getting in only 10 minutes apart and headed to our tacky hotel Circus Circus. Considering we paid $50 total for 3 nights (that's TOTAL, not each), I can't really complain about the place. It met our needs (i.e. a place to sleep that has a pool).

I could probably explain the trip with just these pics:

Are you getting the picture?

Okay for posterity's sake, here are some of the fill-in-between-the-drinks details:

After a couple drinks in the room and some catching up (we hadn't seen eachother in 3 years!), we gussied ourselves up and hit the town. We had dinner at Mario Batali's Enoteca San Marco in the Venetian. See the first drinky pic above. It wasn't fabulous, but wasn't bad. We shared a bottle of wine, a cheese plate (which contained some delicious peppered honey), a Romana pizza with tomato, mozzarella, anchovy, capers, and chili and Pennette alla Norma: pasta with tomato, eggplant, and ricotta. The pizza was meh and the pasta was absolutely tasty.

Erika, unlike me, is possibly the most gregarious person in the world--which does tend to rub off on me a bit. This results in lots of perks, in this case getting chatted up by the sweet old men next to us and some lovely dessert wines on their tab.

We decided to head over to the Mirage to check out where the show we were seeing the next day was. We had no real plans for the night. Maybe check out the strip and then settle in a quiet bar for some catching up. Erika started chatting with some nice young men there for directions to the box office. Let me tell you--telling people in Vegas that both of you are celebrating your 40th birthdays gets you stuff. Next thing we know, the guys tell us to come back in a half hour when their place opens--they were bouncers for Jet Night Club. You know, one of the night clubs you always see pictures of celebrities in? With throngs of people and lots of girls dancing on stages? Not. Our. Kind. of Thing. But we figure what the hell.

So we have a drink at the casino bar (see the second drinky pic above) and head back over to the two cutie pies, where there is now a huge line. They literally open the velvet ropes, afix special armbands to our wrists, and hand us a bunch of drink tickets. Quote of the weekend: A girl goes, "Hey, it's my 21st birthday." Erika growls back, "Well, it's our 40th." Nuff said. It turns out the special wristbands entitle us to unlimited free drinks--as long as they're vodka-based (okay with me!). Not sure why we needed the drink tickets too. We thought we were just really hot (haha) with all the young men tumbling all over themselves to talk to us, then we realized they just wanted our free drinks. S'okay.

I generally can't stand places like that--didn't even like them when I was young. Have always preferred loud, raucous bands and/or dive bars. (Although we used to have a standing weekday evening at a place called Uptown, where we danced to Siouxsie, Love and Rockets, Sisters of Mercy, and the like). But I. Had. A. Blast. It was so Vegas and over the top and I'm sure the 40 year old women looked ridiculous. But we didn't care.

After, we stumbled down the strip the long, long way back to Circus Circus, stopping for omelets at Denny's. The next morning it was bagels and coffee and off to the pool: the perfect cure for the "day after" (especially if you include margaritas).

I'll have to continue this tomorow.

Ohio, Here We Come!

2009-06-09T12:31:00.001-07:00

Lordy, have we been busy. I will post about the fabulous trip to Vegas as soon as I have time, but who knows when that will be.

Tomorrow, we leave for Ohio. We'll spend the first half of the week in Toledo and the second half in Columbus. It promises to be a whirlwind trip and we even had to cut out our trip to Cedar Point, due to time constraints. Very disappointing.

But the focus of the trip will be family and friends. Too many to count and can't wait to see them all and give them a big ol' hug.

And, of course, we'll have to hit up our favorite Toledo eateries. Beirut for the best Middle Eastern ever. I can already taste the Lebanese garlic bread (so garlicky it burns your mouth) and baba ghanouj, which is like no other I've ever tasted--smoky, tangy, and sweet. I don't care what else I have--fatoush, hummus, tabbouleh, whatever, it's all good, just as long as I have the first two. They would actually be a part of my "last meal."

Hopefully I'll also have time to go to Tiger Bakery for more Middle Eastern food to take home, including their delicious bright pink pickled "stuff." (I'm not sure what is pickled, just that it's delicious. I think they're probably turnips).

We also have to hit Kotobuki, my absolute favorite sushi place of all time. Not only do they have the best sushi (even better than Sushi Den or Sushi Sasa in Denver!), but they are only place I've ever found that serves Goma-ae (other than Sushi Sasa who doesn't do it as well): cold, boiled spinach with a sesame sauce. It is seriously out of this world. It would be part of my last meal too.

And, of course, there's the incomparable Dennis, the owner, known for his food and good looks. I haven't met a female customer yet that doesn't have a crush on him!

We'll hit up Tony Packo's for some original Pickles and Peppers to take home. We're on our last jar right now and need to stock up. I may have to ship some, actually.

And, last but not least, all the Bell's Oberon we can drink. Why, oh why, in the land of good beer, can we not get this in Colorado? Are they afraid it may be too much competition?

Watch out, Ohio, here we come!

Bday Celebration

2009-05-28T08:44:00.001-07:00

A belated post about my birthday celebration 2 weekends ago. We got a sitter for Saturday night and B took me out on the town. We started with dinner at Table 6.

We shared an appetizer of a cute little jar of foie gras topped with apricot jam and some grilled bread. Come to find out, B doesn't like foie gras (wah?!?) and I got to eat it all myself. Nom nom nom.

I had the duck confit with "English Pancake, Rhubarb & Foie, and Living Arugula." (It was my night o' duck.) Very good. B had the roasted lamb collar with "Goat Cheese Gnuddi, Spring Peas, Parm, and Mint." It was also excellent. The only disappointment is that we could find no trace of mint. We followed it up with a dessert that was basically pancakes and bacon. (How can one go wrong with that?) Pancakes with gruyere, spicy caramelized pecans, and bacon. Table 6 has a great warm atmosphere and the service was excellent.

Then the debauchery began. We hit the town on a "cocktail crawl." (Well, I c.c.-ed and B was my lovely chauffeur.) The knowledgeable Denveater kindly provided me with some suggestions, so we first hit Beatrice and Woodsley. Service was annoying--we would have preferred a seat at the bar, because, well, we're just bar kind of people, but got a cocktail table with a snooty waiter. However, my "Tea Thyme" cocktail with Earl Grey infused gin, thyme, and lemon was great. Probably my favorite of the evening. I'd like to go back and try some small plates as they sounded delicious (oh, and more cocktails). Oh, OH! And I hate the bathrooms! I know they're supposed to be clever and unique, but I don't want to have to solve a puzzle to get into the potty and I don't want to wash my hands in front of the entire restaurant. God, I hate that shit. I just want comfort and a private place to primp in a bathroom.

We then went to another one of Denveater's recommendations next door: Delite. I had a Gimi Hendricks cocktail. Can't remember what was in it, except for Hendricks gin. Twas good! The atmosphere was pretty young and I felt like the old lady at the bar, but hey, I am the old lady at the bar.

We then went to Steuben's, where I had something with ginger in a copper cup and um.... maybe something else...lord knows at this point.

Now the month long celebration continues tomorrow for its final round: Bitchapalooza 2009 in Vegas, baby! Reservations have been made and bags are almost packed!

Farmer's Market Booty

2009-05-23T09:30:00.000-07:00

I meant to write "bounty," but "booty" came out. But that's kind of what it is, right? A treasure. This morning was the first trip to the Farmer's Market. Our local one isn't open until June, so we checked out the one in Boulder, which is larger than the one we usually go to.

Here's what we got:

MouCo ColoRouge cheese: a cow's milk soft cheese that's very creamy and butter. It has a reddish tinge to the rind, hence the name.

Breadworks Irish Oatmeal bread: hearty bread from a Boulder bakery

organic arugula

organic rhubarb: I'm going to try to make a rhubarb pie for the first time.

WineChick Pinot Noir: a pinot for only $9! The guy selling it said that the low price tends to scare people off, but it's really good. I say, at $9, why not try it? It's from grapes grown in the Palisades and bottled by a woman in Boulder. It's got a cute label too.

Allegretto American Orange Muscat from Bookcliff Vineyards: a dessert wine with "aromas of orange blossoms and apricots" that "has a light zesty finish in the mouth."

Yum! I've already had some bread with the ColoRouge and honey. I may pop open the wine(s) tonight.

Also on the locavore front: there's a "microfarm" around the corner from our neighborhood and they've got a new sign up that they're selling fresh, frozen, and off the hoof half or whole lambs. I'm seriously thinking about getting some.

Locavoring

2009-05-21T11:31:00.000-07:00

I got my garden in this weekend. It's so cute!

It's got 6 different kind of tomatoes ranging from your standard to cherry to heirlooms to romas. A nice wide variety. I have zucchini, yellow squash, cucumbers, cantaloupe, tomatillos, 2 kinds of basil, mint, parsley, arulula, butter lettuce, and corn (I warned B that we probably don't have enough for it to work, but he wanted to try it--maybe it will somehow cross pollinate with the corn on the other side of the fence in my neighbor's yard). I also have chives and oregano that come up every year.

I hope it does well! I don't have the greenest of thumbs. This weekend I need to work on the flower garden in front.

I also finally got around to calling a phone number on a sign at a nearby farm for fresh eggs. We went to get them and I wish I'd done it sooner. The boys loved the farm--especialy the chicks. The farmer is ancient and very sweet. He only had 11 eggs at the time, but they are beauties.

They're a wide range of sizes and colors. Look at that gorgeous orangey one. They taste great too. At 2 bucks a dozen and only 5 min. from my house, it just doesn't get much better than that.

I'm thinking about heading to Boulder on Saturday to hit their Farmer's Market, so perhaps I'll have more locavoring fodder to post then. Yum!

Why I'm Happy

2009-05-14T15:30:00.001-07:00

It's Spring.
It's Sunny.
I have a four day weekend.
I'm starting it with some Double IPA at Golden City Brewery.

Life is good.

My Abandonment

2009-05-13T13:38:00.001-07:00

My Abandonment by Peter Rock

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
I really enjoyed this unsettling book about a 13 year old girl who lives in the woods or outside of society with her caring, but mentally unstable veteran father. The last fifth of the book or so was absolutely shocking.

I am amazed at the links in another Goodreads review.

http://www.infowars.com/articles/us/12_y...

and

http://portland.indymedia.org/en/2004/06...

The cover said it was based on a true story, but I am surprised at how much it is.

I'd love to know what happens to Caroline as she grows up and begins the inevitable process of questioning her upbringing.

View all my reviews.

Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet

2009-05-13T07:30:00.001-07:00

Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet: A Novel by Jamie Ford

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
What a lovely book--a book about a Chinese-American boy in Seattle during WWII and his first love, a Japanese-American girl. The book is an ode to the city of Seattle and jazz. It's also an indictment of the racism against Japanese-Americans that occurred in that era. The Japanese internment camps are something you don't learn much about in history classes (I don't think I ever did), but are an appalling piece of our history. Why the Japanese and not the Germans or Italians? (Not that I'm condoning that anyone should be put in a camp.) Was it because the Japanese looked different than the typical white bread American?

Anyway, it's a gorgeous first novel. Very poignant and touching. I heartily recommend it.

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Life on the Refrigerator Door

2009-05-08T08:55:00.001-07:00

Life on the Refrigerator Door: Notes Between a Mother and a Daughter - A Novel by Alice Kuipers

My review

rating: 3 of 5 stars
A really quick read. It probably took me less than an hour, since some pages have only one line on them. A little unrealistic, but mildly entertaining.

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Handle With Care

2009-05-07T10:04:00.001-07:00

Handle with Care by Jodi Picoult

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
This book pissed me off. I wanted to reach into the pages, grab the mom by the neck and press my thumbs into her windpipe. But...even though there are elements of Picoult's "formula" that drive me crazy and I detested the protagonist of this book, I still find her books riveting and had a hard time putting this one down. So it's going to get a 4.

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Cocktails!

2009-05-05T15:50:00.000-07:00

I love me a good cocktail. I had 2 of the best ones ever last week at Steuben's. We went there for "Dining Out for Life" night, when many Denver restaurants donate 25% of their proceeds to Project Angel Heart. An excellent excuse to eat out! We chose Steuben's because I knew they had a kids menu. I didn't know how amazing the cocktails would be. I wish they had their cocktail menu online, because I can't remember the names. One had gin, citrus, and burnt orange peel in it. One had St. Germain elderflower liqueur and ginger in it, with candied ginger on the side. I would love to go there and sample every cocktail they have.

The 4 best cocktails I've ever had have been within the last year:

* the lavender mojito at Girl and Fig in Sonoma (although my pre-meal wine consumption may have made my judgement off)

* the Royal "Pimm's" Cup at Slanted Door in San Francisco--made with gin instead of Pimm's (although I do enjoy a good Pimm's on a warm day), hence the quotes around "Pimm's." We were a bit disappointed in our Slanted Door experience, but that cocktail was amazing.

* and the 2 at Steuben's

The worst cocktail I've ever had was recently at The Corner Office, where B and I met for lunch. It was called the Rico Corvo, or something like that (I'm sure I don't quite have that right). It had sparkling wine (cava?), tequila, and vanilla liqueur. What was I thinking? I should have known it would be awful, because that mixture just doesn't sound good. But it had 3 things I like (separately) in it, and I figured: hey, if they serve it, it must be good, right? No! I did drink it (agonizingly), because I figured the drink was as described therefore not their fault, and I'm certainly not one to let booze go to waste. But ugh. By the way, my lobster mac and cheese weren't all that great either, although B did enjoy his ridiculously huge burger.

Oh, and a bonus about Steubens: M, our 7 year old who doesn't like anything, loved it. He said it's his "3rd favorite restaurant" (after McDonald's and Red Robin-*rolling eyes*). The kids meals were great. They were $7, but included a main dish, a side, plus veggies w/ranch, fruit, a drink, and dessert. They could choose a cupcake or ice cream for their dessert--bonus!

My food was good: I had a shrimp po'boy which came with a really good spicy sauce, and habanero honey fried corn, which was good, but I wouldn't bother ordering again. And the side pickle was delicious. B and I shared the cookies & shake for dessert--which was tasty, but soooo rich. It consisted of 2 chocolate cookie sandwhiches--each were 2 chocolate cookies with white frosting as the sandwich filling, plus the cutest little vanilla shake. There's no way I could eat a whole dessert by myself!

Pretty in Plaid Day

2009-05-05T09:53:00.000-07:00

Just a reminder that Jen Lancaster's "Pretty in Plaid: A Life, a Witch, and a Wardrobe, or, the Wonder Years Before the Condescending,Egomaniacal, Self-Centered Smart Ass Phase" comes out today. Mine's on it's way from Amazon, and I can't wait. I know some of you out there are big fans too. If you're not, check her out: you will be. I've never read an author that makes me laugh out loud more.

Here's an old post about her first book. I also stalked...I mean saw her at the Tattered Cover this last year, and I am happy to say she is as funny in person as she is on the written page and computer screen.