Ohio, Here We Come!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.


View all my reviews.