This week I took a step back, or should I say I pushed myself back from the table.  I've been trying to reevaluate my eating habits, and I have to admit that life on the road (I sound like I'm in a rock band...) does not lend itself to eating with any sort of normalcy or health.  But, having said all that, I did a pretty good job of trying some new things.  Most notably, I have gone for another week without eating meat.  I used to think that it would be absolutely impossible for me to do that, but really not so hard.  Today, I experienced my first ever "vegetable protein" hot dog.  Oh, stop your moaning!!! I'm telling you that with the mustard and onion on the thing, I would never have known the difference if I hadn't made it myself.  (In case your interested, they were "Smart Dogs" by Lightlife Foods).  Tonight for dinner I made pizza with vegetarian "sausage" crumbles and soy cheese and although it wasn't my usual pizza, it was a really incredibly good substitution.  Tomorrow I'm headed over to the farmer's market in Belmar to see what's coming in.  I like the idea of eating this way, but I know being a midwestern comfort food kinda guy, its not gonna be easy.  So, while I didn't cook anything this weekend to share with everyone, I have been working today on my top 10 zucchini recipes.  Soon enough you're neighbors will be sneaking zucchini on to your front porch at night just to get rid of it,  so I'm compiling my top 10 best ever zucchini recipes. 

I spent the week in Nebraska.  I usually have a "love-hate" relationship with Nebraska...well, let's be honest, it really has been much more of a "hate" relationship.  This week was a little different.  I made it home on time, on the day I was supposed to and that was enough to make the week a success, but I had a couple more experiences this week that made it all the better.  First, I got to hang out with Gabe and Lalery on Monday night and they successfully showed me that there is more to Nebraska than nothing and snow.  The other thing I enjoyed (you know it's always about food....) was a Green Chile Burrito from a place called D'Leons.  It was amazingly delicious.  It has several locations throughout Lincoln, and although the one I went to looked like the kind of place you might not want to see the kitchen of...if you know what I'm sayin!  But nevertheless, it was delicious and most of those kind of places usually are.  The threat of impending thunderstorms loomed over my return trip, but alas, I escaped in time to avoid them.  I got back to Denver and spent today working on July's Inspire. 

This month's Inspire features a recipe for Strawberry Sour Cream Pie.  This is the very first "video" recipe I've done...it wasn't too bad, but it's a start.  I mean c'mon, do you think Rachel Ray just looked into the camera and started cooking?

I was on 8 different planes this week...finally I arrived home on Friday morning, or should I say Friday afternoon and looked forward to a quiet weekend.  When I went to bed on Friday night, there was a steady rain falling outside and I anticipated a wonderful, peaceful night sleep in my own bed.....that's what you get for anticipating!  Sometime around 2am, the failing battery in my bedroom smoke detector decided it was finished, so the beeping commenced.  So, at 2am I'm standing on a barstool trying to get the beeping to stop...finally I figured out how to open the thing and yanked the battery...seconds later...beep.....beep.  The smoke detector is hard wired, so although the battery is out, it will continue to beep.  Tired and defeated, I closed the bedroom door and went to sleep on the couch.  Not to be deterred, I got up around 7am (yes, on a Saturday) to head to the store to buy a new battery (by the way, yes I do have batteries in the kitchen drawer, not the size I needed, of course...and yes, I bought extra for the other smoke detectors).  Since I was up and wide awake, and the drizzley morning was screaming for some delicious breakfast, I whipped up a Breakfast Quesadilla.  As I've said before, you can put just about anything in a flour tortilla and I'm up for it.  So, with a couple eggs, some onions, a little bacon and some cheese, I have turned the day around...maybe the weekend won't be all bad!

Check out the breakfast quesadilla recipe in the recipe section.

Last night I hosted a tasting for a birthday party I'm catering in July.  The menu is completely inspired by the fresh produce that will be plentiful in late July.  It's a great variety of tastes all tied together with fresh, readily available ingredients.  You can find the recipes for the Watermelon Gazpacho and the Veggie Pizza in the recipe section.

Tuesday night I got home from 5 days in New York City.  It was my first visit to the city during the warmer months, and I have to admit, it's a totally different vibe.  The one thing that continues to inspire and impress me is the food...and the art...and the stores...and the people.  We arrived around 1pm on Thursday and after checking in at the hotel, made a b-line to Bobby Van's for filet on toast with gorgonzola sauce and a dirty martini.  The dirty martinis at Bobby Van's are the most consistent martini I have ever had...and trust me, I have had enough of them there to compare.  We left Bobby Van's and grabbed a black and white cookie and headed to Central Park.  We listened to the saxophone player and took a long walk through the park.  We headed back to the hotel to get ready for the first of three shows we would see....Wicked.  One word...amazing.   Dinner after the show was a pretzel from one of the street vendors. 

Friday morning we had a late breakfast/early lunch at a place called Le Pain Quotiden.  I had a turkey tartine with chipotle aioli and chorizo chips...so simple, but soooooo delicious.  We did some shopping at Fishs Eddy (check out their website if you need anything for your kitchen)...Stopped and got a cupcake at Crumb's (red velvet), but the most amazing find...New York Cake & Bake....it's like the promised land of baking.  Anything you need to make cakes, cookies, etc is in that store (you can check out them online too!!!).  We went back to our hotel to get ready for our second show...Promises, Promises starring Kristen Chenoweth and Sean Hayes.  I loved the show.  The costumes, the feel, the dancing...it was all very visually impressive.  After the show we had dinner at Carmine's.  Ceasar salad, stuffed mushrooms, and meatballs with rigatoni...and of course, a dirty martini.

Saturday we spent most of the day at the MOMA.  Some very interesting exhibits and when they closed at 5:30, we stopped off for what turned out to be about one of 3 visits to H & M.  Several pounds of new clothes later, we changed and took the subway to Spring Street for dinner at Balthazar.  I have to start by saying that the french fries at Balthazar are the best french fries you could ever eat.  I mean, the risotto with fresh morels, the goat cheese and carmelized onion tart, the mango cheesecake...they're good and all, but those french fries may very well change your life!

Sunday started with a subway ride to Brooklyn and a walk back across the Brooklyn Bridge.  We had lunch at a place called Red at the South Street Seaport, walked through the financial district, then headed back to Times Square for tickets to see another show.  We decided to see "The Fantasticks".  It was in a small 200 seat 1/2 round theater and was really well done.  After the show, we headed over to Serendipity for a frozen hot chocolate.  It was well worth the 45 minute wait for the table.

Monday morning we took the subway to Canal Street for some "shopping".  We had lunch at Lombardi's ( the oldest coal fired pizza joint in America)...delicious.  We wandered through Little Italy and Chinatown, Soho and the Village.  Had a vanilla cupcake at Billy's Bakery and then took the subway to the hotel for a quick nap and then dinner at the Carnegie Deli.

Tuesday we made another stop at H & M then walked up 5th Avenue to Madison Square Park and lunch at the Shake Shack....the shroom burger, much like the Balthazar french fries, could change your life.  Sadly I kicked and screamed all the way back to the hotel to take the car to the airport....
All in all, I came back inspired, as I always do...ready to write some recipes, create some artwork and wear some new clothes!!!!!!!!!