A few months ago I wrote a blog about hearing a Taylor Swift song got me started on something...(www.gregorytalks.blogspot.com), and it happened again. This time it was Belinda Carlisle ( solo Belinda, not GoGo's Belinda).   It isn't so much that Belinda Carlisle got me on a tangent about anything, but in some weird, cosmic way it set off some sort of chain of events that had me remembering a million things from my childhood this week...I'll explain.  So, I was working in Nebraska this week...wah.wah.  ( I know, VERY glamourous...but hey, I did hear Lady Gaga was in Omaha this week working on her video or something for "You and I"), anyway, I'm in Nebraska, my IPOD planted firmly in my ear.  Now, usually I listen to a playlist I've created , or a specific artist (sometimes I start at the A's and force myself to listen to the songs in alphabetical order, without skipping any...I look at it as a lesson in tolerance...what was I thinking downloading that song?)   So today I hit the shuffle button and let the  thing play as it saw fit.  "Valentine" by Belinda Carlisle came on, and I don't know if it was the song, her, the heat outside, or what, but it immediately took me back to the summer of 1987.  I had just graduated from high school, and Belinda Carlisle was performing at the Peoria Civic Center.  I went with my friends, Amy and Stephanie.  I remember buying a 6ft poster of her and a button ( you all remember that jean jackets filled with buttons were all the rage back then...come on, who's with me?)  Ah, as I stood there listening to that song, I couldn't help but smile.  There is that part of you that wishes you could be a young, fresh from high school  kid whose whole life is still in front of them.  So, I went about my business and headed out for the hotel.  As I got in my rental car, a smell caught my attention....I don't know if it was the after effects of the Belinda Carlisle ?) or maybe it was just the Culver's across the parking lot, but I had this craving for a Little Chicken from Sea Fare...I KNOW, Right?  Ok, Ok, let me explain.  On north Main street in Canton, Illinois there used to be this small little restaurant (where HYVEE stands today).  In my parent's day, I think it may have been a Dog and Suds or something like that, but when I was in high school, it was Sea Fare.  Over the lunch break, they would serve  chicken strips and fries in a wax bag, so they were easy to grab and go. Sometimes on Friday, we would go all out and eat the salad bar, with the vanilla pudding (which was right out of the can).  Ahhhh, Little Chicken...I miss you.  Well, it was nice while it lasted Nebraska, but it's time to go.  I caught an early morning flight back to Denver and the early hour, coupled with the lack of sleep from a raging thunderstorm that moved through Omaha, I was exhausted by 3pm.  I thought maybe a cat nap might be in order so I flipped on the tv (mostly to use as background noise so I would fall asleep), but much to my surprise and delight what did I find...CHARLIE'S ANGELS!!! Not the movie version kids, the real life Aaron Spelling TV version.  I was disappointed to discover it was an episode from later years (after the shark jump) when it was Cheryl Ladd, Jaclyn Smith and Tanya Roberts..wah.wah.  In this very special episode the girls traveled to Hawaii and Kris was kidnapped.  Jane Wyman (Angela Channing on Falcon Crest) played a psychic that helped them track her down and rescue her from a derranged landscaper that wanted to kill her.  Ah, we've come along way in the drama department....THEN, wait for it.....Hawaii Five-O.  Not the new version, the old, back in the day version when Andy Griffith was young and played a street hustler.  At this point I got up and made Rocco's Crispy Pizza Crust from his book "Now Eat This" ( I mean this blog is called Gregory Eats, afterall)....I haven't been too impressed with much I've made out of the book, but I keep trying, and the crusts were actually pretty good and only about 130 calories.  Then, to top off my night...Hogan's Heroes.  I loved that show.  I always loved the idea of them getting away with stuff and the sneaky ways they would do it.   It's interesting to think now how a show like that would be received today, but we'll save that for another day.  I think it's always fun to think about how smells, and songs, tv shows or anything can trigger our memories, and next week I go home to where it all happened.  Sea Fare is long gone, but hey, there's always Brown's,   oh and Monical's...and Hannam's...have a good weekend and stay out of the heat (enough with the heat already!)

The entire country has been stuck in the middle of a major heat wave ( I mean it is summer, right?) this past week.  I, with my usual sense of great timing planned a trip to work in Yuma, Arizona this past week.  I don't think it really matters that the rest of the country was suffering too, I think it's always hot in Yuma.  The mercury rose to around 115 degrees while I was there, and yes, it is a dry heat, but when it's 115 degrees does it really matter?????   I haven't really been eating much exciting or otherwise this week, for 2 reasons.  First of all, did I mention it's hot?  Normally, heat doesn't really kill my appetite, but it served as a good excuse to lighten up.  Secondly, I'm trying to lose a few pounds in preparation for vacation in October.  We are going to Costa Rica this year, and my goal is to be fit as a fiddle...or at least 20 pounds lighter.  Anyway, traveling this week, I WAS A ROCK...focused, avoiding fast food (even IN n OUT Burger) wah.wah.  I was on the treadmill, counting my calories on MYFITNESSPAL.COM, and I would not be swayed.  Until today.....  I've been helping with the Basic Pastry Techniques class every Saturday.  Today, the students learned creme brulee, creme caramel, bread pudding WITH apricots mascerated in brandy and black raspberries, they also learned how to make puff pastry which became Apple Chaussons, and they made sweet dough that became cinnamon rolls...I had 2 bites of bread pudding and walked away!  Yes, I walked away..a pillar against the evil sugar.  I came home, changed my clothes and headed straight to the treadmill, and to serve as a little inspiration(and a cautionary tale) I turned on "Half Ton Teen", to see a 19 year old that weighed 825 pounds...I'm not about to judge, but seeing it, pushed me a little longer on the old treadmill, if you know what I'm saying.  So, I bound upstairs, bread pudding burned off to find Dan making 2 loaves of homemade bread and informing me that he was making pizza for dinner.....so, it was turkey pepperoni and I ate 2 pieces instead of the 1/2 of the pizza I would normally gobble down....at the end of the day, I have only one thing to say..."I feel happy of myself"  Watch the video...you'll see....   oh, great, it's 9:30pm and he is back in the kitchen making chocolate chip cookies...ugh!

Last night we had our sangria and tapas party.  Shortly after we got everything set up outside, the clouds moved in and it started to rain.  We moved the table under the umbrella and waited for it to pass...and it did...for a while.  All the guests showed up and it rained sporadically, so the table went back under the umbrella and we had a cozy evening until the rain finally passed for good.

The food, if I do say so myself, was delicious.  The puff pastry I made earlier in the week turned into some mini tomato tarts with fontina cheese, I made some fried garbanzo beans, seasoned with smoked paprika, garlic and salt, artichoke and rice balls, rolled in cornmeal and deep fried served with some arugula pesto, papusas with pulled pork that I cooked slowly in beer, some cucumber feta boats, olive tapenade with a fresh baguette.  Dan made a sweet potato salad with pepitas, roasted red peppers and cranberries, a spring pea, arugula salad with pecorino cheese and lemon. With the help of Kaylee (who made some mini chocolate cakes with caramel sauce and almonds) Dan also made mini tarts with fillings like blueberry preserves and havarti cheese, pepper jelly and goat cheese, and apricot preserves with gorgonzola, along with some filled with vanilla pastry cream and fresh strawberries.  We had 3 types of sangria, about 15 gallons in all.  The best part of a party...the leftovers.  This morning we had a pulled pork benedict.  Dan made biscuits and hollandaise, I poached eggs, reheated the pork then made a delicious benedict that I drizzled some cherry syrup over.  Ah, I love sunday....

I'm spending 2 whole weeks at home!  Yes, that's right, every night I get to rest my head in my own bed, on my own pillow and take a shower in my very own shower....ahhh.  What comes with me being home every night is an insane desire to cook and bake and cook and bake and cook and bake.  Tonight when I got home, a slow steady rain was falling outside (another reason to set up shop in the kitchen) and I was trying to figure out something to make.  We've been eating leftovers from the weekend the past few nights and I was in the mood to create.  I came up with a kick a** Peanut Sauce with Chicken, Carrots and Udon  Noodles.  It rivaled my favorite peanut low mein from the Avenue Grill.  I have, of course, recorded the steps for posterity because this one was worth repeating.  I'm thinking about making a pizza dough for the weekend (it's best when it sets in the fridge a day or two...I think anyway!)  The rain is kicking up again, but the kitchen is cleaned up for the night.  Oh well, there's always tomorrow.

I feel like I have a moment to relax...for once, and of course, it will be short lived.  I spent a second week in Utah last week where the mecury rose to the 100+ degrees.  Home on Thursday, a frantic Friday, and helping with a Basic Pastry Techniques class and I finally have a day to do nothing....I'm sure I won't.  Friday night we went to celebrate Miss Kaylee Anselmi's birthday.  Dinner at Potager, which remains on my list as one of the best dinners in Denver.  After dinner, dessert was scheduled  for 10pm at Beatrice and Woodsley.  Beatrice and Woodsley is an amazing space on Broadway in Denver, I wish I could say the same for the food.  I was so disappointed.  We sampled a few things, nothing really screamed delicious at me.  Disappointed, we made our way to The Cruise Room for martinis.  Having to work at 8:30am the next morning, I abstained.  Saturday night,  I made a great pasta with chicken sausages in a vodka cream sauce...delicious.  Then a late night craving for brownies hit and around 9:30pm I whipped up a batch of bourbon brownies.  Now Sunday morning and I'm planted, temporarily at least, on the couch.  There is a slim chance I might make it to the Farmer's Market in Belmar and maybe to the Cherry Creek Art Festival...we'll see.  Happy 4th everyone~