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~

Dan made bread this week.  No, that is not earth shattering news by any means.  We have 2 starters in our fridge, so he makes bread almost every week ...(reason #589 why we are FAT!).....During this particular bread making effort, he left out one key ingredient...salt.  Bleeeeechhhh.  Have you ever tasted bread with no salt?  At any rate, with 2 loaves of saltless bread sitting on the counter, I couldn't help but want to turn this bread baking tragedy into a dinner triumph.  Enter....SAVORY BREAD PUDDING.  Now, the thing I like about Savory Bread Pudding is that it is the perfect excuse to clean out the refrigerator.  I had just made some italian meringue and had 5 egg yolks with no place to go, so inspiration wasn't far behind.  My particular version included, red pepper, yellow beets, onions, ham, blue cheese and some 4 cheese blend for good measure.  I opened up the spice cabinet and threw in a little of this, a little of that, a pinch of this, a pinch of that, mixed the egg yolks with some milk, tossed it in a bowl, into the oven and VOILA, dinner is served.  I know, I know, it's not exactly light summer supper fare, but it served it's purpose.  Throw a salad next to it, and it's a perfect dinner.  Other than that, I had some great success with a couple cake ideas I tried out and some other "behind the scenes" things.  Tonight we are off to the symphony for the final performance of the season..and of course, (it goes hand in hand with the symphony)...dinner at the Avenue Grille....Tomorrow night I'm off to Canton for the week!  Have a great week! 

What a busy week last week was!  But really, aren't they all?  Memorial Day was a great day to relax.  I planted some tomato plants, zucchini, yellow squash, cucumbers, lettuces and spinachs and Dan concentrated on getting some pepper plants and herbs into the earth.  Tuesday off to Utah, back on Wednesday, Thursday off to South Dakota and back home Friday afternoon.....whew!  Saturday I helped in a cheesemaking class.  The class made butter, lemon cheese, ricotta and mozzarella.  If you have never tried to make your own cheeses, it really is fairly easy.  If you're interested and looking for some recipes, you can check out the Barefoot Contessa's cookbook for a great ricotta recipe, or just email me and I would be glad to send you some.  Saturday night we finally got to see Pink Martini with the Colorado Symphony.  The show had originally been cancelled a few months ago, but the wait was totally worth it.  It was a great show!  And if that wasn't enough martini for the evening, we headed over to the Avenue Grille for a post concert dinner and of course, dirty martinis!    Today, we've been smoking a brisket in the smoker and I'm counting the minutes to eat.  I'll let you know how delicious is was!  And if your interested, check out the website:  http://www.pinkmartini.com/

During pastry school, the fabulous Chef Kelly Bailey Newlon shared her recipe for Coconut Curry with the class, and so Friday night I decided to try and duplicate it.  Like most great chefs, there is no exact recipe, it's more about smell and appearance, but Dan tried his best to determine the amounts and put them down on paper.  Let's just say it was a "reasonably good" attempt at duplication.  Mine ended up a little sweeter, a little hotter, but good none the less.  The biggest question of the night was whether or not we would all die of food poisioning or suffer some sort of huge gastro intestinal "incident".  For the purpose of explanation I will recreate the conversation...
Scene:  me in the kitchen, Dan returning from the store
Me:  Did you remember to buy the curry paste?
Dan:  Oh, no.......I think we have some....(he begins to search)......"It used to be here...."  still searching...........(checks the canned goods in the garage)........"here it is"......
Me:  Ummmmm, the can says it was manufactured in 1994?
Dan:  Really?  It's in a can, it's fine....
Me:  It's 17 years old...
Dan:  If we were in a nuclear holocaust we would be happy to have that can....
Me:  Yes, I guess we would ......
And so, the "alleged" 17 year old can of red curry paste went into the curry....(of course we did a smell check and a visual check for anything out of the ordinary)....4 days later, as of this posting I am happy to report that we are alive and well and had no adverse effects................yet.

This weekend I helped with bread class.  Naan, fugase, mulitgrain, olive bread, blue cheese, apple and walnut bread, fig and hazelnut bread, potato rosemary, and ciabatta.  I always love to see people get excited when something they made actually turns out. So, other than that it was a kind of quiet weekend.  Tonight when I got home from class, we fired up the grill and Dan cooked hamburgers.  Just the way I like it, crispy on the outside, cheese, tomato, ketchup, sliced onions and just a swipe of mayonaise.  If only it would have been a "fresh from the garden" tomato, then it would have been a true, full on summertime meal.  Friday night I made Chop Suey.  My grandma's recipe.  It's not really much of a recipe, but it's one of those meals, that the very smell of it sends my mind back to everytime we sat at her table and ate it.  She didn't make it often, maybe one or two times a year.  She had this certain rectangular, metal pan that she would pour the chow mein noodles in and toast in the oven, I can still see it ...in fact, somewhere in a box, I think I have that pan.  I am ALWAYS amazed at the power of food and how the taste or smell or sight of it can transport us to another place.  I think that's why I enjoy seeing people's eyes light up when they are proud of something they created.  I know that they will take that new found knowldege and make delicious and beautiful things for their family and friends... and  the cycle of food sparking memories will continue...just as it should.

What a long, long week!  The weather in Denver this week ran the gamut.  My Thursday morning commute consisted of drizzle, full on rain, blowing snow and then finally sun.  It's been a dreary week, but the grass is greening and the plants are blooming, so I won't complain.  The highlight of the week was assisting with a Tapas class at the culinary school.   The class prepared some delicious dishes.  One of my favorites, and one that will sure to be a hit on the summer barbeque menu was a grilled peach with honey and mascarpone cheese (infused with a little grand marnier, which never hurt anything), and sprinkled with some chopped pistachios.  Simple. Easy. Delicious.  Be sure to choose some ripe fruit, and let your imagination run wild with the mascarpone.  So good.    A rainy weekend, brought about some time to dig into some cookbooks and compile a huge list of new things to try and experiment with.  I can't wait to get started and share the results with you all.