Before I talk about anything else, I have to put it out there...My favorite restaurant in Denver has fallen from grace.  For the past three years, I have spent many months in between my visits dreaming about those delicious soft shell crab tacos.  Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter, anytime I went, there they were waiting for my return....until this week.  One night this week I stopped in for just a simple plate of those wonderful things (and of course, a cucumber mojito) to find that they had been taken off the menu, just last week.  Now, to add insult to injury, the waitress tells me that the tacos are still available with the same slaw, however the soft shell crab has been changed to tempura battered asparagus....ASPARAGUS?  What the?  Who thinks asparagus is a perfectly good substitution for soft shell crab??????  Thanks Zengo for ruining Christmas this year....ahhh, but on to other things....

I spent Friday and Saturday decking the halls and getting a little holiday baking, candy making done.  I'm losing a weekend next week because on Friday, I'm headed to the greatest city in the world...NYC.  Can't wait.  More on that later, but back to the cooking.   Last night I made a large pot of Spicy Turkey Chili, guaranteed to clean out your sinuses.  This morning I made a batch of Peanut Butter Bon Bons and then proceed to make Praline Milk Jam.  I've never made Milk Jam before, but the recipe from Christine Ferber's book,Mes Confitures had me intrigued.  I got this book a couple years ago as a member of the audience at the Martha Stewart Show.  They had made jam that day, and the entire audience got a copy.  It seems like one of those things you can start, and then work on something else while it cooks.  I'll post the recipe in the recipe section.  The four hours of cooking in a double boiler, turned to six hours and then I finally just dumped it all into a large pan and cooked it stirring it constantly so it wouldn't burn.  The result, while delicious, is hardly worth the six hours it took to make, but lesson learned.  Perhaps the altitude and the boiling point, etc, etc of living at elevation has something to do with it, so don't let me keep you from trying it.    Anyway, off to Arizona this week and the New York at the end of the week. 

It's Thanksgiving night and all the dishes are done, the food put away, the second round of feeding is over and it's time to relax.  One of the new dishes we tried this year was a Sweet Potato Pudding courtesy of Bon Appetit magazine.  It was delicious...just sweet enough.  One of my "claims to fame" is my ability to reclaim the leftovers for something else.  Before dinner was even over, I had planned and plotted to take the left over sweet potato pudding and use them to make sweet potato pancakes for breakfast in the morning.  While I'm completely stuffed right now, my mind is still (and is always) thinking about the next dish I can make.  I will post the sweet potato pudding recipe in the recipe section, but enough about food for now.  As the night comes to a close it's a really good time to really sit and think about what I'm thankful for.  This year has brought about some changes for me, lots of opportunities and lots of challenges.  I was thinking just a few weeks ago about how I feel like I'm where I'm supposed to be at this point in life and my journey through it.  I guess besides the wonderful love of my family and friends, I'm most thankful for the peace that comes with that realization.  Things are good, things can always be better, and they can definitely be worse.  So on this Thanksgiving night, I wish you all that same peace.  Peace to find yourself content and happy, surrounded by family and friends that you love, and who love you in return.  Peace and love to you all.

I am always busy.  Always.  I get accused a lot of not being able to relax (you know who you are...), but I feel like there is always something I could be doing.  My to do list grows on a daily basis, and the best part is, I feel like I'm pretty good at balancing all of it.  Thursday night I got home from Rapid City, after our first snow fall of the year here in Denver.  I stopped at the store because some friends were coming for dinner on Friday night and I was making an entire meal from Carmine's Cookbook (If you don't know, Carmine's is one of my favorite Italian restaurants in New York City).  After my trip to the store, I broke out the paint cans to finish painting the kitchen wall (for the second time...the color needed to be darker...see the results on the "spaces" page).  Friday morning, I was making meatballs, marinara sauce, sausage stuffing for mushroom caps, croutons and Dan made Tiramisu.  The neighbors could probably smell the garlic wafted from the house!  Dinner was delicious and Saturday morning, I started in on the death defying feat of finishing the wall.  (The wall goes from the ceiling all the way down the basement stairs, so painting it was no easy chore).  Dan made a birthday cake for his sister, Lisa , and I got the wall done!!! (Insert Cheers from the crowd here!)  We went to dinner at Mataam Fez (a surprise to Lisa and a first time for me).  Mataam Fez is a Morrocan restaurant where you sit on the floor, eat with your hands and get entertained with belly dancers.  The food was really good, and I think we decided eating with your hands, actually makes you eat less.  The dinner consists of five courses, Lentil Soup, a salad of various marinated vegetables (potatoes, tomatoes, spinach, eggplant, carrots, fava beans) all lined up like a cobb salad, a B'Stella, which was the one thing I'm still questioning.  It was a phyllo dough pie, filled with chicken, almonds, egg, and various assorted other things, sprinkled with powdered sugar.  Next came the entree.  For myself, I ordered Hot and Spicy Chicken....delicious!  Final course was a fruit plate.  The place is definitely an experience.  
I neglected to mention dinner a few weeks ago, at Root Down.  If you live in Denver, or ever visit, you HAVE to go.  It's an old gas station, and beyoned the hip funky decor, the food is amazing.  It's just the kind of place I love, small plates which allow you to try several things without having to waddle out the door.  If I could recommend one thing, it is the veggie burger sliders....so freaking delicious.  We also sampled the buffalo sliders, carrot gnocchi, seared scallops and a delicious salad with grapefruit and avocado.  All I can say is GO!  Finally today I'm putting out the November "Inspire" all while thoughts of December are filling my brain.  It's going to be another busy day..... 

My friend (and coworker) Randi got married this weekend, and I had the privilege of making the cake for her and Daryl.  As with everything timing was everything, but I have to say that it pretty much went well with only a few minor hiccups in the preparation.  I got home on Thursday night from St. George, where I had been working since Sunday.  I made raspberry filling, lemon curd and lemon simple syrup.   Friday morning, I was up early preparing the batter, 42 cups in all.  By Friday afternoon, the cakes were baked and I was exhausted.  Not to exhausted to head over Hacienda Colorado for some mahi mahi tacos and a margarita...  The big day came and I was up at 5:30am to get the cakes covered in fondant.    We left the house about 1/2 hour late, but made it just in time to set up the cake and walk down the hall to the ceremony.  It was a beautiful day in Colorado yesterday and perfect to have the wedding outside.  It was a great meal and great fun as well.  Congratulations Randi and Daryl!

I'm obsessed with Potstickers.  Not just any old potsticker, but the chicken and spinach potstickers from The Avenue Grill.  Last weekend, we went to the symphony on Saturday night, then for dinner after.  I got my usual Thai Peanut Lo Mein for dinner, but for starters we ordered vegetable egg rolls and potstickers.  At the time, they were delicious, but I didn't give them much more thought.  Yesterday around 3:30 in the afternoon, I was running on the treadmill, when the craving  hit.  I needed more of those potstickers.  Knowing we were headed to the symphony again last night, I knew those potstickers could be mine once again.  While the symphony was beautiful, they couldn't play that music fast enough!  But finally, after thinking about those yummy things for 7 hours, they were like tasting little bits of heaven.  My mission now, which I have chosen to accept, is to try to reproduce a reasonable interpretation of the potstickers at home.  If anyone has a great recipe for potstickers they would like to share, just email it to me.    In other food related experiments this week, on Friday night I made a big pot of Red Bean and Rice soup, completely vegetarian, spicy and delicious for the cool evening.  Dan made Crap Apple Jelly yesterday, which I was hesitant about, but actually it doesn't taste too bad. My grandma had a crabapple tree in her backyard and I don't remember her ever doing anything with them, in fact as a kid, I don't think I even knew you could eat them.  The jelly has the slightest hint of bitterness, maybe why its called a "crab" apple?, but I think maybe with a little peanut butter on toast, it just might be the perfect combination.    Anyway, I'm off to Nebraska this week, where I'm sure there will be no great culinary find, but a guy can hope...

Busy, busy, busy....that's what my life is right now, well actually, it's always busy.   I spent the end of the month in Illinois and managed to get in one day of the Spoon River Scenic Drive.  It really is just a big feeding frenzy for me, Lord knows I don't need any crafts.  Corn dogs, kettle corn, pork chop sandwiches, ribeye sandwiches, apple fritters, it's all there and it's all good.  The weather had just a hint of crispness to it, but the sun made it a great day to be out in the country.  I did a little cooking while I was home, Orange Chicken, Wiener Schnitzel, and Crack Pie.  Yes, Crack Pie.  I first heard of Crack Pie when I was in New York last Christmas.  Anderson Cooper was hosting Live with Regis and Kelly and he was discussing how befitting the name was of the pie.  I didn't get a chance to sample it then, but was pleasantly surprised  to find an article in Bon Appetit about the Momofuku Milk Bar on 56th St. in New York City.   There on the page was the recipe for the famous Crack Pie.    The crust is made with oats and salt and the filling has a sweet sugary filling, so it provides just the perfect combination of salty sweet.  I whipped up the pie on the weekend, and it was delicious.    Sunday, I headed back to Denver and began some painting projects around the house.   I will be sharing some of the before and after picks with all of you.  Check them out under the "SPACES" tab on my homepage.

I spent a lot of time in airports this week, more than usual.  In fact, I was in the Denver airport every day this week.  I hit Albuquerque, Rapid City and now have landed for about 9 days in Canton.  So great to be home, and so great to have one of those midwestern, fall weekends when it rains and stays cloudy all day with a little chill in the air.  Just enough to wear a light jacket.  It seems that we go from shorts to full on wool coats, so it's nice to enjoy a little "crispness".  I spent most of Saturday with my mom and sister, and today I spent some time in the kitchen with my nephew, Jacob.  For dinner tonight I made Jager Schnitzel, Spaetzle, Fried Cabbage and a caramel apple cake for dessert.  It is so great to spend the day in the kitchen.  I was purusing my mom's collection of cookbooks and "rediscovered" one that had belonged to my grandma.  The Woman's Home Companion Cookbook.  It's copyright date is 1942.  It's filled with about 900 pages of recipes and tips for just about any occasion.  I loved to read the tips knowing that they were written all those years ago....it has table setting instructions for formal or informal dinners, but one of my favorite sections is Formal Dinners..WITHOUT a Maid.  
     "Giving a party without a maid can be done with charm and a certain amount of style if you go about it naturally, avoid confusion and don't attempt more than you can accomplish easily."   

It also talks about how this book was meant to be simple and easy to follow, but thumbing through the recipes, it strikes me that by today's standards, they are not simple enough.  I think it's important to make these kind of recipes once in awhile.  Not every meal has to be made in 30 minutes or less, with 5 ingredients or less and feed your family of 4 for the entire week....I'm just sayin.

One other thing that strikes me about this book is that this edition was published during a war.  It was definitely a different time.
     "As this edition goes to press our country is still at war.  Rationing is in force and shortages of many foods have developed.  In a fine spirit of patriotism American homemakers have adapted themselves to the changes.  Their minds are open to new ideas; foods they have never served before are now appearing on their tables.  So, though you may have to wait until the war is over to try some  of the recipes in this book, there are literally hundreds which will add interest and novelty to your wartime menus.  If, for example you haven't enough sugar to make Fruit Torte, there's a delicious Cabinet Pudding using only two tablespoons of that precious ingredient; if you can't obtain a sirloin steak, there's an appetite teasing T-bone steak, Family style; if your busy schedule doesn't allow time to make yeast-raised orange bread, there's a quick one that uses baking powder.  Refer to the chapter on nutrition often.  It will tell you how to plan meals that will keep your family in top health.  A healthy nation is the best contribution our homes can make to our war effort."

I think about our nation today, what a different world it is. 

Oh, and in case you were wondering....I'll post the recipe for Cabinet Pudding in the recipe section.

Wow, what a busy couple of weeks.  Vacation was done and then the fun really started.  I had to finish packing  up my apartment, move, work and try to reorganize my life in a very short time span.  While some of the "putting away" still continues, for the most part, things are beginning to settle down.  Settle down, just in time for Fall.  As you may or may not recall, Fall is my favorite time of the year.  It's the change that you feel in the air, the sort of new beginning.  I think I still equate Fall with the return to school and that always meant a new start, a year of possibilities that could be endless.  The difference however, between then and now is the speed at which the summers pass.  I remember being a kid and spending endless summer days playing with my friends, when the days seemed to go on for much longer than 24 hours.  Now, I blinked and summer was over.  While it's sad to say good bye to summer, the one thing we can enjoy is the bounty of fruits and vegetables provided us with to create some great , fresh meals.   Last night's dinner was my adapted recipe for Risotto with 3 colors of peppers and portobello mushrooms.  Tonight I'm making some hearty braised short ribs  with garlic mashed potatoes.  Check out the INSPIRE section for the breakdown on your own Harvest Dinner.  Happy Fall! 

Wednesday we made reservations for a winery tour, including a tapas tour with wine pairings.  Chateau Chantal is located on the Old Mission Penninsula and there are some amazing views from the winery.  The tour lasted about 3 hours total, and we sampled several of the wines.  My favorite was the Smoked Whitefish Pate, paired with a Semi Dry Riesling.  Some of the other dishes we sampled included BLT Bites and Cracked Pepper, Blue Cheese and Walnut Twists, Thai Cauliflower and Peanut Satay , and a very simple Greek Salad Bite on a cucumber slice.  The recipes are available on the winery website....http://www.chateauchantal.com.  There is a bed and breakfast located at the site, so if you are ever interested in spending some time in Northern Michigan, it's a great place to consider.

Day 2 of vacation and much of today went a lot like yesterday.  I sat and enjoyed my coffee this morning and made more headway on the book I'm reading.  Dan made cabbage bread like his Grandma Margaret used to make and while the bread dough was rising, we took the paddle boat out on the lake.   The cabbage bread, also called a Runza when made in smaller sandwich sized servings, is a bread dough filled with ground meat, cabbage, onions and seasonings.   After dinner, we took a drive to Lake Michigan and watched the sunset.  We ended the day with ice cream, loaded with bananas, crumbled chocolate chip cookies, strawberry syrup and pineapple.  I'll post a recipe and some pictures of the cabbage bread and some of the beautiful sunset when I get back to Denver.  Tomorrow we are heading out early to Mackinac Island, and I'll be sure to share that as well.