It's been a year in the making.....a vacation that is about doing  nothing.  Dan and I left Denver around 1pm on Friday and drove 1300 miles to Northern Michigan.  We rented a fabulous house on Lake Bryan.  The house has 2 kitchens, 3 bedrooms, pool table and most importantly plenty of space to do something or in our case, absolutely nothing.    Dan made waffles for breakfast this morning, then we spent a good portion of the day sitting on the upstairs deck, reading.  Later we went for a 4 mile walk, then came back and grilled some hot dogs ( I know, I know, not exactly the culinary delicacy you might expect), but it fits right in with the theme of the week...do nothing unless you want to.  Having said that, I have to get back to doing nothing again...talk to you later.

Okay, Okay, I know it's not really spring, but it is time to clean out everything.  As you may or may not know, I am moving in a month.  Throw in a 10 day vacation and being out of town for work and it doesn't really leave me much time.  I am proud to say that I have well over half of my stuff packed, although living in a house stacked with boxes isn't my real idea of ideal, in fact, as someone who likes everything in its place, it borders on all I can stand!  But my mission to not buy groceries for the past few weeks and to clean out the freezer and cabinets has worked really well.  Last weekend, I made dinner completely out of the freezer, with the exception of the onion and the tomato sauce,  it  was a total improv, throwing in some of this and some of that, and ending up with ...voila...dinner.   It became a monkey bread of sorts, only savory and italian style.  Check the recipe section for the ingredients and steps.

So as most of you know, yesterday I got the fantastic opportunity to do a cooking demo on "Everyday" here in Denver and I can't say enough thank yous to all the people who wished me well beforehand, but especially to everyone who sent me such nice messages after the show.  It was incredibly fun for me, and something I really love to do.  I hope there will be more opportunities like that in the future.  (If you didn't get a chance to see it, it is posted on the home page of this website, so go check it out!!!)   After the show yesterday morning, a great weekend continues.  Last night was First Friday in the Santa Fe Art District where their was a celebration of Andy Warhol's birthday.  There was the opportunity to get your picture taken wearing the infamous Andy Warhol wig and sunglasses.  I passed.  After that, a great dinner at The Avenue Grill....dirty martini with bleu cheese stuffed olives and Lo Mein.  This morning, the celebration continued with brunch at Bistro Vendome in Larimer Square.  I can't believe I have lived in Denver for 3 years and this was my first visit.  There were at least 10 things on the brunch menu I wanted to try.  I settled (although settled isn't really the right word), I decided (that's better) to have the classic french Croque Madame.  It was served with french fries (or should I say pomme frites).  As you know, if you are a follower of this blog, there are no pomme frites that can stand up to those served at Balthazar in NYC, these didn't match up either HOWEVER, these have a place all their own.  There is a slight hint of sweetness to the fries, which I find really delicious.  I also had an amazing french press coffee.  Sitting outside on the patio under the trees, it really was a perfect summer morning.  Now, back to reality.  As some of you may already know I am moving out of my apartment next month, and with my schedule in full blown mode, I am faced with the dreaded task of packing.....I won't have many opportunities to get it all done between now and the time I move, so I have sequestered myself to the task at hand.  That doesn't mean that I haven't strayed a bit.  So far this afternoon, in an attempt to avoid the inevitable (and use up some aging lemons) I have made a lemon yogurt cake and 4 bars of lemon soap.  Ridiculous I know, making soap when I have all this other stuff to do, but it's what gets me through the day....Have a good weekend. 

I'll share a couple pictures from last nights Art Walk......

This week was another whirlwind...Monday found me off to Texas to work in San Antonio, back to Denver on Tuesday night, Pueblo on Wednesday, Colorado Springs on Thursday and a busy, busy Friday and Saturday preparing for a birthday party catering job.  But , OH, the things I ate this week, and believe me, I ate.  One of the most notable things I had this week, which wasn't exactly something I ate, but more something I drank was an avocado margarita.  A traditional margarita blended with an avocado.  The consistency became something like a milk shake, but really good and really refreshing.  Being in San Antonio, I had lots of mexican food, which as most of you know is one of my favorites.  Wednesday night....Zengo.  Need I say more?  Not much to guess about here, soft shell crab tacos and cucumber mojitos.  Thursday, the "BIG E" roll from Jun's Japanese restaurant in Colorado Springs.   The most filling sushi roll I have ever eaten.    Friday a quick lunch at DJ's Berkley Cafe and the New Orleans Turkey....a yummy turkey sandwich with a really great, salty olive tapenade.  Then it was down to work.  I had a birthday party to cater this weekend.  The menu consisted of Chicken Salad, Ham and Cheese Puff Pastry, Mini Summer Squash and Zucchini Tarts (thank you to my sous chef, Dan for all his hard work making the "perfect" tart shells).  Two birthday cakes completed the menu.  One carrot, the other marble.  Along with all that , I had a lot of other stuff going on and now, needless to say, I have to get some sleep....Have a good weekend and I'll talk to you next week. 

The weeks fly by so fast, that I can barely remember where I was yesterday.  This past weekend that swift passage of time seemed to smack me right in the face.  For the past two years, I could probably count the number of times I missed Sunday brunch at Lola.  I have a fairly meticulous memory and even better record keeping skills, so when we decided we should show our faces at the "see and be seen" brunch spot, I checked to see the last time I had a credit card charge ...April 18?  WHAT?  Are you kidding me?  Over 3 months had passed since we had darkened the door of one of our favorite places in Denver.  I started to think about what I had been spending all my Sunday mornings doing?  Between the trip to New York, me being gone, Dan being gone, yard work, etc. 3 months had slipped away.  I was pleasantly surprised to find that even though we had been completely off the radar, the staff remembered us like we were Norm and Cliff on Cheers.  The food at Lola is so unusual, but always so good and I always enjoy the special that the chef has whipped up for that day, but this week I returned to simplicity...sweet potato hash and scrambled eggs.  Plain and simple scrambled eggs that were so light and fluffy.  The chorizo and peppers mixed in the hash were the perfect pairing for my eggs...(and my cranberry orange mimosa).  Sitting on the patio in the sun, drinking my mimosa, I was reminded why I love that place, and that sometimes our lives get so busy we forget to take pleasure in the simple things.  As things get busier and busier for me, I have to remind myself how quickly life is passing...so with that said...I'll see you Sunday Lola!

I spent the first part of the week in Arizona with temperatures ranging from 105 degrees to a low of 61 degrees.  Coming home to Denver I was welcomed by temperatures in the 90's.  What a great reason to retreat to the air conditioned comfort of my kitchen and bake a bunch of cake!  I didn't bake cake just for the sake of baking a cake (I hear a song there somewhere...sake....bake....cake) I had a wedding cake tasting today for a wedding cake I'm making in November.  Lemon cake with lemon curd filling and chocolate cake with raspberry filling, draped in chocolate fondant.  I'm really looking forward to doing it.  I also got the rsvp numbers  for the birthday party I' m catering at the end of the month.  It seems to be an exciting time for me right now, lots of jobs going  (doing exactly what I love) and a few changes in store, help to keep life interesting and challenging, and admittedly a little scary from time to time.  So, everyone raise your forks and take a bite of cake  for the future.

It's been a lot of years since my high school french class, and although I can still recognize a few words, I'm much better at recognizing French cooking terms and names of French dishes.  This weekend I'm cooking an all out French dinner, all from the pages of my Balthazar cookbook.  The menu consists of:
 
Roasted Beet and Bibb Lettuce Salad with walnuts and Gorgonzola
Carmelized Onion and Goat Cheese Tart
Chicken Riesling with Spaetzle
French Apple Tart with Creme Anglaise

It all seems so delicious, I wish it was tomorrow night already.  Today I made the Apple Tart and the creme anglaise.  I've prepared the crust for the Goat Cheese Tart and have it chilling in the fridge.  The chicken jus that I rushed home from the airport last night to make got done around 12:15am or so, so it should be perfectly delicious.  I also peeled and boiled about 25 tiny white pearl onions.  I've decided the best plan of action with all this delicious food, is to not eat for the entire day tomorrow leading up to this meal.  I'll post some pictures...bon appetit!

So I got to spend the week in Illinois last week and extended my stay to share the 4th of July with my family.  The weather had been picture perfect the entire week and the morning of the 4th the clouds rolled in.  Luckily, it never did rain, so the fireworks went off without a hitch as we watched from our customary spot on the railroad tracks.  This week was busy, back to Denver on Monday morning, Colorado Springs on Tuesday, flight to South Dakota on Wednesday, back home tonight...late of course.  This weekend, I'm making what I have referred to several times as the best chicken I have ever eaten.  If...or should I say when I have my own show on the Food Network and I'm on "The Best Thing I Ever Ate", it will be this chicken.  The recipe comes from one of my favorite New York City restaurants, Balthazar.  It involves this most  delicious, concentrated roasted chicken jus.  Needless to say, it is now 10:21pm and I've just added 6 cups of water to the pan that needs to reduce to 2 cups.  It's gonna be a while, but it gives me time to catch up on the website, hatch some new plans, etc. etc.  Who needs sleep?

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?