more entertainment from Rocky Grass

This child cracked us up for most of the day -- her family was sitting in front of us. Her name was Katherine -- and she was interested in anyone within a 10 yard radius who might provide her with any kind of food. Not surprising... she was huge (she was 18 months old, and I figure "average" height/weight for a 2 1/2 - 3 year old).

Just kickin' back, enjoying the day.

goin' back to Rocky Grass

The usual suspects: we were glad that Erik & Sarah could join us for Rocky Grass again this year. This was our 4th year running, and our best weather yet: it never got scorching hot, and it never rained.

Sarah brought crafts to work on while she was listening to the music. Tom was thoroughly entertained with this doll....

Even though it wasn't terribly hot, Sarah & I still took a dip in the river. This was our view of the stage while sitting in the creek. This was Allison Brown: she was new to me, and very impressive.

dessert

We had a team effort for dessert. Tom made strawberry sorbet, and I made ice cream balls. I bought the ice cream from a local ice cream maker (based in Denver: Lik's). After scooping out the balls of ice cream, I topped them with chocolate and sprinkled hazelnuts on them (and then refroze them). Basically, it was like eating a peanutbutter ball -- except with ice cream on the inside rather than peanut butter. I tried several different ice creams -- the winner was definitely the cayenne caramel. It is just a little spicy -- and topped with sweet frozen chocolate, it was a great combination.

main course

Tom really outdid himself on the main course -- as the recipe was entirely his own inspiration/creation.

He infused (soaked) dried lavendar in olive oil. Then he added the oil to white wine to poach some halibut. He finished it off with a beurre blanc sauce -- which is basically white wine, butter & shallots. The lavendar scent & flavor came through so beautifully -- but was not overpowering. Tom then served a salad of heirloom tomatoes, avocado & some feta cheese, topped with the balsamic reduction that he had also used on the polenta. Wow.

opener: salad from the garden

Tom's opener was a salad. The greens were baby romaine from the garden, with a lemon vinagrette. He topped the greens with mango & blue cheese. I must admit, I was skeptical of the mango and blue cheese combination, but it was FANTASTIC. The sweet mango was cut so nicely by the stinky/salty cheese... I'm going to have to try other fruit/blue-cheese combinations in the future.

The next course was polenta. Sadly, this was the only course that the photos didn't turn out. But it was the polenta that we had at our farm dinner, so if you refer to last week's blog entries -- you'll find it pretty easily. Tom served it with a balsamic vinegar reduction, which was superb.

Tom outdoes himself

It was time for another journal club this week. Tom went over the top! His opener was sushi -- he's really gotten quite good at it. He made a spicy-tuna roll, and a California/vegetarian roll. The sushi disappeared very quickly.

Wendi, Rasesh & Taran are finally here!

We are happy to report that Wendi has finally finished her Infectious Disease fellowship (in Oregon) and decided to take a job in Denver. So she, Rasesh & Taran moved in last week.

Tom and I went down to Denver to help them with some unpacking. It was great to see them. Somehow, we missed out on Taran being a baby entirely -- he is certainly a little boy. This is Taran showing me his lighthouse (which is also a piggy bank, of sorts). It makes fog-horn noises, and the lights come on, when you put coins into it.

dessert & aftermath

Dessert was a lovely flan. It was creamy & cool -- a great way to finish the meal.

The two men in this photo were the chefs for the evening. the man in the middle was the Top Dog -- his name is Antonio Laudisio. We will definitely be going to his restaurant (Laudisio's) in Boulder.

I enjoyed the commentary throughout the evening from Antonio. He was spending a lot of time in Italy when Slow Food was started. He informed us that Slow Food actually began as a backlash -- because people were so furious that McDonald's was opening a store at the foot of the Spanish steps.

Notice the one thing missing from the evening: the wine. They had wine at the event -- it was from a Colorado vineyard. It was awful. Oh well; the food made up for it.

main courses

There were two main courses: pork, and chicken. I thought the chicken was the superior dish. It was butterflied, and roasted flat in the wood-burning oven with parsley, lemon, salt & pepper. Perfect.

pizza

What would a wood-oven prepared, Italian dinner be -- without a pizza course?

I must tell you: this was the best pizza crust I think I've ever had. Up until this day, my idea of "thin crust" pizza is that it tastes like a cracker. Well, this was thin-crust pizza that was crispy on the outside, and chewy & moist on the inside -- DELICIOUS. Tom says this is the biggest benefit of cooking in a 1,000 degree oven: you can "flash" cook things (like pizza crust) that will remain moist on the inside, but still be fully cooked on the outside. Awesome.

"first" courses

Tom thought the polenta was the star of the whole evening. The center was a spinach & cheese combo; Tom has already made this at home.

There was a fantastic cheese course, too. These were all local goat cheeses (not from this particular farm, but that's OK).

I was also impressed with the beet salad. This is another vegetable that I've not been fond of in the past, but I loved it -- I think because the beets were (again) so sweet. Maybe that's the lesson of eating fresh off the farm: the vegetables are so sweet, they taste more like fruit (or candy).

more appetizers

I was impressed that I actually enjoyed a grilled zucchini appetizer. Usually zucchini/squash is not my favorite. These were done simply -- coated in olive oil, roasted quickly in a very hot wood burning oven. However, they were so incredibly sweet that I could not get enough of them.

Another "snack" food was local salami. This was unbelievably delicious. I think the salamis were so great because they didn't skimp on the fat content (and as we all know: fat = good).

appetizers: vegetables

One of the openers was gazpacho -- which I liked better than Tom

There was also a pickled vegetable appetizer -- which Tom enjoyed more than I (it had green olives in the mix, which aren't my favorite). Perfect way to start a farm-fresh dinner.

touring the farm

We had an opportunity to tour the farm. They use entirely gravity-fed, flood irrigation. They are growing lots of lettuces/greens, tomatoes, peppers, cucmbers, herbs, pumpkins -- a lot like Tom's garden, on a bigger scale.

Slow Food Dinner at 63rd St. Farm

Tom and I went to a lovely dinner at the 63rd Street Farm (about 5 miles from our house), sponsored by Slow Food. It was a perfect afternoon to enjoy sitting outside for a feast. A lot of the food came from the farm itself.

4th of July (duh)

Do you notice Tom in the foreground, admiring the fireworks?

near our turnaround point

We made it to 12,000 feet -- a new record for both of us. The bottom photo was taken from approx 11,600 feet.

The Saddle

Originally, I had intended that this was going to be our destination. However, we made it up this far with little difficulty, and ended up going another couple of miles... we couldn't help it -- the views were spectacular.

the tree line

OK, I'm finally catching up. This is from last month's hike in the Indian Peaks Wilderness. This is the trail as it goes above the tree line. Amazing that it's that "clean" of a break, yes?