Elise's idea of a selfie

And, No: I did not "enhance" any of these colors or change the photo in any way.  It was just the perfect spot, with the perfect angle of the sun heading down….

doesn't get much better than this

We had a pretty great day of snow-shoeing today.  It was a bit windy, but the sun was out in full force and the snow was excellent.  We are lucky, lucky people!

This is from an overlook stop on the way home… but you can get a pretty good idea of what our day was like.

the beauty of Colorado

The best thing about Colorado is that snow is always followed by sunshine.  We certainly enjoyed this afternoon, right here in our own neighborhood.

A White Christmas!

Despite having had far above-normal temperatures for most of this fall (except for our one week of bitter cold in the beginning of December), we finally got some snow on Christmas night.

Winter Solstice Party

The Winter Solstice Party (can you believe it's already the 7th Annual?!) was capped off by some great music.  Unfortunately, we were short a bass player.  No problem… Tom will just play bass and drums at the same time!!!

Merry Christmas! Thanks, Mom & Dad

 Tonight, we enjoyed one of our favorite activities: a wine paired dinner at L'Atelier.

 The first course was, perhaps our favorite.  Not just for the food (a smoked trout salad with deviled egg and American caviar) but because the pairing was perfect: a 20015 Domaine Jean Pascal & Fils (a French Chardonnay).  Wonderful.

 Next up: mussels & little neck clams in lobster pain sauce.  I made sure to drink all of my sauce, using a mussel shell as a spoon. Fantastic; paired with a 2011 Domaine Leflaive Puligny-Montrachet.

 Then, Alaskan King salmon with beans, wild boar bacon, and grilled greens.  The wine was a 2011 Bastion de l'Oratoire Chanson Pinot.  Now, I liked the Pinot a lot -- because it drank more like a cab.  But I'll admit, it stepped on the salmon a bit.

 The 2012 Domane Dujac Echezeaux Grand Cru was served with Kurobuta Port Chateaubriand, with wild mushroom sauce & hennessy creme fraiche (which we were pretty sure was parsnip puree).  There was not a drop left on any plate!

 The dessert was a custard with sour cherries and caramelized sugar on top.  This was served with a delicious Sauternes.

We were particularly fortunate that our friend, Sonja, could join us for the evening.  Thanks, Mom and Dad, for treating us to such a nice experience!

Tom's Rugelach

For years, one of the most important Rosenberg family traditions has been Adele's "schnecken."  Indeed, they are fantastic.  Except that they are not Schnecken -- they are Rugelach.  (A simple Google search will back up this claim.)

Today, Tom crossed Adele's "schnecken" (a.k.a Rugelach) recipe with his (Drennen) family's orange roll recipe.  The result?  Amazing!  Rugelach with an orange & toasted coconut filling.  Outstanding.

all dressed up!

Every year, our friends Brian and Trent host a holiday party that is a fundraiser for "You Thrive" -- a local organization that supports at-risk youth.  One of the rules of the party is that every man needs to "wear something around his neck."  This year, Tom decided he wanted to wear his tux!

I couldn't pass up the opportunity for a photo of this momentous occasion.

go, Avs!

Last fall, Tom and I bid on/bought Avalanche tickets at a March of Dimes fundraiser.  We had never been to an NHL game before, so we were pretty excited.

The most unique part of the evening was that the tickets also included a ride on the Zamboni (between the first and second periods).  Pretty amazing, huh?

Old wine night at the Rosenblum's

At journal club this month, Jeff and Mark got in to a conversation about "old wines."  Turns out, Jeff hasn't tasted much in the way of older wines.... So Mark graciously offered to open his cellar.  We each brought dishes to share: I made a roasted butternut squash and pepper tart, and Tom made mushroom crostini pizzas and bacon wrapped figs; Jeff and Jenn brought a selection of cheeses (served with plum compotes, made by Mark) and an amazing salad (with pomegranates and cashews).

Mark decided to stand up a "small" selection for us to choose from:

We only opened 5.  

Only I take photos of the bathroom ceiling

For several months, we've had a gift card to a gourmet pizza place in Boulder (Pizzeria Locale), courtesy of our friends Tom and Mitzi.  We finally went, with our friend, Sonja. We had a great meal: charcuterie, salad, pizza, and red wine. Delicious.

At the end of the evening, I went to the bathroom. Despite the fact that the training wheels are washed out (it's hard to take cell-phone pictures of the ceiling in a dimly lit bathroom!), I loved this photo, which was displayed on the ceiling:

It kinda reminds me of my brother!

March of Dimes Dinner

As always, spectacular.  
We have been very lucky that for the last 4 years, we have bid on (and won) the Omni Interlocken March of Dimes dinner.  This means we get to go to the hotel, and have a dinner for us and 6 of our guests served right in the suite.  It's amazing -- and this year was no exception.
The first course was a butternut squash bisque with, if I remember correctly, a maple foam.  This was not to be outdone by the crispy pork belly.  Ah, life doesn't get better than pork belly!  This was served with a Tattinger Brut champagne.

Next up was a charred octopus salad, that had brussel sprouts (my favorite!), edible flowers, and a grapefruit vinaigrette.  This was served with a wonderful Spanish white wine that we'd not had before: a Bodegas Jorge Ordonez Botani DO Sierras de Malaga-- which is a Muscat grape.

Then we enjoyed duck, served as a confit (on top of "bubble and squeak" -- which is a cool way to dress up leftover vegetables!), duck carpaccio (although this was cooked in a sou vid, so I'm not sure you can call it carpaccio?), and as a Hollandaise.  I think most of us wanted to just revel in the hollandaise… it was rich, delicious, and perfect.  This was served with a D66 Cotes de Catalanes.

Then we moved on to venison.  MMMMmmm, venison.  This was served on a persimmon puree, which was also immensely popular, and crusted with coffee; this was served with a D2 Bordeaux style wine.  Tasty, indeed.

And, finally -- dessert.  A deconstructed cheesecake.  Which meant that there was some graham cracker on the bottom, and parts of mascarpone (which was my favorite), whipped cream, and port poached pears.  This was served with a 20 year Tawny.

As you can see, another cool thing about the whole dinner was the plating.  I think my favorite was the glass blocks that the desserts were served upon as our finishing course.  Pretty creative!
Ah, a good time was had by all.  We look forward to next year's event!

it's finally done

Last winter, when Tom broke his clavicle, Mark & Joanna gave Tom a puzzle.  We thought it was a nice sentiment: something to occupy Tom's time while he couldn't move around much.

As it turned out, Tom wasn't all that immobilized, so he didn't open the puzzle right away.  In fact, he didn't start the puzzle until July.  And what a puzzle it has been… positively diabolical!  

Well, last night Tom finally finished.  As Mark commented: Tom has a new "appreciation" for shades of white, and shades of blue.

No matter how exquisite his appreciation, I don't think Tom will ever do a penguin-in-an-icefield puzzle again!

Congratulations, Tyler & Michelle!

Last weekend, we went to Phoenix to go to Tyler & Michelle's wedding.  I am assuming that at some point, we will be given a link to their professional photos, and we will be able to purchase some fantastic shots of the bride & groom.  So, until then… this photo will serve as a placeholder!

Tyler & Michelle are currently on their honeymoon in Europe -- a 3 week trip to London, Paris and Rome.  Congratulations!

An epic day of touristing (in a good way)

We spent the day with the Dandurand clan on Phillip Island -- which is about 130km south (around the bay) from Melbourne.  Although our stops were very touristy, they were also very cool.

After fortifying ourselves with some lunch, we went to a Wildlife park. Here, we got to see all of the animals we'd been seeking out during our travels, but up close & personal. 

In addition to the animals we'd already seen before, we added some new ones:

(Don't ask me what this is; there was no sign and this doesn't look earthly to me.)

We also saw our first wombat.  Fun wombat fact (unless you missed it before): Wombats have cube-shaped poop!

I also got my best up-close koala shot:

Here was Tom trying some Emu psychology on another bird. Hmmm. 

Another new animal for us: a Tasmanian Devil. 

We also got to get up close with herds of kangaroos. I suspect these guys were born in captivity, as they were incorrigible beggars. Part of our entrance fee had been food pellets, which we fed to all sorts of animals.... Nora, in particular, was quite fond of feeding the kangaroos. 

This shot is just because I like it. 

And we decided to take some Christmas card photos..... 

Or maybe Valentine's Day?

And a Dandurand family photo:

Finally, although we saw plenty of kangaroos with joeys in their pouches on our trip, it was hard to get a photo where you could see mom & babe's face. This pair was quite accommodating. 

After leaving the wildlife park, we went to the Penguin Parade. We watched colonies of penguins come out of the ocean and cross the beach to their nests. They were Fairy Penguins-- the smallest penguins in the world. They stand about 12" high and weigh about 2 pounds.  There were no photos allowed, but trust me: they were super cute. 

Seeing Melbourne

Craig & Ali took us in to the "CBD" yesterday (the central business district). This was cool for a few reasons:

First, we went into the city center via the train. Not only do I enjoy seeing different public transit (Melbourne's is quite good) but this also gave us the opportunity to be introduced to the local public safety campaign for the Metro System: "Dumb Ways to Die."  (I can't make this shit up..... There's even a cartoon video & theme song that goes with this. I would love that job!)

After (safely) arriving in the CBD, we took a trolley which, if you stay on it long enough, will loop around the entire center city of Melbourne. 

We got off in the harbor district, which is in the process of being gentrified. Craig noticed that these high-rise apartments still had the paper wrapping on their balconies!

Clara & Nora were excellent hostesses, and were happy to pose for a mug shot. 

Their habit is to also pose while looking away.....

Day of hiking in the Grampions

Our first stop along our trek: Clamatis Falls. I had to laugh: it was really Clamatis Trickle. 

Next along our loop: Chautauqua Peak. It was really a great view of the valley. 

We have adopted a new saying. Instead of "say cheese," it's now "say Emu!"  Of course, you have to make the Emu-chasing sign.... (And, by the way, I've learned that the correct pronunciation is eem-you.)

We then went to the botanical gardens. I finally got my kookaburra photo!

Our last stop of the day was Splitters Falls, followed by the Grand Canyon. Hehehe. 

I love Aussie road signs!

I love this (instead of "yield"):

Day of travel to Halls Gap

Yesterday we had a travel day -- from Warrnambool to Halls Gap. Cherie & Erin rented a small "holiday house" for us to stay for a couple of nights, so we could enjoy the Grampions (their local mountain range -- with the highest peak being ~4,000 ft). 

The first thing we saw upon our arrival: mamma kangaroos with their joeys. Too cute!

And not the porch: cockatoos. Amazing.