Tip of the day: When squeezing the juice from a lemon, wrap it in a piece of cheesecloth so you don’t have to go picking through your dish with your fingers in search of errant seeds.
Escargots
We spent Saturday morning camped out at Bentley’s At The Wheeler, which has a DIY Bloody Mary bar (!).
Better Bites: Perfect Cheese Platter
On this episode of “Better Bites,” I head over to Casellula to learn how to make the perfect cheese platter. (If you’re having trouble loading the video, you can watch it here).
Atop Mountains
Atop Snowmass Mountain (no snowboarding, just lunch at the summit…hence our inappropriate attire).
Atop Snowmass Mountain (no snowboarding, just lunch at the summit…hence our inappropriate attire).
Over the past few days, I’ve tried two of the best wines I’ve ever tasted in my life (literally): Revena Cabernet St. Helena 2004, and Paradise View Syrah 2002. When it comes to wine (and most things, really), I don’t worry much about what I’m “supposed” to enjoy; I just like what I like…and these, I liked.
At $19.99, the smooth, fruity Paradise View is still a touch pricier than what I usually pick up for dinner (I shoot for the $12-$13 range), but it’s so good that I might have to up my standards.
The Revana is way expensive (about $90 for a bottle), but there are occasions (birthdays, anniversaries…snow days…Wednesdays…) that call for a wine this delicious.
Basically, all that Alpine Avocado Vinaigrette consists of is avocado, olive oil, onion, and garlic, but it tastes exactly like what I want a salad dressing to taste like: fresh and tangy, but not overpowering in the least. I couldn’t find anywhere to buy it online, but I imagine that it’d be easy to make yourself (just puree an avocado, a bit of green onion, and three or four garlic cloves, season to taste, and shake up in a bottle with some excellent-quality olive oil). This would also make a stellar marinade.
UPDATE: If you’d like to order some Alpine Avocado Vinaigrette, call Josh at (720) 319-2655 or email him at alpineavocado@comcast.net.
KiriDevi Granola
Empanadas
Friday morning, Liz, Megan, Kendrick and I stopped into the Main St. Bakery & Cafe for breakfast. I was feeling less-than-fab due to some hydration issues (I was warned that constant water drinking was required because of the high altitude, but ignored the advice and woke up this morning with a myriad of bad things going on), so I stuck to hot cereal cooked in apple juice and dotted with golden raisins, which was unexpectedly flavorful. I also ate both Liz and Kendrick’s grits, because all grits are good grits, in my opinion…and these were great grits.
Thursday night, the rest of the crew went out to a sushi place, but my tired husband and I decided to improvise a homemade dinner (well, I improvised while Kendrick drank a Fat Tire).
