The Top Chef Tour

One of my favorite things is to park myself in front of my television, dinner made cocktail at the ready, watching Top Chef. I love it. My mom loves it too, it’s one thing we share and we sit, phones at our sides to call during commercial breaks to dish and theorize and recap, but mostly to lament that we don't get to taste all that wonderful food. The folks over at BTC asked for volunteers in several US cities to go to the Top Chef tour when it rolled through town and I jumped at the chance to spend a half a Saturday getting some more Top Chef in my life. Saturday was a scorcher in Denver. The thermometer reached 99 degrees and I was plenty grateful to be in shorts and ball cap and not in long pants and a chef coat like Antonia and Ryan. They were both extremely nice and friendly and spent the fifteen minutes leading up to the demonstration signing autographs, posing for photos and talking to fans. You could tell they were both really enjoying their particular slice of fame. Having spent ten years working in the restaurant industry I can understand that. Rarely is this a glamorous business. Usually it is hot, sweaty work for long grueling hours. Antonia had prepared duck lettuce wraps for an earlier demo, and quipped about the difficulty of finding the ingredients she wanted, likening it to a quick fire challenge. Though it might be an inconvenience to pick up in the middle of their lives head out to Denver for the weekend, you'd never know it. Both chefs were extremely gracious and friendly. There were three shows scheduled for Saturday, I was fortunate to attend the third demo, hosted by Chef Ryan Scott. Throughout the demo he gave tips, sharing every trick he could think of to make us better cooks. For instance, make sure proteins are at room temperature before cooking. He was also sure to mention that when cooking meat in a hot pan, be sure to lay it in away from you as scars are stupid, not a badge of honor. To test doneness push the meat from the sides instead of the top, and slice against the grain Another tip, in response to a question from a lactose intolerant member of the audience, for a great corn chowder; after cutting the kernels off the cobs milk the cobs with the back of a knife, use the "milk" from the corn instead of cream. For great mashed potatoes add the potatoes to cold water, bring up to boil and then add salt. Instead of adding milk (cold milk can make potatoes gummy) add some of the reserved potato water and butter when mashing. Ryan, grinning ear to ear and talking a mile a minute made crostini topped with pickled cherry tomatoes, goat cheese and flank steak. Ryan's Crostini: 1 c. vinegar (any kind you like) Boil w/ 1 c. sugar and set aside Bring 1 c. oil up to temperature and throw in some slivered garlic and ginger (not paper thin!) Bring the oil off the heat and add the vinegar mixture Chiffonade some basil, add to the tomatoes, and pour the hot mixture over the top Crostini is toasted baguette with olive oil, salt and pepper Whip one pound of goat cheese with one cup of cream, some parmesan cheese and salt Spread on toasts, top with a thin slice of steak and some pickled tomatoes It was a great Saturday, and it was amazing to taste the food, I can't wait to try out this recipe at my next party.

Photo Essay Tuesday (Rockies! Rockies! Rockies! Edition)

Staying the course (squeezing out as much Colorado as possible in the next month) Part of my crazy weekend included quite a few Rockies games. With Katie! And Kassie! And Daver oh my! Speaking of Daver, my friends have a long standing joke about Katie and her little brothers. Once upon a time, many moons age I may or may not have made out with both Kate and her (older) younger brother. At the time Daver was probably 13 or 14 and the joke became if I could only make out with Daver one day, I could pick up the hat trick. Sadly, five years later Daver is 19 years old and the joke hasn't died. Daver got this matching "tattoo" to show me his love. I still wouldn't make out with him. Next, my mom and I spent all of Saturday together before meeting my Dad for another Rockies game. Cute family picture! Mmm, foot long! "Liberty" dots. Oh, America.

My Mom Kicks Ass

I spent this weekend at my parent's house, and bright and early this morning(4 am!) we all got up to go cheer my mom on at one of her triathlons. She swam. She biked. She ran. She kicked some serious ass.

Christmas at My House

The Presents and the shopping and the food are all great fun, but here's what I really love about the holiday. My mom making grilled cheese sandwiches for Christmas Eve Dinner. This is my Dad's family's tradition started when he was a little kid, and they didn't have enough money for anything but chili and grilled cheese sandwiches. Ever since I can remember I've had to wear this (now too small) Santa hat and hand out presents on Christmas morning. Murphy and his new toy. It has six squeakers. It is very, very annoying. Snacking on antipasti all day and sipping mimosas. My first Christmas tree ornament. My favorite Christmas tree ornament.

The ubiquitous made-in-first-grade Christmas tree ornament. The star my dad and I made together before my parents were married. We were huddled up in my old bedroom trying to cut up the tinsel with plastic safety scissors working feverishly to surprise my mom. My stocking. It's big. What can I say, I'm and only child. Kitty hiding under the tree with her Christmas present. Funny story, two days before Christmas when nobody was in the room kitty found her other present (a cat-nip filled scratching post), ripped all the wrapping paper off, and shredded it into a huge red and green mess scattered around the room.

Murphy in Some Hats

If you're thinking this is going to be one of those boring posts about my weekend with pictures of my dog, then you're right. Feel free to stop reading now. After an early work day yesterday, I headed to Aurora to pick up my mom and take Murphy to the vet. We go to the vet in PetSmart during wellness hours on Saturdays. Usually we show up early, but because I had to work that wasn't an option, so we had a very long wait. Here are some hilarious pictures of Murph in a clown wig (he did not like that) and a short video I made of Murph in some different hats (he didn't like that either). That evening we went to Ted's Montana Grill for dinner. My mom had the salmon which was good. Despite the expanse of their menu, my dad and I split a burger. They have the second best burgers I've ever had. Mmm, I like mine with swiss and green chili strips. Apart from the one picture of my mom and myself above (in which we look terribly uptight, like always), my dad shot maybe six really bad pictures of us from various bad angles because we were laughing so hard at how bad the pictures were, and my dad was egging it on and making it worse. We (well, our huge noses) look terrible in profile, and he was doing everything he could to get us from the worst possible angle. After catching up on Dexter and Weeds (my folks have Showtime, I don't) I came home and spent the day watching football and cleaning my place up. Early to bed tonight because I have to be at work really early again tomorrow. I prepared a chicken ( with garlic for the crockpot, tomorrow morning I'll pop it in before I head in to work, and have a nice hot meal ready when I get home. Yay!

My Mom is a Badass