Salt Lake City

I spent last week in Salt Lake City, and I'm headed back there tomorrow morning. Unlike most of my recent adventures, I didn't have any great culinary experience to inspire me to create some sort of new delicacy. What did inspire me most on this trip was a visit to IKEA. I love that store. I bought a few things and hoped that my purchases wouldn't send my bag over the dreaded 50 pound limit at the airport. It's bad enough to pay the $15 bag fee, let alone having to pay extra for it being over the limit. Anyway, back to IKEA. Everytime I'm in that store I get inspired to go home and do something creative at home. I spent the weekend rearranging some furniture, and placing my purchases throughout the house. I also spent some time reviewing the catalog to make sure there isn't something else I need to pick up when I'm back this week. I didn't do any cooking this weekend, Dan is out of town, so no brunch at LOLA, however I did make my own version of their Mexican Mimosa. I decided to share with you a painting I did for my apartment. I hope I get even more ideas and inspirations this week.

Mozart meets guacamole...

Back from St. Louis and back in the swing of things, this week has definitely been a busy one. Thursday night I saw, "Midlife, The Crisis Musical" at the Boulder Dinner Theater with Dan, his sister Lisa and his friend, Paul. It's a humorous, musical look at all the things that happen to our bodies, our memory, our parents, our relationships, etc as we head into middle age. (It's a good thing I have quite a while before I get there.....uh hmm!) On Friday, I had a little "mishap" at work, diagnosed as "bicep tendinitis and forearm strain", all I know is that it really, really hurt! I spent Saturday nursing my arm and learning how to do common everyday things like brushing my teeth with my left hand! At any rate, by Saturday night, it was feeling better thanks to ice and Aleve. I went to the symphony with Dan for a performance of Mozart's symphony no. 39. It was excellent as usual. As Sunday came around I looked forward to what is quickly becoming a weekly appointment. Brunch at LOLA. We discovered LOLA one Saturday afternoon in late summer. We sat on the patio where you can get a pretty good view of the city. Several visits later, we have managed to sample several things from their brunch menu, as well as their happy hour menu which they have every weekend from 2-5pm. While our selection may vary from week to week, the constant has become the guacamole, which they make right at your table. Here's my "nontraditional" take on guacamole. Serve it with a bowl of chip and an ice cold Corona or margarita on the rocks...the perfect Sunday afternoon.

Guacamole

2 ripe avocados, peeled, seeded and roughly chopped

1 - 15oz. can black beans, drained and rinsed

1/2 medium red onion, diced

1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and diced

1/2 pint grape tomatoes, halved

zest of one lime

juice of two limes

1/4 cup olive oil

1 teaspoon chopped garlic

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1 1/2 teaspoon chili powder

cilantro (optional)

Place the chopped avocado in a bowl and lightly mash. Add remaining ingredients and continue to stir until mixture is combined and there are no longer any large chunks of avocado. Serve with chips.

St. Louis and Gnocchi

I flew to St. Louis this week to help my friends, Kelly and Jon furnish and decorate their new house. It was a marathon week of shopping and installation,and of course eating. By the end of the week we had made a pretty good dent in making the house beautiful, but there is still a bit to go. One of the eating highlights of the week was dinner on Friday night on "The Hill." For those that don't know, The Hill is a historic italian neighborhood in the St. Louis area. It's full of little brick bungalows and row houses, peppered with little neighborhood italian restaurants, delis and bakeries, where you can find some of the best italian food ever. We dined outside on a patio, with lights strung from one end of the other, as well as twinkling in the trees. The weather was perfect. The bartender educated us on their huge selection of infused vodkas. There were these colorful jars of vodkas lining the back of the bar, and so we all tried a different type. I chose lime infused vodka with club soda. Very good. I'm sure I will try my hand at infusing some vodkas. I've all ready thought about a cucumber mint vodka. I'll let you know how that turns out. I had a delicious iceberg wedge with crispy pancetta, tomatoes, blue cheese and a sweet and spicy vinagrette, followed by a big bowl of rigatoni and sausage. We ended the evening with some decaf and Kahlua. What a perfect night. I flew back to Denver on Saturday night, leaving the 80 degree weather in Missouri to return to drizzle and 39 degrees. I gave me a great excuse to do some italian cooking of my own this weekend. I got up early this morning and made some potato gnocchi. Tonights dinner was the gnocchi tossed in a gorgonzola mushroom sauce. It turned out so delicious I had to share the recipe.

POTATO GNOCCHI

2 pounds Yukon Gold potatoes

2 cups all purpose flour

2 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt

2 large eggs

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

Cook whole unpeeled potatoes in a large saucepan until potatoes are very tender; about 25 minutes. Drain. When they are cool enough to handle, peel them, cut into quarters and mash in a large bowl. ( I used the KitchenAid). Sprinkle the potatoes with the flour, and add the eggs. Sprinkle with the 2 1/2 teaspoons salt and the pepper. Stir mixture well to combine. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface; gently knead until it is soft and smooth. Divide dough into 4 pieces. Roll each piece into a long rope about 3/4 inch thick. Cut into 1 inch pieces. Sprinkle a large baking sheet with flour. Roll one side of the gnocchi against the tines of a fork (this helps your sauce stick to the gnocchi). Set aside on the floured baking sheet until ready to cook.

GORGONZOLA-MUSHROOM SAUCE

4 oz. pancetta, diced

12 oz. assorted mushrooms (cremini, chanterelle, portobello, shitake)

1/2 cup white wine

1/2 cup chicken stock

1 cup heavy cream

4 oz. gorgonzola cheese

salt to taste

Pinch of nutmeg

Pinch of cayenne pepper

freshly ground pepper

olive oil, as needed

In a large skillet, cook pancetta until crispy. Remove from pan to a paper towel lined plate. Add mushrooms to skillet (add the olive oil here if you need it) and cook until the mushrooms have released their liquid. Remove the mushrooms from pan and add the white wine to deglaze the pan. Scrape all the bits from the bottom and then add the chicken stock and heavy cream. Let it come to a boil, then reduce the heat to simmer until the sauce has thickened a bit. Add the cheese and stir until melted. Add the nutmeg, cayenne, salt and pepper and simmer for 5 more minutes. Lower heat and add the pancetta and mushrooms; stir until combined. Keep warm until gnocchi is cooked and ready to add.

To cook the gnocchi, bring a large pot of water to a boil and add 1 tablespoon salt. Add half the gnocchi, when they float to the top, continue to cook until tender, about 30 more seconds. Transfer gnocchi to a greased baking sheet. Repeat process with remaining gnocchi. After all the gnocchi is cooked, add to the sauce and toss well. Return to low heat to heat through, but watch that it doesn't over cook. It is very rich, and very delicious.

Botanic Gardens

I spent the day on Saturday at the Botanic Gardens with my friend Dan and his niece and nephew. It's amazing to think that even in early October, when many of the beautiful blooms of summer have long faded away that there are still so many amazing displays to enjoy. I took nearly 175 pictures, many of which I plan to share on future posts, but being October, I'll share with you the pumpkins along with 2 of my favorite pumpkin recipes that are a staple of fall. Enjoy!

PUMPKIN CHEESECAKE

Crust ingredients:

1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs

3 tablespoons sugar

1/3 cup unsalted butter, melted

Filling ingredients:

1 pound cream cheese, room temperature

3/4 cups sugar

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground allspice

1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

1/2 teaspoon salt

1- 15oz. can solid pack pumpkin

3 large eggs

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350degrees. Blend crust ingredients; mix until moist crumbs form. Press onto the bottom of a 9inch spring form pan. Bake until lightly toasted. Cool. Wrap the outside of the pan with a double thickness of aluminum foil.

Using an electric mixer, beat the first six ingredients in a large bowl until smooth. Add the pumpkin and beat until blended. Add eggs and vanilla and beat until smooth. Pour over the crust. Set the pan inside a roasting pan. Fill the roasting pan with enough hot water to come one inch up the sides of the springform pan. Bake in a 300 degree oven until the top is golden brown and the center has set, approximately one hour and 10 minutes. Shut the oven off and bake for 20 minutes more. Remove from the roasting pan. Cool. Chill for at least 8 hours before serving.

PUMPKIN SHEET CAKE

4 eggs

1- 15oz. can solid pack pumpkin

1 cup sugar

3/4 cup brown sugar

1 cup vegetable oil

2 cups flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ginger

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon salt

In a large bowl beat the eggs. Add pumpkin, sugars and oil; beat well. Add remaining ingredients. Mix until completely combined. Spread batter into a well greased sheet pan. Bake for 25 minutes at 350 degrees.

CREAM CHEESE FROSTING

3 oz. cream cheese, softened

1/4 cup butter, softened

2 cups confectioner's sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

In a medium bowl combine all ingredients. Beat well with an electric mixer until smooth.

Building an empire...

It should come as no surprise to the people that know me that I would create a blog about all the things that I love. In my ongoing efforts to take all those things I'm truly passionate about and figure out a way to make money (perhaps LOTS and LOTS of money), I decided, with only a small amount of persuasion from my friend Kristina, to start a blog and share my love of food, design and all things creative with the world. I know it is a humble beginning, but every empire starts somewhere, right?