The tulips are blooming

This is the first day the our tulips are blooming

Celebrating Spring

At this month's dinner party we tip our hats to Spring. We worked on finding the freshest ingredients we could find. The tarragon came from my garden, the first herb to grow after this winter. Mark and I shopped in the early afternoon and then got down to cooking the meal. It is a lot of fun to cook together however we are looking forward to selling my other house so we can get our new kitchen in place. The current layout does not lend itself to the easy maneuvering of the Chef and sous-chef. We are versatile in this regard as we switch roles depending on the dish. All of this will go much smoother when we have the two sinks and a larger range for creating these meals. It takes us about a week to plan the meal, going back and forth around which foods and wines to prepare together. We also like to make sure we prepare dishes that will require little time in the kitchen once the meal begins. Our guests were a delight to have. Each had been given an assignment to bring a particular style of wine. Some requested that we tell them exactly what wine to bring which suits us well as we often know exactly which vineyard will have a great match. Others we let surprise us with what they find in a particular style. Steve Dworetsky came with these beautiful Irises in hand, the fragrance is stunning. Neil Weiner brought the champagne, which paired well with our appetizer that a contestant on Top Chef created in honor of the Movie, “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory”. Putting white chocolate, wasabi and celery root together sounded like a disaster waiting to happen, yet it was spectacular. Rey and Pete brought the unoaked Chardonnay. Steve brought an over the top Coonawarra Cabernet Sauvignon. We had the other Cab and we always of course have Clairette de Die. Rich March brought the Port. Everyone took their shopping tasks to heart and did a terrific job.

Menu for April 2008

First Course
Hors d’oeuvre
Salmon Sashimi smoked with cherry wood, dusted with ginger, cayenne and sesame seeds, served with a white chocolate wasabi celery root sauce and faux caviar
GH Mumm Champagne Brut

Second Course
Amuse-bouche
Korean melon and Goya melon each wrapped in Prosciutto with lime juice and black pepper

Third Course
Spring Vegetable Soup with Tarragon
Bishop’s Peak Eden Valley Chardonnay 2005

Fourth Course
Oven Roasted Lamb Chops with Mint Chimichurri served with a snow pea Thai pepper almond salad
Penley Estate Phoenix 2005 Coonawarra Cabernet Sauvignon
McWilliam’s Hanwood Estate Cabernet Sauvignon 2006

Fifth Course
White Chocolate Coated Grapes with Orange Curd
Traditional Clairette de Die

Sixth Course
Stilton Cheese
Porto Barros LBV 1997

Snowing in the Mountains

Mark and I drove by a roll over accident on our way to the mountains on Friday. The car burned. On Saturday when we drove into Breckenridge from the cabin to ski there was a police barricade. A young man had been missing for the past month after he walked away from a bar in a snowstorm. They found his frozen body . It seems he lost his way and died in a snowdrift. We did not find out about this until after we finished skiing. The snow has good and the day was warm for the mountains in the 40s. This was definitely spring skiing. I love doing the bumps on my snowboard and wore myself out by the end of the day. We were quite hungry getting back to the cabin and started with Goose Foie Gras with crackers after I started a log fire. We watched Moliere with our meal of Oven-roasted lamb chops with Mint Chimichurri with a side salad of snow peas with thai peppers and toasted almonds. We paired this with a Louie Martini Cabernet Sauvignon. Chimichurri is a condiment of fresh mint, shallots, garlic, red wine vinegar and jalapeno. It snowed Saturday night and was snowing until we got to Georgetown on the way home. It was beautiful in Denver and the daffodils are blooming in our yard. Our new appliances for the kitchen make over will be delivered tomorrow so we had to make room in the garage for them. Marty is coming back tonight and we will have Polla de Olive with a fennel salad paired with Alianico an Italian varietal.

Time for snowboarding

Off to the mountains for the weekend. John is always so good to feed the birds while we are gone. Percy the blue front Amazon Parrot does not like it when we leave and is always excited when we return. Spring skiing is great fun as the days are warm and the snow is still quite good.

Quick and Simple Meal

One of my favorite dishes to make is a Thai stir fry made with whatever find in the refrigerator. Tonight I made a pork stir fry with brussel sprouts, mushrooms, snow peas, red and yellow bell peppers cooked with onions, garlic, thai peppers, ginger, fish sauce, persimmon vinegar and soy sauce. We served this with a OZV zinfandel.

Marty arrives

Today was sunny and a little warmer so I decided to ride my bike to all of my work related activities. The University has moved from near our house to the old Fitzsimmons Army base which is about 6 miles from our house. I thought I had cleverly figured out how to get from the University to my office using the bike trails. I did not count on the new construction disrupting my route. Fitzsimmons is in Aurora and I do not know the streets there very well. So, I lost my way having left my bike map at home and my 12 mile trip to work turned into an 18 mile trip. I was late for my executive management meeting. They of course are great and went right on with the meeting. I double booked meetings today so I only had time to stick my head through the door still wearing my bike gear and ask, “Do you want the short version or the long version?” They all got a good laugh out of that. I told them I had no idea there were so many ways to get lost in Aurora. The bike trails in that part of town sometimes just end without any indication of where to go next to hook into the next trail. Denver’s 168 miles of bike trails have some issues too however they have much better signage. All in all I biked 30 miles today and enjoyed it. I met the new group of 1st year medical students for the small group discussion that I teach. Each one was enthusiastic and engaged. I am looking forward to spending time with them this year. Mark and I had a simple meal tonight of lamb cooked in olives, oranges and onion, the salad was arugala, green onions and pomegranate seeds with a Viandox, balsamic vinegar and olive oil dressing with red and yellow bell peppers and apples in balsamic vinegar. We paired this with a 2003 E. Guigal Saint-Joseph Cotes de Rhone. Mark’s friend since 1st grade Marty Moran a broadway actor is arriving tonight. We have saved supper for him. He did a one many play, “The Tricky Part” about his experience with childhood sexual abuse. This play won an Obie. He later wrote a book also called “The Tricky Part”. He is quite the talent and we always enjoy his visits. It is supposed to start snowing tonight after midnight and more tomorrow. Ah, Springtime in the Rockies.

My Fair Lady

After I finished commuting 20 miles on my bike on a cold day, Mark and I went to see My Fair Lady at the Buell Theatre. Picking up his car that was in for some repairs left Mark short on time, so I fixed him a Chipotle Cheese, cucumber and mache sandwich that he could eat quickly before the long show. It was first produced a few days before I was born and has many classic songs. The staging and voices were great. I lunched with HyoSun and her new partner Robin at the Sushi Den which is my favorite. Their fish is always top flight. Tim Hudner one of MHCD’s board members connected me with Steve Murchie the Keiretsu Foundation Denver/Rockies Chapter President. This is a group of venture capital angels that invest in new businesses and also provide philanthropic support for non profits. I will be talking to the group at one of their monthly meetings about our approach to helping people recover from mental illness. We are planning an event at the Governor’s Mansion in May for the consumers we serve and our staff to thank our donors for their support.