5 guys . . .Life is good

Yay!  After long last, Five Guys Burgers & Fries finally opened in my area.  Here are a few snapshots from this momentous occasion.

The line was to the door. . . and it got even longer by the time we took off

Nate & me enjoying our burgers (and note the pile of fries! Careful if you order a large. . .it can definitely be shared b/w 4 people)

Chris diving into her burger. It was nice to be with a Virginian for our 5 Guys opening!

SAME Cafe

Nat just forwarded me a link to the SAME Cafe (soallmayeat.org) here in Denver.  She saw it written up in an article on Razzo.

What an amazing concept, and even cooler yet, it has actually been self-sustaining for 2 years!  I’ll definitely put this on my “places to try” list.

Too much to say. . .but not much to write!

First of all, I’ll put down the guilt stick and let it go that I haven’t posted in more than 2 months. It’s a new day, right?

To get back into the writing mode, I’ll post my top 6 list of things going on in life right now.  Enjoy, and I’ll post more pictures and updates soon. (Especially for those of you asking for belly shots!)

1) Buddy’s at 23 weeks! “Buddy” (not his real name. . .just a nick name until some time in mid-June) is growing like a weed! That has to explain all the kicking and movement I feel lately. I’m telling you — I’m housing a future soccer player.   N8 was finally able to feel him kicking for the first time last Saturday. It was fun to finally be able to share that experience with him!

Buddy weighs more than a pound now, and he’s starting down the home stretch. In the next 3 1/2 months, he needs to grow 7 times his own weight!  (I shutter to picture my belly 7 times heavier; I already feel like a Weeble with legs.)

2) Our dads are doing well! As you may know from previous posts, N8’s dad was diagnosed w/ Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma last summer, and my dad was diagnosed w/ prostate cancer last fall.  N8 called them the Cancer Buddies.   Thankfully, they’ve both been healing well; Mike is officially in remission, and my dad is slowly becoming less radioactive.

You think I’m kidding?   But oddly, I’m not. Instead of surgery, my dad opted for a treatment that relied on 80-some-odd radiation seeds that were implanted near the prostate.   The pros? No surgery required.  The cons?  He can’t be within 3 feet of small children or pregnant women for 4-5 months.   So, I’ll get to hug my dad again. . .some time in April.

3) N8’s nearing graduation. Only 4 1/2 weeks left for N8 at the Fire Academy!  Man, I have never seen this guy so beat before.  Last year, he was always pretty alert, cooked up a storm, and usually stayed up past midnight reading for fun.   Now this same man wakes up at 4 am, gets home around 6 pm, gets home tired, eats dinner, studies, then hits the sack *no later than* 8:30 pm.  Yep, that’s right. He goes to bed even earlier than my nearly-3-year-old niece!

I’m so happy he’s in a job he loves, but I’ll be even happier when he’s out of the Academy. I look forward to spending time w/ my husband when he’s awake again.

4) Ryan Rice Fine Art is picking up steam. My uber-talented brother-in-law, Ryan, has been working on his “culinary” art for years, and this year, things are starting hitting a stride.  He had a great show a few weeks ago where he began selling kitchen magnets of his art ($15 for 1; $10 for any there after).  He’s applying for a few more exhibits this year and will hopefully get a store set up & some of his work into the likes of cafepress.com and other art commerce sites.  I’ll keep you posted; it’s worth keeping your eye on this guy.

5) We’re making friends! Well, 2 so far, but who’s counting?  Last fall, N8 and I met a couple at church with whom we seemed to click; the lady is a Spanish teacher and the gentleman is a firefighter (fitting, right?)  We’ve been getting to know them a bit through football parties and such (yes, they are Bronco fans), and now they’ll be leading a small Bible study that will start next month.  So I’m excited about the opportunity to meet some more people and get a little more involved in the church we’re attending.

6) Yummy restaurants: For those of you in (or visiting) Denver, here are a few good restaurants we’ve tried lately. Hope you enjoy!

Sullivan’s Steakhouse - we went there for Restaurant week. Their fillet mignon with the bourbon peppercorn sauce was absolutely delicious!  The fillet had a crispy, peppery crust and it was so juicy. I’m drooling just remembering it.

Devil’s Food Bakery – I’ve been here twice now for breakfast and brunch. They have wonderful fresh breakfasts and a nice selection of yummy baked goods you can take home. Cute, artsy, tasty & reasonably priced.

Sunnyside Cafe – Another tasty, cute breakfast place. I recommend the breakfast burrito with green chili, the whole wheat chocolate chip pancakes, and the loaded hash browns (ooh those  were good).

Pappadeux Seafood – N8 and I dined here for a pre-Jenn’s-travels date night.  The fish was fresh and flavorful, and the manager even gave us free dessert since it was our first time at the restaurant!  Can’t beat that service.

Wild Ginger Thai Restaurant – Wow!  I have to admit; I had reservations about finding killer Thai food in south Denver, but this made me eat my words (topped w/ a kickin’ Panang sauce).   If you’re here visiting (or you live here and want to join us for dinner some evening), let me know; N8 and I will meet you there!

Food

This blog never really had a focus–other than to communicate with friends and family about our travels, changes, and life updates.  Until I find a real niche, it’ll probably stay that way.  However, this un-focused blog does make it hard to come up with writing topics.

So today, I thought I’d talk about the thing that’s been on my mind a lot lately:  food!

I love the holidays because it’s a chance to try out a whole slew of new recipes!  Some have worked, and some have not.  But I thought I’d take the opporunity to share some that I’ve tried from the last few weeks.

1) Junior’s Cheescake – This was *amazing!*  I’m not sure how close it really is to the original Junior’s, but it had an excellent consistency, creamy texture, and delicious flavor.  The sponge cake crust was OK; honestly, next time,  I think I’ll just stick to the graham cracker crust.  It’s not right when you spend more time and effort on the crust than you do the actual cheesecake filling.

2) Emeril’s chicken pot pie – A friend of mine in VA passed this recipe along to me a couple of years ago, and it never ceases to make an excellent pot pie.  I haven’t mastered the art of making a crust from scratch, so the Pillsbury pre-made crusts work just fine for me.   N8 and I just had this for dinner, so I’m happily digesting at the moment.

3)  White chocolate cherry chunkies – Okay, so I modified this recipe quite a bit.  I’m not a huge fan of cherries, so I substituted dried cranberries instead.  The first time I tried it, the white chocolate and dough combination were way too sweet (even for me)!  So the second time I tried it I mixed 1/3 white chocolate, 1/3 dark chocolate, and 1/3 semi-sweet chocolate chips; that balanced out the sweetness so much better.

4) Pork tenderloin – This was a decent marinade; it didn’t make me drool, but it did a nice job of keeping the pork moist and adding a nice hint of flavor.  I think it’s mild enough to compliment just about any side dish.

5) Real Meatballs and Spaghetti – N8 and I made these one night for a date night.  Ohmygosh–so good!!  I splurged and bought all the meat at Whole foods, so it was a nice hormone-free meal. (We’re trying to veer more that way in general. . .but that’s another post.)  It’s not a complicated recipe, but it does take a bit of time. Don’t let that scare you, though; it’s absolutely worth every minute!

6) Caramel popcorn – The recipe I linked to isn’t the exact recipe I used, but it’s close.  I have a recipe passed on from the grandmother of a friend of a friend, but it’s similar.  It’s fantastic!  I made a batch of this yesterday for a Bronco party. Sadly, it brought no good luck for the Broncos, but at least everyone at the party enjoyed eating it.   I hadn’t made caramel corn in 2 years because the last time I did it, I burned myself pretty badly.

Even worse, it happened the night before N8 proposed to me.  So I’ll finish this blog w/ the famous engagement picture. Consider it a warning:  sugar and butter at 276 F is very very hot!

A caramel corn mis-hap put me in a bandage for my one-in-a-lifetime photo moment. Nate texted this image to his brother, who was out of town at the time, and wrote, "I only had to break one of her fingers before she said, 'Yes!'"