Pupsicles

Jackson and Lucy wait patiently at the back door for me to let them in, as I take pictures through the glass.

We got another 6 inches of snow and found out that the snowblower is indeed broken. With two people shoveling, the work goes quickly, anyway. Will you think I'm weird if I say I kind of like shoveling? But we'll get the machine fixed.

We've also had some deep freezes. Close to 20 below zero F. One hot-water pipe froze but did not break. That annual ritual is becoming less of a concern the more shutoffs I have installed. Really, I should just turn off the main on cold nights and be done with it. That's the easy solution to preventing frozen pipes, if you're looking for one.

Homemade tortilla chips

I love shopping at Costco but it's easy to buy way more than you need. So when life hands you tortillas, make tortilla chips!

I got the idea from my friend Nichole, who suggests a dusting of ground cumin. But you can be all kinds of creative with this. For the basic chip you just need a bunch of tortillas, some oil and salt.

Turn your oven to 350 and cut your tortillas in wedges. It looks here like I'm using mini-tortillas, doesn't it? I inherited that 12-inch chef's knife from my mom. It's just right for a very few tasks. Home defense might be one of them.
Cover a cookie sheet or two (thanks, Nick!) with foil, then spray or brush oil on both sides of the wedges. I did one batch with the sesame-garlic oil spritzer, but the sprayer was wonky. Nothing like a fine mist of oil on everything to make kitchen cleanup fun.

The OXO pastry brush works great (thanks, Christine!). I used grapeseed oil. You can use vegetable, canola or olive oil, too.
I put finely ground sea salt on all the chips. My awesome in-laws brought the salt back from France. It's gray fleur de sel from Guérande (thanks to David Lebovitz for the suggestion). If you're looking for French culinary souvenirs, this is one that lasts a long time and is a lot easier to carry than copper cookware. The salt grinder is from Ikea.

I put cumin on some of the chips, powdered garlic on others and tried an herb mix from Penzey's called Mural of Flavor. I liked that the best.
I baked the chips for about 10 minutes, flipping them halfway through. I'm not sure the flipping was necessary, but it felt right. I cooled them on a wire rack.

I found that it's better to err on the side of underdone; aim for a very light gold color. If you wait until the chips are brown, they will taste burnt.
These are sturdy, substantial chips that will stand up to the chunkiest guacamole or thickest hummus you can dip them in, and they're quite tasty on their own, too. Thanks, Nichole!

Ever have one of those days?

Yeah, me too.

(Can't figure it out? That's my Sunday paper. Thoroughly jammed. Not sure yet if the damage is permanent.)

Dinner at Damascus Grill, Littleton

This is a crummy photo of an excellent meal, halfway through. We had dinner at Damascus Grill last Friday, and the Sergeant wanted to go back today. It's that good.

We first went there a while back, based on the universally good reviews on pretty much every site that does reviews, either professional or amateur. How rare is that?

This is not the same place as Damascus restaurant in Denver, which I've also enjoyed. I think they are not connected, but I didn't ask.

The guys who wait tables are friendly and willing to make recommendations. The dishes are grandma's recipes, and her grandsons are enthusiastic about her food.

I had the baked lamb last week and the Sergeant had it this week. Oh my, it's so very good. On a bed of fragrant saffron rice, with a salad. It's great reheated as leftovers, too.

The okra stew is pleasantly tangy. I love okra.

The stuffed grape leaves are tasty with and without meat. We tried the mana-ish, which is a flatbread topped heavily with herbs and spices. The hummus is so creamy and good. The pitas are warm and soft.

Tonight I had the kibi, which is a spiced meatball with cucumber sauce, and lentil soup. The kibi wasn't a big hit for me, but the soup made up for it.

We did not have room for dessert, but I'm sure that's good, too.

Damascus Grill (I've linked to their menu page. The home page has embedded music)
1399 W Littleton Blvd
Littleton, CO 80120
303-797-6666

Open seven days a week, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.

A chance encounter

Lucy regards the snowman with suspicion.
Jackson says proudly, "I peed on it!"

Cocktails 101 at Stir Cooking School

A few weeks back, a friend suggested we check out the classes at Stir Cooking School. He'd enjoyed a sauces class there. In particular, he said, "the bar/classroom setup is brilliant. How civilized to be able to grab another glass of a Spanish white midway through the course."

While the food classes intrigued me, the Cocktails 101 class looked like something the Sergeant could enjoy, too. We have a lot of booze at home but not a strong grasp of what to do with it beyond, say, scotch on the rocks or gin and tonic.

The class was taught by Mike Henderson, currently bartender at Lou's Food Bar, a new Frank Bonanno place. Mike is formerly of Colt & Gray, TAG, Beatrice and Woodsley and more, and well-regarded (as well as closely watched by Westword).

He began with an overview of bar tools, then moved on to the subject of ice. You can shake a drink with ice or stir it, depending on the drink. We tried a little gin chilled both ways and found it's true: your martini will be smoother if it's stirred, not shaken.

When you're stirring a drink, you don't need to agitate the ice, just spin it around in the glass with a spoon. Then you strain the drink into a chilled glass. We all practiced our stirring technique with glasses of water.

Mike went over the many varieties of liquor you can put in cocktails and suggested some of his favorites. We are already set with the basic spirits, but it was good to have some idea of what to look for in vermouth, liqueurs and bitters.

The four drinks we made – Martini, Sidecar, Old Fashioned and Mojito – encompassed the main categories and styles of drinks. The Old Fashioned, shown here, was made with rye, simple syrup and bitters. And it was darn tasty, with a little snap of orange peel.

The mojito was different from my usual; it was a cucumber ginger mojito.

The Sergeant and I started with that one when we moved to the work stations (don't you wish all work stations looked like this?). You muddle cucumber, mint, lime and ginger liqueur, then add rum and ice, shake, pour, top with soda and garnish. Voilà! I would suggest, though, that you taste the cuke before you use it. Some of them have a very bitter skin, so you may need to peel it.

We also got to try out the most awesome ice "cube" maker ever.
You start out with a big cube of ice (freeze a pan of water and cut it up, or use a silicone mold). You end up with a perfect sphere, with zero effort and no power tools.

How? Through the magic of thermal conductivity. Copper is so conducive that it can suck the cold right out of ice. With gravity helping, a heavy copper mold turns a cube into a sphere in seconds flat.
A big sphere of ice is ideal for chilling your expensive scotch, because you get the maximum surface area with minimal dilution. This novelty item, a Japanese invention, isn't cheap. The Macallan scotch folks got a bunch to use for promotion (very effective, I'd say), but if you want to buy your own, it'll cost you about $1,000. Here's a video I took of it in action:

Only silver and gold have higher conductivity, so there's no real cheap way to make your own device. Still, I covet!
Stir has lots of interesting food classes: "All About Fish," "Not Your Everyday Chicken," "Pies and Tarts," "Moroccan Cooking," to list a few. And other drinks classes: "Martinis and More," "Perfect Valentine's Cocktails," "Cocktails from Your Fridge," etc.

The classes are not limited to weeknights (always a plus for us swing-shifters) and you'll get a lunch if you're studying drinks (really good pizza, in our case).

As our friend said, the layout is quite civilized, with the bar in front and a comfortable kitchen classroom behind a glass wall.

So even if you're not taking a class, you can stop in and enjoy a well-made drink and watch the fun. Or you can swing by our place, where the Sergeant will be happy to serve you up an awesome Old Fashioned, a tasty Tequila Daisy or a sublime Sidecar.

Stir Cooking School
www.stirtolearn.com
3215 Zuni Street
Denver, CO 80211
720-287-4823

If your dog has a short attention span

Maybe what you're doing isn't interesting enough.

Another crummy day in Colorado

I spent a week in Jamaica

But these may be the only pictures you'll see.
It's just daunting to contemplate summing up all we saw and did.

A group of us went and stayed with friends who live there, on their ancestral cattle property up in the hills. It was not the Jamaica you might have encountered on a cruise or at a resort. It was pretty special.

Of course, we did get some beach time in, too.
And drank a lot of rum.

It's all a blur

Thanks to Groupon, we got $7 tickets to the Draft Horse and Mule Show Saturday night, which was a darn good deal, since it included grounds admission. We went in the afternoon and watched the sheepdog trials. I love, love, love the sheepdog trials and try to go every year.

I took a lot of blurry photos, none worth posting.

Then we went to the draft horse and mule show and I took more blurry photos. I'm pretending the one above, of Percherons in a six-horse hitch, is artsy.

I had more success shooting video. Here's a mule-rider "pole bending." She outrode all the others by a wide margin.

I got a few better shots after the show, when we wandered through the horse barn. This sweet mule was in his zebra jammies, ready to bed down for the night.
The National Western Stock Show is now over. Be sure to make plans to go next year if you can!

Boooooring

I keep trying to make this blog more consistently interesting but I'm not trying hard enough. And it's boring to talk about how boring one's blog is. So. Here's another post!

Leo (that's him on the left) is staying with us for a few days. His sister, Lannie, died of pneumonia last summer. We always thought Leo would be the first to go, because of his multiple health problems, but here he is, still chugging along. He used to be a lot more annoying – he likes to bark ... a lot – but now he sleeps much of the time and is more subdued.

I think he is enjoying his stay with Lucy and Jackson. It must be lonely for him without Lannie.

New pasta rack

It's exactly the right size for one batch of pappardelle.

Mmmm. Tongue.

If you haven't been to the National Western Stock Show, there's still more than a week left! We wandered around today, looking at all the animals. We'll go back next week to watch the stock dog trials.

Spicy celery tofu salad. Trust me.

A few months ago this salad came up in my blog roll, and it looked good enough that I watched the video and then shared it on Facebook. It just struck me as appealing – very simple and light and tasty.

Now, don't get all weirded out by the presence of tofu in this dish. Or celery, for that matter. Their combination with a spicy infused oil makes it all worthwhile.

Here's what you need:

• 1 cup of peanut oil
  
• Some fat slices of peeled, fresh ginger
  
• A stick of cinnamon (I used a piece of really yummy Vietnamese cinnamon from the lovely White on Rice Couple.)
  
• Three cloves
  
• A teaspoon of coriander seeds (which I ended up skipping because I only had ground coriander. Whoops)
  
• A teaspoon of cumin seeds
  
• 4 star anise
  
• A tablespoon of Sichuan peppercorns (mine are ordered online from The Spice House. Most reputable spice places will have them, and Asian markets. You probably won't find them at Safeway.)
  
• 1/4 cup of red chili flakes
  
• A couple roughly chopped scallions (optional)
  
• 1 bunch Chinese celery, thinly sliced
  
• 4 to 6 ounces pressed tofu, thinly sliced

First you'll infuse the oil. Just throw all the spices (and optional scallions) into the oil, bring it to a hearty simmer, then turn off the burner and let the whole thing steep for an hour or three.
You'll end up with a very orange oil. Strain it into a container you can save in the fridge (you'll have more than you need for one dish).

Now slice up your tofu. This is pressed tofu, and you can get it in five-spice flavor if you want a little extra kick, or you can get the plain. If you can't find a package that specifically says "pressed tofu," you can also get baked tofu or a tofu cutlet (I've tried both). Sometimes it's labeled "dry tofu." It's almost meaty, it's so firm. It won't fall apart when you slice it.

(I found a nice blog post that expounds on pressed tofu engagingly: Here.)

The other thing you need to chop up is Chinese celery, if you can get it. If not, you can use regular celery, but it won't be as intensely flavored. Chop it in bite-sized pieces, wash it thoroughly (it can be really sandy) and blanch it (so it's less tough).

Toss the celery and tofu together with a little salt, then drizzle the infused oil over it and enjoy! It's spicy but also light and refreshing. Just the antidote for all that holiday gorging.
Jen at Use Real Butter made this before I did. The scallions are her addition. She varies some other things as well. So you can see it's a pretty forgiving recipe. Once you have that jar of oil, you can drizzle it over other things, too.

I'll warn you, though: Don't try to make popcorn with it. If your pan gets too hot, you'll create your very own tear-gas cloud in the kitchen. Fun!

Waiting for Santa

Or kitties. Whichever comes first.