hopped up on sugar

The bad thing for me with baking is that I can't stop myself from tasting batter or dough. Stealing little bits of cookie dough here and there. I'm sure I could get three or four or ten more cookies from the bits I pinch off and taste.

And the price, of course, is a queasy feeling at the end of the night - too much sugar, and now feeling too fat to tolerate. Ugh.

Still, baking is fun.

Jeph egged me on some, and it's a good thing I did take some time to hunt down a couple of new recipes and an older one I haven't done in a while. Frankly, my baking tonight is horrid, I think. It looks a mess, though it tastes alright. Not a good effort, and proof that practice is necessary with all things. Also, I need a bigger kitchen that is better stocked!

I was hoping to use three things in particular tonight: candied ginger, dried apricots, and chocolate. One out of three. Ah well. Up first: Candied ginger and cardamom bars.
If anything, this recipe demonstrated to me that I need a few other pan sizes (I had to use a different one than the recipe called for) and a bigger food processor. Still, the dough did taste good. I think they'll be rather rich.

Next came two lime loaves. My Mum used to make lemon loaves years ago. Sort of a simple pound cake/quick bread scented with zest, then the citrus fruit of choice would be juiced and the juice mixed with granulated sugar to make a glaze to poor over the loaves fresh from the oven. These did not rise to lovely mounded loaves, a function of the pan, perhaps. Or maybe I really was sucking badly tonight. I'll wrap them and pop them in the freezer, I think.


Finally, raspberry swirl cookies. A bit of fussing with, but they smell good right now, just out of the oven. Plus, the doughtasted the best of all three!

:-)

They have coconut and walnuts in them - I'm on a walnut thing these days (also, feta, radishes, and mint) - and they cook up to resemble little cinnamon rolls.

I like that they're not spiced, though. Conrad's office should enjoy them.

I either need a salt lick now, or a nunch of water before bed. 3 miles again tomorrow morning!

training commences

This October will mark the ten-year anniversary of my first marathon, in Victoria. I have since done 4 more in Chicago, but this year, in celebration of the first one, I will return to the Royal Victoria Marathon. And after a handful of weeks of getting a good base of swimming and running in to build some endurance, this morning was the commencement of my training. Up at 5:15 to do 3 miles along the lakefront. Not a bad run, not a great one. A run.

There are benefits, though. When I woke up, I could see that the living room was suffused with a remarkable orange glow. I tried to capture some of the sunrise, but the photos cannot do it justice. Worse, I couldn't go outside on the balcony because I didn't want to wake Conrad. So yes, those are spots on our windows....

"The Balls" (chicken version)

I've decided that Jeph is not my twin. He's secretly my sister. Just for the two of them, another posting with balls.

Not much of a posting, in fact. Just the results of a quick dinner. I mixed ground white chicken breast meat yesterday with some walnuts, parsley, dill, and garlic that I'd pulsed up together in the food processor. Left it to sit in the fridge overnight, then, when I got home from work this afternoon, I shaped it into some meatballs. Baked them up, an while they were in the oven, I put together a pan of "sauce": sliced red onion sauteed in olive oil; some saffron, salt, and pepper; capers and golden raisins. All of this was deglazed with some fino sherry, which I reduced down. I added chicken broth and reduced it down some more. To this I added the baked chicken balls, then covered it all up to sit in a warm oven while we were at swim practice. When we got home, it was a simple matter to cook a bit of asparagus and toss a salad. Dinner!


Conrad was hungry, but he seemed to approve....

Aix for brunch

There's a small pun in that title.

Very small.

I'm a little worn out from travel - sitting at airports, sitting in a plane, sitting in cabs. I know, I know, poor me for getting to travel. I'll stop the whining there.

A late morning for us. After getting up and packing, we wandered over to Aix, where we'd had a bite on Friday night, for brunch.The morning was warm, not yet too sunny, so we sat outside.

In truth, I was a wee bit disappointed, especially after the good food on Friday night. I kind of thought my omelet had a weird texture, and the chorizo and white cheddar made it kind of oily as well.Not a bad brunch, by any stretch, but I think Conrad did better with scrambled eggs and bacon on the side.In any case, it was altogether pleasant to sit outdoors on a fine morning, the cityscape behind us.

Committed

The real reason we're in Denver: Martin and Mark's commitment ceremony.

I've known Martin for some 5 or so years now, and Mark for almost a year. We met Mark, in fact, in the midst of the Appendix Crisis of 2006 when he showed up in Chicago and went to dinner with us at Osteria Via Stato. A really nice evening with him, and it's funny to think that the whole time my ruptured appendix was getting infected. I'm so blithely unaware of so many things, I sometimes think.

Anyway, this is not about my funky anatomy. It's about two terrific guys meeting, falling in love, and a year later inviting over 200 friends and family to join them on a warm Saturday evening at an art gallery in Denver to witness their commitment to each other.

I'll say it now: Mark made me cry, though not as much as he cried. Martin's song to Mark was a delightful twist on the vows, but Mark's cracking voice, streaming tears, and simple words were what got me choked up.

The gallery was a good venue for people to mix and mingle. We didn't eat much while there, though the cake was tasty (and handsome)(and the cookies made for a good nightcap this evening at our hotel).
There were a few ALA and other people we knew, which was nice as well. And Conrad was mistaken for Martin's uncle. The balding thing, I guess, but I don't see a resemblance.

In any case, lovely sounds like a lame word to use, but it truly applies. We had a very nice time, and were so glad to be part of it.



And then we went out for dinner.

How do you cap an evening that featured such an emotional highpoint? A fine dinner at one of the best restaurants in town.We showed up at Kevin Taylor and got a table without trouble. It was Conrad's choice, and an excellent one at that.

Gorgeous dining room, terrific service (we quite enjoyed chatting with the sommelier a few times - he steered us to a Martinborough Pinot Noir that was a good match for our dinners). The food was quite fine. The cauliflower veloute caught my eye,and it was a smart choice. The duck was also very good, with the kim chi red cabbage and pomegranate combining to bring out a luscious richness in the wine.I sound like I'm writing a Harlequin Romance! Conrad was very pleased with his salad of mixed greens and the halibut.Oh, and the amuse-bouche of lobster in a vanilla creme anglaise with a poached kumquat and fennel salad on the side was a great start. No dessert, but we were given a couple of homemade chocolates that we didn't turn down. Oddly, we didn't photograph dinner - we just wanted to enjoy it. We did capitulate when the chocolates arrived, though. Alas, the photos are not good.Ah well.

Back to Chicago tomorrow and a couple of weeks at home. I'll see Martin in DC, of course, at the end of the month, and we're keen to see the happy couple again before too long in the future!

14 views of downtown Denver (and Conrad, just because)

June has arrived in Denver quite magnificently. A wonderful day to be outdoors. Getting burned. We've spent a bunch of time today sleeping in, in a coffee shop, eating lunch, browsing a bookstore. Not a bad thing to do.

It's another weekend out of town, this one to celebrate Martin and Mark's commitment ceremony. That's still a couple of hours off, so while Conrad does some work he brought with him (and while I diligently avoid my own work), I'm blogging the sights of downtown Denver on a sunny June Saturday.

Oh, and the Capitol as well!


It was quiet downtown when we started out, though by mid-afternoon, there was plenty of life on the streets.





Nice little coffee shop where we got some travel plans for the next year or so sketched out. Don't mock us for our love of planning!

More downtown:





Denver, guest starring Conrad!