Category: Food Talk

Catching Up

Lauren2 Comments

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Joey and I had plans to go grab breakfast sandwiches together this morning but he’s been sick since Sunday — guess drinking and staying out till 2 AM doesn’t bode well for 28-year olds 😛 — and was not even close to feeling up to it.

I still walked myself over to Huckleberry because having a coffee shop in walking distance and getting in a brisk walk first thing in the morning when the streets are still quiet and the sun is just coming up makes me insanely happy.

Also, because someone stayed up late watching the Rockies game — West Coast games, you are so brutal BUT that Nolan Arenado catch was so worth staying up for! — coffee was needed!

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On the food front…

We went out for a birthday dinner at a new(ish) restaurant called Gozo last week.  I thought the space was so awesome.  It was big and open and filled with white subway tile, wooden tables, Edison pendant lights and quirky things like a speaker shaped like a suitcase over the bar.  The service was so-so but the food… GAH!

We also went out to Tamayo, which is a Mexican restaurant on Larimer, and even though there was BACON GUACAMOLE, there was also $11 margaritas and that even seems steep for a marg addict like me.  I wouldn’t be sad if I never went there again.

Seeing as we were out every night last week (or so it felt!) and dinner-time cooking wasn’t happening, we survived off roasted veggies for lunch.  Transformed into this, this, this and this.  I was a happy (lunch) camper!

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On Wednesday, we saw Motown the Musical.  It was like 30 seconds into the show when the Temptations and the Four Tops were having a music battle that I knew I was going to love it!  There was a guy sitting in front of us who was seriously rocking out and even though we were all laughing at him, I kinda wanted to be doing what he was doing.

I’ve been listening to The Supremes Radio on iHeart ever since.  My mom raised me on Oldies so I probably know these songs better than anything that’s on the radio right now.  I forgot just how much I love “I Heard it Through the Grapevine” by Marvin Gaye.

We’ve made it to Season 3 of The Wire and even though Omar is the coolest (especially when he’s all “Indeed.  Most def.”), I’ve kinda been meh about the show since Season 1.  I think I’m still watching so I can have an opportunity to say “McNutty.”

What’s going on in your life?!

On Recipe Testing

Lauren4 Comments

Did you know Recipe Tester is an actual job?  I mean, it makes sense.  Someone has to try out all the recipes that end up getting published in cookbooks and magazines, but I guess it’d never really crossed my mind.  That is, until a local magazine I follow on Twitter, tweeted out a link for a cookbook writer looking for volunteer recipe testers.  Sign me up!

Now that I’ve been chosen, cooked my three assigned recipes and turned in all my evaluation forms, I thought I’d share some more about the experience.  And pay attention because after spending a good amount of money on the ingredients and only liking one out of the three recipes, it’s probably safe to say my recipe testing career is over.

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This was Recipe #1, a seafood-stuffed baked phyllo packet.  And then it was topped with a whole grain mustard sauce… yes!  I made this on a Sunday, thinking it would be the most time consuming, but this ended up being the quickest of the bunch.  Also, it was delicious.  Sadly, shrimp and crabmeat are kind of expensive and this will probably be the only time we ever make this dish.  Wah, wah.

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Recipe #2: A smoked turkey, hearts of palm and mushroom salad that was all over the place.  First of all, it served EIGHT and who needs to make eight servings of anything??  Also I thought it was going to be more like chicken or tuna salad consistency but it turns out smoked turkey is more like chunks of ham, aka pretty dense.  The whole things was just weird.  Not to mention that part where one can of hearts of palm is $5 and I needed three of them.  I think Joey ate a majority of this one 🙂

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Last recipe was a cheese grits soufflé, which sounds pretty fun, but was so bland it hurt.  I should’ve known right away when there was NO SALT in the recipe, but part of being a recipe tester means you have to follow the recipe exactly as written.  Also, this took two hours to make between prepping the ingredients and actually baking the soufflé.  Luckily, we made it on a Saturday, otherwise I think dinner would’ve ran straight into bedtime.  That kale salad, though!

So all in all, the whole experience ended up being a pricey/time-consuming let down.  And there go my dreams of being a professional recipe tester!  Just kidding, I think most people who do that for a career have culinary degrees 🙂  The only upside?  It made cooking things I picked myself extra fun this week!

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It’s Friday AND the first day of spring!  Do you have fun weekend plans?