Merry Christmas to you and yours! We were blessed with family time and a delicious selection of desserts (many of which were homemade and included flour-less chocolate cake with raspberry sauce, lemon ricotta tart with apricot jam, mini turtle cheesecakes, chocolate chip cookies (the BEST EVER), and holiday snowball cookies. May your Christmas be filled with loving family, sweet treats, and many blessings. Here’s to a terrific New Year in and out of the kitchen.
It’s that time of year where I run out of flour and bust out my French rolling pin. This week I’m making some orange cranberry pecan coffee cake bread! Mmmm….stay warm!
Tried my hand at making 100% handmade croissants a few weeks ago. They were worth the hard work, butter, and elbow grease. Got 11 hours to spare? Make croissants! Ok, so they’re not your everyday baking project but trust me, once you bite into the soft yet shattering layers of buttery pastry wonder, you’ll want to make them again and again.
I’m thinking next time of playing around with some of the flavors (in addition to the classic plain variety): lemon curd filled, chocolate, or almond paste. These croissants didn’t last more than 1 day in our house for good reason—they were far superior than any G or I have ever tried in the States.
It’s an impressive feat to pull these out of the oven with their golden hues and buttery aroma and know that you made them. Take that grocery store bakery! I can make these all by myself, thank you very much.
Put on some Edith Piaf, make a café au lait, plate up a croissant or two, and you’d swear you were in La France.
Hitting the streets of Boulder, we were in search of a good ol’ hamburger…We found ourselves at The Dark Horse, an institution around these parts since 1975. The walls are filled with junk, the place probably hasn’t been dusted since the late ‘90’s, and it would seem that everyone has carved their initials in the wooden booths. That’s what I like about this place; its kitschy charm. We weren’t there to mess around with decor and circumstance, we were there to eat!
I’d say the burgers are good—greasy, almost impossible to eat without napkins, and cooked to order. The fries? Well, they could use some improvement. The service was agreeable and I think we’ll return again.
It was a late lunch date for G and I one day at KT’s BBQ in Boulder. We must’ve just missed the lunch time rush as the place was fairly quiet.
Being that my dad is of Southern heritage, I’m pretty picky about my BBQ. I have to have the usual sides of either beans or ‘slaw with my pork sandwich. Secondly, the pork brisket has to be chopped or pulled. Sliced brisket is not an option for this girl.
We got our pork sandwiches, sides (we chose the zesty baked beans), and some sweet tea and headed outside to the restaurant’s nice little patio area outside. It was a nice fall day and it was perfect for chowin’ down on BBQ filed delights. At each table, they had three different sauces to choose from: hot, mustard, or sweet.
I really enjoyed the pork; it wasn’t too dry or greasy whatsoever. Both of which are huge thumbs up for me. I would’ve liked a thicker, more richer BBQ sauce and the baked beans were a bit on the spicy side for me but I still enjoyed them.
Overall, I’d say the star of the show here is the pork, which is what BBQ is all about in addition to the perfect bun on which it was served. BBQ sauce can always be improved or tweaked, good pork cannot.
The location is a little of the way, which is one of the many reasons I really like this little place. It’s not fancy BBQ and it really delivers the beef on an affordable lunch. You’ll see this girl back there again for sure to fill her belly.
It was a Thursday evening. I’d had another brutal week (so far) at work. My brain felt like it’d been in a blender and it was time to break out of the daily rut. G graciously made reservations for us at Bones.
We’d eaten at Bones once before, during our awesome ‘Staycation 2012’ where we pretended we were tourists in our own city. Needless to say, we loved it as we had the chance to try restaurants we normally wouldn’t get to try during the week and experience the museums and attractions our great city has to offer. If you ever get the chance, I highly recommend the Colorado History Museum and the Denver Zoo, they really are a lot of fun!
Bones is a great neighborhood restaurant which serves delicious Asian food. It is a very small restaurant (which adds to its neighborhood/cool charm) so be sure to make reservations. There is also complimentary valet parking. If you’re lucky, you’ll be seated at the bar, which is where all the action is with the chefs cooking in the tiny kitchen.
The adult beverages are fairly priced, well made, and composed of classic Asian flavors like ginger, sake, lychee, or green tea.
You MUST order the steamed buns with pork. I’ve tried both the suckling pig and pork belly. Personally, I’m not a huge pork belly fan, but they both truly are delicious and you can’t go wrong with either one. The steamed buns are what keeps G and I coming back to this place—pillowy soft steamed buns filled with pork, a little garnish, and some dark hoisin-esque sauce that you drizzle over the top. It’s sweet, salty, and meaty perfection.
Once you come back to earth from your pork filled revery, there are several main dishes to choose from: noodles, ramen, and soba. Every time I’ve been here I find myself ordering the hottest dishes on the menu. Somehow I’m blindsided by words like: shrimp, snow peas, spicy peanuts and I don’t see the words chile or pepper. Then, to my surprise, I find myself eating a dish that is so spicy I don’t know if I can make it through to the last bite. As I wipe the sweat away from my brow, it’s painful and yet delicious.
G always finds himself ordering similar dishes whenever he’s here too; each having a deep, rich flavor such as the duck ramen. Whenever I sneak a bite, it’s always a welcome reprieve from my spicy dinner.
The vibe here is laid back, busy, sometimes chaotic, cool, and welcoming. You somehow feel like you belong here every Thursday night. This little Asian noodle house is a great addition to the weekly line up and as long as Bones keeps making bomb diggity steamed buns, we’ll keep coming back.
The homemade veggie pizza I made for G and I for lunch over the weekend, ready for some oven lovin’ and loaded up on goodness: roasted red peppers, pepperoncini, spinach, mushrooms, fresh garlic, artichokes, and mozzarella cheese. I think yes!
