Oh IKEA meatballs, you get me everytime! 

The name says it all: Mr. Polka

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As a fully-licensed and accredited man, I am wholly unqualified to discuss what women want or care about. That’s what social data is for. Social media monitoring company NetBase analyzed a year’s worth of online conversations — 27 billion, to be exact. Using natural language processing, they …

G and I were up in Fort Collins, near my Alma Mater: Colorado State University (Go Rams!).  Just being in the area made me want to swing by the Lory Student Center or hang out in The Oval or pick up those French literature books on the 17th century…Ok, maybe not that but it did make me want to relive the years I spent there, just not those spent in the library doing homework and researching.    

Anyways, we were hungry as it was around lunch time.  It was one of those kind of chilly days with grey skies.  After a local brewery tour at Odell Brewing Company, it was time to get some grub.

Being a local of these parts for most of my life, I decided on an all-time favorite: the Pickle Barrel.  This place is an institution around these parts and for good reason, it never changes.  Whether you went here in 1988 or 2012, it’ll have remained the same.  

There’s a great little hole in the wall bar when you enter the place and you can head upstairs to place your order.  I’ve only mostly eaten their hot ‘sannies’ but I do recall having a cold one once and it being pretty good.  Being that G and I went there on a cold day, the hot sandwich was just the thing we needed!  

I decided to order my usual: the Hop-Sing; a delicious combination of turkey, salami, ham, and provolone served with marinara sauce for dipping.  G went with a Reuben.  Both hot sandwiches were served with pickles and we got some chips to share.  Another cool thing about this place is that they serve your drinks in Mason jars.  I love that!  I also love that they had some homemade root beer on tap so, of course, I had to have it.  Rule of thumb: never pass up good root beer.  

Ok, so the picture doesn’t do justice for these massive and majorly delicious sandwiches but trust me on this one, they are GOOD.  They made our bellies happy and helped ward off the chill of the day.

The deliciousness of it all, compared with all of the memories I have of this place and going to school here, just made it the best lunch ever.  Well, except for that one meal in Paris that was even better than this one…If I speak French while I eat my Hop-Sing, it’ll be just as good as that meal in Paris right?  I can envision myself next to the Champs-Elysées, sandwich in hand.  Très chic.   

Well, wherever I am, whether it be Fort Collins or Paris, as long as there is a Pickle Barrel around, I know lunch will be done right and I can count on a good dill pickle.  Did I tell you that I’m on a major quest to find the best dill pickle around?  I’m still working on it, but pickles aside, these are some darn good sandwiches!  Just grab your order, fold the top of the sandwich over, get some napkins and voilà!  It’s time to eat!      

So it was time for breakfast.  As usual, I was starving.  My friend J and I settled on Snooze in Boulder.  Being that I’ve only visited another location previously on a weekend, I was shocked that we only had to wait 10 minutes.  On a weekend, expect a good 45 minutes to 1 hour wait time.  

Snooze is most well known for its pancake selection, things like: pineapple upside down, blueberry, peanut butter chocolate chip, or red velvet.  I decided to do away with the more carb laden options and go for something off of their light menu choices, titled ‘Like a Feather’.  I chose the Snooze Continental.  It was a delicious plate of local Noosa yogurt (one of my all time favorite Colorado products), house made granola, a caramelized grapefruit, and some majorly delicious whole wheat toast (that had sunflower seeds and millet in it).  It was really good!!  I enjoyed my breakfast with a Third Street chai, which is yet another delicious Colorado product.  

Even though I couldn’t finish my meal, I thoroughly enjoyed every delicious bite—everything from the almonds and agave nectar in the granola to the creamy tang of the yogurt.  The grapefruit was delicious in addition to that whole wheat toast.  I didn’t even need jam on it.  

The service was friendly and pleasant and they also played some seriously good music in the background that day too.  I can’t even tell you how much I enjoyed my meal, it was just perfect for me in terms of its flavors and variety.  They should really name the dish ‘Up My Street’ because it really was my kind of thing.  

It’s nice to have a restaurant that offers interesting pancakes for those days you want a pancake.  More importantly, it’s nice to see some different offerings for those of us that want to eat something lighter on occasion.  Also, I try to support local businesses and Colorado products when I can, and it’s nice to see that Snooze uses products like Noosa and Third Street in their restaurant.  

Yes, I will be back, preferably on a week day.  In the meantime, I’m off to find out how I can create my own grapefruit brûlée.  Eating grapefruit makes me feel like I’ve truly arrived into adulthood.  All I need is a copy of the New York Times (preferably in paper form) and a glass of orange juice.  Yep, those are the three key things to feel like a true adult.  Mysteries of adulthood solved.    

Dreaming of summer….and the farmer’s market with all of its vibrant, beautiful produce and buzz of people (and dogs) strolling by the stands.  Oh, and the warmer temperatures would be very nice too.  

I’m dreaming of summer because I’m sitting here with the fireplace on and a blanket drinking tea, trying to get warm and rid my fingers of their chill.  The grasp of winter has gone on far too long for my liking, as it usually does.  I want to walk barefoot through green grass, have a BBQ, go swimming, drive with the windows down, eat cold Chinese noodle salads, drink iced tea, and go to the drive-in movie theater.

Oh summer, you can’t come soon enough.  Time to put on some mittens.  

G and I were wanting to try something different for dinner…I quickly referred to my list of local places I’ve been wanting to try. We settled on La’au’s Taco Shop which is located on The Hill in Boulder.  

This is a no-frills taco joint so don’t expect everything to be glamorous; there will be the occasional napkin on the floor or a whole trash can filled with Pabst blue ribbon cans.  This is where the students eat so expect decent prices to come in hand with its surroundings.  

It reminded me of my own student days, which were, ahem, not so long ago.  Ok, ok, I felt kind of old amongst the college crowd but that didn’t stop me from being there. Maybe if someone was to overhear our conversation, G and I should’ve prepared a list of student friendly topics such as:

1) That brutal Econ 101 midterm review

2) That party last night that was off the hook crazy!

3) How grouchy Professor T. can be when it’s finals week

4) How we have to do laundry all the time and never have enough quarters

Ok, back to the food.  First stop: the menu.  Here you can choose from a salad, a burrito, tacos, or have everything in a bowl.  Next, you choose your protein source: fish, chicken, pork, shrimp, veggies, or steak.  Lastly, you choose what style you want your dish: with napa cabbage, green papaya, corn salsa, tomato salsa, mango salsa, or green chili pepper salsa.  They also offer an unusual array of drinks including horchata, coconut milk, or Corona.  

I went with the shrimp tacos Kona style.

I loved the grilled shrimp and the mango salsa.  I did, however, find the green chili pepper purée to be a bit too spicy for me.  I thought the grilled shrimp flavors (marinated in red peppers) went really well with the mango salsa and napa cabbage.  

G had a pork bowl with green papaya, tomato salsa, and mango salsa.  We split an iced tea.  

The service we received during our visit was pleasant and not too overbearing.  

Is this a fancy place?  No.  It does however provide a freshness and its own unique spin on the taco/burrito market which is rampant these days.  The only downside is being that it is on The Hill, parking is seriously limited as this area is more of a pedestrian zone.  

Will we be back?  Yes.  I need some more of that shrimp and mango salsa even if I was eying a piece of Kahlua cake.     

Great news on Colorado House Bill 1027:  It’s passed the House of Representatives!!  Next stop: the Senate.  If it passes there, it’s on its way to becoming law!!  Hooray!  We’re half way there to having our very own Cottage food law!  

In its honor, I just might bake a cupcake!  With extra sprinkles.  

Last week I went over to my Grandmother’s house for our monthly (sometimes more often) cooking lesson.  I wanted to tackle some things that had been bothering me for a while in the produce department, one of which was SWISS CHARD.  

Yep, that green and leafy bundle has scared me for years.  How on earth do I cook it?  What does it taste like?  What do I eat with it?!  After tasting some that my Grandmother had made for lunch that day, I was coaxed out of both my ignorance and fear of those big green leaves.  I conquered them!    

I was no longer afraid.  It was like a January (post-Christmas) miracle.  All it took was a simple lesson in cooking them which takes no more than a whole 15 minutes.  Gently seasoned with olive oil, garlic, salt, and pepper they became delicious!  I even learned how to make a cold Swiss Chard salad with olive oil, balsamic vinegar, some finely diced red onion, and the usual salt and pepper.  Now I can not only have something is actually VERY good for me nutritionally, it actually tastes good!  Gasp!    

To my Grandmother who helped me overcome my fear of the Chard Monster, thank you.  You are and always have been my culinary genius and my kindred soul in the kitchen.  I look forward to our next cooking lesson!