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Recipe: deconstructed chili cheese fries

We are almost ready to blow this popsicle stand. Kaweah is off to Camp Crazy and we shall be heading west. In the meantime, my cron jobs should be in working order (i.e. there will be posts in my absence) while I’m out of communication.

Jeremy and I recently sampled an order of chili cheese fries at a local joint in Boulder. We were… underwhelmed. It says less about the place serving the fries and more about the culture here. Why is it so hard to find GOOD chili cheese fries? I wasn’t turned on to chili cheese fries until I went to college in Southern California and it became the goto 2 am calorie (and sodium, and fat) replenisher on those late nights working on AMa 95 homeworks (Techers, YOU know what I’m talking about). My ideal chili cheese fries involve crispy, hot fries (not soggy!), shredded sharp cheddar cheese, and a meaty (no beans), well-spiced chili that needs to be ladled on top. These days we indulge maybe a couple times a year when I make my own chili at home, but forget about ordering it in town. No one does it right.

Which got me thinking. Perhaps I could “challenge” a restaurant to make chili cheese fries? My first candidate was The Kitchen, because I think their fries are the best I’ve ever had and I am convinced they could make one mean bowl of chili (they specialize in ass-kicking food). Friday night, that notion gave way to another inspiration… how about I attempt deconstructed chili cheese fries? Just for shits and giggles, you know. Putting a sophisticated spin on a low brow college favorite.

I combined the typical spices that go into my chili recipe and mixed them with a hefty amount of salt and pepper. After picking up a 3-inch thick slice of beef tenderloin, I packed the spices onto the steak and let it sit for 30 minutes to contemplate its delicious fate.

spices that usually go in my chili

rub it all over the filet mignon

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Recipe: grilled prosciutto-wrapped shrimp

Jeremy turned to me yesterday and said in a surprised tone, “We’re married!” He still can’t get believe we are married, but we are. Twelve years as of yesterday (Sunday). I think I finally got used to it about two years ago, but I don’t think of us as married so much as a really good team. We didn’t do anything special to celebrate. We didn’t need to. Every day is a good day.

enjoying the little things in life

Last Thursday night we went into Denver to see Andrew Bird at the Ogden Theater. Andrew Bird… Andrew Bird… He makes me swoon. Heck, he makes Jeremy swoon. One of our favorite artists and it is quite the experience to see him perform live – 20 feet from us! What a treat. Then we went to Breckenridge on Saturday to ski up the bumps.

and it was good

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Recipe: slider buns

My brain just registered that the Superbowl is this weekend. I knew something was up when I began to see lots of Superbowl party foods posted around the food blogosphere. I’m slow on the uptake sometimes, but I have been really busy getting my photo gallery up. I had a vague awareness that the Superbowl was coming *waves hand in the distance* sometime. Oh, I’m not fooling anyone – I don’t follow football. We don’t own a TV. Can’t stand watching sports, really… I much prefer to play sports.

But I love Superbowl Sunday, because it means hiking trails and ski slopes are empty. Everyone is happy! Aside from keeping the masses glued to the television, I love the Superbowl because it means parties with lots of finger foods. I have a mild obsession with food in miniature and individual servings. One of the great things about urb is that I’ve been shoved out of my comfort zone into the world of bread and yeast. That’s partly due to the Daring Bakers and partly due to my envious ogling of silders in our lovely food blogging community.

i can do this

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