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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: green chile mayonnaise

I hope everyone had a nice weekend observing or not observing various holidays. April can’t make up her mind (she is quite the fickle pickle when it comes to weather) and so we have had sun, rain, lightning, snow, and grauple over the weekend, but NO WINDS(!!) and so I am pleased as punch. Sunday morning we took Kaweah for a much needed hike and noted the snow conditions. I really don’t foresee anymore piste skiing unless we get a nice dump of powder. Our local hill closed this weekend and several of the big mountains close next weekend (good-bye Breckenridge, good-bye Vail, good-bye Mary Jane – see you next year), however there is always A-basin whose season runs phenomenally late into June – sometimes July. Get your rock skis out, kids. I wouldn’t want to take the East Wall on my powder skis in May. Well, my would-be rock skis were in really good shape and now belong to Diane.

dude, where’s my snow?

old flowers soon to be replaced by new flowers

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Recipe: spicy chinese cucumber salad

First: I was asked to link to April Food Day. Even though I believe the day is over (I got a late notice and it was supposed to be April 1) you can still donate for a good cause – to feed the hungry. Hop on over, won’t you?

We got some snow on April Fool’s Day. No joke! At least it wasn’t a joke for us, we were thrilled. More snow more snow! Technically, you CAN ski all year in Colorado – just that things can get a little lean in August and September when you are limited to the glaciers (and the glaciers here aren’t terribly big).

we like accumulation

kaweah looks sugar-dusted

Then it got warm, but just in time as I hosted a stitch-n-bitch for a really fun group of intelligent, friendly, and chill ladies. Kitt was a sweetheart and brought me a *still warm* freshly baked loaf of bread (and it’s delicious – I had some tonight with dinner). Nichole introduced us to an Aussie ginger beer which her husband is fanatical over (and now, so are we!). Foodies rock. The stitch-n-bitch was an excuse to cook authentic Chinese food for some of my favorite people as well as introduce them to one another.

lunchtime

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