use real butter

I shook Trent’s hand and sat down across from him. It was our first face-to-face encounter although we had emailed a few times before. Just a quick meeting in a coffee shop, in between a couple of my appointments. By the time I walked away, I felt this guy was incredibly earnest – a really good fellow. And I was right.

pica’s in boulder

That day we talked about his idea to open a restaurant in Boulder. Sure, people have dreams all the time, but Trent is the type of methodical, responsible, and hard-working individual who makes things happen. Trent used to be a professional sports photographer (um, THAT is really hard work) who trained at Boulder’s Culinary School of the Rockies‘ Chef program. I followed his progress on Twitter and on his blog. Jeremy and I even dropped by one day, a week before Trent’s projected opening, and he graciously invited us in for a tour. I was wide-eyed in amazement at how far he had come… and how much more he had to accomplish in the next week. I now know if anyone can do it, Trent can.

exhausted before the grand opening: chef andy of jackson, wyoming (left) and trent (right)

The atmosphere is totally casual. After all, it is a taqueria. The interior is brightly colored and the materials for the benches, the tables are re-purposed old doors or pews. It’s a clean and tidy space with simple artwork adorning the walls including a flatscreen television for fans to watch World Cup matches (Trent was a photographer for the US World Cup soccer team). Outside is a lovely, quiet garden patio perfect for enjoying some fine Boulder weather.

i suddenly feel so thirsty

mmmm… patio dining

Pica’s Boulder opened in June of this year (2010) bringing Baja-style Mexican food to the good citizens of this northern Colorado town. Mexican food. You all know how I bitch and moan about Mexican food in Colorado. I’m married to a guy who grew up in New Mexico and I lived in California for ten years. There are many many flavors of Mexican food, but Boulder never really did it for me.

the menu

Their Mexican food focuses on the bright flavors of fresh and wholesome ingredients with a slight upscale flair. It is NOT Northern Mexican nor is it New Mexican, so if you walk in there judging it as such, that’s really your problem. They offer several vegetarian options and I know Pica’s is gluten-free friendly based on Andrew’s love of the place. I have frequented Pica’s for work lunches and fun lunches, turning many a friend on to their wonderful tacos, burritos, and other offerings. Nichole once said she eats there so often that her baby is half Pica’s! The ultimate vote of confidence though? My stitch-n-bitch crew gathered there for a meal. Right on.

jeremy got a margarita and i had the half lemonade half agua fresca (watermelon juice)

When you enter Pica’s you should not only check out the standard menu board, but have a gander at the daily specials listed on the blackboards behind the counter. I personally love the tacos al pastor, carnitas, marinated shrimp, baja style fish tacos, skirt steak tacos, chicken tinga (I had the chicken tinga sopes which were good, but I liked the chicken tinga more than the sopes), and the wet burrito (carne asada, please!). When Jeremy and I finally went in for a “proper” review, we decided to score some appetizers. Usually, I’m all business. Give me the tacos al pastor and no one will get hurt.

You order at the counter – dine-in or carryout – then sit down and wait for the food to arrive. There isn’t a lot of wait service in the traditional sense, but all of the employees have been polite and attentive when I’ve been to Pica’s.

chips with half guacamole and half salsa

**Jump for more butter**

I first learned of The Culinary School of the Rockies when my old work group was looking to book a fun team-building event. We ended up doing something else, but I held on to the brochure. Not only does CSR offer corporate classes, they also have home cook classes and professional culinary programs. I was so excited to know that we had a culinary school here in little old Boulder.

the front of the school

I enrolled in their 10-week pastry skills class – probably one of the best classes I’ve ever taken. It must be said that this blog owes a good deal to CSR for the quality of the pastries and sweets you see. Our class was fast-paced and chocked full of great information, techniques, recipes, and especially tips on high-elevation adjustments. Even though we worked at a frenetic pace from the moment we donned our aprons, Chef Shan made it a fun 5-hour class each week. Pastry skills gave me the confidence to tackle new recipes after the ten weeks were over. The fundamentals I had learned continue to carry my baking and candy-making to this day. My MIL is a baker too. Every time my in-laws visited, MIL and I would bake a recipe from my class notebook together. She loved it.

chef shan shows ribboning (l), artisan chocolates (r), professional pastry students (b)

So when my ILs came to visit last year, we all signed up for a class at CSR: knife skills. Hey, it was one of the few classes Jeremy agreed to take because he thought it might help speed up his sous chef skills. That was my first time in the home cook kitchen because the pastry skills course was always held in the professional kitchen and classroom. All of the instructors at CSR are knowledgeable, amiable, and really fun, but my knife skills instructor created quite the hubbub in the comments when I posted about the class. No doubt.

meet chef michael – he’s got a terrific personality

If you ever have a look at the CSR home cook calendar, you’ll be hard-pressed to choose just one class that you might want to take. Cupcakes, sushi, Thai, barbecue, gluten-free baking, tapas, breads, pizza, fish, cheesemaking, and the list goes on. They have week-long vacation courses as well as two-day weekend classes, full day, half day, and two-hour classes. But CSR caters to more than just the home cook. In fact, their pride and joy would have to be the graduates from their professional programs: Culinary Arts, Chef Track, and Pastry Arts. CSR invites people to sign up to observe a professional class so you can see if this might be the program for you. I sat in on a Pastry Arts class the day they covered chocolate tempering and dessert wine pairing. It’s hard work, but it’s fun hard work. What could be better?

chief operating officer karen barela in her office

**Jump for more butter**

Recipe: grilled steak and cheese sandwich

Congratulations to Laura of Laura’s Best Recipes for winning the Quaker Oats challenge! My sincerest thanks to all of you who took me and Farm to School to the finals! You all are wonderful. While I’m disappointed that we didn’t win $10,000 for Farm to School, I think we raised awareness of the awesome work they are doing. You can always contribute independently – it is a great organization that gets at the root of helping farmers and helping our school children both immediately and for the long haul.

I can’t tell you how many times I have driven between 1 to 6 hours in order to get to a dark sky site and wait all night for meteor showers back in the day. I’ve gone with friends, but mostly I’ve gone with Jeremy. Jeremy and I would drive 4-6 hours out of Los Angeles to escape the light pollution and it was always on a weeknight so that we’d leave home sometime after dinner, arrive at the dark sky site by midnight, then watch for four hours and drive back bleary-eyed at 4 am only to hit the CRAZY 6 am traffic from Lancaster into the LA basin and then drag our carcasses into work. That made for some big headaches, let me tell you. These days, I just step out onto my deck and see if the weather is cooperating. When the skies are clear here, we can see the Milky Way as plain as if someone smacked you in the face with it. It is stunning to behold, every time. Some might think it would grow old seeing this on a daily basis, but like the beautiful mountains I live in – I never tire of seeing the Milky Way. I never tire of seeing the Pleiades overhead or Orion rising in the winter to chase them across the sky or Venus setting in the west. Ever since I was a little girl I would gaze up at the moon, the stars, the night sky. I still do. It takes my breath away.

All that to say, I did see Leonids last night. I find shooting stars to be mesmerizing. I didn’t capture any to share, because even though I had enough foresight to call my neighbor to ask that they turn off any lights overnight, I didn’t call the OTHER neighbor who leaves this crazy giant floodlight on – which reflects remarkably well off all of the snow on the ground. *squinty eyes* Guess I’ll have two phone calls to make next time.

Right. There is snow on the ground, but it’s fast melting away because we here in Colorado get a lot of snow and a lot of sun. It’s a perfect combination especially on a blue bird morning.

beautiful and familiar view from my deck

I’m still sorting my brain, my photos, my schtuff from last week and will be sharing that fantastic trip with you soon enough (when brain is in order). I landed in Denver on Friday and raced the snow storm home (it beat me), fed the dog, downloaded photos, wiped a CF card clean, and headed back to Boulder just in time to pick up Jeremy and arrive at the Culinary School of the Rockies (CSR) Harvest Dinner. We had been invited by Sarah Blecher, the lovely woman I met at the Savory Spice Shop shoot. I have a special place in my heart for CSR because that’s where I learned how to make pastries and how to adjust for high altitude (it’s still an ongoing learning process, but at least I’m no longer floundering about like a turtle on its back thanks to CSR). When I walk into the professional kitchen, I almost feel like I’m coming home – it is that familiar for me. The people who work there are wonderful, happy, and enthusiastic. They teach, they learn, they have fun.

The Harvest Dinner is a meal planned, prepared, and served by the Culinary Arts Farm to Table Program students to a dining room of about 60 guests. I was so excited to go back into the kitchen and watch the students in action! You’d think after a week of fine food and fine wine that I’d be sick of it. To that I say: ELASTIC WAISTBANDS are your friends.

best plate of the night: ale-brined pork belly with polenta and apple cider reduction

a student preps the pappardelle

We sat with several members of the CSR staff and friends talking about the local restaurant and food scene, CSR classes and programs, food, wine, and more food. I feel fortunate that a town the size of Boulder can boast its own Culinary School and still offer fun home classes for cooking enthusiasts. CSR has a strong involvement with the local community as well – and that’s a great thing for all of us.

another winner: sherry-braised chick peas

students quickly gather to serve apple brioche bread pudding with bourbon caramel sauce

Overall, the meal was superbly executed. I kept thinking to myself, “I must get these recipes!” followed by “I need to not eat for the next month.” You can see more photos from the evening on my photo blog. But now, it’s time for a recipe so simple that the only reason I don’t make it more often is because you’d have to plunger me through the door.

hello pretty ribeye steak, i think i love you

make that, i *definitely* love you

**Jump for more butter**