Backstrap Venison/i can't believe we ate the whole thing

There's nothing more yummy than a reduction sauce atop a perfectly cooked, a little rare, piece of red meat! In this case, venison provided the main focus of the meal. A slight adaptation to the reduction sauce referred to in the Filet Mignon post, included adding orange rind as the sauce cooks down.

If you're going to go to the effort of hunting the meat for dinner, you best not serve anything to compete with its splendor~thank you PR for your skill and passion for looking high and low for sustenance! Excellent sides included classic fresh organic greens sauteed in garlic and red pepper flakes, and quinoa prepared in veggie broth.

The Donut Mill

Last week we went skiing at Ski Copper...and we passed this donut shop. It was 9am and donuts sounded so good! But we had a three hour drive ahead of us so we couldn't stop. So when I went skiing this week I insisted that we stopped because I had been thinking about it all week! We got there around 10:30am and this is what was left. 

The donuts were huge! My roommate was with me and she talked me into getting two! Well, the donuts are at least the size of your head if not bigger and I still have two halves left that I can't seem to finish. I think next time I will get one donut and call it a day!

Denver Before 12

The second day I was here in Denver, I headed up to Denver Airport to drop my mom off. After I dropped here off I headed to Denver to check out Larimer Square. I had read that Larimer Square was a shopping and dining district with specialty boutiques and unique restaurants. However during my research of where I wanted to go---I did not check the hours of the stores. It was a Sunday so I just assumed that everything opened around 10, 10:30am. However when I got there the streets were quiet and I only two restaurants were open. Unfortunately I had just had coffee at the airport and I had already eaten breakfast. But I did check out this place above, The Market. The market is a pastry shop/grocery store/coffee shop/deli. I did go inside and look around and was impressed with the variety of things that they had. So if you find yourself in Denver on a Sunday. Remember that nothing opens until noon!

Pate a Choux Swans

I wanted to share these swans from school before I forget. We made these in Individual Production Pastry. Before this class we were strictly making Pate a Choux filled with Pastry Cream and topped with Chocolate fondant. Now we make Pate a Choux swans with chocolate heads! I applaud the creativity of my classmates!

German Baker

All of my roommates are bakers...except for one who is a hostess at one of the restaurants at The Broadmoor. Ironically she is the one that does the baking at home. Every other day she makes fresh bread and sometimes she makes cakes! There is one cake that she makes that is to die for! It is a cross between a coffee cake and a tea cake. Last night I carefully studied her as she made the cake! I refer to this cake as "the cake" because I think it is absolutely delicious! The cake is actually called German Sand Cake. It is made with whipped cream, butter and lots of sliced almonds. The process of making this cake is interesting. You actually whip the cream with the eggs and the sugar, add the flour. Then this goes in the oven and is baked halfway. And then you put a mixture of butter, almonds and sugar on top and finish baking it. I will share the recipe once I am finished converting it from grams to cups.

The Best Burger in Denver

After our epic day of skiing we decided that we needed the best dinner ever! After searching for the best burger in Denver, CO we settled on the number one spot Highland Tap and Burger. We ate around 7 and this place was hopping! And the food was amazing! Maybe the best burger ever!

This was the burger page of the menu. I liked the menu because it wasn't overwhelming. There was one page for the burgers and one page for appetizers and other sandwiches. However the wine and beer menu, the big black one in the first photo, was about the size of a brick and six pages long.

There were 4 of us eating and 3 of us ordered the above Tap Burger. It was HTB's signature beef patty with Eli’s root beer pulled pork, “Mama’s Pilsner” onion ring, American cheese, cheddar cheese & the signature Tap Sauce which was sweet. My other roommate ordered seasoned Rosen Colorado ground lamb, Haystack Mtn. goat cheese, Tomato Mint Relish and a baby argula salad. She said it was delicious!

Colorado Adventures

My first adventure in Colorado was attending orientation at The Broadmoor. However we are not allowed to take pictures of the inside of The Broadmoor---only the outside property....which I have not done yet so I am going to share with you my second Colorado adventure. Ski Cooper. Yesterday we drove 3 hours to ski on the best snow that I have ever skied!

 This is what the drive looked like! Blue skies and white topped mountains!

This is what it looked like once we got there. The trees were all frosted pines and the parking lot was covered in snow. The coolest part about Ski Cooper was that they do not make any snow! All the snow was fresh powder. The runs were also long and untouched! Half the trail was groomed, and the other half was powder! Beautiful! They also have a nordic ski center---which I'm sure is great! I would be interested to go back and try those trails.

This is what one of the runs looked like! Very few people and fresh snow! At 11,000 feet what more could you want!

Denver Airport

Traveling across the middle America has been an exciting journey, and it's time for DD's return home as AM begins the next phase in her culinary training! The final leg of this cross country journey was a surprising 90 minute drive from Colorado Springs to Denver to fly DD back east. Surprising b/c Colorado Springs had virtually no snow and b/c of how much snow had been cleared and melted as we drove closer to what was the "eye of the storm" less than 36 hours prior! The roads were absolutely clear, thanks to the highway crew; amazing really! It seemed like the storm was just a dream on this clear, bright, blue Colorado morning!

DIA is a HUGE airport! DD was a little overwhelmed by its grandness! The airport is nothing shy of a community in-and-of itself! But thanks to AM's hybrid, we were able to park just feet away from my check in point which meant she could join me inside and see DD off! It's a good thing too b/c security wouldn't allow DD to take AL's sterling silver butter knife on the plane;-)

Phantom Canyon Brewery

Phantom Canyon Brewing Co is a restaurant, brewing company, and so much more! Throughout their 18 years in business, they have received high acclaim for their beers. DD/The Red Queen thoroughly enjoyed the Queen's Blonde Ale which was mild and sweet with tones of malt and hops. Although the restaurant had an extensive menu, DD and AM decided to stick with traditional pub food! DD enjoyed an amazing fish & chips with a side of slaw, amazing! AM enjoyed mac 'n cheese with caramelized apples and pears, brie, and walnuts; exquisite, and surprisingly not rich at all! The historic building and the warm & welcoming staff (hostess, bartender, servers) provided a wonderful atmosphere and experience. The restaurant is located in the historic Cheyenne Building that was renovated in 1909.  The bar itself is testimony to the building's age and is in pristine condition! A must for anyone visiting or living in the area!

MYSTERIES of KANSAS

After hundreds of miles of what seemed a vacuum in time on Rt. 96 

AM wonders, 

"Is there any wildlife in Kansas?"

Yes! DD thinks it was a possum, but, it was dark and all she could see were its tiny eyes glowing as it prepared to scurry across the  highway! 

...and possum wasn't the only thing scurrying across the road.

Kansas

I'm sorry I left out a whole day of traveling before we got to Colorado Springs. Well, we drove through Kansas...all day. It looked like this. I don't want to drive through Kansas again anytime soon. Maybe in 5 months...

Kansas City Eats

For various reasons....a small blizzard in Denver has delayed our posts from our journey. I will try my best to catch up! We left off in Kansas City, MO. We had a luxurious stay in Kansas City, MO and topped it off by having dinner at The Westside Local. I found this restaurant off of a Things To Do in Kansas City site. Boy were they right! This restaurant was quite the find. If you find yourself in Kansas City I would recommend making a reservation. Not only was the food phenomenal, so was the service!

I apologize for the dark photo but this is what you could see from the outside. Just a quaint welcoming facade that was filled with warmth and good food. The tables were varied, ours was set up with one side being a bench with pillows and the other side were chairs. We enjoyed our meal so much that we forgot to take a photo until the end. We started with a mixed cheese plate with dried cherry compote, baguette, seasonal fruit, and onion thyme jam. Then we had an arugula salad with bacon, maytag, red onion, cherry tomatoes, and buttermilk dressing. For our entree we had mussels with spanish chorizo, cilantro, tomato, jalapeños, lime, red onion on grilled baguette.

We were stuffed by the end of it, but I really wanted to hear what they had for dessert. After listening to the wonderful options I decided we would have to endure and have dessert. We ordered the pomegranate panna cota with a ginger creme anglaise and candied orange rind.

The following morning, we were still stuffed. However before deciding that we could safely leave town and avoid the thunderstorms, tornadoes and snow storm, we stopped at a small bakery right around the corner from our hotel. MeMa's is an Old Fashioned Bakery known for their English Walnut Povitica and cinnamon rolls. We shared this scrumptious cinnamon bun! I think the picture describes how it tasted! Big, gooey and amazing!

We were in transit when we ate it, but I think my dashboard made a nice make shift photo booth. After devouring this cinnamon bun, we continued out adventure and landed in Colorado Springs safe from all weather disasters that took place that day!

4 States and 1 Time Zone!

Today we left Ohio and crossed four states and entered one time zone! We drove through Kentucky, Indiana, Illinos and Missouri! Most of our morning was spent driving through fog.

And farms and more fog! And then finally we reached St. Louis and saw the Gateway Arch! I must of taken 20 pictures of it! Not realizing that we were going to literally almost drive under it! And then I snapped this shot!

 Tonight we are exploring Kansas City! Until tomorrow! See you in Colorado!

Birthday Cake!

 As promised..birthday cake from Sevatiis! Delicious! Happy 23rd!

Eating our way through Ohio...

 Tuesday was all about eating eating and eating! I told you it would be! We started our day with a huge breakfast at my Grandmas.....bacon, eggs, english muffins, yogurt, fruit....Yum! And then we left for a tour of Sevartiis Bakery! Sevartiis is a family run European Pastry Shop and Deli that has been around for almost 50 years. My mom and dad both grew in Cincinnati and have been spoiled with these treats as long as their parents have been customers! The cookies and cakes are delicious! We were really lucky to get a behind the scenes tour with the head pastry chef, Don Rose! The bakery that we saw prepares all of the baked goods and sends out to their 11 stores.

After going to the main bakery we headed to one of their bakeries and picked up these small little buttercream cakes for dessert. We got one that was a Mocha Buttercream and another one that was a Nougat Buttercream...I loved both of them! We also picked up a birthday cake...but I'll have to show you that tomorrow! For lunch we went to Skyline Chili. Nothing quite beats Skyline! I wish we had one of the East Coast.

Oh my goodness! We ordered a Coney and a 3-way. A Coney is a hot dog, chili and cheese and a 3-way, my favorite is pasta, chili and cheese! Lots of cheese as you can see! There are other options on the menu but these are our favorites! We finished the day off with more dessert! Graeters Ice Cream!

Graeters ice cream is to die for! I think their secret is the chips! The chips are so big and they melt in your mouth when you eat them! After such a food filled day this was the perfect note to end on! See you tomorrow!