Live from Colorado

We're in Vail working on the Vail Film Festival this week. The food in this town SUCKS (and our diets primarily consist of junk food and takeout while we're here, anyway) so don't expect too many rave restaurant reviews. But the inn that we're staying in used to be a gourmet cooking school, so I think there may be a very large group dinner in our near future...

In the meantime, check out these two new SuperCool links we found!

The first, from the Monterey Bay Aquarium, is called SeafoodWatch and is a GREAT guide for how an environmentally-conscious carnivore should approach buying seafood. It includes information on sustainability and fishing practices, health concerns and even recipe substitutions. If you haven't seen this before, we HIGHLY recommend checking it out -- it's cool stuff.

The second is StillTasty and it's a fun reference for shelf life and food safety information. If you're wondering what is the best way to store that loaf of fresh-baked bread, or how closely you need to observe the expiration dates on that jar of capers, this site is an easy-to-use guide for all questions of food storage.

Enjoy!

Big Winners

I had a cookie contest at my work today in celebration of St. Paddy's Day (yeah, I know, I don't see the connection either). There was a small entry fee and half of the pot went to the BubbleGum Club children's charity in Ireland, and the other half went to... US! Because we won!

We made Whoopie Pies (which were delicious but not victorious) and Lemon Biscuits with Sea Salt (the big winner!)

Besides the pride of winning, we also pulled in $46 which went straight into our Spain travel fund. To those who didn't win I'd like to say 3 things:

1. Every entry I tasted (which was all of them) was delicious.
2. It was for the kids, and when the kids win, we all win, and
3. Suck it, losers.

Chef Jeff Hearts Skate

Chef Jeff has been at it again -- two meals in the past four days.

On Saturday night with E outta town, I had a couple of the boys over for an evening of Men Cooking (meaning men are doing the cooking, not that we're cooking men... because that would be creepy).

The original plan was for all of us to cook, but I don't know why we even bother with such plans, because the Chef is always on the job. No one I know has ever objected to Jeff cooking dinner. But I supplied the oysters both nights, and seriously, if you see Kumomotos right now, pick them up because the ones that we've been getting in at Whole Foods have been GOOD.

Saturday night's menu:

• Cheese Plate -- 3 hard cheeses
• Avocado Tacos
• Kumamoto Oysters,
• Arugula Salad with fresh fruit
• Scallop Pancakes
  
• Pan Fried Skate with Melted Leeks and Kale
• Guajillo Shrimp Risotto a la Jeff

Then on Tuesday evening, he and D invited us over for dinner. It was an unusually sober affair (it was a school night for everyone), but dinner was familiarly delicious.

Tuesday night's menu:

• Kumamoto Oysters
• Roasted Cauliflower and Almonds
• Roasted Fennel
  
• Sauteed Leeks
• Crostini w/Herbed Goat Cheese
  
• Roasted Garlic Portobellos
• Pan Fried Skate
• Cookies and Milk

Jeff says that skate is his all-time favorite fish and he'll make it anytime. Okay by me. It's tasty, versatile, and scores extra points for being carnivorous.

Both evenings were pretty low-key affairs, but with so much food involved, it wasn't at all surprising to see this...

And he's not even drunk.