Jul 30, 2010

Direction!

This blog now has direction! Well, kind of. At least a little more. Baby steps...

In the never-ending and exhausting quest to find a job, I keep wondering why I don't just do what I do best? Run away. I know, genius. But really, it's always easier to go find something more exciting to spend the time doing in some far-off land than to deal with being a grown up in boring old "I can understand everything everyone is saying and nobody is looking at me weird" land. Where is the fun in staying somewhere "comfortable"? Honestly. Let's see if I can't find out.

I have climbed rocks, run from bulls, and lived in Spain, I have danced under the Eiffel Tower and all across the South of France, partied at Pride London, rallied in Amsterdam, eaten my way through Italy, been surprised in Slovenija, been a tourist in Russia, Austria, Hungary, explored Colombia and Mexico, road tripped Costa Rica, circumnavigated the globe on a ship, played circus in Brazil, Sandboarding in Namibia, gone mountain biking and on safari in South Africa, fallen in love with India, wandered Malaysia, offended in Singapore, eaten pho in Vietnam, hiked the Great Wall, slept in a capsule hotel, froze on Mt. Fuji, participated in a tea ceremony, and was ridiculous in Japan, have become permanently attached to Cambodia, hiked glaciers in Alaska, glitzed and glammed in New York, tried to like Pittsburgh, never wanted to leave the Redwoods, always wanted to leave Miami, now, I find myself in Denver and let's see how long I can keep it interesting.

Talk about run-on sentences.

So what is this direction? Well, an adventurer takes her most daring feat yet! Wait for it... staying put!

*P.S. my man takes some rockin' photos that you should check out before he finds out I stole a bunch of unedited ones...

Jul 23, 2010

The Perfect Pizza

The other day, in a lazy state of recipe-planning, we decided to just make an improv pizza... and it turned out to be the best homemade pizza ever. Really. Want the recipe?


1 can of Pillsbury pizza crust (I bet it'd be even better if you made your own)
2 tbs. olive oil
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
1 cup of spicy red bell pepper pasta sauce
1 cup (or more) of mozzarella cheese
8 oz. crimini mushrooms
chopped fresh spinach
pepperoni (we just bought the prepackaged gross kind so I'd guess some fancy one might be better)
1/2 cup of cheddar cheese

- Roll out the dough onto a pre-heated pizza pan, making sure to keep the center thinner than the outside.
- Saute crushed garlic clove cloves in olive oil until brown then brush entire crust with your fancy homemade garlic olive oil. Make sure not to make it too soggy or the center won't cook all the way.
- Spred the pasta sauce on the dough, again making sure that the center doesn't get too piled down with sauce or toppings so that it gets crispy in the oven.
- Sauté the mushrooms and spinach in a saucepan with a little oil.
- Put the toppings on: mozzarella, mushrooms, spinach, pepperoni, and lastly, cheddar.
- Bake according to dough instructions, until the crust and cheese are slightly browned.

Delicious!

Jul 7, 2010

Red, white & blueberry


For the 4th of July this year, my boyfriend and I had a small party at our place. We made veggie sloppy joe sliders (always a favorite, and they can fool any meat eater!), and red white and blueberry cupcakes. For the cupcakes, I adapted this great red velvet recipe from Smitten Kitchen. I picked that one specifically, not because those recipes are usually incredible anyway, but because I agreed with her thoughts on red velvet; It's red food coloring cake. I don't get it. But in this recipe you can actually taste the cocoa and they are so moist and delicious! I also discovered a mess-saving cupcake tip: To fill the cupcake pans, use an icing bag or a ziplock bag with a point cut off instead of just spooning or pouring the batter in. This gives you more accurate filling control and a whole lot less dripping! Bon appetit!

Jul 5, 2010

Take me out

Newsflash: Deadlines really get things done. Like planning a party for 4 days after you move into a new place. That'll make you organize everything the night before AND give you time to cook and prepare day-of. It's true.

The reason I couldn't unpack and organize over a few days like a normal person was that I was busy getting to know my new neighborhood. You know, like taking a BYOB historical tour of the city on a wooden bus with bullhorns decorating the hood and sofas as seats. Enter Banjo Billy's, a place to learn where Denver's big blue bear came from, why the Brown Palace Hotel is haunted, and tons of other things that make Denver so great; sunshine anyone?


I had been wanting to go on Banjo Billy's for a long time both in Boulder and Denver and I'm so glad I did! There's so much to get to know here and every part of it makes me love Denver more.


Along the lines of crossing things off the "when I have time" list, that's the purpose of this blog isn't it? Kind of? I also went to my first Rockies (maybe my first baseball game) game. And what a first! We beat the Giants 7-3 AND we did the wave 3 consecutive times around the stadium. I'm easily impressed. 


So far, in these few busy days of trying to get organized and keep getting at the endless list of things that I have all the good intention of doing, I have managed to enjoy crossing off some of them, and with that, counted myself as one of the many that has fallen in love with Denver.


"...newcomer to Denver as I am, and threading its streets, breathing its are, warm'd by its sunshine, and having what there is of its human as well as aerial ozone flash'd upon me now for only three or four days, I am very much like a man feels sometimes toward certain people he meets with, and warms to, and hardly knows why" -Walt Whitman from Specimen Days and Collect, November Boughs and Good Bye My Fancy

Jul 1, 2010

Home sweet mess

It was my impression that after graduating, I would have plenty of free time this summer. I mean, there's no real schedule to follow and no assignments, so wouldn't that make sense? Apparently not. I've never been busier in my life. Most of it though, is a good busy, like moving in to a new place.

There has to be some real talent involved in moving, unpacking, and putting everything in its place within a few days. I, it seems, am completely lacking in those skills. Our rooms are nicely divided by half-opened boxes, some natural disaster seems to have occurred in my closet, and with a bike in every corner it looks like the Tour rolled through here early (which would actually be pretty awesome).

Regardless of the mess and the fact that I can't remember where I've put anything in the kitchen, so far there has been time to do the "practice cooking" part. Last night we had a lovely dinner of asparagus mushroom risotto and tomato & herb bruschetta, both recipes from my Vegetarian Times cookbook which is a favorite whether or not you're a tree-hugger. Both came out delicious. Bigger bread for the bruschetta would have been nice, but I put holes in the tops of the slices to fill them with more tomato mix. The risotto never comes out looking as good as it tastes so it didn't get a photo shoot. Something to work on!