For the LOVE of Pork!

So it has been awhile.  It might have something to do the little guy we brought home from the hospital a couple of months ago - but I am hoping to continue blogging on more regular basis!  You probably expected I would blog about the new bundle of joy - and I will in due time!  

But this post is dedicated to Pork - and the 56 oz pork chop that Joe and I enjoyed on our first night out together (and alone) - baby free!  It wasn't the first time we had been out - Heidi and Jess babysat so we could enjoy a bachelor/bachelorette party at about 5 weeks old - and we enjoyed a dinner out with Andrea at 7 weeks old!  But this was our first chance to just enjoy each other!  

We tried a fairly new restaurant in town - Old Major.  And it did not disappoint.  We started with a bottle of Zinfandel and a shared squash soup.  And then it was on to the mother of all pork chops.  Not for the faint of heart - no this pork chop was worth the 40 minute wait - and the $55 price tag that came with it!  It was a 3 pound pork chop - with a side of apples, cauliflower, brussel sprouts, and onions!  

Not to dismiss all the pork chops I have had in the past (and trust me I have had my fair share) - and I must be careful coming from Iowa - but this pork chop was perfect!  Definitely worth a try - but come with an appetite and a friend or two to polish this off!

Don't forget to leave room for dessert - yes we had room after the 3 lb pork chop :)  The cheesecake was Joe's choice and the chocolate trio was my choice!

For the LOVE of Music and Flowers - Concerts at the Botanic Gardens

Not many concert venues do you get to bring your own wine, beer, and food.  Here is where the Botanical Gardens comes in.  Not only is it in the heart of the city - close to home - a short drive home after the concert, but a super fun place to see a concert.  No they don't get the hot new artists - but they do get some concert worthy acts - and for the price and location you can't beat it.  

After 6 years of talking about going, Joe and I had the privilege of seeing two concerts there this year - Shawn Colvin/Martin Sexton and Chris Isaak last night.  The venue is described as a boxing ring - as the performers are down in the pit with the spectators sitting around the outside of the grass bowl looking down on to the musicians.  

The good - you get to bring your own beverages and food.  All the wine, beer, water, and snacks that you want - you can bring anything in.  Yes you get to bring your delicious local Colorado beers - and not pay $8 for a shitty Coors can.  Good beer - good food - and good music - sounds like a great night!

Joe and I tried the picnic baskets that can be purchased through Botanic Gardens - and they are good - we had cheese & crackers, quinoa salad, chicken and vegetables, and strawberry shortcake for dessert.  But for the price - bring your own food!  We saw people bring in snacks, sandwiches, and even whole pizzas.  If all else fails - the cafe is open for business and the Mountain Man is there selling snacks.  

The bad - you can bring your own chairs but they must be very low to the ground (your chairs will be measured), you have to wait in this ridiculous line to get in to the venue (which wraps around neighborhood side streets until they open the doors), and lastly there are a lot of middle aged hips moving in directions I never knew possible!

The concert season is almost over for this year - but there is always next year!

I scream! You scream! We all scream for Ice Cream! For the LOVE of Ice Cream :)

I LOVE ice cream.  Always have.  According to my parents I used to walk into a Baskin Robbins - you know the store of 31 flavors and look around and around and settle on plain vanilla.  I think I graduated to cookies and cream becoming my favorite flavor around middle school - and would pick out all the cookies leaving the plain vanilla to the poor soul that got to the pint after me!  In college it was TCBY (ok so it is really frozen yogurt!) that I would frequent far too often - probably contributing to the freshman 15 :)

But all in all I am not picky about my ice cream - whether is comes in a waffle cone, between 2 cookies, or in a cereal bowl on my couch - I LOVE ice cream.

I have lived in Denver now for 6 years and visited Little Man Ice Cream for the first time last night. You know the ice cream shoppe that looks like a old milk bottle in the historic highlands neighborhood.  It is a Denver icon - and I can't believe it has taken me so long to visit.  We happen to be there for a 1 year old birthday party - I can't say which is my favorite flavor but the three i tried were delicious :)  And thankful I am for not having to wait in the never ending line that for 2 hours never got any shorter than 20-30 people waiting at all times.

I am kind of partial to Liks Ice Cream in the Capital Hill area.  Nothing fancy about this store - but their ice cream is damn good.  There is a nice little patio to enjoy your cup or cone.  But get their early too - and expect to wait - because again there is always a line!  A couple of personal favorites - graham cracker and strawberry cheesecake!

With only a few days of summer left - I better go and get some ice cream!

For the LOVE of Golf

My dad will be proud of me - if there was one thing he could wish - it would be that we all LOVED golf as much as he did.  While I don't LOVE golf - I do think it is fun.  Being outside in the sun with a drink in hand and playing with friends is a pretty good way to spend an afternoon.  Only thing that would make it better is if I could hit that damn ball straight!  I am not a bad golfer (ok I am not good) but I could use a good lesson on how to not slice or is it hook the ball.  

But because I am not a good golfer here are some of the things I get to see while golfing - those guys that are really good...they don't get these views :) 

Did I mention the views?  

Denver Loves Baseball

This weekend was the opening weekend for baseball in Denver.  And that means purple, lots of purple, and beer.

Baseball means so many things to me - growing up my family loved baseball (or was it that I was forced to watch baseball?).  I spent every summer weekend playing softball or watching my brother play baseball.  As a kid - baseball meant hot summer days and tans or was it more sunburns.  

Now the start of the baseball season means it is almost summer.  Warm weather is upon us - patio drinking is almost here - and too many Rockie dogs are in our future!  Nothing beats a good hot dog and a cold beer on a warm day at the baseball stadium.

Joe and I caught a Rockies game win this weekend - the first of many more to come!  Happy Spring - almost Summer!

For the LOVE of Sunshine

This weekend was a good weekend.  A no coat - I could have almost worn flip-flops weekend.  Family and friends in town - a holiday weekend - and sunshine.  Some claim over 300 days of sunshine a year!  And yes more sunshine than Miami or San Diego!  Who can complain about that.  Almost 60 degrees in February.  People golfing, jogging, and riding on President's day weekend.  Now this is weather I can LOVE.   

 

We are reminded everytime we have friends come to visit how lucky we are in Denver.  We get snow (it usually melts in a day or two) and hot days in the summer (stay in the shade or make a trip to the mountains on those days).  But Denver has a surprisingly temperate climate. (Now don't tell anyone - we like to keep it our little secret!)

 

Remember your suncreen and sunglasses becasue when you come to visit you are going to need them!

For the LOVE of the Rodeo

Once a year - they decend upon Denver.  Who you ask?  Maybe not so much of who as what.  The Stock Show - yep a bunch of country boys and girls come to the big city (ok so not that big).  They show up with their trucks - monster trucks with 6-8 wheels - trailers - and farm animals.  We are talking trucks that don't fit in parking lots or city streets - and believe you me - they should not be driving downtown! 

 

But there is something that brings me back to youth.  Spending time at my grandparents farm - or at the Iowa State Fair - that I appreciate about the Stock show.  It is all the men young men boys, little boys, in their cowboy hats and cute little wranglers, washing and brushing their steers, riding their horses. 

 

And at least once during the Stock Show - we go - we become one with the crowd.  Yep we go the Rodeo.  I LOVE the rodeo.  I admit it.  I also LOVE the PBR, (no not the beer...although I do like that too) Professional Bull Riding.   We sit and watch the bullriding, the barrel racing, the steer wrestling, and yes our personal favorite - mutton bustin'.  What is there to not LOVE about little kids riding sheep and watching them fall off (with layers of padding and helmets) and then to see them throw a fit because they fell off. They only fell 12 inches :) 

 

 

 

So until next year when the Stock Show returns...I will have to enjoy a cold PBR - the beer kind.