The best cold brew coffee for the summer

If you've been paying over $10 for a tiny bottle of cold brew at the grocery store (or going out every day for it-?!), you need this recipe in your life. Making cold brew at home couldn't be any easier, and if you have a French press, straining it is a breeze, too.  Save your money for a great road trip and start making your fancy cold coffee drinks at home!

Cold Brew @ Home

Makes about 4 drinks

2/3 cup coarsely ground coffee
3 cups water
1 teaspoon cinnamon or cardamom, depending on your taste (I prefer cardamom)
3 tablespoons dark brown sugar

Put ingredients in a quart jar, stir, and cover with lid. OR, dump in your French press and cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate overnight.

In the morning, pour the coffee base through a sieve or strainer into a bowl, then strain back into jar for easy storage. If you've used a French press, just strain and dump it into a jar. This makes pretty strong coffee, but it's totally drinkable this way.  However, if you want to get all Starbucks-y, put a few ice cubes in a glass. Pour in coffee until glass is about 3/4 full, and add milk/half and half/cream to taste.

Drinks for hot days...

After a brief respite, it's back up to the triple digits here in Northern Colorado every day.  There's really nothing reasonable to do with that besides drink.  Perhaps you are in the same boat. If you time it correctly, you can make both of these and just go back and forth all day between depressant (Blueberry-gin cooler) and stimulant (Cold-brewed coffee), maintaining a delicate balance that feels somewhat like sobriety.  Good luck.


Blueberry-gin cooler

Makes 4 drinks

1 cup blueberries
1 cup gin
¼ cup sugar
¼ cup water
½ tablespoon cardamom pods
4 teaspoons lemon juice
Club soda

Cook blueberries (fresh or thawed from frozen) in a saucepan over medium heat until bubbly, mashing with a wooden spoon as you stir.  Remove from heat and add the gin.  Cool, strain, and chill.  Over medium heat, bring the sugar, water, and cardamom pods to boil (watch the pot carefully!).  Remove from heat and stir well to dissolve.  Cool strain, and chill.

To make drinks, shake together blueberry gin, spiced syrup, and lemon juice.  Pour equal amounts into four glasses and top with desired amount of club soda.  Garnish with lemon wedges if desired.





Cold-brewed coffee, “Mexican” style

Serves 2 or more

5 oz. ground dark roast coffee
2 teaspoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon sugar
5 cups water

Place all ingredients in a French press or pitcher and steep in the refrigerator 12-24 hours. When ready to drink, separate the grounds and dilute with an equal part of water or milk.  Pour over ice and serve.

Peanut Butter Bars with Chocolate Chips Are For Non-Lovers

I didn't post any Valentine's recipes because, although I am happily married, I find that holiday nauseating. I will always hate it and think you are a tool for buying into those stupid Hallmark cards, heart-shaped pendants, and roses.  However, if you would like to drown your leftover irritation from this week in sugar, this post is for you.

This dough smells and tastes just like the inside of a Butterfinger, and when it's cooked, it becomes a salty-sweet masterpiece to rival any of those fancy salted caramels in the chocolate shops.  I love it with coffee, a glass of vanilla almond milk, or late at night after an alcohol-soaked night out.

Peanut Butter Bars with Chocolate Chips

3 eggs
2/3 cup granulated sugar
2/3 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
½ cup creamy peanut butter
¼ cup butter, at room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 cup white flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
3 teaspoons salt
¼ cup chopped salted peanuts
½ cup chocolate chips

Cream eggs, sugars, peanut butter, butter, and vanilla together until fluffy.  Add remaining ingredients and stir thoroughly (the dough will be thick and sticky).  Spread into a lightly greased 9 x 13 inch pan.  Bake at 325°F for 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean.  Cool and cut into squares.

My Sunday morning breakfast.

New's Year's Eve, Schmeve

Everyone gets all worked up about New Year's Eve parties, but I really like New Year's Day better.  The neighborhood is silent, thanks to hangovers and football games, and you have license to sleep in, schlep around in your pajamas until afternoon, and eat lots of fatty, starchy foods to sop up the leftover alcohol you poisoned yourself with the night before.  I also really love brunch food, but rarely have time to sit around pigging out on eggs and Bloody Marys at 11am.  So, New Year's Day can be pretty decadent, when you think about it.  I'm going to start a new tradition and throw a New Year's Day party this year--it will start at 1pm and go until people are full.  Here's what I'll serve:

Chocolaty Morning Muffins
Morning After Skillet
Coffee-laced Red Beans and Rice
Green Chili Potato Gratin
Cajun Martini (like a Bloody Mary but more...vodka-y)
atomic-strength coffee

Tastemakers invitation: Peet's Café Solano blend

This is part 2 of my Tastemaker charge to work with Peet's Coffee. To try your own with a little financial help, go here.

The other Peet’s blend I tried for the Tastemakers program was called Café Solano.  It is also a medium blend and was loosely described as being “bright”.  Compared to Café Domingo, this is a heartier roast better suited to savory dishes.  In fact, it’s nearly perfect with any egg dish I could devise.  I like salty, greasy things after, ahem, a late night, and Café Solano became the accompaniment this week to my favorite “morning after” dish, the Morning After Skillet.  Looking for something a little more upscale, perhaps something you could serve other people without having to explain yourself?  Try a Scandinavian quiche and some roasted potatoes for a totally age-appropriate brunch.  

Scandinavian Quiche

Serves 6

1 refrigerated or frozen pie crust (9-inch, deep dish)

5 eggs

½ cup non-fat half and half

1 teaspoon salt

Freshly ground black pepper to taste

¼ teaspoon Dijon mustard

¼ cup grated cheese of your choice (Parmesan, Gruyere, and sharp cheddar are all good choices.)

1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill

4 oz. smoked salmon, roughly chopped

Preheat oven to 350°F.  Prepare pie crust according to directions, if necessary, and place on a baking sheet.  Bake pie crust in the oven about 10 minutes while you’re preheating; check to make sure the bottom of the crust I starting to get crisp.  This will keep it from being soggy in the finished product.  

In a large bowl, combine all remaining ingredients through chopped dill and whisk vigorously.  Gently stir in salmon.  When the crust is ready, remove from oven, pour egg mixture into pie crust, and place back in oven.  Cook 35-40 minutes or until egg is firm in the center.  Serve hot or at room temperature. Serve with...

Easy Roasted Potatoes

Serves 6

4-5 large Russet potatoes

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon Herbes de Provence (or dried oregano)

Washed, trim, and chop potatoes into 1/2- inch cubes.  Place in a bowl and toss with olive oil, salt, and Herbes de Provence.  Spread into a single layer on a parchment-lined baking sheet and place in oven.  Bake at 350°F for 65 minutes or until golden, checking and stirring occasionally.  

Finally, I thought Café Solano’s roasty, slightly nutty flavor would work well in beans, and it did.  Serve this for breakfast, brunch, or lunch--it’s a quick take on New Orleans-style dirty rice, rounded out with beans to make a complete one-dish meal or serve as an accompaniment to egg or meat dishes.  

Peet’s Red Eye Beans and Rice

Serves 4

2 tablespoon olive oil

1 green pepper, diced

1 red bell pepper, diced

1 jalapeno pepper, diced

1 onion, diced

3 garlic cloves, diced

1 large tomato, cored and diced

 ¼  cup leftover Peet’s Café Solano 

1 14.5-oz. can kidney beans, drained and rinsed

3 cups cooked long-grain brown rice

1 tablespoon chopped parsley

1 tablespoon chopped thyme

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

½ teaspoon paprika

¼ teaspoon cayenne

½ cup sliced green onions

Heat a large skillet over medium heat, add oil to pan, and when it shimmers, stir in the peppers, onion, and garlic.  Cook until tender, about 10 minutes.  Add diced tomato, coffee, red beans, and the rice.  Stir to mix thoroughly.  Add the herbs, salt, black pepper, paprika, cayenne, and green onions.  Lower the heat and cook 10-15 minutes, until flavors are thoroughly incorporated.  

Tastemakers invitation: Peet's Café Domingo blend

As a Foodbuzz blogger, I am occasionally invited to participate in a program called Tastemakers, in which a sponsoring product will give me free stuff in exchange for a blog post about said product.  I did this recently with Sargento cheese because I like cheese and free things, but as you can see from my post, it was a little awkward for me.

But when Peet's Coffee sent me an invitation, I jumped at it.  I love Peet's; it's the coffee we most prefer in my house, when it's not too expensive.  I loved the story of Alfred Peet as I learned it in Taylor Clark's informative and entertaining book, Starbucked.  In Clark's recitation of American coffee history, Alfred Peet is the cranky old immigrant in Berkeley, California who reluctantly agrees to apprentice the two scruffy graduate students who would late found a certain big-name coffee shop.  That part's not important.  Peet's coffee was revolutionary in the 1970s, when America was still accustomed to weak, insipid drip coffee served in styrofoam cups for 50 cents in doughnut shops.  After reading about it, I went to find some at my local grocery store, and I've been a fan ever since.  I am also generally a fan of stories about cranky old men, but I'm planning to see someone about that.

Well, I digress, but what I got in the mail was two new medium roast blends and a request to create some recipes for foods that would pair well with each.  My next post will cover more savory recipes to accompany Peet's Café Solano; this post concerns Peet’s Café Domingo, which is described as having "hints of toffee sweetness" (and boy, does it!).

I preferred this new blend to be made quite strong, probably because I'm accustomed to drinking the darkest thing I can find.  It is pleasant, but the caramel flavor I detected limited it, in my opinion, to being appropriate for sweet foods.  I instantly thought the fresh nectarines we had in the kitchen would work perfectly the first morning I tried Peet’s Café Domingo, and I was right.  I also wondered about my favorite sweet nut, almond, and created a variation on my mom's shortbread recipe to go with this blend.  Both work well as pairings with this coffee. There's also a bonus pumpkin-invaded recipe, because it's October and I like to be trendy, which compliments the toffee-ness of this coffee blend.

Breakfast Sundae

It’s so simple, I feel guilty typing this up as a recipe, but it makes me happy every morning.  I know I need to eat breakfast to avoid snacking on Doritos by 10am, but waking up enough to actually think about what to make is a daunting task by the time the coffee is done.  This is easily produced, delicious, and covers most of the nutritional bases to get me through to lunch.  Use whatever fruit is in season.


Serves 1:

1 peach or nectarine, washed and cut into approx. ½ inch pieces
1/3 cup yogurt (I prefer Greek style vanilla or honey flavors)
¼ cup granola
Some almond slices

In a bowl, layer in this order: peaches, yogurt, granola., almond slices.  Enjoy with a medium-bodied coffee like Peet’s Café Domingo.




Toasted Almond Oatmeal Shortbread

This is a slight modification of my mom's Oatmeal Shortbread recipe, so lovingly described here.  The toasted almonds bring out the toffee flavor of Peet’s Café Domingo, I think.

Makes about 5 dozen pieces.  

1 cup unsalted butter
½ cup white sugar
¼ cup brown sugar
1 ½ cups flour
3.4 teaspoon salt
1 cup quick oats
½ cup slivered almonds.

Preheat oven at 325°F.  In a dry pan over medium heat, toast the slivered almonds, shaking the pan often,  until they begin to turn golden and become fragrant (about 4 minutes).  Remove from heat and reserve.

Cream butter and sugar in a large bowl.  Gradually add the flour, oats, toasted almonds, and salt.  Press into a greased 13x9x2 pan.   Bake for 30-35 minutes or until lightly browned around the edges.  Cool 10 minutes before cutting into squares.

And finally...


Pumpkin Harvest Muffins

Because it's October...and I succumbed to the pumpkin trend...

Makes 24 muffins or 2 bread loaves

1 cup white sugar

2 c. brown sugar

1 can (15 oz.) cooked pumpkin

4 eggs, beaten

2 teaspoons vanilla

1 cup canola oil

2/3 cup water

2 cups unbleached white flour

1 cup whole grain wheat flour

½ teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons baking soda

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1 teaspoon nutmeg

1 cup chopped walnuts

1 ½ cups dried cranberries

2 tablespoons flax seeds

½ cup chopped dark chocolate (Ghirardelli’s baking bar, for example)

Preheat oven to 350˚F.  Combine sugar, pumpkin, eggs, vanilla, oil, and water; mix well.  In a separate bowl, combine flours, salt, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and flax seeds; add to egg mixture and stir well.  Stir in nuts, chocolate, and cranberries until well incorporated.

Pour batter into two medium-sized muffin pans (12 muffins each) or two bread loaf pans.  For muffins, bake approx. 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of a muffin comes out clean.  For bread pans, bake 1 hour or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of loaf comes out clean.

Guide to edible airport food

I do a moderate amount of traveling, and I rarely bother to pack snacks anymore, although it is in my Midwestern blood to carry sandwiches everywhere and generally be a cheapskate.  It's just not worth the frisking at security, and those guards are never attractive.  Never.

Here's what I've found so far that's edible.  Feel free to comment and your faves, too!


Top picks at DIA (Denver International Airport):

Boulder Beer Tap house   Jeppesen Terminal West, Level 5  One of Colorado’s premiere microbrewery (and the first in the state, back in 1979), Boulder Beer serves up some tasty staples like lagers and porters, and a special collection for connoisseurs, like Hazed and Infused (a hoppy, bitter ale).  The food’s good, too.

Lounge 5280 Wine Bar  B Gates  This stylish, contemporary bar seems like it could be in LoDo, and the wine list really is top-notch.  What’s really special, here, though, are the signature cocktails using fresh herbs and fruit juices.  Ask your bartender to recommend appetizers that will compliment your drink--they’re great at pairings here.

Mesa Verde Smoking Lounge A Gates  I hate cigarette smoke, but their Mexican-inspired dishes are terrific.  Ask to sit on the "patio" and you can avoid the lung cancer.  For a hearty brunch before a long day of travel, try the chilaquiles and a cup of coffee for as satisfying of a meal as you might get at your favorite neighborhood joint.




New Belgium Hub  B Gates  Famed Fort Collins brewery New Belgium has finally set up shop at DIA.  Get a sandwich and sample some of the beers that have earned them cult status in the West.

Paradise Bakery and Café  B and C Gates  Of all the coffee shops in DIA, this is my favorite, because the baked treats are sooo good.  The muffins are a real treat.  The breads they use in the sandwiches are homemade, as are their soups; it’s a great little deli experience in the middle of the airport.  Oh, and the coffee is fantastic.

Rock Bottom Brewery  C Gates  Just like the locations around the Denver area, this chain has a good selection of beers from around the world and a great burger to fill you up for the plane ride.

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MSP (Minneapolis St. Paul International Airport):

California Pizza Kitchen  Concourse F  These guys really do bake up a great pizza.  The crust is buttery, crunchy on the outside and fluffy inside, and just the right thickness to hold up to the generously portioned fresh ingredients they use.  Get the chicken and roasted garlic--it’s fresh roasted garlic and high quality white meat with a light white sauce and sweet red onions.

Caribou Coffee  Concourses A, E, F, G, Terminal 2-Humphrey  The local favorite really does serve the best cup of coffee in town (including MSP), and their sandwiches and salads are just fine.

Great River Market and Deli  Concourse G  I’m not usually too keen on the fast-food sandwiches (boring and dry), but this menu really does boast some great ingredients and tasty, fresh-baked bread.  For a comforting breakfast that will last you all day, get the Hashbrown Casserole.

Itasca Grill  Concourse A  Like the popular restaurant in the Minneapolis area, the airport location serves up some artful breakfast/ brunch dishes like cinnamon vanilla French toast, an enormous breakfast burrito, and a bevy of omelets.  For lunch, the turkey apple wood bacon ciabatta is divine, as is the lime-infused grilled chicken and brie sandwich.

Maui Tacos  Concourse C Great fish and fresh salsas top fresh-made corn or flour tortillas for a healthy, flavorful meal I never imagined I could get in an airport.

Northern Lights Grill  Concourse D  This restaurant celebrates local cuisine, from simply cooked wild rice soup to broiled walleye and good old-fashioned Midwestern pot roast.  A great wine list offers something to compliment each dish, and the atmosphere, if you turn yourself the right way, makes you forget about the airport chaos beyond.

Rock Bottom Brewery  Concourse C  As stated above, this chain has a good selection of beers from around the world and a great burger to fill you up for the plane ride.  Good place to bring kids (childless beware: people bring their kids here!).

Skol Café and Bar  Concourse A  This bar is beautiful (That's it to the right)!  Scandinavian design accents the Northern European-inspired snacks and drink available.  Do like the locals do and stick to the vodka--it’s incredibly high quality and a perfectly clean palate cleanser with the smoked salmon toasts.



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Sea-Tac (Seattle-Tacoma International Airport)

Anthony’s  Central Terminal  Like their locations around Washington and Oregon, Anthony’s in Sea-Tac specializes in fresh Puget Sound delicacies like oysters on the half shell. Alaskan King Salmon, and their signature blackberry cobbler made with fresh, local berries.  Local microbrews and wines complete a menu that will give you one last great dining experience before your trip home.

Bigfoot Food and Spirits  North Satellite  This popular Seattle chain is little more than a sports bar: BBQ sandwiches, big burgers, and beers. Along with a few brunch selections and an ample dessert menu.  But it’s all really tasty, reasonably priced (for an airport), and will fill you up for a long time.  Great comfort food.

Ivar’s Seafood Bar  Central Terminal  An iconic name in Seattle, Ivar’s serves up beautiful, perfect fish & chips, as well as just about any other local seafood you can imagine craving.  The northwest chowders are fantastic, and their grilled prawns, halibut, and salmon are as dreamy a meal as you’ll find anywhere in Seattle.  Clams, calamari, and scallops make a tasty snack, too.




Maki of Japan  Central Terminal  Well-made sushi and authentic noodle dishes with pork are your best bet here, and the price is right: 8-piece sushi rolls start at just $4.95.

Mountain Bar Room  Concourse C  The burgers and beer are fine here, but this place is best for breakfast.  Belgian waffles and a “Big Cheese” ham and cheese omelet are more special than they sound.  Anything can be prepared to take on the plane if you request it when you order.

Pallino Pastaria  Central Terminal  The wait can be a bit long for this fast-food stand, but it’s worth it.  Perfectly-cooked pasta is topped with your choice of  freshly made sauces for a meal that would put Olive Garden to shame.  The personal pizzas come in a wide variety of flavor combinations, and many of them can be made into sandwiches, as well.

Seattle Tap Room  Concourse B  This is beautifully prepared gastro-pub fare.  The beer-braised bratwurst plate and meatloaf are both terrific, and the beers on tap represent local breweries from throughout the Northwest (and occasionally the Rockies).

Vino Volo  Central Terminal  This tiny space offers high-end wines poured by the glass and sold as full bottles to take home (they’ll also ship for you).  Not sure what you like?  Get a taste flight and chat up the server--they are well-trained in matching you to your perfect mate.

Coffee:  You’ll have to pick your team here, just like you have to in Seattle-proper.  Seattle’s Best, Starbucks, and Tully’s the three local giants, are all equally represented here.  Good luck.  (I choose Tully’s.)

The urban corner bistro is kinda weird, right?

I have never understood the corner bistro phenomenon.  It’s basically a cafeteria with nice lighting and OK food, right?  And even though the food looks pretty good, it’s always a little more dried out, or a little less flavorful, than you expect it to be from the view through the glass case.  So you schlep up to the counter--sometimes with an ACTUAL TRAY!-- and point to things that have been sitting under glass since they opened at 6am.  One person in a snappy little Land’s End-ish outfit takes your food and puts it in the microwave back in the “kitchen”/ staging area, and another one in matching snappy outfit takes your money.  When you get your food it’s not quite warm enough, not quite interesting enough, and thanks to the high rent they’re paying on that sweet corner space on a busy street, it’s definitely overpriced.

I’ll tell you why we go--it looks like the clean, bright, bustling city in our minds.  It’s the city scene from the movies, an optimistic, happy version of Edward Hopper’s Nighthawks.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nighthawks   It’s like Starbucks on crack--scenic placement, beautiful furniture, languid pop music that would be vanilla if it had a flavor, and they serve actual meals.  Well, sandwiches, anyway.  It’s nice in there--no homeless people pushing carts around, no dirt and grime building up underneath your fingernails as you sit, and you feel like a sophisticated person framed by a picture window for all the passersby to see.  But the food kind of sucks.  I mean, it’s not terrible, but it’s not fun to eat.

The corner bistro does serve a useful purpose (besides playing Queen Yuppie in the movie in your mind).  Their coffee tends to be quite good.  Sometimes the baked goods are also fine, but be careful of the dryness factor.  They sit around on display all day, so choose carefully.  But a cereal bowlful of latte with a cute little pattern drawn into your foam--while looking smart, while listening to the moody, of-the-moment tunes, while sitting under the most adorable Murano glass pendant lamps you’ve ever seen--can be a nice respite in a day otherwise filled with avoiding the loogies the dude in front of you keeps spitting on the sidewalk on a gray February morning.


A few that are OK:

The Corner Bakery in Chicago
Yes, it’s a chain, but they’re OK.  I like the one at 224 South Michigan Avenue across from Millennium Park. (Really, my favorite place to get coffee AND great grub  is Yolk)

The Deli in the Alley in Columbus, OH, 72 East Lynn Street
Don’t pretend you’re not planning a trip to Columbus, Ohio soon--everyone is!

Mangiamo Pronto!  You look sexier in here.

Mangiamo Pronto! in Denver, 1601 17th Street
The coffee is great, and the pizzas are not bad.  The sandwiches are (bad, that is).

Gourmet LA Bakery in Los Angeles, 548 South Broadway Avenue
I love loving this place--family-owned; beautiful, handmade traditional Mexican pastries; and good strong coffee.

Aaw, isn't the cuuuuute?

Lyrik in Portland, 2039 SE 39th Ave
Bonus: they are sufficiently grungy to fulfill all of your Portland dreams without being bitchy if you took a shower before showing up.  Happy hour with booze, too.

Espresso Vivace in Seattle, 227 Yale Avenue North
They kinda love themselves, but the coffee sure is good.  Really good.

Join in, people! What are your favorite haunts?  

Visit Greeley--we have a good restaurant now!

One day you might be headed to Greeley, Colorado.  Perhaps your grandmother lives there, or you have an underachieving nephew attending UNC (just kidding, I love you guys!!!), or maybe you are on a field trip studying sadness.  Until recently, your food choices would not encourage you to come back, but last month a fun little shop called RUMI House of Kabob opened at 1116 9th Street.  It’s actually a two-story Victorian house, so drive slowly once you cross 11th Avenue so you don’t miss it.

RUMI does not have a terribly varied menu--it really does specialize in kabobs and gyros--but everything is exceptionally good.  The hot black tea is lightly herbed and the hummus is remarkably well-balanced in flavor and a nice smooth, thickish texture.  Have the red lentil soup (they’ll give you a half order if you’re worried about getting too full--that’s what I did); it is thick, creamy, and amazingly delicious.  Like the hummus, it’s full of different flavors that blend together beautifully.  It’s served with ground cumin sprinkled on top, a slice of lemon on the side, and a little bottle of hot sauce.  It is close to perfection.

I tried kebobs made with chicken and ground beef (Koobideh).  Both were nicely grilled and spiced; the beef was more flavorful.  Kabob platters are served with a roasted tomato, Persian rice, and a relish-like little dish of salad made of finely diced tomato, cucumber, and red onion, dressed with lemon juice, parsley, and a little olive oil.

They were out of baklava, leaving only caramel flan on the dessert menu.  I had my heart set on baklava and couldn’t switch gears to get excited about flan, but that’s OK.  I’ll be back to try the gyro, anyway.

PS--There’s no coffee on the menu, so walk over to Woody’s Newsstand at 942 9th Street for a cappuccino and a leisurely peek at some magazines from all over the world.

That’s it.  That’s all I’ve got for ya if you come to Greeley.  But it’s good!

Hot (food)Spots in Fort Collins, CO

Fort Collins is a great place to visit--hiking and whitewater rafting on the edge of town, unique boutiques, some decent clubs with local bands, and great food and beer.  Here are my favorites, if you're looking for somewhere to start:


Lucille’s Creole Café: 400 South Meldrum

If you’ve been to New Orleans, you’ll get the same classic brunch experience from Lucille’s.  Each Lucille’s location (FoCo, Longmont, Boulder, Denver) has a slightly different menu.  The FoCo shop features more vegetables than other menus while keeping all the heavy, greasy stuff that makes Sunday morning feel so cozy.  Order up a plate of Beignets with your chicory coffee (costs a little extra) while you wait for fluffy biscuits and homemade marmalade with egg dishes chocked full of spicy sausage, shrimp, and flavorful sauces straight outta NoLa.  Be ready to wait, though--the line is always out the door on the weekends.

The Bean Cycle: 144 N. College

There are plenty of funky coffee shops in Fort Collins.  This one makes a mean brew and orders up the best pastries from local bakeries in the area, plus it’s run by a sweet family and shares space with a non-profit, lefty bookstore.  Why not give them your money when it’s time to perk up?

Rasta Pasta: 200 Walnut Street Suite A (corner of Walnut and College)

This place is pure college town: grungy little corner shop with old furniture and mismatched silverware, plastic cups, and cheesy Rasta nostalgia to boot.  If you have an allergy to Bob Marley worship, don’t go.  But if you want a huge plate of tasty pasta for cheap, embrace your hippie past and come on in. Sauces range from simple, elegant white wine and garlic (and be forewarned: they love garlic!) with fresh tomatoes to Jamaican jerk chicken, and you won’t need another meal for a looong time.  Great after a hike at Horsetooth.


Coopersmith’s Pub and Brewing: 5 Old Town Square

This gastro pub is definitely for grown-ups, though it welcomes a wide range of guests.  Try every home brew you can handle--they’re all well-crafted and balanced--or get a Scotch flight and learn why the stuff can be so expensive (and revered).  Typical pub grub gets some extra touches: the pub fries are lovingly breaded and seasoned, personal pizzas with hand-tossed crusts feature a wide array of fresh toppings, and the quesadillas are stuffed with smoked salmon and brie.  There are a lot of microbreweries in Fort Collins, but I think Coopersmith’s does it best.


Lulu Asian Bistro : 117 South College Ave

I stumbled upon this place after a Christmas day hike because I was peckish and nothing else was open.  What a pleasant surprise--the happy hour beers were a great deal, martinis were creative and tasty, and the food is very well-done Asian with a little modern flair.  Very capable preparation, and a great blend of cozy bistro and sleek bar.



Taj Mahal: 148 West Oak Street

If you like Indian food, you probably fall into one of two serious camps: fans of Taj Mahal or fans of…that other place.  I’ll tell you why I love Taj Mahal.  Each dish is amazing--meat is fresh and well-cooked, sauces are all distinctive and flavorful, appetizers are all carefully prepared and wonderfully balanced, and the kitchen wants nothing more than to tailor your dishes to your tastes.  The building is getting a make-over outside, but the inside is the same as it’s always been and open for business.  I know people who drive from Wyoming to eat here, and I know why. (I once ate so much there that I almost passed out.  No joke.)

The Skinny on Brewery Tours in Fort Collins, CO

The school year is starting to stare down at us oppressively and we soon won't be able to come up for air before Thanksgiving break.  Maybe that's too dramatic, but that's how it always feels in August.  So it seemed like a good time to enjoy our freedom and head to Fort Collins to sample some of the most recent beers.  While I have learned that I am cannot drink as much as I used to, it was a pretty pleasant day overall.

My husband and I started at New Belgium, at 500 Linden, who might have the cleverest marketing campaign ever. Modeling their beers after the founders’ great passion for ancient Belgian-style brews, they have created a niche market that is pretty unique in the industry. It yields some pretty weird stuff at times, but you can't say they aren't trying.  Their brewery is also completely wind- and solar-powered, and they hand out four generous 5-ounce glasses of the stuff for free to anyone who comes into the tasting room (over the age of 21, of course). Oh, and employees get free bikes and free trips to Belgium for their loyalty.

We tried the following samples at New Belgium Brewery:

From the Lips of Faith series:

Belgian Style Blonde: a clean, light lager with strong citrus notes.

Helle: A Southern German style lager with a hint of citrus and a strong taste of wheat.

Belgo: A Belgian style IPA that was bright and bitter, but missing the floral notes of a British IPA. The bitterness seemed rather unbalanced for the rest of the flavors to my taste.

1554: A dark stout with a hint of coffee and a chocolaty finish.  This is my favorite NB brew of all time.

Abbey: a Belgian “dubbel” with a strong scent of banana and flavors of banana, clove, and caramel. These are some pretty unique and powerful flavors to mix together, and it’s one of the more adventurous brews they make. In other words, this is one of those weird ones I warned you about.

Ranger IPA: a British style pale ale that is crisp, bitter, and hoppy. It’s not as hoppy as some of my favorite IPAs, but the bite is still there.

We also had Fat Tire shoved at us, which niether of us asked for, but it was free.  FT is fine, and as far as ubiquitous beers on tap go, I'd drink it over Coors, for sure. 

A short walk down the road took us to Odell Brewing Company at 800 East Lincoln. Rather than choosing from everything on tap, samples are organized into different coordinated “trays” of six or eight different beers. We chose the “Pilot Tray” from the menu of samplers. The $4 you pay is donated to charity.

Session D.O: this rather complex ale was hoppy and golden in color; it was my favorite of the day.

Snowriders Ale: a very light American wheat with a mild, clean flavor.

Town Pump Pail [sic] Ale: Odell’s British IPA is hoppy and far less bitter than New Belgium’s.

St. Lupulin: a seasonal “dry hopped ale” that didn’t seem very hoppy, but was rather bitter with a slight citrus aftertaste.

Nitro IPA: an American style IPA smoothed out by nitrogen gas, creating the texture of Guinness while retaining the flavor of a light, hoppy ale. This was a strange experience for me, and it certainly challenged my expectations of either an IPA or a nitro pull.

Nitro Cutthroat Porter: pure Guinness all the way.

Both New Belgium and Odell offer tours, but it’s perfectly acceptable to just belly up to the bar in the tasting room if you’re short on time (or attention span).

We intended to walk a couple of blocks down the street to visit Fort Collins Brewery, which boasts a new building slated to open this month on its website. However, said building is still under construction and shows no sign of opening anytime soon. When they do open, they will have a full restaurant, as well, so this is one to check on again in the near future.

At this point, we were hot, thirsty, and hungry. We needed to fill our stomachs with something besides strong beer. Just south of the breweries was Saigon Grill Vietnamese food at 755 S. Lemay. It’s in a shopping plaza and lacks some of the outward charm of those sidewalk cafes on the pedestrian mall, but the food is cheap, plentiful, and delicious.

Lunch specials range from $5.95 to $6.25, and include a cup of hot and sour soup (rather sweet, but also pleasantly spicy), a vegetable egg roll (swap it out for a jumbo-sized crystal roll for $1), and a generous plate of steamed rice and authentic Vietnamese food made with fresh ingredients and accompanied by versatile, flavorful sauces.  There is also a separate noodle bowl lunch menu within the same price range.  Get one of everything.
For us, no trip to Fort Collins would be complete without a stop for coffee. This is because we always drink beer when we visit, and then we have to drive home to Greeley.  Our favorite place is Bean Cycle, which shares space with the socially conscious Matter Bookstore. Located at 144 N. College, it’s on the way back up to Laramie and brews a strong, flavorful cup of coffee with in-house roasted beans. The staff is friendly and very serious about their craft, and the bookstore offers some pleasant browsing time while you sober up for the drive back home.



Directory:

New Belgium Brewery:  500 Linden, (888) NBB-4044

Odell Brewing Company: 800 East Lincoln Avenue, (970) 498-9070

Saigon Grill: 755 S. Lemay Ave, Unit D-3, (970)416-9722
Bean Cycle and Matter Bookstore: 144 N. College Avenue, (970) 221-2964

I Heart Boise: campus edition

Who knew? I visited Boise last week and had a great time! Charming downtown, great historical architecture, nice balance of an urban feel with mountains nearby and small-town social interactions—I found myself sorry to leave. I was only in town for three days, and I spent one and a half of them teaching and performing, which means I missed out on the shows in town and the hikes out of town. So let’s talk about the food.

I was a guest at Boise State University, situated near downtown but with its own developed community all around. If you happen to find yourself in this area, you can certainly get your fill of convenient ethnic food or slouchy, college-style comfort. Elmer’s (1385 S. Capitol Blvd.), a Western chain, looks just like a Village Inn or Perkins from the outside, and the 24-hour breakfast menu doesn’t hurt the comparison. One unique feature, however, is their special insert menu featuring seafood from northern Idaho and the Pacific Northwest (hard to remember, but these guys are neighbors with Oregon). Cod and crab comprised the majority of this menu, and with fresh cod tacos, eggs Benedict over crab cakes, and lump crab BLT salad, it was certainly enough to erase my memory of heavy, greasy breakfast skillets at the Village. The mild, bottomless coffee cup was nothing special, but surprisingly, the food actually was.

There is also a little complex with the Papa’s moniker near Elmer’s and across the street from the Morrison Center for the Performing Arts: Papa’s pizza and sandwiches, the majority of the building, yields to Papa’s Cup of Joe in the corner. I did not partake of the sandwich shop/ pizza parlor, though they certainly seemed to do a brisk business around noon, but Cup of Joe served a mean cup of strong brew, all within the hipster, faux-messy setting one expects near a university. There was even a record player cranking out some vintage Dinosaur Jr. near the counter. The log cabin décor made it a little harder to be funky, but with angsty music and coffee that can walk by itself, you can find your inner 90s child easily enough if you squint a little.

Finally, for a quick, healthy meal, I really liked Thai Nalyn (2203 University), also within walking distance of Morrison Center. It’s one of those cleaned-up boxes of a building with vague modernist touches (well, more chrome than necessary, anyway) that makes me skeptical of food quality, but it was one of the most satisfying meals I had in Boise. My fellow diners and I had a red curry noodle dish with fried tofu, cashew chicken (nothing like the bland stuff my parents ordered from Chinese take-out in the 80s), and pad prik kau with pork, and all came with a diverse bounty of fresh, just-cooked vegetables. The sauces were all very flavorful and different in taste, and things ran pretty hot: on a scale of 1—5, we ordered a 3, a 4, and a 5. The 3 was a robust medium, and 4 and 5 required a fair amount of water on the side. I say this with appreciation, by the way, but just to warn you, they do like the cayenne. It was weird that you had to purchase white rice separately (a $1 plate served about two) when the entrees ranged from $9.95 to $12.95, but we certainly got our fill and leftovers, too.