Aspen Food & Wine Classic

Posted on July 15, 2018 by melsmosaic

Aspen – many times I only correlate that name with skiing. But every once in a while something else gets partnered with the name. For me this time it was the Aspen Food & Wine Classic. I had heard about it awhile back and it sounded amazing. But when I glimpsed at the ticket price I had no interest in going; costs a little shy of $2,000 to attend.

But this year a company that I work for reached out because they needed some help at their table. So, that meant free entry. Bring it on! I got to experience this at no cost.

This festival is amazing. While I didn’t get to take part in most of the seminars or do as much wine tasting as I would have liked, I still got a feel for all of it. Was able to get some quick sips of wine here and there, little nibbles of during prep time and meet lots of folks. Many regions of the world are represented, so many varietals of wine, so many cultures, so much fun. And you get to see the town all around you. These pictures are just a tidbit of it.

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I found out that volunteers at the event get a one day free pass. Going to consider doing that next year…help out the amazing event then enjoy it, too.

Cheers!

Show Me Those (Dim Sum) Buns

Posted on May 19, 2018 by melsmosaic

And another fun adventure in Trader Joe’s. I’m a kid in a candy store there. Two Fearless Flyers ago there was mention of some goodies that made you feel like you were having Dim Sum. Had to go find those. Well, come to find out I grabbed the wrong thing (after reading the flyer again when I got home). The flyer item was Steamed Chicken Soup Dumplings. But, these are one of my favorite items at Dim Sum — Cha Siu Boa, a Chinese Style Pork Bun.

You just pop these things in the microwave for about 45 seconds, let them cool and they’re ready to enjoy. I learned that you really do need to let them cool — yikes! The bread part is so soft, and the pork just has a nice sweetness. They also come on that paper that makes you feel like you’re at a restaurant, truly enjoying dim sum. Simple pleasures.

Horsetooth Bloody Mary’s

Posted on May 13, 2018 by melsmosaic

Love supporting local businesses. Also love Bloody Mary’s. A new mix for such concoctions I have stumbled upon since moving to CO is Horsetooth Hot Sauce‘s. They have two levels of it.

I aim towards the milder side of things, so go for their ‘Dog That Bit You’ — You woke up licking your wounds from a night of excess imbibement. Perhaps you need a little hair of the dog that bit you? That’s where our The Dog That Bit You Bloody Mary Mix comes in, with just enough of our Rubin’s Red hot sauce to help you forget the pain from the night before.

They have a hotter level, the ‘Wake Up Call‘ — The Wake-up Call balances delectable spices with our infamous Rubin’s XXX hot sauce to give you a fiery flavor that will get your engines revving.

The mix has great tastes and all you have to do is add that vodka! I picked some up at the local farmers market, but it’s also available in some retail locations.

They also have some other drink mixes, as well as BBQ and hot sauces. Check them out and support the local Ft. Collins guys.

Seconds Favorites

Posted on December 3, 2017 by melsmosaic

You love it, you make it. Even it’s seconds. So I was cruising around the Farmer’s Market (yes, this is a few months back based on the ingredients) and trying to decide what to make for a Supper Club dinner coming up. I realized that a couple of my favorites were in high quantity because of the season — (beefsteak) tomatoes and peaches/nectarines. Now, while I love supporting the locals, sometimes those produce items can get up to $4-6/lb. And those beefsteaks can weight 1lb+ each!

So I noticed somebody who worked for one of the stands I usually buy from tossing stuff to the side and I asked her what they were and what was wrong with them. She said they were just a bit bruised, had torn/broken skin, etc, so couldn’t be sold a regular price. They all cost $1/lb! Just takes a little digging to find the one they aren’t totally bad, which isn’t hard. SOLD!

So, while digging, I came up with a good combo idea of tomatoes and peaches then remembered I had some Hearts of Palm at home.

I just cubed all of them, added some spices (I think it was garlic, S&P) and tossed them together. Heaven! The only thing I had to do was drain it a bit because of the juiciness. Leftovers = zero. Too bad I didn’t get seconds from the seconds.

Wrapping up Greenland

Posted on August 16, 2017 by melsmosaic

The final day in Greenland meant there was a lot to do. We took a beautiful boat ride, during which we were supposed to see whales. This was in early June, but whales don’t tend to come out until July. Nonetheless, the scenery was amazing. Can’t parallel it.

That night for dinner we wrapped it up with a meal dinner at Restaurant Ulo, which is in Hotel Arctic. They were having one of their special dinners where it offers pretty much all local fare providing for a true taste of Greenland. What was missing were veggies (unless you grabbed lettuce from displays).

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I was able to get pictures of most of the stuff, some labeled, some not. Overall pretty darn good. There was reindeer, halibut, mussels, shrimp, whale skin, snowcrab, dried whale, and much more.

This last night in Greenland, we got to stay in an igloo! So, ok, we didn’t make a big pile of snow, but nonetheless, so much fun!

The next day, we left this amazing island, with view of ice and snow below. I can’t wait to go back and explore other cities. While there, we found out their tourism is growing greatly and I have found/checked out their (very good) website. So much to explore on this island. Add it to your list, and let me know when you go and if you need a travel companion, I’m game!

An evening & night in Ilulissat

Posted on August 16, 2017 by melsmosaic

As we continued exploring the city, more cuisine came about. On the 2nd night there, we dined at Inuit Cafe (they don’t have a true website and their Facebook page doesn’t have much, which is why I went with the Trip Advisor link). It was ranked very high among local restaurants and had two of the things I’d been wanted to try — Whale Steak and Reindeer.

The restaurant was just a very local one and could get quite busy. It was one where if you don’t have a reservation you go order at the counter and they give you a number to put on your table. We had made a reservation so we could get special treatment, but I still had lots of questions about the menu, so went to the counter and just ordered there.

As mentioned, we ordered whale steak and reindeer and split each one. In Iceland we’d has a small serving of whale. It was quite tasty. This was definitely a different cut of whale and was quite tough and chewy. Not all that exciting. The reindeer was nice and lean, but a bit overcooked. Nonethless, a nice pleasant dinner of something you don’t get at home.

After dinner we had a night cruise. It started at 10:30pm, while the sun was still shining, and was just amazing. We finished around 12:00am in broad daylight. We saw amazing scenery, icebergs, sky, glaciers…words can’t describe it.

This is not sunset, I was just playing with my camera on this one.

Tasting & Exploring Ilulissat

Posted on August 15, 2017 by melsmosaic

When we arrived in Ilulissat, there was the need for some quick food before exploring the town on Day 1. The most common thing we had for the few days we were there were the sandwiches at the hotel. They were absolutely delicious and revolved around 3 choices; smoked halibut, shrimp and reindeer. Just simple ingredients and amazing taste.

After fueling, we headed into town. Most things were walkable, though there were quite the hills. If needed, there was a shuttle bus back to the hotel, but it only ran every 30 minutes, and you could likely get back to the hotel by then. There were also a ton of cabs there, for a small town. And, in this town you don’t go anywhere but the town because the only way in/out is by boat or plane.

Some of the scenery, with the video being my favorite:

The houses & buildings aren’t so colorful because of the potentially dark winters. It’s historical and was to help residents identify buildings. The colors ID’ed the function of the building: Commercial houses were red; hospitals were yellow; police stations were black; the phone company was green and fish factories were blue. Those don’t necessarily apply now and residents can just paint their houses any color they like. It just makes the town vibrant!

At one point, sled dogs were nearly equal in population to humans (3,500 to 4,500 humans). But in mid-2016, the was a distemper outbreak and this wiped out a good amount of the dogs. They are working the rebuild the population and this could take awhile, as this is recent.

Welcome to Greenland

Posted on August 13, 2017 by melsmosaic

After Iceland, I traveled a bit West, and North, before returning to the US. I wanted to check out Greenland and visited Ilulissat, which is north of the Artic Circle. And, hey, even got to stay in a 4-star hotel!

Being in the far north right around the summer equinox, the sun never set (see below). And 30 degrees wasn’t that bad for June! It got up to the upper 30s by mid day and the sun was pounding on us (side note, we didn’t see a drop of rain after having it pretty much the entire time in Iceland).

The night we arrived in Greenland, we received a Welcome Dinner. This was with the other tourists, most of which happened to be on the same plane. It was a two-course meal with a quick bite before.

The bite was fish skin with an asian-like flavoring on it. Good to try but not going to add that to my list of favorites.

The first course was halibut, or shall I say happiness. I was pretty much halibut carpaccio. Super thinly sliced with garnish. So nice to have this!

The main dish was Muskox, served two ways. The one on the bottom right was a tenderloin and underneath the onion was some of the meat that just melted in your mouth. Almost BBQ-style. Very nice taste to all of it.

Very nice intro to Greenland cuisine.

BÓNUS

Posted on June 8, 2017 by melsmosaic

I read through a book some friends gave me about traveling to Iceland (Cheap Iceland: How to Travel This Expensive Country on a Tight Budget) and several times it mentioned the store BÓNUS. It’s a discount store, sort of like ALDI. That book was great, but that guy sounded like he had no money. He provided some nice tips, though.

There was one right near the first hotel so I had to go check it out. Helps that I love going to grocery stores, too. Pretty traditional grocery store stock, of course with some local food. Prices weren’t too bad; I was expecting stuff to be very high. We did pick up stuff to use during the week instead of needing to eat out for every meal because I read via the book that it was expensive to do so.

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HVER Restaurant, Hveragerði, Iceland

Posted on June 8, 2017 by melsmosaic

Recently traveled to Iceland and Greenland for vacation. Landed in Reykjavik early in the morning and then starting driving east. The first place we were staying was Hveragerði. Upon arrival mid-day, it was high time for lunch. We opted to simply grab something at the hotel (Hótel Örk) at the HVER Restaurant.

There was a nice sounding soup on the menu — Langoustine soup, garlic marinated langoustine and saffran cream. (2.150 kr.)

Then also the Salmon — Cured salmon tartar, toast and honey dressing. (2.200 kr.)

Adding the prices here because I’d heard Iceland was pricey. Basically these were $21 for the soup and $22 for the tartar.

Apparently the soup was quite good and the salmon was delicious. This was the start of the trip, so I was not yet aware that this was a delicacy to have veggies. Great way to kick things off.