Are you a coffee drinker? Most people are, at least to a certain degree. Coffee is the most consumed beverage in the world, with around 2 billion cups drunk every single day. My dad had coffee running through his veins, and would consume numerous pots everyday. I love coffee, but I cannot drink too much, especially the “heavy stuff”. I drink a “cuppa” every morning, but it is more of a latte, with a milk base. Larry doesn’t like coffee at all and won’t touch anything coffee flavored or related.

Coffee has been around since around 800 A.D. It is believed that coffee and it’s energizing benefits were first noted in Ethiopia, by a young goat herder, named Kaldi. He noticed how his goats were energized after eating the berries and leaves from “a strange plant”. He took some of these berries to a local monastery and they concocted a drink from these strange berries that helped keep them stay awake when they were tired.

The popularity of coffee and its energizing effects spread around the world, to every culture. Every culture had their own unique ways of making it. The Turks created the roasting process of the coffee beans before grinding them into a fine powder in the 16th century.

By the 17th century, coffee had become a popular beverage in both Europe and North America. It became the drink of choice for “Americans” with the hated “tea tax”, which led to the Boston Tea Party, and eventually the revolution that created America. Not only was a new nation created, but it was a coffee loving nation, and not really a nation of tea drinkers.

Coffee is grown in the areas known as the “coffee belt”, which is a geographic region between the tropics of Cancer and Capricorn, including countries in South and Central America, Asia and Africa. All of these coffee producing countries have consistently warm, humid temperatures ranging from 59-75* F and high altitudes, from 1968-6561 feet above sea levels in common. Today, Vietnam is the largest coffee producer in the world, especially for the Robusta blend, which is also the most popular coffee variety.

All coffee beans are green before they are roasted. It is in the roasting process where the distinct flavors and qualities come to life for the different coffees. There are four main categories of roasted coffee blends – 1) light; 2) medium; 3) medium-dark and 4) dark.

Light roasted coffees are coffees where the beans are not roasted for a long period of time. They are removed from the heat after reaching an internal temperature of about 375-385*F. They are light brown in color and contain very little, if any, of the oils and acids of darker coffees.

Medium roasts are darker and are roasted longer. Their temperatures are allowed to reach about 395-410*F. Their flavor is a little richer than the light roasts and are a little more balanced. They too are low in oils and acidic flavors.

Medium-dark roasts are roasted even longer, and thus are darker and richer in flavor and color yet again. Their temperatures are allowed to reach between 412-424*F. These are the rich, bold flavored coffees used a lot in espressos and French press coffees.

And lastly, there are the dark roasts, which are bold, smoky, full bodied coffees, with a slightly sweeter and caramelized flavor. They are roasted until they reach between 428-446*F.

Today, there are many different coffee blends and varieties, with flavors and styles enough to please all coffee drinkers around the world. The more popular varieties come from four basic types – 1) Arabica, which are smooth, slightly sweet and slightly floral in taste and character; 2) Robusta, which are strong, bold, earthy and nutty; 3) Liberica, known for their strong, woody and and smoky nuances. These varieties are also the least caffeinated varieties in the coffee world too; and 4) Excelsa, a derivative of the Liberica blends, only bolder, with more depth and more flavor intensity.

Arabica and Robusta are the most popular types of coffee beans produced.

So if you are a coffee drinker, go grab, or better yet make, yourself a “cuppa” of your favorite morning blend. Have a great day and make everyday great. Stay safe and stay well, and HAPPY NEW YEAR! ‘Til next time.

When we were picking up Mike & Lauren before heading to lunch at Perdida, Perdida, as I was getting out of the car, I noticed a beautiful Redtail Hawk in the tree behind their garage. He was just watching and waiting for his opportunity to strike. He looked so beautiful and regal perched in the tree.

Have I mentioned how much I just love all the birds of prey? 🙂

It was a late Christmas/early New Year’s lunch with Janet & Bob and Mike & Lauren. We all went to lunch at a new restaurant called Perdida before going wining.

Perdida is a new Mexican restaurant with a very beachy, coastal feel and vibe. It is like a quick trip to Cabo, without leaving our own hometown. Perdida just opened about 3 weeks ago, so it is all fresh and new, ready to ring in the new year. It is one of 12 restaurants owned by the Gastamo Group, based in the Denver area. Perdida – Mexican Kitchen was created by Gastamo Group, the team behind some of Denver’s most celebrated restaurants including Park Burger, Lady Nomada, Park & Co, Homegrown Tap & Dough, and Birdcall.

Perdida brings the vibrant flavors of Coastal Mexico to life, focusing on fresh, wood-fired dishes made with local and organic ingredients. 

The food was as fresh and colorful as the decor of the restaurant itself. We started off with chips and salsa before our lunch came. They offered salsa that everyone knows and loves, as well as a spicy, creamy salsa too. Both were very good.

We all ordered something different. Three of us ordered different taco versions, all of which came with black beans and lime cilantro rice.

Larry ordered his tacos as lettuce wraps for a different perspective.

Lauren ordered fried shrimp.

Janet and Bob shared a couple of plates. One was fried chili rellenos with a green chili sauce on he side.

And they also ordered a combo plate.

All six of us raved about what we ordered and we all said we will definitely be back again in the near future too. It was a fun lunch, followed by a fun time wining at InVINtions. We took our new wine game, Wine Wars Wine Wars – The Game and played that while enjoying our wines.

Perdida offers dine-in and carry-out options, as well as catering and their food truck, that will be out and about in the very near future.

Currently, there are two Perdida locations. There is the first one, in the Wash Park area of Denver, located at 1066 S. Gaylord Street, (303) 529-1365, and the brand new location in Westminster, located at 1257 W. 120th Avenue (720) 826-6555. Both locations are open seven days a week – Sunday-Thursday from 11:00 AM-9:00 PM and from 11:00-10:00 PM on Fridays and Saturdays. For more information you can reach out to them either by phone or online at http://www.perdidakitchen.com or perdidawestminstergastamogroup.com. If you are looking for a quick, delicious south of the border get-away, but only have time for lunch or dinner, check out Perdida. You’ll feel like you’ve just had a relaxing trip to the sand and surf of Cabo.

Have a great day and make everyday great. Stay safe and stay well. ‘Til next time.

Yesterday, there were so many water fowls swimming in my lakes. There were my Canadians, the Cacklings, the Mallards, the Mergansers, the Common Goldeneyes, and of course the American Widgeons. Everyone was swimming along together nicely, enjoying their holiday stay. They are all “good friends” of mine, and I love them all, but today, I am going to focus on Mr. & Mrs. Widgeon.

This is Mr. Widgeon.

This is Mr. & Mrs. Widgeon.

They got photo-bombed by Mr. Mallard’s bottom.

After a swim, it was time for a rest in the reeds.

And then a stroll out towards the tree stump.

Have a great day, and enjoy it even more with your bestie by your side.

I’ve kind of taken a bit of break from the kitchen lately. Not necessarily intentional, but that’s just how things have worked out. But have no fear. There is always something fun to learn about the foods we eat. Today, I am going to share some more fun food facts. I love learning new things. I hope you do too. None of these are set in stone, mind you, but they are least worthy of thought and fun to think about. 🙂

1. Bananas are actually berries, but strawberries are not. HUH????? What???? Berries, by definition, have their seeds on the inside, and you can see just by looking at a strawberry that their seeds are on the outside. However, the seeds in a banana are so tiny we don’t really notice them, but they are there – putting them firmly in the ‘berry’ family! A true berry is a fleshy fruit formed from the ovary of a single flower, with a seed or seeds embedded on the inside of the flesh. So botanically speaking, strawberries don’t meet the definition of a berry, but bananas do. These are a few other surprising berries: grapes, avocados, kiwis, currants, tomatoes, cucumbers, aubergines and pomegranates.

2. Almonds are seeds. Though we all call them nuts, almonds are actually, botanically seeds. They are called seeds because the seed of a fruit is called a drupe, which has a fleshy outer layer and a hard shell enclosing the edible seed inside; making almonds not a true nut, but were refer to them as nuts due to their taste and texture. So, sometimes you feel like a nut, and sometimes you don’t.

3. Peanut butter glows in the dark. It’s not because of little green men, but because of the chemicals called phenols that absorb UV light and re-emit it as a green glow. This effect is called delayed fluorescence. The process of heating and crushing peanuts to make peanut butter releases the phenols that cause the glowing effect. Peanut butter glows particularly well because of this process. To make peanut butter glow in the dark, you can: 1) Observe the peanut butter glowing green; 2) Turn off the lights and go into a dark room; or 3) Shine a UV flashlight on the peanut butter.

4. Pink margarine. I am a BUTTER person and always have been. I am not a margarine person, but now I am really NOT going to eat margarine. Margarine was created in 1869, as a cheaper alternative to butter. It was called “oleomargarine”. I remember my mother calling it oleo too. But margarine posed a financial threat to the dairy industry, so they dairy farmers concocted a colorful scheme to sway people back to using real butter, instead of using “oleomargarine”. They colored it pink. For a while, the state of New Hampshire mandated that margarine be tinted pink. Sellers of non-pink margarine could face a fine of $100 or sixty days in prison.

5. Cranberries add more than a bounce to your step. They actually can bounce themselves. Every cranberry contains four air pockets, which is why they float when farmers flood bogs to harvest them. The air pockets also make raw cranberries bounce when they are dropped on a hard surface–a good indicator of whether they are fresh.

I don’t know about all of you, but I actually have a lot of fun with these “fun food facts” posts. I learn so many new things all the time. Who knew? Hopefully we all do now. 🙂 Stay tuned. I am sure there will be plenty more fun food facts coming your way again soon.

Have a great day and make everyday great. Stay safe and stay well. ‘Til next time.

Broccoli is a member of the Brassicas family. There are roughly 3500 different species and varieties included in this large Brassicas family, such as broccoli, cabbage, kale, Brussels sprouts, kohlrabi, and cauliflower. All 3500 of these different family members originated from one wild leafy weed of yellow flowers, known as the wild cabbage or mustard plant. They have been around since the beginning of time, and were eaten by the Ancient Romans. Today, these vegetables are one of the most widely eaten vegetables in the world, growing in roughly 150 countries.

We enjoy many different varieties of this delicious, healthy family of vegetables, on a regular basis. We eat and enjoy a lot of vegetables. We tend to have vegetables of some sort everyday, often multiple times a day.

When Larry went to Kansas to visit his family, I was asked to make a salad for him to take and share. I made a broccoli ham salad, with apples, red onions and cheese. Rather than making a dressing this time, I just sent him along with a bottle of sweet vidalia onion dressing to take with him, to toss into the salad right before serving. It was easier and more convenient to send him with a bottled dressing than worrying about whether or not it would spill in his car.

As with anything, there are many different variations of a broccoli salad. But this is one I made to please Larry’s family. Simple, easy-peasy and delicious.

I had a lot of leftover ham that I diced into small cubes. I cut the broccoli into small florets and steamed it for about 7 minutes to soften. Then added some peeled and diced apples, red onion sliced very thin and shredded cheddar cheese. That was it for this particular version of this delicious, popular salad.

Larry said the salad was a big hit with his family. I think it will be a big hit with your families too. 🙂

Have a great day and make everyday great. stay safe and stay well. ‘Til next time.

Yesterday was Christmas Day. Normally we would be busy and I would be cooking up a storm. But this year was a quiet Christmas, with just Larry and I. So for us, it was just like cooking for any other day. No big, fancy meals or desserts. No stress. It was kind of like the scene from the movie “A Christmas Story”, when the family celebrated Christmas dinner in the only place that was open, the local Chinese restaurant, after the dogs ate their Christmas dinner. But we actually had Chinese food for our Christmas dinner by choice, not out of necessity. 🙂

Larry was in the mood for orange chicken. So that was our “Christmas dinner” this year. I served it over rice, and added some asparagus, with some potstickers on the side. Our Christmas dinner was completed with a sparkling Vinho Verde.

Orange Chicken

This is a simple, easy-peasy dish that tastes like you spent hours in the kitchen preparing it. We all know that you didn’t though. it doesn’t take long to prepare this delicious dish.

2 large chicken breasts, cut into cubes

salt & pepper to taste

4-5 TBSP cornstarch, divided

olive or canola oil

3/4 cup orange juice

2 TBSP soy sauce

1 TBSP lemon juice or lemon balsamic vinegar – I used lemon balsamic vinegar

1/4 firmly packed brown sugar

1 TBSP orange zest

1/2 tsp ginger

1 TBSP garlic

1/4 tsp red pepper flakes, or to taste

green onions, cut Asian style

sesame seeds for topping

1-1 1/2 cups cooked asparagus, optional

Cut the chicken into large cubes and thoroughly coat with the salt, pepper and 3-4 TBSP of cornstarch and set aside.

Combine all the rest of the ingredients together with the exception of the green onions, sesame seeds and cooked asparagus. Mix thoroughly.

Get a large skillet or wok very hot and add the oil. Cook the chicken for about 3-4 minutes per side, or until it is crispy on the outside and completely cooked. Cook the chicken in batches and do not overcrowd the skillet. Remove the cooked chicken, set aside and keep warm.

Turn off the heat and add the sauce mix. Stir it up and deglaze the pan. The skillet will be hot enough to cook the sauce and thicken it up. It will only take a minute or two. Re-add the chicken, and as well as some of the green onions, and the asparagus, if using and mix together well.

Serve over cooked rice and top with more green onions and the sesame seeds.

This dish has it all: The crispy chicken that is moist and tender on the inside; the sweet and tangy flavors of the orange juice and the brown sugar, with a hint of heat from the red pepper flakes; and plenty of texture and color to make it pretty and festive. It’s delicious. Enjoy it anytime, even as Christmas dinner. 🙂

Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Holidays and a happy, healthy New Year. Stay safe and stay well. ‘Til next time.

We finished our Christmas celebrations early this year. And since it is just the two of us, with no kids, nowhere else to go and nothing else to do, we decided to drive through Rocky Mountain National Park (RMNP) for Christmas Eve. It was a gorgeous day and a beautiful drive up. That was also how we got our white Christmas this year too. We had a lot of snow earlier, but down in the “lowlands” where we live, and we are still 5420 feet above sea level, the only snow we have left are the little patches in our backyard. But up in the mountains, there is still a lot of snow. It is expected to snow up in the mountains again today too.

It was a beautiful drive and a fun thing to do. It seems quite a few other people had the same idea too, but it wasn’t overly crowded. RMNP is only about 1 1/2 hours Northwest of us.

On the way up, we stopped at my favorite little Mountain church.

We didn’t see any critters, like we were hoping to, but the scenery was beautiful. Our mountains and views are almost as pretty as the views we saw in the Canadian Rockies earlier this year, Our Epic Journey series of my posts.

Once we arrived, we hiked around 2 of the RMNP lakes, Spraque Lake and Bear Lake. Both were frozen over, but were so peaceful and serene. These are all from Spraque Lake.

We seemed to be following a couple of ladies who brought their Christmas gnomes, and we took a couple of gnome pictures too.

This is the lake itself.

There were even a couple of people ice fishing.

We couldn’t really go much beyond the lake, because of icy conditions and we didn’t have snow boots or hiking boots with us. So we drove to the next lake, Bear Lake. We couldn’t go much beyond Bear Lake either because the roads were closed.

Again, this is the actual lake, frozen over.

The only critters we saw were birds, which is still perfectly OK with me, although we were hoping to see some deer or elk too.

I love these bright and beautiful Stellar Jays. They are mountain birds.

I did have a Christmas first though. This is the first Gray Jay I have ever seen. I was only able to get one shot of him, but it is a great shot, even if I do say so myself.

After our Christmas hike, we came home, showered and changed and went out for a nice Christmas Eve dinner at Texas de Brasil Texas de Brasil.

Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah and Happy Holidays to all. May they be merry and bright. Stay safe and stay well. ‘Til next time.

It’s a Christmas classic. It’s just not Christmas without it.

One of the most beloved Christmas stories is ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas. While almost everyone is familiar with the sweet holiday rhyming tale, the story behind the story is one that is largely untold and unknown.

The poem, originally titled A Visit or A Visit From St. Nicholas, was first published anonymously on Dec. 23, 1823, in a Troy, New York newspaper called The Sentinel.

It wasn’t until 1837 that Clement Clarke Moore accepted credit for writing A Visit. He reportedly wanted to keep his authorship secret initially because he was a professor and the piece wasn’t considered a scholarly work at the time of its initial writing. Moore is said to have based his vision of Santa Claus on both St. Nicholas and a local Dutch handyman where he lived in New York. Legend has it that the handyman operated the sleigh that took Moore home.

A Visit from St. Nicholas

BY CLEMENT CLARKE MOORE

‘Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house
not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.

The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,
in hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there.

The children were nestled all snug in their beds,
while visions of sugar plums danced in their heads.

And Mama in her ‘kerchief, and I in my cap,
had just settled our brains for a long winter’s nap.

When out on the roof there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from my bed to see what was the matter.

Away to the window I flew like a flash,
tore open the shutter, and threw up the sash.

The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow
gave the lustre of midday to objects below,

when, what to my wondering eyes should appear,
but a miniature sleigh and eight tiny reindeer.

With a little old driver, so lively and quick,
I knew in a moment it must be St. Nick.

More rapid than eagles, his coursers they came,
and he whistled and shouted and called them by name:
“Now Dasher! Now Dancer!
Now, Prancer and Vixen!
On, Comet! On, Cupid!
On, Donner and Blitzen!
To the top of the porch!
To the top of the wall!

Now dash away! Dash away!
Dash away all!”

As dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly,
when they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky
so up to the house-top the coursers they flew,
with the sleigh full of toys, and St. Nicholas too.

And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the roof
the prancing and pawing of each little hoof.

As I drew in my head and was turning around,
down the chimney St. Nicholas came with a bound.

He was dressed all in fur, from his head to his foot,
and his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot.

A bundle of toys he had flung on his back,
and he looked like a peddler just opening his pack.

His eyes–how they twinkled! His dimples, how merry!
His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry!

His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow,
and the beard on his chin was as white as the snow.

The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth,
and the smoke it encircled his head like a wreath.

He had a broad face and a little round belly,
that shook when he laughed, like a bowl full of jelly.

He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf,
and I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself.

A wink of his eye and a twist of his head
soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread.

He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,
and filled all the stockings, then turned with a jerk.

And laying his finger aside of his nose,
and giving a nod, up the chimney he rose.

He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle,
And away they all flew like the down of a thistle.

But I heard him exclaim, ‘ere he drove out of sight,
“Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good night!”

Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, and Happy Holidays to all. Make your holidays merry and bright and stay safe and well. ‘Til next time.

I had shrimp down and I wasn’t exactly sure how I wanted to fix it. We just had pasta, so I didn’t want to serve it over pasta. But shrimp is one of those very versatile ingredients that lends itself to many different, delicious recipes. I finally decided to make it Middle Eastern, with a spicy tomato-harrisa sauce. I served it over a combination of red lentils mixed with couscous, with warmed pita bread on the side. It was just perfect. Just what I wanted. 🙂

Harissa is a smoky, savory paste used in a lot of Middle Eastern cooking. It is believed to have originated in Tunisia, in the 16th century, when chili peppers were introduced to North Africa from the Americas. The peppers were first grown in Tunisia’s Sharīk Peninsula in the 17th century. The name “harissa” comes from the Arabic word harasa, which means “to crush” or “pound”. This refers to how the dried peppers are broken down with a mortar and pestle or a mincer to make the paste.

Harissa is traditionally made by pounding chili peppers with garlic, cumin, coriander, and caraway seeds, then blending the paste with olive oil. Harissa is used as a condiment and a base for curries and stews. It’s a staple in North Africa, with regional variations in Algeria and Morocco. The modern way to make it is much easier though. Just put everything into the food processor and pulse until it forms into a delicious paste. This way saves a lot of time, energy and effort. 🙂 Harissa comes in 3 different forms – powder, paste and sauce. As with any spice blend, the recipe and the proportions of ingredients mixed together vary from region to region. Mine this time was more like a sauce, than a paste, especially since I added more tomatoes and some tomato paste as well.

Middle Eastern Harissa Shrimp

The Harissa

I’ve made harissa before, quite a few times too. Some Tunisian Tastes – Part 1 – Steak With Harissa It goes well with anything you want to spice up a bit and make a little more exotic. This time, I roasted both my bell peppers and my jalapenos, to give it an even a smokier taste.

2 red bell peppers, seeded

1 large jalapeno, seeded

1 TBSP garlic

salt to taste

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp coriander seeds

1 TBSP lemon juice and/or lemon balsamic vinegar

3 TBSP olive oil

1 TBSP lemon olive oil, optional

1-2 tsp Za’atar seasoning, optional

Put everything together in the food processor and process until it is all blended together in either a paste or a sauce.

1 1/2 lbs large shrimp or prawns, peeled, deveined and rinsed

2 TBSP tomato paste

2 TBSP red wine vinegar

2-3 TBSP harissa sauce/paste

2 cups tomatoes, chopped

1 TBSP garlic

salt & pepper to taste

2 tsp dried mint

1 zucchini, sliced

1/2 red onion, sliced thin

Get a large skillet very hot, and add olive oil. I also added a bit of red pepper oil too, for some extra heat. Saute the onions, garlic and zucchini for about 5-7 minutes. Once cooked, remove from the heat and seat aside to keep warm.

In the same pan, adding more oil if needed, saute the shrimp for about 5-7 minutes, or until completely cooked. Remove from the heat and deglaze the pan with little red wine.

Combine the harissa sauce, tomato paste, mint, red wine vinegar and seasonings. Add to the pan, along with the tomatoes and mix thoroughly. Re-add both the vegetables and the shrimp and mix well. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer, and continue to cook for about 10-15 minutes, stirring frequently.

You can serve it over whatever you like, but I tried to stick with a Middle Eastern theme and served it over a combination of red lentils and couscous. For dishes like this, I prefer using the pearl couscous. I liked the textures and flavors of both the lentils and the couscous together too.

Because this is a big bold, red, spicy sauce, even though it is a shrimp dish, I served it with a smooth Portuguese red blend wine (one of my favorite table wines, from Costco). Delicious! It was something different and exotic, without much effort at all.

Have a great day and make everyday great. Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, and Happy Holidays to all. Make them merry and bright, and stay safe and well. ‘Til next time.