A Jeanne in the Kitchen

We celebrated New Year’s Eve with dinner at the Mt. Fuji Japanese Hibachi Grill with our friends Wendy and her daughter Zoe, and Mike & Lauren. It was dinner and a show celebrated with good friends. I can’t think of a better way to celebrate the coming of the new year. We were all home before 9:30 PM, which was a very good thing for us too. Going out to dinner, before all the crazies and drunks come out is just perfect for us “old people”. Besides, by the time we were ready to leave the restaurant it was snowing hard and the roads were already slick and covered with ice and snow. So it was good we called it an early night.

Mt. Fuji Japanese Hibachi Grill was PACKED to the rims. We waited for over an hour to get seated, and that was with reservations, but it was well worth the wait. It was dinner and a show.

Once we got seated, we had front row seats to the culinary show before us. Our table was also the stove where we got to watch the chef perform his magic with lightening speed and agility.

Before the chef started working his magic, when we all ordered, we started off with a very clear miso soup and salad.

Then the chef came out and cooked everything for the whole table right in front of us. But to get things started, he set the table on fire. The flames were so high and danced all around for a minute or two.

I have made plenty of flambe flames before, but NOTHING to this scale.

Once the flames died down, the chef got to work. But first, he gave everyone who wanted one a shot of tequila, but I think it was really sake. I wore more than I consumed, but it was all part of the fun and part of the show. Larry got more in his mouth than I did, but he was sitting closer to the chef too. He brought out a cart with all the ingredients for everyone’s dinner, then got down to the business of making everyone’s dinner right before us.

There were 6 of us in our party and about 6 more from another party all at the same table. Here is our group – Wendy, Zoe, Mike, Lauren, me and Larry.

The chef started with the vegetables, chicken and rice first.

Next he made an “egg roll” and did some fancy handiwork with his egg and spatula.

He did everything so fast, it was hard for me to keep up with my camera. I could have taken a video, but I much prefer still shots to video.

Once the rice and noodles were made and served, he made an onion volcano.

After he put out the flames on the volcano and cut the onion up and mixed it in with the vegetables, he started making the meats and seafood.

The chef was FANTASTIC. He said everyone trains for about 3 months before they get to go out and show off their skills to everyone. He also said he’s been doing this now for about 3 years. He was full of personality. You could tell he takes a lot of pride in his skills and his work, as he should too.

Lauren ordered a sushi roll for our 1/2 of the table that came out as all the meats and seafood were cooking. That too was very good.

Most people were eating everything in stages, as they were served. I waited until the very end of the show, and everything was on my plate before I started eating, with the exceptions of the soup and salad. Needless to say, there was A LOT of food on the plate, and probably 80% of it came home for us to enjoy at another time.

I ordered the scallops. They were cooked to perfection.

Larry ordered the Ahi tuna and calamari. Everything was DELICIOUS.

It was a fun evening and a fun, entertaining way to spend New Year’s Eve- good friends, good food and good fun. Life is definitely good! 🙂

After returning home, Larry I celebrated with a glass of champagne while watching the ball drop in New York City, at the Big Apple. We did stay up ’til midnight, but just barely.

There are a couple of Mt. Fuji Japanese Hibachi’s in the Denver Metro area. We enjoyed the one in Westminster, at The Orchard Town Center, located at 14643 Orchard Pkwy, Westminster, CO 80023. I would DEFINTELY call in advance for reservations,  (720) 887-1188, especially if you a coming with a group and want to sit at one of the show tables. And even with reservations, we still had to wait for quite awhile before getting seated. You can also reach them online at  mtfujihibachiwestminster.com. Mt. Fuji Japanese Hibachi opens daily at 11:30 AM.

Happy New Year everyone. May it be filled with happiness, good health and prosperity for all. Good-bye 2024 and hello 2025. ‘Til next time.

My Common Goldeneyes are coming back to stay with us for awhile. They are not here en masse yet, but soon. They are just starting to arrive for the season.

We have two types of Goldeneyes that like to winter in Colorado. We have the Barrow’s Goldeneyes and the Common Goldeneyes. I haven’t seen my Barrows yet, but my Common Goldeneyes are starting to arrive. Sometimes both species are also called whistlers because of the trilling sound they make with their wings. They are usually winter latercomers. They like to make their appearance known, by arriving fashionably late.

Happy New Year. May 2025 be filled with happiness, good health and prosperity for all.

Today is the last day of 2024. Tomorrow starts a brand new year, with new opportunities and fresh beginnings. Tomorrow, it will be 2025. Last year, I shared some fun New Year’s traditions from around the world. The World Celebrates A New Year – 2024 Today, I am going to share even more fun New Year’s traditions with you.

I have two from Ireland for you. One, from last year. 1) Setting an extra plate at the table for any loved ones lost in the prior year. 2) and the new one for this year is to make sure the mistletoe is placed (or holly or ivy) under your pillow on December 31, so you can dream of your future partner. 

Onions on the front door? In Greece, that is exactly what they do for New Year’s celebrations. It’s customary to hang bundles of onions above their doors as a way of inviting in good luck. Why onions? To the Greeks, onions are symbols of prosperity because they sprout even when no one is paying attention to them. On New Year’s Day, parents also wake up their children by gently bonking their kids on the head with the onions that were outside. It’s a tradition with a lot of layers.

In Denmark, they jump into the new year. They stand on a chair and “leap” into January at midnight. The effort is rewarded, since it’s supposed to be bad luck if you forget.

Making New Year’s resolutions is something most of us do, yet the vast majority of us do not follow through with them. Most of the time they are abandoned before we really give them a chance. But did you know people have been making New Year’s resolutions for over 4,000 years, starting with the Babylonians? Babylonians, were one of the first cultures to actually celebrate the changing of the year, and they made promises to pay debts or return borrowed objects. Other than my old standards, which I can always work on and always need improvement, like loosing weight, getting into better shape again (other than round) and trying to be a better person, I haven’t made any new resolutions for the upcoming year yet. I guess I still have a little more time to think about it though. I have until midnight tonight. 🙂

In Russia, (or so I’ve read, so forgive me if I am wrong) gift giving actually takes place on New Year’s Day rather than Christmas because Christmas was forbidden in Soviet Russia. Presents were delivered not by Santa but by Ded Moroz, or Father Frost, often aided by his granddaughter, Snegourochka.

I will conclude this year’s New Year’s celebratory traditions with something I think we all do, regardless of our background; kissing our loved ones at the stroke of midnight. The tradition comes from both English and German folklore, which believed that it’s “the first person with whom a person came in contact that dictated the year’s destiny.” Their advice – choose to kiss wisely.

Happy New Year everyone. May 2025 be a good year for all, filled with good health, prosperity and happiness. Out with the old and in with the new. ‘Til next time.

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.