Elbow

Another must stop while we were in Kansas City was Christopher Elbow chocolates.  

They are pretty amazing. You can read all about the chocolates here.

Dog Tired on a Monday

Happy Monday.

Happy Boys

We headed to KC on Friday night for a wedding.  First order of business upon arrival was visiting one of our favorite spots for wings - The Peanut. 

Knobs and Pulls

We updated the built ins outside the upstairs bathroom with new hardware this afternoon.  We picked up these knobs and pulls from Ikea.

Out with the old.

New. Small change for the better.

Custom Blend

Over the weekend, we attended a wine blending class at Bookcliff Vineyards in Boulder.  They grow their grapes on the Western slope of Colorado.  

We started by tasting and discussing 3 varietals right out of their barrels: Cab Franc, Merlot, and Malbec.  This was the second time we drank wine right out of the barrel.  It is brash and in your face.  The characteristics of the wines were pretty much lost on both of us, and what came to our minds as we swirled and sipped was nowhere close to our fellow classmates.  At this point we were feeling a bit out of our league, but there was wine to be made.  So, we put our best foot forward and learned a thing or two.

The purpose of blending is to create a balanced wine where one varietal may have "holes", so to speak.  For example, the Cab Franc is perfumey with a longer finish.  The Merlot was more tannic and filled in the mid-palate, and finally, the Malbec had a lot of intensity with up front taste.  All together you get the best attributes from each for a well rounded wine.

The next step was to start blending.  There really isn't a science to it.  We were told a good place to start was 33% of each mixed together, take a quick taste, and then start increasing and decreasing the varietals from there based on what you like.  Make another blend, and compare it to the last and so on and so forth.

Chris's custom blend is 40% Merlot, 40% Malbec, 20% Cab Franc and was the second variation we tested.  Erica's custom blend is 80% Merlot, 15% Malbec, 5% Cab Franc and was the fifth variation.  We made and tasted 10 blends all together.  

The final step was corking our bottles and making wine labels.  We will wait for a few months at the least before we try them.  The wine should settle down and taste considerably better in about a month.  Even the wine from the beginning of the class to the end really opened up and improved.  We are looking forward to the finished product.

Last Day of Winter

Zoey and I went for a jog-walk around the lake tonight.  I'm not sure little Z liked the jog part.  She was straggling behind quite a bit.  When we got home she went straight to her bed like she was seeking refuge.  Maybe she's just not a jogger?

Turd Burglar

It is a beautiful day!  We took a walk around the lake tonight and Zoey ate a lot of goose poop.  Now on to some relaxing.

Surprise!

Last time we talked about Zoey's obedience at the intermediate level, things weren't looking good.  When we arrived at obedience class last week, everyone in the class had been struggling with the material to some extent, and one of Z's classmates wasn't feeling well.  So, our trainer gave us the option of repeating week 5 in lieu of the graduation testing to give everyone another week of practice and graduating tonight instead.  

And we did it, by golly, by the skin of our teeth!  

No plans to take the Advanced training, but we are thinking about taking a tricks class.  We think Zoey would be good at it and we all would enjoy it.

Back Together Again

One of the major pluses of our Ikea Karlstad sectional is its remove able and washable cover.  After a few years of every day use, a spilled pitcher of mojitos this past New Years, and our little wonder dog who decided to relieve herself on it this past Saturday (came out of nowhere, no messes for months, and never before on any furniture), there was no better time to try out this nifty feature.

Off the cushion covers came and into the washer they went.  Once washed, they were hung up to dry for a couple days.  They washed great and look just like new.  We could have put an iron to them, but who has time?

We picked the color (sivik dark gray) because we liked it, but also because the fabric is tough as nails.  Zoey runs in circles on it at full speed with her eagle talons and it hasn't snagged or shown any wear whatsoever.  

And, we are convinced this whole exercise let the cushions decompress and now the couch looks and feels much cushier now that it is back together:

Although we're not pumped about why we had to wash our couch, we are glad it worked out so well and it's nice to have a squeaky clean and rejuvenated sectional.  We still highly recommend the Karlstad.

Yonanas

We love ice cream and eat way more than we should.  For Christmas, Chris got a Yonanas machine.  If you are not familiar (we weren't until recently) you feed frozen over ripe bananas into a counter top contraption and out comes creamy banana ice cream!

We learned the hard way what not to do (totally avoidable if we would have read the directions):

1. Don't use under ripe bananas.  You will get green banana flavored ice cream.  Blech.

2. Do not freeze your bananas with the peel on.  Doh!

This time we did it right, and it was delicious.  Erica mixed some Nutella into her naner ice cream - totally defeats the purpose of all fruit healthiness.  Baby steps, people!

And, a blurry picture to top it all off:

Springtime Stroll

What a beautiful weekend!  It was sunny and warm.  We took Zoey for a spin around the park and neighborhood both days.

All of the windows in the house were open.  This is a new thing for us - the old windows didn't open very well, if at all. It felt great to air the house out after so many months of being cooped up.

And, the tulips are coming up!  I am worried they will get damaged/frost bitten again this year.  There is still snow in the forecast, so we will have to keep an eye out and put them under cover.

Have a great week everybody!

Neighborhood Survey

Our neighborhood, Berkeley, is going to be surveyed this spring.  The purpose of the survey is "to identify the places that matter to Denver’s history and share the value of these historic properties to build public pride and awareness. A hoped-for outcome is that the surveys will encourage neighborhood rehabilitation and reinvestment."  You can read our local paper write up about it here.

The entire city will be surveyed over the next 10 years, and they are using Berkeley as a pilot project.  Our house is a 1939 Tudor and we don't think it has any special historical significance.  We have the Abstract of Title for our property.  The first record dates back to 1869 when a certificate for a parcel of land containing our lot was issued to a William J Lewis from the United States.  The final Trust Deed in the Abstract is dated June 1938 for $5000 payable with interest 6% per annum with monthly payments of $42.20 and $15 per month paid for taxes.  Taxes on our property were assessed for the Moffat Tunnel.

This is a flyer about the pilot:

Sugarmill

Last night we met our friend Alison out for dinner at Sugarmill.  We are both still talking about it today.  

It is a dessert bar and cafe that just opened in December.  We each had the beef Wellington and it was delicious.  It was served with a simple radish salad and was a perfect portion size that left room for dessert.  

Oh the desserts!  We had:

Noahsphere:  Hollow Chocolate shell filled with candied walnuts, flourless chocolate cake, marshmallows and vanilla marscapone cream, with hot caramel served table side.

Picture from The Examiner

Here is a link to the local Fox station segment on the Sugarmill & Noahsphere:  http://link.kdvr.com/LPk8BA (second video).  It is one of the more horrifying pieces we have seen - they were not listening to the Chef and kept going back to the studio for commentary, and the reporter likened the dessert to the nazi heads melting in Raiders of the Lost Ark.  Train wreck, but it stills gives you an idea of the restaurant and this dessert!

We also tried Shades of Red: Raspberry macaron, vanilla macerated raspberries, red velvet cake, rose champagne sorbet, raspberry mousse.

This was the surprise favorite of the night.  The Noahsphere was amazing, but this was good in a whole different way.  The raspberry macaron was about 3" in diameter and was so chewy and delicious, it made the dessert.  We even took a dozen macarons home.  

Erica would go back today, and Chris would gladly go along.  

Anyone have a good macaron recipe?

Doggie School Drop Out

Look at that face!  Now look at that face not passing intermediate obedience class.  Our PetSmart trainer, Emily pulled us aside this past Wednesday to talk about Zoey.  We have one class left this coming week.  It would be graduation, but it is highly unlikely Zoey will graduate, unless she puts on a miracle performance. 

We were not a bit surprised to be having this discussion.   Z has been beyond distracted at class time.  Zoey has been happier sniffing around the training ring and the store when we would be doing drills through the aisles than listening to us or anyone else.  She has been non-compliant Even when we had treats and even if we dangled said treats in front of her adorable little head which holds her adorable tiny brain.

Emily offered us a free retake of the intermediate class, which was extremely generous.  Right now we are planning to take her up on the offer.  Oh Zoey!  Not the smartest, but she is the cutest.