One hundred seventy-four days later...

1. I moved! No more of that tiny "kitchen," but a REAL one!

2. I got a promotion! Yippee! Now begins my life as a salaried peep... oh, and I won the "Employee of the Year" award. :D

3. I threw my good friend Walezka's baby shower...

4. ...and she had her baby, Miah Christine! She's so tiny.

5. I spent Mothers' Day at home with the best moms in the whole wide world.

6. And I learned how to make summer rolls over at my friend Mags'...

7. I went to my very first rodeo over at Snowmass,

8. and before the rodeo had the VERY BEST THING EVAH! (burrata salad with watermelon, serrano ham, heirloom tomatoes, fresh basil, FIGS) From my favorite restaurant in the valley: Tempranillo

9. I passed my intoductory sommelier exam, so next step is certiefied sommelier exam next May!

10. Summer has finally come to the Roaring Fork Valley...

11. And I'm really starting to love this place more and more everyday!

... and I'm so excited to blog all abooot it :D

Last Weekend in WI & A Sneak Peek at My CO Life.

Aside from the fabulous company I had for dinner at Trocadero followed by my kind of a low-key night out with the favorites at Hi-Hat Lounge, here are some pictures from my last weekend in WI:

I went over to my friend Maggie’s to help her prep for her new supper club, “Nights of Juniper.”

My little nephew Julian came along for the fun. Chewing on a piece of baguette he kept asking Mags, “Hey, why is your bread hard?” pointing out the signature crustiness of the bread. (:

I made apple tart to bring over to my boyfriend’s parents’ for a going-away dinner they threw for me. 

The recipe was adapted from Pioneer Woman’s where I added cinnamon and nutmeg with less brown sugar. I had a ton of apples left over too! Good for snacking.

My first time using store-bought puff pastry! It was so much fun!

Then Rosa (my boyfriend’s mom) made an awesome dinner which included marinated grilled beef tenderloin with sautéed mushrooms and onion, her signature Italian salad, roasted peppers,

this AMAZING tortellini pasta salad,

and my favorite of the meal: warm olive bread dipped in this Israeli olive oil dipping concoction!

As far as my Colorado life, my puppy and I are still getting slowly adjusted. First day of work today, and moving into a cozy little studio on the 1st! More posts to come, but here’s a sneak peek for what is to come! The morning view out the window from my friend’s where I am staying!

To be a kid again

The dreary and the gloomy long past us, sun has been shining in the Midwest for maybe 3 days in a row now. Last weekend, my sisters and I babysat my 3-year old nephew(cousin's son) Julian, and we all got to enjoy and soak up the sun.

Back in high school, I worked at the local fairground selling hotdogs and grilled sausages. I suppose the cook in me started earlier than I had imagined. And unlike other carts in the fair that were located inside air-conditioned buildings, mine was outside in the sun through all those 90+ degrees weather days. I mean, I enjoy summer but when there seems to be zero breeze, and when you're standing next to a heated hotdog cart not to mention the firy grill? Phew, it would get STEAMY. But surprisingly, I enjoyed that job a lot. I liked taking special orders such as to grill the hot dogs that are normally just boiled, and seeing the customers bite into the charred crispy goodies. My usual customers would also be delighted to see that I had memorized their preferences; "Grilled polish with celery salt and pickles? You got it."

With my nephew, my sisters and I went back to the fair as I had oddly missed the atmosphere. The cacophony of different genre of music playing outside, smell of freshly roasted corn, old rusty lawn mowers... nothing seemed to have chanced. Julian seemed to be a bit confused tough, as he didn't know where we were. Antiques and used toys next to a small petting zoo and socks? But he looked like he was having a great time, and I even heard him sing his very own new tune, "We're at the fair! we're at the fair--."

Although I didn't have one of my hotdogs(or bratwursts, which were my favorites), I couldn't leave with out having Texas Beef. I don't remember how I discovered it, but once I found out about it- most of my lunches during work were Texas Beef.
I'm not sure if Texas Beef is an actual dish, but as far as I know it's delicious and I will and must attempt to recreate it sometime in my life. The Texas Beef I know is a sandwich on a big soft hero bun with multiple layers; 1) diced potatoes with ground beef, 2) thin slices of braised beef(not sure which cut, but I should ask next time!), 3) melted white cheddar cheese, 4) shreded iceberg lettuce, 5) chopped tomatoes, and 6) squirt of sour cream. You can stop there, but I ALWAYS get a side of giardiniera. Whoa, talking about this actually made my mouth water.

Even if this is a sandwich, for people with average sized mouths, it is impossible to handle this one like you would any other sandwiches. There needs to be a sort of technique for it. For example, what I do is use one clean hand to tear off the bread, and use the fork to gently pile all the components on to the bread. Put the big bite in your mouth and always throw in the giardiniera next. The combination is sensational. The sandwiches used to be $7, which was not cheap for me when I was in highschool- but I definitely thought it was worth the "splurge." When I went back this weekend, the price seemed to have stayed practically the same- but definitely less meat and potatoes.

After a couple of hours roaming around the fair(I did score a whole case of blackberries for only $4) and arcade games, we didn't want to waste such a beautiful day, so we went to the park. Quite frankly, Julian enjoyed the park more than the fair which was meant to be the main event.

We all picked up a cup of Georgie Porgie's milkshakes, and giggled like how we used to years back when we were still kids. Actually I think my sisters and I enjoyed it more than Julian did, it was a bit nostalgic- definitely glad to have done it.

Can you see the pure excitement and happiness in his face? This sums up that day for me.

PS. I really want a camera. Canon PowerShot SD1400 to be exact. It went on sale for $230. I can't afford it yet, it is a sad, sad story. Darn you money, stop controlling my life! :(

PPS. With the case of blackberries along with strawberries that I also bought on sale, I've been making a LOT of these for breakfast: