Champagne Mango-Lime Agua Fresca

Posted on April 30, 2013 Written by 7 Comments
Champagne Mango-Lime Agua Fresco BoulderLocavore 754-001

With Cinco de Mayo approaching this weekend, all eyes are on the coveted Margarita!  However not everyone chooses to imbibe and mixing it up with a favorite non-alcoholic drink from Mexico is a sure win: Agua Fresca.  Literally translated to be ‘fresh water’, Agua Fresca is an indigenous drink of Mexico which blends fresh fruits, water and some sugar for a light, refreshing drink. The first time I tasted Agua Fresca was on my only trip to Mexico visiting friends in Puerto Vallarta.  It afforded my kind of travel; embedding locally and experiencing things as close to what the native residents do as possible.  I personally loved the watermelon Agua Fresca finding it completely thirst-quenching as well as reminding me of something similar made fresh when I lived in Singapore.  In … {continue reading}

Filed Under: Drinks (Non-Alcoholic), Holiday Tagged: , , , ,

PLaYing at The Broadmoor & the Purple Pin {adult milkshake}

Posted on April 28, 2013 Written by 7 Comments
The Broadmoor's West Building, where we stayed and which houses The PLaY.

When driving  through Colorado Springs, usually en route to Santa Fe or Taos, I’ve thought I really should spend a weekend there knowing it has much exploration to offer.  It is a gorgeous setting nestled in the bosom of 14,000 foot Pikes Peak.   As work the wiles of serendipity, my family and I were invited to come to Colorado Springs to experience The Broadmoor hotel, an iconic Grande Dame sparkling every one of her well-deserved five stars in all aspects of her offerings.   One quickly feels the depth of the Broadmoor’s nearly 100 year history however it’s worn with a sense of approachable elegance not with pretense, nor is it ‘tired’ as some become bearing the weight of such age.  This was my first visit to the sunset-hued property, protected by towering mountains … {continue reading}

Filed Under: Cocktails, Colorado Tagged: , , , , ,

Square Foot Gardening & Duluth Trading Co. Giveaway!

Posted on April 26, 2013 Written by 84 Comments
Square Foot Gardening | BoulderLocavore.com

From time to time I've shared gardening insight about tips on growing food.  I’m a lifetime gardener but have adopted a produce growing method over the past few years leaving me sure I’ll never go back to traditional row gardening; Square Foot Gardening.  Square foot gardening is a high density gardening approach which divides garden plots of any size into square feet (12 inch by 12 inch squares) with guidelines about how many of each plant fill a square foot. The benefits include optimized use of available space (no unused space as with row planting), significant reduction of weeds and pests, and orienting growth vertically instead of horizontally. The ultimate benefit is the ability to grow far more in less space. The method is quite simple and requires only a few … {continue reading}

Filed Under: Gardening, Giveaway Tagged: , , , , ,

Spiced Indian Cauliflower and Potatoes {Aloo Gobi}

Posted on April 24, 2013 Written by 9 Comments
Spiced Indian Cauliflower and Potatoes {Aloo Gobi} | BoulderLocavore.com

I will admit I cannot resist a novel fruit or vegetable.  I love the abundance of color at this time of year and sampling traditional produce in eye-catching colors.  I believe the vibrancy of their hue perks up interest in eating vegetables which might otherwise be dismissed. There are many vegetables I prefer to eat raw, not loving their flavor change when they are cooked.  Invariably however paired with some sultry spice and I’m smitten.  I had a bit of a hiatus in dining out for international cuisine after discovering I was gluten intolerant.  After traveling and living around the world, eating everything I chose, the culinary brakes went on as I found my way through the maze of gluten and eating gluten free. We’ve been talking about this in the Udis Gluten Free … {continue reading}

Filed Under: Starters & Sides Tagged: , , , , , , , ,

{Gluten-Free} Blood Orange Magic Cake with Candied Almond Slices

Posted on April 21, 2013 Written by 17 Comments
Magic Cake BoulderLocavore.com 286

Have you ever heard of ‘Magic Cake’?  Chances are if you are not a food blogger you haven’t.  And probably uttered a little gasp of enchantment when reading the name. If you ARE a food blogger, you will be rolling your eyes and saying ‘her too?!’  I’d venture to say it’s a Cake-Gone-Viral on social media and food blogs.  Normally I’d head the other direction when something begins to be mass replicated, always striving not to do what everyone else is doing.  However I have a penchant for whimsy, am a sucker for a good recipe name (Hummingbird Cake for instance) and love anything that transforms itself while baking (early Easy Bake Oven memories I suppose).  And despite reading ‘all the cool kids are making it’ (a very funny blog post featuring a hazelnut … {continue reading}

Filed Under: Baked Sweets Tagged: , , , ,

The Art of the Artichoke

Posted on April 19, 2013 Written by 16 Comments
How to Trim an Artichoke {pictorial} | BoulderLocavore.com

There is absolutely nothing intuitive about Artichokes; how to pick them, cook them and certainly not how to eat them.  Being a large member of the thistle family it’s a wonder in the culinary history of mankind that their off-putting exterior was ever penetrated to discover the soft, delicious meat of the underside of their scrappy-looking leaves. When I was growing up my maternal Grandparents lived in Northern California.  They had a flat in San Francisco where my Grandfather worked during the week, and a weekend home on the Monterey Peninsula.  I loved to visit them for vacation.  We’d spend a great time in San Francisco then wind our way inland down to the Monterey Peninsula, leaving civilization behind to transition through the brown rolling hills landing in Castroville en … {continue reading}

Filed Under: Starters & Sides Tagged: , , , , , ,