Cookie Time

The boy wanted to make some cookies to take to the folks at his day care center, so he fired up the mixer and went to work.

Now, I'm sure a lot of folks probably don't consider an electric mixer to be a power tool. But in the mind of a 16 month old, apparently it sounds just like a train, a bulldozer, or a motorcycle. He spent the next couple of hours running around making circular motions with his arms and going "vrrrrmmmm, vrrrrroooommmm" like he was still mixing cookie dough. Same sound he makes when he pushes a tractor or rides his scooter.

Anyway, we usually use the recipe from the New York Time's ultimate cookie project.

But we were out of pastry flour. So we mixed it up like this:

1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup bread flour
1.25 tsp baking soda
1.5 tsp baking powder
1.5 tsp kosher salt
2.5 sticks butter
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup baker's sugar
2 Tbs molasses
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
half a bag of chocolate chips, plus a couple more shakes
about a cup of walnuts, finely chopped
sea salt


Follow the directions in the link above.
Two keys:
1) Let the dough rest for a full day before baking the cookies. That lets the liquid ingredients soak into the flour and sugar.
2) Add the tiniest pinch of sea salt to the balled dough right before you put it in the oven.

Michael Pollan in the Times

From this Sunday's New York Times Magazine:

Out of the Kitchen, Onto the Couch
by Michael Pollan

An interesting look at the relationship between cooking and eating.

Read it now, discussion to follow.

Father and Son

They say the apple does fall far from the tree. Then again, whenever someone isn’t like Mom or Dad, they always say that the factor in question tends to skip a generation. So I guess there’s a saying for everything.

The other day my dad told me that he thought it was interesting that he had made it some sixty-odd years on this planet without ever seeing a chipotle pepper, and now he can’t turn around without bumping into one. You can get chipotle in sauces at McDonalds, in Kraft mayonnaise, and in every brand of salsa on the grocery store shelf. And you don’t have to live in the southwest to find it any more. It’s everywhere.

To my dad, this is an unwelcomed change. It’s a sign that the world is changing too quickly. If someone wants to seek out a foreign new flavor, he should have to seek it out. Stumbling onto it is fine, but having it thrust is our faces is something else. Call it progress, but at some level it’s a sign that the old ways are just that, the old ways, on their way out, being replaced at a rate that some of us are not quite ready for.

And it’s not like my dad is a white bread, steak and potatoes type. Granted, you can count the great Irish culinary contributions to society on one hand, but my dad did live in New Orleans for the better part of two decades. And those folks will mix just about anything together and call it something I can’t pronounce. So it’s not that the chipotle itself is too weird for him; he’s just not crazy about the intrusion of a regional flavor into places where it shouldn’t be, like the center aisles of the grocery store and generic fast food restaurants.

When he told me that he was about sick of having chipotle sauces shoved in his face, he might as well have been speaking Martian and trying to explain string theory to me. For starters, it seems to be the free market at work. There must be a demand for it, or it wouldn’t be there. And while there may be a marginal at best societal benefit to increased Scoville-awareness, I have trouble understanding a down side to people from other here sharing a bite to eat with people over there. And if they can’t share an actual sit-down meal, then sharing the techniques are the next best thing.

Where my dad sees the old, familiar ways being crowded out, I only see the continual process of refining and refining and refining that which we have. I can whip up a tray of blackberry cobbler, but that doesn’t mean I’m replacing my great-grandmother’s chocolate chip cookies, which will always be the gold standard for desserts. I’m not so sure culture is a zero net game. The addition of X doesn’t mean that Y must decrease by the same amount.

But it is interesting that father and son are wired so differently. My dad wants to be able to walk into the grocery store and see everything he expects in the place where it should be. I want to walk in there and get surprised by something I’ve never heard of before, which I will then look up to see where it came from and what one does with it.

This week the Rocky Ford melons hit the stands. And the other day the Greasy Skillet made a cucumber aqua fresca, something I would never have considered making because I like plain old water. Cantaloupe, because of it's high water content, makes a wicked easy beverage that's a lot better for you than Tang or Kool-ade or that carbonated battery acid that's so popular with the kids.

Melon Fresco: Blend all and serve over ice
1 Cantaloupe melon
1/2 cup cold water or one cup of ice
2 Tbs Lime juice
1 Tbs sugar

Or try melon in your next salsa. Any recipe will do. Just keep the melon to about 1/4 or less of the total volume of salsa, and don't blend the melon in a food processor or blender — cut it into small chunks with a knife, or you'll get spicy melon soup. The simplest starting point is like this:

about half a cantaloupe
1/4 cup onion, chopped medium-fine
a handful of chopped fresh cilantro
1-2 Tbs olive oil
1 Tbs fresh lime juice
1/2 - 2 jalapeños, finely chopped

Add other peppers, garlic, tomatoes, tomatillos as you see fit.

Don't fear the chipotle, or the melon, or anything else, for that matter.

How they eat at le Tour

Two looks at the kitchens of Boulder's Garmin pro cycling team and Armstrong's Astana team.


Chef Duffy of Team Astana:




And Chef Sean Fowler of Team Garmin.

Five-Star Tour Cuisine for Guys Who Eat and Ride.

Audio Slideshow here.

Grey Skies

The first clap of thunder sounded in the distance, and Z. looked at me with a concern on his face, concern that has no business on a 16 month old's face, and said "Uh, oh ..." When he heard the next boom, he ran to me and said "Up, up," and then grabbed me around the neck.

And then I took him to the window and we watched the rain come down, more like an east coast hurricane than a mid-west thunderstorm. Driving sheets that you can see moving across the field, wind blowing it this way and that. Dull roars punctuated with loud slaps as the rain shifts, hitting the roof, then the east windows, then the front door on the west side of house. But after a few minutes, his fear subsided and he was pointing at what he saw, trying to figure out the words to ask me what was going on.

It's been the fourth wetting summer in Colorado history, which is a good thing for the sweet Olathe corn but not so good for clearing the cobwebs from ones head. Especially when there's a lot weighing ones head down.

So Mr Sun, if you're listening, how about a return engagement sometime soon?

Cookie Time

The boy wanted to make some cookies to take to the folks at his day care center, so he fired up the mixer and went to work.

Now, I'm sure a lot of folks probably don't consider an electric mixer to be a power tool. But in the mind of a 16 month old, apparently it sounds just like a train, a bulldozer, or a motorcycle. He spent the next couple of hours running around making circular motions with his arms and going "vrrrrmmmm, vrrrrroooommmm" like he was still mixing cookie dough. Same sound he makes when he pushes a tractor or rides his scooter.

Anyway, we usually use the recipe from the New York Time's ultimate cookie project.

But we were out of pastry flour. So we mixed it up like this:

1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup bread flour
1.25 tsp baking soda
1.5 tsp baking powder
1.5 tsp kosher salt
2.5 sticks butter
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup baker's sugar
2 Tbs molasses
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
half a bag of chocolate chips, plus a couple more shakes
about a cup of walnuts, finely chopped
sea salt


Follow the directions in the link above.
Two keys:
1) Let the dough rest for a full day before baking the cookies. That lets the liquid ingredients soak into the flour and sugar.
2) Add the tiniest pinch of sea salt to the balled dough right before you put it in the oven.

Georgia is the "peachtree" state?

Everyone knows the best peaches are grown on Colorado's western slope. There's something about the high altitude sun.

(The whole state nickname thing always cracks me up. Georgia produces around 40 tons of peaches per year, while their neighbor South Carolina produces around 60 tons. So Georgia isn't even the biggest peach producer in the SEC. California produces more than the rest of the country put together, but there isn't enough room on a license plate to list all of the things they lead in.)

Local peaches are just starting to hit the outer aisles of our grocery stores. And there's no reason to we wary of the early shippers. Peaches ripen according to their position on the tree, with the outermost fruit ripening first and the innermost last.

We picked up some Palisade peaches this week and they were just about perfect.

Try any of these once the fresh crop shows up at your grocery store:

A French sweet-and-sour sauce for meat.

Peach Salsa

Peaches and Chicken

Good News for Kitchens All Across the Front Range and High Plains

Good news from Hatch, New Mexico:

Green chile harvest expected to be strong.

(Hat tip to Mad Dog Media Arf Force and Whirled Hindquarters.)

Bumper Chile Crop This Year

Good news from Hatch, New Mexico:

Green chile harvest expected to be strong.

(Hat tip to Mad Dog Media Arf Force and Whirled Hindquarters.)

Colorado's only indiginous sport

When you think "Colorado" and "sports," what comes to mind?

Skiing? Climbing? Bike racing?

Skiing? Sure, everyone knows we have mountains.

Climbing? Of course. Bagging a 14'er is on everyone's to do list here.

Cycling? We have road racing, mountain biking, cyclocross, and everything in between.

But if you want a taste of something that you can't find anywhere else, head on over to Fairplay for the first leg of the Pack Burro Racing Triple Crown.

According to Hal Walter, who has been running the mountain trails tied to maybe the most recalcitrant of training partners for over thirty years now, pack burro racing is Colorado's only indigenous sport. It's not what the tourist bureau folks highlight when they put out their brochures, but you don't get any more Colorado-y, connecting the state's mining and prospecting history to its current love of the extreme: endurance, adventure, epic, and outdoors.

For more on this uniquely Coloradan event, check out the Western Pack Burro Ass-ociation's website here.

Homemade Energy Bars

Leah Vande Velde, the wife of Garmin Cycling's Christian Vande Velde, demonstrates how to make your own energy bars (via the CycleOps PowerCycling channel on YouTube).



Leah Vande Velde Prepares Homemade Energy Bars in the Vande Velde's Girona kitchen.

Recipe: Homemade Energy Bars

Ingredients:
- 3 cups of uncooked Oatmeal (Quaker Oats)
- 1 cup of dried mixed fruit, chocolate chips, fruit bits, or favorite ingredient
- 3/4 cup of brown sugar or molasses
- 1 cup Honey
- 8 ounces of non fat vanilla yogurt
- 1 cup of apple sauce
- 2 egg whites, lightly beaten
- 2 tablespoons of skim milk
- 2 teaspoons of vanilla
- 1 teaspoon of baking soda
- 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon

Combine the ingredients in a large bowl and mix thoroughly. Spread out in a lightly greased baking pan and bake @ 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 28-30 minutes.


More info at the CycleOps PowerCycling channel on YouTube, here.

And for more low-gluten recipes from Leah, check out this at VeloNews.com.

Showing folks around

Been awol lately. Lots of stuff going on. No excuse, will try harder to keep folks up to date and informed.


(Left: TVAPO rafting Clear Creak)



Forgot to mention my brother's visit last month. Clan TVAPO came out for a few days. Like all vacations, it wasn't nearly long enough, but given everyone's busy schedules, we'll take what we can get.

We've only lived here for two years, but I believe it's as good for the host to have to show folks around his surroundings as it is for the visitors to explore the new area. I got to think about this place I call home from a different perspective, and to notice the details that can get lost in the daily shuffle. Details such as the gorgeous sunsets we've had this summer, which are never the same two days in a row, and how the heavy spring rainfall has made the wild flowers really pop.

(left: hiking in El Dorado Canyon)

The trip also reminded me that while I just love it out here, there's a lot to miss about not being closer to the rest of the family. For one thing, their kids are about the world's greatest baby-sitters, and while I can afford their hourly rate, I can't afford to put them on a plane every time I need them.

But such is life. It's good to know that they're just a phone call or email away, even if they can't come over for dinner on a regular basis. And DIA's not going to shut down any time soon, so they'll be back.


(left: getting ready for the DC United — Colorado Rapids soccer match.)


More pix here.

Cut, Cut, Cut, Happy Harvest!

Spent last weekend in Nebraska, showing the Z'ster how to cut wheat. The boy got to eat Grandma's fried chicken and ride along with Uncle Jeff in a combine. Doesn't get any better than that.

Forgot to take any pictures, but harvest basically looks like this:

Lowered (or, Realistic) Expectations

Last month The Atlantic looked at happiness, following the longitudinal study of 268 men who entered Harvard in the late '30s. The author was quite careful not to confuse correlation with causation, but a running theme was that ones happiness is related to the richness of his or her network of friends.

Here's another take on the subject. This study compared nations and relative happiness, and found that Denmark is the happiest country in the world.

Why Danes are Smug: comparative study of life satisfaction in the European Union.

The researchers looked at several factors. The considered the "blonds have more fun" theory (giving credit to Rod Stewart for the discovery?), genetic differences, and cultural aspects. (Money quote: "Meals in Denmark can be politely described as unmemorable. “Danish cuisine” is an oxymoron, except perhaps the open faced “butter breads” that accompany the beer and aquavit Danes consume for lunch.")

Their conclusion is that Danes are happier because they don't expect much.

“Happiness equals reality minus expectations.”

Not super-inspiring, and certainly not going to show up on one of the motivational posters so popular in the cubicle farms and in corporate management circles. But hard to argue with.

More on Cooking for Team Garmin

In addition to bikes and snappy duds, Garmin team manager and Slipstream CEO Jonathan Vaughters is well known for his love of wine and good food.

On the grape side, The Boulder Report is telling us that he has been tapped for knighthood in the order of Chateauneuf du Pape, and he was interviewed by Wine Spectator in the July issue.

In the kitchen, Garmin has employed Dr Allen Lim to reevalute everything that goes into the riders mussetts, focusing on recovery and not just carbo-loading. Garmin's work on speeding recovery and fighting inflammation associated with endurance sports has everyone questioning the traditional pasta-heavy meals in favor of rice and other gluten-free sources of carbohydrates, as well as the importance of omega-3s in everyone's diet.

For a closer look at the Garmin moveable feast, here's a slideshow with audio commentary from Garmin team chef Sean Fowler. Story here.

And for any logisticians out there, here's what it takes to feed the Garmin team on the road each day. If you're on Facebook, you can read the entire story here, courtesy Team Soigneur Sandra Ni Hodnae. She writes, "Here’s what we pack per rider, per day. So multiply this list by at least 200!"

6 Clif Bars (Nectar, Mojo, Z bar)
5 Clif Gels
4 Clif Bloks
2 cans Clif Quench electrolyte
0.5 can Clif recovery
2 Clif Builders protein bars
2 sachets apple cider recovery (hot tea)
1 sachet hot chocolate recovery for chocolate fix!!!
7 home-made basmati rice cakes
4 fruit jellies
1 mussette
10 water bottles (minimum)
.10 ml sun lotion/start oil depending on the weather
8 safety pins
.10 ml chamois cream
200 g oats
300 g rice for home-made rice cakes
5 rice cakes
50 g cereal
150 ml soy milk
8 l water
10 g nuts
5 eggs
200 g meat/fish
3 yogurts
3 expresso coffee
10 ml olive oil
4 pieces of fruit
1 tablespoon of honey
Quarter baguette

Good News about Omega-3s

More Good News About Omega-3s

Fish isn't the only source of these good-for-you fatty acids. Find out how to easily incorporate omega-3s into your life.

Happy Fourth!

233 years of putting up Ws on the scoreboard for Democracy.

Cooking for Team Garmin

Healthy Eating Tips For Sustained Energy From A Pro Cycling Team.

Salsa 101

All of your salsa questions answered.

Q. Should I use fresh or roasted veggies in my salsa?
A. Yes.
Try this next time: divide all of your ingredients in half, and roast half of them and put the rest in without benefit of thermodynamic alteration. Then taste the two, side by side. You'll pick up on some obvious differences (one will be smokier, duh) but should notice other things as well. The grilled veggies might be a tad sweeter (peppers), a bit less bitter (tomatillos), or maybe nuttier (avocados).

Q. Should I coarsely chop, finely chop, or puree the veggies for my salsa?
A. Yes, of course.
I was about to say, depends on what you want to use it for ... but then realized, even that doesn't matter. If you need something for a chip, both extremes work. A topping for grilled fish? Again, both. Thick and chunky, thin and soupy, either way. Just depends.

Q. Chile peppers: seeds in or out?
A. Yes.
Seeds in adds heat, while removing the seeds lets you maximize the flavor of that chile without scorching your taste buds. Me, I prefer focusing on flavor instead of just trying to out-heat the other guy, so it's usually seeds out for me.

Q. Cilantro: just the leaves or include the stems?
A. Yes.
I used to always pull the leaves off the stems quite delicately and meticulously, until one time I was running out of time and I just threw the whole thing into the food processor. The stems add a bit of a sharper, more intense flavor.

Q. Only veggies or how about fruit?
A. Yes.
Get a little too crazy and you're looking at a fruit salad instead of a salsa, but a bit of peach, pineapple, melon, papaya, and definitely mango will work. But you start getting into berries or grapes, and then I think you're just showing off.

Q. Beans? Add them or leave them out?
A. Yes. For all the reasons above.

Q. Spices? Should I let the produce stand on its own or do I need to doctor it up?
A. Yes. I'm a big fan of cumin, even though I don't know how to pronounce it. Just like with seeds, make a batch and divide it in half. Keep one batch plain, spice up the other, and check out the difference.