In Instagram: Denver Arts Week (Saturday Night at the Museum)

Before Otis and before Theo, there was a couple- there was us. (Well, there was Omar too- he's our beloved 14 1/2 year old Rottweiler.)Matt and I have been married for 4 years and this year our anniversary coincides with Denver Arts Week. It's the perfect way for us to celebrate.
Since the weather has been spectacular we thought, that in addition to Arts Week activities, a little walking tour of LoDo might be nice too. 

Larimer Square

Old and new...

I took these photos on my phone and ran them through the Instagram filters because I wanted to memorialize the day (and not drag around my real camera). I have to tell you, I'm surprised the camera on my iPhone even works. A few months ago Theodore was smiling and clapping his hands. I waved to him from the other side of the yard where I was gardening with Otis. Then Theo moseyed over to the outdoor lounge chair-- the one with a cup holder which is where I had placed my cell phone-- and yelled the word "hone"(no 'p')before taking the phone and hurling it across the cement driveway. Some shattering ensued. My phone does not look all that great, but I've come to the conclusion that it's probably best to wait until our boys are at least in 1st grade before I purchase/replace anything of value...and for now, I can still take a few decent pictures with my broken phone.

Okay, back to the weekend.

Denver Arts Week is a week long celebration of arts and culture in the city, and it runs from November 2nd-10th. We secured a babysitter for Saturday night and hit the town. The city's museums were open to the public without charge, and shuttle buses took us where we wanted to go. (This event is called "Saturday Night at the Museum" and you should *totally* put it on your calendar for next year.)
There were lots of museums to choose from, but we settled on the Clyfford Still Museum, which is one of my favorites and my husband had yet to visit. I was toying with the idea of going to the Kirkland Museum (Cherner chairs, yes please!) because children under 13 aren't allowed and this would have been a perfect time to go (as we were sans children). But we spent so much time at Still and still (whoops, no pun intended) had to shuttle over to the Museum of Contemporary Art, which is on the other side of town and a few blocks away from where we were going to have our anniversary dinner.

"Redacted"-- yes, I have experience with this...

After our museum-hop it was time to eat. We had 9 p.m. reservations and I was hungry! 
When we got to ChoLon, a fantastic modern Asian bistro, it was jam packed. We gave the hostess our names (I got my OpenTable points), and went over to the bar for some pre-meal cocktails. The meal itself was delicious: Soup Dumplings (with french onion and Gruyere), Mushroom & Asparagus Salad (with sous vide oyster mushrooms and a truffle soy vinaigrette), fried rice (with dried pineapple, tofu and a poached egg), and Kaya Toasts (which have been written up here). My husband ordered some meat plates. 
We both agreed that it was a perfect way to spend the day and the night... 
On Sunday we took the boys to the Van Gogh exhibit at the Denver Art Museum. Tickets were sold out for the day, but I ordered the tickets in advance. Good move. The exhibit was beautiful and thematic, and I may have to go back just one more time before it leaves Denver in January. 

It was a high art, high culture sort of weekend. It was so much fun! 

What are your favorite spots for art in Denver? Or in your own hometown?

And here's some miscellany for you...

I love this print.
And this breakfast. Which I top with fantastic green chili.
I'm picking up this tote.
If you find yourself in Denver, definitely check this out (and get tickets in advance. Weekend slots get sold out.)
I think this pie looks divine. (Thanks to this blog for putting me on to it.)
Can you ever have too many radios...
or too many cookbooks...
or too many aprons.
If you are a parent, or just like children's books, this is hilarious.
I plan to read this next.
And if you want to do something nice for a stranger, this is how you can.

When In Rome: Cacio e Pepe (Cheese and Pepper)

I think I've mentioned this before, but there's a Murray's Cheese Bar in my local supermarket! One of my favorite cheese shops from Greenwich Village (which is where I lived during my college years) has a little outpost here in Denver and I've been eating a good deal of high-quality cheese over the past few weeks. Bulgarian Feta, Broncocci, Manchego, smoked Gouda, for example. Anyway, this week I picked up some Cacio de Roma and Pecorino Romano for Cacio e Pepe (literally cheese and pepper), a classic Roman dish. 

The pasta is tasty, its minimal ingredients are simple, and it's easy to make. You can prepare this dish in under 15 minutes. Cacio e Pepe is unpretentious, unambitious, but still entirely delicious. 

Making the ubiquitous Roman dish reminded me of Italy, which is where I vacationed in 2006 during a layover after visiting the Middle East. It was a lifetime ago- before marriage, before Otis, before Theo, and before Colorado... 

On that trip I walked and ate, and the walked some more. The city of Rome is really one of a kind.

I dined at cozy, dim-lit restaurants, but had my fare share of street food too. I ate amazing tiramisu, roasted chestnuts, wonderful bread and drank fabulous wine too. Of course I am a semolina junkie, so I consumed one bowl of pasta after the other. I mean, how could I not? But back to Cacio e Pepe...

The first time I had Cacio e Pepe it was served in a hollowed out Parmesan wheel. I wondered how the wheel was cleaned for re-use and the general sanitariness of it all, but after a bottle of red wine I didn't really care anymore. It was good, good, good. 

I found myself craving it last night after looking through my travel pictures. I had good quality pasta in my pantry, olive oil, freshly cracked black pepper, Pecorino Romano and Cacio de Roma, thanks to Murray's. Dinner was on. 

So here it is. I promise you that one bite of this will have you conjuring up images of the Coliseum, the Trevi Fountain, and the Dome of St. Peter's Basilica. It's a classic and when it's made right (with high quality ingredients) it's makes the perfect dinner. Bon Appetito!

Cheese and Pepper: Cacio e Pepe 

(Courtesy of Saveur Magazine, from Anya von Bremzen's "Eternal Pleasures," April 2010.)


Serves 4.


Ingredients

Kosher salt, to taste

1 lb. pasta, preferably tonnarelli or thin spaghetti (you could use vermicelli too)


4 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil


2 tsp. freshly cracked black pepper, plus more to taste


1 cup finely grated Pecorino Romano


3⁄4 cup finely grated Cacio de Roma (some recipes use Grana Padano or Parmesan)


Directions

 Bring a 6-qt. pot of salted water to a boil. 

Add pasta; cook until al dente, 8–10 minutes; reserve 1 cup pasta water and drain pasta.  

Meanwhile, heat oil in a 12" skillet over medium heat until shimmering.  

Add pepper;cook until fragrant, 1–2 minutes. 

Ladle 3⁄4 cup pasta water into skillet; bring to a boil. 

Using tongs, transfer pasta to skillet; spread it evenly. 

Sprinkle 3⁄4 cup each Pecorino Romano and Cacio de Roma over pasta; toss vigorously to 

combine until sauce is creamy and clings to the pasta without clumping, about 2 minutes, 

adding some pasta water if necessary. 

 Transfer to 4 plates and sprinkle with remaining Pecorino and more pepper.

Pairing Note: A medium-bodied Sangiovese, like the 2005 Brancaia Tre Toscana ($21), 

will complement this dish's peppery notes. — David Rosengarten

Chatfield's Patches and Ina's Pumpkin Cupcakes (Revisited)

It's been a few months since we've taken the boys down to Chatfield-- a satellite of the Denver Botanic Gardens that's not too far from Littleton, Colorado. You can visit anytime of year and the grounds are generally pretty mellow, but there are a few special events that draw big crowds. The Pumpkin Festival is one of them. I heard on the radio that the festival was going to be enormous--with about 35,000 pumpkins. We were totally going...

When we got to the festival it was much more elaborate than I thought it would be. An amusement park had been set up on one of the large fields and hay rides were added to the garden's regular features -- which include a play area for kids, a chicken coup, an historic farmhouse and a barn that houses a few goats and ponies. The kids held up for most of the 4 hours we were there...with only one memorable tantrum right before we got inside. 

Which brings me to my motherhood-struggle of the moment (not including the "penny-fiasco" whereby Otis decided to swallow 2 pennies that were earmarked for an automated pony ride at the checkout line of our local supermarket. That story will be for another post...):

Otis (the older) has been having tantrums. They aren't too terrible, but they are bad enough to garner looks of pity and sympathy from perfect strangers. I never experienced the "terrible twos"-- which I had braced myself for throughout his first year of life. But man, are we in the midst of experiencing the "terrible threes." Otis has been pitching fits for a few months now, and they usually come out of nowhere. He goes boneless and I pretty much have to drag him out of the store/supermarket/farm/museum and evacuate the premise immediately. Now it doesn't happen all the time, but it doesn't really happen infrequently either. That said, the great moments with Otis are some of the best I've ever experienced, so I supposed you have to take the good with the bad and the ugly! And throughout this, our parenting philosophy has pretty much remained the same: carry on. And that's exactly what we did.

Twenty minutes after the first tantrum started we were back on track. Theodore, who is in the "golden spot"-- sleeping through the night and never fussy or tantrum-prone-- was happy to join his brother and spend some time with our other friends who met us at the garden. We had a great time.

After working our way through the barns and the historic part of Chatfield, we made our way to the festival. There were tons of pumpkins (pumpkin day-care included, obviously), carnival rides-- and food trucks too.

Growing up I think we only carved a pumpkin once or twice, but it's a tradition I'd love to start doing annually. 

   

Feeling inspired by all-things autumn (and the festival), I'm hoping to make pumpkin wedges this weekend. They would be a great accompaniment to a butternut squash farro risotto that's been on my recipe list. This triple-fennel and spelt salad looks healthy and delicious. Maybe a pumpkin-chocolate bread for Saturday morning? I'm pretty convinced that I'll make this pumpkin and black-bean chili because temps are supposed to dip below freezing (but this is Denver, so the cold-snap will only last a few days and then we'll be back in the 60s and 70s). And I'm positively certain that I'll be opening a few cans of pumpkin puree-- because these (below) are my favorite  cupcakes to make this time of year...
Since this weekend also marks the celebration of Dia de los Muertos, a Mexican chocolate cake and some Rancheros Tostadas might be in order too. Margaritas, anyone? So little time, so much to make! Feel free to chime in with your suggestions.
Happy week. xo

Ina's Pumpkin Cupcakes with Heath Bar Crunch Topping and Maple Frosting 

(Courtesy of Ina Garten @ House Beautiful)
Makes 10 cupcakes
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
1 cup canned pumpkin purée (8 ounces), not pie filling
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
1/2 cup vegetable oil
Maple Frosting (recipe follows)
1/2 cup coarsely chopped Heath bars, for serving (2 1.4-ounce bars)

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Brush or spray the top of 10 muffin tins with vegetable oil and line them with 10 paper liners.
2. Into a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg. In a larger bowl, whisk together the eggs, pumpkin purée, granulated sugar, brown sugar, and vegetable oil. Add the flour mixture and stir until combined.
3. Divide the batter among the prepared tins (I use a level 2 1/4-inch ice cream scoop) and bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Set aside to cool completely.
4. Spread the cupcakes with the Maple Frosting and sprinkle with the chopped toffee bits.

Maple Frosting (Adapted)

Note: This makes a lot of frosting and could probably even top 2 batches of cupcakes!
6 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 teaspoon Maple Syrup
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 cups sifted confectioners' sugar

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the cream cheese and butter on low speed until smooth. Stir in the maple syrup and vanilla extract. With the mixer still on low, slowly add the confectioners' sugar and mix until smooth.