Cinco de Mayo Weekend Means…
Means I get an extra day off from blogging to recover, right?
Means starting the celebration a day early with chips, guac, margs and some girl talk on Friday night.
Means ordering off the Cinco de Mayo special menu at Mountain Sun.
I spent the first half of the day on Pearl Street with my mama and she treated me to lunch.
Means heading into Denver so you can enjoy watery margaritas, amazing veggie tacos and what the heck, an Everclear cherry just for fun.
Means celebrating your boyfriend’s mother’s birthday with dinner, Rockies and …rain?
I think we all could’ve done without that last part. And a Rockies win might have been nice too but what can you do.
Means s’more pancakes, successful runs, outdoor birthday parties and yes, more tacos.
Quickly becoming my favorite food. Odd, for someone who spent the last 22 years thinking they hated tacos.
Means Nuggets playoff games.
And I managed to bring home two losses for Colorado sports in one weekend.
Means I’ve been out of college for an entire year!
Whoa, when did that happen?!
Means the work week seems extra depressing.
Good weekends always make going back to work harder. Especially when it’s cold, gray and rainy.
RIP Cindo de Mayo weekend. I miss you already.
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Do you celebrate Cinco de Mayo?
Or are you a Kentucky Derby fan? I’ll admit, I hate it. I don’t even like horses but I feel bad for those ones and no human being should be the size of those jockeys!
Butternut Squash Sage Pizza
I started this post last week.
Before I had even made the pizza. Really.
Back then, this pizza was just a wonderful dream I had brewing in my mind. There were pillows of dough, velvety butternut squash, mounds of melty cheese, and perfectly crispy sage leaves in this dream. There was no bad language, burnt fingertips or frustration involved.
Yeah, what a dream that turned out to be.
Here’s a true story: I put too much pressure on myself. So when my beautiful pizza dream turned into a sticky misshapen disaster, I basically turned into the queen of negativity. The queen of negativity with tourettes.
I got a pizza stone and a pizza peel for Easter. Needless to say, we could not get that dough from the peel to the stone to save our lives. At the time, all I was envisioning was all the pizza toppings toppling into the bottom on the oven and the dough getting smushed into a big topping-less mound on the pizza stone.
It didn’t happen, but when you’ve gone all negative, you imagine the worst. It’s a talent I have.
So yeah, this wasn’t the shape I had in mind when I dreamt up this pizza and yeah, being that close to the oven for as long as it took to finally get the dough from the peel to the stone wasn’t exactly pleasant, but in the whole scheme of things, is a misshapen pizza really the end of the world? Absolutely not!
And here’s the best part. I was mostly upset, because I thought writing a post about this pizza had completely flown out the window, until someone very wise, told me I could totally still write about the pizza. And that it would be ten times better than posting some award-winning recipe because it would be funny, and real, and completely honest.
I love that wise person.
And misshapen or not, we ate the whole damn thing.
Weekends in Boulder
Sometimes, like on Friday, when I was sitting in my apartment listening to the Beach Boys iHeartRadio station and texting my uncle who was a Jazz Fest watching them perform live, I wish I lived in New Orleans.
I also feel that way every time I order a disappointing crab cake in a Colorado restaurant, every time I see a muffuletta on the menu at Whole Foods (c’mon that’s just not right!) or every time I want to cook something with pickled pork. That stuff just doesn’t exist here.
Other times, I’m more than content to live in Colorado
These times, usually coincide with weekend trips to Boulder, with the gorgeous people I call my friends and family.
On Saturday, I gladly accepted an invitation to attend the Tulip Fairy and Elf Parade on the Pearl Street Mall. The actual parade may have been a bust, but enjoying lunch, people-watching and froyo with Hannah and her mom, Tracey was worth almost getting run over by this group of winged toddlers.
We ate lunch on the patio at Salt and during that lunch, my life became very clear. And by that I mean it became very clear that I should eat at Salt more often.
If only because your bread comes out with a bowl of Hawaiian black volcanic salt.
And because it’s veggie friendly, with its Local Organic Vegetable Tasting plate and Housemade Veggie Burger.
But equally carnivore friendly with the classic Tom’s Tavern Burger and a $16 Bistro Burger.
Plus Pearl Street is just so pretty.
Especially if you manage to get a shot with tulips in the background and not the homeless woman being arrested just to your right.
And there’s absolutely no shortage of dessert options. We decided to ditch the parade and go for froyo at Smooch. Let me take a moment to be serious. When it comes to froyo, I’m in in for the toppings. And if it was socially acceptable, I would probably just fill my bowl with nuts, granola, cookie dough and peanut butter sauce, but until that time comes I’ll continue adding as little yogurt to my bowl as possible and covering it with mounds of strawberries and brownie bites. Knowing this about me, you’ll now know it’s a BIG deal when I say, this was the best frozen yogurt I’ve ever tasted.
Thick velvety deliciousness. Nuff said.
On Sunday, my mom, my sister and I did a kitchen tour!
We drove around to see some of the best kitchens in Boulder and I really enjoyed it. There are some amazingly nice houses in Boulder and some beautiful kitchens that I would love to cook in! No pictures allowed though 😦 Except lunch pictures.
Southern Sun, where you can’t eat anything without making a giant mess.
I’ve basically forgotten all about New Orleans after spending all weekend in Boulder.
Okay, not really…
Lauren Loves Good Food 