ColoRouge by MouCo Cheese Company in Fort Collins

melanie!!! i quit checking chowhound for a little while and find you've been stomping around in colorado. just wanted to say hello! we met up a few times out in california at some chowdowns a few years ago. we moved out here a few years ago... hope you are well.
:)
megan

withalonge in Mountain States

cocktails & dinner before show at the paramount theatre (on a monday night)

got david sedaris tix for monday night... would love to park near the theatre.. then walk for drinks & dinner nearby. I realize larimer square is just a short jaunt down 16th via the shuttle... but I think we're looking for something more casual (and less spendy) than most of the options down there... any ideas?

good cocktails are definitely a plus... be open to just apps and drinks... or a whole meal.

or am I just being dumb and we should just go have small plates at osteria marco...?

withalonge in Mountain States

escaping the burbs for a (lunch/dinner/breakfast) *WITHOUT* the kids.... in Denver!

how about the restaurant kevin taylor? my husband being a meat-a-vore is drawn to this one. we tried to get reservations at rioja, but its booked... well, unless we don't mind eating at 10pm at night...

seems like kevin taylor gets mixed reviews... was thinking maybe lunch at osteria marco... maybe an early lunch... just get the burrata and some salumi... maybe a light salad to feel somewhat virtuous.. then a later dinner at kt?

withalonge in Mountain States

escaping the burbs for a (lunch/dinner/breakfast) *WITHOUT* the kids.... in Denver!

forgot to add... was looking at rioja... always hear good things about that place on here... and mizuna?

withalonge in Mountain States

escaping the burbs for a (lunch/dinner/breakfast) *WITHOUT* the kids.... in Denver!

having a little mini one-night acation with my husband... escaping the suburban boundaries of littleton for a little holiday in our backyard (aka denver). we've lived here three years, but have two kids under the age of four.. so we don't get out much. this is also the first time we've gone overnight (together) without the kids... so somewhat of an occasion. so we're looking for a really nice place for dinner especially. trying to stick to downtown/cherry creek... as we'll be cabbing it from our hotel for the most part.

so here is where I've eaten (and enjoyed)... parallel 17 (duck-fat fried rice, need i say more? not to mention their infused vodkas). table six (the only thing I don't get there is the tater tots, delicious, yes... but what can you eat after having that for an app), and Vesta dipping grill (good, but not great.. tho fun for a group).

I've also eaten at beatrice & woodsley... and well, it was slightly off the mark for me.. like this dish was too sweet, that one not hot or cold enough... good concept, but not quite right execution. tho even if food were spot on, it would be a bit too precious for my husband.

would prefer no italian (so osteria marco is off the table.. husband's family is Italian, its against his religion to go out for italian food) or french (as in hard-core french... influenced is ok). no sushi, I love it, but my husband not so much. he's adventurous, but doesn't do raw stuff.

my first thought was fruition... I've nearly shorted out my keyboard drooling over their spring/summer menu... but fall just seems heavy and not overly exciting. we both love spicy food, bright flavors... and a good wine list!

also would love any suggestions for a nice place to get a drink before or after dinner... someplace we can linger and enjoy our child-less-ness. we're definitely going to hit d-bar for dessert... I had a few tastes of their desserts at a tasting/fundraiser... can't wait to try a full-sized treat. we're hitting snooze for breakfast in the a.m. I know its gotten mixed review on this board, but all I can say is sweet potato pancakes with ginger butter... *drools*

thanks in advance!
megan

withalonge in Mountain States

my big fat weekend in nola... ahhhhh

http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/707488?tag=boards;topic-707488

withalonge in New Orleans

my big fat weekend in nola... ahhhhh

here is my original post
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/707483?tag=boards;topic-707483

withalonge in New Orleans

my big fat weekend in nola... ahhhhh

now that I'm back home, I feel like I need to be squeezed on the blueberry juicer a la violet beauregard in charlie and the chocolate factory. to be exorcised of all the cream, butter and other lovliness consumed during our trip. we had a fabulous time... thank you all for contributing to that. we definitely need to come back as there was no way to fit everything in... but we managed o.k. here's my report.

arrived on the 3rd, 8 women descended on new orleans.. possibly still high from walking passed all teh strollers and car seats piled at hte end of the gang plank on the airplan and realizing we had a whole weekend without kids or husbands.... a good start.

we arrived at our hotel, hotel monteleone... starving. hit the acme oyster house for an appetizer and drink since we had dinner at stella! later... we a smattering of items, but the char-grilled oysters were the best. for the rest of the food, hunger was a good sauce, but it probably wouldn't be a repeat visit.

bar at antoines (hermes?) - pre-pre-dinner cocktails... we tried
-pimm's cup
-sarezac
-french 75
-ramos gin fizz
(gin fizz, pimm's and french 75 were the favorites... the sarezac apparently wasn't girlie enough for our crowd, but were were glad to try it)

carousel bar - pre-dinner cocktail
-view carre - strong, but tasty

dinner at stella!
I had a blue crab and citrus salad that was excellent.. and a tandoori salmon dish, though I had wished i'd ordered the scallops. the food was great and we really enjoyed it. dessert tasting for the table was over the top...

after dinner we hit vaughn's for a little kermit ruffian.. but were too ahem, thirsty to drink anything but water...

fri
cafe du monde
-cafe au lait & beignets, well, you know... because we had to... tho in hind-sight, fried dough followed by a bike tour on cruisers was not an ideal way to go.
stopped at marie's bar for a bloody mary on the tour, gotta love a place that keeps aqua net in the bathroom for that extra primping one might need.
lunch at coop's for some fried chicken and gumbo... luckily we just missed a torrential downpour during lunch. good timing, so we all sat back and waited for the rain to pass with a little planters punch.
after lunch, thanks to a tip from our waiter (nathan) at stella's we hit "meltdown" for a popsicle.. we stopped several times over the weekend... the strawberry basil was my favorite.

columns hotel - a little jazz and pre-dinner drinks... lovely, but over-run with a wedding party
commander's palace - dinner. services was weirdly off there... a couple of us had water dumped on us from a tray, our champagne was served warm... a couple other hitches. but once the food started coming, things evened out and we had a fine dinner. just wasn't quite what we were expecting. but the food, for what it was.. it was good. turtle soup and a chicken and andouille gumbo were faves of the table. (oh and an orgasmically good crawfish carbonara)... oh and the goat cheese grits? delicious... and the bread pudding souffle were the hits of the night.

saturday
had a quick breakfast at mena's around the corner from our hotel as we had early swamp tour, which was a lot more fun than we anticipated thanks to our great tour guide.
then off to the central market for muffaletta, we were starved so our sandwiches went down pretty easy with some zapp's and barq's rootbeer.

it was our last night in town, so we decided to do a little pub crawl...
carousel bar
old absinthe house
-absinthe frappe, not that favorite.. but a few really liked it
arnaud's
-ramos gin fizz, delicious!
napoleon house
-pimm's cup, one of our fav versions of the trip
Irene's for dinner... baked oysters again were sooo tasty, cajun tomatoe sort of a caprese salad but with blue cheese.. was delicious. and my entree of soft shelled crab and linguine with crawfish sauce was one of the best things i ate.. tho its hard to pic a favorite. we were too stuffed for dessert.

on the wa home we hit lafitte's blacksmith, walked bourbon street and stopped in to pat o'brien's for a hurricane.. because, well.. you know... we hit a few other places... but it might be a bit fuzzy in my mind. all i know is that I'm probably a little too old for bourbon street...

sun
jazz brunch at arnaud's
-creole bloody mary was great... loved the shrimp remoulade. the rest of the brunch was fine, we were soooo tired from the excesses of the weekend it made it hard to enjoy the lovely poached eggs and banans foster as we were all in serious need of butter (and alcohol) detox at that point)

and then it was off to home... we really enjoyed ourselves in your fair city. everyone was lovely and friendly, for the most part. thanks for all your help. hope to visit again soon.

megan

withalonge in New Orleans

heading to nola in two weeks!!! so excited, please help me narrow things down.. if you'd be so kind. :)

we're arriving on the 3rd of June, leaving on the 6th.. a short trip (sigh) but NOLA is somewhere we've all wanted to visit for a long time. we're doing some kind of bike tour on friday... and a swamp tour on saturday. we're a little late on getting the food nailed down... and we're staying in the french quarter.. I realize that is a rather broad description, but I dont' know the name of the hotel.

and yes! thank you for reminding me about the streetcar.. we do plan on taking that, we are fans of pubic transportation. :)

withalonge in New Orleans

heading to nola in two weeks!!! so excited, please help me narrow things down.. if you'd be so kind. :)

and jambalaya... totally forgot to ask about jambalaya places... too many good things to try and not enough time for sure.

withalonge in New Orleans

oh and let us not forget the cocktails

oh and forgot to include the carousel bar... at monthelena right?

withalonge in New Orleans

oh and let us not forget the cocktails

here's my list so far... please feel free to add any. a special thanks to "yammers" from whom i pirated most of this list. :) btw this has some of my notes... please ignore or correct me at will...

old absinthe house http://www.oldabsinthehouse.com/ not sure if anyone it up for trying this stuff, but apparently they have a tour, perhaps a "when in rome"? thing???

French 75/Arnaud's http://www.arnauds.com/bar.html (french 75 is a cocktail, gin, simple syrup, champagne & lemon juice... supposed to be quite refreshing)

lafitte's blacksmith shop http://www.atneworleans.com/body/blacksmith.htm (also known for their hurricane's)

pat o'brien's http://www.patobriens.com/patobriens/ hurricane's and piano bar - is this just terrible tourist trap? or kind of a touristy but worth a stop anyway? I have never really had a good hurricane... if not here, where is the best place? and a hand grenade just sounds kind of nasty (but I don't like melon liquer). worth trying? I'll try anything once. :)

Tujagues http://www.tujaguesrestaurant.com/ (known for ramos gin fizzes, pimm's cup and sazerac... sazerac is apparently cognac & bitters), they also apparently brine their own olives... make good bloody mary's... and la louisane, which is some kind of absitch and rye whiskey? not for the timid... ? but i am game... heard food is not so good, but bar is great.

napoleon house http://www.napoleonhouse.com - heard has good food *and* drinks

bourbon milk punch... where is a good place? when is this typically consumed? brunch?

anything else? we aren't planning on tying one on every day, but a few drinks before dinner, etc. is always nice.

also, any great places for music and drinks?

thanks in advance!
:)
megan

-----
Tujague's
823 Decatur Street, New Orleans, LA 70116

withalonge in New Orleans

heading to nola in two weeks!!! so excited, please help me narrow things down.. if you'd be so kind. :)

Hi all, here is my list boiled down (somewhat from my readings here... soooo excited to come visit your fair city). will be traveling with a group of 8 (total) women who are all happy to be away from our respective families for a girlz weekend. that said we are over 30, so we're not looking for the typical get blasted on hurricanes and hand grenades french quarter experience. we want to eat good food and have interesting, local cocktails, etc. we won't have a car, but short(ish) cab rides are o.k.

one thing I am still looking for, is that one of us is a vegetarian. so if any of these jump out as particularly veg friendly, that would begreat input to have. I don't know if she eats seafood... so hopefully she'll have something beyond the jar of peanut butter and crackers she likes to pack. many of us also like meat, so don't hold back on that either

sorry for the websites included, this was copied and pasted from a e-mail I sent to my traveling companions.. I tried to edit out my notes. thanks in advance
best regards,
megan

here are some restos that seem to have a few veg options:
muriel's place http://www.muriels.com/html/home.html
Camelia grill http://www.camelliagrill.net/

gumbo:
cochon/cochone butcher http://www.cochonrestaurant.com/
patois http://www.patoisnola.com/
mr. b's http://www.mrbsbistro.com/
herbsaint http://www.herbsaint.com/
molly's at the market http://mollysatthemarket.net/
mandina's http://www.mandinasrestaurant.com/

fried chicken;
willie mae's (no website)
k-paul's http://www.chefpaul.com/site.php (paul prudhomme's place)
coop's http://www.coopsplace.net/

boudin
cochon/cochone butcher http://www.coopsplace.net/
boucharie http://www.boucherie-nola.com/
nola grocery http://www.nolagrocery.com/

king cake
haydel's http://www.haydelbakery.com/ (apparently somewhat sacriligious to eat this outside of mardi gras, but you an order one ahead from here)

patries
croissants d'or (no website)
cafe du monde - cafedumonde.com have heard the time to go here is at night on fri/sat to drink coffee & beignets, listen to music (from market) and people watch

muffaletta
central grocery (no website)

lunch:
napoleon house http://www.napoleonhouse.com/
jacques imo http://www.jacquesimoscafe.com/
yo mama's (crawfish) http://www.yomamasbarandgrill.com/
dick & jenny's http://dickandjennys.com/
johnny's (po-boys) http://www.johnnyspoboy.com/
stanley restaurant http://stanleyrestaurant.com/

breakfast
eat (brunch) http://www.eatnola.com/ (apparently byob, but i could suffer to bring my own champagne for brunch)
the coffee pot (no website)
muriel's place http://www.eatnola.com/
brennans (brunch) - http://www.brennansneworleans.com/ rach... heard mixed reviews on this one, but consensus seems to be the brunch is great???
mr. b's http://www.mrbsbistro.com/ apparently has sunday jazz brunch... might be something to consider not that there probably aren't 300 places to have jazz brunch
patois (bruch) http://www.patoisnola.com/

dinner
stella http://www.restaurantstella.com/
acme oyster house http://www.acmeoyster.com/
red fish grill http://www.redfishgrill.com/
port of call http://www.portofcallneworleans.com/
nola http://www.emerils.com/restaurant/2/NOLA-Restaurant/ (emerill legasse's place)
commander's palace.. http://destin.commanderspalace.com/ tho doubt we could get rez (also pretty spendy)
galatoires http://www.galatoires.com/

lots of the lunch places could be dinner, etc.

also there are things called "snoballs" which are like sno cones but fluffier and with better syrups/flavorings.. anyone have any specific locations taht are favorites or is this more of a street cart kind of a thing?

withalonge in New Orleans

iso, "real" chocolate milkshake near st. joe's hospital (denver)

wonderful... so close... sounds just about perfect.

thanks!
megan

withalonge in Southwest

iso, "real" chocolate milkshake near st. joe's hospital (denver)

oops... I totally just realized that I didn't append my list of possibilities to this post. I did my homework, just didn't edit properly. so here is my list of places that are within 3.5 miles.

Griff's hamburgers
Annie's Cafe
Fergie's frozen custard
Watson's
and I'll add
Little man ice cream

any from here that you'd give a resounding A+ or a avoid at all costs? most on-line reviews are mixed, which is typical.

thanks everyone!

withalonge in Southwest

iso, "real" chocolate milkshake near st. joe's hospital (denver)

Looking for real, hand-scooped, thick and rich chocolate milkshake... should be made with vanilla ice cream and chocolate syrup. I am not familiar with that particular area, so I need your help.

needs to be near enough to st. joe's so that it wouldn't melt on the drive over to bring it to a patient there.

thanks in advance.

Megan

withalonge in Southwest

Denver breakfast & lunch w/ my bff... low carb needed

so my bff (best foodie friend) is coming to town and we need some girlie lunch and breakfast ideas... willing to drive, but want to stick to downtown denver or west /southwest of there... boulder would be o.k. too.

due to temporary health condition, meals must be low carb... or at least have a nice variety of low carb options... e.g. no white flour, processed sugar or overly starchy items... like pasta, etc.

oh yeah, and I can't drink either.... *sigh* but she can, so any places with a great bar (wine/beer/cocktails) would be great... she has a built in DD this trip out... I'm confident she'll return the favor next time.

so I'm still trying to show my bff a good foodie time... but with the above restrictions.

thanks in advance
megan

withalonge in Southwest

What to do with 3+# Meyer lemons?

look up the cook's illustrated recipe for margaritas (for the super bowl)... they are really good with meyer lemon juice. you basically steep equal parts lime juice & lemon juice with zest & sugar over night... then mix with triple-sec & tequila.. they are very potent, but delicious.. served on the rocks.

meyer lemons also make awesome lemon merringue pie or lemon bars... tor lemon curd... mmmm...hough you probably want to reduce the sugar as they are sweeter.

also, we love making lemon granita... or sorbet... we also like to freeze the juice in cubes so we can make all kinds of refreshing summer beverages (alcoholic or not) in the coming months when meyer's are not available or too expensive. an arnold palmer with home made simple syrup and a couple lemon juice ice cubes is one of my personal favs.

withalonge in Home Cooking

new job.. new eats... I70 & kipling, lakewood co

so just started a new job near I70 & Kipling.. such a strange little area, such a mish-mash of businesses, open fields and semi-industrial areas. I haven't had much time to explore much as I just started... and of course near the highway there are lots of fast-food and semi-fast food options, but of course I'd prefer something a little different.

I'm looking mostly for lunch options, so "quick" or "quiker" is best... but there are also those times I might want to take my time.

thanks in advance.
Megan

withalonge in Southwest

knife sharpening in denver

anyone have a favorite place to take your knives... mine are in some serious need of sharpening.

thanks in advance.
megan

withalonge in Southwest

Food containing booze

o.k. but if it is cops and robbers... why not a rum cake shaped like a saw (or handgun?)...

i totally love nemo's idea of squirt guns filled w/ "shots"

withalonge in Home Cooking

Recipes for Cancer

the mayo clinic has a "william sonoma" cookbook that is really great... a lot of simple and healthy food. focusing on nutrition, but also digestibility, etc. i use it frequently for taking food to new moms or people recovering from illness. it is a few years old, but you can probably find it on-line somewhere.

withalonge in Home Cooking

Your favorite savory quick bread?

CI has a great broccoli/cheddar/green onion bread that is kind of bicuit-like... and easily adaptable to other types of cheese & veg as longe as it isn't too wet... i'll see if i can dig up recipe... it is great w/ soups & casserolesand the like... only downside is that it doesn't keep well... but i have had some luck making muffins and freezing them.

withalonge in Home Cooking

Ruining good food on purpose

well at least once a year i have to have some of that nuclear orange cheese sauce w/ jalapeno rings on it... so i'm not here to judge.

your post reminded me of a time when my husband ordered this huge and very delicious slab of prime rib. this thing was huge... 20 oz. and arrived after appetizers, salad, rally good bread and a big bowl of clam chowder... needless to say, we had some leftovers. anyway, i was not overly inspired as to what to turn the meat in to... and so i made enchiladas... with prime rib. and, well, they weren't exactly "home made" given the base was a doctored up can og las palmas green enchilada sauce. *sigh*.... i basically hashed up the meat, added some tomatillos & mexican crema... lots of cheese & cilantro... and uhm, dang they were good. but oh, kind of wrong to treat good meat that way...

withalonge in Home Cooking

Pesto recipe

i made a large batch of pesto this weekend... trying to beat the first frost...

i use similar approach to roxlet... though i add a little parsley (about two handfuls) and a little lemon juice (about 1/2 lemon) I've also played with using walnuts as an alternative to pine nuts on occassion.

potatoes & grren beans are delicious w/ basil pesto,but my favorite would be to serve w/ a big bowl of garden fresh tomatoes... sliced and tossed w/ some salt, pepper & a little balsamic vinegar.... so good.

i also like to use any leftover pesto on a roasted veg sammie w/ fresh mozz cheese... and maybe some carmelized balsamic onions... mmmm

withalonge in Home Cooking

Have 5 mo old, working pt, & pooped...what to cook?

I feel your pain... I work 75% schedule w/ a 21m.o. at home... busy times! we try to make grocery shopping somewhat of a family event on the weekends... hitting the farmer's market to get some inspiration for dinners for the next week. I'm hoping this will get my daughter interested in different foods in years to come.

anyway, we usually pick a protein or two and try and cook them sunday evening... using the leftovers throughout the week.. and if we're grilling chicken say, I'd cook a couple extra peices and have caesar salad with chicken later in the week.. or tacos or whatever. we try to keep it healthy, and simple. I also subscribe to the CI "sister" magazine "cook's country"... decent, well-tested recipes.. and quicker to prepare.. I pull out the "30 min" recipe cards and shuffle them and have my hubbie pick one or two a week... I do modify the recipes, but they are a good starting point.

good luck!

withalonge in Home Cooking

I Have A Challenge for You...

might i also add that the library is a great place to test drive cookbooks... and better still it is free!

there are all kinds of "one-pot" & micro-wave cookbooks out there...

withalonge in Home Cooking

I Have A Challenge for You...

for cooking supplies... try the local thrift store!!! they are especially good for cast iron pans that just need a little tlc (granted though you really need an oven to get it properly seasoned... got a friend with an off-campus apartment?

if you have to buy only one pan, I'd consider a heavy bottom stock pot with a lid... in which you could boil water for pasta, etc. but in which you could also, fry, saute & braise. granted it would be a bit over-kill if you just wanted to fry and egg.. but probably more versatile.

if you had another vessel for boiling water & pasta, I'd buy a sturdy saute pan with a lid.

or you can do what any other students would do, raid your relative/parent's kitchen when you are next home...

withalonge in Home Cooking

I Have A Challenge for You...

when I lived in the dorms, I had a similar meal plan. I bought one of those electric kettles (the whole lid lifts off). you should be able to find on a wal-mart for under $20. o.k. so this probably goes against the manufacturers instructions and possibly fire code, but I made all kinds of semi-home made stuff in those things. my roomate had one too.. so we'd heat up spaghetti sauce in hers (jar sauce or pomi, w/ added veg) and cook the noodles in mine. we'd often "cook" in the bathroom so we had access to water and could drain off the hot water, etc. I also made a lot of my own soup.. grab some rice noodles, some "better than bullion" some veg (frozen bags of mixed works for this) and threw in some spices to make our own "top ramen". soup works well, as long as it is quick cooking... those things are meant to boil water.. not gently simmer things all day... I also used mine to make mac & cheese (from scratch... which really doesn't take that much ingredients).

another purchase you might consider is an electric skillet (deep sided w/ a domed lid).. you can cook an entire chicken in those things, you can make sauces for pasta, all kinds of things... they are great for breakfast too (bacon, eggs, fried potatoes)... and use it kind of like a dutch oven. I've used on of those to make all kinds of longer-cooking items.. and since they are non-stick they are a breeze to clean... I have heard you can use them to bake things in them, like biscuits and quick breads.. but have not tried that myself.

good luck!

withalonge in Home Cooking