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 SamplesAs you'll see, I cover all sort of topics; I'm particularly interested in food, but I also like to explore lifestyle trends, family and child issues, travel, and more. Boulder vs. Denver food fightSunset Magazine, July 2011 Rocky Mountain smackdown Argument for Boulder: Since we tend to draw the spotlight, Denver likes to claim us as its suburb. Back off, big brother. This town of 97,000 is setting Colorado's food pace on a carbon-fiber-framed bike. The most acclaimed restaurant in Colorado, Frasca Food and Wine, is in Boulder, and organic foods have been here since the '60s. In no other town do chefs so vociferously champion their friend-farmers—and even become farmers themselves. At one of the nation's all-time-great and truly local farmers' markets, the peaches are better than Georgia's, the lambs are raised on Rocky Ford cantaloupes, and corn is still warm from the field. Just ask Denver chefs: They shop here for their menus. Argument for Denver: While Boulder is driving the food equivalent of a Mini Cooper, we're attracting chef transplants from New York and L.A. to feed our 600,000 eaters. Awesome about your organic kale and fruity wines, but Denver is where you get international flavors. Locals here are a little too busy to bike downtown for a wheatgrass smoothie (we actually have day jobs), but great food is devoured into the wee hours. You can only dream of the pork-shoulder udon bowls we're eating long after you’re fast asleep. One perfect day in Louisville, COSunset Magazine, March 2011 Have we found the next Boulder? Take a peek at this up-and-coming Colorado town with easy Rockies access and a growing high-tech scene. That was then: Louisville was a rough-and-tumble coal-mining town and Prohibition-era bootleg hub later turned sleepy suburb. This is now: Main Street has stepped up its style with cheaper digs than Boulder and a growing high-tech scene. Where is it?: Next door to Boulder, off U.S. 36... The West at its Best: DIY SpiritsSunset Magazine, November 2010 Evan Faber, head mixologist at Salt bistro in Boulder, Colorado, wants to unlock your inner bartender. With the cocktail craze at full tilt (think boutique distilleries, speakeasies, Mad Med), Faber has created a mix-and-match drinks menu that speaks to the wannabe mixologist in all of us. "I want people to feel comfortable at a bar, and make it as easy as possible to put the pieces together," he says. His Cocktail Element program lets patrons choose a spirit, a style (say, a fizz, sour, or rickey), and an infused simple syrup to assemble their own drink. Can't make it to Boulder's Salt? An iPhone app is in the works. Initially drawn to bartending by liquor's bad-boy side - "Wine was high society, but hte vodkas, the gins, they all have these avant-garde stories" - Faber realized... Steamboat Springs, CO Day TripSunset Magazine, August 2010 A silvery ribbon winding through town, the Yampa River's snowmelt waters pick up warm pockets from hot springs near its banks. The best swim spots are the C-hole, down the bank from the library, and the lesser-known D-hole, farther downstream. Feeling sporty? Try a class with Mountain Sports Kayak School ($75; 800 South Lincoln Ave.). For a lazier ride, rent an inner tube from Backdoor Sports ($17, including return shuttle; 841 Yampa St.)... Breakfast, lunch, and dinner in... DenverCooking Light, January 2010 Once left off the culinary map for its admittedly tired take on cowboy cuisine, Denver is catching up to food trends fast. Sourcing local and ecofriendly foods is de rigueur, even in winter. Chefs preserve Colorado's warm-season foods, such as Olathe sweet corn and Western slope peaches, to use during the cold season and zealously cultivate friendships with nearby farmers for winter-ready hoophouse-grown greens and cellar vegetables... Go Ahead, Give InCooking Light, September 2008 It's been another one of those days: places to go, deadlines to meet, meals to cook. You find yourself daydreaming about crisp, salty potato chips. Pretty soon it's an insistent, must-have-it-now craving, and before you know it, your hand is deep in the bag. Rather than berate your lack of willpower, once in a while, indulge yourself. In a 2007 Tufts University study of healthy women, 91 percent reported having food cravings (which the researchers define as an intense desire to eat a specific food)... LeeksCooking Light, March 2008 With large, glossy green leaves and slender white bulbs, leeks look like overgrown green onions. But their flavor is milder and sweeter than that of other alliums, such as onions and garlic. Cooks have prized their subtle quality for millennia. The Bible mentions leeks as an Egyptian crop, and the freed Israelites craved them while wandering in the desert. Upper-class Romans considered them a delicacy. The Roman Emperor Nero reportedly ate copious amounts of leeks to improve his singing voice, earning him the nickname "Porrophagus" (leek eater). Folklore holds that sixth-century Welsh warriors pinned the vegetable to their battle headgear as a means of identification, and eventually bestowed on leeks mythical properties of fortitude and strength... The West's Greenest RestaurantSunset, March 2008 When Hugo Matheson says he's in one of his "moods," that means he'd rather be out on a farm than inside the Kitchen, the popular Boulder, Colorado, restaurant that he opened as chef and co-owner in 2004. It makes sense, given that nearly everything this man does connects to the Earth: With his business partner, Kimbal Musk, he's created a restaurant that recycles or composts nearly all of its waste, down to the cooking oil (a neighbor uses it for biodiesel) and the take-out containers (biodegradable). Its electricity comes from wind farms. And the names of its food suppliers, mostly local, are proudly displayed on wall chalkboards... An Oasis in The StormHealing Lifestyles & Spas, May/June 2008 If you have a teenager, chances are you've heard the prevailing wisdom: This is a time to back off, to give your child lots of space, to let her make her own decisions; she doesn't want your input anyway, and she needs to disassociate from you to form her own identity. Just leave her alone. I say, hogwash. When my feisty, intelligent daughter entered her teenage years, I recalled what my Costa Rican mom said about my sister and me: "I didn't buy into what everyone else said; I always expected to enjoy you as teenagers!" It's my firm belief that, more than ever, my daughter needs to know that I am close, that I am available, while she forms her own views, dreams, and plans in the midst of hormone fluctuations, media pressure, and high expectations. I want to be aware of who she's becoming, not checked out; I want to be communicating and connecting with her, celebrating and teaching her the language of womanhood as she blossoms into a young adult... Spring BreakCooking Light, March 2007 Spring officially starts this month. But, depending on where you live, Mother Nature may not have gotten the memo. This certainly applies in Colorado, where I live. In fact, we often get more snow in March than during any other month of the year. And though my family and I love the hearty stews and roasted root vegetables I make all winter, by this time we begin to crave lighter and brighter fare. If you're in the same yearning-for-spring mood, it's time to give your taste buds a tropical getaway, courtesy of flavorful citrus and tropical fruits. There's no need to search for rare exotica. Mangoes, papayas, pineapple, carambola (star fruit), and more appear regularly at most grocery stores, thanks to crops from California, Florida, Hawaii, and Mexico... Denver Lights UpSunset, December 2006 'Tis the season for caroling, choirs, and sparkling lights - the kind of cheer that ushers even the most cold-averse out of hibernation. Downtown Denver is brimming with holiday performances - from soul-stirring a cappella concerts to Charles Dickens - while restaurants within walking distance of curtain call offer froufrou cocktails and après-show nibbles. Prefer boutiques to Broadway? The theater district is lined with finds guaranteed to entice last-minute shoppers. From I-25, take Speer Blvd. east, then go north on Arapahoe St. to 13th, where you can enter the parking garage at the Denver Performing Arts Complex; several outdoor lots are also nearby... Wild About GameCooking Light, October 2006 Before I met a hunter, the only meat I ate came from the grocery store, neatly wrapped in cellophane. But then I met Dave, my husband-to-be and a hunter like his father, grandfather, and great-grandfather. He introduced me to the real source of natural meat: grassy plains and other wild places where elusive animals fly, swim, run, and graze. Now, many years later, I look forward to fall and winter, when my freezer fills with the bounty of Dave's hunting expeditions. With all that fresh meat appearing every season, I've had to devise creative and tasty ways to cook it. Although some cooks may shy away from wild meat because of its perceived gaminess, a few simple techniques tone down any overly strong taste, resulting in meat that is rich and flavorful... Women Helping WomenCooking Light, September 2006 If you peek into the cafeteria kitchen mid-morning at Denver's Richard Castro Human Services Center, you'll see a blur of busy women chopping lettuce, steaming tortillas, peeling potatoes, rolling dough, and otherwise prepping for the workday lunch rush. But what's really going on here goes beyond cooking: These women are changing their lives for the better, thanks to the nonprofit job-training program Work Options for Women (WOW). In 1996, social worker Toni Schmid saw significant changes on the horizon for the low-income women with whom she'd worked for 14 years... Community TableCooking Light, June 2006 Every Monday evening, a special dining experience takes shape at The Kitchen, a bustling restaurant in downtown Boulder, Colorado. It's Community Night, when chefs and co-owners Hugo Matheson and Kimbal Musk host a family-style meal for an adventurous group of up to 24 people. Sitting together around a long wooden table, new acquaintances may include jeans-clad locals and suited out-of-towners, singles and couples, professional stockbrokers and professional rock climbers - anyone who enjoys the company of strangers and a surprise menu... Food As Medicine - Growing Up VegetarianAlternative Medicine Magazine, May 2006 At age 8, Naomi Anderson realized the plastic-wrapped meats lined up in grocery-store displays were turning her stomach. "I would hate going down the aisles where they had meat," she says, "because I really liked animals, and I hated that they had to kill the animals to get the meat." It was then that Naomi, now 11, decided to become a vegetarian - one of approximately 1.4 million US youths who forgo meat, poultry, and fish. According to the Vegetarian Resource Group (a nonprofit group dedicated to education about plant-based diets), one-third to one-half of those kids are vegan, eschewing all animal products, including dairy, eggs, and honey... Late-winter fun in Frisco, ColoradoSunset, March 2006 Spring may officially arrive this month, but in Frisco, Colorado, March means snow - and lots of it. Within minutes of Copper Mountain, Breckenridge, Keystone, and Arapahoe Basin ski areas, the town also boasts the Frisco Peninsula Recreation Area just 1/4 mile beyond its charming and historic Main Street, which is lined with excellent eateries for pre- and post-snow sport refueling... It's the great pumpkinDelicious Living Magazine, Oct. 2005 Linus was right: The mighty pumpkin brings good things to all who believe. Fancifully carved for Halloween or baked and enjoyed at holiday meals, this autumnal fruit's benefits extend well beyond the pumpkin patch. A cup of cooked fresh pumpkin provides 564 mg of potassium (good for lowering blood pressure) and 5,135 mcg of beta-carotene, believed to protect against prostate cancer (International Journal of Cancer, 2005, vol. 113, no. 6). Pumpkin's natural enzymes also work wonders for skin, says Melinda Milner, spa director at the Ritz-Carlton, Half Moon Bay in California, where locally grown pumpkins appear in several body treatments... The Young and The Rested: Teens & Tweens Hit The SpasHealing Lifestyles Magazine, Nov/Dec. 2003 The International SPA Association's 2003 Spa-goer Study, the first in the organization's history to include teen stats, reflects the burgeoning number of boomer families with kids - the demographic destined to be the next generation of spa-goers. According to ISPA's survey, forty percent of adult spa guests with children ages thirteen to fifteen have taken their offspring to a spa. The number of teenage clients increases as youngsters get older: Fully half of eighteen- and nineteen-year-olds with spa-going parents have enjoyed spa treatments, with or without mom or dad. In addition, according to Lauren Ash Donoho of the Hotel Del Coronado, teens influenced $300 billion in family purchases in 2002, including vacation destinations and off-time activities. That's a lot of decision-making power for a group not yet old enough to vote. Given these compelling statistics, it's no surprise that spas, salons, and resorts are jumping on the teen bandwagon, offering generation-specific treatments and kicking up the cool factor with teen-only hangouts... Time to EnjoyDelicious Living Magazine, Apr. 2002 If you're the family cook, you've no doubt experienced that sinking feeling when the clock strikes 5 and you're still not sure what you're going to make for dinner. At these moments, succumbing to take-out temptation is nearly irresistible. But you don't want to reach for the phone too often, because few pleasures exceed sitting down to a nutritious meal made from scratch. There's nothing like a home-cooked dinner to satisfy the senses - indeed, to ground us, to center our thoughts, and to remind us of slower, simple pleasures. Therein lies the rub: How do you make a satisfying meal that still leaves you with the energy to enjoy it? Rushing through an elaborate recipe certainly isn't the answer. Instead, relax and cook simply, with unfussy techniques and tasteful, easy-to-find ingredients. As a start, stock your pantry and freezer with culinary staples and learn ways to cut meal preparation time... 10 Steps to Healthier EatingBody&Soul Magazine, Jul/Aug. 2002 The road to health is paved with good intentions, but it soon gets tied up in a traffic jam of overwhelming, often conflicting, advice. Most of us want to eat better but don't have the time or energy that it seems to take to break bad habits, such as consuming too much salt, sugar or fat, eating too quickly, or buying foods made with preservatives or grown with chemicals dangerous to our bodies and our planet. But healthy eating is easier and more enjoyable than you'd think. The trick is to remember that the goal is within our grasp, though we don't have to grab it all at once. Here passionate foodies - nutritionists, health providers, chefs and other experts - reveal their stress-free tips for taking the first steps toward making food a banquet of nourishment and pleasure... |