Here in Denver, at 5280 ft above sea level, you can see the sun damage on lots of people who have lived here all their lives. The UV damage is much greater…and you can see on the people who run outside daily and work outside–they age much faster here than the people you see around the US at the same age. Sunblock is a MUST. Ask RMK, who treats someone dying from melanoma metastatic to the brain daily in his ward. We have the highest skin cancer rate here than anywhere else in the US. The place people usually forget the most: the top of their ears, the neck, chest, and hands. But added to the sun damage, it’s the dryness. We NEVER have a mold problem here due to very low humidity. All year round. So unlike Texas weather! In the summer, I don’t have a single breakout.

However, in the winter and with working nights, I break out like crazy. And my skin actually gets dry!! And I have found the miracle worker: First Aid Beauty Ultra Repair Cream. Great for people with eczema and skin sensitivities: no parabens, no fragrance, no dyes. Put it one 2-3 times a weeks, and you get supple, moisturized skin when you wake up. I also have Clinique Moisture Surge for the mornings where I need a wake me up! The trick is to refrigerate it when you aren’t using it. Put it right underneath your eyes, and ta-da! It will make non-waterproof mascara run though because it’s pretty moisturizing.

To Good Skin for 2012!

Morning Glories! My favorite!

We are expecting guests all winter, and we wanted as many of the renovations completed, but most of it is still in the state of “work-in-progress.”  We have hired a contractor to start on our patio when the snow melts.  And our basement is slowly being designed to be the next “man cave” per Mr. RMK.  Our fence is almost done except for one size.  We’re hoping to be garden party ready by next summer…landscaping and all.  I have picked out all the beautiful things I want to plant and my dream herb garden.  Oh the joys of working on your own home

Bougainvillea. Gorgeous patches of intense color!

My favorite flower bush of all time is bougainvillea, but sadly, these will not survive Colorado winters.  I am debating if I can plant the bush and then bring it in before the first frost.  Does anyone know of a plant similar to this one that would be a perennial?  We also ordered some Plumbago, which is a hearty perennial with a long flowering season.  I promise to have pics up of the new fence after this last batch of snow melts, if it ever does!

Plumbago, beautiful blue color from May to August.

Before pic of office in progress

After pic...ignore the mess. Paint and shelving done. New desk!

Fence in progress. My dad helping out on this very LONG project. After pictures coming soon!

Butternut Risotto...so good and RMK made it for me on his weekend off. So sweet.

It’s about 6 months into residency (can you believe the 1st year is 1/2 over!!), but December 10th marks the FIRST weekend my husband and I have had together.  FIRST, I kid you not.  I am talking about a Friday night and Saturday day, together, no worries, lounging around the house.

Let me tell you what my husband decides to do: put in a door.  Not just any door, the door from hell.  I wake up to the F*@$ word as it’s being installed.  Take a look at the pic below and tell me what you notice…

He only made this face after the cussing stopped

That’s right.  That spot above his upper lip is the bloody scar left over from wait…hold for it…yup, a HAMMER.  TO THE FACE.  He is yelling at me to hold door because as he’s hammering it in, the door is becoming more and more skewed.  So he nails it in as I give sarcastic yet logical advice, such as maybe you should use a shim to hold you spot…maybe you should hammer on the thicker sections of the door.  So he gleams at me and then decides to take the half-way in nail out with the hammer…and it wouldn’t budge.  I mean brute force, pulling, with his leg on the rim of the door, grunding.  So RMK gets pissed and takes a crow bar and hammers it from the side to cut it out.  And then more brute force, only to slip the hammer of while using his maximum tricep leverage.

Only to hit himself in the face.  He just stood there in shock for several seconds, and then starting spit out blood and cussing some more.  We had a few neighbors walking by and staring at us.  They probably thought I punched him in the face.  I was worried he lost a tooth, he was freaking pissed at the door, and our dogs were going wild.  All in all, a great start to the weekend.

Purple Potato Madness! They cook quickly, creamy in flavor, and perfectly soft.

Anyways, we eventually made it to the farmer market on Pearl St and stopped at Gaia for brunch.  SO AMAZING.  It’s tiny and the wait is tremendous, but so worth it.  RMK says their French styled coffee is just to die for, and it has such an amazing quaint feels.  Plus free pumpkin bread

I love farmer’s market but better yet, what is in season is butternut squash and purple potatoes.  I roasted them with a little salt, pepper, and olive oil and voila, gourmet dinner!  I also got almost 5 lbs of carrots for $2.  We’ll be turning orange soon.

So easy...roasted purple potatoes and carrots

Morbid Obesity

RMK and I finally had our vacation, our only one for the year (as in until July 2012) that is together.  It was a much needed break, from people and civilization.  We holed up in Rocky Mountain National Park for 3 days, snowshoeing, hiking, watching movies, visiting nearby breweries, fly fishing (which RMK did by himself), etc.  It was so nice to be without phone and internet in a cabin in the middle of nowhere.  Sometimes it really bothers me when people go on vacation and then do that Facebook thing where they check in at some location every few hours.  If you’re really on vacation, go enjoy it and come back and tell me how it went.  A really cool mobile pic is good every now and then…if  you’re gone for more than a few days.  Otherwise, what’s the point of a vacation if you’re always on your phone checking in?  Or if you check in somewhere, make it awesome like: I checked in on a yacht with Jay-Z…or the Artic Circle…

Did I add that RMK had this grand idea to build a fence in this 6 day time frame?  Now just any old fence, but the modern horizontal plank ones that I have been eyeing.  Now, I was all for hiring someone, but he said he feels like he hasn’t put his fingerprint anywhere on this house and that it has mostly been me and my sister.  I say your fingerprint would be best imprinted by signing the check to let the fencing guys do it.  I mean we only have 6 DAYS out of the whole year of uninterrupted time together.  SIX FREAKING DAYS.  Well let’s just say, I teach by saying “I told you so.”  3 days were spent hauling lumber and 80lb cement bags in 40-50 degree weather with my dad.  We now have 1/2 a fence, of which at the end of the weekend he states, “honey, you know the other 75% of the perimeter…maybe we should hire someone to finish.”  I guess that was a big enough fingerprint for him.

Anyways, we went traveling and exploring around Colorado, and especially Denver.  We have been here almost 6 months, and we have this huge lists of restaurants we wanted to try, place to go see, etc.  We crammed in the best of the best in 3 days.  Let me tell you, thankfully we hiked a whole bunch and snowshoed like madmen because otherwise I would be scaling from the obesity to morbid obesity.

I wouldn't linger here again

Here’s the list:

1. Linger in Denver

The only best part of this meal

We have tried to get a table at this restaurant for almost a month.  On anyday of the week from 6:30pm to 9pm, you need reservations or be a risky gambling man to get a table here.  It’s from the creators of Root Down, and let me tell you, don’t linger too long.  The food was crappy.  The atmosphere is posh and uppity, and RMK spent the whole dinner making fun of the fur vest wearing females to our left (I don’t necessarily have anything against the fur vest except you wear it when it’s cold…but these chicas wore it with the shortest man-made skirt in town, which really beats the logic of the whole thing) and putting his pinky in the air with upturned nose at the uptight fools on our right complaining about the “hints of urban vibe” in the restaurant’s music.  WTH does that mean, no idea.

Anyways, the Korean BBQ-a heap of mushiness that made Korean food look and taste mostly unappetizing.   The Meze plate is a hodge-podge of trying Middle-East or Indian but could be mistaken for dog food.  Okay, that was a little harsh, but RMK loves all the ingredients on this plate, it had the potential, and just never hit any marks.  The Doner Kobb salad I could have made at home.  The Maple Leaf Duck Wings was probably the only thing I would try again, but still, just didn’t taste awesome.  The service sizes are larger than Root Down, and when you get there, the best thing you will get is their appetizer starter popcorn: a heated mix of sugar and spice.

A Normal Cobb

2. Seoul Korean BBQ

Kimchi and Bulgogi. I'm good.

What vacation I tell you would be without a feast of Korean BBQ meat.  Bulgogi.  Kim Chi.  Spare Ribs.  Let the gluttony begin.  Seriously, the reviews on this place were out of this world AND totally worth the 25 minute wait on any weekend night.  Just follow all the Koreans.  My parents and RMK got drunk on Soju…Korean rice wine but more like rice vodka.  Delicious.

3. Beatrice and Woolsey

Such cool seating!

Can I just say: the coolest place.  The restaurant is lined with trees from floor to roof, and the atmosphere is relaxed and dream-like.  AMAZING food.  Expect to charge that card though.  This is the place for romantic dates, anniversaries, etc.  Every dish hit the spot right on, perfectly cooked and marinated.  I highly recommend the Crawfish Beignets (I know!  Very interesting combination but so good) and the Artichoke and Chickpea Fritters.  Delicious!

Beignets1 Powdered Sugar with crawfish...delicious I tell you!

4. The Rock Inn Mountain Tavern

A little out of the way but well worth the beer, music, and food.

A really nice steakhouse in Estes Park that had bad ass reviews.  Figs wrapped in bacon dipped in aoili.  The seared fish was perfectly done and RMK had the greatest peppercorn medallion.  The menu is typical steakhouse in small vacation town, but everything was cooked to perfection and delicious.  Live music on the weekends.  Enjoy!

Figs, with a hint of endives, wrapped in bacon. Need I say more.

5. Nepal Cafe

Our first take on Himalayan food and it was delish!  RMK and I ate until we were almost sick.  It is very similar to Indian food, sometimes even a bit spicier and sometimes a bit blander.  But delicious Naan bread and the best mango lassi I have had in a long time.

6. Shish Kabob Grill

RMK makes amazing hummus, but this place makes the best hummus I have ever had.  There rice and lamb is to die for.  It looks like you might get robbed in the place, but so worth it.  If I could only learn their secret to the hummus!

7. Frasca

Sigh with longing

I saved the best for last.  Truly.  Italian food at it’s best.  Absolute best.  Worth the price, I say yes!  If you like wine pairings, this is food and wine mated at it’s best.  And I don’t even like alcohol.  First of all, despite winning 5280 magazine’s top restaurant this year and Food and Wine awards annually, it has none of the snobbishness we saw at Linger.  It’s a cool crowd with the most amazing, down-to-earth waitstaff.  And the food makes you wish you lived in Italy.   Can’t understand the menu…just means it going to be awesome.  Besides, the waiter never minded that we had tons of questions.  What do I recommend: everything.  You just can’t go wrong.

The best wanna-be-foodies vacation we have ever had.  We were living the high life with our time of leisure.  And I already miss him again.

I was very worried this recipe due to the elevation.  Here’s the thing about being a mile high, some things rise normally and don’t need the extra flour: cakes, rolls, muffins, etc.  And some things I haven’t figured out how to fix: cookies, ALL freaking cookies, brownies, and sigh: my pate a choux.  But I had the itch to make these the other day, and was so worried they wouldn’t pop!

Needless to say, they did just find.  I would suggest however to not add the pepper.  The flavor is overwhelming at times.  I used a muffin tin so just fill halfway to allow for rising.  Also, bake for a lot less time since this recipe was made for popover ramekins.  And whatever you do: DON’T open the oven!!

Buttermilk and Chive Corn Popovers (adapted from Smitten Kitchen)

Makes 6 popovers in a traditional popover pan or in ramekins; will likely make 9 in muffin tins

1 cup buttermilk (or if you don’t have any: 1tbsp of white vinegar in 1 cup of milk, wait 10 minutes)
1/2 cup corn kernels (from most of one cob)
3 large eggs
2 tablespoons melted butter, cooled, divided
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon yellow cornmeal
1 teaspoon granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon table salt
Freshly ground black pepper (I wouldn’t add this!)
1 tablespoon snipped fresh chives

Place buttermilk and corn in a blender together and blend for just 3 seconds — you’re looking to break up the corn a bit, not puree it. Add the eggs, one tablespoon of the melted butter and blend for one second more. Add the flour, cornmeal, sugar, salt, a few grinds of black pepper (I used four, not that you asked or that I’d expect a normal person to count) and the chives and blend again until barely combined, some lumps are fine.

Set the batter aside to rest while you preheat your oven to 375 degrees, about 15 minutes. Brush your popover, muffin or ramekin cups with the remaining tablespoon of butter. Fill each cup slightly more than halfway with batter (see top of recipe for cup estimates).

Bake popovers 30 to 35 minutes (less if you’re using a muffin tin).  Don’t open the oven!  Use the oven light if you need to peek!

Artichoke Dip with Parmesan Bread: I didn't like it that much. Too much cream

For RMK’s b-day a few months ago, I wanted to take him to a microbrewery.  One of the most popular ones here is the Wynkoop.  Based on his review, the beer selection here is pretty good, and he tried the Mile Hi IPA and the Railyard Ale.  Most people come here for the beer.  The food is Southern-like and heavy.  REALLY heavy.  I wouldn’t recommend the food to be honest.  We had their beer battered fried chicken and RMK wanted to tried their Bison meat loaf.  It was okay.  With so many breweries in Colorado, we might try the other 50 before we come back.

Their battered fried chicken: so-so. Just not really impressive

Their Sticky Bun French Toast Masterpiece!!

When RMK and I have a rare 1-2 hours in the morning, we hit up the popular Snooze in Denver.  And of all the breakfast places we have tried, it’s our favorite (though we haven’t tried that many because this place is SOO good we keep coming back).  Everything on the menu is just amazing.  I mean amazing.  Their hot chocolate is to die for!  It’s definitely worth the extra 10 miles of running, because it’s heaven.  You must try their triple selection pancakes, where you select any 3 flavors because it’s really difficult to just choose one: Lemon Blueberry, Upside Down Pancake (my favorite), Sweet Potato, on and on.  I could go on and on.  The Upstream Benny is just amazing.  I have yet to try their oatmeal, but even that looks soo amazing.

I just LOVE this place!

The Most Decadent Hot Chocolate ever!!

This is the Breakfast Pot Pie: Totally worth the cellulite

Do you see the butter? Each one is specifically crafted for the pancake. Yummm.

Ignore the icing damage from me trying to save the cake from sliding to the floor while driving. Gotta get me a cake carrier!

One of the most enjoyable things about living in Colorado other than the other bazillion things: season changes.  Fall is officially here, and the air is crisp and brisk.  The leaves are changing, and it’s time for Ramesh to get the out the rake.  Our front and backyard looks like shit.  When we moved it, we had them fix the sewer line, of which they had to rip out our sprinkler system.  And if you didn’t know, Denver is a arid, desert terrain.  So grass dies here without a sprinkler system, and the city cracks down on watering you lawn at certain times.  Therefore, with two people who are rarely home, the grass has died in certain spots giving it look of a dog with Mange.  Gross.  Added on top that everything needs trimming and to be redone, we have our work cut out for us.

RMK and I decided next year, we’re going to rip out the back of our house to add a master bath and re-do the patio.  He wanted to do this ourselves.  Psh.  He’ll change his mind over the next year because his first project of changing out our doors is still not done.

I love the peeling of the baking paper and seeing a perfectly smooth cake!

Anyways, one of my friend’s birthday was a few weeks ago.  And she put in a request of something pumpkin with ganache.  I look far and wide, and let me tell you, there is not a lot of recipes out there with pumpkin and chocolate.  They rarely go together well.   I think dark chocolate is the best companion, but even then, pumpkin is sweetly dense, and chocolate can be too.  Plus, ganache is amazing with things that are light and airy, something pumpkin is difficult to do with other.

But pumpkin cake, there are an astounding number of recipes.  I decided on Food and Wine Pumpkin cake just because of the ingredients: ginger, nutmeg, cloves, oh my!  It’s a multi-dimensional cake: lots of spice and still sweet, just not hurt your teeth sweet.  And the icing, I ran out of time for the Caramel Icing, which caramel can easily be messed up if you’re in a hurry.  I made a maple syrup/brown sugar icing that went just as well.  Enjoy!  Happy Belated Birthday RainbowBrite!

And ignore the terrible icing job.  I need to get a cake carrier because I carried this thing on my one pedestal in my lap while driving.  Let’s just say abrupt braking was not a good idea, times 2.

The crumb layer

Pumpkin Spice Cake With Maple Frosting
Cake from Food and Wine
Frosting from Smitten Kitchen

My favorite movie of the summer…probably of the year but this has been the only movie we have seen since April.  I gotta say it sucks to NEVER get a day off with you husband.  Oh how I miss the days of lounging in bed, going to brunch, going to a whole day hike instead of finding something that must be completed in 1-2 hours.  We get a max 2-3 hours when one of us has a day off, and even then, we’re quickly trying to fill in the spaces of not seeing each other for 6 days: how are the dogs, did you pay this bill, can you change the oil on Sat, did you call the gardener, I need to find this receipt, etc. etc.  There’s like an hour there.  But my chief on ambulatory was so gracious and generous to let me out on my b-day 3 hours early from clinic when RMK had a day off.  And it was glorious.  We finally made it to Root Down for dinner, and then a movie.  It felt so good!!

"What! Are you photoshopped!"

But anyways: Crazy Stupid Love.  MUST SEE!  So funny, so cute…I love Steve Carell. And WTH happened to Ryan Gosling.  He was hot in this movie.  In the Notebook, he was a scrawny kind of guy, but now, muscles all popping out and that charming grin.  I think I have a new crush.  And Emma Stone, I want to BE her.  Even RMK would see it again.  For Ryan Gosling of course

I saw this and thought it was hilarious!

We have been married now for 3.5 months!  Yea!!  People say you feel different after you get married, and that things will change.  But RMK and I haven’t felt much different, at all.  The biggest change has been residency, but other than that, we don’t do things that much different.  I think it comes with us living together for almost a year before marriage.  We were committed from the beginning, and I love him as much before marriage as I do now.  Saying the word husband is very different, but it’s just a title.  He usually just responds to babe

Anyways, I think we have had our first progression  (or regression) in our relationship.

Me: (Doing the laundry) Omg.  Gross.  (Calling RMK)
Me:  I would like to tell you I found poop in your underwear.  We are not there in our marriage yet.
RMK:  POOP!  You lie.  I didn’t poop in my pants.  I would know.
Me:  Sometimes I wonder (see here).  Well there is a line, a crease of brown.
RMK:  Ohhhh you mean a caramel surprise!
Me:  This is sick.
RMK:  You mean a yellow dirt road.  A crap shot.
Me:  Naming it other things does NOT make this better!
RMK:  Well that’s nothing.  I thought you meant like real poop.

Ugh.