Happy Holidays!

My 2006 was nice and easygoing. I hope yours was wonderful.

Work—Work’s been light, but I think things will pick up with a few potential proposals in the pipeline. I organized a Venus conference in Key Largo. It was a success and I had fun too—more in the “vacation’ section. I still manage the Cassini-UVIS websites as well and help scientists publish papers. I’ve gotten involved in some non-Cassini projects for the lab too, which has been fun.

Vacations and Trips—Last December, I went home for the holidays to visit Mom, Paul and David in NYC, and Dad, Armelde and their family in CT. During the visit, we went to see my great aunt, Eve, in Queens. Then I went to stay at my brother, David’s, in NY to spend time with him, Mom and Paul.

In February, I did that business trip to Key Largo, FL. One afternoon I went snorkeling at Pennekamp Reef State Park. It was crystal clear and shallow so I saw tons of sea life and even chased barracuda. It was wonderful!. After the conference, I drove to Delray Beach to visit my first college roommate, Cynthia. We ate out a few times, went to a fun bar called the Banana Boat, and drove to Palm Beach for a drink at the Breakers. It was great to see her again after all these years—she’s as funny as ever and we had a blast.

For 4th of July weekend, Janet and I did a last-minute trip to Steamboat Springs. We called Suzie and Tom to play, but they were so kind and invited us to stay with them. We drove up the beautiful Poudre Canyon making a few stops along the way. One was at Mishawaka for lunch. It’s an outdoor music venue on the river. They have bands at night, but we were entertained by a bird, named Charlie who spent lunchtime sitting on my shoulder. Once in Steamboat, we spent some time with Tom and Suzie then walked around at Fish Creek Falls. We went shopping and out to dinner, but skipped the hot springs. We drove home through Winter Park, and stopped at Jenny’s in Empire for lunch. That’s a hidden gem. Then, driving through Golden, stopped at Foss General Store and walked along the new riverwalk. The next night, I took John and Betsy's son, Hans, to watch the 4th of July fireworks at the Fairgrounds in Longmont.

Call me crazy, but in the heat of July, I went to Austin to visit Jilian, my childhood best friend. It was wonderful to hang out with her again. On Friday, we went to Barton Springs, a delightful natural springs pool in the middle of a grassy park. That night, we had appetizers at Eddie V’s, then listened to the blues at Friends, on 6th Street, where all the music clubs are. After late night pizza at Vespaio, we headed home.

Saturday, I made Jilian take me to the Salt Lick barbecue joint for lunch. It was decadent. They just kept bringing us more and more scrumptious meat, sides, and drinks, until we could barely breathe. We waddled home, looked through photo albums, then walked her dog down to Lake Austin. That evening, we sat below the Congress Ave. Bridge to watch 750,000 bats emerge at dusk. Amazing! It’s the largest urban colony of bats in the world. We topped it off with a glass of wine at Cru and a late night snack at Hula Hut.

Sunday morning, Jilian’s friend, MJ, took us to the beautiful countryside, where she kept her horse, Lorelei. It was fun to feed the horses and ride a bit. Then her friend David took us to lunch at the Iguana Grill on Lake Travis and for a “tourist” drive through Austin. We made a quick stop at the Texas Chili Parlor and then, we went to Uchi, an amazing Japanese restaurant, for sushi. My kind of day, roaming from eatery to eatery!

On my last day, Jiliane went to work and I relaxed by her pool. That evening, we went to One World Theater, where she works, to watch a magic show they were thinking of adding to the schedule, then had dinner at Maudie’s Milagro. I loved Austin and my time with Jilian and hope to visit again someday.

Ray’s Raft Trip was in August this year. It started with a bang, when I left Friday morning and was rear-ended on my way out of town. Coincidentally, it was at the same intersection, that Gye and I were at in 1982 when I was rear-ended, totalling my first Subaru. The cop couldn’t understand why I was laughing. Anyway, it was minor and I was fine. The trip was a blast, as always. Rob, Kathi, and her brother, Michael, came, as well as Laurie. The river was fun and filled with water fights, and we had the best marshmallow fight ever on Saturday night.

This year, instead of visiting both Mom and Dad at Christmas, I split the trip to concentrate on each separately. So, I flew to NYC to visit my Mom, Paul and David, in September and will go to Dad’s this December. It was so much nicer to be in the city during warm weather! I stayed within walking distance of the 34th St. shopping area, cheap jewelry stores on Broadway, and Koreatown with numerous barbecue restaurants open 24 hours a day. I spent most of the time at Mom’s, helping out around the apartment and spending quality time. One morning I met Donna at Popover’s for brunch, and then met her brother Sean and his wife at Lisca for champagne. I also met an old high school friend, Paul, for a few beers at a local pub. It was fun to see him after 30 years, a result of connecting with some high-school friends via email around our 30th reunion (which I didn’t go to.)

Visitors—My childhood friend, Katy was in Denver for a conference in May, and came up to Boulder one evening. We met at Conner O’Neils’ Irish pub. It was fantastic to see her. Barb and Ned came out from Salt Lake for his aunt’s memorial service in September. They stayed with his Mom, but joined me at Susan and Lonnie’s Rosh Hashana dinner and I saw them at the service, then a gathering at his cousin’s. I’ve gotten to know some of his relatives over the years, so although the circumstances were sad, it was nice to see them.

Culture—I saw the Soweto Gospel Choir with Lisa in February. In mid-May, Laurie and I went to the tiny Estes Park Jazzfest and saw a well-known saxophonist I know, Nelson Rangel, and several other bands. We also saw him, at Nissi’s in June. I made it to a few local concerts this year on the Pearl Street Mall—as well as other local malls that host local and national bands. I saw Dotsero with Bridgette, Hazel Miller with Laurie, the 4-Nikators, and Firefall twice, once with Sarah, and for Oktoberfest with Vanessa. Gye, Felipe and I went to Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young at Redrocks—my most expensive concert ever. But, we had great seats and the concert was amazing so it was worth it. And, it was a beautiful night in September, when Norm and I went to Redrocks to see John Mayer and Cheryl Crow. We had great seats for that lovely evening too. Laima invited me to Natalie MacMaster at CU. I knew very little about her, but she’s pretty amazing with her “feverish fiddling and mesmerizing step-dancing.”

In June, Sarah and I went to a small intense play called Mask about the Palestinian intifada. The next week, Leslie and I went to a contrasting play called The Yiddish are Coming. It was supposed to be a comedy, but fell flat. OK, so this isn’t really culture, but it is all American…I went to see a live taping of “Wheel of Fortune” in late March with Laima—she had free tickets. What a crackup. In September, I got last-minute tickets for myself, Baya, and Terry to see the Dalai Lama. He’s so inspirational and it was magical to see him in person. I’ve never seen 14,000 people sit so quietly in my whole life.

I took Nina to First Friday on Santa Fe Drive in Denver in October. I explained how it’s just like a Bourbon Street party scene, with hundreds of people walking in and out of art galleries with drinks in their hands, but she was still surprised. The day after that, I went to the opening of the Denver Art Museum’s new geometric, titanium wing designed by Daniel Libeskind. Then, a week after that, I went to Art Open Studios with Sue again (our annual tradition) where 140 local artists open their homes and studios to visitors. It sure was an artsy month. I stopped by Chez Thuy one night in October to take home some Pho (Vietnamese soup), and ran into Nina and friends. They asked me to join them for dinner and to see The Magic Flute opera at CU. It was surprisingly good.

Parties and Holidays—For my birthday last year, I went out for drinks with Laurie; did a review with John, Janet, Susan and Lonnie where we went to two restaurants in one night (including my new favorite sushi bar, Sushi Sasa in Denver); and went out with Gye for dinner and a movie. Later that month, Leslie and I did our annual birthdays dinner and went back to Sushi Sasa which was worth the repeat visit. I kicked off my birthday this year when Lisa took me for a spa day at Indian Springs the last Saturday in November.

For the holidays, Laima had a white elephant party, Vanessa had a happy-hour gathering, my boss had a dinner party, and my Slow Food steering committee had a holiday pot luck and gift exchange at Pam’s. I went to three international wine parties this year: One at an art gallery; one at a new up-and-coming Platte Valley loft; and one in the mountains of Evergreen.

Birthday parties included Sarah’s at her house, Lisa’s dinner at Chantecler, Steph’s 40th at Zolo’s, Janet’s at Terrace Maya, and Terri's brunch at the Broker. In March, I had a small ’70s party. We watched “That ’70’s Show”, played ’70's music, and ate gross retro food. It was a riot. The next night I went to Sarah's ’80s party at a local dance studio. We danced, and danced. I screamed through two decades in 48 hours. Passover was at Susan’s cousin Robin’s in Denver. They have a large group, so it’s especially fun. Susan had a brunch in June and once again, I went to the Hot Luck at Lyn and Rob’s in July. I took Laurie, who knows lots of those natural products folks. As always, it was the best food of any pot luck. Due to several requests, I made my chili cappuccino brownies again (recipe on my website). Lyn and KJ also organized a few women’s potlucks in August and November.

Susan and Lonnie had their small Halloween dinner again. She does such an amazing job decorating the house and we have so much fun taking turns opening the door for the kids in our own costumes. And, like every year, John and his family included me as one of their own for another delectable Thanksgiving dinner.

Sports and The Like – I’m still going to the YMCA after almost two years. I hiked a few times with Janet, Laura, Cindy, and Laima. Laurie, Lisa, Susan and I had a riot at “Football 101 for Women” at CU on August 1st. We met a bunch of CU football players and coaches and listened to Coach Hawkins try to explain different plays (I think it was more like Football 305). Not surprisingly, our favorite part was the fashion…checking out all the different the parts of their uniforms (off their bodies, of course).

Volunteering—I got more involved with Slow Food this year. We had a holiday dinner at The Kitchen last December, an annual meeting and potluck at the culinary school, and a beer and food pairing at Lefthand Brewery. Donna and I hosted a dinner at Domo, a delightful country Japanese restaurant, in September. Nancy and I put on a Food and Movies event in July at her house. We watched “Woman on Top” which, although it doesn’t sound like it, is a good food movie. It’s about a Brazilian chef that leaves her husband in Bahia and becomes a famous TV chef in San Francisco. So, we cooked Brazilian food from the movie, drank caiparinas, ate, and watched the film. I produced a Wild Mushroom and Wine dinner at The Cork in mid-October. Jim, the chef, used a variety of types of mushroom to make amazing dishes, including royal and black trumpets, bluefoots, abalone, fried chicken mushrooms, and even huitlacoche. He spoke about foraging and sourcing, Gary talked about the Cooper Hill wines, and Eric about the beers from his company, Lefthand Brewery. Amazingly, some of the beers paired better with this type of food than the wines. Thanksgiving came early on November 11th with our not-quite-annual Turkey tasting where we compared heritage, free range, organic, and Butterball turkeys.

The Wild Animal Sanctuary I support had severe problems this year because donations were funneled to other large causes recently. It was in danger of closing twice. That would have meant putting many of the lions, tigers, bears, wolves and others to sleep since the center is the last resort for most that come from zoo over-breeding, illegal pet trade, and other centers going out of business. I tried to help with a press release to local press. The Animal Network finally aired “Growing Up Black Leopard”, and a celebrity (Jessica Biel) has jumped on board. So, I’m keeping my fingers crossed the worst is over.

Other Fun Stuff—I’m still doing my Quarterly Cooking Adventures with Pennie. In January we did Italian Vegetables and Lamb. In April, I chose French. Everything was so rich, I was sick for days. But it was worth it! In October, instead of cooking we caught up on the cookbook we were putting together from these adventures. We put a good dent in it but have more to go.

Superbowl was at John and Betsy’s. Jerome and I went to the Denver Art Museum’s DAM Uncorked wine event again in early April, courtesy of John’s free tickets. This year, I finally went to Kinetics again on May 6th where those who’ve built human-powered crafts race them at the Boulder Reservoir amid thousands of spectators. Mozelle, Laila and Sarah raced a craft called Son of Spam. The next evening, I met Judy in Denver’s Civic Center Park for the annual Cinco de Mayo festival to eat and listen to music.

I did 24 restaurant reviews this year. I finally counted up all the reviews I’ve done with John and the Rocky Mt. News since 2000. So far I’ve done at least 132! I’m so lucky to get to experience so many (mostly wonderful) restaurants like that. I also went to a few soft openings at new restaurants including Seven Eurobar and Black Cat. Speaking of food (aren’t I always?) I finally found wild asparagus. Chef Jim, from The Cork, told me where to find them. They were delicious and I can’t wait to pick more next year.

Lisa and I did a micro-adventure around Boulder and Golden in May because I found a fun website of off-beat tourist spots around the US (roadsideamerica.com). I noticed several local sights were missing, so I decided to submit some blurbs and photos. First, we did the field across the street from my condo, which is a prairie dog preserve. Then the Fish Observatory on Boulder Creek, and a bizarrely decorated house on Goss St. We stopped at the “M” painted on the mountain in Golden and the dinosaur footprints on the side of the mountain in Morrison, as well as the sand-filled boxcar train that serve as a windbreak to stop other trains from blowing off a mesa down by the former Rocky Flats nuclear weapons plant. I also wrote about the Soundwalk on Curtis and 15th (street grates with loudspeakers below and sounds of subways, cows, wolves and more). While we were at it, we visited a few other postings: A solar dorm, a vampire’s grave, and a candlestick-shaped building, and we ate lunch at the Rocky Flats Bar for fun.

Sarah and I finally got together with our old friend Tim at The Kitchen's wine bar in May, which was wonderful. We hung out in the ’80’s, he moved away, then moved back. I got more involved with the Colorado Mycological Society and went to a couple meetings, on a group foray, and hunting for mushrooms with Evelyn at places like Mt. Evans, Eldora/Hesse and Winter Park. We were determined to find boletes (porcinis), but never did. However, we did find some edibles, and went back to her house to cook them.

Lisa and I went bowling one April evening at Splitz. We stayed until the disco bowling began, danced around and had a ball. A few days later, I talked some friends into going to the BodyWorlds2 Exhibit at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science (as well as a Black Hole Imax movie) with Laurie, Janet and John’s son, Hans. It was fascinating! If you haven’t heard about these exhibits, they are plasticized human bodies. It was so interesting to see what fat, smoke, pollution and other stuff does to our organs, as well as where everything is inside us. We thought we’d get grossed out, but in reality were just amazed. We were even able to go out for fried chicken at Joseph's Southern Food afterwards—the best in Denver! While we waited for the chicken, we took a walk and went “casket shopping” at the funeral home across the street. Poor Hans was embarrassed and waited outside. We had fun though, talking to the owner and his aging uncle who was dressed in a cream-colored Sunday suit looking like a member of Earth, Wind and Fire. On the way home, we stopped at City Park, watched the comerants in the trees and indulged ourselves with a treat from an ice cream truck.

This summer, Janet and I climbed a butte in Boulder where there is an abandoned mining company, a small private historical cemetery, and an Indian sweat lodge that’s still in use today. In July, Gye and I decided to get out of the heat and drive up to Nederland, for lunch. It just happened to be Miner’s Days, so we spent some time watching a contest of men with big hammers and the oldest existing steam shovel (1923) work and blow it’s horn, as well as do a little shopping.

Etc.—I finally broke down in May and bought a new Apple MacBook. For the first time, I was an "early adopter" and bought the Intel chip model the week it was released. I’ll never do that again! I’m still dealing with bugs, but once they’re fixed I’m sure I’ll love it. I also broke down and finally upgraded from dialup to high-speed internet. I’ll never go back!

Unfortunately, I dumped a fair amount of money into my old car this year. Then, when I got rear-ended I asked my mechanic for advice and he recommended I forgo repairs and put the insurance money toward my new car fund. “Hmm...," I thought, "new car?” Well, that was all it took. I started looking and the next thing I knew, on August 25th, I was signing the papers for a 2003 Subaru Forester. I love my fifth Subaru. It’s got better clearance and much more power. It’s dark green with dark grey trim and I got new personalize plates that say SLOFOOD.

I got back in touch with the Gibbs via email, a couple I used to babysit for when I was a young teen back in Westport, CT. What an unexpected pleasure. I hope to visit them in Steamboat Springs during one of my two upcoming planned trips up there.

Colorado passed a no smoking law for bars and restaurants in July. The first weekend of the ban, I asked Jerome to take me out to dive bars in Denver—places I would never have gone in the past because of the smoke (in truth, I wouldn’t have gone anyway). We hit Nob Hill, Detour, Kozmos for a little dancing, 404, Don’s Mixed Drinks (which was bought out and no longer sleazy), and Bar Bar. What a fun night! We even gave money to a homeless man with a truly good story.

After many years of having an awful website, I finally redesigned mine. It’s got my most popular recipes, more photos and other fun stuff. I’ll be adding to it over time. The URL is below, so check it out.

It was an anxious day in September when I cut my hair. Not super short, but just below my shoulders. I’d been trying to grow it back for so long, but it was getting scraggly, so it was pretty traumatic. But, I like it, so it's OK. And, I’m pretty much back to wearing contacts all the time now and haven’t had a reoccurrence of that SLK condition I got a few years ago that forced me to wear my glasses most of the time. Yeah! I brought my cholesterol down with a natural product that Asians have been using for centuries called Red Yeast Rice. After three months, my total went from 234 to 181, my LDL from 153 to 113, and my triglycerides from 158 to 104. Pretty amazing, huh? But, beware, it works like the Western drugs, such that you can’t eat grapefruit with it either.

Well, that was my year, fun but nothing earthshattering.

May your 2007 be happy and healthy!

Laura