Foods to eat before you die!

As a committed foodie, especially to international cuisine, I periodically peruse food blog sites. Most are pretty average and mostly talk about fast food restaurants in the author's area or about what the author had for supper (oops, that one sound familiar!). Every now and then though, I stumble upon a truly ingenious site (The Traveler's Lunchbox). The blogger, Melissa Kronenthal, is an American who is married to a German and lives in Scotland (got all that?!). Her narrative is witty and insightful and the photographs are so sharp and life-like, you can almost smell the food in the picture!

One of Melissa's posts involved polling other food bloggers about foods they felt everyone should eat before they die. It isn't just a list of your favorite foods, it's meant to be a list of foods you think everyone should try before they die. She called it a "global food guide." Of course, I immediately became curious about what I would put on my own list. She restricted the food bloggers that she invited to participate to only five things. Since this is my blog site, I've decided to expand that to 10!!! I could use up 10 just listing favorite foods within my family! Upon further reflection however, most of those foods are comfort foods to me and aren't necessarily things I think everyone should try before they die.

Some of the foods listed in the post I totally agreed with and have even made it onto my own list (beignets and cafe au lait from Cafe du Monde in New Orleans) while others are simply grotesque to my taste buds (foie gras [ a French delicacy; the liver of a duck or goose that has been fattened by force feeding]). Being Cajun though, I have to ask myself how foie gras is much different from cracklins (fried pig fat from a freshly slaughtered pig for all my non-Cajun readers out there!). Although I loved cracklins growing up, I have to admit to having acquired an aversion to this boucherie-day delicacy.

Here's my stab at 10 foods I think everyone should try before they die. Of course for me, where and with whom these foods are eaten is what makes them so special that you have to try them before you die. In my mind, the experience of eating the food is as much a part of the sensory experience as is the taste itself.

1. Boiled crawfish eaten on a newspaper-covered table in the yard of any native of a South Louisiana bayou (preferably in Terrebonne or Lafourche parishes, but NEVER in a restaurant in the city of New Orleans!).

2. Chicken & sausage gumbo shared with great Cajun storey-tellers on Thanksgiving or Christmas day in a home filled with their extended family.

3. Beignets and cafe au lait from Cafe du Monde in the New Orleans French Quarter while a riverboat organ whistles on the Mississippi River.

4. Greek village salad (perfectly sun-ripened, still warm tomatoes, sliced cucumbers, green bell pepper, rings of raw red onions & kalamata olives topped with a rectangle of goat feta cheese, olive oil, white balsamic vinegar and oregano, thyme & sage) and fried calamari (squid) consumed while still in a Mediterranean soaked swim suit sitting under the shade of a beach side cafe on the island of Crete, Greece.

5. Spanish tapas (sizzling gambas al ajillo [garlic shrimp], marinated olives, Serrano ham, Spanish tortilla [potato, onion, garlic, eggs]) paired with a robust Spanish Rioja red wine enjoyed at a Flamenco bar on a hot summer night in the Andalusian region of southern Spain.

6. Caffe (espresso served in a demitasse cup) drank shot-style while standing at a bar in Torino, Italy.

7. Nutella crepe bought from a street vendor in Paris at the base of the Eiffel Tower.

8. Grilled garlic mahi-mahi (dorado or dolphin fish [no, not the cute Sea World kind!] served on a paper plate with spring greens salad and brown rice by a beach side food shack followed by dripping ripe mango bought from a road side fruit stand on the North Shore of Oahu, Hawaii.

9. Mint tea (green tea leaves, fresh spearmint & lots of sugar!) served from a silver teapot into an ornately painted glass so hot it burns your fingers and lips in a cafe in Tangier, Morocco.

10. Peking duck rolled in lotus-leaf pancakes with sweet sauce and green onions served on a table with a lazy-susan in a Beijing restaurant.

There are so many more things I could add, but I'd say these are the highlights. Please go to The Traveler's Lunchbox to read the responses from the original post and then post your own here on my travel blog.

Rocky Mountain National Forest

After watching some of the finals of an archery competition going on here in Colorado Springs, I was feeling restless and decided I needed a road trip. I threw a bag on the back of my Harley, tanked up and headed for Rocky Mountain National Forest about 140 miles up Interstate 25.

As my time in Colorado gets shorter, I'm trying to see and do all the things in Colorado that I would regret not doing while living here. Visiting Estes Park and Rocky Mtn Natl Forest were on that list!

After a 2.5 hour ride in the wondrous heat, I spent the night in Estes Park at a very average hotel. The next morning, I donned leather chaps and my winter-weight leather coat and took off for the National Park. For a mere $10 entry fee, I cruised Hwy 34, AKA Trail Ridge Road. At a peak elevation of 12,183 feet, Trail Ridge Road is the highest major highway in North America. Parts of the ride were above treeline in what's known as alpine tundra. Trees may not grow above 11,000 feet, but the yellow-bellied marmot you see at the bottom of this picture was enjoying the sunny day! Click on the picture to enlarge.

It shouldn't be a surprise for those of you who follow my random life, but while taking in the view at this marmot speckled tundra, I met a couple on a Harley from just outside of Baton Rouge! I can't remember their names for the life of me, but we stayed together for a couple of scenic lookouts before parting ways. They asked me questions about living in this region as we sat at a mobile traffic light at 12,000 feet. The road was down to a one-lane rock and dirt path due to winter weather and a portable traffic light had been placed there to signal which direction had right of way!


All along the ride, there were pull-offs to take in amazing scenery. There were tons of bikes out on the road, both motorized and self-propelled! Most of the motorbikes were on the southern trek back home after a week spent in Sturgis, SD for the bike rally. Although I passed quite a few people on the interstate on bikes loaded down with sleeping gear and duffel bags, quite a few folks from more far-flung places trailered their bikes. Just as the couple from Baton Rouge had done, they were stopping along the way and downloading their bikes to ride through scenic areas of the country on their way back home.


I've had my bike now for 14 months and have over 8000 miles on it, most of it mountain riding. Although the scenery was breathtaking, the same could be said for the scenery on most of the mountain rides I've done here in Colorado and South Dakota. What really takes my breath away though is when I stumble upon a mountain lake. On a clear day, the water is a deepest color of blue I've not seen many times in my life. My bike is parked in front of the small lake (a pond really by Louisiana standards) right next to the sign marking Milner Pass (10,758 feet). I crossed the Continental Divide twice on this trip- once from east to west over Milner Pass and once from west back to east over Berthoud Pass. I was so thankful that it was a warm day and that the leathers I was wearing was enough to keep me warm as I rode 2 miles above sea level.


Right before leaving the park, I stopped at a scenic overlook manned by a forest ranger. I had heard about why so many trees were dying in the forests around Colorado, but I wanted to get the story straight from an expert. See all that brown in this picture? That's trees and it's supposed to be green like the surrounding trees. Colorado is in the midst of a Mountain Pine Beetle attack. The life span of the beetles is only a year, but they can come back year after year. I asked the ranger if this was really harmful to the forest or if this was mother nature's way of controlling forest growth. He said that this is one of the worst invasions in recent memory, but that these forests are so dense that it will mostly serve to prune out the slow-growers and diseased trees. It's hard to believe that the forests around Colorado will carry on after seeing so many brown trees all along the mountain range.

Bighorn Mountain Lodge

Now that I've relayed how wonderful my trip to Rocky Mountain National Park was, let me point out the one disappointment of the trip. Most of the folks reading the blog know that I can be a spontaneous gal. I get a wild hair to do something and I usually follow through if it still seems like a good idea after a few moments thoughts. In true Karen fashion, I didn't have reservations for this trip, I just jumped on my Harley and headed north.

Once I got to Estes Park around 4:30 p.m., I pulled up to the visitor's center and went inside. I pulled out my cell phone and started pulling lodging brochures from the pamphlet counter. Not one vacancy in the whole town it seemed. Not having kids, I didn't know that this was the last weekend for family outings before school started back up! Finally, the number in one brochure, Bighorn Mountain Lodge, revealed the last remaining room in Estes Park!

Do you have a room for tonight?

Yes.

How much?

$117 with tax.

Can I reserve it?

Sure, but just to let you know it doesn't have an air conditioner.

I recall the fact that Estes Park is above 7500 ft, chuckle and reply that I am from Louisiana and all I need is moving air.

So I check in, drive around to room 128 and open the door. An average room, nothing to write home about but will do for a night of sleep. Notice the wooden slats under the windows and think that the downward slope of those little slats aren't gonna let much air in the room. Look for the latch to unlock and open the window. Nothing. The windows don't open. It's a little stuffy in the room, but I leave the door open to let some air in and it's not too bad. Except for the family with four little kids staying in the room to my left and using the community kitchen in the room to my right. Good thing I travel with ear plugs. I'll just go take a shower and cool down from the 90 degree ride up. What you see in the picture is what greeted my bare feet.

Now, anyone who has traveled with me may be surprised that I am disgruntled over a little mildew in the shower. I've stayed in lots of hostels that had showers that looked worse than this. But the key word here is HOSTEL! Budget prices, usually half or less than half the price of a hotel room. What you see in the picture is in a $117 a night HOTEL room.

As I checked out the next morning, I asked the nice young lady manning the counter if there was a comment card I could fill out. She looked at me totally perplexed and repeated "A comment card?" Apparently they didn't have any, so this post should suffice as my comment card now! Now when anyone googles Bighorn Mountain Lodge, this post will come up as one of the hits. Perhaps this will help prospective lodgers make a more informed decision.

I don't consider myself a vindictive woman, but I don't like being taken for a ride either. Having the last room in town is one thing, but charging over $100 for a mildewed, budget hotel room is another! Thanks for letting me rant!!!!

Mom & Dad out West (Part I)

After living in Colorado for four years, we finally got my dad out here for a visit! My mom came out in 2004 and helped me with some painting in my house when I first bought it, but she hadn't seen it since I moved all my stuff in. It's nice to know that they can visualize what I'm talking about when I describe something about my job or house now. They were impressed with my little house, but the pergola was the highlight! We sat out on the swing and had breakfast out there in the mornings. Dave, I think you might have more business for pergola building!

After breakfast, I brought them to the Olympic Training Center so they could see where I work. It's always fun to show off such a fun work complex! Sometimes it's a little weird to work at a place where tour buses are parked with hundreds of people taking tours though!

We had a full-0n Western couple of days. We visited an old ghost town (Ghost Town Wild West Museum) that had some nicely preserved stage coaches and cowboy-era country stores, saloons, barbershops and banks. We also toured the Pioneers Museum in downtown Colorado Springs. I hadn't been there before, but it had lots of cool memorabilia of the Pikes Peak region, including relics from the iconic, though now defunct Michelle's chocolate and ice cream shop.

One part of our Western experience was dinner at the Craftwood Inn their first night in town. In this picture is the wild game platter we sampled as a meal. Clockwise starting at 9:00 is sauteed loin of ostrich, pistachio pesto ravioli, grilled elk, braised venison, seared antelope, wild game quesadilla, and grilled bison. I don't think I have eaten as much meat in the whole last year as I did at that dinner! It was all quite tasty though, and you couldn't beat the ambiance and views that we had as we dined on the outside patio.

Mom & Dad out West (Part II)

This saloon picture of us shows how much my daddy loves me! First off, he's not one for having his picture taken at all. On top of that, he's a no-nonsense man. Putting on a cowboy hat wasn't a big deal, but putting on the sheriff shirt and badge and holding the gun is a whole other story! He knew how much Mom and I wanted to do the picture, and how much his grandkids would get an absolute kick out of seeing him this way, so he relented. I think this is my new favorite picture of me and my parents!! It symbolizes a memorable day and quality time spent together. Thanks so much Daddy, I know you did this for me and Mom and it's REALLY appreciated.



A trip to Colorado Springs just isn't complete without a trip through the Garden of the Gods. Unfortunately, the weather wasn't cooperating and you can't see Pikes Peak behind the clouds. The weather was uncharacteristically humid and rainy. Figures that after my constant complaining of the dry environment out here that the air felt more similar to South Louisiana than an arid mountain region the whole time my parents were here!



We ended the day at a chuckwagon dinner. The Flying W Ranch is an actual working mountain cattle ranch at the foot of the Rocky Mountains. Knowing how much my dad loves Country & Western music as well as cowboy movies, I figured he and Mom would enjoy a cowboy style chuckwagon dinner and show. Unfortunately, we weren't able to explore the "old town" very much because of the rain, but we did manage to explore a little and see how the biscuits were made in dutch ovens covered with hot coals.



The dinner itself was meant to represent food the cowboys ate back at the ranch and out on the range back in the Old West glory days. We had surprisingly tender and tasty steaks, homemade biscuits (yummmmm), baked beans, applesauce, a baked potato and spice cake. All of this was served on a tin plate! Dinner was followed by a performance by the Flying W Wranglers. This group has been in existence for over 50 years and are quite entertaining. The harmonizing was impressive, the jokes a bit corny but funny, and the fiddle playing unbelievable!



One of the funnest parts of the whole evening was the group of 4-5 couples from the Denver area seated at our table. They have been friends for 20+ years and call themselves the "Cruisers." Every other month, they rotate couples to host an adventure. The rules are that it can't cost more than $50 per person and can't be more than 2 hours away. The other couples get hints, but don't know what they will be doing until the day of the adventure. Their adventures over the years have included white water rafting, target shooting at a gun range, horseback riding, visiting a dairy farm, and just about every other adventure you can think of doing in Colorado. It was great to see these folks truly enjoying their retirements!



My dad left on Sunday and Mom stayed until Tuesday. Mom and I enjoyed a great day of just hanging out and working on our family cookbook. She brought a bunch of old family photos and recipes she's collected from our extended family and we began a project that's been a goal of our family for quite a few years now. We're very excited at the progress we made, but most of all thoroughly enjoyed our day of sharing photos and family stories. Our family is rich with traditions, I'm so glad its goint to be preserved for future generations.



Not sure what adventures await me next, but I'll keep yall posted!