Turkey Burgers

I do not know when it happened, or why for that matter. All I know is that it did, and my life has been a lot more delicious ever since. I am, of course, talking about turkey. It used to be, once a year my family would get its turkey fix. Now, for some reason I choose not to look up (Jenny-O decided to increase marketing), turkey is everywhere. By everywhere I mean its available at the grocery store.

Ground turkey has effectively replaced ground beef this year in my household. There is no way that I am going to say that turkey is "healthier" than beef or any of that garbage. Our quality of ground beef has been pretty sub-par, so we branched out to include more turkey. That is when I came across this little delight: Turkey burgers with cheddar and grilled red onion served on a Mission tortilla wrap. Hmm, I should really work on sexing up that title...

Anyway, the only real issue I have had with turkey over beef is in forming a hearty enough patty for grilling. Beef will hold up really well when seasoned, oiled and packed. Ground turkey of the same fat content (93/7) tends to be a lot more juicy, thereby making patties pretty impossible. My trick, like so many people before me, is to use breadcrumbs to bind it together. My "secret," if you can call it that, is using Japanese breadcrumbs. Panko is light, and helps tremendously when trying to bind up ground meats.

Here is the recipe:

1 lb ground turkey (93/7)

2 Mission Tortilla Wraps (Cheddar and Jalapeno)
4 thick slices good quality cheddar cheese
1 red onion, cut into 4-5 slices (rounds)
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
3 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons smoked paprika
2 teaspoons cumin
1-2 teaspoons cayenne pepper
freshly cracked black pepper
3-4 teaspoons Panko breadcrumbs
Olive Oil, salt and pepper to season

Start off by mixing the turkey in a medium bowl. Add the salt, paprika, cumin, cayenne, peper and Worcestershire sauce, and mix around. Depending on the consistancey, add breadcrumbs one tablespoon at a time, taking care to mix and recheck consistency. Once you are able to form a patty that doesn't mush, you are good to make all 4 patties. Set them aside.

Now you can pre-heat the grill.

With the red onion cut into slices/rounds, you can either skewer them or carefully place them in a grill basket. I have done both, and have been a lot less frustrated doing the grill basket. Once you have the onion skewered or in the basket, season with salt, pepper and olive oil. Set aside.

The grill should be at medium heat. Toss on both the turkey burgers and onions. The burgers and onion will take about the same amount of time to cook completely, about 15 minutes per side depending on the thickness of the burgers.The onions will take about 15 minutes on the first side, and 5-10 on the other. Pull the onion off once both sides are juicy, and the outer ring is blackened.

Take the tortilla wraps and cut in half. This leaves you with two halves. Place the cheese over one half of the halved tortilla. So, you have half of tortilla with one side bare, and one side covered in delicious cheddar. Repeat the process for the remaining tortilla. Working with one tortilla at a time, place both halves into a large toaster oven, and toast very lightly. You are just looking to crisp the bare side and melt that cheese. Repeat for the remaining tortilla halves.

Once the turkey burgers are cooked throughout, place one of the patties onto the cheesy portion of the tortilla wrap half. Top with one of the onion slices. Add any condiments you like (spicy mustard!) and fold the top over. Serve with sweet potato fries (recipe to come).

BONUS ROUND: To really take these turkey burgers to the next level (level 11, housewares, men's suits) add a few slices of applewood smoked bacon. The crispiness of the bacon, sweetness of the onion, heartiness of the burger and tastiness of the cheese and tortilla make for quite a combination.

Note: The first time I tried this, I just chopped an onion in half and tossed it on the grill. The results were mixed, so I modified the recipe, but I didn't update the picture.

Steaks! With Mushrooms!

The 4th of July. Always a good reason to eat. And eat. And eat and eat. This year, Steaks were our patriotic meal for the 4th.

How could you go wrong with a steak for Independence Day? Hell, how could you go wrong with steaks for any holiday? Hell, any day should be a steak day. Back on point: steaks with a creamy mushroom sauce is pure victory. The key to really delicious mushrooms are super slow cooking + butter. Mushrooms absorb like a sponge. Better, actually, because its butter.

I started off by seasoning the steaks with a bit of salt, pepper and rosemary. I then placed the steaks into a little marinade of Worcestershire sauce. There they sat for a few hours, soaking it all in. No, those are not the same type of steaks. The larger one is my porterhouse, and the other, puny one is a t-bone. To quote George Costanza, "Gotta love that T-Bone!"

Come grilling time, I patted both steaks off with a paper towel and set them on a plate, ready to hit the grill. I prepped the mushroom by cutting them into quarter inch slices. I then heated a large pan to low heat, added a tablespoon of butter. Once the butter began to sizzle, I added the mushrooms and seasoned with salt and pepper. I then took the steaks out to my pre-heated grill. The grill was on medium, and that is how hot I generally grill steaks. A grill on medium heat cooks the steaks evenly, and I find that timing is easier to keep track of. Twenty minutes, flip, ten, check. I prefer my steak medium rare, and the other member of the house prefers medium to medium well. So I usually place my steak on the top rack, and let the other one sizzle for a bit longer.

Meanwhile, the mushrooms are soaking in all the oils and cream from the butter. If things start to look dry, I add a bit more butter. Cooking slow is key to getting them really tasty. After about thirty minutes, they should be just bursting with flavors. That is when I took out the big guns.

Have you ever had creme fraiche? It is amazing, right? Well, for those mushrooms that thought their butter soak was the highlight of the day, I gave them two tablespoons of creme fraiche to really blow them away. I stirred the creme fraiche into the mushrooms and removed the pan from the heat. The steaks were done at this point, and already on plates, so on go the mushrooms. This is happiness. This is how to celebrate independence.

Lamb Kababs

Have you ever seen Flight of the Concords? Of course you have. Anyway, they way those blokes say kababs always made me giggle. No, not kabobs, kababs. I just love kababs. For the sake of this post, I plan on butchering kabobs.

Lamb has become a mainstay at our house. Beef has been on the wane as of late. So has pork, actually. The typical meal protein is usually fish or chicken. Sometimes, however, its lamb. Lamb patties with hummus and pita chips are our delicious lamb dish. We have branched out, and have had several lamb shanks, but I have found a reliable source for lamb pieces that are perfect for kababs. The first time I tried these out, I did not marinate them at all. Just seasoned with salt, pepper and red pepper flakes and tossed on the grill. They turned out quite tasty, but I was left wondering if a marinade could have taken them to 11.

So this time I decided to toss them into something over night. But what? Beer? Teriyaki? Nah, Greek yogurt! A bit of salt, pepper and cumin. This marinade was like no marinade I had ever made. I tossed everything together and the lamb looked exceptionally happy as I put the container in the fridge.

When I cracked the marinade open, I was surprised at how thick it was. The lamb pieces needed some serious tugging to break them free. Once freed from their creamy marinade, the lamb was slipped onto some skewers I had soaked for about 45 minutes. I have done skewering without soaking, and boy, that's not such a great idea. I like to leave a little space between the pieces of veggies and meat, so that time I didn't soak, the skewers burned to a crisp, separating all the vegetables on the grill. I was lucky enough to rescue 80% of the meal that time. Anyway, I put the lamb on the skewers and fired up the grill.

The vegetable kababs I usually make are mushroom, Vidalia onion, red bell pepper and a chili of sort (green chili, jalapeno, etc.). This time I had some good looking chilies straight from my own damn garden, so they were impaled promptly. Quartering the onion was the next order of business, and I managed to fit the large onion onto two skewers. The mushrooms require a lot of attention, and I start off by babying them with loads of olive oil.

The grill set to medium heat, I toss on the lamb to the hottest part, and veggies to the cooler part. If the grill you use is fancy, and has even heating, the turn one side down a bit for the veggies. Just a bit. Now, most grilling projects I do allow me to run inside and take care of washing dishes, preparing sides, etc., but not with kababs. Keeping an eye on them is very important to how they will ultimately turn out. I brought out my salt dish and pepper, as well as my bottle of olive oil (and beer). Keeping those mushrooms soaked is priority one. Priority two is getting everything turned evenly; it is so easy to lose a mushroom or onion when flipping. After about 15-20 minutes, everything should be 'there.'

Platting can be tricky, depending on your audience. If its just ones significant other and themselves, I say just plate the skewers. If its for a crowd, slide everything off the skewers onto individual plate and hand the tongs out. I made a little dill sauce out of the remaining Greek yogurt to serve with the kababs. All told, it was quite a delicious meal with some awesome veggies. The mushrooms were probably the worst thing on there, after being soaked to the core with olive oil. They were tasty though.

Pour Me - Ranger IPA

I am an unabashed fan of New Belgium. Everything that they produce, I have tried (at least everything that made it to my liquor store). New Belgium does not have a very broad range of beers; Fat Tire, Blue Paddle, Trippel, Sunshine Wheat and Mothership Wit are all fairly light and easy drinking. Other brewers in Colorado (Odells for one) brews a very strong range of beers, from ales, to IPA's, to porters. This leaves new Belgium to concentrate its focus on brewing, rather than expanding.The Ranger IPA is a reflection on the devotion to getting it right, instead of making more.

A new beers is always exciting to try. There is a buildup of anticipation as the bottle (or can) opens, and you pour into a frosty glass. The colors are always quite telling. I am a huge fan of smokey porters, so the blacker the better, however, light and golden IPA's are very pretty. Ranger is a darker IPA than I am accustomed to. The pour is good, and a fair amount of head makes for a great photo op.

Ranger is available in 22 oz "bombers" as well as 6-packs. I prefer to get the bomber because my wife dislikes IPA's with a passion. "Too bitter!" For me a 6-pack is overkill, and the price is right with the Ranger bomber. The store down the way charges $2.99, and that is well worth the price.

Ranger is a good IPA. It is refreshing, hoppy and packs a healthy amount of bitterness. It is by no means as good as the 90-minute IPA from Dogfish Head, but its good and does a good job of balancing the bitterness and hoppiness. It is smooth, and easy to drink, much like any beer from New Belgium. You do not have to be a beerophile to enjoy; it is a simple IPA, without any pretenses. Ranger is quite accessible for any beer lover. Except those who do not like IPA's.

Cribbed - Jamie’s Greek Salad

Jamie Oliver is one of my favorite chefs. His humor and flavor profile really relates to me. Most everything in his cook books sound exceptional, and the book itself is a good read. While most cook books are just a resource, Jamie’s books are an approachable read. Being able to sit down and read the rational behind a recipe, as well as some light food theory is really entertaining and enlightening.

This is one recipe that I have made repeatedly, tweaking it every time. The first time I hacked this together, it was simply the best salad I have ever had. Since then, I have substituted Feta for goat cheese, made a spicy dressing and even added grilled chicken. This is my most recent variation to the Jamie’s Greek Salad.

Dressing
2-3 lemons
Olive oil, good quality
Salt and pepper
Dash oregano

Salad
1 heart of romaine or 1/2 a full head
1 shallot
5 baby tomatoes (mixed colors)
2 medium avocados
1 lemon
1 package good quality feta
12-15 black olives
salt and pepper

Start by making the dressing. Juice the 2-3 lemons into a mason jar or salad shaker. Add enough olive oil to double the amount of liquid. Season with salt and pepper and a dash of oregano. Now shake, shake, shake. Put it in the fridge while you get the salad together.

Start off by getting a fairly large bowl. Split the avocado, and cut into small chunks. Toss in the bowl. Peel and chop the shallot, and add to the bowl. Split the lemon, and squeeze the juice over the avocado and shallot. Season with salt and pepper, and set aside.

Chop the romaine into manageable sized pieces. Wash thoroughly and pat dry with a paper towel. Toss the romaine into the large bowl with avocado and shallot. Next, chop up the tomatoes and add to the salad. Next, split the olives and add into the salad. I like to just take them and give them a squeeze, splitting them in two. Mix everything together thoroughly. Lastly, cut the feta into chunks roughly the same size as the avocados and top the salad with it.

Plate the salad, taking care to get plenty of the feta. Add the dressing. The salad may need a pinch of salt and some pepper.

Ft. Fun Foodstuffs - Day 3

Day 3 was our last full day in Ft. Collins, so we tried to make the most out of it. We started out by renting our bicycles again (one of us needed a different one that had an adjustable seat), and set off. We set off, sure enough, with no direction in mind. We just headed south on a bike trail in search of sights to see and someplace to eat. We had a map, albeit, a map that was far from detailed and scaled.

We ended up pretty far from the hotel. We had been riding for about an hour, and had stopped to look at the map to see where we were. The thing about maps is, while they are great if you know where you currently are, they are virtually useless when you don't. We were fortunate that morning because some kindly joggers stopped to help us out. We asked them where we could find breakfast, and the dude said that right over that hill, there is an awesome bagel joint. So we hit it. About half a mile later, we arrived at Gib’s Bagels.

I had a toasted bagel with lox and cream cheese. It was damn good. I do not know if it was hunger and exhaustion, but it was a fantastic meal. Filling up on coffee and water, we felt much better. We were ready to tackle the task of riding back to the hotel. Thankfully, we were able to catch a lot of downhills.

Once we got back, we headed back to Old Town for a bit of shopping and to grab a pint of beer. We wondered around for a bit, did a little shopping and hit Coopersmith’s Pub and Brewing. At Brewfest, they had an awesome brown ale. This brown ale was refreshing, smokey, and had a ton of character. It was the lone beer that we really enjoyed from Brewfest. So, we decided to check out Coopersmith’s for appetizers.

We were seated outside (seriously, it was so nice in Ft. Collins) and we asked for the brown ale. Our waitress said that they had it, but it was only at the other Coopersmith’s pub across the way. Apparently, there is a pub separate from the brewery/restaurant. So, instead of doing what we ultimately should have done, we ordered a pint of their porter. The beer was quite tepid and silty; not at all what either of us expected. Despite the warm beer and funky flavor, we decided to order food. Now, up to this point, we were batting a thousand on our restaurant choices. This time, our average went down. The appetizers we ordered were inferior than those served at Applebee’s. We had our fill of mediocrity, and while waiting, and waiting, and waiting for the check, we decided this was a bad idea. Finally the check came, and a huge, fat tip later (/sarcasm), we headed out. Awful, Coopersmiths was.

The afternoon was still young, so we decided to drive around a bit. We wanted to see what their Whole Foods was like. We are extremely dependant on our luxury grocer, Central Market. They tend to carry things that we cannot find at our regular supermarket. Whole Foods in Ft. Collins was pretty impressive. Not nearly as the Flagship store here in Austin, but it was reassuring to know that we could get good quality fish, produce and meat if we ever live in Ft. Fun. We bought some cheeses, meats and olives for snack time. Everything was about on par, price-wise, as similar items in Austin. We then headed to the liquor store next door (opened on Sunday!) to see whats what. This shop was very well stocked, although some of the prices on wines were higher than what we usually see in Austin. I don’t mean to compare everything to Austin, its just a good point of reference. After all, Austin is unbearably hot right now, not so in Ft. Collins. We ended up finding a good deal on a Malbec, and our snack time was complete.

We headed back to the room for our snack and a nap. Everything was pretty tasty, with the exception of this one soft cheese. It turned out to be quite bitter. However, the gouda, meat and wine were all excellent.

After recovering for a while, we decided to check out the theater. Toy Story was playing, so we hit it up. The movie was quite delightful, and the theater was decent enough.

We got back to the hotel at a reasonable hour, so we decided to check out the lounge downstairs. This lounge was done in a very art deco theme. It worked really well. The lighting was quite dark, and the place was empty, sans a few patrons. Must be a Sunday thing. However, just because it was empty does not mean it wasn’t quite. The few patrons were LOADED. My wife and I could barely hear each other above their conversations. If I would have been working the bar, these folks would have been out on their assess. However, I do not work there, so who am I to judge. My wife and I wondered through the menu, and decided on an appetizer and a glass of wine. The shout-talking meant we could not stay for an entire meal. We had a delightful fondue and had 2 glasses of Colores del Sol Malbec. I really do enjoy it when someone tells me I have made a good choice, and the barman told us we had made 2 really good ones. Win!

After we finished up, we had to get out of there, so we headed upstairs to get an actual meal. Sadly, the sushi joint across the street had just closed. Our options were fairly limited, so I suggested Crown Pub. We had walked buy earlier, and the fish and chips looked really tasty. Looks, I need to remind myself, can be deceiving. My fish and chips were actually pretty good, mostly because I was starving. The gnocchi dish my wife got looked pretty good, and was actually pretty good. For a pub. Olive Garden probably has better. Regardless, a pint of beer and some fish and chips does hit the spot.

Day 4 rolled around, and we headed out early to find something good. Amazingly, there was a Gib’s Bagels right behind the hotel, so again, we rocked bagels and coffee for breakfast. After eating, we packed up and headed back to Denver. The Denver airport is insane, to say the least. We got checked in, strip searched, trammed all over gods creation, and finally arrived at our gate. 3 hours early. So we decided to see if there was a decent place to eat. There is not. The best place is Rock Bottom. Their beers are tasty, and their nachos are affordable. It is a good enough place to pass the time when waiting for a flight.

The trip to Ft. Collins was not meant to be a culinary trip by any means, but I was impressed by some places (Beau Jo’s) and appalled (Coopersmiths) by others. One of the things I keep coming back to is the amount of breweries in the area. In Texas, it seems that there are very few brewpubs and small breweries. Shiner is close, and everyone and their mother loves that pisswater bock. There are a few small, independent breweries in Austin, but their beers are quite average. The Colorado brew scene is one that I enjoy. Alongside California breweries, Colorado offers the most beers that I enjoy. I am looking forward to that next New Belgium beer.

Ft Fun Foodstuffs - Day 2

Being still on Central time, we were awake at 5:30. The sun was shining in through the window of our 3rd story hotel room in the Anderson. We fought the urge to get up until 6:30. We went for a good long jog around the Old Town area, checking out old houses. We got back and decided to eat someplace close by. We found out that our hotel, being the historic building it is, has numerous options on the 1st floor.

There are a handful of eateries in downstairs at the Anderson. Muggs, a coffee bar and sandwich shop; Choice City Butcher and Deli; HuHot Mongolian Grill. There is also a massage place, a chocolate bar and a lounge. This place has it all. We decided to check out Choice City. 

Our waitress at Choice City was quite friendly, and gave some awesome recommendations. I had a really tasty version of Eggs Benedict that had some cajun seasoned hash browns. My wife had an awesome looking potato fritters with her breakfast croissant sandwich with sprouts. Everything was very tasty, especially my cajun hash browns. Satisfied, we got ready to face the beer-fueled day we had before us. 

The Armstrong rents bicycles, so we rented 2 cruiser bikes, got a map and headed out to New Belgium. The ride was quite fun, with wide bike lanes on the road and fun trails it was easy to get to our destination. We arrived at New Belgium a few minutes after they opened for business on Saturday. We toured the merchandise before sitting down at the bar. 

It may be my jaded opinion of the world, but I expected New Belgium to be corporate. My thought was that they had expanded enough to lose that certain small, fun brewery, and be replaced by a cold feel of precision. This was far from the case. Not only was everyone working extremely friendly (they must be putting something in the carbonated raspberry pomegranate water), but also we got to sample 3 beers. For free. That is how you sell beers. We drank our samples and conversed with the barman about Ft. Collins. He provided us with some invaluable insights, and suggested we check out Tour de Fat when it comes around to Austin. Which, after some further research, looks like an awesome time. Sadly, we were not able to take a guided tour of New Belgium. However, that always gives us a reason to go back.

We biked from New Belgium to O’dells. O’dells has one of our favorite beers from our pre-Texas days, Easy Street Wheat. This was the beer of choice when we lived in Las Cruces, but sadly, cannot find it in the great state of Texas. So we were really excited to see this brewery, and enjoy all it had to offer.

Expectations are quite a curious thing. Rarely are they met, but we frequently have great ones. O’dells was not what I expected. A small, quaint brew-pub is what I wanted to see. I was quite off. O’dells was large. Larger than New Belgium, at least in terms of the tap room. Everything felt sterile and cold. The samples offered a greater variety than New Belgium, but were pricey. The atmosphere was very cold in comparison with the jovial people at New Belgium. We ordered our sample set, paid, received our samples with no friendly smile or explanation of whats what. We sat and sampled our beers. In silence. No one asked if we were enjoying them, or if we would like to try anything else, or if we simply hated it. Sadly, as we were walking out I bought into the merchandising. I have a pretty cool O’dells t-shirt now. And a bottle opener. Damn. 

From there we rode back to the hotel and prepared to head to Brewfest (Brewers Festival). We decided to go ahead and eat something, so we stopped by Stufft - A Burger Bar. We saw some folks eating some really tasty looking sweet potato fries there the day before, so we decided to give it a try. At the Burger Bar, you build up your own burger. Just check the ingredients you would like; meat, cheese, veg, sauce, extra stuff. Even here the beers were cheap. Under $4 pints seems like a steal of a deal to us Austinites. The burger I built was called Mr. Manx for no other reason that I giggle at alliteration. Our burgers were out promptly, and the sweet potato fries were good, as were the onion rings. All in all, another good meal.

We headed to Brewfest shortly after. The festival was broken up into 2 sessions, and we bought our tickets for the 3 o’clock session. We then realized that it was only 1:30. We decided to head back to the hotel for a power nap. After 3, we went back to Brewfest. I have to say, the highlight was not the many, many beers offered, but the one singer/songwriter we saw, Danielle Ate The Sandwich. Her songs were entertaining, and we felt like she was playing exclusively for us because everyone else was watching the United States loose to Ghana. She even had a nice Miley Cyrus cover. Once Danielle finished her set, we bought one of her CD’s and wondered around for a bit, taking it all in. Drunk frat guys, drunk non-frat guys, drunk drunks, drunk girls; 2010 Brewers Festival had it all. After sampling a few more beers, we decided to eat. Again.

One food item that really piqued my interest was “Monkey Balls.” When someone would order this particular item, the cook would yell “MONKEY BALLS!!” and ring a bell. I was pretty much sold after I saw someone eating them and hearing the cook yell. So, I ordered my monkey balls and my wife got some teriaki pork. Both were very tasty for fair-fare. 

The beers at this festival were all run of the mill. Nothing elicited a reaction from either of us. Maybe we have more prudent tastes. Maybe, and this is what I believe, is that the brewers brought out their mediocre brews as a cost cutting measure. Still, it was a fun time, and we were set to hit up the Taj Mahal.

Ah, the Taj Mahal. I first experienced Indian food here several years ago. And it was good. Maybe even great. I was pretty drunk at the time. Anyway, we stopped by the Taj. Needless to say, we both had waters. We ordered lamb saag, naan, basimati rice, and something delightfully red. We stuffed ourselves, and reflected. This was good, but different than our favorite Austin Indian place, The Clay Pit. The Clay Pit just seems more refined. Not better by any means, but the Taj Mahal seems more home style. Regardless, it was delicious. 

For some reason, even though we were quite full, we decided to hit the gelato joint. It was karaoke night. We managed to beat the crowd, and got our gelato without any problems. I was really in the mood for a waffle-cone, and found out that even the small one comes with 3 scoops! I only wanted 1, but why not go for gold, right? So I ordered coffee and mint, and dived in. I just could not do it, sadly. I got about half way through before I started to turn pale. The gelato was quite tasty, but at that point, it was overkill. Overkill to my tummy.

Stay tuned for the final chapter of Ft. Fun Foodstuffs: Day 3! We get hit by the mediocrity bus.

Ft. Fun Foodstuffs - Day 1

 Starting the day in Austin, my wife and I had a good, hearty breakfast with some friends. We dined at the Magnolia Café. I rocked the Eggscape, 2 eggs, over easy, on a bed of home-fries and sausage, topped with cheddar-jack cheese. And coffee. The Eggscape is pretty much enough calories for a full weekend. I figured it was a good way to prepare for a long wait at the airport. 

Once we arrived in Denver, we set out to find our bags. Goddamn. The Denver airport was a madhouse. Flights from Austin were listed with 12 other flights on the baggage carousel. So we waited, shoulder to shoulder with hundreds of other folks that just wanted to get the hell out of there. Finally our bag arrived so we ran outside looking for our car rental bus. More waiting. We got our car and hit the street. By this time, the Eggscape was wearing quite thin, and hunger had set in. After our hour long ride, we arrived at our destination; Ft. Collins, CO.

Austin is well known for its live music and restaurants. Ft. Collins, not so much. However, there are a lot of great places to eat, and varied enough to dine someplace new every time you eat. Sure, Austin has more restaurants and trailers to eat at, but I find that those numbers are intimidating. Trying a new joint in Austin is a commitment to drive at least 20 minutes and battle for parking, for possibly a bad meal. In Ft. Collins, you can bike there, not have to worry about parking, and can possibly have a meal that will surprise you. I like that.
 

Please don’t get me wrong; I do enjoy eating in Austin. There is just too much involved. Finding the place on google maps, reading a few reviews, determine what would be good, all before you get in the car is tiresome. Hopping on a bike, going several miles, stopping to determine which way to go, someone will stop by and if you ask for a good place for breakfast, they will give you a word of mouth recommendation. So much better than a Yelp review.

Back on point, we arrived at our hotel around 4. We have not had a meal since 8 Central time, our spirits were lifted by the amount of food options withing walking distance (and by that I mean 2 blocks). We decided to have pizza at Beau Jo’s. 

Beau Jo’s is “Colorado style pizza,” whatever that means. Instead of pizza sizes in inches, their pizzas are measured by the pound. The one pounder feeds 2-3, 2 pounder feeds 4-5, etc. With pizza, I usually like to order something from the menu; something that has been play-tested enough. When choosing my own options, I get a little crazy. This pie was a 1 pound monster with green chili, olives, fontina and mozzarella, pepperonis and andouille sausage. I think. There could have been more, but its a blur. The coolest thing about Beau Jo’s was that it was “pint night,” so if we ordered a pint of any New Belgium beer, we got to keep the glass AND get $2.50 refills. That is cheaper than soda-pop! The pizza was pretty good, although I am a fan of the thinner crust called “the plains” over the thick, “Colorado” crust. All in all, this was a rewarding pizza experience.

After pizza, we wondered around town, checking out all Old Town had to offer. We retreated to the hotel for a bit, then back out on the town, cruising with no destination in mind. Stay tuned for day 2, filled with more eggs, some gelato, monkey balls and saag.