Five Acres with a View

Jack made this recipe for Slow Cooker Beef Stew IV that he found at Allrecipes.  I don’t usually care for stew made in a slow cooker, but this turned out very well, even without the wine.

June 13, 2008 – Click on image for higher resolution version.

While I was looking for a place for us to celebrate our 30th anniversary as well as Jack’s birthday, I came across the website for the The Black Bear Restaurant, a four-star restaurant a short distance from Colorado Springs of which I had never heard. The Chef’s Table (a fixed price meal) seemed interesting, so Jack made reservations.

I thought it slightly odd that there was no photo of the restaurant building on the website, and when we made the drive to Green Mountain Falls, I could see why: it certainly didn’t look like any four star restaurant I had ever seen before. Stated bluntly, it looked like a dive.

Appearances are deceptive. We chose the six course meal, and it was some of the best food I have ever had. We had fennel salad, which was very spicy; bison stew; caramelized onion frittata; a creamy pasta dish; Limousin steak and potatoes; and chocolate. I think it may have been the best steak I’ve ever had. The portion sizes were quite restrained, so we were full when we left, without being stuffed.

Today I had a cup of cold Borscht from the deli across the street. I had forgotten that borscht can be served cold, and it was a freezing day. Once I got over the shock of cold soup when I was hoping for hot soup, I enjoyed it. I am fairly certain that I had borscht before and liked it, but can’t remember if I had the cold or hot version.

Evil Mad Scientist Laboratories shows how to make Crane croutons for your salad.

Tiramatzah is a tasty and seasonal variation on a classic dessert: tiramisu made with many layers of matzah bread.

bagel to go

Originally uploaded by rodrigo piwonka.

Use a CD or DVD spindle to package a bagel sandwich. (Via Boing Boing.)

Tastespotting is a visual group blog devoted to food. The photos are awesome. This is probably not a good site if you are already hungry.

Like many others, I just went to our pantry and verifed that we didn’t have any of the peanut butter mentioned in FDA Recall.