First 10 Days of Denver

In our first 10 days in Denver, these are some things I have learned:

1. People don't want you to talk to them while you are waiting to cross the street.
2. People don't want you to talk to them in the coffee-shop.
3. In fact, just leave everybody alone.
4. Living in Downtown is a lot of fun.
5. There is a large homosexual population here.
6. Yet the city does not feel uber-liberal. Just normal big city liberal. They don't try to push their agenda, just live in peace. Is this what the Moonies were/are like?
7. Prairie dogs are really cute.
8. But they are probably ninjas in disguise....the prairie dogs, not the gays.
9. If you find someone who is willing to exchange dialogue with you in a coffee-shop he/she is probably a Jackass. Literally. The friendliest person I've met in Denver is a star on the show Jackass.
10. There are places that just sell cup-cakes (insert gay joke here--but i'm talking about real, edible cup-cakes).
11. Gelato is amazing.
12. There is a serious lack of oxygen in this city.
13. Mountains are awesome.
14. Snotty ballroom studios are parasites and must be avoided at all times....or destroyed.
15. You aren't somebody until you own a Vespa.
16. "Howdy" doesn't work in this town. People just look at you and give you the "why are you calling me Heidi" look.
17. Rooftops are great.
18. Gum you find on the street is not free candy. Don't touch it. ;)
19. "The grass is always greener on the other side." It's true. The grass here is incredibly green.
20. Altitude headaches will not kill you. But they will try.
21. Don't go to Cheesman Park at night if you're a guy.....ladies, you'll be fine.
22. Homeless people in Denver do not ask for money. In fact, they don't even talk to you. They just sit, walk, play harmonica, etc. But they will not approach you.
23. Everyone chews with their mouth open. (I've been working out of Panera Bread. I know)
24. Denver folks will eat bagels anytime of day. Actually, I think if zombies were taking over the city everyone would flood to the bakeries to grab some bagels to take with them before they leave the city.
25. Everyone in Denver works out.
26. Everyone in Denver smokes.
27. You can't ride your bike at 16th Street Mall.
28. It's safer to ride your bike with traffic on the road than on the sidewalk.
29. There are sunflowers here.
30. The high today is 69 degrees.

So, that's the first 10 days in a nut-shell. Living in the city is a LOT of fun.

10 days down; 45ish to go.

Yes Chef...

So, today was my first experience as a chef or at least student chef. We made chicken caesar salad for lunch and pork tenderloin, mashed red potatoes, and hericot vert with gravy (close to green beans). We were taught in culinary class about the alchemy of cooking and the sanitation pracitces as well as about knifes and dicing. As part of the dicing, we decided to go ahead and make delicious salsa. That turned out quite amazing if I do say so myself. Of Course, my classmate Andre, is an executive chef and knows a thing or two about seasoning. I'm learning a ton from him. He's a great teacher and loves the presentation. He's done all forms including pastry competitions. I'm hopeing he teaches me some of that:)

This afternoon we covered various aspects of administration. Not nearly as exciting as cooking and eating. But... thats the way it goes.

I did find out that I will be certified in wine by the end of the 8 weeks. Thats pretty cool. We start that on Thursday.

Gelato... Charlie is hooked.

You may or may not know that Charlie and I have began a tradition of dessert night on Sundays. Beginning January of this year, we decided to try to go without dessert for a whole year. It was going great until we remembered that my mother so graciously and determinably froze the top of our cake for us to have on our anniversary (which was delicious, thanks mom!) which in turn, of course, meant we had to have dessert. So, our anniversary was on a Sunday and we decided so that we didn't go dessert crazy that we would do once a week so to enjoy the sweetness of life in moderation. Our first Denver endeavor was... Gelato. We found this place called Gelazzi and it was absolutely delicious. Charlie had amaretto and vanilla. I had chocolate peanut butter and vanilla. Most excellent. It was the cutest little place ever. Very enjoyable.