Darren's Faves....

I was out of the house bright and early yesterday to take Mondo to the airport. The snow was coming in fast and thick, so I made a quick stop at the grocery store on my way home. Darren has been asking me to make potstickers and coconut shrimp (from my cooking class) for a while now and I thought, what the heck. So when I got home, I made the potsticker filling (which was a whole lot of filling) and used up all the wrappers I had bought. I made some right then and froze the rest (they freeze quite nicely). I told Darren he could have potstickers and coconut shrimp for lunch today.

It was a beautiful day today - the sun shining bright and the roads were nice and clear. But there was a blizzard just yesterday (welcome to Colorado) and I guess I kind of acted like I was still snowed in. I didn't mind cooking all day at all.

Anyway, Darren held me to it too. It was the first thing he asked me for this morning. But before anything, I made a batch of dough for pizza for dinner this evening. It came out really nice and I even added some herbs to the mix. The coconut shrimp was great - but I want to find a good dipping sauce to make with it next time. We had the pizza for dinner. Darren was in heaven and told me "I can't wait until you take your next cooking class!"

Can't beat $2 U-Call-Its

Tomorrow I have a vacation day - YAY! Tonight, Mondo and I stopped by The Park Tavern for their amazing Happy Hour and some pizza. I've been craving it since the last time I went there several months ago.

So what's so great about their Happy Hour you ask? Well, $2 U-Call-Its should explain it all (only on Tuesdays). The last time I went there, I was prepared. I visited the Chambord website and wrote down recipes for a few (okay - several) drinks I wanted to try. When we got there I just handed the list to the waitress and she brought them out one at a time.

Tonight I had an Italian Margarita (sugared rim and a shot of amaretto).

On the menu was the following offer for pizza: Buy three toppings, get three free - so we loaded up... Mushrooms, Artichokes, Onion, Ham, Bacon AND Sausage. Yikes.

You can't beat the deal on the drinks and they were yummy. The pizza was pretty good too, although I would have liked it toasted just a tiny bit more.

However, I can't say much for their service. In the handful of times I've went, it hasn't been the friendliest... and on one occasion we were seriously overcharged on drinks. But, we also had a bit too much that night, so kinda blaming ourselves on that one.

In the end, I'm sure I'll go back, sometime.

Park Tavern & Restaurant
www.theparktavern.com
921 E 11th Ave
Denver, CO 80218
303-832-7667

Some tasty recipes from Chambord Online

Atlantique
Served in a Martini Glass
1 1/2 shots Finlandia Vodka
1/2 shot fresh squeezed lemon juice
1/2 shot Chambord
1/4 shot Peach Schnapps

Chambord French Martini
Served in a Martini Glass
1 1/2 parts Finlanda Vodka
1/2 part Chambord
1/2 part pineapple juce
Shake ingredients with ice and strain

Chambord Margarita
1/2 part Chambord
1 part Don Eduardo Tequila
3 parts sweet and sour mix
Add all ingredients except Chambord to blender. Add ice to top of liquid. Blend. Pour blended ingredients into margarita glass and drizzle 1/2 shot of Chambord over top