A Chef's Garden

Gardening is what is up these days. Matt, Cesar and I put a lot of hours and blisters into making a wonderful vegetable garden for us in the back yard of our lovely Colorado home. What a rewarding thing to do for people who enjoy nearly instant gratification for their hard work. Do a lot of hard works in the beginning and your efforts will be rewarded with ease of maintenance and lots of eats throughout the growing season.

The first scene pictured here is what we started with. Well, almost what we started with. This is in fact half way through the construction process. This layout was originally just a rock feature in the back yard, an extension of the pink rock you see below the Aspen trees. It is about late February or early March in Colorado. Matt, Cesar and I put a lot of back breaking work into moving all of the rock, tilling, de-rocking, tilling, fertilizing, tilling, composting, tilling, sanding and tilling. Do you notice a trend? Tilling good. As a rule in the growing season of Colorado, never put a plant in the ground till Mothers Day. Our first plants went in the ground a week before.


Here is where all of your hard work in the beginning pays off. This is Matt taming the OOC (Out Of Control) Pineapple Sage. This plant is a very healthy grower. From mother’s day till now, late July, that plant has grown from seedling to about two feet in diameter and a foot tall solid bush of beautiful leaves. In the foreground are the squash and zucchini plants. These have already yielded a dozen large beautiful fruits each. Under Matt’s back side is the pepper bed. Jalapeno, Habanero, Ancho, Red Chili Peppers, Hot Cherry Peppers and an Ichiban Eggplant for good measure. The bed of fallen tops to the right is a bed of onions, both red and yellow.


Pictured here is Matt looking over the tomato plants. Yes, looking over. These are already as tall as our fence and then some. These plants where hardy 4-6 inch tall plants purchased from a garden center around mothers day. We are growing Park’s Whoppers, Mr. Stripey’s, Grape, Husky Cherry, Roma, Yellow Globe and Yellow Cherry tomatoes. We are already harvesting Yellow Cherry, Red Grape and Yellow Globe tomatoes. And we have also taken our first eggplant!





These are our OOC Yellow Squash and Zucchini plants. Both have given us close to a dozen fruits each! Some Zucchini have been as large as a man’s forearm. Well some men's forearms are bigger than others, but you get the idea.

In the basket’s pictured here is one days feast. Not including the two squash and two zucchini not pictured. And, that is not a bush that I am crushing below that strawberry box it is the pineapple sage! On this day Matt made a half a dozen zucchini bread loaves and muffins. Stored in the freezer well wrapped we will enjoy his baking for some time to come. Thanks Matt! And we always have the most wonderful bowl of home grown cherry tomatoes to snack on in the fridge. I see canning coming soon!

Last minute addition: Cesar found our first Tomato worm. Nasty bugger. She was about 4" long and as big around as my size 10 ring finger. There was already a few eggs on the leaves that fell to the ground upon picking the leaves. I will have to keep and eye out for it's evil offspring. If you get these guys in your garden eradicate it with vengance. They will come back next year. And this morning, more squash and zucchini, and lots of peppers!!! Hot peppers!!!

Where I'm at...

I live in Colorado. Darn. It is my nature to be a gipsy. A thousand dollars to whoever figures out every school I have ever been to. Good luck with that. But I feel roots growing beneath my feet. There is an ancient Buddhist proverb which says “Dig where you are and you will find a well.” I’m digging.

These pictures say so much about me and what I love most in life. The power of our Mother Nature to wrap her healing arms around you and bring you back down to earth.

The love of a good friend. Preferably a mute friend with lots of hair. Dogs will work here too. Savannah is the most amazing pet known to mankind. References here are no problem and this fact is infallible and cannot be disputed. Your dog never talks back. Does not care if you stink. And in fact, prefers that you do. Did I say, never talks back?

The warmth of the sun. No explanation required.

And the energy of downtown. Yep, that's Denver from a crane. Love him. People, people and more people. It is the greatest social experiment of all times. Who’s right? Who’s wrong? Hurry up! Slow down. Fat? Skinny? Pretty? Pretty dumb!! I love it and look at the skyline from my drive in to work each day just as a professional athlete looks at the stadium. “I’m going in! Look out every body.”

And So It Begins...

I’m a chef. And so it begins. I went to culinary school and somehow managed to double major when most other people where pissing and whining about their single load. So I have a degree in Culinary Arts and a separate degree in Baking and Pastry Arts. I have worked at a notable five star five diamond restaurant and currently work for a four star hotel.

Although I love all things food and the power of it, my heart is going to the pastries. I love the detail oriented work and finishing of each little part. And the science of it all is where I really get off. Pictured here are some of my recent favorites.

The first is a “reconstructed” chiffon pie. Chiffon is defined as an airy fluffy meringue mixture. So this is brought to the final product through the dried meringue based, which was coated in dark chocolate ganache to seal out the juices from the caramelized banana’s. This was formed in acetate and topped with a Peanut Butter Mousse. The garnish is a simple Peanut Florentine.

Next is my modern interpretation of a glass of champagne for dessert. This is a simple layered mold of champagne “jello” with berries. Seems easy right. Try it sometime and you will get RAVE reviews from your friends and colleagues.
And last is a beautiful example of an amazing European Holiday Cake. This cake is wrapped in fondant over German Buttercream. The fruits are a sign of how fresh this gateau truly is. Always use only the freshest ingredients and you can never go wrong.

Charmed Life...

Charmed Life,...Yeah, I guess so. That's what my friend told me one day. That I was "charmed". Well, she's right. Have you seen the movie The Shawshank Redemption? When Morgan Freeman's character says of his good friend Andy that he was the only man that could craw through 500 yards of the most foul smelling awfulness you can imagine, while crawling through a sewer to escape prison, and come out the other side smelling like roses, he was taking about me. No matter how many times I get the shit kicked out of me, fall on my ass or otherwise manage to screw everything in my life beyond repair, I get back up and come out the other side smelling like a rose. I hope to understand why someday and give it back in thanks,..someday.