This past Saturday was the monthly get together of our local blogger group; we vary between coming to my home to break bread or going out for brunch at a local restaurant. Although originally started as a way to discover other locals that share the commonality of food blogging, the truth is that after a bit more than a year it’s been the source for some real friendships and we all really enjoy getting together.

This month I scheduled our meeting at my home so that we could meet a member’s new baby daughter Maggie. Her mom Sara is the blogger behind Saucy Dipper and sweet Maggie has already been tagged ‘The Little Dipper’ by Karen Harris (we missed you Karen but you were here in spirit). I think this might stick and am already imagining Dip and Dipster as she gets older. Maggie is only 3 months old but see that adorableness? She didn’t fuss all morning but gave all of us cute smiles when given attention and she smelled just like a baby should which can only be described as perfect. Everyone was smitten and we are looking forward to seeing her again. I loved that she let us hold her and didn’t fuss; OK, she made sure to hone in on where mom was, but still we all got a dose of cuteness up close and personal. Soon she will have a baby blogger companion when Charmaine has her baby in a couple of months. Talk about teaching them young…forget Toddlers and Tiaras, I’m already imagining Toddlers with Toques!

I love how we always have such a mixture of things to eat when we get together even though we have one steadfast rule. Bring what you can if you can. We love getting together to chat and eat but it’s important no one feels pressured because of a dish; if anyone has had a hard week or a crazy morning…come empty handed but come; we will always have plenty of great food!

On this particular morning, Andrea from Fork Fingers Chopsticks was frying eggs and serving them with black beans and salsa, and Sara brought some fabulous local cinnamon rolls. Anne Marie made a gorgeous blueberry and cream cheese stuffed French toast as well as showed up hauling 3 huge carriers filled with fish and game that she had to get rid of before a move.  Charmaine with Speakeasy Kitchen brought a gorgeous fresh fruit salad and some eggs for me from her laying hens. I can not wait to try them and share the experience; especially to compare the flavors of the different color eggs laid from different types of hens. Jane with No Plain Jane’s Kitchen brought some delicious flatbread that was perfect with the eggs.

A new member of our group, Ansh, is from India. Her blog Spice Roots encompasses a wonderful and wide range of dishes and she shared one with us on Saturday morning, Chicken 65. It was fabulous…and fiery. And gone; not a leftover bite in sight! I’m sure that dish was on my mind when I decided to peruse the cookbook I had just received from my friends Mark Scarbrough and Bruce Weinstein. I got to know Mark and Bruce last year during the month long Goaterie challenge that Rachael at La Fuji Mama and I held. They are the authors of the book ‘Goat‘ and were not only huge inspiration for all of us but wonderful sources of information (and we’re doing it again in July of this year!).

When Mark asked if I would like to check out their latest cookbook, ‘Cooking Light’ ‘The Complete Quick Cook’ I readily agreed. I’ve come to respect not only their cooking chops but their friendly and down to earth demeanor and that is so readily evident in this cookbook. Filled with dishes that are both easy for the home cook to prepare and tasty too it is also peppered with lots of tips to make everyday cooking easier; for newer and seasoned cooks alike.

It was almost prophetic that the dish I first spotted was for Spiced, Honey Brushed Chicken Wings. I was longing for some more of that spice and these delivered perfectly. Maybe not quite so hot as Ansh’s dish but for a family dish I could see that as a plus. But I’ll tell you this, it had to have been one of the simplest and yet tastiest chicken dishes I think I’ve ever made. I had two packages of boneless chicken thighs that equated to doing about one and one-half times the given recipe and I was wondering if a serving could be considered one package of six pieces. Yes…I really could have!

Mark and Bruce were kind enough to provide me with a copy of the cookbook to peruse and offer another one for one of my readers too. You know the drill…check out the specs after the recipe and promise me something. Make this chicken. Then be honest about whether you could have eaten 3 servings too. I know the answer.

Now for the Sweepstakes to win the cookbook:

How to win?

1. Main Entry [Required] – Leave a comment below and let me know; are you familiar with Cooking Light cookbooks?

Want extra entries?

Each item you do will get you ONE chance to win for a total of 3 chances. If you are already doing any of these, they do count; just make note of that in your comment. You MUST leave each entry as a separate comment or only one comment will count!

1. Follow @creativculinary & @MarkScarbrough on Twitter and tweet the following statement then come back to this post and tell us you tweeted – I just entered to win The Complete Quick Cook’\ cookbook fm @creativculinary & @MarkScarbrough http://su.pr/2nd4hu #giveaway
2. Subscribe to Creative Culinary’s email updates. This is different from an RSS feed! When you click the link, you will see “Subscribe to Creative Culinary.” Once you subscribe to the email updates, you will get an email confirming your subscription and announcements of new posts will be delivered via email. Or let us know you already get our email updates.

Important Details:

• This giveaway is open to USA residents only and will run until Monday, February 27, 2012 at 11:59 pm MTN time.
• Winner will be generated via random.org and will be notified via the email provided on the comment form information.
• Winner will have until midnight, March 2, 2012 to claim the cookbook or we will choose another winner.
• Winner will receive one Cooking Light ‘The Complete Quick Cook.’ Product will be shipped directly to the winner by the publisher.

Note: I was provided one copy of Cooking Light ‘The Complete Quick Cook’ to review and keep but I was not compensated for writing this post and all opinions are mine. I have provided links to Amazon.com for those who might be interested in purchasing this book; these are not affiliate links.

I saw someone mention these biscuits on Twitter recently and it reminded me how much I love them. The recipe was published in the The Los Angeles Times a couple of years ago; a neighbor who has since moved had the paper delivered to her and she knew I would love this combination. Long before Maple Bourbon Bacon changed my life, I had a thing about Maple and Bacon together. Who doesn’t…raise your hand!  I initially published this recipe on my blog almost two and a half years ago and it was well hidden in archives and few know of these treasures…I thought that needed to be rectified! They are really, really good!

Before I became part of a local blogger group I used to hold regular brunches at my home with a group of girlfriends; we called ourselves ‘The Marthas.’ Marriages and moves saw us eventually disband but these were a HUGE hit at our last get together. Now that I’ve been reminded of how much I love them, I think a batch for my blogging buddies has to be put on the agenda. What can I say but absolutely fabulous!

Created by Chef Zoe Nathan, they are available at Huckleberry Cafe, a bakery and cafe in Santa Monica, CA.

I have a recipe I love for margaritas. It’s best when made ahead of time and all of the flavors are given a chance to meld. That wait is hard because it’s usually summer before we enjoy them. Yes…summer. I  am just not a winter time margarita drinker. Something about that cold and icy drink is just perfect for having friends over for summer cocktails, guacamole, chips and either fajitas or barbecue ribs.

Probably also something about over a foot of snow in my back yard that just doesn’t give me the urge, if you can imagine!  But I went against my conventional wisdom after having a margarita last week at the Rio Grande and I was craving more. Combine that with seeing some blood oranges at Whole Foods the next day and I had a plan. Blood oranges are not readily available in my neck of the woods when they come into season for other parts of the country and if you can imagine from that photo above…they just don’t thrive in our climate.

If you’ve never had a blood orange and are wondering why it’s called that, well, now  you see. Isn’t that color beautiful? The flavor is different too; they have less of a citrus bite to them and are a bit sweeter. They are gorgeous and finding these beauties is always a real bright spot in the middle of winter. I have to tell you; they make a beautiful cocktail that I just love. (She says between sips.) If my grammar or spelling declines through this post…now you know why!

Beyond the oranges I do think a couple of things are imperative for making really good margaritas.

• Use good tequila – I didn’t have my standard on hand that I use for margaritas which is Cuervo 1800; a reposado tequila meaning that it’s been aged a bit but less than one year. Not quite a high caliber sipping tequila but even a bit of aging makes for a much smoother tequila and that improvement is evident in a cocktail. All I had on hand to make this cocktail was a pricey sipping tequila. Not necessary but what a fine cocktail it made.
• Please don’t use Triple Sec – Triple Sec is merely artificially flavored sugar water. Nuff said? I use Patron Citronge but Grand Marnier or any other orange liqueur made from the actual essence of orange is good.
• Fresh lime juice and obviously fresh orange juice – even if you can’t locate blood oranges and want to try this with regular oranges I don’t recommend using frozen or bottled OJ. Buy some oranges and give them a quick squeeze…besides you needs some slices for garnish right?

Go grab some blood oranges and try this cocktail; it is now officially my ‘winter’ margarita…make it yours!

– Interested in a gorgeous non alcoholic beverage? Take at peek at this Rosemary Preserved Lemon Spritzer over at Chez Us! –

I recently found myself on Facebook (a rarity) a couple of weeks ago on a page called the Guacamole Hall of Shame and I have to admit I was pretty surprised at some of the combination of ingredients included in these versions of guacamole; the most offending one for me was breast milk. Am I the only one right now going Ewwww? Others not quite so bad but still…feta, meat, pomegranate arils and more. Really? Avocado salad maybe but not guacamole. Luckily, as often happens, the mention of a certain food triggered a memory that flooded my mind with another time and place and for me, I couldn’t help but be taken back to my first time. Yes, my virgin guac experience.

My family moved to a new house when I was in the 5th grade. A bigger home with all sorts of fancy trappings. Air conditioning. A dishwasher. A palace compared to the small bungalow my parents had raised 5 kids in for a number of years. I remember that street so fondly. The only girl quarterback because even then I was taller than everyone around me, the families I babysat for including the Wolff kids who’ve I since reconnected with on Facebook, the elderly lady next door who taught me to crochet and Dr. Pat who became my mother’s best friend, our pediatrician and my Girl Scout leader. Dr. Pat was from Texas and one summer, my mother went with her to visit Pat’s family in San Antonio, Texas. That was the only time I can ever remember my mom being gone like that and I’m sure with 5 kids it was wonderful to get away.

From all of the experiences she had in that foreign land (we lived in a suburb of St. Louis, as Midwestern as it gets except if on a farm), the thing she was most excited about was the discovery of this green orb called an avocado. She could not wait to share it with us. I don’t recall that I was a picky eater in particular but I snubbed my nose at it and that mushed up stuff called guacamole was no better. No thanks; I’ll go to my room if I have to but I am NOT eating that.

You can imagine where this is going right? It was a couple of years before I was offered another opportunity to try guacamole and by then I was more willing to at least sample a new food, more willing to open my eyes to possibilities. Can I just say I will always lament those wasted years? The second time around it was a clear case of ‘love at first bite’ and nothing about that first real impression has changed.

Including how to make authentic guacamole. Dr. Pat was an aficionado of simplicity and I’ll never forget that. It was all about the avocado. Avocado, lime, salt and garlic. Period. In one of those unexplainable twists of fate, I recently had an opportunity to sample some terrific and authentic Mexican food and that simplicity was reiterated.

One of the members of our local blogging group, Lacy Boggs, had been in conversation with the CEO of The Rio Grande Restaurants, Jason Barrett, and together they engineered a plan to invite members of the group to come to downtown Denver for a tasting. The Rio Grande is well-known for the potent punch of their margaritas but I, like many, have pretty much limited our impressions to this classic adult beverage. When Jason took a few moments to chat with us before dinner and asked our opinion of food at the Rio I think most of us thought…we love your margaritas!

I think I speak for every single member of our group when I say that if the Rio is intent on changing that impression then they did an amazing job with our small yet vocal group. It’s not like we had a negative impression of the food but it’s always been the margs that stood front and center. No more. Sometime last year they started with a conscious effort to increase the visibility of the food at the Rio. New menus were born emphasizing their in-house, from scratch ingredients which was combined with more attention to presentation and training. We even had a blogger with us that required Gluten Free choices and she mentioned how impressed she was with their attentiveness to  her needs. The icing on the cake? They even loaned me a plate so I could authentically re-create how they present their guacamole. In fact they gave me ‘their’ chips too. I wanted this to be right!

The Rio Grande started with a restaurant in Fort Collins, CO; home of Colorado State University. We may be smack in the middle of winter in Colorado at the moment but this photo reminds me of visiting my daughter when she was in college there. I know I’m ready for some patio time soon and they’ve got one at each of their locations. I think we’ll take a field trip to Boulder when the weather warms and sit outside and enjoy the view of the mountains along with the food and beverages.

I have to think that one key to the longevity of this local chain are the 20+ years of service that the owner, CEO and several key staff members have devoted to their roles. We were hosted by Pat McGraughran, Owner; Jason Barrett, CEO and their Food and Beverage Director, Steve Richter. We were there to try dishes from their new and improved menu and they were of course hoping that we would spread the word to our readers. But it was more than that. That they all care genuinely care about using quality ingredients and the customer experience was key but I could not help but be impressed at how evident it was that they simply enjoy each others company. Those relationships most certainly must contribute to the Rio being a part of the Colorado Front Range scene for 26 years as much as their efforts to locally source as many ingredients as possible combined with expecting the highest of standards for what they do procure. A great example of the quality of ingredients they expect was evident in the Shrimp Diabla; wild caught Gulf shrimp in a chile de arbol sauce served in flour tortillas. If I have one criticism of the evening it was that they did not warn us of the amount of foods we would be sampling. I might not have had two of those!

We sampled so much food that I believe we were all ready to burst at the seams. Queso Verduras which was melted Jack cheese with sautéed bell peppers, mushrooms and onions served with tortilla chips, plates of tacos including chicken, shrimp and my surprising favorite, Mahi Mahi. My friend Karen hails from Texas and claims a cheese enchilada is her test of any good Mexican food and she swore, through a mouthful, that they were excellent. There was so much food that by the time the fajitas showed up we were all getting a bit full; still I made a point of trying the grilled skirt steak. So tender, so good. And washed down with an excellent margarita, the Big Tex Margarita…good tequila, fresh citrus and orange liqueur; just the way I like them.

They did not want us to leave feeling disappointed apparently as dessert was also on the menu. Fabulous sopapillas; I loved how crispy there were and for an extra treat they were served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Still…the piece de resistance? Ancho Chile  Chocolate Creme Brulee? How I wish I could have devoured that dish but a simple taste on the tongue was all the room I had left…that will be for another day. There most definitely will be another day. Maybe I can sweet talk the chef into sharing that recipe too; oh shoot that would mean another trip wouldn’t it? OK, I’m in…who’s coming with me?

I was invited to The Rio Grande with a group of local bloggers to sample their new menu and share my impressions with you. My review disclaimer is simple. If I write a review I was happy. If I was not happy, I would not bother with a review.

I made a conscious choice a few years ago to keep this blog about food; the food I love and want to share with others; even something as simple as this slaw. It was a decision to continue with my original intent when I started cataloging recipes online in 1995. What was that plan? Well, it started as the easiest way to document and share the foods that I served to family and friends; the dishes that were favorites and the most well received. It was not only a diary and database for myself but the easiest way to let my sister and friends grab a recipe. At the time, a new fangled thing called the Internet made it much easier than having to sit down and write out recipes and sometimes even put them in the mail.

I’ve continued in that vein all these many years. There are differences now and certainly moving from a static website to a dynamic blog was one of them.  Once you start to develop readers there is a often a greater sense of purpose; maybe even of responsibility. Of continuity. Of expectations. Once you start to develop relationships with other bloggers and corporate brands, all of those expectations deepen and like it or not, I believe that once anyone ‘expects’ from you, this effort begins to take on the realm of a job. Even so I  enjoy this job; it is such a mirror of who I am and what I love to do and during the process I have developed true friends, great clients and some wonderful local opportunities and those are all good.

But lately I’m struggled a bit. Not with my own blog per se but with the ‘food blogging community’ that I find myself a part of. The struggle to keep quiet when I want to talk about something other than just a recipe. What changed? Well, I’ve been watching the transition of the environment for a  long time but this past week it seemed there was a convergence of sorts of the worst that we have to offer. The underbelly that is not so wonderful.

First, news of a food blog conference that had potential attendees register but not pay so that the conference organizers could hand pick attendees from the list that resulted through that effort. I admit…that alone was shocking to me. While many heard early of their ultimate ‘acceptance’ to attend, others waited days, wondering their fate. While some hooped, hollered and tweeted and even built Pinterest boards to let the world know of their good fortune, others wondered in silence if they would measure up; if they were good enough. If they would be chosen. If you’ve ever heard the lament that being in the food blogging community is often like attending high school again…well, there you have it. What about any of that is not? Did any of those people in charge of this conference once consider how they would make some feel? Did they care? Did any of those with early notice of acceptance think for ONE moment how they would feel if not accepted, how their congratulations and pats on the back would look of they were not party to that hoopla. Apparently not. I’m grateful I had no intention of attending this event so this did not impact me personally but I saw it in action and I know people who were hurt and it made me both angry and sad. This is not representative of a ‘community’ in action at all. At least not a supportive one. I feel for those who have been hurt and therein lies part of my struggle.

Add to that a week of having to read relentless commenting on the lack of integrity among bloggers who ‘steal’ recipes and photos. How many times can this be rehashed? I’m at the point where I am more sick of the nonstop whining than I am the theft! Maybe because for all of the 17 years I have worked in the Internet industry content theft has been a part of it. It is a problem inherent with posting information on a website. The situation is no more unique and no more special for food bloggers than the other millions of users who know what it feels like. The biggest difference is that food bloggers seem to have a greater need to tweet about it and seek to get others fired up about it too. One respected blogger suggested that names be given and a mass attack be made on an offending site. Really? This is adult behavior? One person’s word, no judge, no jury and we’re off in a flash to flame someone? If it’s important to you; there are resources available to assist with getting information removed. But please consider that it does not behoove us in the eyes of everyone watching to seek attention from others for those efforts. We all know what it feels like (to qualify, I had a photo of a cocktail I made in November that has been published on no less than 200 sites as of today) but if everyone sought retribution or sympathy for content theft through the use of Twitter for every single abuse they suffer, it would be useless for much of anything else.

If you’re still with me, you might wonder, ‘What in the world does this have to do with slaw?’ Well, this recipe is actually my personal anecdote to the ridiculousness of claiming ownership of a recipe. I’m sorry if those words offend but I’m certain one of the reasons that a list of ingredients are not subject to copyright scrutiny is because of some mathematical equation much like this:

(Number of people in the world) X (Number of available ingredients) = Someone, somewhere, somehow has done the same.

While chatting on Skype with friends; I decided to make lunch. I pulled ingredients that I had available from my fridge and put them together in this slaw. I had no recipe, I had not searched for one online or perused any cookbooks, but years of cooking experience compiled with a voracious appetite for cookbooks, food magazines and cooking shows have turned me into a cook that seldom uses a recipe for most meals. I combined cabbage, carrots and green onions; browned almonds, sesame seeds and sunflower seeds and combined those together with a quick dressing of oil, honey and soy sauce.  As I sat down to eat, the conversation had changed to discuss this very issue. The plethora of people whining about someone taking their recipe. Now, don’t get me wrong. If I am inspired in any way from a recipe I’ve seen elsewhere, no matter how little I glean from their experience, I’m happy to mention them. But this notion of ‘owning’ a recipe is getting to be a bit much. Curious about the salad I had just thrown together, I did a Google search listing my ingredients.

Had it been done before? Maybe a bit. Google returned 11,400 listings they thought relevant to my query. Now, someone the other day mentioned that if you Googled and found a similar recipe that it would be the polite thing to reference said person as the recipe originator. One or all 11,400? Clearly there is a significant chance that something you think stunningly unique might have been done by someone else. And to that I say…who cares? I fully intend to continue to put recipes on this blog that I make even if it’s been done before. I have no intention of linking to someone I did not know before I pulled together a dish as if they were an inspiration; that’s simply silly. If I do make something that I see elsewhere, I will most certainly link to their site if they are an influence but I also have no intention of not putting the recipe on my site. This effort is about my experience and in the shopping and making and photographing I have given some ownership to the effort and I feel no obligation beyond recognizing someone else as inspiration; there is a very good chance they were equally inspired!

During my Skype conversation, I almost died when  I was pointed to an older blog post from another respected food blogger and cookbook author discussing this issue. Two very well known food bloggers who I have seen use Twitter to launch mass attacks on someone they have decried as having taken their recipe both said, and I quote, ‘I used to copy and paste recipes until I realized I shouldn’t.’ The irony was too great. They used to do what they now felt comfortable attacking as wrong. Seems to be a clear case of ‘me thinks thou doth protest too much.’

Maybe you are wondering what my point is in detailing my struggle with this. I’m not even sure; but I sure do know this. It gets wearisome for many of us to see this continuous lament day in and day out. You might feel differently than I do and inclined to take it to the streets. But I do believe that one person’s righteous indignation and visible shouts of ‘hooray’ from others is not the entire picture. There is a growing feeling of discontent in this community; it’s not public but there is plenty of chatter. The perceived hierarchy, the mean girls syndrome, the relentless self promotion of many for whom money is obviously much more important than the culture of food. Enough so that any real sense of community is being eroded. Maybe my only point is simply to get it off my chest but maybe I could wish for this article to be real food for thought. That’s about all I could hope for. The culture of food is meaningful beyond ad revenue for many of us; it’s our history, our family experiences, a record of our culture and for many, a livelihood.

So I’ve done more than a recipe today; I’ve said my piece and I thank you for listening. So as not to disappoint, let me present you with a salad that thousands have loved. It is simple and in deference to the rules that are made that I’m in the mood to break, it is also simply ‘delicious.’

They say it’s your birthday. Well, Happy Birthday to You!

Today’s post is part of a birthday surprise for Brandy, a young (oh yes, you are!) blogging friend. I was asked to participate in a Virtual Surprise Party for Brandy’s 30th birthday. You may know her as Nutmeg Nanny (two guesses on that name and one answer is yes, she is a nanny!) but I know her as a sweet, quirky girl who I’ve now seen get engaged, shop for a wedding dress and celebrate an important birthday; all through the magic of Twitter.

This is a communal effort but I love that it’s been kept small and more intimate. Each of us has taken on one course and if given the opportunity I’ll always choose dessert. I love making them. I love eating them. Nuff said?

I’ve been dying to make a cheesecake with some flavors from one of my favorite cakes and now I had the opportunity. To be honest I was CERTAIN that I would include some form of adult libation. I mean how could you NOT include booze in a dessert for a girl who puts on the ‘The 12 Boozy Days of Christmas?’ each year.

As it turns out; this was also Abby Dodge’s subject for February’s #baketogether challenge. Each month Abby gives us inspiration and a recipe and we can run with it. Follow as is or in Abby’s term, ‘Switch It Up’ if we choose. I did choose. I loved the crust with the ground almonds and my guests raved over the salted caramel and chocolate topping.

This was a trial; one of the few times when I struggled to get something to work; to elicit that OMG response upon tasting. I tried, I really did. I started with wanting something that would work with pomegranate arils but also had my heart set on caramel, so I mixed some pomegranate liqueur into a batch of caramel. It was OK. But just OK and that sort of meant I pitched it. I wanted stellar!

I ended up ditching the idea of pomegranate altogether; as gorgeous as they are…they are also so seasonal and I didn’t want to limit this cheesecake to just the middle of winter so moving on..

I decided to make the cake and maybe get an inspiration from the end result.The cheesecake alone is filled with things I love. Almonds in the crust, mascarpone and white chocolate in the base…it seemed easy enough to add just a bit of somethin’ somethin’ to the caramel, right? Wrong! I asked for suggestions on Twitter; I even contemplated making several caramel sauces and doing a taste test but in the end it really was simple. White chocolate in the base. Almonds in the crust? No I did not add a coconut liqueur…but opted to just KISS it (Keep It Simple Stupid) and went with the Scharffenberger Chocolate Liqueur that I had just made for Valentine gifts and a martini. Once that decision was made it was so perfect I was only irritated with myself that I had suffered getting there!

Make this dessert for someone you love. Make it for you. But make it. I made this for Brandy and only wish she could share it with me. Happy Birthday Sweetie!

I hope you will enjoy our Virtual Birthday Party…visit some of my cohorts for additional courses:

I’ve done a lot of liqueurs lately haven’t I? Cranberry Liqueur and Coffee Liqueur for the holidays and in my case made to give to friends and family as holiday gifts. I’ve got Limoncello in my brewing facility (OK, garage) that will be ready for summer but for right now? How about Chocolate Liqueur made with Scharffen Berger Chocolate. I saved this one because I thought it perfect for Valentines Day.

I love making gifts for special holidays. Except for my children, I haven’t purchased a gift for someone for, hmm…decades. Really. I just feel like it’s a true gift from the heart if I put myself into the effort. If you lined up all those years of gifts you would have a picture of how my interests have changed. There was the Pendleton wool jacket I made for my ex-husband (well, he was a husband at the time; I’m not nuts!), the quilted apron and pot holders for a mother-in-law, macrame hangers for potted plants, cross stitched pillows and jars of goods that I used to can after a summers bounty of berries and cucumbers. I’ve made painted sweatshirts, earrings, ceramics and stained glass. But nothing seems to satisfy me (and I like to think the recipients) as much as cookies, breads and these liqueurs. Oh wait…maybe the Maple Bourbon Bacon I gave everyone this past year for Christmas…yes, I heard a lot about that bacon. :)

I’m fairly certain that if I presented a gift to someone from a department store they would be perplexed and confused; surely wondering if my body had been taken over by an unseen entity. Sometimes that effort can run head on into real life and buying gifts would be easier but I know it would be so much less satisfying for me and as long as the people in my life seem to enjoy the fruits of my labors, I’m keeping at it. This liqueur and the martini made with it are my offering for this day when we express our love through flowers, candy and most definitely chocolate. Forget the abundance of commercial products…make this gift for your loved ones and show them a gift straight from your heart. And Scharffen Berger.

I don’t use Scharffen Berger for every baked good or dessert I put together; I’m also a big fan of Ghirardelli Chocolate Chips for my everyday fare. But there are times when the quality of the chocolate needs to be superior and this is my go to brand. They are only available in select stores and Whole Foods but if those options aren’t available, you can also order online. Sometimes something or someone special just deserves the very best.

Disclaimer: This post was not sponsored by Scharffen Berger Chocolate; which means I can say whatever I want about them. Which also means I really really do like their chocolate. So there.

Larimer Square is a bustling street in downtown Denver, one of those chi chi one block streets that harken to days when cities had main streets and you could go there to find a gathering of merchants. It was in fact the first main street in Denver, born during the gold rush of the mid 1800′s when it was settled and named by General William H. Larimer Jr. Back in those ‘olden’ days,  merchants would include purveyors of feed, flour and furniture but today as a designated Historical District it’s a destination for both city residents and suburbanites to grab a cocktail, shop a bit and have dinner in some of Denver’s best restaurants. It’s gone through its share of changes in the years I’ve lived in Denver but I love that this charming street is mostly filled with local shops and restaurants.

There seems to be no history that indicates the area gave rise to a namesake cookie. It’s not too late; forget gold, they should claim them now! I can only imagine that the person who titled these bar cookies Larimer Toffee Squares had to have been making a play on words with this historical area; elevating the cookie to both the distinction and history that being associated with Larimer Square would convey. Once made in our home…that is absolutely what happened. The distinction is simple. We love them. The history? We’ve loved them for a long time.

The original recipe is from one of my favorite cookbooks, Creme de Colorado, the 2nd cookbook published in the 1980′s by the Junior League of Denver. That recipe is a mixture of just four ingredients; graham crackers, butter, pecans and sugar and I’ve found it necessary to only modify in one way…with a drizzle of milk chocolate. It’s a good addition too. Not that they weren’t enough on their own, but something about toffee just screams for chocolate…so I did it!