flatirons, palm sugar, kumquats in cauliflower
part of a beautiful weekend of friends that closed with dinner in my kitchen for my friends Maia (who lives in Amsterdam now) and Karen, both inspiring designers in their work and lives.
I roasted fractal cauliflower with turmeric, stirred in shallot rings and kumquats (F&W recipe),
sautéed apples, wilted spinach, toasted pine nuts, and macerated raisins,
listened to these two wise women (who will, I hope, forgive me for posting a picture that doesn’t do them justice),
and passed plates for red quinoa, pork tenderloin with fennel mustard, and roasted root vegetables (parsnip, sweet potato, purple carrots, onions) with goat ricotta salata.
It was a weekend of sparkle, from Karen and Maia to two banana cakes (one with walnuts, one without) from my new friend Dan of Renegade Kitchen,
that he made with palm sugar (he’s as thoughtful as that choice of sweetener) for my good friend Andrew‘s birthday party on Saturday night.
Andrew (at left) invited friends over to help celebrate (note the unicorn piñata on the table from his friend Elaine), and the apartment filled with technologists, entrepreneurs, and people who love Boulder as much as he does.
For those who arrived early, Andrew chopped shrimp to place inside the avocado that I made a shallot dressing to top,
then there was pork with tart tomatillos for tacos,
along with chicken Andrew marinated with mangoes and habarenos,
that guests carefully assembled on warmed blue corn tortillas.
Earlier that afternoon, before the bonfire, the cutting of the cakes, my efforts to play a purple kazoo from the belly of the unicorn piñata (and an abbreviated road trip to Nederland, Colorado for Frozen Dead Guy Days), some of us hiked up to watch the sun set,
and I looked at the rock formations,
knowing that just as clearly as the stars appear in Boulder, spring will clear new paths…
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Posted by Kristen Taylor on Monday, March 8th, 2010, 7:08 pm * Filed in brooklyn, Entertaining, Food. * Tags: boulder, kristen, kthread, taylor. Follow responses through the RSS 2.0 feed. Leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
March 9th, 2010 at 9:44 am
Your photos have once again made me swoon. And I love your line about spring… clear paths, ahoy! See you soon in Austin :)
March 9th, 2010 at 8:42 pm
Thank you! Can’t wait for Austin—and finally, it feels like the season will turn here in Brooklyn, especially by the time we all have returned :)