Housing Update: 9 February

Since my last update, the story from the lender has changed. Again. We’re back to owing that $5000 “fee” but now it’s at closing, not before we have a signed contract. We still had to agree verbally though, or we’d never see anything from the AHMSI. I still think it’s blood money.

The current status, for those of you following this seemingly interminable saga, is that AHMSI, the primary lender, is waiting for the home owner’s association to tell them how much money they’ll owe. That’s strange, considering the title company is already holding $1000 in HOA fee escrow (for lack of a better term), and AHMSI will get any remaining funds from that escrow. But whatever. When they get that answer, they will forward the acceptance to the second lien holder, supposedly offering 10% instead of the customary 1%. I’d like to think that means the secondary lien holder will immediately sign off on that, but clearly my expectations for common sense in this ordeal have been outlandish.

We’ve been told it’s possible we’ll have a signed contract this week. We’re not holding our breath. I think that if all the above were true, we won’t see anything until next week. So we wait and see. Fortunately, our preferred lender is able to close faster than they could a year ago, so once we have a contract, we should be able to close as soon as the lender completes its tasks (appraisal, etc.). Maybe we’ll close by the middle of next month. Maybe.

We estimate it’ll take us approximately two weeks of cleaning that house and treating the floors in preparation for moving in our big dog and heavy furniture. That means we’d be looking at moving out of our current place and into that house around the first of April. That’s April Fool’s Day. That’s just great.

Cliff Dwellings in Manitou

Manitou Springs is host to Anasazi cliff dwellings. They haven’t been there for ages, but they have been there for well more than 100 years. You see, in the late 1800s, Colorado didn’t have the infrastructure for tourists to make the journey to Mesa Verde. Mesa Verde, now a national park, has several ruins of cliff communities. Some of these ruins were transported to Manitou so that tourists could see how Anasazi Indians used to live. Considering the lack of infrastructure back then, I think it’s pretty amazing that these ruins were moved all the way to Manitou!

The friend I went with, Mrs. Scottie, is a Colorado Springs native, but had never been to the cliff dwellings. I didn’t remember until we got there that I had been there before. My nephew came out to see me when I lived in Colorado Springs, and we went to see the dwellings during the summer.

Summer entertainment includes some Pueblo Indian dances, performed by a family of Pueblo Indians from, ironically enough, Pueblo. Pueblo Indians are descendants of the Anasazi. The Pueblos moved to the plains and did not have the benefit of cliffs for shelter. Instead, they built earthen houses, usually three stories high. The ground level had no entrances. Instead, wooden ladders were used to access the second story. In case of attack, the ladders could be pulled inside to keep aggressors from gaining entrance into the house. I bet that design had an additional benefit – keeping rodents and other pests out! The Manitou Cliff Dwellings includes an example of a Pueblo house, though it does have main floor entrances. The museum and gift shop are contained inside this structure.

This is a great place to visit with kids. The museum does not advertise that the ruins are transplanted. While this place is quite small compared to Mesa Verde National Park, it’s a lot easier to get to for a one-day outing. On a bright sunny day (which is a frequent occurrence here in Colorado), pictures can be quite beautiful. Just look at the colors of the cliffs set against the pines and brilliant blue sky!

Cooking Class: Techniques I, part 1

It felt really good to be back in the Cook Street School of Fine Cooking kitchen for more lessons to improve my cooking techniques! When I took the Techniques II class, there was no prerequisite class. That may change, so that students take Techniques I prior to Techniques II.

When I first started looking at cooking classes last summer, I looked through the menus for Techniques I and figured I didn’t need to spend my money there. I make omelettes frequently, I’ve macerated fruit, made crepes, and even made souffle. I didn’t think I’d learn very much in that class, so I skipped it. As I took other classes, including French Techniques, Artisan Bread, and Pastries, I realized that I was learning a lot about cooking things that were already in my repertoire. I attended a one-off class, Colorado Grill, and one of the other students raved about how Techniques I completely revolutionized how he treats eggs. He said that before the class, he massacred his eggs, but now he cooks them with reverence…or something like that. That made me start thinking about taking the class.

I had to go through all of November, December and January without taking another cooking class. That was it – it was time to sign up for Techniques I! This class is a bit less hands on than the other classes. That’s either by design or because this is the largest class I’ve been in at Cook Street. I prefer the smaller classes. I’m glad this isn’t my first class at Cook Street, because I might feel less satisfied by the classes if they were all this size.

The techniques covered last night included egg cookery, blanching, cold emulsion sauces, meringue, and stocks. The menu featured:

• Le Grand Aioli
• Omelette
• Macerated Fruits in French Meringue Nests with Creme Anglaise

I knew that aioli was garlic mayonnaise, but I didn’t know that aioli may also refer to an abundant meal, traditionally an array of foods, accompanied by sauce aioli. I’ll eat my vegetables when I have to, but they’re hardly my favorite food. Maybe that’s because I haven’t been blanching them! Wow! We had cauliflower, new potatoes, haricot verts (French green beans), and carrots. Once they are blanched in hot water, they are shocked in an ice bath. While that wasn’t news to me, I learned that the best way to treat the vegetables if you want to freeze them is to blanch, shock, dry, salt them, then coat in olive oil. The salt come first. I’m now ready for the abundance of farmers market veggies this summer so I can freeze my own supply of vegetables. Before class, I thought you were just supposed to freeze fresh vegetables from the raw stage. For dinner, the veggies were all served at room temperature and with a side of aioli. They were all so amazing! Probably the most exciting lesson of Le Grand Aioli is that the vegetables can be made a couple days in advance and refrigerated, then brought to room temp prior to serving. That will come in handy for large parties!

We made the sauce aioli by hand, although it can also be made in a food processor. I’m glad we did it by hand in class, because we worked in teams. My forearm still feels tired today, so I’m glad I got to share that task with a partner. There was a Top Chef episode a couple seasons back that featured a relay, including making mayonnaise by hand. At that point, I decided I liked the idea of trying to make my own mayo by hand, though even then I anticipated that happening only once. I have a small food processor that will be perfect for making cold emulsion sauces in the future! The course recipe packet includes a list of other mayo variations with a wide variety of flavors. I look forward to trying all of them! As part of this process, I learned that poaching and blanching are the same technique. Proteins are poached, everything else is blanched. I’d never thought about the difference before. Chef poached some shrimp in a court bouillon; he could then add the shrimp shells and turn the bouillon into a shrimp stock.

One of the finer points about making omelettes is that you should have a dedicated omelette pan, though it may also be used for crepes. It should be small, nonstick, and in good condition. The eggs are constantly stirred in the pan until they start to set, then small holes are made, all so that the uncooked portions get to the bottom of the pan, rather than overcooking the bottom layer. When the eggs are still shiny yet most set, it’s ready to come off the heat. Leave it in the pan for a little bit, add toppings, fold over a third, and do the final fold as you slide the omelette onto a plate. Any fillings should be cooked ahead of time, then added to the top of the eggs when the pan is pulled of the stove.

Swiss meringue was a technique featured in the Pastries class, and French and Italian meringues were discussed in that class. Last night, we made French meringues and briefly touched on the other meringue techniques. The course materials include a page on the various meringues, which I think will be quite useful as I continue to play in the kitchen. French meringue must be baked, unlike the other two styles. We made meringue nests that should bake in a low oven for a couple of hours. We didn’t have quite that much time in class, so the meringues were not as dry as intended. I thought about taking a nest home to finish drying it out, but decided to try it in class anyway. I’m glad I did! I think I prefer the meringue to be less than perfectly dry! This is another wonderful item that can be made well ahead of time for party purposes. The fruit macerates (meaning it is treated with sugar and alcohol, though lower alcohol is better than high proofs) ahead of time as well. In fact, I had some aging strawberries and papaya, so they are now happily macerating in some amaretto. Maybe I’ll catch the itch to make my own meringue nests later today! The meringues were filled with the macerated fruit, then topped with creme anglaise. I’ve always wanted to make my own creme anglaise, and now I have no reason to put it off! Creme anglaise, like mayonnaise, is a basic sauce. Freeze creme anglaise, and you have French vanilla ice cream. Cook it a little less on the stove, pour it into ramekins and bake with moist heat, and you have creme brulee. I make ice cream and creme brulee frequently, I’ve just never used a vanilla bean – I always add some other flavor. (I’ve even made garlic creme brulee as a side dish with red meat.) The technique is essentially the same, which is the point of this class. It’s not about following specific recipes, it’s about the techniques needed to create your own flavor combinations.

I’m very happy with the course materials this time, as the additional information is fantastic! Recently I found this egg with ridges on the shell. I’d never seen anything like it, so I threw it away out of caution. According to the information in my packet, I could have used it. Next time I see a weird egg, I’ll consult this packet. The packet includes other useful information, such as tips on blanching various colors of vegetables to avoid discoloration or color loss. Not only will the food taste great, it’ll look great, too!

Housing Update: 3 February

If you haven’t read this post’s predecessor, it will make more sense if you stop and read it first.

After waiting two weeks since asking for the blackmail request to be put into writing, we finally got an update. AHMSI has been waiting for the house to pass through bankruptcy court before putting any request in writing. Funny thing about that – the clearance paperwork from bankruptcy court was received in September. That was two months before AHMSI was named the lien holder. AHMSI did not bother to pass their “reason” on to the title company, where our POC resides, until Monday of this week. The title company did not call us to update us. When my husband called on Tuesday morning, the title company gave us the information.

He about went through the roof. To say we’re livid at this point is a bit of an understatement. He told her about the September clearance. Then the lady at the title company looked through her file and guess what she found – the clearance letter! The incompetence at AHMSI and First Integrity are astonishing.

So now we’re once again at the point of “you’ll have the written letter by the end of the week.” Last time we were told it would take a day or two. I’d have to ask how these companies can make enough money to just stay in business when they take so much longer than they should to do anything, but I already know the answer to that. They simply ransom off the properties.

We’ve already filed one complaint through the Federal Trade Commission. We’ve been waiting for the written requirement for the fee to pass our offer to the decision maker so we can contact the state’s attorney general. In the meantime, I’ve found a wide variety of websites to file complaints against companies. Now to make time to do that. May not help us, but maybe it can help someone else, or at least provide more information in case anyone ever does investigate AHMSI. From my on-line research, an investigation is well overdue.

Lemon Lavender Mint Cheesecake

This weekend I decided to try to be creative with a cheesecake. I have very few go-to recipes, but the Betty Crocker cheesecake supreme usually work well for me, so I just adapted that.

I found some lemon wafers at the grocery store, next to the vanilla wafers and graham crackers. I simply added some melted better to lemon wafer crumbs for the crust. After tasting a wafer, I was concerned the lemon might not be strong enough, but I needn’t have worried – it was perfect.

One of the things I like about this basic recipe is that liqueur can be substituted for the milk, which is usually how I add another flavor. I often try to find unusual flavors, like creme brulee liqueur. I have a limoncello cream liqueur that would have been perfect for this cheesecake, but I needed something to infuse with the lavender so I opted for the milk instead. I added some dried lavender flowers to the milk, heated it in the microwave, then covered and steeped it while I prepared the crust and the custard. If you haven’t cooked with lavender before, be aware that the flavor is very strong – a little goes a long way. To overdo it means to serve edible perfume – not a laudable goal. Cream-based recipes are a little more forgiving of lavender. Still, discretion is required.

The acid of lemon juice has to be mixed with cream with care, else the cream curdles. I go for the easy option: lemon oil. Like lavender, one must be cautious with citrus oils – they are very strong. I added a few drops of lemon oil to the cream cheese mixture, then added the strained lavender milk. It seemed I’d applied too light a touch with the lavender, so I added some lavender powder until the mix tasted right. I poured half the mixture over the lemon wafer crust, then added a touch of peppermint extract to the bowl. It wasn’t strong, but if I added more, the peppermint flavor would be too pronounced. I’m growing some mint at home, but it’s not large enough for a proper harvest. I shredded a few leaves and added it to the mixture, then topped off the cheesecake.

After it chilled overnight, I added a dark chocolate ganache, without additional flavoring. Once that set, the indulgence finally began. It’s very good! The crust was more lemony than I expected. I’m glad I didn’t try to punch up its flavor! The lemon flavor in the cheesecake was great, but it somewhat overpowered the lavender. The mint is difficult to taste because of the the other, stronger flavors. That’s OK, because it’s still very yummy.

I’ve been known to add lavender flowers to vodka and let it steep. When I try this again, I will probably use lavender vodka instead of milk in the recipe. I will definitely use the lemon wafers again, and may even make that the only lemon in the entire cake. Next time, I will have so much fresh mint I’ll look for excuses to use it! Perhaps I’ll use the mint to flavor the ganache instead.

In the meantime, I think I’ve revived my lavender kick. I saw an idea for lavender focaccia, and I haven’t made focaccia since class. I guess I have a plan!

In need of a great basic cheesecake recipe? Here’s Betty Crocker’s (with my notes added):

• 1 3/4 cups finely crushed graham crackers (or lemon wafers)
• 1/4 cup finely chopped walnuts (optional, can substitute other nuts)
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon (or just use cinnamon graham crackers)
• 1/2 cup margarine or butter, melted
• 3 8-oz. packages cream cheese, softened
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/2 teaspoon finely shredded lemon peel, optional
• 2 eggs
• 1 egg yolk
• 1/4 milk or liqueur

For crust, combine crushed crackers (or wafers), nuts (if desired), and cinnamon. Stir in margarine/butter. Reserve 1/4 cup of crumb mixture for topping, if desired. Press remaining onto bottom and about 2 inches up sides of 8″ or 9″ springform pan.

Combine cream cheese, sugar, vanilla, flour, and lemon peel. Beat with an electric mixer until fluffy. Add eggs and yolk all at once, beating on low speed just to combine. Stir in milk/liqueur. Pour into crust-lined pan. Sprinkle with any reserve crumbs. Place on a shallow baking pan in oven. Bake at 375 degrees: 8″ pan, 45-50 minutes; 9″ pan, 35-40 minutes, or until the center appears nearly set when shaken. Cool 15 minutes. Loosen crust from sides of pan. Cool for 30 minutes more, then remove sides of pan. Cool completely. Chill at least 4 hours. (12-16 servings)

Wildlife Watching in Rocky Mountain National Park

Snowshoeing on weekends is becoming a habit of mine. However, I’m not yet skilled at predicting which trails will have great snow conditions. The trails I selected around Christmas and New Year’s were abysmal. Carrying snowshoes in a backpack because the wind has carried snow off the trail isn’t really snowshoeing. It doesn’t count unless the snowshoes are used for the preponderance of the outing!

My luck turned the next weekend. The Deadhorse Loop Trail is near Fraser, and the conditions there were great! There are lots of trails in the area, and while the parking lots were pretty full, we saw very few other people on the trail. We were excited to set off on the ~6 mile path. About two hours into our adventure, we finally found our first trail junction sign. According to our guide book, we’d gone a whole 1.1 miles. OK, it was uphill all the way, and at about 10,000 feet, but it felt like we went a lot further than that! Most of the rest of the trail was supposed to be downhill. We went a bit further, but that was still all uphill. As the sun was starting to go down, we decided to turn around. After a while, the dog started getting very tired, and carrying an extra wiggling 115 pounds up unhappy dog just wasn’t on our agenda. Even with all the stops, it only took an hour to get back. Maybe that trail was a little steeper than I’d thought!

The next day, we were tired, and the dog was completely exhausted: no snowshoeing for him. That gave us the opportunity to go to Rocky Mountain National Park, where dogs aren’t allowed on the trails. We took the snowshoes in case we felt like using them, but it was not a mandatory element of our day. RMNP is always great for viewing wildlife, and this was our first journey into the park together. We stopped at one of the visitor centers, and found a few bighorn sheep nibbling the grasses.

Anyone who knows anything about Rocky Mountain National Park knows that Horseshoe Valley and Moraine Park are likely places to view elk. Sure enough, we didn’t get far into the park when it started to snow, and shortly after that, we saw this heard of bull elk weathering the snow showers in Horseshoe Park. If nothing else, if gave me an opportunity to test the zoom on my new camera! I’m so glad the elk were cooperating. We saw a much larger herd of females in Moraine Park, but there were too many trees and grasses in the way for decent pictures. On the way home, we encountered a second bull herd in Estes Park.

As we drove through Moraine Park, we stopped a watched two coyotes wandering around. We quickly lost sight of one coyote, but we were able to watch the other one wander around, sniff a few things, and find a place to nap. I was surprised how well he blended in, despite the snow on the ground!

We finally made it to Bear Lake, our destination. The path around the frozen lake was only 0.5 mile, so despite our soreness from the day before, we were eager to get out there! As expected, it was beautiful – so beautiful that we weren’t satisfied with just the one short loop. As a side note, that flat loop took a little short of half an hour, and it was nowhere near as challenging as the previous day’s trail! We decided to head up towards the next in the line of small lakes in the area, Nymph Lake. We didn’t know where the trail was, so we found a well-enough worn trail from prior hikers and snowshoers, and up we went! This was another steep trail – steep enough for me to try out the uphill bars on my snowshoes that make climbing easier on your calves. I so recommend that feature! Wow! What a difference!

We got to Nymph Lake with no problem, and tromped off to circle it. That is, until we kept climbing higher and higher above the lake, and couldn’t find a trail to go down on the other side of the lake! We didn’t seem to be the only ones in this predicament, so we eventually headed off with a couple of other snowshoers using our gut feelings as our guide. That’s not a recommended approach, by the way, but it’s better there in the populated RMNP than in the backcountry somewhere. Marginally better, anyway. It was fun to snowshoe through deeper snow going downhill. We didn’t quite slide, but it was close! We found our way down, which was much less disquieting once we could actually see the lake.

The path we took back to the parking lot clearly was not our ascent route! As a result, we saw far more people! Since snowshoes weren’t absolutely required, there were some people who simply hiked the area. Many of those used yaktrax on their shoes. (We usually have ours with us, but I think it’s about time we start thinking about using them when conditions make snowshoeing difficult!) If you’re not familiar with yaktrax, they are strap-on devices with coiled springs to provide more traction on any footwear on ice or snow.

Overall, I’m thrilled we could combine a day of snowshoeing and wildlife watching! May there be many repeats!

Housing Update: 19 January

This whole buying a house episode wasn’t complicated enough. Let’s add blackmail to the list.

American Home Mortgage Servicing, Inc. (AHMSI) got the loan after the Fed took over Taylor, Bean and Whitaker (or is at least managing it for the true lien holder, the realtors haven’t figure out which), so that’s who we have to deal with now. You should know this company began two years ago, feasting off the financial cluster that is people either losing their homes or refinancing. Sounds good…like a payday loan. It sounds good in theory if you don’t look at anything closely, like the interest rates on a payday loan.

AHMSI’s modus operandi is, by our experience at the moment, nothing short of blackmail.

AHMSI called the short sale specialists to see how we, the buyer’s, would “feel” about pumping an extra $5,000 their way. We finally got to talk to the short sale specialist who took the call, as our realtor had it all wrong. Not that I really blame her, as not a single piece of this has any relationship to common sense. The $5,000 isn’t optional. It’s a “pre-condition for closing.” Here’s how it works: if we don’t agree to just pony up extra money, they won’t consider the offer or pass it along to the lien holder. That’s right, our offer is being held ransom for $5,000.

Ransom and blackmail – two words I associate with illegal activities. This doesn’t pass the sniff check in any way, fashion or form. Do you blame me for asking for it all in writing, with details? That way I can take it to the state’s attorney general’s office and the Federal Trade Commission. Seriously, is this legal?

AHMSI told the sellers in November to redo all the paperwork because the original offer was dated too far back. Couldn’t they have just said “oh yeah by the way we require an extra fee, let the buyers know?” Why are the calling the title company to float the fee by, to see if we might be interested in paying more money, yet state it’s non-negotiable? Wouldn’t it be a lot easier to send a letter notifying us of the new fee? They want us to express an interest in handing over more money before they’ll put anything in writing. Excuse me? They won’t put it in a counter-offer, either. That refusal and their tactics thus far scream “unfair practices” that I think might interest the FTC.

If nothing else, this certainly reeks of unethical practices. Yes, we are the type of people that will turn our backs on this house, despite the fact we’ve waited 11 months already, and we’ve seen 200 other houses that we have not preferred. Is this really what the housing market has turned into?

Both realtors and the title company were taken by surprise with this tactic. This is not standard practice in the industry, or at least it has not been until recently. All the people in the business are trying to make sense of it. That’s a difficult road, considering none of this makes any sense.

If AHMSI is the lien holder, why not just counter the offer? If not, why wait this long to ask if the fees are acceptable? And if the fees are legitimate, why ask about them rather than simply state your fees? The best explanation from the title company’s short sale department is that too many buyers have backed out, so they go to closing and no buyer shows up. So why not take the earnest money once the property is on contract? Isn’t that the function of earnest money, as protection to the seller if the buyer backs out without good (legal!) reason?

Hmm…that makes sense – scare away the buyer by holding their offer ransom, that’ll increase the number of buyers going to closing! Logic? Oh, Logic!? Where did you go?

The Birds, the Birds!

I’m so lucky. I have great friends. Friends with a mountain hideaway. Friends who let my husband and me have a quiet weekend away, complete with dog and our diabetic kitty (despite said friend’s allergy to cats). My husband had a short day on Friday, so we were able to make it to the cabin before sunset! That was perfect, because the checklist for making the cabin habitable included feeding the birds. It wasn’t just a suggestion.

We know to expect to see white-breasted nuthatches, dark-eyed juncos, Stellar’s jays, and mountain and black-capped chickadees. They’re always around the cabin, and know when it’s birdseed time! The Stellar’s jays are by far the largest, but they’re also the most timid. They like the corn cobs and the occasional shelled peanut. We wanted to try a different mix of seeds, comprised mostly of sunflower seeds (hulled and in shell) and shelled peanuts. We used three different mixes of seed, and enjoyed watching each species work out its favorite food. The nuthatches and chickadees preferred the shelled peanuts, and the juncos  preferred the small beige seeds that I only know as birdseed. We usually see half a dozen or so birds at a time, at least on the deck and railing. Many more are visible in the trees awaiting their turn.

This time, I saw a Clark’s nutcracker fly by one day, and drop in for a single shelled peanut the next. I wish I had been able to photograph him. My favorite visitors were a pair of hairy woodpeckers. Not so creatively, I dubbed them Harry and Harriet. Harriet’s more social; Harry’s more skittish, though he’s not as bad as the Stellar’s jays. These longer beaked birds are all fun to watch, as they scoop up several seeds at a time through the sides of their beaks. The woodpeckers were pretty visible on the trees around the cabin. I’m not sure what Harriet wanted to eat at the top of this particular tree, but it was one of the few times I saw her anywhere other than the deck or the trunk of a tree. The nuthatches also have longer beaks, and they’re neat to watch because they often face downward while searching a tree for food.

All the while, our cat was not happy because his feline brothers did not get to accompany him, and he’s very social. He’s been to this cabin once before, and he went straight to the window to see the outdoor buffet. This cat is the least likely of my cats to want to hunt, but mountain birds really bring out his inner beast. He spent most of the weekend in front of the window. The chickadees would swoop in quickly and land, always causing an immediate crouch in the cat. The juncos arrived more sedately, and would first land on the railing a little away from the window, then hop their way towards the seed. That caused the cat to crouch slightly and jerkily with each approaching hop.

What was even better? That’s easy: watching the dog watch the cat watching the birds. I can’t call it a food chain though, as the dog has no interest in hurting the cat. In fact, his job is to protect his cat. Occasionally, a chickadee would be brazen enough to land briefly on the exterior rim of the window. Whack! Kitty hit the window. And then the dog had to intercede and protect the cat from the window. He just wasn’t sure how to do it! He’s get up, rush the window, growl, look around, and nudge the cat to make sure kitty was OK. Very endearing entertainment, I must say!

The dog needed a little more exercise than just protecting kitty from himself, so we went for a walk. We were not gone all that long. When we returned, all the fresh birdseed was completely gone! Was it the wind? No, the chaff was still on the railing. What could have happened? The birds hadn’t been eating at that fast of a pace! The answer came to us later like the famous Hitchcock movie (which I’m really going to have to watch one of these days). Brown-capped rosy finches!

What a pretty bird…by itself! The first time we saw them visit, I captured 50 birds in one photograph. It wasn’t all of them, but it captured most. I later learned this is a bouquet of rosy finches. Appropriate. But I’ve only seen a bouquet (of flowers) that big in one of two places: a funeral parlor or the winner’s circle at a horse racing event! The birds were all massed together, creating a lot of fluttering noises that could be heard from the opposite side of the cabin! Fortunately, they were easily scared off…after they scared off the cat, of course. Their wingbeats were so loud coming and going! I shooed them away, and the flock flew in a big circle and landed in some trees near the house. Many landed on the roof. Clearly, they were waiting for the interruption to cease. This took several attempts before they went away for a meaningful length of time.

By Sunday, they’d gotten so bad that I had to put the dog on the deck to protect the birdseed from the birds! At least the chickadees don’t mind people or disinterested dogs. I read that wild chickadees are easily convinced to eat from human hands. Wow! Once the dog was in place, I heard a lot more fluttering before I could get back into the house myself. I looked up. Tons of birds were in the trees right beside me. Lots more were out of my sight but clearly on the roof. Some, like in the image above, perched on the edge of the gutter. I captured a snapshot of just the two most-used trees. Several other trees had dozens of finches as well. I just sat down today and counted birds in one of my close-up shots. I stopped counting at 80…on only one side of one tree! That easily approximates 300 birds in those two trees, plus all the others in nearby trees and on the roof! My estimate of 400 total finches may indeed be a gross underestimation. After a while, the clips from the horror movie entered my mind, and I began to wonder if the dog was going to be attacked by this massive bouquet! That does sound an odd turn of phrase, doesn’t it?

The owners have not yet seen this bird, and have not been assaulted by this quantity of any combination of birds at their cabin. Using my handy iBird app on my iPhone, I learned that this bird usually lives in alpine tundra, and only migrate to lower elevations when needed to find food. Lower elevation in this case means 10,000 feet! They usually live above treeline and feed on seeds and insects on the ground. Sighting them this year does not mean they’ll be around next year. This is a primarily Colorado bird, with rare sightings in Wyoming and New Mexico. Rocky Mountain National Park is reported to have a breeding population of 1,000-2,000 birds. I have no idea if these birds could have come from RMNP, or if they are more likely from the peaks closer to the cabin. Either way, it was a thrilling, if disconcerting, weekend of bird watching!

Denver Philharmonic Orchestra: Holiday Concert

Denver tastecasters got together to experience a different kind of taste. Instead of tasting food, we explored our taste in music! I thought it was great. We attended the Denver Philharmonic Orchestra’s (DPO) holiday concert on December 18th. (I know, I’m only a month behind in my backblog.) The tastecasting group’s presence was even announced at the beginning of the concert. This was my first tastecasting event where the group was already on twitter, which made the evening a little more interactive. I tweeted that I’d like to know more about the KPOF Hall where the DPO performed, and received a reply that the building’s history will be included in future programs! I look forward to reading about it.

The concert featured pieces by Mendelssohn, Bach, and Tchaikovsky. Mendelssohn’s piece was from his “Italian Symphony.” My tweeting of the event gained me a new follower on twitter, and she started responding to my tweets about the event! She informed me that “Italian Symphony” was not satisfactory to the composer, and was only published after his death. She’s right – when I finally got around to reading the program, that was explained! The program also called the piece “effervescent” – a perfect description! I like strings, and Mendelssohn really focused on those instruments. Great way to start the evening for me! As I write this, I’m listening to a few of the composer’s violin concertos. I’m glad his works were brought to my attention!

Tchaikovsky’s pieces were a bit more seasonal – selections from “The Nutcracker.” A couple of children were selected from the audience to be guest conductors, which was mildly entertaining. I was surprised at how many children attended the event with families. They were everywhere! The final part of the concert was a holiday carol sing-along. I love to sing! This was interesting. The focus of the evening was on the orchestra, so the carols were played a bit more slowly than the songs should otherwise be sung. Singing Deck the Halls’ fa-la-las at a funeral dirge pace took some getting used to. Nevertheless, it was entertaining. I expected my favorite part of the concert to be the sing-along. Instead, it was learning about Mendelssohn. Not a bad night!

I had a few other questions and musings throughout the evening. I wondered about the difference between a symphony orchestra and a philharmonic orchestra. Our group thought it might have to do with the number of instruments in the orchestra. Nope! My new twitter friend informed us that the difference is only in name, and which language it derives from. Fascinating! Thanks, Hanna! I also mused about the English horn. I assumed it was related to the French horn. I should have known better, given the distaste the English and French have for each other! The English horn is more like an oboe.

I learned a lot by tweeting during this event. I would have thought tweeting during a concert was rude, but that’s what I was there to do. If I’d paid to go, I wouldn’t have tweeted about it live, and I probably wouldn’t have learned so many things. I really hope I get to do this kind of thing more often! I certainly will think twice about judging someone as being rude if they tweet during a concert.

I was pleasantly surprised at how cheap the concert tickets are for the DPO. I recently moved here from the DC area, and concerts there are so much more expensive. This is a much better deal! Here’s the schedule for the DPO for the next few months.

Saturday, January 23, 2010 – 7 pm
Chamber Music Concert
KPOF Hall

A benefit for the Denver Philharmonic Orchestra
Chamber music performed by members of the DPO, selections include:

K. Goldmark – String Quintet in A minor, Op. 9 Allegro Molto
A. Borodin – Quartet No. 2 in D Major, Allegro
F. Mendelssohn – String Quartet No. 3 in D major, Molto allegro vivace
J.S. Bach – Concerto for Oboe d’amore in A major BWV
P. Gabaye – Sonatine for flute and bassoon
J. Jongen – Piano Trio No. 1 in b minor, Allegro deciso

Friday, February 19, 2010 • 7:30 pm
Featuring Young Artist Concerto Competition Winners
KPOF Hall

Abigail Travers, cello
Emily Switzer, violin
Alexander Raab, violin
Russell Guyver, guest conductor

Haydn – Cello Concerto in D Major, Allegro moderato
Tchaikowsky – Violin Concerto in D Major, Op. 35, Allegro moderato
Lalo – Symphonie Espagnole, Rondo
Berlioz – Symphonie Fantastique

Friday, March 26, 2010 • 7:30 pm
Presented by Thompson Creek Metals Company
King Center
Katie Mahan, piano
Brandon Matthews, conductor

Rossini – Overture to Semiramide
Chopin – Piano Concerto No. 1
Beethoven – Symphony No. 5

Friday, May 7, 2010 • 7:30 pm
KPOF Hall
Ken Greenwald, bassoon
Steven Byess, conductor

Mozart – Bassoon Concerto
Tchaikovsky – Symphony No. 4

Restaurant: Rack & Rye Gastropub

Denver tastecasters visited Rack & Rye Gastropub just two weeks after it opened its kitchen! It’s located downtown Denver, at 1320 15th Street. This place has an urban-industrial feel, and it really looks like it comes straight out of Glasgow! But don’t expect to find your typical bangers and mash, toad in the hole, or shepherd’s pie here. This gastropub puts an Asian spin on classic pub faire. True to it’s gastropub foundation, the menu also features foodie trends.

Foodie trend: bacon. If you’re in any way a foodie, you know that bacon is one of the hottest ingredients in foods both sweet and savory. Looking over the Rack & Rye menu, it doesn’t take long to find the chef pays attention to trends, as a gastropub should! The first dish we were served was the bacon jam. It was probably the biggest hit of the evening, and I’d recommend it to everyone who visits this pub. Another bacon hit was the maple bacon peanuts: sweet, savory, and salty!

The hot wings have a kung pao glaze and peanut brittle. The brittle is a nice, sweet, crunchy counterpoint, but the spice was a little much for me. The restaurant owner did ask if there was too much spice, but the rest of the group liked the extra spice. If you like spicy, go for it. If you’re more of a mild or medium spice kind of person, beware. The Cubano and Korean reuben sandwiches were hits with most of the group, but I preferred the 5-spice roast duck. I don’t think that would surprise anyone who knows me, as I love both duck and pears! We had all that, and a bag of doughnuts. Literally. The restaurant featured their doughnut dessert. These mini-doughnuts really took me back to the UK! When I lived there, I’d have some of those little doughnuts at every fair. The restaurant adds something that the fairs didn’t – blackberry mascarpone dipping sauce! Yum!

I like that this gastropub serves up something a little different. I’m not a fan of national chain restaurants, and I really like the individuality of this place. The menu has both small plates and entrees, making it a great solution for a party with varying degrees of appetites. What to try a bunch of different things? Treat it like tapas, and get a few small plates to share. Sandwiches are a lunch only item, but you won’t miss out – the same flavors are served as sliders at dinner.

Drinks are also unique at Rack & Rye. Herbs are often incorporated into the cocktails. There are some items I look forward to going back to try. Raspberry and lemongrass are combined in both a drink and a dessert. I’m intrigued by that combination!

Dark tables line either side of a single aisle. One side is just a single table – it’s impressive to see a table that large! They even have hooks under the table for ladies’ purses, to help keep things off the floor. I’d recommend this place for a date night, where a couple can linger over many shared dishes and talk into the night. I’d also recommend it for larger groups to mingle, or as an after theater/club/game hang out. This is one of those places you can dress up or down and still feel comfortable.

Like most of downtown, watch where you park. One of my fellow tastecasters reported being ticketed recently for parking two inches in front of the meter. I could see meter readers writing tickets fast and furiously. Spend your money on food and drink instead!