Q: What Kind Of Wine Goes Best With Velveeta? A: Boones Farm.

What up, Colorado Cheese Festival?!

I was lucky enough to attend this awesome cheese extravaganza!

Val, Christine, and Diamond were there!
Val's all about the cheese...he used to be a cheese maker!
Believe you me, I've already put a word in with Val to have him teach the Denver Craft Ninjas how to make cheese!

Mozzarella, Paneer...BLESS!

So, this is how you roll at the Colorado Cheese Festival:
Grab plate, tong up a couple squares, eat while moving to next table, sip a little water (or wine), REPEAT!

Some of my favorite cheesers...
Doug and Steph!

TJ tagged along too! I love TJ! She makes me laugh so much!

We started tasting - that's the reason we were there, right?!

This table had some sheep's milk cheese.
Sheep's milk isn't for me! The flavor is crazy strong and it caught me off guard.
Good to know for next time!

Val knows his stuff...we let him lead the way!

Seriously, every cheese you could imagine...
Blue, gouda, cheddar, chevre!

This variety had jerk seasoned cheese, cajun cheese, and cheese rolled in coffee grounds.
And the coffee grounds cheese was friggin' amazing!

Diamond is a cheese kid!

We worked out a cooperative system where the person with a free hand served up cheese to the rest of us.

Artisan cheese makers!
Thank you!

Son of a...
Humboldt Fog!
The best of the best in my book.
They had a truffle cheese that I told Steph I wanted to spend some time alone with.
Yeah, romantically!

And this table was just a cheese blow out!

Doug can hang!

The cheese crowd...is also the Bill Cosby sweater crowd!

Mmmm, GRUEYERE!

Edible rind...okay, why not?!

Haystack Mountain Goat Dairy is a Colorado based cheese maker!
And their cheese is dreamy!

Haystack Mountain Buttercup, Haystack Mountain Chevre en Marinade, Applewood Smoked Chevre...
I mean, you can't go wrong.

Yeah, it started to become overwhelming.

Cutting boards galore!
Flavors, varieties, subtleties, families...

This guy was serving up a cheese with cumin seeds.
It was ridic good.

Douglet and Steph waiting their turn!


And just when I thought we were done...
I was pleasantly surprised to know that we would be attending a pairing class that Val was teaching!

Want some wine with that cheese? Yes, yes, I do.


The pairing class gave us the opportunity to eat MORE cheese.

And hang out with weird cheese types.

The spread was wicked good...
Bread, olives, nuts, fruit, cured meats, jams, and honey!

And cheese...
But they had a WHEEL of Humboldt fog!
I took an unhealthy wedge.


I insisted that I get a pic of Steph's plate.
She looks perturbed, but I can't tell if it's because she's cheesed out or because she can't wait to attack the plate!

I cleaned my plate...
I'm not so much for the rind, although, I did learn from Val that you can eat the rind of the Humboldt Fog.
I'll try it next time.

I took lots of notes in my Colorado Cheese Festival Cheese Journal.

And I did actually learn a lot from Val and his cheese compadre!

By the time it was all over, I sort of had a headache.
A cheese hangover...but god damn, that's pretty awesome.

Also, I ate some food cooked up by Hosea of Top Chef.
I would have gotten a picture of him, but I felt bad for him because everyone was asking him for a pic and he seemed sort of tired of it.

Le Vendredi Treize!

Hey!

My rad tattoo dude, Jymi, is doing another Friday the 13th tattoo promotion!

He's really making a party out of it too!

Go see him at NewSpeak!
2907 E. Colfax Ave.
Denver, CO 80206

303-355-2171

Favorites Wednesday!

So, I often get wooed by craftin' endeavors...
The allure of mastering a craft is something that I can easily get cracked out about and then become obsessively fixated with getting my hands on every book and tool...and for long (or short) stretches, I do nothing but that craft.

Right now, it's embroidery.
Plain and simple, I'm into it. I'm hooked.

And nobody helps to get you off the ground, stitchwise, better than Jenny Hart.
She's gone and made the world of embroidery a less intimidating, prudish, matronly place! Instead, she insists that the embroiderer own her work and not be ashamed about messy knots in the back of your project. She encourages budding stitchers to use subversive patterns and use flashy floss - and somehow, she has managed to make embroidery a thrill!

What's better is that Jenny's Sublime Stitching website is super helpful and supportive of amateur and master stitchers and she updates her blog with pictures of the work she's doing (which is inspiring and empowering), the work of others, and how embroidery and stitching fits into the world of art, craft, and how it's constantly redefining itself.

Never has embroidery seemed more tangible, friendly, and available - even to those that don't think they have a shred of talent.

Honestly, I've been visiting both of Jenny's blogs on a daily basis for encouragement and inspiration and if you've ever had an interest in learning about embroidery or if you admire the work of artist stitchers...then check out her sites!

I've got so many plans for future stitch projects!
Give me embroidery or give me death!

Favorites Wednesday!

Ha! See that little cutie right there?
That's the logo for my dear friend Spencer's small press, Laughing Mouse.

Spencer has been cooking on Laughing Mouse since way back in 2002 and he's recently found a lot more time to dedicate to making it a little press worth talking about and cranking out some new material.

He's recently published a book of poetry for Mariette Papic called 'Electric Bathtub Psalms' and they are just beautiful hand crafted pieces of art with some really enthralling poetry inside.
You can learn more about Mariette's chapbook here!

But more importantly, you should go to the website to stay abreast of all the great ideas and wonderful plans Spencer has in store for Laughing Mouse!

Spencer is one of my favorites so it seems appropriate to give a shout out to him and Laughing Mouse Press on Favorites Wednesday!

CHECK IT!

The Wasteland Guides Them

This morning while in a mad rush to get to work...I saw some wonderful surprises on Speer.

I thought about these things ALL DAY...and reminded myself that I wanted to walk over and get pictures of these cool pieces of art before weather or some nefarious hater removed them.

All of these pieces are on paper and, I assume, they've been adhered to the utility poles and boxes with wheat paste or something.

This one is my favorite.
It's dark.

Whoever you brilliant people are that are doing this...keep doing it!
And thank you!

Favorites Wednesday!

So, I think I'm going to try to start posting a blog/website, on my blog, once a week (on Wednesday) that I think hangs the moon!
The Internet, as we all know, is a wealth of info and there are a lot of really top shelf humans doing amazing, quirky and outta sight things.
I want to share with anyone who follows this blog! If you have a suggestion, i.e. a friend or a fave page, please share! I'll post them here and give credit where credit is due!

So, here's the start:

Photo by Alicia Carrier

On the suggestion of my amazing friend Belinda, I was peeping the Bread & Honey food blog...it's a great blog in its own right (dreamy food porn and recipes!), but while perusing (which always feels slightly voyeuristic) I found that the lovely lady that writes and photographs for Bread & Honey also does a super blog called Ten Dollar Drawings.

The idea here is that she can support her freelance endeavors by creating sweet $10.00 5x7" drawings of whatever YOU want. She keeps up her skills and puts a little coin in her pocket!

I'm considering hitting Alicia up for a drawing or two for Christmas!

Check out her site at Ten Dollar Drawings and ogle her amazing work - then buy something!
Have her draw your great aunt Doris holding a parakeet in a taco shell, a banana in a bikini, or a toaster.

Favorites Wednesday! The new Kraken tradition begins NOW!

Denver Craft Ninjas! It's Official!

The AMAZING Andrew Robbins, long time friend and insanely talented artist, let me sweet talk him into doing a logo for our craftin' out crew...
I couldn't be more excited about how it turned out or appreciate more his talent and willingness to indulge me!

This sweet lookin' logo is just the beginning and solidifies our presence as a craftin' crew to be reckoned with!

Please click on the link to Andy's website above and hire him to do something amazing for you!
OR buy some of his beautiful art pieces and tell your friends about him!

Also, check out the Craftin' Out link to the left in the coming days for pics from our stitch & bitch!
xox

The Way You Want To Get Rid Of Me Makes Me Weak In The Knees

On Friday the 13th, I visited my tattoo guy, Zez...

He was a doing a tattoo promotion @ his new shop, Newspeak on Colfax.

It's a really cool shop with art materials (particularly for graffiti artists) and is a great space for artists to display their efforts.

The deal, on Friday the 13th, is that you can only pick from the selection that Zez has for you.
No custom tacos or bananas in bikinis.

Co-worker Michelle tagged along and got a paper airplane.

They had some post tattoo celebratory munchies.
I abstained from what Zez called the "Teghetto Sunrise" which was the shop specialty.
Tequila and orange Fanta on ice.
Yikes.

Michelle getting tattooed.

These are a couple art pieces by Zez.
Really cool stuff...I love that JeZez.

Final product!
Hurray! It's whimsical!

Zez decided to draw my tattoo on me directly - rather than using a stencil.
I trust the guy, so...what he says goes!

The spot!

Sadly, I look like I am getting a really disappointing surprise.
I was way more excited than I look.
The initial pain caught me off guard, but by the time I was used to it - he was done.

Unlucky ladder.

Later, Baby S and I went to grab a little nosh before we headed back to see Zez.
Spencer decided he wanted a tattoo as well.

Strangely, when we split our dinner...it came to exactly $13.00 respectively.
Eerie!

Obligatory tattoo paperwork...

Alright, so while Spencer was getting tattooed, I let Zez mix me up a "Teghetto Sunrise".
He poured a surprisingly stiff cocktail for a guy that doesn't drink!

Baby S got a lucky rabbit's foot.

Post tattoo - we hit the P.S. Lounge.
Love that place - all the ladies get a rose and a shot upon arrival...
AND...the owner must have liked our faces because he bought us a shot before we left!

We did have to hit the road though...The Swanks and King Rat were playing over at stinky old Benders!

Rex aka Old Man River strapped on his axe and The Swanks started their set!

Shanda Boo!

Mama Kel was maniacally texting me with threatening diatribes until I arrived at the show.
One of my faves, for reals, forev.

Have you not seen The Swanks before?
That's weird.
You should check them out. Check that guy out in the bottom left...that's what happens to you when you see them play! NO JOKE.

Baby S and Anthony!
Anthony bought me a drink! What a kind gentleman!

Phillip...professional!

Rex killin' it.

Look, it's the ever-busy TJ and sweet Gina!

And there's Steph! She was taking it easy...she had an appointment with Cozumel, Mexico the next morning!

The Swanks set was perfect...and I'm honored to note that Shanda dedicated 'Scars' to me!

Also, I love that Rex has a pedal called "DEATH METAL DISTORTION"!

So much fun!

Some cuties that I love!

Up next was my other favorite fart butts...
King Rat!

Ant face.

I know Ant's not working any "hanky code", but everytime I see a dude with a hanky in his back pocket...I think of this:
HANKY CODE

Luke face.

Douglet face.

Hope you're having fun sunning yer buns, Ms. Bastard!

Who is this nutty guy?

Why did I take pictures of him?

Mikey Rat face.


King Rat was great...as usual.
They're a really tight band and they've been doing this for long enough to really pack a punch!

Here's a little video...I'm sure the sound is AS BAD as The Bronx & F*cked Up footage, but it's my blog - I do what I want.



After the show was over, Mama Kel and Rex carted my sad ass home.
CURSE YOU "TEGHETTO SUNRISE"!