Chef Brandon

It's stove top Jiffy Pop! This stuff always reminds me of my friends Sarah and Andy. Can you get this in NYC, guys?

It's days like today that make me love living in Colorado. It was warm enough that my hoodie was enough to keep me warm and the sun was shining just a little too much- we like those kinds of problems. I had to pinch myself and think, "It's DECEMBER!"

I went to Kinko's to make some copies for a few custom charm orders then went to my favorite neighborhood shop. This place has everything colorful and sparkly and whimsical. It was all I could do to resist from buying the $30 pack of mini silver glitter snowflake tree decorations. It would have been a bit much, considering we have a 3.5 foot tall silver tinsel Christmas tree, but some times too much is just not enough. That's my new motto as I look forward to making a new sugar cookie recipe tonight with two sticks of butter and a healthy amount of real whipping cream.

We went to see our favorite comedian Brian Regan this evening. He's been around since the late 90's but has never had a sitcom or anything, so is not as visible as other comedians, but he's been a regular on late night talk shows and you may have seen him on Comedy Central. He's a great comedian if you haven't heard of him! Anyway, he's got this skit he does about how lazy one must be to have to purchase one jar with a mix of peanut butter and jelly. My sister and Brandon's sister were both going to the comedy show as well, so I thought it would be funny- based on one of his most well-known jokes- to present them each with a jar of peanut butter and jelly in the same jar after the show.

I grabbed one of the jars of pb & j and stuck it in my ginormous purse right before we headed out the door for the evening. Picture me in my wedge heels lugging my 6-pounds heavier purse 'o peanut butter as we walk the 16 blocks into downtown Denver. We are getting ready to go in the comedy show venue, the historic Paramount Theater, when the door guy says, "Can you please open your purse for me, miss?" So I oblige, partially embarassed at this point as I think about this guy seeing that I have a full-sized jar of peanut butter grape jelly mixture in my purse. He looks at me incredulously and says, "Oh- you can't bring FOOD in here." I look at him wide-eyed and ask what I'm supposed to do. He tells me that I can set the peanut butter jar on the counter behind the ticket guy. So I place the jar of grape jelly & peanut butter mixed together on the counter, meanwhile the dink of a ticket taker says to me, "Hey- ya got some peanut butter for me. Thanks." I told him to enjoy.

So I definitely just got my peanut butter and jelly mix in a jar confiscated tonight. I feel like such a bad ass. In light of this story, I share with you the original comedy skit by Brian Regan:

We used to love peanut butter… still do. I saw something in the store the other day that I don’t understand, that peanut butter and jelly in the same jar. Is there a point to that? I mean… I mean I’m lazy, but… I wanna meet the guy who needs that. Some guy going, “You know I could go for a sandwich, but uh, I’m not gonna open TWO jars! I can’t be opening and closing all kinds of jars… cleaning, who KNOWS how many knives!?!” If you’re that lazy, why not put croutons in there and get the whole sandwich on a spoon. You know, just scoopin’ it out… “Mmm…Oh, scrumptious!! I think I’m gonna have another one. Uh, mmmmm… DELECTABLE!! As was the first!” Or if you don’t wanna clean the spoon, you put it all in a squeeze bottle. “Mmmm! Lunch and no clean up!! Can life get better? I submit that it CANNOT!!”

It's peanut butter-jelly time.

Feeling busy with the holidays coming up. I've got holiday shopping and baking to parktake in, but also have been fulfilling a few custom jewelry orders and making things to send to shops! My workplace has an auction each year to raise money for a few charities in town- a local high school raising money to restore the beautiful but worn library built in the 1920's and an organization in town that helps provide shelter and assistance for pregnant teenagers who want to continue their education- so I plan on making and donating a few things to the auction. Deadline being this week. It's no wonder I went to bed past midnight last night! Remind me again- is this time of year supposed to be fun or stressful? Has anyone out there found the secret to finding a good balance during the holidays or is the joy found in realizing you're done with the stressful parts?

It snowed last night in Denver. Koda just loves tumbling around in the snow so he stood at our door gazing out at the snow which was accumulating on the ground for a few hours after work yesterday. At first it was kind of cute, watching him gaze wistfully outside at the snowfall. Then he started to get restless, alternating running from the living room window to the bedroom then back to the living room (over and over and over and over), so I threw on my shoes and heaviest winter jacket, the warmest hat I own and I borrowed a pair of Brandon's huge snowboarding gloves. I hooked up Koda to his leash and we headed out into the snow.

It was about 8:00 p.m. and there were very few people outside. Although the last thing I felt like was going for a walk in the cold and snow, I must admit- it was beautiful! There was an inch or two of snow on the ground and not a single footprint (or pawprint) came before ours. We ran for a while, big snow flakes hitting my cheeks. Running down the sidewalk with my arm outstretched with my dog pulling the leash in front of me, I tried my best not to slip and fall. Imagining a) me slipping and falling since my dog was running super fast combined with b) running like crazy people through the falling snow while all the sane people were inside their heated homes resulted in a huge grin across my face. I was exhilrating and unexpected and I think I smiled for a block straight.

In any case, we brought a camera along with us, because you just never know when a mundane walk might turn into a creative adventure.