At Mike O'Shays in Longmont

This was previously published at Cookistry and si used with permission.

Over at Serious Eats, there's a daily feature called A Sandwich a Day. This is one of my submissions for that feature.

This isn't a filet 'o mystery-fish sandwich. The Fresh Salmon BLT ($11) at Mike O'Shays in Longmont, Colorado, includes a nice-sized salmon fillet served on a substantial baguette. It's topped with an herby garlic mayo, applewood smoked bacon, tomato slices and lettuce.

The salmon definitely plays the starring role but the green, garlicky mayo is just the right accompaniment. You also get a choice of fries (regular or sweet potato!), cole slaw, or salad.

Mike O'Shays
512 Main Street
Longmont CO 80501 (map)
303-772-0252

Food Swap!

Food swaps are apparently a new trend. I don't think of myself as particularly trendy, but this is a pretty cool idea. People get together and trade home made or locally grown products. A new group in this area is the Mile High Food Swappers that met for the first time at Ollin Farms in Longmont.

Nineteen people signed up to attend. I didn't count how many showed up, but it was a nice gathering, and a pretty wide range of foods. There was marmalade, ice cream, cookies, elk sausages and burgers, fresh vegetables, eggs, jelly, home made lotions, granola, bread, and probably other things I'm not thinking of. Everyone was asked to bring a minimum of five items to trade. Some brought more. Some people brought five of the same thing, and some brought a variety.

The process was pretty simple. Tables were set up and attendees set out their products so people could see what was available. Some people put out samples as well. There were small sheets were people could put their names and what products they wanted to trade. After everyone had a chance to look, the trading began, and people swapped what they had for what they wanted.

It was a lot of fun, and there was plenty of time to chat with fellow foodies. As far as the trades, I'll bet everyone walked out of there thinking they made the best deal ever.

Photos here are by Amy DuBois. I forgot to bring my camera. (Bad blogger! Bad!)

At the Dickens Tavern in Longmont

This was republished from Cookistry, with permission.

Over at Serious Eats, there's a daily feature called A Sandwich a Day. This is one of my submissions for that feature.

The smoked pork and pickled pepper sandwich ($9) at the Dickens Tavern in Longmont Colorado isn't the prettiest girl at the dance, but looks are deceiving. The menu describes it as "smoked pork, pickles, hot peppers, melted cheese, all grilled on super toast with chipotle aioli," but it looks a lot plainer than that.

In fact, it looks like shredded meat with cheese sauce on a large slice of bread. One bite, though, tells a different tale. The there's the smokiness of barbecue followed by the heat of peppers, the creaminess of cheese and aioli, and more smokiness from the chipotle. I had to peek inside again to see where all the flavor was coming from, but no, there was nothing hiding, It looked like shredded meat with a melty cheesy sauce and bits of green that must have been the pickled peppers. The server that brought the sandwich said it was his favorite, and I can see why.

Cheap Eats at Fusion

When you're talking about food, the word "fusion" invokes fancy food. But Fusion Food and Spirits is anything but that. Oh, the dining room has tablecloths, and the menu has food that sounds like it's probably nice, but what we went for was the cheap eats.

Happy hour.

Basic grub and cheap draft beer.

"How cheap?" you ask. Really, really cheap. On the Thursday night we stopped by, the happy hour special was a burrito and a beer for $3. That's cheap. Heck, it's a budget night out that's hard to beat. I mean, there's beer involved, right?

The bar was full when we got there, so we were given a big table in the dining room. Really? We're here for cheap bar food, and we're allowed in the dining room with the real eaters? That's not bad. Then again we didn't look like a rowdy group, and the dining room wasn't exactly full.

For that price, the burritos weren't bad, and the beer was cold.

Good-Bye Cayenne ...

At the end of May, Boulder County loses one of its foodie shopping spots - well, if you're a foodie who likes to cook. Cayenne Kitchen was (is, but not for much longer) Longmont's "kitchen store" with all sort of gadgets, cookware, and an interesting selection of sauces, spices, and other .... stuff.

Judging by the way the vultures were pecking over the corpse of this store on the first Saturday when the closing was announced, people LIKED the products Cayenne sold. That Saturday, prices were 25 percent off, which is a decent sale. But if you were on Cayenne's mailing list, you got a 25-percent-off coupon every month. That Saturday's 25-percent-off was a good sale, but shoppers could have gotten that discount every month, if it was the discount they were after.

But even with that monthly discount and other sales, there wasn't enough traffic to keep the business viable. People didn't think about shopping there until the store announced its closing. And then they flocked in..

It's a shame, too, because not only was it a great place to browse for cool cooking toys, but it was a store owned by two incredibly nice and generous people. It seemed like any time a charity asked for a donation, Cayenne ponied up with a gift card or a basket filled with product.

If only all the people who asked for donations had come back and shopped at Cayenne, the store might have had a chance at surviving. And if all the people who flocked there for the sale had stopped in once in a while over the past year, maybe that would have helped.

Too late now.

Another local business bites the dust, and now Longmont locals will have to shop elsewhere. It's not like there are no other choices. In Longmont, there's the Ace Hardware store that has just expanded its housewares selection. And in Boulder, of course there's Peppercorn.

But still it's sad to see a nice local store close.

I'll miss them.

Ya gotta eat!

Whether you want to go out to eat, or you want to buy locally grown produce, or you want to support local companies that produce food, or local businesses that sell food, there's a heck of a lot of food in Boulder County, Colorado.

We're going to look at all of it. Good, bad, or otherwise.