There's a new distillery coming to town!

Oskar Blues is opening a new distillery in Longmont. Read about it in the Times Call.

Local Foods, Local Jobs

Today the Local Foods, Local Jobs act, sponsored by Senator Gail Schwartz (D-Snowmass), passed through the Senate Agriculture, Natural Resources, and Energy Committee. The Local Foods, Local Jobs act supports local, small-scale growers and producers by creating alternative methods for them to sell homemade, value added goods. Senate Bill 48 will allow small growers to sell their products directly to consumers, jump starting local economies and increasing the availability of healthy foods.

Senator Schwartz offered the following comment on Senate Bill 48:

“I am pleased to see that this jobs bill passed with bipartisan support as it will directly benefit many hard-working Coloradans. By empowering Colorado’s small farms and small-business entrepreneurs, this bill will create jobs, strengthen the economy, and promote tourism in our local communities.”

The Local Foods, Local Jobs Act will ease impediments to local markets by exempting home kitchens from certain health inspections that are generally applied to large retailers. Home kitchens will be trained on safe food handling and processing procedures, as well as labeling requirements to ensure healthy products. Small businesses that promote locally sourced foods can get a strong start due to these streamlined regulations.

Sixty-five year-old Monica Wiitanen is the owner of The Small Potatoes Farm in Paonia, Colorado, and will directly benefit from the passage of Senate Bill 48:

“This bill would make a big difference to our farm operation as we could use excess or injured produce to make garlic and chile powder, dried tomatoes, kale chips, potato bread, and lots more. I work with a young professional baker and this will create income for him as well. It really has a spiral effect, and I think it will bring some life and prosperity into our community.”

Nearly 30 other states have passed similar laws to promote local products. Senate Bill 48 is sponsored in the House of Representatives by Representative Don Coram (R-Montrose).

Distillery coming soon

Bradford Heap, owner of Salt in Boulder, Colterra in Niwot, and the recently-launched Bradford Heap Catering, has teamed up with Evan Faber to start a distillery.

Read the full story here.

Boulder Distillery and the Gin Project

Rob Masters, distiller of Rob's Mountain Gin, has crafted a limited edition batch entitled Boulder County Gin. The Gin was distilled using 100 percent neutral spirits from grain and organic herbs grown by Growing Gardens.

Additional components of the gin include juniper berries donated by Ollin Farms in Niwot and Indian Peaks Spring Water from the glaciers of the Continental Divide. All proceeds from Rob's Boulder County Gin will benefit Growing Gardens, a local non-profit dedicated to cultivating community through gardening. The concept for this creative fusion was developed by Rob Masters of the Boulder Distillery who was interested in sourcing a gin from 100 percent local and organic ingredients.

This is definitely not your standard gin. Other then the local juniper, all the other botanicals are considered non-standard in traditional gins. There's a nice floral component coming from fresh rosemary and a slight sweetness coming from sweet basil. It is all rounded out with a great fresh finish from a lemon cucumber infusion after distillation. They wanted to highlight the great things that were being grown at the gardens and they think they nailed it.

Growing Gardens horticulturalist Ben Turner was contacted early in the growing season to participate in the project, and he advocated that the botanicals for the spirit be sourced from the Growing Gardens' greenhouse and the Cultiva! fields.

Rob's Boulder County Gin was first released in August at the 12th Annual Growing Gardens ¡Cultiva! Harvest Dinner, which took place at the farm where the herbs for the gin were grown. Rob's Boulder County Gin is also available for purchase at a select number of bars, restaurants and markets in Colorado including the tasting room at Boulder Distillery (commonly known as 303) and Cured. Supply is limited, as only one batch was made for this special project. For more information on the production of the Boulder County Gin visit: www.mountaingin.com/growing-gardens. 

About Growing Gardens
Growing Gardens is dedicated to enriching the lives of our community through sustainable, urban agriculture projects, such as: The Cultiva Youth Project (Ages 11 - 19), The Children's Peace Garden (Ages 4 - 10), Horticultural Therapy (Seniors and People with Disabilities), Fresh Food Families & Fitness (Low-Income Families), and The Community Gardens (General Public). In 2011, Growing Gardens served over 10,000 people from Ages 4 - 90 through education, garden programs and food donations; donated over 9,000 pounds of fresh, healthy and locally grown produce to families and community food banks; brought more than 1 million honeybees to Boulder County; and grew 35,000 seedlings for the community and their own programs. For more information or to donate securely online, please visit: www.growinggardens.org 

About Boulder Distillery and Clear Spirit Company  
The Boulder Distillery and Clear Spirit Company is based in Boulder's emerging East End and is the home of 303 Vodka (www.303vodka.com), 303 Whiskey and Rob's Mountain Gin. 303 Vodka and 303 Whiskey are distilled by Steve Viezbicke at 47th and Pearl Street using 100 percent Colorado potatoes and Rocky Mountain spring water.

Rob Masters is the distiller of Rob's Mountain Gin and this limited edition batch - the Boulder County Gin. The Boulder Distillery and Clear Spirit Company products are available across Colorado. Boulder Distillery has a great tasting room attached the distillery and offers tours Wednesday through Saturday.

Robin Chocolates Grand Opening

Robin Chocolates, at 600 S Airport Road in Longmont will celebrate its grand opening on November 18 and 19 from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.

This is the location of both the new kitchen and new retail store.

During the event, you can sample chocolates, confections, and pastries including the moist and chewy Grandma Moses molasses cookie, cream puffs, eclairs, chocolate buttermilk cake with fudge icing, and more.

Need goodies for the holidays? You can order chocolate platters, pumpkin pies, pumpkin cheesecake, Jack Daniels chocolate pecan pie, specialty cakes, cinnamon rolls, and just about any dessert you desire for the holidays

For gift giving, you can get a basket filled with chocolates and other confections. If you prefer to bring your own basket, you can have it filled with frills and confections, then have it wrapped and tied with a bow. If you need it shipped, they'll do that for you, too.

For more info, call 720-204-8003

Colorado Egg Producers

Autumn has officially arrived. Kids are back in school, leaves are changing and the holiday spirit will soon arrive with a dash of stress and a pinch of hectic scheduling. Meals and snacks don’t have to be a hassle this time of year, especially when using eggs. The Colorado Egg Producers (CEP) Association has a few ideas to incorporate eggs into meals for busy schedules.

Eggs are easy to prepare ahead of time for any meal and are excellent snacks for car rides, shopping trips and more. While eggs are oftentimes associated with stovetop cooking for leisurely weekend breakfasts, they can also be served as a quick snack or a meal on-the-go and satisfy hunger at any hour of the day. Here’s a look at how eating eggs can help save time in what can be the busiest season of the year.

Breakfast
Think you can’t find the time for an egg breakfast in the middle of a hectic morning? Think again. You can prepare an egg breakfast in a snap. Some ideas can even commute with you in a portable coffee mug.

• Scramble eggs in the microwave for a meal in less than a minute.
• Stir a raw egg into oatmeal with milk. Microwave and enjoy with fruit on top.
• Make an egg sandwich with a bagel, English muffin or toast.

Lunch
Even if you find yourself far from the kitchen during the lunch hour, you can still enjoy eggs for a mid-day meal. An egg lunch doesn’t have to take long to prepare and can be easy to eat at your desk on busy days.

• Hard boil eggs in advance, slice them up and add them to a leafy salad.
• Prepare a hearty sandwich with egg salad or use a sliced hard-boiled egg as a base for a delicious sandwich – toss in avocado, celery, fresh greens or any other addition you’d like.

Dinner
Many people enjoy relaxing after a long workday, and preparing a meal can sometimes seem like extra work. Don’t think of eggs as breakfast for dinner; think of them as a quick and inexpensive evening meal that can cook while you’re busy with other activities. Also, many dinner recipes may provide ample leftovers for future meals, which saves prep time throughout the week.

• Use a slow cooker to make an egg bake and let the meal take care of itself.
• Prepare an egg casserole dish ahead of time, refrigerate it and bake it when you get home.

Snacks and appetizers
Eggs are as easy to snack on as any other finger food. Take a tip from CEP and trade traditional carb-loaded snacks for a punch of protein.

• Include a hard-boiled egg in you or your child’s lunch box. To make it even easier to eat, slide the egg onto a popsicle stick.
• Be the hit of any holiday party with deviled eggs – mix it up by adding tex-mex  flavoring, cheese or bacon.
• Make bacon and egg cups by lining muffin tin holes with bacon, cracking eggs inside the holes and baking at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.

Not only are eggs quick and easy to prepare for any meal or snack in a busy lifestyle, they’re also packed with nutrients. While other calorie-packed foods may tempt us all during the holiday season, eggs are a healthier option. 

“As local egg farmers, we like to remind people of eggs’ health benefits. One egg offers nearly every vitamin a body needs and is a model source of protein,” said Terry Tormohlen, Colorado egg farmer and CEP member. “Additionally, eggs have all nine essential amino acids, which boosts metabolism.”

CEP offers recipes that can be prepared in advance and taken on-the-go at coloradoeggproducers.com.

Support your local egg farmer and those in need and “like” the Colorado Egg Producers on Facebook (www.facebook.com/CoEggProducers ). For every “like,” CEP will donate an egg to Food Bank of the Rockies.

CEP is a membership organization representing seven farms throughout Colorado. The organization is committed to doing what’s right for its community, as illustrated by the regular donation of thousands of eggs to food banks throughout the state. Egg farmers throughout Colorado pride themselves on providing eggs to Coloradans. We are also proud to offer consumers the choice between cage, cage-free eggs, organic, nutrient enhanced, brown and white eggs. You can find locally produced, fresh, wholesome and safe eggs in the dairy case of your favorite Colorado supermarkets. To see video of how chickens are raised in both cage and cage-free environments or to find a list of where to buy Colorado eggs visit coloradoeggproducers.com.

I scream, you scream ...

On my way to writing a completely different article, I got a chance to meet with Peter Arendsen, the owner of Ice Cream Alchemy in Boulder.

My introduction to Ice Cream Alchemy came before that, when I tasted his balsamic vinegar ice cream at a farm dinner at Ollin Farms.

I fell in love with the ice cream, and when I was asked to write an article about local ice cream shops, I emailed him and asked if his ice cream was sold anywhere by the scoop. "I'll meet you," he said. "I'll bring some samples."

Well, okay, then.

Peter is an interesting guy. He had a lot of different ventures before he finally settled down in the ice cream business. Yes, settled down. He and his wife had a two-year-old child and she suggested that maybe it was time for him to find something he loved to do, and that he would stick with. "I wanted to make ice cream," he said, so he bought a local franchise that makes ice cream in its shops.

Pretty soon he started fiddling around with his own flavors, which he sold to local chefs. It didn't take long before he realized that creating special flavors was so much more fun than making company flavors based on the company recipes. So he left the franchise behind and launched his own business.

Flash forward to today, and he sells his ice cream through a distributor to restaurants in Colorado and New Mexico. He also sells directly to chefs who come to him with their ideas, or just give him the descriptions of the dishes they want an ice cream to pair with. Then he makes the magic.

Many local restaurants (including Jax, Salt, Colterra, Oskar Blues, The Med, Brasserie 1010, Empire, Pizzeria da Lupo, Dushanbe Teahouse, Zucca, The Pinyon, and the Laughing Goat) serve his ice cream for dessert, but when I first started looking, the only place I could find that sold scoops was The Old Chubway in Lyons. It's next to (and owned by) Oskar Blues, and when I went there, two of the ice creams contained Oskar Blues beer.

Beer ice cream was interesting, but the flavor that really surprised me was popcorn.

Yes, popcorn. On first taste, it was vanilla. Then butter crept in. Then the popcorn went "pow" and there it was. I was amazed, but that was before I met the man.

Peter told me, "People need to let down their inhibitions about how food should be ... how it could be."

He's not afraid to put anything in his ice cream. Anything.

Except that he prefers quality ingredients. "I'd rather make something that my kids can eat," he said. So there are no chemicals or preservatives added to the product. He explained that legally he could date his ice cream with a sell-by date two years in advance. Instead, he makes his ice cream over the weekend for customer pickup on Monday. "I want someone to eat an ice cream that was made two days ago."

All the ice creams are churned in a gelato machine which churns in less air for a thicker, denser product, and he makes sure the ice cream isn't over-sweetened, "so you can taste the flavors." The machines are capable of churning out 10 gallons in seven minutes, but in reality he's not making that much that fast. "It's not that efficient," Peter said. "There could be 30 flavors."

Although he creates a lot of custom ice creams and he works with a lot of different chefs with different ideas, he's pretty confident that he can produce what the chef wants - often on the first try. "Savory flavors are usually harder to make," he said. But that doesn't stop him. Yes, savory flavors. His site lists flavors like wasabi beef and sea urchin among some that are a little more ... normal.

With all of his ice creams, he strives to have the flavors come at you like that popcorn ice cream that started with vanilla and ended with popcorn. Like waves of flavor that start at the front of your mouth and finish at the back. It certainly makes the ice cream interesting. And a little surprising.

Did I mention that he gave me samples? Well, I sat down with the ice cream, spoons, and a notepad and jotted down my random thoughts as I tasted them. Here we go:

Vanilla Bean: Pretty much what you'd expect. Light creamy flavor with lovely vanilla notes. Really good ice cream, but nothing that you'd call up your friends about and say, "Guess what I ate!?!"

Bourbon Butterscotch: A slight flavor of bourbon, but I could have used a little more. The butterscotch finish had that caramelized-almost-burned sugar flavor that you only get from real caramel. A nice ice cream, and nothing too scary.

Dark Chocolate Hazelnut: Okay, here's a familiar flavor, but the chocolate is darker and more pronounced, and it finishes with the hazelnuts. The deep chocolate and the hazelnuts have that hint of yummy bitterness that's probably best for the adult palate. I loved it.


Kool-Aid Sorbet: It tastes just like I remember Kool-Aid, but not as watered down as the version my mother used to serve. Peter said that this sorbet was mostly used in bars, to make mixed drinks. Interesting palate cleanser, though. It bought out the little kid in me. But I could also see the value in enhancing it with a bit of vodka.

Corn Flake: Okay, this one is weird, but in a really good way. It starts with the milky-creamy flavor, then the corn sneaks in. Just about the time your taste buds are thinking "Corn chips? masa?" the ice cream has melted away and you've got corn flakes which are miraculously not soggy and icky. In a perfect world, this would be breakfast. I'm fine with it being dessert, though.

Fig Newton: You know those cookies? Well, that's what the ice cream tastes like. Fig up front and then it finishes with the flavor of the cookie part. How does he do that? It's weird that you taste the flavors separately. Alchemy, I tell you! Alchemy!

Sea Salt Caramel: Definitely salty, right from the beginning. Maybe a hint too much salt for me. The caramel flavor was nice, though. I think I'd prefer to serve this with something else. A scoop of it on its own might be a tad much. A dark chocolate drizzle would be nice, though.

Honey Lavender: The sweet flowery lavender came first, then the honey lingered after. I could see this being served with delicate white cakes.

Fava Bean Mint: Very "green" flavor from the fresh mint, followed by actual mint flavor. The fava beans didn't impart much flavor that I noticed, but they did affect the texture of the ice cream, and not in a way that I was very excited about. There was a slight grittiness and afterwards which is fine when you're eating refried beans, but a little odd in an ice cream. I picked a couple bits of fava bean skin from my teeth afterward. Not awful, but I wouldn't go out of my way to buy it.

Lemon Cream: Lemon, check. Cream, check. It reminded me of Dreamsicles, but with lemon instead of orange and with a much more gentle taste. The lemon wasn't super-tart or acidic, nor was the ice cream overly sweet. It was just a nice essence of lemon with a creamy base. This would pair nicely with the lavender honey ice cream right next to those delicate white cakes. It would also be great with sweet berries. Or, really, just by itself. Maybe with a side of limoncello.

Wild Berry Mint Sorbet: I'm not sure what berries there were in there, but they were jumping around, offering different flavors, and being chased by the mint. It was a complex sorbet, if there is such a thing. Like the Kool-Aid sorbet, I could see this one working in a drink. Some kind of berry mojito, maybe.

Lobster Caramel: Uh oh. Here we go. This is the one that was staring at me from the freezer every time I looked. "Eat me," it said, rattling its frosty lobster claws. Fearlessly, I dug in. The first flavor was salt and then in the middle there was caramel. I waited for the lobster to arrive, and erg ... not my favorite. I tasted it several times on different days, knowing what was coming. And still, it just ... ugh. For some reason, I had expected the sweet flavor of lobster meat, but instead this was more like the flavor of a lobster stock. Small distinction, maybe, but of all the flavors, this was the only one I truly disliked. My husband, on the other hand, said, "It's not as bad as I expected." He didn't, however, ask for more.