Things have still been kind of crazy with work (I was dreaming about BROCHURES all of Friday night/Saturday morning, does that give you any indication?) and Ken is crazy busy with his new movie project, so I apologize that the blogging has been scarce. I am trying to get warmed up again for the great Iowa State Fair trip, which will involve MANY, MANY food pictures. Greatly looking forward to that. My food list is LONG, LONG, LONG, probably many more things than I can try in three days.
Why the Iowa State Fair? Well, it is one of the top three state fairs as far as I am concerned. Only Texas and Minnesota have bigger attendance (there are some local fairs in California and TX that also have bigger attendance, but I am talking about STATE FAIRS.)  And they are quite famous for their food on a stick. And I will get to see two sets of nieces/nephews.

Well, I am not at the fair yet, so here are some things I have been eating lately….

Flaming Shrimp Soup, Saigon Grill, Fort Collins

This is the pot it comes in, with a little buffet heater under it. It does keep it warm.

It had pineapple, shrimp, bean sprouts, and other vegetables. Not bad, but I don’t know if I prefer it over their pho. I do prefer their pho over the other major pho place in Fort Collins, Pho Duy. Plus Pho Duy has rather odd background music, a rather short loop of Muzak-arranged hymns. I am not sure what to think of it. It does not enhance the pho experience for me. I have nothing against the easy-listening version of Amazing Grace but I do not want to hear it twice in the course of one meal.

A prettier picture of the whole presentation:

After reading about Huevos Divorciados on Slaking Fool, I needed to try them. The only place I could find on Yelp that had them in Denver was Tacos y Jalisco. Ken working on this movie (and being gone at all hours of the day) gives me the opportunity to try places and things I have been wanting to try (he is just not as adventurous as I am in the food department.)

Huevos Divorciados are eggs smothered in one half green chile and one half red chile. They were good, but I think I have come to the conclusion that I don’t like anything else on top of my eggs. Or I don’t like it very often. I would have this again, just not every week.

Their refried beans are excellent. I am pretty sure they contain either butter or lard. Or both.

Tacos Y Jalisco also has some of the best salsa in Denver. It definitely has the best salsa assortment. You get four different kinds.

Here is how someone else on Yelp described them: “a verde, pico, and two red sauces — one hot, the other hotter.” The verde is different in that it has avocado in it. I love them all, of course. My least favorite is the middle red one. I think it had chipotle in it, which I do not really care for (of all the things for me not to like, I know, I know.)  They apparently have posole and I need to remember to have that sometime. I had eaten here before but I don’t remember what I had, so this was kind of a re-discovery. Mmmmm, I will be back.

And my best discovery lately:

Golden Bowl Noodle House in Broomfield.

This is an area that has at least 4 Pho restaurants in a two block radius. I have tried them all, and this is my new spot. I didn’t even have the Pho, I had something called (I think) Spicy Beef Soup – loved the broth. The beef could have been better, but really, I am all about the broth. And their spring rolls are good and are the cheapest I have found recently. I picked up a copy of their take-out menu and will be posting that as soon as I can find it again…..

I have no idea what those two chunks of pale stuff were, but they were delicious. Maybe friend EM knows??? MMMMMMMM. It was nicely spicy, too. Next time I will ask for additional fire oil. They had chili paste but I don’t care for the chili seed texture.

Golden Bowl ALSO had cheesy Muzak, it was a mix of the best of the 80s, Beatles, and Andrew Lloyd Webber musicals. Interesting.

And finally, dessert! I had a rough week, needed some cupcakes from Butter Cream Cupcakery.

Pictured are (clockwise from top left) orange truffle, neopolitan, chocolate, and red velvet. Yes, delicious. They have the chocolate and red velvet every day, neopolitan and orange truffle were special flavors for that day. Yes, they did improve my afternoon.