When you visit, we'll take the tour...

We had our holiday party in one of the brewhouses at New Belgium Brewery tonight. It was a great event. We enjoyed some great beer, food and conversation. I can't wait to take the tour - what an amazing facility! Check out New Belgium Brewery

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Okay, my beloved progeny, the race is on...

As you may recall, we accidently discovered that we are descendants of Daniel Boone = you know, the "rippin'est, roarin'est, fightin'est man the frontier ever knew!" See the July entry titled: You Can't Pick Your Family...

Anyway, I wonder if all of the Bennis, Binder, McIntire kids will take this news report as a personal challenge?

Relative of Davy Crockett, 5, kills bear

Legend has it Davy Crockett killed a bear when he was three. A distant relative of the 19th-century frontiersman has done the ame thing at five.

Tre Merritt, a 5-year-old boy from Arkansas, killed a black bear Sunday, according to his grandfather.

"(The bear) came in about 40 to 50 yards," Mike Merritt, Tre's grandfather, told KATV of Little Rock, Ark, "and when he got in the open, I whistled at him and he stopped and I said, 'Shoot Tre.' "

And that's what his grandson did, killing the 400-pound animal.

"I was up in the stand and I seen the bear," Tre Merritt told KATV. "It came from the thicket and it was beside the road and I shot it."

According to the report, Tre's father said his son began shooting when he was 2 1/2 and killed three deer last year. What else would you expect from a decendant of the "King of the Wild Frontier?"

"His 10th great-grandfather was Davy Crockett," Mike Merritt said. "And Davy supposedly killed him a bear when he was three. And Tre is five and really killed a bear. I really doubt if Davy killed one when he was three."

Source: Fox News 12/11/2008

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My jingle elves!

Merry Christmas from the Bennii!

hahahahahahahaha! Kate created this.

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It's cold and flu season...

I know I shouldn't laugh at this but - well, you know...



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Who would have predicted?

So, we've officially become granola-heads. We love it. We eat it often. Now - we make our own. Scary but true. And, while we haven't become the next generation Euell Gibbons - [a reference which will date most of us..."It's naturally sweet taste reminds me of wild hickory nuts. I call Grape Nuts my back-to-nature cereal."]

it's not bad if I say so myself. This recipe was adapted from a local bed and breakfast recipe. It's fast and easy and better than anything you'll find in a store! [Chivanne this is for you...]

INGREDIENTS:

• 4 cups old-fashioned rolled oats


• 2 cups sweetened shredded coconut


• 2 cups sliced almonds


• 1/4 cup canola oil


• 1/2 cup honey


• 1 1/2 cups dried apricots, small diced (I'm not a fan so I usually skip these and add more dried cranberries, dried cherries, dried blueberries or raisins)


• 1 cup dried cranberries

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees (325 degrees for a convection oven)

Combine and toss oats, coconut and almonds together in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together the oil and honey until smooth. Pour the honey mixture over the oat mixture. Stir with a wooden spoon until evenly coated. Spread evenly onto a greased sheet pan. (I use Pam spray.) (You will still have dry oats at the bottom of the bowl. Don't worry - when you pour the entire contents of the mixture onto your pan, the oats will become thoroughly coated as you stir the mixture during the cooking process.) Bake in oven until golden brown. Make sure to stir the granola every 5 to 7 minutes to avoid burning.

When you take the granola out of the oven, pour the dried fruit on top of the hot mixture. Cool the granola on the sheet pan on top of the stove stirring occasionally. The granola will get crunchy as it cools. Once granola has cooled, store in an airtight container or large Ziploc bag.

SERVE:
This recipe makes 12 cups of granola. Our favorite way to eat it is in a yogurt parfait for breakfast. 1 cup of vanilla yogurt in a bowl, topped with your favorite fruit (sliced strawberries, blueberries, diced green apple, diced kiwi, etc.) and then top with a 1/2 cup of granola. (Also really good with frozen vanilla yogurt or ice cream.)

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The Drunkest Cities...excuse me??

New Year's Day 1916 was rough for Colorado residents looking for a little hair of the dog. On that Saturday, the state stopped all liquor sales, predating Prohibition by 4 years. Today, Colorado once again leads the nation in its attitude toward alcohol — but now the mandate seems to be "drink till you drop."

In our second ranking of urban inebriation, Aurora comes in 82nd, Colorado Springs finishes 98th, and, once again, Denver is Most Dangerously Drunk. We looked at annual death rates due to alcoholic liver disease, as well as who's headed there by regularly downing five or more drinks in a sitting (CDC). Next, we factored in drunk-driving arrests (FBI) and the percentage of fatal accidents involving intoxicated motorists (U.S. Department of Transportation). Then, after tallying the MADD report card of state efforts to cut down on excessive drinking, we had our ranking and, for the state of Colorado, an invitation to AA.

The Men's Health article ranks the cities from most dangerously drunk to least dangerously drunk.

While Fort Collins isn't specifically mentioned - the implications (between Cheyenne + Denver) are there. Or, maybe we really did skirt the dubious honor. After all, the Allstate America's Best Driver's Report ranks Fort Collins #2 in the nation for safest drivers and 24.0% less likely to have a collision compared to the national average (13.2 avg. years between collisions) for 2005, 2006 and 2007.

So, maybe we just drink more micro-brew than anyone else on the planet but going to bed at 10pm is paying off!

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Almost like my Great-Aunt Giovanna's...

Chi mangia bene, vive bene!

[Who eats well, lives well!]

I've spent the better part of my adult cooking life trying to replicate favorite foods I ate as a child because many of those recipes were never passed along to the next generation. Many of my food memories center around my Great-Aunt Giovanna's Sunday family dinners. She made a Sunday Gravy that everyone loved (and the other Italian matriarchs envied). And, by gravy I mean tomato sauce. I never understood why Italian families called it gravy other than the fact it simmered for hours the day before the family gathered for a HUGE dinner almost every Sunday of our lives. It was a very special tomato sauce. A sauce eaten every Sunday - even in during the sweltering dog days of summer. But those dinners are among some of my favorite memories because of the conversation, Italian opera playing on the hi-fi stereo in the background, stupid arguments, eating, broken Italian/English expressions, and love. We marinated in love at that table.

So when the weather gets colder I take out the big pots and get back to work on perfecting the sauce that eludes me. The house becomes toasty warm with the stove going all day and the smell is intoxicating. This is the closest I've come to recreating that sauce.

INGREDIENTS:

• 4 (14.5 ounce) cans whole peeled tomatoes
• 2 (15 ounce) cans tomato sauce
• 4 (6 ounce) cans tomato paste
• 3 cups water
• 4 cups fresh sliced mushrooms (optional)
• 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil
• 2 onions, chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, minced (I usually add quite a bit more)
• (4 teaspoons white sugar
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil (optional)
• salt to taste
• ground black pepper to taste
• 2 pinches baking soda
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
  

DIRECTIONS:

Saute garlic and onions in olive oil in a medium-sized stock pot or Dutch oven until transparent. [Note: if you don't have to accommodate vegetarians at your dining table, this would be the point you could brown 3-4 beef short ribs and remove to add to the sauce later.] Add tomato paste to mixture and combine until well mixed. Cook this mixture over a medium heat until the paste begins to slightly brown in color (not burn!). Stir frequently to be sure the mixture does not stick to bottom of the pan and burn.

Mix together whole tomatoes, tomato sauce, tomato paste, water, mushrooms, sugar, salt and pepper, basil, and 1 pinch of baking soda in a large saucepan. [Non-veg addition: replace one cup of water for one can of beef broth.] Bring to a boil, stirring. Reduce to a simmer, and cook for 4 hours minimum. [Return browned short ribs to simmer in the sauce.] Stir frequently. Sauce should not be thin/runny. It should be closer to the consistency of applesauce. (Trust me.)

Stir in another pinch of baking soda; the sauce will foam. Simmer, stirring occasionally, until thick and almost brown. Make sure to scrape the sides of the pan in to the sauce.
After the sauce is fork consistency (applesauce-like), stir in Parmesan cheese. Watch that the cheese does not burn. Taste sauce. If it is too tangy or acidic, add another pinch of baking soda and simmer another 1/2 hour.

Cool, cover, and refrigerate overnight. The next day, reheat and serve. (This step is crucial - you can eat it the same day but it will be a completely different sauce if you wait!)

Mangia!

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