We Ate.

I think if I were to pick one of the seven deadly sins to be condemned for it would have to be gluttony. I mean, seriously. A few stories to illustrate this.

Many years ago, my Mom's side of the family had a family reunion with a large meal one evening. As the adults sat around and chatted (the Idaho family is not really known for being quiet) my cousin B, who was a youngish child at the time (who is now nigh unto 19!) balled up his fists, pounded them on the counter and stearnly said "WE EAT!"

It became a family motto. "We Eat!" Because it's not a family gathering without copious amounts of delicious foods.

At Thanksgiving my sister R and I were at my grandparent's feast. Turkey, ham, salads, potatoes (of both the sweet AND mashed kind, and Rolls... oh how there were rolls! Grandma, R and I had made 9 dozen, and Aunt Kris brought 6 dozen. We ate the 9 dozen during the meal! (It was a huge family gathering... full of cousins, aunts and uncles.)

I was sitting next to my cousin Candi (who in the picture below is holding one of those ubiquitous rolls) and we sat down to eat at the table and she just looked at her plate of food and said "I'm so happy right now." That pretty much sums it all up. See the joy in everyone's eyes? We eat.

(for more kicks and giggles, check out the family pictures on the green wall... My family is on the bottom right, Andrew, now 14 was 2 or 3 in that picture... And Rachel is having a Tea Party with Elizabeth... They've been updated since then.)

Being in Colorado has been really fun. I have a TON of friends/family who have come out of the woodwork and who I have been able to see since I got here! It has been Awesome!

Last weekend was probably the apex of the month here in Colorado Springs. I saw my friend from Elementary school, spent the weekend with my cousin, and saw one of my Nauvoo friends on my way home.

Time with Candi, a cousin from my Mom's side was guaranteed to include food. Good food. It began Saturday morning when we went to a cinnamon roll place called Duffyroll. They had six flavors of cinnamon roll. Cinnamon roll flavors?

The Original * Zesty Orange * Irish Cream * Mountain Maple * English Toffee * Pecanilla Crunch

We each had one of each kind of mini cinnamon roll, and a pecan roll (we ate the pecan roll there, and snacked on the little ones as we were out for the day. 


For lunch (ish) we drove up to Boulder (Hello Hippie town!) and went to a farmer's market, where we had samples, oh delicious samples, and Candi got salsa (very spicy salsa) and I got tamales (which I wish had salsa with them now!)


Then we went to the celestial Seasoning's Tea factory. 

It is in Boulder and you can take a 45ish minute tour of the tea factory, starting with a taste testing experience You can request any of their 75+ flavors of tea to taste) Luckily for me, half of them are herbal, so I sampled several of them (which were pretty good.)


We went to down town Denver, I saw where Candi works, and then we went to Dinner... At the farmers market they had a sample of the most tender beef I may have ever had (that hadn't been cooked for 500 hours in a crock pot). That made me want a stake. I don't eat a ton of red meat. It's just not a huge part of my diet, but ever now and again, I just crave a steak! So Candi and I went for steaks at a nice restaurant. The smallest stake they had was a 12 oz. and I ate it all. (I was ready to be done, but there was some significant peer pressure to finish it). 


We wandered around a HUGE used bookstore, and then walked over for our evening's plans at 

On my bucket list for Provo was to go to Keys on Main (a dueling piano bar in Salt Lake). Unfortunately, life got crazy, and we missed it. So going to this one in Denver was really fun. (It got a little crass a few times-- like Hobo Jim after a few shots of tequila...not that most of you know who that is.) the pianists were talented and charismatic. I had a Roy Rogers, while my cousin had a Martini (shaken, not stirred).


We rolled into bed around midnight and woke up at 9ish to go to "Toast." Candi's dad, my Uncle Oily, told me all about this place when I was visiting in Idaho, and it did not disappoint. Breakfast food at it's best. 

We finished our celebration of eating with Mediterranean food (including the ubiquitous falafal-- ok maybe they aren't quite ubiquitous in the states, but where there is middle eastern/ Mediterranean food, there will be falafal!) It was delicious. Top that off with a small creation at Cold Stone, and it make for 5 lbs gained in one weekend! But a very happy weekend. 


Ok, I'm not really sure about that. But I do know that... my diet starts tomorrow (or rather, my diet started on Monday...if by diet you mean, not eating like I did all weekend!)


I feel like this post has been similar to this video. You can watch the whole thing for your enjoyment, or you can just start around 1:20. I'm the guy with the glasses, who ate the two cheese cakes. 

I love myself and I hate myself. 


But I still love food. 


And, true to family tradition, we ate.