Halloween

BOO!

Sunday night we will be awash in Lady Gaga's, Avatar Character's, Darth Vadar's, Captain Jack Sparrow's, Hannah Montana's and gulp, even characters from The Jersey Shore (though, those of us from South Jersey disavow any resemblance to such!) and the weekend will be filled with Ghostly Parties and Ghoulish Events!

Vague memories come back dressing up as Johnny Callison from the Phillies in the 60's and maybe even Johnny Swift. If you have to ask, you are most definitely born after the 70's! Me, don't really do much for Halloween, keep a little candy for any neighborhood kids that may stray into our compound, but even Evangelists have trouble finding where I live, and that is not a bad thing.

Now growing up in the 'real' Jersey Shore, or at least the South Jersey Shore, we had limited neighborhoods to trick or treat in, after all, our island was only about 6 blocks wide and a lot of the homes were summer homes, but we made due. We did not have to have our parents drive us around to 'other' neighborhoods, our neighbors were just fine, thank you very much!

But who doesn't like adults trying to relive what they thought was their youth. People who never stray from their Dockers and Golf Shirts come across as characters from La Cage Au Faux, but gotta admit, people still have some ghoulish parties and that means food!

If you are having a party or are going to one, take a look at what you can do to add you own touch! I mean really, how long does it take to put together a punch? to make some cupcakes? For you who Google, just Google 'Halloween Food' and you will be surprised as to what is out there!

From Yummy Mummies to Graveyard Cupcakes, from Vampire Kiss Martinis to various Witches Brews, Halloween foods and drinks abound. Many of the recipes I looked at are not that hard and will add a 'witchin' touch to your party!

This weeks 'Website of the Week' continues our spooky theme; (http://www.celebrations.com/halloween-treats). Many recipes and treats, and if you go back to their Halloween main page, decorating tips and more.

Decadence Gourmet Cheesecakes has just launched a 'Show Us Your Decadence' video contest! The winner wins a six-month membership in our 'Cheesecake of the Month' Club. Visit our website, under media room for more details and take a look at our sample video!

You can now also follow the adventures of Decadence on Facebook at www.facebook.com/pages/Decadence-Gourmet-Cheesecakes/171538834903 ,on Twitter (www.twitter.com/decadenceGJ)

We are loading up recipes and discounts on our Facebook page and will also be letting our ‘fans’ know of upcoming events, sales and the like. There are even videos! Check it out and become a fan!

BOO!

Well, it has been awhile!

We write a bi-weekly column for a local paper, The Grand Junction Free Press, centered, usually, around food.

Check it out!

Savory Appetizer Cheesecakes

One of the things I love about what I do, is that I get to play with different flavor profiles with our cheesecakes! I subscribe to a lot of cooking and culinary magazines and I will see some recipe, not necessarily cheesecakes or desserts, but I see a flavor profile or combination that might just work in a cheesecake.

Over the last few months, we have developed a new product line, which are 'Savory' Appetizer Cheesecakes, which you spread on crackers, pita chips or the like. We started with four flavors, Sun-Dried Tomato w/ Sun-Dried Tomato Pesto, Bacon & Blue Cheese (ya gotta love bacon!), Smoked Salmon and my personal favorite, The 'El Diablo' which, yes, is a Ghost Pepper/Habanero Cheesecake with an Ancho/Chipotle Pesto, definitely not for the timid, but believe it or not, it is our most popular savory!

On another occasion, I was playing around with what I thought was going to be another Savory, but I had started adding sugar to the first test batch, when I said to myself....

Self.. you dummy.. there is no sugar in a Savory!!

I was about to dump the batter when I gave it a quick taste and went.... WHOA!!! This is good and with a little heat and that is how our newest dessert cheesecake flavor, The Habanero/Key Lime came about.

You get the sweet and tart taste of the Key Lime come through and then you get the heat, not overpowering, from a roasted Habanero sugar that I made....

Turns out it is the fastest selling new flavor I have put out in over 2 years!!

Go Figure!!

Got many more on the drawing board when we get through the fair/festival/market season, at least 20 other flavors that I want to do!!

Yeah, I do so love to play!!

Downtown Grand Junction's Farmer's Market

Every Thursday, from 4 - 8 pm, a great Farmer's Market is held on Main Street in downtown Grand Junction. This is where we launched our line of gourmet 'Cheesecakes in a Jar' four years ago and while we do not do a lot of these, just this one and the Glenwood Springs Farmer's Market, we will continue to do this one as long as they will have it. Besides the fact that we routinely sell out, it is a great bunch of people!

You have over 15 orchard and farm vendors and another artesianal vendors, ranging from custom jewelry, from our friend, Susan Jeansonne and Jeansonne's Fine Designs, to some of the best chili (and four time winner and the Southwest Chili Festival) from Katie of Guera's Chili, to many food vendors and much. much more!

Music emenates from all the corners, fun stuff for the kids and a great time for all!

This season's market ends on Thursday, September 16th, so get on out there and see what the Grand Valley has to offer!

Ah Hah Moments

About a month or so ago, Mutual of Omaha had emailed me, they were coming into town to film 'Ah-Ha' moments, a moment which changed your life. Seems that they had heard about us and Decadence Gourmet Cheesecakes and wanted to film our story, along with some others in town.

Just got an email that the video was now on their website, click here to check it out!

Palisade Peach Festival

This past weekend, the 42nd Annual Palisade Peach Festival was held here in Palisade, Colorado. Over 20,000 Peach Fans turned out for what is one of Palisade's finest moments. From a Ice Cream social on Thursday, to the Peach Festival in RiverBend Park, to the Feast in the Fields, Palisade turns into the Peach Capitol of the known universe.

One of the highlights of the Peach Festival is the Peach Cuisine with Colorado Chefs, and an event that I have been proud to be a participant in for the past four years. This year, I demonstrated Chocolate Dipped Dried Peach Bytes, double-dipped in a Peached Cayenne Sugar. In past years, I have done salads and 'Wings over Palisade', which is are BBQ Peached Chipotle Chicken wings. As all the chefs do, we all try to introduce many ways of using Palisade's pride into peoples culinary thoughts. If you would like any of my recipes over the past few years, email me at decadencecheesecakes@mindspring.com.

We also had one of our employees, Katrina, participate for her 3rd year! Talk about going from shy and nervous to a budding Rachael Ray! Congrats to Katrina for demonstrating Easy Peached Pork Tapas!

The Colorado Mountain Winefest is coming up next month, stop on by!

This event is the first event that we ever participated in when I first opened Decadence Gourmet Cheesecakes. I was still in culinary school and when I started working with Wine Cheesecakes, they invited me and for the last five years, we have been a fixture in the VIP Tent, serving slices of our Blackberry/Cabernet, Port/Fig w/ a currant reduction sauce and our Chocolate Decadence. For the past four years, we have also had our own booth, selling our 'Cheesecakes in a Jar'.

Over 50 wineries participate in this great event, which also has food and wine pairings, and this year, a chef demo from Chef Kelly Liken, now on Top Chef!

Come on out to Palisade and enjoy the fruits of our labors!

Return to the Shore Part 3

Every summer when I take Austin out to the Jersey Shore, we make a run down to Wildwood and it's boardwalk and rides! The first few years I took him out, when he was real young, I used to take him to The Ocean City Boardwalk as it has some young-kid friendly rides, but once he turned 10, Wildwood and it's Amusement Piers was the obvious choice! We always start with a go-kart track, right off the boardwalk and he really does seem to enjoy it!

Now right after that, we have been stopping at the same Pizza & Fries place, but saw this season that it was replaced by a fish place and while fish may have it's place, it's not what we consider boardwalk food! So we have always passed Sam's Pizza and this year stopped in there. Good East Coast Pizza, reasonable prices, perfect to load up before the rides!!

Now Wildwood has 'Morey's Piers' three separate piers, two of which include waterparks (Ocean Oasis and Raging Waters) and just a ton of rides, from High Thrill Rides, such as The Great White & Maelstrom to Log Flumes and almost too many to ride in one day! Austin loves these (as his Dad used to when he was younger and pre-abdominal surgery) and we make sure to run him ragged!

After the excursion to Wildwood, we took Austin out for his first time to a Hibatchi Steak House, Ginja on The Black Horse Pike in Egg Harbor Township. They prepare the food right in front of you. The food was ok, maybe a little better than ok, but when the chef started flipping pieces of food right into your mouth, Austin was in heaven, someone else playing with food!

Now I realize that as he gets older, he may not want to leave his friends in the summertime, but until that day comes, we will continue to explore Da Shore and all it's gems with my boy!