Peaches, Wines and Festivals!

YES.. After their winter hibernation, the Valley is releasing one of its most precious bounties… Our peaches and grapes! (yes, we know that we grow a heck of a lot more things than just peaches and grapes, but tis the season!)

People nationwide know of our fabulous Palisade Peaches and our wines are growing in popularity every year and what better way to showcase these than with two of the valley’s premier festivals, The Palisade Peach Festival, August 14^th – 17^th, with the main festival at Riverbend Park in Palisade on Saturday, August 15^th & 16^th (and other events throughout the entire extended weekend) and the Colorado Mountain Winefest weekend, Sept 19^th through the 21^st, with the main festival on Saturday, Sept. 20^th, again at Riverbend Park in Palisade.

There are many events for both festivals throughout Palisade and the Grand Valley and for more information, check out their websites.

Now, as many of you know, I spend a lot of time on the road, mostly in Virginia, expanding our cheesecake business and have the opportunity to work some other great events, but I always make my schedule to allow time to make sure than I am back in town for these two Festivals as I am very proud to live here and these truly are two of the Showcase events in Western Colorado.

So, Summers here and the time is right for Cooking in the Yard! (ok, it is supposed to be ‘Dancing in the Street.. took some literacy license with that one, ehh?)

The ‘Website of the Week’ is Recipebridge.com. (http://www.recipebridge.com) Great site, search for over 2,000,000 recipes.. Our ‘Recipe of the Week’, Pork Tenderloin with Fresh Peach Salsa and Wine Scented Rice (nice combination for a recipe with The Palisade Peach Festival and Colorado Mountain Winefest theme, ehh?), is also from that site.

Pork Tenderloin With Fresh Peach Salsa and Wine-Scented Rice (from Recipebridge.com) Total Time - 45 minutes (Active Time - 30 minutes) COOKING SEQUENCE Preheat oven, prepare rice and begin to cook - 10 minutes Prepare pork and begin to bake - 10 minutes Prepare salsa for pork; complete both and serve - 25 minutes MAKES 4 SERVINGS

	Pork Tenderloin With Fresh Peach Salsa
	Ingredients: 1 pork tenderloin (about 1 lb) 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt 1/4 teaspoon pepper 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided 2 tablespoons fresh cilantro, coarsely chopped 1 jalapeño pepper 2 peaches (or nectarines) 2 medium tomatoes 3/4 cup fresh pre-diced onions 1 teaspoon white balsamic vinegar Steps Preheat oven to 400°F. Preheat large sauté pan on medium-high 2–3 minutes. Season pork with salt and pepper (wash hands). Place 1 tablespoon oil in pan, then add pork; cook and turn 4–5 minutes or until well browned. Transfer pork to shallow baking pan; bake 15–22 minutes or until pork is 145°F. (Let pork stand 5–10 minutes before slicing.) Prepare salsa while pork bakes. Chop cilantro and place in medium bowl. Cut jalapeño pepper in half (remove seeds); chop pepper finely and add to cilantro. Cut peaches into small pieces; add to peppers. Cut tomatoes into small pieces; add to peaches. Add onions; gently stir in vinegar and remaining 2 tablespoons oil. Slice pork; serve with salsa.

	Wine-Scented Rice
	Ingredients: 3 tablespoons fresh cilantro, finely chopped 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil 1 1/2 cups basmati or jasmine rice 3/4 cup fresh pre-diced onions 2 3/4 cups white wine/herb chicken broth Prep Chop cilantro; set aside. Steps Preheat medium saucepan on medium-high 2–3 minutes. Place oil in pan, then add rice and onions; cook and stir 1–2 minutes or until rice is toasted and onions begin to soften. Stir in broth; bring to a boil. Cover and cook 1 minute, stirring often. Reduce heat to lowest setting; cook 22 minutes (do not stir or remove lid during cooking). Fluff rice with fork; stir in cilantro and serve. (Makes 6 servings.)

Gotta Love Springtime in The Rockies

 As I write this column, I am sitting at my desk, just outside Richmond, VA, having been out here for a little over a week as our Fair & Festival Season has kicked in. It has been in the 90’s the past few days and thank goodness the summer humidity has not kicked in yet!

We did The Central Virginia Wine Festival on Saturday and as I was talking to people there and they found out that I still live in Colorado most of the time, two subjects were coming up a lot. The first was almost always about Colorado’s new law regarding the ‘Green’ and I try to explain to them that I do not live in Boulder or Denver and that the Western Slope is just… a little different than the Front Range. (Gee, ya think?)

The other subject was the snow that was hitting the Rockies and how could I live out there when the weather is like that.. In the Spring!! Smiling, I try to explain to them about our little ‘slice of heaven’, The Grand Valley and while, yes, the mountains around us do get nailed, we seem to have our own little eco-system, which spares us from most of mother nature’s fury. But as most of them seem to keep thinking that all of Colorado is like Denver, they just do not understand.

So, while I continue to grow our VA operations, I still am proudly a Palisidian and a small part of the Grand Valley!

Now that people have survived this last onslaught of our lovely Springtime weather, it is time to start getting ready for the Fairs, Festivals and Farmer’s Markets, some of which have already started, some are this weekend, (Try explaining to people in VA what Mike The Headless Chicken is all about!) and starting up in June, we will have the Farmer’s Markets starting up in Grand Junction, Palisade, Fruita, Rifle, Glenwood Springs and more!

If you have been getting cabin-fever this past weekend, why not come out to Fruita and check out The Mike The Headless Chicken Festival on Friday and Saturday!

When I think of Festivals, I always think back to when I lived in the Almaden Valley in South San Jose. When the wind was right, it would blow up from Gilroy and the garlic that grows there. My first major festival out in California was The Gilroy Garlic Festival, back when they only had a few thousand people show up, yeah, they get a few more than that nowadays,

Now that I got myself thinking of garlic, our ‘Website of the Week is from The Gilroy Garlic Festival and as you may guess, it ‘reeks’ at the Stinking Rose!  (http://www.garlicfestival.com/garlic-festival-recipes)

Our 'Recipe of The Week' is from that same site, Baked Garlic! Talk about an easy and tasty treat!

And don’t forget to come out to Palisade this weekend for the 1^st Brews & Cruise Festival!

You can know also follow us on Pinterest; Decadence Gourmet Cheesecakes and Decadence Cheesecakes Cooking Thoughts... Check them out and let me know what you think!

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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!

Baked Garlic
Ingredients Whole garlic bulbs Dried thyme or oregano Olive oil Directions Preheat oven to 350ºF. Peel loose, papery skins off garlic bulbs. Slice top of each head (pointy end) so that the flesh is exposed. Arrange in a baking dish or garlic baker and drizzle with oil. Sprinkle with herbs. Cover with foil or baker lid and bake for about 45 minutes until the garlic is soft and golden. Cool before serving. Squeeze soft garlic out of skins and spread on meat or French bread. Serve toasts with remaining oil.