It’s time to start our Holiday Top Cookie Countdown! The tradition of baking homemade cookies during the holidays brings a sprinkling of winter magic to all. Pour your heart into the pleasures of making decorated treats ready to adorn your dessert tray, or package them up pretty and pass them along to those who deserve a personalized gift. For the next six weeks we will feature our Top Cookie picks. Enjoy your time in the kitchen and savor the season to cook, eat & be merry!

Stop by our office on Thursdays & Fridays (9 am - 5 pm) to grab recipes and taste samples of our Top Cookie of the Week.

By Sarah Blecher

It’s been a couple of months now and the gluten-free lifestyle has almost sunk in. It is hard, and a struggle sometimes but I am learning how to “just say no” to the wheat. Whenever I say no to something delicious, whether it be a slice of pizza, a sandwich, or my weakness, bagels, I have go home right away and try and make a version of them I can eat. This week my mouth watered as I looked through my recipe box for a good brownie recipe. I promised my brother I would make him a batch and send them to him at college. Instead of making just one batch for him, I made another batch gluten-free for me! Last night, for one of the first times ever my first attempt at the gluten-free brownie came out needing no tweaks. It was perfect just the way it was, what a surprise! Since it was so yummy, extra fudgy, moist and buttery, I would like to share it with you:

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By Sarah Blecher

I love to bake. I am a pastry chef. I should love to bake. I love gluten. It makes everything so beautiful and tasty and doughy and crunchy… One problem, I can’t eat the gluten anymore! I was recently diagnosed with Celiac’s Disease and in major need of some baking help. After a few weeks of wallowing in post-traumatic gluten sadness, I decided I could make some yummy food that I could eat. I was asked to cater a party and while I was making all of the food for the next day, I though to myself, “Hey, Sarah, you can do this…you can make it taste good!” So in the midst of baking quiche and calzones for the party, I took a break and tried to make myself some muffins. I started out by studying my ultimate favorite muffin recipe. I studied it in a way I never have before, rather than just reading it and following it, I thought about all the proportions I learned in culinary school, how they relate to each other, and how this muffin would be able to stay together without the gluten. After a few hours and a few failed attempts at a simple muffin recipe, I resorted to something I almost never do. I used a bag of premade gluten-free bread mix I picked up at the store while I was having a meltdown about thinking I may never be able to eat sandwiches again. The mix is a blend of lots of different non-glutenous flours. It’s called Pamela’s Bread Mix and you can buy it Whole Foods. Anyway, I changed my recipe to include a bit more butter, an extra egg, some extra spices, and substituted this magical flour mix, almost at equal parts for regular All Purpose flour. Being the neurotic pastry chef that I am, I was a little skeptical about these muffins tasting good. I started to scoop the batter out of my kitchen aid into my muffin tin when some of the batter dripped onto my hand. I thought, “Maybe I should give this a taste…you never know;” I licked the brown batter off of my fingers like a little kid and was pleasantly surprised. The batter was really delicious! I put the muffins into the oven and could not be patient enough for them to finish baking. As soon as I pulled them out I ripped a hunk of muffin out of the tin and nearly burned my mouth off, but realized being gluten-free is not the end of the world! Food can taste good! These muffins were the best I’ve tried of any gluten-free product so far. For the first time in a while I was really proud of myself. For anyone that has allergies out there, don’t give up, you can make anything!

By Sarah Blecher

This month’s issue of Women’s Magazine features an article about Joan Brett, owner and director of CSR. The article, Success is When Reality Meets Vision, is by Christine Kortals, was posted Friday, September 26, 2008.

Christine interviewed Joan, and highlights how Joan defines success. “Thousands have been transformed by their increased cooking knowledge,” Joan says about CSR. Speaking personally, as both a Pastry Arts Program graduate and a staff member at Culinary School of the Rockies, I am pleased that the school has lead me to so much success in my own life. I will always have so much respect and fondness for Joan because of what this school has given me. CSR is truly a vision of success, and a wonderful school that motivates people to do what they love. Read full article.

There are a few spaces left for CSR’s first-ever Harvest Dinner – where our Culinary Arts Students will be serving up a feast made entirely of local food paired with local wines. Sit outdoors amidst the beautiful Pastures of Plenty Farm while enjoying cuisine prepared by the Culinary Arts students while celebrating the culmination of their Farm-to-Table Externship.

Meet local farmers and chefs and take pleasure in enjoying all local fare and wine. Save the date on your calendar, Thursday, October, 9th. Come for cocktails at 4pm. Dinner will be served at 6pm. Seats are limited, so reserve your spot today! Only $75 per person. Register Today!

Get them while they’re fresh – our new locally purchased and printed t-shirts (thanks Onno and Swan Ink). CSR is committed to supporting local producers and farmers. At the school we are dedicated to purchasing 20% of our products from local sources. With that in mind we’ve created a new, cool shirt created through collaboration with local companies. There’s nothing else we’d rather wear while showing our support for all things ‘local’. You can purchase these fresh, 100% organic cotton t-shirts from the Culinary School of the Rockies for only $24. Show your pride for local Boulder products by being a part of the new CSR generation. Buy a shirt and wear it often!

By Sharon Halkovics, Director of Home Cook & Corporate Kitchen

There are many pros to having two apples trees in your front yard. You get free apples, and you are able to experiment with them.

This past weekend we decided to take advantage of the Colorado sunny skies (coupled with low humidity). Jean-Francois built a drying rack and stretched a roll of lightweight screen over the frame.

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I think we might have the next Food Network star on our hands. Chef Michael Montgomery’s TV debut on the CW2 was a major success. In conjunction with Colorado Fresh Chef Michael whipped up spicy quick dill pickles along side CW2 anchor Natalie Tysdal. Chef Michael discussed the myriad of cucumbers that our available at the local Farmers Market in Boulder ranging from Japanese cucumbers, to lemon cucumbers to gherkins. He then went through the steps of how to prepare the pickles, what other vegetables could be used for pickling along with how they make a great gift for friends and holidays. Click here to see the clip and get the recipe for Chef’s Michaels Spicy Quick Dill Pickles. Also, if you are interested in learning more about canning and preserving CSR just announced a Preserving the Harvest Class.

We are very excited to let our farmer’s market followers and readers know that our Market Chef Michael Montgomery will be on Channel 2’s (the new CW2) morning show on Thursday September 11th, at 8:38am. He will be demonstrating how to use Colorado fresh produce and give a recipe for quick dill pickles. Make sure to tune in and support Chef Michael.

By Carrie Wunsch, CBM (CSR Chief BlogMeister)

I just returned from the most wonderful trip to my hometown of Modesto (yes, I am from California please don’t hate me and I know it is scary to think Modesto could be wonderful). The highlight of the trip was a dinner party my dad had on Friday night. Not only was it catered by my good friend Jill Nevard, but the bulk of the ingredients came from dad’s garden.

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