Birthday.

Happy Birthday Dad!  Wish we were home to help you celebrate today.  Hope you have a great day!

Speaking of  birthday's, my hubby took me out for my Birthday supper last night...usually for each other's birthday's, we go out to dinner to celebrate.  With our birthday's 2 weeks apart, and having to find a baby-sitter this year, my got pushed a little later, but made up for bigtime!  We went to Colterra in Niwot last night for dinner.  I think they tote themselves as a French restaurant, but their big seller is that they try to use all Colorado grown produce, and have a garden every summer to use their own grown ingredients.  I love that!  I have to say that once again, it is one of the best meals I've ever had in my entire life.  We went there a year ago when I was very pregnant, with my cousins, and it was an amazing meal then, but I also didn't get to partake in the fancy unpasteurized cheeses, and the wine, so this year I did!  You can order a cheese plate there as an appetizer or pair it with a dessert, and they are amazing.  We then split a 'small plate' that was a crab salad, which had a layer of avocado under it and a creamy red balsamic sauce.  Then we got our entrée.  Matt got a wagyu steak that had a truffle sauce and some delicious gnocchi to go with. I got a tuna steak that had garlic mashed potatoes, grilled asparagus, topped with some crispy straws, and an amazing sauce too...it was PHENOMENAL. For dessert, Matt got a peach sorbet with fresh berries, and I white chocolate and apricot Crème brûlée. Incredible...can I say amazing any more times?

The other thing that impressed me is this:  when we go out for a nice dinner like that, we plan on being there for a while.  We don't like to be rushed.  So we're often reluctant to give the server our whole order for fear that we'll get everything at once and feel like we're rushing to eat everything and beat it out of the door.  Not at this place.  They take the order, bring you the individual courses (although we did get our cheese at the same time as the salad last night, which I would have liked separate), and once you look like you're ready for the main course, they bring it out.  The timing is great, the atmosphere is very relaxed, and the wait staff make you feel very welcome and not rushed.  I believe Colterra is rounding out as one of my favorite all time restaurants.  Thanks sweetie for the awesome birthday dinner!