"I wish I was a headlight, on a northbound train
I'd shine my light through cool Colorado rain"
-The Grateful Dead
Well the weather has finally broken. It's been nice to feel the cool temperatures again after that long heat wave, on Friday we didn't need to add ice to the fans for the first time since June. Apologies to those whose dinner plans were disrupted by the rain, it's hard for someone like me to admit that some things are beyond our control and we just have to roll with whatever the skies send us. We do try to have an abundance of caution around lightning in particular and don't like to take chances with the health of our residents and staff. I know the firefighters and homeowners dealing with the recent wildfires appreciate the moisture and so I suppose we can put up with a little inconvenience.
Thanks to all who were able to attend the Dining at Dusk last week, we had such a great time. I hope you all saw the pictures and can appreciate the work that the dining and kitchen staff put into this. Very sorry about the rain for those who missed. The next one is on Tuesday. Chef David has chosen to highlight seafood this time, and so the accompanying wines are a really nice Sauvignon Blanc from Josh Cellars and one of my go to wines-Kendall Jackson Vintner's Reserve Chardonnay. Kendall Jackson will be our House wine soon and I am really looking forward to that. So when I say seafood, What I mean is that Chef will be serving a Whole Maine Lobster as one of the courses for the Dining at Dusk. Yes, whole Maine Lobster-when he first gave me the menu I changed it to "Lobster Tail" thinking it was an error. Nope. Whole Maine lobster for what I think is the first time ever here at Vi Highlands Ranch. Yes, we do have plenty of claw crackers and cocktail forks, no we don't have any lobster bibs so please dress accordingly. The whole dinner is finished with a Vi Signature Irish Coffee that we will default to decaf for the dinner.
On the menu this week we have some really nice selections, including Carved Prime Rib on Monday, King Salmon on Tuesday, Lamb Chops on Wednesday, Grilled USDA Prime Ribeye on Thursday, Grilled Maine Lobster Tail on Friday... well you get the picture. The Barbecues on the Pool Patio are still the hot ticket for lunch and Jason is gaining a following as the smiling grill chef. Our kitchen crew is pulling out all the stops as we race towards the opening of our new dining spaces and I love that the Chef is keeping his staff in good culinary form and trying out new things.
On Tuesday please come and join us for Bags and Brews on the lawn at 2 pm. Basically Angie has organized some fun games with beanbags and such while David will be providing grilled hotdogs and I will bring the beer.
Still counting down to the Farmer's Market on the 22nd, the good news about having the Tent still up on the Commons is that it will be perfect for hosting this event and let me tell you the peaches and melons are really really nice.
An update; the bees had some trouble earlier this summer but I think they are pulling through. We started with five active hives but then two of them seemed to lose their queens right around Independence day. I combined the two struggling hives with the three strong ones and I think we are in the clear. The volume of honey seems a bit less than last year but we still have two weeks before I decide to harvest and if I have learned nothing else it is that bees will always surprise you. One certainly surprised me last Thursday-- right through the bee suit and right on the moneymaker. It's a good thing I have a day job.
We are going to start brewing again soon, I have managed to clear some debris from my work space in anticipation of the honey harvest and that means that we can also create some fall brew. In the new Dad Clark Bar we were expecting a two tap system to be installed and for some reason we have a four tap system and so if I want any of our house brew to be highlighted I had better get started. I'm thinking about Dunkel that would be ready by Oktoberfest and maybe a stout after that.
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