Fun food for February

February is a month full of food-related events and happenings!

There is everything from Girl Scout cookies to spaghetti fundraisers and opportunities to volunteer. Here are a few coming up soon. Enjoy!

Give a Chef a Cookie — This special fundraising dinner showcases the talented work of seven local chefs tasked with making a savory dish out of randomly assigned Girl Scout cookies. The fundraiser will be held on Friday, Feb. 21 from 6 - 8 p.m. at Orchard River View (3926 Highway 6 & 24) in Palisade. I attended a media pre-event where I sampled the creative options. Some of the featured dishes are a “Tagalong Pad Thai Fusion” dish from chef Klase of the Reckless Brewing Company, “Do-Si-Do Furikake Cookie Tapas” from chef Umberger of Trail Life Brewing, a Samoas cookie, coconut-crusted shrimp dish with a chocolate molé from chef Murillo of the Ale House, and a lemony hit from chefs Garcia and Woefle from Flavors Grille, featuring a chicken Lemon-Up cookie empanada.

Individual tickets are $75, and corporate sponsorships are also available. To buy tickets and learn more, www. girlscoutsofcolorado. org/en/get-involved/ support-us/events/chef. html. Attendees will vote for their favorite dish at the end of the evening.

Tickets include beer, wine and a signature cocktail by Clark’s Distillery. And, of course, you can even buy some boxes of Girl Scout cookies to bring home. This should be a fun time!

Bourbon Pairing Menu — Are you ready to experience a five-course meal with specially chosen bourbons paired with it?

On Saturday, Feb. 22 at 6 p.m., Ocotillo Restaurant & Bar, 2325 W. Ridges Blvd, will be cooking a delicious-looking menu. Ocotillo overlooks the Colorado National Monument and is nestled into the Redlands Mesa Golf Course. They have monthly pairing dinners, and I was fortunate to be their guest recently for an “Asian Fusion” themed dinner. Restaurant manager and events coordinator, Kate Weckerly, guided us through each course, and it was a delightful and yummy evening.

Tickets for this month’s bourbon dinner are $89 per person and include all five dishes, five different bourbons, tax and gratuity. Some of the dishes you will experience are a brisket burnt end chili with peach jalapeño cornbread, jerk-smoked chicken, bourbon-peachglazed pork belly sliders and an amazing-sounding butter pecan cheesecake with house-made caramel. The bourbons are Elijah Craig, Angel’s Envy, Larceny and more!

Tickets are available at www.Eventbrite.com, or you can contact Ocotillo directly.

Palisade High School Bands Fundraiser — Have a fun spaghetti dinner and listen to live music from the Palisade High School bands. This fundraiser will be on Friday, Feb. 28 at 5 p.m. at PHS, 3679 G.

Road. Tickets are approximately $18, and children under 5 eat free. Go onto www.Eventbrite.com to purchase them and help this high school continue to bring musical joy to its students and the community.

Souper Bowl Food Drive — This is an opportunity to volunteer at a local grocery store and help the terrific Community Food Bank. The food drive will be on Saturday, Feb. 8. There is a morning and an afternoon shift, and you can volunteer individually or with a group of friends and family. Learn more at www.foodbankgj.org.

Valentine’s Dinners

— There are a variety of Valentine’s Day specials happening all over western Colorado. Cedaredge has one that looks tasty, called the “Valentine Wine and Chocolate Pairing Event.” Located at Snow Capped Cider Taproom & Wine Bar at 106 Grand Mesa Dr., they are working with Drost’s Chocolate and will even have a chocolatier on site to talk about the chocolates. There will be live music by Kipori Woods.

Tickets are $30, and you can get more information by emailing russelin. snowcappedcider@gmail.com. This year Valentine’s Day falls on a Friday, so be sure to book any reservations as soon as possible, as restaurants will be hopping.

If you have any food and beverage-related events or information you want readers to know about, please email me at AllThingsFoodChristine@ gmail.com.

“Tagalong Pad Thai Fusion” by chef Russell Klase at Reckless Brewing Company, 127 East Aspen Ave. in Fruita.

This complex adobo chicken, tzatziki and pickled slaw was created by Blade & Bone’s chefs Craig Huffaker, KeyLargo Mooney and Luke Summar and managed to incorporate Thin Mints, one of the author’s favorites.

Photos by CHRISTINE GALLAGHER

The Feisty Pint’s chef Bob Fulkerson topped puff pastry with lemon-poached shrimp, lemon-infused crème fraiche, lemon chutney and a dusting of Lemon-Ups.

Ocotillo Restaurant & Bar is located at 2325 W. Ridges Blvd.

During last month’s paired dinner at Ocotillo, they served a playful dessert featuring a strawberry mochi donut topped with Fruity Pebbles and a Korean soju with a nectarine.

FOOD NEWS

ALLAGHER