STK Archives - Good For Spooning

I know I have been a bit lazy lately and I apologize to all of you. Things have been chaotic to say the least, and when I looked at the last time I posted, I couldn’t believe how much time had passed! Time really does fly and a graduation drove it home to me recently.

The Graduate and the proud parents! It seems like yesterday that we were at the Kindergarten Graduation!

My only child’s college graduation from Northern Arizona University (NAU) was May 13th. It seems like just last week I was freaking out about putting him on the school bus to go to kindergarten; like yesterday I was dropping him off for his freshman year at NAU and crying all the way to Kingman after I left him. Where does the time go? When I think of all the meals I have cooked, eaten or participated in over the past few years…then realizing my son will be a teacher helping others just months after he was a student…I just have to pause. And breathe. And relish the fact that he has grown into a fine human.

And when there is a graduation, of course there are celebrations involved!

A fantastic family dinner at Brix in Flagstaff started off the weekend. If you get the chance to dine there, I highly encourage you to make a reservation; they are always packed and the food is great.

Chocolate Pot au Creme as done by Brix in Flagstaff.

Duck breast as done by Brix, Flagstaff

And then there was the party after the ceremony at our home.

Fifty people joined us to celebrate. Thankfully I have talented friends who lovingly helped prepare the meal. Friend and Chef Beni Velazquez shared his paella recipe which I prepped and he prepared in a huge pan in the back yard. Dad manned the Big Green Egg to cook up the chicken. Chef Mike Minor brought some of his kick ass BBQ sauce for the pulled pork sandwiches I prepared. Hubby cooked up a ton of corn on the cob and brewed a special batch of chocolate milk stout, and several friends brought salads to round out the buffet. While I ran around, pal Byron (the gem responsible for my logo) took tons of pics to help us remember the day. Because, as I said, Time Flies and the day was a veritable BLUR!

Dad manning the chicken station, aka the Big Green Egg. He’s still trying to figure out how to steal mine…not happening.

Chef Beni Velazquez at the 3 foot Paella pan in my backyard. Thanks to SIL Gretchen for this pic!

Watching my son being at the “Grown Ups’ Table” with his friends and our family friends was amazing. I know he has been sitting with the Grown Ups for some time, but something about watching him get that diploma and knowing the changes that await him over the next year is astounding.

Add to all of that, my Mom was with me for nearly a month. It went by in the blink of an eye. I don’t get to see her that often or anywhere near as often as I would like, so I truly enjoyed the time with her.

We spent Mother’s Day together for the first time in more than 25 years and celebrated with a brunch at STK.

We spent Mother’s Day together for the first time in more than 25 years!

My fave appetizer right now, steak tartare as done by STK here in Vegas

I know that I lead a strange and wonderful life and I am truly grateful for it. EVERY single day. My biggest challenge is that I need to slow down, enjoy the days more and embrace the weirdness.

There are big changes coming soon and of course I will share all of that here with all of you as they unfold. And I promise to be more consistent at posting this blog.

Skipping the “Moment of Truth” I insert into each blog post, here are a couple of little secrets about me:

I think I may be the only person on the planet who doesn’t like “Seinfeld”. I like Jerry Seinfeld, I just never thought the show was funny. It was “Much Ado About Nothing” for me (just like the Shakespeare play that I despise). The only part of that show I liked was Kramer. I would much rather watch “Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee” which is Mr. Seinfeld to a much more relate-able and hilarious degree for me.
I am not much of a “red” meat eater. Typically when I walk into a steakhouse either I have been invited to an event, or someone else is paying. And when I am faced with the choices on a steakhouse menu I seek out the lone pork, fish or chicken dish because I KNOW there is one. A good rib-eye or porterhouse is lost on me. I am just as happy with a perfectly cooked mid-rare burger or flank steak as I am with the more expensive cuts that beef aficionados proclaim to the world are the pinnacle of dining. Aside from tartare and carpaccio, I could easily give up beef as long as I have access to pork, lamb and goat.
I MAY have been converted this past week by Chef Stephen Hopcraft and STK at the Cosmopolitan here in Vegas.

Back in January we went to the Chefs to the Max dinner/fundraiser at RX Boiler Room and in the silent auction we won a “Meat Tasting Dinner for 6”. While I love Stephen as a human being, I am more of an appetizer gal when I go there to eat, and that is really not that frequent. John eats there more than I do, BUT this dinner was MAGIC and so much fun and the company, as much as the food, was what made it so special (thanks to our friends Heather Burdette, Jozef Bobula, John Morris and Lynn Moonen for joining us). Chef even allowed me to “play” with our food when it came to the tartare.

I asked Chef if I “got to play” as well. He let me mix up the tartare and form and plate it.

Enjoy the pics, and the captions and KNOW that the food was spectacular and I MAY in fact have to try to enjoy beef just a little more often.

Tartare with gaufrettes – fancy french potatoes. Sorry the taters seem to be the star of this pic, but the tartare was awesome!

Carpaccio with a superb pesto pasta. I even got a few tips out of Chef for making the pesto at home. This was all done LIVE in front of us!

The best slider I have ever had!

Beet Salad (l) and Caesar Salad (r)

Oh, and did I mention there was wine involved? Exceptional pairings with each course.

Filet tasting – L – R: Traditional Prime, All Natural, and Bone In. Of course there were sides!

And then there was dessert. The closest to you is a chocolate mousse with my all tie favorite, a French macaron as a garnish. By this time I was so full...I only ate the garnish.

And then there was dessert. The closest to you is a chocolate mousse with my all time favorite, a French macaron as a garnish. By this time I was so full…I only ate the garnish.