Robert Burns Night at The Morrison

The Morrison is easily my favorite restaurant these days. And, their Filet Burger (see March, 2013 post) was the first thing I wanted to eat upon getting my braces off last week. They handed out Robert Burns Night postcards then, and now I'm back for the event.

Even if you don't think you know Robert Burns, you do. He wrote "Auld Lang Syne" as a poem before it became THE New Year's Eve song. And for those of you with ears, Burns' "Scots Wha Hae" was the second song I learned for the bagpipes, after "Amazing Grace." It is still the first song I play each time I practice.

This Burns night started with a classic bagpiper, Aaron Shaw from the Wicked Tinkers (see May, 2013 post), escorting in the haggis. Then, Burns' "Address to a Haggis" was read, and the haggis was cut open. That's where the Morrison's version of Burns night went another direction, and the audience was invited to read Burns-appropriate poems to the packed house. What was great was watching the poems being read off the glowing light of cell phones. Young, old, traditional, raunchy, accented and not, the readers totally got into it, and the celebrants laughed, hooted and cheered! The night ended with the crowd singing along to "Auld Lang Syne" with Aaron's piping.

And a girl's gotta eat!

This is the January special Jam Burger, with fig jam, stilton cheese and bacon. Wow!!

To those of you I haven't sold on The Morrison, what's it going to take?

Click here for The Morrison's Web site.

A Day in Denver

My Mom just celebrated her 75th birthday, and my siblings and I made our ways to Indiana by plane and auto. I flew and decided to ride back to Denver with my brother Mark to see what mountain living is all about. Here are some highlights.

First stop up the mountain is Alma, which is North America's highest incorporated town at 10,578 feet. Alma was originally known for its silver mine, and it is now a rhodochrosite mineral mine. I'll note that it's about 20 degrees and windy out here! 

Next stop up the Rockies is Hoosier Pass at the Continental Divide, elevation 11,539 feet. It was discovered and mined by Indiana men in 1860. Look at those blue skies at the top of the America!

We then stopped by Breckenridge. Since it is Martin Luther King, Jr. Day today, the streets were bustling with skiers and snowboarders enjoying the holiday weekend. (On my flight the next day from Denver International, I did note the abundance of flyers on crutches!) It was cool to see this historic train with the snowplow up front. I guess I never thought about having to clear snow from train tracks.

Coming down the mountain, we stopped by South Park, both of them, in Fairplay. The animated South Park is inspired by locations in Fairplay, which is in the South Park basin. This sign is a regular detour for photo ops.

South Park City is an open air museum in Fariplay with authentic and relocated buildings to recreate a mining town. Did I mention how cold it was?! The area is open in warmer months and has living history days in the summer.

Finally, in the go big or go home arena, we stopped by South Park Fudge Factory for this ginormous and delicious cinnamon roll. WOW!!

I'm looking forward to a summer visit. Anyone want to climb the mountain with me?!

Twohey's Revisited

I'm dealing with some crazy allergic reactions, and my doctors can't figure out what's causing them. Today, 10 vials of blood were taken for testing. I'm feeling drained in many ways, and liver and onions is at the front of my mind. I'm meeting my friend staying in Duarte for the iron rush, so we decide to meet at Twohey's in Alhambra. I last visited in April, 2010 (see post), and it was fine time for a return.

Their take on liver was terrific, grilled and topped with bacon, and both onions and onion rings. Diner mashed potatoes can be hit or miss. These were a hit!

Feeling totally powered up after scarfing down the full plate of food, I ordered the special Snowball dessert, with ice cream, raspberry filling and coconut sprinkled on top. Tasty!!

Stay tuned for the allergy results. For now, I'm hoping none of these foods makes the banned list.

Click here for Twohey's Web site.