Recovering From The Holidays

We're not even done with them, with New Year's Eve and Day still to come (although not a big deal in this house), but I'm in the mood for normalcy, smaller meals, less fatty food, and more vegetables.  I don't have any particular plans, since the fridge is still stocked with food to finish off from the past few days.  When not dealing with leftovers, I might draw inspiration from the holiday detox suggestions from Food and Wine magazine.  Quinoa and veggies are sounding pretty good right now.

4th Of July Grilling Ideas

Looking for something new to spice up your 4th of July?  Epicurious can help you out with Recipes and Party Tips for a Star-Studded July 4th, while Cooking Light offers 4th of July Recipes.  And don't forget the various grilling guides I pulled together for a post around Memorial Day.  Hard to believe the 4th of July is coming up so quickly!

Do It Yourself Week At Pearl Whole Foods

The Pearl Street Whole Foods will help you through the holiday season with a whole week of Do It Yourself demos, starting with one tomorrow on floral centerpieces, with ongoing demos from 3 to 5 pm.  The remainder will run from 4 to 6 pm, and here's their plan for those:

Monday:  seafood appetizers
Tuesday:  the turkey
Wednesday:  holiday fondue
Thursday:  remodel your store-bought dessert
Friday:  holiday mulled wine
Saturday:  who needs turkey?

Boulder Farmers' Holiday Market This Weekend

This weekend will be the grand finale of the Boulder Farmers' Market season, with their special two-day holiday market out in Longmont. With chilly temperatures and possibly a little snow, note you will be doing your shopping in the comfort of being indoors for a change, as it will be held at the Boulder County Fairgrounds Exhibit Building. It's a chance to add unique gifts to your holiday shopping, as well as picking up some wonderful local food. Here's just a part of what they say:

The Boulder County Farmers' Markets 6th Annual Winter Market Is This Weekend!

The 2011 Winter Market is open Saturday and Sunday from
9am - 3pm.

Please join us for our final and largest market of the year - two full days in celebration of another fabulous season bringing together people who value and support local products.

Many of the farmers, ranchers, and food artisans from our Boulder and Longmont Farmers' Markets have everything you need for a FRESH & LOCAL holiday season... tender greens, vine-ripened tomatoes, fall produce, Colorado-raised beef, poultry, lamb, pork, award winning cheeses, eggs, apples, cider, preserves, baked goods, honey, Colorado wines, and much, much more.

This is also our best and biggest fine art and fine craft fair of the year, featuring over 40 Colorado artists. You will find everything from unique stocking-stuffers to one-of-a-kind museum quality gift items.

Pre-Father's Day Events Saturday

Our local natural foods stores will be whooping it up this Saturday in anticipation of Father's Day on Sunday, with at least three events that I see:

The Boulder Sunflower plans "brats for a buck to celebrate Dad," running from noon to 2 on Saturday.

The Pearl Street Whole Foods will hold a "Get Outside With Dad" event Saturday from 11 to 3. Here's what they say:

"Saturday, June 18th
Get Outside with Dad!
11 am - 3 pm FREE!
Celebrate Dad with us Father's Day Weekend!
-Great grill specials!
-Kid's customize trail-mix for Dad activity.
-Summer entertaining demonstrations.
-Rock climbing wall!
-Fun, Pearl Street Style!"

The Superior Whole Foods store will also get into the act, with a Kids Club cookie decorating event on Saturday from 2 to 5. Here's what they say:

"Saturday, June 18th
Kids Club
2:00pm-5:00pm Free
Kids, join us for a Kids Club Event. Surprise Dad this father’s Day with a large chocolate chip cookie decorated by you for Father’s Day and a card. Check in at the Customer Service Counter."

Father's Day Coming Up

Father's Day this Sunday isn't exactly a big culinary holiday, but if you're looking for dinner inspiration, check out Epicurious' Father's Day Fun page and Bon Appetit's Father's Day Favorites slideshow. Since the grill tends to dominate the day, you can also look back to the guides I collected for Memorial Day, and also check out Saveur's current issue on the BBQ Nation.

Holidays to Celebrate

Today of course is Cinco de Mayo, with lots of foods on sale for celebrating, not to mention the last day of 25 cent avocados at Sprouts. Then tomorrow, instead of rueing any overindulgences on the fajita and margarita fronts, we have International No Diet Day (no kidding!). May 6th now holds an esteemed place on my calendar, in addition to May 5th.