Hey, look! It's like..."Monday" and stuff! For me personally, despite the utter ineptitude that the Broncos displayed on Sunday, my weekend was pretty darn good. On Friday afternoon, my wife called me at work to let me know that she had decided, "just because" basically, that we needed to go out and have ourselves a nice, expensive meal. I was hesitant to commit to such things, taking into account, of course, that it was Friday afternoon. I figured that it'd be hard to get a reservation at any place which could serve a meal like she described on such short notice. I told her that I'd give it a shot and, since she suggested the Craftwood Inn first (and adamantly, I might add), I gave them a call. Luckily, we were able to get a reservation for that evening and so, for the first time since our friends Andy and Andrea were in town, my wife and I were set to enjoy wild game and other delights at one of the most awesome restaurants ever...

No, I really mean that, the Craftwood really does "kick ass."

If'n you ever find yourself passing through the Colorado Springs area and you happen to have a couple hundred dollars to "blow" on a nice meal, you should really consider "blowing" it at the Craftwood (which is actually in Manitou Springs, just to the west of Colorado Springs proper). The menu at the Craftwood is loaded with (dare I say) "sumptuos" wild game dishes which you simply cannot find just anywhere. On top of that, they offer a full bar with a decent selection of single malt scotch, an extensive wine list, a cozy atmosphere and, on the service side of things, they treat you like royalty, something that I'm not altogether used to. You, though, are not content to hear about mere generalities...YOU CRAVE DETAIL!..

Fine...Here are some of those detail thingies which you love so much...

On Friday, I started my meal with an order of The Macallan 12-year old Single Malt (neat) and a Caesar salad (with real anchovies, mind you) while my wife enjoyed the tortilla soup (special of the day) and a glass of Dr. Loosen Riesling. In addition, house-made garlic bread and herbed butter was brought to the table. My salad was quite good but I have to say that the tortilla soup was even better...I regretted not ordering it after having a taste, but that's neither here nor there. After our soup and salad, we enjoyed the Bison Roulade appetizer which consisted of grilled bison, wrapped around roasted artichoke hearts on top of green chili and wasabi cream sauce. Frankly, in a larger portion, I wouldn't have minded if we had the dish as an entree, it really was awesome. Not long after my wife and I polished off the roulade, our entrees arrived. My wife had gone with the "trio of tenderloin," which features beef tenderloin, bison tenderloin and, best of all, tenderloin of boar...

That's right...BOAR...And it is SO FRIGGIN' GOOD...

myself, I went with the grilled wild game platter, consisting of elk, antelope and venison. All of the meats were quite tender and flavorful, so I couldn't really say which one was my favorite (definitely boar). Both of our entrees were accompanied by garlic mashed potatoes, a sort of risotto pilaf dish and "purple Peuvian potatoes" which had been roasted and were really quite enjoyable. Both my wife and I truly enjoyed our meals to the point of being too stuffed for dessert (which is a shame because the Jalapeno cream mousse really is "to die for"). If it weren't for the price tag, I'd probably make a regular habit of eating at the Craftwood. If I were the gradin' type, I'd have to give the whole experience an A+...Give it a try...

So on Saturday, I worked a shift in the morning at the radio station and then came home to prepare for yet another Dead Money Poker Tournament. We had a pretty good turnout (14 people) and big fun was had by all. The results of this particular tournament are posted there on the sidebar (on your left there). My dad had said that he felt like winning this particular tournament, but what he really wanted to do, more than anything, was to simply beat me. As it turned out, he did both, having the pleasure (I'm sure) of putting me out of the tournament and, ultimately, winning the whole thing...

So way to go, dad...

Also, congratulations to everyone who placed "in the money" and thanks to everybody who showed up to play. On a side note, mr. gloom-and-doom himself, Collin ended up finishing in 3rd place, despite his standing prediction of failure for himself. So "way to go" there, too...

And after the poker, we sang karaoke...Good times...

So on Sunday, there were these "professional football games" played and I really don't want to talk about any of that. I didn't do very well at all in the "fantasy football" department and I'm scared to find out just how poorly I did in ol' Pat Angello's feetsball peeck 'em thing this week, LET ALONE my being extremely pissed off regarding the utter embarrassment that was the Broncos game in Miami...Feh...Come to think of it, there were enough upsets in college football on Saturday to put me in a bit of a foul mood re: college football pick 'em stuff before any of that pro stuff happened...You know, I used to think that I knew at least a little SOMETHING about sports...Now, though, I'm thinkin' otherwise...

Anyhow...Donovan McNabb and Brian Westbrook and David Akers could still salvage a little somethin' for me in the ol' fantasy department...To quote WarGames, "Confidence is high...I repeat: confidence is high."

Finally, I do have an audio entry for you all which I will share later in the week. In addition, I have the English version of the poorly translated comic strip from last week which I will share later on as well. I have to say that I enjoyed Justin C. and HappyFunBall's "translations" so well, that I may turn it into a blank "write your own" strip thing in the future...We'll see...I've already ripped off one of Justin's lines for my subheader...

At any rate, you all have a fine Monday...

Labels: I eat food, lame stories, poker, sports