Chicken Cacciatore – Carolyn Anderson Jones

I got an email from my niece, Renee, back in July. It was an invitation for me, her mom and my sister, Lila, and my cousin, Melody, to come spend a weekend at her log house in the mountains at Red Feather Lakes, west of Ft. Collins. What I really liked about her email, though, was it was addressed to the “Ya-Ya Sisterhood of the Traveling Aunts”. She really gets us. And yes, this is the same group who made the pilgrimage to Hugo, Colorado to discover our roots back in June.

Of course we all accepted and selected the last weekend in September to visit so we could enjoy the fall colors while we were up in God’s country. Renee and her husband, Mike, are the Godchildren of Charlie Parker, a former NFL and Bronco football player back in the 1960’s, and they acquired the cabin from him and his wife this past year. We affectionately call it the “Parker House”.

(Renee on her front porch reading a good book!)

Continue reading ““Ya-Ya Sisterhood of the Traveling Aunts”” →

One of my classmates and a good friend, Joanie, who ran her family’s restaurant, the Blue Parrot, in Louisville, Colorado for many years, retired and closed the restaurant in 2017. Since then I’ve been enjoying her company at class reunion meetings and lunch gatherings and I’ve loved catching up with this sweet Italian friend, which was impossible in the past because she was always too busy with the restaurant to socialize much. Several of us lamented one day that we really missed the Blue Parrot’s Chicken Cacciatore, so Joanie offered to not only give out her recipe, but give a cooking class too! So, one bright spring day a group of us got together and we watched and took notes as Joanie prepared this hometown “comfort” food for those of us who were privileged to grow up in Louisville and feast often on this delicacy. Continue reading “Italian for a Day!” →