Anne Grice's blog

Chicken Fajita Dinner

This is one of the easiest recipes that I have made since I was in college at the University of Texas at Austin. I served it to some friends on my back deck in Basalt, Colorado last weekend. There is lots of chopping, but it's pretty foolproof.

Marinate for at 2-24 hrs. in refrigerator:

Boneless Chicken Breasts – 4 halves – Pounded to a uniform thickness

Fresh lime juice (juice of 4 small limes)

Soy sauce (I use the lite) – approx. ½ cup

 

You can also substitue skirt steak for beef fajitas.

Make Guacamole – not too far ahead:

• Mash 2 or more ripe avocados
• squeeze of lime
• dash of salt
• 3 tablespoons salsa of your choice

Mix together – cover and refrigerate

Make pico de gallo:

Chop small and uniformly

• 1 large or 2 med. Tomatoes
• ½ or more med. White onion
• about ¼ cup fresh cilantro (known as coriander in the northeast)

Add about 1 teaspoon canola oil or similar and

A dash of salt

Grill Chicken and Slice into 1/2-3/4” strips

Heat Tortillas

The fresher the better, see below. This can be done in the microwave separating them with damp paper towels or on a hot skillet (no oil or butter) but this takes longer. Keep warm in oven covered by a plate.

Serve

Set everything up on a buffet. Serve with sour cream, grated cheese, salsa and of course the guacamole and pico de gallo.

Accompany with salad or rice and Margaritas.

I usually serve some fresh melon as an appetizer or side.

 

Here is a nice and easy flower arrangement idea 

Dessert

For dessert we had this awesome Mexican coconut ice cream and lime sherbet. I mixed them in waffle cones from the market.

Games

It’s always fun to have something to do after the meal, especially if you like to serve your meal early, like I do. I suggested Rummikub, a tile based number game that anyone can play. But my friend Ellen, had Banangrams in her purse which is a game similar to playing Scrabble as an individual but racing against each other to use up all the tiles.

 

 
A great place to get tortillas here in the Roaring Fork Valley is the Tortilleria La Roca in Carbondale

 

 
Right off of Highway 133

 

 
A popular place for steaming hot corn or flour tortillas. You can buy your pinatas here, too.

 

 

 
You can have a meal right here in their seating area

 

 

 As you see, you can get all of your ingredients for your fajita dinner here
 

¡buen provecho  

 

Road trip to Redstone

I went to Redstone last week to meet a new client and help her select paints, carpet, etc. for her vacation home there. We selected a few combinations of paint and carpet. She is going to get sample sizes of the paint and see how they look on her different walls. This is so important as the samples are not always true. Keep posted for a future blog on paint colors.

Redstone is a wonderfully scenic small town on the edge of the Maroon Bells Wilderness Area. It was a beautiful drive along the Crystal River from Carbondale to Redstone. By the way, this is a great cycling route, just go very early on weekends or mornings on a weekday as there isn’t much of a shoulder. Most of the drivers are cyclist friendly but some are not. There is a nearly completed bike path about halfway to Redstone from Carbondale.

Here’s a link that shows the route:

http://www.mapquest.com/mq/1-XWZX*xk6XUdD7YNFMY8w

It’s great fun to ride for breakfast on the back deck of Café Redstone or at the Redstone Inn.

 
The historic Redstone Inn

 

 

Café  Redstone – sit out back and look over the river and watch the  hummingbirds feed.

On the way back, I stopped at the Avalanche Ranch. The 36 acre ranch has 13 cute cabins, a 3 BR house, an apartment, a fishing pond, hiking and tons of other outdoor activities, and an antique shop with lots of fun, kitschy and unusual items. This is an incredibly beautiful mountain setting. It is now owned and operated by my friends Chuck and Meredith Ogilby and their family. This is a great family run, family and pet friendly retreat in the mountains. www.avalancheranch.com

 
 Entrance off of Highway 133 to Avalanche Ranch

 

Molly Jacober, General Manager, Avalanche Ranch

 

Anne Grice, ASID

Anne is the principal of Anne Grice Interiors, the Roaring Fork Valley’s award winning interior design and remodeling experts since 1996. 

Shopping for Wall Art in Carbondale

Yesterday I went to Carbondale, a cute town here in the roaring fork valley that sits near the Crystal and Roaring Fork rivers. I was having some pieces framed at Main Street Gallery and looking for some interesting wall art for a client. This client has a lot of black and white photography we are re-framing but I want to mix it up a little with something 3 dimensional. I think I found just the thing in some fun metal pieces at European Antiques on Main Street. I am planning to put them together on a wall above a seating area.

 

 

If you want to try this, be sure to plan the height, width and distance apart. Groupings are great, but make sure the overall height of the group is similar to the other pieces in the space.

Carbondale has such a pretty Main Street, I thought I would share some photos. They have a great outdoor art program so I included a couple of pieces.

Main Street Near 4th

 European Antiques - Lots of fun gifts and small decorative items for the home

The "Big Head" public art piece   

 

 I love this "Couple" piece!