7/19/19:
(Above: My brother and I overlooking the Overlook.)
Preface: It is getting very late, and I have a hike in the morning. Apologies for any grammatical / spelling errors. I plan on returning to fix them, but now I must sleep.
Summary: Today began with my waking up, performing a brief bit of calisthenics exercises, and then heading out to walk the nearby Cottonwood Creek Trail. I started on the trail after procuring a customary vacation Diet Coke, and I walked for about an hour until it got to be too hot with too little shade. This was followed by my return to the apartment and my writing for a good 40 minutes.
After write time, I was picked up by my brother whereupon he drove us to the Broadmoor Resort for the renowned Lake Terrace Breakfast Buffet (most highly rated breakfast in Colorado City). The hotel was quite something – a sprawling, manicured manor-like edifice set around a picturesque lake – and the food that was present at the buffet matched the theme perfectly.
There were bountiful flaky pastries, an egg bar with an attendant egg-chef (for egg dishes of almost any sort), a supply of seasoned meats / tortillas for burritos of exceptional quality, a table with all sorts of cured fishes / meats and fine cheeses, and a final table where there was an ample store of fresh fruit / berries* along with complimentary vanilla cream and honey that was more fresh and delicious than can be possibly imagined**. As for our waitresses, there were two, they both spoke with the same (French?) accents, and they both kept our table clear of dirty dishes and our beverages (in my case, coffee) full. What I mean to say is that it was a $80.00 breakfast for the two of us… whereas the quality presented seemed like something that would have cost triple that.
Breakfast was followed by a ride through the mountains, a hike up to a high place with an incredible view (some sort of waterfall whose name I did not catch), and then we drove around Garden of the Gods whilst drinking some large bubbly beverages***. This was ensued by a drive to Camoen’s place, and there, I rested for a brief time before we went for a rather lengthy and rather hot walk to a fancy chocolate store about 1.5 miles away. We could not purchase typical chocolate there because it would have melted on the way back to Camoen’s place, so we both purchased little 4 oz. chunks of fudge as a dessert for the impending Picanha dinner****.
Me and my brother hiding from the sun beneath a pine tree. 
Very steep rocks on way to Overlook. 
Waterfall on the the way to the overlook. 
Me and my brother overlooking the Overlook. 
The overlook. 
Red rock formations at Garden of the Gods. 
Golden rock formations at Garden of the Gods. 
High view from Garden of the Gods.
After returning to Camoen’s abode, I made dinner – the day’s final and quite spectacular event that is described in detail below.
Commentary: The mountain scenery was all tremendous today, as was Camoen and I’s breakfast at Broadmoor Resort. The primary highlight of today, however, came at its end: the meal of Picanha, Polenta, and Caesar salad. I’ll start off with the Caesar salad and proceed from there:
My brother’s kitchen does not have would I would call an extensive selection. There are no measuring implements that I could find, and as far as spices/condiments go, all he has are salt, pepper, garlic salt, Worcestershire, hot sauce, dijon mustard, ketchup, and a bottle of green salsa. For Caesar salad dressing, I took some of the Parmesan Reggiano I had bought for the Polenta and mixed it with Dijon Mustard, a little bit of good Olive oil (also brought over for the occasion), Worchestershire (to take produce an anchovian flavor), garlic salt, and pepper. It was a tad too sour, and I could not find any sugar in the kitchen, so I ended up using about 2-3 tbsp (remember, I had no measuring implements, so I’m just estimating) of a ‘big gulp’ gingerale my brother had bought at a jiffy store on our way back from Garden of the Gods. That did the trick, thinning out the dressing and providing just the right amount of sweetness.
As for the polenta, it was simple. I simply put in an estimated 2 cups of coarsely ground corn meal into a pot of 8 cups boiling (salt) water. This cooked for 35 minutes, being occasionally stirred throughout. At the end, I added 5 tbsp of butter to the polenta along with an almost entire block of Parmesan Reggiano. The texture was tender, and the flavor… well, I think it would be difficult to mess up a corn-based dish with that much butter and Parmesan added in.
The Picanha was also simple for the most part. I used a dull knife to cut the silver flesh off the bottom (the tough stuff), and then split the piece of beef into 5 portions. These, I patted dry with a paper towel, salted with a generous amount of rock salt (procured from the inside of Camoen’s salt shaker), and then placed in the preheated 250 degree F oven for 20 minutes while the polenta cooked. After this 20 minutes was up, I pulled the Picanha out, covered it with another pan, and started up the broiler. I waited about 10 minutes before placing that Picanha back into the oven, uncovered. There, it cooked for ~ 6 minutes before I started to see a tiny bit of smoke. I pulled it out, and what I found was a beautiful pan of Picanha with a golden brown crust and darkly seared accents.
To plate the meal, I placed a large dollop of Polenta on my brother’s and I’s plates, put a small pat of butter on top along with an additional sprinkling of Parmesan, and then I nestled the smallest pieces of Picanha right in the center of that polenta-dollop. Both tasted excellent alone, but together, they surpassed ridiculous. The Polenta’s Parmesan-imbued butteriness complimented the beef, and the Picanha’s slightly salty medium-rare meat juice was just incredible upon the Polenta. That dish shall be made again in the future; I just know it.
One final thing must be noted about this meal; it is one of the main reasons if not the main reason I ventured out to Colorado. I wanted to bring Camoen a taste of home away from home, and in cooking up some Master Blend Angus Picanha / Parmesan Polenta, I have done just that.
Final Note: Tomorrow, I plan on riding with Camoen to Denver to go hiking with a few folks he knows. Supposedly the trail is labeled as strenuous to outlanders, but it is also a ‘there-and-back’ instead of a ‘loop’. So, if I get tired, I can simply sit, rest, and head back with my brother when he returns from wherever the trail ends (and that’s only if its so strenuous as described… only 3 miles in one direction; 6 miles total).
*Blackberries nearly the size of golf balls, raspberries of exceeding freshness, blueberries / strawberries of actual flavor, pineapple (did not try), and melons (also did not have enough room to try).
**The honey I tried was procured from a dish set at the end of a short wooden trough. This short wooden trough was positioned beneath a panel of honeycomb apparently taken that morning from a nearby bee-keeper’s farm. I’m fairly certain that I’m now ruined when it comes to honey. Bottled simply cannot compare to such freshness; like my brother said, it was as if I could almost taste the flowers where those insects had procured their nectar.
***Soda-whenever-I-want it is a perk I allow myself on vacation…. Except for when an 8 oz’er costs $5.00 at the Broadmoor Hotel.
**** Camoen got peanut butter fudge, and at my brother’s urging, I got a cookie-imbued fudge. Both ended up being delicious – especially when we combined the two together. It was slightly strange because the chocolate exhibited its flavor first, and that was promptly followed by a peanut butter aftertaste.