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[click "Play" to hear Susan's conversation with John Sir Jesse]

100-0056_IMG_3 In Telluridespeak, the event is known as Mushfest. The 29th annual Mushfest, aka Telluride Mushroom Festival  – billed as "the nation's oldest mycological conference exploring all things fungal" – happens this weekend, August 27 – August 30.

In the context of the Telluride Mushfest, the world wide web takes on a whole other meaning: we are talking about mycelium, the sentient  web of cells, which, in just one magical phase of its life cycle, fruits mushrooms. Shroom evangelists from writer Terence Kemp McKenna and avant garde composer John Cage to Paul Stamets, a Mushfest regular, filmmaker Ron Mann ("Know Your Mushrooms),  and this year's special guest Gary Lincoff ("Mushroom Magick") head the list of true believers who contend fabulous fungi have the potential to save the planet.

28 August, 2009 /
[click "Play" to hear Eileen's conversation with Kenny Gilbert]

Chef Kenny Gilbert Headshot - Capella Telluride A trifecta of the arts is taking place August 13th through the 16th in Mountain Village as Telluride celebrates it 2009 Festival of the Arts with a fabulous line up of food & wine, art and music.  Top celebrated chefs will be on hand to showcase and demonstrate their culinary expertise.  A gallery of more than 40 artists with national and regional acclaim will exhibit and sell their work throughout the weekend.   Grammy nominated and multi-platinum artist, Joan Osborne will perform in a free live concert at the Sunset Stage on Friday the 14th.

A highlight to Telluride’s Festival of the Arts is the ‘Celebrating the Arts ’ Celebrity Chef Dinner.  Kenny Gilbert is executive chef of Telluride's five star ultra-luxury resort, Capella Telluride, and is one of the culinary experts taking part in the weekend festivities.  Gilbert's celebrated international cuisine is showcased in all three of Capella's dining rooms including the fine dining restaurant Onyx, the casual Gray Jay Cafe and the popular Suede Bar.  

13 August, 2009 /
[Click "Play" to hear Eileen and Steve Spitz chat about food, lifestyle and recipes.]

Steve Spitz The stage is set for the sixth annual Telluride Festival of the Arts, which will take place in Telluride's Mountain Village, August 13th, through the 16th.  This festival is all about gourmet food, awe-inspiring art and outstanding musical entertainment.

The incredible line-up includes celebrity chefs, such as Steve Spitz, who hosts “Living Better with Steve Spitz,” in its fifth year of national syndication, and host of the upcoming “Live With Steve Spitz,” a celebrity-based lifestyle program which launches this fall on syndicated national TV. Not to be missed is the gallery of nationally and regionally recognized artists along with a free performance by Grammy-nominated singer/songwriter Joan Osborne at the Sunset Plaza in Mountain Village. 

Steve Spitz will take center stage in Telluride’s Mountain Village on Friday, August 14th, with his “From Dirt to Delicious: Sustainable Food & Wine” demonstration, discussion, and tasting. 

You won’t want to miss this exciting one hour presentation from 3pm to 4pm.  Tickets are $50 and on sale at www.tellurideticket.com  See the end of this post for the exact recipes Steve Spitz will be presenting at his Telluride Festival of the Arts guest appearance.

12 August, 2009 /

Telluride's Wilkinson Public Library was the host and location for a community barbecue on Friday, August 7, 2009. The occasion was to celebrate the Library's selection as a National Five Star Library.Program director, Scott Doser told me food had been ordered for 300, but Telluride...

10 August, 2009 /
[click "Play" to hear Susan's conversation with John Cooley and Pat Frazier]

IMG_4161 John Cooley of Rivendell Farm and Pat Frazier of Peace & Plenty Farm are two of the popular regulars at the Telluride Farmers' Market, every Friday, June – October, 10:30 – 4 p.m.

Rivendell is located on the Gunnison River one mile from Austin, CO. on  At 5,000-foot elevation, John is able to get a jump on the season. The soil on the farm is sandy loam, best for growing root crops, especially potatoes.

Peace & Plenty is located on Redlands Mesa at an elevation of 6800 feet. The 1800-foot difference, means the companion farm lends itself to cooler crops and different harvest dates.

07 August, 2009 /
[click "Play" to hear Susan's conversation with Sue Whittlesey]


Bisoncalf2 Hwr2 High Wire Ranch is one of about 40 vendors who travel up to a 100 miles to sell their products every Friday, June – October, 10:30a.m. – 4:30 p.m. at the Telluride Farmers' Market.

High Wire is located 53 miles southeast of Grand Junction on Redlands Mesa, where owners Dave and Sue Whittlesey oversee a head of over 200 bison and elk.

Eating Well magazine featured High Wire Ranch in its March/April 2007. Sunset covered the ranch in its February 2008 issue, as did a PBS series on America's heartland.  (The article and video is available online at the America's Heartland website.)

31 July, 2009 /
[click "Play"  to listen to Daphne and Don]

Someofourfavoritefarmers People come to Telluride in the winter to ski and snowboard. They stay because of the summer.

When the weather cooperates, it is as good as it gets at this time of year. The hills are a riot of wild flowers. The cultural calendar is filled with wonderful things to do at the many world-class festivals and special events. And every Friday, June – October, 10:30 am – 4:30 p.m., the blocks just below Telluride's Elks Park to the Gondola Plaza on Oak Street become a gathering place for the extended Telluride community and guests. Everyone is on a mission to find the perfect tomato, the tastiest meat, mouthwatering cheeses, a lovely bouquet of flowers, just the right piece of jewelry, all available at the Telluride Farmers' Market.

24 July, 2009 /
[click to hear Dan James on cheese and more]

DSC_4596 Telluride's annual Farmers' Market, now in its seventh year, features almost 40 vendors, all of whom come from within a 100-mile radius to bring their sustainably raised fruits, veggies, flowers, meats, fish, crafts and cheeses to town every Friday, 10:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m., June – October. The market is the place every weekend for the greater Telluride community to gather and feed a growing appetite for quality food and town talk, the spicier the better.

One of the many smiling faces we look forward to seeing each week belongs to Dan James of the James Ranch, located ten miles north of Durango in the Animas River Valley.

17 July, 2009 /

by Dr. Susanna Hoffman

Sunday evening at 7:30 pm, Bluepoint Restaurant: Greece meets Telluride Farmers

Konstantine Jake and Me 028 Some three decades ago as an anthropology doctoral candidate, I decided that the sort of very abstract study that had only been done among remote tribal people could also prove true  among a  people with a long literate tradition. That gave a choice of only China, India, or Europe to conduct my research and, as a woman alone in those days, I chose Europe. That settled, I determined to go to what is considered the font of European civilization, Greece. As for where in Greece, after much reading, I fixed on a site I thought boasted a very long history, clear from Minoan times the island of Santorini. There were supposedly three thousand churches on the 16-mile island. Ah, what depth, what symbolism, I thought. Clearly this was the place for me. 

27 June, 2009 /
[click "Play" to hear Steve Olsen discuss Telluride Wine Festival]
Pic_steve They are here in force. Telluride Wine Festivarians, the people who inhale audibly at the mere mention of the word "Bordeaux"  paired in the same sentence as the words "Chateaux Lafite Rothschild." But few of them condone torture in any form,  including phrases such as "afterthoughts of linden" and "fragrances of toasted milk bread," a few examples on a long list of poetic flights of fancy used to describe the almighty grape.

In winespeak, certain terms are universal – but nearly incomprehensible unless you happen to be in the trade and forced to pronounce words such as "malolactic" to make your assessment understood. (A close translation is creamy.) Unless you happen to be in the trade and are on a mission to make tasting fun by removing the intimidation factor and all the aforementioned pretense. Meet Steve Olson, aka wine geek, and co-director of the 28th annual Telluride Wine Festival.

Grapes may be persnickety. Steve is not.

25 June, 2009 /