{whatever wednesday : the aspen mac -n- cheese festival!}

so, i spent the {long} weekend on the western slope, my soul soaring with the rockies and the clouds.  my spirit begged to stay up there, so i obliged… which means i will need to return soon.

🙂

i’ll have much more to share about my trip later this week… for now, here’s a little story :

as i’m cruising the aspen saturday market, picking up some yummy wild plums and yellow cucumbers, i turn the corner and spot this large group :

it smells amazing… people look happy…

there are random lines everywhere…

and everyone is EATING!!!

my kind of party, i say… and i pause for this foto opp:

hi.

and i get distracted by the cool brick-laid sidewalks…

cuz yanno, i’m an artist… we see the world differently…

and then i hop in a line… where it’s going, i’m not sure.  there are just random lines everywhere.  what is this?!

“what line are we in?!” i ask the lady behind me, “i don’t even know anymore,” she replies giggling, holding her spork in her mouth…

then i spot this guy :

then i see these folks :

then i’m like, “can i take your foto?!” and they’re all like, “of course… and here is a cup and a spoon and a voting ticket – have fun!”

apparently, i had wandered into the aspen mac -n- cheese festival.  and it was perfect timing, as my tummy was growling!  there were almost 20 kinds to try… i grabbed what i could :

i probably should’ve paid more attention to what i was trying.  this was my first stop.  one of them had a tater-tot on top, the other was spicy with bacon in it.

then there was this – kind of like a beef stroganoff…

then it “sunny” rained…

for a good 20 minutes… so i just stood under cover and people-watched…

this girl don’t care…

and back to the sampling!  both of these were spicy.  i was a little underwhelmed…

but this one impressed me. i like the noodles they chose and anything with shrimp makes me happy…

but THIS… this was my favourite!  spiral noodles with a porcini mushroom sauce and truffle oil from Rustique… how can you go wrong?!

and i found out the next day from a local that this was the winner!

then this cool ambulance showed up…

then my artist eye came out again…

hi again…

mac -n- cheese!!!!!!

this just made me chuckle.  and sad, because i recalled my waitressing days… sigh.

then i met these lovely people.

then i went home… stuffed and happy.

🙂

Tags: aspen, aspen mac n cheese festival, blogging, colorado, eating, editorial, editorial photography, end of summer, events, festivals, fun, life, mac n cheese, photography, stories, storytelling, vacation, weekends