I forgot my lunch.
Major traffic in the morning.
It’s month-end close.
I had to brief management from another organization.
14 hour work day with no over-time.
I wore heels.
I ate dinner at 10:30PM – slept at 11:30PM.
Yup, it was one of those days.
I make: Chicken with Lemon-Chive Vinaigrette
Yes, another chicken recipe. It’s necessary when you live with someone who is a lean, mean chicken eating machine.
Chicken can be so boring, especially when it’s all chicken breast, all the time. I actually prefer chicken breast over dark meat; I view eating thighs as a hassle because of the bones and extra fat. However, I don’t disagree with the general observation that chicken breast is more dry and less flavorful than dark meat. To prevent the chicken breast from becoming dry, I usually incorporate one of the following methods:
1. A marinade with some acidity helps tenderize the chicken breast (or any meat for that matter)
2. Coating the chicken breast in flour helps retain moisture
Works every time đ
(yields 2 servings)
Ingredients:
2 tbsp. lemon juice
1 and 1/2 tbsp. honey
1 tsp. Dijon mustard
2 tbsp. olive oil
1 tbsp. chopped fresh chives
1 tbsp. olive oil
2 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves (5 oz each)
Salt and pepper
2 tbsp. all-purpose flour
Directions:
1. A LOT of whisking: Whisk together lemon juice, Dijon mustard and honey until honey dissolves and sauce is smooth. Pour in olive oil slowly while whisking to create an emulsion. Add chives, whisk to incorporate into sauce.
2. Heat oil in skillet on medium/medium-high.
3. Sprinkle chicken breast with salt and pepper and coat in flour.
4. Cook chicken about 4 minutes per side, should be nice golden brown in color.
5. Drizzle sauce over chicken and serve.
Bon appetit!
Totally EPIC
The Epic season pass has just become more.. EPIC???!!!!
The pass, on sale now for $599, offers unlimited/unrestricted access to six mountains: Vail (CO), Breckenridge, (CO), Keystone (CO), Arapahoe Basin (CO), Beaver Creek (CO) and Heavenly (CA/NV). Depending on the weather, Henry and I gleefully break out our gear from the hostage of cob-webs as we attempt to ride fresh tracks in December. Then we die a little bit inside as we are forced to pack up/store our gear in April and anxiously wait all summer/fall for the next season to begin. We aren’t sponsored pro-snowboarders and we’re surely not loaded with cash, so we don’t have the luxury of being able to travel south and essentially board year-round.
Transportation + Lodging + Lift tickets = $$$$.
Well, the Epic pass has now provided us with the “endless” solution: it can be now used at Las Leñas resort in ARGENTINA!
Yes, that’s totally EPIC!
Keystone, CO
Breckenridge, CO
Heavenly, CA
I make: Vietnamese Caramelized Chicken
I’m not Vietnamese, but I do love me some Vietnamese food. When I came across this recipe, I thought, “What the hell is Vietnamese Caramel Chicken”???? Convinced that this recipe was just made up by the Cuisine for Two Magazine editors, I proceeded to do some research online. Surprise surprise, it does exist and there are many people out there who love this dish.
Anyway, the concept is simple: melt sugar to caramelize chicken. However, if you’ve never made caramel (which is basically melted sugar) before, then simple may not be the right word to describe this recipe. The first time I made caramel, it was to drizzle over my homemade sticky toffee pudding, and I failed miserably! The key is to melt the sugar on medium (or lower heat if the sugar starts looking lumpy) and wait for the sugar to slowly turn into the color of ice tea. This process takes about 5-7 minutes. I usually don’t like to stir my caramel until the very end; I swirl my pot instead. You can stir the caramel if you like, but make sure you don’t over stir, otherwise the sugar particles will just lump together instead of melting and liquifying.
Adapted from Cuisine for Two Magazine
(yields 2 servings)
Ingredients:
3/4 cup dry jasmine rice
3/4 cup water
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup low-sodium chicken broth
2 tbsp. fish sauce
2 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves (5oz each)
2 tbsp. canola oil, divided
1 tbsp. minced fresh ginger
1 tbsp. minced shallots
1 tbsp. minced garlic
1/4 cup bias-sliced scallions
2 tbsp. torn basil leaves
Directions:
1. Cook rice as instructed (I use a rice cooker)
2. Melt sugar in a saucepan on medium heat.
3. Combine fish sauce and chicken broth. After caramel forms (turns ice tea color), pour broth mixture and whisk, whisk, whisk! **When liquid is added to caramel, it will bubble furiously. Take off heat and set aside.
4. Heat 1 tbsp. of canola oil in skillet/fry-pan on medium/medium-high heat. Sear chicken about 3 minutes per side. You just want a nice golden brown color to develop on the chicken – you are NOT cooking the chicken all the way through. Remove from pan.
5. Heat remaining tbsp. of canola oil. Add ginger, shallots and garlic into pan and saute for about a minute or two, or until shallots turn translucent.
6. Return chicken to the pan and pour in caramel sauce. Reduce to medium-low heat and simmer until chicken is cooked through and sauce thickens.
7. Plate rice with chicken on top. Scatter scallions and basil on top of chicken and spoon sauce over chicken.
At first I was worried about the sauce being too sweet, but it came out just right. Having the chicken simmer in the sauce made the chicken incredibly flavorful! Now I know why so many people love this dish.
Bon appetit!
I eat: Toast Bakery Cafe
When our original plan to go to Griddle Cafe fell through, we decided to meet at Toast Bakery Cafe for Saturday morning brunch. As with any LA establishment, parking is a painful ordeal. I ended up parking near Beverly Blvd. and walked two blocks down to the restaurant. Toast Bakery Cafe is located at the edge of a residential neighborhood which means no street parking on the weekends unless you have a permit.
Although the restaurant does offer both indoor and outdoor seating, we opted for a table inside by the entrance. In the middle of the restaurant, there was a bakery counter filled with sweets such as cupcakes, cakes, brownies, banana pudding, cookies, muffins, etc. When I saw the red velvet cupcakes, I knew I had to order some to take home!
The menu was pretty standard. Available were the usual breakfast items: scrambles/omelets, pancakes, french toast. I decided to forgo my beloved Denver Omelet (I seriously order this EVERYWHERE) and ordered the Breakfast Quesadilla (scrambled eggs, mozzarella & cheddar cheese, grilled chicken breast, served with sides of sour cream, pico de gallo & guacamole). My girls ordered the Favorite Omelet and the Thai Chicken Salad.
As you can see from the picture, there was a lot more egg than chicken in my quesadilla. Despite this, I still enjoyed my breakfast and it was plenty to fill me up. I wouldn’t mind coming back to try the other items on the menu. However, if I had to wait in the line that we saw as we were leaving, I think I would have felt that Toast Bakery Cafe wasn’t worth the wait.
I also bought a half dozen cupcakes to take home: 2 red velvet, 1 blue velvet, 2 peanut butter/chocolate and 1 vanilla pudding/chocolate. I consider myself a red velvet cupcake connoisseur, having eaten a-plenty, and I can definitely say, TBC’s red velvet cupcake was terrible. The cupcake itself was really dry and/or not freshly baked. RED VELVET CUPCAKE FAIL! How dare you!
Verdict: 3/5
Toast Bakery Cafe
8221 W. 3rd St.
Los Angeles, CA 90048
Acid
I started developing heartburn about a year and a half ago, or at least that’s when I actually noticed. What started out as a painful burning sensation in my chest quickly progressed into waking up in the middle of the night with stomach pains. Yes, the Dr. confirmed, I was suffering from an ulcer. I was prescribed a medicine to reduce the production of acid in my stomach (Protonix) and ordered to follow a strict diet.
I am not supposed to eat/drink:
- Spicy foods
- Tomato-based sauces
- Chocolate
- Anything carbonated and caffeinated
- Citrus fruits or drinks
I am supposed to:
- Eat slowly and chew thoroughly
- Eat smaller meals, more frequently
- Be relaxed at mealtime
- Avoid eating within 3 hours of bedtime
- Avoid NSAIDS
- Avoid period of hunger and overeating
Have I followed these general guidelines religiously in order to save my health? No, and shame on me for not doing so. I drink tea everyday and soda/coffee a few times a week. I CANNOT give up spicy foods. I am guilty of falling asleep right after dinner. I eat my lunch while working and when it’s really busy, I don’t eat at all. So, it looks like I’ve broken EVERY single rule.
(picture found here)
Not surprisingly, my stomach started acting up recently – it was due time. I didn’t recognize the symptoms at first because somehow I never experienced another ulcer episode after the initial one; I thought I was just suffering from a bad case of food poisoning. I even made the mistake of eating an orange because I thought the citrus would “kill the bacteria”. Sometimes my logical reasoning baffles me.
Despite experiencing excruciating stomach pains for the 2nd time now, I’m still not sure if I can follow the rules. Hell, I even made mapo tofu for lunch last week. I don’t know whether I feel more guilty for breaking the rules or for not even trying to follow them.
Black and Purple
The playoffs have begun. It’s SOOO exciting for me especially since the Kings have not qualified for the playoffs since losing first round to the Avs during the 2001-2002 season.
Old picture from 2006?
The first two games vs. Vancouver have ended in OT, which is totally not good for my anxiety!!
I’m planning to buy tickets for the 2nd round! YES, THEY WILL MAKE IT. KINGS IN SIX!
I make: Crispy Fish
I’ve been testing a lot of recipes from the April issue of Cooking Light. Last week, I made spicy gumbo for lunch and saffron fish stew with white beans for dinner. I bought 2 pounds of cod and decided to use a little more than half for the fish stew and use the rest for another recipe: crispy fish with lemon-dill sauce.
The recipe was easy to follow and it really did only take 30 minutes to prep and cook, as the magazine advertised. Since the cod was breaded with panko and broiled in the oven (instead of fried), I didn’t feel guilty eating it. To keep in line with our healthy meal, I substituted low-fat mayo for the suggested canola mayo to make the “tartar sauce”.
Note: it is imperative that a broiler pan is used, otherwise the fish will turn out a soggy mess.
This recipe was a quick, healthy alternative to fried fish that I would make again. I just wished the panko would’ve browned a bit more evenly; I have a love/hate relationship with my oven.
Bon appetit!
Adaptation
After more than a decade of getting an average of 5 hours of sleep per night, my body has finally reached its breaking point. I’m currently in the process of reworking my daily schedule to accommodate 8 hours of sleep, meaning I have to stop sleeping at 1AM!
Since I’ve been sleeping earlier, Henry has been informing me about my sleeping habits. Apparently I like to toss and turn and wrestle my blanket. I don’t use my pillows and sometimes I end up laying diagonally on my bed.
Apparently, he finds this hilarious.
Doesn’t everybody sleep like this?
I make: Sole MeuniĂšre
I’ve been meaning to spend my $20 gift card to Target that I received as a Christmas gift, but there was never anything that sparked my interest… until last weekend. As I was browsing through the book section, I came across Ina Garten’s Back to Basics cookbook. When I first started watching food network in college, I wasn’t really a fan of Ina’s. I think this was mostly because I wasn’t quite ready for her more mature style of cooking; I was still stuck in a phase where a meal was predicated on convenience. Being a poor college student, ramen noodles and boxed “one-meal” dinners were staples in my pantry. Fast forward six years and I now have the opportunity to splurge on quality ingredients/cookware and as time has passed, my tastes have changed and my cooking style has progressed. Now I can fully appreciate Ina’s culinary expertise and I’m really excited to try every recipe in her cookbook!
For my first recipe, I chose sole meuniĂšre because I happened to have a few fillets of dover sole in the ‘fridge. All of the other ingredients (flour, butter, lemon, parsley) are staples in my kitchen and I’m sure they’re also stocked in yours.
Simple ingredients, quick preparation and cook time, absolutely delicious. This has now become my go-to dish when I’m in a pinch for time. Lemon + butter = LOVE.
Bon appetit!
I eat: Mastro’s Steakhouse [3]
When people ask me, “What’s your favorite steakhouse?”, I respond without hesitation, Mastro’s. I’ve been to Wolfgang Puck’s CUT and I’ve been to Peter Luger’s, but in my opinion, Mastro’s blows all of the competition out of the water. The two times I’ve been to Mastro’s, we’ve always ordered steak (specifically the 12oz filet mignon for myself and the 33oz. “chef’s cut” rib-eye for Henry). This time around, I took the parentals out for my mom’s birthday and we ordered two “chef’s cut” rib-eyes as well as a rack of lamb (22oz) and chilean seabass (12oz). Since Mastro’s is a steakhouse, I didn’t expect much from our non-steak entrees, so imagine my surprise when both turned out just as delicious as the beloved steaks! Mastro’s makes a killer rack of lamb; it was perfectly cooked and well seasoned. The chilean seabass was flaky and succulently sweet. While my dad loved the steak, he raved and raved about the seabass. In addition to our entrees, we also ordered lobster mashed potatoes and sauteed spinach. I fell in love with lobster mash during my first visit to Mastro’s and I’ve ordered it every time I’ve returned. Lobster + Potatoes + Butter … what could be better? đ
Verdict: 5/5
Mastro’s Steakhouse
246 N Canon Dr.
Beverly Hills, CA 90210
I make: Chicken Katsu
We wanted to make something quick and easy since we figured we would be tired from a long drive home from Mammoth. I remembered that we had some chicken in the ‘fridge and a box of panko in the pantry, so it was a no-brainer to make chicken katsu. Who doesn’t love a breaded piece of chicken? And btw, panko is far superior than regular bread crumbs since it’s much more crispier.
(yields about 8 servings + rice)
Ingredients:
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (each halved to 8 thin pieces)
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2 eggs, beaten
1 1/2 cups panko bread crumbs
1 cup canola oil, or as needed
Directions:
1. Place flour, eggs, and panko in 3 separate shallow dishes.
2. Heat 2 tablespoons of oil (per piece of chicken) in frying pan on medium-high heat.
3. Season chicken breasts with salt and pepper on both sides. Dip in flour, then egg, then coat thoroughly with panko bread crumbs.
4. Cook chicken about 4 minutes each side, or until golden brown.
5. Remove chicken and place on paper towel to soak up excess oil.
Serve over rice with katsu/tonkatsu sauce (available in most markets)
Bon appetit!
Down With The Sickness
I’ve been severely congested for the past few days. My nose is so red and raw from the constant need to shoot out snot, I look like Rudolph. I’m sure this is contagious so I probably shouldn’t have gone to work.
Not only have I been congested, I’ve also had muffled hearing in BOTH ears! I guess I’ve been taking my hearing for granted because I never realized how much it SUCKS to not be able to hear clearly. My boss freaked me out by telling me about his friend who started having muffled hearing one day and never regained full auditory capability. Needless to say, I b-lined to the nearest urgent care center. One look in my ears was all the doctor needed to diagnose me with… ear infections!
Really? Ear infection? How the heck did I get ear infections? The Dr. said it was caused by my prolonged sinus congestion, but I think it was a combination of that + the higher elevation in Mammoth. So, following Dr.’s orders, I’m currently drugged up on Sudafed (12 hour), Ibuprofen, Amoxicillin and Guaifenesin (Mucinex generic). Isn’t taking meds such a drag?
Well, looks like “March Madness” has turned to “March Sickness”.
Note to self: Take it easy, woman. You’re not in college anymore.
Great Escape
A weekend in Mammoth is never enough. It’s always depressing when we have to pack up and go home. I wish I won the lottery so I could stay up here for the whole winter!
The conditions were spring-like this weekend: hard-packed surfaces in the early mornings that turned into slushiness in the afternoon. This was due to temperatures reaching 40-50 degrees during the day (which is super HOT!) and cooling down to 20s at night for the past week or so. Despite dying from the heat while waiting in the lift lines, I was more than pleased with the beautiful clear blue skies and low winds. You win some, you lose some, right?
Us at the top with Henry’s friends that we met up
We stayed in the Bradley building of Summit Condominums (#246), which is about a 5 minute walk from Eagle Lodge. We found a pretty good deal and booked our 1 bedroom/1 bath condo through 101 Great Escapes. While this was definitely a better experience than the one I had two weeks ago, there were still a few issues with the condo. Being on the 2nd floor, we had to walk up three flights of stairs from the underground parking garage to get to our condo. When you’re exhausted from a full day of boarding and fueled by only a few hours of sleep (or about half an hour in Henry’s case), the last thing you want to do is climb stairs. It would have been nice if the website stated which floor the condo was located, though I’m not sure how much this would have swayed my decision at time of booking since this was the cheapest and best looking condo we found. Best looking was determined by the pictures provided and as I first walked through the condo, I realized that the pictures on the website made the condo look nicer than it really was. I didn’t mind this too much at first because everything seemed clean, but the kitchen was HORRIBLE! All the dishes/utensils/cookware were dirty, and by dirty I mean I found food particles and grease stains. I didn’t go on vacation to clean someone else’s mess!
Despite the dirty kitchen, we still cooked our meals as usual. I used two recipes from the Cooking Light magazine that I recently bought. Both recipes happened to have bacon; bacon makes everything better, doesn’t it? I did change the recipes slightly, such as using 2% milk instead of non fat and adding more cheese, so I guess I wasn’t really “cooking light”. But hey, there’s nothing wrong with extra cheese. đ
I eat: Bouchon
When one of the girls suggested dinner at Bouchon, I immediately jumped on board. I became an avid Thomas Keller fan after my trip to The French Laundry last October, despite the astronomical price tag. Thus, I was eager to try Keller’s more affordable restaurant, Bouchon.
Bouchon, Las Vegas, is located on the 10th floor of the Venetian. Luckily, we were staying on the 12th floor so walking to the restaurant only took a few minutes. So location itself? FIVE STARS! đ
We were seated promptly for our 6:15PM reservation. Being so early, the restaurant was practically empty. The menu was printed on a parchment-like paper and wrapped around the dinner napkin. Cute points! I had a hard time deciding what to order. It seemed like the menu listed everything I love: lamb, duck, salmon, mussels, gnocchi. I was only able to cut my list down to lamb or duck so I pressed the waiter for his thoughts. He told me he preferred the duck since he loves him some good seared duck breast. Well sir, it just so happens that I too, am a sucker for a good seared duck breast so duck I shall have! Three of us actually ordered the duck, two ordered the moules frites (mussels and fries) and one ordered the salmon. We also shared the french onion soup, potato puree and macaroni gratin.
We started our meal with the usual bread service and I absolutely loved the butter (as I also did at The French Laundry). The french onion soup, though comforting since it was cold and windy that day, was nothing special; it tasted like any other french onion soup.
The mussels were very plump and juicy. On the menu, the description read: Maine bouchot mussels steamed with white wine, mustard & saffron. Though I’ve never had this combination before, the sauce didn’t taste like what I had imagined after reading the menu. It actually reminded me of the chicken marsala I just made. The frites were a bit… disappointing. You may be right about most things, Anthony Bourdain, but Bouchon’s fries are not the best things I ever ate. Don’t worry though, I’ll still keep you in high regard.
The macaroni gratin fell flat as well. Yes, it was cheesy enough, but the flavors just weren’t there. I don’t know, perhaps use a more sharper cheese? The potato puree (no picture available) on the other hand, was straight up smooth buttery goodness! I would be more than happy to consume 3000 calories worth of that in one sitting.
The waiter was right about the duck being seared beautifully. But that was the only thing good about this dish. The flavors didn’t mesh well, mainly caused by the tart-sweetness of the rhubarb. With all of the other components being mild and savory, I didn’t expect that punch. The sauce eventually grew on me by the end of the meal, but not to the point where I could say that I loved it. Nice try, Chef de Cuisine, Bryan Podgorski. I realize that rhubarb is now in season and I get what you were trying to do, but ultimately the flavor combination was a fail. However, I will commend you for such a perfectly seared duck breast!
We ended the meal by sharing a creme brulee. I’m glad it was delicious, or else I would have had to hurt somebody.
Verdict: 3/5
Bouchon
The Venetian
3355 Las Vegas Blvd S
Las Vegas, NV 89109
I eat: Bosa 1
While in Vegas, our attempt to eat brunch at Hash House failed, and Bosa 1 was the next best thing. Bosa 1, a Vietnamese restaurant located about a 10 minute drive from the strip, was recommended by one of the girls. Apparently, she knew the owner’s sister and we actually got a little discount! đ
I love Vietnamese food, especially pho. I basically have it about once a week at my favorite local Vietnamese restaurant. The waiters know my order without me having to say anything; they just ask me, “same?”, and I nod. On rare occasions I like to change it up and spice up my life a little bit, so I order a rice place or another noodle dish.
The restaurant was pretty small, probably seating about 20-30 people. The menu seemed limited compared to other Vietnamese restaurants that I’ve been to. Bosa 1 is known for 2 noodle soups: Bun Bo Hue and Bun Rieu. I’ve had Bun Bo Hue before, and although I love the noodles and spicy soup, I won’t eat the pig leg/feet/knuckles. Thus, I decided to order the Bun Rieu.
The most important thing of any noodle soup dish is the soup itself. The tomato-based broth of the Bun Rieu had great flavor; I also enjoyed the fried tofu and crumbled shrimp paste. I liked this dish so much that I started ordering it at my local restaurant!
I’ve never had these kind of spring rolls before. Inside each was a piece of grilled pork, lettuce/greens and fried pieces of eggroll skin (for crunch). Interesting.
The eggrolls were kind of small, but I guess that was for the best since we were all stuffed from eating everything else! They tasted like I expected them to – I liked the outer crunch.
All in all , a great meal at a reasonable price! The total came out to about $15 each (6 girls).
Verdict: 3.5/5
Bosa 1
3400 S. Jones Blvd #2A
Las Vegas NV 89146
…Won’t You Pack Your Bags, We’ll Leave Tonight!
(…continued from my last post)
I first read about Treehouse Point in Budget Travel’s article: A Treehouse Adventure. It was absolutely perfect timing since I was in the midst of planning our Pacific Northwest adventure. I was so intrigued about living in an actual treehouse, I knew it had to be part of my itinerary. So, Treehouse Point was our next stop after Mt. Rainier.
Treehouse Point is located in Issaquah, Washington, about 30 minutes east of Seattle. When I stayed at Treehouse Point, there were 2 treehouses (Temple of the Blue Moon and Trillium), the main house, and a tent. Everything was constructed by Pete Nelson aka “the treehouse guy”; he also wrote the book, “New Treehouses of the World”. We stayed in the Temple of the Blue Moon, the most popular choice by couples I would assume. To get to the treehouse, you have to cross this swaying bridge, which was kind of scary no matter what time of day it was. Inside the treehouse, there was a big comfortable bed, a small sitting area and an armoire that supplied music (from ipod) and clean linens. There was also a side door that led out to a porch area. For the most part, I had a good time living in the treehouse, but there were a couple of “issues”. One issue was that the windows did not have any screens to keep bugs out. I mean, I get it… treehouse = living with nature, but it just doesn’t make sense to me to build such a nice “luxury” treehouse, but not pay attention to such details as insect proofing. If I wanted to live freely with bugs, I would just go camping. Also, there was a small (shared) bathroom located outside of the treehouse, which ultimately wasn’t that big of a deal since it does make most sense for the bathrooms to be outside; I just didn’t realize beforehand how inconvenient this would be. Continental breakfast was included with our stay, but the selection was very minimal. However, the pastries that Pete’s wife made were very delicious!
Since we were in the area, of course we had to check out another waterfall! Snoqualmie Falls was beautiful from the observation deck, but we decided to also hike down to the river to get a different view. I love waterfalls đ
Growing up, I was fascinated with planes … So, of course I made a trip to the Museum of Flight during our time in Washington.
Great exhibits, lots of material to cover, fun simulators – I loved the Museum of Flight! We drove into Seattle afterward and explored the Pioneer Square and International District area. While walking to Green Leaf Vietnamese Restaurant for dinner, I swear I witnessed a drug deal going down. Um, sketchy area.
The next day we explored downtown Seattle before taking a stroll around Green Lake Park. I was surprised by the amount of people outside during the day – I would love to be able to exercise around Green Lake Park everyday since the scenery is so soothing and calming and it is the perfect distance, about 3 miles around. There are so many activities you can do: running/walking, biking, skating, swimming and boating (you can rent pedal boats and canoes).
Being so entranced by Green Lake Park, I was ecstatic that I was going to be living across the street! We stayed in the Greenlake Room of the Greenlake Guesthouse. This was definitely one of the best B&B’s I’ve ever stayed at. Everything you needed was either in your room or just a few steps outside your room. The bed was so comfortable, it was hard to get out of bed in the morning and we definitely used the jacuzzi tub in our bathroom every night. The large bookcase in the hallway held a wide array of DVDs and there was a mini fridge on the other side stocked with water and drinks (genius!). Breakfast was light, yet filling and pastries and fruit were available all day in case you needed a snack.
Seattle is breathtakingly beautiful and it was such a pleasure to walk around its most popular areas. Yes, Pike Place Market is very crowded and touristy, but there are so many great food shops. I bought some cheesecakes from Confectional and a few bottles of flavored olive oil from Sotto Voce. I had clam chowder with a crab roll at Pike Place Chowder and for dessert, I had gelato at Bottega Italiano. I also got a front row view of the fish tossing, which to me is synonymous with Pike Place Market. Too bad I couldn’t get a clear picture of the fish in the air!
I also visited the Seattle Public Library because I heard so much about its architecture and interior decor. I walked to the library from Pike Place Market because on the map, it didn’t look too far away, but the map wasn’t detailed enough to tell me that I would be walking UPHILL for about 5 blocks! I guess the sweat was worth it because the library was amazing! Bonus: padded seats near bookshelves. I wish the libraries I went to when I was younger had these.
I had two last minute changes to our intinerary: dinner at Art of the Table and a sunset kayak tour with Alki Kayak Tours. Being that these were last minute additions, it’s funny how these two events became the highlights of our trip! Definitely meant to be, right?
Art of the Table, home of the “weekend supper club”, is located in the Wallingford neighborhood of Seattle. The supper club is an intimate dining experience, with seating for about only 18 people. There were several tables for 2, a couple for 4 and one large table that seated 6. The kitchen was open for anyone to walk through to the backyard garden or to take pictures of Chef Dustin Ronspies working his magic (like I did). Before dinner, Chef Ronspies provided us with a brief introduction about himself, his background and his passion for using fresh and local ingredients. Most of his supper clubs are themed and when I dined, it was all about the Mediterrenean. As we began each course, he shared the inspiration behind the dish. It was fascinating to hear his stories of traveling the world, especially since they revolved around food. I thoroughly enjoyed the meal, from beginning to end. Everything was so fresh and delicious, but the one thing that stood out the most was the saffron ice cream. WOW! Talk about save the best for last.
I usually don’t like booking “tours”, which was why I didn’t initially sign up for the sunset kayak tour with Alki Kayak Tours. I’ve always thought of tours as being too expensive for something you could do yourself for free, with a little bit of research. But I couldn’t get the image of the Seattle skyline during sunset out of my head so I bit my lip and reserved our spots only 2 days in advance. I’m sure glad I did because how can you say no to this?
Doesn’t Seattle look so beautiful at night?
I love how the lights reflect against the water đ
——–
Seattle Eats & Drinks (+my verdict):
Mr. Gyros, 4/5
Canlis, 3/5
Bottega Italiano, 3/5
Paseo, 5/5
Art of the Table, 5/5
The Confectional, 5/5
Pike Place Chowder, 3/5
Cafe Presse, 4/5
——–
This was such a wonderful trip. I can’t wait to go back.
I’ve Got Two Tickets To Paradise…
It was our 40 month anniversary yesterday. I know, it’s silly to keep track like this, but it’s nice to know that we are still madly in love with each other! Looking back on our relationship, my fondest memories revolve around all of our trips together. We’ve taken one big trip every year and each year has certainly topped the last. I’m in the planning stages for this year’s trip!
Last year, we had quite an adventure in the Pacific Northwest. Absolutely beautiful. We started off in Portland and made our way to Seattle, stopping at Mt. St. Helens and Mt. Rainier along the way.
We arrived in Portland at about 10PM at night and we took a taxi to our “hotel”. The Kennedy School is an old elementary school that McMenamins renovated into a hotel. Most of the original classrooms were split into two guestrooms with a bathroom added in each room. Besides this, the look and feel of the school were pretty much kept intact. Chalkboards, perhaps original, wrapped around the guestrooms and there were white water fountains in the hallways. Memorabilia of the school and of those times decorated the walls. Other classrooms were turned into bars/lounges with incredibly cute names: The Honors Bar, The Detention Bar, etc. It was truly a unique experience to stay at The Kennedy School!
We decided not to rent a car at the airport since it was ridiculously expensive! We saved a lot of money by renting from a non-airport location instead and since it was located within 5 miles of our place, we were able to get free pick up service. Most of our first full day was designated to sightseeing and eating. As you can see, it was a really warm day.
The main reason we stayed in Portland was because we wanted to go white water rafting. There are many rafting outfitters around Washington and Oregon and we decided on Wet Planet, which is located near Hood River, Oregon, approximately an hour and 15 min drive from Portland (scenic drive). It was our first time river rafting and our guide, Sara, did a great job of making sure we were all having fun while keeping us safe. The trip was about 8 miles total, with rapids classified as class III-IV (solid class IV fall known as “Husum Falls” – 10′ vertical drop). I was a little nervous for Henry because I know he’s not the best swimmer (he almost drowned in Hawaii – that’s another story for another time), but good thing we all survived; no one in our 6 person raft fell overboard into the water, not even when we went down Husum Falls!
On our way back from rafting, we stopped at Multnomah Falls. This would be our first waterfall of the trip đ If we had more time, I would have liked to hike the trails around the falls.
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Portland Eats & Drinks (+my verdict):
Mother’s Bistro & Bar, 4/5
Coffeehouse Northwest, 4/5
Toro Bravo, 4/5
The Screen Door, 4/5
Voodoo Donut, 3/5
Pambiche, 4/5
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The next part of our trip was definitely my favorite! We drove up to Mt. St. Helens and hiked through the lava cave and then we drove to Mt. Rainier and stayed there a few days.
The lava cave (Ape Cave) was really fun and really scary at the same time. It was mostly an easy-moderate hike, with the difficulty being the huge rocks that you have to climb over as well as the 9 foot wall you have to climb up. If you are claustrophobic or scared of the dark, Ape Cave is totally not for you. As we were hiking through the upper passage of Ape Cave, I actually had thoughts of being trapped underground or being attacked by.. ghosts (yes, ghosts), but I quickly calmed myself down and thought of something else. I found comfort in hearing the voices of other groups – perhaps its the “at least I’m not going to die alone down here” rationalization. The upper passage of Ape Cave is 1 1/4 miles and took about 2 and a half hours to explore. We spent about another hour to hike the mile long trail above ground that took us back to the entrance of the cave.
I originally planned to drive to the Johnston Ridge Observatory for a great view of Mt. St. Helens, but we just didn’t have enough time since we still had to make a 3 hour drive to Mt. Rainier. We picked up some groceries before we headed to Almost Paradise Lodging, our home for the next few days. This place is absolutely fantastic! Everything was clean and I felt right at home. Our fridge was stocked everyday with a complementary continental breakfast basket during our stay. The jacuzzi right outside definitely helped us relax after a long day of hiking. At night, all we could see were the faint lines of the trees that blended in with the black sky and the bright stars sprinkled throughout. Amazing…
We technically only had one full day to explore Mt. Rainier, which was really sad since it is such a beautiful place. For our full day, we did a 4 mile hike on the Paradise River/Narada Falls trail. We started at Cougar Rock and ended at the Henry M. Jackson Visitor’s Center in Paradise, for a total elevation gain of 2,000ft (good hiking condition is required). It was a little difficult to find the trailhead, but luckily we were able to follow people that were headed the same way.
We took a lunch break to eat our cole slaw turkey sandwiches at Carter Falls. As we continued along, we passed by Madcap Falls and about 2 miles later, we reached the famous Narada Falls. You can technically take the Paradise shuttle and get dropped off here, but come on, we are no weaklings! It wasn’t enough to just view the falls from the top, we decided to climb down towards the flowing river to get a different view of the falls. BEAUTIFUL. After Narada Falls, Paradise was only a mile away. Even though it was late July, snow still scattered the ground (especially as we neared Paradise). I had some difficulty getting up a hill because it was blanketed with snow and my hiking shoes didn’t provide enough grip/traction. We didn’t have that much time to explore the Paradise area since the shuttle arrived about 15 minutes after we arrived.
The next day, we were able to hike a half day before heading up to the Seattle area.
More waterfalls!!
(to be continued…)
I make: Chicken Marsala
This is one of my favorite recipes – always on my go-to list! So easy and so delicious.
(yields about ~8 servings – I serve 1 piece of chicken each with veggies on the side)
Ingredients:
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 teaspoon garlic salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1 teaspoon oregano
4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves – cut in half (into 8 pieces) and pounded to 1/4 inch thickness
3 tablespoon butter
4 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 cup chopped shallots
2 cups sliced baby portobellas (creminis are excellent as well)
1 cup sweet Marsala wine
1/2 cup cooking sherry
2 tablespoon brown sugar
1 tablespoon Wondra flour (to thicken sauce)
Directions:
1. In a shallow dish, mix all purpose flour, salt, pepper and oregano. Coat chicken in flour mixture.
2. In a large skillet, melt 2 tablespoon butter and 3 tablespoon oil on medium heat. Lightly brown chicken and remove from pan (don’t fully cook the chicken at this point since it will finish cooking in the Marsala sauce).
3. Melt remaining 1 tablespoon butter and 1 tablespoon oil in pan and add shallots. Cook for about 30 seconds and add sliced mushrooms.
4. When mushrooms brown and shallots turn translucent, pour in Marsala wine and sherry to deglaze pan (scrapping up the bits from the bottom). Stir in brown sugar and Wondra flour before adding all of the chicken back into the pan.
5. Reduce heat and let the chicken simmer in the Marsala sauce for 10-15 mins (rearrange the chicken half way so that every piece gets an opportunity to be submerged in the sauce.
Serve over rice, pasta, etc (or eat as is like I did).
Bon appetit!
You Get What You Pay For
Besides the apartment drama in NYC last December, I’ve had good vacation rental experiences. Maybe it’s because I thoroughly research my options or maybe I’ve just been lucky. Maybe it’s because I rely heavily on the pictures that the owners post up of their unit because if I don’t like how the place looks in pictures, I mostly likely won’t like it in person. I was hoping to continue my streak, but I can think of anything that can salvage the horrible experience we just had in our Mammoth condo this past weekend.
We stayed in a 2 bedroom/2 bathroom condo (Mammoth Point #106) located a little above the Canyon Lodge base area. A friend of mine secured this rental through Mammoth Reservations Bureau (MRB) for 2 nights. Total cost: $460 + $100 security deposit which works out to about $94 for 6 people – what a steal! I remember not being too impressed with the pictures of the condo, but I was hoping that the great price would equate to great deal. When we arrived, my first impression was that the condo was very dated, but I wasn’t going to dock points off just for that. I don’t need granite counter tops, stainless steel appliances and 600 thread-count sheets to be comfortable; all I ask for are clean conditions, a working heating/cooling system (depending on location, ex. Hawaii vs Mammoth), comfortable bed and a useable kitchen. Sadly, Mammoth Point #106 failed on all four of these requirements:
– There were lots of brown spots on the carpet and I know it’s a 70’s thing, but I will never understand why anyone would install carpet in the bathroom.
– My mattress sunk in towards the middle, making it very uncomfortable for two people to sleep on. Also, I’m not sure if it was goose down, but feathers kept poking out of the sheets.
– The heater in my room did not work, causing the room the stay at a constant chilly 50 degrees.
– The comforter that I was supposed to use was stuffed into the top of the closet, which made me question whether the comforter was even washed or not.
– Some pans were bent so cooking meats evenly was a challenge. The coating on the non-stick pans was clearly deteriorating.
– The oven had a mind of its own; I’ve been able to adjust to different brands and at different altitudes, but this time, the oven just would not cooperate!
The worst part of this whole experience was that part of our electricity went out WHILE I WAS IN THE SHOWER! Apparently, we overloaded the circuit, causing the circuit breaker to trip. Even though they supposedly “manage” this specific unit, the MBR provided no assistance in resolving this issue. I understand it was late at night, but you would think that they would do more than just tell us to look for the circuit breaker box and fix it ourselves. When we called back in the morning, all they did was send a maintenance guy over to get the Mammoth Point office manager, whose building is right across from us. Really, MRB? We could have done that ourselves. Thanks for nothing.
Now I know why this condo was so cheap!
I Just Can’t Get Enough
Mammoth 1.0
March 5-7, 2010
Riding down Cornice from the top đ
March Madness
March is definitely going to be a crazy month! This is what I have going on: Mammoth, Vegas, Mammoth .. in that order. Usually, I really look forward to sleeping in on the weekends, but I realized this morning that I won’t be able to sleep in on the weekends for the next three weeks. And by sleeping in, I do not mean getting into bed at 6am and sleeping until 12pm (likely the scenario in Vegas).
I haven’t been to Mammoth yet this season, so I can’t wait! It’s even more enticing since Mammoth has been getting dumped on these past few weeks (or this entire season practically). The weather has been quite cooperative; with all the snowfall we’ve been getting in So Cal, you can even go as far as to consider the conditions at the local mountains (Big Bear and Mt High) as being “great”. The weather man predicts that a snowstorm will hit while we’re in Mammoth this weekend. The last time I was there during a snowstorm, I was able to board all the way down to the gondola from my condo! AWESOME!!
Now, I just hope that the Vons in Mammoth has King’s Hawaiian Bread in stock because I’m dying to make my delicious hawaiian bread pudding.
I make: Thai Beef Salad
In an attempt to eat “healthy” and cut out carbs at night, we made our version of thai beef salad over the weekend. I say attempt because this recipe does have a good amount of sodium, so we are going to try to balance this out by monitoring our sodium intake throughout the day.
(yields about ~8 servings)
Ingredients:
4 green onions, chopped
1 1/2 cups chopped fresh basil
2 lemon grass, cut into half inch pieces
6 thai green chilis, seeded and minced
2 limes, juiced
3/4 cup fish sauce
1 1/2 tablespoon sweet chili sauce
1 1/2 tablespoon garlic chili sauce
1/2 cup of white sugar
2 pounds (1 inch thick) beef (I used top sirloin)
1 to 2 tablespoons canola oil
1 head Boston Bibb/butter lettuce, cut into 1 inch pieces (or torn)
1/2 English cucumber, sliced
1 pink cherry/grape tomatoes, halved
(mint and cilantro can also be incorporated; I just don’t like either :))
Directions:
1. In a large bowl, stir together green onions, basil, lemon grass, thai chilis, lime juice, fish sauce, sweet chili sauce, garlic chili sauce and sugar. Adjust flavor, if necessary. Set aside.
2. Trim off excess fat around the beef, leaving about an 1/8 inch. Put beef into a ziplock bag and pour in about 1/2 of the fish sauce mixture (or just enough to coat the beef). Marinade for an hour in the refrigerator.
3. Remove from refrigerator and allow to rest at room temperature for 10 minutes. Brush beef with canola oil before placing on broiling rack and broil for approximately 4-5 minutes on each side, or until medium/medium-well. Let beef cool for 10-15 minutes before cutting into thin strips ACROSS THE GRAIN.
4. Combine lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers and beef strips. Add as much of the reserved fish sauce mixture as you’d like (a little really does go a long way). Toss and serve.
This recipe also works on the grill, but I actually prefer the broiler in terms of taste and it is also less time-consuming than the grill.
Bon appetit!
Changing Priorities
I’ve canceled my subscriptions for Us Weekly and InStyle in favor of Cooking Light. Yes, you read correctly: Cooking Light. My last few purchases have been an All-Clad 12 inch fry pan, a Wusthof Classic 8 inch hollow-ground chef’s knife and a Wusthof honing steel. I stress not about my outfits for the week, but about my meals for the week. At this point in my life, I feel like I live and breathe food.
My love for food and cooking has evolved from calling 2 packets of beef flavored ramen a meal in college to creating and executing a 5 course meal this past Valentine’s Day. I’ve come a long way, to say the least.
I eat: Cube Marketplace
For my 4th dineLA experience, I opted for lunch since we had just spent $$$$ on what will surely be one of the most memorable meals of 2010: Petrossian.
Since Cube was fresh in my mind after reading about it recently, I looked up their menu for dineLA and quickly began to salivate. Braised maple bacon and truffle burger? SOLD! We made reservations for a rainy Friday afternoon, which in retrospect, was a poor decision on my part since traffic is RIDICULOUS in all directions on Fridays + it was raining. We arrived at noon, 30 mins late for our reservation (we called to let them know), and the place was practically empty at that time. People began trickling in after we were seated and by the time we left, there weren’t any tables available.
I knew what I wanted to order off of the dineLA menu, but as I was browsing through the regular menu, I saw mac and cheese and I just couldn’t resist. What can I say… I’m such a sucker for mac and cheese! After we placed our order, the chef sent out an amuse bouche of adelegger cheese, from Germany. Bold with a similar nutty flavor like parmigiano-reggiano. Our first courses were braised maple bacon (of course!) and spicy tuscan bean and sausage soup. The bacon (pork belly) was cooked properly and the celery root puree provided a nice balance to the sweetness of the maple. The soup took on all the great flavors of the sausage and the greens made me feel like I was actually eating, (gasp), healthy. The soup was so comforting, perfect for a rainy day. Our appetizers made us really excited for the rest of the meal.
For our entrees, we ordered the truffle burger and the lamb panini. When the waiter took our order, he asked if we wanted blue cheese on our burger. He didn’t give us an alternative and I figured why not just try the burger as it was originally prepared: with blue cheese. I’m not the biggest fan of blue cheese since it is so strong, but I can tolerate it. When I took my first bite, I immediately regretted my decision. The blue cheese totally overpowered the entire burger; all I could taste was blue cheese. I found myself trying to scrape off the blue cheese in attempt to save the burger. I don’t feel like I can give an accurate review of the burger since I was so overwhelmed by the blue cheese. The lamb panini was .. ok. I didn’t hate it, but I didn’t love it either. It tasted like really dry roast beef. In fact, it was so dry, the au jus didn’t even help moisten it much.
My first impression of the mac & cheese was that it looked like school cafeteria mac and cheese (except for the garlic on top). It didn’t taste much better either. Plain, boring and seriously lacking in flavor. Although, I have to say, the balsamic was a nice touch. This was not worth $7.
Our desserts were more enjoyable. We had the seasonal fruit cobbler duo (cherry and rhubarb)Â and pots de creme duo (butterscotch and valhrona chocolate). The cobblers were too sweet for my taste, although the ice cream did help cut the sweetness somewhat. I absolutely LOVED the butterscotch creme, but the chocolate creme was extremely bitter; it must have been >70% cacao.
Overall, I was disappointed. I can see how others would like this restaurant, but the food at Cube Marketplace just didn’t mesh well with my tastes/preferences.
Verdict: 2.5/5
Cube Marketplace
615 North La Brea Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90036
I eat: Petrossian
Not being able to secure a reservation at The Bazaar during dineLA, I thought I was settling by going to Petrossian instead. Now, I think it was meant to be. Petrossian is a gourmet food boutique and restaurant located in West Hollywood, specializing in caviar. It first appeared on my radar when I heard about their infamous black truffle mac and cheese. Yes, I have a love affair with mac and cheese. Even though the mac and cheese wasn’t on their dineLA dinner menu, I decided to give Petrossian a try away .. with every intention of ordering the mac and cheese on the side.
While waiting for the waiter to take our order, I browsed through the regular menu and “caviar pizza” caught my eye. That’s not something you can pass up, right? Right. So we ordered the caviar pizza AND mac and cheese IN ADDITION to the 3 course Dine-LA meal. I think the waiter thought we were crazy, or at least, fat asses.
Executive Chef Ben Bailly, who is very good looking by the way, sent out the classic cold borscht soup as amuse bouche. It was so refreshing and delicious!
The mac and cheese and caviar pizza were brought out first and these two items totally blew the rest of the meal out of the water; everything else just paled in comparison. It was, HANDS DOWN, the best mac and cheese I’ve ever eaten! Rich and creamy, real truffle shavings, smokey bacon flavor – what more can you ask for from a mac and cheese? And the caviar pizza, wow. The creme fraiche as the pizza “sauce” was simply amazing and tied all the ingredients (chives, capers, red onions, caviar) together beautifully.
With our bellies already filled with mac and cheese and caviar pizza, we began the Dine-LA meal. Our first courses were the shrimp “papillote” and the tsar cut salmon sampler. The shrimp “papillote” had easily recognizable flavors – the chili/ginger sauce was the sweet thai chili sauce you can find at most grocery stores (in asian/international section). The shrimp were perfectly tender, due to being cooked “en papillote” with wonton wrappers. I found it very surprising that I didn’t like the salmon sampler, since I love salmon in all forms (smoked, cured, baked, broiled, fried).
For entrees, we had the halibut brandade and the braised pork belly (of course!). Brandade is traditionally a puree consisting of salt cod, olive oil, and milk/cream, and Chef Bailly’s twist with halibut was wonderful! I think the substitution of halibut was a great choice since cod and halibut are both texturally firm and dense. Since the halibut is a mild flavor fish, the addition of piquillo peppers really stood out in a good way. The only thing I didn’t like was the black olive oil surrounding the brandade. I couldn’t figure out what it was at first. It sort of tasted a little bit like rust with a hint of fruitiness in the back end. YUCK! As for the pork belly, it was a little too overcooked. It did, however, have great flavor.
The desserts were both enjoyable. The pistachios used in the Sicilian pistachio creme brulee are probably Bronte pistachios from Sicily, which would explain the vague floral note. The vanilla panna cotta was creamy and delicious; it was basically a high end yogurt parfait.
My meal at Petrossian was the best Dine-LA experience I’ve had so far. I would have rated the meal highly even if I hadn’t ordered the mac and cheese and caviar pizza. I can’t wait to come back and try the other dishes on the menu. I have my eyes set on the foie gras salad đ
Verdict: 4/5
Petrossian Restaurant & Boutique
321 North Robertson Boulevard
West Hollywood, CA 90048
9,600 ft.
Even though Mammoth is always awesome, I’ve always wanted to go snowboarding outside of California (Nevada side of Tahoe doesn’t really count). So, when Southwest Airlines launched their $30, $60, $90 promotion last year, Henry and I jumped at the opportunity and booked a trip to Colorado instantly. Round trip ticket for $120? SCORE! After much deliberation, we decided to forgo the big pricey resorts like Aspen/Snowmass and Vail for Breckenridge. This decision was based partially on the outrageous cost of an SUV rental: $600. To save about $300, we used the Colorado Mountain Express (CME) shuttle service to get to and from Denver International Airport (DIA). This meant that we relied solely on public transportation while in Breckenridge, which was fine since Breck’s “Free Shuttle” system was easy enough to navigate and very efficient. However, when you have 10 bags of groceries and a 24 pack of water to carry, not having your car can be quite a hindrance. We made our grocery trip work by taking a rolling luggage with us!
We stayed at Pine Ridge Condominiums (#6B), located right on the Four O’Clock run. The condo itself was better than I expected – we had stainless steel cookware and a great knife. It really is the little things in life that matter! đ We had two options, book through Expedia or book directly through the condo website. The condo website provided a rating system from silver to platinum to help guests gauge the general condition of the condo. Compared to Expedia, the equivalent condo in price booked through the condo website would have been a “silver” – no renovations within the last 5 years. We weren’t thrilled with the few options that we had on the condo website so we decided to take our chances and book through Expedia, especially since it was actually slightly cheaper to do so. By booking through Expedia, the worse case scenario would have been getting the exact condo we expected, but at a cheaper price. Taking our chances paid off because we ended up in a condo that was considered “gold”, which would cost $300 more if we booked through the website!
Poor lighting, I know.
The town of Breckenridge sits at 9,600 ft. above sea level. At high altitudes, reduced air pressure and lower oxygen concentration decreases the amount of oxygen that enters your bloodstream which, for some people, causes the onset of altitude sickness. The day we arrived in Breckenridge, Henry was already experiencing a few telltale symptoms. I didn’t have any symptoms so I thought I was in the clear for the whole trip. Boy, was I wrong. I totally forgot that all the literature I read up about altitude sickness stated that symptoms were usually worse the 2nd day at higher altitude. And like clockwork, we woke up the next morning with pounding headaches and shortness of breath. Henry also had some nausea and light-headedness. We had planned to start our day early and head up to the mountain at 9:30am, but we didn’t get out of bed until 10am because we felt like shit. To save that day from being a complete waste, we decided to go to Keystone for their “twilight” boarding (2pm-close/8pm). Keystone/Arapahoe Basin is about a 20 min bus ride (take the Swan Mountain Flyer/black line) from Breckenridge. Even though only the front side of the mountain stays open for night boarding (starting from 4pm), the runs were great.. and long! I didn’t get bored from the green and blue runs as I had expected. It was actually perfect since I was able to challenge myself to go faster.
I love feeling like I’m the only one on the mountain!
A huge part of our trip, as with all snowboarding trips, was cooking our meals, which explains why we had 10 bags of groceries. We do this because: 1) we love to cook, 2) it saves money, 3) it’s much healthier than eating hamburgers/hotdogs on the mountain. Our favorite meals were the cheesesteaks that we made for lunch, parmesan crusted pork chops (Giada’s recipe) for dinner and the spaghetti bolognese (with arriabata sauce) that ended up being lunch AND dinner.. for me at least.
Aside from the pounding headaches, our trip to Breck was fantastic. It snowed the whole time we were there, which some would consider a bad thing since that usually means low visibility. But to me, any snow is great.. I ain’t complaining! And its true, the snow in Colorado is different. The snow is really light and dry unlike the wetter snow in Southern California (due to the humidity). My only gripe about Breck is that there are 4 Peaks: Peak 7, 8, 9 and 10 and manuevering from peak to peak can be difficult at times. We tried to avoid that as much as possible by spending one day on Peaks 7 & 8 and another day on Peaks 9 & 10. Â
I can’t wait to go back to Colorado and check out the other resorts, but I’m shooting for Utah next.
Hello .. again.
New year. New blog. It’s necessary.
I’m planning to keep this one for the long haul since I’m paying for it now. $$ can be such a good motivator sometimes.
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this girl, kc 