Where have I been?

Last week, I accidently watched the premiere of Game of Thrones. I liked it, and there was one character they showed that I was really interested in, but they only spent 10 minutes on her story out of an hour long show. 

So I bought the book and for the past week and a half, that's what I've been doing. Really, that's all I've been doing. But even in the book, probably only 15% is dedicated to the character that I was attracted to in the first place. But I'm hooked now.

I'm used to getting sucked into young adult books that I can read in two afternoons, not giant fantasy books. In the bookshelf of my mind, there is only one other book series that I've read that can go in the same section as Game of Thrones, and that's Outlander by Diana Gabaldon. Which is amazing. 

I'm about 80% finished with this thing on my kindle, so I'm sure I'll return to the real world soon, unless I go directly into reading the next book in the seven (or so I'm told) book series of giant fantasy novels.

Okay, have to go, I've only got 40 minutes before I have to be at work and I plan to spend 25 of those reading Game of Thrones.

Homemade Hummer Ads

We were infatuated with the Hummer. Obsessed even. Every so often, I would look back at the Hummer and think, "Oh, that looks like a commercial." It always looked like the Hummer had just accomplished some incredible feat, like climbing mountains or racing along mud soaked trails. I couldn't help but take pictures. We called these pictures our Hummer Ads. 

We were so infatuated with the Hummer that Husband bought one when we got home. We owned it for a whole 2 months before he realized it wasn't really for him and traded it in for his usual truck, but on this road trip, we were glad to have a big, off-roading vehicle that was totally enclosed. We could leave our stuff in the car and run off to explore. 

And if we didn't have it, we wouldn't have been able to get to roads like this one.

Or this one.

Definitely not this one.

And I don't think we would have seen these elk grazing in oceanside pastures in this state park.

Well, I think it was a state park because I took this picture. And I remember we were really close to the caretaker's house, and he was out mowing his yard so we stopped and talked to him. I think he was surprised to see other people.

Oh, did I mention the awesome dirt roads?

But I think the photo below, at a look out right before crossing the golden gate bridge, was the #1 Hummer Ad picture. You can see the dirt from our trip; it's like a badge of honor that shouts, "Hey, look at this guy. He just had an adventure."

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The Yellow Flowers

Yellow flowers! They were everywhere and they were beautiful.

 I think it looks like Broom, or the Oregon state flower, Oregon Grape, although the leaves don't look right for either of those two options. So, if you know what they are, please leave a comment!

 If you're from Texas, then you will understand when I say that these flowers were like yellow blue bonnets. They just lined the road, forever and ever.

They grew on cliffs. 

They grew on the beach.

Everywhere.

I really have no idea why I took so many pictures of flowers.

Even other types of flowers.

I think it was just so different from what I'm used to.

In Texas, you only see this many flowers if you're looking at blue bonnets or indian paint brushes.

But I'm not complaining. I think this one below is my favorite.

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HWY 101 Road Trip

HWY 101 runs along the west coast of the United States. In May of 2007, Husband and I flew into Portland, Oregon, rented a hummer, drove up to Astoria, OR and then down the coast to San Francisco, CA. 

Seeing as that was four years ago, and this is now, I'm not going to remember everything. But still, there are too many pictures for just one post. So here you go.

The Yellow Flowers
Homemade Hummer Ads

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Prosciutto and Melon

The first time I tried prosciutto and melon, I was sitting at the kitchen table of Elise Pierce, the Cowgirl Chef, for a French-Tex cooking lesson during our mother/daughter trip to Paris. Just prosciutto, melon and olive oil. I fell in love, but I didn't dare recreate it in the small east Texas town of Nacogdoches, where I live. It just didn't seem like I would find good prosciutto, like you mind not find good seafood in Montana or quality snapper in the Caribbean. 

The second time I tried prosciutto and melon, I was underneath a poolside cabana with my family in Tamarindo, Costa Rica, only a few feet from the beach and the shaded hammock where I spent the morning reading a book. This time, the prosciutto and melon were served with olive oil, capers, grated parmesan cheese and wedges of lime. I fell in love all over again.

The third time I tried the dish, I was at home. In the midst of a craving, I purchased prepackaged prosciutto from Kroger, added parmesan cheese and capers as well as lemon flavored olive oil and orange flavored vinegar from the Texas Olive Ranch. (Side note: this is amazing olive oil, even the regular olive oil they make is amazing. I bought it at a street market in Gruene, TX but recently saw it at Central Market in Houston). And again, I was smitten. 

I'm looking forward to our mother/daughter trip to Italy for many reasons, but one of those reason is that I think quality prosciutto and melon will be readily available. 

Also, after writing this post, I now know how to spell prosciutto. 

Have you fallen in love with a dish while on vacation? Is there a meal you've tried to recreate at home? 

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A Dusty Road Trip, Lunch and A Somewhat Hidden Beach

Sometimes, one these family trips, our group splits up. It usually happens when golf is involved. This was one of those times, when the guys went off to play golf and the ladies laid leisurely by the pool. We decided to meet the guys for lunch.

After a few meandering miles, we finally found our way North from Tamarindo to Playa Portero and wound up at Willie's Restaurant at Hotel Estela De Fuego in Flamingo Beach.

With a view like this, I don't think they needed good food or service, but they had both. They even had a guanabana coloda, which could have used a little more rum, but it was still refreshing.

When people tell you the roads are bad in Costa Rica, this is what they are talking about. There are some paved roads, but once we got to Portero, this was it.

After lunch, my parents headed back to Tamarindo and Husband and I set off with the In-Laws to explore. We ended up at Playa Danta, a little small beach that was mostly deserted. 

To our left, condos were going up about 50 feet from the beach, but to our right, nothing, just land. So we just looked to the right.

We walked the beach, collected sea shells and jumped in the waves without worrying about our stuff, but there wasn't anyone around to take it.

I love taking pictures of empty beaches.

The only drawback to this little excursion was that, at this time of year, it's dry and windy in this part of CR, so the wind kept blowing up sand from the beach and dirt from the roads. It was everywhere. I had like 5 asthma attacks. So we had to head back. This whole breathing thing really puts a damper on adventure. But it was still an amazing afternoon.

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Potato Soup Wars

http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/baked-potato-soup-10000000357537

Me and Potato Soup are not friends. I try making it all the time and I always fail. Always. So when it was my turn to recommend a cookbook for the Cookbook Club, what do I do?

http://www.tasteofhome.com/Recipes/
Wisconsin-Potato-Cheese-Soup

I recommend potato soup.

http://www.milkandhoneyfarm.com/kitchen/
winter_favorite_recipe.html

Of course.

http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/sweet-potato-
soup-with-prosciutto-crisps-10000001673084

Well, the main recipe I recommended was eggplant and bread lasagna, a recipe that I found in the cookbook (or blog) Vegan Yum Yum and which I've made before and loved.

http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/golden-potato-
leek-soup-with-cheddar-toasts-10000001108277

But I was determined to make the potato soup.

http://www.blendradioandtv.com/Thornton_Winery/potato-soup.htm

So I did. And do you know what happened?

http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/creamy
-potato-soup-10000000523214

I failed.

http://dandelionmama.wordpress.com/2008
/10/15/recipe-easy-baked-potato-soup/

So I'm posting pictures of other people's potato soup that look really tasty.

http://www.cottonpatch.com/menu
/nacogdoches-sal.php

Really though, there's a restaurant in town called Cotton Patch, which I think is spreading out now to many other towns, but may only be in Texas. They have the best potato soup, so Husband always asks, "Why make it at home when we can drive five minutes and be done with it?"

http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/loaded
-potato-soup-10000002012818

Because I want to win. That's why.

http://livinginthekitchenwithpuppies.
blogspot.com/2008_11_01_archive.html

The next version I'm making is one my grandmother told me about yesterday. Boil a peeled potato in water until it's so tender it falls apart. Drain the water, add milk and butter and stir until thickened, then add cheese and bacon. Sounds too easy to mess up, even for me.

To Bagel or to Pretzel?

I never met a pretzel I didn't like, but I'm considering packing up my bags and moving to Steamboat just to be closer to the twisted pretzel at Mahogany Ridge Brewery and Grill, a large pretzel covered with cheddar cheese and served with strong mustard and porter cream sauce.

This isn't your average pretzel. For example, I used to consider Auntie Anne's Pretzels as "some good pretzels." Not anymore. Where most pretzels are golden brown and kind of "snappy," this pretzel was more doughy and mild. Husband and I were so impressed with this pretzel that we asked the bartender what made it so different. He said something like, "I don't know, they just come that way."

We were dismayed! Alarmed even! The best pretzel we've ever had and it's prepackaged in bulk? No way! So we asked a few more questions and found that the pretzel was, in deed, not made at the restaurant.

Instead, it was made at the bagel shop down the street, Bagel Works.

The pretzels are baked until almost finished and then "shipped" five blocks to the Mahogany Ridge Brewery to be topped off with cheese and finished off in the oven before serving.

We figured that if the pretzel was so good, the bagels had to be good too, so we grabbed breakfast there on the way to the mountain one day. Great quick and fresh breakfast, very friendly staff and decent coffee. A nice touch is that you can see into their kitchen and see that they are making the bagels/pretzels right there in the shop. this was a great find and something I wish I would have known about before the last day of our trip. 

The Ticket at Bagel Works: Italian bagel with cream cheese; sausage egg and cheese bagel; two large water bottles, coffee and soda. About $14.


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Steamboat, CO - Trip Report

We spent our first afternoon in Steamboat scoping out restaurants and bars, coffee shops and stores along the main street. Our hotel, Hotel Bristol, was right downtown, so we could walk everywhere.

 We had a lazy day, which was okay because we were tired from traveling. That night, we grabbed a table near the big screen at the Tap House and watched the Mavs game.  

This was our first ski trip in about a year, which is normal, but it felt like five years. Thursday morning, we woke up, got dressed for skiing and caught the free shuttle to  the mountian. First mistake: I said hello to a cute little girl and she decided to talk to me for the whole ride, which would have been okay if her mother wasn't incessantly telling her to be quiet and to sit down and if she wasn't ignoring her mother in order to talk to me. She kept saying, "How are you doing, good?" That became mine and Preston's quote for the rest of the trip. 

This first morning was full of frustrating moments. We had to get our skis and boots, forgot to look at a map so didn't know where we were on the mountain, and then I realized that my boots were to wide, and when your ski boots don't fit, skiing is no fun. 

Not to mention that we skipped breakfast and the snow was whipping our faces so we couldn't see. 

We took a break for some clam chowder (great), chili and french fries, and then went down the mountian to get me new boots and a hot drink. 

This was also the first time either of us wore helmets while skiing, so it took some getting used to.

Afternoon skiing was much better, the sun was out, we could see and it had stopped snowing. It basically stayed this way for the rest of the weekend. 

This is also the day that I invented the "Wheee" method of skiing. Every time you turn, you say "Wheee." It keeps you breathing and by the time you have to say wheee again, it's also time to turn. You've been so busy saying wheee that you didn't have time to freak out about the turning part, which is what I do. And no, you don't sound silly, you sound like you're having fun, because your saying "Wheee, wheee, wheee!"

Most of the ski days were amazing. We started early, around 9am, and were at the base of the mountain by 3:30pm for our hot beverage at the beer tent. 

My favorite was the The Olympian - hot cider with rum. By 5pm, when we were back to our room, we watched long jump practice on Howelsen Hill from our window, which neither of use had ever seen in person.

The town was pretty empty for the first few night, but then got packed because of the holiday. What holiday, you ask? That would be President's Day. I've never heard of people taking a long weekend for President's Day, but they sure do in Colorado because this town got busy.

I do have to tell you that I met my weakness on this trip. Sea Salt Caramel. That's right. My super hero weakness is sea salt caramel. Just like Superman can't jump tall buildings, or whatever, when exposed to kryptonite, I can't do anything when exposed to sea salt caramel except consume sea salt caramel. En masse. It's a good thing we were skiing down giant mountains all day or I would have gained a few sizes.

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