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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Deep Sea Fishing in Costa Rica

My dad fishes. That's just what he does (well, that and golf). We decided to all join him and go deep sea fishing while in Costa Rica. 

Husband said, "You're about to see the food chain in action. We're going to use little fish to catch the medium sized fish that we're going to use to catch the big fish." Whew. That's a lot of fish.

On my previous trip to Costa Rica, I was warned to stay away from deep sea fishermen as their trips often involve prostitution, but the six of us family-ized this excursion.

We all stepped into the dingie boat and took our seats, the small waves rocking the boat just a little, and were off to the big boat. I turned around to see one man working the motor and another scooping water out of the boat and pouring it out the hole it came in.

My dad, who had brought his own fishing rod from home, was holding it on the beach as we were waiting to meet up with the boat captain. On the boat, they set up his fishing rod just like the deep sea rods, and it hooked a fish. The captain asked my dad what kind of lurere he had. I think my dad got really excited by that.

We each reeled in one fish, and when it was my turn, they put me in a chair. when I was done, my dad said, you got in the fighting chair!

Mom spent the entire boat ride right here, I think mostly asleep. She did get up once to real in a fish.

The worst part, we got attacked by bees! First there was one, then two, then three, four. The captain said, "Don't kill them, more will come." 

We killed two. 

But after we started moving again, they went away to wherever bees go.

Preston's fish was the only one that was edible; it was a Makerel. We were told by the concierge at the hotel that all the restaurants cook the fish you catch, that it was just what you do here.

At the end of the day, we headed out to The Dragonfly Restaurant. It turned out to be a bit more fancy than expected, because there was a little "todo" when we showed up without a reservation.

And then another one when my dad handed the owner a plastic shopping bag full of raw fish filets. 

But the food was great and they had a watermelon martini that was thick with real watermelon puree, a nice atmosphere, great tasting food and excellent company.

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