Stonington

Friday in the UP is behind us.  It's 6:45 in the morning on Saturday as I start to write this, and I'm trying not to listen to the noise of the lobby and coffee shop right around the corner from our suite.  It hasn't woken me up during our stay here, but it's a lot to have to hear early in the morning.  If only this hotel had a doorway to close between the lobby and this wing of rooms.  Oh wait, they do.  Sigh.  I've already written a bad review on TripAdvisor and will argue with Conrad if he considers staying here again.  And yes, I did talk to them about this two days ago when it first happened.  So much for customer feedback, right?

Enough of that, though, Peter (and no, I'm not naming the hotel, but if you ever come up to Conrad's hometown, ask me where NOT to stay, and I will tell you). Let's get back to yesterday.

Two days ago we had grand ambitions of a drive over to St. Ignace and the ferry to Mackinac Island.  By yesterday morning, that had downgraded significantly.  We had breakfast with Karen at a new place in town (generous portions for the most part, but my breakfast burrito was mostly potato instead of egg) (I swear, this post is not just a litany of complaints), then spent time in the room doing some paperwork things that needed to be done.  It was after 1:00 when Conrad and I finally got ourselves going for a drive.  Mackinac Island?  Nope.  The Stonington Peninsula.

Yeah, not very ambitious.  A drive to a lighthouse at Peninsula Point. 

A nice drive, mind you, and the lighthouse was a lovely little setting. 

Everything so green there.  We were able to climb up the stairs inside the lighthouse

and take in the views from there. 

Lovely.  Back in the car, we headed through the tunnel of trees to the paved road, then past fields and occasional houses.  There was something about the green space that invited, and it would have been fantastic to stroll or run through those places.  Alas, aside from most of it being private land, I can only imagine what sort of ticks a person could pick up among those tall grasses and such!

We left the Stonington Peninsula behind us and meandered through the nearby communities, admiring some of the homes and gardens that we rolled past.  We headed on into Escanaba and picked up a few things needed for a night-in in the hotel room.  Once back at the hotel, we headed to the bar for a happy hour drink.  We've been enjoying the Mammoth Gin, a Michigan brand, and for all that we have had issues with the hotel, the bar has had good service and good drinks.  Credit to them for the terrific martinis. 

It's clear from the crowds at the bar when it opens at 4:30 that flood on in that they're keeping folks happy.

We came back to the room and began our grazing for the evening.  Veggies and dip, then a nice assortment of meats and cheeses with almonds and biscuits.  A good wine to go with it. 

Re-watching season one of The Crown on Netflix.  Eventually reading with music.  Little fuss, just us having that easy time together to end our last night in the UP for this trip.  A nice day for a drive, a nice evening, and the promise of being that much closer to being home.

Tuesday evening

I am so mixed up.  Tuesday evening last night?  Was it?  Really?  I could have sworn it was a Sunday.  Life will get back to normal at... some point.  Conrad heads out of town on Saturday, and then exactly one week later, after his return, he and I head out of town together.  I think that maybe by late April there will be some semblance of routine again, but who knows?!

Anyway... Tuesday night.  Having let loose this weekend, I decided we'd have some wine with dinner (I'll go back to greatly tempering drinking the rest of the week, more or less, and then beyond!), and I made us some dinner out of things found in the fridge and cupboards rather than going shopping.  A simple tomato sauce, some pasta, burrata, crispy prosciutto. 

Not the most refined dinner, but it tasted fine and used up some burrata that was at risk of getting past its sell-by date.

Conrad and I sat outside, watching Drag Race and appreciating having a pleasantly mild evening.  The recent heat was unwelcome, and then we had the heat of Palm Springs, so a relatively cooler (but not at all chilly) evening was welcome.  Plus, the heat has the jasmine in the back courtyard on the verge of blooming. 

Hooray!

Onward with the week.... 

warm nights at home

It's been unreasonably, unseasonably, record-breakingly hot this week in southern California.  While Conrad's family in Michigan has been suffering some heavy snow, we've been reaching well into the 90s daily.  It should cool down a little after the weekend, but it's too much and far too soon.  Technically winter, but nope.  Summer temperatures already.  Ugh.

In such a week, I'm trying to keep the cooking to a minimum so as to turn on the stove infrequently and the oven even less.  Dinners like on Wednesday night (and a similar one at Van's on Tuesday):  a grazing board of things that I pulled out of the fridge and cupboards. 

That was just right for us - variety and ease all in one!  I poured us mocktails from a bottle of a pre-made mix (not a great drink, but nice for something a little different),

and we sat outside enjoying the evening air cooling off. 

wine pairing dinner at Timber Cove

Our last evening of our Sonoma vacation we had a special dinner.  Very special.  By chance, when Van booked our stay at Timber Cove, he learned that the restaurant was going to host a wine-pairing dinner, and he happily booked us two of the limited spots.  Once back from Sea Ranch, we tidied up, made our way down to the dining room where they'd moved things about and set up a smaller number of tables

(we thought we might have a table of two to ourselves, but we shared a table with four others we didn't know), and took the offered glass of sparkling wine. 

There were hors d'oeuvres passed, we chatted with a couple of people nearby, and then the dinner began.

My compliments to the chefs, and my compliments to the winery, Aperture.  Both provided us with excellent fare.  Let me say that.  I do wish the staff poured a little more consistently (I felt as if I had a label over me that screamed, "Pour this guy less") and had offered people a little more of the wines they liked (we eventually learned we could ask for more, but it would have been nice to have more than the meager sip or two of at least one of the wines during the dinner - sorry, I'm being cranky about that still).  On the other hand, we had nice conversation with the people at our table (two couples, one half of each knew each other from work, it was a coincidence they were at the same event), and the evening was honestly so very enjoyable.  And I did get to enjoy more of some wine at the end, so that was fine.  I even ordered a few bottles, which shipped right away.

And I got to enjoy it with Van.  Van doesn't drink wine often or a lot, but it is fun to taste with him because we've learned that we tend to have the opposite reactions to a lot of wines.  That makes it all the more interesting when our tastes align!

I loved the wine labels, but I didn't get shots of them.  I did get shots of the food, though, so I shall comment with each and on the wine pairing.  I didn't think the hors d'oeuvres and the sparkling wine were successful together, and here Van and I differed - he liked the sparkling wine (I ordered a bottle for him), but it was my least favourite.  But after we sat down?  Things made sense.

First course:  cured steelhead. 

Even Van, who does not like raw or raw-ish fish, liked this one.  Such great flavours here, and I thought the pairing with the Sauvignon blanc was excellent.  I liked the Sauvignon blanc by itself, too, and bought two bottles.

Second course:  braised venison raviolo. 

This was tasty.  Alas, as happens with food at events, it was also not especially warm.  A shame - I think it would have benefited from being warmer so we could get the aromas better.  The Bordeaux style red blend that was served with it was my favourite red of the night, and I bought two bottles.

Third course:  dry aged duck three ways. 

I confess, I am not a fan of "things X number of ways" dishes usually.  I like the idea of using all the duck, but make it all good.  Well, they did.  Also, kudos on the potato parsnip pavee with it.  This dish surprised me with how much I liked it.  Even more interesting, the winery offered two wines with it, a 2022 Cab and a 2021 Cab (oh, I should add that the winery owner/winemaker and his semi-famous photographer dad were on hand to talk about the wines and labels) so we could compare and contrast.  I thought I would prefer the older of the two, but no, it was the 2022 that I preferred and bought a bottle of.

Fourth course:  cheeses. 

No special pairing, which was a shame, perhaps.  What was nice was that each cheese had its own condiment.  What was also nice was that we didn't have to share!  I love dessert, I have such a sweet tooth, but this felt like a cheese course done right, and that was a treat in itself.

We sipped more wine.  Most of the diners were locals(ish), very few were guests.  They left, we left, and that was our last evening of the trip.  It was a lovely way to bring it an end before the travel the next day, and I'm very grateful to Van for that.

the ten tastings of Como

Remember how we had a great tour in Bologna?  Well, we liked it so much that I foisted the idea on Conrad and Van that we should do another in Como, the only other larger center that we would be visiting on the trip.  Happily, they went along with it!

Friends, we took the bus into Como.  The ferry to Como was either leaving far too early or too late.  We didn't want Conrad to drive so that he could enjoy any beverages that were part of the tour or otherwise.  We consulted the hotel front desk and got advice on the bus, and that's what we hopped aboard after breakfast.  Quite the ride, I have to say!  Those drivers know the route, and they did not go slow.  Oh, and it wasn't a Greyhound situation.  We're talking local/regional transit.  Conrad managed to snag a seat at the back for most of us.  Van and I stood for the full 50 minutes.  Not the most comfortable trip, but ah well.  

We were deposited (on the advice of other tourists who were more familiar with things) at the waterfront rather than the bus station. 

We were early for the tour, so we wandered a little

and then met Davide in a waterfront plaza.

We had another terrific time with Davide. 

The focus of the tour was a little more on Como, perhaps, than the tastings, but believe me, we didn't go hungry.  I appreciated that he answered all of our questions - weather, sports, economy, and more - and then redirected us back to what we were seeing.  He took us through the cathedral (glorious ceilings)

and out to the city wall and Porta Torre,

and pointed out other older structures. 

Como is a handsome little city, at least in the older central part, and in the sunny afternoon we ambled along,

taking photos.

But it was also a culinary tour, and he did make sure to get us some local specialties.  We enjoyed some wine and bites

in a shop where we also sampled a topping made from the lake fish. 

It was honestly a surprise to see how extensively the lake fish was available and served in many forms.  I'm not sure why, really, but it was nice to see.  Another stop was a cheese shop that sold their own cheeses

as well as other local delights. 

Truffle gorgonzola? 

Sure!  We also sampled a liqueur, the Genepy,

which I've had another version of.  Conrad rather enjoyed that one though we did not buy a bottle.  At the last stop, we had a few baked goods, including the nuvola. 

Nuvola is like if angel food cake and panettone had a baby and kissed it with an apricot glaze.  So good.  Alas, the last little small loaf was sold before we could claim it, and the large loaves, tempting as they were, were too large for us to buy.

Davide left us after that, but with pointers on what else to see and do.  And I would have liked to, to be honest - it was a nice tour but there was so much more to see and do and taste!  But we looked at our watches and the queue for ferry tickets (40+ minutes) and decided that we would stand in line and get on a boat back home instead.  So, Como is on my list to go back to and spend more time in if I can.

We had a short wait for the ferry

and then an hour or so back to Lezzeno.  Our dinner plans were simple:  go back to the beach bar and get a pizza and a drink.  A Hugo in my hand, I was happy with the day that was.

Sunday dinner with Erik

It feels as though I've been dining out a lot lately, what with travel here and there (and more to come this week) and the like.  It was good, then, to spend my Sunday in the kitchen.  Not toiling away, sweating and swearing, but moving through the planning and preparation of a dinner at a nice pace.

Conrad and I had invited our next door neighbour, Erik, over.  It had been some weeks since we'd caught up with him, and we thought it would be nice to hear how his summer was going.  He shower up at 6:30 with a gift of Norwegian gin in hand, we poured him a cocktail, and from there dinner played out.

Up first:  burrata served with tomato and nectarine slices, some fresh basil, and a light sherry vinegar and garlic dressing.  Sweet and tangy and creamy and herbacious.  I thought it was a nice start.

The main course:  rack of lamb that I served as double chops to each of us atop some eggplant and green pea curry (needed more salt and cayenne) along with some rice and an apple and golden raisin chutney.  It was fine, not quite reaching what I was going for.  But fine enough.

Dessert:  olive oil cake with roasted strawberry and nectarine sherbet, nectarine macerated with mint, and a piece of almond praline.  The cake was a little dry, alas, but otherwise, it was all good.

Final grade?  A solid B, maybe a B+.  I'm hard on myself, I know, but I have made this food better.  Nonetheless, we had a nice evening with Erik, enjoying some good wines and the dinner.