lasagna (and sorry)

Howdy!

I've been up to my ears with some things related to a trip to Vietnam planned for later this year, and I've been neglecting this blog (yet again).  I still have Vancouver to finish off, but before I dive back into the Vietnam stuff, how about a photo from the lasagna I made a few days ago.  It was tasty!!

Back soon! 

second weekend in February

Remember last weekend?  Maestro on Friday night,

Amara on Saturday morning? 

Same thing this weekend.  But we were at the condo last night, not Van's.  I made us dinner again, though:  lamb chops with an eggplant and pea curry and saffron rice. 

And then today, Sunday, it's more cooking, with a vegetarian lasagna in the oven for me and Van tomorrow.

In short, a regular weekend.

Conrad is off to Japan tomorrow, Van and I will enjoy each other's company through Saturday, and next weekend is a long weekend.  Let's see what the middle of February brings.

weekend update

It's a long weekend, so it's a little premature to do a weekend update.  On the other hand, it's a quiet, easy Sunday, so let me chime in here before I go do something utterly unproductive....

Friday!  I didn't get photos from most of the evening, but it was a nice one.  Our friend Richard was doing some work in Pasadena, so he came by late afternoon, had a cocktail with Conrad, then Van joined us in time to head to Maestro for dinner at the bar.  After dinner and Richard and Van had gone home, I sipped a bit more wine and read before bed. 

I love that it's getting to be cozy sweater weather!

Saturday morning I headed out on foot, past where the Rose Parade stands are going up at the corner of Orange Grove and Colorado,

past the Ambassador Auditorium. 

I eventually met up with Conrad, who has been dealing with a foot injury, and we had a short remaining walk together.  Then, as you might guess, we ended up at Amara for a satisfying breakfast and lattes.

Saturday afternoon I was in the kitchen pretty much all day.  I made a brown butter blueberry tart

and put together a spinach and caramelized onion

lasagna for dinner at Van's last night.  I also roasted some chunks of delicata squash for a salad of burrata, the squash, and some autumn fruits. 

And I put focaccia dough together.  Busy afternoon.  We enjoyed an aperitivo together - martinis for me and Conrad

- and then Jennifer and Sanders came over to Van's for dinner (along with their dog, Daisy),

and the lasagna made for a satisfying meal.

But boy, was I pooped by the time dinner was done and they had gone home!

I was out the door by 6:30 this morning, having already caught the sunrise from the deck. 

Another lovely morning, another nice walk. 

Just shy of 3.5 miles for me, and I took some photos as I went along.  Random things that caught my eye,

nothing in particular.  Buildings,

plants. 

The guys (and Olive) eventually got up after I got back, and Van made us all breakfast (thank you, Van!).

And now it's back at the condo, most of the afternoon stretching before us with little we need to do.  Natasha will come for dinner, and the leftovers from yesterday will make a fine enough meal.  A day off tomorrow, and an easy day at that.

Happy weekend, friends!

Italy recap: getting to Bologna

Our time on Ischia came to an end after four relaxing nights and three delightful days.  It was time to get the ferry back to mainland Italy, as you have previously seen posted.  A driver picked us up and took us to the train station

where we parked in the lounge

for a short spell and then boarded our fast train bound for Bologna.

Now, as you might guess from the flights and lounges and such, we do like to travel in comfort.  If we can afford it, we do so unapologetically.  So it was that we booked the Executive Class car on the train.  Look at those seats! 

Menus for onboard dining and beverages! 

These two looking all kinds of adorable! 

A stop in Rome (but no change of train), and otherwise it was a quick and smooth few hours rolling north.

Our hotel in Bologna was more like guest rooms that were associated with a restaurant (and yes, we eventually had dinner there - a later blog post!).  Casa Conoscenti

consisted of three rooms in a historic mansion.  The bedroom was a generous size, the living room was a little more modest.  It was fine for our four nights, but not as spacious and special in feeling as our previous hotel.  But that's being churlish.  It really was comfortable, and better still, it was an excellent location.  We didn't appreciate that when we arrived and looked out on the nearby buildings,

not able to place ourselves in the city very well.  But in the days ahead, as we walked around, we came to realize how very central we were to things and how very easy it was to walk to things.

Once settled into the hotel it was off to the next corner west of us to have dinner at Ristorante San Pietro

sitting outside along with everyone else. 

The weather turned for us in Bologna in the days ahead, but we had that first evening and the next day to enjoy a last gasp of summer.  Stuffed zucchini blossoms for us,

the classic lasagna for Van (lasagna is a Bolognese dish),

and for the first time in a handful of days, some meat for me with lamb chops scotta dita. 

After dinner we walked past the entrance to the hotel courtyard

to the other end of the portico and across the street to a grocery store, Conad (yep, we joked about that name to Conrad more than once),

to buy a few things for snacking on and drinking in the room.  And then it was to bed, a long day behind us, and exploring Bologna yet to come!

the conference that was

I'm going to do one conference post to collect thoughts and photos on the time there that I haven't yet posted.  It's already a few days behind me, and, honestly?  I'm glad it's behind me.  There was a lot of contentious stuff in meetings, and I had to say some things that have probably ruffled some feathers.  Certainly, I can think of one or more people I essentially will not be speaking to any longer.

Happy thoughts, though, Peter.  Let's do this.

A nice train trip down to San Diego from Los Angeles.  I rode in comfort

and had the ocean side view on my trip. 

The hotel was then an easy walk from the train station.  Once I got to my room, well, whoa! 

Big suite.  No view to speak of, but come on, a pool table? 

Wow.  I wish I had had meetings in my suite (it had a small conference room), but at least I had folks over for drinks and snacks and chat a few times.

I didn't take a lot of photos during the conference, I realized.  Just wasn't in the mood for it, maybe?  But I did get good morning walks every day with Amy, or Sam, or both. 

I snuck Conrad in

to see the opening session with Lessa interviewing Trevor Noah,

and I got some photos with folks like Loida and Peter,

Sam,

Cindy,

and Andrew and Janice then. 

A really great turnout for that session!

There were a few other events and opportunities to get shots with folks.  There I am with Bill. 

There I am with Matt. 

There I am with Matt again but in a different setting. 

There's Conrad on a hotel balcony at a reception. 

There's a view from that same deck. 

There's me on that deck.

After that, I mostly only took occasional photos at dinner.  We had a nice enough meal but weird experience (a fire eater?  photos at the table then offered for sale?) at a place called Salvatore's.  Good cocktail, though! 

We had an underwhelming dinner at Juniper & Ivy

(interesting menu, but the dishes were less than we hoped, and the service was lagging).  We had a nice meal of pasta

at Cesarina punctuated a little too frequently by the planes low overhead coming into the airport.  We had a decent meal

with Peter and Matt at Barbusa (and another good cocktail:  the Italian Love Affair),

and then came back to the room to toast Peter with Champagne.  A lovely, affectionate end to our time there.

And then it was Wednesday and the drive home.

So then, the conference is done, and hooray for that.  May the ones next year be better.  Based on this one, though, I'm inclined to skip going to Minneapolis at least.