a weekend south of us

We're home.  Big sigh of relief there.  We left Wednesday for Boise, got back to California at lunchtime on Friday, spent an hour unpacking and repacking, then hit the road south.  Destination:  San Diego County.  Late this afternoon (it's still Sunday as I write), we got back to the condo.  Hooray for a few days before I leave again.  But also, hooray for seeing friends this past weekend.

Friday night we spent with Chuck and Violet at their home in Carlsbad.  Former neighbours in our building, and still dearly missed.  They made us dinner, we enjoyed a goodly amount of wine.  We all got caught up.  Such an enjoyable evening.  On Saturday, we had a very lazy morning, eventually making our way to the Original Pancake House in Encinitas for breakfast.  Violet ordered the German pancake, and we all helped out a little with that one. 

Wow, quite the big pancake!

After breakfast, Conrad consulted with them on their wifi system, and then we got our stuff in the car and hit the road.  Onward south to pick up Courtney and Robert at San Diego Airport and then get to the hotel.

Yes, Courtney and Robert again, and we'll get to see them in July, too.  It's always a treat.  And not our first time in San Diego together, either.  We checked in at the Intercontinental, unpacked and such, and then converged on the bar for a couple of drinks before dinner.

Mmmm... dinner.  Our original plan fell through (a message two days beforehand or so that the entire restaurant was booked for a private event - weird), but Conrad had the quick thinking to direct us to another place, Kingfisher. 

Van (not our Van, and not pronounced the same way) who used to work at Maestro and whom we and everyone else adored had moved to San Diego and was working there.  We had a booking for an outside table.  Not long before we were going to head out, the restaurant messaged to say that because of the chance of rain (and it did rain a little after all), they were offering to move us inside to the bar.  When we got to the restaurant, they had a table for us, but we wanted to sit around the one corner of the bar

so that we could enjoy engaging with Van.

Would I go back?  Oh yes, big time.  First off, how awesome to see Van again,

but on top of that, what generous and terrific hospitality he provided, guiding us through the menu so well.  The cocktails?  Top notch.  I had the Endless Prosperity to begin with

and the Sesame Soiree to end. 

In between, we got advice from the sommelier on a wine to enjoy, and we shared two bottles of the French grenache she recommended.  As for the food, superb.  Every dish - we shared eight of them - was fantastic.  That whole fish was so beautifully cooked,

and yes, I was the one who suggested the mushroom congee. 

It had morels.  I like morels!  Van surprised us with a gift of a vanilla flan to end the evening as well. 

Just such a wonderful meal together.

This morning I was awake before 7, though I promise I had a good sleep.  I lazed around a little while, then it was out on foot along the waterfront for a couple of miles. 

Look at that cool little ray I saw swimming in the harbour! 

I eventually met up with Courtney and Robert on the return, then headed for the room to get ready to check out and head to brunch.

Brunch, funnily enough, was at the place that had cancelled on us the night before.  It had tables free and a decent location, and the menu looked good.  I think I liked the menu more than the actual breakfast - great eggs, tough sausage, toast that I wasn't given butter or preserves for. 

The pastry basket was nice, but some greater variety would have been good.  Still, I'd also go back to Provisional Kitchen at the Pendry (and maybe stay at that hotel if I could) to try some of the other items and the drinks.

After brunch, sadly, it was time to say goodbye for now to our friends.  The drive home wasn't terrible - no more than 2.5 hours, but we did hit some rain.

And now it's winding down.  I have a busy week that will have me in Chicago from Wednesday to Sunday for meetings.  We've watched some television, and I made us a pasta with caramelized cabbage.  I should close up here and head to bed.

Sunday breakfast

How awesome is it to have breakfast at home?  How even more awesome is it to have breakfast at home cooked by someone else?

I use home a little loosely - we walked to Van's yesterday, stopping to pick up a few breakfast supplies, and there we had our meal.  Conrad set the table and did the dishes, Van cooked. 

It's fair - I do so much in the kitchen, they can take care of me for once.

Pancakes, bacon, scrambled eggs, a tomato blistered in the oven - it was more than satisfying. 

Though I'd also stopped at Starbucks for a decaf latte, I got Conrad to brew me some decaf to enjoy. 

And all was good.

The little girl?  Hopeful as always when she smells our food!🐶🤣

three meals with C&R

Continuing on with the long weekend in CO (and more still to come), a post about a few meals shared with very dear friends.  One of the advantages of having a concert to go to near Denver is that it's not far from Courtney and Robert.  And so it was that we had two brunches and a dinner with them.

The first brunch, in Golden, was fine.  It was food.  It was a nice setting, and we got to begin catching up with each other. 

And then we walked around the fine little downtown of Golden,

poking in stores, enjoying the sunshine,

then walking back to the hotel along Clear Creek.

The second brunch, in Denver, was better.  We met up at Root Down

and sat out on a partially shaded patio.  Mimosas and coffees for at least some of us.  Savoury scones to share,

and then a simple late breakfast of a pancake for me

and a side of chicken sausage.  We'd dined well the night before, as you'll see in a moment, and I didn't need a lot of food in me.  What we had was tasty, and the service was great.

The dinner between the two brunches was a really lovely time.  We drove into Denver to meet Courtney and Robert at Guard and Grace, a nice steakhouse in the downtown.  Cocktails to start (more than one, I confess), including this delightful pumpkin drink that I ordered,

and a good GSM with our dinner. 

Each of us had steak, a small filet for each of us. 

Friends, that restaurant can cook a steak very nicely indeed.  Also impressive was the octopus appetizer we shared - so tender! 

The carrots appetizer was also nice, not too heavy. 

We shared some desserts, too, including a goat cheese cheesecake that I enjoyed greatly

and a chocolate dessert that was impressive to look at and pretty good to eat.

Full bellies this past weekend, which is no surprise for us, I know.  I was especially taken with the dinner, saying over and over again what a great experience it was (though an unfortunately loud one for Conrad who is still struggling with adapting to his new hearing aids).  It will be great to meet up with Courtney and Robert again and enjoy more dining with them!

Saturday breakfast

You ever get hankerings?  In the mood for some particular food or beverage?  I get that way, for sure.  Fly to Hawaii, and by gosh, I need some Spam.  That sort of thing.

Saturday morning we did a rare thing in the desert and went out to breakfast someplace other than walking to Koffi or to Starbucks.  Equally as often, it seems, we would just have some brewed coffee (well, decaf for me) and a light bite at home as well.  Saturday, however, Van and I wandered up the 111 to The Atrium for breakfast at The Palms Cafe.

Breakfast is a conundrum for me sometimes.  I have come to love eggs as an adult (I was so-so on them as a child), and I seldom make them at home, so I usually want eggs when I go out.  Something savoury for me, some protein.  But I had a hankering for pancakes, too.  The solution?  Grand Slam it, as it were.

I don't usually eat breakfast in this quantity, but I told myself there would be no lunch.  Eggs over easy, bacon, hashbrowns (which are a miracle of potato cookery), and a side of a big pancake.  Perfect.  Van had his coffee,

I had my decaf,

and we started the last full day at the Rancho Mirage house together just right.