hotel garden

I can't overstate how much we liked our hotel in Torres del Paine, the Hotel Las Torres.  Oh, the rooms could have been more luxurious, perhaps, but they were certainly comfortable.  And the view?  Come on!  I've also commented on just how good the all-inclusive food was as well.  And here's a cool thing about that food: a lot of it was very very local indeed.

We had some time between breakfast and our long ride to El Calafate to walk around a bit, so Conrad and I found ourselves wandering into the hotel gardens. 

No, not exquisite beds of fragrant blooms, but a working vegetable garden.  Not to mention apples, pears, and plums in the orchard! 

We saw rhubarb and currant bushes and gooseberries, the source of ingredients for drinks and desserts.  We saw the carrots that were served with dinner dishes and adorned the lovely salads at lunch.  There were greenhouses as well.  Guests were welcome to walk through the area, and I can only hope it made people appreciate the hotel and its food all the more.

In addition, there was the little brewery. 

A small building standing near the garden entrance, it was the source of a beer that one of the Brits on our excursion the day before had raved about.  Jenny, who lives in Belgium (where they know a thing or two about beer) ordered one before dinner the night before, and she approved.  I just wonder whether there was the space in the there for distilling the gin they made!

dinner with Dale

One great thing about having ALA Annual in the city where I live (and believe me, I have many complaints, gripes, brickbats related to having it here in Chicago) is that I get to have friends from out of town over for dinner. Or dine out with them, at the very least. It's a rare treat, and I took advantage last week to have Dale over.

Ah Dale. We met virtually through mutual friends/colleagues, then met in person when he was in Chicago for a different library conference last year. I have many good things to say about his charm, wit, humour, and handsomeness. He was someone I turned to early in Dad's illness, and he was a good font of information and advice. He listened. If he's reading this, he's blushing by now, surely.

Anyway, I was keen to have him over and for Conrad to meet him, and I'm delighted that it was a success all around. We had a good evening of vegetarian food, much wine, and conversation, and we were happy to sort of repeat it a few nights ago over tapas and then dessert and cocktails at a couple of Boystown restaurants.

I also have to say, I love cooking for vegetarians. They challenge me. Dale, in fact, was not too difficult - few dietary restrictions paired with a love for pulses, grains, and cheese. Easy enough.

I got the table set, some cheeses ready for us to devour when he arrived, and then mugged for Conrad's camera. I am shameless. And vain: the table was a nice sight, and the cheeses were well-softened by the time Dale showed up.

Up first was gazpacho. I may be rushing the summer season a little, but I was in a mood for a simple chilled soup. First time making it, and while I might ease off some of the olive oil in the future, I was pleased. What a shame I broke my blender jar, dropping it on the floor while doing my kitchen clean up before Dale came. Darn. Fun to go shop for a new one, but the old one really did work fine.

After that, I put out a bowl of a fava bean, leek, and feta puree to go with the remaining bread as well as some radishes and a simple salad. More wine. Easy meal.

Dessert was an old standby, and a tasty one at that: Plum cardamom upside down cake. really, I should have had more eaters there - it merits a bigger group to polish it off in one go. No matter. I loved the piece I ate and sent the rest in to Conrad's office the next day.

I hope that we'll see Dale later in the year when he may have to return to Chicago for business. We'll stock the bar a little differently and attack late autumn/winter vegetables. Should be fun!

Plum kuchen

The parents tend not to care for fussy preparations, which makes for an easier time of cooking dinner even if it does not lend itself to excessive showiness. No matter. Summer is a wonderful time of year to be baking, and after a simple dinner of baked chicken, ratatouille, roast potatoes, and salad, it was a pleasure to set out plates of plum kuchen.

I had a whole lot of plums - a favourite fruit in our household - and thought a cake would be a nice way to use them rather than a crisp. A quick search online, and we had a dessert idea.

I set the wedges atop a chunky plum compote and heaped on a generous amount of whipped cream, and Bob's your uncle: dessert for the five of us.




Marie may still have some leftovers in the fridge in Vancouver.

After that, it was a mild evening for sitting outside, enjoying the softening light as the sun went down.