it's actually been a busy day!

So, I know.  I am behind on blogging.  And I'm not catching up tonight.  We stayed in, watched some television, and talked a lot about time off and vacations for the fiscal year ahead.  In other words, sorry.

I am off to bed here with pizza in my belly and martinis and wine. 

I'll catch up with all two of you this weekend! 

a Tuesday dinner

Conrad messaged me late afternoon yesterday, before he got home from the office but after I was home from a day of meetings at an airport hotel.  A frustrating day for him, he said.  Being the good (I hope I am good) husband that I try to be, I knew that dinner had to be a nice one for him.

And I think it was.

Humble bragging or something?  Perhaps.  But sometimes the cooking is going just right.  I set to work on dessert first, using up the leftover fresh rhubarb from the weekend to make a few individual crisps from the Mark Miller recipe that I've relied on for decades. 

Then it was on to the pork tenderloin.  I know, I make that often - it's an easy cut of meat to cook, doesn't take too long, and we both enjoy it.  I made a saffron carrot puree and cooked a bit of asparagus to go along with the pork. 

Tasty!  I was pleased with it all.

Conrad sipped a martini, I enjoyed a white wine from Paso Robles,

we watched the first episode of the new season of Top Chef, and then we strolled around the neighbourhood before I tackled dishes.  I think that I gave him a nice evening to unwind.  It was, at least, a delicious enough time!

first weekend of February

Happy Sunday, happy February!  It's been a good weekend at home - some of our usual fun, some things done.  So I'm happy to check in and share a little of what we did.  Ready?  Let's go!

Friday means Maestro, and we duly found ourselves at a corner of the bar. 

A mocktail

and some guacamole to start with, and then we dug into the special LA dining week menu.  Tetela for Conrad and Van each to start with,

calamari for me. 

I had duck carnitas as my meal,

and then each of us ordered the jericalla for dessert. 

An early meal, and a mild, early night - Van had headed home by 7:30, and Conrad and I just relaxed with reading and music the rest of the night.

Saturday morning was a lovely morning for a walk on the earlier side, then over to Amara, each of us having what we so often do. 

A decaf latte for me,

an arepa for my breakfast. 

Satisfying!

And then we came home and got stuff done.  Post-Christmas de-cluttering, badly needed.  Wines in the new wine fridge, books weeded out and the shelves re-arranged.  It was quite the undertaking, truly.  But ah, I love seeing those tidier shelves!

Last night we spent the evening at Van's.  We had every intention of a full night of Drag Race, but we only made it through one episode after dinner.  Nice enough dinner, though:  steak topped with caramelized onions and blue cheese. 

Cooked perhaps too rare, but ah well.  Huge steaks!  Not one of us could finish them.  A pear crisp for dessert as well - that was a nice one.  I sipped some red wine with dinner -

February 1, and my dry month was done.  We actually each had a cocktail to start with -

Last Words, of course -

and I have to say that after a month of no drinking, that cocktail was POTENT.  I shan't have anything with our pizza and the Grammys tonight, and I'll keep things under control in days and weeks ahead.

A good weekend, not yet done.  I've managed a lot of reading, listened to some new music, did a five-mile walk this morning by myself.  Laundry is on the go.  Productive, relaxing.  A great mix.

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!

getting through

I'm still deeply unhappy about Tuesday.  It is a disaster that will mark our lives in this country for decades to come, and I cannot think how it will at all be positive.  No, it just won't be.

Sigh.

We're in the acceptance phase, I think.  And so it was that Van and I gave ourselves (well, he gave me) a nice dinner date at home last night.  Cocktails to start (Fallen Angels),

a little wine (an Epoch white blend)

with dinner,

some pleasant music, some good and rich conversation.

And then this morning, a true jewel of a morning, I got out the door at about 6AM and got in a little over 4 miles on foot.

It's not going to solve the world, but it is taking care of us.  Conrad comes home tonight from Philadelphia, and the three of us - plus Olive! - can have some time together.

13

No, not the Blur album.  Good album!  One of my faves by them, and I do like a lot of their stuff.  I'm getting off track....

Yesterday marked 13 years of marriage for us.  23 years since our first date as well - that anniversary was this past Saturday.  Hooray for us!

No going out to celebrate this year.  We'll save that for a milestone ahead, perhaps.  Or just a regular date night.  No, I wanted to cook us a nice dinner.  And I somewhat succeeded - that halibut was a little over, sorry to say.  But anyway....

Shopping at Eataly this past weekend helped.  We started with a Vesper each

and some tarallini to snack on while I put together a simple burrata platter. 

Once that was on the table (and oh, what lovely flowers from Van to celebrate our anniversary - that was so sweet of him),

I poured us each some chenin blanc.  Music in the background, no other distraction.  Sitting and enjoying food and wine and talking.  I told Conrad it would be a slow meal - finish making one course and then it was on to the next.  Our second course was a simple pasta with some truffles. 

Reminiscent of what we had in Italy, but the truffles were preserved from a jar.  Not the same as the fresh item, of course, but it was pretty decent anyway.  And a splurge.  Speaking of splurge, a 2012 Amarone della Valpolicella - an Eataly purchase.  We enjoyed that one,

but when I went to the wine fridge to retrieve it, I found that we also had a 2006 of the same style of wine but a different vintner.  That one will be saved for Christmas, and may it have survived what likely have been years of moves and doubtless variation in storage condition.  We shall.  Anyway, I cooked us a bit of halibut with some lightly roasted carrots, drizzled with some olive oil we brought back from our Italian vacation and dotted lightly with some very good aged balsamic vinegar.

That was a lot, and we decided to forego the cookies and ice cream I had for us for dessert.  Otherwise just a nice and - yes, truly - simple dinner at home with some good wine to toast each other and 13 years of marriage!

Italy recap: last destination, Nordelaia

It was a lovely start to the morning when we woke up in Lezzeno. 

So lovely that it was a shame to have to leave Lake Como behind.  Alas, we did, and kudos to Conrad again for doing the driving and to Van for doing the navigating.  And there I sat in the back again, not rattling anyone by talking too much.  I kept my cool.  Until the rest stop.

Folks, look at this:  an Eataly. 

No, this is not a regular occurrence in Italy, but how awesome is this? 

A freaking Eataly! 

Love it.  We actually didn't eat anything there, though we bought a few snacks.  Oh, and for those reading this who think Eataly is an American thing, no, sorry.  It's an Italian company that started out there.

Enough of that, and back on the road with us!

On this trip, we've spent time in Campania, Emilia-Romagna, Lombardy, and - finally - Piedmont.  Just past the village of Cremolino, we came to our hotel, the Nordelaia.

I'm going to let the photos do the talking here.  The hotel building was gorgeous outside

and in. 

Our suite was spacious

and opened out not just to a terrace on the garden level

but another large one overtop the hotel entrance.  The restaurant building was also handsome. 

We were greeted with glasses of their own wine to sip,

shown around, and then left to get settled in our room.  After that, we wandered more to take in the views of the valley,

the vineyards,

and Cremolino,

then relaxed some

and eventually found our way over to the bar at the restaurant.  What a space! 

We enjoyed cocktails there

and some lighter fare for dinner.

 

Van had found Nordelaia - he did all of our hotel research and bookings - and showed it to me.  A book, an article, an online feature - I can't recall.  But I was smitten when I saw it, and I knew we had to stay there.  We only got two nights, but I am so glad we did!