Savoy Special

I had a hankering last night to find something I had had before, so while the chicken was baking in the oven, I pulled out a book of cocktail recipes and found a promising one:  the Savoy Special. 

A martini variation that included a bit of grenadine, giving it a pinkish tint.  Not a bad one, not sure I'll return to it again.  Still, it was fun to try!

on to Breckenridge

The last Friday in July, we woke up a little hungover (sorry), and finally got ourselves out on the road.  A drive from near Boulder at 5430 feet above sea level to Breckenridge at 9600 feet.  Good friends, we climbed!  Not a bad drive in terms of time and distance, but my gosh, did it pour and even hail. 

Kudos to Robert for his steady driving. 

Conrad and I visited Breckenridge briefly in about 2003 or 2004.  Nice place.  Touristy and justifiably so.  After we got to our AirBnB (I remain unconvinced that AirBnB is the best way to stay in any locale, by the way - this one was fine enough),

we wandered into the downtown, about a ten minute walk. 

We needed a light lunch, but it was also good to orient ourselves to the area where the Saturday event would be.

For my birthday, I bought us all VIP tickets to the Breckenridge Food and Wine Festival.  I'll have more to say about the main day of the festival, my actual birthday, in another post, but one of the things the ticket got us into was a wine pairing dinner on the Friday night.  That was a good time.  A lot of people at the event,

but they stayed on top of things pretty well.  A thunderstorm rolled through, and that was cool for those of us from rain-starved California. 

I felt like the wine pairings were almost all pretty good - all Italian wines and even a tasty spritz to start

with a product that I want to find and use at home. 

The exception was the Amarone and the chocolate desert.  The food was alright. 

I overlooked the fact that most of it was barely warm because getting that much food out at the same time is quite a feat.  The scallop,

the first course, was best, but the food became a little messier and less well done as we progressed,

and the dessert was a little sad. 

But it was fine!  The room was loud, the wine pours were a little skimpy, and yet we had a good time.  Enough complaining, self!  We had a fine time.

That was the start of our two days in Breckenridge.  More to come!

off we go to Colorado

Let's dial way back.  WAAAAAY back.  I mean, two weeks ago.  More than that.  Wow.

Enough of that.  If I keep commenting on my lag in blogging, we'll never get anywhere.

My birthday was late last month.  54 - ugh.  I guess it's fine, but it's also very late middle aged.  Meh.  A couple of days before my birthday, Conrad and I boarded a plane in Burbank

and flew east to Denver.  Courtney picked us up, and we started a great weekend with her and Robert.  We had balloons,

cake,

presents,

and more!  And then we finally sat outside despite the heat of the Great Plains even that late in the evening. 

A good weekend was in store, and we were at the cusp of it!

so let's start catching up (cranberry cocktails)

Alright then.  It's another hot summer day in Pasadena, an easy Saturday.  We've done a bit of a walk before it heated up too much.  The third load of laundry is almost out of the dryer.  I've been writing note cards to some friends.  Let me turn to online and get back into this blogging thing before it gets too too far behind.  I have trips and meals and such to blog, after all.

Baby steps, though, mister.  Let's start with the July happy hour drinks and go from there.

We did our July happy hour on the last day of the month.  Tough month for coordinating!  Our theme?  Cranberries.  Just something silly that came up the month before, and so we went with it.

First round for us was a cranberry and gin cocktail for Conrad, and the Stormy Bog for me. 

I wouldn't say either one was especially memorable or interesting enough to make again.  Not bad, just ok.  Which is why I found a different drink for the second round.  The Cassini. 

This one was more of a winner, I would say.  Nice cocktail.  Maybe I should make one tonight....

a lull

Still haven’t been much in the mood for blogging.  So I guess it’s a very good thing that I am not doing this for money.

So here, another photo to keep this space open.  A cocktail last night after my return from Chicago.

I’ll be back.  I really will.

I know, I know

I'm still here, I just haven't had a combination of right mood and time on my hands.  I will blog more again, I solemnly swear.

and another quick post

Bedtime here in Colorado, home tomorrow.  For now, duck tacos at Pica’s!

54

Another year older.  My creaky joints bear witness.

I shall post from the lovely long birthday weekend when I am back home!

pre-birthday at San Laurel

Ah, birthday week.  Love it!

No, I'm not really one for making a fuss over my birthday, and this is not at all a milestone birthday year.  Still, a little fuss is nice.  So then, thank you to Van for dinner out at San Laurel

at the Conrad Hotel (ha!)

with our friends Mitch and Ted. 

It was a lovely evening.

If there is a small complaint (and not my complaint) it's that we had requested a patio table, but we were relegated to inside but right at the open doors to the outside.  I was fine with that, truly.  We arrived several minutes early, time enough for me and Conrad to talk gins with a bartender and get his recommendation for a martini-like cocktail made with a Spanish gin and wine. 

Toasts all around and then into the food.  Shared appetizers including jamon,

roasted eggplant,

stracciatella and peaches,

and grilled gem lettuce.  My main was the duck breast. 

Our desserts included an excellent Basque cheesecake, a pistachio cake that was fine,

and a flan that had a candle.  Ugh, no fuss, please!

Ah, but it was all lovely.  A fine evening, and from where I sat there were great views of the Disney Hall. 

So good to chat travel and more with Mitch and Ted.  And, of course, there were my two lovely guys.  A few days until I am 54 (!!!!), but what a way to usher it in.

Monday dinner

A quick post of my cooking last night.  A corn soup for our dinner, but with seared scallops, seared gnocchi, some chard, and some lightly pickled tomatoes.  Not a bad meal for a Monday night!