August online happy hour: dogs

Monthly happy hour rolled around yesterday, and as usual, I made multiple drinks to try.  Unusually, though, between us, Conrad and I enjoyed them all.  One each of two of them for him, one each of the other two for me.  That's a change.  Sometimes the ones I shake or stir up are more interesting on paper than in the glass.  Bonus:  the only thing I needed to buy for the drinks was some grapefruit juice and some fresh sage, both of which will otherwise be put to good use in my kitchen.  Yay!

So, the drinks.  The theme, by the way, was dogs, spinning off the expression "dog days of summer".  Goodness knows we're feeling the heat.  I hate it.  I want cool weather.  Anyway, the drinks....

Conrad started with the French Bulldog. 

I liked this one as well.  On the sweeter side, and I was surprised he went with this one first.  I had thought it might need some citrus when I was reading the recipe, but no, it wasn't overly sweet.  The sage muddled in it really helped.

He then had an Olive Oil Martini. 

Olive, get it?  I didn't care for this one as much.  I think it needed something to counter the white vermouth better (and maybe I should have tried making a variation with dry vermouth).  The interesting thing about this one was the fat washed gin, which I did myself. 

My first time fat washing a spirit, and I'll have to try it again (I also have to find the recipe I have for a cocktail that involves sushi rice!).  Olive oil and gin, shaken a few times and left to separate in the fridge overnight.  Fun technique to try out.

As for me, I started with the Italian Bulldog. 

You'd think with that name it would be similar to the French one, but no, not at all.  Different base, different go-alongs, different way of serving.  A cognac drink of all things, but it was bright and had a pleasantly tart edge to it.

My second drink was the Old Dog, New Tricks. 

I really like Fernet Branca, and it was fun to have a drink like this that used Fernet Branca along with, interestingly enough, banana liqueur.  I also made a muscovado syrup (oh, right, I bought some sugar, but I'll use that again in the kitchen), and I think that was a nice, rich touch.  Good drink!

We had an enjoyable time catching up with the others, then capped the evening when we were done with sushi and television.  Now to have some days without cocktails (or wine!) and look ahead to the next happy hour in a month! 

a normal night at home

Hey, I forgot to mention:  Conrad and Van made it back home on Wednesday evening.  Yay!  They had a great time, and I missed them.  So did Olive.

That meant that last night was a relatively normal night at home for me and Conrad.  I poured us Last Words so we could chit chat and sip

while I finished making dinner, then we ate and watched some television and got to bed at a not-too-late time.  And all was good.

Routine can be very welcome, I have to say.  I'm glad to have the guys back. 

prime rib dinner in Fullerton

Actually, the most important thing here is that I had dinner with Ed and Denice. 

I'm getting to see a lot of Ed this year, which is nice.  In New England in the spring, in Chicago in June, and tonight in Fullerton.  It's becoming a somewhat annual tradition whereby he and Denice come to Orange County for Disney related activities, and we (only me tonight) meet them for dinner in Fullerton.  Summit House has become our place,

and we always always go for the prime rib. 

I mean, come on:  Yorkshire pudding!!  I have to say, though, that I especially loved the creamed corn and creamed spinach tonight.

It was a good meal, though.  So nice to catch up.  I loved hearing about their Hawaii trip with their sons earlier this year, and it was great to talk about trips to come and looking down the road toward retirement and more.  Well worth the drive down, and whoa, quite the drive.  I really saw a lot of suburban SoCal!

One more day here with Olive, and then Conrad and Van come home on Wednesday.  I can't wait.  I miss them.

Bed time!  Night! 

quiet Sunday in August

Well, howdy!

It's been another quiet day with Olive.  She didn't even want to go for a walk this morning - maybe I tuckered her out yesterday.  She did enjoy a drive late morning to go check up on the condo, though, and I got her over to the park for a brief stroll. 

Otherwise, we're two mellow souls, having a day of (so far) reading, music, napping.

I may write some more note cards this evening before I turn on the television.  We shall see.  But dinner is done for both of us.  I poured a Kamikaze

and served up some leftover pork

and a few other things scrounged from the fridge. 

A basic meal, and that's fine.  It's not been the best day for eating, I admit.  Ah well.

A new week ahead, the library closed, Conrad and Van due back later on Wednesday.  Let's see what else the week brings! 

Saturday evening with the LG

It's been a super easy day.  I did make the mistake of going back up to the condo this afternoon, and that got me caught in all the traffic for the Noah Kahan concert at the Rose Bowl (and I would have loved to have see that - I've been enjoying his most recent album so much),  But that was a blip in an otherwise easy day.

Time spent with Olive today, once again. 

She is such a good girl.  We had a good walk this morning. 

By the end, she was tuckered out.  And I confess:  we both had a late morning nap.  Just that kind of day!

I poured another Italicus martini while I made dinner. 

Tasty drink for summer, I have to say.  Dinner was a hodge-podge.  I had a pork tenderloin that needed cooking, so I seared then roasted it, slicing it to serve along with some sweet potato leftover from dinner with Denny and some green onions in a bowl of Trader Joe's noodles. 

Not a bad dinner.  I feel pretty satisfied here.  Leftover pork for tomorrow as well!

Olive is used to television in the evenings, so I shall hop offline and get to watching with her.  Happy weekend, folks! 

Friday evening in

The week of me and Olive and just me and Olive continues. 

Almost at the halfway point.  I am utterly sure that she is dearly wishing that she was with her daddy and Plan C instead.  Rest assured, she is being fed and watered and walked, though!  I am not a monster!

I had a weirdly busy day for working from home.  Fridays don't usually have quite so much I need to tend to.  I'm glad for things to do, though.  At the end of the afternoon, though, I put on music (listening to the new Laura Veirs) and made a very very very basic dinner (things foraged from the fridge dipped in blue cheese dressing), and made a cocktail.  I shudder to call this a martini (just because it's in a martini glass doesn't make it a martini)(and I served this in a large Nick and Nora instead) when it's really a vodka sour, but it was tasty enough:  the Italicus Martini. 

I'd make this again, happily.  Simple, goes down easily.

I munched on dinner and sipped the cocktail then poured a glass of wine and started to work on notecards and such to friends.  One of my favourite things to do:  send something in the mail to people I care about, even if it's just a hello.  Who doesn't enjoy something in the mail other than a bill or a flyer?

Friday will wind down here.  Lunch plans tomorrow, and that's it for Saturday.  We are almost half way through August, folks!

steak with Denny

Night two of eight nights alone with Olive, and I had company.  I hadn't seen Denny since he came to the cocktail party back in May, so we were overdue for catching up.  Over drinks outside

then a nice little steak dinner I cooked up for us,

we chatted about travel and dating and Mexican food and more.  What a nice evening!

Dishes are done, it's time for bed.  I shall post this in the morning.  Happy Thursday, one and all! 

a delivery!

Hooray!  I love getting stuff, especially when I've been shopping online.  Courtney and Robert gave me a generous gift card for Eataly for my birthday last month, and I was so very happy to spend it.  Fun times.

At the end of my remote workday today, I got Olive into the car (she LOVES to go for a drive)

and headed back up to the condo.  I had received a notification of a parcel delivery, and I wanted to be sure that it was inside, out of the heat, no matter what it was.  When I arrived, we discovered it was the Eataly shipment. 

I eagerly got it inside and unpacked it.

Pastas and sauces and some other goodies. 

Nothing perishable, lots I can have fun with down the road.  I'm so looking forward to it.

And then back in the car with us, another ride for the little girl. 

me and the LG

Conrad and Van have made it to the first stop on their 8-day road trip.  Yay!  I know they've been excited about it.  Meanwhile, I get 8 days taking care of Olive.  And I am delighted by that as much as she is confused because my routine is not Van's routine.  Poor girl.  She will survive, I promise.

It will be a mild 8 days, and that's ok.  Just nice to have time working from home and keeping an eye on her before the semester starts! 

second weekend in August

You know, it was a nice weekend.  And an easy one.  Isn't that lovely when those two things coincide?

As I did the Friday before, I started out my day with a good and lengthy walk from Van's place. 

No, not nearly so long as the week before, but a respectable distance just the same.  It was a work from home day, and that allowed me to shift hours around and go pick up Conrad from LAX in the middle of the day before getting back to the laptop.  Come 5:00, or a few minutes thereafter, he and I were seated at the bar at Maestro for a regular Friday night.  A cherry-tomato cocktail for me,

some oysters to start,

followed by the roasted beet salad we've been enjoying a lot lately,

and then the shortrib burritas. 

We were home fairly early and settled down to a bit of television and then music and reading before bed.

Saturday was lazier.  A shorter walk that culminated in a satisfying breakfast at Amara. 

A bunch of laundry, some reading, and I'm pretty sure I recall there being a nap in there somewhere.  Van picked us up that evening,

and we headed to Little Beast

over in Eagle Rock for dinner with Mitch and Ted.  Nice evening, too.  The biscuits with ham were a good starter to share,

and I also enjoyed the salad that Van, Conrad, and I split. 

My salmon dish was good although I thought the salmon was a little overcooked. 

Still, the curry sauce and the chickpea cake were terrific accompaniments.  Oh, and the cocktail, the Dark Til Dawn, was a success. 

None of us were wowed by the dessert menu, alas, so we headed home, and I had a little Amaro Breva as we wound down.

If Saturday was lazy, well, Sunday outdid it.  An even shorter walk, no laundry, more reading, and again some napping.  The highlight was a nice FaceTime chat with Courtney and Robert.  We had plans for leftovers for dinner, so there really wasn't any cooking save for a bit of rice.  Conrad started making a little pre-dinner set-up for us, and he did get the food plated, but I shook up the cocktails, and that was a great little pre-dinner treat, sitting at the counter and chatting. 

We watched some television, then I hopped online to buy things I think will make nice little party favours/guest goody bag fillers for Conrad's big birthday party later this year.  That brought Sunday and the weekend to an end.

The days ahead may be a little mild for me in terms of posting.  Conrad and Van are heading on a road trip, and I will be taking care of Olive.  I have few plans during my week with her.  Still, if I throw together something halfway edible, it may just get posted here. 

first weekend in August

How about I check in on things from a week ago?  Sounds about right for the way this blog goes most of the time lately, right?  It's been a very easy, lazy Saturday, and even then, I've only just found the wherewithal to get some things written and posted.  Nicely done, Peter!

Alright then, a week ago yesterday.  Starting out with a good long walk since I didn't have a morning commute to be mindful of.  Over 11 miles that morning.  Yep, a great way to end my July step count.  I was pretty pleased with that.

The workday at home proved uneventful, and before we knew it, it was done.  We weren't at Maestro right at opening as we sometimes are, but we were seated at the bar not long afterward. 

I haven't been indulging in Mezcal Campfires much lately, but I did have one that evening. 

Calamari

and the chicken mole

for me and Conrad to share.  Nice, easy evening, and home after that to watch a little television and wind down.

Saturday was a little fuller.  The middle part of the day included housework and errands, but we also made time to go see a condo at an open house.  A really good and promising unit were we in a position to buy right away.  But we aren't.  Still, that was impetus for us to begin getting financial ducks in a row.

Framing the midday activities were the morning walk and breakfast at Amara (shared burrito for us)

to start the day, and then a jaunt down to San Pedro early in the evening.  We were invited over to Lessa and Christian's home for drinks

before heading to dinner with them at Trani's Dockside Station. 

It was nice to come down their way - they've come up this way a few times now, and it really is a drive.  Plus, how nice to see their home (I love to see what books people have on their shelves) and meet their chickens. 

Van is such an animal lover!

Dinner was a great recommendation.  I struggled with the menu because there was a lot I wanted to try.  Lessa, Conrad, and I shared oysters, and then I had a swordfish special. 

Lightly breaded, which was interesting, and I liked it.  Some greens on the side. 

The chocolate gelato dessert was fine

- I preferred the brown butter cake that landed at the other end of the table and that I couldn't readily finish.  The restaurant had a good bar as well, and the Saging Grace cocktail was refreshing. 

A nice night with local friends as the highlight of the weekend.

As is often the case, I have no Sunday photos.  I recall spending a very good deal of the day reading old XMen comics on my iPad, and what a delight that was.  Such an easy day.  I put together a board of easy nibbles for dinner so as not to cook on a hot day.  Television, to bed, and then... Monday.