Dining Delights | Peaches Prattlings

{January 17, 2018} Another goodbye and a fabulous meal!

Tonight we bid a fond farewell to another team member at a fabulous restaurant.

I believe I’ve told you about team or project roll-off dinners. Basically, when someone new joins we call it ‘roll-on’ and then when someone has been there a long time leaves we call it ‘rolling-off’ a project. Then…we have to have a party! There is usually a roll-on lunch or dinner to welcome them to the project or, in this case, say goodbye and wish them well during their roll-off dinner.

The first place we had a reservation decided to close for the evening, so quick thinking, we ended up at Sepia, http://www.sepiachicago.com/, and well worth it!

As the name might tell you, the theme was sepia color filter, there was a sepia filter feel to the entire restaurant. And, as I did some research, it was built from an 1890’s print shop, go figure! There were interesting photographs on the walls, some sepia, some black and white, even what looked like book plates, but arranged as a photo display on a wall. Even though it was a large space, wherever you sat, it felt intimate, you could have a private conversation if that was on the menu for you.

It feels rustic and farm to table and creative and organic. They had things for every taste, the less than adventurous, chicken, swordfish, scallops and then for the curious, venison, rabbit, duck, goat, just to name a few things. The portions were the proper size, not too much but leaving you satisfied.

I called earlier, you know when I looked at the menu, I had to ask and they assured me they could feed a vegan, I’m good with that. The appetizers I had to skip, but that left more for me to eat my dinner and let me just tell you, no leftovers for lunch tomorrow!

The chef made me coconut tortellini, fresh sliced coconuts, sweet potatoes, carrots and a few other vegetables in a coconut milk sauce. It was light, delicate, delicious and filling. I was quite happy! Y U M!

Dessert looked delicious, but unfortunately, the most I could do was have a taste of someone’s and what I tasted was fabulous! Sesame cake with grape sorbet, frozen grapes and asian pear and tahini. Someone else got the cheesecake, which I didn’t taste, but the beet sorbet that I did taste was out of this world! Look what they did for JW’s dessert!

Overall, it was a great evening, a good meal, good friends and a fine send off for a great co-worker who will be missed.

Day 12

{January 16, 2018} It’s a snow day…in Denver…go figure!

Sleep in, interviews, games, movies. Sound good? Yup, to me too!

I got to A&N M’s house yesterday, after a great day on the slopes! We ordered in Chinese food, hung out, watched the end of the Saints/Vikings game and then after their daughter, AM went to sleep, we watched Scott Pilgrim vs The World, interesting. It was amazingly awful! I think I loved it!

This morning, I got to sleep in, well, 8am or so, I’m good with that. I got my laundry out of the dryer, went upstairs eventually and hung out with AM, we interviewed each other, that was fun, we asked each other about our interests, hobbies and poisonous vs venomous snakes! Then we played games, made clay shapes that we painted and then we watched Ocean’s 11 since I hadn’t seen it, they were tickled at my reaction.

Then some lunch and I headed out to the airport a little earlier than I normally would have, it had been snowing since before I got up and the streets were slick all morning. By the time I left, the roads were dry, thankfully! My only concern, was my flight going to take off? The weather is crazy in Chicago!

It was so great to be with them yesterday and today, very relaxed and enjoyable, like being with family and they are.

At the airport I went to Cantina Taqueria and Bar to get some food and had a good salad that had lettuce, jicama, which is a root vegetable, avocado, cucumbers, pepitas, cabbage with a tamarind dressing.

I got on my flight, it was simple, only left nine minutes late, took off and landed in the snowy streets of Chicago. I have a new driver that picked me up, took me to the hotel and here we are, sitting on the sofa in front of the fireplace talking to you.

Tomorrow is a new day, who knows what the weather will be like!

Day 10

{January 14, 2018} First run of the season…ahhhh

I so love Colorado! And swishing and swooshing!

For those of you not in the know, that means I went skiing for the first time this season today. I got in to Denver last night, got my skis from A&N M, hung out of a bit and then drove up to Breckenridge, CO.

I am staying at the Doubletree hotel, which is ski-in/ski-out. What that means is that you literally walk out the door, put on your skis and ski down to the chair lift and then when you’re done for the day or ready for a break, you ski down the slope, take off your skis and walk into the hotel, not too shabby, huh? I got spoiled staying at a ski-in/ski-out a few years ago and I’ve loved it ever since.

The only hard part is remembering which run takes you back to your hotel! Sometimes I have to take extra runs to figure it out!

I got up leisurely, it was nice to sleep to 8am, then I got some breakfast, back to the room to pile on the ski gear and head to the valet who had my skis. After I got my skis, I walked across the street, put on my skis and woosh.

Since this was the first good weekend for skiing and a holiday weekend, it was a bit crazy on the chair lifts. The runs weren’t too crowded, just the lines to go up were long. I think I waited almost 10 minutes each time, normally you don’t wait more than 5 or 6. They haven’t gotten a lot of snow this season so far, last night 13″, not too shabby!

I got to the top, put on some tunes and away I went! It was a beautiful, crisp, sunny day and the snow started, a light flurry. Ah…

I did a few runs, and it was a few because of the time waiting to go up. After a few hours, I went in, remember, ski to the hotel! I made a sandwiche, chilled out and then went back out, walked across the street and swoosh, swish for a few more hours, then I was done for the day.

As I said to myself “one more run and I’m done”, that trick a ski instructor gave me a few years ago, I see the run that goes by the hotel and I thought, “good deal, I’m done, let’s go”. I walked the skis to the valet and then into the hotel.

I went into the hotel, walked into the bar and saw a few minutes of the Eagles/Falcons game and ordered some brussel sprouts on the happy menu. The brussel sprouts and I headed up to the room to relax and talk to PSM

A few hours later I took a shower and then walked into town. It’s a nice 10 minute walk, the streets are covered in snow, it even started snowing while I was walking and then I joined the other folks strolling up and down Main Street Breckenridge, Colorado. The holiday lights are still up, warm and inviting and the air started to get chilly. Nice.

I went into a few shops and then I headed into my favorite pizza joint in town, it’s plant based, vegan and I love it! Piante, https://piantepizzeria.com/. I don’t know if you remember me telling you about this fabulous place. I sat at the bar, my server told me I was his first customer as a server, he usually just takes orders over the phone, he’ll be great at it.

I ordered bruschetta that had cherry tomatoes, cashew cheese and basil, yum! I then ordered the rosemary pizza that had cashew mozzarella, parmesan, truffle oil and let’s just say, y u m again!

I started talking with the chef, Wes, he remembered me from last year because we talked about the white pie which has arugula on it, which adds color, making it not a white pie!

I like the little touches; the open kitchen right on the other side of the bar, the books they have in their ‘library’ for anyone to read while they are there, bringing the check in a book, the ‘Greenbox” pizza box, where it’s perforated in four parts so that you can have your leftovers on an instant plate! It’s not a very big space, but it’s warm, inviting, friendly and cozy.

The Pats/Titans game was on and I was surrounded New Englanders, oh brother! And check out the t-shirt Wes was wearing! I talked to PSM a bit, he was at home watching and it’s cool, we’re only 3 hours apart while I’m here this weekend!

Then it was back to the hotel, relax and talk to you. Tomorrow I’m going to go out for a few runs, come back, pack up my stuff, the valet can put it in my car in the heated garage and then go back out for a few more runs, then back to A&N M’s to hang out, dinner and who knows what kind of trouble we’ll get in to!

At the moment, just loving looking out the window at the view from my room. Sigh.

Day 8

{January 11, 2018} Two different meals, two different friends, two great nights

Between yesterday and today, great food, great conversation, great friends. What more could you want? I have met and made some amazing friends through different jobs, you’ve heard me talk about ST, TS, JCT, RJS, they were from two different companies and now, in the last few years, you’ve heard me talk about DLP, HH, LJ, SH, LS, WIS, they are all from my current company, different projects, I have been super lucky and now I can add EDW! I know, I know, you really want faces with these name, or just names! Sorry! I knew I was going to be at one site on Wednesday so I reached out to EDW who I met at that site, and clicked with, to see if she was free for dinner, we had such a great time last week! Wednesday, I left one site and drove to meet her for dinner, on my way to my next hotel. We met Friaco’s Mexican restaurant, a place she really enjoys and as I think I’ve mentioned, you can’t get good Mexican food in Hawaii, so I’m always down for Mexican. Do you remember when SDL, Miss A and I went for Mexican food the night before we left for Mexico?! Friaco’s, https://friacosrestaurant.com/, was good. We had chips and guacamole, which I seem to crave a lot. We discussed how avocados are great, but when other people have them! I got into avocados and guacamole a few years ago and enjoy them when I go out to eat and when other people offer them to me, but when I buy one, it seems to sit there and go bad, could someone please explain this to me! Black bean soup and rice was just the thing, both cooked in water and the waitress was good, when she first brought the soup, I told her it was hot, which I had said I couldn’t do spicy, she said “how about another bowl without the pico”. Apparently when I tell people that black pepper is spicy, it does not compute! Oh well. After that, tasty, tasty, tasty! We talked travel, skiing, ski in and out places, Key West, Hawaii, work, families, food, working out, I think we covered the gamut! Yup, that sounds about right! Then, tonight, I went to meet SH at Amitabul, the Vegan Korean restaurant you may remember me telling you about last year, ha ha! that I went to with WIS. It was just as good as I remember it the last time! I like the atmosphere, it’s relaxed and comfortable and welcoming. One of the great things was that SH lives near the restaurant and orders from there all the time. Even better… she’s Korean and could explain a few things to me! As I’ve told you before, I love going to vegan restaurants because the one and only question I ever need to ask…’Is it spicy?” We had date tea, Energy pancakes, summer rolls, and we both had soup, ginormous bowls of soup with vegetables and noodles and mine had vegetable dumplings, oh my. Let’s just say, lunch tomorrow! It was a great time! We talked work, travel, family, what more could you want?! We both have some trips planned and ideas fur places to go and… we may even overlap in Hawaii! What’s are the odds?! So, good location, good food, great company, what more could you want!

Day 6

{January 8, 2018} Seriously?! Well, at least it traveled in style!

Remember last night when I said goodnight so I could get a few hours of sleep before I had to get up early for my flight.

Well…let’s just say 30 minutes is not enough! I could not sleep for all my trying, oh well, it happens. I got out of bed at 3:30am, out of the house by 4am and with no traffic, made it to the airport by 4:25am, got gas and then dropped off the car at Avis.

So…guess what I found in the back seat? A car seat! Seriously? Oh brother!

Well, no post office in the airport, so I guess it’s going with me! And since I have status, it went first class, nothing less for my girls accessories!

Day 3

{December 31, 2017} Let’s get some culture on! Polynesian that is!

Today we went to the Polynesian Cultural Center and it was grand!

Breakfast, lounging, showers, baths, dressed to kill and then…sit in traffic. Sigh…When you move to Hawaii, you must learn to ‘Drive with Aloha’ or you might commit murder! You can’t have a hurry up and go attitude because nothing happens that way in Hawaii! I saw the perfect shirt today “I’m not late, I’m on Island Time!” And it is so true!

We went towards the North Shore, it should have taken us about an hour and 15 minutes to get there, it actually took about two hours…welcome to Hawaii! On the North Shore, you have Turtle Bay and Shark Cove, think people are not going to stop there? Nope! The traffic happens when people are slowed down to look and try to find parking.

Eventually…we got through all that and it was smooth sailing the rest of the way, except for a slowpoke every once in a while. Then we were there! We got our reserved tickets and found some food for lunch and then went through the gates to Polynesia.

The Polynesian Cultural Center is in Laie, as I mentioned, on the North Shore of Oahu. It’s a theme park and museum covering 42 acres and was started in 1963 and currently owned by the LDS, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and BYU, Brigham Young University.

I remember touring it in 2008 on a trip I earned with a company and found out that almost everyone that works there are students at BYU and working on a scholarship, which is funded by the entrance fee for the park, luau and shows.

The Cultural Center is divided into seven villages, Hawaii, Samoa, Aotearoa (present-day New Zealand), Fiji, Tahiti, Tonga and the Marquesas Islands. Each village has different shows that represent the land, people and culture. Some are traditional, some are funny, all informative and interesting.

While we were at the Samoan show, I recognized the mc, as it were, Kap. He’s known as Kap Tafiti and I remembered him from when I was there in 2008! He was the best fire dancer I’d seen! He still does the Samoan presentation, a little fire work, coconut tree climbing, but doesn’t do the full fire dancing he did back then. We bought a few pieces of his and had a photo, he’s a very nice guy and we met his son, who runs his shop. http://www.kaptafiti.com/gallery.aspx

At 6pm, we went in to one of the luau houses for a sit down luau. This is very similar to most other luaus around Hawaii. A sit down dinner, performers on the stage, some fire, dancing, singing, hula. All traditional to the Polynesian culture.

After dinner was the big show, Hā–Breath of Life. The show features songs and dances from throughout Polynesia, including the hula, tamure, otea, titi torea, haka, poi, meke, tauʻolunga, and Taualuga. The majority of the show was in the native Polynesian languages, but you really didn’t need to understand the language, everything is share through song, dance and action.

We all enjoyed the show very much and by the time we left, we cleared the place out and it only took about an hour to get home this time, no traffic at 9:30pm at night!

If you come to visit, we’ll take you!

{December 29, 2017} An early flight, a canyon and an opinion

The day started way early, but we had an adventure to get to! SDL, Miss A and I were going to Kauai! Miss A had this strong desire to see lots of roosters and chickens, how could we deny her!?

430am wake up on vacation seems excessive, but the traffic on Oahu can be horrible, especially at 5am, which is rush hour. But we made it in plenty of time to get a snack and watch the sunrise. Then it was time to board our 40 minute flight and have an adventure!

We got to the car rental desk and upgraded for a jeep. So, here is where my opinion comes in… I’ll stick with a convertible! We had a few circumstsnces that made me think this. It’s a two door jeep, which makes it tougher getting a child in and out of the back seat, I’m sure with a four door it would be different. And the window and back flaps were not that cooperative, especially when it started raining! I really enjoyed driving it and it was esay getting up the canyon drive. I did miss having the top down, but after the trouble with the flaps, we weren’t taking a chance with the top, especially since rain was in our future! SDL had a jeep in the past, she said it was much easier. I’ll take my 13 second up/ down beetle convertible top any day!

We got in the jeep, headed to the hotel to drop our bags and started out for the Waimea Canyon Drive. They say that The Waimea Canyon is the Grand Canyon of Hawaii and when you see it, you get it! You can really see it as you go up and up and up, amazing!it We stopped along the way at some of the scenic overlooks, and they were true to their name, scenic and overlooking the canyon. We saw rock faces and formations, waterfalls, foliage and so much more! Spectacular! Even the second time!

A few times, the three of us got out, walked around and took pictures, other times, just SDL, Miss A and I admired from the jeep. We drove up the canyon, it’s close to 30 miles up into the mountains to the top. We got out at a few of the state parks to walk around and get up to the overlooks there. It truly is spectacular. And Miss A walked them all, like a champ! We didn’t take the stroller out once today, awesome!

After we viewed the canyon, we drove back down the Waimea Canyon Drive into Waimea, had some lunch at a local Thai stand with all the chickens and roosters. We were going to go to Ke’e beach, but it was getting late and the sun would be going down in about two hours, when we got to the beach. We took a chance and got on the road. Guess what happened…the sky opened up! So…rain makes for a different experience!

We stopped at Kauai Harley Davidson, https://www.kauaiharley.com/, for a gift for Miss A’s bus driver and a photo with the Hawaiian hog! Then a stop at the famous Hilo Hattie’s, a Hawaiian staple, unfortunately had gone under a few years ago and then a few shops have popped up and here was one! SDL had great memories of shopping at Hilo Hattie’s years ago, as did I when I first visited Hawaii. https://www.hilohattie.com/ Each time we walked into or out of a store, we were running through the raindrops, ok, let’s be real, we were dashing through the deluge! A quick stop at Walmart for some rain ponchos was just the thing! Luckily, the rain stopped when we went in and when we came out!

Imagine us getting Miss A into the jeep in the rain! At Hilo Hattie’s we decided to put the windows back on, um… that was fun! But we would be dry! All that matters!

So, raining hard, we went back to the hotel, dinner for Miss A, SDL and I ordered Italian and ate on the sofa while Miss A crashed out.

What a day! What’s in store for tomorrow?!

{December 25, 2017} Sand, Fishes, Chinatown and Lights, Oh My!

This morning started waaaay too early! But it was2 worth it!

We got up before the sun to go down to Honolulu to listen to a presentation, which, thankfully Miss A helped us get out of! And we got a good deal on tickets to something we’re doing next weekend. Go Miss A!

Then it was time for breakfast for Miss A and a snack for SDL and I. We walked to find a spot on the beach and walked through the Sheraton and admired their 12 Days of Christmas, Hawaiian style and in sand!

Then it was off to the car, drop the top and head to Hanauma Bay Nature Preserve, https://hanaumabaystatepark.com/. I don’t know if you remember me telling you about it a while back. It’s protected marine life conservation area that sees about 3000 visitors a day! Can you imagine! The amazing thing, it never feels that crowded!

We spent some time swimming, sunning, looking for fish and making friends. All that fresh air and sunshine can make a girl hungry, well, three girls, hungry! We headed off towards Turtle Bay and took another turn and ended up, pleasantly, in Chinatown. We found a place that was open, a very popular place, as it was crowded and taking reservations. We had a very nice meal and then as we were walking back towards we saw all the restaurants that seemed deserted, but now had crowds of people, a promising thought for the future!

After dinner, we headed down to City Hall to the Honolulu City Lights. This is a month long Christmas lights including a huge tree with Shaka Santa and Tūtū Mele. I remember passing it last year and seeing it and wanting to go! We didn’t make it, but this year, thanks to SDL and Miss A, we made it! How much do you love this! https://www.hawaii.com/oahu/attractions/honolulu-city-lights-honolulu-hale

Merry Christmas Eve! Tomorrow, I will be wishing you Mele Kalikimaka!

{December 15, 2017} I tried it, it worked!

So…tonight, I tried a new dish that I patched together and it worked. Go figure!

Last night I got to my new hotel out in the middle of no-where, but 8 miles from the client site and that works for me! I was hungry, so I found this Mexican restaurant in the shopping center next to the hotel, aptly named El Mexicano. I was in the mood for huevos rancheros, which is not something Mexican restaurants make after breakfast time, so I was in luck.

For those of you who don’t know what huevos rancheros is…it’s a dish with rice, eggs, beans, salsa and served with tortillas. One thing is the eggs are normally over medium and the plate they serve it on is very hot, so I can usually break the eggs and cook them, as we know, I do not like runny eggs at all! This time, I asked them to cook the eggs over hard, and they did! I added guacamole and then at the hotel, I built my tortillas, it was quite tasty.

Tonight, I went to the gym after I got to the hotel and didn’t get to the restaurant until about 8:50, they closed at 9pm. Noooo! What to do?! If I had only left the hotel directly from the gym I would have made it. Oh well. Think…

Ding Ding Ding! Taco Bell, which I know people poo-poo, but I happen to like it. I also know exactly what their rice and beans are cooked in, vegan all the way baby! So…Seven Layer Burrito, rice, beans, cheese, sour cream, lettuce, guacamole, tomatoes. Is that seven? I ordered it without cheese or sour cream and apparently, this is called al fresco! So, ya loin somethin’ new every day!

I really wanted huevos rancheros and, ding ding, ding…Dunkin’ Donuts! What? Add a donut you’re asking! No! I’ll tell you! I got an egg sandwich and brought everything back to the hotel. I then opened up the burrito without the dairy, put a piece of fake cheese and sliced up the egg, then roll it back up into burrito form and enjoy.

Let me tell you, it was yummy! It covered everything I wanted, huevos rancheros: eggs, lettuce, tomato, beans, rice, cheese, what more could you want? I was happy and that’s what matters. Y U M!!!

{December 13, 2017} Happy Chanukah 2017

Tonight at sundown, we begin to celebrate the Festival of Light, also known as Chanukah.

You might also know it as Hanukkah, however you say it or spell it, the meaning is the same. This is the festival of lights, a great miracle happened here. Let’s talk about the miracle.

When Antiochus IV was in power, he took to less than pleasant activities towards the Jews and the desecration of the temple. When the Jews went in to the temple for the rededication, they found enough oil to light the lamps for one night and a great miracle happened there and the oil burned for eight nights!

And that, my friends, is why we celebrate Chanukah for eight nights, why we call it the Festival of Light and why treats that are traditional are fried in oil. There is a theme here!

Oh, the treats! Potato latkes, you might know them as potato pancakes. There are different ways they can be made, regular potato, sweet potato, with scallions, served with apple sauce or sour cream. The Sufganiyah, the fried jelly donut covered in powdered sugar. Anything fried, it’s the frying in the oil that’s important.

We play games, like dreidel, it’s a square top with Hebrew letters. We play for matchsticks, candy, gelt, which are chocolate coins. The traditional explanation of this game is that during the time of Antiochus’ oppression, those who wanted to study Torah (an illegal activity) would conceal their activity by playing gambling games with a top (a common and legal activity) whenever an official or inspector was within sight. Each letter tells you how much you’re going to get out of the pot or have to add to the pot.

The magical part of Chanukah? The tradition of lighting the candles in the menorah. Now, all menorahs are different, some are more traditional, some even use oil to keep very much with tradition. The important thing are the prayers, lighting the candles from right to left, one candle added for each night. There are nine candles, one for each night and the shammus, this candle lights all the others and it is set either slightly away from the others, higher from the others, you just know this is the candle to light the others.

And yes, there are gifts, but that is not what’s important about the holiday. Gift giving is at each person’s discretion. As kids, our big family gift was tickets to see The Nutcracker Ballet at Lincoln Center in New York City. Then we would get little things each night, just something to open, but it is a nice sight to see the menorahs lit, the gifts lined or piled up and family playing together and really just spending the time together, that is what is most important, knowing what the holiday is about and enjoying in each other’s company.

My family has a few menorahs, my favorite family menorah, one that was made by a family friend, HT, it’s hand made and it looks like his arms are stretched out with the holes for the candles in each arm. I have my own collection of menorahs, I can’t wait to get them out of storage one day! Oh, when I have them all lit up, what a glow and feeling of love and warmth.

Oh, one more tradition, my mom would read us one story each night from The Power of Light, stories by Issac Bashevis Singer. As adults, GES and I realized some of these stories are not that happy, but they are important and my favorite, The Parakeet Named Dreidel.

When young David and Mama and Papa are celebrating Hanukkah one frosty winter evening in Brooklyn, Papa sees a parakeet sitting on the window ledge. He lets the parakeet in and everyone is delighted to find that it speaks Yiddish. They name it Dreidel and it becomes part of their family. Many years later, when David is in college, he is at a party one night and tells Dreidel’s story―only to discover that Zelda, a young woman at the party, owned the bird herself as a child. Papa and Mama are worried that they will have to give their beloved pet back, but then David and Zelda decide to get married after college, and everyone agrees that they should take Dreidel with them as they start their own family. Isn’t that wonderful?

I hope you’ve enjoyed my wonderful holiday of Chanukah, maybe one day you’ll celebrate and light the lights with me!

Chag Sameach!

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