A little sweetness.

I'm in a bit of "a mood" this morning so I thought a sweet pola of Rocky might turn things around. He always makes me smile.

Today I have lots of work to do, but later we are going out to dinner with friends. Looking forward to it. It's Restaurant Week in Santa Fe so there are some great deals out there. We're going to Dinner for Two, a little place in our neighborhood that we've never tried before. So it's going to be dinner for four at Dinner for Two!

Raclette anyone?

Last Saturday evening we were invited to a raclette dinner. I have to admit that I had never heard of raclette before and had to look it up.

According to Wikipedia, is both a type of cheese and a Swiss dish based on the cheese.

It's kind of like fondue, but instead of having a pot of cheese, the cheese is melted on a special grill by each individual. So each person can set the pace of their own meal. The grill that our friend has looks something like this one.

I think it can be served with a variety of foods. Our hostess had it a certain way in France and so that's how she serves it. Basically there are steamed potatoes, gherkin pickles, pearl onions and ham served on the table. Each guest serves their own portions of potatoes, pickles and onions and chops them all together on the plate. The ham can be heated on top of the grill and all the while that this is going on, each guest has already put their hunk of cheese on a server thing and stuck it under the top grill to melt. When the cheese is melted, it is scraped on top of the other foods.

It's pretty fun and quite delicious. Everyone just keeps melting cheese and adding more potatoes or this or that and it just goes on as needed. The grill gets crazy hot and so we're told it is best done during the winter. Heats up the house too much during hotter times.

We were asked to bring wine so after some internet research, we showed up with a bottle of Savoie wine and a bottle of Beaujolais. Apparently Savoie is one of the more traditional wines to have with it and our hostess was absolutely thrilled that we brought some. It was good, but I actually preferred the red with the dish. Of course I prefer reds in general so that could be part of it.

And for dessert, strawberry sorbet. Raclette is pretty intense so it is typically not served with a heavy dessert.

All in all, a very fun evening and I'm always happy to experience a new food adventure.

(And yes, I should have photos to go with all this food, but I don't. Low lighting and well, sometimes I just want to eat!)

More love for tapas.

Last Friday evening we found ourselves at La Boca again. It's a splurge restaurant for us, and last Friday was not a special occasion other than that Will has been wanting to go there again since we ate there for our meeting anniversary last November.

All I can say is that we always end up spending all of our money on food!

The place is tiny and we didn't have reservations, but we got lucky and found two seats at the bar when we arrived. (Two seats out of a total five bar seats. Lucky!) We ordered some wine (a low end Tempranillo, nothing too remarkable) and the tapa de la casa: catalon olives, marcona almonds and manchego cheese. Simple yet delicious. I would be happy with a glass of wine and just that tapa. We weren't in a big hurry so we took our time deciding what else to get. They had a special Valentine's Day menu plus the usual dinner menu.

There was a couple to our right and an older man to our left. The older man seemed to be a regular at the place and after awhile, I asked him about it. Because that's what I do when we sit at the bar. I talk to people. Which is weird because I am not a big talker, but sit me at a bar and I have this uncontrollable urge to start talking to whoever is closest to us. (Especially when you are practically sitting on top of them.) And for the record, after my first question to him, I did ask if I was bothering him and he said no.

Of course it turns out that he used to be an audio engineer. I swear, this always happens to us. When we took the train back from Milwaukee a couple years ago, everyone we met had some sort of audio engineering connection. And one of the friends we made in Palm Springs was a drummer in a band. So single man at the bar and Will started chatting it up about gear and what not. Also turns out that he lives in Chupadero, right down the road from the studio that Will works at from time to time. Small world.

Anyway, we eventually ordered some more tapas, starting with the arugula salad with drunken goat cheese, avocado, lemon, olive oil and roasted peppers. (Delicious again.) The fried oyster tapa that we shared isn't on the regular menu and I don't remember the details. Fried oysters with some sort of spicy red sauce. Good, but more Will's speed than mine. Next up, the duck. Also on the special menu and hello, how could I resist?! I can never resist duck. It was served with some sort of pomegranate sauce and pureed carrots. It took forever to come since they were so busy (the table patrons get more attentive service) and it was a bit on the rare side (even for duck) but still pretty tasty. Our new friend bought us a glass of wine to have with it because he had the same pairing and quite enjoyed it. And wow, what a difference it made. It was a Malbec and absolutely brought out the flavors of the dish.

After the duck, we decided we had to have the grilled hanger steak with smoked sea salt caramel again. Kind of hard not to when it is so fabulous. The dessert we had was amazing as well. It's not on the regular menu, but it was some sort of chocolate lemon torte with a HUGE dollop of fresh cream on the side. We had the recommended dessert wine with it, a port, I think and it was perfect with the torte. Which was amazing. So amazing that Will actually popped the last bite into his mouth when the last bite was MINE! He's so cute. He did it and then said, "I can't believe I just did that without asking you if you wanted it." Always the gentleman.

It was an excellent meal and a fun time. We like having leisurely dinners when we're out and it was fun to meet someone new. (Dudeman was leaving to Panama the following week, but he wants to check out the recording studio when he gets back so we'll probably meet up again sometime.) And despite the crowded space, it is a nice atmosphere. Lucky for us, we have some friends who have a bit of a hook up there so we are going back again in a few weeks! Sweet!

Okay, I was going to write all my food adventures in one post, but this is already too long. So next up, raclette and dinner with the folks.

A happy weekend to you!

Preparations.

It wasn't my intention to spend the whole day involved in various game day preparations, but that's what happened.

First up, cleaning the house. Once again it strikes me as a bit foolish to clean the house before we have people over tomorrow, but of course that's part of the reason that I clean the house. Can't have people over with crumbs in the carpet.

Then I decided that I should make another baked dip. No matter that we already have plenty of food planned. One more dip couldn't hurt, right? Right. So I had to go back out to the supermarket to buy the ingredients for said dip. And while I was out, I decided I should go to Party City and buy some balloons. (One of which just popped. I refuse to read this as a bad sign.)

When I got back home, I figured since we now have balloons, I should probably pull out some of the other black and gold decorations. So I spent a good part of the afternoon putting up crepe paper. The crepe paper completely traumatized Simon for no apparent reason. He was so terrified of the paper, he had to go outside. Being terrified of the vacuum I understand. Being terrified of crepe paper, not so much.

Now I am totally exhausted.

Tomorrow I plan to run and then spend the afternoon making the snacks. I know that I am going to be full of excitement and nervous energy so being able to focus on making food will be the best thing for me.

The main course will be chopped steak sandwiches and potato salad. We'll also have the usual array of snacks:

- my homemade guacamole
- the Tex Mex Pimento cheese dip
- cream cheese and green chile tortilla wraps (sliced into bite sizes pieces)
- peanuts
- chips and salsa
- the new dip, spinach sausage bean dip
- the veggie plate with onion dip
- oh and the crack dip, i.e. Fiesta dip (store bought dip that is basically sour cream and salsa)
- a variety of crackers, tortilla chips, corn chips, pita chips & crostini
- black and gold chocolates (like m-n-m's) straight from Pittsburgh
- and probably something else that I am forgetting

I am hoping that making all the dips and what not will keep me busy for most of the afternoon. Will is in charge of the chopped steak sandwiches.

Okay, I'm off to try to get some relaxing in this evening.

Go Steelers!

This and that and football and pimento cheese.

I just realized that it's going to take me forever to finish the vacation posts because I haven't posted all of the pictures to go along with the posts! Oh well, one of these days it'll all get done. Or maybe I'll just finish up the writing part and worry about pictures later.

Yesterday was Steeler madness around here. I woke up at 6:00am and was already full of anticipation for the afternoon game. When I am that pumped up at a game, all of my focus turns to the snacks that need to be prepared. We went to the grocery store early so I could get a few more things. Then I vacuumed and mopped all the while wondering why I actually bother to vacuum the living room when we're going to have folks over and food is going to end up on the floor. Then I realized that I was completely exhausted because once again I hadn't slept well for a few days. (I got in three good nights early in the week and then the restless nights returned.)

So at 10:30 in the morning, I went back to bed for a nap. This is something that I rarely do. I am not a good napper because I usually end up laying thinking about all the other things that I should be doing. But I needed it yesterday and I actually did fall asleep for a bit. Felt much better when I got up an hour later.

Turned on the NFL Network Game Day show and headed to the kitchen to start the snack preparations. Everything I put out is relativity simple, but every once in awhile I make something different.

Will's mom sent us home with a Southern Living magazine that has some good sounding hot dip recipes in it so I decided to make the Tex Mex Pimento Cheese Dip.

I'd never even had pimento cheese until a few years ago. I think they had a sample out at Whole Foods and I tried it and discovered that it's pretty addictive stuff. So I bought it a few times and sometimes it was really good and sometimes it wasn't.

While we were in Georgia, Will's sister made it just about everyday and I had a hard time resisting her mix of it although I was rather appalled by the amount of mayonnaise that goes into it. A lot of mayonnaise. A LOT.

Anyway, it became the chosen dip for the playoff game and I have to admit, I was excited about it all week.

So. The recipe.

1/4 cup green onions, chopped
12oz jar of roasted red peppers, drained and chopped*
1 jalapeno, chopped
1-1/2 cups of mayonnaise
8oz of extra sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
8oz of pepper jack cheese, shredded
Cilantro for garnish (which I skipped of course)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Mix the first 4 ingredients together then mix in the cheese. Spoon into a 2qt baking dish and bake for 20-25 minutes or until dip is bubbling and browned on top.

Again, the amount of mayonnaise freaked me out a bit so I didn't add it all at first, but after I added the cheese, it seemed dry to me so I put a bit more in.

When it first came out of the oven, it tasted way too much like mayo to me, but as it cooled, the other flavors kicked in and it was super tasty. The kind of thing that you know you should stop eating, but you can't resist one more bite.

I think if I make it again, I'd cut down a bit on the mayo and I think I'd throw some green chile in there as well. And maybe some garlic.

We served it with crostini, Fritos and tortilla chips. But really it goes well with anything. We had burgers later in the evening and threw some on the buns instead of using mayo. Delicious. (Of course if you hate mayonnaise, it's probably not for you.)

I could even say that the pimento cheese dip got me through the incredibly stressful game we had against the Ravens. Good lord, I thought my head was going to explode. Seriously. And then we won and I could breathe again.

We are watching the Jets/Pats game now and it's really nice to see Tom Brady getting sacked. Really nice.

More soon my lovelies. Have a fantastic week! (I'm already planning the menu for next week's game!)

*Note: I just reread the recipe and saw that I misread it when I made it. It actually calls for 1/2 jar of roasted red peppers not a whole jar. The fact that I used more didn't seem to have an adverse result though.

Holiday lights and more tapas.

Last week was a long and somewhat emotionally draining week. Albeit a very productive week as well. So on Friday evening, we decided that we wanted to go somewhere nice for dinner, some place warm and cozy and relaxing. We ended up deciding to check out the Chispa Tapas Bar at El Meson.

As we were driving over there, I asked Will to drive by the Plaza so we could check out the holiday lights. It's so rare that I am out in the evenings, I really haven't seen all the festive lights that folks have put up. So we cruise by the Plaza and it just looked so happy and festive.

I asked Will, "Have we ever been to the Plaza at night around the holidays before?"

No, I don't think so.

So yeah, this is our fourth December here and the first time we've seen the lovely lights on all the trees at the Plaza. We are so bad.

We parked near Back at the Ranch which was looking pretty festive as well. That's where I took the photo of the bull sculpture decorated with lights.

El Meson was hopping, but the hostess gave us a table in the bar that someone hadn't shown up to claim. Some older fellows were setting up to play some jazz and they turned out to be highly entertaining. We like jazz just fine and good lord, at least it wasn't more blues which is usually all we hear in this town. And these fellows, man, they made the best faces while they played, especially the drummer and the stand up bass player. It made me happy that these guys were still doing something that they obviously love a lot.

We started off with olives and manchego cheese which had some sort of quince from Chimayo sauce on it. Quite tasty. Will wanted the Patatas Bravas Con Mojo Picante which is basically fried potatoes with dipping sauces. Something I had a lot of when I was in Spain. Good but not super exciting. I picked the Sauteed Scallops with White Wine and Serrano Ham. The ham was pretty incredible, the scallops were fine but didn't taste particularly fresh. Will's next choice was a pork tenderloin with something or other that I can't remember. It was good. And then we decided to try the veal because neither of us have had veal since forever. It was Fried Veal Cutlet rolled with Serrano Ham and Manchego Cheese, served with a spicy tomato sauce. That was tasty. And for dessert, churros with chocolate sauce.

All in all it was a fine meal and it was actually exactly the kind of evening we wanted. A little wine, a little food, some jazz and no stress. But La Boca is waaaaaay better as far as tapas go.

Last Thursday was my last day for felting things and I'm pretty much done with work stuff, but the "things to do" list still doesn't seem to be getting any smaller. We ran around most of this afternoon and I am totally beat now. Rocky has been getting me up at 5:00am and while it's way better than 3:00am, it's still really disruptive to my sleep. I decided not to run this morning and I so wanted to sleep in, but after getting up 3 or 4 times with one cat or the other, I gave up and got up at the usual time. Those damn cats are lucky they are cute.

Hoping to have a little more time for photo taking and blogging this week!

Nine years and tapas.

Simon thinks he has a pretty rough life. I beg to differ.

And the photo has nothing to do with our tapas dinner, it's just what I have.

Yesterday was the day that I met Will...nine years ago. Perhaps not a true anniversary, but it is always a happy day for us. A happy memory. Will is incredibly awesome and I am a very fortunate woman.

To celebrate, we went out to a local tapas restaurant, La Boca. We've been meaning to go there forever because Will got a bonus from a gig that he did in February and said bonus was a gift certificate to La Boca.

It's located in downtown Santa Fe in a fairly tiny unassuming space. But it was comfortable and the service was great. I threw my digital point and shoot camera in my bag just in case, but alas, I did not take any pictures. I will share what we ate with you though because I know there are one or two of you out there who like to hear about food!

We ordered a bottle of Tempranillo which sadly is not listed on the online menu and I can't remember the brand. (Found it on the receipt, Araca.) It was a 2004, that I remember, and it went quite well with all our food. (It was also the cheapest bottle, but hey, you know how it is.)

We shared tapa de la casa while we studied the menu. It included catalan olives, mracona almonds and manchego cheese. All delicious.

Next up, the arugula salad with drunken goat cheese, avocado, lemon, olive oil and roasted peppers. I have no idea what makes goat cheese drunken, but it was really good. Totally different texture than regular goat cheese.

The next tapa was one of the specials so let's see if I can get it right. Crab croquettas with morcilla sausage and spicy red pepper sauce. Amazing. And not too spicy for me.

Tapas are small portions, but for some reason, after the crab, I was already feeling totally full. And usually I have quite the hearty appetite. (I suppose it might have had something to do with the leftover chicken friend steak, scrambled egg and English muffin that I had as an early lunch.)

No matter, we had to try a few more things.

The crab was followed by a grilled Moroccan shrimp tapa that isn't on the online menu so I don't know what it was exactly. It was served with some sort of blended avocado something or other. The shrimp was grilled to perfection, but I let Will eat most of it because it was SPICY.

Last up was the grilled hanger steak with smoked sea salt caramel or cabrales butter. Our waitress recommended trying both sauces so of course we did. The cabrales butter is all about blue cheese which neither of us like so we stuck with the smoked sea salt caramel which was AMAZING. Unlike anything I've ever dipped my steak in before. Loved it.

And okay, at that point, I was REALLY FULL. But skip dessert? Never.

We shared a chocolate ganache-custard with polverone cookie and a glass of port (I think it was the 1982 Toro Albala, Pedro Ximenez). I'm not big on dessert wines, but I'm trying to have an open mind since I love wine with chocolate. The wine was super syrupy and figgy and I definitely couldn't drink it all the time, but it went well with the chocolate dessert.

The entire meal was delicious all around.

And the rest of the week? Super busy! Will and I are both totally exhausted. On nights like these, we both wish we still lived in Brooklyn where we could order take out from any number of places. In Santa Fe...mmmmm...not really any choices for delivery besides pizza.

Tomorrow...Harry Potter!!

Anniversary dinner.

The last couple of years, we seem to have fallen into a sort of ritual for our wedding anniversary. We get gussied up - this usually involves a new dress for me, although this year I didn't get to wear the new dress because the weather wasn't quite warm enough for such summery attire. I take a bunch of instant pictures of us looking good. And, the most important part, we go out and have a fabulous dinner.

Love and food. Definitely the best parts.

This year we decided to try Restaurant Martín, a relatively new restaurant that has gotten good reviews and is only a couple of blocks from our house.

Oh, but wait, before I get to our dinner...this year a friend, Caline Welles, had an art opening at Marigold Arts so we stopped by there before dinner. Her drawings and poetry are so magical. It was awesome to finally see her work in person. Plus it was great to see her and Jono, both looking hot in purple.

Anyway, back to dinner. The atmosphere of the restaurant is unexciting, but whatever, that's not totally crucial to a good meal. (Of course last year's meal at Terra, sitting on the patio with a view of the mountains and watching the sunset...well, that was exceptional.) Our waitress was awesome which is always good, but especially good in a higher end restaurant. I think her name was Graciela.

We couldn't decide on wine. Oftentimes I like to start with a white and move on to a red with dinner, but wine by the glass usually ends up adding up to more money than just getting a bottle. So we asked Graciela what she would recommend to go with our appetizer choices as well as the entrees. She recommended a Chilean Pinot Noir and I have to say, she was spot on. It was light and fruity enough to compliment the appetizer but not so light and fruity that it took away from the main course. Like I know what the hell I am talking about. Let's just say that the wine was good.

We started off with the Roasted Organic Beet Salad with French Beans, Upland Cress, Marcona Almonds, Goat Cheese, Crispy Shallots. It was delicious. (I think I have Sheryl to thank for getting me into beets. The roasted beets with goat cheese that she and Rebby served one year won me over.) Fresh and colorful and light. Yum. Along with the beet salad, we had the Tempura Blue Point Oysters with Garlic-Parsnip Purée, Cucumber-Radish Salad, Fermented Black Bean-Chili Vinaigrette. They were good but not mind-blowing. We were torn between that dish, the Snake River Farm Pork Belly and the Wild Mushroom and Nantucket Bay Scallop Risotto. If we eat there again, I think we'll go for the pork belly.

Next up, the entrees. Will had the Spicy Crusted Ahi Tuna with Crispy Yams, Garlic-Spinach Purée, Stir Fry Vegetables, Soy-Red Wine Reduction.



I had a bite of it and it was incredible. Really good tuna. As for me, I have to admit that one of the reasons that I wanted to try this place was because they have duck on the menu. I love me some good duck. And, in fact, I think I've had duck the past three years in a row on our anniversary. So yes, I like duck. I also like ducks, but I don't think about that when I am eating. I haven't had duck in quite some time since Rio Chama took it off the menu. Not many other places serve duck. Okay, so the duck. Maple Leaf Farms Duck Breast with Leg Confit, Smoked Bacon Polenta, Marcona Almonds, Brandied Blackberry Gastrique. I mean, come on, duck with bacon polenta? How could I not go there? It was really good. Fatty and rich and I love the confit.



So good. We both had very happy bellies. Very full bellies.

But that doesn't mean we skipped dessert. It was our anniversary after all. I've been really into red wine with chocolate lately so I was leaning toward a chocolate dessert. Granted our bottle of red was gone, but we figured we could order dessert drinks. I am not a big fan of dessert wines as they are usually way too sweet for me. But I figured our trusty waitress could give me a good recommendation. And she did. I don't remember the whole name of the wine, but it was some kind of Tawny wine that she said was not too sweet because something about brandy and the brandy cutting the sweetness. She said it would really bring out the flavor of the chocolate. She brought me a little glass to sample and I surprised myself by being able to drink it. So I went for it. Tawny wine and Bittersweet Truffle Cake with Pumpkinseed Crumble, Toasted Cinnamon Ice Cream. So good.



Will went for the Mascarpone Cheesecake which isn't on the online menu and I don't recall the exact details of it, but he loved it. And Graciela recommended at Sauterne wine with it. I tried the wine and it was way too sweet for me, although I imagine it did compliment the cheesecake quite well. I didn't actually try it because my palette was crazy with chocolate and Tawny.



So we had quite the fabulous evening and I couldn't be more delighted with our life together. Will is the best.

For the record, we both decided our meals at Terra last year and Mauka the year before were better than Martín. But Mauka is gone now and Terra is way more expensive so Martín is most definitely on our list of places to try again. It's way more exciting than our old fallback, Rio Chama.

Valentine's Day Dinner.

Will really outdid himself with this dinner. It was so perfect and delicious. What a nice husband I have!

We started off with brie and cranberry pomegranate sauce on melba toast. It was so good, I had to force myself to stop eating it. Had to save room for the main course.

Which was



homemade polenta with green chile and parmesan cheese.

And yes, I know my pictures are not pretty, but our kitchen does not have the best light after the sun goes down. Plus I think I was really more interested in eating than documenting our meal!

Moving on, with the polenta we had braised short ribs that were completely amazing. Will used the recipe from Seduced By Bacon. (We so love that cookbook!)



To drink we had a tasty Rioja, one of my favorites.



And we actually sat at the table instead of watching television like we usually do. Nothing fancy, but I thought it was sweet. Note the beautiful flowers that Will got for me.



Dinner really was fabulous and such a nice treat. For dessert we shared a chocolate pot from Whole Foods that was quite decadent and went nicely with the wine. I have such a thing for good red wine with good chocolate. It can be a bit dangerous at times.

After dinner we did watch television, but hey, it was the Olympic figure skating competition. That qualifies as romantic.

Thanks baby, you are the best.

Dinner is always the best part.

We ended up going to Mauka for dinner last night. We were tired and had a couple of very refreshing mojitos at Coyote Cantina in the late afternoon so driving out to Terra didn't seem like a good idea anymore.

We ate at Mauka last year for our anniversary and it was awesome. Last night it was awesome again. We started off with the Hawaiian poke spring roll served with pineapple chutney and black tobiko. For the main course, Will had the River Canyon Ranch tenderloin served with potato-chorizo hash, local mustard greens and romesco sauce. So delicious. I went for the Atlantic Diver scallops served with bacon - apple risotto cake, fennel confit and kimchi vinaigrette. It did not disappoint. The scallops were perfect and the bacon - apple risotto was amazing. Not to mention the lovely presentation.

The dessert options were interesting, but none of them really grabbed me. We went for the Blackberry Clafouti with Pineapple Caramel. It was good, but not really my dream dessert. Or perhaps I just had one too many glasses of chardonnay by then. Overall, I think Mauka is one of the best restaurants in Santa Fe. They always have excellent menu choices and seem to use a lot of locally grown food. A little pricey for us to frequent, but definitely worth it when we can swing the bill.

Pickled peppers.

We have a plethora of jalapeño and cubanelle peppers, more than we could possibly eat all at once. So I pickled them. I used this recipe because it sounded tasty and simple enough for my first attempt at pickling. They are supposed to sit in the refrigerator for a week so I'll keep you posted on how they taste.

I never used to like pickled anything, not even pickles. But when I met Will's granny for the first time and she sent us off with some jars of her pickles, that was it. Granny's pickles were the best thing ever and turned me into a pickle person. So I am all for trying my own pickling. I hope the peppers turn out well as I am going to have lots more ready to pick in another week or so.

And of course anytime I think about pickling peppers, that childhood rhyme come to mind:

Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers;
A peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked;
If Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers,
Where's the peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked?

Cooking with Quattrone

If you don't check in over at Brah from time to time, you probably should. Leah (aka Bloody Powers) has some great posts related mostly to Pittsburgh and/or rock. I heard about "Cooking with Quattrone" a few months ago and, well, here it is. Check out the Brah blog for Leah's post about it. And you should really look for all her posts, they're super entertaining. I'd link to some of my faves, but the Brah blog doesn't allow for such things. So click through the past posts and see what you can see!

Anniversary Dinner.

At long last, I am getting to our anniversary dinner. Of course now that almost 20 days have passed, the old memories are getting rusty and I don't remember some of the fabulous details. But I'll give it my best shot.

First of all, the whole evening was incredibly dreamy. We went out to Encantado last summer for the ribbon cutting and I fell in love with the place. It's so gorgeous out there. We didn't end up spending a night there, although in retrospect, we really wish that we had. Maybe next year. (It is rather pricey.) But we did make to dinner, as I had so hoped we would that lovely August summer evening last year.

So we got gussied up and naturally I had to take numerous photos.



Including one with our Game Day faces. (Our thoughts are never too far from football.)



And then off to Terra we went. It wasn't crowded when we arrived so we had our choice of tables. It was such a lovely evening, we decided to sit out on the patio. That ended up being rather hot with the sun shining directly on us, but in the end, once it cooled off and we watched the sunset, it was the perfect choice.



I love having leisurely dinners, particularly at higher end restaurants. And Terra pretty much let us set the pace which was wonderful. The service was absolutely impeccable. Our waitress was patient with all our questions and desire for chit chat and provided stellar recommendations. We started off with a nice, crisp Chardonnay and if I'd written about this immediately, I'd remember the brand. We decided to start out with salads. I ordered the Arugula and Hydro-Cress Salad (w/ beets, prickly-pear dressing, Cabrales blue and piñon-nut clusters) which was so incredibly good. Will had the Grilled Hearts of Romaine Caesar (w/ masa croutons, white anchovies and shaved Spanish Manchego), also excellent, and the masa croutons were to die for. Yum. And before they brought out the salads, they gave us a lovely complimentary treat of salmon and caviar.



I don't remember exactly what the waitress called it, but it was tasty. For our second course we had the Oxtail Ravioli (w/ tomato marmalade, Parmesan broth and parsley oil) because I can never resist anything with oxtails. It was not disappointing. At all.

We decided not to get a bottle of red wine as we thought that would be too much for us. Instead, we went for a half bottle which limited our choices a great deal. We ended up with a Merlot, and again, I don't remember the brand, but I didn't love it. But no matter, these things happen. It didn't take away from the enjoyment of the meal.

Moving on, for our entrees, Will had the Three Little Pigs which is grilled tenderloin in adobo, crispy belly with edamame purée and braised jowl mole-style.



I sampled the crispy belly and dear lord, it's one of the richest things I have ever tasted. Intense. He loved it, a perfect choice for him.

I have a tendency to order duck when we go out and that's what I chose that evening. Roasted Duck Breast served with wild nettles and oyster mushrooms in a cassis sauce.



Delicious. Although if I remember correctly, my greens were fiddlehead ferns, not the wild nettles.

After our entrees, the Executive Chef came out and introduced himself. We were feeling quite heady at that point and the fact that we met the chef made it all the more dreamy. I figured he said hello to everyone, but no, he did not visit all the tables. I guess these fancy resort places definitely know how to make a couple feel special.

We studied the dessert and after dinner drinks menu for quite some time. I'm not so good with straight alcohol so really can't do single malt scotch or anything like that. I considered getting an amaretto but thought it might be too sweet. The waitress recommended Lillet which I've never had. She offered to bring out a small sample and I accepted. In the meantime, we also ordered dessert and Will ordered a single malt scotch of some sort. Before she made it back with our order, the maitre d came out with two glasses of complimentary champagne.

Uh-oh.

So sweet of them, but I was so conflicted. If you know me at all, you probably know that I generally cannot drink champagne unless it is the very first drink that I have. If I mix it in later, it usually leads to bad hangovers the following day. But how could I refuse their anniversary treat? Not to mention that it was quite good champagne. And we had other drinks on the way. This is when we really started wishing we had reserved a room!

I ended up drinking the champagne and fortunately it did not kill me the next day. I also sampled the Lillet which was almost too much for me, but sipping on it seemed to work. I may try it again sometime.

As for dessert, Will partook of their homemade ice creams.



Rocky Road, Guinness and Hazelnut Mocha. He was in ice cream heaven.

I chose the flan which was served with Mexican chocolate ice cream. I don't recall the other details.



It was fantastic and again, so sweet of them to acknowledge our anniversary celebration. The cookie was some sort of amaretto cookie and quite good.

We were so pleased with our whole experience there. Excellent food and service and amazing atmosphere. Loved it. I am dying to go back to eat at the bar and watch the sunset. (The bar menu is more affordable.) Our experience there also prompted us to recommended Terra as a choice for my mom's 70th birthday party and it looks like that's going to happen. Yum.

Oh, and last of all, on our way out, I had to make a stop in the ladies room and couldn't get out before snapping some "mirror in the bathroom" photos.



It was a helluva nice bathroom.

And the saga continues.

I know some of you are waiting to hear about our anniversary dinner and I swear I will get to it, but I just don't have the energy right now.

Sleep? Not my friend lately. Totally avoiding me.

Actually last night, out of desperation, I took a sleeping pill. A whole one, not half like last time. Slept from 9:30 until 4:00am when Simon threw the gate opener on the floor and woke me up. I felt totally woozy but managed to get up and let the cats out. Fell back asleep until 6:00am when my alarm went off. I could barely peel my eyes open. My legs felt like rubber and I could not think straight. I thought maybe it would wear off after awhile, but nope, I felt like crap. I felt just as bad if not worse than when I don't sleep at all. Tired, dizzy, nauseous. Awful. I basically had an emotional meltdown and have been surly all day.

So sleeping pills? Not my friends either. I didn't really want to be friends with them anyway, but I thought maybe I could use them as needed.

I think sleeping pills are bunk. What's the point of getting eight hours of sleep if you still feel like crap? I don't get it.

Here's hoping I sleep tonight.

On the Encantado front, we went out there with my dad for a meeting with a party planner. We're going to have my mom's 70th birthday party there in August. I just love it out there so much. The party is going to be fabulous. I also can't wait to go back and eat in the bar which is along the lines of the Rio Chama bar prices but has much better views.

We grabbed lunch at Tune Up before running some other errands and it was excellent. We shared a BLT and their steak sandwich special. Both were amazing and way better than Flying Star. And I see that they are open for dinner now. Excellent!

Right now I can barely keep my eyes open. I'm awaiting Will to arrive home with the dry mustard that I need for the cole slaw. We're having hot dogs and cole slaw for dinner. And then sleep for dessert. And more sleep. Please.

Milwaukee, Day Three

That night I didn't sleep so well, but it wasn't the fault of the amazing bed. It was all the beer consumed. I did not want to get up. And we were in no rush so we did laze around for quite awhile. We ordered room service for breakfast. (So great to be able to get food without actually leaving the room!) All I wanted is toast and so I ordered toast. When it arrived, it was literally one piece of toast on a plate. I was expecting two pieces. It was kind of funny.

Our only real plan for the day was a trip to the Milwaukee Art Museum (where our friend works now) and dinner at a German restaurant with our friends. Brady offered to pick us up for our trip to the museum. He wanted us to get there in time to see the wings close and open.



Yes, the museum has wings. The Burke Brise Soleil, is a moveable, wing-like sunscreen that rests on top of the Museum’s vaulted, glass-enclosed Windhover Hall. The wings open with the museum in the morning and close with it in the evening. They also close and re-open at noon and that's what Brady wanted us to see. Sadly we missed it. When we arrived, the wings had already closed and they did not re-open due to high winds. It is an absolutely amazing structure though. The whole Museum is pretty incredible. And it is right on Lake Michigan. The views are absolutely incredible.



Due to a lack of sleep, I was having a not so wonderful day. My anxiety from the previous day flared back up and I spent much of the morning feeling like I shouldn't even leave the hotel room. I hate this feeling so much and I have no idea what brings it on when we travel. It frustrates me. I did leave the room and make the trip to the museum, but after that, I didn't want to do much more. Brady drove us back up to the hotel and we all had lunch in the lounge. It was late yet again so Will and I shared a turkey sandwich that was quite tasty. After lunch, Brady took over and we retired to the room for some rest and relaxation. I finally started to feel a little better.

Our dinner plans were to meet at Karl Ratzsch's at 6:30. Karl Ratzsch's is a famous German restaurant in Milwaukee. It's been around since 1904. The restaurant is filled with German art and bric-a-brac and the wait staff decked out in old-style German fashions. It was a fun place to have dinner. And boy did we eat! Took it easy on the beer that night, but they have a ton of German beers on tap so I had a lager and then an amber. I've forgotten which ones though, but both were good. I had a hard time deciding what to order and ended up with Trudy's Sampler - Sauerbraten and Wiener Schnitzel served with Red Cabbage and Potato Dumpling. It was downright awesome. Like all the restaurants, they serve ridiculously sized portions and I could only eat about half. So good though. Will ordered Ratzsch's European Sampler - One-quarter Goose Breast, Wiener Schnitzel, Octoberfest Strudel, Spatzle, and Red Cabbage. Also a huge amount of food and so good. I was super curious about the goose as I've never had it before. It is similar to duck but not as fatty. Tasty.

As for the others, Brady had the Hungarian Goulash - Rich stew of Prime Beef, onion, and paprika served over Spatzle. I got the impression that he wasn't impressed with it because it was as good as the goulash he'd had elsewhere. No meat for Anna so she tried the Kase Spatzle - Sauteed petite German dumplings topped with Spinach, Sun-dried Tomato, Mushrooms, Swiss Cheese and Caramelized Onions. She gave it a good review. And Rachel ordered Chicken Alfredo Strudel - Grilled Chicken, bacon, spinach, and Alfredo sauce wrapped in Phyllo dough and baked to perfection. She said it was the richest thing that she has ever eaten. I didn't taste it, but it looked fabulous.

They all had after dinner drinks which I wish I could remember. Will had some kind of German gin which was really good. I'm not one to drink straight alcohol, but the flavor was super mild and had a hint of vanilla. Brady had some kind of cherry-flavored liqueur which tasted quite nasty to me. Anna had some akin to Goldschläger and I think Rachel's liqueur was honey-flavored. We all shared an apple strudel and a Viennese chocolate torte. Both were delicious. All-in-all Karl Ratzsch's was a great cap to our Milwaukee trip.

I wanted to get a decent night of sleep so we declined more after dinner drinks and took the shuttle back to the hotel.

Next up, the train ride home.

Milwaukee, Day Two.

Have I mentioned the awesome bed? Oh yes, I think I have. Woke up fresh as a daisy after a solid night of sleep, perhaps the best night of sleep I have had in a couple of years. I totally wanted to stay in bed all morning, but Will had places to be so we got up fairly early. It was a work day for him. He had to meet Brady at his place downtown to unload the Penske truck. I decided to opt out on the early meeting and meet up with them later. My original plan was to go down to the fitness center and run on a treadmill for awhile, but that never happened. I'm not a big fan of treadmills (mostly because I am used to running outdoors) and I was so enjoying my leisurely morning, I didn't want to rush to do anything. It was so nice.





Since I skipped my run, I decided to walk downtown to meet Will and Brady. It was cold out again, but the brisk air felt great when I stepped outside. It was about a 2.5 mile walk. Brady lives about three blocks from Lake Michigan in a modern condo/apartment building. A luxury apartment, I guess. He's on one of the higher floors and has excellent views of downtown and the lake.


(Downtown, the southern view.)


(Lake Michigan, the eastern view.)

There's a cool mirror in the lobby that I just remembered. I meant to take a photo of it and totally forgot. Anyway, I arrived in time to help Will with the last load of boxes. Lucky me! We dropped the Penske truck off and took a cab back to the hotel. It was well past noon so we were starving yet again. We went down to the lounge and ended up having a very pleasant lunch. Same bartender from the night before, but he was really nice. He recommended the Rustic Ale which was really good. Will had a chicken schnitzel sandwich that glistened with grease and I had a crab salad sandwich. (It had bacon in it, of course.) Delicious.

The late heavy lunch made us sleepy, but we wanted to tour the Miller Brewing Co. and Sam told us the last tour was at 3:00 so we kind of had to bust a move. We got there just in time to catch the latter half of the movie they show at the beginning. Unfortunately, the shift change is at 3:00 so as we were pulling into the Visitor Center, all the workers were headed out with their lunch coolers in hand. So after the opening movie, when we went to the next section where the bottling and what not happens, there wasn't anyone working! Not so exciting. And yet another video. And for no apparent reason, I started having an anxiety attack so I was having a hard time focusing on anything. We moved onto the shipping area where they have stacks and stacks and stacks of beer. I think the tour guide said it's enough to fill five football fields. And they ship that much out every day! That's a lot of beer.

At that point, I really had to pee. I don't think one is actually allowed to pee during the tour, but we just happened to be standing by a door marked "WOMENS BATHROOM". Unfortunately it also said "EMPLOYEES ONLY". But me being me, I asked if I could use it which in turn pissed off the tour guide. He said I could use it but I better "make it fast". I didn't feel all that much better after that and was wondering how I was going to survive much more of the tour. Fortunately, as we headed to the next station, we went through a door that took us out onto the street. And we bailed on the tour. I felt like a total idiot, but I just couldn't do it. So we missed the end of the tour and the part that involves sampling the beers. Lucky for us, we've sampled most of the Miller beers already, although we were both wondering if there would be any difference in taste at the actual brewery.

We cabbed back to the hotel and got ready to meet Brady for dinner downtown at another brew pub. This one was recommended in the guide book at our hotel, Rock Botton. Will and I had no idea it was a chain otherwise we may have picked one of the others. We sampled many of the beers. I ended up drinking Firehouse Amber or something like that while Will and Brady went from light to dark over the course of the evening. For dinner, Will had chicken fried chicken, a breaded chicken cutlet that was bigger than his head. Seriously. Brady had ribs and I had fish and chips. I was still stuffed from lunch so it was hard to even eat. The fish was really good though. They serve the fish and chips with salmon instead of cod. I'd never had it with salmon before. Tasty. And again, we engaged our waitperson in conversation and wow, she had a lot to say. Once we got her going, she pretty much told us her entire life story. Studying at University of Wisconsin - she has three majors which I can't recall - loves Milwaukee, loves the Packers but thinks Brett Favre handled the whole retirement thing poorly. And no cheese head. She was sweet although I think she got on the boys' nerves.

For some reason, after dinner and many beers, we decided that a drink at the hotel with Brady was in order. So we called the shuttle for pick up. The driver was there in no time at all, talk about service. This time we had Andy, a young fellow from Milwaukee. And, sticking with the football theme, it turns out that during the summer, he plays football in Europe. Not clear on whether or not it's NFL Europe, but I don't think it was. It reminded me so much of the book that I just read about a NFL player who fizzles out in America and ends up in Italy. This kid said he was one of two Americans on the team. A cornerback. Apparently he played some college ball but was never that good (his words) and then he got injured and I don't know, somehow ended up doing the Europe thing. Between the beers and the book that I had read, I was positively delighted and perhaps a bit too enthusiastic about his story. (The books is Playing for Pizza by John Grisham. I've never read Grisham before - he's not really my cup of tea - but a friend gave us the book. So I read it. And it was cute.) And now that I think about it, it was Andy, not the waitperson at Rock Bottom, that was disappointed with Brett Favre.

We stumbled out of the van into the lounge which was pretty packed for a Tuesday night. Will and I had the Rustic Ale again while Brady had something sophisticated, a single malt scotch, I think it was. As we sat there, I realized that one more beer was not such a great idea. The drunkenness was settling in. (Earlier Brad and Will insisted that we weren't getting drunk because we were at a lower altitude. While people are more affected by alcohol at higher altitude, I don't know that this really works in reverse.) We said our good-nights to Brady and called it a night.

From Iowa to Wisconsin.

From Walcott, Iowa, we had about 3.5 or 4 hours to go to Milwaukee. We didn't have to be there at a certain time on Monday so we did not set the alarm for the crack of dawn. I think we hit the road at about 9:00 AM. I made Will take me by The World Largests Truckstop which I have to say was something of a disappointment. It really didn't seem all that large, but I guess the largeness is based on all the amenities and not the size of the truck stop store. They did have some interesting Jesus t-shirts available.



Soon we left Iowa behind, crossed the Mississippi and hit Illinois.



We took I-80 to I-88 to I-39. The interstates through Illinois really sucked. Totally cracked and bumpy. I also noted that east of the Mississippi everything suddenly felt a lot less spacious. Just after the Wisconsin border, we got on I-43 which took us into Milwaukee. Driving into the city, we passed Miller Park, home of the Milwaukee Brewers. We also got a nice view of the Miller Brewing Co. Our hotel, the Ambassador Hotel, was just up the street from Marquette University and near downtown.

We arrived at the Ambassador at about 1:00 PM. It is an historic art deco hotel and quite luxurious for us especially after two nights of roadside motels. It was not particularly expensive, but it was definitely one of the nicest hotels that we have ever stayed. I think we were both pretty wide-eyed the whole time we were there. The hotel has a restaurant and lounge in the lobby. And a coffee shop. A fitness center downstairs. A spa that we did not visit but it was on one of the upper floors. Impeccable service. I could have stayed there forever.

Right off the bat we met Sam, the valet and then some. (Not sure what his official title is.) He helped us unload our luggage onto a cart which he maneuvered upstairs for us. I was all flustered because I had never experienced bellhop service before and had no idea what amount a proper tip might be. I think I did okay though. He was super nice and told us all about the hotel and what was available there and around the city. Our room was fantastic. Large, light and airy. A king-sized bed, a sitting area with a couch, coffee table and wide screen television. A desk and chair with an ethernet cable provided for internet access. Large closet with two plush terry cloth robes in it. A little bar area with sink, small fridge and coffee maker. A nice, sparkling clean bathroom with actual porcelain fixtures. (I hate that plastic shit.) We were seriously stoked.

We were also seriously starved so we headed downstairs to ask Sam where we should lunch. He recommended going downtown and had a variety of suggestions. We were wanting to go to one of the brew pubs so he drove us down to the Water Street Brewery. (The hotel has a complimentary shuttle service that will take guests downtown or to any number of the tourist attractions. It came in handy for us.) On the way downtown, Sam pointed out all the historic buildings and told us a bit about himself. He was born in Germany and moved to Milwaukee with his parents in 1951. He's lived there since and loves it there. He was a fireman for 30 years or so, retired about 5 years ago and took the hotel job as a "hobby" job to keep him off the couch.

The Water Street Brewery was an excellent choice. We were seated and ordered up some of their house brews. We both started with the Honey Lager Light. The beer arrived in glasses as big as our heads. Uh-oh. While we were studying the menu, a sweet old Dodge Aspen pulled up outside. It was a nice maroon color that you don't see anymore. The driver was an older man. He ended up seated at the table behind us with another older gentleman.

Anyway, our young waiter was very nice and not so busy so we chatted him up quite a bit. (I guess I get chatty after a couple of days on the road.) We were excited about being in Milwaukee and just wanted to find out more. It also reminded us a lot of Pittsburgh. We ordered some food and then got to talking. He'd been in Milwaukee for a few years, moved there to attend the University of Wisconsin. I think he said he's studying business. He really loves it there but has dreams of going west, possibly to California. And then came the big question:

"Where are you from?"

"Green Bay."

You can imagine what came next. A whole lot of Brett Favre and football talk. He loves Brett, loves football and was more than happy to talk about it with us. Said that most Green Bay fans watched all the Jets games last season as well. He said that in fact, the station in Green Bay actually aired more of the Jets games than they normally would. I asked him if he has a cheese head. Of course, he does! His grandparents have season tickets and so he goes to at least one or two games a season. He said that it's the most amazing experience, seeing a game at Lambeau Field. Apparently a lot of people put their kids on the waiting list for tickets when they are born because it takes something like 50 years for the name to come up. He was bummed that his parents hadn't done that and only recently put his name on the list. He confirmed that most people in Wisconsin are Packers fans. Bears fans are not well liked there, but there doesn't seem to be too much hatred of the Steelers.

We did manage to have lunch too. Will ordered a Scotch Egg for starters. (We toasted Sheryl before taking the first bite.) He had the Smoked Sausage Platter which consisted of Usinger smoked beef sausage (flavored with their lager beer) and smoked link kielbasa, charbroiled and served with red cabbage, freshly sautéed spätzle. I picked the Old World Selection: Usinger Bratwurst and Stuttgarter Knackwurst, charbroiled and served with German potato salad and fresh sauerkraut.



Both platters were pretty mind-blowing. Usinger sausage is some of the best we've ever had. We also had another round of beers. Will tried the Pale Ale and I had the Water Street Amber. Both were really good and suited our tastes. And oh my god, we were so full. And so happy. Free and easy in Milwaukee.

As we got up to leave, the older gentleman with the maroon Aspen asked us where we were from and we ended up chatting with both gentlemen for a few minutes. People in Milwaukee are so friendly! We headed back to our hotel with a side trip to the bronze statue of the Fonz that's near the river. Pictures will come once I have gotten to my pile of photos to scan. We decided to walk back to our hotel and while it was nice to stretch our legs, man, it was cold. Bitterly cold. Our cheeks were apple red and frozen. Will said he lost feeling in his butt. I had no problems there since I have much more padding to keep me warm!

After dropping our coats in the room, we headed down to the lounge for a drink. They had a nostalgic drink menu that made me think of the LUPEC ladies. I had a vodka rickey which is nothing fancy, just vodka, seltzer and lime. It was good, but we weren't that into the lounge. The bartender was not so friendly and they were playing really loud not so good jazz music. We finished our drinks and headed back upstairs for some hardcore relaxing. It was such a lovely evening of wine, an episode of House and Cobb salads from room service. (First time ordering room service for both of us!) And I slept through the night in our oh so heavenly bed with the oh so heavenly fluffy comfortable.

From New Mexico to Iowa

I tend to be long-winded when recapping vacations. Or I don't write about them at all. I'm going to go ahead and write about this one, if only for my own memory's sake.

For the record, I ended up taking four cameras: Polaroid SLR 680, Holga, Canon SD800 IS and Pentax K1000. I also ended up not taking a whole lot of pictures. It just turned out to be a trip that wasn't heavy on the photo opportunities.

We headed out on I-25 North last Saturday morning, Will behind the wheel of the 16-foot Penske truck filled with our friends' belongings.



I hadn't been past Pecos on I-25 North since about 1993 when I took a road trip to Vail and Breckenridge. It's a pretty drive through north eastern New Mexico and southern Colorado. I just love the washed out pale color of winter in New Mexico and going north, it seemed even more intense.



There were many photo ops along the way, but alas, we were on a mission and had not time for such stops. (The huge gnarly trees, the shiny red barn, the river area that looked like the perfect haunt for La Llorona.)



That area of New Mexico is rather flat compared to Santa Fe, although you can see the peaks of Pecos Wilderness and the Taos Mountains in the far distance. We started seeing herds of animals that weren't deer or elk but kind of looked like deer or elk. We finally decided that they were antelope. I didn't even know we had antelope here in New Mexico.

Heading into Colorado, we hit the mountains again and it was quite lovely. I was content just looking out the windows at the passing landscape. Before we hit Denver, we got off I-25 and headed east on I-76. (Both of us had hoped to go through the city of Denver, but alas, it wasn't to be.) In that direction, the landscape shifted back to grasslands and cows. Pretty, but I have to admit that after awhile I got bored with the view and pulled out my knitting. We had planned to drive for about two more hours after Denver, but when we hit that mark in Sterling, it was only five o'clock and it felt too early to stop. Onward we went only to find ourselves in the middle of no man's land with exit after exit with no services. We set our sites on Julesburg, Colorado as a stopping point, but when we got there, it didn't look too appealing. A one motel exit and a closed Subway. And it was dark enough to seem vaguely menacing, like a horror movie to be. Onward into Nebraska we went. I decided to place our bets on Ogallala because I liked the name. And sure enough, it was a good one. A handful of motel choices and, even better, a restaurant that was not a chain. Or fast food! We ate at the Spur Steakhouse and it was awesome. The waitstaff was super friendly, the atmosphere had a touch of the old west to it and the food was great. Will had a rib eye steak (we were in Nebraska after all) that he said was one of the best he's had. I went for an old favorite of mine, chicken fried steak. It was excellent. They use a light cracker crust instead of the heavy breading and it was just so good. We were happy eaters.



I forget what all the motel choices were, but we went with Comfort Inn because it was a bit further away from the interstate and we generally have good luck with that chain. This was one had a rather grubby feel to it, but whatever, at that point we wanted to relax. I actually slept through the night which was a nice treat.

The next morning we were up bright and early, ready to hit the road again. We were on I-80 East all the way across Nebraska and into Iowa. I pretty much knit my way across Nebraska because again, while it's pretty, it's all cows and grasslands and it gets rather monotonous after awhile. That day our plan was to get a couple hours east of Des Moines. Along the way we decided that Iowa City would be a good stopping point. Will was tired and we were both getting hungry for real food. So of course we managed to miss the Iowa City exit. We ended up stopping in Walcott, about an hour down the way. We got lucky again in the food department. It wasn't the Spur by any means, but it was also way better than Wendy's. The place was called the Checkered Flag Bar & Grille and as you might guess, the decor was all about car racing. And they had NASCAR on all the televisions. We went for the pork that night. Will had a Philly Cheesesteak with pork...a Philly Cheesepork? I forget what it was called. And I wanted something simple so I ordered the unbreaded pork tenderloin sandwich. When it arrived, it had cheese and bacon on it. Bacon on my pork. The pork was underwhelming, the bacon was awesome. (Little did we know at that point that in Milwaukee, they put bacon on just about everything.)

That night we chose the Days Inn. It was vaguely less cardboard box looking than the Comfort Inn. We got caught in conversation with Mark at the front desk for far longer than our weary selves wanted but finally escaped to our slight less claustrophobic room than the night before. The sheets looked like they had been washed about a million times, as if the place hadn't bought sheets in a decade. Seriously. Clean but a little creepy. I didn't sleep quite as well that night, but it was okay.

Delirious.

I wasn't going to post today because I am dead tired, but I'll give it a shot.

Last night we had dinner with friends at the Rio Chama bar, one of our regular spots. Said friends are moving to Milwaukee soon and dinner turned into quite a feast. Here's what was on the table:

Pan Roasted Duck Breast with Crispy Duck Spring Roll served with red lentils with swiss chard and a hoisin-chipotle sauce. (This was my meal and it was excellent.)

Seared Diver Scallops with Saffron-Vanilla Buerre Blanc served with corn cakes and vegetable julienne. (I've had this before and it is simply amazing. Always a nice treat to get good scallops in New Mexico.)

Cinnamon-Chile Rubbed Beef Tenderloin Medallions
Two Medallions of Sterling Silver natural-fed Angus beef grilled to order with chipotle cheddar mash, almond green beans, and mango salsa. (Had a bite of the tenderloin and it was mind-blowing.)

Braised Buffalo Short Rib with Fig Barbeque Sauce served with jalapeno-cheddar cornbread. (I've had this dish before too and it is super rich and super tasty.)

I didn't feel like dessert, but I did have a Smith and Kerns, a simple drink that I don't believe I ever knew about. Kahlua, cream and club soda. Quite tasty.

Anyway, good times were had and we got home early enough. I went to bed at around 9:30 or 10:00, as I am prone to do. Woke up at 12:42 with dreams of felting flower petals lingering in my head. I got up to drink a glass of water and immediately knew that I wasn't going to be falling asleep again. I felt wide wake. What happened to the nights of at least sleeping through until 3:00 or 4:00 in the morning?! I would welcome a night like that. I realize some of you probably aren't even in bed at 12:42am, but for me it is not a time that I like to be awake. I found myself on the couch, hoping for a good late night movie, but no such luck. Instead I watched an episode of House. The guy who used to play Buffy's non-vampire boyfriend was the ailing patient in it. After that it was super slim pickings and I ended up watching an episode of Law & Order from 1991! Samuel L. Jackson and Philip Seymour Hoffman were both in it. And nobody had cell phones.

I went back to bed at 3:00am and discovered that Will was awake. We talked for a few minutes and then he ended up going out to the living room to watch television. I did finally sleep a bit, or at least I assume I did since I had a few dreams, but it wasn't good sleep and I felt like death warmed over this morning. What's the deal? Last year around this time my insomnia got increasingly worse as well. I wonder what it is? All I know is that I want to be rested up for the Big Game on Sunday.

Needless to say, today hasn't been a super productive day, although we did manage to complete most of our errands. We were both functioning in slow motion mode and spent far too much time gazing at various card selections, trying to pick cards out for upcoming birthdays. This afternoon I did manage to get halfway through knitting bag number six. I'll finish it this evening and felt it tomorrow.

I have some rambling to do about football, but I'll save it for tomorrow. Which is finally Friday. (I've thought every day was Friday since yesterday.)

Is it Sunday yet?

I'm so excited about the game on Sunday, I can hardly stand it. (An obvious sign that perhaps I have too much time on my hands.) One thing of the things that I have been obsessing about is the Game Day menu. We always have a nice array of snacks: chips and salsa, brie and crackers, Utz Pub Mix, peanuts, veggies and onion dip, green chile and cream cheese tortilla wraps. Sometimes Will busts out his spinach artichoke dip. Oh and cheese balls, but we didn't buy another barrel of them after the last one grossed us out with all the oil at the bottom. And part of my fun on Sunday mornings is getting out all the serving plates and preparing all the snacks.

But now it's the play-offs. And we got a crock pot for Christmas. So we're stepping things up a bit. BBQ pulled pork (and Riblets for the vegetarians). Cole slaw, potato salad and baked beans. Yum. I'm going to make the cole slaw and baked beans on Saturday. It'll help curb some of the game anxiety. I've never actually made baked beans before. Reading the recipe, here's me: "oh, you actually *bake* baked beans. Duh. I have to leave out the pork and bacon though so that everyone can eat them. I bet they'll still be good.

So we went out this morning and hit two grocery stores and the beer store and hopefully we're done. (When it comes to grocery shopping, we never seem to be done. It's ridiculous. One Sunday morning, Will went out to pick up some things while I prepared the snacks. Upon his return, we discovered the baby carrots were bad and god forbid we don't have baby carrots for the game so I had to go back out. And today we forgot the cabbage for the cole slaw, but at least it hit me while we were still in the parking lot.) Game Day gets expensive after awhile. But we love feeding our friends.

I really wanted to get some cheesy black and gold decorations or plates and napkins or something, but you know, you just can't find that sort of thing this far away from Pittsburgh. I settled for some cheesy football plates and napkins from Target. Perhaps I need to make a trip to Pittsburgh so I can stock up on Steelers paraphernalia for next season.

But because we've had to run around so much this week, I've hardly gotten anything else done. I'm still not doing so well with the focusing and time management thing.