And Just Like that 10 YEARS are gone!

I can't believe it's been over 10 years since I visited my present to make sure I would remember it in the future. Looking back on the posts and thinking about the past decade, I'm pretty sure the memories are on Facebook.  I seldom think as hard about photos I've snapped or thoughts I've posted as I did about these blog posts. I'm going to try and be better about reflecting and recording...  And, even if it's just for me, that's enough.

It was pleasant to look back at Dubai, and Nick's, and maybe I'll try and reflect on some of the things I've captured in the past 10 years so in the further future I can look back and smile and/or be thankful for the learning. 

To get started, this is what the moon looked like, on the night of the best lunar eclipse in the past or next 500 years from Broad Brook, CT  :-)

2011: New Year's Resolutions

It feels like life is flying by! 2010 blew by and I only managed to summarize what we had been up to once. Last year we did not have any big trips: California in January/February was really the only excitement. There were many excellent meals at Nick's on Broadway (about once a month). We also frequented the Mill@2t. We continue to endeavor to locate and support local chefs that use local ingredients.

At work, I have a resolution to have no more than 10 e-mail in my inbox (not filed into appropriate folders).

At home, I have many more:

• Get the garage built
• Keep up with chores better
• Exercise on the wii to keep my mii happy
• Update the blog at least once a quarter

________________________________________

2011 is stacking up to be an exciting year!

• January had a trip to New York City - James Beard house dinner
• Planning a trip to California for Easter
• July is Jason's wedding in Michigan

I don't remember what went on between Valentine's day and the end of April - that's why I'm suppose to update this thing... based on Facebook I spent some of those months farming an imaginary farm and tending imaginary fish. Mother's day in San Diego - and of course visits to Nick's on Broadway.

Dinner @ Nick's on Broadway: 4/30/2010

- Spring salad with walnut and honey vinaigrette
- Carrot & Parsnip Soup
- Scallop on pea greens with citrus
- Haddock on carrot puree with spring peas
- Smoked Chicken Salad on a roasted bread
- Roast Duck on fiddleheads and wild mushrooms with barley and star anise au jus
- Amuse bouche: Grapefruit sorbet & Champagne
- Sirloin with roast fingerlings, asparagus and videlia onion
- Chocolate and fruit - chocolate ganache, chocolate sorbet, chocolate custard and sliced grapes, blueberries, blackberries, and mint

And I forgot my camera, so I don't have pictures for the blog, but it was some of the prettiest food that we have had at Nick's! It made me promise myself to not forget my camera again.

Dinners at Nick's on Broadway

After our December dinner, we didn't make it back to Nick's until Valentines Day. Brian and Alice went with us. We were a little disappointed that we didn't get to see the variety of dishes leaving the kitchen, but the dishes that Derek prepared were delicious

http://nicksonbroadway.com/site/valentines-day-tasting-menu/

Saint Valentine’s Day Tasting Menu
February 13th + 14th 2010

Welcome to our Valentine’s celebration meal at nicks! Our very special menu includes four courses (with surprises) for just $50 per person (exclusive of beverage, tax and gratuity). Wine pairings are available with each course ($5 per course).

Please let your server know of any allergies. Enjoy!

‘At first we meet’
Golden potato + watercress soup with crème fraiche + olive oil or Butter-roasted sea scallops with cauliflower puree, frisee + citrus sauce

‘A second glance’
Sweet potato + celery root cake with baby greens salad + black pepper aioli or Crispy-skin salmon with creamy kale, thyme + allspice

‘Dinner for two’
Butternut squash risotto with parmesan, chives + fresh herbs or Petite Hereford Sirloin with French fingerlings, pork belly, onions + spiced port wine

‘Sweets for my sweet’
Tasting of dark chocolate pots de crème, chocolate truffle, clove-cocoa biscuits + red wine caramel with citrus fruits, berries + mint

Happy Valentine’s Day from all of us at nicks!


By Valentine's Day, we were on an every month and a half plan, so we were shooting for the end of March. I'm sure we made it, but I don't have what we ate written down, and I don't remember, that's why I started writing down what we ate in April...

Discovery of Nick's on Broadway in Providence, RI

In December, we planned to go to Providence, RI to see Avatar on the Providence Place IMAX 3D screen. It was an amazing movie! Of course, in our planning, we considered dinner a critical part of the plan. Stephen went to Trip Advisor, I went to Food Network - we both found this restaurant called Nick's on Broadway. So, we figured that we would give it a try.
It has become one of our favorites, we go back about once a month for the chef's tasting menu - 6 courses, and we have been writing down the dishes in our journal.

Other odd and entertaining things in Napa

There were a couple of crazy things we saw in Napa this time:
The Heitz Cellars Tasting Room had a miniature pincer that loved to sit in the fire place.


One morning we went to a breakfast place that had great muffins and eggs benedict. We sat near the restrooms, and I couldn't help myself - I had to take a picture!

Food in California

There was nothing that compared to "The French Laundry" of the 2009 trip, but we did finally make it to Taylor's Refresher.


We had to go twice, because the first time we got fish tacos and the Ahi tuna burger - which were both AWESOME!


We went back and got beef burgers, and I thought that the Ahi tuna burger was more interesting and better than the beef burger, but it was a very delicious beef burger.

All of the food on the trip was great! Liam's birthday dinner was pretty amazing also!

The Fog in Napa

Everywhere we went, people were complaining about the cold and the rain. Coming from Connecticut, we had little sympathy.

Nonetheless, it made Stag's Leap look very cool.


It also made the trip to Terra Valentine, which is at the top of Spring Mountain, sort of scary. Stephen and I felt like we were headed into the woods of Elron in Middle Earth. The trip was well worth it, the estate is something to behold and the wine was so tasty, Stephen joined the wine club - that makes five...

2010 January Napa Vineyard List

• Flora Springs - The Estate (visit #2) (wc)
  
• Heitz Cellars
  
• Ma(i)sonry
• Robert Craig Tasting Room
• Paraduxx (wc)
  
• Chappellet - (visit #2) (wc)
  
• Darioush
• Flora Springs - The Room
  
• Terra Valentine (wc)
  
• Domaine Chandon
• Robert Sinskey
• Shafer
  

It's been a while: January 2010 Napa & San Diego

It has been quite some time since we updated our blog, but we have not been idle. In January, we went to Napa Valley and San Diego for Liam's Birthday!



Napa was very rainy, but it was nice to visit in the off-season. There were several tastings where we were the only people at the tasting, where in May 2009, we would have been hardly able to get in on the tastings.




In the end, we visited 11 vineyards, some old some new.



Stephen kept the car out of the ditch, and the vineyards were actually beautiful. Next time we go in the winter, we will go after Liam's birthday for the Mustard Festival.

Vermont - Cheese trail trip

Stephen and I had this phenomenal cheese at a wine and cheese festival in Connecticut from Lake Champlain, Vermont - and of course Cabot in Vermont - then in Houston this past weekend, I looked through the Wine Spectator Cheese list and of course there were more VT cheeses in there... So, we decided to explore some Vermont cheeses this weekend. We started with the Grafton Cheddar in Brattleboro - well, actually it is based in Grafton, but it has opened a wine and cheese store in Brattleboro. I got some Christmas gifts - but I think I am going to have to go back for more =) Eventually, we got to Cabot - following the TomTom directions up some 1.5 lane roads to get there...

It was CRAZY crowded!!! but the video was cool, and more christmas gifts were found. The dogs got a large jumbone and when we got back to the car were curled up in their beds...

Then we programmed in the hotel in Burlington and Stephen looked at me when it said "Do you want to avoid unpaved roads?" and we thought back to San Francisco - and the toll road avoidance that cost 3 extra hours and hit "No" to indicate we would brave unpaved roads on the rainy, foggy, Vermont Saturday... Then we ended up in a cemetary, on a grass path - exactly where the TomTom wanted us to be...

Stephen decided that before we repeated the Napa off-road experience, we should turn around and head back to civilization - the paved road path was going to take 6 extra minutes... So, off on the paved alternate route we headed! Tomorrow, we may try to hit the Magic Hat #9 Brewery, and a couple more creameries.

Rest in Peace - Grannie - Juanita M. Vinson (9/9/2009)

My grandmother passed away on Sept. 9th, 2009. She had three years more than the doctors thought she was going to have. She always had sugar for her grandchildren - and fried okra, and creamed corn, and pies. I am thankful that she is no longer in pain. I will miss the love that she always had for her family and the sugar (emotional and real) that she was always ready to give.

______________________________

Juanita Melton Vinson, Houston, Tx.

1924 - 2009

Juanita Vinson

Juanita Melton Vinson, age 84, of Houston, TX, formerly of Selma, died Wednesday September 9, 2009.
She was preceded in death by her husband whom she married on February 26, 1944 in Dallas, TX, James Woodrow Vinson, who died on November 10, 1999. Also preceding her in death is her grandmother and grandfather, Media Ophelia Southern Smith and Zacariah Smith, her mother and father, Docia Lee Smith Melton Leachman and Boyce LaRue Melton.
Survivors include her son, James Woodrow Vinson, Jr. and wife Alice of Houston, TX; granddaughter, Elizabeth Florence Vinson of Westfield, CT; grandson, James Lester Vinson and his wife Stephanie Green Vinson of San Diego, CA; great-grandson, William “Liam” Vinson, and her nieces Barbara Bevans Griffin of Vidor, TX and Beverly Bevans Parks of West Monroe, LA.
Juanita was born September 29, 1924 in Chatham, Louisiana. She served eighteen years as Administrative Assistant to the Director of the Dallas County Health Department where she retired in 1988. She was the past state president of Alabama Business and Professional Women’s Association, a Member of West End Baptist Church Sunshine Class and a volunteer Coordinator for the American Cancer Society.
Graveside services will be held Saturday September 12, 2009 at 3:00 p.m. at New Live Oak Cemetery with Lawrence Brown-Service Funeral Home directing. The family will receive friends from 9-11 a.m. Saturday September 11, 2009 at the funeral home.
Please visit http://www.lawrencebrownservice.com to make online condolences to the family.

Busy Summer - transitioning to fall

Well, I never got the California Old Faithful pictures posted - but it exists, we went and it blew several times while we were there.
http://www.oldfaithfulgeyser.com/

We saw the goats and roses, it was fun.

The I got home and went to Florida for work for a month. Stayed there til the tornado came through Wethersfield.




Now fall is coming in like a Lion - temperatures are dropping and leaves are changing.

Favorite Wine Tasting Experience

It was amazing - all the beautiful places and friendly faces in Napa valley. I took a few pictures of some of the places we went - and the things that we did...

It was interesting to taste Opus One (a vineyard/winery that makes only one wine, but makes one phenomenal wine), but the high brow atmosphere was not as enjoyable as the wine was....


Grgich Hills makes phenomenal wine, and has one of each of the bottle sizes in the tasting room - it was interesting to see a Nebuknezzar, or Balthazar bottle.... the tasting room was similar to many in Connecticut or Temecula - a bar around the room and people waiting to get to the bar for a tasting... the Fume Blanc was my favorite white wine I tasted.


Mumm was fun - Alice did a blind tasting... Brian and Alice had picked a tasting of different vintage champagnes.... Alice finished off most of their tasting having to "revisit" the glasses to be confident in the one that she had previously identified as her favorite... SOoooo... Later at Duckhorn - Brian decided he needed to do a blind tasting of the tastey reds that we were trying... He polished off most of the glasses at this tasting... the blind taste test was a phenomenal scheme to get most of a tasting all to yourself...


In the end of our exploring on our own, my favorite tasting experiences were the smaller vineyards that required reservations. Although, I think my most favorite experience was at Paraduxx - where we didn't exactly have a reservation... After our tasting at Duckhorn (oh, and I need Stephen to post the Almond recipie - I didn't bring that to Florida with me), our host suggested that we visit Paraduxx, and she gave us 2 complementary tastings. The tasting area was outside on a crushed stone patio under large shade trees. Oh and the wine was wonderful! Parajaxx - Rose' and three vintages of Paraduxx 2004, 2005, 2006. The 2004 was phenomenal, 2005 was interesting... 2006 will be great next year!


So, we will complete the list, but also keep our eyes out for other interesting small vineyards with spectacular tasting experiences. =)

Napa Wine Tasting

There are somewhere close to 500 vineyards/wineries in Napa Valley... So, I looked for some help in down-selecting to the ones we ought to really try and visit. I read books and looked online, but there were so many that were recommended. Then I found out that a guy I work with lived in the area for many years. He gave me a list of ~22 to visit, and Jonathan Edwards Winery had a suggestion list with a couple more...

The most important thing that we found was the Preiser Key - free magazine, with "to scale" maps and every winery listed and identified as open to the public, requiring reservations, private... It also had most of the restaurants!

Visited May 2009:

• Stag's Leap Wine Cellars
• Robert Mondavi
• Opus One
• Cakebread Cellars
• Mumm Napa Valley
• Beaulieu Vineyard
• Duckhorn
• Paraduxx
• Frog's Leap
• Grgich Hills
  
• Beringer Vineyard
• Chappellet
• Flora Springs
• Cardinale

Yet to Visit:

• Hess Collection
• Silverado Vineyard
• Robert Sinskey
• Far Niente Winery
• Groth Vineyard
• Franciscan Oakville Estate
• Caymus Vineyard
• Heitz Cellars
• Joseph Phelps Vineyard
• Merryvale Napa Valley
• Rombauer Vineyard
• Clos du Val Wine Co
• Mayacamas Vineyard
• Trefethen Vineyard - Kitchen stadium
• Carneros
• Del Gatto Caves

TomTom tourism

I do not understand the TomTom's logic for directing travel... it seems that there is some logic setting so that the TomTom avoids left turns... but it has generally gotten us where we were trying to go.... So, we left the parking garage in San Francisco, and programed the TomTom for our next destination. It directed us on some random path - away from the Bay Bridge (which we knew we needed to get to)... but we trusted that it would get us there eventually...

We turned onto a street that appeared to go straight up... Stephen says I hope we don't have to go to the top of this hill... Of course we did...

At the top of the hill we could see the Bay Bridge and water... At the stop sign the TomTom directed us to turn right - and OMG! The Transamerica Building - front and center!!!! YAY!

Seems like the GPS needs to have an option to drive you optimum intersections for photo ops. =)

One last shot.... Transamerica Building

We spent several days in Napa tasting wine - I'll write about that later (didn't take many pictures since we were busy tasting). After 4 days of tasting, we needed a break, so we went back to San Francisco to find Dim Sum. Since our flight was very early, we would be coming across the bay bridge in the dark... so heading into San Francisco for Dim Sum was my last chance to get a picture of the elusive Transamerica building...

So, we got on the Bay Bridge and I started taking pictures... but the building kept dodging behind the neighboring buildings (note the enormous cruise ship docked).

We got all the way across the bridge and I thought, "Well, rats, no good pictures...oh well."

So, we went to Chinatown and wandered around. Found a Dim Sum Buffet, but that was no good for Stephen, so we back-tracked to a place that looked more like the Golden Pearl in Boston. The Dim Sum was good - but no custard pies... =(

Then we headed back to Napa - and let the TomTom take us home...

Science Center @ Golden Gate Bridge Park (Day2 SF)

The second day in San Francisco we headed out to find the Science Center and Golden Gate Bridge. This time we put the Golden Gate Park into the TomTom AND looked at some maps before we hit the road.

The Golden Gate Bridge is beautiful - and amazing.







The Golden Gate Park was interesting... I don't know what they did to their trees - they looked pretty weird. There is an art museum on one side and a science center on the other. The Science center was recommended in several of the tourist books - it is an aquarium/natural science center - lots of fish and critters, and dioramas to show the larger critters. The most amazing thing was the rain forest globe. There was a spiral walkway around the outer edge of the globe - and you walked from the forest floor to the canopy, then took an elevator down to below the pond at the bottom of the rain forest into the primary aquarium area.

We didn't make it to Ghiradelli Square, or ride a trolley car, or walk out on the Golden Gate Bridge, but we had fun and are going to have to come back some day... Brian and Alice were waiting for us at the airport. As we got back to the airport, there was another display of the crazy fog fingers in the hills of San Francisco...