FauxPas

I rarely think to take photos anymore! But recently, I made Marcella Hazan's Bolognese sauce. On a pasta kick, I also made lasagne. This is a piece about to be reheated. Ate a late lunch/early dinner in a town north of us at a little Filipino-owned café, tried the chicken adobo. Quite good, but I think mine is just as good, ha. Also had a lovely dinner at a local Italian restaurant which sadly is closing, as owner is retiring. So many items are from the local Valley farms. We did the chef's 5-course tasting menu with wine pairings. Amuse-bouche was a small arancini and had that with a Negroni Bianco. Followed by a wonderful salad featuring gorgeous pink radicchio, beets, other greens, water buffalo cream cheese, balsamico and the most amazing proscuitto (?) or some kind of ham. The button on the top left says "Last night a Negroni saved my life." 🙂 Then Anolini in Brodo. Filled with bison meat sourced from a herd just north of us. Gnocchi Vongole came next. Followed by a slow-cooked chuck roast. So tender, with a gravy and leek oil. A potato croquette, roasted kalettes with a crunchy garlic topping, can't remember the purée details, but it was good. Finally, a flourless chocolate cake, which I sampled before taking a photo. 🙂 Part of the outdoor patio/deck area, too cool to be open that night. Sorry this place is closing, it had a lot going for it. 😞 And finally, thought I would share one of my worst room-service dinner experiences. I had a very long and slightly stressful day over in Vancouver and was dog-tired when I got to the hotel. I was pleased with my room as I was able to upgrade to a suite using some of my Marriott points. It's a nice hotel, fairly upscale, right downtown near the waterfront and I was looking forward to a nice relaxing evening. I was given access to the Concierge Lounge and had a much-appreciated vodka+soda from the honour bar. There were some nice charcuterie offerings along with some kind of hot appy and some turkey sliders, but I decided to pass as I was looking forward to a quiet dinner in my room. But the concierge put out some choux pastries and I couldn't resist trying one. Turns out I should have stayed in that pleasant Lounge and made a complete dinner from their little buffet. Off to my room but the room service menu was disappointing. I should have used Uber Food or Skip the Dishes (I kept thinking about Thai) but for some inexplicable reason, I ordered a cheese burger from room service. Rather a boring choice and it turned up packed in a flimsy cardboard and plastic tub, dropped off in a paper bag sans china or cutlery. No cart, no cloth napkin. I'm embarrassed to admit how much it cost! (And of course the lounge offerings were complimentary, should have stayed, ha.) I have to go back in a few months, will definitely do something different for dinner and/or pick different hotel.

Risotto, hahahahahahaha! 😄 Whew, ok the Canadian clichés were definitely there. Glad they didn't push that theme any further. The foods assigned to each of the regions (even the number and arrangement of the regions) was limited. Oh well, I guess there's only so much they can introduce in the first show. They certainly didn't show much of Toronto. And I guess that's just the first stop in this season? My problem is that we already have Top Chef Canada and I think it's a pretty well done show and seems much more sophisticated and nuanced when it comes to Canadian food and regions. So unless they step up their game, I'm going to be a bit disappointed. But I've only seen one episode so I hope they surprise me! I also watched the first episodes of Last Chance Kitchen and The Dish with Kish, both of which I enjoy as much as the Top Chef episodes themselves. I'd like to know how they pick the seemingly random surprise additions on LCK. I got a little tired of hearing what good friends Kristen and Brooke are, but it was still nice to see Brooke and I liked the dish she picked to make! Overall, I'm really happy to watch another season and I just hope they show off Canada's diverse culinary and regional delights!

Good bit of detective work there, it certainly would take me a while to figure it out! PJ looks to be digging a very big hole. How deep does he go? 🙂

Wow, thank you for sharing! Looks pretty impressive for cooking on the fly! The Crown Royal whisky made me smile. 🙂

Kinda wanted to see some photos of your work fare now. 🙂

Those things only last for a heartbeat anyway - start to cut and they're lost, ha. 🙂

I'm pretty sure they will enjoy it, looks really tasty! I'd love a piece! 🙂 It might have been fun to smooth the icing on top and use a bit of your cocoa powder to do a beer mug or something but that would have meant finding/making a stencil. Something like the image below. The Guinness Harp would be cool, but I think it would be hard to do. https://www.walmart.com/ip/Beer-Bottle-Mug-Glass-Stencil-Template-Reusable-8-5-x-11-for-Painting-on-Walls-Wood-Etc-By-Stencilville/293151931?classType=REGULAR Also, I'm interested in your oven shelf issues!

It always seems to be a week behind here, but I'm looking forward to watching it next Thursday. 🙂

I was going to guess grapefruit or guava! 🙂

Absolutely, but most of these seem to have quite a bit of sugar or sweetener of some kind (marmalade, honey, etc).

Ranch dressing maybe? There are several commercial choices but it's pretty easy to make your own with yogurt and/or buttermilk, some spices and herbs. Lots of recipes online if you want to do it yourself. Maybe a peanut sauce? Again, lots of recipes online. It doesn't have to be too spicy. I like sweet chili sauce with a bit of heat, but that might have more sugar than you want. There are variations of Chick-Fil-A sauce, which I don't think I've ever tasted, but it would give you a way to use some of your BBQ sauce to make something different. Like this one, though there are more versions around online. https://abeautifulmess.com/chick-fil-a-sauce/ Or this one: https://dwardcooks.com/healthy-copycat-chick-fil-a-sauce/

Yeah, I went back to see if saffron was on the list. 🤣

I often prefer those smaller ones! That size just makes more sense sometimes. Only problem I have with the bagged ones is that they seem to ripen all at once and therefore need to be eaten pretty much all at once. 🙂 I should probably purée and freeze a few when I buy them that way.

One thing I do miss about Arizona!

I love your new home-away-from-home! And so pleased to read of your adventures once again! Are the critters being good travelling companions? 🙂