Monday, 3/6 -- heading home

We were up early, showering and getting a decent breakfast.  And finishing up a few things that were still cluttering up the refrigerator.  The avocados, from Emilio's "farm" (actually a big backyard) nearby are smooth and rich, so much nicer than even good avocados here.  We EACH ate one!

Time to go ... we get the various luggage pieces into the vehicle and one of Martha's relatives drives us to the bus station.  He was able to stand with us until the bus did arrive, to ensure that we got on the correct vehicle as many do go to Vallarta.  Some are more local, ours was an express.

We had reserved front-row seats with the notion that we'd have a clear view of the road.  But we hadn't anticipated that we were actually going to the movies -- the curtains were drawn, and there was a shade across the window in front of us (dividing the passenger section from the driver's area).  The first movie seemed vaguely familiar, and I realized that I was watching Morgan Freeman speaking perfect (I supposed) Spanish.  Looking a bit closer, it became obvious that what he was enunciating bore no relation to what I was hearing -- the show was dubbed.  It turned out to be "Now You See Me" which entertained us for a little over half the trip.

That somewhat dark film was followed by a totally frothy Mexican movie about two sisters getting married, one almost not to the right guy.  While we couldn't piece everything together clearly, it was amusing and ... just a bit too long.  We missed the final resolution, but were certain that the young lady would wind up with the right fellow in the end.

A quick cab ride to the airport and get checked in.  There were few people around, the lines moved quickly which was a nice start.  Then we realized the escalators to the departure floor were not running ... and THEN found that one of the two small elevators was out of commission as well.  Yikes!  Fortunately we were able to tuck in with another couple and get upstairs comfortably.

We assessed our lunch options and decided to eat in a table-service venue just outside of security.  Linda enjoyed flautas, Claudette enchiladas.  I was going home -- burger and fries for this kid.

Security is simpler in Mexico, we were through the screening in short order.  Then fought our way through two separate retail hallways ... oh, the endless SPECIAL OFFERS ... and managed to get to the gate.  As of last night, Linda and I still had an empty seat between us, but it didn't last.  We did get a pleasant row-mate though, a young man probably in his early 20's who was good company.

Back at O'Hare, we were able to land before the wind was TOO fierce and before the storm front came by, for which we were certainly grateful.  Claudette endured some complications as (make a note to your own future self!) her actual, physical FINGERPRINTS have worn off sufficiently that they don't "read" well on the scanner.  So she had to go prove herself, but was not long delayed.

Our taxi driver got us home promptly, and speaking for myself, it was early to bed and plan to sleep in tomorrow morning.  Another pleasant stay in Mexico completed!

And, as promised, here's the progress report on the needlework:

Sunday 3/5 -- getting organized for travel

Well, our final day in Tepic has dawned.  We have good bakery and good avocados vying for our attention at breakfast, and we're doing a decent job of emptying the smaller containers of leftovers so as not to leave TOO many mysteries in the refrigerator.

You'll recall that I'd whipped up a batch of Gabe's Favorite Bread earlier in the week, and Martha was anxious to round out her learning.  In the spirit of "using up," we used the remainder of the whole-wheat flour and most of the rest of the all-purpose.  And the other aseptic box of condensed milk.  And a yeast packet.  The result was a very pleasant milk bread with a nice whole-wheat kick to it.  Martha was able to experience the "sponge" consistency, and was pretty impressed with the 120 strokes of stirring that helps the gluten to get to work.

Emilio was happy to see more bread in progress, but assumed that it was being baked for us to take HOME.  Oh, no, amigo!  It's all yours.  He's a happy man, says it sits nicely in his stomach.  SCORE for home baking!!

Off and on, one or another of us would ramble upstairs and do some packing.  At "lunch" time (around 3P) Linda whipped up another batch of guacamole, and we brought out the dregs of some really good hummus.  And finished up the corn chips and some tostadas as well.  Emilio joined us, and we had a pleasant meal.

After that, we three ladies were set for the day it seemed.  Though another dose of good eating was heated up later, we couldn't make a strong contribution.  Besides, we needed to get to bed early as our departure for the bus back to Vallarta was around 7AM.

So upstairs we went, weighing suitcases that should have been anemic by now but somehow were only a couple of pounds light.  Happy for that, though! 

Saturday 3/4 -- NO FAIR!

No one got an early start today, a fine morning for sleeping in after a MEGA-busy day yesterday.  Some naps occurred as well.

Late in the afternoon, Linda and Claudette set out meet Veronica & the girls at the local fair.  We felt sure it was "on" as there was great excitement about a musician who was to perform this evening.

I, however, was not much into plowing into the madding throng.  I was making good progress stitching, and begged off as Emilio drove the others to the trysting point.

Imagine my surprise to have everyone tumble in less than an hour later.  They had been in the right place, but it was all buttoned up.  No fair THERE -- no FAIR!

The good news was, they were nearby to a very excellent bakery in fine European traditions, so we enjoyed a nice variety of buttery, sweet things and wondered just what had gone awry with the well-publicized concert.

After a bit, Veronica's husband called to check that she was here, and after another while he came by to take her and the girls on home again.  And the three of us were OK with a reasonable bedtime after our energetic-but-fun "dinner day" yesterday.

Friday, March 3 -- Family Dining

Well, our big day has arrived.  We'll have 9 adults and three kids for our festive meal.  There will be guacamole and sopes for starters, then we'll have the arrechera with mole, flanked by refried beans, seared zucchini & chorizo in tomato sauce, poblano rice, and of course tortillas and salsa.  We've purchased a very pretty cake with fruit on top for dessert.











Here the sopes are underway, you can see my high-tech "tortilla press" ... the top of a container of nuts and a can of chiles en adobo makes a pretty flat starting point.  Then the edges get pulled up all around, a bit like pie crust.













The finished pieces are cooked briefly on a dry skillet to set the bottom, then they'll rest until it's time to fry them properly.  A spoonful of salsa, a sprinkling of cheese and chopped herbs and they're good to go. 






The appetizers were served in the living room, to great accolades.  The only challenge was that "high" on this range corresponded to "medium low" at home, so it was a challenge to get the oil hot enough to fry the sope bases.  In the end, we just saved some for another day.  Linda got high marks for her guacamole, which includes a touch of cumin and sour cream; Carolyn's sopes were as popular with this group as they had been with the amigas at the hotel dinner.






Everyone tucked right into the main meal, there won't be too many leftovers.  Lots of conversation, wine, and dishwashing. The place was left in perfect order as everyone pitched in to help.  Senor Emilio pronounced the event "a ten!"

Thursday, March 2 -- Dining Out All Day

We started off a little slow -- a pleasant habit here in Tepic.  Everyone had turned over for another hour after an early-morning sound that was for all the world like a tornado warning klaxon.  Turns out it was a sugar factory quite literally letting off steam, a result of cooking down molasses.  The cane trucks are everywhere (we really lucked out coming up on Monday, didn't get stuck behind a single one) and the roads are littered with mangled pieces of cane that escaped.










 Late in the morning, we drove up to a small restaurant up a steep cliff, where Native families cook breakfast and offer beautiful beadwork for sale.  There's also a "grandfather" or shaman in the area who concocts a cream which eases a variety of discomforts.  Veronica came along and we enjoyed very fresh tacos and hibiscus "water" along with a beautiful view back across the valley below.

 












Tomorrow's our chance to feed the family, so we wanted to get off to an early start.  Martha's table is at maximum with our expected guest count of eleven, so we're strategizing how best to serve everything up.



After all kids were picked up from school, we headed to a nearby restaurant for "lunch" ... oh-so-fresh fish fillet or shrimp made in a variety of enticing ways.  No one really NEEDED dessert, but the flan was highly recommended.  It was really good, but we'd have been wiser to order one slice for the table!

 

As soon as we got home, we set off again as we had committed to help a friend of Martha's who serves a casual dinner to the many people who have relatives in the local public hospital.  Most of them don't have the funds to stay in a hotel, and sleep on the grounds wherever they can find a place, and Martha's friend provides a free meal with donations she's received.  Unfortunately, though, after we waited an hour she was nowhere to be found.  It turned out she ran very late that day, we were sorry to miss helping but it was good that she was able to offer her usual meal to these needy people.

After all that running around, we were happy to turn in at a reasonable hour.  Tomorrow we'll be plenty busy!

Wednesday, March 1 -- Last of Nuevo

We had pulled together a shopping list in preparation for our big dinner plans on Friday, and went off to fill a shopping cart.  This grocery had a better bakery, and we saw some lovely-looking cakes as well.  Elephant ears came home, but a cake did not. 

After washing and stowing the groceries, we finished off the last of the pulled pork, and we demonstrated how to make risotto.  Someone had gifted Martha with a bag of Arborio rice, which she had no idea how to use  Now she knows!

Tuesday 2/28 -- baking lesson

We're a bit discombulated about time.  Mysteriously, Tepic (which is EAST of Puerto Vallarta) is an hour EARLIER.  Further compounding the problem, not all of our devices recognized this special time zone.  So we are constantly double-checking the actual time.

We discussed various plans for the week, and eventually set out for some light grocery shopping and a spin through a local flea market.  A few items were identified for purchase at the market, and at the grocery we were looking for some good bakery items for breakfasts and the ingredients to make "Gabe's Favorite Bread" .  This will use up some items we'd brought along, and give Martha a nice demonstration of how to make yeast bread.  Here, of course, the main "bread" is tortillas ... wheat isn't such a big thing.  Getting OUT of the market was complicated by a couple markdown items that wouldn't scan, and a delay in claiming a bag we'd had to leave at security.

Suddenly Martha realized the TIME:  we needed to scurry off to pick up her daughter and then granddaughter.  This put a crimp in the plan to re-visit the market and pick up a few items we hadn't wanted to leave in the car in the pitiless sun; we abandoned the markdown items & the checked bag for the time being.

Oh well, first things first.  We got everyone into the car, then Linda and Martha circled back to complete the morning's tasks.  The bread was started (I always start with a "sponge," too loose to make into loaves but stiff enough to rise and get the gluten going) and folks were amazed at the prospect of fresh yeast bread.

We enjoyed the last of the turkey meatballs and the poblano rice for dinner, with some of the good bakery items passed around for dessert.  By this time the bread was on its final rise, Martha having gotten the experience of patting it out, rolling it up, and getting it into its pans.  (As baking pans were in short supply, we made one full loaf and four mini-loaves ... a new approach!)

Though many homes enjoy natural gas ranges and clothes dryers, gas is viewed to be expensive here and so (for instance) the oven has no pilot light.  After a brief search for a long-reach lighter, we were able to preheat it and later tuck the risen loaves inside.  A short hour later, we had four lovely mini-loaves and a tall full-sized one to celebrate. 

Monday, 2/27 -- buffet and the long and winding road

We needed to vacate the room by 10AM, as did everyone else leaving today, so we set our sights on being ready by 9.  Most of us therefore woke up entirely too early, but so it goes.

Linda and I had trotted down to the concierge desk to check out late yesterday afternoon, but we were just a moment too late as they had already signed off and were departing.  That was kind of OK, though, because our wonderful concierge was back on duty this morning.  He ensured that the various permutations in the billing were handled well, and called the bellboy for us.

Unfortunately for US, the gentleman arrived almost immediately, and we hadn't really handled the items that were in the 'frig.  He was gracious and we were quick, so it all resolved well.  The luggage (including a case of wine and two totes of miscellaneous foodstuffs) somehow all got packed into the canvas-shrouded luggage cart, which then is sealed with a zip-tie with a unique ID number imprinted on it.  We get a paper form with all this information which will allow the cart to be retrieved for us when we go get Martha's car later on.

But before that, we're off for our final breakfast buffet.  The offerings were as various and delectable as always; the only false note was that Martha had found the Asian offerings and mistook the green condiment there for a loose guacamole.  OOPS!  But she was able to recover, not having actually swallowed the wasabi, and we know she'll never make THAT error again.

Having eaten enough to see us through the day, we set off to find the car and our belongings.  We managed to get all four of us AND our stuff into the vehicle, but only by accommodating two small suitcases between Linda and Claudette in the back seat.  It was a miracle even then!

We were able to guide Martha through a sketchy-looking parking lot to turn around and head north and then east to Tepic.  The first part of the journey was along the coast, with nice glimpses of sea and shore.  Then we turned up into the mountains, with heavy foliage and winding roads.  Lots of small villages, many with speed bumps to help with pedestrian safety and, I'm sure, encourage folks passing through to cast an eye on the wares offered at small stands beside the road.

At a point, we realized that traffic had come to a halt in front of us.  We gradually worked our way up to a military checkpoint, and were glad not to get much attention.  Further along, we were stopped again ... this time, to tiptoe past a car-and-toppled-small-truck accident.  The military folks were assisting, and it seemed there were no injuries, happy to report.  Finally, we were flagged through an asphalt-repair crew and could make our way on up to town.

We were met with a level of disbelief as to how much was in the car.  But it all got inside, and eventually upstairs to our various rooms (or back into the kitchen and refrigerator).  While we hadn't gotten a whole lot of exercise, it had been a long day and a long drive -- about three hours.  We tucked into some hummus & chips, a glass of wine, and off to bed with us!

Sunday, 2/26 -- counting down to Tepic

What a beautiful morning!

We finished the last of the sourdough, carefully parsed out among us, as tomorrow we will enjoy a final pass at the astonishing breakfast buffet.  We're expecting Martha to arrive late in the afternoon, so we have a little flurry of organization in the morning.

A final pool day for Linda and Claudette, and of course everyone's thinking about how to get stuff contained in our suitcases.  We have a spare bed for Martha, so everyone should sleep well.




We weren't especially hungry, and we had some corn chips to finish up.  We used some of the pulled pork and finished up the beans, scattering the remains of a bag of shredded cheese over top.  With the services of our little toaster oven, we enjoyed quite a nice plate of nachos & a deconstructed salad out on the balcony.

Then off to bed ... up and out early tomorrow!

Saturday, 2/25 -- another day at the beach

 What a pleasant view from our balcony.  We gave ourselves a lazy morning, getting a bit organized as departure day was beginning to loom.  It was another warm day, so Linda and Claudette took their pool chairs (clever items that twist to fold flat, as some laundry hampers for dorm rooms do) to the lazy river and soaked up some rays.  I had the remaining massage scheduled on the two-for package, very enjoyable.

Later, I took our extensive laundry down to the the lavanderia, and enjoyed working on the cross-stitch project on a comfortable couch in the concierge area.  Linda graciously offers up her suitcase as a laundry bin, and an upgrade this year was I didn't frighten the staff by walking around with luggage and NO HELP!  With the countdown timer on my phone, I could transfer from washer to dryer to folding very promptly.

I was chatting with our wonderful concierge when Linda and Claudette came back.  He had asked whether the pots de creme could be made in VANILLA.  I was writing out the recipe and thinking about adjustments for white chocolate.  They, of course, didn't yet realize the laundry was the REAL reason I was out there.  So I shooed them along after realizing they were waiting for me.

Why vanilla?  Well, his son's baptism will occur in May and his wife wants everything to be white for the party.  I'm hopeful that they'll try out a version or two and find one that works well for them.  What a nice treat to be able to supply a pretty easy treat that was so memorable.



Back at the room, we were faced with a LOT of pre-cooked food to sort through.  Linda drew the assignment of assembling coherent meals from the pieces, and our first offering was quite a pretty tasting plate.  That used up a good number of small-amount items and gave us some plastic storage containers to spare.

 Another lovely sunset ...

Friday, 2/24 Sea breezes & dinner with amigas

Did I ever mention that Linda and Claudette had found a FABULOUS bakery in town?  If not ... BAD blogger!  Here's the evidence ... we were looking to stretch our supply of "imported" sourdough so we'd have the last of it for breakfast on Sunday.  What a VERY nice way to do so!  This was the real deal stuff:  heavy on the butter, crispy and not too sweet.  Heaven!






The loose plan was to join Martha & company at their place today.  Here, no one was up early or moving quickly, I have to say.  I had the pleasant duty of preparing a sampler plate for our wonderful concierge (putting the pots de creme in a zipper bag in hopes he could smuggle THAT out to share with his generous wife and father-in-law).  I was concerned as I found our original concierge, who's a supervisor, working with him at the desk when I delivered the plate.  But no help for it ... he tucked it into the 'frig and I hoped for the best. 

We had forecast arriving at Martha's around noon, but it was easily that hour before we set out looking for a cab.  It's no small task to leave these grounds.  First, as noted earlier ... they're extensive.  Then there are the security measures that help ensure if anything's left in a taxi (or, heaven forfend, anything more complicated occurs) ... eligible taxis queue up, riders are given a slip with the taxi number on it, the starter declares the destination, etc.  We piled into a truly ancient vehicle, seat belts too ragged to drag through their reels, back seat occupants chewing their kneecaps.  It had been decades since it had a working suspension.  Oh my!

However, the driver was friendly and delivered us to our destination without difficulty.  We had brought beer, wine, meatballs, jicama salad, the laptop, and various devices and diversions for each of us.  We had not attempted to reach Martha to tell her we were enroute, the thought was we'd just find her on the beach.

Well.  Once there, the prospect of trekking all this garbuschki down to the beach and then back again really had no charm.  Claudette set off down the path to the playa and before too long, we could see her and Martha working their way back towards us.  In the mean time, pleasantly, another guest noted us just standing there and asked if we knew where we were going.  We joked that, actually, we did NOT, but the problem would be solved very quickly as our friend was approaching.  It was nice to have that expression of caring.

As it happened, we had pulled up directly beside Martha's unit, how handy.  We tumbled inside and sorted ourselves out, and the three sun lovers headed back to the beach.  I settled in for some needlework (I thought) and enjoyed the stiff breeze of of the ocean.

Shortly, the Tepic amigas arrived to prepare a light lunch of chile-sprinkled jicama.  One had a flask of tequila and a liter of Squirt, and insisted that I make myself a pseudo-Margarita.  Oh heck, you only live once or twice ...

I settled back into stitching, but soon was interrupted by the entire posse returning from the gale-force wind off of the ocean.  I put the hand work away and watched the feverish preparations of dinner ... it had already gotten to be five o'clock.  Yikes!

We'd brought meatballs, jicama salad, and pickled onions from the night before, and they had shrimp tamales, beans, guacamole and chips.  It was a nice feast to tuck into, and again the conversation ebbed and flowed across the room.






Not that it had been really a long day, but we were ready to be home while it was still light.  Martha had the front desk whistle us up a cab ... and what a contrast!  New vehicle, perfect upholstery, seat belts that almost fastened themselves.  And an effective suspension.  Heaven!

Arriving back at our floor, we noticed the beautiful view from the elevator lobby.  It's the opposite side of the building from our unit, overlooking a wildlife preserve and the community across the bay.  The light was just right to snap some photos to share with you.

Thursday 2/23 Tepic arrives!

Work, work, WORK!  Someone was down there with what appeared to be a surveyor's level, we wondered if the exact height of the tee across the water was a critical factor in the development of the hole?

Our day, of course, was focused on the impending arrival of our amigas from Tepic.  Martha, Silvia, and Alicia have joined us before; this trip we will meet Esperanza as well.  Most dishes are made or heavily prepped, but I have enough work to keep me busy while Linda and Claudette grab some pool time on a warm day.  They're back mid-afternoon, and move into chopping up tossed salad & jicama-radish appetizer ingredients, setting the table, and assisting in figuring out what containers and utensils we'll need to get everything out as planned.  There's last-minute griddle work for the sopas as a starter and the Oaxacan Seared Cheese with a tomato/poblano sauce as a side dish.

We FINALLY got confirmation that the ladies had arrived at a nearby facility, much later than we had expected.  But all was well, they had simply included some stops enroute.  As we were putting the finishing touches on our preparations, they arrived!

We planned to serve the appetizers out on the deck and then move inside for a dinner buffet using the kitchen island to hold the array of dishes.  It was a lovely evening, with Mexican music floating over the air.  We offered the Pasilla-Mushroom tacos, guacamole, a jicama-and-orange salad we've enjoyed often, and --

fried up at the last possible minute -- the sopes that we had enjoyed so much earlier in the week.







For photos of the remainder of dinner, we'll have to refer you to prior posts -- we were BUSY!  But we can attest to offering pulled pork, turkey meatballs, seared cheese with poblanos & tomato sauce, tossed salad, poblano rice, refried beans, pickled red onions, and both corn & flour tortillas.  Plenty to choose from, and certainly no one went hungry.

Given our constrained resources, we were washing up as we went (we'd had to borrow three forks from the table to make the appetizer presentation work well), and our guests would not be denied the pleasure of helping out.  Very nice.

These meet-ups are always amusing as Martha is totally bi-lingual and every additional participant is hopelessly mono-lingual  So from time to time the conversation splits into language groups, but most of the time Martha listens and moderates, switching instantaneously between English and Spanish, and getting the inflection right so we all understood each others references and jokes.  The ladies are intelligent and engaged, but not extensively traveled.  It's fun to see what they notice and remark upon.

After dinner I invited everyone to wash their hands so I could circulate my counted-cross-stitch piece which I've been working on for longer than I want to count.  Alicia for sure has seen it from its very early days when my goal was to finish the compass rose.  Now the alphabet, the sea, the ship, and several other major components are done and I've moved out to the mermaids and (eventually) the   dolphins that form the perimeter.  I'll post a progress photo at the end of our trip.

That got us all sitting in the living room, and at a point the conversation turned a bit dark as current events in the US (enough said) and in Tepic (big drug raids last week, some right in Martha's neighborhood) came up.  After a bit, I decided to change the topic by offering up the pots de creme.

Well, no one NEEDED another thing to eat, but I think it's safe to say that everyone was glad they DID dip into that chocolate bliss.  Apparently this is nothing like any Mexican dessert at all, and even us three or four gringas had to admit that the special cream added a wonderful upgrade.

And so, eventually, Martha and amigas set out for their lodging.  Not much left to wash ... we got to it and filled a large bath towel with inverted items that would be dry by morning.  Buenos noches!

Wednesday, 2/22 -- We Dine, and DINE

The green below continues to progress, looks like some soil amendments and more seeding.  Also the rockfall continues to fill in ... an astounding amount of work going into this small area.

Once we quit gawking at the scene below, we returned to our usual division of labor ... Linda and Claudette set out in search of poolside chaise lounges, and I avoid the sun while doing some culinary tasks.  I was delighted that our charming concierge was able to deliver on his idea of bringing us SPANKING fresh cream.  He had frozen it overnight, both for freshness and ease-of-transport, and the two sturdy bags were quite enough to make a proper recipe of pots de creme.  It's so easy, and so remarkably good ... perfect dessert for a complicated menu plan executed in a small kitchen environment.  (And oh YES, it DOES taste different ... so fresh and smooth!)

After a while, Linda and Claudette returned, having walked almost the entirety of the estate in search of a perch.  Gotta be an early bird to get these worms, it seems.  It was as well, since tonight was our turn at the Culinary Tour of four different restaurants on the grounds.

We ran a little early and had (another) margarita in the lobby bar, where our first Tour stop was scheduled.  As more people arrived (there were nearly 30 in all) we moved out into the area prepared for the presentation of a welcoming cocktail and a duck rillette.

The tour is led by a gentleman responsible for "food presentation" throughout the couple-dozen restaurants and snack bars on the grounds, so you know we would see some innovative stylings.  We liked the bunny-rabbit effect here.

Moving along, we ambled over to the specialty-hamburger place, where you can get just about anything made into a tasty patty.  Here, we enjoyed an artichoke & spinach dip...

lobster "burgers" for Linda and Claudette ...

and a very tasty beef burger for Carolyn (shellfish just don't like her).

At Epazote, the only restaurant featured in both the Wednesday and Friday tours, we enjoyed a sea-bass filled tamale.

Then a long trolley ride (complete with celebratory spin around the traffic circle, to the delight of most on the vehicle) to a beachside steakhouse.  We started with a lovely presentation of breads and compound butters...









...and moved happily into petite filets garnished with lobster, asparagus and Bearnaise (hold the lobster for Carolyn)










One more boistrous trolley ride (and another spin around a traffic circle) ... La Bamba blasting on the loudspeakers and everyone joining in at volume ... don't know if we were a good advertisement for the tour or just scary.  But clearly we were having a good time.

We arrived at the French restaurant in the same building as the little grocery (and the chocolatier, bakery, deli, wine, cheese, flower, and apothecary shops).  Here was the highlight of a highly-competetive evening ... a shatteringly-crisp lemon tube garnished with strawberry slices and filled with basil-inflected ice cream.  May we please have another??




The tour guide was trying to herd us all back to the trolleys (we had two or three, variously, throughout the evening) with limited success.  We wound up exiting through a back door known to a couple who've made this their winter home, and who know the restaurant well.  That took us to our favorite traffic circle where it was easy to hail a regular-route trolley back to our Tower Four.

Really a great value; lots of excellent dishes, a fair amount of walking to settle it all, and a solid four hours with a variety of enjoyable fellow-diners.  We did NOT eat the chocolate on the pillow THIS night!

Tuesday, 2/21 A Table With a View

Another lovely day, and the development of the green for the par-3 golf course continues.  They are taking extensive steps to ensure the grass gets a good start!  It was amazing to watch the soil preparation & seeding progress throughout the day.  There's a nice rainbow in the sprinkler in the last image!

Linda and Claudette set out for a poolside stint, covering lots of territory in their search for a pair of available deck chairs.  Eventually they got some sun and a dip in the pool...crowded out there by late morning!

Carolyn worked on some prep for our welcome dinner for Martha and her amigas on Thursday.  Another pleasant stroll to the little market for poblanos and tomatillos (and, yes, a nice little cup of frozen yogurt with candied nuts for lunch).  I had checked with our concierge regarding acquiring some dried pasillas and some heavy cream (I actually looked up the percentage of butterfat in proper heavy cream, to be sure of getting a product that would work).  In describing the cream, I noted that if milk right from the cow were allowed to rest, the cream would rise to the top, and THAT was what I was seeking.  Despite his PC monitor displaying a good half-dozen images of retail containers of heavy cream, he was inspired to call his wife, whose father has dairy cattle ... maybe we could acquire some spanking-fresh product?

I was happy to find the pasillas displayed in a cunning little basket on the shelf over the refrigerated display, and to my amazement I was able to connect with the concierge by phone from the market.  So he was off the hook for the peppers, and I got on home and back to work.

Our plan for the evening is to dine on our second set of dinner coupons, at a rooftop steakhouse-style on the next tower.  The view was lovely and the food terrific.




We started with an amuse-bouche while we contemplated our menu options.












A septet of feathery rolls, hot in their baking dish, flanked by small butter balls ... what's not to like?









For an appetizer, Linda enjoyed a mixed-beet salad ...

Carolyn had a sort of "un-wedge" salad with bleu cheese and bacon ...










and Claudette explored a vegetable casserole with potato foam!












Beef was the order of the day ... we ordered up a Chilean Carmenere to celebrate.  Linda had the ribeye with a chile-inflected sauce,

while Carolyn & Claudette opted for the strip steak, with chimichurri and an Asian sauce respectively.

Choosing just one dessert was hard, but Linda went with a poached pear,















Carolyn with an apple tart topped with a marshmallow-y confection,

and Claudette opted for a seasonal-fruit melange with zabaglione sauce.









There was one more free surprise at the end!










No surprise that the sunset was lovely.  After drinking it in for a while, we were off to a good night's sleep.