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.

Monday, 2/20 Pulling it all together

Looking forward to Martha's arrival with several friends on Thursday, we reviewed our meal plans and food-on-hand.  Linda and Claudette were setting off to rattle around in town, taking a modest shopping list; Carolyn would continue whittling away on the menu plans.

 
 The logical place to start a day downtown is a ramble down "The Malecon," an elevated breakwater right on the seaside. 











You might start off enjoying a grizzled old working boat, at rest in the waves. 

In Puerto Vallarta, many sculptures have been added since we were last here.  And there's often live entertainment ... turn your head sideways and enjoy the video of the aerialists! 

 

 

A stroll around the old city led to discovering a shop full of beautiful handcrafts, then a short break for a brew on a warm, sunny day.

Off to Walmart ... where AGAIN there were no poblanos, and no tomatillos EITHER.  Growf.  A line of a dozen or more was waiting for cabs, but eventually both travelers and groceries arrived home ... tired but satisfied. 


Well, if you're not up for a sunny day on the Malecon, you can always watch grass being sown on the par-3 course being built right before your amazed eyes. 










First the big white seed bags seemingly sprout right from the ground...







and before you turn around twice, half the fairway is planted.  Amazing!

When not distracted by the lawn progress, Carolyn was trying out new recipes with an eye to dinner. 

 Spicy Pasilla-Mushroom tacos were a full-flavored starter garnished with cilantro and a sprinkle of cheese.

 

 Some detail had gotten lost in translation; the shopping list asked for "4 pieces" of skirt steak (arrachera)...maybe a pound or so.  What arrived was four cryovac'd SLABS of skirt steak ... enough for a crowd to be sure.  We'll take three up to Tepic, but the one we sauteed up was a very nice neighbor for plantain-cheese empanadas & some guacamole.  The plantain dough was challenging to work with, but the result certainly was tasty!