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.