City Target Opens

Last week was the "soft" opening of the new concept Target store in three cities across America.  Chicago, Los Angeles and Seattle have the new stores called City Target.  Geared more to the urban dweller, large furniture and big packages of paper goods and pet food will not be found on the shelves.  The local store is three floors with one dedicated to just groceries and it is easy to move from floor to floor as there are escalators for both people and their shopping carts.

 I was there at 7am this morning and it was pretty low key which was just fine by me.  I was in and out in less than 30 minutes as it was mostly to get a feel for the place, but now I know I will go back and let me tell you the free parking is a plus.  San Francisco and Portland are getting them in spring of next year.

Monday Meal & Memories

After a quiet weekend I invited Curtis and Josh to dinner.  As many of you have seen over the past couple of months, I have discovered a one dish dinner that is both healthy and delicious.  Tonight, I changed it up a bit and replaced the Alfredo sauce with a sun-dried tomato Alfredo sauce and center cut pork loin chops were used instead of boneless chicken breasts.  Asparagus was the steady component.  I also took nearly an hour to caramelize onions for the pork chops plus we enjoyed Cole Slaw and before hand there was peanut butter stuffed celery and deviled eggs to enjoy with cocktails.  Curtis brought a lovely Nebbiolo wine and it was a perfectly splendid dinner.

Later on in the evening I was looking at facebook and a friend, Sandy, posted a picture that brought back a lot of childhood memories.  I know we had these when I was a kid.  Did you?

Makes you pause and think back to the games we played and times we had back in Ashland at 697 Indiana.  What good times and fond memories.  Perfect for a summer evening.  Sit back, reflect and enjoy some of your own childhood memories.

Lazy Hazy - Take Two!

Seriously, it is a repeat of yesterday folks, with the changes being brunch with Amy & Damien Miller (2nd cousins) at Cafe Flora, Moonsong coming to clean the apartment and the reading material is the New York Times.  Heck, lunch is even going to be the leftover chicken as a salad topping.  It just is a great summer day to kick back and relax and enjoy some more Olympics.

Lazy Hazy Days of Summer

Every once in a while a day or two comes along where there is no set agenda or chores that have to get done.  Instead, you get to have the luxury on deciding on how the day will unfold.  Now, there is one thing that is a bit different and that is the Olympics are on.  I keep track of what is going on by the master schedule on the frig.

 It was in the Wall Street Journal and thanks to Markie for passing it along to me for reference.  So I took a few of the magnets on the side of the frig to keep it in place.  It was fun to relive memories as I put the magnets around the border.  They came from Europe as well as New York City plus a few from various trips to Australia, Yosemite Park, Provincetown, Alaska and Canada.  Whimsy is fun and they are serving a useful purpose.

So, after breakfast with Mick and Brett, I headed home in time to get my grocery delivery.  Cute delivery guy who even made a pass or three at me!  Little did I realize at the time - LOL.  Guess I have been off the market too long.  The rest of the day was spent reading backlog of magazines, catching up on phone calls, watching TV, taking not one, but two naps and enjoying some great chicken breasts cooked in the leftover lamb shank fire-tomato sauce.  Yes, it was a good day.

It's Finally Here - Let the Games Begin

Whisler Reflections

What a great day to be in Canada.  You wake up in the trees and the views just are stunning.  As the sun rises the scenery continues to change with the different lighting on the trees and the skies have ever changing cloud patterns.  Here are a couple of pictures taken from the balcony.   The last is looking to the right at the Worldmark complex.  The property is called Sundance.  I drove up to the village to meet with vendors.  As you turn into the village, you are greeted by the stone figure that was part of the winter games held here and in Vancouver in 2010.

Called an Inuksuk, from Wikipedia here is their description of what it is:  An inuksuk (plural inuksuit) is a stone landmark or cairn built by humans, used by the Inuit, Inupiat, Kalaallit, Yupik, and other peoples of the Arctic region of North America. These structures are found from Alaska to Greenland. This region, above the Arctic Circle, is dominated by the tundra biome and has areas with few natural landmarks.

The inuksuk may have been used for navigation, as a point of reference, a marker for travel routes, fishing places, camps, hunting grounds, places of veneration, drift fences used in hunting or as a food cache.  The Inupiat in northern Alaska used inuksuit to assist in the herding of caribou into contained areas for slaughter.  Varying in shape and size, the inuksuit have longtime roots in the Inuit culture.

Historically, the most common type of inuksuk is a single stone positioned in an upright manner.  An inuksuk is often confused with an inunnguaq, a cairn representing a human figure. There is some debate as to whether the appearance of human- or cross-shaped cairns developed in the Inuit culture before the arrival of European missionaries and explorers.  The size of some innaguait suggest that the construction was often a communal effort.

At Enukso Point on Baffin Island, there are over 100 inuksuit. The site was designated a National Historic Site of Canada in 1969.

Markie decided to stay at the condo and was quite domestic in addition to taking advantage of the hot tub and took time to read and nap.  I returned a bit after 3pm to see him snoozing away and decided that was a great idea.  I was a bit fried from the meetings and had also gotten word from Janet that Uncle Joe had passed away.  It was not unexpected, but still it is a bit shocking and sad knowing he is gone.  The last of Mom's brother's and now there is on Mom and Aunt Bernice still with us.

Our final dinner was pork loin chops complete with caramelized onions and fried potatoes.  Quite tasty to be sure and a salad prepared by Markie was not touched as we were just too full, but we did polish off the leftover asparagus.  I did manage to pause long enough to take this shot.

We opted to watch a movie this evening and Markie had brought the 1945 fictionalized biography of George Gershwin, Rhapsody in Blue.  George Gershwin is a driven composer whose need to succeed destroys his relationship with singer Julie Adams and socialite Christine Gilbert.  Classic black and white, it was quite entertaining and a movie I would watch again.  After the movie I was off to la-la land and knowing the morning would find me packing and getting ready to head back to the US and seeing the opening ceremonies of the Summer Olympics.  Yes, I am quite excited.

The President & The Queens

Quite a day as it started at 3:30am getting everything done around the apartment as I prepared to leave for Whistler.  We had a 10am departure planned.  I also needed to run a few errands plus watch the President leave.  What was cool was seeing Air Force One parked at Boeing Field.  Sadly, so much security I could not get a picture, so needed to snag a couple of pictures off the TV.

Markie arrived about 9:30am to try and get some pictures of Air Force One taking off and we hung around until 10:10am and then the blinds got lowered and we were on our way.

After a few stops at various Starbucks for comfort and a thrift store shop for Markie (finding like a dozen 45's on sale, we were heading north at a pretty good clip.  Quick stop at duty-free and on to Cloverdale for lunch at Boston Pizza.  Thankfully we were not in a hurry as we had one of the slowest servers known to mankind.  I enjoyed a Chicken Pecan Salad and some Firecracker Shrimp w/ blue cheese dressing.  Quite good.  Markie had a burger with a side Caesar complete with crouton.  Seriously, one crouton!  Reminded me of the fiesta Michael and I went to in Cabo that had a finale of "firework" and seriously, it was one shell going off and we laughed and still do to this day.

We stopped in Squamish for groceries and some wine to go with dinner.  Then on to Whistler Creekside to the Worldmark Sundance.  We have a two bedroom with a grill on the deck that was used the first night for dinner.

The views are stunning and will share more of them tomorrow, but for now it was time for dinner that was quite lovely with steaks cooked perfectly along with asparagus in an Alfredo sauce and a salad that was stunning.  It was actually a spur of the moment creation by Markie of tomatoes, sweet onions and sharp cheddar in olive oil and 30-year old balsamic vinegar.  Can you say YUM, YUM, YUM!!

It was a long, yet lovely day and I was crashed out by 9pm.  Needed a good sleep as I want to be fresh tomorrow for the meetings and lunch in the main village of Whistler as some vendors want me to change my mind on going there for Thanksgiving.  We shall see.  Until tomorrow, Cheers!

Tuesday Humor

I used to watch "Will & Grace" every week and so enjoyed that show.  Karen had some of the best lines, but sometimes they can really be so on target and yet very funny.  Enjoy!  Off to Canada tomorrow.

Monday Surprise!

After a rather weird night of sleep and a lot of no sleep, I finally got going and finished the rooming list for the upcoming Grand Canyon trip.  Enjoyed a breakfast of bacon and a egg scramble that left me quite satisfied.  All too soon, I was out the door and stopping at the post office to drop off a package and get my ballot for the August primary in the post plus a note to Mom and Janet.  The office was humming when I arrived.  Got what needed to be done and home in time to welcome Curtis and Markie for cocktails.  Watched some news and shared stories and soon bid Curtis a good night.  Markie was over for dinner and let me know he had a surprise in store.  I provided the appetizer which was a shrimp cocktail and the dinner salad.

 Markie provided the main course.  To say it was stunning would not do it justice.  He totally surprised me with lamb shanks.  Here they are on the stove simmering to enhance the flavor with fire-roasted tomatoes.

 Yes, thanks to Janet, my sister, and Markie, I have quite the collection of Schilling spice tins from yesteryear.  Also, the lovely plate is one I got in Istanbul back in 2004.  I love it and it is often my butter plate.

 Above is the amazing result of over three hours of cooking and let me tell you it was fall off the bone fork tender.  The dishes come from a great restaurant I first fell in love with in New York City, but now have an outlet in Las Vegas where I got two of these.  Serendipity 3, known for their frozen hot chocolate.

 Above is the before we begin dinner and below is the after we finish dinner.  As you can see, not much was left of the lamb.  The salad will be polished off tomorrow at lunch.  So, it seems I may be on an adventure soon, stay tuned and I will let you know what is going on.  It is still up in the air.

Remember, only 4 more days until the Olympic Opening Ceremonies.  Don't know about you, but I will be watching them and gearing up for the next two weeks to be a sports nut.  Heck, both the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal today had special sections.  Don't tell me that people are not interested.

A Quiet Day - As It Should Be

Today has been a very quiet day around the apartment.  Sure, I made a few calls to friends, but mostly spent the day reading The New York Times, drinking coffee, getting the blog caught up, napping here and there, reading magazines and just enjoying myself.  It is nice to have life getting back in order as I am no longer on Oxygen and the wheelchair is gone.  New bed is in place and bedding as well.  Have let go of some more things, but there was one thing still hanging around and it was time to say good-bye.

  This is a unit that has been here since I got home in mid-April and had to be used only once.  It is the base unit for the button that hung around my neck that I could use when necessary to say those famous words, "I've fallen and I can't get up."  Well, indeed it did happen once when the stool broke after dinner one night and it was most helpful.  But now I am back on my feet so to speak and even getting around without a cane more and more.  Granted, I still need to build up more leg strength, but overall, I am feeling back to my old self, just a whole lot less of it.
Also, took time today to vote and to sort some clothes as I am changing sizes.  Plan on making a donation later this week.  It is nice to take in the belt another notch and feel the shirts grow loose on me.  It is a long process, but one that will be lasting I feel.  Looking forward to joining the YMCA later this year once my legs are in better shape and thus, start swimming.  Tonight will be a quiet dinner and then watch the finale of "The Next Food Network Star" before heading off to bed.  Have a good night.

Errands, Strawberry Festival & Friends

Knowing that tomorrow is going to be a day where I do not leave the apartment, I decided to get out and get all those pesky things done today like:

Pick-up prescription

Mail bills and post cards

Do bank deposit

Gas up the Car

But at the same time it was a lovely day and so I decided to take one of my favorite drives and that is going down to Tacoma and catching the ferry over to Vashon Island.  From there I drive north through the island and catch the ferry back to West Seattle.  Today, little did I know that it was the annual Strawberry Festival.  It was like being in Ashland for the 4th of July and oh was there the baby stroller gridlock and then you add in the 'alternative' group enjoying natural herbs, etc. and walking wherever they felt so you had to be on your best defensive driving while keeping mindful of the detours.  And just as you think that you have had complete success you are not prepared for what you see as you turn the corner, but three people (not sure of gender) dressed as massive strawberries complete with green feather boa hats to look like the top of a strawberry.  Seriously, where is the camera when you need one?  Of course, I forget that my cell phone has one, I so need to remember that in the future.  Thanks to Rob and Janet for that reminder.

Home in time to get in a nap and then off to Jodie and Rob's for dinner.  Without use of a cane, I manage all the stairs and we have a good evening of cocktails, conversation and I get to enjoy the fruits of Rob's labor as he continues to break-in his new grill.  Here he is getting ready to begin dinner.

 And here is one proud papa with his new toy and look at that grill.  Loaded with Rib eye steaks and corn-on-the=cob.  Have you said yum yet?  Jodie made coleslaw complete with homemade dressing right down to the homemade mayonnaise.  Oh just hurt me! 

 We attacked the food and found that we all eat our corn differently.  From what we put on it to the direction we eat it.  Kinda funny how we all have our own ways of doing things.  But in the end, we each were quite satisfied and we all get to enjoy steaks tomorrow for a meal of our choosing.  I think mine is going to be at brunch.

It was one of those days where games were just not going to happen and I soon bid a good evening and came home to read a bit and enjoy watching planes take off and land at Sea-Tac.  Just a nice simple evening.  Before I close, here is a picture my brother, Mike, took earlier today up at Lake-of-the-Woods of Janet and my great niece Lizzy.  Enjoy!

A Day at the Apartment

Awoke to a hell of a storm this morning.  Lightning, thunder and rain really made for a messy commute.  Glad I did not have to be out in it.  Last Tuesday Broadstripe officially became Wave Broadband.  In the flip, I lost my first 30 channels.  Now they are promoting their great 24/7 customer service and so when I called I found out that I had to hang out at the apartment from 9-5 today.  I would get a call 30 minutes out to let me know a service guy was on the way, otherwise I would have to wait until next Wednesday to get a more specific time.  Thankfully, I can work from home and took the time to also get the place looking a bit better as I had an old friend Keith stop by for lunch and then Helene was coming for dinner. 

Lunch was chef salads that I made and it was good to see Keith.  He had to get back to work and so the visit was short but good and we will likely connect in the future again.  Helene's bus ran a bit late and that's fine, we got to enjoy a bottle of crisp white wine and Chinese food from Shanghai Gardens.  I liked my fortune (no, did not eat the cookie) "Be true to your work, your word, and your friend."  There were plenty of leftovers and I have to say that once she was headed out the door and on to her friend Joe's at a little after 9pm, I was in bed and ready for a good sleep.

A Day of Greatness

There are days that come along that just stand out and are meant to be savored.  Today was such a day.  Up early and getting the house ready, I was excited to see Michael, a dear friend from Long Beach, WA who has been working in Sea-Tac all week and will be joining me for dinner tonight.  We are going to a restaurant called Toulouse Petit ~ Kitchen, Lounge and Universe (this is right off their menu folks!).  Michael is a great friend and arrived while I was still at the office.  All too soon I got to the apartment and settled inn for a visit.  We share many laughs and within time Jodie and Rob arrive for cocktails.  We also use this opportunity to transfer the last of the liquor from my car to Rob's (OK, so it was all Rob doing it) and they were kind enough to drop Michael and me at the restaurant to avoid having to drive.

Within minutes, our table was ready and we were seated beside these glorious tall windows that were open to allow in the summer's breeze.  We took some time to take in the atmosphere of the restaurant and could not help but enjoy the quote on the front of the menu.

Our server took our beverage orders and while I opted for a martini, Michael decided to try out a Sazerac.  With cocktails in hand it was time to ponder the appetizers of which we decided on four.  The first was Dungeness Crab over Fried Green Tomatoes with Tarragon-Chive Ravigote also called ‘Crab Maison’ at Galatoire’s, the iconic
French Quarter restaurant on Bourbon Street.  In this case, the sum was greater than the parts.  The least favorite of the four.  Next, was a home run hit by far, the Duck and Chicken Liver Terrine which was super smooth with madeira, cognac, shallots, thyme.  Totally Divine!  The other two were  Savory Crawfish ‘Beignets’ with a Hot Pepper Jelly and Spicy ‘Louis’ Sauce and finally Seared Artisan Foie Gras over Savory Pain Perdu with a Pear-Vanilla Bean 'Conserva' that personally was too sweet for the foie gras, but lucky for us had not touched it on the plate. 
They arrived and this was the time I decided to share with Michael that this was actually a belated birthday celebration as I was in the hospital back in March when he hosted 6 people for a six-course dinner to honor his 60th birthday.  While I sadly missed it, he did a wonderful job in describing it to me the next day on the phone and mind you, this dinner cannot begin to touch that one, it was fun to share such a special evening with such a great friend.

 The above are the appetizers with Michael enjoying taking pictures of the food like I do. The top dish is the Terrine, below it are the ‘Beignets’ and then the Fried Green Tomatoes with Crab. To the right is the foie gras dish. We then proceeded to salad/soup course and ordered a lovely bottle of wine.

 As you can see I decided to go for the Grilled Asparagus Wrapped with Prosciutto with an Artichoke, Fava and English Pea ‘Salad’ poached egg, arugula, basil, fennel, broken sherry vinaigrette that was alright, but not something I would likely order again.  Michael was quite excited about the True French Onion Soup Lyonnaise with rich beef stock, cave aged gruyere, onion confit, but stated that he would likely not order it again and you can see it in the second picture below closest to Michael as the rest of the dinner arrived.  Finally, the wine, it was a marvelous 2007 Malvira Nebbiolo out of the Piedmont Region of Italy.  It is also referred to as a Roero on the bottle which is a recognized wine-making area of the Province of Cuneo in the Piedmont region.  Even before tasting it, just the smell was amazing and the flavors were just beyond words.  A Great wine for a Great dinner.

We were realizing all too soon that we needed to consider sharing the main course and sides if we were going to get through this gastronomic adventure.  So we decided on Slow Braised Beef Cheeks with Bleu Cheese Risotto and Walnut Gremolata using red wine, potato risotto, wild mushrooms, lemon zest, parsley.  Seriously, we are talking fork tender here people!  Amazing.  On the side was Spring Corn and Sweet Onion Macque Choux (for no better reference think a creole succotash with green beans and ham added) which was quite good and the balance made it home to be used in a breakfast scramble.  We also tried the traditional Pommes Frites with Aioli which was underwhelming.

Yes it was a Great meal, but what would a birthday celebration be without cake.  They did not disappoint.  We ordered the Red Velvet Cake cream cheese icing, valronah chocolate ganache, walnuts and berry coulee plus Vanilla Bean Ice Cream.  Really spectacular and, of course, Fonté French Press Coffee to give us a little pick me up as the night was not over yet.  But first, here is a picture of that dessert.

Before we hop in the cab for Seattle's Great Wheel, I do want to share two wonderful pictures taken that night at the restaurant.  The first is one Michael took of moi and the second I took of him.

It was time for the second part of our Great night.  That would be going to Pier 57 and riding the new addition to Seattle's waterfront.  The Great Wheel as they are calling it.  Mind you, it is smaller than the London Eye, but in their minds it is great.  Well, it is fun and here are some pictures taken by Michael.  The pier area, the structure of the 'Great Wheel' plus a picture where he got the Space Needle in the middle of the circle, can you see it?  Finally a look a the cafe below, granted it is closed for the evening, but an interesting picture.

Now it is my turn.  I had an interesting thing happen to my camera, it decided to take some drugs or something and so my pictures of the surrounding area is a bit more 'artistic' than Michael's.

Yes, the top two are looking south toward the football stadium while the bottom two are the Space Needle.  Like at the restaurant, before I close, here is a picture Michael took of moi (note the various stickers over my shoulder telling you all you can and cannot do in the cab of the Great Wheel) and one I took of Michael with his fabulous man purse he got from Belgium.  You can see why we left the driving to taxi cabs this evening, hope you enjoyed being part of a Great day.

Breakfast, Booze & Bedtime

Up early and got packed and out the door at the hotel by 6:30am so that I could get a couple of things in the post and then stopped at Starbucks for an ice coffee and still made it to Helser's on time for breakfast with an old friend, Lin.  He sure looked good and you could tell he has dropped some weight.

 The restaurant is named for it's owner, Alex Helser.  I have known Alex for years and we are talking back to the days when he ran the pub/restaurant at Portland Brewing Company.  He decided to give his own place a try and it has been a hit.  When I was running events at the Portland office of E&A, we did a beer tasting at his place and we are talking years ago, but he has kept the bottle from the finale of the tasting.  It makes me smile every time I see it.

 One never leaves hungry at Helser's and today was no exception.  While Lin had French Toast (which he could not finish), I opted for potato pancakes and a Scottish Egg (hard boiled egg encased in sausage that is then cooked).  Creme Fraiche topped the pancakes and they offer a tasty horseradish sauce for the meat item.  With cantaloupe garnish, a delightful meal is at hand.  Oh and in the picture below at the top right is one of the homemade crumpet.  Can you say YUM!  Sadly, could only enjoy a couple of bites of the crumpet and in the end, I left half the potato pancakes on the plate.  Just a few too many carbs.  Good coffee gave me the energy to get on the road and off I went bidding Lin good-bye.

 Got on the road by 8:15am and first stop was to see Sandy at exit 57 to drop off her liquor order of two bottles of scotch.  Decided to snag a shot of the $724 liquor buy before it got distributed.  Curtis got his and I delivered Markie's order last night as he invited me to dinner.  Arrived a few minutes after 5pm and enjoyed watching news, discussing his travels (bot past and future) plus a mango vodka with tonic.  This was my first visit to his place this year.  Wowzers!

We planned to eat after the NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams, but I had to share that I was just not that hungry.  More exhausted than anything and so I bowed out early and headed home.  I do not think there has been a time where I declined a meal at Markie's, but what can I say.  Got home and unwound a bit, got this written and now off to bed.  Plan to get a good sleep as I have groceries arriving in the morning plus a haircut at 11am.  Michael is due in the afternoon with Jodie and Rob stopping by to get their liquor buy.  But all the news about tomorrow will be shared since dinner and a ride on the Great Wheel are planned.