Look what the stork brought....

My babies have arrived!

Oh, the smell of a fresh pine box, thick construction, brandished with (what I consider) the best pinot noir winery. I have monitored their arrival via Big Brown all week.


Meet Gary Pisoni's pride, sweat, tears, and determination. The 2006 Pisoni Estate Reserve pinot noir. They are triplets. Weighing approximately 750 mL each. Each snuggly wrapped and cushioned for comfort. Each one, awe inspiring.


They will mature in a couple years and, until then, they will sleep undisturbed in my dark, cool basement.

Afternoon in the Country for Les Dames d’Escoffier

Here we are again. We were so entranced by last year's Les Dames that, of course, we had to return this year. You know, stalk the internet for the sale date of tickets, plan, rent a car, etc.


I hear only 500 tickets were available, and promptly sold out, so it never go too out of control.

Some of my favorites this year included.....

The pork belly from 4th and Swift. I told Jay Swift that this was probably our favorite of the whole festival. Rightfully so. Tasty pieces cooked with a crisp sear.



Also, the braised oxtail was a stand out too. The pomegranate seeds were a surprising complement.


The "black foot" ham from Spain a/k/a Iberico pata negra made is presence here, quite a surprise. And it was as wonderful and salty as the cured meat fanatics say.


The lamb (lamb!) prosciutto from 103 West was to-die-for melt in your mouth.


Of course, I have to include a picture of the baby donkey! He's eye-ing my taste plates, I swear!


The view from the main house summarizes it pretty well: more wonderful cuisine and wine await beyond the doors. There's always more to taste, more to sip, and your stomach would never allow you to sample everything.


Good thing there's always next year to look forward to!

Sad Lobster Boy

Poor Pepper. He had to dress as a lobster this Halloween. And not too happy about it.

I've never seen the dog pace and walk circles around and around the house trying and hoping the damn costume would fall off. It didn't. So he decided if he went outside, his chances would increase that he would shed the outfit. It didn't.

I tried to capture the sadness.

Granola Bars: The new obsession

I was entranced by Grizzly Bars in our travels to the National Parks and Jackson.


Think of a crispy rice and oat bar, with peanut butter and chocolate, and dried fruits such as banana and apricot. Held together with a rice syrup. All organic. No preservatives. From what I read online, it is the brain child of a woman who got tired of waiting in the long lunch lines in Teton after skiing on the trails and feeling starved while coming down the slopes.

While I don't ski, they are unbelievably yummy, chewy, and not candy-store sweet. It is the breakfast I can only dream of having. I bought a ton and handled them gingerly on the way back in my carry-on luggage. Their shelf life is only about 30 days, so I've frozen my extra to bring out and thaw on worthy occasions.

They are only available at about 9 stores in and around Jackson, or online. Once my stash runs out, I will be willing to pay exorbitant shipping fees. Visit here if you want to learn more about them (or share in a shipment): http://www.trambars.com

Our Jackson, Wy dinner... al fresco

We took the opportunity to grill out for our dinners in Jackson, WY. Our rental cabin was outfitted with a great grill and plenty of deck space.


We bought some excellent steaks and sides from the local markets. Even the barbecue sauce has huckleberries in it! It was wonderful. It's a simple place setting, and the temperatures in the 60s couldn't have been better.


We enjoyed excellent an excellent beer and wine --- Eric's beer was the Sweetwater XX from Grand Teton Brewery in Victor, ID. My pinot was from Chehalem in Oregon. Both are unavailable in Georgia, so this was a real treat.

Grand Teton Dinner, Take Two

On our second night in Grand Teton NP, we had dinner at the premier restaurant in the park's Jackson Lake Lodge, called the Mural Room. One side, floor to ceiling windows for diners to enjoy the sunset. The other side, a 80 feet of painting depicting the fur trade in Jackson during the 19th century. Its a neat space and a great environment to enjoy a wonderful dinner in Teton.

A touch of butter whimsy with fresh baked gluten.


I had the quail as first course. Stuffed with a soft, gooey fig and wrapped in prosciutto.

Eric had a mushroom "cappuccino" soup with a herb biscotti.


My entree was the rack of lamb with local greens and a Cabernet sauce.


Eric's entree was the winner, a filet with truffled butter, wilted greens, and homemade sweet potato chips.

A tall mountain range + a 50's diner

Onward to Grand Teton National Park, we checked into Jackson Lodge and had a casual dinner at their 1950's diner - called the Pioneer Grill. It's more Dick Clark, than Lewis & Clark.


The walls and counter are posted with pictures from the beginnings of Grand Teton Park and thick, rusty tools hang on the walls. Of course we don't know what these tools did, so they were nice enough to hand out a typed description of each tools' purpose, whether it be farming, or trapping animals, or dealing with the copious amounts of snow.


The diner itself is upkept very well and the laminate counter snakes through the space as one continuous tabletop.


Eric ordered a bison burger, fries (which didn't compare to those in Idaho), and I had a salad with roasted poblano chiles and grilled chicken. Iced tea was pretty decent, considering.


After dinner, we went outside on the landing, and caught sunset over the Tetons.

Antelope sausage?

Yep, that's right. Antelope!

We had one of our last dinners at Old Faithful's Snow Lodge - right next door to the Old Faithful Inn. The Snow Lodge being the all-season lodging at that end of the park. The Obsidian Dining Room offers a bit more complex offerings than, say, the original Dining Room at the Inn. Nothing crazy, but enough unique entrees to keep the mouth-breathers away.

We started with antelope sausage doused with caramelized onions and tiny bits of smoked bacon.

I ordered the Alaskan salmon, with a white wine dill butter compound. I tasted more butter than dill, and I'm not complaining. The potato, again, made its entrance. And it was superb. I love those fat pieces of salt barely hanging onto the crispy skin.

Eric ordered the bison short ribs, braised in Moose Drool Ale (by Big Sky Brewery), and served with mashed potatoes. He was in heaven with this dish.

Historic breakfast

We had a long night. A long drive to get to Yellowstone. A challenging approach to the Old Faithful Inn wherein we were ambushed by some 100 bison.

Once at the Inn, we carried our over-stuffed luggage up numerous flights of wooden stairs that creaked and cracked with every step.

We woke up knowing we have 8 hours of hiking ahead of us. We needed fuel.

The easy choice was a great breakfast in the Dining Room on the first level of the Inn. It's hard to truly describe this space, pictures simply do not do it justice.

We each ordered egg dishes, accompanied with thick-cut smoked bacon and the best coffee I had since we left Georgia. Fluffy eggs, salty bacon, and hearty dark coffee.

And we didn't need our Swedish-Army flint to fix this great meal.

Somethin's Brewing in Idaho Falls

Once we landed in Salt Lake City - and took a gander of our long road trip through Idaho (and a bit of Montana) to get to Yellowstone - we knew we had to stop for a good dinner somewhere. But where? We're passing through areas where, if there are any populations, the cities come with the standard chain-restaurant fare. (Lord, no more Denny's!) Luckily, we had great service to our Blackberrys and were able to look up information and reviews.

We found a place called Brownstone Restaurant & Brewery in Idaho Falls, ID -- it had a decent menu and good selection of beer.

The view of the falls from your table just can't be beat.


Eric was pleased with the beer selection and picked a great pizza to go with his sampler.


I saw 'local Idaho trout' on the offering list and there was no turning back for me. I just had to have this fish. It was so fresh, a rosy hued flesh, perfectly cooked with garlic and lemon.


I must say, though, the french fries were amazing. This is the land of potatoes, afterall, but we were scarfing them like we had never had french fries before. We don't seek fries, unless the potatoes are gathered fresh from Maryanne's garden, or cut and cooked in rendered goose fat. These fries rivaled both preferences.

Simply put, they were amazing. And a worthy stop in this town.

Parish Foods & Goods

After a morning of watching the DragonCon parade down Peachtree, our heads hurt from deciphering fantasy characters and our feet were sore from standing for 3 hours on a narrow curb.

Chang made a great recommendation: a new restaurant in Inman Park called Parish.


Think of a restaurant modeled after an eclectic New Orleans restaurant. It is part of the Concentrics Restaurant family - one Eric and I are familiar with and they consistently offer wonderful food. This was no exception.

You begin with beignets. Delightfully fried (so I'm told), chewy, doughy, sweet goodness.


An introductory salad: local spinach, local strawberries.


Thick, rich gumbo.


Homemade andouille sausage.


A crab, asparagus, artichoke omelet.


Shrimp & red mule grits.

It was a wonderful restaurant. True to the big N.O. And they have a lovely market downstairs, to get your cajun to-go, single beers to-go, and a coffee bar with fresh baked tarts, cookies, and croissants.

A Daughter-in-law's memory

Sadly, Eric's father, Elias, passed away this past week and he certainly will be missed. I post this picture of Elias, because I think it is remarkable how much Eric takes after him. I believe this was taken in Cuba, for a school ID or something. At a time before he met his wife. At a time before his kids were born. His new life in the U.S. was ahead of him.


As a daughter-in-law, your memories are a bit different as you really aren't there from the get-go. You get to hear all the childhood stories involving Eric (or his sisters) and laugh at the memories from an outsider point-of-view. Elias has always been supportive of Eric and I and always had informative and useful psych advice for me. Of course, you hate to burden the psychologist at home, but he was always willing to lend an ear when I needed it.

Pepper also appreciated his Grandpa Elias because leftover tasty morsels of whatever-was-for-dinner would always get stuck in the beard. And Pepper was eager to help clean up that situation.

Certainly, this family will miss him in an unmeasurable form. But these are some terrific people. Elena is a strong woman and Eric's sisters, Emmy and Eileen, will be there to support her along the way. He raised three terrific kids.

Palestine & Israel

When we went to Orlando last weekend, it was the first meeting of the "cousins"... Eric and I's dog, Pepper, and Emmy's new kitty Boo Boo. Each was reluctant to give Alaskan kisses, but after about an hour of ducking and hiding, they came to terms across the room without hissing and growling.


What was remarkable, though, was they seemed to have more courage to meet each other when being held. In fact, Boo Boo made the first step of reaching her paw out and touching Pepper's paw. It was really cute - kinda odd - that these two animals wanted to hold hands, er paws!


Boo Boo is a very sweet girl, and she has a great Momma. Welcome to the family sweetheart!