The plating and garnishing session at the innkeepers conference gave me a whole new set of skills and ideas to make what we do even better. I learned how to make strawberry roses, melon flowers, zucchini leaves and even a radish mouse. We didn't even get to the pineapple butterflies or... something with potatoes, since we ran out of time for all of the demos at the end. The chef also showed photos of beautiful unique garnishings, like watermelon swans made into a basket that holds the fruit.
So many fruits and so litle time!
I’m having fun--come on along!
KathyBottger Mansion of Old Town
historic bed & breakfast
110 San Felipe Street NW
Albuquerque, NM 87104
www.bottger.com
follow us on Facebook
The Peabody chain of hotels is famous for their fountains with ducks, and the twice-daily march of the ducks as they come out at 11:00 a.m. and retire for the day at 5:00. A Duckmaster is in charge of them, and they can have a "duckmaster for the day." Today it was Sean, and his younger brother was his assistant.
The ducks live in a special area on the second floor, where they are brought to the elevator in a crate and ride down to the main lobby. A red carpet is laid out for them from the elevator, around the corner, up the steps and into the fountain. The idea is that as Sousa's "Cotton King March" plays, the ducks proceed along the carpet to the fountain. However, Sean's mother told me the ducks were so anxious to arrive that they pretty much stampeded. The young duckmaster was supposed to precede them with his duck-headed cane, but the ducks were so fast out of the elevator that they left him racing behind. After all, there's a big pool waiting with a big plate of food in it.
I’m having fun--come on along!
Kathy
Bottger Mansion of Old Town
historic bed & breakfast
110 San Felipe Street NW
Albuquerque, NM 87104
www.bottger.com
follow us on Facebook
We'll need a vacation after our vacation, since we're packing a lot into each day. We started Wednesday with breakfast at Pine State Biscuits on Belmont Street, the main feature of which is, of course, biscuits. I'm a purist, so I stayed with the sausage gravy on biscuits, but Steve got adventurous with the Reggie Deluxe--a pile-up of fried chicken, bacon, cheese, and gravy on biscuits, topped with an egg (that's the "deluxe" part).
Walking around Ikea was good for several hours, both for some specific things we were looking for and getting ideas for use of space in general. We picked up some very specific hardware we needed for our next project, but Ikea doesn't ship a lot of their stuff, so another field trip of the day was a trip to UPS, where I spent almost as much for the packing and shipping as I did for the hardware.
After shopping, it's time for another meal, of course! Since we were in the area, we had had lunch at Famous Dave's Pit Barbecue. A half a chicken with Rich and Sassy sauce, coleslaw, mashed potatoes, and a corn muffin was a really substantial meal.
The end of the evening was spent with some friends at the Lucky Lab Brew Pub for some pizza and catching up. Urban renewal continues in Portland in an area which used to be run-down and industrial. All those warehouses, auto repair places and machine shops have now been converted into trendy brew pubs, condos and shops. I love that they're keeping the industrial elements like big garage doors that open, concrete floors, and remnant hardware like big pulleys hanging from the ceiling beams. It's a way of moving into the future while retaining reminders of the past.
I’m having fun--come on along!
Kathy
Bottger Mansion of Old Town
historic bed & breakfast
110 San Felipe Street NW
Albuquerque, NM 87104
www.bottger.com
follow us on Facebook
I love traveling. It's one great meal to the next with some fun stuff in between. Yesterday's lunch at the Blue Plate Diner was wonderful. The Tuesday specials were the "American in Paris" sandwich and Grandma's Pot Roast, which was delicious. I also enjoyed the Hawaiian Sunset Soda, and Steve had a coffee milkshake with his grilled cheese sandwich and tomato soup. The Blue Plate is my idea of the perfect diner--do a few things very well for the daily menu and also have a couple of specials every day to keep things interesting.
After a quick stop at the Apple Store, we headed over to Powell's Books, where I picked up a fabulous new book on Paper Engineering by Natalie Avella.
The most interesting stop of the day was Ristretto Roasters, located in the Schoolhouse Electric Building on the fringe of the industrial area of Portland. After enjoying a fine hand-crafted mocha, we strolled around the building, enjoying the warehouse interior and the creative uses of industrial pieces and materials, like a bench made from a card catalog.
A visit to Rejuvenation was interesting but proved fruitless, which is what happens when you're looking for very specific parts, like crescent window locks and transom window hardware, although they had an intriguing sliding door which could work in a specific place in one of our rooms.
The day ended at Sushiville for conveyor belt sushi, one of the joys we've missed in Albuquerque.
I’m having fun--come on along!
Kathy
Bottger Mansion of Old Town
historic bed & breakfast
110 San Felipe Street NW
Albuquerque, NM 87104
www.bottger.com
follow us on Facebook
The first place our daughter and her husband took us after we landed in Portland was to Ya Hala Lebanese Restaurant for lunch. What a wonderful place! I haven't been a big fan of pita bread because, like flour tortillas, if you get it at the grocery store it may not be that good. But made fresh and served directly to your table, it's awesome, especially with the hummus! I had chicken shawarma with hummus and my husband had a beef kafta sandwich. Everything was so yummy! Great restaurants is just one reason we love Portland.
Ya Hala Lebanese Restaurant
8005 SE Stark Street
Portland, OR 97215
(503) 256-4484
open Monday-Saturday 11:00 a.m.-9:00 p.m.
www.yahalarestaurant.com
Among other places that afternoon, we visited Penzeys Spices in Beaverton and picked up some Ceylon cinnamon and "Sunny Paris" spice herb blend (can't wait to try this in scrambled eggs). Steve also bought some breakfast sausage spice mix so he can make his own sausage. I picked up their catalog, which has recipes as well as their product line. Penzeys Penzeys has locations all over the country, so you can look for one near you or order online.
I’m having fun--come on along!
Kathy
Bottger Mansion of Old Town
historic bed & breakfast
110 San Felipe Street NW
Albuquerque, NM 87104
www.bottger.com
follow us on Facebook
What could be more wonderful than a chocolatier who uses only luscious dark chocolate? The Chocolatesmith is a required stop every time we visit Santa Fe. The aroma alone when I walk in the door is enough to make me swoon with delight.
Chocolatesmith has everything you want, like chocolate barks, chocolate-dipped apricots, and chocolate caramels, but so much more, including green chili pistachio bark with cranberries or white chocolate lemon lavender bark. Even the names are whimsical, for instance, Don Juan pecan, Pecos peanut butter bars, and Mucho Ancho petite pate. And just for fun, you can get chocolates that look like chilies or cactus and Day of the Dead chocolates.
ChocolateSmith
851A Cerrillos Road
Santa Fe, NM 87505
www.chocolatesmith.com
(505) 473 2111
Hours:
10—5:30 Monday thru Saturday
12—5 Sunday
I’m having fun--come on along!
Kathy
Bottger Mansion of Old Town
historic bed & breakfast
110 San Felipe Street NW
Albuquerque, NM 87104
www.bottger.com
follow us on Facebook
We recently visited the New Mexico History Museum in Santa Fe to see their exhibit for the centennial, which has photos and artifacts from the 100 years of New Mexico statehood. The exhibit starts with statehood itself, including photos of the constitutional convention representatives and the unofficial 47-star United States flag, and progresses through the railroad and Fred Harvey memorabilia, the Great Depression and public art projects; World War II, the Code Talkers, the Bataan Death March; the atomic bomb and its impact on history since; transportation--railroads, highways, and plane travel; and life-giving water, with its battles over water rights and the development of the land. The end of the exhibit is a wonderful room full of a collage of free-standing photos depicting New Mexico today, its people, arts, lifestyles and culture.
Of course, the New Mexico History Museum has a whole building full of other exhibits, and it's worth your while to visit again and again. Current exhibits include Illuminating the Word--the Saint John's Bible, Telling New Mexico--Stories from Then and Now, Tesoros de Devocion (Treasures of Devotion), and Santa Fe Found--Fragments of Time.
New Mexico Museum of History
113 Lincoln Street
Santa Fe, New Mexico
www.nmhistorymuseum.org
10:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. Tuesday-Sunday
visit website for admission and additional hours
I’m having fun--come on along!
Kathy
Bottger Mansion of Old Town
historic bed & breakfast
110 San Felipe Street NW
Albuquerque, NM 87104
www.bottger.com
follow us on Facebook
Merry Christmas and best wishes from the Bottger Mansion of Old Town Bed & Breakfast. Here's this year's card, a pop-up photo collage of our favorite places around Old Town. (All of the photos were taken by Kathy except the lovely photo of the Sandias with snow, which we found on the web.)
If you'd like to try making your own Old Town pop-up card, click here for the pdf file of the photo page and click here for the instructions. When uncertain, refer to the photo of the finished card.
A healthy and prosperous New Year to all.
I’m having fun--come on along!
Kathy
Bottger Mansion of Old Town
historic bed & breakfast
110 San Felipe Street NW
Albuquerque, NM 87104
www.bottger.com
follow us on Facebook
Looking for a little holiday activity to get you into the spirit? There's still time to take in some Christmas light displays and activities in Albuquerque. Or, if you're a last-minute kind of person, you can see thousands of luminarias on Christmas Eve. Here's some information on light displays and luminarias (click on the link for more info).
LIGHT DISPLAYS
If you can't go to any of these, here's a link to a video of a house in Albuquerque with a fabulous light display synchonized to music.
LUMINARIA TOURS
The luminaria bus tours on Christmas Eve are already sold out, but here are some tips: here's a link to a map of neighborhoods in Albuquerque that usually have a lot of luminarias, not necessarily on the bus tour. And this is a link to the route the city bus tour is taking in 2011, if you'd like to take the same path (use the size bar at the upper left to enlarge the map so you can see the street names and which way to turn).
My tip for viewing luminarias on Christmas Eve: GO LATE IN THE EVENING. It's a very popular thing to do, and traffic can be extremely heavy. If there's no wind or rain, the luminaria candles burn until the wee hours of the morning. We went at midnight one year--it was quiet, peaceful and lovely. The traffic is gone and you can park and walk around in the stillness of the night.
I’m having fun--come on along!
Kathy
Bottger Mansion of Old Town
historic bed & breakfast
110 San Felipe Street NW
Albuquerque, NM 87104
www.bottger.com
follow us on Facebook
