View from the Innside

Albuquerque Restaurant Week, March 18-25, 2012

Restaurant Week is happening all over the country. New York City has just finished their 20th year! Albuquerque Restaurant Week will be March 18-25, 2012. Now's your chance to try some fantastic restaurants, maybe some of them new to you, for a fixed price.

This year we want to try Zacatecas Tacos and Tequila. For $29 per person, we'll have Tarascan Soup (roasted tomatoes, guajillo chiles in a rich broth, garnished with crispy tortilla strips, cotija cheese and pico de gallo), Pepita Crusted Pork Loin (poblano pozole, manchamantel sauce and peach habanero marmalade), and Pastel Tres Leches (sponge cake soaked in three kinds of milk, whipped cream, toasted almonds).

Every restaurant presents their offerings a little differently. Some give a choice of three or four entrees, some have additional courses of soup or salad, some may include a glass of wine or any soft beverage. There's a wide range of menus and prices, so there's something for everyone.

Restaurant Week in other parts of New Mexico:  Santa Fe--March 4-11, Taos--March 25-April 1, and Las Cruces--March 11-18. If you don't live in New Mexico, check for Restaurant Week in a city near you.

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
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outstanding snow and skiing at Sipapu Ski Resort in New Mexico

During the recent storms, Sipapu Ski Resort in New Mexico received a huge amount of snow, making it one of the top snow areas in the country for skiiers. Sipapu is located in northern New Mexico between Taos and Las Vegas, New Mexico.  If you're flying in, the best way to get there is to fly into Albuquerque, rent a car and drive a couple of hours through our beautiful state. We invite you to stay at the Bottger Mansion of Old Town in Albuquerque on your way to or from your New Mexico ski vacation.

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

Celebrate Valentine's Day the whole month of February in Albuquerque, New Mexico

Even though Valentine's Day falls on Tuesday, you can still celebrate it anytime in the month of February at the Bottger Mansion of Old Town in Albuquerque, New Mexico, with our February Lovers' Special.

This special package includes:

• a night at the Bottger Mansion in the room of your choice
• a beautiful bouquet of roses
• a keepsake “do not disturb sign” to take home
• a special Chef’s Tasting Dinner for two at High Noon Restaurant in Old Town--five fabulous courses, four paired with wines personally selected selected by Chef Don (for the full mouth-watering menu, click here)
• the best breakfast in Albuquerque, with an incredible hot entree, fresh fruit, choice of juices, and great coffee.  

$239-269 plus tax

(48-hour advance reservation required; must be 21 and over)

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

 

Pork Tenderloin with Chipotle-Marmalade Sauce

Our friend Joyce at the Chambered Nautilus in Seattle was telling us how much she loves pork tenderloin, so I was going to point her to the recipe on our blog.  I haven't posted that one yet--so here it is.  Click here for a printer-friendly pdf version.

Pork Tenderloin with Chipotle-Marmalade Sauce

Velvet Restaurant in SoHo, NY
6 servings

3 2/3 c. beef stock or canned beef broth
3 2/3 c. chicken stock or canned low-salt chicken broth
3 T. olive oil
3/4 c. finely chopped shallots
1/2 c. orange marmalade
1 T. chopped canned chipotle chilies*
1 T. water
2 tsp. cornstarch
2 1-pound pork tenderloins

Boil beef and chicken stocks in medium saucepan until reduced to 2 1/2 cups, about 45 minutes.

Heat 2 T. olive oil in heavy large saucepan over medium-high heat.  Add shallots and sauté until tender, 4 min. Add reduced stock mixture, marmalade and chipotle chilies.  Simmer until mixture is reduced to 2 cups, 5 min.  Mix 1 T. water and cornstarch in small bowl. Whisk cornstarch mixture into stock mixture. Stir until sauce boils and thickens, 5 min. Season to taste with salt and pepper. (Can be prepared 1 day ahead. Cover and refrigerate.)

Preheat oven to 425°F. Sprinkle pork with salt and pepper. Heat remaining 1 T. olive oil in heavy large ovenproof skillet over high heat. Add pork and cook until brown on all sides, about 4 minutes.

Transfer skillet to oven and bake until thermometer inserted into pork registers 155°F, about 15 minutes. Let pork rest 5 minutes.

Bring sauce to simmer. Slice pork into 1/2-inch-thick medallions; arrange on plates. Spoon sauce over and serve.

*        Tip for chipotle chili in adobo sauce:  this can be found in the Mexican food section of the grocery store, generally in 6-oz. cans.  Since I don’t use very much at one time and don’t want to waste this great chili, I put the chilies with all of the adobo sauce in a food mill to remove seeds and skin.  Put into an ice cube tray using a tablespoon measure and freeze.  Remove from ice cube tray and store in a freezer bag.  Note that it will stain your ice cube tray red!

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

 

Bottger Mansion of Old Town featured in AAA New Mexico Journey Magazine

Happy 100th birthday, New Mexico! To help celebrate, AAA New Mexico Journey Magazine's January-February 2012 issue highlights the Bottger Mansion of Old Town, now a bed and breakfast, in the article "Hot Spots in History," places in New Mexico that are virtually the same as they were in 1912 when New Mexico became the 47th state.

The front portal has been enclosed with windows and the color of the house has changed a few times, but this grand old mansion faced Central Avenue when it was still Railroad Avenue, even before it became Historic Route 66. Three of the original Siberian elm trees still shade the front yard.

We are pleased to offer comfortable accommodations and great food, just as Miguela Bottger and her daughters did when they operated a boarding house here.

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

 

 

 

 

garnishing and plating tips and tricks

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!

Kathy
Bottger Mansion of Old Town
historic bed & breakfast
110 San Felipe Street NW 
Albuquerque, NM   87104
www.bottger.com
follow us on Facebook

 

March of the ducks at the Peabody Hotel in Little Rock Arkansas

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

 

 

Pine State Biscuits, Ikea, Famous Dave's and the Lucky Lab in Portland Oregon

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

Blue Plate Diner, Powell's Books, Ristretto Roasters, Rejuvenation and Sushiville in Portland

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

 

 

Ya Hala Lebanese Restaurant and Penzeys Spices in Portland, Oregon

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