Hi all,
We've made it to San Mateo and have been living in our apartment for the last three nights. The bulk of our belongings won't arrive until late next week, so we're 'roughing it' on the floor, and cooking with only 1 pan.
The last three days have been a spending bonanza, as we stock our pantry, buy needed furniture, and pay all the registration fees necessary to become a California resident.
Our last night on the road was spent in Reno, NV. This city is a pure gamblers town - devoid of the hoopla that is Las Vegas. The culinary experience there was eating at an old 'Basque' restaurant. Served family style on a table of 10, the meal covered 3 starters, 2 sides, a main course, dessert, and red wine for 22.50.
To start, we had a vegetable soup, tossed salad and braised oxtail. The vegetable soup and oxtail were again, a little too salty for my taste. However, once you get over the saltiness, the oxtail was superbly done. Braised like a beef stew, with carrots, celery, tomatoes and herbs, the tail meat was tender, and the collagen/connective tissue had a butter like consistency. Given that oxtail costs at least 3.99 a lb, this was a treat. Our dining companion didn't eat his portion, so I had double the amount of tail!
I chose a 10oz sirloin as my main, and Sandra chose roasted lamb. I only ate 1/3 of my sirloin because I preferred the oxtail. Sandra's lamb was well seasoned and pleasantly garlicy.
All of this food was served next to a large plate of fries, a tub of beans and bread.
The red wine was not worth mentioning.
At the beginning of the meal we introduced ourselves to a gentleman who was dining by himself. A Vietnam Navy Vet and Massachusetts North Shore native, we obviously connected by talking about the Red Sox. Unfortunately, over the course of dinner, it became more and more apparent that he was completely there. He insisted that he was still on 24 hour notice with the Navy, and that he was going home Labor Day weekend to have Thanksgiving dinner. Later on, as I described my interaction with him to friends in the medical industry, they suspected that he had dementia. I hope his family will catch on and help him when he does return to MA. It's so bizarre because he could remember the scores of every playoff game during the 2004 playoff run and players on the roster, but did not remember that Thanksgiving and Labor Day are different holidays.
That's it for tonight.
I will continue this blog as I have a number of entries running through my head that I want to write down. This blog will eventually evolve into documenting our experiences as new San Mateo/ Bay Area residents.
Aloha
Saturday, August 18, 2007
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
Almost There
Four more hours, and we'll be in San Mateo.
We won't have internet hooked up for a day or two, so no posts until Thursday.
We won't have internet hooked up for a day or two, so no posts until Thursday.
Monday, August 13, 2007
Flashbacks
So I got lazy the past two days and failed to blog. As such, I'll try to recount them with the most detail I can muster.
Cheyenne, WY (Saturday):
There really wasn't much to do in this dry, dusty, cowboy town, whose "downtown" area's main attraction was a large visitor's center (closed by the time we got there at 6 pm).
At least dinner was good. We happened upon Guadalajara Family Mexican Restaurant, which was located on a long street of chain restaurants, gas stations, Walmart, Target, and a few other big box stores. Even though we arrived at 5:30 (the earliest dinner we'd had in a very long time), there were already a number of people there, and only a few of them were senior citizens. The menu offered many options, but I ended up getting a huge plate with some carne asada, a chicken enchilada smothered with black mole, refried beans, salad, and tortillas. I wolfed it all down. And had a glass of horchata, too.
Afterwards, we walked around the aforementioned downtown.
Apparently, we just missed "Cheyenne Frontier Days," a festival of some sort that took place in July. Here are some pictures of the most interesting things we saw: big boots painted by various artists (same idea as the "Cows on Parade" in Chicago)and a huge Wrangler store (with a humongous selection of cowboy boots inside).
Salt Lake City, Utah:
Like Ivan has already said, dinner in SLC was fantastic. Chanon Thai is somewhat hidden in the middle of a residential area, one of four storefronts in a tiny strip mall. While the pad thai and pork really hit the spot, my favorite parts of the meal were the appetizer and dessert. The starter: a crunchy green papaya salad with perfectly balanced sweet, salty, spicy flavors. The sweet ending: a homemade coconut ice cream whose slightly icy texture and rich, intensely coconut-y flavor made me think it was made with little more than coconut milk and sugar. Even better, it was served with two crisply fried banana-filled egg rolls. Who knew great Thai food could be found in Salt Lake City!
The drive away from the city this morning was picturesque in an eerie way.
On first glance, the landscape seemed like it could've made for a great winter postcard, what with the blanket of white stretching along for miles on the ground. Except that, if you looked closer, the mountains were covered in brown rather than white and the "snow" was actually salt. 
At a quick stop at the gas station next to the Bonneville Speedway, we saw quite a few salt(and rust)-encrusted salt buggies. Seems like it would be fun to drive one of those, but also pretty dirty. The gas station (a pretty small one) had a shower and laundry machines inside. Pretty efficient, if you ask me!
Now we're in Reno and it's nearly time for dinner. More on that, later.
Cheyenne, WY (Saturday):
There really wasn't much to do in this dry, dusty, cowboy town, whose "downtown" area's main attraction was a large visitor's center (closed by the time we got there at 6 pm).
At least dinner was good. We happened upon Guadalajara Family Mexican Restaurant, which was located on a long street of chain restaurants, gas stations, Walmart, Target, and a few other big box stores. Even though we arrived at 5:30 (the earliest dinner we'd had in a very long time), there were already a number of people there, and only a few of them were senior citizens. The menu offered many options, but I ended up getting a huge plate with some carne asada, a chicken enchilada smothered with black mole, refried beans, salad, and tortillas. I wolfed it all down. And had a glass of horchata, too.Afterwards, we walked around the aforementioned downtown.
Apparently, we just missed "Cheyenne Frontier Days," a festival of some sort that took place in July. Here are some pictures of the most interesting things we saw: big boots painted by various artists (same idea as the "Cows on Parade" in Chicago)and a huge Wrangler store (with a humongous selection of cowboy boots inside).
Salt Lake City, Utah:
Like Ivan has already said, dinner in SLC was fantastic. Chanon Thai is somewhat hidden in the middle of a residential area, one of four storefronts in a tiny strip mall. While the pad thai and pork really hit the spot, my favorite parts of the meal were the appetizer and dessert. The starter: a crunchy green papaya salad with perfectly balanced sweet, salty, spicy flavors. The sweet ending: a homemade coconut ice cream whose slightly icy texture and rich, intensely coconut-y flavor made me think it was made with little more than coconut milk and sugar. Even better, it was served with two crisply fried banana-filled egg rolls. Who knew great Thai food could be found in Salt Lake City!
The drive away from the city this morning was picturesque in an eerie way.
On first glance, the landscape seemed like it could've made for a great winter postcard, what with the blanket of white stretching along for miles on the ground. Except that, if you looked closer, the mountains were covered in brown rather than white and the "snow" was actually salt. 
At a quick stop at the gas station next to the Bonneville Speedway, we saw quite a few salt(and rust)-encrusted salt buggies. Seems like it would be fun to drive one of those, but also pretty dirty. The gas station (a pretty small one) had a shower and laundry machines inside. Pretty efficient, if you ask me!Now we're in Reno and it's nearly time for dinner. More on that, later.
Day 7 Recap
Location: Salt Lake, Utah
MAP OF PROGRESS
Our internet was down last night so we couldn't get in the proper food blogs.
The drive yesterday was a lot more interesting. We passed through hilly and mountainous regions heading into Utah.
Lunch was sad again. We didn't find anything promising no the road, so we opted for Subway.
Dinner, however, was a different story. We went to Chanon Thai in Salt Lake City. Boy did that hit the spot! Green papaya salad, Pad Thai, and a marinated pork dish that was amazingly tender (again, a bit too salty for my tastes though).
Salt Lake City is not as Morman as I expected it to be, but the church does have some very large buildings in the middle of downtown. And, all the streets are named relative to the distance away from the Temple.
Keeping this short as we need to hit the road.
Next stop: Reno, NV.
Ivan
MAP OF PROGRESS
Our internet was down last night so we couldn't get in the proper food blogs.
The drive yesterday was a lot more interesting. We passed through hilly and mountainous regions heading into Utah.
Lunch was sad again. We didn't find anything promising no the road, so we opted for Subway.
Dinner, however, was a different story. We went to Chanon Thai in Salt Lake City. Boy did that hit the spot! Green papaya salad, Pad Thai, and a marinated pork dish that was amazingly tender (again, a bit too salty for my tastes though).
Salt Lake City is not as Morman as I expected it to be, but the church does have some very large buildings in the middle of downtown. And, all the streets are named relative to the distance away from the Temple.
Keeping this short as we need to hit the road.
Next stop: Reno, NV.
Ivan
Sunday, August 12, 2007
Day 6 Recap
Location: Cheyenne Wyoming.
It was a tough drive yesterday. Over the course of 6.5 hours, we covered 500 miles of the flat forgettable farmland that is Nebraska.
Aside from the truck/rest stop areas every 50 miles or so, there was nothing to see or do. We unfortunately were forced to stop at one of the big chain fast food joints along the way for lunch. I had never eaten at Wendy's, so we decided that was as good as any reason to make our choice.
My double was so greasy I had throw away the bottom bun. It was a grease sponge! The patty was ok for a fast food burger but way too salty.
We arrived in Cheyenne at about 5pm local time and were quite famished. I didn't actually finish my burger for lunch. I couldn't get myself to finish lettuce that had capillaries full of grease, let alone the patty itself.
Starved for some rice and 'asian' flavor. We actually decided to go to a Korean restaurant listed in the visitors guide. Korean in Cheyenne you ask? Yes, we were that desperate. Unfortunately, the restaurant was CLOSED on the weekends. I think that about sums up the city of Cheyenne. I don't know what you would do here if you weren't a farmer or rancher.
We ended up at a Mexican restaurant that was not too bad. The beef was very tasty, but way over salted. I noticed that things are really 'flavorful' out here in the middle of the country. Flavorful in the base sense. Salty and sweet. The Yoplait yogurt was sweeter than the ones I usually had for breakfast in Boston, the Wendy's burger was super salty just like the evenings beef.
Sandra took a picture of her food so, she'll post it up later.
After dinner we stopped by a Super Walmart. Boy was it super. If anything, this Walmart demonstrates how powerful and far reaching this global economy really is. Navel oranges from Australia? Stone fruit in the middle of cattle country? Amazing how all of this ships in to the middle of no where, still fresh and ready to eat.
This Walmart also demonstrates the true excess in which Americans live in. This place was as big as a football field. 200 feet, 5 shelf high aisles of just snack cookies and crackers? I saw a 3 foot long sandwich for 5 dollars! How do they do that??
Next stop: Salt Lake City.
It was a tough drive yesterday. Over the course of 6.5 hours, we covered 500 miles of the flat forgettable farmland that is Nebraska.
Aside from the truck/rest stop areas every 50 miles or so, there was nothing to see or do. We unfortunately were forced to stop at one of the big chain fast food joints along the way for lunch. I had never eaten at Wendy's, so we decided that was as good as any reason to make our choice.
My double was so greasy I had throw away the bottom bun. It was a grease sponge! The patty was ok for a fast food burger but way too salty.
We arrived in Cheyenne at about 5pm local time and were quite famished. I didn't actually finish my burger for lunch. I couldn't get myself to finish lettuce that had capillaries full of grease, let alone the patty itself.
Starved for some rice and 'asian' flavor. We actually decided to go to a Korean restaurant listed in the visitors guide. Korean in Cheyenne you ask? Yes, we were that desperate. Unfortunately, the restaurant was CLOSED on the weekends. I think that about sums up the city of Cheyenne. I don't know what you would do here if you weren't a farmer or rancher.
We ended up at a Mexican restaurant that was not too bad. The beef was very tasty, but way over salted. I noticed that things are really 'flavorful' out here in the middle of the country. Flavorful in the base sense. Salty and sweet. The Yoplait yogurt was sweeter than the ones I usually had for breakfast in Boston, the Wendy's burger was super salty just like the evenings beef.
Sandra took a picture of her food so, she'll post it up later.
After dinner we stopped by a Super Walmart. Boy was it super. If anything, this Walmart demonstrates how powerful and far reaching this global economy really is. Navel oranges from Australia? Stone fruit in the middle of cattle country? Amazing how all of this ships in to the middle of no where, still fresh and ready to eat.
This Walmart also demonstrates the true excess in which Americans live in. This place was as big as a football field. 200 feet, 5 shelf high aisles of just snack cookies and crackers? I saw a 3 foot long sandwich for 5 dollars! How do they do that??
Next stop: Salt Lake City.
Saturday, August 11, 2007
Omaha
I wish I'd known about Julius Meinl when I still lived in Chicago. There are only two locations in the world: Austria and Chicago. Luckily, the Chicago one was only a 10 minute walk from Marsha's place, so we were able to stop by during our morning walk with Gus. The interior is what I imagine a Viennese cafe to look like inside: cute, airy, and well decorated. Unlike some of what I'd been having on this trip, the iced coffee that I got wasn't bitter and over roasted. I could actually taste the flavor of the beans. 
As for the apple strudel, the filling was delicious: tart granny smith slices that weren't too mushy, large golden raisins, and small pieces of almonds. Too bad the pastry tasted lean and slightly raw, as if someone skimped on the butter and didn't bake it quite long enough. Gus was pretty happy with the free milk bone he got from their cookie jar (located next to the milk and sugar station), which he held in his mouth during the entire 6+ blocks back until he could enjoy it in the car. 
The stop in Iowa City was a nice break. We tried going to Motley Cow for lunch, but realized it was only open for dinner, so we went to The Hamburg Inn instead. The 97-degree weather would have made sitting on the bench outside of the restaurant nearly unbearable, were it not for the shade from the awning above us. In the attempt to be healthy (what a joke) we shared a deluxe grilled tenderloin sandwich rather than a breaded and fried one--"deluxe" meaning it came with a few pieces of iceberg lettuce and a couple of slices of tomato. Eh, overrated. Tasted like a really dry, overcooked piece of pork in a hamburger bun. The crinkle-cut fries that came with it were comforting in an odd way--reminded me of the slightly bendable fries that came with my elementary school lunches. The real reason we went to this restaurant, however, was for their famous "pie shakes." (Thanks for the suggestion, Katherine.) The first time I heard about such a thing, I couldn't imagine liking it: it's a slice of pie blended with ice cream.
I like having pie a la mode, but ice cream with pie bits suspended in it? I wasn't so sure. We opted for peach pie, and it was surprisingly good (though the extremely hot weather probably helped). The peaches were fairly well integrated into the vanilla ice cream, while the pieces of pie crust could still be fished out in small chunks. In an effort to be healthy (ha!) we ate only 3/4 of the shake.
Once in Omaha, we walked around the Old Market area, which seemed to be a pretty happening place, what with its approximately 3x3-block square of restaurants and funky shops. For dinner, we took it easy, eating at La Buvette, a Euro-style wine bar/cafe/shop with bottles upon bottles of wine and spirits lining the painted brick walls. Since we were in supposedly one of the best cities for beef, we felt compelled to order some. Ivan got the "surf and turf" (steak and monkfish on top of mashed potatoes) and a salad, while I, ever the nonconformist, opted for gazpacho with goat cheese and a salad with fava beans and feta. These items were all prepared rather simply (no sauce on the steak, little if any cream in the mashed potatoes, basic vinaigrette on the salad), allowing their inherent flavors to really came through. We agreed that the beef did indeed tasted, for lack of a better word, "beefier" than normal. What made the meal even more impressive was the fact that there was just one chef preparing everything in the center of the store/restaurant with nothing more than two portable burners and two electric toasters. Not an easy feat.
Despite having had the pie shake earlier in the day, I still wanted some ice cream. We stopped by Ted & Wally's to get some coconut coffee and pistachio almond ice cream, which turned out to be slightly melty (I prefer ice cream that is so hard it can be eaten with a fork) and tasted only faintly of what it was supposed to taste like. The pistachio flavor had odd dark green striations throughout (poorly integrated paste food coloring, perhaps?). I think living in Boston for the past three years has turned me into an ice cream snob. Oh, how I miss Christina's. And JP Lick's. And Toscanini's. And Richardson's. And Lizzy's...
As for the apple strudel, the filling was delicious: tart granny smith slices that weren't too mushy, large golden raisins, and small pieces of almonds. Too bad the pastry tasted lean and slightly raw, as if someone skimped on the butter and didn't bake it quite long enough. Gus was pretty happy with the free milk bone he got from their cookie jar (located next to the milk and sugar station), which he held in his mouth during the entire 6+ blocks back until he could enjoy it in the car. 
The stop in Iowa City was a nice break. We tried going to Motley Cow for lunch, but realized it was only open for dinner, so we went to The Hamburg Inn instead. The 97-degree weather would have made sitting on the bench outside of the restaurant nearly unbearable, were it not for the shade from the awning above us. In the attempt to be healthy (what a joke) we shared a deluxe grilled tenderloin sandwich rather than a breaded and fried one--"deluxe" meaning it came with a few pieces of iceberg lettuce and a couple of slices of tomato. Eh, overrated. Tasted like a really dry, overcooked piece of pork in a hamburger bun. The crinkle-cut fries that came with it were comforting in an odd way--reminded me of the slightly bendable fries that came with my elementary school lunches. The real reason we went to this restaurant, however, was for their famous "pie shakes." (Thanks for the suggestion, Katherine.) The first time I heard about such a thing, I couldn't imagine liking it: it's a slice of pie blended with ice cream.
I like having pie a la mode, but ice cream with pie bits suspended in it? I wasn't so sure. We opted for peach pie, and it was surprisingly good (though the extremely hot weather probably helped). The peaches were fairly well integrated into the vanilla ice cream, while the pieces of pie crust could still be fished out in small chunks. In an effort to be healthy (ha!) we ate only 3/4 of the shake.Once in Omaha, we walked around the Old Market area, which seemed to be a pretty happening place, what with its approximately 3x3-block square of restaurants and funky shops. For dinner, we took it easy, eating at La Buvette, a Euro-style wine bar/cafe/shop with bottles upon bottles of wine and spirits lining the painted brick walls. Since we were in supposedly one of the best cities for beef, we felt compelled to order some. Ivan got the "surf and turf" (steak and monkfish on top of mashed potatoes) and a salad, while I, ever the nonconformist, opted for gazpacho with goat cheese and a salad with fava beans and feta. These items were all prepared rather simply (no sauce on the steak, little if any cream in the mashed potatoes, basic vinaigrette on the salad), allowing their inherent flavors to really came through. We agreed that the beef did indeed tasted, for lack of a better word, "beefier" than normal. What made the meal even more impressive was the fact that there was just one chef preparing everything in the center of the store/restaurant with nothing more than two portable burners and two electric toasters. Not an easy feat.
Despite having had the pie shake earlier in the day, I still wanted some ice cream. We stopped by Ted & Wally's to get some coconut coffee and pistachio almond ice cream, which turned out to be slightly melty (I prefer ice cream that is so hard it can be eaten with a fork) and tasted only faintly of what it was supposed to taste like. The pistachio flavor had odd dark green striations throughout (poorly integrated paste food coloring, perhaps?). I think living in Boston for the past three years has turned me into an ice cream snob. Oh, how I miss Christina's. And JP Lick's. And Toscanini's. And Richardson's. And Lizzy's...
Friday, August 10, 2007
Day 5
Location: Omaha Nebraska
Since Sandra is doing such a good job with the food descriptions, I'm just going to let her continue. I want our readers to know that Sandra takes this blog very seriously and works on it with the same fervor as if it had a real publishing deadline. Last night she stayed up until 1:30 am, when we were waking up at 5:30 am to hit the road, just to finish her entry.
We spent a full day in Chicago. Much thanks to Marsha for letting us stay at her place for two nights.
I was able to meet up with my cousin for lunch, and spent the afternoon with Brandon. Dinner was at Cafe Iberico. Fabulous food at affordable prices.
Before dinner, I walked about 16 blocks round trip to buy some Garrets popcorn. Garrets is a Chicago institution that specializes in flavored popcorn. The most notable being the 'Mini Mix' consisting of cheddar cheese corn and carmel corn mixed together. After buying it and eating a few, I realized how bad it is for you. We ended up throwing away most of it this afternoon to prevent us from eating any more of it.
Ok, I'm tired. Sandras turn.
Today, we drove to Iowa City and had an interesting concoction: a pie shake. Sandra will upload more info. But, it's vanilla ice cream, blended with a slice of pie of your choice. Ridiculous for sure.
Since Sandra is doing such a good job with the food descriptions, I'm just going to let her continue. I want our readers to know that Sandra takes this blog very seriously and works on it with the same fervor as if it had a real publishing deadline. Last night she stayed up until 1:30 am, when we were waking up at 5:30 am to hit the road, just to finish her entry.
We spent a full day in Chicago. Much thanks to Marsha for letting us stay at her place for two nights.
I was able to meet up with my cousin for lunch, and spent the afternoon with Brandon. Dinner was at Cafe Iberico. Fabulous food at affordable prices.
Before dinner, I walked about 16 blocks round trip to buy some Garrets popcorn. Garrets is a Chicago institution that specializes in flavored popcorn. The most notable being the 'Mini Mix' consisting of cheddar cheese corn and carmel corn mixed together. After buying it and eating a few, I realized how bad it is for you. We ended up throwing away most of it this afternoon to prevent us from eating any more of it.
Ok, I'm tired. Sandras turn.
Today, we drove to Iowa City and had an interesting concoction: a pie shake. Sandra will upload more info. But, it's vanilla ice cream, blended with a slice of pie of your choice. Ridiculous for sure.
How is Gus doing?
Many people ask how Gus is doing on this road trip, so this entry is all about him!
We have been trying to keep Gus on his typical Boston daily schedule. A longish walk in the morning with a breakfast offering (which he usually doesn't touch), a serious walk around 4pm EST, dinner around 7pm EST and a quick walk before bed time.
On top of this, whenever the humans stop for a bathroom break, he gets taken out for a stretch.
Gus can't be any better in the car. For safety, we have a seat belt attachment for his harness - so he's buckled in. This prevents him from wandering around the car, or jumping in the front seat while we're driving.
During the long driving stretches, he usually just lies down in his seat. Sometimes, he'll sit up and look out the window, but for the most part he just sleeps or rests in the car. Here are some pictures of Gus lying down (yes, he has his own car pillow):
What we have noticed, is that Gus doesn't like G forces. Whenever we cut lanes while traveling at a high rate, or make 90 degree turns on regular streets, Gus kind of groans/whines.
For the most part, he seems to be loving the road trip. He is spending a lot more time with Sandra and I than normal because we usually leave him at home for 6-8 hours when we go to work.
Wherever we go, be it Cleveland, Iowa City, Chicago, we have gotten many compliments about how cute he is....because well, he IS cute!
We have been trying to keep Gus on his typical Boston daily schedule. A longish walk in the morning with a breakfast offering (which he usually doesn't touch), a serious walk around 4pm EST, dinner around 7pm EST and a quick walk before bed time.
On top of this, whenever the humans stop for a bathroom break, he gets taken out for a stretch.
Gus can't be any better in the car. For safety, we have a seat belt attachment for his harness - so he's buckled in. This prevents him from wandering around the car, or jumping in the front seat while we're driving.
During the long driving stretches, he usually just lies down in his seat. Sometimes, he'll sit up and look out the window, but for the most part he just sleeps or rests in the car. Here are some pictures of Gus lying down (yes, he has his own car pillow):
What we have noticed, is that Gus doesn't like G forces. Whenever we cut lanes while traveling at a high rate, or make 90 degree turns on regular streets, Gus kind of groans/whines.
For the most part, he seems to be loving the road trip. He is spending a lot more time with Sandra and I than normal because we usually leave him at home for 6-8 hours when we go to work.
Wherever we go, be it Cleveland, Iowa City, Chicago, we have gotten many compliments about how cute he is....because well, he IS cute!
Winding Down in the Windy City
So I didn't end up getting a veggie burger at Wishbone, after all. Got the crawfish po' boy instead, which came with a side of vinegary red cabbage cole slaw. While it hit the spot, it was pretty salty (seems to be a common theme in this trip). The one thing I really enjoyed at lunch, however, was quite unexpected: a cucumber lemonade. The concept was pure genius: cucumber, probably a little bit of ice, and lemonade blended together to create an oddly refreshing, slightly frothy beverage that tasted like lemonade with a hit of cucumber at the end. Except, in this form, the cucumber tasted a little more like a cucumber-y melon rather than a cucumber cucumber. 
I'm going to have to try to replicate it once I have a blender again. But topping even that was the crazy chicken-themed decor, which I was surprised to find myself liking. A lot. I mean, look check out this light fixture! It reminds me of a rug I coveted for a long time, but never bought... Might be time to purchase it.
In the afternoon, Esther and I hung out in Lincoln Square, which has developed so much since the last time I was there. We had a ball going in and out of the cool shops there (one place even had what looked like some Alpine-looking outfit in the window, similar to what you'd see a ride operator wearing at Disneyland's Matterhorn ride), and of course had to top off the excursion with an afternoon coffee/pastry break at
Cafe Selmarie, where we each had an Intelligentsia iced coffee and shared an insane apple caramel bread pudding (check out the picture at left) 
and oatmeal coconut chocolate chip cookie (as if I hadn't had enough oatmeal cookies in the last couple of months! I miss them already!).
Driving down Lakeshore Drive in the gorgeous, early evening weather to get downtown to dinner brought back so many memories: of bike rides along the lake, of going to and from Evanston and Chicago on the ghetto NU night bus and later the new and improved intercampus shuttle bus, riding as a passenger in friends' cars, and finally driving myself down the same path, starting from the snowy day I moved back to the city for my first real, full-time job after college. Yup, coming straight from O'Hare in a crappy half-broken rental car driving in snow for the first time ever and nearly going the wrong way on a one-way street.
The tapas dinner at Cafe Iberico was great (aside from my spilling a glass of sangria onto the table, the floor, and Avery's white shorts and shoes--sorry!!--after which two other tables flanking us to the right and behind followed suit about 10 seconds afterwards), but spending time with so many friends who I hadn't seen all together in the same place for at least 3 or 4 years was even better. As for the food itself? It was mostly as good as what everyone had said about it over the years. The paella? Eh, so so. What really stood out, however, were the seafood items, notably the grilled octopus, which had an aroma very much like Chinese barbecue sauce (sa cha jiang, not char siu) but which tasted like garlic instead; the mussels in saffron broth; and clams in shallot-white wine sauce. All in all, for sangria, 12 plates of tapas, and 2 orders of paella for $20 a person, the value really couldn't be beat.
It's now three hours since we left the restaurant, and I'm still full. And happy. And tired. And looking forward to whatever tomorrow may bring.
I'm going to have to try to replicate it once I have a blender again. But topping even that was the crazy chicken-themed decor, which I was surprised to find myself liking. A lot. I mean, look check out this light fixture! It reminds me of a rug I coveted for a long time, but never bought... Might be time to purchase it.In the afternoon, Esther and I hung out in Lincoln Square, which has developed so much since the last time I was there. We had a ball going in and out of the cool shops there (one place even had what looked like some Alpine-looking outfit in the window, similar to what you'd see a ride operator wearing at Disneyland's Matterhorn ride), and of course had to top off the excursion with an afternoon coffee/pastry break at
Cafe Selmarie, where we each had an Intelligentsia iced coffee and shared an insane apple caramel bread pudding (check out the picture at left) 
and oatmeal coconut chocolate chip cookie (as if I hadn't had enough oatmeal cookies in the last couple of months! I miss them already!).Driving down Lakeshore Drive in the gorgeous, early evening weather to get downtown to dinner brought back so many memories: of bike rides along the lake, of going to and from Evanston and Chicago on the ghetto NU night bus and later the new and improved intercampus shuttle bus, riding as a passenger in friends' cars, and finally driving myself down the same path, starting from the snowy day I moved back to the city for my first real, full-time job after college. Yup, coming straight from O'Hare in a crappy half-broken rental car driving in snow for the first time ever and nearly going the wrong way on a one-way street.
The tapas dinner at Cafe Iberico was great (aside from my spilling a glass of sangria onto the table, the floor, and Avery's white shorts and shoes--sorry!!--after which two other tables flanking us to the right and behind followed suit about 10 seconds afterwards), but spending time with so many friends who I hadn't seen all together in the same place for at least 3 or 4 years was even better. As for the food itself? It was mostly as good as what everyone had said about it over the years. The paella? Eh, so so. What really stood out, however, were the seafood items, notably the grilled octopus, which had an aroma very much like Chinese barbecue sauce (sa cha jiang, not char siu) but which tasted like garlic instead; the mussels in saffron broth; and clams in shallot-white wine sauce. All in all, for sangria, 12 plates of tapas, and 2 orders of paella for $20 a person, the value really couldn't be beat.
It's now three hours since we left the restaurant, and I'm still full. And happy. And tired. And looking forward to whatever tomorrow may bring.
Thursday, August 9, 2007
Chicago is my kind of town
Yesterday we left Cleveland for Chicago and arrived just before it began to seriously pour. I felt so sorry for all the bikers I saw who were sopping wet. It was not a good time to be riding at all.
But before we left Ohio, we had one last place to check out: the West Side Market . It was basically two indoor markets: one for produce, another for everything else, but mostly meats, cheeses and baked goods. Since there wouldn't be too many interesting places we'd pass along the way to Chicago, we ended up picking up a bunch of ingredients to make sandwiches for lunch instead. There were a few stands that sold some cool items, one of which is pictured here: home made "Slim Jim's."
We got the Cajun (pretty good) and Regular (pretty basic).
I got so excited (I actually squealed a little) when I saw an Apple Fritter stand that I had to get one. But once we were in the car, I realized I'd been scammed.
As I tore into it (literally, I kept tearing off piece after piece until it was no longer in recognizable form) I saw that there were NO APPLES. None! And the edges weren't even crispy. The whole thing was soft and puffy. I was sorely disappointed. If it were labeled "cinnamon donut" then it would've been fantastic. But it wasn't. So of course I was disappointed.
When we were about an hour away from Chicago, we stopped at a rest stop with a Starbucks in it. It was time for my afternoon coffee. I couldn't believe it. The tall iced mocha was $4.00. $4.00! For a small! I got a venti iced americano instead, for $2.95.
Once in Chicago, we stopped by a former Kendall culinary school classmate's dog bakery in Old Town, The Furry Beastro, where we picked up a new blue harness for Gus and some dog treats (all baked in-house). He looked very handsome trotting out in his new "outfit."
By the time we arrived at Marsha's, we were starving. Dinner was at a sushi restaurant called Tank , which had a wide array of rolls, including a fried oyster one that was fairly unique. The best part, however, had to be the fried calamari appetizer, which had a light and crisp salt and lemon pepper battered crust and came with an aioli-like honey-wasabi dipping sauce.
This morning, we went to a cool new bakery in the Ukranian Village called Sweet Cakes. The baker is a friend of Charles's, and her father, who owns the place, rang me up. Both of them were incredibly sweet and friendly, and we had a nice conversation before Ivan and I enjoyed our iced mocha, brioche bostock, and blueberry scone outside while Gus watched. Everything was delicious and fresh, but I couldn't help but compare the scone to Kenji's, which have become somewhat ingrained in my mind/stomach (his are still flakier).
Next, we're off to lunch at Wishbone , a Southern-style joint. I'm probably going to wimp out and get a veggie burger! More later...
But before we left Ohio, we had one last place to check out: the West Side Market . It was basically two indoor markets: one for produce, another for everything else, but mostly meats, cheeses and baked goods. Since there wouldn't be too many interesting places we'd pass along the way to Chicago, we ended up picking up a bunch of ingredients to make sandwiches for lunch instead. There were a few stands that sold some cool items, one of which is pictured here: home made "Slim Jim's."
We got the Cajun (pretty good) and Regular (pretty basic). I got so excited (I actually squealed a little) when I saw an Apple Fritter stand that I had to get one. But once we were in the car, I realized I'd been scammed.
As I tore into it (literally, I kept tearing off piece after piece until it was no longer in recognizable form) I saw that there were NO APPLES. None! And the edges weren't even crispy. The whole thing was soft and puffy. I was sorely disappointed. If it were labeled "cinnamon donut" then it would've been fantastic. But it wasn't. So of course I was disappointed.
When we were about an hour away from Chicago, we stopped at a rest stop with a Starbucks in it. It was time for my afternoon coffee. I couldn't believe it. The tall iced mocha was $4.00. $4.00! For a small! I got a venti iced americano instead, for $2.95.
Once in Chicago, we stopped by a former Kendall culinary school classmate's dog bakery in Old Town, The Furry Beastro, where we picked up a new blue harness for Gus and some dog treats (all baked in-house). He looked very handsome trotting out in his new "outfit."
By the time we arrived at Marsha's, we were starving. Dinner was at a sushi restaurant called Tank , which had a wide array of rolls, including a fried oyster one that was fairly unique. The best part, however, had to be the fried calamari appetizer, which had a light and crisp salt and lemon pepper battered crust and came with an aioli-like honey-wasabi dipping sauce.
This morning, we went to a cool new bakery in the Ukranian Village called Sweet Cakes. The baker is a friend of Charles's, and her father, who owns the place, rang me up. Both of them were incredibly sweet and friendly, and we had a nice conversation before Ivan and I enjoyed our iced mocha, brioche bostock, and blueberry scone outside while Gus watched. Everything was delicious and fresh, but I couldn't help but compare the scone to Kenji's, which have become somewhat ingrained in my mind/stomach (his are still flakier).
Next, we're off to lunch at Wishbone , a Southern-style joint. I'm probably going to wimp out and get a veggie burger! More later...
Wednesday, August 8, 2007
now the real eating begins
After a fairly lackluster food day yesterday, today's meals more than made up for it. Breakfast was somewhat of a cobbled together affair, but pretty tasty nonetheless. As Fage Greek yogurt is one of my favorite kinds of yogurt (especially when honey, granola, sliced banana, and toasted sliced almonds are stirred in) I was delighted to find a new flavor (peach), which went surprisingly well with the fresh strawberries we bought. Second course: half of a toasted everything bagel with salmon cream cheese. Beverage: latte from Starbucks purchased with "free" gift card from Coinstar machine the day before (I didn't even know gift cards were an option on those machines. Sure is a nice way to use up spare change.)
En route to Buffalo, we began listening to an audiobook of Michael Pollen's The Omnivore's Dilemma. As some of you may know, I started reading this book about, oh, just over a year ago and despite being completely intrigued by the subject matter, was never able to get past the third chapter. So I figured rather than continue to let the book gather dust, I'd force myself to finish it by having someone else read it to me instead, which turned out to be a really good idea. It seemed a fitting choice, considering the fact that we ended up seeing a fair number of corn fields along the highway. Iowa will be very interesting indeed.
For lunch, we ended up going to a place I found in Jane and Michael Stern's Road Food called Charlie the Butcher, which is known for their "beef on weck," a Buffalo specialty. Basically, it's a sandwich of sliced roast beef piled on top of a kummelweck roll (a kaiser roll with tons of pretzel salt and caraway seeds on top). The top of the roll is dipped in jus, but to get the full effect, you should still slather a layer of horseradish over it as well. As I stood in line placing my order, I watched the staff slice away at the roasts and put the sandwiches together right in front of me. There was, I have to admit, a moment of hesitation when I wondered if I should try the "fried bologna" instead, which was described as "grilled like a steak, tastes like a hot dog" (or something to that effect). Tempting, but...no. The beef on weck 
was fairly good, especially with a side of chef's salad (really, it should've been called a garden salad, because there was no cheese, egg, ham, or turkey!) and onion rings, as well as loganberry juice (a nondescript sweet berry-like juice) to wash it all down. But I couldn't help but pick away at the pretzel salt; I could feel my blood pressure increasing with every bite. By the time I was done, the bottom of my tray was littered with salt granules. And although the meat was undeniably "beefy," it just wasn't sliced as thinly as I would've liked (too chewy!). I guess not many people can cut 1/8" thick (or, rather, thin) slices like David Pazmino can.
Mid-afternoon break: chocolate frosty at Wendy's!
Once we arrived in Cleveland--apparently, we'd missed a morning of torrential rainfall in which several areas were flooded, in some cases by 10 feet of rain--it was time for dinner. Kim's suggestion of Lola Bistro was an excellent choice. We started with beef cheek pierogies, going on to smoked Berkshire pork chops (Ivan) and perfectly cooked walleye with creamed corn and bacon (me) with a side of sauteed wild mushrooms, capping it all off with a whimsical "peanut butter-banana chiffon," which looked like a napoleon's high falutin deconstructed cousin, but tasted like a more familiar chocolate peanut butter pie... only better. Too bad we didn't think ahead and were the most casually dressed people in the place. While everyone else had on their dresses, strappy sandals, and business suits, there we were in our comfortable "travel attire," complete with sneakers (Ivan) and Reef flip flops (me). Oops.
En route to Buffalo, we began listening to an audiobook of Michael Pollen's The Omnivore's Dilemma. As some of you may know, I started reading this book about, oh, just over a year ago and despite being completely intrigued by the subject matter, was never able to get past the third chapter. So I figured rather than continue to let the book gather dust, I'd force myself to finish it by having someone else read it to me instead, which turned out to be a really good idea. It seemed a fitting choice, considering the fact that we ended up seeing a fair number of corn fields along the highway. Iowa will be very interesting indeed.
For lunch, we ended up going to a place I found in Jane and Michael Stern's Road Food called Charlie the Butcher, which is known for their "beef on weck," a Buffalo specialty. Basically, it's a sandwich of sliced roast beef piled on top of a kummelweck roll (a kaiser roll with tons of pretzel salt and caraway seeds on top). The top of the roll is dipped in jus, but to get the full effect, you should still slather a layer of horseradish over it as well. As I stood in line placing my order, I watched the staff slice away at the roasts and put the sandwiches together right in front of me. There was, I have to admit, a moment of hesitation when I wondered if I should try the "fried bologna" instead, which was described as "grilled like a steak, tastes like a hot dog" (or something to that effect). Tempting, but...no. The beef on weck 
was fairly good, especially with a side of chef's salad (really, it should've been called a garden salad, because there was no cheese, egg, ham, or turkey!) and onion rings, as well as loganberry juice (a nondescript sweet berry-like juice) to wash it all down. But I couldn't help but pick away at the pretzel salt; I could feel my blood pressure increasing with every bite. By the time I was done, the bottom of my tray was littered with salt granules. And although the meat was undeniably "beefy," it just wasn't sliced as thinly as I would've liked (too chewy!). I guess not many people can cut 1/8" thick (or, rather, thin) slices like David Pazmino can.Mid-afternoon break: chocolate frosty at Wendy's!
Once we arrived in Cleveland--apparently, we'd missed a morning of torrential rainfall in which several areas were flooded, in some cases by 10 feet of rain--it was time for dinner. Kim's suggestion of Lola Bistro was an excellent choice. We started with beef cheek pierogies, going on to smoked Berkshire pork chops (Ivan) and perfectly cooked walleye with creamed corn and bacon (me) with a side of sauteed wild mushrooms, capping it all off with a whimsical "peanut butter-banana chiffon," which looked like a napoleon's high falutin deconstructed cousin, but tasted like a more familiar chocolate peanut butter pie... only better. Too bad we didn't think ahead and were the most casually dressed people in the place. While everyone else had on their dresses, strappy sandals, and business suits, there we were in our comfortable "travel attire," complete with sneakers (Ivan) and Reef flip flops (me). Oops.
Tuesday, August 7, 2007
End of Day 2
Location: Cleveland, Ohio
Map of progress
Today was our first full day on the road and I will say that it isn't as bad as I thought it would be. We broke up the driving evenly, listened to The Omnivore's Dilemma (great book, more on this in a later blog) and music.
Correction on Sandra's post: the bag of snacks is more like 10 lbs. I really hope we don't finish it. The kettle corn is really delicious and can be found at Whole Foods. We've also tried their smoked cheddar flavor and that was good too.
We left a little later than expected this morning as we were writing those posts you read today! We got to Buffalo at around 1pm and had Beef on Weck. I had a Birch Beer that suspiciously tasted a lot like the root beer I had during my going away gathering last Friday. Birch Beer = Root Beer?
We made decent time getting to Cleveland while driving through some rain showers.
We totally intended to go to a Cambodian restaurant recommended by Brandon and Kristi but, we some how forgot about that when we got here and ended up eating at another recommendation: Lola.
As a compromise, Sandra gets to write about the food that we ate today. I mean, that's what she does/did for work anyways right?? I will say that dinner at Lola was really good.
So what's your part of the bargain? - you may ask.
This is my part of the bargain.
That's right, much to our enjoyment, the website actually has a theme song too!
How did we ever come across such a website?
From the billboard on the Cleveland Public Bus is where!
Sorry, the picture didn't come out well because we saw it when we were driving back to the hotel from dinner and it was dark already. Clicking on the pic will show you more details.
It was hilarious to pull up next to this bus and see PETPEEPEE.COM, it even has a picture of a dog peeing on a carpet.
So there you have it. My short write up of the day.
Next stop: Chicago.
And lastly, Gus is well trained. He isn't allowed on the bed. So, he sits on me instead.
Map of progress
Today was our first full day on the road and I will say that it isn't as bad as I thought it would be. We broke up the driving evenly, listened to The Omnivore's Dilemma (great book, more on this in a later blog) and music.
Correction on Sandra's post: the bag of snacks is more like 10 lbs. I really hope we don't finish it. The kettle corn is really delicious and can be found at Whole Foods. We've also tried their smoked cheddar flavor and that was good too.
We left a little later than expected this morning as we were writing those posts you read today! We got to Buffalo at around 1pm and had Beef on Weck. I had a Birch Beer that suspiciously tasted a lot like the root beer I had during my going away gathering last Friday. Birch Beer = Root Beer?
We made decent time getting to Cleveland while driving through some rain showers.
We totally intended to go to a Cambodian restaurant recommended by Brandon and Kristi but, we some how forgot about that when we got here and ended up eating at another recommendation: Lola.
As a compromise, Sandra gets to write about the food that we ate today. I mean, that's what she does/did for work anyways right?? I will say that dinner at Lola was really good.
So what's your part of the bargain? - you may ask.
This is my part of the bargain.
That's right, much to our enjoyment, the website actually has a theme song too!
How did we ever come across such a website?
From the billboard on the Cleveland Public Bus is where!
Sorry, the picture didn't come out well because we saw it when we were driving back to the hotel from dinner and it was dark already. Clicking on the pic will show you more details.
It was hilarious to pull up next to this bus and see PETPEEPEE.COM, it even has a picture of a dog peeing on a carpet.
So there you have it. My short write up of the day.
Next stop: Chicago.
And lastly, Gus is well trained. He isn't allowed on the bed. So, he sits on me instead.
Day 2 reflections on Day 1
As far as cross-country moves go, this one has been hectic and busy but not too bad so far. After accomplishing the slew of tasks in front of us yesterday, we headed out on the road to Albany, NY, fueled during the 2-hour drive by a bunch of snacks--we have a medium duffel bag probably 5 pounds heavy full of assorted goodies that I hope for my waistline's sake we don't finish during this weeklong trip. Among the snack options (housed in a separate bag) is my new favorite popcorn, Popcorn, Indiana's Kettle Corn ($4 for a big red bag at Whole Foods), which I just had to break open. For something that didn't come fresh from a street fair, it's actually pretty decent and highly addictive.
After we checked into the pet-friendly Red Roof Inn, I found out that I had mistakenly chosen a handicap-accessible room. I thought it might be bigger and wider than a normal room but really, everything is just lower. In the bathroom, the thing that threw me off the most was the little wooden flip-down seat in the shower. The metal handlebars, I'd seen before for sure, but the seat? That was new to me. Still, I didn't feel inclined to try it out.
Our options for dinner were limited, considering that where we were staying was in the middle of streets upon streets of strip malls and chain restaurants. We settled on Macaroni Grill (so-so bbq chicken pizza, eggplant parm, and garden salad) and checked out the local Hannaford's afterwards. I was excited to see one of Adam Ried's articles in their in-house magazines (on chilled soups), as well as Carl Tremblay's photos in another.
Today's agenda: picking up Beef on Weck in Buffalo before heading over to Cleveland, Ohio.
Day 1
Location: Albany, NY
Map of our progress
Yesterday was a really crazy day. We managed to: have movers come in to take the things we're shipping to California, have trash removers remove all the junk we didn't want, clean the condo, go to UPS, the bank, post office and drug store. We amazingly accomplished all of this by 4:20pm.
Despite only starting to seriously pack on Friday night, we actually got everything done.
The drive to Albany was not bad, considering the rain that was going on when we left. We arrived at our hotel at around 7:15. Tired and hungry, we opted to go to Macaroni Grill. So, nothing special to report on the food front today.
Next stop: Buffalo, NY for lunch. Then Cleveland, OH.
By the way, if you know of recommendations for the cities we will be hitting along the way, please let us know! Of course, we're usually restricted to 2-3 food stops per location, so you'll have to be extra persuasive if you think we *have* to try something or someplace.
Ivan
Map of our progress
Yesterday was a really crazy day. We managed to: have movers come in to take the things we're shipping to California, have trash removers remove all the junk we didn't want, clean the condo, go to UPS, the bank, post office and drug store. We amazingly accomplished all of this by 4:20pm.
Despite only starting to seriously pack on Friday night, we actually got everything done.
The drive to Albany was not bad, considering the rain that was going on when we left. We arrived at our hotel at around 7:15. Tired and hungry, we opted to go to Macaroni Grill. So, nothing special to report on the food front today.
Next stop: Buffalo, NY for lunch. Then Cleveland, OH.
By the way, if you know of recommendations for the cities we will be hitting along the way, please let us know! Of course, we're usually restricted to 2-3 food stops per location, so you'll have to be extra persuasive if you think we *have* to try something or someplace.
Ivan
Hi ho
Hello readers,
Welcome to our blog. Sandra and I are relocating to San Mateo California from Boston Massachusetts. For a number of reasons, we are driving the 3100 miles that separates our MA address from our CA address. This is the blog we set up to track our progress, capture our thoughts, and most importantly, document all the food that we encounter along the way.
Here is the link to this blog:
http://hwy80adventures.blogspot.com/
Aloha
Welcome to our blog. Sandra and I are relocating to San Mateo California from Boston Massachusetts. For a number of reasons, we are driving the 3100 miles that separates our MA address from our CA address. This is the blog we set up to track our progress, capture our thoughts, and most importantly, document all the food that we encounter along the way.
Here is the link to this blog:
http://hwy80adventures.blogspot.com/
Aloha
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