It has been over a week now since EmergingUMC2: Restoring Missional Methodism finished up.  At  high noon, Saturday, November 14, our gathering headed back into the world.  Some having a 700 mile ride back home on a minibus. 

Where do we go from here?  That was the big question for me. 

We spent Thursday night watching and discussing The Ordinary Radicals, a beautiful film about what Christians are doing across the country to reclaim the faith from both apathy and the dark years of the Christian right era.  On Friday morning we walked through downtown Indianapolis and met  with arts leaders, janitors, and hotel workers, and got some context for how Lockerbie Central UMC developed and is developing its missional focus.   We spent Friday afternoon thinking about Methodist history and the current story of the United Methodist Church, especially the history of class and society meetings and their relationship to congregations.  

On Friday night some of us went to nearby Englewood Christian Church and saw Shane Claiborne speak as part of another conference going on that week, Through the Consuming Fire.

So, where do we go from here? 

A week out, that Saturday- morning seems like a blur.  I am sure I am leaving some things out.  

First off, we talked about our experience Friday night watching Shane Claiborne speak.  I showed up late Friday night  and just in time to hear Shane speak. For those who haven’t seen Shane speak before, the guy is a rock star.  When he spoke at our church, we had nearly as 1,000 people show up–the biggest crowd we probably have ever had in the 125 year history of the church. 

I know our group wa s a bit annoyed because the music prior to Shane went on and on and on and on.  And on. It went so long that the scheduled Q and A session had to be cancelled.  The thing that stuck out to me though was the power of Shane’s story–even though I had already read his books and have seen him speak before.   Here, a small group of people dedicated themselves to living out the Gospels and they launched a movement.  Nine people living together in community and in friendship and solidarity with the broader community.  That’s it.  And they are changing the world through their witness, activism, and Christian discipline.  Last year, UMC youth in Carmel, IN–the wealthiest city in the state were so moved by Shane’s Irresistable Revolution that they begged the church’s leadership to invite Shane to lead worship on a Sunday morning.  (He accepted their invite.)

Still, I feel that for some of us Methodists, Shane’s  Irresistable Revolution gets lost in translation. It might be called the Impossible Revolution for us United Methodists.  But for me, that was the great hope of EmergingUMC2.  In our own ways, given our deep traditions, we United Methodists could begin to restore missional Methodism. 

As the conference concluded and before our final worship gathering together, we broke up into small groups to talk about how we might begin to work together.  I talked with two UMC clergy from central Indiana.  It was exciting  to begin to dream about how local congregations and individual Methodists could work together in real ways. 

We finished up with a powerful  worship service that sent us back into our communities  hopefully ready to restore missional methodism.

I’m a big Harry Potter Fan.  I didn’t start reading these books until recently.  I figured by the time the fifth movie came out that it was time to join the rest of the population. Little did I know what a guilty pleasure these books are.  The further I get in this series the more I’m aghast at just how huge J.K. Rowling’s imagination is.  

My favorite Character (I’m reading The Half Blood Prince currently) is Sirius Black.  I didn’t think it was possible to have a crush on a fictional story book character…it is.  (If you haven’t read the Potter books, stop reading this blog and go to the Library.  –Spoiler Alert) Sirius is a wrongly accused felon, escaped convict, member of the rebel organization Order of the Phoenix, general outlaw, and Harry’s Godfather.  Sirius is misunderstood, bruding, and the way Gary Oldman portrays him in the movies is just wonderful.

So here is a spin on a recipe straightout of my grandmother’s kitchen.  Black Out Cake was big in the 1950’s.  Traditionally this is a multi layered chocolate cake, covered in chocolate frosting with layers of chocolate pudding in between.  The signature mark of a Black Out Cake is the chocolate cake crumbs crushed against the sides of the cake.  I looked around, improvised and decided to just take license with the amount of chocolate in this recipe as I wanted this not to be just a Black out Cake, but a Sirius (seriously) blackout Cake.

Sirius Black (Out) Cake:

1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 cup of milk

2 1/4 flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 unsalted butter

1/4 shortening

2 cups sugar

3 eggs

2 tsp vanilla extract

1 bar bittersweet chocolate (ghiradelli is what I used.)

The bittersweet chocolate was not originally in this recipe.  Melt in a double boiler or like I did, place it in a oven safe bowl and pop it into your preheating oven (350 degrees).  It only takes a few minutes to start melting.  Take it out and stir and you’ll find you don’t have to have it completely melted in the oven, stirring it will finish the melting process. Remember its very easy to burn chocolate!!  Let the bitter sweet chocolate cool, but not harden.

Sift your dry ingredients: flour, soda, powder, salt.  Set aside.

Whisk together milk and cocoa.  The mixture will become a thick mousse like consistency.  Set aside.

Cocoa and Milk

Combine butter and sugar until FLUFFY.  Trust me you’ll want to stop beating this at the crumbly stage, but mix until its legitamately FLUFFY.  Add one egg at a time, beating well after each egg.  Now add dry ingredients and milk ingredients alternating.  

By the way this is the classic process in making homemade spongey cake:  

1. Beat butter and sugar till fluffy.

2. Add one egg at a time

3. Alternate flour mix and milk, starting and ending with flour.  

Alright we are almost done.  Fold in the bittersweet chocolate, remember it shouldn’t be hot and it should still be a liquid consistency. 

Grease with butter or shortening then dust with thin layer of flour

Pour batter into two 8″ or 9″ round pans.  (butter and flour the pans) And cook for apprx 30 minutes.  The addition of the bittersweet chocolate makes this cake more like a brownie and more likely to dry out so make sure not to overcook.

Filling:

2/3 c white sugar

2 Tbsp cornstarch

1/4 tsp salt

1 1/2 c milk (2%)

1 tsp vanilla extract

3 oz. unsweetened chocolate OR 3 oz 100% cocoa ghiradelli chocolate. (Siriusly take license with the chocolate!)

Combine everything over low heat.  Increase heat  to medium, whisking constantly until pudding is boiling.  Remove from heat.  Place in a bowl with plastic wrap against surface of pudding so it doesn’t form a skin (eww pudding skin!).  Refridgerate until cool.

Make chocolate butter cream icing. (Ingredients: butter and /or shortening, vanilla extract, water, Unsweetened cocoa powder, powdered sugar.)There is a video with it if you forget how. Click Butter Cream on the side bar.

You’ll also want to make Ganache.  Ganache is semisweet chocolate and heavy cream.  I used 16oz. chocolate and 8oz. of cream, melted and whisked over low heat.  You can do a 1:1 ratio.  Ganache can be heated and used as a syrup, cooled slightly and piped, or spread like a frosting.  Its pretty awesome in terms of versatility.

OKAY.  So when your cake is cool slice each layer in half (horizontally).  Now you will have a 4 layer cake.  You could go as far as 3 times if your cake is thick enough. Pipe a ring of frosting around the bottom layer and fill in with pudding.  Stack the next layer and repeat.  Now frost the cake with butter cream and refrigerate.  Once the cake has “crusted” meaning you can touch the icing with your hand and it doesn’t stick, instead it is smooth and hard–has a layer of crust– you are ready to cover with ganache.

Its best to assemble this cake on a cardboard cake circle that is the exact same size– so an 8″ circle for an 8″ cake.  This will allow you to move the cake around, pour Ganache over it without messing up the board or plate you will ultimately display the cake on.  If by this point your ganache has hardened, reheat in the microwave, or over low heat or by placing in a bath of warm water.  Mix to assure that all the ganache is melted and smooth.

Place a tall sturdy cup on a large cookie sheet.  Place cake on top of cup.   You can now pour the ganache over the cake– be generous and just DUMP it!  push ganache toward the side with a long metal spatula.  Excess will drip onto cookie sheet, and you can reuse this extra on other cakes later.  Once cake is covered make one smooth pulling motion across the top of the cake to assure that the layer of ganache is even– this will also give you a smooth top.

Like I said Ganache can also be piped.  I added some black food coloring to my leftover ganache and placed in a piping bag and just swirled it all over the cake.  I was trying to imitate all the cool prison tattoos Sirius has.  I thought this was a bit cooler than crumbing the side.

W H A T : Smuin Ballet’s Holiday Favorite
W H E N : November 27 – December 27
W H E R E : Walnut Creek, Mountain View, Carmel, San Francisco

M O R E : View from the Bay VIDEO

Santa’s Sweets!

Meet Santa and the Smuin dancers while enjoying sweets with the family! Post-matinee reception at select venues:

• Saturday, December 5: Sunset Center, Carmel
• Saturday, December 12: Mountain View Center for the Arts
• Sunday, December 20: Yerba Buena Performing Arts Center, San Francisco

Remember to bring your camera to capture your child’s special moments with Santa and Smuin dancers!

Toys for Tots:

• Friday, November 27, 8pm: The Lesher Center for the Arts, Walnut Creek
• Friday, December 11, 8pm: Mountain View Performing Arts Center
• Friday, December 4, 8pm: Sunset Center, Carmel
• Wednesday, December 16, 8pm: Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco

Please drop off any new, unwrapped toy in the Toys for Tots bin at any of the above shows. You will receive a special two-for-one priced ticket for Elite and Premium seats. This offer is good for walk-up only.

I think I’m being spoiled by this beautiful November weather. I guess it’s not THAT warm, but considering it snowed in November last year … I’m pretty happy that it was 60 outside last weekend. I got to spend Sunday morning with my husband, my mom, her husband, and my little sister … Sounds like a good morning to me! We walked around downtown Carmel and did some fun fall photos. I wanted to smash my camera a few times … but it straightened up after I threatened to trade it in for a Canon. It’s okay Nikon, I’ll keep you around for a little while longer! Anyways, I cannot wait until the weather gets cooollllddd. Wait, did I just say that? I should say: I can’t wait until it’s SNOWING. Enjoy!

I love catching laughter … Makes me smile when looking at the photos!

One great thing about my sister: She’s full of energy and she’s not afraid to be herself!

It’s always nice when the photographer gets to be in a photo or two.

This was quite difficult: Meet Lucy. The craziest (but sweetest) dog!! We were dancing and waving sticks and yelling, and we finally got the shot. I love her!

Hi gorgeous! Can’t believe my “baby” sister just turned 11!!!

Me and the hubs. He’s so cute, don’t ya think???

Visit my Flickr site for more: www.flickr.com/photos/ravynstadick

November began with my first of two Zag days. Yes, that’s two zag days in two weeks, but it was the second of five Fleet parties in a row(anf I’m missing the next three). So it began with an Early breakfast the day of the party, which included a hamburger and a piece of carmel apple pie. Lunch was at a local Vegan restaurant and was Divine. All the food was completely vegan. I had bread, salad, spaghetti salad, a potato dish I did not understand, butternut squash pancakes and an apple pastry dessert with apple and butternut squash sorbets, along with fresh squeezed apple juice infused with lavender to drink. Dinner was an odd assortment of foods created by various members of fleet including, but not limited to: sweet bacon crackers, pork and beans, deviled eggs, a cream puff, chocolate chip and bacon cookies, brownies and garlic bread. I drank mostly coke & stuff throughout the night to end my zag.

As for the rest of the week, things went fairly typically. I’m back down to one Enbrel shot every two weeks, for a couple reasons, but most notably, I’m feeling pretty good. My elbow is still it’s usual ornery self, but nothing seems to change that. I see my Doctor today, so we’ll have some things to talk about. Including some three months without health insurance as Rich has accepted a new job doing tech support.

Food of the week: Aladdin’s Garden Pita

Kai Harper drives towards one of several goals against RLS in the TCAL League Championship. Canon 1Ds Mark III, Canon 300mm f/2.8 L IS

It’s been a whirlwind season the past two months since my eldest son Kenny has started playing water polo at Carmel High School.  It has given me the opportunity to photograph well over thirty some water polo games.  Although I don’t normally shoot sports, it has been a nice break from my normal portrait, wedding, and commercial photography work, as well as a chance to help keep spirit up on the team.  The season is winding down with the TCAL league championships this weekend at the beautiful Carmel High School Aquatic Center November 7, 2009.  Look for the eight foot long CHS WaterPolo canvas banner!

Unstoppable. Canon 1Ds Mark III, Canon 300mm f/2.8 IS; f/2.8 @ 1/400th sec, 3200 iso

CHS Goalie Jakub Kristl in action. Canon 1Ds Mark III, 300mm f/2.8 L IS

Players and parents wishing to view CHS Waterpolo photos can access the web galleries on my website, www.kendoophotography.com  Enter the Commercial & Events side of the website.  From the top menu, select Purchase Event Photos.  Select the event/waterpolo game you wish to view and follow the prompts.  If you wish to purchase prints, proceeds will go towards supporting CHS WaterPolo.  The direct link is: http://kendoophotography.instaproofs.com/    Go Padres!

Call (831) 626-1844 for any questions.  ken

A Gerente Geral do Varanda das Bromélias Boutique Hotel  fez uma viagem inesquecível com um grupo de amigas aos Estados Unidos. Elas conheceram Nova Iorque e a Califórnia, em 2006. Nesta entrevista ela conta o que mais chamou atenção, os momentos divertidos e claro, as dicas imperdíveis como os fascinantes  Sausalito, Carmel e Monterey. Confira os momentos marcantes e por que vale a pena conhecer esse destino.

DUE  - Quando fizeste essa viagem e com que objetivos?

Fui em 2006. Frequentemente  vou  à NY para visitar minha irmã que continua morando lá. Neste ano aproveitei e convidei amigas para a primeira viagem juntas ao exterior.

DUE  - Por que escolheu esse destino?

Morei 4 anos em Nova York e não tive a oportunidade de conhecer a costa oeste. Naquela época, precisava voltar para fazer essa viagem e também porque  sempre tive muita vontade de conhecer São Francisco. Idealizava muito esta cidade e sonhava em estar nos mesmo lugares das minhas heroínas dos livros e dos filmes, o que acabou sendo uma decepção.

DUE  - O que te chamou mais atenção? Qual dos destinos visitados nos EUA mais gostou e por quê?

Difícil dizer o destino que mais gostei… Para mim, em primeiro lugar sempre Nova York, é a segunda cidade do meu coração, por toda história que vivi lá. Então Nova York não conta, vou falar da Califórnia. Amei Napa Valley, adorei as cidadezinhas visitas pelo caminho, estes pequenos lugares sempre me fascinaram  e lá não foi diferente… Sausalito, Carmel, Monterey,  são lugares imperdíveis.

DUE - Que lembranças traz da viagem?

Em Los Angeles foi inesquecível. Fomos visitar os pais  do meu cunhado, que são mexicanos, moram em um bairro típico mexicano e nos receberam com muita comida, música, bebidas típicas do México e muita alegria. Uma mesa posta  debaixo de uma árvore no jardim da casa com pessoas  amabilíssimas, alegres e simples. Com certeza sempre será a melhor lembrança de lá.

Outra foi quando a policia nos chamou a atenção no Central Park. Como todo   nova-iorquino, estávamos fazendo um piquenique lá. Só que os nova-iorquinos sabem que bebidas alcoólicas só são permitidas envoltas em saco de papel e nós, bem felizes da vida, “explodindo” espumante no meio do gramado! Claro que não deu outra, logo estacionou o carro da policia e foi aquele mico!

DUE – Voltaria? Por quê?

Com certeza, sempre é pouco tempo para fazer tudo, passei pouco tempo em LA, gostaria de voltar com mais calma para conhecer melhor e para fazer a Rota 66 de carro.

DUE  - Que conselhos tu dá para as pessoas que quiserem conhecer o local?

Ir com tempo, fazer o trajeto Los Angeles -São Francisco de carro e ir parando em todos estes lugares incríveis pelo meio do caminho. Não deixar de conhecer Napa Valley, mesmo aqueles que não se interessam por vinhos. O lugar é incrível. Em Nova York ir com mais tempo ainda, fazer piquenique no Central park (melhor levar coca-cola) no verão.  No inverno, andar pela neve no Central Park. Ir para os outros bairros, o Brooklyn, que é lindíssimo, atravessar a ponte a pé. Procurar fugir dos meses de junho e julho em NY pois é muito quente, melhor mês para viajar é setembro para quem quiser ainda um calorzinho ou janeiro para quem quiser neve e muito frio. Nova York não precisa carro, de metrô se faz tudo, é seguro e  barato. Já Los Angeles o carro é imprescindível, tudo é distante.

DUE – Quais dicas imperdíveis que tu compartilharia com os leitores da news?

Metropolitam Museu em NY sempre – precisa um dia.

Cafe Wha em NY- apesar de ser considerado um local turístico (eu sempre procuro fugir destes lugares, pois os mais interessantes estão fora desta rota) tem uma das mais incríveis bandas  que já assisti, além de ser um local legendário, por lá já passaram Bob Dylan, John Mayer e por aí afora.

O bairro Nolita concentra um grande número de restaurantes e cafés imperdíveis.

Berkley, na Califórnia, do outro lado da Baia de São Francisco, fica essa cidade universitária. Adorei o clima do local com muitos cafés, a Universidade vale a pena conhecer também.

We had a costume party this weekend.

One of those good nights with s’mores, It’s the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown, a treasure hunt, pumpkin carving competition…

 a night of treats and tricks…

This is my spoof on documenting a fun recipe. Caramel Apples? How about  replacing the apples with onions. See what happens.

Thanks, guys, for putting up with our practical jokes, for coming out, for loving us and loving each other

You’re good sports.

I love anything along the lines of a crisp/crumble/cobbler…served warm with ice cream, these fruit desserts top my list of favorites. The melted carmel in this crisp recipe makes it even better than your traditional apple crisp; hard to resist! It’s the perfect autumn dessert choice, especially great for a crowd.  Once you have the apples peeled and thinly sliced (or have convinced a family member or friend to do this for you!), the rest of this recipe is a synch to put together. Enjoy!

Carmel Apple Crisp

Print this recipe

Ingredients:

Directions:

Senators Agree to Extend Homebuyer Tax Credit
Legislation Pending Approval From Congress

Senators have agreed to extend the $8,000 first-time homebuyer tax credit originally set to expire on November 30. Once the Senate officially votes on the bill it will move to the House of Representatives, which strongly supports the extension. The Obama administration has also signaled its strong support for an extension of the tax credit.

Aside from the first-time homebuyer credit, the new plan would offer a $6,500 credit for repeat or move-up homebuyers who have lived in their primary residence for five years or more. The tax credits would be available to buyers who sign purchase agreements on a new or existing primary residence between December 1, 2009 and April 30, 2010. Buyers would have until June 30 to close on their new homes.

There is an $800,000 price limit on all homes eligible for the credit. The income limits for all buyers would rise to $125,000 per year for individuals and $225,000 for married couples. Under the current program, the limits are $75,000 and $150,000 respectively. The first-time homebuyer credit is also available to those who have not owned a home in the previous three years. The credit does not have to be repaid unless the home is sold or ceases to be the primary residence within three years.

According to the Treasury Department, more than 1.2 million borrowers have claimed $8.5 billion of the $13.6 billion set aside for the first-time homebuyer tax credit.

Please be advised that this legislation has not yet passed, but I will be sure to keep you informed as it moves through Congress toward approval.

Despite the headlines, this is really a sad story for all those involved.  Many thoughts and prayers are going up and out for both people and their families.

I just completed creating a display for a joint marketing venture with Carmel Monon Center, Ritz Charles, BBJ Linen, and A Classic Party Rental. It is always a pleasure working with Casey (Carmel Monon Center), Jesse (BBJ Linen), and Mike (A Classic Party Rental).

I wanted something simple, but elegant. The Monon Center has beautiful floor to ceiling windows that open to a natural wooded setting. My goal was to capture that look and feel and bring it inside. I placed snow glistening branches with falling snowflakes in a large cylinder vase filled with miniature pinecones and snow. For a fun touch I added a silver deer next to the table number.

Silver bells hang from silver Lamour sashes.

A Classic Party Rental (Chiavari Chairs and China)
BBJ Linen (Blue Twist table linen, Silver Lamour chair coverings, sashes, and napkins)
Ritz Charles (Flatware and Stemware)

You know that scene.  The part in A League of Their Own.  When they post all the team lists at the end of tryouts.  And all the girls go running to the bulletin boards and then jump away one by one excited they’ve just made it.  Then the coach starts to talk welcoming everyone to the league…until everyone uncomfortably notices there’s still a girl staring alone at the board.  The coach is stern and says

“If you don’t see your name, you’ll have to go home. I’m sorry!”  

Just then another girls gets up and goes to the poor forelorn girl at the bulletin board and calmly says “Can you read?”

The first girl shakes her head no.

“What’s your name?”

Stuttering “Ss Sh Shirley Baker.”

Then they happily find Shirley Baker listed as a Rockford Peach.  

:Sigh:  I cry every Freakin’ time.   I see that scene.  Its over.  My frostings melted.

Me and some of my closest gals at Yankee stadium in August.

The World Series is here and I’m a Bronx resident so I figured a baseball themed recipe would be good.  Lets hope the next few games are not tear-filled for us New Yorkers.  Its rainy today in the Bronx but hopefully the game will go on.  After all CC Sabathia is pitching.  If I had to pick a favorite yankee, well it’d probably be him.  He’s a giant! 

“Buy me some peanuts and cracker jacks…” Carmel Corn it is then.

I’ve been searching all over the internet for different recipes and they are all about the same.  Your main ingredients are Popcorn (of course) brown sugar, butter, corn syrup,  vanilla, salt.  Easy enough right?  Now Cracker jacks have peanuts in them and anyone whose come to New York and hasn’t stopped to get a bag of roasted peanuts on the street is missing out!!  But I didn’t have peanuts in the house so I did the next best thing.  Peanut Butter.  I’ll refrain from vulagrity on this site, but WOW this popcorn is $#@*&$ GOOD!!!!!

Preheat your oven to 250 degrees.

Ingredients:

4-5 quarts of Popcorn.  I made mine fresh on the stove…I don’t own a microwave, but plain popcorn, air popped, or in the microwave works.  Refrain from using that movie theatre butter kind of popcorn you’ll be adding enough real butter soon enough.

2 stick of butter (1 cup)

2 c light brown sugar

1/2 c light corn syrup

Melt these in a sauce pan, bring them to a boil.  Stir frequently.  Add:

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt ( I added 2 because I was using unsalted butter)

I added 1/3 peanut butter.  One of the recipes I referenced at allrecipes.com said to boil this mixture for 4 minutes without stirring.  I was worried about burning so I couldn’t help myself but to mix.  Pour mixture over popcorn.  I burnt some of my kernels…I removed the good stuff, then tried to get some of those dud kernels to pop, but then my cat got her paw caught under the fridge.  How?? I totally had a freak out and left the kernels burning on the stove while I searched in vain for a flashlight.  The kernels burnt and my cat came walking out of the kitchen a few minutes later having freed herself.  She’s a bit of a princess sometimes…

Needless to say I had more carmel than I need, but I’m going to attenpt to reuse the carmel peanut butter on candied apples later this week.  Mmmm. I love this time of the year!!

After you mix thoroughly you need to bake your corn.  Bake in a casserole dish and stir the mixture every 15 minutes or so for 50-60 minutes.  Then flip you dish over on to a sheet of parchment.   So that you can actually break the pieces apart.  You could just skip the casserole dish and bake on a parchment lined baking pan. If you want to use this recipe for some DIY holiday gifts, get colored cellophane bags and place baseball (ha! pun intended) size balls of carmel corn inside. Tie with a bow!

Or pull this straight out of the oven tonight and tune in to Game One.  Heres to CC and the Bronx Bombers tonight!

De volta da Califórnia, com muito trabalho acumulado e muito sono (preciso de novas férias).

Como começar? Viajar em 4 amigos da época de faculdade, uns bons anos depois, acaba sendo uma tentativa de resgatar aquilo que já passou. Sim, tem um quê de nostalgia, daquela época em que as responsabilidades eram poucas e as possibilidades, muitas. Por mais que se queira olhar para frente, todas as lembranças são do passado, os caminhos de cada um foram escolhidos também no passado, e é esse passado que se revisita para compreender melhor o presente. O futuro é outra história.

Mas, fui percebendo ao passar dos dias, que é impossível reviver esse tempo: “quer ir a Minas, Minas não há mais”, escreveu Drummond, ou “não se pode entrar duas vezes no mesmo rio, porque não é mais o mesmo rio”, disse Heráclito, lá atrás. As motivações  de cada um são outras, as preocupações também; por mais que o passado quase sempre pareça melhor do que o presente, a vida andou. Pensando lá no fundo, ainda bem!

Também, momentos improváveis como os proporcionados por uma viagem destas revivem velhas arestas que, naquela época, não foram aparadas, talvez por falta de maturidade. Tudo isso, na verdade, significa uma chance de corrigir (não é a palavra certa), ajeitar, ou melhor, azeitar velhas engrenagens que enferrujaram pela falta de atividade. Talvez faça parte da verdadeira amizade justamente  a disposição desse acerto de contas no bom sentido. E, no final das contas, tudo isso reforça os vínculos. Enfim, a viagem acabou tendo um certo componente psicológico que daria um bom roteiro de filme.

Fazendo um resumo bem resumido, de início subimos de carro (uma SUV que parecia um tanque de guerra, bem americana mesmo) de Los Angeles para Monterey pela highway 01, na Costa do Pacífico, em uma viagem de mais de 6 horas, que começa a ficar legal após Santa Barbara (comemos em Malibu, bem meia-boca). Ali, a topografia fica mais ondulada e começam a aparecer os primeiros vinhedos. Aliás, o filme Sideways foi filmado por lá e não no Napa Valley, que acaba sendo a região mais famosa (e com muito mais vinhos).

Cipreste, Monterey, Califórnia

Em Monterey, ficamos em um belo hotel, bem no coração da histórica Cannery Row, da época em que a indústria de sardinhas sustentava a região. A Monterey de John Steinbeck (de “As vinhas da ira”) é simpática e muito bem cuidada, valeu a parada. Jantamos na primeira noite (moídos de cansaço) em um restaurante meio pomposo e que não agradou muito (Sardine Factory), com uma carta de vinhos enorme e caríssima (aliás, não espere vinhos baratos por lá…). Mas beleza. Lá perto, em Santa Cruz, fizemos nossa primeira degustação de vinhos, na vinícola Bonny Doon, de um cara meio doido que tenta produzir vinhos do Rhone, e que ficam beeem esquisitos.

No dia seguinte, fizemos a 17-mile drive em direção a Carmel, uma estrada particular que vale a pena, passando por mansões e campos de golfe em uma paisagem realmente bonita, com penhascos e praias margeando o Pacífico. Carmel-by-the-sea é uma espécie de Campos de Jordão muuuito melhorada, realmente bonita, com a diferença que está à beira-mar. Lá, tomamos nosso primeiro bom vinho, um Beaulieu Cabernet Sauvignon 2005 muito equilibrado, apesar dessa safra não ter sido tão boa. Aliás, a Beaulieu, mais conhecida como BV, é uma das pioneiras e tida como a produtora de um dos primeiros vinhos decentes da Califórnia, o Beaulieu Georges Latour Private Reserve.

Depois, fomos de novo para o Sul, para o chamado Big Sur, até a cidade de mesmo nome, uns 60 km de Carmel. A paisagem é seca, escarpada, deserta, sempre tendo o Pacífico como referência. O tempo estava fechando e talvez isso tenha contribuído para nossa impressão, mas para quem está acostumado com a costa do litoral norte de São Paulo e o litoral sul do Rio, o Big Sur não pareceu grande coisa.

A partir daí, rumo norte novamente, em definitivo. Ficamos na cidade de Napa, no coração da região vinícola da Califórnia e dos Estados Unidos.  Pegamos 2 dias de chuva que, pensando bem, não é tão ruim assim se estamos na etapa eno-gastronômica da viagem (só o passeio de balão que teve de ser cancelado, pena). Em Napa, Sonoma e outras cidades da região, encontra-se uma vinícola atrás da outra, a grande parte aberta a degustações com uma boa estrutura para visitantes. Em algumas, é necessário marcar hora; em outras, é só chegar. A um custo de US$ 15-20 por pessoa, degusta-se 5-6 vinhos, e o ambiente é hospitaleiro (genuinamente, ou não). Nos hotéis, há sempre mapas e revistas da região específicos sobre os vinhedos; no Napa Valley, é fácil se orientar: são 2 estradas que cortam o vale de norte a sul, ligadas em vários pontos. As vinícolas estão dispostas ao longo dessas estradas e nas intersecções. Só alegria.

Os destaques foram o Chateau Montelena (em Calistoga),  uma propriedade belíssima, estabelecida em 1882, e que cujo Chardonnay 1973 bateu vários franceses de ponta, na célebre degustação de Paris, de 1976, colocando a Califórnia no cenário de vinhos de qualidade (experimentamos o 2007, muito bom);  a Frank Family, mas há realmente inúmeras outras que valem a pena e que nos foram indicadas, como a Joseph Phelps, Cakebread, Caymus, Pezzi King, Kuleto, Robert Mondavi, Beringer, Stag’s Leap, e por aí vai.

(Aliás, pausa para reflexão: em vários lugares, vinícolas, restaurantes, etc, as pessoas nos parabenizaram pelo escolha do Rio como sede dos jogos de 2016).

Vai uma abóbora aí? Pegamos uma hora de trânsito por causa dessas abóboras.

Subimos a Spring Mountain, onde quase ninguém vai, e caímos na Paloma Vineyards, uma propriedade de 6-7 hectares, onde fomos recebidos debaixo de chuva por Barbara Richards, uma senhora simpática de uns 70 anos (Jim, o marido estava trabalhando com as uvas), proprietária da Paloma Vineyard. Diferente de tudo o que vimos lá embaixo, a Paloma é uma empresa familiar, de gente que vive de vinho há décadas e está de certa forma fora daquele frisson que ocorre lá no vale. Ela nos recebeu em sua bela casa e nos serviu seu ótimo Merlot – sem cobrar nada por isso (claro que compramos uma garrafa antes de sair). Detalhe: o Merlot safra 2001 deles foi escolhido o vinho do ano (custando US$ 45!) pela Wine Spectator, atingindo 95 pontos, a maior pontuação na história para um Merlot da Califórnia. E pensar que chegamos lá por acaso…

O segredo do sucesso? O solo e clima, claro, e a colheita feita manualmente, em diversas etapas, pegando só o que realmente está pronto. O olho dela, sem dúvida. Ela conhece cada metro quadrado de seu terreno, é realmente impressionante. Parece conhecer cada parreira pelo nome.

No último dia em Napa, tinha prometido bancar um Gala Dinner. Achamos na pequena Yountsville um bistrô francês, 2 estrelas no guia Michelin, e conseguimos reservar. O jantar estava excelente, a um preço mais do que honesto, e foi lá que tomamos os dois melhores vinhos da viagem, ambos do Russian River Valley, em Sonoma: primeiro, o Pinot Noir Emeritus 2007 e, depois, para nossa surpresa, outro Pinot – Walter Hansen – Cuvée Alyce 2006, que conseguiu a improvável tarefa de ser ainda melhor do que o Emeritus. Foi o vinho top da viagem. E olha que a turma era exigente; um é casado com uma francesa legítima; o outro é especialista em vinhos italianos; o outro, suíço-fake, é só fresco mesmo…haha (eu era o mais fraquinho em termos de vinho).

Na saída do Bistro Jeanty

Ah, em Napa, em uma das noites que o cansaço bateu, resolvemos fazer um queijo e vinho no hotel mesmo. Conseguimos torrar US$ 250 entre vinhos e queijos, mas fomos dormir felizes.

Depois disso, subimos a serra e fomos para o belíssimo Yosemite National Park, uma jóia improvável em meio a aridez da Califórnia. Um rio que corta um vale cheio de pinheiros, penhascos e cachoeiras. Ficamos pouco mais de um dia, e é um local que ainda vou voltar, apesar de já ter ido 2 vezes.

Yosemite Falls

Por do sol no Glacier Point, com o Half-Dome à direita

Eu em Yosemite Falls

O final da viagem foi em San Francisco, onde basicamente nos dedicamos a compras (comprei um “gear” fotográfico de ponta) e a conhecer a cidade, mas de leve.  San Francisco é a cidade onde os americanos são menos americanos e, por isso, além dos imigrantes, é a cidade menos americana dos Estados Unidos.

Depois de muito peixe regado a Sauvignon Blanks da famosa Robert Mondavi Winery, além de um pato de pequim acompanhado de um belo Cabernet Sauvigon da Justin Vineyards, de Paso Robles, devo dizer que o destaque gastronômico foi a Swan Oyster Depot, uma peixeira fundada em 1912, de uns 3 metros de largura, com um balcão de 20 lugares, que tem um atendimento fantástico e serve ostras e diversos pratos à base de mariscos, crustáceos e peixes impecavelmente frescos. Um lugar simples, barato, com fila na rua, e simplesmente magnífico. Um must, sem dúvida, que mostra que as coisas boas da vida não precisam ser sofisticadas ou caras. O resumo do Frommers diz tudo:

“Turning 96 years old in 2008, Swan Oyster Depot is a classic San Francisco dining experience you shouldn’t miss. Opened in 1912, this tiny hole in the wall, run by the city’s friendliest servers, is little more than a narrow fish market that decided to slap down some bar stools. There are only 20 or so stools here, jammed cheek-by-jowl along a long marble bar. Most patrons come for a quick cup of chowder or a plate of oysters on the half shell that arrive on crushed ice. The menu is limited to fresh crab, shrimp, oyster, clam cocktails, a few types of smoked fish, Maine lobster, and Boston-style clam chowder, all of which are exceedingly fresh. Note: Don’t let the lunchtime line dissuade you — it moves fast”

Swan Oyster Depot

Foi um final digno para uma viagem para ficar na memória. É isso aí, valeu a viagem, cujas fichas vão caindo aos poucos!

PS: agradeço as dicas da Giselda e ao Paulo, do blog Nosso Vinho, por ter me indicado a Giselda!

San Francisco, vista da Lombard Street

Dinner at Queso Blanco
102 S Union St
Westfield, IN 46074-9458
(317) 867-5200
http://quesoblancowestfield.com/menu

Friday night marks the end of a very long week – my mood has been as funky as the weather. What I want right now is a little warmth, something rich and something that makes me full and sleepy. Normally that means I want a meal from my mom, comfort food like salmon patties and macaroni and cheese. But on this nite, I wanted to continue the search for good Mexican places while getting my comfort munch on. However, I wanted to stay close to suburbia. My hubby and I had driven past Queso Blanco a million times on the way to visit friends or run errands, so we decided to finally make a stop and check it out.

Queso Blanco, which means white cheese, is a small family-owned Mexican restaurant.  The restaurant is owned by a husband and wife, Terrall from Georgia, and Yolanda, who is from Oaxaca, Mexico (pronounced WAH-HA-CA).  Terrall was in the construction business for many years until one day he decided to lease the restaurant in downtown Westfield, IN. Forty five days later, Terrall and Yolanda had the restaurant up and running. That was two years ago, and apparently they haven’t looked back. The restaurant is fairly typical in decor – sombreros and panchos, small tables you would find in a small diner. Fall has fell, so the decor also included pumpkins and scarecrows. It has a very family- familiar vibe.   The patrons were largely groups of families, and they seemed to know each other. There was a lot of camaraderie between tables and it just felt, I don’t know, like home.

FoodieGal – Quit Waxing Philosophical and Get to the Food
Let’s get this out up front. Queso Blanco is not Pancho’s Taqueria. It’s a typical Tex-Mex place. You won’t find tongue, cabeza, menudo or pozole on the menu. I don’t know that this absence of the more exotic foods makes Queso Blanco less authentic. I just think it makes it more of what most Americans expect from Mexican fare; cheesy, saucy foods. On the menu you will find chimichangas, burritos, enchiladas, chalupas, fajitas and other familiar dishes. There are several dips, nachos and quesadillas for appetizers and the menu also includes items for the gringo in your group. Translation: you can get a taco salad and grilled chicken salad. The menu also lists several vegetarian items, which was surprising to me, as it seems rare to see Mexican restaurants emphasize this offering. This tells me they have an audience, so vegetarians reading this review, there’s something for you!

 Queso Fundido!
Queso fundido is Spanish for melted cheese (spanish fondue). The “fundido” part can include jalapenos, beef, chicken, or pork. In my experience, in most restaurants “queso fundido” is a thick white cheese fondue with chorizo, which is a spicy salty pork sausage.  The queso fundido was what I had come to expect, with one major exception: CHORIZO baby! If you cannot tell from the photo above, it’s loaded up with chorizo. I can honestly say I have NEVER EVER had a queso fundido with so much sausage. It was refreshing to see so much meat. Of course, the down side, if carnivores can find a down side, is the saltiness. I admit, I love me some sodium. I would rather eat savory rather than sweet any day of the week.  But a little chorizo goes a long way. I think it still tasted good, but the generous helping of chorizo made the dip very rich and filling. In fact, you could get this as your entree with a few tortillas, pico de gallo and a side of refried beans and you have dinner! We still managed to polish it off, dredging the very crispy chips through the slickery sausage fondue (add some of their fresh salsa to cut the salt) – but I have a feeling the wedding ring won’t slide on so easily tomorrow!

The Entrees
As always, our hungry eyes were bigger than our stomachs, as we ordered enough for at least four people. However, the best way to sample is to get a sampling, right? My hubby and I have always wanted to try homemade tamales, so we ordered two ala carte tamales, pork and chicken. For our dinners, I ordered tacos de azada con chorizo and my husband ordered pollo loco con chorizo (notice a theme?).

 First, the tamales. Terrall shared that it takes 3 hours to create these little packages of meat and I believe it.  They are delicate, but complicated and sensitive to cook. We loved the chicken tamale. You really taste the chicken and the ingredients. It was delicious and, as I said, delicate. The pork tamale was less impressive. If you were asked to guess what meat was in the tamale,  you might guess beef or pork simply because of the color, but not because of the taste. You really just got a meaty, almost a little overdone taste. If you dine here and order tamales, order the chicken (actually identified by the waiter as his favorite tamale) and skip the pork.

CHORIZO -PALOOZA!
First, you get big helpings here, so if you leave hungry, it’s not their fault. Second, um, yum! My dinner was tacos de azada con chorizo, or tacos with meat and chorizo (duh!). Four tacos were served in silver foil to keep them warm and “together” (so they don’t spill their guts on the plate) and came with a side of their fresh pico de gallo. If you cannot tell, the oil from the chorizo coats the outside of the corn tortillas making them a little messy – and delightfully E-VIL! They were really good. The steak was well cooked. It definitely was not rare, but it was not overcooked and it had a great snap along with the chorizo. Again, the chorizo makes these steak-loaded tacos very salty, so if you don’t like sodium, then you shouldn’t order them. To cut the saltiness of the chorizo, spoon some of the fresh pico de gallo over top and you will really enjoy these. WARNING: the pico is fresh which means they use fresh jalapenos! Most times when you get jalapenos in a Mexican restaurant, they are pickled. And if you order a side of jalapenos at Queso Blanco, you will get pickled jalapenos. BUT, in the pico, the peppers are fresh which means they retain their heat and their bite. If you don’t like spicy, avoid the pico. But if you are feeling rather food-naughty, indulge! You’ll definitely feel the heat.

My hubby’s dinner was pollo loco con chorizo! It was a very tasty meal. For some reason most restaurants struggle with cooking chicken. It’s usually an over-cooked, rubbery impersonation of chicken. But in this case, it was tender and moist.  It wouldn’t be “con chorizo” if you didn’t have that lovin’ ladleful of that salty, spicy chorizo.  Believe it or not, you could still taste the chicken even in the wake of the chunky chorizo topping. NOTE: not for the faint of heart (meaning, do you take cholesterol medicine?). Chorizo is not known for its’ low fat properties. In fact, I believe it’s sacrilege to use low-fat and chorizo in the same sentence. At any rate, you will have a deep orange-red oil slick on your plate. Close your eyes and savor/ The treadmill can punish you later!

A Family-Owned, Family-Run Mexican Restaurant with  Great Service
 The restaurant was bustling when we arrived – both rooms of the restaurant were filled and the staff was on the hustle from the moment we arrived until we left. Our waiter was the owner’s son and he warned us up front that they were a little behind in the kitchen. I love it when waiters (or other staff) are honest and up front about the hitches in the giddy-up! I find it refreshing to have someone warn me so my expectations are set. He was very friendly and while he was hot-footing it the whole time we were there, he always smiled and he kept our drinks refreshed and apologized for the delays. The co-owner/wife Yolanda was also busy; bussing tables, running to the kitchen and serving food. The same can be said for the daugher-in-law, who had her 14 month old little girl on her hip as she bussed tables. Terrall, co-owner/husband was also busy, serving food, bussing tables. However he still took time to chat with this guests. He proudly introduced us to his grand-daughter (after removing her from mom’s hip) and spoke fluent spanish to her, which made her giggle and wink at us.

Overall it was a very lovely experience. The vibe was very friendly – moreso than any other place I have ever visited.  The first visit and you are on a first-name basis. What’s that song from that popular show from the 80s? “Sometimes you wanna go where everybody knows your na-a-ame!” I think I have underestimated how nice it is to have someone be so friendly, but not sickeningly friendly – but genuine. The food was good, some things were great, others were ok. Again, if you are looking for the more bizzare or adventurous cuisines of Mexico, you likely won’t find it here. But the familiar foods will be comforting. Just make sure and take a diuretic before you go, because, wow, it’s salty!

Our dinner came to $40, which is a good deal considering we had queso fundido, two entrees and two tamales, ala carte, a diet coke and iced tea. Oh yes, they do not serve alcohol and you cannot bring it in. If you are thirsting for a margarita, don’t go to Queso Blanco, they are teetotallers! If you really want to enjoy a drink, have dinner at Queso Blanco, then venture a couple doors down to Keltie’s and have a drink at their small bar.

If you are on in the Carmel/Westfield or Noblesville area, check out this little place. And if you are from Indy, be adventurous and take a road trip to greater northside of Indianapolis. Ok, the northside of Carmel. Either way, get off that sofa and check out something off your beaten path.

Directions
You should totally google-map this depending on where you live. But here are some quick and dirty directions. Follow 31 North through Carmel, past Clay Terrace Mall, Best Buy, Marsh, Don Pablos and the WalMart, just keep going until you get to State Road (SR) 32. Turn right on SR 32 and follow a couple of miles to Union street. It resembles mini-downtown Carmel or Zionsville. If it’s after 6pm, you can park in the pharmacy parking lot across the street.

My Life as a Realtor ~

Day 89:

Sunday – rained – all day long!

Started my morning in Ridgefield, CT to show 2 homes…

                                         A rainy Ridgefield Sunday morning

                                                 Driving down Historic Main Street

                                          Lovely pond  views from one of the homes

Then we made our way into New York to view 6 more homes in Brewster…   Patterson…   Carmel…   and Mahopac.   And it rained the entire day!

My first featured article has been published.  It’s on the website right now and will be printed in the November issue of atCarmel.

It was a learning experience to say the least (I’m not much of a newspaper writer…).  I cannot wait to interview more churches and share how they are impacting the city of Carmel in love.  Visit www.atcarmel.com to read my article about Northview!

Taking a road trip around the US is a highly recommended way to explore this massive country. It may be a more time-consuming affair but I believe it’s the way to go for travelers who want to see what the American heartlands are like. Road travel in America is convenient, (mostly) safe, and fun. From my experience, there’s always something interesting to see at every exit (trust me, there’s always a sign that advertises the nearest tourist trap).

Back when I was still a student in San Francisco, we rented a car one weekend and drove all around Central California without any itinerary or idea of what we could see. It actually turned out more fun that way, as it was easy to get around and the journey itself was very pleasant. Our route was as follows – We started in San Francisco in the morning, then drove to Daly City to pick up lunch, then drove south via Highway 1 but not before stopping by Santa Cruz’s beach and its historic boardwalk. We drove further down and upon reaching Pebble Beach near Monterey, we took the 17-mile scenic drive which included the lone cypress, and a brief stop at the affluent town of Carmel. We spent the night at this drive-in hotel in Pacific Grove – a town bordering Monterey. The following morning, we explored Monterey’s downtown, with a stop at their aquarium and Cannery Row. Then, it was a 2 hour drive via Highway 101 to Gilroy and its humongous outlet store complex. We drove further north and spent the night back in San Francisco (though we planned to use the car for one more day). Woke up early the next day and drove up past the Golden Gate Bridge to the densely forested Muir Woods. We then made our way up north to Petaluma and had an early dinner there. Drove back to San Francisco afterwards, and took the scenic route via Lombard “zigzag” street and Twin Peaks before returning our car back to the rental company. Our route map is shown below:

View Larger Map

Just a tip for those who are planning to rent cars for such trips, it’s very easy to negotiate with rental companies. Discount coupons are usually easy to find in the internet (just make sure they’re not expired) by entering “name-of-company coupons.” In our booking, we managed to get a discount for our 3-day rental plus a car upgrade which wasn’t a bad deal at all.

Some pictures of the trip.

santa cruz

It was low season during our visit so there weren’t many people at the beach. Many of the attractions at the boardwalk were likewise closed.

cypress point lookout in the 17-mile scenic drive

There is a small charge (per car) to enter the 17-mile scenic drive, but it’s worth it! There are more than a dozen points of interest within that stretch.

the lone cypress

The lone cypress is the main attraction in the 17-mile scenic drive, and is a staple in postcards and brochures featuring Monterey and surrounds.

the golden state theater in monterey

Many of California’s historic theaters were built with a Spanish-influenced baroque facade (San Francisco’s Castro Theater is another example), and this one in Monterey is no exception.

muir woods

Many of the trees in the conservation area are several hundreds or more than a thousand years old. The area is so densely forested that light only penetrates in narrow beams such as this one.

My Life as a Realtor ~

Day 85:

Wednesday – Realtor Open House Day! Lot’s to do before heading into the office, including working on a new offer.

Today’s Open Houses were great – Carolyn, Eva, Faith and I set out to view our first home in Carmel, NY – 32 Brookview Drive, Carmel, NY ~ CLICK ~ to view listing sheet.  An absolutely lovely home, with a very talented owner – I felt as though I was walking through an art gallery, viewing beautiful paintings.  What a pleasure to be able to preview it for potential clients!

We moved on to house #2 – in the town of Kent, NY - 4 Mamanasco Road in Kent, NY ~ CLICK ~ to view listing sheet.  This home is an estate – a great buy with lots of potential.  House #3 was in Patterson, NY – 48 Morningside Dr, Patterson, NY ~ CLICK ~ to view listing sheet.  Another lovely home just waiting for a new homeowner!  And last, but not least, house #4 in Brewster, NY – 9 Tea House Lane – Brewster, NY ~ CLICK ~ to view listing sheet - This gated home has stunning architectural details throughout!

                                                                     Views in Brewster, NY

Franky, whether you call it carmel or caramel I don’t really care.  However, if the internet taught me anything, it is to research my beliefs.  My beliefs rely soley on Wikipedia, which doesn’t seen to know of carmel in the candy form.  So, caramel it is.  Don’t worry though, I won’t judge you (much).

Making caramel is a lot like playing scientist.  Many view baking as a science, which it is, but it is only when I have to break out my candy thermometer when I feel truly scientific.  Although I now have a culinary love affair with David Lebovitz I did not use his caramel recipe nor follow his instructions.  This is probably what led me to fail two or three times until I was cranking out caramel nibs like a factory.

I wrote the recipe down and used it as a spoon/sugar rest while I was cooking and eventually threw it away.  Though I cannot remember exactly where I got the recipe, it looked very similar to this one.  However, the original recipe I used called for Heavy (whipping) cream, rather than a non-dairy alternative.  Other than that, the directions were very much the same and less complicated than some other recipes I found online.  Also, my recipe instructed to cook until ~248 rather than the 234-240F that the All Recipes recipe indicates.

It is imperative to use a candy thermometer or a digital one that goes up to 400 (or higher)

It took a surprisingly long time to cook the sugar concoction up to ~240F.  Be patient but KEEP A CLOSE ON THE THERMOMETER (and of course ensure that your thermometer is carefully calibrated).

I waited until just about 245F, and pulled my sauce pan off the heat source before adding the vanilla.  The sugar will continue cooking to 248F.

The sugar should resemble what I imagine whale blubber to look like before adding the vanilla.  As soon as you add it, it will quickly bubble up.  If you did not heed my advice to take the pot off the heat source before, do so right now! Immediately pour your caramel into your prepared dish (foiled and buttered 9X9 pan) to harden. Do not scrape the sides or bottom of the pot, you will get burnt remnants and/or fatty butter and that’s gross.

Take your bench scraper and cut. this. up.

adorable, no?

Cut appropriately sized pieces of wax paper and roll in your caramels!

ZOMG! delicious and adorable.

My Life as a Realtor ~

Day 84:

It’s Tuesday – kiddies are all back to school after a long weekend.  I have lots to do before my noon’ish appointment with my client.  At the top of my list – price reduction on one of my listings – 150 Pocono Road ~ Brookfield, CT – Reduced to $398,000 ~ CLICK ~ to View Listing Sheet. 

I met my client at the office – Century 21 VJF Realty,  and viewed 5 homes in the Carmel/Kent – Brewster/Patterson area.  One of the homes was a second showing – it has loads of potential!

                                                         Lake Carmel – a picture I took last Fall

Did some work – errands – and home to make dinner and tend to the kids – pets and house – and,  very, very grateful that Jonathan’s soccer practice was canceled!  That’s one less thing on my “To Do” list.

Breakfast at Bub’s Cafe
220 2nd Street SW (Right off the Monon, around the way from Baxbeaux’s)
Carmel, IN 46032
www.bubsburgersandicecream.com/cafe/about.html

One Saturday morning I convinced my husband to join me for a walk on the Monon. I thought it would be a great, healthy way to start the day. It never crossed my mind that we would stop and eat. After all, it was walk done with ”health” in mind. However, while walking back from the Farmer’s Market, my husband persuaded me that we needed sustenance for the journey home. So we stopped at Bub’s Cafe. (NOTE: since I had no plans to stop for breakfast on my “healthy” walk, I did not have my iPhone, so the above picture is the only one I feature on this post, sorry! I will give you some verbal cues when it’s time for you to imagine the food! See if you can identify them!)

Bub’s Cafe vs. Bub’s Burgers and Ice Cream
For those unfamiliar with these two Monon icons, Bub’s Cafe and Bub’s Burgers are owned by the same people (no way, get out!). Bub’s Cafe specializes in breakfast and lunch while Bub’s Burgers and Ice Cream specializes in burgers and ice cream. Bub’s Cafe is only a block or so south of her sister on the Monon. Now, when Bub’s Burgers is open, you smell it before you see it.  The smoke from their grill permiates the air with that intoxicating burger smell! Bub’s Cafe emits no such odor, but simply advertises its’ presence with a friendly red awning and a sign with a stack of pancakes.

My husband and I were in the mood to battle bees, so we opted to dine on the patio. (We watched a father dutifully kill the bees buzzing around his daughter’s fruit-topped pancakes). The patio is set far enough back from the Monon so passers-by don’t smell any pancakes, but they can still catch a glance of you – so make sure and take a oversized bites of food so you can make the passing joggers green with food-envy!

The Menu
The Bub’s Cafe menu is reminiscent of the menu at Cafe Petitchou (Clay Terrace Mall, Carmel IN), without some of the French-osity! (sorry…but French-osity sounds cool to me. If you adopt this word, give FoodieGal props). It features the standard breakfast fare: eggs, bacon, pancakes, waffles, french toast, etc. Bub’s also has daily specials, like pumpkin pancakes and quiche of the day.  There were also a couple of interesting items on the menu like Elk Sausage and Bub’s Holes.

Eyes Bigger than Stomach?
 My hubby ordered the pumpkin pancakes, link sausage and Bub’s holes and I ordered Quiche Lorraine and Elk sausage. Ok, so we ordered a lot. But we did it for you, the reader. We took one for the team because we are givers! Well – and - because things smelled good and we wanted to try a lot of stuff. Walking made us hungry!

What are Bub’s Holes?
Bub’s Holes are basically donut holes. They come in four flavors: cinnamon-sugar, powdered sugar, glazed and chocolate (if you put some French-osity on it, it’s SHOH-CO-LAH!). But these donut holes are a little bigger, more dense and look like hush puppies!  They were not bad. And by that I mean, I liked some more than others. The cinnamon-sugar ones were really the best, mostly for the lovely crunchy sugary coating. After that I favored the glazed. Believe it or not, the chocolate one was my least favorite. It didn’t taste bad, but to me, it reminded me of getting a too-dry cake donut with chocolate sauce in the box of expired pastries from a supermarket bakery.  I took a couple of bites, just so I could give back to you. They smell awesome and look pretty. I don’t think you will slobber yourself over them, but they are enjoyable. Besides, it feels good to pick up these little doughy golden-brown confections and eat them slowly as the runners labor down the Monon!

The Food, Get to the Food!
If you are not familiar with Quiche Lorraine, it’s like egg pie with swiss cheese, bacon and onions. The serving size of quiche at Bub’s Cafe is HUGE! When the waitress brought out my quiche, I thought it looked like a monster piece of cheesecake! The waitress commented that the slices of quiche had grown considerably since she had started working at Bub’s.  Either the chef is just an exceedingly generous guy or some country in the axis of evil is conspiring with him to keep Americans jolly. Yeah, it’s that big!

In the case of the quiche at Bub’s cafe (sounds like a Scooby Doo mystery, doesn’t it?) I think less would have been more. It was too big and dense for me to get a great bite of egg, bacon and crust. I finally gave up trying to cut a piece of the quiche in the “upright” position and rolled it onto its’ side, eating the crusty bottom and the middle. When quiche gets that big, you tend to taste more egg than the other ingredients. I used a little extra salt and pepper to season the egg and it wasn’t terrible. However, I didn’t finish it (neither did the lady sitting at the table next to us). I would not order the quiche again unless I just had an out-of-control egg-pie craving.

Pumpkin Pancakes and Elk Sausage
For most of us, pumpkin pancakes conjour up images orange-tinted stacks of dough with that familiar sweet pumpkin flavor (you know, your co-worker Sally’s pumpkin bread at the annual pre-Christmas pitch-in). These pancakes are not “pumpkin-y” sweet. They taste like, well, pumpkin. It’s a nice flavor.  Add the butter and the sweet maple syrup and actually, not too bad. If you have kids and they think they are going to dig into a huge pancake and get a mouthful of sugary sweetness, you better doctor up the pancakes first or they will be disappointed. It’s more about the pumpkin flavor than the sugar! If you like pumpkin, you will probably like these pancakes.

Now, here’s the deal with Elk sausage: there’s something to be said for fat!! I have had reduced fat Jimmy Dean’s sausage in gravy with biscuits and in sausage-egg biscuit sandwiches for dinner (one of my favorite winter dinners). Reduced-fat sausage is not at all similar to its’ full-fat cousin but it’s not bad. But Elk Sausage? You can taste what is missing. If that pattie could talk, it would say “please, I wanna be a sausage!” It’s the Jan Brady of sausage! If you are a carnivore, but are inflexible on eating fats, then get the elk sausage. It will “look” like you are eating sausage, but it will remind you that you really just want pork!  To really get some flavor out of this meat, you need to douse it in maple syrup and take a deep breath as you fork the meat into your mouth. Only then will you get more of the sausage effect. If you love breakfast meat, skip the elk and the links and get the bacon! Bacon dredged seductively in a glossy amber pool of maple syrup will drive those Monon Running-Junkies crazy! (Oh yeah, and make sure and eat it like one of the models on the Hostess cupcake commercials – come on, you know what I am talking about. Really ENJOY that bacon).

So, What About Bub’s?
You know, nothing was bad. The service is friendly, the view is nice and Bub’s has that friendly neighborhood vibe going on. I would go back, but would stick to the traditional breakfast fare or opt for the Belgian waffles (smelled awesome). I personally think it’s hard to make breakfast a memorable and extraordinary meal, but I think maple syrup is a great accoutrement to any breakfast. Plus watching those sweaty spandex-clad race-walkers lust after your breakfast makes everything taste ever so sweet! 

Be adventurous!  Get off your couch, throw on those sweats or pack yourself in the car, and try something on the beaten path! Right off the Monon, just south of Carmel Drive in downtown Carmel. Check out the website for directions: http://www.bubsburgersandicecream.com/cafe/contact.html.

RUNNERS, WALKERS, GYM RATS AND FIT PEOPLE: I consider myself a member of this group. I love to walk and jog on the Monon. I train at least 4-5 times a week. The reference in my blog to making runners jealous, well, it’s more about aesthetics than it is snarkiness – although I do feel a bit of a snark coming on. Since I don’t have any photos, I thought references to dredging bacon in glossy amber syrup was a great cue for a visual image. All those commercials of people eating those big Hardee’s Angus burgers lovingly, well, it does conjour up images of gluttony. So again, I opted for the images of jealous joggers eyeing greedily the plates and syrupy mouths of Bub’s patrons to provide visual stimulants to my readers! Remember, because I am a giver!

Bon Appetit!