Roasted Cauliflower Pizza

Dani and I decided to try to duplicate the roasted cauliflower pizza from Anthony’s in Orlando, and we came darned close. We started with some pizza dough from Whole Foods, which I rolled out repeatedly, really thin, and then baked in olive oil at 450 degrees. Meanwhile we roasted some cauliflower with olive oil, Italian herbs, and maple garlic seasoning from The Spice House. Dani caramelized some onions. Then we layered the crust with mozzarella, added the cauliflower and onions and baked for at least 20 minutes. Sprinkle on grated Parmesan, and voila. The result was thinner and crisper than Anthony’s but otherwise very similar.

Las Vegas Dining

We had a jam packed week of fine dining in Las Vegas. Here are some brief thoughts about the various restaurants.

Verandah at The Four Seasons

This is the coffee shop at the Four Season. The weekend brunch, included in the tour, was pretty spectacular, and I’ve been to some elaborate brunches at the Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress and the Ritz Carlton. I was trying to be good though, so I just nibbled this and that Saturday morning, and skipped it altogether Sunday.

Taqueria CaƱonita at Venetian

Sunday we walked a lot of the casinos on the Strip, starting at the Palazzo, which is part of the Venetian. This canal-side Mexican restaurant used to be a favorite of Linda’s but it seems to have gone downscale. The chips are no longer served with a tower of various salsas, and the food was unremarkable. After lunch we hit the Mirage to see the tigers, and then Caesar’s and the Bellagio.

The Bar at Charlie Palmer’s Steakhouse at the Four Seasons

Before our farewell dinner with our tour group on Friday we had killed a half hour in this bar at the entrance to the steakhouse, and we liked it so much we went back the next night for dinner. Their small plates are a steal for Vegas. For example the four cheese plate with accompaniments was $8, and two Kobe sliders were $10. Compare that to $17 for a Caesar side salad in the restaurant. The ambiance is great, and we had the place almost to ourselves, even though the restaurant was packed.

Noodles at Bellagio

We selected this place for lunch before Linda arrived in town because we knew she wouldn’t like it. As it turned out, we didn’t, either. Slimy noodles and lots of dim sum. Very forgettable. Also very crowded with Chinese speakers, so it must be authentic. It was so bad we went to the chocolate place at Bellagio afterward to recover.

We relaxed at a bar in the Paris to wait for Linda’s flight and our room at the Vdara to be ready.

Yellowtail at Bellagio

Linda requested up-scale sushi for her first night in Vegas, and this place came through. It’s trendy and a bit louder than I’d have liked, but conversation was possible. We had the seven-course Omakase, where you put yourself in the chef’s hands, and he didn’t fail us. Standouts were the tuna pizza with truffle oil and the teriyaki kobe beef shortribs, which were really tasty without being too rich.

Picasso at Bellagio

I’d been to this restaurant before and wasn’t that impressed with the food, but this time it was a home run. Linda and I had the Menu Degustation, while Dani had the Prix Fixe. Her snapper, in particular was deliciously seasoned and perfectly cooked. The highlight of the five-course degustation was probably the foie gras, although it was all excellent.

It’s neat being surrounded by a dozen or more Picasso originals that you could reach out and touch (although Dani and I agreed we much preferred the Monets at the museum in the Bellagio that we saw the day before).

Lotus of Siam

This is the greatest wine list in Las Vegas, and the best Thai restaurant I’ve ever been to by a wide margin. Located in a dumpy strip mall off of Sahara Boulevard, it serve astonishingly good Thai food; in fact, the chef won the James Beard award last year! Best of all is an award winning wine list where many of the wines are priced below retail. We met Linda’s high school friend Suzanne, and her friend Diane, here for lunch. We put ourselves in the waiter’s hands, and he delivered eight or ten terrific appetizers and shared entrees, each better than the last. I took the opportunity to pillage the wine list, and although some of my selections couldn’t be found, we ended up with some stunners. Where else can you find an affordable Clos de Tart from a great year? That bottle alone was over $1000 on the list at Picasso, a fifth that here.

Central at Caesar’s

While Linda had dinner at Pinot Brasserie in the Venetian with her friends, Dani and I walked up to Caesars and the Michel Richard Bistro. Well, it isn’t really a bistro, but more of a burger and salad joint right off the lobby. Delicious Chinese chicken salad, forgettable chicken burger, forgettable tuna burger.

‘wichcraft at MGM Grand

Tom Collicchio of Top Chef fame has a chain of Craft steakhouses. This is his fast food sandwich place, hence the clever name. Excellent chicken salad and roast turkey sandwiches, which we shared.

Jean Georges Steakhouse at Aria

Jean Georges is a favorite restaurant in New York, but I was dubious about yet another top name chef doing a Vegas steakhouse. But everything was great, and as it turned out no one (Linda, Dani, Suzanne, Diane and I) had steak. The highlight was the teriyaki short ribs, which were like candy on the outside. The wine list is expensive, but there are a few hidden gems. We started with a Duval-Leroy Champagne, then a 2005 Corton-Rognet by Dupont-Tisserandot, and ended with a 2010 Mollydooker The Boxer Shiraz.

Sushi Roku at Caesar’s Forum Shops

We had a great meal here last year, so when Linda needed her sushi fix we returned. The trick here is to order appetizers, such as the tuna sashimi with crispy garlic chips, or yellowtail and spicy tuna on crispy rice, not conventional sushi and rolls, which are just so-so. This is a chain, and we found out the hard way that not all locations are equal, as the one is Santa Monica was awful.

l’Atelier de Joel Robuchon at MGM Grand

We’ve been to l’Atelier in New York, London and Las Vegas, and it’s one of our favorite restaurants. Designed a bit like a sushi bar, the best tables place you at a counter facing into the kitchen, where a half dozen chef’s efficiently and quietly prepare your meal as you watch. Across the counter from you, your dedicate server acts as a friendly and knowledgeable host. Linda and I had the tasting menu, ten or so small plates with a half dozen matching wines. Dani had a few small plates ala carte. Everything was superb, but the knockouts for me were: all the breads, the little pizza-like thing with a quail egg and bacon on it, and the partially smoked salmon. Linda loved the foie gras parfait amuse bouche. We’ve also been to the more formal Joel Robuchon next door, but it is stuffy and the food seems less interesting than at l’Atelier.

Triple George Grill downtown

After a backstage tour of the Mob Museum, a couple of blocks north of Fremont Street in the somewhat seedy downtown area of Vegas, we walked to the nearby Triple George Grill. It’s a popular lunch stop, and was quite busy. The interior is old school, but the place was built in 2005. The food was fairly typical bar and grill fair, nothing special.

Guy Savoy at Caesar’s

This three star Michelin chef’s restaurant cemented my opinion of Michelin ratings: that they’re a good indicator of price, but not quality. This meal cost more than double the comparable meal at the best restaurant in the US, 11 Madison Park. It also cost almost as much as three years of Linda’s lunches at Taco Bell. Quality: variable. The first three courses (of 13) were solid 9’s, but after that they all, categorically, devolved into less than 5 on a scale of 10. It’s not really worth reporting them here, because they change frequently. But why would you ruin a piece of nice salmon by freezing it on dry ice? The wine paring was top notch, though. This would be a distant last of all the fine dining experiences during this week in Vegas.

The Vdara

Dani and I completed our tour of national parks, finishing with two days at the Four Seasons Las Vegas, which is the top five floors of the Mandalay Bay. Then we moved to my favorite (non-smoking casinoless) hotel in Vegas, the Vdara, where Linda joined us for the week. I love the two-bedroom suites on the top floor of the Vdara, and they’re very affordable. Here’s our 280 degree view, by day and night, and a shot of the hotel from across the Bellagio fountain.

Vdara Window Washer Rescue

We had a bit of excitement outside our hotel yesterday. Firefighters had to be lowered from above our 56th floor suite to rescue three window washers when their basket got stuck and started to slip. TV crews gathered down on the street, and I guess it even made the national news, but we had the best view.

 

Tour Wrap-up: Blogging in the Sticks

Our Tauck Tour is wrapping up, and we reached our final destination: The Four Seasons Hotel in Las Vegas. It’s my fourth Tauck Tour, and they just seem to get better. I wouldn’t change a thing about this one. Each activity was well thought out and fun for adult and kids, and having the kids on the trip imparted an energy to the tour that I think I’d miss if I went on a non-Bridges Tauck Tour. Julie has been a marvelous Tour Director, the most involved of all the excellent one who preceded her. She also does Wine Tours in Napa, and regular Tauck Tours in Scotland, so maybe we’ll see her again.

Technology Musings

I like to keep a journal when I travel. I used to post it upon my return. But the ubiquity of the Internet and WordPress now let me post as I go. It’s fun to keep friends up to date on our adventures as they happen. Except for one day, I’ve been able to do that on this trip, and far more economically than on a cruise. But it is interesting how we assume there is cell service of some sort almost everywhere. Not so in the middle of nowhere, and that came as a shock to some of the kids on this trip.

Bryce is almost a no-technology zone, with limited cell phone service and nothing else (even TV, although Dani and I actually didn’t notice, since we don’t use TVs). Otherwise, WIFI has been only slightly limited. Tauck picked up the tab for it at the Four Seasons Scottsdale, and it was free at Lake Powell and Zion.

The data on the ATT cell phones has been almost non-existent. We rarely see 3G, and can have 5-bars and not have Edge. Even when we do have Edge, it’s close to worthless because it’s too slow for even the simplest tasks. However the Verizon iPad has worked almost everywhere, and lets us use it as a hot spot to which the MacBooks and iPhones can connect. Even at Grand Canyon it was fast enough to upload a couple hundred photos. I plan to change to Verizon when I get my next iPhone.

This was one of my favorite Tauck tours, because the Bridges aspect made it so fun. I’ll definitely look for that in the future. Here’s the shot of our group in Kanab, Utah:

Zion

If it’s the only park you go to, Zion is incredibly beautiful, with its contrasting red and white peaks. But it’s always seemed a bit of a letdown to me, after going to Grand Canyon (which is far bigger) and Bryce (which is far more complex).

We arrived in the late afternoon, and took advantage of our last cool day to go on a hike to the lower Emerald Pool, since tomorrow it is heating up to be in the 100s.

It’s a pretty hike from our lodge. It’s probably made easier by the fact that we are now at 4000 feet instead of 8000 feet. You start by crossing the river.

There are some interesting hollowed out section in the cliff face along the way.

The pools are just a spot where water runs down the rock and creates a mossy oasis.

In the evening we had dinner at the lodge.

I was impressed with the Xanterra management at the Grand Canyon Lodge and Zion, and the Freedom company that manages Bryce. The rooms are comfortable and clean, and the dining room food and service is above average. It’s certainly working to attract European visitors. I’m certain the French speakers outnumbered English speakers at both Bryce, and, later, Zion. We also hear quite a bit of German. Only at the Grand Canyon were English speakers in the majority, and they were definitely large round American who looked like they stepped off the set of Wall-E.

 

Bryce

I’ve always thought Bryce is the most beautiful of all the National Parks.

Our room was at the Bryce Lodge, which is newly refurbished.

The weather was perfect, and the sun was just setting as we arrived to take photos. i was surprised that we weren’t really affected by the 7000 foot elevation at the Grand Canyon, and even more surprised that we weren’t particularly affected by the 8000 foot elevation at Bryce.

After a nice dinner at the lodge we hit the sack. I got up at 4:30 am to look at the stars off our balcony, and could clearly see the Milky Way.

In the morning, Dani went for a two-hour trail ride while I relaxed at the lodge. Then we headed for Zion.

 

From Dani’s Blog

After lunch we loaded up the bus and headed into Bryce. We passed and Elk farm and a Bison farm along the way, as well as a lot of baby horses. We got dropped off at the Bryce Visitor Center while Julie and Ron went to drop our bags off at the hotel and get our room keys. We watched the orientation video (standard def on an old projector, yeesh) and the scenery was beautiful. After we were back on the bus Dad immediately e-mailed his company to tell them to follow up with the visitor center about upgrading their system.

We got to our hotel and headed out to the Rim of the amphitheater (it is incorrect to call Bryce a canyon because there is not water running through the middle of it, rather it slopes down only on one side merging with the plane below). Dad pointed out that the design of the Bryce lodge is just the way Disney would have done it. The buildings are inset about from the edge of the canyon and are on the lower part of a downward slope. You have to walk up to get to the rim. This means that you donā€™t get any sneak peaks of the beauty in the amphitheater until you see the whole thing suddenly drop away before you.

And Bryce is breathtaking. The rock spires (called hoodoos) caught the setting sunlight, which made them appear even redder than they really are. We walked along the rim taking in all the different angles of the hoodoos. Some looked like chess pieces, others looked like greek statuesā€¦ with a little imagination the whole valley appears to be filled with fantastic creations

Eventually we strolled back towards our room. We saw a california ground squirrel (commonly miscalled a chipmunk) and they are tiny! I bet I could comfortably fit three of them in one hand. They have very long tales and are very quick.

We had dinner at the lodge and created our own surf and turf by sharing blue cornmeal dusted trout and short ribs coated in cinnamon. The cinnamon was a really great idea. I was fading very fast so we went back to the room and I conked out right away. I suppose I could try blaming the altitude for my sleepiness, but I have a feeling itā€™s just from doing so many wonderful things a day on this tour.

 

Colorado River Rafting

I’ve been without Internet for one day, and I sure have a lot of updates to do! This trip is definitely keeping us busy, in a fun way.

Wednesday morning we checked out of Lake Powell and drove to Page, Arizona for our first activity of the day, Colorado River rafting. We transferred to a bus to enter the secured government area at the base of Glen Canyon Dam.

To get there you pass though a two mile tunnel bored into the rock at the start of dam construction. Then you wear a hard hat for the walk to the rafts.

The water comes out of the dam cold and fast, but there are no rapids on this trip, as you float between high canyons. It’s very clear, because it’s had 186 miles for the dirt to settle out in Lake Powell.

Our raft pilot, Cory, was extremely knowledgeable and personable, and turned out to be the owner of the company.

At the halfway point the boats stop at a beach.

You can climb up to some petroglyphs.

Then our tour director dared us to take the plunge. Because the lake is 500 feet deep, and the water from the dam comes from the bottom, it is COLD. As in 47 degrees. I had always heard about water so cold that it hurt, but I never really had experienced it until I stood thigh deep in this stuff for a minute. That was far enough.

Dani didn’t get that far.

But lots of others managed to meet the challenge and put their heads under. But as you can see, they didn’t want to linger.

The second half of the trip was sunny so we floated less and motored more, until we reached Lee’s Ferry. This is where the white water rafting trips begin, and our trip ended.

We crossed Navaho bridge, and the high desert above the north rim of the Grand Canyon, and then passed into Utah.

In Kanab we stopped for a western movie themed lunch. Kanab is where lots of western movies and television shows have been filmed, and this restaurant had a collection of movie sets out back. We were assigned roles, given costumes, and then spend about five minutes playing our parts. It sounds corny but was actually a hoot. Dani was an Indian.

I was a playboy (with a violin, for some reason).

Then we had an excellent lunch of salad and roast beef with home made dressings and barbecue sauce. After seeing how well it worked for our boat driver, Dani bought a cowboy hat for tomorrow’s trail ride.

Then we headed for Bryce Canyon.

From Dani’s Blog

This morning we packed up our stuff and headed out to the bottom of the Glen Canyon Dam for our rafting adventure (another ā€œride or our livesā€ according to Julie).

The bottom of the Dam is not an easy place to get to. The last two miles are a one-way tunnel bored into the rock. Security is at the same time both tight and lax. Theoretically youā€™re not allowed to bring any guns/knives/explosives/weapons of mass destruction beyond the security checkpoint, but the river rafting company gets to do its own security checks, which basically involves someone glancing in the general direction of your bag and saying, ā€œyep, that looks fine.ā€

At any rate we made it to the bottom of the Dam which, amazingly, looks even larger from the bottom. There is about 150 feet of hard hat area when you get off the bus (youā€™re standing right under the bridge and anything falling from that has 500 feet to pick up speed before hitting you. We walked down to the water on a long causeway that ate the soles of Dadā€™s water shoes for breakfast. The boats were large twenty-seater pontoons but they were filled less than half full for us. Our river guide, Cory, was very knowledgable about the river, geology, and the history of the region. He told us a couple of yarns though, including a herd of big horn sheep that had been trained to cross the river in a cart suspended by a cable about twenty feet up (reality: geologists use it to get from one side to the other).

The water is a balmy 47 degrees when it comes out of the Dam. Early in the morning when the river is still in shadow itā€™s a bit cool down there. We saw a couple of brave souls in wadders fishing for trout. Cory recited a bit of Powellā€™s journal (the passage about beginning their journey ā€œhow many ________ lie before us, we know notā€¦ā€) and we started our own journey.

There was a bag full of cans of lemonade hanging off the side of the boat, keeping them at a crisp 47 degrees for us. We mostly floated for the first part of the journey. The walls are about 700 feet above the river at the mouth of the Dam but by the end of our journey they had soared to more than 1000 feet around Horseshoe bend. Itā€™s very difficult to get any sense of scale when youā€™re down there though. Theyā€™re simply enormous!

At about the halfway point we pulled up onto one of the few sandy beaches (most have been eroded away and arenā€™t being replenished because the sediment is trapped behind the Dam). We walked a short way up but it was amazing how much hotter it got even a few feet from the River. Cory and I chatted on the way up. He went to the University of Colorado to study Environmental Science. He worked for an oil company for a couple of years and was miserable, so he moved back to Arizona and started running tours on the Colorado River during the summer and is a ski patroller in the winter.

Our destination was a rock wall, covered in black manganese that had petroglyphs carved into it by the Anisazi. There were a few rare depictions of humans, as well as the four steps (one of the only land accessible trails) and long horn sheep.

We retreated back to the relative coolness of the river and the kids on the trip did the polar plunge by rushing into the water and submerging themselves up to their heads. Dad waded in up to his knees, but I stuck one foot in Lake Michigan one time and that was enough (and itā€™s about ten degrees warmer than the Colorado!).

We hopped back on the boat and continued on to Leeā€™s Ferry, which is mile 0 of the Grand Canyon. White water rafting trips put in at Leeā€™s Ferry, but we got out.

Those of us who were soggy changed and got back on the bus to head for Bryce. We crossed into Utah and lost an hour so our late lunch was very late. It was at a Western Movie Museum. It was a little kitschy but all in good fun. We were seated at long tables but before the dinner bell was rung we were all drafted into the filming of our very own Western. I was an Indian, but Dad got to be the playboy (meaning the fiddler, of course).Ā  We were costumed, choreographed, and then played out our movie. After than we had our Tauk group photo taken. I have to say it will be the most unique group photo ever taken on a Tauk tourā€¦

We went back inside and had a really tasty barbecue lunch. There was salad, corn-meal dusted biscuits, roasted potatoes, macaroni and cheese, and beef with homemade barbecue sauce. Everybody chowed down.

After lunch, there was (predictably) one enormous gift shop to go through. I ended up purchasing a straw cowboy hat. Out here you can really use the extra sun protection. I can see why they invented them! Also it will look dashing on tomorrowā€™s trail rideā€¦

 

Monument Valley

I’ve always wanted to visit Monument Valley, but it’s not the easiest place in the world to get to. Even though as a kid I vacationed all over the Southwest, I don’t recall ever passing through. So today we did it by plane. We took off from the airport in Page, Arizona. There were four of us and two pilots in the eight passenger Cessna Caravan.

We passed over Glen Canyon Dam, the Lake Powell Resort and then flew up the lake about 30 miles to Rainbow Bridge. Then we headed east to Monument Valley, arriving about 45 minutes after takeoff.

We connected with nine others from our group who arrived in a separate plane, and headed out by air-conditioned van, stopping for Navaho craft demonstrations, scenic viewpoints, and native jewelry stalls. The scenery was beyond spectacular. And the dirt road provided a thrill ride.

Monument Valley is within the Navaho Reservation, and it was interesting to learn about modern Navaho life. Because the roads are impassible in winter, many of the schools are boarding schools. The Navaho people are rich in energy resources, with a coal fired power plant that provides more power than Hoover and Glen Canyon Dams combined. Ironically, most Navaho homes don’t have electricity. Little of this wealth seems to trickle down to the people, so I wonder where it goes. The jewelry and crafts sold at the vendors’ stalls seemed, frankly, very inexpensive, with necklaces starting at $3. Of course the solid silver and turquoise is more, but anything that was labor intensive seemed very low priced.

After about two hours we re-boarded our plane, and were back at the resort by 1pm.

In the afternoon we took a boat ride to Antelope Canyon, a “slot” canyon whose sinuous course the lake has filled nearly to the brim.

 

From Dani’s Blog

This morning we took a scenic flight out over Lake Powell in a little Cessna Caravan, an eight-seater prop plane. We took off at about 8:30am and looped over the lake, circling around the impressive Rainbow Bridge. The water is so low in the reservoir right now that the only way to get to Rainbow Bridge is to hike or to fly. After that we turned towards the Navajo reservation and headed out over monument valley. We landed at an even smaller air strip on the reservation and were picked up by a Navajo guide.

Our first stop on the tour was only about 150 feet from the landing strip and it was a hogan, a traditional Navajo dwelling constructed of cedar logs, a layer of insulating bark, and then lots of mud. There was an older Navajo woman in the hut demonstrating traditional arts, crafts, and Navajo homemaking. She spun wool into yarn, had beautiful weavings she was working on, and ground corn into meal.

After that demonstration we headed out for the valley properā€¦

Our flight over the lake was perfectly smooth. Things got a little bumpier once we were over the warmer plains air, but those bumps were nothing compared to the bumps we felt on the unpaved ā€œroadā€ through the monuments! It was a roller coaster out there!

We had several stops along the road to get out and take pictures of monuments. Amazingly there were Navajo ā€œstrip mallsā€ tables or plywood shacks at every stop! Imagine that. I bought a $10 necklace and Dad browsed through the interesting stones they had for sale.

The best thing I bought however was a $2 picture sitting on top of a mustang! It was the most patient horse I have ever met. We were right next to the Three Sisters formation, a location that has been scouted by Hollywood for decades, and everyday this Navajo man brings his horse, decked out in traditional western gear, to stand and have inexperienced people of all shapes and sizes sit on him and get photographed. He was so well behaved for all of that though! The guy helped you mount up, then basically just backed away and the horse didnā€™t move or do anything at all, except stand there, presenting his best angle. Oh, and he was really fuzzy too.

Dad and I both took lots of pictures of the monuments. It was amazing and beautiful country. Looking out at the sweeping desert definitely made you want to saddle up and ride into the sunset. The temperature discouraged such activities though. It could have been much worse, Iā€™ll admit. It probably was only in the mid 90s today because the rain cooled things off a bit, but it was still too hot to be out for long. Despite our early start and layers of sunscreen Dad and I both got a little bit of color.

We headed back to the air strip and took off for our return flight to Lake Powell where we were met by Julie and Ron, who spent all day playing musical passengers. Today there were several activities and combinations of activities you could choose from, and most involved Tauk transportation which must have been a scheduling ordeal for poor Julie.

We opted for the Monument Valley tour and a boat excursion onto Lake Powell to see Antelope Canyon.

We had a little down-time between our return from the airport and our boat tour. We had lunch with a man and his son, who had also been out to Monument Valley with us. It turned out he was a radiologist and he gave me some comforting news about medical school: itā€™s easier than undergrad! Thank goodness! He also suggested some other medical schools I might consider applying too including Duke and the University of Vermont.

After lunch we headed back to the room and chilled for a little bit, examining our pictures from today. The boat tour left from our hotelā€™s backyard (literally) so it was a short walk over. Dad and I opted to not sit on the top deck in full blazing sun. The canyon was cool, and it was neat to be so up-close to the canyon walls. The color is quite dramatic because there is a shift between the white calcium carbonate that coats the walls up to the high-water mark and the red oxidized iron in the sandstone above.

We discovered a shady spot aft for part of the return trip and took some good photos of the rock formations. I played around with my camera settings and polarizer, experimenting a little.

After the 90 minute cruise it was back to the room for a bit before we headed over to the Rainbow Room for dinner. We were seated alone at a table for six so I guess we canā€™t complain about the elbow room! Our server, Glade, was an interesting character! He suggested two delicious appetizers, corn fritters and a spinach queso that was lighter and fluffier (due to a ricotta-like cheese) than most spinach dips. I had 16 spiced chicken that had a sweet prickly pear sauce drizzled on top. I was impressed considering how many times weā€™d been warned about the service here! Glade was very fascinated to learn that French restaurant edict does not involve the waiter pouring the wine or water, but rather leaving it on the table for the guest to pour.

Tomorrow will be an early morning and weā€™re going to float down the Colorado river starting at the mouth of the dam and then head on to Bryce.

Morning at the Grand Canyon, Evening at Lake Powell

This morning I happened to wake earlier, so I went out a little after 5am to photograph the sunrise over the canyon.Clouds to the east provided a dramatic backdrop, but only a few rays managed to hit the canyon walls, so after an hour I went back to bed.

Today is another temperate day, hot in the sun, but with a cool 70 degree breeze. We had breakfast at the El Tovar, but all the food was pretty heavy and uninspired, so we just picked at it and then went for a walk, to the west this time.

We visited Lookout Point and the Kolbe Studio, and photographed condors and squirrels. We also saw a baby chipmunk.

Puffy white clouds created constantly changing patterns of light an dark in the canyon, which made me glad we no longer have to pay for film in order to shoot hundreds of pictures.

At noon we boarded the coach and headed for Desert View, our easternmost stop at the Grand Canyon. That was a very rainy stop, but it made for some interesting photos.

The we crossed the Navajo Reservation and in the late afternoon stopped at the Glen Canyon Dam Visitor Center.

I was here as a kid, and was surprised how much I remembered.

Our hotel for the night is at the Lake Powell Resort, where I camped as a kid.

Grand Canyon 2012

What a great day! We set out with our Tauck group from The Four Seasons Scottsdale and headed north through the saguaro-littered desert. Soon we had ascended far enough for the cactus to disappear, to be replaced by scrub and the occasional pine.

We stopped for a short visit to Montezuma’s Castle, a cliff dwelling. Then it was on to Sedona for lunch. Throughout the day intermittent rains kept things cool without interfering with our plans.

Sedona is surrounded by dramatic red rock formations, and we stopped to pose in front of some of them before continuing on to the touristy center of town for lunch. To my surprise, Dani selected a Mexican restaurant for lunch, and we thoroughly enjoyed the sea bass tacos and shrimp fajitas.

North of Sedona the road quickly climbs several thousand feet and we were in a beautiful canyon with a rocky creek and tall pines. Then across the high desert to the Grand Canyon.

We stopped to watch the excellent IMAX Grand Canyon film while our luggage was delivered to our rooms, and then we we dropped off at the Kachina Lodge.

Our room is newly refurbished, and is one of only a handful with a view of the canyon. We’re right next door to the El Tovar, so we can dine there, yet have a nicer room than at that 107 year-old-hotel.

We spent the afternoon taking photos as we walked two mile along the rim up to Yavapai Point. Some thunderstorms moving through kept things cool, and provided interesting light.

Then we took the shuttle back in time for a terrific dinner at the El Tovar. I must say the food, service and wine list at the El Tovar are far better than I remembered. Our expert server, Rick, was a middle-aged guy who studied physics and had a passion for Nils Bohr– not your average server!

After dinner we strolled back to our hotel, passing within a few feet of a herd of elk grazing on the lawn.

 

From Dani’s Blog

This morning began with a 6am wake up call, bags out at 7am, wheels rolling at 8am.

On our drive out of Phoenix our guide, Julie, talked about a variety of things including: Arizona sports teams, Saguaro cacti, local flora, history, and geography.

We made a quick stop at Montezumaā€™s Castle, misnamed by previous explorers (Montezuma never built anything in this part of Arizona). There was a walking path that made a circle around the cliff wall so you could see the impressive (somewhat impractical) structure. Julie gave everyone on the bus a ā€œPassport to the National Parksā€ with blank pages for stamping each time you visit a national park or monument. We got four stamps at Montezumaā€™s Castle alone! One with the date, one for the park, one to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the visitor centerā€™s ā€œnewā€ building, and one with Teddy Rooseveltā€™s face on it.

After that we headed into Sedona for lunch. We were dropped off on a touristy yet charming main street area. I actually suggested a Mexican restaurant for lunch, Taos, which turned out to be quite tasty. I had fish tacos with mango salsa that were really delicious! I didnā€™t touch my refried black beans thoughā€¦

The weather has been quite changeable on our trip so far, but I donā€™t mind at all. The intermittent rain is keeping the temperature down, and my Chicago skin from instantly crisping in the sun. It rained heavily for about three minutes during the first part of our lunch but by the time we had paid the sky was completely clear again. I bought a couple of postcards and we admired the red rock formations while waiting for the bus to pick us up.

After lunch we continued the drive toward the Grand Canyon. The scenery changes quite rapidly with the changing altitude. It is amazing how there seems to be an invisible line above or below which certain plants simply do not grow.

We stopped at a National Geographic center to watch an Imax presentation about the Grand Canyon. They had popcorn that smelled sooo good, but I managed to refrain. Their popcorn condiments included a lot more flavors than I have ever seen on display before. In addition to salt, butter, and day-glow cheese they also had chocolate marshmallow as a flavor spread. The Imax movie was quite well done, although I would not have wanted to be one of the stunt men in that teeny boat going through those rapidsā€¦

We arrived at the Grand Canyon at about 4:40. Dad and I planned to hike along the eastern trail before dinner and take photographs with my schnazzy SLR. We threw our stuff down, rushed outside in time for 10 minutes of beautiful weather, and then the sky opened up, soaking us (though thankfully not my camera) with cold rain that felt like it had recently been hail. We took refuge in the Hopi House and did a little shopping. Having only made if about 50 yards we returned to the room and exchanged our wet clothing for dryer stuff and started our hike again.

It was very pleasant. The sun was going down, turning all the rocks and formations bright interesting colors with lots of contrast. The rain cooled things down a bit so it wasnā€™t too much of a strain to hike in the thin atmosphere. We went about two miles and then caught the shuttle back, just in time for dinner at the El Tovar.

We had a lovely table next to a widow. Through it I could see the forecast thunderstorm approaching. We shared salmon and trout croscanti that were really excellent. I felt like our roles were reversed however when I had salmon and Dad had a Filet Mignon. Our waiter was an interesting fellow. He was an excellent and professional waiter but he had studied Physics in college and knew all about Niels Bohr and the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle, and had even visited Copenhagen to see Bohrā€™s Institute. We exchanged reading recommendations. I recommended the play ā€œCopenhagenā€ to him and he recommended ā€œCopenhagen and Faustā€ to me. I will have to check it out when we get home!

When we left the El Tovar to go back to our room we discovered a large herd of Elk grazing on the El Tovarā€™s nice irrigated lawn. They seemed incredibly unconcerned by the tourists and the flashbulbs going offā€¦

 

Scottsdale

We had a relaxing day at the Fours Seasons. After breakfast we went for a short walk through the desert and took some photos, then back to the room to cool off. Even though it was overcast and in the low 80s, it felt hot and surprisingly muggy.

In the evening we met our Tauck Tour Director and group. Everyone seems extremely nice. It’s about half kids, all of whom seem very well educated and well-behaved (although half are boys, so you get the picture). Ages are in the 8 to 14 year range. We had dinner at a table with girls in the 7th, 8th and 9th grades, plus some of their attached attached adults. The adults are partially parents and partially grandparents. As usual, Dani is the only person in her age group, but she seems to enjoy mixing with everyone.

Our tour director, Julie, is the usual super-competent and friendly Tauck guide. She devised a clever ice breaker that involved all the kids circulating to collect information from everyone, in a sort of scavenger hunt.

Tomorrow is a busy day to start a busy week so we’ll head to bead early.

 

From Dani’s Blog

This morning when I opened my eyes I was convinced I had slept the entire morning away only to discover it was actually 7:45am. We went to breakfast in the dining room. They had a nice buffet with lots of little offerings. The mini everything bagels were delicious, and just the right size. But the show stealer was definitely the bacon. I have to believe they smoke it locally because it is so flavorful and fresh.

After breakfast we took a short (very hot) walk over towards the base of Pinnacle Peak, a redundant name if you ask me. I took lots of photos. Pinnacle Peak is in the background of this photo framed by some cactus.

We retreated back to the air-conditioned comfort of our room after lunch out by the pool, and spent a quiet afternoon reading and playing on the internet. This afternoon a thunderstorm rolled in and sprinkled a little rain on everything. The rain sounds quite different here. It plinks when it hits the rocks because thereā€™s nothing to soften the impact.

We met our tour group tonight, and I am most definitely (for the first time ever) not the youngest person on the tour. There are at least 15 kids under the age of 15 on the trip. We sat with a nice family from Connecticut and a grandmother from Maryland traveling with her granddaughter. The banquet-style dinner was nice and the chicken wasnā€™t too rubbery.

Most of the group came in today and was fading pretty rapidly by the end. The tour starts in earnest tomorrow as we trek to the grand canyonā€¦

Four Seasons Scottsdale

We had an uneventful flight from Chicago to Phoenix (best line by the Southwest pilot: “Well, we’ve found Arizona, now we’re just looking for Phoenix”) and a 45 minute limo ride from a real tech-head that involved discussions of tablets, iPhones and transfer speeds of different type of networks; I’m sure Dani was about to climb out of the car by the time we reached the Four Seasons in Scottsdale.

The Four Seasons is a scattering of low-slung rooms on a pile of rocks. This view is from our back door:

Weirdly, it rained today, something it hasn’t done in Chicago for a long time, so it’s actually wetter and cooler here than it was there. This might be the last temperate weather we see on the trip, though.

Arizona doesn’t believe in daylight savings time, so we’re now on west coast time, making it earlier than it seems. We’re here a day before our tour starts, so we’ll just relax at the hotel tonight, and meet our tour director tomorrow evening.

 

5-Spice Apples

I invented this simple recipe to use up ingredients before leaving town. It turned out delicious.

Ingredients

2 apples
3 Tbsp brown sugar
2 tsp Chinese 5-spice

Preparation

Peel and chop up apples.

Dump in a covered casserole dish, add brown sugar and 5-spice.

Bake for 30-45 minutes.

The apples will be soft but not mushy, and the 5-spice gives them a much more exotic flavor than simple cinnamon. Would also be great over vanilla ice cream.

Pan-Seared Chicken with Balsamic Fruit Glaze

I fiddled with this recipe so much I’m calling it my own. This is a really good way to cook boneless, skinless chicken; it ends up crisp yet moist. And the glaze can be prepared in a leisurely fashion while the chicken cooks. The result was something I’d have been happy to get in a restaurant.

Ingredients

1 Tbsp grape seed oil
4-6 Skinless, boneless chicken thighs
1/2 cup thinly sliced shallots or onions
1/4 tsp ground cardamom
1/2 cup red wine
3 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
3 Tbsp black raspberry seedless jam (or other)
1/2 lb fresh cherries
2 Tbsp pistachios, whole or crushed, toasted or raw
Salt and pepper

Preparation

Preheat oven to 400 degrees with a glass baking dish in it.

Salt and pepper chicken. Heat olive oil in pan on medium high and brown chicken in it for ten minutes, face down. Transfer chicken, face up to baking dish in oven and bake for 15-30 minutes (until done).

While chicken is baking, saute shallots or onions in the pan the chicken was cooked in, then add wine, balsamic and jam. Reduce. Stir in cherries.

Plate chicken, spoon sauce over top. Garnish with pistachios.

It won’t be nearly as sweet as you expect. Yum!

Cozy Noodles

Cozy Noodles is a funky little cafe near Ace hardware, on Davis, but on the other side of the tracks from the business district. The striking thing about the place is the collections of tin toys, Pez dispensers, license plates, canned good, and other oddities that line the walls. Despite its name, it doesn’t serve comfort food (unless you’re from Southeast Asia), but rather Chinese and Thai food. Our food was good — “spicy” definitely means spicy — and the prices are very reasonable.

Ravinia: Santana

Santana was good, but of course they couldn’t compare to last night. They were very generous with their time, playing all their hits, and as near as I could tell every song from their second and third albums. In fact, they outlasted us, and were still playing encore numbers as we boarded the train for Evanston.

Ravinia: Marvin Hamlish, Idina Menzel, and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra

Idina Menzel performing Defying Gravity with volunteers.

Tonight we went to a concert I was expecting to just be so so, and it was fantastic. It was in the open air stage a Ravinia. The hundred degree weather of the past week had abated, and it was a lovely evening in the mid 70s. The concert grounds were packed, with people picnicking on all the lawns. It looks a bit like Coney Island. We had great seats in the pavilion, thanks to being a donor this year.

I’ve heard several concerts there, but I never realized what fantastic acoustics it had until tonight. The Chicago Symphony sounded incredible in the space (and was the best sounding orchestra I’ve ever heard).

Marvin Hamlisch opened the show, and even in his late 60s is as good as ever. He conducted medleys from A Chorus Line and My Fair Lady, and played the piano for several parts, plus a solo of The Way We Were. His commentary–much of it adlibbed and related to a bad mic–was hysterical. Then he conducted the orchestra to back Idina Menzel.

Idina was extremely sick, which had the effect of getting the audience rooting for her, and the show was quite magical. I think she was really touched by how great the reception was.Ā  She spent a long time telling stories (stalling, as she put it) which were very funny (and sometimes quite salty). And then she drafted members of the audience to help her sing some of the songs. I’m not sure how she did it, but all five people she selected had terrific voices. The crowd went nuts when the volunteer for Defying Gravity managed to hit all of the high notes perfectly. It was one of the best concerts I’ve ever seen, and an unexpected surprise to everyone, I think even including Idina.

For her encore Idina performed a new song that I loved. Here’s a youtube video of a previous performance, not nearly as good as what we saw tonight, but it gives you the idea. And here are the lyrics:

“You Learn to Live Without”

You learn to take your coffee black
You learn to drink your whiskey neat
You learn to take your shower cold
And sleep on tired feet
You learn to order dinner in
You learn to send the laundry out
You learn to amuse yourself
You learn to live without

You tell yourself you’re rich at last in money and in time
You draw a bath and then unplug the phone
You pour yourself a pinot from 2003
You sit a spell, a queen upon her throne
You go to bed alone

You learn to fall asleep alone
You learn to silence ticking clocks
You learn to turn the shades at night
And double check the locks
You learn to speak so calmly when
Your heart would like to scream and shout
You learn to smile and breathe and smile
You learn to live without

You find the coat and tie you thought you’d given to Goodwill
You stumble along a long lost set of chess
You see him there in corners and in closets and on shelves
And truth be told you’d like to see him less

You stumble through the morning but you waken for the day
You tell yourself that all is going well
But now and then a sense of loss just slams you in the chest
You know that no one else can really tell
You make it all seem swell

You learn to count the quiet winds
An hour with no unprompted tears
And not to count the deadly days
As they fade into years
You learn to stand alone at last
So brave and bold and strong and stout
You learn somehow to like the dark
You even love the doubt
You learn to hold your life inside you
And never let it out
You learn to live and live and die and live
You learn to live without
You learn to live without
You learn to live without

Grilled Zucchini with Pesto

These turned out great. I used much more garlic and twice the pine nuts the original recipe suggested. I don’t see how you could stretch it to recommended six zucchini, though. I used more than half the pesto on one large one. Of course, I eliminated the Parmesan cheese they called for, too. And I substituted grapeseed oil for olive oil. Hey, I guess this is now my recipe.

Ingredients

1 cup fresh basil leaves
several garlic cloves
1/2 cup toasted pine nuts
1/4 cup grapeseed oil
Salt and black pepper, to taste
2 zucchini

Preparation

Combine basil leaves, garlic, and pine nuts in a food processor; pulse until well-blended.

Gradually pour in 1/4 cup oil; pulse again. The pesto should be very thick.

Thinly slice zucchini lengthwise; brush lightly with olive oil, and sprinkle lightly with salt and black pepper.

Grill until marked on both sides and tender (a few minutes per side); remove and cool.

Spread about 1 teaspoon of pesto on 1 side of each grilled zucchini slice; roll up and secure with a toothpick.

July 4th

July 4th was hot in Evanston. 102, to be precise. We stayed in, except for a run to Whole Foods, but in mid-afternoon the power went out and we were thankful our dinner plans included Dani’s new portable gas barbecue. Fortunately, after a few hours (and moments after Dani lit candles) the power returned.

We had bison burgers and Dani made her traditional 4th of July cake. Then we watched the Evanston fireworks–four blocks away, at the beach–from her balcony.

Here’s a short video I made of the finale.

Garden Lasagna

Last night I made a vegetarian lasagna. I was skeptical because of the large amount of skim milk in the recipe, but it worked great. I left out the corn the recipe called for, and used ricotta cheese rather than the cottage cheese(!) called for. It was delicious, fairly low in calories, and we have lots of leftovers.

I would definitely make this recipe again, but in a smaller pan. Mine was about twice the size they called for, so the veggies and sauce were thinner than I would have chosen.

Ingredients

1 1/2 teaspoons olive oil
3 1/2 cups (1 pound) chopped zucchini
1 cup chopped onion
2/3 cup chopped carrot
1 cup chopped fresh basil
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, divided
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, divided
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
3 cups 1% low-fat milk
1 cup low ricotta cheese
1/2 cup (2 ounces) grated Parmesan cheese
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Cooking spray
9 (about 5 ounces) no-boil lasagna noodles
1 cup (4 ounces) preshredded part-skim mozzarella cheese

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 425Ā°.

2. Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add zucchini, onion, and carrot; sautƩ 8 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove from heat; stir in corn, basil, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/8 teaspoon pepper.

3. Lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Place flour in a large saucepan; gradually add milk, stirring with a whisk. Cook and stir over medium heat until mixture comes to a boil; reduce heat and simmer 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat; stir in cottage cheese, Parmesan, nutmeg, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/8 teaspoon pepper.

4. Spread 1/2 cup white sauce in bottom of an 11- x 7-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray. Arrange 3 noodles over sauce; top with half the vegetable mixture (about 2 cups) and one-third of the remaining white sauce (about 1 cup). Top with 3 noodles, remaining vegetable mixture, half the remaining sauce, and 3 more noodles. Spread the remaining white sauce over noodles. Cover with foil and bake at 400Ā° for 25 minutes. Uncover, sprinkle with mozzarella, and bake an additional 25 minutes or until golden brown. Let stand 15 minutes.

I made a salad with pear and strawberry to accompany it using Bella’s Blackberry & Fig Balsamic dressing from Whole Foods, which has almost no calories, and is very tasty.

 

Kinky Friedman

One of the funniest authors I know is Kinky Friedman. He began his career in the 60s as a folk musician with the band The Texas Jewboys, and also played backup for Bob Dylan and many others. His biggest hits were Sold American and They Ain’t Makin’ Jews Like Jesus Anymore.

Then, in the 1980s, he reinvented himself as a mystery novelist. His detective, named Kinky Friedman, was a lot like him, and most of the characters in the books were his real friends. Willy Nelson even appears. It’s impossible for me to read a page of one of his novels without laughing out loud.

In the 2000s Kinky began writing non-fiction, and ran for governor of Texas. He also has a line of tequila.

Last night Dani and I walked down the street to SPACE, our favorite performance space, and listened to Kinky play his songs, tell jokes, and read from his latest book. He also graciously signed a couple of first editions I brought with me. He’s a nice guy, and I’d definitely go to see him again.