Category Archives: United States

Christmas Eve at Victoria & Albert’s

Christmas Eve we went to Disney’s Grand Floridian for our traditional dinner at Victoria & Albert’s. We’ve gone every year for more than a decade. Here, Dani poses in the lobby in front of the jazz band. The enormous gingerbread … Continue reading

Posted in Dani, Dining, Orlando, Theme Parks | Comments Off on Christmas Eve at Victoria & Albert’s

Jean Pierre’s Bistro

For some time I’d been wanting to try Jean Pierre’s Bistro, a French bistro and bakery in Water Tower Place, the cute shopping village in front of Disney’s Celebration. Orlando doesn’t really have any true French bistros, with the possible … Continue reading

Posted in Dining, Orlando | Comments Off on Jean Pierre’s Bistro

Theme Park Book PR

Some nice PR from the December 16, 2010 West Orange Times, courtesy of Loren.

Posted in Alcorn McBride, Books and Writing, Orlando | Comments Off on Theme Park Book PR

Alcorn McBride Christmas Party 2010

We had a great time at the Alcorn McBride Christmas party last night. This year we hired Puff ‘n Stuff to cater the event, and they did a great job. It was nice to have more time to spend with … Continue reading

Posted in Alcorn McBride, Dining, Orlando, Wine | Comments Off on Alcorn McBride Christmas Party 2010

Flight of the Cranes

Linda was up early this morning and happened to notice the sun slanting into the kitchen and lighting our cork crane diorama. She quickly grabbed this shot with my iPhone.

Posted in Linda, Orlando, Photography | Comments Off on Flight of the Cranes

Decorating the Tree

An 11-footer this year, with lots of branches, that required a run to the store for a few more boxes of ornaments.

Posted in Dani, Orlando | Comments Off on Decorating the Tree

Gingerbread House

Dani’s annual tradition of making a gingerbread house got a bit more complicated this year, as she baked the gingerbread herself. We were all a bit skeptical of whether it would hold together for final assembly, but we shouldn’t have … Continue reading

Posted in Cooking, Dani, Orlando | Comments Off on Gingerbread House

Evanston Seasons

Dani took these three photos from her balcony, showing the different seasons in Evanston.

Posted in Evanston | Comments Off on Evanston Seasons

Thanksgiving in LA

We’re spending Thanksgiving week in Los Angeles with Linda’s mom. It’s given us an opportunity to catch up, since we haven’t seen her in two years. Dani flew in from Chicago on Wednesday, and we met her at LAX, where … Continue reading

Posted in Dining, Los Angeles, Wine | Comments Off on Thanksgiving in LA

Festival of the Masters

This weekend is the 35th annual Festival of the Masters at Downtown Disney. Linda and Ryan and I went to Paradiso 37 at Pleasure Island. (Ryan is a programming intern from England, working on iPad apps. He’s here for IAAPA.) … Continue reading

Posted in Alcorn McBride, Dining, Orlando, Theme Parks | Comments Off on Festival of the Masters

Delish New York Bakery

For dinner I made Bacon Wrapped Scallops and Cilantro Lime Rice. That meant a trip to Whole Foods for wild caught sea scallops and uncured hikory smoked bacon. Whenever I go to Whole Foods I like to stop in at … Continue reading

Posted in Cooking, Dining, Orlando | Comments Off on Delish New York Bakery

Hamburger Mary’s

Since it won Scott Joseph’s readers’ poll of best hamburger in Orlando, Tommy and I decided to check out Hamburger Mary’s downtown on Church Street. While the rest of Church Street is still in the early stages of recovering from … Continue reading

Posted in Dining, Orlando | Comments Off on Hamburger Mary’s

Wine Bottles

We loaded up three cases of empty wine bottles and took them up to one of our favorite restaurants, The Chef’s Table at the Edgewater Hotel in Winter Garden. They’re going to use them to decorate their new dining room. … Continue reading

Posted in Dining, Orlando, Wine | Comments Off on Wine Bottles

Del Frisco’s 39 Steps

It’s been more than a couple of years since we’ve been to Del Frisco’s, and it was near the Shakespeare Center, so we decided to have an early dinner there on Friday. Since our last visit they’ve completed the seamless … Continue reading

Posted in Dining, Orlando, Theatre | Comments Off on Del Frisco’s 39 Steps

Book Purge

Turn your back for just a minute and the library is overrun with books again. Whilst looking for a couple of misplaced ones I purged a hundred or so from the cupboards (I think they reproduce faster in the dark). … Continue reading

Posted in Books and Writing, Orlando | Comments Off on Book Purge

Epcot First Bites

This is the first year for a new event at the Epcot Food and Wine Festival. It’s called First Bites, and it gives you the opportunity to sample some of the food and wine that will be on the promenade, … Continue reading

Posted in Dining, Orlando, Theme Parks, Wine | Comments Off on Epcot First Bites

Orlando Magical Dining Month

Today marks the last day of Orlando Magical Dining Month (although last night was our last foray, since tonight we’re going to “First Bites,” the opening event in the Epcot Food and Wine Festival). During September, a wide array of … Continue reading

Posted in Dining, Orlando | Comments Off on Orlando Magical Dining Month

Wine Syndicate – 1961 Bordeaux

Our Wine Syndicate group met Saturday at the Bull & Bear in the Waldorf Astoria. It was one of our best tastings ever, focusing on the 1961 Bordeaux vintage, perhaps the best of the century. The two vintages of Chateau … Continue reading

Posted in Dining, Orlando, Wine | Comments Off on Wine Syndicate – 1961 Bordeaux

Everglades at the Rosen – Four Seasons of the Vine

Martin and I (Linda has a cold) went to the periodic Vine & Dine event at the Everglades restaurant at the Rosen. They always do a nice job at these events, which allow the chef to experiment outside of his … Continue reading

Posted in Dining, Orlando | Comments Off on Everglades at the Rosen – Four Seasons of the Vine

Chez Josephine

After the always superb lunch at Jean Georges (perhaps my favorite restaurant in the world), we strolled down Broadway, which becomes a giant flea market closed to traffic on Saturdays. Then, in the evening, on the spur of the moment, … Continue reading

Posted in Dining, New York, Theatre | Comments Off on Chez Josephine

Michelangelo Hotel

When we saw The Addams Family in Chicago during its test run, the songs were good, but the show was pretty poor. So poor we couldn’t imagine how it made it to Broadway (admittedly we saw it when its star, … Continue reading

Posted in New York, Theatre | Comments Off on Michelangelo Hotel

New York

Just as the sun began to rise we entered New York harbor and a tug boat escorted us past the Statue of Liberty. By 7AM we were docked in Brooklyn. After clearing out of our cabin, we breakfasted in the … Continue reading

Posted in New York | Comments Off on New York

England, Ireland, Iceland, Greenland, New York 2010

By Land and Air and Sea And so we set out for a three week adventure, first to London, then a peculiar repositioning cruise that will take us to odd places on the way back to New York. Our morning … Continue reading

Posted in Dani, Dining, England, Greenland, Iceland, Ireland, Linda, New York, Travel | Comments Off on England, Ireland, Iceland, Greenland, New York 2010

Dragonfly Sushi

I spent today getting organized for my brief week back in Orlando, sorting mail, going to the office to pick up boxes (mostly wine and books), and getting AAA to jump start Linda’s car, which had a dead battery due … Continue reading

Posted in Dining, Orlando | Comments Off on Dragonfly Sushi

Leaving Evanston

So ends the summer in Evanston. We packed up, cleaned out the refrigerator and prepped the condo for a month of idleness, then headed to the airport. Not exactly traveling light, because I needed to get everything back to Orlando, … Continue reading

Posted in Dining, Evanston | Comments Off on Leaving Evanston

Mission Acomplished!

Dani took her chemistry final this morning. While she was away I put up the banner Jackie made for her. She was very surprised when she arrived home to find that, and my lame excuse at cake decorating. In all … Continue reading

Posted in Cooking, Dani, Dining, Evanston | Comments Off on Mission Acomplished!

NU Library

Today was my last day to walk around, so I wandered up through the Northwestern campus and visited the library, which is really, really large. And confusing. The three towers are linked in a very unintuitive way on all but … Continue reading

Posted in Books and Writing, Cooking, Evanston | Comments Off on NU Library

Bombay Indian Grill and Merle’s #1 Barbecue

For lunch I was going to try the local JK Sweets, which is the bizarre combination of an ice cream parlor and Korean restaurant, but it looks like they’re on vacation. So I walked over to Sherman and on a … Continue reading

Posted in Dani, Dining, Evanston | Comments Off on Bombay Indian Grill and Merle’s #1 Barbecue

Winding Down

This week I’m beginning to get ready for the return to Orlando. I have mixed feelings, as I’ve loved spending the summer with Dani in Evanston, but it will be nice to see Linda again, and I’m sure we’ll all … Continue reading

Posted in Cooking, Evanston | Comments Off on Winding Down

Al’s Deli

It really is true that you need to live in a place for a while to discover its secrets. I’ve been in Evanston for two months, yet it’s only in the past two days that I’ve happened upon two of … Continue reading

Posted in Books and Writing, Dining, Evanston | Comments Off on Al’s Deli