Category Archives: Newsletter

Pomegranate Harvest

We had the pleasure of having my precious Mom here for just over three weeks. She wanted to contribute, so was given the job of checking the pomegranate trees for ripe fruit, then picking and seeding them (and a couple of other jobs as well, but not as fun as this one).

Our Pomegranate Queen!

We had a beautiful rain and, unlike most days when there are one or perhaps two ready, we had over a dozen bursting and ready to harvest the day following when the sun came out. We managed to give a few of them away, but Mom faithfully seeded the ones we were left with and put them in containers in the fridge for our consumption.

Pomegranate Harvest

Pomegranates are absolutely DELICIOUS when picked off the tree, as any fresh fruit is, and we kept Mom very busy with this task. I promised to make her a very famous Mexican dish called Chiles en Nogada, but we just ran out of time. I committed to practicing and making them for her next year and I made my first batch last night, inspired by a recipe from the Atlantic magazine by Rick Bayless.

Traditional Chiles en Nogada originates from Puebla, is tied to the independence of Mexico, and celebrates the three colors of the Mexican flag: green from the Poblano chile, white from the walnut cream sauce, and red from the pomegranate seeds. This dish is usually served at room temperature, but I reheated the chiles, stuffed with picadillo (a mixture of ground lamb, fruits and spices), then topped them with the cold walnut cream sauce and garnished with the pomegranate seeds. I served the Chiles en Nogada with steamed romanesco, beautiful and fresh from the organic market up the street.

Chiles en Nogada and Steamed Romanesco

This is definitely a time-consuming dish to prepare, but I look forward to making it for Mom next year when she visits. It’s the least I can do for all the pomegranates that she picked and painstakingly seeded for all of us to enjoy!

Now This Is Customer Service!

Linda in Newsletter

REAL customer service! What a concept! So RARELY experienced anymore, which makes it so much more special when it is!

I had ordered a Coravin Wine Preservation Opener (a device that allows you to insert a needle into a bottle of fine wine, allow you to pour and enjoy the wine, then reseal the cork to protect the wine from oxidation) from Bed, Bath and Beyond for Ron for Christmas. What else can you buy for a man that has too much of everything! Our friend, Steve, is coming down from Santa Barbara on Christmas Day, so I had it delivered to him and he’ll be bringing it down to Cabo. By the way, I can write and post this before Christmas because there is NO WAY that Ron would ever look at this blog beforehand.

Anyway, the Coravin Wine Preservation Opener comes in three different models and I had opted for lowest cost unit, Model One. It will do everything we need it to do and saves a minimum of $100 for the next model and and $200 on the Elite Pro or top-of-the-line product.

Christmas is fast approaching and on December 20th, I received this email from Bed, Bath and Beyond:

“Dear Linda;

We’ve just received shocking news. The Grinch was seen sneaking into Santa’s workshop and we’ve discovered that he has stolen ALL of the Coravin Model One Wine Systems! Apparently, you have chosen a very popular gift.

We’ve alerted the North Pole Police and they are searching the area, but time is running out! Luckily, the manufacturer has come to Santa’s rescue and is providing the Coravin Model Two Wine System just in time for Holiday delivery!

Here’s the best part. The Model Two is more expensive ($100 more!), but you will be charged the same price as the Model One. That’s our gift to you for this inconvenience. Santa will soon be on his way! You should expect your shipment on or before Saturday, December 23, 2017.

Thank you for your patience. We wish you and your families a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Sincerely,

Order Fulfillment Team
www.bedbathandbeyond.com”

WOW! I was absolutely blown away by this response and action taken! I loved the humor they delivered the message with and the fact that Coravin is supplying their higher priced model and that Bed, Bath and Beyond is honoring the same price is nothing short of astounding!

In an age when price doesn’t necessarily determine loyalty but rather the EXPERIENCE a shopper has, my allegiance is firmly behind Bed, Bath and Beyond after this Christmas!

Happy holidays everyone and sincere best wishes for 2018 and far beyond!

Opting Out

Linda in Newsletter, Travel Blog

I have long struggled with using Facebook for personal purposes and have posted very little while I have been signed up on it. The few times that I’ve gone on it to see what’s happening in people’s lives have amazed me with the amount of time that can be and is wasted by people NOT living their own lives. I feel the same way about television: I’d rather LIVE my life in prime time than WATCH it, so I spend very little time in front of it (and I’m very selective about what I do watch). I’ve experienced where people post things without thinking, forgetting that employers, customs officers, police and others in power, check social media and what has been posted earlier and thoughtlessly in their lives, can come back to impact them later. I’ve experienced people using Facebook as a surveilance tool and compromised personal relationships because of their response to something happening in other’s lives.

I believe that Facebook was tampered with during the American election in late 2016 and that it continues to be responsible for promoting and spreading hatred and ignorance to people who do not have the capacity or intelligence to think more critically and check sources.

I have been using Facebook for professional purposes, but I’m rethinking that now. In my opinion, Facebook is for personal use, although it can and is used by many for professional purposes as well (Mexico, for example, uses Facebook extensively for everything, both personal and professional uses).

There are better tools for professional use, like LinkedIn. We can keep the standards high by reporting anyone who is abusing it or using it for inapproporate social contact. It is purely a professional network and needs to be kept as such.

I refuse to ever use Twitter. I refused long before watching a moronic President send out his impulsive and reprehensible “tweets”. He sends out unfiltered garbage that is so far from behavior I expect from ANYONE, and especially from a “world leader”. He is clearly NOT that.

The good news is that we get to vote with our participation and subscription to social media. I, for one, have decided to extricate and opt out of Facebook and Twitter. I hope others decide to do the same.

Unexpected Kindness

Linda in Newsletter, Travel Blog

Earlier this week, we were walking from Harlem to the Upper East Side to visit our friends, Damon and Kendra, and to share dinner with them and their delightful daughters, Evelyn and Nina.

The View from and in Damon and Kendra’s Apartment

I have a tendency to walk very quickly and, not paying attention to the ground but rather to all the sights and sounds that New York City offers, I missed seeing an irregularity in the sidewalk. I tripped and it felt like everything immediately changed to slow motion as I tried to regain my balance and avert an inevitable fall. But fall I did, but I managed to take some air and land so that the brunt of the fall was on my wrists and the top (not the front, which would have been normal) of my knees. Had I not done that, I would have hit my head, for sure. Ron, of course, had tried to stop the fall, but it was impossible. He rushed to see if I was okay, but he was not alone. A young woman walking behind us ran up to check and to give us the silver bracelet that broke on impact. A very kind gentleman rushed up from the corner ahead of us to check on my condition and to lend whatever assistance was required. He pulled a salve out of his pocket for me to apply to my scraped knee and was so kind in his concern and manner. All I wanted to do was dust myself off and get out of there as quickly as possible as I was thoroughly embarrassed.

When we got to Damon and Kendra’s, we doctored my wounds and Kendra shared that, although New York is a city where people tend to be very impersonal, they will rush to help in situations like mine. The unexpected kindness was very surprising to us, but affirmed that people are really good at heart, wherever they live.

Blood-Orange Rosemary Fizz

Linda in Newsletter, Travel Blog

Some of Alberto’s Produce at the Pedregal Organic Market

We are so fortunate to have the organic market half a block away from us on Wednesdays and Saturdays. On Wednesday, Manuel had the most beautiful blood-oranges, so I decided to try a new cocktail that evening. I saw a recipe that inspired the drink on the Food & Wine website – it used both blood-orange and rosemary, of which we have two large bushes of.

For each drink (I used red wine glasses to serve), here are the portions:

2 ounces fresh blood-orange (or pink grapefruit juice can be substituted)

1/2 ounce Campari

1/2 ounce rosemary simple syrup*

2 ounces Prosecco

1 blood-orange slice, for garnish

1 rosemary sprig, for garnish

Put desired amount of crushed ice in each wine glass. Add the blood-orange juice, Campari and rosemary simple syrup. Mix and top with the Prosecco and garnish with the blood-orange slice and rosemary sprig.

Blood-Orange Rosemary Fizz

*To make the rosemary simple syrup, stir together 1/2 cup sugar, 1/2 cup water and 2 fresh rosemary sprigs in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally, and boil for 1 minute or until sugar is dissolved, Remove from heat, and let stand 30 minutes or until cool. Pour liquid through a wire-mesh strainer into an airtight bottle, discarding rosemary sprigs. Cover and chill. Syrup may be stored for up to a month in the fridge.