Tag Archives: honey

Sweet and Spicy Roast Chicken

Linda in Site News

In my last post, I was telling you how much we enjoy Melissa Clark’s recipes and videos. She is an absolute delight and her recipes are fresh, fun and fabulous. The recipe that I’m going to introduce you to here is a prime example of what we’ve come to expect and enjoy from what she’s creating.

Many of the ingredients in this recipe we sourced from our local organic market which is located just half a block up the street from where we live in Cabo and is open Wednesday and Saturday mornings. A fresh, free-range organic chicken, organic lemons, Mandarin oranges, honey, carrots, onion and green onions all combine to make this a truly delicious and flavorful dish. A few steps outside the front door is where I have fresh herbs growing, and I cut some fresh thyme and Italian parsley for the recipe as well.

I highly recommend that you watch Melissa’s video to get a sense of who she is and the fun she’s created with this dish. You can just link to the recipe, but you’ll miss her delightful personality. This dish is described as a “chile-flecked, honey-imbued marinade spiked with fresh citrus juice that gives this chicken its fiery, syrupy character. Dates and carrots give the sauce texture and additional sweetness while a garnish of fresh herbs and pistachio nuts lends freshness and crunch.” This is a really fabulous dish that can be prepared a day in advance, making it perfect to warm up in the oven for a dinner party. Serve with rice or something else to soak up and savor the sauce with. This is absolutely a five-star dish that I highly recommend!

On The Road To San Diego

Linda in Site News

We shared a lovely dinner and stayed overnight with David and his gorgeous girlfriend, Jake, at his newly and beautifully renovated home in Santa Barbara on our way south. When we got back to David’s after a delicious dinner downtown, we found a note on our car that had been left by one of his elderly neighbors to apologize for hitting and damaging the front end of our car which we had left parked on the street. Ironically, we had just had body work done on the BMW convertible in New York and the car was in perfect condition when we started our road trip. We were leaving early the next morning for San Diego, so Ron had to get a repair estimate as quickly as he possibly could before we left the area.

David and Jake

We had picked up a new used car (a 2002 Lincoln LS sedan) in Santa Clara to drive down to ensure that my Mom would be as comfortable as possible as she’d been having recent back issues and we knew there was no way for the three of us and all our “stuff” to comfortably fit and travel in our little BMW. The Lincoln needed a new air conditioning compressor, which our friend, Stretch, had ordered and it was to be waiting for us to pick up in San Diego.

Ron and I fired up our walkie talkies and got our damaged little caravan on the road to San Diego as soon as he was able to get a repair estimate in Santa Barbara. I was really anxious to ensure we got to the airport on time as my amazing little 83 year-old Mom was making her first solo trip – flying from Calgary, Alberta, Canada to meet us in San Diego to drive the Baja to Cabo San Lucas.

Mom Matthie

We got to the airport a little late and I was panicked. Ron found parking first and went in to find her at the luggage carousel while I found my way back to the airport and eventually secured parking. Ron found her there, as calm as could be, after having made friends with the airline escort who took her by wheelchair to the carousel area and, of course, several other people. Whew!

Ron needed to pick up the part for the Lincoln, so we took Mom to a nearby park and had an impromptu picnic (with the delicious sandwiches and food that we had prepared at Ron’s Mom’s home) and Mom and I had a chance to catch up while Ron was gone. We found a well-kept and clean motel for us, the Best Western Seven Seas (http://www.bw7seas.com), that had adjoining rooms for peace of mind. We had originally planned on crossing the border that day, but Mom seemed a bit tired, so we thought it best to let her get a good rest and we’d go into Mexico the following day.

Mom wasn’t terribly hungry that night, so we got her some soup and brought it back to her room for her. Ron and I headed to Old Town in search of Italian food as both of us had been craving it for some time. We wandered around to check out the sights and settled on Jack & Giulio’s Italian Restaurant (www.jackandgiulios.com) for dinner. The meal (we split Angel Hair Mediterraneo and Scampi Alla Giulio) and the bottle of 2009 Castello di Meleto Chianti Classico were great, but the absolute stand out of the meal was the basil orange vinaigrette they used on the salad we started with: an Insalati Cuere di Palma with hearts of palm, greens, tomato, and avocado. We almost licked the plate it was so good (Ron actually ordered more bread to sop up every drop of the dressing). Here is the closest re-creation of that dressing that I have been able to come up with so far:

Basil Orange Pesto Vinaigrette

½ cup fresh basil
2 Tbsp. orange juice
1 Tbsp. grated orange zest
1 Tbsp. lemon juice
1 Tbsp. honey
1 tsp. white wine vinegar
½ tsp. sea salt
¼ cup olive oil

Add first 7 ingredients to your blender and pulse to chop and blend. Gradually pour in olive oil from the small opening at the top of the blender lid until mixture is completely blended. Chill 2 hours in the refrigerator and serve over greens or use as a dipping sauce for seared scallops or grilled shrimp.

We were really sorry that Mom hadn’t joined us for such a great meal, but she needed her rest after her first solo trip ever and all the excitement of the day. We shared many more great meals with her in the month she spent with us, however, and made some wonderful memories with her.

Santa Fe, New Mexico

Linda in Site News

We had originally planned to head up to Glenwood Springs, Colorado to see our dear friends, Tony and Sue. Turns out that they are away and are in Cabo San Lucas, of all places! We’re really sorry to miss them as they are two of our favorite people. It’s a real highlight to stop and see them on the way to New York every year and, whenever possible, on our way back to California in the fall. Hopefully we’ll see them before next May, but we’ll pick up exactly where we left off regardless.

We took a different route and headed to Santa Fe, New Mexico instead. Both Ron and I had been there previously, but it had been well over a decade since either of us had visited. We couldn’t have arrived at a better time as the sun was just setting and the colors and the landscape were absolutely breathtaking.

Our friend, Mary, was originally from Santa Fe and she and Stretch had just come back from a recent visit there, so we looked to them for some recommendations as to where to eat and stay.

Stretch and Mary called ahead and made a reservation for us at the Silver Saddle Motel, a classic vintage motor hotel with a western theme located on Cerrilos Road (www.santafesilversaddlemotel.com). The motel is owned by a great lady, Penny, that we met on our second morning and who has spent a great deal of her past in Mexico, including the early days of Cabo San Lucas and the Baja. The motel is being run day-to-day by Penny’s daughter, Dawn, and her boyfriend, Miguel, and, along with their night manager, Gene, they make their guests very welcome. We stayed in the Cowboy Room, decorated with Roy Rogers/cowboy/vintage paraphernalia, and couldn’t have been more homely. The room was very clean and comfortable and the complementary breakfasts were simple but fine. Special details like pumpkin butter and cranberry apple butter for the bagels were nice touches.

Santa Fe literally bursts with its own distinct flavor and the variety quality of their over 250 restaurants makes this city a foodie’s paradise. On Stretch and Mary’s recommendation, we ate at Tomasita’s, at the old railway station, on our first night for some classic New Mexican fare. We shared a salad, a Mexican combination plate so we could taste the famous red and green chile sauces and try their version of a relleno (we still think Pancho’s makes the very best!) and sopapillas with butter and New Mexican honey. Delicious! A mariachi band came in to play for a friend; four women including a trumpet player and they were phenomenal. After they left, a gentleman who appeared to be a guest at the neighboring table, got up and played the cello. He was truly a virtuoso and almost seemed out of place in this restaurant, but it was lovely that he played for his friend’s birthday celebration.

The next day we headed off towards Canyon Road and wandered through the endless galleries and then down to the central square to wander that area and take in the beautiful fall colors and beauty of Santa Fe. We had originally planned to be on the road that afternoon, but decided that we were having such a grand time in Santa Fe that we would stay another night and head out first thing the next morning.

We decided to have dinner at La Plazuela at La Fonda on the Plaza. La Fonda Hotel is a Santa Fe icon and the dining room was absolutely charming. Great food and wonderful service made this night very special.

Cracker Barrel and Waffle House

Linda in Site News

We stopped at two classic southern institutions to see what they were all about. One was Cracker Barrel as we’d seen their signs everywhere in the southeastern states and we stopped at a location somewhere in South Carolina. We weren’t terribly hungry, but thought that a biscuit and coffee would hit the spot. Our waitress was lovely, with her soft, Southern accent and going out of her way to fill our order. They don’t normally sell their baking powder biscuits separately , but she checked with the kitchen and came back with a bag of a half-dozen biscuits, two corn meal muffins (a bonus!), butter, cream cheese, apple butter, blackberry preserves and honey. They were delicious, but it was the quality of service that will always endear our Cracker Barrel experience to us.

Our other occurence was memorable, but in a completely different way. We stopped at a Waffle House location, another restaurant chain that appears all over the south, because Ron has a soft spot for waffles and I was determined to try some cheese grits. We stopped at a Waffle House located in Lafayette, Louisiana, and the comedy that we experienced far surpassed the quality of the food we were served. The whole scene was like something out of a Candid Camera episode (for those readers old enough to remember that show!) – I kept looking around for the camera! There were five women working that morning and we gathered that at least two of them were related – mother and daughter, actually. They couldn’t take orders, didn’t provide the utensils needed to eat our breakfasts, nothing offered or served with Ron’s coffee, no syrup brought for Ron’s waffles, no one checked to see if everything was okay, the women were arguing in front of the customers, one of them insisted they weren’t “uppity” like other Waffle House locations, the cook couldn’t get the orders straight, one woman insisted on slopping water on the floor by the grill and mopping despite safety objections from the cook and other workers, etc. Ron was teasing these women mercilessly and they had no idea that he was having fun with them. At one point, Ron asked our waitress if she was the slightest bit curious about whether or not he was enjoying his breakfast (since she hadn’t checked with him). Even with that prompting, she was completely oblivious and insisted that everyone likes the breakfasts at Waffle House. The whole experience was surreal! The grits, by the way, were underwhelming – basically cream of wheat-like cornmeal with lots of butter and, because I’d ordered cheese grits, my serving was topped with a slice of processed cheese. I couldn’t believe it. I’m sure there are better grits (and waffles) to be had, but we wouldn’t have missed this comedy show for the world!

The Birthplace of Chocolate

Linda in Newsletter, Site News

Mexico is the birthplace of chocolate (thank you for such a wonderful gift to the world!). It was revered by the Aztecs and was served exclusively to priests and kings with such additions as herbs, chiles and honey. Although the hot chocolate of Mexico is famous throughout the world, they are also well known for their use of chocolate in a sauce called mole, where it is used as one of many spices.