Friday, October 31, 2008

Great Wine Deal

Get it while it's hot!

I am in love with wine.woot, even though I've never actually purchased anything from there until now. (I have posted from woot before though.)

Right now they have a deal for 6 bottles of Andretti Winery Chardonnay for $45 shipped. That's just $7.50 a bottle! The stuff retails on the Andretti site for $21 a bottle.

I'm not a huge chard fan, but at the price, why not? I can always use it for holiday and hostess gifts!

Items on wine.woot usually stay up a few days, so you might still be able to get in on the deal.

Thursday, October 30, 2008

My Bloody Valentine in SF

So apparently here is what I missed visually, since I couldn't see a damn thing.

This is what I mainly saw. Kind of explains why it was so loud, huh?

Pain in the Fucking Ass

Last night I made these popcorn "monster" hands for M's classroom party.



Somehow I got conned into being room mother this year. Oy. You'd think candy corn and popcorn stuffed in a glove would be easy, right? It took B and I several hours to make 20 of those fuckers. Not to mention the 7 batches of popcorn...

Never again.

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

I am Fast and Good

Oh yeah, I rule. I already have a sitter. So we now have reservations at Black Cat in Boulder for First Bite Boulder. Here is the menu. Sounds pretty good for $26!

There are some reviews of Black Cat on this site and they say it's the best in the area.

Monday, October 27, 2008

Goldangit!

We haven't needed a sitter in awhile. My parents were around a lot of the summer and we haven't gone out alone before or after our big trip in order to save some of the money that we spent while in CA.

I desperately want to do First Bite Boulder. It's Nov. 15-22 and you get to eat a 3 course meal at one of Boulder's best restaurants for $26 per person. Boulder has an amazing culinary scene now and there are a bunch I've been dying to try. So I called our sitter and SHE'S IN BUDAPEST UNTIL DECEMBER! So now I'm trying to find someone else, but without family around, I fear it's a no go. What a bummer. I was really wanting to go to Black Cat, Colterra, The Kitchen, or Radda Trattoria.

Here's another bummer, I didn't get around to making the pumpkin cupcakes after all. But, the boys helped me make spaghetti and meatballs from the Family Fun Cooking with Kids cookbook. The boys did a great job of helping and they both loved it. Even Miles gobbled it up, including the meatballs. And surprisingly, it was pretty darn good! We used turkey instead of beef, of course.

Miles chose the recipe and he's chosen another one for next week: cheese ravioli. Let's hope this gets this kid to eat.

Another high point of the weekend: a Sunflower Farmer's Market opened up near me (well, not too far) and had amazing grand opening deals. It's no Trader Joe's, but it'll have to do for now.

Friday, October 24, 2008

This Weekend's To Do Item

Oh man, I think I'm going to make these pumpkin cupcakes. The full recipe is here.

Thursday, October 23, 2008

California Trip - Day 6

Friday was a whirlwind day of sightseeing. We started our morning in Chinatown. The entrance was almost right across the street from our hotel.

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We walked around and bought some souvenirs--t shirts for the kids and cousins, a little silk chinese outfit for baby Wyatt, some little toys for the boys.

We then went for a dim sum lunch at a little hole in the wall restaurant. We had pork buns, sesame balls, short ribs, string beans, and the cutest little rabbit shaped shrimp balls.

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We then walked to Golden Gate Bakery for dessert. My egg custard tasted better, but Brian's moon cake was prettier:

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We then went to City Lights bookstore for some browsing and to see the Jack Kerouac stuff outside. I got a tshirt, that is already too small(!).

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Then it was a hike up to Coit Tower (whew!).

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You can see Telegraph Hill, the famous windy street, in the middle of this one:

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Then we went to Fisherman's Wharf to see the Sea Lions. We didn't do anything else there--too touristy/crappy. But Brian unexpectedly ran into someone he works with. Small world. The sea lions are so funny and cute (and loud)!

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We then had to do the requisite ride on the trolley car. We had the meanest, scariest driver ever. Some kid didn't understand what he was saying, so he made the poor kid move to the inside of the car. He was a serious crabapple.

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For dinner, we went down to the Ferry Building Marketplace and did a little window shopping. Most shops were closing, so we didn't get to explore and shop as much as I would have liked. We did get to go to do some shopping at the Scharffen Berger store, where we sampled lots of chocolate and bought quite a bit too, including their 10th Anniversary Blend, which we felt was quite appropriate considering the nature of our trip. We stopped for a drink at Ferry Plaza Seafood. I had sparkling wine and B had beer. It had great views and the seafood looked like it would have been yummy.

For dinner we went to Slanted Door. I was really looking forward to this meal, as I had seen it recommended on Chow Hound and a colleague who is really into food had recommended it. I was kind of disappointed. It was VERY loud and trying way too hard to be "hip." The tables were so close together I was practically sitting on my neighbor. Our waiter was very inattentive and just generally sucky. He even brought out one of our appetizers with the main dish. WTF? The worst thing was the bathrooms which are unisex (!). They have an attendant there to show you into a stall, which thankfully is fully enclosed. But he apparently wasn't doing his job and the lock on mine wasn't working and he actually let a man walk in on me!!! Plus I really don't want to freshen up my lipstick while standing at a sink next to an old man. Bad bad idea on the bathrooms, people. So, here is what we had:

To drink I had a Royal "Pimms" Cup--a refreshing house blend of gin, vermouths, amari and zests topped with ginger ale and sparkling wine; served tall. Holy shit, it was good! I had two. B had beer. To eat we had Japanese yellowtail with crispy shallots and thai basil--this was pretty good. We had the Slanted Door spring rolls with shrimp, pork, mint and peanut sauce--these were very disappointing and nothing special. We had the seared dayboat scallops with spicy red curry, celery root and asian pear slaw--this was the only dish that lived up to my expectations--it was awesome. As a main dish, we had caramelized tiger prawns with garlic, onions and chili sauce--these were okay, but nothing I couldn't get in any decent chinese restaurant.

After dinner, we headed over to the Carnelian Room for the view and some drinks.

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I Know Cool People

Taking a break from our trip...

I can say I knew her when. My online buddy, The Virtual Voyeur (who has a hilarious blog, by the way), has finally received global internet recognition for her writing skillz. One of her posts is featured on List of the Day , the very popular (and one of my favorites) blog. Check out the Guest List Of The Day: Bad School Mascots post.

Monday, October 20, 2008

California Trip - Day 5

On Thursday, our actual anniversary, we FINALLY managed to sleep in and didn't get up until 9:30. We had breakfast at what turned out to be a really crappy place, despite the sign that said it had the best breakfast in town. I should have known better. If I had used the bathroom there before my breakfast game, I wouldn't have eaten there. They actually had a sign in it that said don't throw the paper in the toilet. I thought they must mean paper towels, right? Then I noticed the same sign was on the toilet paper dispenser. GROSS!

We did a little window shopping and then hightailed it down the Napa Valley. We, of course, had to get pumpkin and pistachio milkshakes at Taylor's Automatic Refresher. We stopped at the absolutely wonderful St. Helena Olive Oil Company, where we bought gifts and souvenirs. You can taste all of their products. In addition to olive oil, we got cabernet vinegar, tarragon mustard, and black button sage honey.


We headed back to San Francisco and stopped at Golden Gate Park, where we first visited the Japanese Tea Garden. We took a lot of pictures because it was so pretty.

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Here's another pretty site from another part of the park:

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We then checked into the Hotel des Arts. Each room has murals done by a different artist and the halls are lined with art for sale. We stayed in this room done by Sam Flores, which was really lovely. Take a look at the various rooms on their website, here. Many of them are absolutely gorgeous. It's a very old school, big city, almost European style hotel. We got one of the rooms with its own bathroom. I wasn't going to share a bathroom on my anniversary. The room was very small, but comfy. In the first pic below you can see how the bathroom door opens and hits the bed. My only complaint was that they needed a ceiling fan for air circulation. To this desert dweller, SF was incredibly humid and I was so hot when in the room. We got a teeny fan from the front desk, but it didn't do much. Our room windows opened up to a kind of rooftop courtyard (but not one you should really go onto). So our view was windows of other rooms in the hotel.

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We got ready and headed to Berkeley (which, by the way, is dumpier than I expected) for our anniversary dinner at Chez Panisse. If you are not familiar with Alice Waters; she is considered by many to be the founder of "California Cuisine." The restaurant started in the seventies and is famous for featuring local, seasonal fresh food. It serves a prix fixe menu that changes nightly. You don't know what will be on the menu until one week ahead of time, so hopefully it's something you'll like! The items we were served were items I probably wouldn't have chosen, but I am very glad I was served them as they were outstanding.

The menu consisted of

Country-style pork terrine with pickled beets, leeks, and cherry tomatoes

Tomales Bay mussels mariniere

Grilled Sonoma Liberty duck breast with shell bean gratin and tomato confit

Red wine-poached pear with creme anglaise

We had a bottle of champagne. The pork terrine was delicious. The mussels were good, but I thought the weakest dish. The duck was the best duck I've ever had. Actually I haven't had duck much, and I don't think I've ever had it done right. This was definitely right. The pork and duck dishes were my favorites of the evening and in a dead tie. The poached pear dessert was outstanding as well.

We then headed back to SF for our reservation at Bourbon and Branch for cocktails. It's a speak easy and you need a password to get in (which you get when you make a reservation). It's done up in swanky red and they have a HUGE menu of classic and new drinks. They serve only high quality liquor and mixers and even fresh squeeze their juices each day. I wish I could remember the 3 drinks I had. I should have written them down. I know one was made with Pimms--which is my new favorite drink. Surprisingly, the 3 cocktails did not make me very drunk. B and I decided it must be the low altitude (combined with the large meal).

California Trip - Day 4

This post is a continuation from the post below.

On Wednesday, we woke up and had breakfast on the porch consisting of a polenta-crusted zucchini quiche, a fruit cup similar to the day's before (with figs), homemade sausage patties, and the raspberry lemon bread (like first day). Dee-lish.

We hightailed it up the Sonoma Valley and across the mountains to Calistoga Springs. We had "the works" scheduled at Dr. Wilkinson's Hot Spring Resort . Our package included a mud bath with facial mask, an aromatic mineral whirlpool bath, steam room, blanket wrap and one-half hour massage. Dr. W's was very "old school." The spa room kind of looked like an old gym and I was a little shy, since there was no privacy. Nothing like getting butt naked and climbing into a tub of mud in front of several women. But it was relaxing. We also stayed at the motel there, which was very cutes-ily vintage. I felt like it was about 1962.

After the works, we had lunch at a deli across the street and then headed to Sterling Vineyards, where Eric had set us up with a tour. It looked like a huge Mediterranean villa and you had to take a tram to get up to it.

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It was a self-guided tour with stops for tastings along the way and more tastings at the end. The wine was okay, but not my favorite of the trip. I really enjoyed getting to see the grapes being brought in and the process of de-stemming, crushing, etc. starting.

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We had a little time to kill, so we headed over to Clos Pegase for a tasting. The building was designed by Michael Graves and they had lots of art, including an artist there working and displaying his paintings. He had a sweet, mellow dog with him. Our server was incredibly pompous and served our wine by spinning our glasses, and pouring the wine in them while they were still spinning. However, he let us join a bit of a tour of the caves, which contained more art. You can see some of the art on this page, but it doesn't show my favorite pieces, like this giant thumb and Bacchus.

We then headed over to Castello di Amarosa, a winery in a castle that looks like they shipped it over from old Europe. However, it was completed in the last decade and is only a replica. Some of the bricks are from old castles, but it does not exactly replicate any one castle, just the general style. They tried to make it historically accurage. It is definitely a tribute to excess.

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The caves were really lovely and it was a fun tour. There was even a torture room. I especially liked the Pinot Bianco and the Gioia, a rose, and we bought a bottle of each to bring home.

That evening we had dinner at Taylor's Automatic Refresher in St. Helena. This was Brian's favorite place we ate at on the whole trip, mainly because he loved his pumpkin shake so much. Taylor's looks like it used to be a drive in, but now you go up and order. They call you when it's ready and you eat it at a picnic table. The main difference between it and a normal drive in is that the food is a little more gourmet and they serve alcohol. I had the ahi burger and sweet potato fries. The latter were a little disappointing (they had some weird herbs on them), but the burger was delicious. I also had a fantastic pistachio milkshake with whole pistachios in it and a glass of white wine. Brian had a regular burger with SP fries and the above mentioned shake plus a beer.

We went back to Dr. W's to have a swim. We ended up feeling like naughty school children along with the older people in the pool--a Danish couple and two women from CA who told us they were prison guards. There was this large group of very old people in the court yard, who were obviously together for some sort of tour. They were listening to some lame folk singer/story teller. They were also blocking the entrance to the hot tub area. A very effeminate, snooty man, who must have been their guide came over and told the other two couples to be quiet, even they weren't being loud at all. So we were all already riled up about that. Then we wanted to go to the hot tub. There was no way to get to it, without totally walking through the group and right by the singer. And they made fun of the prison guard ladies when they walked through! I was all set for a show down when we decided to head over, but not much happened. I told the guide guy that the set up was unacceptable and gave the old people the look of death as I tromped through in my wet bathing suit and towel. Hmmm...no one said anything to me.

We then shared our bottle of sparkling wine from Domaine Chandon. I was kind of tipsy by then and wanted to go out, so we walked down the street to a bar, where we tried local brews and had some calamari.

Friday, October 17, 2008

California Trip - Day 3

This is continued from the post below.

On Tuesday we woke up, surprisingly without hangovers, and, having learned our lesson, ate breakfast on our porch. It was chilly but gorgeous. We had buttermilk waffles with apple compote, some sort of sweet bacon, and a fruit bowl that contained canteloupe, mixed berries and figs. I have never eaten as many figs in my life as I did on this trip.

We then headed to Moon Mountain Vineyard, a tour our friend Eric had set up for us. We LOVED this place. Our guide was Angie and she started us out with some tastings, then gave us a glass to carry with us while we toured the winery. It was just us and one other couple, so it was very personal and Angie was incredibly knowledgeable.

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Moon Mountain was another winery that was certified organic and completely sustainable. It and Benziger had planted plants that promote the good insects and birds (that eat the bad insects), had owl boxes to help control rodents, etc. It was pretty interesting stuff.

The caves were really cool and had been drilled into the volcanic rock. We got our first barrel tasting of wine there.

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We then bought sandwiches at the Sonoma Cheese Factory. We took them over to Gundlach Bundschu winery for a picnic. We did not do a tour or tasting there. We then headed over to Acacia Vineyard in Carneros, where Eric had set up a tasting for us. They seemed to focus mainly on Pinot Noirs. Their wines were excellent, but quite expensive. I wanted to buy some, but just couldn't swing $65 on a bottle. We loved the Horseshoe Bend Pinot Noir and a Late Harvest Chardonnay, a dessert wine that tasted like honey. Our tasting guide, Margaret, whose nametag said she was "Queen" of the establishment, was quite a character.

We had dinner that evening at the Fig Cafe again. It was close and we liked it. We had the artisan cheese plate again and made sure to choose the Pierre Robert again, along with a couple of offerings we hadn't tried before. We shared the heirloom tomato pizza this time with a decadent brownie dessert. I got the wine flight, which consisted of four pours and Brian had Lagunitas Censored Beer, which he really enjoyed.

We then headed back to San Francisco for my anniversary present to Brian. I got tickets to see My Bloody Valentine at the SF Design Center, a strange indoor/outdoor venue. It was huge and it was virtually impossible to see the stage. We were pleasantly surprised to see that Spectrum was one of the opening acts--a very strange coincidence because I had joked earlier that day that he might open. YES!!! I HAVE ESP! I've seen him perform before as Sonic Boom and did not enjoy it, but he was good this time. I wish I could say the same for MBV. They were trying to hard to be the loudest band in the world and not trying hard enough to sound good. I'm not exaggerating: I read somewhere that they've played louder than The Who; and I think they must have managed it this time. I know I'm old, but COME ON. It was just stupid. I had to go to the bathroom to get TP for our ears, since I had forgotten to bring ear plugs. We were definitely not the oldest people at the show, but we were one of the few that forgot to wear our early 90's black clothes (*rolling eyes*). Brian thought he saw two starlets (separately) at the show. I was pissed he didn't tell me. Damn, if I can remember who now. I think he said Zoe Deschamel and Michelle Williams. I'll have to try to remember to ask him.

Thursday, October 16, 2008

California Trip Day 2

This is continued from the post below.

The first morning (Monday) we set off after breakfast for Benziger Family Winery. This winery was particularly interesting because they are a certified biodynamic winery with sustainable farming practices. We went in our first cave. God, the smell! There's nothing quite like it. Stinky and delicious at the same time.

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We only got taste 2 of the wines very quickly before we had to run off to make our Bouchon lunch reservation. We had a very quick, but gorgeous trip over the mountains to Yountville in Napa Valley. I had tried to get French Laundry reservations before our trip, but never even got through on the phone, so Bouchon was our 2nd Thomas Keller choice. And much less expensive too! We sat on the patio and it was a beautiful day.

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We shared a bottle of white wine--unfortunately I can't remember what it was and they don't have their wine list on their site. I had the Boudin de Lapin et Figue--something I would never normally order, but I figured, wth, this is Keller--he should know best. OMG, am I glad I did! It was rabbit and fig sausage with polenta cake, sweet corn, mission fig, and tarragon jus. It was hands down one of the best dishes I ever had. Brian had the Assiette de Charcuterie with pickled vegetables, dijon mustard, and petite baguette. It was good too (but not as good). For main courses, I had the Poulet Roti--roast chicken with puff pastry tartelette, ratatouille, garlic chips and chicken jus. It was excellent, if a bit salty, but B's dish was much better. He had the Boudin Blanc--white sausage with potato puree and French prunes. It was almost as good as my sausage appetizer.

We skipped dessert there and headed next door to the Bouchon Bakery where I got a cup of coffee and we got some baked goods for later. B got a mocha eclair and I got a muffin with pistachio and candied orange.

We then headed to Domaine Chandon, which produces sparkling wines. The grounds were beautiful. We especially liked the rock mushroom installation and what do to something like this on a much smaller scale in our front flower garden. Our friend Eric, who works for a wine distributor in Ohio, had set us up with a free tour and VIP tasting.

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Kirsten was our guide and afterwards led us and four others to a special tasting aread--almost a shady grotto. Our companions were 2 young men from England, one who worked for Veuve Clicquot and 2 young women from San Diego who were in the military. In both sets, one person was celebrating a birthday that day and we, of course, were celebrating our anniversary, so the mood was festive. Kirsten sneaked and got us some extra to taste like their Etoile Rose. Everything was delicious. I had just tried Domaine Chandon before coming to wine country and I am a big fan now. We got pretty generous pours and quite a few types to try. So after that and our bottle of wine at lunch, I was feeling pretty euphoric.

We took our time on our drive back over the mountains to Sonoma Valley. Here you can see tipsy Julie with some massive looking boobs and our car.

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We stopped at the Mayo Family Winery for a tasting. This is what sent me over the edge: 12 tastings with very generous pours. Apparently it was the tipping points for others there. The place was very rowdy with a very drunk middle aged tool wearing silver(!) docksiders and another guy who went on a loud rant about Soupy Sales, of all people. We met a nice couple (who were fun but much quieter) that were also staying at our B&B. The only wine there that I truly liked was a secret 13th one that the server said was his own mix and he wouldn't tell us what it was. It was delicious.

We had dinner at The Girl and The Fig in Sonoma. We didn't want to wait so ate at the bar, which was fine. I had an incredible lavendar mojito. Seriously one of the yummiest drinks I've ever had, but it must have been strong, because by the end of the meal, I was trashed and went home and passed out early. Woke up in the middle of the night feeling ill, but was okay by the next morning, thank goodness.

At the Girl and the Fig I had the plat du jour, which consisted of a yummy salad, some incredible halibut, and a dessert of fig with some kind of pancake like thing. I wish I remembered the details of this meal better, because it was really good. Brian had the salami & brie baguette with red onion confit, sherry mustard, blue lake bean, red onion & tomato salad. He also had some kind of local beer that he really liked.

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

California Trip Part I--Day 1

I used to be so good at blogging and now I suck donkey. So let's try again.

We just got back from our second honeymoon in wine country and San Francisco. A blessed blessed week without children! I love the little buggers, but my...some time without them was needed.

I have a ton of pics and family want to see them, but I don't want to post them on our family blog because I look like such a fat ass. And I don't want to direct family here in case I ever want to whine about them. And boy, I was an ever bigger fat ass by the end of the week! It was a week of gustatory debauchery--just about every meal was fabulous and then, of course, there was the wine....

So here are the deets from the trip.

We landed in SF on Sunday and picked up our convertible. Unfortunately, it turned out to be a silver PT Cruiser, but it was still a convertible! My parents lent us their Garmin GPS which proved to be invaluable. I love it so much, I want to marry it.

We drove over the Golden Gate bridge to Sausalito. It was strange, pacthy fog, and you couldn't see the tops of the bridge. We stopped on the opposite side and took a few pictures.

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In Sausalito, we ate dockside at Fish, which specializes in fresh...you got it...fish. We ate at a picnic table in the sun. I had the tuna fish sandwich--line-caught, house-poached local Albacore tossed with nicoise olives, celery, red onion and a lemon caper mayo served on a toasted torpedo roll--and B had a po'boy. We each had a Butte Creek Organic IPA.

We then drove to Muir Woods to see the redwoods, which were stunning. They were actually a little smaller than I expected, even though they were ginormous.

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We then drove to Muir Beach overlook. It was cloudy, cold, and windy, but absolutely gorgeous. There were strange gun ports built into the side of the hill. Apparently, it used to be a military guard point for the bay area during WWII. There was a path out to the cliff point and a young man was filming with a real film camera on it--probably a student film maker.

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We then drove down to Muir Beach where there was lots of bohemian types picnicking, enjoying bonfires, playing with children and dogs, drinking wine. It looked like a fun afternoon. We spent just a little time there.

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We drove along the coast to Stinson beach, and then drove through Marin County back to SF and then onto Sonoma Valley. On the way to our B&B, we stopped at our first winery--Viansa. This was probably not the best introduction to wineries. Although the grounds were beautiful, they also had a crowded marketplace. The place was packed and we couldn't even get to the bar for a tasting. So we hightailed it out of there and stopped at Jacuzzi Family Vineyards, where we had our first tasting. Our server was knowledgeable and helpful with suggestions for the area and we enjoyed ourselves.

We then headed to our B&B, the Beltane Ranch in Glen Ellen. We LOVED the Beltane! It was a decent price and absolutely beautiful. We stayed in room 3 (click the link for pictures of the room). The room is the upper one on the left in the first picture below.

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That evening we ate dinner at the Fig Cafe. We had the artisanal cheese plate. The stand out there was the brie-like Pierre Robert, but it was all fabulous. We shared a Mediterranean pizza and followed it with a heavenly pumpkin creme brulee.

My only complaint about the Beltane is that the walls are thin and we were right above the kitchen. Breakfast making woke me up each morning. But oh, what breakfasts! The first morning we ate in the dining room, where we were completely ignored by the older guests at the communal dining table. (People, you shouldn't be rude, just because we're younger.) We learned our lesson and the following days enjoyed breakfast on the porch you see in the picture above. It was cold, but wonderful. Fabulous views of the valleys around us and the gardens below us. Tons of birds. It was truly idyllic. The first breakfast was the tastiest, if the most uncomfortable (due to our dining companions): a cheese and vegetable tart (all of the vegetables from the amazing garden), cantaloupe, apple-smoked bacon, and lemon raspberry bread.