Arizona Trip

I suck. I haven't blogged in a while, but that doesn't mean that my life hasn't been exciting. As always, it's very exciting. HA!

Last weekend we went down to AZ to visit my in-laws and Drew. Tim's brother David, his wife Lisa and their two little girls were there. It was fun spending time with them, and Nicolette and Addison are both at an age where they recognize us, so it's encouraging to wake up every morning and not have the kids crying when they see you because you're a stranger. The adults ensured that was the case by continuously quizzing the girls. "Who's that? Uncle Tim" "Who's that? Aunt Kelly." I'm sure they'll forget all about us, and the whole process will repeat itself when we go back for Christmas.

Anyhow, in honor of their Chinese daughter-in-law, Dad and Mom Sale took us out to dinner at a Chinese restaurant in the Cultural District. The whole place was a plaza much smaller than your usual AZ strip mall, and had about 10 stores ranging from a Chinese bridal shop to a mish mash of Asian restaurants to a Chinese bank ("What is a Chinese bank?," mom asked, but I didn't know either). As we pulled over, I exclaimed: "Oh, so THAT's where the Chinatown is!"

The food was quite good. The in-laws told us to please order, and they were quite impressed when Tim and I ordered something off the menu (which probably WAS on the menu that they give the Chinese people, which is different from the one that white peeps get).

Tim had been to the place before when he still lived in AZ, but he just didn't have the heart to tell his parents that he had already been there, seeing that they were all excited about taking us there.

The next day we went to see Diesel's friend Jayson and his gf Jenn. Apparently the two of them are currently very much into off-roading with their fellow Land Rover owners. We went to a trail and Jayson even let me do some driving. Who says Asian women can't drive???!!! They obviously have not seen my kind of skills...

Victoria Half-Marathon - The Elusive Sub 2:00:00

First off, let's just get this straight: It was Tim who COPIED my "Elusive Sub 2:00" title on his blog, and NOT the other way around. They say copying is the sincerest form of flattery, so I'm just glad that despite his lack of imagination, my husband finds me such a great inspiration in his life.

A few months ago I signed myself up to run the Victoria Marathon in October. In a risky move, I also paid an extra 60 bucks to sign Diesel up for the half. He was notified that he was running once I forwarded him his registration confirmation. He took it pretty well and was even excited about it. During training, I hurt my knee and decided it would be cool to run Diesel's first half with him. It was disappointing, but on the upside, marathons are very painful.

On October 11, after his 1-week work trip to London, we headed over to the Victoria Clipper pier with our contingent of fans (which was actually only my sister) at 7am to catch the ferry to Victoria, Canada. With the race, Canadian Thanksgiving and a US ship arriving in Canada, we were glad that we decided to take the ferry to Canadia instead of having to wait hours at the border.

The trip was pleasant, and we got to chat with another couple who was running. We arrived safely at our hotel and immediately decided to take a nap. It was then time for a first session of carbo loading, and we took the advice of the foodie community board on chowhound and went Paggliacci's. We were told that it was a laid back, family style and reasonably-priced Italian restaurant, all of which were true. We were also told that the food was awesome, which it unfortunately wasn't. But oh wells. After sauntering for a while, it was suddenly time for dinner, and we ended up at Cafe Brio, which my friend Megan from work had recommended. We got the small plates and the food was awesome!

The next morning my sister sent us off and the race started. The weather was perfect for running (unlike Chicago!) and the course was the prettiest I've ever seen, through parks and on the water. The interesting thing about this race is the many loops you do, where you get to see the elite runners who are way ahead of you. I also decided that the loops make it very easy for people to cheat (you can just skip the loop and go the other direction), so a good tip for all those shady runners who want to qualify for Boston (HA!).

Tim took off and I ran an easy half. It was very pleasant and when the sun finally came out, it was just so nice to be running out there. It is definitely one of the most beautiful (if not THE most) race I've ever done.

Tim crossed the finished line first, and I was about a minute behind him (to read his account of the race with MY title, click here). I suppose I should hate him because this was his first half, but I guess he's my husband, so I won't hate him.

Sadly, both of us missed our 2:00:00 finish goal. After running a 2:00:08 in Vancouver and a 2:00:16 in Bellevue, I have to say the 2:02:31 time was a bit disappointing. Well, maybe next season...

Anyhow, the trip back was tiring and uneventful. The Clipper was filled with your typical race casualties: many limping, several who couldn't stand up, more even that chose to sit on the main deck, daunted by going up the stairs, and your usual line up of stretchers along the walls.

Days 2-5 in Paris - A Few Museums, Lots of Eating

Tuesday - Visited the Musee d'Orsay and perambulated through the excellent collection of impressionist painting. Afterwards, we took a stroll through the Tulleries Gardens. Then it was home for some cleaning up and preparing for our biggest dinner in Paris at the famous Joël Robuchon's L'Atelier. The wait, we were told, was one hour, but we got there at 8:00pm only to find out that the wait was 2.5 hrs. We went over next door to a hotel and got drinks at a posh hotel, where Diesel spotted a small mouse scurrying across the lobby. Upon being notified of the unwanted patron, the hotel staff seemed quite disgusted. However, after a brief, failed search, they simply gave us as if it wasn't a big deal at all.

At 10:30 we finally sat at the bar (the whole restaurant is all bar seats, with the kitchen in the middle). We did the 9-course tasting menu. I can't remember the names of any of the dishes; all I know is that was really the best meal of my life.

Wednesday - We woke up early for the Louvre. Despite being able to skip all the lines by using our museum pass, we were surrounded, choked in fact, by the large crowed of tourists. Not the art-loving kind, mind you, but the breed that only goes from piece to piece taking pics of themselves with famous works of art and intend to bore their friends with those stupid shots. We met up with Nath after the museum, as she had arrived from Lyon the previous evening. The threatening clouds turned into downpour, and we ran through the streets to find a good neighborhood restaurant--with only 4 days in Paris, we wanted to make the most out of every meal. We picked a small family-owned restaurant, where we ordered steak and frites. That's right. I had RED MEAT. And it was GOOD.

In the evening we had dinner at Marie-Pierre's house. MP is a co-worker of Nath's whom I met while she was traveling through Seattle/Vancouver. Her friend Isabelle, who was traveling with MP was also there.

Thursday - We slept in till 11 and met with Nath for lunch at La Tete de Grouchin or something like that. The food was really good. We then made a stop home and the two decided it was in order to take a nap. I was a bit impatient and wanted to walk around, as we had been lazy all morning. We finally made it out and took a stroll through the streets of Paris.

That night, Nath got a reprieve from us and met up with her friends at a restaurant. We didn't go to far, and went to the restaurant next door (literally), where we enjoyed some hearty Provençal food.

Day 1 in Paris - Secrets and Lies, Let the Gluttony begin

We arrived at Charles de Gaulle airport at 10:30am but after having problems with our shuttle, we didn't get to the apartment that my friend Nathalie had arranged for us to stay in until 1pm.

We were received by Daniele, who lived in the apartment. Nathalie had tried to explain to me the whole housing arrangement, but seeing that all of the exchange was done over IM, it follows that I did not really understand that Nath didn't know this person personally. In fact, Daniele was actually a friend of a friend (Lili) of a friend (Pauline) of Nath's. To conceal the loose connection, I was supposed to say that I did know Pauline, a fact that escaped my attention. I have a feeling I got Nath and Pauline in a bit of trouble, but we tried to be good house guests.

We got cleaned up and Daniele made us some delicious salad, topping it off with bits of goat cheese wrapped in speck, shaved Parmesan and other little French treats that came in jars filled with aromatic olive oil. After that, we took a recovery nap and finally made it out by taking a stroll around the neighborhood. We were by place Pereire, a hip, borderline snooty neighborhood in the 17th arroundissement.

That night, Lili came over and cooked us dinner: shredded duck and mashed potatoes casserole. The dish name sounds much better in French though. A lot off champagne, and wine were consumed that night which led to some jolly moments that night.

On Our Way to Paris/The Boy Who Wouldn't Shut Up

It finally came! Diesel's and my trip to Paris. Catching the flight was quite stressful, as we had to get up at 5am on Sunday morning and drive down to Seattle from the Baker cabin. You see, our friends Rebeca, Steve and Heidi threw a big party at the cabin to celebrate their 40th, 40th, and 30th bdays, respectively, so on Sat afternoon Diesel and I made the 2.5 hr drive to Baker and, in a ambitious, yet utterly stupid plan, decided to drive back to Seattle at 5 so we could make a 7:30-8am stop at the Danskin triathlon to cheer on our friends Tarah and Regina, who were doing their first tri.

After gett pulled over by a cop but not getting a speeding ticket despite doing 57 on a 35mph road, we cheered Tarah on but missed Regina :(

Back at our apartment, we showered, grabbed our bags and got a ride from my sis to the airport. The flight to Chicago was a lovely flight in business class with a free meal and a separate bathroom from the plebe.

The Chicago to Paris flight, on the other hand was in economy class, which is fine cuz, as you can tell from the previous paragraph, I'm no snob. However, right off the bat this 7-year-old boy who was sitting next to us started talking. Yapping really. It was an ominous sign to a long and sleepless night.

I might exaggerate sometimes, but I kid you not when I tell you that the kid yapped non-stop from the time we took off to the time we landed. It was a 9-hour flight during which 8 hours were spent yapping away and one hour going to the bathroom and walking aimlessly in the forbidden aisles of business class, where he got kicked out of.

Anyhow, curiously enough; his mother, father and sister were all sitting in adjacent seats in the row in front of him. He was the only member of his OWN family that was sitting in the row next to ours. Did his mom KNOW something we didn't???

So as I mentioned and reitterated, the kid's yapping continued through the night, even after the lights went out and most of the passengers went to sleep. It got so bad that Diesel woke up from the little sleep he could get with the sole purpose of shushing the boy. Even after a loud SHHHHH the boy continued yapping--I guess in his defense I have to say that he turned it down a tad. But he did NOT, I repeat, did NOT stop talking.

The next morning breakfast was being served, and the flight attendants went around with the drinks cart. Upon being asked what he wanted, the boy said: "coffee."

COFFEE? COFFEE??? NO WONDER!!!!! The flight attendant was taken aback and had to confirm with the boy's mom that he was allowed to have some. Unfazed, the mother--who let me remind you, was NOT sitting next to her own son--replied with an emphatic "YES."

Judge me if you want, but it just seems unfair to me that a parent would give her already hyperactive kid nature's version of Red Bull and let him go wild on a night flight annoying the hell out of the other passengers (and by "other passengers" I mean ME), when what he really needed was a big dose of ridelin.

All I can say is that after that, French will never again be the language of l'amour et romance; instead, it'll be forever tarnished by the boy that wouldn't shut up.

Food Project 7-8: Dinner with Charlie

To prevent my brother-in-law from eating yet another sandwich while my sister is traveling for work, we had Charlie over for dinner.

Dinner consisted of some light and fresh Ravioli Caprese. I bought a $5 ravioli stamp at Sur la Table which worked great. The filling was filling and fresh with lots of basil and a hint of lemon zest. For the dough, I had to use a cup of wheat flour (only because we ran out of regular flour), which I think made the dough tougher, less malleable and thus harder to roll into thinner pasta sheets. Next time I'll use all-purpose flour for the whole thing. I served it with FRIED polenta (keeping up with the "light meal" theme) and cherry tomatoes (for redemption).

Nigella's Quadruple Chocolate Loaf Cake looked amazing on her show. The cake finished baking at midnight last night, after both Diesel and I had brushed our teeth. It was then that Diesel reminded me that we are both adults, and if we wanted to eat cake in bed after brushing our teeth, we should do it! It tasted really good fresh out of the oven. Today the cake was a lot denser; I prefer it warm and gooey. Not sure this was my fave choc cake...

Food Project 2-6

So I have not been so good about sticking to my cooking project, but I have indeed tried somed new recipes. Unfortunately, I have not been able to take pics of the final products, as Diesel had the brilliant idea of taking our camera to a RAFTING trip, and consequently brought it back broken.

Anyhow, here's a list of the recipes I have tried:

Gaucho-Grilled Skirt Steak with Chimichurri Sauce - A Tyler Florence recipe. Every Tyler recipe I ever tried has been simple and turned out great, and this was no exception. It's just unfortunate that the hunky chef ever agreed to "create" a dish for TGIFridays. I did a trial run for this with Charlie and Emy, and after the successful attempt, served it at Diesel's b-day.

Corn and Tomato Salad- This was a recipe given to me by my friend Emily. It's a refreshing and original salad and perfect for summer

Tiramisu - I'll count this one as well, as it's been about two years since I last made it. The recipe is Costa's, a real-life, younger Italian mama that I met while doing study abroad in Germany

Pasta Carbonara - I don't eat pork, but ever since Diesel made this classic dish, I've been hooked. It love it as a pre long run meal. I tried to make it myself last Friday, and everything was doing well until the step where I was supposed to toss the hot pasta with the raw egg + cheese mixture. The eggs cooked and turned into omlette, which was quite sad. Looking back, I should have used a regular pot instead of the cast iron pot I used, which holds a lot more heat