A few weekends ago, Michael and I traveled to Atlanta. The main [sole] purpose of the trip was to watch the Kentucky Cats play some basketball. That we did (in case you have been living under a rock, they’re the National Champions).
But we also made the weekend just a tad bit about food (we always seem to, don’t we?). We visited two restaurants of former Top Chef contestants. Both were good, and both I recommend.
We just returned from a visit to Louisville, Kentucky. Michael’s sister just had a brand new baby girl and we wanted Adelaide to meet her while she was still little and newborn-y. We introduced Adelaide to some favorite food (Skyline Chili!) and spent time with some favorite relatives.
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| Funfetti cake from scratch |
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| hellolouisville.com |
A few years back, on my very first “official” visit to Louisville (I had been to Louisville in the past for the Derby, but not as Michael’s girlfriend or wife), Michael’s grandfather picked us up from the airport and upon Michael’s request immediately drove us to Plehn’s Bakery. Plehn’s is located in the pleasant neighborhood of St. Matthews. It’s an old-school bakery with cute cakes in the windows, charmingly-apron’d staff, and a plethora of baked goods (donuts, cookies, cupcakes, pastries and cakes).
It has been said that Michael and I like to eat. And those who know Michael, both well and even not-so-well, know that he has a passion for food, and an iron stomach to take it, a talent and a curse. Which is why when Michael asked that I accompany him on the food challenge of his life, the Krispy Kreme Challenge, I was not surprised. The challenge goes like this: fly down to Raleigh, North Carolina, show up on NC State’s campus early in the morning (perhaps after a night of beer, and maybe some fried pickles and peppers), run about two and a quarter somewhat hilly miles, eat a DOZEN Krispy Kreme donuts, and then run the two and a quarter miles back….mostly uphill. I committed as a casual runner, thus better equipped to support Michael, document the feat, and, as a bonus, hopefully be more adept to quickly dodge what surely would be an all-out puke-fest.
Costa Rica. The rich coast. For our annual trip this year, Michael and I originally had high hopes of trekking over to South Africa, but due to vacation day restrictions and a hefty price tag, we moved down the list of travel to-do’s and settled on a much more reasonable destination: Costa Rica.
We flew into San Juan, the country’s largest, most central city. We stayed a quick night at The Adventure Inn, near the airport, in order to rest up and head out during daylight to our first tourist destination. The Adventure Inn, Canadian-owned, was a perfect place for us to settle for a quick night. At the hotel bar, we ordered some nachos and sampled the local beer (Pilsen or Imperial) while watching a disturbing documentary on the mis-treatment of pigs. Glad those nachos didn’t include pork! The hotel staff afforded us a bit of practice on our Spanish. My Spanish skills were pretty dusty (it has been seven years since I studied in Spain!), but we were able to pick up the gist of things pretty easily. What Michael lacks in grammar, I lack in vocabulary, so between the two of us, we’re able to do ok.
Our stay at Adventure Inn included a very generous breakfast. Michael tried his first serving of gallo pinto, something we had heard about on the plane ride the night before. A mixture of black beans, peppers and rice, gallo pinto is traditional Costa Rican breakfast fare. It goes great alongside eggs.
After a lengthy contract negotiation for our rental car (you’d think we were renting a plane, or a handgun or something!), we were off for the Arenal Volcano National Park and La Fortuna. The drive was picturesque at times, and the air outside was surprisingly cool, probably due to the elevation and the never-lifting mist that surrounded us. A car-sick-laden, curvy-road, three-hour drive later, we arrived at our hotel, Nayara. The volcano loomed ahead of us on our drive in and we were nothing short of in awe over the views.
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One year ago today, my sister gave birth to Ava Mary Bennett. A couple weeks ago, when the little bitty California girl was in town for a family vacation, we threw her a surprise birthday party (it was a surprise to her, anyway!). Ava’s favorite dolls/stuffed animals are her bla bla dolls. So, for her 1st birthday cake, my sister and I created Lulu. We had a blast with all the fun colors, and Ava had a blast tearing it apart!
This past weekend in heaven, we served up some potato and pasta salads (courtesy of Lisl, Loni, Casey and Carlee) out on the boat. Pretty classy! Check out after the jump for a few other boating photos.
I had a wonderful breakfast at the Palmer House Hilton this morning. Lucky me! The only issue? I ate too much. So for lunch, I just ate some Michigan blueberries. Read: I ate a pint of Michigan blueberries. Oops. I have a hard time keeping those suckers around for very long, let alone getting them into some sort of pie or pastry. They are too delicious!
