Sorry for the no writes

Sorry for the no-writes folks.  I’ve been swamped as usual.  Travel and work have been hectic.  Bear with me…

Lima, Peru 9/1/2011

Our flying time started at 7 a.m. today.  We got to Lima at about 11 p.m.  There is no time difference.  Because we choose to live in a city where one must always connect to get to anywhere, it took us almost 18 hours: Madison-Chicago; Chicago-Houston; Houston-Lima.  Not the easiest flying itinerary, but the quality of life is excellent in Madison.

Lima, while being on the coast is in a desert.  It seems to always be grery color-wise.  We’re staying at the very fancy JW Marriott in a very fancy part of town.  I’m not taking any pictures tonight.  Very tired.  And we leave for Cusco the next morning…

Good Night

Packing and Re-Packing August 31, 2011

I’m a light packer, even for business.  And my work friends are surprised at how light my luggage is.  I pack clothes for work every week, I’ve been doing this for over 10 years.  It’s not an art, but it is some sort of science.  If I can’t lift my rollerboard with one arm, it’s too heavy.  My male colleagues are surprised at how light I can pack, given my reputation as a fashionista (it’s not hard to be one especially if you work in tech – a different color other than beige counts as being a fashionista).

I write this note at 3 a.m. September 1.  I’m not even going to sleep, given that we need to catch our flight at 7 a.m.  I’m packing a duffle bag for check-in and to take with us on the trek;  and bringing my rollerboard and daypack as carryons.  I’ve never packed this much in my life, not even for my sister’s wedding in Hong Kong.

My duffle bag contains trekking clothes, poles, and toiletries.  My rollerboard contains ‘street’ clothes and one set of trekking clothes, along with a pair of flipflops.  The daypack contains my iPad, money, travel docs, etc.  I feel like I’m packing the world in my bags.  Ridiculous.

I thought I packed everything over the weekend.  Upon returning home, I decided I packed too much.  So, I repacked and edited everything – which caused me to stay up all night.  Oh well.  It’s done.  See you in Peru.

Getting Ready: 8/15-8/28

I realize all the posts regarding our trip will be done post-trip and based on my notes on the iPad, but it’s better than nothing.  Here’s the story:

We originally booked this trip for May.  Someone decided to break his collarbone.  Fast forward to August and collarbone all healed, we are getting ready.  We’ve bought our daypacks with the hydration units. Of course we went matchy-matchy, only his is red and about 25 cubic centimeters larger than mine.

Osprey Daypack Hydration System

We’ve taken care of all the vaccines needed: Hepatitis A and B and typhoid.   A big thank you to Hometown Pharmacy in McFarland who took us short notice and helped us tremendously.  We also got our prescriptions filled for anti-altitude sickness – Diamox.  Apparently Diamox behaves the same way as Viagra, a vasodilator.  Hmmm…

Then we got all the things-you-need-to-bring-in-case-something-happens stuff:

• First Aid kit
• Immodium for the one way
• Cipro to stop
• Alleve
• Tylenol/Ibuprofen
• Pepto Bismol
• Tums
• Moleskin
• Ankle and Knee braces
• Sunscreen
• Insect repellant
• Energy bars/gels/recovery fluid
• Wipes
• Hand sanitizer
• Throat Drops (for me)
• Nose Spray (for me)
• Eye Drops (again, for me)
• Extra batteries for both cameras and webcam
• Extra disks

The list just went on, and all for just-in-case scenarios.  I haven’t even mentioned the stuff needed for the trek or clothing.  More on that in the next post.

Stuff

 

 

Andean Adventure

The next few posts are about our epic trek on the Salkantay Trail to Machu Picchu.  It was a great trip, with plenty of stories and yes, food as well.

Salkantay Mountain

Grilled Corn Salad

Summer is here in the Midwest and I’m very lucky to be
able to take advantage of the bounty of the season. Sweet corn, so plentiful
here in Wisconsin, can be made even better by grilling it. I found this recipe
so long ago and make it so often during the season that I no longer have the
actual recipe. Thus I can’t properly give citation.

The measurements below are approximations, so adjust as
necessary.

 6 ears of corn
1 red or orange sweet bell pepper
1 pint of cherry or grape tomatoes, sliced in half
1 Serrano pepper, seeded and chopped fine
Zest from half of a lime
Lime juice from half a lime
1 small shallot, chopped fine
1/3 cup chopped cilantro
Olive oil

Grill the corn. The corn is ready when there are little black/brown spots on some of the kernels on all sides.  Set aside to cool.

Grill the red/orange pepper until the skin is charred.  Let cool slightly and place in a paper bag. Close the bag and shake until the skin has fallen off. Chop the
pepper into small pieces. Alternatively, if you can find pepperonata at your
local store, you can use that as well.

Once the corn has cooled, remove all the kernels and place in a bowl, along with the tomatoes and the red pepper.

In a separate small bowl, mix the zest, lime juice, shallot, Serrano pepper and enough olive oil to make a dressing. Add the cilantro to the mixture. Pour the dressing onto the corn mixture and toss thoroughly. Serve at room temperature.

Of Men and Coffee

I thought I would write about something different today.  I want to write about men and coffee and how impressions can be made or not made by choice of coffee drinks.  My friend Sharon started this thought process.  She pinged me the other day and of course I stopped all work to talk to her. 

Sharon asked me what I thought of this situation: She sees a cute guy, cute guy acknowledges her, mild flirtation proceeds.  After a few days of this exchange, cute guy asks her out for coffee.  She agrees.  They go to the nearest SBUX, she orders her latte.  Cute guy orders a fruit smoothie with whip.  A FRUIT SMOOTHIE, at SBUX, with whip nonetheless.  I said, “Really?”  And typical me, I asked the following qualifying question, “Did he ask for some whey protein to add to it?”  Her answer was, “Yes, really.  And no, nothing added.”

I guess I must have written on instant messaging something equivalent to a snort, because Sharon said, “My thoughts exactly.”  She ended the game – completely lost interest in cute guy because of the smoothie order at SBUX.

In another situation, I was at another SBUX on a hot summer day.  I ordered an iced coffee, as did the lady behind me.  Neither one of us heard what the guy in front of us ordered.  All our orders came out about the same time.   I got my iced coffee, the other lady got hers.  The guy in front of us got his order -  a vente mocha frappucino WITH whip.  The lady and I looked at each other and we both said, “Oof.”  I couldn’t remember what the guy looked like, but I do remember the look the lady and I gave each other.

I’ve gotten used to my daily espresso (4 shots), which I turn into a cortado.  I prefer the addition of milk and a bit of sugar to cut the bitterness.  I picked up this cortado habit while in Spain.  An ex once said about my cortado habit that I was wasting coffee.  That ex is drinking tea now (he lives in the UK and essentially pretends to be British). Don’t get me wrong, I drink tea too, but only after I’ve had my cortado in the morning.  I drink tea when I’m sick, have a stomach ache, want to warm up, or when I want to lose weight.  But now that ex-boy is a tea drinker, I don’t wonder about his lack of commitment – I think he’s still single.

One of my favorite people in the world knows my coffee order.  After all these years of not working together,  I met him for coffee the other day.  I was running a little late as usual.  As I approached the café, I see him at a table; he waves to me and lifts my order up to signal that he’s got it covered.  I give him a big hug, I sit down, he hands me my drink, I take a sip and smile. I say to him, “I love a man who knows my coffee order.”

He answers back, “I know.”

Lemon Chicken

Tonight was a cold dreary night made for simple comfort food.  Actually this dish is good any time, not just cold winter nights.  I found this recipe years ago on NBC’s website featuring the Today Show’s hosts favorite recipes.

Ingredients

4 Boneless, skinless chicken breasts
Lemon Pepper herb mix (find one with garlic and onions)
Flour for dredging
2 Tbsp. butter
2 Tbsp. olive oil
Juice of 2 lemons
3 Tbsp. flour
3 Cups chicken broth
Salt and ground white pepper to taste

Directions

1. Pound the chicken breasts with a meat pounder to a uniform thickness. Sprinkle the lemon pepper herb mix on both  sides of each breast.  Dredge lightly in flour, shaking off excess.
2. In a large saute pan over medium-high heat, melt the butter and the oil until in sizzles.  Add the chicken breasts and saute, turning once or twice until cooked through and juices run clear.  Remove chicken and set aside.
3. Whisk in the 3 tablespoons of flour and cook for 1 minute until the mixture boils.
4. Add lemon juice to the chicken stock and whisk into the saute pan.  Reduce the heat to a simmer. Allow the sauce to thicken to a desired consistency.  Season to taste with salt and ground white pepper.
5. Return the chicken to the pan and heat through.
6. Serve the chicken on a bed of basmati or jasmine rice, and spoon the sauce over the chicken.  You can garnish with chopped parsley and lemon slices (I don’t).

Evening Out in Breckenridge – Relish

My last ski trip was last week in Breck.  A last minute trip as I was so sick of the gray skies, both in New Jersey and Wisconsin and weekly snowstorms.  As usual, I was tasked with finding a great restaurant for one of the nights.  I found Relish Breckenridge.  Very impressed.  If you are in Breck and want a very nice evening out with wonderful food and wine, you must go here.  The chef has managed to blend regional influences with the best ingredients, hence their tagline: Colorado Inspired Cuisine. 

I had the scallops with a feuillete of wild rice and fennel in a citrus cream sauce.  Someone else had the special for the night which was a haddock with some sort of a pasta crust, another had the duck and yet another had the steak.  We accompanied it first with a chard from Jordan vineyards and followed with a red – which at this point, I had too much wine to remember the name!

The meal and conversations were certainly more memorable than my last few evening nights out at nicer establishments like: Spiaggia (Chicago) and Harvest (Madison).  Unfortunately, both times were not worth the money spent!

Dinner Tonight – Risotto Milanese

I did not want a complicated dinner tonight, especially after the colossal snowstorm of February 2, 2011.  Something simple and meatless, but flavorful and filling.  As I looked in my pantry, I found all the ingredients needed to make Risotto Milanese.  I wanted a salad too, but nothing complicated as well.  I had arugula, fennel and lemon, so the salad was simple – my arugula and fennel salad.  The only thing I wasn’t sure of was how the two would go together.

I won’t get into the recipe for Risotto Milanese – the recipe is easy to find.  It is the technique that matters.  However, if anyone needs it, just send me a note and I will pass along.  Risotto is the dish of northern Italy.  I love the simplicity of Risotto Milanese – rice, onions, broth, saffron, and parmesan cheese.  An ex of mine once described risotto as gruel or something like that – obviously he’s never had really good risotto – and most likely never will (at least not from me).  What can I say, my choice in men haven’t always been stellar.

The two dishes actually went well together.  The tartness of the lemon dressing and the peppery-ness of the arugula really went well with the risotto.  I drizzled a little bit of truffle oil on my risotto and had a really good chard - it was a perfect dinner.