Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Weekend at the Del

Hotel Del Coronado in San Diego.
I strongly recommend you visit this place, because they make a killer Manhattan in the downstairs bar. Plus they have done an impressive job in bringing the grand dame back to a new modern life -- despite the wear and tear from the sea air.
(It 's also home to the set of Billy Wilder’s Some Like It Hot in the fall of 1958. See more in this cool slideshow.)

Yet another reason. My mother loved it.
Cheers,
Joan

Saturday, March 2, 2013

Breakfast for Dinner, Oh Joy

Okay admit it, sometimes we work night and day. Big project, big deadline. We all know the drill. That's the time when one of my all-time favorite meals comes in handy--good, ole Breakfast For Dinner. Because, after all, who says if it's the beginning or end of the day when the hours are all running together as we toil at our desks.
I got the Breakfast-For-Dinner bug in Europe, with those midnight suppers in the moonlight at the corner cafe. Way more romantic than foraging through the fridge for a few eggs because, really, who had time to go to the market?
But the BFD routine works either way -- Deadline Day or moonlight supper. For me, the meal usually means eggs and whatever veggies, onions, beans, potatoes etc. that I can scrounge up. I cook them in a little olive oil and roll 'em up in a wheat tortilla. Maybe salsa or chutney on top, if I can find it.

But what wine to drink with our eggs? Because gawd knows, we deserve a glass or two after the crazy hours we're putting in. My fave is a sparkling white or rose from a local winery. I've also heard that Barbera, a light red, works very well.
And the best part of the BFD habit is yet to come.  Put on your sweater, take the last swallow of wine and go out for a stroll under the stars before calling it a night. Loosen your knotted shoulders as you look upward. Even deadlines can't steal the stars from us.

Happy dreams,
Joan