ciderThere has been a boom in fermented (hard) cider in the food world the past few years. A smaller trend, which I see as about to explode, is the emergence of apple cider varieties.

When I was a child, we used to drive north to Niagara County to buy cider at real cider mills one Saturday every fall. They always had free samples and you could watch the cider press running. It always smelled so wonderful there and the smell combined with the colorful leaves on the drive to create a full experience. It was always a happy day. One year my father made cider himself in the basement with an old manual cider press he got somewhere. What I remember the most about that was the apple mush that was the byproduct – like uncooked applesauce. I thought it was yummy.

Now we buy cider at the grocery store and although the first glass of it signals fall to me and a mug of mulled cider in December is a sign of the holidays, it is mostly unremarkable.

Last fall we took a trip to the Adirondacks and a restaurant we were at was serving a specific variety of apple cider, just as when you go to the store you buy a specific type of apple. It got me thinking about how the cider available at the store is just a blend of many kinds of apples, yet each apple does have a distinctive taste and how interesting it would be to sample different types. Last fall I looked all over locally to try to find anyone who was doing this and struck out. But this year in my own grocery store I happened upon two different varieties.

Fowler Farms is a local farm. They make a cider blend as well as the Sweet Tango and Honeycrisp varieties shown here. They also make a Fuji cider variety I have yet to find in my store. The ciders are as different as the apples they are made from and I am enjoying sampling and comparing them. It takes cider to an entirely new level to notice these flavor nuances. As the daughter of an oenophile I guess it is to be expected! Have you found any cider varieties in your area? I would be interested to know if this trend is expanding beyond New York state.

There has been a boom in fermented (hard) cider in the food world the past few years. A smaller trend, which I see as about to explode, is the emergence of apple cider varieties. When I was a child, we used to drive north to Niagara County to buy cider at real cider mills one … Read more

hall bookcaseDo you have halls in your home that are empty and you don’t know what to do with them? I have two space like this in my house that I’ve been pondering. One of them is connected to a remodeling project we have been working on. We recently remodeled our family room and there is a small hallway, really half of a hallway since it only has one wall and the other side opens to the family room. It’s complicated even further by the fact that there is a closet that opens into the space, so I can’t block the door. When we first moved into this house I painted a tree mural on the wall. When we repainted the room, the mural was done and gone and I needed something to make this little space work for me.

I thought about this little space for quite a long time until I came up with a great solution. The theme of our new family room is travel (a post about this room is coming soon) so I wanted something that would relate. Everywhere I go, I try to buy a coffee table of photos of the area. These books ended up stacked on tables and never were displayed to their potential. A bookcase would be perfect, however the wall it could go is behind where the closet door opens, so it would have to be very narrow. So narrow in fact that the books would need to face out.

I did a lot of searching and even considered putting up some narrow shelves and just leaning the books on them. Then I stumbled on this bookcase.  Initially I thought the bookcase would hang on the wall, but when it arrived, I realized it is meant to stand on the floor and be attached to the wall so it won’t fall forward on children (and yes, it’s technically a child’s bookcase!).  It is the perfect depth. I can open the closet without an issue and it fits the space perfectly. All of my travel books fit and I can see their covers and titles. I’ve also stuck in a few photos for variety and plan to add a few things other than books as time goes on. I hung a painting we bought on our honeymoon above it to complete the space.

A bookcase ended up being the right solution for my space, but here are some other great hallway solutions.

Do you have halls in your home that are empty and you don’t know what to do with them? I have two space like this in my house that I’ve been pondering. One of them is connected to a remodeling project we have been working on. We recently remodeled our family room and there is … Read more

ghost under glassThis little ghost is one of my Halloween decorations. I got this pedestal cloche last year and I’ve been putting one little thing in it for each holiday. It’s a fun way to isolate an item and highlight it. I love the ghost in it because it just has a bit of a sense of humor about it.

This little ghost is one of my Halloween decorations. I got this pedestal cloche last year and I’ve been putting one little thing in it for each holiday. It’s a fun way to isolate an item and highlight it. I love the ghost in it because it just has a bit of a sense of humor … Read more

On our recent trip to Asia we stayed exclusively at Ritz Carlton properties, which provided an excellent point of comparison between them. Kyoto was my favorite.

One brief note about the Ritz hotels in general before I share details about the Kyoto property. We were traveling as a party of three (myself, my husband, and our 23 year old daughter). It is nearly impossible to find hotel rooms in Asia that can accommodate three people, unless you get a roll away cot. We find roll aways to be very uncomfortable for adults, so did not want this option. Most hotels in Asia and Japan have rooms with a king size bed or two twins. The Ritz is the only hotel we found that had double beds, allowing us to fit three people in the rooms. The only alternative was to pay for two rooms and most hotels could not guarantee the rooms would connect or even be on the same floor. It ended up being less expensive to book one room at the Ritz than two rooms at a lesser chain. I’m still stunned that this was the case, but it was. We also found that the level of service and the amenities that came with the hotel provided great value to us.

Another note is that we had great difficulty actually getting our reservations made correctly. We booked directly through the Ritz booking line and were quoted rates for three people in the room with breakfast included. We wrote down the rates we were given. The calls were being recorded. We then received email confirmations that listed higher rates, with additional fees for the third person and not including breakfast for all three of us. Emails to the individual hotel properties did not resolve the issue. My tweet to Ritz went unanswered. We escalated the issue to Ritz corporate headquarters where we were assured the problem would easily and quickly be resolved. It took more than a month to get all three of our reservation corrected. The corporate person who was initially so anxious to help us became unreachable and it took many emails and voicemails to get all the reservations corrected. The good news is everything was eventually corrected. The bad news is it took so long and so much effort on our part to accomplish this.

The Setting

The Kyoto Ritz Carlton hotel is located next to the Kamogawa River and is on a side street, near a busy shopping area. It is centrally located with most areas of interest a short drive away. You don’t even notice the hotel is there as you walk past since the entrance is through a garage. It has a very discrete feeling to it. Once you’re dropped off at the bellman’s desk inside the garage, you walk under a pergola across a bubbling

Hotel entranceway

Hotel entranceway

man-made stream with waterfalls to the unassuming door of the hotel. It’s worth stopping out here for a moment though to enjoy

Hotel garden

Hotel garden

this serene and truly Japanese garden. It provides a soothing moment of calm before entering the hotel. One of the greeters who is always present at the bell area wears a traditional kimono, which is a nice touch.

The Common Areas

The lobby is broken up into areas. When you first enter, you walk directly by the concierge desk and a small seating area. Walk though a large wooden automatic door and you enter the main lobby with seating areas, a macaron counter, a lounge, and eventually the main desk. The lobby is unassuming but quietly elegant. There are jars of Japanese candy in the corner of a sitting area if you need something sweet.

Elevators lead to the upper floors. The hallways are very Japanese with panels and hidden closets. The hallways feel quiet and private.

Lobby

Lobby

Side exterior of hotel

Side exterior of hotel

Our Room

Entrance hall in the room

Entrance hall in the room

We entered our room to find it segmented into three areas: a hallway, bathroom, and main bedroom. The hallway ran next to the bathroom but there was curiously no door between the two areas at the bathroom opening right by the front door. The hallway consisted of a bar area, mini fridge, mirror and some shallow storage. It was nice to have this separate area for storage and it made the room

Double beds

Double beds

feel larger to have a separate little space.

The main bedroom area was spacious compared to the other Ritz properties we stayed at. There were two double beds as well as a day bed with a twin size mattress. The beds were of course wonderfully comfortable. The nightstands next to the beds had buttons that controlled the lighting and draperies in the room, which is very convenient. The day bed had a small table next to it. A seating area contained two chairs and a table, as well as a storage unit. A plate of grapes greeted us. A glass door led to the patio which faced the river. Two chairs and a table beckoned us to sit and relax. We could not actually see the river due to the trees, but we could hear it and the sound of it enchanted me. I left the door open to be able to hear it (more on this in a minute!).

Day bed

Day bed

The bathroom was similarly spacious. A double sink vanity with mirror and TV took up one wall. On the counter was a large black lacquer box containing toiletries. There was not a lot of counter space, however. The tub and shower were in a glass enclosed room (which meant there was no way for two people to be

Patio

Patio

in the bathroom at the same time if privacy was required) with the shower area simply comprising all of the space next to the tub. It had a wooded slat floor. The tub was deep for soaking. The Western style toilet with requisite Japanese toilet seat was in a small room, next to a closet.

We found the room to be extremely comfortable. However, because I had left the door to the patio open, soon the room began to smell like dead fish. We quickly closed the door but the room continued to smell this way for our entire stay. It was distracting and did in part ruin the experience. We did not

Bathroom

Bathroom

complain to the staff because I felt I had caused the problem by leaving the door open for an hour or so and because I really thought the smell would dissipate once the door was closed. Instead it simply reeked for our entire three-night stay. If the housekeeping staff noticed, they did nothing.

Staffing

The staff at the hotel was excellent. They view themselves as a small high-service hotel, and it shows. I contacted guest services

Tub and shower

Tub and shower

before we left home to get assistance with restaurant recommendations and to arrange transportation. They responded to emails swiftly and with courtesy. We arrived extremely early for check-in and after a brief wait, our room was ready. We were invited to sit on couches during check in while the woman assisting us knelt on the floor at the coffee table. This felt a little odd to us Westerners but we understood the courtesy of the gesture.

We asked to have a bucket of ice brought to the room each evening and that request was handled without an issue. The concierge staff arranged for a car and driver for a day for us, made restaurant reservations, and provided directions to shopping areas. The concierge staff spoke excellent English and were all very accommodating, if a bit perplexed at our reluctance to dine at extremely high-priced restaurants.

All of the Ritz properties have greeters, but we found those at this property to be the most low-key (but still a bit aggressively friendly). Because the lobby is set up around a staircase going down to the restaurant, there are two paths to the elevators, one of which goes by the main desk and one which does not. We sometimes prefer to just be left alone, so we walked on the side away from the desk when we didn’t feel like answering questions about our day.

We found the bell desk to be very helpful in arranging for transportation to and from the train station and providing taxis when necessary. Whenever the hotel arranged transportation for us with a prior reservation (such as reserving a van to take us to the train, not when we just walked up and asked for a taxi), they always stocked the car or van with bottled water for us which was a nice touch. When they called a taxi for us they always communicated with the driver to explain where to take us, since there was usually a language barrier.

When staying in a country like Japan where the language barrier can be great, it was a great comfort to stay someplace where the staff willingly made all the arrangements we needed, including informing restaurants we needed only gluten-free choices.

 

Activities

One of the lovely features of this hotel is that they offer a variety of free activities and classes, such as origami, flower arranging, or use of bicycles. The bath products were high quality and the bathroom was even stocked with a hair brush, combs, nail files, and more. Our supply of bottled water was always replenished in the room.

Dining

We enjoyed breakfast in the hotel each morning. Entering the dining room we were subjected to an assembly line greeting from every staff member. Again, the Ritz

A portion of the breakfast buffet

A portion of the breakfast buffet

errs on the side of over-friendliness which can sometimes feel stifling. The dining room is very comfortable with several secluded nooks, offering much privacy. However it was very dark and was not exactly the place to wake up to your day.  The breakfast buffet is scattered throughout the room with several stations – one so well-hidden we didn’t discover it until the second morning. Eggs are prepared in the kitchen to order. Fruit, meats, traditional Japanese breakfast items, cereals, breads, juices, and hot prepared items make up the buffet. The most notable fact for us is that there was a separate gluten-free station set up at the bar with bread, a dedicated toaster, and cereal. We did inquire in advance if gluten-free bread was available, so I’m not sure if this is a standard feature, or created just for us. T We had some difficulties communicating with the

Gluten free breakfast

Gluten free breakfast

wait staff. My husband asked for a glass of ice each morning (to pour his juice over) and some mornings he got it and other mornings he got ice water. Eggs were not always cooked precisely to specifications, but were close enough that we were able to eat them. We all ordered tea one morning but only two of us got it.

Overall, we were extremely pleased with the hotel and any criticism I have is merely nit-picking (except for the smell in the room, which we should have complained about). The level of service and concern for guests here is sky high. The hotel feels quiet, comfortable, private, and personal. I highly recommend it if you will be visiting Kyoto.

 

 

On our recent trip to Asia we stayed exclusively at Ritz Carlton properties, which provided an excellent point of comparison between them. Kyoto was my favorite. One brief note about the Ritz hotels in general before I share details about the Kyoto property. We were traveling as a party of three (myself, my husband, and … Read more

tadpolesSometimes it is astounding how one small oversight can simply snowball.

When we had our above ground pool opened at the beginning of the summer, the pool guy first did all of his work THEN had me come outside to show me that the outer shell of the pool has rusted in one spot and the liner was poking through. He told me that tiny hole could rupture, causing the entire pool and anyone in it to come gushing out a big sharp metal hole that could suddenly appear, likely killing anyone inside. Needless to say, we weren’t about to use the pool after that news. So, my husband drained it but never got around to covering it. We can’t afford to replace the pool this summer and if we simply tore it down, we would lose the sand underneath it and replacing it would be more expensive. So it has stood empty for a couple of months as we’ve been busy with other things.

We’ve just discovered it’s filled with hundreds of tadpoles in the couple inches of rain water that has accumulated. This has led to quite a conundrum. If we drain it again and cover it, all those little tadpoles will die in our yard and will smell. If we wait for them to grow into frogs and jump out or help them out, our yard will be overrun with snake predators (we know this well because my son used to capture frogs and bring them home when he was small and we had quite a problem).

So we now are going to have scoop those frogs out and relocate them somewhere else. I’m happy to rescue those froggies, but sometimes it’s amazing how things can snowball!

Sometimes it is astounding how one small oversight can simply snowball. When we had our above ground pool opened at the beginning of the summer, the pool guy first did all of his work THEN had me come outside to show me that the outer shell of the pool has rusted in one spot and … Read more

divi

It’s so windy in Aruba the trees are permanently bent over

Do you have nightmare vacation stories? Places you’ve been where you would never return? Trips that went so bad you just wanted to get home as fast as possible? I have a few disasters in my past.

1. Aruba. This trip might have been our biggest disaster. We had a 5 day trip planned, which is essentially two days of travel and three days of vacation. Our plane had a mechanical malfunction and we spent our first night in Newark in February with no winter clothes. We finally arrived in Aruba to find it is absolutely true that Aruba is always windy. Hair blowing in your face, sand blowing into your mouth windy. It’s not exactly an idyllic lie-on-the-beach vacation. There is also absolutely NO authentic artisan shopping or crafts to be found anywhere on the island (it’s my passion). I asked everyone, and even went to a flea market and an art school. I came home empty handed for the first time ever. The island was flooded with American chain restaurants and shops and had no identity. The disaster was capped when my son got food poisoning the last day, from an “authentic” lunch. He was too sick for dinner, so we ended up missing out on reservations at restaurant positioned on a dock over the water at sunset. I didn’t care much for what I saw of the island and would never go back.

2. St. Michael’s, Maryland.  This is a very ancient disaster as it happened more than 20 years ago. Before we went, the AC in our car broke and we left a day late while waiting for it to be repaired. On the way there we spent one night in Philadelphia during which the fire alarm went off in the middle of the night. My husband and I stayed in a quaint B&B in St. Michael’s. How quaint was it? Well, there were no innkeepers. Keys were left on the hall table. Breakfast mysteriously was laid out when we arose and we never ever saw a single soul who worked there. I don’t know what we were supposed to do if our toilet got plugged or we had a question about the inn. The other problem was the room. It was a small room with an attached bath. How attached was the bath? So attached that the sink was at the foot of the bed and the toilet was just behind two western style swinging doors next to the bed. Howdy, pardner. The room had a view of the Chesapeake Bay which was impeded by a) a window air conditioner and b)the balcony outside the window that was filled with other guests all day and night. Thus our blinds were shut the entire time and w had no view. There were a handful of shops in town and the one I wanted to go in the most was never open any time we checked. We did enjoy some crabs and a little boat ride on the water but there wasn’t much to do there. We ended up driving to Ocean City and Virginia Beach, but found those locations to be very touristy. The trip was a huge disappointment in every way, from start to finish.

3. Oahu, Hawaii. I enjoyed some parts of this island very much, but it got off to a rocky start. The condo we rented that was supposed to be ocean front was located on a golf course and there were lizards running wild inside. We pulled up stakes and paid way too much for a condo at the Turtle Bay Resort next door, which ended up being simply gorgeous and wonderful (even if we had to eat dirt for a couple of months to pay for it). The Iolani Palace, one of the top things we wanted to see, was closed when it was taken over by rebelling Hawaiian nationalists for just the few days we were there.  We also found the traffic around Honolulu nearly intolerable, but loved the North Shore. My daughter got a UTI and wouldn’t go in the water. Not a complete disaster, but definitely not a dream vacation. It’s not an island I would return to.

4. Hong Kong and Japan. It was hellishly hot when we were in Hong Kong, making it very challenging to do much walking. My husband became suddenly very ill when we were there. We arranged for a doctor through our hotel who diagnosed him with food poisoning. We missed our last day in the city due to the illness and then somehow got him on a plane to Tokyo. He slept the entire way and barely made it to the hotel. I have no idea how he got through customs and immigration with a fever. He recovered slowly (my daughter and I went out and about without him for a few days) and then became ill again on the plane ride home (a serious resistant infection that is believed to have begun with the misdiagnosed food poisoning). I spent most of the trip in a panic about what to do to help him or terrified of eating anything for fear of getting sick myself. The anxiety levels were intense. I also didn’t like most of the food I could eat (being gluten intolerant made it very challenging) since raw fish and cow stomachs are not my cup of tea. Japan was beautiful and there were many things I enjoyed but it’s just not my list for a return visit after everything we went through.

Given how much we have traveled, we are lucky to have had so few true disasters. There have been minor glitches and problems on other trips:

– A broken boat motor in the Finger Lakes

– A houseboat with a propellor that fell off in the middle of a lake in Ontario’s Kawarthas. We waited nervously for a tow as our boat drifted closer and closer to rocks. We spent our first night in a marina instead of anchored by an island as planned. I also managed to have a swimmer’s ear infection during this water vacation and was told not to get it wet.

– Various illnesses, including UTIs, colds, flus, sprained ankles (inside the Tower of Pisa), and mono across the world.

– Carsickness adventures with both children and a husband prone to seasickness.

– An engine that blew in our van on the way home from the Finger Lakes. We had to turn the heat on in August to pull the heat off the engine to get it home.

– Having our car parked in on all sides at the Versailles parking lot and being trapped for an hour or so until someone left so we could get out. Couple this with a wait of about three hours to get into the palace and local police who merely laughed at our parked in predicament and it was a very unpleasant day.

– A hotel in Puerto Rico that was so far away from anything that we spent the entire time in the car

– A pent up emotional reaction to a family tragedy that finally hit me when we were away celebrating our anniversary and ruined a special night

What are your vacation disasters? Are there places you would never return?

Do you have nightmare vacation stories? Places you’ve been where you would never return? Trips that went so bad you just wanted to get home as fast as possible? I have a few disasters in my past. 1. Aruba. This trip might have been our biggest disaster. We had a 5 day trip planned, which … Read more

Plastic food store

Plastic food store

While there are magnificent and amazing things about Japan, I find that after our recent trip there, the things I keep thinking about are the small, little things that somehow add up to a huge cultural difference.

1. Plastic food. People in Japan are obsessed with plastic food. Many, many restaurants display plastic models of their dishes in the front window. Here in the States, you know never to eat anywhere that does this or even has a menu with photos, but it’s not true in Japan. There are also plastic food stores. Because you never know when you might need some.

2. Payment rituals. When you buy something in a store you are supposed to place your credit card, using two hands, onto a small tray by the register. The clerk then picks it up and bows and you’re supposed to bow back. It’s then placed back in the tray (with two hands) for you to pick up. If you pay with cash, the same ritual ensues.

Shopping in a department store in Tokyo

Shopping in a department store in Tokyo

3. Shopping requires assistance. Many stores have one item of each type on display. If you would like to buy it, a sales clerk must get you another one. It’s not a problem though since there are sales people everywhere, swarming in to offer assistance. You do have to be sure to examine the item that you are given so that you can make sure it is not defective or different from the item you indicated you wanted.

4. Washcloths everywhere.  Every time you dine in Japan, you are first presented with a white, warm, wet washcloth. In many instances you do not have a napkin and keep this for the entire meal. Even when you ride the bullet train you are given a packaged wet wipe even if you do not purchase food.

5. Fear of shoes. Don’t even think about coming into a restaurant, temple, shrine, or inn with your shoes on. And when you take your shoes off to enter, you must do so very carefully. Your shoes must never, ever touch the wooden floor (or god forbid, tatami mat) that signals the beginning of the premises and your shoeless feet must never, ever touch the tile, stone, or flooring you entered on. All of this leads to a very complex balancing act where you must remove a shoe and get that foot onto the wooden floor or mat  and then remove the other shoe and then get that foot up too, without losing your balance and touching the actual contaminated floor. If you make a mistake or forget and attempt to enter with your shoes on, the usually reticent Japanese will shout at you. We even had some hotel employees remove their shoes before coming into our room to deliver laundry or ice.

japanese toilet

Toilet with all the bells and whistles: heat, music, spray, dryer, automatic flush

6. Bathroom insanity. High tech Japanese toilets with music, sound effects, heated seats, water sprays and automatic flushes can be found everywhere, even in

Toilet slippers

Toilet slippers

train stations. Most of these toilets automatically begin making noise as soon as you sit on them, to disguise any sounds you might make. When you go to a restaurant or ryokan (traditional inn), there are toilet slippers you are expected to use in the bathrooms (since you have removed your shoes upon entry to the premises).  These are plastic leatherette slippers – the kind your great grandma used to wear. And yet public bathrooms have no soap, no towels, and no hand dryers.  Japanese women carry small washcloth sized towels (usually in crazy patterns) in their purses to dry their hands, but no one is using soap or hand sanitizer. Ever. Yet they are super concerned about your feet. There are many, many shops that just sell these small, brightly colored bathroom towels.

7. Get used to standing. Because we are fat, lazy, loud Americans, we are used to being able to plant our butts on a bench or chair often. In Japan there are almost no benches. We visited many parks and gardens where there was not a bench in sight. We had lunch one day at a busy department store food hall. They have no tables or benches. We were lucky to discover a few chairs in a corner so we could sit and eat. There are notes on the umbrella stands (see #8) warning people not to sit on them – because they are the ONLY possible place you might consider sitting.

8. Umbrella fear. When it rains in Japan, everyone carries a full-size umbrella. When the rain stops, they walk with it like a fun cane. No one – not a single person –

Umbrella stand in Nikko

Umbrella stand in Nikko

carries a fold up umbrella. Stores, restaurants, temples, and shrines have umbrella stands (some sporting signs warning people not to sit on them, because, as we saw, they collapse when a foolish tourist thinks they are a place to sit). They do not want your scary umbrella inside their restaurant or shop, even if it is folded up.

9. Overt politeness. While we certainly encountered a few people who were not friendly or were stone-faced and impenetrable, for the most part, the people we encountered were friendly and unfailingly courteous. I have never been anywhere before where everyone was so very formal and so very careful with their manners. It made me feel like a boorish American. We had a driver pick us up on time and nearly scrape the floor bowing as he apologized over and over for keeping us waiting. People who work in restaurants and shops are friendly and helpful and thank you profusely over and over while bowing many times. Even the gentlemen (and they were gentlemen) who worked in the ticket booths in the subways were professional, courteous, helpful and polite (I couldn’t help but compare them to subway workers in NYC – but there is no comparison). The train conductors who came through the cars to take your tickets would get to the end of the car, turn, and bow to the car before exiting.

10. Wrapping is an art. When you buy something in a shop in the States, it’s usually chucked into a plastic bag and handed to you. When you buy something in Japan, plan to stand there for hours and wait while it is packaged. Price tags are removed. Items are wrapped in tissue paper, foam paper, bubble wrap and usually boxed and then wrapped in wrapping paper. I even had one item wrapped in tissue, foam, bubble wrap, then boxed the then wrapped in bubble wrap again. Your item is then placed in a bag and the bag is sealed shut with a sticker or colorful tape. If it is raining, the bag is then covered with a special rain cover. Some stores provide seating so you can sit and wait while you purchase is packaged, because it is a lengthy and complex process.

harajuku

Harajuku girls in Japan

11. Buttoned up, until they’re not. When you walk through a train station during rush hour, everyone around you is wearing black, blue, and white. There is no other color on anybody in sight. The women are very buttoned up in high necked blouses and prim suits and dresses. You could hear a pin drop in the station even as the entire place is crawling with people. It’s like being in the middle of worker ants. Each is steadfastedly and silently intent on its own journey. No one speaks. No one laughs. No one makes any noise. The only sound is the rhythmic movement of feet. It’s eerie. But on the weekend these same people don crazy costumes and bright gaudy, weird clothes to go out and about. It’s almost like they have to rebel on the weekends against the very serious and straight-laced working culture .

 

While there are magnificent and amazing things about Japan, I find that after our recent trip there, the things I keep thinking about are the small, little things that somehow add up to a huge cultural difference. 1. Plastic food. People in Japan are obsessed with plastic food. Many, many restaurants display plastic models of … Read more

rice pudding barLooking for a fun new dessert option for your next party? Try a rice pudding bar. This is more interesting than a make your own sundae bar, but requires very little extra work.

For the rice pudding (serves 8):

7 cups whole milk

1 cup arborio rice

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1/3 cup sugar

Add the rice and milk to a saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium low, stirring regularly, until the rice is cooked and the mixture is very thick (about 20 minutes). Stir in the sugar and vanilla and cook another two minutes. Pour into a large bowl and refrigerate at least 6 hours.

 

You can use whatever toppings you would like for your rice pudding bar, but here’s what I used.

Toppings

1 quart of strawberries, stems removed and sliced, mixed with 1 tablespoon of sugar and allowed to rest an hour to become juicy

Chopped toasted almonds

Cinnamon sugar (1/4 cup sugar mixed with 2 teaspoons cinnamon)

Whipped cream

Chocolate sauce

 

Other ideas you might consider for toppings:

Blueberries or other berries

Caramel sauce

Honey

Crushed hard candy

M&Ms

Sliced bananas

Vanilla sugar

Nutmeg sugar

Pumpkin pie spice

Other chopped nuts

 

This was a big hit and something I’ll be making again.

Looking for a fun new dessert option for your next party? Try a rice pudding bar. This is more interesting than a make your own sundae bar, but requires very little extra work. For the rice pudding (serves 8): 7 cups whole milk 1 cup arborio rice 2 teaspoons vanilla extract 1/3 cup sugar Add … Read more

We’ve always stayed at big resorts when visiting the Caribbean. When planning our trip to St. Lucia, I wasn’t satisfied with the options. The nicer resorts are to the south, near the Pitons, but far away from a lot of the restaurants and attractions up north. Many

parking lot

of the resorts on this island do not have rooms close to the beach at all (at Sugar Bay you have to ride a cart to get down there. Hotel Chocolat isn’t even a waterfront property, nor is Jade Mountain: both take you to the beach by shuttle). We ended up choosing to stay at Villa Beach Cottages, on Choc Bay. It looked too good to be true from the photos on their web site, but I was pleased in general.

Location

Location is everything and this mini-resort lived up to its photos. It’s located on the main road between Rodney Bay and Castries. I was a little nervous when I realized our hotel was on this busy four-lane highway. The driveway was hard to find: we missed it once and had to circle back. Once you find it, you pull in and suddenly you are in a quiet retreat. You don’t know the road is there at all (and I still can’t believe this, but it was true). The parking lot is small and right next to the two story villas. The villas are simply charming, done in a Victorian gingerbread style. They’re pastel colored and landscaped with lush vegetation and flowers. The grounds are small, but incredibly well-kept.

The villas all look out over the wooden deck and pool area to the beach below and it is a stunning view. The ocean is just outside your window and if your window is open, you can hear the waves (which is a dream come true for me). Choc Bay is a lovely long beach. To the right is simply open beach with undeveloped land. A small restaurant is directly next door but

The beach

The beach

beyond that is just vacant land. Locals use some of it as a park, with a volleyball net set up. To the left is another empty lot where there was some weed smoking and partying happening at night. Beyond that is the Sandals resort. The beach is incredibly soft sand with warm, calm water. We took lots of long, relaxing walks on the beach.

Castries is about a 5 minute drive to the south and Rodney Bay is about a 10 minute drive north. There is a grocery store almost across the street, with a much nicer one in Rodney Bay. There were lots of great restaurants in the area. We did take a day trip down to the Pitons and it really is an entire day to get there, do some things, and get back. There is no direct and easy way to get there, with narrow, steep, winding roads through the hills. You do need to select one area of the island and just stay there because you can’t simply pop

View from the balcony

View from the balcony

down south for dinner one night.

 

Our Room

We were traveling with our adult daughter and were pleased to rent a unit with two bedrooms, two baths, and a kitchen

Master bedroom balcony

Master bedroom balcony

and living area. We generally stay in full service hotels in the Caribbean and have never had a self-catering situation but we found it quite handy. We made our own breakfasts and lunches which made hanging around and enjoying the beach easy. We stayed on the second floor. All the units face the water and all have a balcony that looks out to the beach. The second floor was definitely the best choice here because you could see the beach. First floor units open up to the pool area and you

Master bedroom

Master bedroom

have people walking past you as you sit on your porch.

The bedrooms were comfortable. The master bedroom opens to the balcony and the beach and we left our window open at night to hear those waves. I do wish the French doors to the balcony had drapes or blinds you could open. They didn’t move and they only way to see the view was to open the doors, and then the air conditioning was overpowered. The bathrooms were large with no counter space. The towels were a bit

Master bath

threadbare. The other bedroom felt a bit dark because it faced the parking lot and was in the shade of a giant banyan tree.

The kitchen and dining area was fine. We could have used a few more eating utensils – 4 of each kind was a bit skimpy. But the kitchen had sufficient plates and pans to cook. The dining table was large and beautiful. The sitting area left something to be desired. An old couch and chair that had been recovered were uncomfortable and musty. The living area was dark and had no air conditioning (each bedroom had its own wall unit). We spent almost no time in here though. We ate all our meals on the balcony and used this room only for cooking.

IMG_1421Before we arrived, I inquired about having some basic food supplies placed in the unit before our arrival, since the web site said this was an option. I merely asked what was offered, and the cost. I never said I wanted it. When we arrived, the food was in our refrigerator. We ended up using it and it was fine, but I would have been displeased to be charged for this if I had not asked for and did not use it.

The balcony had a table and four chairs, as well as two loungers. There were some birds making a nest in a nearby light fixture so we enjoyed watching them, but had to shoo them away from our food.

Our building was a quad – there were four units (2 up and 2 down), so there was another family right next to us, and we could hear them when on the balcony. The balcony has a screen though so there is some privacy. On our other side was a walkway that separated us from another building.

We had wifi but it was spotty and the connection was pretty slow. We never actually turned the TV on so I’m not sure what channels were available.

The Facilities

The resort has two small pools. One is small and one is just about the size of a bathtub. The outside common area is quite small, but

Second bedroom

Second bedroom

there was a hammock, lounge chairs, and two gazebos. We visited in April, which is a shoulder season, so the resort was practically empty. There were at most 3-4 other families there. This resort has 20 units. If all the units were full, it would be quite crowded in this area and I don’t think there would be enough

Kitchen and dining space

Kitchen and dining space

lounge chairs (they may have had extras in storage though).

This is a perfect place for families with small children, because the area is small and enclosed – there are even gates on the stairs to the beach. You could let your kids run, and if you had a first floor villa, you could sit on your porch and just watch them. The smaller pool is perfect for small kids. And staying in a unit with a kitchen is an absolute must when you have small children, so this would be perfect.

We swam in the larger pool which was fine with just us, but once anyone else got in, it was crowded. If kids were splashing, it was unusable. There was a hot tub, but there seemed to be some confusion about it. There were no visible controls to turn it on. Twice we tried to use it and asked for help. The controls

The stocked fridge

The stocked fridge

are under the deck below it. The first time it was turned on for us. The second time we were told it would go on in 15 minutes, but it never did.

Sitting area

Sitting area

Lounge chairs can be taken down the steps to the beach and we spent a lot of time enjoying the empty beach. We were approached only once by someone trying to sell us something, but there was also a guy who regularly walked up and down the beach carrying a glass jar of pot, clearly available for purchase.

Massages are available by reservation in the gazebos, but I wouldn’t recommend it since we had a complete view of them from our balcony and there is little privacy.

The resort has no restaurant or bar, but they can arrange for a private chef to cook for you. I cannot go to the Caribbean without having a virgin strawberry daiquiri on the beach, but fortunately there was a blender in our kitchen and I was able to make my own.

The Staff

The staff was minimally friendly upon our arrival. Our room was still being cleaned when we got there. We were shown to our room, then told that the manager wanted to personally welcome us the next day and that we needed to schedule a time to do this. I was not about to schedule a meeting on my first day of vacation, so we just ignored this. We were then hunted down the next day and asked to come meet him. He was busy then though and we were told they would call us

The larger pool

The larger pool

to come over when he was available. Again, this is not exactly my idea of a relaxing vacation. It almost seemed like there

The beach

The beach

was going to be a sales pitch. Finally my husband went and met him and he just wanted to give us a map and talk about where to go and what to see and where to eat. This would have been great information to get when we arrived, but not really something we wanted to take half an hour for in our first day on the island. It would be so much more useful to write all of this down and give guests a brochure rather than spouting it all out and hoping they remember it.

Our room was cleaned the first day of our stay but never again and no one asked us if we wanted housekeeping services. Towels were never replaced. There is a small convenience store on the property, but a sign says you must ask the front desk to open it, so we never bothered. I can’t imagine anyone does. The property has two security guards on duty all night. One stays in the parking lot and one mostly hangs out in a gazebo, but regularly walks the property. It felt very secure.

Overall we were very pleased with this resort, but I think it would be a very different experience in high season if every unit was occupied. The beach and pool areas

Reception

Reception

would be very, very crowded and I don’t think they would have enough parking. I loved its location directly on the beach and we enjoyed having a large two bedroom unit with a kitchen. I highly recommend it but caution about what it could be like in high season.

We’ve always stayed at big resorts when visiting the Caribbean. When planning our trip to St. Lucia, I wasn’t satisfied with the options. The nicer resorts are to the south, near the Pitons, but far away from a lot of the restaurants and attractions up north. Many of the resorts on this island do not … Read more

On Puppy Time

Posted by Brette in Life

Pelly Apr 2015I haven’t been posting a lot lately because of this gorgeous little face. Our beautiful boy Percy left us on Easter. Within a couple of weeks, we brought home Pellinore (Pelly) who is the sweetest girl in the world. However, it’s been a bit challenging. She came home at 8 weeks and was not sleeping through the night. We have just now reached the point where she is making it through the night so I’m starting to feel human. My work-life balance went out the window as well since sitting in my office for most of the day is not fun for a puppy, so I’m spending a lot of time outside or playing with toys. When I am in the office, I’m dealing with pressing things and trying to keep my head above water.

She loves to be in the kitchen when I am cooking and I’m hoping to get back to some more creative cooking now that I’m not a sleep-deprived zombie most of the time.

We’re doing well with house training and she’s a very smart dog – already learning the rules and anticipating what I’m doing. But we’re back to baby gates in the doorways, crates in the bedroom and kitchen, all my plants picked up, and constant watchfulness to be sure nothing gets chewed.

It’s been 10 years since we had a puppy this young and it has definitely been a re-learning experience in so many ways. But we love her to pieces and are glad she is part of our family.

I haven’t been posting a lot lately because of this gorgeous little face. Our beautiful boy Percy left us on Easter. Within a couple of weeks, we brought home Pellinore (Pelly) who is the sweetest girl in the world. However, it’s been a bit challenging. She came home at 8 weeks and was not sleeping … Read more

no