A Trip to Crane Beach with Holly and Arthur (our new dog!)

Two weeks ago we expanded our family to include a new furry friend - Arthur!  We rescued Arthur through Lucky Lab Rescue and he has been a wonderful addition.  He is just over a year old and may be the sweetest boy around.  We decided to rescue a dog because we did not really want a puppy (although they are available through rescues as well) and there are so many wonderful dogs looking for their forever homes that we knew we would find the perfect fit.

Meet Arthur!

This past weekend we made it up to Crane Beach for the last doggie-friendly weekend (the season ends the last day of March).  After last year, we were looking forward to a day with a bit less wind and some warmer temps; luckily Saturday had both.  The beach had a bunch of people walking with their K9 companions - this was a perfect Easter weekend adventure.

Cranberry, Caramelized Onion & Cheese Spread

For me, coming up with a delicious appetizer can be difficult, especially when that is the one thing you are in charge of bringing to a dinner.  There are times when I enjoy the appetizers more than the meal itself!  Digging into his binder of recipes that he collected, Nick pulled out a few appetizers that sounded yummy and would travel well.  Simple enough, right?  My go-to of nice cheeses just was not going to cut it.

Dip!

This was something we had to bring for a meal in the late fall, and we happened to have some cranberries on hand from our CSA in the freezer, so that made the decision for which appetizer to bring a little easier.  To begin, Nick caramelized some onions nice and slowly.  Caramelized onions done the right way always have such a lovely golden color - definitely not something you can rush.

Ad Hoc - Thomas Keller Napa Valley

When you think about food in Napa Valley, it's hard not to immediately think of Thomas Keller and the many restaurants he has in Yountville.  After deciding we were not ready to spend the money on an evening at French Laundry (too much wine to buy and other food to eat!), we made reservations at Keller's ad hoc.  ad hoc started as a temporary restaurant for the purposes of experimenting with different foods and dishes, but after such an amazing response from the guests, ad hoc became a permanent fixture in Yountville.  Open Thursday through Monday, there is a set four course tasting menu (about $50/person) that changes daily with some optional supplemental dishes (about $15).  One constant is the fried chicken served on Mondays - while we did not get to indulge, from what I hear it's pretty outstanding!

Bread!

After being seated, our server quickly brought us some bread.  I will say, I was not impressed with our server - I felt a bit rushed.  While the menu is a given, a little extra time and explanation would have gone a long way.  When we ordered, he basically only wanted to know if we wanted the wine pairing (I did) and if we wanted the supplemental side dish that evening (we did) and he was gone.  The rest of the staff - the runners and bussers - did not give off this same feeling and were more accommodating.

Bottega - Italian Cuisine in Napa

After biking our way through Calistoga and tasting plenty of wines during the day, we had a little recovery time before heading down to Yountville in time for our reservations at Michael Chiarello's Bottega.  When asking for Napa recommendations, this was one of Meghan's.  She knows California wine country well, and this was one of her top picks.

We arrived at Bottega a bit early for our reservation and were welcomed out onto their heated patio area for a drink.  There was a party next to us that had a great day tasting (including getting kicked out of a vineyard), and before we knew it they were joined by Top Chef alum Mike Isabella!  He is the blurry guy in the back of the photo below - I tried not to be too stalkerish, hence the bad photo!  He was in town tasting wines for his restaurants - not a bad way to travel!  After enjoying our cocktail and some very obvious people watching, our table was ready and we headed on in.

Cocktails (and Mike Isabella!)

JoLe - Tasting Menu in Calistoga

Traveling back in time to our visit Napa Valley, this week we will be discussing not just the wine but also the food!  Wine country has plenty of restaurants showcasing California cuisine at its best.  The hard part is selecting which restaurants to sample!  After heading up to Calistoga and settling into our hotel, we poked around downtown Calistoga and picked up our bikes for the next days' excursion.  While down there, we checked out a few of the restaurants suggested by the travel websites and ultimately settled on JoLe.

The restaurant is clean and contemporary with a wood fire grill working all night making bread and other deliciousness.  The husband and wife team of Matt and Sonjia Spector behind JoLe source the majority of their food from local farms and showcase the food each evening via a menu so wonderful and diverse that it was difficult to make any sort of decision!  Luckily, JoLe offers four, five or six course tasting menus with an optional wine pairing.  Nick and I both opted for the tasting menu, and I added the wine pairing - when in Rome, right?!  This way, we could split all the dishes and get the most out of our JoLe experience.  The following is a sampling of the amazing food we had.

Corn Fritter

Swordfish Dinner

Recently Nick and I have been buying the frozen filets or "steak" cuts of fish at the market that we can easily keep in the freezer until the spirit moves us.  Fish is always such a great protein option, especially when we get stuck in our chicken rut that so easily can happen.  I will be the first to say I have not gotten very adventurous with fish yet.  Maybe that will be one of my goals this summer, since fish to me is warmer weather food!

Swordfish Dinner

My mom always used to make a delicious, quick swordfish dinner.  The first time I went to buy some fish at Deluca's (so, obviously, this is going WAY back), when I mentioned using mayo the deli guy did not understand.  After a two minute phone call with my mom to make sure I was not making things up, she explained her swordfish making method.  Beware, it may look or sound weird, but its good!