On The Road Again

I left San Diego last Saturday in a downpour, and arrived in Indiana to 80 degree weather.  It's been warm and spring has come to the Midwest, with people wearing shorts and flip flops in each place I've been.
On Friday night I drove to Bloomington, IN from Cincinnati to spend the weekend with our son.  Half way through the (normally) 2 1/2 hour trip, the heavens opened up and there was lightning, thunder, and torrential rains.  That was OK, I was in a heavy car, and the traffic was light, but all of a sudden the traffic came to a halt.  As we inched along, I couldn't see what was going on up ahead, as it was obvious, it was way ahead of where I was.  Then it happened..the traffic narrowed to one lane and in the midst of this torrential downpour I'm driving in 4-inches of hail that had fallen...like driving in icy snow, with rain pouring down---

the ruts in this hail had this California girl dreaming of the days in Boston when the plows didn't get out to the streets for days.  A 2 1/2 hour trip took 4 hours, but I'm safe and have spent the weekend with Ryan watching basketball.  My bracket it totally destroyed, but I love March and all the madness. 

 Wishing you a happy Sunday from the Midwest, I'll be back on Monday with some recipes. 

On the road again

I'm heading East to Cincinnati this morning, to teach in Springboro, OH at CooksWares, a great retail store with a cooking school.  Independent cooking school and retail shops compete in a market with Walmart, Costco, and Bed Bath and Beyond.  What you get from an independent is personalized service, and they stand behind everything they sell---don't like that pan?  Bring it in and we'll find just what you need. Too many of these stores have folded in the past few years, with the down turn in the economy, but the places I travel to are still going strong because they still believe the customer  is always right. 
I love all my students---they love to cook and they are a lot of fun--classes are always filled with lots of laughter, and the scraping of forks on the plates!
It's 25 degrees this morning, I'm getting an early start, and I'm hoping the bright sun will warm things up.
Have a great day!

West Bound and Down---Run for Home

Dr. C. and I left Durango, CO yesterday at 7:30 a.m. and got to Sedona, AZ at 2 p.m.

The temperature at 2 p.m. was 94 degrees, and we figured we would either stay stuck in an air conditioned hotel room for 5 hours til the sun went down or be stuck in the car another 7 hours and get to sleep in our own bed. 

We hit the road and arrived home at 9 p.m. The temperatures along the way were 113 in Phoenix, 104 in Yuma, AZ, and 96 degrees in El Centro, CA.  We arrived home to San Diego it was 62 degrees---now, that's more like it. 

If you haven't ever seen the movie Smokey and the Bandit, you have led a sheltered life; it's a classic starring Sally Field, Bert Reynolds, and Jerry Reed.  The humor is a little potty mouth, but the chases are pure genius, and Jackie Gleason (youngsters trust me when I say he was a comedic genius) as a Texas Highway patrolman. Although our ride wasn't this entertaining, we did have a great road trip, and I'll be back with more about it later, until then, enjoy this montage clip from one of my favorite movies. 

Road Trip!

Dr. C. and I haven't taken a road trip in a very long time; I'm wondering if we've forgotten how to do this!  Tomorrow we leave for Colorado to spend time with a friend and her family. We are making stops in Zion National Park, and Bryce Canyon, as well as passing through garden spots like Barstow, Mesquite and Cedar City---I've never been to Colorado except to change planes, so this should be an interesting trip and I'll try and post photos of the scenery and the food along the way.  I've been told there are bison burgers, and elk steaks (or is it the other way around?) in my future, so I'll let you know how that goes!

What does one pack for this week long trip?  More than you need, that's for sure--not sure why, but even though I know I'm not going to a third world country I always pack much more than I should. 

Today I got the snacks for the car: Tate's bake shop chocolate chip cookies, kettle corn (can't resist), Stonewall kitchens crackers (I think there are Asiago, cheddar and beer, and some sugar grahams)and hot chocolate mix, roasted salted Virginia peanuts, mocha hazelnut biscotti from Bread and Cie, and Dirty Kettle potato chips.  I think that will last us til we get to Vegas!  

We are leaving at dawn on Saturday, and I think we'll probably stop on the way for a lumber jack breakfast, and then head Northeast in a cholesterol/carb induced coma towards Utah, ending at Zion sometime in the afternoon. 

I'll update as often as I can on this trip and wish you all a great weekend.