After a 7 hour drive from San Diego, we arrived at the Zion National Park visitor center. Made a reservation for a ranger tour and hike tomorrow (didn't tell Dr. C. the hiking part :0) and settled in at the hotel.
Gorgeous views everywhere you look! So, what's for dinner?--oops, don't ask---oh, OK, I'll tell you--we ate at the Spotted Dog Cafe next door to the hotel, and I'll just say that it wasn't my best meal. Sometimes chefs try to be more than they are, and nothing really worked here. I ordered something that even the novice chef should be able to cook well ...... in a slow cooker.
Boeuf bourguignon--OK, so there is an ORCHID on my FRENCH stew---that should have been the tip off, but then I was trying to figure out if those were actually CANNED mushrooms, or just overcooked mushrooms---I think they were the latter (I kept telling myself that every time I picked one up on the fork) The potatoes were microwaved before they went in, so they didn't soak up much of the sauce--a good thing, because it was ghastly---someones idea of a bad joke--it had cloves and allspice in it---trust me it wasn't even the remote bit tasty, just something you would push around on your plate.
I'm a polite guest, I go someplace, I'm not sending this back, because chances are whoever is out in the kitchen can't do much better with anything else on the menu and the special was seared Ahi tuna which was frightening to me, as I was trying to eat something any cook could put together. If you want a great recipe for this dish, you can go here
or here or here. Since I'm on the road I won't be posting recipes, but when we return will try to document what goes into this dish that Julia Child once called the greatest stew known to mankind --it's certainly not in Springdale, Utah, that's for sure!
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.
