The hotel was quaint and offered afternoon tea service and evening bar service in the lobby. We may have been the youngest people staying there, but we had a great time.
Dinner at Simon Pearce was great. The restaurant is set inside the glass blowing studio and all flat ware, dinnerware and glass is made by Simon Pearce's people. We were lucky enough to get a table by the window so that we could look out over the river. There were lightening bugs and even a bat flying overhead so that was really exciting for me.
The place was kind of fancy so I didn't take any pics because I thought it would be tacky. Everyone was extremely happy with the food, I had a great version of chicken scallopini wit the most interesting tomato basil sauce I've ever seen. The sauce was bright orange!
We enjoyed a few bottles of wine from California winery Cline Cellars. The winery is close to Ridge in Sonoma so it was of course delicious and a price performer too. Since it was my "birthday" celebration the restaurant brought me a delicious Valrhona molten chocolate cake that said "Happy Birthday Stephanie."
The retail shop had some really great (and totally expensive) items. Karen commented that she wanted to buy something for Yeems and Sarah and I replied "why by for them when you can buy for yourself!" Then Peter took my purse away.
You can read about Simon Pearce here:
http://www.simonpearce.com
The next morning we went to the Longwood Gardens. They were so beautiful, I took so many pictures I ran out of space on my camera. When I got home I edited them and then some how lost them so I don't have any to show you. What a ding dong!
You can read about the Gardens here:
http://www.longwoodgardens.com
Both Simon Pearce and the gardens made the trip worth while.
That evening we attended Dan and Sarah's wedding at the Tyler Arboretum in Media, PA. Dave played guitar while everyone walked down the aisle and I had a great photo of him but of course that got lost too!
We all had a great time together.
My story would be so much better if I had pictures to show you. So I'll leave it at that, but I will share a recipe that I made last night for dinner.
It was really good and totally easy to make. The salad was inspired by this totally awesome cafe in Berkeley, CA. called Intermezzo. It's in Telegraph Ave near the college campus and there's always a line out the door to get in. Their salads and sandwiches are totally amazing. When I was in high school all the cute skater boys used to work there.
When I was working at Hudson Yards in NYC we used to make these pretty delicious pulled pork sandwiches on brioche rolls and sometimes potato rolls, they were dressed with BBQ sauce and smothered with cheddar cheese. Normally, I wouldn't order something like that in a restaurant, but when it's staring you in the face like that, who can resist!
I figure chicken is just as good pork and I always seem to have it on hand that's what I used this time with a little Swiss veggie cheese.
Pulled Chicken Sandwiches with Poppy seed salad
Serves 4
You will need:
Sandwiches
4 whole wheat hot dog buns
4 slices Swiss flavor (or cheddar) Veggie Cheese
4 boneless, skinless chicken breast tenderloins (or 2 +/- breasts)
*marinate your chicken in equal parts BBQ sauce and water for at least 2 hours before*
1 small yellow onion, diced small
BBQ sauce
Salad dressing: all measurements are approximate
1/3 cup honey
3 Tablespoons mayo (I used soy mayo)
3 Tablespoons cider vinegar or fruit vinegar
2 Tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 small shallot, minced
2 tsp. Dijon mustard
1 tsp. poppy seeds
salt and pepper to taste
Salad
1 avocado, diced
1 carrot, shredded, julienned, whatever you like
1/2 cucumber, peeled and sliced
1/3 cup toasted pine nuts
2 tablespoons Baco's
Your favorite lettuce (I used baby spinach, butter and radicchio)
Make salad dressing
combine all the ingredients and either whisk together or shake well in a container, chill
combine all salad ingredients in a bowl and chill (minus the dressing)
Chicken can be grilled (preferred) baked or pan fried.
Place onions in a pan (with a little oil if needed) and cook until they are translucent
On a flat surface take two forks and pull on the chicken so that it shreds. (pulled chicken!)
*I forgot to take a pic of this, sorry
Transfer the onions and pulled chicken to bowl and mix with a little BBQ sauce (to taste)
Place a generous amount of chicken in the hot buns, top with cheese and place under the broiler until the cheese has melted (or softened)
*I put my cheese on the bottom and toasted the buns then placed the chicken on top because I was being lazy.
drizzle with a little BBQ sauce, toss the salad and you're good to go!
If you have any chicken left over you can get all nice and white trash with it if you like and put in some mac and cheese. It's a goody!
1 comment:
you forgot to mention your party in the woods.
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