Palm Springs -- Part 3

On our second to last day in Palm Springs, we took a drive to Joshua Tree National Park. Along the way is a large field full of wind turbines. It was quite impressive to see the sheer number of turbines.

I'm the type of person that enjoys going for a walk/hike, when there is a destination or goal in mind. When picking a hike in Joshua Tree National Park, 49 Palms Oasis sounded perfect because the goal is to get to an oasis filled with 49 palm trees (hence the name).


Here's the view of the parking lot after walking for about 10 minutes. See ya later soon-to-be-recalled Toyota!


I couldn't help looking out in amazement at this view. Sure beats going to work!


Along the path, you'll see various cacti.


Eventually, the 49 palms begin to appear in the distance.


Once you get to the palms, there are some large boulders to relax on.

If you sit there long and quietly enough, you'll see several birds. These Gambel Quail were beyond fascinating. At first, I thought they all had found worms and were carrying them around. Turns out, they just have a really funky beak.


Here's a Joshua Tree.

To be honest, I had only ever heard of Joshua Trees from the U2 album by the same name.


Speaking of U2 -- for those of you in the Ottawa-Gatineau area that are fans of U2 -- go check out U2 in 3D. It just started playing at The Museum of Civilization this past weekend.

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Giz arrived on our second to last day in Palm Springs and the four of us (me, R, Giz and Bugs Baba) went out to Al Dente for dinner.


The restaurant was dark, so most of my food shots didn't turn out. The only one that sort of turned out was our appetizer:


We all enjoyed our meals. They use a lot of roasted garlic in their dishes, which I love. Even baba was happy with her dish (a small miracle). The service was attentive, perhaps a bit overly serious. My only criticism would be that the courses felt rushed. I prefer to have some time to digest and socialize between courses. But, would recommend this restaurant.

Giz is coming back today! I'm sure she'll have a lot of her own stories about Palm Springs to share.

Culinary Olympics - A-M

Welcome to our participating culinary athletes and also to our worldwide friends visiting in the spirit of international peace and culinary brotherhood. Contributing bloggers are from all points of the globe and we hope you . enjoy the cultural experience of learning a little bit more about each others' cultures.

This roundup is being presented by both Val and Giz who have divided the countries alphabetically down the middle. They appear both on Equal Opportunity Kitchen and More Than Burnt Toast as well as Bloggeraid-Changing the Face of Famine.

AUSTRALIA

Cakelaw from Laws of the Kitchen introduces us to a typical Aussie dish from regional Queensland call Frangipani Pie. The pie is a pineapple custard, the colours mimicking the colours of the indigenous flower.


Will Work for Biltong , authored by Adele who lives just outside of Melbourn of has captured the essence of one of the finest treats in the universe. Lamingtons - oh goodness - in cupcaake form - just imagine a spongy cake layer, covered in chocolate and again in coconut. I made my cousin bring me some when she visited from Melbourne - so worth the calories. For those wondering what Biltong is -it's a form of beef jerky and maybe we could get Adele to make for us (nudge nudge)


CANADA

Dukkah Rubbed Salmon with Honey Tarragon Potatoes submitted by Psychgrad of Equal Opportunity Kitchen

What I loved is that the commentary for this entry addresses the diversity of Canada. I had to laugh when Psychgrad said "what would a real Canadian meal be without American ingredients?" Canada is well known for its plentiful supply of salmon and I suspect that Psychgrad will try every variation she can find. Each one is as interesting as the one before and now combine potatoes and the flavour of tarragon and mustard ... as Ina would say - what's not to love.

Val from More Than Burnt Toast tempts with a Canadian pioneering staple that are not only simple to make but not too hard to eat either. Every store sells them, every Christmas treat plate has some butter tarts on them -easy to make - freeze like a dream - a total winner.



FRANCE



Representing France, Hopie's Kitchen marches in with Blue Cheese Potatoes Au Gratin.

Raised in the U.S. and living and working in Paris, it's easy to understand the quandry of who to represent. Hopie found a way to to combine both countries and create her French inspired Blue Cheese Potatoes au Gratin. Hopie is one to use whatever ingredients she has available - it's see a "secret ingredient". You'll have to check her blog 'to see what it is in this recipe.

INDIA

Soma from Ecurry introduces us to Chicken Kolhapuri, Coming to us from South Western India, this gorgeous dish is one of those "go big or go home" type dishes packed with bold flavour and aromatic spices. It's a strong reminder of the winning attitude one needs to be an olympic athlete.
Deeba from Passionate about Baking delights us with her finesse in the baking department . Chicken Curry with Whole Spices cracks the whole spices (khade masale) to release aromas that Deeba says will have you "doing a jig" in sheer anticipation Just looking at the picture of this entry makes me say yes please.

ITALY


Marla from Bella Baita View baked Chocolate Ricotta Cheesecake Tarts. It's not hard to see the excitement and pride of Italians to see their athletes particiating and coming home with medals from the Olympics. These rich luscious tarts, a cup of espresso and a winning medal - what could be finer. Marla shares that the cheering was pretty loud when Italy won a medal.

LEBANON

Arlette of Phoenician Gourmet fixes her Lebanese Chicken Provencal while telling us about growing up in Lebanon. Who knew that skiing is a big sport in Lebanon? Although Arlette lives in Ontario, Canada and a happy Canadian, there's still a very strong connection to her birthplace. This great chicken dish, easy to prepare is also hearty and satisfying and often shared with friends and family.

MALAYSIA


Dharm, our Malaysian food athlete plays along with Ayam Goreng Sri Wangi (fragrant fried chicken) and teaches us so much Malayssian cuisine and landscape. All this in the face of Malaysia only participating in the summer olympics. So far, I've learned that Malaysian food is a mish mash of cultural influences. The ingredients in this dish burst with flavour and personality. If you like your food spicy - Dharm's the man!!!

FINAL REMINDER

The H2OPE for HAITI raffle is closing this weekend. Make a point of checking the fabulous prizes pictured on Cook Sister's site HERE and then click through to our First Giving Page.

The prizes are incredible and we need your help for this last push.

Palm Springs: Part 2

One time, not too long after moving to Ottawa, a friend came to visit. We knew we wanted a night out on the town, but didn't really know where to go. Ottawa has more pubs than bars, but we wanted to dance. So, we headed to the market (Byward Market) and went into the first place with good music and no cover charge.

The music was great, everyone was having a good time. But, something was different. There were a lot of women in the bar - about a 9 to 1 ratio. I distinctly remember commenting to my friend that I had never seen so many women with shaved heads before (not that every woman there shaved her head, mind you). After some more dancing, I said to my friend, "you know...I think we're in a lesbian bar".

Walking around Palm Springs was a bit of a similar experience (leave it to me to find similarity in the two). Everywhere we went, there were a lot of grey-haired people. I thought maybe we were hitting the senior hangouts. Turns out, there are just a lot of seniors in Palm Springs*.

But, spending time in an area that primarily attracts seniors is also designed for relaxation. Usually when we travel, R is chomping at the bit to get out and see every inch of the city....by foot. But this trip, our site-seeing had to be worked in to Baba time.

Baba time primarily entails trying to make Baba as comfortable as possible and ensure that her daily intake is more than a piece of toast an egg.
If Baba even so much as mentioned liking a particular type of food, it went on to the next day's menu.

One day I hit the jackpot when Baba said she wanted to make a turkey soup. She even gave me a list of ingredients.

Baba's Turkey Barley Soup

3-4 carrots
3-4 celery stocks
1 cup pearl barley
1 cup of lima beans
1 onion, cut in half
12 button or cremini mushrooms, sliced
turkey breast (or turkey wings)
5-6 cups water
salt and pepper

Soak lima beans over night in room temperature(?) water.

When preparing soup the next day: start with cleaning the turkey breasts.

Put in soup pot/dutch oven with water. Let come to a boal and reduce to slow bowl. Remove scum that forms. Chop carrots and celery, slice mushrooms.

Once turkey is closer to being cooked, add vegetables and beans. Shortly after, add in barley. Note: barley will obsorb a good amount of the water. Throughout, add salt and pepper, to taste.

Once soup is cooked, remove turkey meat from bone. Add meat back to the soup.

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Let me tell you about our next outing in Palm Springs...

We visited the Palm Springs Arial Tram:


You make your way up the world's largest rotating tram, going through 4 different climates. The 360 degree view was amazing.

As you get to the top of the mountain, the temperature drops a good 15 degrees Celcius.


With the recent rains in California, the mountain top got a whole pile of snow. This translated into about 3 feet (around 1 meter) of snow.


R and I walked through the snow trying to find a path on our map. Apparently there is a marked path up there. With some sort of building at the end of the path. Everyone was searching for this building.

Every turn you take is another beautiful picture.

Eventually, our shoes were wet enough to make our way back down.

That night, we went to Villagefest. Every Thursday evening, several blocks of Palm Canyon are blocked off for a street festival/market.

There were a lot of stands...A fair amount of repetition in products. Beautiful art that would never fit in a suitcase. Lots of jewellery, food, musicians, a tonne of dogs (not for sale) and some stands that simply entailed communicating with the community (Rabbis, Republicans, Democrats, police, baseball team, etc.).

I was hoping for more jarred or canned goods that could be easily transported. Not a tonne of variety in that department -- but, I was happy to find this stand:


Bistro Blends of Napa Valley carries a range of bistro oils, vingars, samplers, grill sauces and marinades. I bought a small bottle of their Barrel-Aged Heirloom Balsamic Vinegar. I'll have to make something with it soon. In fact, I think a Napa-themed meal is in order.

* No offense intended with the analogy -- just more observatory.