Saturday Morning Walkers - August 24, 2008

Hi everyone,

Jack and I got back last night from our visit with Jeff in Anchorage. We had a wonderful visit and it was good to be with Jeff and meet some of his friends. We had some great meals and will report on those below in the Cooking and Dining Report. I missed our Saturday morning walk but it sounds like Christie planned a nice Louisville walk and ended up with breakfast at the Huckleberry Cafe on Main Street.

Book Report: pretty slim this week - I'm reading The Wise Heart by Jack Kornfield. I've mentioned this before, read bits and pieces and am finally making a point of reading it cover to cover. It is a fascinating study of Buddhist psychology that is the perfect follow-up to Eckhard Tolle's A New Earth.

Website of the Week - www.pensonfire.com - an online magazine of short fiction and poetry

Podcast of the Week - http://publicspeaker.quickanddirtytips.com/ - part of the wonderful quick and dirty tips series

Vocabulary Word of the Week - teacherage - we saw one of these in Girdwood, Alaska

teach·er·age
–noun a building serving as a combination school and living quarters, as on certain government reservations and in remote, sparsely settled areas.


Cooking and Dining Report:

Join us on a restaurant tour of Anchorage, Girdwood, and Talkeetna, Alaska:

Wednesday:
Breakfast at the Snow City Cafe in downtown Anchorage - terrific and busy place - great breakfasts - Jeff had Eggs Florentine, Jack had Blueberry Pancakes and I had my usual poached eggs, fruit and toast. www.snowcitycafe.com

Dinner at the Double Musky Inn in Girdwood - we had a wonderful dinner with Jeff's friends, Julia and Jon. Laila had recommended this restaurant and it exceeded our expectations. Girdwood is actually a ski resort town and the Double Musky is the perfect spot after a day of skiing. Of course, I would certainly skip the skiing and just go to dinner. We did ride the gondola to the top of the mountain and the view was breathtaking.
Jeff had crab-stuffed halibut, Jack had steak au poivre and I had a NY strip steak - everything was delicious! http://www.doublemuskyinn.com/framed.html

Thursday:After breakfast at the Downtown Deli near our hotel, we headed out for our road trip to Talkeetna - Gateway to Denali. This is a tiny, rustic little town that inspired the town in the television show, Northern Exposure.

We stopped at the Sheep Creek Lodge for lunch, just about 30 minutes outside of Talkeetna - Jeff had a roast beef sandwich with cream cheese horseradish and cheddar cheese and Jack and shared a great burger and a BLTA - avocado - yum!
We stayed at a fun little place called Main Street Suites http://www.talkeetnasuites.com/and ate dinner at the Wildflower Cafe just below our suite.
Jeff had an amazing Chef Salad which featured huge pieces of crabmeat, Jack had Chicken Alfredo with homemade and very fresh pasta and I had Baked-stuffed Halibut - outstanding!
http://www.talkeetnasuites.com/

Friday:
Before we left Talkeetna, we couldn't miss breakfast at The Roadhouse (another of Laila's recommendations) - fantastic breakfast - Jeff had Biscuits and Gravy, Jack had Sourdough Blueberry Pancakes and I had Scrambled Eggs with homefries and toast from their homemade bread.

Back in Anchorage, we had pizza at the Moose Tooth - in addition to our pizza, we all shared a very good Caesar Salad and tasted some of Jeff's Hungarian Mushroom Soup - really tasty!

Dinner on our last night was quite lovely. We went to Sacks Cafe and Restaurant, specializing in new American eclectic cuisine. Jeff saw several of his friends, a couple who work there and others who were also dining there.
We shared a beautiful appetizer - a platter with baked brie, served with marsala-poached apricots, candied walnuts, melon, apples and sliced baguettes - it was a gorgeous presentation and a really nice combination of flavors. Jack also had Alaska oysters
Jeff had the DUCK BREAST SALAD – pan seared – field greens, grape tomatoes, cambozola cheese, candied almonds, kahlua poached bartlett pears, cider dijon vinaigrette
Jack had the FILET OF BEEF – grilled – luv rub crust – mashed yellow potatoes, roasted portabello mushroom, grilled asparagus, rosemary port reduction, cambozola cheese
I had FRESH ALASKAN HALIBUT – oven roasted – fresh herb lemon crust, artichoke heart & caper relish, orzo pasta & spinach salad, roasted tomato crème, prosciutto wrapped asparagus
Everything was beautifully prepared and presented.

Well, that's our food tour of Anchorage/Girdwood/Talkeetna - if you ever get to Anchorage, be sure to try some of these spots and don't forget, Jeff works at the very popular Glacier Brewhouse - http://www.glacierbrewhouse.com/

Quote of the Week:

Food is so primal, so essential a part of our lives, often the mere sharing of recipes with strangers turns them into good friends. That's why I love this community. ~Jasmine Heiler, about recipezaar.com

Have a great week - enjoy watching the Convention!

Love,
Susan