CHECK OUT MY PINTEREST BOARD OF CALIFORNIA PARKS FEBRUARY 2012

I love social media in its many forms and Pinterest is my latest account.  I created a California Parks board with photos of California's most inspiring public lands (hence the generic "parks" because "California's Public Lands" sounded a little dry).  I'm pleased to use photos from local photographers in Yosemite and other spectacular shots I find on the web.  If you know of a place on the web harboring photos of California that others should not miss, send the link my way so I can share on Pinterest.  That's what social media is all about. Check out my Pinterest page here.

NOM, NOM, NOM: CHEFS' HOLIDAYS DINNER AT THE AHWAHNEE! JANUARY 2012

Green Papaya Salad with Grilled Shrimp

Besides skiing at Badger Pass, ice skating at the Curry Village Ice Rink and shopping at the Curry Village Craft Bazaar, one of the highlights of winter in Yosemite is the Chefs' Holidays food extravaganza at the Ahwahnee Hotel.  Thanks to our friends Joe and Christy, we had the singular delight of attending the gala dinner prepared by sustainable seafood chef Rick Moonen.  There's nothing like sharing excellent food and wine with friends at a cozily lit table in the Ahwahnee's venerable old dining room on a cold winter's night.  We started off the evening with the superlative Green Papaya Salad above, accompanied by champagne (note the little 'c') and incredibly, the food got better and better as the evening progressed!

Christy and JoeI'm fairly certain that all Chefs' Holiday dinners are excellent.  After all, chefs from around the country descend on the Ahwahnee every winter to demonstrate their knowledge and skills to an appreciative audience about the joys of food and cooking.  Though the dinner is not inexpensive, it's worth every penny and you can augment your experience by attending free cooking demonstrations  (read: free food samples!) by the chefs designated for each holiday session.  And did I mention that each dinner course is accompanied by carefully selected wines?  Chef Rick did us a favor by choosing a crop of lovely California wines to savor with our seafood.  After Papaya Salad, everyone at the table lost their minds over the Arctic Char.  The cucumber/horseradish flavors sent the perfectly cooked fish over the moon as far as we were concerned.  By the time the Alaskan Black Cod arrived and was promptly consumed, Ted exclaimed that this was the best meal he had ever eaten.  When Ted says "best meal ever", he is of course referring to a subset of meals cooked outside of our home.  But still, high praise indeed.  No photo of the cod as I was halfway through when I realized I missed the photo op.  Too busy eating.  This also may have been my best meal ever as in addition to preferring seafood over just about anything, I like me some venison.  And it should always be prepared like this with onions, mushroms and brussels sprouts - perfect!

Applewood Smoked Arctic Char

Venison with Pear ButterChef Rick's current venture is RM Seafood in Las Vegas and his efforts to endorse sustainable seafood purveyors for restaurants resulted in "Chef of the Year" status for 2010 by the Monterey Bay Aquarium's influential Seafood Watch program.  Accolades aside, the man has a way with preparing seafood that is a boon for the rest of us.  We talked with Chef Rick after dinner and he shared how much he enjoyed hiking around Yosemite during his visit.  I shared how fortunate I am in visiting Las Vegas next month where I would be enjoying this dinner all over again.

We ended dinner with Sticky Toffee Pudding (right!) and the evening with a table visit from Ahwahnee General Manager Brett Archer and Ahwahnee Executive Chef Percy Whatley.  Both exuded enthusiasm for the dinner and the Chefs' Holidays event in general, as they should.  Both have had a hand in creating an exceptional dining experience enhanced by it's national park setting.  The Ahwahnee team and it's guest chefs are making winters bright in Yosemite National Park.

Michelle and Chef Rick Moonen

Brett and Ted

Did I mention there was a lot of wine?Junket Ratings:

Chefs' Holidays at the Ahwahnee: Junk in the Trunk!

HOME: HAPPY WINTER SOLSTICE FROM TIOGA PASS! DECEMBER 2011

As Yosemite dwellers, we don't always have vehicle access to the high country, particularly in the winter.  So unless you're slogging it up switchbacks prepared for skiing and snow camping, you say sayonara to the high mountain passes from fall until spring.  Unless of course, the snow doesn't show.  So far this year, snowfall has been almost nonexistent and the roads are being kept open by NPS.  And the people who live here are very, very excited.  Tioga Pass is the Sierra Nevada's highest at nearly 10,000 feet, so even when there isn't snow in December, the groundwater is freezing.  And the Tioga Road is home to three alpine lakes that provide spectacular landscapes for ice skating: Tenaya Lake in Yosemite and Tioga and Ellery Lakes just outside the park in the Inyo National Forest.  We took a trip over the pass two weeks ago and visited the hot springs outside Mammoth Lakes.  Since then I've been inundated with friends' photos and videos of high country skating expressing the joy of accessing Tioga Pass so late in the year.  And since this is the season of joy, I thought I'd pass some of it along to you.

My friend Beth took the three photos above, wrote a great article about driving Tioga Pass in December at National Parks Traveler, and you can hear about her experience as well as about the current climatic conditions in California that are causing us to have such a snow free holiday season on KQED public radio:

Chris Falkenstein shared his video of skating on Tenaya Lake:

My friend Kristal Leonard (Isn't That Beautiful Photography) takes incredible photos of the park in any season:

And the Yosemite Winter Club made to Tenaya Lake for some real old-fashioned ice hockey:

Photo by Kirstie KariSince Ted's knee is not 100% and I now have a bum foot, our trip over Tioga Pass involved admiring frozen lakes and waterfalls from afar (though Ted did try a little skating on Tioga Lake), and heading over the pass to search for hot springs near Mammoth Lakes.  Home to legendary skiing on Mammoth Mountain, Mammoth Lakes also offers common and not-so-common benefits of great ski towns: good restaurants and natural hot springs.  We experienced two great hot springs under moonlight and sunlight and shared dinner with friends Christy and Joe at one good restaurant.  Just southeast of Mammoth Lakes is the Hot Creek Geological Site, one of many hot springs located in the geologicaly active Long Valley Caldera.  Administered by the Forest Service, Hot Creek is not for bathing, unlike the myriad other springs in the area built up with stone and concrete pools and adjustable water sources.  Not commercially developed, volunteers maintain these pools and ask that the sites be respected and kept clean by all users.  We visited the Shepherd Hot Spring by day and the Hot Tub spring by evening under a full moon and enjoyed both pools with their incredible views of the Sierra Nevada in California and the White Mountains of Nevada.

Frozen waterfall next Mariuolumne Dome

Frozen water on Tioga Road

Ted at Shepherd Hot Spring

Hot springs grow bacterial mats that give them beautiful colors

The pool at Shepherd Hot Spring

Sunset on the White Mountains

The Hot Tub spring looking east toward the White Mountains

The Hot Tub spring looking west toward the Sierra NevadaWe basked in the sunshine at Shepherd Hot Spring while soaking our tootsies in this seriously hot pool of water.  These maintained tubs have water pipes that allow you to adjust the flow of water into the pool, which also allows you to control the temperature to an extent.  Four of us soaked comfortably while our dogs tooled around the area sniffing the grasses.  The views are expansive and we even had the pool to ourselves on this December day (though we saw campers and naked hippies here earlier).  Ted and I spent some time after dark in The Hot Tub spring watching the full moon rise over the White Mountains which we also enjoyed exclusively.  To find these springs, we used two sources:  Touring California and Nevada Hot Springs from Falcon Guides (see below) and the HotWaterSlaughter website that contains photos and directions to hot springs all over the western US.

After a relaxing evening soak, Ted and I met Christy and Joe at Slocum's Grill & Bar in Mammoth Lakes for dinner.  We had a great dining experience with the excellent company of good friends and I even got to eat snails - because I love me some escargot.  We shared a Goat Cheese Bruschetta and the Escargot a la Slocum's, both excellent, and I was quite pleased with Seafood Spaghetti, a Caesar Salad and a pre-dinner cocktail Martini (very dirty).  It wasn't my time to blog, but I know everyone enjoyed the dishes that were absolutely heaped on our corner table with culinary goodness and the service was swell.  All photos below from Slocum's.

Not bad for December weekend in the Sierra that didn't involve snow and skiing.  As I write this, the Tioga Road is currently open and ready for your winter adventure, but you should check the Yosemite National Park road conditions for yourself at 209-372-0200 before you go.

Junket Ratings:

Slocum's Grill & Bar: Junk-O-Rama

TRAVEL RETROSPECTIVE: PALM SPRINGS IN THE SUMMER JULY 2009

Sorry, none of that predictable fall color travel blathering this month (see last year's post here).  Actually no travel this month at all so it's time to relive my travel glory days in the great state of California.  For my 40th birthday I chose to go where all the old people go: Palm Springs.  But before you get all down on my choice of venue for the gracefully aging, remember that Palm Springs is also where all the gay and retro hipster people go too, so it's got a lot to offer.  Personally, I'm a mid-century modern kind of girl so desert modern architecture is what I yearned for with the added bonus of great outdoor opportunities for the Outdoor Guy (husband Ted).  We also embraced low season in July where it's 115 degrees in the shade and got a great deal on a swanky room at the coolest hotel with a saltwater pool.  But on the way we stopped at the casino, the outlet mall, and Hadley's for the requisite date shake.

From http://coolshots.blogspot.com/

From http://ironingboardcollective.wordpress.com/From http://www.homeofourfathers.com

From Saveur.comThe Palm Springs visit pre-dates my status as California's best blogger, so I didn't spend any time annoying Ted by insisting on photos before consuming any food purchases.  Instead, I have turned to my fellow bloggers to steal their great photos of food in the Palm Springs area (attractions too).  Thanks, Bleeps! (That's a shout out to "blogging peeps" not masking the fact that I used derisive language).

Anyone traveling to Palm Springs from LA passes by the unfortunately named San Gorgonio Pass Wind Farm and most likely passes though the Morongo Casino  a.k.a. Morongo Casino Resort & Spa with it's funky architecture.  Ted never misses a chance to explore a casino food & beer deal, so we ended up leaving the car in the 100 degree shaded parking structure (better than 115 degrees!) to explore the Morongo food court.  A couple of beers, a spin around the casino floor and a hot dog later, we found ourselves back on the highway and lured into the Cabazon Outlets mall.  We found deals at the Adidas store and I admired from afar at the Le Creuset outlet.  It's not a large mall, but air-conditioned shopping is a valid daytime activity in the desert, so we did our best.  The last requisite stop before entering Palm Springs is the Hadley Fruit Orchard - home of the sinfully delicious Date Shake.  SoCal is known for date cultivation (see Death Valley post) and it's natural extension: vanilla ice cream with milk and bits of yummy, somewhat chocolatey, dates to create the world's tastiest milk shake.  Frosty goodness in the desert.  Cooled off and satiated, we rolled into Palm Springs to check into the Orbit In, one of the coolest hotels ever.

Along with a saline pool and free cocktail hour with sake-based Orbitinis, the Palm Springs retro mod decor made this the perfect desert getaway.  Discounted summer rates didn't detract from the service, though they did neglect to turn the A/C on before our arrival, resulting in a hot surprise in the Cha Cha Room where we stayed.  Once the air kicked in, we enjoyed the private patio and our room with the pink bathroom just steps from the pool.  The plan was simple: early to rise to use the hotels named cruiser bikes to survey the city's architecture or an outdoor adventure, spend the rest of the day in the pool, clean up for evening outings at local restaurants.  The plan worked like a charm.

Where Elvis and Priscilla spent their honeymoon from architecture.about.comThe Kaufmann House From designsigh.com

From www.oklahomamodern.us

From www.gowestusa.com

Learning to use the camera timer. Or not.

The best way to see the architecture of Palm Springs is to buy the map of the self-guided tour: A Map of Modern Palm Springs by the non-profit Palm Springs Modern Committee.  Don't care about architecture?  How about some desert adventure?  Just about an hour's drive away is Joshua Tree National Park, rockclimbing mecca and home to the tree on the cover of the U2 album (though not the exact tree - see Death Valley post again).  We took in sunrise at the park by leaving PS at 4:30 am to beat the heat and enjoy the desert before retiring to the pool for the afternoon.  I have to say that JTree has the coolest national park visitor center in the west.

 

You can also hie yourself out to the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway that ascends 2 and one half miles to an elevation of 8500 feet at the Mount San Jacinto State Park and Wilderness/Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains National Monument for a high desert experience that is some 25 degrees cooler - ahhh.  The World's Largest Rotating Tramcars follow Chino Canyon before providing a view of the entire Coachella Valley spread out before you like Auntie Entity's Bartertown, only with much more reliable electricity thanks to those windmills!  At this elevation, snow is also possible in the desert, though you have to settle for cross-country skiing and snowshoeing in the winter - no ski resorts in the park or monument.  Hiking trails and picnic areas make for a great day trip, and don't forget the restaurants and gift shops at Mountain Station - look for the small state park gift shop next to the concession shop to spend your dollars wisely.  I found this guy's video of the tramway where his low-key narration uses words like "exhilarating" "daredevil" and "lush" to describe his experience:

Coachella Valley from Mount San Jacinto State ParkPalm Springs is another of God's Waiting Room retirement cities, so the residents are generally loaded.  Rich people in proximity usually mean good restaurants, and PS has it's share.  We dined at two restaurants in town, Wang's in the Desert and Peppers Thai Cuisine, and ate birthday dinner in the neighboring town of Palm Desert at Pacifica seafood restaurant.  I remember raving about Peppers Thai, but since we have so little access to Thai food in our lives, we may have just been grateful.  I do remember ordering Crab Meat Rangoon and a Basil & Chili dish and it probably was the Seafood Combo.  The restaurant was right downtown on the main drag, but not located in one of those faux town square deals.  It had good atmosphere.  Wang's was a little further from our hotel (also right downtown), but not by much.  The food, service and location were all very, very good and we really enjoyed our dinner seated next to the indoor pond.  The locals seemed to be having a great time at the bar.  We drove to Palm Desert for Pacifica because I had a very specific seafood wish for my birthday dinner.  Located in the swank and kinda ugly shopping district, Pacifica was very busy and they took a minute to seat us, even with reservations.  However, all my reservations disappeared with the serving of many types of seafood delight.  Pacifica obviously changes the menu regularly but I'm certain I consumed scallops and some lovely dessert thing.  I believe Ted had the Sugar-Spiced Salmon which he quite liked.  During one evening's outing we also took advantage of Free Admission Thursdays at the Palm Springs Art Museum before heading off to dinner.

From wangsinthedesert.com

Palm Desert from cityofpalmdesert.org

The Sugar-Spiced Salmon at Pacifica from yelp.com

From mypalmsprings.comWe rolled out of Palm Springs tanner, a little fit, a little more cultured, well-fed and well-rested, perhaps overall everything you are looking for in a vacation destination.  I'm looking to go back anytime, as we didn't visit the ultra-cool and dog-friendly ACE Hotel, haven't seen Modernism Week or checked out Shields Date Gardens to see the film, "Romance and Sex Life of the Date".  So much to do in the desert.

Junket Ratings:

Morongo Casino Resort & Spa: Junkety-Junk-Junk

Cabazon Outlets: Junkety-Junk-Junk

Hadley Fruit Orchards: Junk-O-Rama

Orbit In: Junk in the Trunk!

Peppers Thai Cuisine: Junk-O-Rama

Wang's in the Desert: Junk-O-Rama

Pacifica Seafood Restaurant: Junk-O-Rama

Palm Springs Art Museum: Junk-O-Rama

HOME/FOOD: TOMATO FEST IN MARIPOSA SEPTEMBER 2011

Tomatoes are my favorite fruit masquerading as a vegetable.  They are also my favorite vegetable.  Actually, without tomatoes, I would be a lot less interested in food in general.  So when the Mariposa Agri-Nature Trail announced that this year's Weekend in the Country event would be tomato-themed, I put it on the calendar with a little gold star.  Last year I dragged Ted to the Weekend in the Country in the spring and learned a bit about our foothill neighbors that farm and ranch just outside of Yosemite. This year it was my friend Beth's turn to attend, though dragging was unnecessary as she likes tomatoes almost as much as me (and we both like food).  The Tomato Fest featured a tomato-eating contest, salsa contest, heirloom tomato tastings, the Mariposa Farmers Market, food & craft booths and gardening tips from Master Gardeners at the Mariposa Creekway California Native Plant Demonstration Garden.

And this was just downtown.  Otherwise you could visit local farms, ranches and vineyards as part of the event and check out their goods.  The Mariposa Agri-Nature Trail is comprised of individuals who raise agricultural products on their lands and individuals committed to the protection of natural heritage with the following goals:

• Promote and protect agriculture and help maintain the county’s rural character
• Educate others on agricultural activities and practices by sharing our first-hand experiences;
• Learn from each other how to live on and with the land without harming its productivity;
• Promote long-term stewardship of our agricultural legacy; and
• Develop respect and appreciation for the county’s natural resources and wildlife habitats.

Last year the farm/ranch/vineyard open house tour took place on both days of the event.  This year's open house took place on Saturday only, so Beth and I hung around downtown for lunch and market shopping on Sunday.  Otherwise we could've visited places like this:

Mount Bullion VineyardWe also noticed that the winner of the Tomato Fest Haiku Contest got big props and Beth was kind enough to gift me with a copy of the Tomato Fest cookbook: Tomato Fest Recipes from the Garden.  Chock full of tomato style and many other recipes, the book features contributions by locals to raise funds for the event.  If you make it to Mariposa, you can purchase a copy at Casto Oaks Fine Wine & Art at 5022 Hwy 140 (corner of 5th St/Hwy 140) in town.  Did I forget to mention child prodigy Belle the Animal Balloon Maker?

Though tomatoes are a good reason to travel anywhere, Mariposa is one of Yosemite's gateway towns, so many park visitors experience the charm of this small town in the Sierra Nevada foothills before reaching the park.  Mariposa is also home to a small collection of that California culinary staple, the mobile food truck, and a unit of the state park system, the California State Mining and Mineral Museum where you can ogle the gold found in them thar hills.

From www.menupix.com

Baja Tacos Truck

Al Pastor tacos from Sal's Taco Truck

From www.mineralmuseums.com

Whether you visit for the tomatoes, the bling or the majesty of Yosemite National Park, Mariposa is one of California's historic small towns that charms in any season.