{Hotel Tour} Hilton Montreal Bonaventure

At the end of August, derryX and I spent a weekend in Montreal. The basic purpose of our trip was to eat dinner at Garde Manger. I won’t get into the details of our trip because you can read derryX’s three part recap of our trip but, I will say it was totally worth it. The food was delicious and I’m still dreaming about lobster poutine.

While we were in Montreal we stayed at the beautiful Hilton Montreal Bonaventure. The hotel is conveniently located in the city of Montreal and is connected to the underground city which has great shopping and some nice looking quick eats.

We stayed in a king superior room with a garden view. It was a little more expensive than a normal king room but, it was bigger and had a nice view. The setup of the hotel is a bit strange. I think it is actually only 2 floors but it is the top 2 floors of the convention center. It’s a huge square with a rooftop pool and garden. Our room was spacious and minimally decorated.

Our super comfy King bed

The view of the rooftop garden. There was a pond behind this that had some visiting swans and ducks.

I love a brightly lite bathroom with great amenities.

A full view of the garden. The hotel kind of centers around this and the pool on the other side.

Finally, I leave you with this. This dial was in the bathroom on the outlet. It didn’t seem to control anything in the room. It was strange.

Inspiration from Lauren Conrad

Do something that you love, surround yourself with people you trust, learn from your mistakes, work hard, and don’t let other people’s opinions of you become your limitations.

(via)

It shouldn’t be a secret that I’m a fan of Lauren Conrad. Not a super fan or anything but, I like her style, business sense and (what I’ve seen of) her personality. So, while catching up on my LC reading, I found this wonderful quote at the end of her final post for Forbes Life. I think it’s a great reminder for every day life and working towards your dreams. The best part though, is the reminder to not let others limit you. You know your life better than anyone else and because of that, you shouldn’t let other people decide what to do with it.

 

Tags: Advice, Inspiration, Lauren Conrad, life

Symbolic

(via)

 

 

Tags: Inspiration, Pinterest, Sesame Street, Symbolism

Side Dish – New Potatoes with Butter and Chives

This is the fourth recipe in a series about a dinner I made for my parents. Read the back story here.

I’m a carb lover and I always want a starch with my meal. Since we were having steak for dinner, the classic starch side of potatoes was perfect. I used this recipe which, is one of those recipes that you don’t really need a recipe for but, it gave me the idea to use new potatoes. New potatoes aren’t actually a different kind of potato, they’re just normal potatoes harvested early in the spring and summer. That way they are smaller and they have a thinner skin.  This definitely made a great compliment to our flank steak (recipe to come) and delicious left overs.

Tags: Big Girls Small Kitchen, Dinner Party, Eat This, recipes, Side Dish

Side Dish – Asparagus with Tarragon Vinaigrette

This is the third recipe in a series about a dinner I made for my parents. Read the back story here.

Dinner with mom and dad needed a couple side dishes. Both my parents like asparagus and it was in season so, I decided that would be a great addition.  Searching through my go-to site for this meal, Big Girls Small Kitchen, I found and easy recipe for asparagus with tarragon vinaigrette.  The dish was super simple to make but, I should have kept an eye on the asparagus since it cooked a little more than I wanted it to and was crisp.  It tasted great with the vinaigrette, though and I’m still trying to think of more things to use it on.

One note on this recipe – tarragon is not an herb that I was able to find fresh so, I used a dried version. Although I’m sure the fresh herb would have a stronger flavor this tasted great anyway.

Tags: Dinner Party, Eat This, recipes, Side Dish

Salad – Roasted Garlic Honey Vinaigrette

This is the second recipe in a series about a dinner I made for my parents. Read the back story here.

I wanted to start dinner with a fresh salad topped with homemade dressing. Procuring the greens was easy since I knew exactly where to go.  I’ve been purchasing arugula and pea shoots from Little Seed Gardens at the Troy Farmers Market for several years now and they never disappoint.

The dressing was going to be a bit harder, though.  As I was perusing Big Girls Small Kitchen for other items I found this recipe for arugula salad with roasted garlic honey vinaigrette.  Looking it over, it seemed easy to follow and could be made in advance.  Perfect!

So, I took my garlic and peeled it being careful to leave the cloves whole.  I like to use this method since I usually end up slightly squishing a clove when I use the knife-smash method.

The method of roasting the garlic is a little strange to me but, it seemed to work and boy did it smell good! The garlic came out looking like little black nuggets but, I didn’t worry because they were wonderfully squishy like true roasted garlic.

Yes, those are the garlic cloves. I don’t know if they are supposed to look like that but, they worked perfectly.  So, everything goes into the little food processor and blends until it’s a dressing-like consistency.

And then you have this little jar of goodness….

The jar is a 4oz mason jar. The recipe made a tiny bit more than that but, it wasn’t significant enough to use a larger container.

I have two major notes on the recipe:

1. Follow the measurements if you’re not used to making dressing. On my first try I though I could just eyeball everything and it would work. I was really wrong. I did make little adjustments the second time but, I started with the recipe and worked from there.
2. When I tasted the dressing after it was done (my second attempt) it tasted seriously garlicky.  I was really afraid it would have an overpowering taste. However, on a half pound of arugula and pea shoots, it blended perfectly and the garlic was there but not the main flavor.

The recipe can be found here.  I used two products from the Troy Farmers Market for the dressing – Arugula and Pea Shoots from Little Seed Gardens in Chatam, NY and Honey from Lloyd Spear Beekeeper, Inc in Schenectady, NY (no website but, you can find them at TFM on Saturday and it looks like they are at the Schenectady FM as well).

Tags: Big Girls Small Kitchen, Dinner Party, Eat This, recipes, Salad

Appetizer: Corn Cakes with Lemon Chive Creme Fraiche

This is the first recipe in a series about a dinner I made for my parents. Read the back story here.

Although I had told my parents 6:30pm on Saturday for dinner I really had no idea what time they would show up and if I would be ready for them when they came so, I planned an appetizer as part of our menu.  Appetizers are probably the menu item with which I have the least experience. I can never seem to get my creative juices flowing and come up with an idea for a small bite before a meal.  So, I turned to Big Girls Small Kitchen for ideas.

As I was looking through I found this recipe for corn cakes which seemed perfect since it is sweet corn season in upstate New York.  I knew I would be able to purchase ears of corn at the farmers market and that I would be able to make part, if not all of it early on.

The corn cakes turned out great and were a perfect start to our meal. A couple of notes from my experience:

• I made the mixture and then set it aside until I was ready to fry them up.
• Despite what the recipe says, I don’t recommend heating your oil on high. Mine got waaaay too hot and popped and I have the little oil burns to prove it. After I turned off the burner and let the oil cool down, I heated it over medium-high heat and, while it still popped it wasn’t as violent.
• Although you don’t want the oil to be too hot you do want it to be hot enough that the cakes won’t soak it up. Toss a sprinkle of water at the oil and see if it sizzles. When it does, you’re ready to fry.
• I did end up having to put them in the oven to warm up a bit. It only took about 2 minutes since I hadn’t made them much before everyone got here. I was afraid heating them up would make them soggy but, they were still crispy and delicious.
• I see no reason why you couldn’t substitute sour cream for creme fraiche.

I forgot to take production photos of the cakes but, here’s the final product…

And don’t forget to check out the recipe.  Tomorrow: Deliciously garlic salad dressing.

Tags: Appetizer, Big Girls Small Kitchen, Dinner Party, Eat This, recipes

Prepping for Dinner

I had a week to prepare for dinner with Mom and Dad and it wasn’t a normal week.  We invited them over to thank them for all their help with moving including painting, hanging things and moving all my furniture out of their house and into our new apartment on Saturday.  I made the invitation on Sunday.  That meant that I had to finish unpacking and decorating, deal with a ridiculously frantic week at work and plan a great dinner.  The key word for me was plan.

The only thing I knew I had to make was strawberry shortcake.  Not only are strawberries in season but, it’s the perfect dessert for my dad who doesn’t like sweets and my mom who is trying to eat healthier.  Plus, I absolutely love strawberries.

I had an entree in mind but, definitely needed to do some research on it and side dishes.  Plus I wanted to find a great biscuit recipe for the strawberry shortcake.

For my recipe research I turned to a blog that I’ve been following for awhile, Big Girls Small Kitchen (in fact, I finally purchased their book last week).  I searched and printed and searched and printed some more. Then, I took the recipes, studied them and made some adjustments. Finally, I narrowed down what I wanted to make and put together my menu.  Once I had the menu set, I took out my notebook and made a list of all the ingredients.

Then I broke down the ingredient list into “Grocery Store” and “Farmers Market.” It was important to me to be able to use as many fresh, local ingredients as possible.  For my protein, I placed an order with my local butcher.

Next, I studied the recipes and cooking time and made and estimate of prep times.  Based on this, I made a plan for prepping and cooking.  With my plan in place, I set out for the grocery store.  There were several things I knew I wouldn’t be able to get at the market and I wanted to pick them up on Friday night so I had more time on Saturday. Yes, this potentially meant two trips to the grocery store in two days but, it was worth it for the time I would save on the day of dinner.  Saturday morning we headed to the farmers market and I was able to get everything I had planned.  We did make a quick stop at the grocery store on the way home for a couple extras but, I was ready fairly early.

At the end of this week, I’ll give you a recap of my prepping and cooking schedule for the dinner.  Tomorrow I’ll start with the recipes.

Tags: Big Girls Small Kitchen, Dinner Party, Eat This, recipes

Scene from the Farmers Market: Corn

The Scene:  One of the smaller vendor tents at the Troy Farmers Market

Jerry is holding a plastic bag and I’m picking up ears of corn out of a wood box. I peel back the husk a little to make sure there isn’t any fungus and toss an ear into the bag. I pick up a second ear (I need 3) and start to peel back the husk when an older gentleman (OG) walks over to me and says…

OG:  Don’t peel the husk if you’re not going to buy it. {I toss the second ear in the bag}

Me:  I definitely plan to buy it as long as it’s good. {Peeling a third ear}

OG:  Don’t peel the husk or you have to buy it.

Me:  What if it’s bad? I don’t want to buy bad corn so, I’m checking it. If it’s good, I’ll buy it. If I didn’t peel back the husk and it was bad, what am I supposed to do?

OG:  Bring it back and we’ll give you another one.

Me:  So I should drive 30 minutes home to find out it’s bad then drive 30 minutes back for a 75cent ear of corn. That’s ridiculous. I’m not peeling it for fun; I’m peeling it to buy it. {We walk away to pay}

While I get where the guy is coming from since the Troy Farmers Market has turned into a mecca for inconsiderate yuppies and people without a purpose; the delivery was seriously rude. If it wasn’t my last stop after a very frustrating trip; if I didn’t already have the three ears of corn that I needed and; if I didn’t respect the vendors and their products, I would have put my corn down and walked away.  Needless to say, I’ll be buying corn from another vendor (since there was at least 4) if I go back to the Troy Farmers Market after this past weekend.

Tags: Farmers Market, True Story

Dinner with Mom and Dad

On Saturday night we had my parents over to the new apartment for dinner.  I had planned a very ambitious menu using several fresh ingredients from the the farmers market and local vendors. It was a full day of prepping and cooking but, it came out splendidly.

Our Menu

Appetizer:  Corn Cakes with Lemon Chive Creme Fraiche

Salad:  Mix of Arugula and Pea Shoots with Cherry Tomatoes and Roasted Garlic Honey Vinaigrette

Entree:  Broiled Flank Steak with Sauteed Wild Mushrooms and Chive-Parsley Butter

Bread:  Garlic Cheese Bread and Country White

Side Dishes:  Asparagus with Tarragon Vinaigrette, Balsamic Roasted Cipollini Onions, New Potatoes with Butter and Chives

Dessert:  Strawberry Shortcake with Whipped Cream

Check back throughout the week for photos, recipes and a list of vendors from this delicious dinner.

Tags: Dinner Party, Eat This