marrakech

Marrakech. Our plans for a visit were in the works for months and then, finally, we were on our way.

We flew direct from San Francisco to London Heathrow but then had to take the train from Heathrow to Gatwick (ugh) to catch our evening flight to Marrakech. It was an exhausting day, but thanks to a combination of wine, Ambien, and Bose noise-canceling headphones, we arrived mostly intact at our hotel - the lovely Ryad Dyor, in the medina. After a late supper of chicken tajine at the ryad, we fell into bed and slept in until late the next morning. 

After a leisurely breakfast of fruit, msemen and jam, we walked out to explore the medina and visit to the Jardin Majorelle.

The gardens were lovely, the famous blue very dramatic. Funny to fly halfway around the world to see a garden heavily planted with Mexican cacti.

There's a small memorial to Yves Saint Laurent in the garden and a small gallery housing some of his Love prints.

After touring the gardens we visited 33 rue Majorelle to ogle some pretty local merchandise and then wandered back to the riad to spend the late afternoon enjoying the breeze on the terrace. We were so lucky with our ryad - it really was a place of peace and tranquility that offered a reprieve from the heat and bustle of the medina. 

The next morning, we again made our way out of the medina, this time to the Hivernage neighborhood. We stopped to take a look at the striking Minaret de la Koutoubia and the exterior of the mosque. 

But we kept moving. We had a full day of pampering to get on with.

When I began researching things to see and do in Marrakech, it quickly became clear to me that I would be a fool to miss out on a visit to the spa at La Mamounia. As it turns out, La Mamounia offers day passes, including sixty-minute massages, lunch, and full use of the pools and spa facilities. We booked immediately.

It was heaven.

After being massaged into jelly with argan oil, we had a delightful three course lunch (with sparkling rose - vacation!) and then dipped in and out of the many pools. Since it was close to 100 degrees, it was unbelievably refreshing. Oh, decadence!

After spoiling ourselves rotten, we headed back for a simple dinner in the medina and were early to bed (Daniel was thoroughly engrossed in this) so as to be well-rested for our last full day in the city. 

Bright and early in the morning, after gobbling down yet another delicious breakfast at the ryad, we walked to the Medersa ben Youssef, a 16th-century Koran school, and poked around taking photos of all the amazing architectural details.

After the Medersa Ben Youssef, we had planned to spend a few hours wandering around the souks, but in the end, they weren't really for us. Everything was just a bit too much: too hectic, too overwhelming, too busy. It was hard to really get a look at anything while trying to dodge bikes, motorcycles, donkeys and other shoppers, so in the end we ended up ducking out earlier than we'd anticipated. We stopped for lunch at the Terrasse des Epices and regrouped.

After a restorative lunch, we walked down through the Jemaa el-Fna, avoiding snake charmers, monkey handlers, and henna artists, to the Bab Agnaou and Saadian Tombs. Jemaa el-Fna loosely translates to something like "meeting place at the end of the world." So there's that.

Side note: there were kittens everywhere! EVERYWHERE! Cute, but also kind of creepy? 

Really, the city was just amazing to visit - the peachy pink buildings, the tagines and couscouses, the elaborate tile mosaics, direct, blazing sun, the smell of fleur d'oranger, the little soft-nosed donkeys pulling carts of cement...it was like no place I've ever been before. And isn't that the reason we travel? 

After three days, we were off to the coast.

ina garten's corn muffins

One of my favorite weeknight dinners is Deb Perelman's chard and white bean stew. It's easy, healthful, and readily lends itself to all kinds of modifications depending on what you have in your larder (spinach instead of chard, white vermouth instead of wine, chicken broth instead of vegetable broth, onions instead of shallots, etc.) I've made it dozens of times since Ms. Perelman posted the recipe on her blog some years ago and in that time, I've begun experimenting to find the perfect accompaniment. 

In her blog, Ms. Perelman suggests serving the stew with a piece of toast rubbed with garlic. I have done this several times and it is indeed excellent. But because I don't always top the stew with a poached egg, I looked for something a bit more robust than a piece of toast and landed on corn muffins.

Coming back from a week of rather decadent eating in Tahoe, I decided that white bean stew would be a good choice. I started scrounging around for an easy corn muffin recipe that wouldn't require me to make a trip to the grocery store and, lo and behold, Ina Garten delivered. 

I've made lots of corn muffins and many of the best contain sour cream or buttermilk, but if you don't have those ingredients on hand (as I often do not) these muffins will do the trick. They're definitely on the sweeter side, so take note, but I personally prefer a sweet corn muffin alongside savory stews.

Slightly modified version of Ina Garten's corn muffins

1 cup plus two tbsp whole milk
2 sticks unsalted butter, melted and cooled
2 large eggs
1 cup cornmeal
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp salt
2 tbsp baking powder

Turn the oven to 350F. Grease a 12 cup muffin tin and set aside. Mix together dry ingredients in a large bowl; mix together the eggs, milk and melted butter in a second bowl and then add to the dry ingredients, stirring with a wooden spoon until incorporated. Spoon batter into the muffin tin and bake for approximately 25-27 minutes, until muffins take on a golden brown appearance and a toothpick emerges clean when the muffins are tested.

I tend to make a batch and freeze the majority of the muffins, warming them up in the oven a few at a time, covered in foil in the muffin tin, when I want them. It works beautifully. 

end of summer, lake tahoe

When I was growing up, my family spent a lot of time in Tahoe during the winter. We'd fly into Reno or Sacramento and drive from there for the skiing. It wasn't until college that I visited during the summer and realized that there is basically no bad time to visit Tahoe. A few months ago, Daniel's parents made plans for a late September vacation at a cabin near Tahoe City and invited us to join them.

Join them we did, and we spent several absolutely gorgeous days in Tahoe, sightseeing, hiking, and of course, eating very well. Daniel wasn't able to join us until partway through the week because of work commitments, so I drove up with Daniel's parents and their dog Katie. Naturally, we stopped at Ikedas and stocked up on pies (apple! cherry! marionberry!) for the cabin. After reaching the cabin and settling in, we drove to Truckee for some window shopping then took Katie to the beach (oddly, there seemed to be few places that allowed dogs; fortunately we found Lake Forest Beach and Katie was able to run around and dip her toes in the water.) As the sun set, we found ourselves on the deck at Sunnyside and toasted to vacation and the last day of summer.

The next morning we were up bright and early to make the drive down to Emerald Bay. I'd never been to that part of the lake before, so it was a special treat to see how beautiful it was. We also had the chance to tour Vikingsholm, which was great fun. 

After our house tour, we lunched down near Camp Richardson then took Katie to Kiva Beach. Aside from some alarming warnings about squirrel-borne plague posted along the trails, it was a lovely place to walk around and also allowed us to stop in and see some of the Tallac historic sites.

After our day of adventures, we had happy hour on the deck of the cabin and then headed to dinner at Wolfdale's. Everything was delicious but the ahi cones we had as an appetizer were particularly special.

Daniel arrived late in the evening after making the drive up from San Francisco. Since he still had some work to do the next day, the rest of us cleared out of the house and drove to Sugar Pine Point State Park to go on a tour of the Hellman-Ehrman Mansion, which, like Vikingsholm, is another of the grand old Tahoe summer homes. After our tour, we picnicked out on the lake and strolled around the property.

In the afternoon, Daniel finished up his work and we enjoyed happy hour on the deck of our cabin before heading to Moody's in Truckee for dinner and some live music.

In the morning, Daniel's parents headed back to Napa and we continued on to Reno, but not before making a quick detour to Eagle Lake. Once we got to the lake, we were lucky enough to see a bear swimming around (!)

After a few hours of hiking and fishing, we had lunch and then rented kayaks to go out to Fannette Island. The water was refreshingly cool and it was a quick trip to the island, where we scrambled up to the ruined tea house on its highest point.

It was the perfect way to end a lovely couple of days in Tahoe. I already have my fingers crossed that we'll be able to get back there soon for the winter ski season.

si quaeris peninsulam amoenam circumspice

Was the title enough of a hint?

Ok, we're in Michigan. Traverse City, to be more precise. My college roommate is getting married and I'm a bridesmaid. So far that has mostly meant lots of eating and drinking and socializing, but later this week I'll be donning a long, sea-glass green dress and walking down an aisle with a bouquet, so that will be something new. Exciting times in Michigan!

Anyway, back to the festivities and then home to San Francisco soon. 

summer vacation

This summer was an unusual one for me. As previously mentioned, I studied for and then took the California Bar. It was a horrible experience, as you would expect, but what I didn't expect was how quiet everything felt afterwards. After weeks of studying and cramming, I suddenly had nothing to do. Which sounds nice, in theory, but I found myself feeling a bit lost. Understandably, whining about all the free time on your hands is not something that gets you a lot of sympathy, so I decided that I may as well go about actually enjoying my leisure time. 

A few months back, Daniel was invited to give a talk in Portland in August, and I jumped at the chance to tag along. We stayed in the southeastern part of the city and while he attended the week-long conference, I played. I drank countless cups of excellent coffee (Coava! Stumptown!) and ate dessert every day (ice cream at Salt & Straw! cookies at Maurice!). I bought a used copy of Lolita at Powell's and read on a bench in the Lan Su Chinese Garden. I walked through Ladd's Addition and marveled at the pocket rose gardens. I saw the Ai WeiWei exhibit at the Portland Art Museum. I had Indian street food at Bollywood Theater and Vietnamese spring rolls at Luc Lac. It was terrific. 

After the conference was over, Daniel and I went to stay with our friends Evan and Marissa. We enjoyed our customary seafood feast and over the weekend, we drove out to the coast. 

Because the wind was blowing smoke from the massive Washington fires into the area, the air was acrid and the sky was gray. Braving the smoke, we made the drive out to Short Sand beach and spent the better part of the morning walking around and inspecting the tide pools. Though the beach was hazy, it was still beautiful with the wide expanse of sand and the multi-hued cliffs. 

Afterwards, we drove out to Astoria for a late lunch and then picked up seafood for dinner.

I didn't end up carrying my camera around for much of the trip - it was so hot and I was walking everywhere, so the idea of lugging heavy equipment around didn't sound so good. But I've missed being here and missed having a place to share pictures, especially of places I'm visiting. With a few more trips planned before I start work in October, I hope I'm able to spend a little more time on this space. 

may

Oh, man. People, this has been a crazy month.

Yesterday I had my last class of law school. I still have finals next week and then of course there's the bar, but still: class = over.

I definitely expected that to be the biggest news in May but it has been (happily!) dwarfed by the fact that Daniel and I got engaged this month.

It's been a couple of weeks and we've had the chance to quietly spread the word and celebrate with family and a few close friends, so I figured I may as well go ahead and spill the beans here. We're really excited.

Anyway, I'm up to my ears in casebooks and Bar Review materials and that's pretty much how it's going to be until August, but I thought I'd stop in and share the news. I'm really looking forward to this new adventure.