Back in OG

We got back to the house around 1:20 AM and then had a full weekend. We went to Hunter's soccer game 

and then watched the 2 1/2 hour Tae Kwon Do ceremony where Myles got his yellow belt

and I played endless games of "war" with Tucker.

We played tennis, painted pumpkins, watched a movie and that was just Saturday.

More LA

This is the reason Greta went to LA.  She wanted to check out the billboards that were put up all around the area.

We took a tour of LA, Hollywood and the stars homes in Beverly Hills. I think it's less expensive to buy a house in Beverly Hills than Old Greenwich.   

At night we went to LA Live  and had Sushi at Katsuya

Before going home on Friday we drove to Santa Monica.  We were so lucky, after having a couple of cloudy days, the sun came out and it was a beautiful day.

We rented bikes and rode down to Venice and back.  In this picture I'm trying out the one that Greta got.  It was fun but you had to pedal more.  Coming back, the wind was right at us so we got a little workout.

We had lunch at the 3rd Street Promenade in Santa Monica and then headed back to the airport.  On the way home,  Business class on the plane was even better than going, at least as far as the meal.  We came home during dinner and I probably ate more points on that flight than I have for any meal since I started Weight Watchers in December.
We started with a glass of wine and a bowl of nuts - and that was just my portion of the nuts.

The next course had a roll, prosciutto and melon consomme and a salad.

Then filet cooked to perfection, bernaise sauce, mashed potatoes and grilled veggies - carrot, green beans and red onion.

And if that wasn't enough - a hot fudge sundae for dessert.

I doubt whether I will be flying business class again, so I didn't want to miss any of it.  We watched the rest of Date Night on the way back and then I started watching Sex and the City 2 but didn't have enough time to finish.  Had to get in my fill of "chick flix."

Trip to LA

Greta and I left the house a little after 5:00 AM this morning to go to JFK for our trip to LA.  We got there by 6:00 so had plenty of time to check in, get coffee and just relax without having to do the usual frantic rushing.  We had business class seats.  Greta got hers from work and she used frequent flyer miles to get mine.  And just by chance, our seats were next to each other.
These pictures aren't that great because I took them with my iPhone and the lighting wasn't much, but I didn't want to look like I don't do business class every time I fly.
 We got our coffee before we boarded but Greta had a Mimosa on the plane before take-off.

 Here's Greta hard at work.  That agency messed up!!!

 Look at all the leg room.  Our seats had leg rests that raised like a lounge chair.  And we were given comforters and full size pillows.

 Not to forget about the DVD that came with more than a dozen movies.  I watched Letters to Juliet and Greta watched Up in the Air.  We started to watch Date Night but didn't have time to see the whole thing before we were going to land.   We can finish it on the way home.

 This was our breakfast and with real silverware not plastic

 And real mugs not paper cups

 For lunch we went to The Ivy.  Laura said it was THE place to go in LA.  I had looked it up online and it said the paparazzi are always around to spot celebs.  Our experience was very different than a lot of the reviews I read.  We went around noon and got in right away.  The staff was courteous and helpful and the food was delicious, albeit twice as much as it would cost somewhere else.  I had the roasted vegetable salad which is one of their signature items.  I was glad I asked for the dressing on the side, because it was better without it.  The flavor of the sauteed vegetables was delicious.

 

Greta got the swordfish tacos.  I'm glad I didn't get that because for sure it was too many points with that big cup of guacamole and all the beans and the rice not to mention the tortillas.  I'm sure I would have finished it all, it was also so good.

We checked into our hotel, the Westin Bonaventure in downtown LA.  We were on the 17th floor in the yellow section.  This hotel is the largest hotel in LA.  The next two photos are views from our room.

I downloaded an app for my iPhone that can find people when you want to take a picture of yourself or you and someone else.  This is a photo I did using that.

We stopped at the concierge desk and signed up for a tour for the next afternoon and found out about the Spa when asking about whether there was a hot tub or sauna in the hotel.  It turned out the Spa had a sauna and steam and the concierge gave us $15 discount coupons for it.  We went up there to see what they had available and it turned out we could get appointments for 6:15.  It was 5:30 so we went down to the bar and had wine and chex mix for dinner.

Greta got a Swedish massage and I got a Shiatsu Massage which is a "traditional Asian technique using moderate to strong finger pressure to work deep into the muscles and pressure points to relieve aches and stress.  I thought this would be good for my aches in my neck and lower back, and it was.  The girl who did it was tiny, 89 lbs, but so strong.  She even walked on my back!  Thank goodness she was only 89 lbs.  She said not just anyone can do this, you have to be small and know what you are doing.

Then we went in the sauna and back to our room and fell asleep.

Cook, cook, cook

Over the past couple of days I've cooked a lot of the recipes that I put in this blog. I'm going to put the pictures here, some comments and a link to the recipe page.
Since I'm going out of town tomorrow for over a week I probably feel a little guilty deserting Larry so I'm leaving him well stocked.
Yesterday I made the pork loin.  It was D-E-L-I-C-I-O-U-S!!
http://dinnerbook.blogspot.com/2010/10/pork-loin-with-apples-and-prunes-recipe.html
I cooked it a little longer than I should have, must remember to check after 1/2 hour even though my piece of meat was twice the size of the recipe.  It didn't dry out but the apples were sort of like applesauce.  

Today I did make applesauce with a variety of apples and they looked so pretty in the pot.  The last time I made it I added blueberries to one batch and strawberries to another with the apples from our tree in back.  This time I just added some Splenda and cinnamon.

In addition to this fruit, yesterday I made a strawberry rhubarb bake.  No crust, no topping and with Splenda not sugar and some flour to keep it from getting runny it's very healthy.

Today I also made the pumpkin bread.  I added raisins in addition to the nuts to one loaf and it seemed to change the baking time by needing about 10 minutes more.  Maybe added extra moisture??  I calculated this out and for 18 slices per loaf each slice is only 3 WW points.   http://dinnerbook.blogspot.com/2010/10/pumpkin-nut-bread.html

Pumpkin Nut Bread

I've had this recipe since sometime in the 1970s and I always liked it.  So rather than try something new, I'll stick to the tried and true.

Pumpkin Nut Bread

Temperature: 350℉
Time:  1 hours

1 cup shortening	1 tsp soda
2¾ cups sugar	⅛ tsp salt
3 eggs	1 tsp allspice
3 cups sifted all-purpose flour	1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp baking powder	2 cups pumpkin
1 tsp nutmeg	1 tsp vanilla
3 eggs	1 cup chopped nuts

Cream shortening.  Add sugar gradually and the eggs.  Mix until well blended. Sift together the flour, baking powder, nutmeg, soda, salt, allspice and cinnamon.  Add to the creamed mixture. Add pumpkin and vanilla; mix until well blended. Fold nuts and pour into two greased 8½ x 4½ x 2½-inch loaf pans. Bake in preheated oven.

The original recipe is ---->  here 

Going Home

We wanted to leave at 8:00 this morning but as of last night, looking at what needed to be done yet, it didn't look likely.

However , I got up at 5:30 and Larry was already up (for 2 hrs) so we just got out of bed and started to get ready. Good thing too because we were able to leave by 7:45.

First rest stop

It's almost 4:30 and we're on 81 passing through WV.

Now it's 4:55 and we passed through Maryland quickly and now we're in sunny PA.

Good chance we might just keep going till we're home. Can't believe it will be dark in 1 1/2 hours.
- Posted from my iPhone

Last Days at Myrtle Beach

I love going to the beach in October in Myrtle Beach.  The beach is so deserted.  I saw a news clip about something on the beach in season and it looked like wall-to-wall people.

 It looks like snorkeling was really great, but we went to Ripley's Aquarium at Broadway on the Beach on Tuesday.

On Wednesday we played golf at the West Course of Myrtle Beach National. It was another beautiful day in paradise. 

There was this little raccoon wandering around on the course.

Thursday was rainy on and off in the afternoon. We went back to Gordon Biersch and got the exact same lunch as the previous time we were there but this time we had to sit inside because of the rain. I got their Czech Pilsner instead of the Golden Export and I liked that one even better. And we both ate all our garlic fries. YUMMY!!!!

When we got back we were going to go in the hot tub, but it turned out that not only was the outside one closed because of the weather but so was the inside one. The only thing left to do was pack.

Dinner in Georgetown

Gerry and Kay were cooped up in a Charleston hotel this week working on a business proposal so he wasn't able to come up here as originally planned, but we were able to meet up in Georgetown for dinner on Monday night.  It's halfway between Charleston and Myrtle Beach and the 3rd oldest city in South Carolina.  We were going to meet at 5:30 at the River Room restaurant.  We got there a 1/2 hour early and decided to walk through the town.  I called Gerry to let him know and he said they were already sitting at our table.