Posts Tagged ‘few days’
Not many are aware that I smoke, mostly because I don’t smoke that often – sometimes I go for a couple days without having any. But then Friday afternoon rolls around, or just about any afternoon out here in B.F.C., and it’s time for beer or cocktails and the token smoke. Now some may wonder, well what’s the problem? It’s not like I smoke a pack a day, and never have been even close. Well, three years ago Pete quit smoking and I always feel guilty when I smoke even though it’s not all the time and he insists it doesn’t bother him. But I still feel guilty, and I know the smell is on me even if it was just one cigarette because I’ve smelled it myself after coming back into the house. (Even when both of us were smoking we never, ever smoked in our home.) So, after trying a couple friends’ electronic cigarettes in the past few weeks, I’ve taken the leap and bought myself a starter kit from Cloud 9 Smoker’s Paradise. After reading about ecigarettes at ecigarettes365.com, I chose Cloud 9 e-cigs because they had good battery life ratings, good flavor ratings for cartridges and eliquids, was reasonably priced, and it has a really cute compact case that will fit very nicely in my purse on those rare occasions when I do come down off the mountain. Oh, and so you’re in the know, the word “smoking” is out and the new term is “vape” or “vaping”- for vaporizing. The heating element in the e-cig device vaporizes the nicotine solution in the cartridge, and creates a vapor that is inhaled & exhaled making it look like a traditional cigarette. This system delivers nicotine without the other 4000 or so chemicals that are found in traditional cigarettes, and in my opinion are more responsible for health damage than the nicotine is. Yes, I know nicotine can be poisonous, but under the usage conditions with these devices that would impossible. (Unless of course you are stupid enough to drink a bottle of eliquid, that would cause a problem!) The cartridges and refill nicotine liquids come in different strengths just like cigarettes, and there are zero nicotine cartridges/liquids if you don’t want nicotine. I don’t intend to use these to quit smoking, and they are not recommended for that, but I think for my situation they are going to be great. No more stinky cigarette smell, and more importantly no more stressing out my honey with cravings from having to be around them. My kit is due to arrive by Monday, July 12, I’ll post more after I’ve had it a few days so you can follow along. Who knows, if you smoke it might just be what you (and your family) are looking for, too. Save 5% by using this link to Cloud 9 Smokers Paradise. Stop smoking and start vaping!
Okay, back to the fourth and final installment of our 10th anniversary trip to Las Vegas in early September. (Read Part I; Part II; Part III) The last two places we ate at were Bobby Flay’s Mesa Grill at Caesar’s Palace and Yellowtail at the Bellagio where we were staying. Mesa Grill was on the list before we left home, and we were both really looking forward to eating at one of our favorite celebrity chef’s restaurants. So was it good? Yes, the food was excellent as we thought it would be. We started with the Squash Blossom appetizer. They were very good and disappeared quickly. (We love these and always get them at any restaurant that has them.) For dinner I ordered the Fire Roasted Veal Chop with horseradish maple glaze and a wild rice tamale with sage butter. The veal chop was perfectly cooked and so tender; and the horseradish maple glaze was really good, a little heat and a little sweet – just right and not overpowering on the veal. It was wonderful. The wild rice tamale however was really dry, I did not finish it. Pete’s entrée was the Southwestern Spiced Duck Breast with carrot habanero sauce and a chorizo & goat cheese tamale with thyme butter. He said the duck was very flavorful and good, but it was a tiny bit dry and could have used more sauce. The chorizo & goat cheese tamale was much better than mine; he said he could have eaten another one. We enjoyed the food but there was something missing from the overall experience; the ambiance felt like that of a chain restaurant and frankly we felt a tad rushed through the dinner by the servers. Who, by the way, were very nice but a bit cold at the same time. Would I eat at Mesa Grill again? Probably not.
Our final meal in Las Vegas was at Yellowtail in the Bellagio hotel where we were staying. I have to say that this restaurant and Olives, both in the Bellagio, were our favorites of the entire trip. We started with the Big Eye Tuna Pizza, a thin almost cracker like “pizza” drizzled with truffle oil and topped with big eye tuna and micro shiso – it was fantastic! Pete also ordered Akira’s “Shooter” – a Kumamoto Oyster in Blueberry Infused Vodka with Wasabi. I didn’t order one because I don’t like oysters, but the blueberry vodka in that shooter smelled so amazing I doubt I’d even taste the oyster. Pete said Akira’s “Shooter” is probably the best oyster dish he’s ever had! Next we ordered a Strawberry specialty roll (spicy tuna & cucumber), a Soft Shell Crab roll (a must have for me at any sushi restaurant!), an Unagi roll (another must have, we both love eel!), and a Yellowtail Kampachi sashimi plate with cilantro and yuzu-soy sauce. Every dish was gorgeous, as well as being a wonderfully balanced harmony of flavors and textures, and the restaurant itself had a great ambiance. The lighting was very nice, dim but not too dark. The decor is modern and yet traditional Japanese; minimal and artistic. The wait staff was very attentive and pleasant. Oh, and I almost forgot the piece de la resistance of the entire meal was this fabulous custom cocktail they have called a Shiso Sunset – Absolut Mandarin vodka, pink grapefruit juice, and blood orange juice with a shiso leaf garnish. (Shiso is the Japanese word for Perilla, an annual herb in the mint family whose taste is similar to that of mint or fennel.) Let me tell you this is one great cocktail; it’s my new favorite drink. A few days after we returned home our server, Carol, sent us a thank you card – how sweet! Yellowtail was a great dining experience and we would eat there again in a heartbeat. It was a terrific way to spend our last evening in Las Vegas!
Pete’s been working on a patio for the barn and it’s just about done. There’s been a bit of a mud problem since we bought the place; the sloping around the building is not correct causing water to pool around the entry doors. He used some rail road ties that we got for free to create a base for the patio and borders for raising the area near the doors to divert the water. We bought pressure treated 2×10’s for the patio from a local lumber yard that’s going out of business and saved 30% off the regular price. The patio looks very nice, and Pete also built a bench next to the door with a shoe rack below. I’ve started on a low rock wall to extend the railroad tie border to the end of the area in between the parking spaces, and the plan is to make a fire pit and put a table and chairs in the section between the two big pine trees. I’m going to make a rock pathway in the space right in front of the barn, to keep down the amount of mud that gets tracked onto the patio, and next to that will be a small grassy area. The past few days it’s been raining off and on so I’ve not been able to make much progress on the rock work. Hopefully the rest of the week will be nice so we can get this project finished and start refurbishing the table and chairs that will go between the pine trees. When it’s all done the mud factor will be somewhat under control and we’ll have another place on the property to sit and enjoy the scenery.
