California Dreamin'

On my last post about spending New Year's in San Francisco, I mentioned how I loved all the history everywhere you went. Now, I am at the famous and historical Hotel Del Coronado in San Diego and I just might never leave this place. Bruce has a convention here so I decided to tag along. And talk about historical...much of this place is original that was built in 1888 and it is so gorgeous. It even has a ghost story attached to this hotel about a beautiful, young woman who checked into room 3327 in 1892 and never checked out...

and so many famous people have been here including eleven U.S Presidents starting with Benjamin Harrison in 1891 and the person I mainly know this place for...

Marilyn Monroe in the movie Some Like it Hot with Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon, known as the greatest American comedy of all time. I always loved that movie. Charles Lindberg was also here after he accomplished his flight across the Atlantic. His plane was built here in San Diego so they had a grand celebration for him in the Crown Room.

This room is amazing, all the woodwork handmade with no nails at all. The lighting was designed by L. Frank Baum, author of the Wizard of Oz, who was a frequent visitor to Hotel de Coronado during the winter months and they ended up naming the room after his lighting. They've had two Presidential state dinners here, too. The only two ever held outside Washington, DC. You can probably tell I took a guided tour of the place already so that's how I know about all this history. Our tour guide was a history buff and has worked at the hotel for 15 years.

His sister got married here and he said his parents spent all his inheritance on it. Even with his 25% employee discount, the wedding cost $80,000. Oh, my! But I'm sure it was a beautiful wedding.

I have visited this hotel a couple other times when we lived in Orange County in the '70's so I can't say I've never been here but I remember how in awe I was when I came here before.

I haven't been here 24 hours yet so I haven't even eaten that much but I can't wait to start experiencing the food here. I had a leisurely morning today, as Bruce was off at 6:30 am for golf, a beautiful 80 degree day for their golf tournament.

For breakfast, I walked over to a little walk-up coffee bar and got a very European type meal which was suppose to be a lunch, I think, but it's what I felt like. It was a super delicious croissant, some salami and prosciutto, chèvre and brie cheese with olives and an excellent latte. Yes, I'd be perfectly happy never leaving this place.

This is my second post in a row about California. I wonder what that is saying? That I'm getting tired of winter and want to be a warm climate? I've always gravitated to warm climates so that is nothing new for me. I was excited about coming to San Diego with Bruce but to be perfectly honest, I wouldn't mind if we never left this beautiful Hotel de Coronado.

Trader Joe's Gluten-Free Oatmeal, Peanut Butter and Chocolate Chip Cookies

I don't have very many gluten-free cookies on my blog because quite frankly, I usually don't like gluten-free. But occasionally, I do find a good recipe and this is one that is from the back of the Trader Joe's oatmeal and it's a good one. My friend brought some over to our house last weekend when Nick and family were here for our birthday celebrations and we all loved them. My friend lives a few blocks away and we walk the neighborhood together on weekends. We can easily go 5 miles in no time, talking non-stop. She loves exploring our neighborhood as much as I do and we discover so many favorite little spots. We even found a property with a horse (or more like a pony, I should say.) The views are always quite lovely, too. Bruce and I had our thirty-ninth wedding anniversary on July 18th and I made a point of walking past the house where we had our wedding reception. I told my friend, "Thirty-nine years ago today, t...

Meatloaf by Mark Bittman

Once again, I turned on the television yesterday and saw that Mark Bittman was on the Today show and was making his version of meatloaf . This must be meatloaf season. It was surprisingly similar to the Pioneer Woman's version who was also recently on. I was a little surprised of his version because Mark Bittman is into healthy eating and has lost a lot of weight and improved his health by changing his diet which he writes about in his book, Food Matters . His meatloaf recipe also included bacon and cheese! I must be doing something wrong. The thing to remember, which he writes about in his book, is that you can eat healthy without going extreme or changing your whole life. If you don't know who Mark Bittman is, he is a food writer and a four star chef with multiple cookbooks who loves to eat but changed his food philosophy to improve his health. He tells his story in Food Matters and provides ...

Two-Bean Soup with Kale

This hearty vegetarian soup warms up chilly nights. Use any type of canned beans you happen to have on hand and add chicken or Italian sausage for a heftier dish, if you prefer. Makes 4-6 servings 3 Tbsp. olive oil 1 cup chopped onion 1/2 cup chopped carrots 1/2 cup chopped celery 1/2 tsp. salt, divided 2 cloves garlic, minced 4 cups vegetable broth, divided 7 cups stemmed, chopped kale (about 1 bunch) 2 (15-ounce) cans cannellini beans, rinsed, drained and divided 1 (15-ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained 1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper 1 Tbsp. red wine vinegar 1 Tbsp. fresh rosemary or 1 tsp. dried rosemary 1. Heat a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add olive oil to pan; swirl to coat. Add onion, carrot, and celery, and saute 6 minutes or until tender. Stir in 1/4 tsp. salt and garlic; cook 1 minute. 2. Stir in 3 cups vegetable broth and kale. Bring to a boil; cover, reduce heat, and simme...

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