Valentine's Day with Tinto de Verano

This year, we tried to make Valentine's Day special for us since it was the first year of not celebrating with the grandkids after three years. They are the ones that make everything special for us. And we are missing them so much after our trip to visit them in Spain. But I sent them a big Valentine package of treats and they enjoyed that. That's about all we can do now is to send stuff to them, receive photos in our shared album and FaceTime whenever we get a chance. This year, Bruce and I are in Hawaii for Valentine's Day so... just that alone makes it special for us. Before we left, we made reservations at our favorite restaurant since we come to the same place to Kona on the Big Island of Hawaii each visit and we have lots of favorites. We even came here for our honeymoon 43 years ago. Of course, most places have changed since then but we have fun exploring new places each time we come here. One of our favorite restaurants is Jackie Reys that we discovered a few years ago. We go there at least twice when we visit now. This year, they put my photo on their IG account for their Valentine's Day stories.

Our server made me a special drink that I requested from Spain (I posted the drink recipe here) called Tinto de Verano. I told our server I was feeling strong memories of Spain so she accommodated me by having the bartender make me my favorite Spanish drink. I was so thrilled that Bruce took my photo. I put it on my IG stories and tagged them so then they put me in their stories. That's how social media works, you know. My Valentine's Day was turning out pretty good. They had a special Valentine's Day menu so it was hard to decide what to get.

Their regular menu is so good that Bruce just ordered off that with one of our favorites of Port Wine Braised Lamb Shank. This was perfect since we now have a new appreciation for port wine.

I decided to go for the Prime Rib special off the Valentine's Day menu and we were both very happy with our meal selections that also came with perfectly sautéed vegetables and garlic mashed potatoes. So good!

One of my favorite things about Jackie Reys is the desserts (of course) because they have so many good ones. My favorite is their champagne cake with fresh strawberries and chantilly cream that they call Champagne Coast Cake. I thought that would be appropriate for Valentine's Day but then I wanted to try one of their specials, too. I knew we'd be coming back so I decided to order their Stracciatella Lovin'.

Strachiatella is a type of soft Italian cheese, like cream cheese, that was inside a chocolate heart shell with a kona coffee reduction set on top of a custard-type creme anglaise. It was sort of like a really light and airy cheese cake with a crunchy, crisp chocolate shell around it. My favorite part was the candied orange rind used as a garnish because it complimented the chocolate so well. I loved that part. This was just the right amount of dessert, too. A little bit of chocolate to top off a meal is always the best and then add a few extras like creme, orange, kona coffee, etc. and this made my Valentine's Day perfecto. This was only our second day in Hawaii so it was starting off pretty well. Going out for breakfast is also one of our favorite things to do. In Hawaii, it's all about relaxation.

Since we've been here so often, we also have a lot of favorites walks and places to go snorkeling and exploring.

We don't have a problem staying active during all our relaxation, however. It's a perfect balance when in Hawaii. A new thing we started to do during this visit is to come back to the condo and kick back with a Tinto de Verano cocktail. The weather here, just as in Spain, is perfect for this refreshing drink. How can one resist.

We are making the easy version that is basically equal parts pinot noir with 7-up, a slice of lemon - done. It is so refreshing and now part of our Hawaiian agenda. Aloha.

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 a plan for responsible eating that covers a no-nonsense rundown on

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, there was a big party go

Waking Up in Vegas

and just like that...we were Waking Up in Vegas. Just like the Katy Perry song. We went to her 78th performance which was her second-to-last Las Vegas residency show entitled "Play". That was perfect for us because we went to Vegas simply to play. Her concert was a great finale for us because it was high energy and full of silliness, just the way Katy Perry is. And we were feeling it after three nights in Las Vegas. "Get up, and shake the gutter off your clothes now, That's what you get for waking up in Vegas". Here's what she said about her show: "I created this show after the birth of my daughter, Daisy Dove. When I met her, it was like all the love I was ever searching for finally showed up. This show is for everyone’s inner child and for the hope that maybe if we could all see life through the eyes of a child, we would be free. Because never forget, love is and will always be the key,” she said. We went to Vegas spur of the moment because Br

Sylvia's Scenario

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