Possibly not quite recovered from our sugar coma brought on by the night before’s “Sweet Finale” dessert tasting plate, mum, Rosemary and I headed back to CIA Greystone the following morning for a cooking demonstration. When I was booking online, I was excited to see this dish lined up for the day we were able […]
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CIA Greystone: Wine Spectator Restaurant (St Helena)
When I was scouting out places to eat in the Napa and Sonoma valleys, I knew that one place I really wanted to get to was Culinary Institute of America (CIA) Greystone, at least for a cooking demonstration, if not for a meal. I lucked out on both counts and our first night in Napa, […]
California Road Trip 2010: Gold Country
On leaving Yosemite National Park, we headed for Gold Country. We made our base in Placerville (pronounced PLASS-er-ville; formerly Old Dry Diggings, Dry Diggings, and Hangtown), California. Its current name comes from the placer gold deposits, found in its river beds in the late 1840s. We picked up a self-guided walking tour of the Main […]
California Road Trip 2010: Yosemite National Park
Moving on from Joshua Tree and Death Valley, we headed to Yosemite National Park. I have to say that, whilst the Joshua trees fascinated me with their oddness and Death Valley took my breath away with its weird and other-worldly nature, Yosemite stunned me with its beauty. The weather was (literally) a breath of fresh […]
California Road Trip 2010: Death Valley
After visiting Joshua Tree National Park, I didn’t think there could be a landscape more otherworldly. Well I was mistaken because some 6 hours later, pulling into Death Valley National Park (to the strains of The Police’s “Walking on the Moon” – Neil always has a soundtrack to match the occasion!), it was obvious that […]
California Road Trip 2010: Joshua Tree
Once we had successfully fed ourselves and negotiated our way out of LA, our first stop was Joshua Tree National Park. I am a bit embarrassed to admit this but I had never actually seen a picture of a Joshua tree until we came upon them in the park. They’re totally fascinating and strange and […]
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