Traveling Over the Holidays

Away from Home
There is always the excitement of going somewhere away from home, even with the fatigue of travel by air or road or sea. For us this time of year, it is a trip to Victoria and Vancouver, both in British Colombia, Canada. We often travel through Seattle, stay overnight, often to listen to jazz and have a nice dinner, a good night's sleep, and then by boat to Victoria. It is the leisure mixed with the rigor of travel that is a secret of living well.* Do you agree?

*That plan went well, though we have to say an overnight flight from Honolulu to San Francisco is never my favorite but I try to eat well before the trip, eat moderately on the plane, even in first class. All went well, but in Seattle it was cold and rainy so we chose to skip the jazz and have an early dinner. Sharing a main course at the well known gourmet group of restaurants (whose initials at this downtown Seattle location are PK) and each having an appetizer was a good idea, not too heavy, though the main course of butternut squash ravioli with cream sauce was just too rich, would have been better with beurre noisette, a lightly browned butter sauce, but that becomes an inspiration for cooking at home.
New Year's Resolutions: Food as Art
There was a time when I made resolutions and was successful at keeping them too. Now I focus on the same resolutions but with variations on a theme, so make effort to keep them even before the new year. Eating well is part of my French heritage so this evening it was a nice onion soup, with frozen organic green beans mixed with the onion slices sauteed to a slight golden color. I removed about 3/4 of the green beans with some of the cooked onions for another day, then used organic chicken stock in a carton, strained after simmered with the onion cuttings including the onion skin which add a nice flavor and coloring.
A few thin slices of Gruyere cheese to float on top of each filled soup bowl, with a bagel crouton made a fine main course, after a simple appetizer of pickled carrots (just put small baby carrots into the remaining brine from a jar of pickles or pickled vegetables), a few vegetables, and a plump green olive. A tart, acidic appetizer stimulates the appetite, a nice secret to remember as well.
So it is the combination of heavier celebration food balanced by simple but delicious home cooking, or at times food preparations found in small restaurants, that makes for a wonderful holiday season.
For New Year's Eve, we are celebrating at the Union Club in Victoria, with formal attire and what is sure to be a wonderful dinner and champagne celebration. (I always think of the nifty books by Mireille Guiliano, French Women for All Seasons and French Women Don't Get Fat,
when I think of champagne and celebrating by balanced eating and exercise).
The Simple and the Intricate
Whether its food or furnishings, there is something wonderful about combining natural parts with sophisticated aspects. More on the design part of this in future reports. We wish you a Happy and Healthy New Year in Living Well.