I am not sure why…but I love maps. I think I’ve liked maps for a very long time, too. I LOVE modern technology + maps..like Google maps and Google Street View. I’m often “accused” of being a carrier pigeon…while I’m pretty sure that’s not true…I am pretty good with direction. However, I do make efforts to go back and look at places I’ve been on the map, too. It seems to enhance my knowledge of an area…
So, doing just such a thing moments ago…I was revisiting a jet lagged walk through some allotment gardens near Tantolunden park on Södermalm when we visited Stockholm last year. As I began my stroll (actually much longer than a stroll lol) back home, I walked along the Årstaviken bay and kept thinking how fun it would be to take Cooper swimming there. So, as I’m virtually recreating this walk I saw this –
and this simple thing makes me SO happy today!
*EDIT 3/23/17 apparently, the original street view along my walking route is no longer available on google maps 🙁 So, originally – you could actually see what looked like a black lab swimming & playing with its owner. So, instead of the black box saying “no street view available” here’s a new embedded image of the walking route…and someone walking their dog.
I suppose Hendrix is still a puppy at almost 17 months. Since she’s small breed, she seems pretty mature already. Cooper is at 18 weeks now. Honestly, he’s clearly very much puppy- but he’s no wild child. It seems the hormones are just kicking in for adolescence – so we’ll see if he gets a little more riled up or not…
This past weekend presented some special challenges! It rained most of the weekend, and that provided for some pretty stir crazy puppies. Hendrix generally is pretty energetic, and has several opportunities to train agility during the week. So, she can get amped up or settle down pretty quickly. On her own, I think it would take weeks of rain to really get her bored. However, Cooper is very young and that means he can easily get bored being cooped up all day. His first line of entertainment is to mess with Hendrix…and then the crazy running in the house games are off! By Sunday afternoon, our dynamic duo was about to make us crazy. Thankfully, both my pups like to play free shaping games with the clicker. I love that the mental challenge seems to wear Cooper out as much as a walk. Hendrix just loves clicks & treats period.
So, here’s a little video we made featuring Cooper learning the “speak” command. Training for puppies and playing with iPhones for Ronald & I = everyone is less bored! (I love the iMovie app for iPhone…they have some fun trailer templates that you can just fill in or customize.)
I have been telling everyone that will listen (and maybe even some that won’t) to check out Patina Green Home & Market for almost a year now. I truly think it’s one of the best things I’ve found since Ronald and I moved from Austin to Frisco in 2010. This gem of a shop is part vintage home decor and accessories store, part farmers market, and part “kick-ass” lunch counter. Somehow, those words don’t even seem to capture all the magic that is Patina Green. Bonus- it’s nestled on the beloved historic square in McKinney, TX.
wrapping up the first seating of the very first Market Dinner service
Personally, I’ve never really had a mind for home decor or design… However, the sheer aesthetic beauty of this store and Kaci Lyford’s exquisite taste are slowly but certainly leading me to the light. Some day, I might work up the nerve to see if she is available to take on the small task of helping me whip up a plan for my own skin care studio. Baby steps.
My initial pilgrimage to Patina was to check out Chef Robert Lyford’s (that would be Kaci’s hubby…love that family/locally owned) lunch counter. I was not disappointed. Lunch is served Tuesday-Saturday 11am-2pm and stuff sells out…so get there early. The menu is crafted daily and Chef Robert emphasizes locally sourced, seasonal, sustainable, delicious, creative (ok I’m getting carried away) REAL FOOD. Check out their web site for a sample menu. Some days…I believe there is nothing more desirable that one of Chef Robert’s hearty grilled veggie/cheese sandwiches and a cup of tomato bisque. If you “Like” Patina Green on Facebook, you will have unlocked access to the daily menu. A word of caution, when that lunch menu pops up in your Facebook feed- you may have an unexpected & uncontrollable urge to travel to PG for lunch. That has definitely been the case for me.
I was actually fortunate enough to attend a cooking class several months ago hosted by Luscombe Farm in Anna, TX where Robert razzle-dazzled us with his wit and culinary skill. (*There were WAY too many prepositions in that sentence…but I’m not fixing it.) The cooking class is a whole other topic – that I should’ve blogged about months ago…
I was elated (nope, not an exaggeration) when I came across PG’s announcement on Facebook that they would be hosting Market Dinner’s every month this fall. Chef Robert would serve a 5 course dinner on the patio featuring local and seasonal ingredients. Two seatings of 16 each night – 1st at 6pm and 2nd at 8:30pm. $75 per person + gratuity and BYOB. Upon reading the news, I immediately picked up the phone and reserved a spot for Ronald and I at 8:30pm on the first night (September 8, 2012).
Ok – now, that we’ve got the backstory settled…let me tell you about the fabulousness that was this market dinner.
McKinney Wine Merchant
Our reservation confirmation message lent us the handy tip that Chef Robert had selected some wines to compliment our dinner at the McKinney Wine Merchant. Of course, we were also welcome to bring anything else we liked. It just so happens that the lovely recommended shop is just off the main square and within walking distance of Patina Green. So, we came a bit early to pick up some vino. I will be back – the shop keeper had a very friendly/jovial way…and it seems he knows quite a bit about wine.
great selection
I was able to check out the scenery on the square and snap a few pics with my camera while we killed time before 8:30. Kaci welcomed us promptly and ushered us past the string of lights used to rope of the patio for the special dinner occasion.
who doesn’t love a string of lights?
The food, setting, and service were AMAZING. We had SO much fun, and we overheard (to our dismay because we did not make reservations for Oct, Nov, & Dec) that all other nights for the rest of the year are already booked! They did say they were keeping a waiting list for cancellations…we can only hope that maybe other nights will be added…or that Winter & Spring will bring a new series of dinners. Pardon my amateur photography – but here is a host of photos I took at dinner. I’m totally infatuated with my new DSLR…I’m sure to the chagrin of the people seated next to us at dinner…
click to enlarge collage
We started with some refreshing cucumber water, and then were served an amuse-bouche of local watermelon and cucumber foam. It was meant as a drink to initiate our appetite, and it was a very clean and tasty way to start the meal. Then, a baguette from Empire Baking Company along with house churned butter sprinkled with sea salt arrived. Probably my favorite picture of the night – this extreme butter close up.
mmm…butter
Next up – a charcuterie plate. This had toast fingers, brie, a chicken galantine, port wine chicken liver paté, and house made fig preserves. The preserves were designed to go with the paté, and the combo was quite complex and delicious. The paté had a decidedly rich and savory almost smoky flavor…some might say “strong” (perhaps not for the weak of heart or palate). I’m not an expert in paté, but it seem like it would be hard to eat quite a lot of it. It’s very filling. It paired nicely with the preserves, but I rather enjoyed eating the preserves on slices of the brie – DIVINE. The chicken galantine was amazing. It was very light and clean speckled with bits of ham and pecan and topped with some micro greens. I kept trying to figure our why this chicken tasted so clean – almost green or citrusy. I decided it must be that the chickens were very happy pasture fed chickens. Wow, what a difference that can make.
OM-Gaufrettes! (really, that’s my new favorite saying)
Following charcuterie, we had what was probably my most favorite & memorable course. I have been craving this dynamic duo ALL day. We were served gaufrettes and a smoked redfish rillette. I suggested to Kaci they should have a midnight food truck that served these delicious lightly salty and perfectly crispy chips along with the creamy, basil-y, smoky, buttery fish spread. She wisely replied, “But that would mean we’d be working at midnight…” Maybe the idea can be outsourced?!
Then, a soup and salad course. There was a creamy potato soup topped with farmstead cheese, a little crispy jowl bacon (YUM) and crispy leeks. Fortunately, you don’t have to have a dinner reservation to taste the glory of Chef Robert’s soups. There is generally a soup option at lunch. The soup was rich, velvety, and addictive. The salad consisted of local greens (all from one garden). There was arugula, tomato, radish, cucumber, black eyed peas and an avocado vinaigrette. This course alone could be a satisfying meal, but there was much more to come.
Next a veggie course featuring a soft poached egg. There were roasted beets, cauliflower, brussel sprouts, and kale topped off with a lovely wobbly egg…and then topped with a tomato hollandaise. You had me at poached egg, Chef Robert… This is probably a surefire way to get the younguns to eat their veggies. We were starting to feel quite full.
Previous plates and silverware were cleared away, our places were set afresh. The promise of something big loomed in the air as we gazed on these clean plates. Soon after, picture perfect trays of a duo of Waygu beef. Duo of beef? Yes, DUO of BEEF! Perfectly seared and medium rare strip loin (I think that was the cut) topped with a carrot top and pumpkin seed pesto lay on a bed of pot roast & 8 ball squash hash. Just throwing this out there – Chef Robert can come cook Sunday pot roast at my house ANY TIME! Not an afterthought- this plate included glazed carrots and (grilled?) okra. Weirdly enough…any day – I could go for a plate of just the carrots & okra. They were SO GOOD. We might have left a few bites of this plate behind…only for the fact that we were totally full. My second favorite photo is from this course.
duo of Waygu beeftake two of these and…
The meal closed with some sweet truffle offerings, and some cute morning after chocolate chip scones. We loved this touch…as it had us talking about our two dinners at Restaurant Gary Danko in San Francisco. They also sent us home with a sweet treat for the next day – banana bread wrapped expertly in gold paper. I think the fact that I just referenced Restaurant Gary Danko in this summary of Patina Green’s Market Dinner says it all. It was VERY GOOD.
Bravo, Chef Robert! Your passion and dedication to real food is greatly appreciated. Look forward to many more happy meals at Patina Green.
I don’t know if it’s ever even occurred to me before, but this weekend I discovered two kind of fun Apps. I’ve always been known for constantly taking pictures with my iPhone. Now, that I’ve been walking around with the newly acquired Canon EOS Rebel T3i like a new appendage- it seems “Taking A Photo” could be my new middle name. I’m blogging, tweeting, e-mailing, and updating Facebook with my newest capture at every turn. It some how led me to wanting to be able to group several pictures together, and share them all as one image…you know…wait for it…like a COLLAGE!
So the first App is for the iPhone and it’s called Pic Collage. It makes it easy to create pretty simple collages (right on your iPhone) and share them (right from your iPhone). Here’s an example of a collage I made in a matter of minutes…and then I’m able to either save it to my camera roll or send it via email, text/iMessage, twitter, Facebook, etc., etc. I know…the world is a better place now…isn’t it?! Oh wait…get’s better – it’s FREE.
Ok, the second App is for Mac and it’s called CollageIt Free (yup…as in you can get it for FREE). This one lets you make collages on your Mac computer. I found it super easy to use, and when you’re done you can export your collage in several different formats like PDF or a JPG. In a blog I was prepping about dinner at Patina Green I used a collage – instead of trying to jam every single picture I liked into the post.
So, in the even you found yourself in need of making a collage- I thought I’d share.
As a technology related side note- I’ve also started playing with Photoshop. I’m sure there’s a way to make a collage there…but I’m sure it’s not this easy…nor cheap.
I was going pretty strong with this blog last year, but I kind of got waylaid by that WordPress TimThumb security vulnerability. My site got hacked, and I ended up having to sort of rebuild…even though I had backups. I reinstalled WordPress and imported one of my backups, but it didn’t come out quite right.
So, here I am again! Most of my last blogs were related to Ronald and I traveling to Europe last summer. (I’m eventually going to try to get all those old posts & pictures back up.) Since last May, it seems A LOT has happened. We very recently sold my MINI Cooper and bought a truck (F150 Super Crew). We finally sold our Austin condo (two years after moving)! Last July, we got a puppy. Her name is Hendrix, and she’s just over a year old now. I’ll be writing a lot about her and our obedience, trick, and agility training. We’re also planning to get another puppy this July – a Labrador Retriever. That should provide quite the adventure. I’m of course still cooking and critiquing my dining experiences. We haven’t really traveled much since last summer, but something might be on the horizon for this fall.
Now that we’re all caught up (haha)- I guess I just dive back in the deep end.
