Bali and Your Belly - A Religious Experience

We arrived at Tanah Lot. En and I walked barefoot over the slippery ocean rocks to get to the temple where I prayed and we were blessed by the priest. The priests are inside the temple under the rock.

This was one of the most spiritual experiences I've had. The spring of water is said to come from God when the staff struck the rock. I understand this is not how things likely went down, but it is considered a holy Hindu temple, and you could feel it and I was happy to receive the blessings. All our travel companions were happy to do so as well.

Where God told the man to strike the ground with his staff; Tanah Lot, Bali

After the temple experience we walked the grounds and went to the restaurant (the only restaurant) that has very limited seating. I'm sure this was all arranged by the agency. We were able to select from a limited set of seafood and fish (as I said, limited seating, limited selection) and En and I were lucky to select the last two crab. They were sized nicely and very active. Once cooked, they were seasoned with chili oil and we ate all fresco at the side of the rock cliff. Life doesn't get much better than this.

2 sea crabs, alive just moments before we ate them.

How is a band related to the temple...?

Dal Toro Ristorante @ Palazzo in Vegas

Dal Toro Ristorante
3355 S. Las Vegas Blvd. Las Vegas, NV, 89109
(in the Palazzo)



There are a few restaurants I would have loved to check out, but being locations I would enjoy with my husband or close friends, I didn't have high hopes. I was more interested in enjoying time with my coworkers at a venue that was more affordable. Jen and Henning have been to Dal Toro before and suggested it, which was a wonderful idea. It was an interesting setting and not too pricey.

This image of the lobby was shot through a glass panel with translucent gray linear patterns. The decor set it apart from the regular seating, not to say that there wasn't enough kitsch to go around for both areas.


I ordered the seafood linguini. Surprisingly it was delicious. It's easy to be disappointed by seafood pasta dishes, but everything was tender and the flavour was not wanting. It wasn't spectacular, but it was well done food. I had a gin and tonic, Henning also had a drink (scotch, I believe) and Dany, a glass of red.

Jen and Henning told me to go check out the sink in the washroom. I didn't think it would have surprised me - restaurants that try to be upscale tend to glam up their washrooms and I had seen a few. But this was really funky! I mean, you've got this disk spouting water and your hand's go right there! I know it doesn't seem this way from the picture, but it really was interesting. Too bad it didn't drain well.





We did manage to take a group shot to commemorate the moment.Who knows when we would all dine together? Left to right: Dany, Henning, Jennifer, Me, Modupe, Nicola.



There is a showroom displaying some beautiful cars - I took a ton a photos, but here is one of the restaurant's namesake - the Lamborghini.

Sweet to Hot - Pepper Jellies

I was watching Anna Olson's show >"Fresh" on The Food Network the other day and saw a recipe for Red Pepper Jelly. Jellies have always seemsed so complicated; to concentrate the flavours and the excessive amounts of sugar was all so inconceivable to me. Worst of all, what if I didn't get the colour right? I mean, with jellies it's naked to flaws of hue. If it's not spot on, it looks unapetizing at best. And then I saw the trick. She used (gasp) food colouring.

It's hard to think about food colouring as good for anything other than frosting, but it does have it's uses. And if Anna Olsen uses it to give a visual pop to her jellies, then dammit, it's good enough for me.

With the possible 'wow' for a dinner party, I figured I could take down the recipe and try it. Why not? I felt this way only because I saw the options for a savoury jelly, and figured it would be so interesting to try this to serve with a meat. Or even if I substituted the peppers for mint (which my parents have growing like a weed), or any other sort of herb. This could get interesting in application.

I'm capturing the recipe here, although it can be found on the Food Network website, I'm keeping it for my notes.

PepperJelly (courtesy of Anna Olsen)

In a pot on med-high heat, add...

• 1 2/4c white wine vinegar
• 1 1/4 c water
• 2 sprigs rosemary

When liquid comes up to heat, add...

• 2 c sweet red pepper
• 1 c hot pepper (Seeded)

Bring to boil
Reduce to simmer (covered) 15 min
Strain to remove solids (liquid is yellow-orange)
Strain with cheesecloth (2 cups)
Return to pot

• 5 c sugar

Stir on med heat. Add...

• red food colouring
• 1 pk liquid pectin

And maintain bare simmer (until there is a bit of thickening pull)
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PostScript:
Since this post, I have tried to use galatine to thicken a chipotle concoction that would somehwat mimic a taco hot sauce. I used chopped chipotle, 1 part lime juice, and 4 parts water. Bring to a boil and add gelatin. I think I added too much gelatin. What is '1 package'? I need to better understand the ratio of gelatin to liquid so I don't once again create chipotle jello. Should I have used a pectin instead? If I could 'find' pectin around here, then maybe I could start experimenting.