TRAVELS WITH LESLIE, PART 1 !!

Just flew in from Vegas and California, and BOY, are my arms tired!! Okay, that was bad, but I couldn't help it....I'm really jet-lagged and tired and punchy, so sue me already. I'm in between loads 53,432 and 53,433 of our endless vacation laundry, just picked up Wee Willie from his "baby sitter", and have successfully swept up and vacuumed up about 2 tons of cat litter that was somehow, liberally, sprinkled everywhere....so NOW, I get to have some fun~! I'm gonna take you, in a 3 part series over the next week or so, on our very fun vacation--let's get started!

First up, Las Vegas. Sin City. Lost Wages. You must understand, we are really, really NOT Las Vegas kind of people, but Big Daddy had a class to attend for his association, so we made the best of it. We don't gamble, at all. We are in - bed - by - 9 o'clock kinda people. Pretty funny in a town that doesn't even START partying until around midnight.

Here's what I DO love about Vegas: the grand hotels. Especially the Bellagio. They really know how to whoop it up in the decor department. Being that it was almost Easter when we were there, the hotel was all decked out with flowers and butterflies and greenhouses:



The Bellagio hotel on the left, Ceasar's Palace on the right



The Grand Entryway at The Bellagio



Poppies, Poppies, everywhere~!



Gorgeous tulips



                      A carnival atmosphere...



                            These are all REAL!!!


Actual sprays of water over the pathway--so tempting to touch!



A huge "painting", made totally from fresh flowers.





The glass Butterfly House



Butterflies feeding from an orange

The world's largest chocolate fountain--heaven!

Hanging from the lobby ceiling, this amazing blown glass sculpture by one of my favorite artists, Chihully.

Do you notice a mysterious lack of actual CASINO photos? That's because I really don't like casinos, but this one, inside the Bellagio, is pretty grand; I'll admit it. If it looks familiar, that's because it was on the national news lately, after a masked bandit robbed the cashiers of their chips:

The fabulous Bellagio pools:

Next time I stay here, I soooo wanna rent one of these cabanas:

If you go outside of the Bellagio and look across the street, this is the scene--The faux Eiffel Tower

The Bellagio puts on a SPECTACULAR water show in the lake--all choreographed to music--especially fabulous at night! I think this is my favorite thing in Las Vegas.

The next day, I met the King and Queen of Las Vegas themselves, my mom and dad. They've been coming to Vegas for over 50 years, back when there was actual sand between the casinos! Mom and Dad drove all the way over from California, just to hang with the Willards:

See those hotels behind them? Those are the Wynn and Wynn Encore, where they were staying. Newer hotels on the strip, they are not to be missed:

This was the view from their room:

And here is just one of the fabulous restaurants in the Wynn, and a tile mosaic butterfly, just one of thousands all handcrafted on the lobby floors:

Well, despite all of the grandeur, this country girl needed to get out of the city for awhile, so Mom and Dad and I drove about a half hour outside of Las Vegas, to the absolutely breathtaking Red Rock Canyon, for a hike:

(I know it looks hot, but it wasn't--a nice and breezy 70 degrees)

Don't you just love that blue, blue sky, contrasted against the red rocks?

Simply awe inspiring! We even saw a few eagles soaring above those cliffs.

The next day, Dad wanted to hang by the pool, so Mom and I took in the new City Center, which houses the Cosmopolitan and Aria hotels:

I took this photo at the Cosmopolitan bar--thought the gazillions of crystals hanging from the ceiling were spectacular!:

We then strolled over to the Ceasar's Palace Forum shops--an oldie but goodie on the strip, also not to be missed

Celine Dion is in concert there, and also Janet Jackson and Elton John!

The fabulous statues in the Forum--they actually talk and move:

Phenominal shopping and eating opportunities, everywhere!:

The most amazing 3 story H & M store I've ever seen

That's all for now--coming soon---off to San Francisco!

TODAY I'M GRATEFUL FOR:

*The spring rains---everything feels so fresh and green, finally

*Our wonderful parents, who are all healthy and so much fun!

*My Curried Chicken Salad recipe--I'll share the recipe, soon--promise.















MY FAVORITE AUTHOR ELIZABETH BERG'S KILLER BABY MEATLOAVES AND LEAVING ON A JET PLANE!

FIRST of all, I'm going to start this post by telling you what an absolute IDIOT I am---really and truly. See, I've been snap snap snapping away with my camera for months now, not having a clue that the images I was capturing were WAY, WAY too big. Friends and relatives were complaining that photos I sent them were crashing their computers, and everytime I wanted to do a new blog post, it took me,  like, 45 minutes to download photos for it! Duh! Here's something that smart people always do: Read the user's manual. I guess I was using 4000 pixels (whatever the HELL pixels are!), instead of the more computer friendly 1024 pixels. I'm so glad I got this all figured out; it seriously only took about 10 seconds to download today's photos--blogging is going to be so much more fun! Yahoo! I'm also glad I figured this out before our vacation, because I plan on shooting lots of great photos to share with you upon my return........

Speaking of VACATION--this will be my last blog post until about the 27th of this month, because we're SO outa here! Spending a week in Vegas--we've already got the nightclubs and restaurants pegged that we want to indulge in. My parents, the King and Queen of Vegas, will be joining us for a few days of Blackjack and slot machines. Well, actually they'll be doing that--Big Daddy and I don't gamble, at all--we'll just hang out and watch them and sip Gin and Tonics! SO looking forward to doing some hiking out at Red Rock Canyon,  checking out the new City Center and lounging by the pool at the Wynn Encore Hotel.  At the tail end of our trip, we're heading to California to see our daughter and our family, and are staying at the amazing Claremont Hotel, which is close to the UC Berkeley campus. Big Daddy and I are really looking forward to spending a few days running around San Francisco, just about our favorite spot in the universe.

So I'm spending the next couple of days packing and cleaning and getting ready for our pet sitter. But before I go, I really wanted to share these Killer Baby Meatloaves with you--they're made with lowfat ground turkey, so they're actually quite lean and healthy. They are from the blog of my favorite author, Elizabeth Berg.  Meatloaf is such a great comfort food that can usually be made with ingredients you have in your pantry. These mini-meatloaves are very simple to make; perfect for your busiest of days, and the sauce? Well, it's TO DIE FOR!

First thing you'll do is mix up your ground turkey, bread crumbs, lemon juice, chopped onion, egg, seasoning salt, oregano and Worchestershire sauce. I always use the kitchen's best tools to do this, my hands! And remember, with any meatloaf recipe it's so important to not over-mix the ingredients--that'll make your meatloaf tough:

Yes, you read correctly--you will be using lemon juice in this recipe, plus 6 lemon slices. But don't worry, you don't eat the lemon slices when the meatloaves are done--they're just a garnish! I always get so excited to use my new lemon-juicer; especially valuable to me with my bad hands these days:

Form your meatloaf mixture into 6 mini loaves and place in a greased baking dish:

Now for the Killer sauce: Mix together catsup, Worchestershire sauce, brown sugar, and allspice. Pour over meatloaves, then add a slice of lemon to each loaf. Admire how cute they are:

Bake and serve. I found some beautiful asparagus to serve on the side. Such a yummy and healthy dinner!:

And don't forget your glass of milk, girls, to wash it all down!:

Here's the recipe:

KILLER BABY MEATLOAVES

Serves 3-4

1 1 / 2 lb. ground turkey

2 cups bread crumbs (I made my own, but you don't have to)

1 /4 cup lemon juice

1 / 4 cup chopped onion (red or white)

1 egg, lightly beaten

2 tsp. seasoning salt (I used Lawry's)

1 tsp. dried oregano

2 tblsp. Worchestershire sauce

Sauce:

1 /2 cup catsup

1 / 3 cup brown sugar

1 tblsp. Worchestershire sauce

1 / 4 cup allspice

Garnish:

6 lemon slices

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Mix first 8 ingredients together and form into six little loaves. Put loaves into a lightly greased 9 x 13 inch baking pan. Mix sauce ingredients together and pour evenly over meatloaves. Top each loaf with a lemon slice. Bake for 45 minutes.

TODAY I'M GRATEFUL FOR:

* The green grass outside of my office window--as I type this, there are little red robins, hopping about searching for worms!

* The fresh scent outside after the rain

*The opportunity to travel with my husband and family. I am so blessed!

SUNDAY AFTERNOON POT ROAST AND MORE SIGNS OF SPRING!

Spring comes maddingly (is that even a word??) late here to the Great Northwoods of America! Why, it's mid-April, and we still have snow on the ground and NO green little buds blooming on the trees. But it is supposed to be warm-ish and rainy over the next week, so that should help expedite matters, doncha think? I took Wee Willie on a nice long walk this morning, and was SO SO grateful to NOT be wearing my snow-stomping / no slipping hiking boots; instead, I wore my super duper New Balance running shoes, and boy were my arches happy! In fact, I felt so energized that I ran inside, grabbed my camera and snapped some encouraging signs of early spring, right in my own front yard. Can you see them? The teensy tinsy green buds, underneath the dead and dried leaves of my Daylily plant? Look closely for the magic:

           

And this is our Red Leaf Maple tree--we planted it oh, I dunno, 3 years back, and it's doing so well! Those pinkish branch tips mean new growth!:

Here's our front lawn, looking across the street towards our neighbor's house. The snow is finally melting off of it, but we can't walk on it yet to pick up sticks and such--waaay too squishy:

And this one's gotta be my favorite--check out the delicate fern that has once again survived our harsher than harsh winters--peeking out from underneath the snow:

Do you know what else makes me happy in the Springtime? Pretty organic carrots and little red potatoes and sweet yellow onions! Big Daddy is such a meat and potatoes kinda guy, so I think I'll whip up a Sunday Afternoon Pot Roast with those vegetables on the side, just for my man!:

I know, I know, there's only 2 of us in the house, but Big Daddy LOVES to take leftovers to work, for his lunch, and he also loves to fry up leftover potatoes for breakfast, with eggs, so that's my rationale for the big dinner. Well, that and the fact that it just smells SOOOO good cooking, like a Sunday afternoon should smell, in my book!  Talk about your ultimate comfort food.

To start, I take a large boneless Chuck roast and sear it well (after rubbing on salt, pepper and paprika) on both sides, in about 2 tblsp. of olive oil in a big Dutch oven:

Then I cut up washed potatoes and carrots,  and also some yellow onions--I never peel the potatoes or carrots, as really, most of the nutrition is in the peel!:

Then mix the stewed tomatoes, beef broth, ketchup, mustard and Worchestershire together. Surround pot roast with chopped vegetables, then pour the tomato mixture over all:

Cover and bake for about 3 hours, or until meat is super tender. You can easily make a gravy from the pan drippings; just skim off most of the fat, then mix together some corn starch or flour with cold water in a jar, and add to drippings you've brought to a boil on the stove. Stir until desired thickness and season.   Look how pretty this dinner looks, displayed on a large platter! (sorry it's so blurry--I think it's because of all the steam on my lens):

Here's the recipe:

SUNDAY AFTERNOON POT ROAST

Serves 6-8

2 1/2 to 3 lb. boneless Chuck roast

1 1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. pepper

1/2 tsp. paprika

2 tblsp. olive oil

6-8 large red potatoes, quartered

8 large carrots, cut into 2 inch chunks

3 large yellow onions, peeled and cut into large chunks

1 16oz. can stewed tomatoes

1 cup beef broth

1/2 cup ketchup

1 tblsp. prepared mustard

1 tblsp. Worchestershire sauce

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Rub meat well with salt, pepper and paprika. Heat olive oil in a large Dutch oven or oven-proof pot with a lid. Brown beef well on both sides. Surround with chopped potatoes, carrots and onions. Mix tomatoes, broth, ketchup, mustard and Worchestershire in a bowl. Cover and bake for 2 1/2 to 3 hours; or until meat is fork tender. Serve on a large platter.

WHAT I'M MOST GRATEFUL FOR TODAY:

*I'm grateful that vacation is less than a week away!

*I'm grateful that I can give Wee Willie a bath these days without him jumping out of the tub, covered in dog shampoo!

*I'm grateful for the luxury of reading great books; truly a joy in my life!