With almost everything checked off on my list of things to do in Seattle, I decided to just stroll around. I passed the quaint wine and olive oil shop and the sign in the window said something about wine tasting. That was good enough for me! I walked in and looked around for a minute, then walked up to what seemed like the wine bar where wine tasting took place. The shop was called La Buona Tavola, and was run by this extremely outgoing guy, David.

I was at the correct place were I could sample wine, David poured me a wonderful wine from Italy. I was just in Italy last week, so this brought back good memories. The wines at the La Buona are all from family owed and run vineyards. David actually goes to the vineyards and spends a good amount of time with the families and thoroughly checks out if the wines these family run vineyards are the wines he wants to see at his shop. I found each wine I tasted to be of a high-quality and learned that most of the wines he buys have produced only a few cases! That told me that these wines were out of my price range for sure! But, I was so delighted to meet someone would loves wine to much to cheapen it’s qualities.

Feeling a bit spirited after the wine tasting, I headed back to my hotel in Seattle,so I could take a little nap before heading back out to explore some more. By-the-way, I booked my hotel at this site, I found this site to have the best hotels with the best prices.

On my way back, I would pass some restaurants and if they posted their menus outside, I read what they had to offer. I was great to see so many restaurants using local produce, geo-friendly products and organic foods. There was one restaurant in particular that I’ll have to come back to after my nap. It was the restaurant of the chef I met when I was back in the wind shop. He dropped by to pick up some of Davids better stock.

A Little Wine Tasting in Seattle is a post from: Orkeed

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This would be a suggestion for a nice romantic getaway.  Going to another country is always the perfect way to make things more interesting.  For one thing, there’s a pressure that gets taken away.  In a new place, there are many expectations that tend to follow us around that seem unable to cross borders.  This is very good news, especially for people who are typically nervous.  Wanting to know outcomes is a sign of an anxious personality, and traveling in new lands always means giving up this need to know, and it’s a great way to learn how to give into the flow of it all.

That’s something that’s also a good lesson for romance, because when you’re with another person, sometimes it does feel like a foreign country.  There’s no way of knowing, and no one around to translate.  In Singapore, however, the majority of people speak English, so there’s a chance of being understood, and it’s safer than love, perhaps.

A dinner in an Italian restaurant is always going to be a good move.  There may be two people in the world who don’t like Italian, and even if you’re gluten-free, chances are good that you’ll find something.  This is an important principle in a relationship, to find something you both like.

Another one of the pressures that we lose when we’re traveling has to do less with control, and more with anonymity.  Coming to a place where you’ve never been sometimes suggests that you may never be back, and with that comes a sense that you can probably be as free as you like.  Sometimes we’re not so free because we’re afraid we’ll look silly.  On a vacation, however, it doesn’t matter, and everyone looks silly, so it’s the perfect chance to find out who your partner is again, and have some lovely food.

Singapore Love Story in Progress is a post from: Orkeed

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Cape Town is a truly stunning place. It’s so modern and western, it actually doesn’t feel like I’m in Africa. Cape Town is so very different from the rest of the entire Continent of Africa. It’s actually pleasant to be back in a city where I can have the convenience of a hot shower, Cape Town fine dining, shops, and decent roads.

My first day, when I arrived, I caught a minibus to Long Street, a backpackers hub in Cape Town. I checked into my hostel and then hit the shops. The next morning, I picked up my car hire, which I’ll have for an entire month. I’ll drop it off in JoBurg. I find this the best way to travel. It’s great having the Independence to do whatever I want again.

I said goodbye to the group of people I met during my truck tour of Africa, they were all at the bar called Quay 4, which is located on the pretentious V & A Waterfront. It was a fun night and I really enjoyed all of their company during my truck trip.

I first visited the gorgeous Bloubergstrand beach, which is just north of the city. It had a superb view across to Table mountain. I watched the kite surfers hitting the big waves coming in from the Atlantic ocean. I then drove south of the city and marvelled at all the vast scenery around Camp Bay and around Houts Bay. I then drove back into the city center. Cape Town has tons to offer, there’s so much to do and see, it’s unreal. The next morning I drove a few hours south into the Peninsula where I visited Cape Point and then on to the most southwestern point of Africa, the Cape of Good Hope. I got to see a whale and her baby off of one of the beaches in the national park. Now that was even more stunning than Cape Town!

Cape Town is a Different Africa is a post from: Orkeed

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I was doing my best to get out of cooking the Turkey for Thanksgiving due to all the craziness of our family, but my family wasn’t about to allow that! So, this year, I thought I’d try out our new built in barbecue grills, which was installed in late summer.

I must say, I was impressed with the results, and it was one of the easiest ways to cook a turkey that I’ve ever tried. Especially, when it came to clean up time, there was no roasting pan to scrub. How I accomplished barbecuing the turkey with ease, is I used two smaller turkeys instead of one big turkey. One reason is because the smaller turkeys cook faster and another reason is the meat to skin ratio is more to my liking. Plus, the drumsticks are way more manageable and they’re much smaller and you get four of them.

I prepared the turkeys by generously using my favorite BBQ rub all over the birds, then I got my coals to the the temperature of around 250 degrees and added hickory chunks to the coals. I cooked them for about 4 hours, took them off the heat, placed the turkeys on an aluminum tray, wrapped them in foil and sent them to the crazies. Voila’!

What I learn from my first time barbecuing the turkeys was that next time I need to brine them. I didn’t have the time, because they were still a bit frozen. Plus, the meat could’ve used a little more saltiness and a little bit more moisture, but luckily I made enough gravy to cover up the little bit of dryness. Also, next time, I think I’ll inject the turkeys , this would’ve delivered some additional flavor deep into the meet, especially in the breast. Now, as for the gravy, I’ll need to find a way to get some of the drippings from the barbecued turkey so that my gravy will turn out better. But, all in all, Thanksgiving was very scrumptious and breeze!

Smoked Barbecue Turkey Grill is a post from: Orkeed

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