Month: January 2011

The Phoenix Grill we love for the food and the service.  We have been several times.  The first time we went we had a small pizza and a couple of glasses of wine.  We thought the pizza was delicious – I honestly was very pleasantly surprised.  And the service was very perfect.

Because of this we went back a few weeks later and:  Dinner was excellent again but – the service!!  I ordered an Alexander’s Dark – I’m partial to darks.  I liked it so I ordered a second. It was a bit coming, well, maybe a bit more than a bit and then we found out they were out so the manager came to the table asking if I’d like to try a different brand which he recommended.  He came back a minute later and poured it for me.  It also was quite good. 

Even though I had to wait a bit for that second beer the overall experience and attention was pleasant.  And… they did not charge me for the second beer.  I am rarely one to complain at a restaurant.  I believe people are generally trying to do their best but things to happen.  I’ve waited on tables in my time and occasionally messed  up an order or was slow but the majority of the time did a good job.  So, I tend to not complain.  So, it was really nice to have them give me the complimentary drink without me even having said anything. I certainly was not expecting it. 

We have been back since and I mentioned to one of the managers how we liked it there and he sat with us and chatted for a minute.  He was genuinely pleased to hear this.  I find the service there pleasant – they make sure that you are taken care of without ‘interrupting’ you all the time.  I never felt that I was waiting for service but at the same time didn’t feel like my privacy was being invaded. 

And again the food, each time we have eaten there, has been excellent.

I went and chatted with Percy about wine again today.

They were tasting a Malbec from Chile: A Valdivieso. I purchased a bottle (among others) and it is delicious. This would make a great house wine – I mean for my

house. It is smooth without being ‘plush’. We drank it with home made Pizza but I think it would go with pretty much anything. I shop at different wine stores and obviously different people have different tastes. I do like Percy’s choices – he is very knowledgeable about wine – I have liked all of the wine he has recommended so far. I by no means consider myself a connoisseur of wine but I do know what I like and what I don’t like in wine.

I have a friend that started getting serious about wine pretty much the same time I did in Oregon some years ago. He and I went to a wine tasting event in McMinnville, Oregon and Dave, that is his name, would have a sip of the same wine as me and go on about how it started and finished and whether it was fruity or not and I would stare at him and say something stupid like: “Yeah, me too!”

If I can, I like to keep my wine purchases under $20. There are a lot of good wines in the $15 to $20 range. I will admit to paying more sometimes but there are many good and varied wines below this price.

I don’t know if you can find this Malbec in Calgary but if you can it is very high on my list of recommended wines. If you are in Bragg Creek, please go in and say hello to Percy for me.

By the way, they give you a ten percent discount for a purchase of six bottles or more.

I get a chuckle almost every time I buy eggs at the grocery store.  Brown eggs are often 50 cents more per dozen than white eggs.  I have done some research online and found that there is really no nutritional difference between them.  It is just great marketing.

My real research came from actual real life when I was a teen.  We spent most weekends on a farm growing up and breakfast would be eggs from the chickens in the barn.  It would be our job to collect the eggs in the morning for breakfast.  I really could not tell which hen laid which egg – I wasn’t really concerned at the time – I was much more concerned that I would get a nice healthy ‘farm’ breakfast.  The eggs that I collected then were both brown and white.  Likely they were from different chickens but all from the same feed.  Oh yeah – the feed was generally all the vegetable left overs from the kitchen.  They got fed some grains as well but a large part of their diet was as above. 

So, my belief is that the biggest difference and perhaps the only one that matters between brown eggs and white eggs is the color.  I think the only extra actual costs in producing them is that the brown ones have to be separated out from the white eggs.

If people were taught in school to do proper research then they could more easily discern false information from that which is real.

Last night I finished reading Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin.  It was one of the most wonderfully inspiring books that I have every read.  I challenge anyone to read it and not want to do more for their fellow man. 

I have met many people in my travels in life and often the view is that not much can be done about various problems on this planet.  Or at least not by them.  Greg Mortenson shows us how compassion and understanding and actually doing something can actually change the world and make it a better, safer place.  Terrorists do not stand a chance in the face of Greg and his team.

I thought that the book was incredibly well researched and kudos to David for helping tell Greg’s story so well. 

Oh, by the way – it was the garlic that made my eyes water at the end of the book – it had nothing to do with the story. 

Please, please, please read this book. 

I’ve been making this salad for years with great success:

Ingredients:(Per Bowl)
– half an avacado diced
– about 1/6th of an English cucumber sliced and halved
– one large mushroom of your choice
– one green onion
– some diced red, green or yellow pepper
– some artichoke hearts that have soaked in oil
– Feta cheese
– about 4-5 cherry tomatoes halved
– a liberal sprinkling of basil
– black pepper
– salt
– Olive Oil
Olives if you like them

Stir it up and dig in!
You can add or subtract ingredients to your liking or what is available.