Wednesday, January 25, 2006

Go North, Young Man (and Woman, and Dog)

Cranky and I are headed off for a coastal respite for a couple of days. It's a dog-friendly B&B, and we booked a cabin with a fireplace. No TV, no cell-phone reception... There is a computer for guests to check e-mail; I don't know if they'll let me hog it long enough to blog. (Heh! Hog-blogging! I've done that.) So I may be absent until Friday.
The funny thing is we're bringing all our food. Sure, there will be restaurants and diners and stuff, but we decided we'd just rather hole up and eat our own cooking.
Yesterday Cranky made a Crockpot Cassoulet, shown here in its cold, congealed persona. This is such an improvement on the lengthy, laborsome (?word?) oven-roasted version. Ours includes duck sausage, some of my homemade pork sausage, a leg of duck confit, gobs of duck fat, garlic, herbs, onion, a squizzle of tomato paste from a tube (what a godsend), and tons of perfect, fresh (though dried), plump Great Northern white beans from last summer's Tracy Dry Bean Festival. Oh, plus a smart splash of white wine, and it's thickened with fresh breadcrumbs.
We're also bringing an array of tapas. More about that later, if they prove at all bloggable.
You would not believe what we are piling into the car. Hot plate. Honey, tea, milk. A lemon (in case we find Dungeness crab). Wine. Radishes. Seaweed. Cheese. I think even a bag of Doritos (and more on that later, too... Do you have any idea how much they're charging for Doritos nowadays?).
For a two-day getaway? Blush.
See you.

14 comments:

Michelle said...

Have fun and enjoy! I think cooking for yourself there sounds cozy and romantic (and dog-friendly? what could be better?)! I also found myself drooling over your cassoulet ...mmmm...duck fat.

And I can't resist, because I missed your post yesterday, and no one else said it...I have the chrome Kitchenaid...nah nah nah nah! Honestly, I did want the red...but then I thought, I still have to move several more times and what if my decor doesn't match? I thought the chrome would match everything, so that's what I got!

MizD said...

North, hmmm?

(plots hijacking of crockpot cassoulet.)

Have fun, you three!

Dagny said...

Cassoulet. Mmmmmm. Have fun!

Mona said...

Oooh Oooh, where ya going? Not that I want to stalk you...but just give me a hint...going north of SF or south? South is my neck of the woods. If you're headin' to B. Sur be sure to stop at Deetchens or The Big Sur River Inn:) Say hi to the folks there with me. Of course if you're going north, ignore all that.
That cassoulet picture looks yummy! I'd go on a road trip with you any day!

Greg said...

Have a great time. Hope the weather holds up.

Hungry Hedonist said...

Hope you have a good time. Good food choices.

ZaZa said...

Sounds great. I and some friends used to go up to Ashland for the Shakespearean Festival a couple times a year, and we stayed at this little old motel, where every room had a kitchen. Looooved it. Ate out mostly, but it was really nice not to have to eat out.

Have a great time, you three.

Ilva said...

Enjoy yourselves!

Randi said...

Are you in Mendocino by any chance? We used to go up there every year and stay in a dog friendly place, I just love that little town.

Anonymous said...

Have a good trip hope beansprout enjoys it

Anonymous said...

I once travelled across Manhattan in a cab with a huge (I mean, 36 inches long) clay casserole of cassoulet balanced on my knees -- on padding, that day's New York Times. I think your system is smarter.

Have a good stay on the coast. I just got back from a beautiful visit to Mendocino. It always seems that I'm away twice as long as the real stay, it's so restorative. And NO CELL PHONES in the village so you see people walking around actually talking with a companion or -- silent!

Anonymous said...

Have fun! Sounds like you might be headed Haddock's way. You should go see him. He's a nice guy and his food really is all that.

shuna fish lydon said...

I once went camping with someone and afterwards he said, "it doesn't appear that you like being dirty in the great outdoors all that much, but that was the best food I've eaten while camping ever!"

I know what I'm going to ask you and Cranky to make for our next potluck...

cookiecrumb said...

Thank you, everyone!
Not that far north, Mrs D! Heh! And not even as far north as (name of town withheld), johng, though I've thought about making that trip.
kudzu, your story is a crack-up. Better a taxi than the subway, eh? (Our cassoulet was simply yummy, and so easy.)
Shuna: Potluck! (toga, toga, toga!)