End o' week musings

I ate Henri last night.... and he was yummy... for a snail. But I digress...


Last Friday Jerry Gorin of "Off Ramp" invited to the KPCC radio studios in Pasadena for an interview about the Doo Dah parade. It is going with a segment he is doing on the parade exhibit at the Pasadena Museum of History now through Jan. 6. We had a nice chat and he even remarked on my tiara. (Yes, I know it's radio, but a Queen should show her royalty when she's doing "business."). I look forward to hearing the show and will let you know when it airs.


Saturday I went to the private reception for the exhibit opening. My friend Dean and I decided to match outfits and go as people on safari. Carin loaned me her pith helmets (I must say that I wonder why she has pith helmets, but do you question someone nice about their weird things?!) Anyway, we looked the part and got quite a few comments, as not as many people can in costumes as I expected.


The curators, which included Light Bringer Project volunteers, did a fantastic job of making a cohesive and creative display of 35 years of stuff. There are costumes, posters, t-shirts, tons of photos and more, including a recreation of Chrono's, the bar where Doo Dah began.


There is a good railway exhibit in the museum's other gallery. It boasts historic photos of trains and trolleys paired with images of the same locations today. I was quite intrigued with the scenes of Covina and Pasadena. There's also other memorabilia and cool things to see.


You can see both exhibits in one visit, so plan an outing www.pasadenahistory.org


Sunday was Byron's birthday so I took him to the Huntington (www.huntington.org) in Pasadena. He is an avid photographer, both on the job at Disneyland and in his free time. I knew it would be the perfect place for him to point and shoot. We wandered through the Japanese and Chinese gardens, checked out the galleries and more, despite the heat.


As a special treat, I took him to the Rose Garden Tea Room on the venue's grounds. We enjoyed a lovely buffet tea with sandwiches, salads and sweets, plus pink lemonade and green tea with pomegrante. The Chinese chicken salad was a standout, as were the fruit tartlets. Ooo and the scones with cream! You need to make reservations, as this dining spot is busy, and if you want tips on what to try, ask your waitress. Kimberly helped us and recommended the tea and some of the other nibbles and was spot on, as was her impeccable service.


Now about that snail. Last night my editor and I went to Gastronomy in the Garden at The Royce at the Langham Huntington Hotel in Pasadena (www.pasadena.langhamhotels.com). Chef David Feau started us with appetizers and champagne in his organic garden on the grounds. We ate radishes in butter and olives, lemon grass chicken and then he came around with his personally farmed and prepared escargot.


Each plump little snail was carefully wrapped in a squash blossom and seasoned for just the right mix of flavors. I have had escargot once before and was disappointed. That time I would have better enjoyed a nice chunk of French bread dipped in the garlic butter, but Chef's version was pretty good. And he smiled when I teased that I was eating Henri, who I had met when I interviewed Chef about his snail farming earlier this year. I'm not sure if it was Henri or Sam or even Fred, but the escargot was pretty tasty. Although, I definitely wouldn't eat them like M&Ms!


Later we went inside The Royce for our meal. Each course was paired with wine and all were amazing. In fact, I was treated to things that I couldn't even describe, as I had never tasted anything to compare them with. Everything was super fresh, beautifully plated and just the right size portion. The fish was perfectly cooked, the peach in the dessert was perfectly ripe and the waitstaff was perfectly polite. It was a lovely evening!


Otherwise my week was fairly calm. I did enjoy my interview today with Lawrence Gowan of Styx, but my visit to the dentist Tuesday - meh - not so much.


This weekend I plan to check out the art festivals in Laguna, sew, do laundry and get some sleep.


In rotation this week: Dustin Lynch, Morning Parade, Tae Phoenix, Saint Diablo and Treatment.


Photos we got 'em: A picture of me and Dean at the Doo Dah opening by PeggySue and some pet pix that made me smile.


Thought o' the week: Adventure! Yes, I'll admit that I've been worrying about that darn escargot for a few weeks now. I knew that if I went to the Langham dinner, Chef would insist I try one and I really didn't want to. But when he brought them to us arranged so prettily and offered them with a smile, I did the right thing and politely took one. I was pleasantly surprised, not so much that I want to eat escargot every day, but enough that my mind was opened to the idea of having them occasionally.


The point I'm trying to make goes with anything strange or new- how do you know if you like it or not if you don't try it? Too many people are too quick to pass on an opportunity because they are afraid they won't like it. The cure to this is to be informed. With the escargot, I knew that Chef feeds them organic produce from his garden and all his other dishes are wonderful, so really, how awful could they be?


We only get one go around in this world, so I think we should experience as many different things as we can. Then we can truly appreciate all that we've been given. I don't ever want to look back with regret... and I still have many more things on my (escargot) plate to do! Adventure~ grab it and

Keep on rockin'
Mickie