Indian New Delhi

Mom and I decided to try Indian food for dinner tonight. The Indian Delhi Palace is on McDowell Road in Phoenix, about a mile from my home. This photo shows the outside. We wanted to make sure that the man in the matching red turban was in the photo. He's on the porch above the sign.

Mom has never eaten Indian food, and she was wide open to anything as long as it wasn't spicy hot. We looked at the menu and decided on an all inclusive meal.

We selected their Non-Vegetarian Complete dinner including Papadum (delicate indian wafers, mildly spiced), Tandoori Chicken, Chicken Curry (traditional Indian Chicken prepared with special spices), Daal Maharani (Split Lentils cooked to a thick soup with herbs and spices), Basmati Rice, Naan (Indian style leavened bread), Raita (cool whipped yogurt with bits of cucumber, tomato and potato and a sprinkle of spices), Desert, Chutney and Tea. There were four choices for desert and we selected Gulab Jamun (Two juicy balls made from cream of milk) in honey, and Kheer (Basmati Rice Pudding sprinkled with Almonds and Pistachio).

Tandoori Chicken - Chicken marinated in yogurt and mild spices, cooked in its own juices over red hot charcoals, roasted in the Tandoor (Special clay oven imported from India) to a crisp, tender copper brown, with onion.

Zuppa's Bistro and Sweet Thang

Zuppa's Bistro and Sweet Thang are two different establishments, sharing a space. Zuppa's prepares Italian food, focusing on soup, "the ultimate comfort food." Visit the blog at http://zuppas-on.blogspot.com/ to read Linda Wieczorek's comments about her restaurant and see some wonderful recipes.

This is a new place in the area and I've watched them with interest for a month or so, always intending to stop by. I was running short on time for lunch, so dropped by to see what they had. I was pleasantly surprised. Linda's "Zuppa's Bistro" has a wide variety of soups. I had stuffed shells. A cup of soup accompanies every entree, but I think that there will be days when I will want a bowl of soup and her yummy garlic bread.

Michelle of Sweet Thang made some Cafe au Lait and shared a sample of her special rum cake. Very tasty. She has a full variety of goodies and cupcakes. http://www.sweetthangcupcakes.com/

Good luck, Ladies. My only wish is that I could place one order when I was in there. I've not been there when it was crowded, so I don't know how the meal at one counter, and coffee at another, will work. I'll give it a try during lunch hour and let you know how it goes.

[more photos...later]

Taneko Japanese Tavern

My mother Jane is visiting from Pittsburgh. She will be in Phoenix for about three weeks. Join us on our travels!

Taneko Japanese Tavern was suggested by Kalen. It is in Scottsdale and is owned by the people who own PF Changs and Pei Wei. We decided to give it a try as it is something different than anything on our list.

We started off with
Hot Rock* you sear it
Japanese Yellowtail $10 and
American Kobe Beef $14

This was quite interesting and it was a good thing that Kalen knew how to do this, as we would have been quite clueless. The rock was heated extremely hot, and you placed thin slices of the meet on it to cook. It was served with a variety of sauces and was very tasty.

Mom learned how to use chopsticks and we were both very proud of her! She has a very adventuresome side to her, and this was a good start to her trip. We talked that we were going to have to try a lot of new things during her visit, with a little of the old since we do love our Mexican food.

Here is the bathroom. No report is complete without a little peak at this. Quite fancy. A+ in my book.

http://www.tanekotavern.com/

Happy NewYear

Joined Good Neighbor Kelley for a New Year's Eve feast. Great dinner of home made tamales and salad excellence! And of course, champagne!

Calabria Italian Geocery & Deli

Package arrives

The package arrived from my sister. I have been waiting to see this engineering feat after she told me the story about the shipping episode.

Here is an excerpt from her email:

The guy in the store was a 30 something tattooed dude (all over his head and neck – I didn’t look anywhere else) that I learned that he was the owner’s son. I was watching him in the back struggling to find a box that would fit, so he came back up front and asked me if I would have a concern with what the box would look like. I told him no, just as long as it gets to you I didn’t care what the box was and that he could reuse some boxes that he had lying around (again, better for the environment). Well, he took it to heart and found a box, put the stuff in, slit the box down the sides a few inches, then folded them in to form a shorter box, then taped the heck out of it. It looks like crap. He had it half way done and turned around to look at something up front and saw the look on my face (half shock, half laughter wanting to tell you the story). He asked “Is this ok?” I just said “Sure” and he went on, all proud of his engineering ability.

Red Leopard's First Home

Coming soon...Red Leopard...the new company

Stevie Wonder Concert

Stevie Wonder was so, well, Stevie. Great show and such an entertainer. I don't know if I could play in his band. He goes from song to song so quickly, then off on tangents to other music. Musical ADD? The concert was at the jobing.com Arena in Glendale, AZ. Our seats were on the floor in row 37. The crowd was on its feet for most of the concert. Played a lot of my favorites and some new peices. He also voiced his political/social/economic opinion...all to song.

Pat's birthday celebration

Cheesecake factory

Ladee K. Rickard, MBA
Sent from my iPhone

Jim's Surprise Party

Belated Happy Birthday to Jim! This was a wild west cookout and party in the desert at 136th Street and Dynamite Road. Janie had planned this for earlier in the year, but due to a family emergency the party was postponed. Friends and family all gathered at 3PM on Sunday to drive out to the outlying area of Scottsdale. Hosted by a friend of the family, we all joined in on the western fun with horses, cactus and a great clear sky. Jim was certainly surprised when he arrived in a horse drawn wagon to a "small gathering of friends" that turned out to be a crowd gathered in his behalf. Great job, Janie!!

Lined around a huge bonfire were about 10 Dutch ovens, cooking everything from appetizers to chicken and peach cobbler for desert. The ovens were placed on coals, and more coals were put on the lid. The orchestration of rotating the ovens (HOT ovens), and making coffee, all while telling outrageous (but true) cowboy stories made a fun night for all.

Jim saunters up to the table to get his fill of chicken, potatoes, beans, onions and other delights. Dinner was followed by an all star performance of "Oklahoma" , and country western dancing with lessons given by a favorite dance instructor. Jim learned the Arizona Two-Step and weaved his way around the dance floor.