TravelswithCharie

There is never a bad year for California wines, so said our sommelier. Let's drink to that! We tasted four different bottles of wine, two reds and two whites from the vineyards of California and France. Our wine selection: 2006 Serge Lalou Sancerre (Loire Valley, France) 2006 Stuhlmuller "Estate" Chardonnay, (Alexander Valley, CA) 2001 Lorca "Gary's Vineyard" Pinot Noir (Santa Lucia Highlands, CA) 2002 Michel Voarick Aloxe-Corton (Cote-de-Beaune, France) Seared Ahi I'm not a fan of seared ahi so I asked the kitchen to prepare my ahi medium well. It came out moist and was served on a bed of bloomsdale spinach, French green lentils and golden raisins. The green lentils were tender and complemented the spinach. I like the way California restaurants serve their vegetables. It's always fresh and never overcooked so you can actually savor the veggies and enjoy every mouthful. Apple butter custard crêpe The apple butter custard crêpe melted in my mouth. I

Fresh Spring Rolls What can be better than getting together for a special lunch or dinner during the holidays? Good food and warm company are the best of friends and bonding is easier at the dinner table. Salt and Pepper Calamari We had our Christmas family reunion at Chez Saigon in Belmont this week. Everyone raved about the food and the attentive service. Not hard to imagine with these images! Crispy Spring Rolls My favorite dishes were the seafood pho and the spicy Japanese diced eggplant prepared with scallions, coconut milk, and onions. We requested a milder version and it was a mouth watering revelation. Thank you, Lord, for the gift of family and the bountiful feast. "God bless us everyone." Chez Saigon is on El Camino Real in Belmont, California. * * * Photos by Rosario Charie Albar

These quilts are the works of my friend, Rose Driscoll. Rose usually makes them for family and friends. They are a labor of love when you consider how much time it takes to make one. Observe the detail in the stitching and how many different pieces of fabrics are sewn together to create a work of art. The quilt above was a present from Rose to a child with leukemia. What I specially like about quilts is that the quilter can make them on varying themes like playful quilts such as the one above or perhaps one with an Oriental theme like Rose made for my sister (shown below). There's a world of history, culture, and design behind the art of quilting. More on this later. * * * Photos by Rose Driscoll

Pastel of Salmon dish at La Bodeguilla It was drizzling when we arrived in Palma de Mallorca and the temperature was way lower than in Seville where we had spent the last several days roasting under Andalucian skies. And it rained for most of the time we were in Palma. That sort of dampened our visit but we discovered several places of refuge to while the time away. Off the main shopping street we found two restaurants, both under the same management. El Burladero is a casual taberna on Calle Concepcion where we kept dry and ate a late, late lunch after a long day of sightseeing. As it was late afternoon and some of the staff were on lunch break themselves, we had the opportunity to get acquainted with them and find out about island life. The following day we had an early dinner at La Bodeguilla , an upscale restaurant with several dining rooms. We tucked ourselves in a niche with a big glass window overlooking Calle San Jaime. It was a pleasure to linger over dinner and drinks. I ha

Halloween is always a treat for little kids who are lucky to fill their bags with sweets from neighbors and friends. We adults love to be treated too. Which is exactly what we got: a sumptious three course lunch at Mistral in Redwood Shores. For the main entrée the selections were: Thai Style Beef Salad, Oak Fire Baked Paella (see photo) and Meyer Lemon Chicken "Saltimboca". I can tell you that the paella was very good. It had gulf shrimps, mussels, chicken, Andouille sausage, peas, tomatoes, sweet peppers, saffron rice, all simmered in shellfish broth. I cleaned my plate. For dessert we had a choice between Chocolate Chambord Ganache and Creme Brulée. The Ganache had a chocolate crumb crust, whipped cream to top it off and strawberry coulis, the perfect antidote to chocolate. It was a beautiful dessert to behold and the perfect way to end a memorable lunch. The creme brulée looked good too. Now I'm haunted by what I may have missed. Mistral Restaurant overlooks a lagoon

It's always good to know a few words in the language of the country you are visiting. The locals appreciate and warm up to any attempt by a visitor to speak in their native tongue. The Travel Linguist on YouTube has short videos for learning 10 "survival" words and phrases in 15 languages including Japanese, French, Indonesian, German or Thai, to name a few. These 10 essential words and phrases are possibly enough to win friends and make your trip doubly interesting and exciting. At the very least, you'll learn how to ask, "Where's the bathroom?" And you know that's an important question after having had too much red wine in Burgundy or chai in Thailand. Here's the link: http://www.youtube.com/user/travellinguist .

At the recently inaugurated Dance and Arts Studio in Gaisano Mall, paintings by Clay Dalid and works by artists of the Paon Livelihood Series are currently on display. From the Paon group comes the livelihood genre such as laying fish out to dry and fresh catch in metal baskets. These works reflect one of the most important means of livelihood for residents of the "seafood capital" of the Philippines. Clay Dalid continues the theme of the bountiful harvest of the sea with her still life with seashells. In her lily series, Clay gives us a taste of her colorful palette. On the third floor of Gaisano, there is a children's playroom with a huge mural by John Alaban. Here you'll see the hills of San Francisco and the Golden Gate bridge. I've seen John's other oeuvres of Philippine scenes which are reminiscent of Amorsolo, suffused with the light of the tropics and bold hues. At the Roxas City Museum, the paintings of Lino Villaruz are on view as well as those