Croissant in the City

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My darling readers, I have something to confess. It's not a horrible haircut. I didn't watch a Sandra Lee Food Network show (please shoot me directly if that ever happens). I resisted the urge to purchase a $20 whisk at Willams-Sonoma because I can get it half-price at a restaurant supply store. I haven't started to drink my troubles away in the morning. Admittedly, the thought has crossed my frazzled mind. I, friends, am currently suffering from a severe case of burnout. 

With all the things that are thrown into our faces everyday (mainly the 3 B's: bosses, boys and bucks), it's hard sometimes to see through it all and remember why we do what we do. Even though I get to touch and manipulate food, I am in such a rush to get done and start the next item on my perpetually expanding list, I forget to stop and appreciate how much I love food.

Cutie (apparently burnout is going around like the flu, lately) and I, took off for a little day road trip to Sedona and Jerome.

Intro a moose strolling through town and a catchy hum-able theme song.

The streets of Jerome do remind me of the 1990's television show Northern Exposure. Perhaps, though, I should start at the beginning.

A brisk and sunny Sunday morning, Cutie, notoriously bad at an early rise, rolled up to my far-north Phoenix neighborhood, we packed up my car (sweaters, dried fruit, coffee, music and 50#'s of cookbooks to browse on the drive) and headed toward Sedona.

Thanks to a little internet research on Cutie's part, we find ourselves at the Coffee Pot Restaurant, home of 101 omelets.

Some of those omelets were a little unappetizing to me (ie. peanut butter and jelly omelet). Cutie and I decided on the divide and conquer method for ordering since we definitely wanted to have lunch in Jerome and we have a tendency to gorge ourselves on breakfast. 

A quirky locals joint, the Coffee Pot, is full of crazy chotchkies, some stained glass skylights and bright paint. A sweet-faced, 50-something woman with bright green magnetic reading glasses hanging around her neck, zipped around to our table. She snapped her glasses in place over the bridge of her nose, pencil hovering over her notepad. She peppered her side of the conversation with "hon", as we placed our orders, and then zipped back to the kitchen.

Divide and conquer method meant: one buckwheat waffle and an omelet with spinach, mushroom, zucchini, tomato, avocado and cheese. Side of crispy hashbrowns. A biscuit, that wasn't very biscuit-like (it was a roll and there wasn't any flaky, buttery goodness baked in it). 

Good, hearty, home-style food. It was the perfect Sedona morning breakfast.

We cruised the main drag in Sedona before turning around and heading towards Jerome.

There is a stretch of beautiful driving between Sedona and Jerome. Mountains garbed in snowy tops. Expansive blue sky. And then, a large sculpted figure on the horizon. From afar, it looked like Jesus. The closer we drove, the more feminine the sculpture appeared. Also, why would Jesus hold the world?

This sculpture is actually of Mother Earth and it is HUGE! To stand next to it, you would be but a speck on the bottom of the picture.

Mother Earth, along with other very interesting sculptures, are part of the Sedona Mago Garden. It is definitely random. There was a kokopelli sculpture with smaller sculptures of children dancing around it. There were a couple large garden gnome-esque sculptures, that Cutie and I may have taken a few pictures with.

As we walked out, we see a sign that asks for no photography or video
to be taken because it is a religious site. Confuse me?

I've done a bit of internet searching to find out about the Sedona Mago Garden, which doesn't have a functioning web page because the Mago Retreat is currently under investigation for allegedly using their tax-free religious status for commercial business. I did find a recent article that the Mother Earth sculpture is being taken down. Apparently, the zoning board and many residents don't care for the 49-foot (60-foot with the base) sculpture. I can't say that I blame them. If I lived there, I don't know that I would like to constantly see the sculpture looming on the horizon, day-in day-out.

Mother Earth behind us, we ventured on to Jerome. It's a quaint small town and in my imagination, local life would involve a whole cast of outlandish characters. I love the houses on stilts, built into the side of the hills. The Flatiron Cafe, perched on a hill, is a much smaller version of the Flatiron Building in NYC, but with coffee and pastry. The fire station is adorable, if a fire station can in fact be adorable. Restaurants have window tables that are perfect for people watching, a talent that you can definitely perfect on the east coast, but it's a little more difficult here in Phoenix.

I wanted to stop in Jerome for more than my small-towns-are-cute obsession. Jerome has wine! Specifically, Maynard James Keenan, yes, the rocker from the band Tool, is in the wine biz. I've walked past the tasting room on previous Jerome expeditions, and loved the logo. So, when Cutie and I were researching our Northern trek, I started searching for the cool logo tasting room. Turns out it is home of Caduceus Cellars, Merkin Vineyards, and Arizona Stronghold Vineyards.

I'm kind of obsessed with wine tastings. It started when I was 19 and my friends and I would drive up to Niagara-On-The-Lake, Canada, and go to wine tastings. We thought we were so cool sipping wine in a sophisticated tasting room. I bought a thin bottle of amber-colored ice wine and felt so chic.

Caduceus, as I will call it from here on out, is a gorgeous tasting room. Simple. Clean. Beautiful wood. Exposed brick. My only complaint: get some stools. I would have sat and drank more wine (ie more money spent) if there were stools.

There are a couple different flights you can choose from. We picked Flight #2 which is comprised of four Caduceus wines. One white. Three reds. The white was interesting as there were white, salt-like flecks in the bottom of the wine.

The flecks are crystallized tartaric acid. For those who don't know, cream of tartar comes from the sediment, also known as tartaric acid, left inside of wine casks after the wine-making process. Now, I'm not a wine expert, despite my vino loving, but from my gatherings I've found that during the fermentation process, the crystals can develop later and form a deposit on the bottom of the bottle. Hence, these little "wine diamonds." It was an excellent white wine. And normally I'm a white wine kind of girl, but I had to pick up a bottle of red.

I brought back a bottle of Caduceus Cellars – Anubis '06, CA blend of Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah. It's a little spicy and smoky, it's a truly beautiful wine. Rarely do I really love red wines, but this one caught me by the tongue. 

After drinking, we were in need of food. Sadly, no food at Caduceus. Lucky ladies that we were, we quickly sought refuge in Quince Grill & Cantina. Bright and shiny interior. Hot sous chef in the kitchen. Smelled heavenly. Immaculate Heart of Mary candle on the table. Prime people watching spot in the window.

Hands down the BEST chips and salsa I've ever had. The chips were crisp, fresh and perfectly salted. The salsa was spicy and I honestly contemplated drinking it. I could have eaten 3 whole baskets on my own.

The food hit the spot. I love when the stars align and you have a great meal. I gobbled up blue corn enchiladas with pulled pork, posole, black beans, and red & green chile.

Cutie got the "El Vato Loco" Smothered Burro. Flour tortilla, black beans, rice and wild mushrooms. Red & green chile and cheese.

People watching + amazing food + friends + crazy people walking down the street drinking a bottle of wine directly from the bottle = divine meal.

Stuffed, tired and cold, we ran back to the car and dance partied our way back to Phoenix. Lady GaGa and Little Jackie have got nothing on us!

What is the moral of this story? Burnout sucks! When the burnout gets bad and you don't think you can take it anymore, take a good friend, get out of town, have a great car dance party and eat good food. It will cure all your woes. Or at least make you forget about them for a brief day.

Song of the Day: "28 Butts" by: Little Jackie

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