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Palm Springs postscript: Desert Eats & Home Treats

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On vacation, you really should have a personal chef. I offer that advice after having experienced the pleasure of professionally prepared meals in the comfort of a vacation rental in Palm Springs. As I noted in my post about our family vacation , my son-in-law is a chef. When we arrived at our Airbnb in Thousand Palms, near Palm Springs, he offered to do the meal preparations. I had expected that he might want a break. But, he explained, preparing exciting meals for family is different from running a catering kitchen. Besides, he was eager to use the fantastic backyard grill and outdoor kitchen.  My wife and I only have limited experience with vacation rentals. And when we have stayed at an Airbnb, we haven't done any creative cooking. We use the kitchen to heat up leftovers from restaurant meals, or to make coffee while lounging in the morning before embarking on vacation activities.  Grilled steak and asparagus, baked potato For this family trip, it was pretty much a forego...
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3 Generation Family Trip to Palm Springs, February 2026

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 My wife and I have offered our son and daughter to take their families on a trip. It's basically an open invitation. We'll negotiate the specifics of when and where. But we want to take them where they want to go.  Our daughter was the first to take us up. So for Presidents Day weekend this year, we flew to Palm Springs for a long weekend. The plan was to get away from the Minnesota cold and do a bunch of hiking. My wife and I are in our 70s. Our daughter and her husband are in their 40s, and the grandchildren are teenagers.  For lodging, we opted for an Air Bnb . In case you don't know, vacation rentals in Palm Springs can be tricky, and short term rentals present a challenge. (As you might expect, a lot of vacation rentals in the area are aimed at snowbirds who want to stay for several weeks.) We ended up picking a house in Thousand Palms. It was well maintained, not large but roomy enough for our family. It had 3 bedrooms; my wife and I claimed the master suite....
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My Birthday Dinner No. 4 - Terzo Minneapolis

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 My extended birthday celebrations came to a glorious end in mid-December, nearly a month after my actual birth date. (That was Thanksgiving Day.) My daughter treated me to dinner at Terzo in south Minneapolis.  Unlike the other two restaurant birthday dinners, I had been to Terzo in the past; multiple times, actually. I've even posted in this blog about the restaurant twice - once in 2014 as we prepared for a trip to Italy and again in 2016 just before another Italian trip.  Terzo continues to be a favorite of mine. So it was an easy choice for a birthday dinner, especially since my daughter hadn't eaten there previously.  We started with a glass of prosecco and an order of arancini . Next we had salads. My daughter had 'misticanza' which was a beautiful mixed salad with baby lettuce, pea tendrils, fresh herbs, radish, celery, egg yolk and a light dressing. I had a seasonal salad 'autumnale'.  Smoked trout on pasta Terzo offers half orders of its pasta entre...
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My Birthday Dinner No. 3 - Kado no Mise, Minneapolis

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As I explained in my previous post, I turned 70 years old on Thanksgiving Day 2021. That being something of a milestone, I ended up enjoying four birthday dinners. Thanksgiving dinner was the first. Two weeks later, my wife and I had a special dinner at Italian Eatery in Minneapolis. You can click here to read that post, or simply scroll down to it after you read this post.  Both my son and my daughter gave me the gift of having dinner with each of them individually. They actually did pay for those dinners. But I would have been happy to pay just to have the time alone with them.  Just four days after Birthday Dinner No. 2, I picked up my son and we went to Kado no Mise , a Japanese restaurant serving a fixed price "omakase" tasting menu. The restaurant's website explains that Kado no Mise translates as "corner restaurant." (The restaurant is located at the corner of N. 1st St. and N. 1st Ave. in Minneapolis.) The website further explains that "omakase...
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My Birthday Dinner No. 2 - Italian Eatery

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 In my previous post - The Story So Far - I noted that one of the things that happened during 2021 was that I had a birthday. Not just any birthday. I turned 70.  When I was a kid, my parents (or at least my mother) usually made a big deal about birthdays for me and my siblings. But Mom and Dad never made much of a big deal about their own birthdays. So I suppose it's not surprising that in my adult years, I also never made much to-do about my birthday. While I was still working, I usually would still go to work. My wife and I would have a nice birthday dinner out at a restaurant sometime in the relatively close vicinity of the actual birth date.  But, 70 is a bigger deal. So it justified having multiple birthday dinners. (Stay tuned for Nos. 3 and 4.) When I rebooted this blog, after a 14-month hiatus, I decided to give up any pretense that my restaurant posts are actual 'reviews.' Restaurant reviewers have standards and a process for evaluating a restaurant, its ambian...
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The Story So Far

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In case you haven't noticed, it's been more than a year since my last post. I considered pulling the plug and just putting an end to Krik's Picks. But I took time to reread some of my old posts, and it reminded me of a couple of things.  1.  I mostly am writing this for my own amusement.  2. It's been amusing. And so - The Story So Far ... * I started Krik's Picks 15 years ago. My first grandchild had just been born. (Yes, I have a 15-year-old grandchild who's eager to take drivers' ed and get her license.) Also, at the time, I had responsibility for member communications at Land O'Lakes , where I worked until I retired (in 2013).  At Land O'Lakes, we had cake (For those who don't know, Land O'Lakes is a farmer-owned cooperative. So my job was to manage the communications to keep the farmers (i.e. co-op members) informed about the company, the industry, and things that affected them as farmers. I felt that we could use a blog and social media...
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I found a great way to use the serrano peppers from my garden

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 I like to garden. For me, it's quite satisfying to walk into my backyard and pick something ripe and fresh to eat.  The trouble is, my yard is not very conducive to growing a prolific garden. My yard is blessed with an abundance of tall, leafy trees. But they cast so much shade that it stunts most garden plants that I'm trying to grow. Example: tomatoes. I can't resist trying to grow tomatoes. But because of the shade, the plants put all their energy into trying to grow tall, and I end up harvesting just a couple of handfuls of small tomatoes. If they didn't taste so good, I'd quit trying.  The other problem is wild animals. We have deer, raccoons, squirrels, and rabbits galore. They like to feast on my vegetables as much as I do.  So each summer, I plant a few tomatoes and other items and just hope to be able to harvest enough to make it worthwhile.  First batch of ripe serranoes There are a few things, however, that usually thrive in my yard. Herbs, for examp...
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Location: Edina, MN, USA
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