Last week, we had a terrific meal at Picán Restaurant in Oakland. One of the highlights was a seasonal tomato and peach panzanella (bread salad). I did my level best to re-create it at home and it made for a hearty, simple, summery side dish. Of course, the one at Picán had bacon in it, so that’s always an option…

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My friend Garrick leads a life that in many ways is similar to my own life. He is fabulous, in fact even more fabulous than me, and he knows how to live, eat, and travel in a way that allows one to maximize hedonism while fiercely appreciating the situation. He and his lovely wife Amy returned from what sounded like a bang-up trip to London, Spain, and Morocco and were kind enough to distill their months of research and planning and experience into one sweet little hotel guide for me! So if you find yourself going Iberian in the near future… by all means, you WANT to listen to these people. Trust me on that one! They have not yet led me astray. And, you will notice that in some cities they even tried out a couple of different places.

So consider this a guest post… Garrick, take it away!

GRANADA – Palacio del Patos
This is the place Amy said was way too cool for her.  It is probably the most stylish room I’ve ever stayed in.  In true TabletHotel fashion, style trumped substance, but what a fun place to stay!

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Maui is a tropical paradise- what’s not to like? It’s so gorgeous and lovely and the very nice people are so full of Aloha spirit there that I’d go even if they had sub-par food (a few of the Caribbean islands come to mind, but I’m not naming names). But they don’t! The food there is some of the best. Especially if you are like me, and enjoy eating spicy raw fish multiple times a day.

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Behold! This fantastically tasty sandwich is from La Bombonera, a funky, cheap-ass deli counter in Old San Juan.

American cheese, ham, crusty bread, all pressed in some 1950s machine. Heaven. I think it was only 2 dollars. Swig some cafe con leche along with it, and you’ve got a breakfast of champions. The place ain’t fancy and the people aren’t that nice, but that’s not what you’re after. There will be other tourists there, but plenty of locals too.

La Bombonera is at 259 Calle San Francisco in Old San Juan and open daily from 7:30 AM – 8 PM.

As you know Easter was last weekend, so this post will actually not be useful to anyone for approximately 381 days- but I don’t really care because I don’t blog for money or anything, and I took nice pictures and if I don’t write down what I did I will surely forget. I’ll try to remember to re-post this in a more timely manner next year. Until then… allow me to “resurrect” the Easter spirit (ba-dam-cha.) I’m here all week, folks.

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I like Easter because it was my grandmother’s favorite holiday, so it always makes me think of her and brings up many fond memories. Also, because there’s nothing more fun than dying eggs and hiding/finding them with nieces and nephews! And finally, because I get to eat lots of ham and cheezy potatoes. So in that spirit, here is a roundup of some of my favorite and most Easterrific ideas… enjoy!

Last year I cut up some old neckties from a thrift store and made these gorgeous silk-dyed eggs… a stunning result from a surprisingly simple project!

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Did you know you could buy a 25 lb. bucket of lard from Wal-Mart?

Hey, now, I might use a little lard if I’m making some tricky authentic Mexican recipe, or a pie crust (although I tend to favor Crisco for that) but regardless, I have never needed to buy it in more than 1-lb increments. I can’t imagine what you would need 25 lbs. for all at the same time. It has 105,000 calories all in that bucket. Assuming an appropriate calorie intake of 2000 calories a day, you could just eat a fistful out of that bucket once a day for 2 months and nothing else and get all of your calorie intake. GROSS.

He looks so happy! But there is a story behind all of this, of course. A story by a vegan.

I could tell you about my experience eating at The French Laundry last month,, but so many people on the internetz have done that already.  I mean what new information or insights about the food and service do I really have to add to the conversation? Meh, not that much. What I do have to add is this: a picture I took of the guestbook in the front entrance when I first arrived.

I couldn’t believe my eyes! The balls on this guy. French Laundry Rickroll FTW!!!

Bike-powered microphones for this band that was playing at the Alemany Farmers Market. Only in SF!