But I’ll get over it . . . because you know how much I love this city. So moving on . . .

Todd and I have been to the Taste of Chicago a few times over the years. Yes, the vendors are usually the same, but since we don’t really stay close to Grant Park and since we walk there (i.e., instead of taking the train), we’ll usually only go for one day and really only visit a few booths each time. The only booth I make sure we go to is the Original Rainbow Cone booth – because they make the best sherbet in the world – but other than that, we never know what we’re going to sample. Here’s what we tried this time:

Mustard-fried catfish, BJ’s Market & Bakery (8734 S. Stony Island Ave.).

This was, hands down, the best catfish I have ever tasted. The crunch was delightful, and you would never believe such a nice taste could come from such an ugly animal. ;o)

Gazpacho with avocado and chopped chives, The Grill on the Alley (909 N. Michigan Ave.).

The gazpacho was cool and refreshing on a hot day, and the smidgen of avocado was a very nice touch. I wish I could make my gazpacho taste this good without looking as, well, dull orangey-brown as my gazpacho often turns out.

Steak taco, Carbón Live Fire Mexican Grill (300 W. 26th St.).

What can you say, it was a steak taco. Todd liked it. I appreciated that the tortilla was not overly dry.

Key lime pie, JR Dessert Bakery (2841 W. Howard St.).

It may not look like much, but this was THE best key lime pie I have ever had. While it lacked that creamy consistency I tend to favor in the dessert, JR’s key lime pie struck the perfect balance between tangy and sweet, and the crust was nice and nutty.

Jerk chicken, Iyanze (4623 N. Broadway).

Holy cow. Good thing we only got the Taste portion of Iyanze’s jerk chicken, because not only was it generous (everything pictured above, with the exception of the key lime pie, was a Taste portion, btw), but it was SPICY. Flaming hot, actually, is how I would describe my tongue for a good five minutes after I insisted on gulping this down. I mean, it was good – and amazingly, you could still taste the spices through the heat – but man . . . Yowza.

Of course we had to finish off the evening with a Taste portion from the Original Rainbow Cone. It’s my favorite frozen thing in the world! I mean, come on: The pistachio and Palmer House (cherry/walnut) flavors alone make it worthwhile.

Shortly after we enjoyed our Rainbow Cone goodies, we, along with hundreds of others, were ushered out of Grant Park by a few dozen of Chicago’s finest (and about a half-dozen of their maned, four-legged friends), as the Taste and the park close at 9 p.m. – and thus we end this edition of The Kawamotos Take on The Taste. Tune in next time . . .

. . . Luray Caverns in Virginia, the highlight of which is always Dream Lake, which features an awesome reflection of its stalactites . . .

. . . having even more oysters at Faidley’s raw seafood bar in Lexington Market, courtesy of Bill Adams . . .

. . . and touring Camden Yards, home of the Baltimore Orioles.

Fun, even though I got pretty sunburned in D.C. :o)

In short . . . Todd and I went to Boston. No reason in particular for the trip, we’d just never been there before. We did a pretty kickass tour of Fenway Park . . .

. . . and visited with the Porzios and their kids . . .

. . . and had free beer at the Sam Adams brewery . . .

. . . and visited historical sites like Faneuil Hall . . .

. . . and ate lots of seafood.

Not bad for less than a week, right?

Then we headed south to the D.C. area to wreak more havoc on the Continental U.S., but that’s another blog entry for another day.

A couple of weeks ago, we made our way over to the Big Island for three days of R&R with the family. We stayed at the Marriott in Waikoloa, which is a bit more luxurious than I’m accustomed to, and had ocean view rooms:

View from our balcony by day, Marriott Waikoloa Resort.

Sunset from our balcony, Marriott Waikoloa Resort.

But even with all that beauty, we couldn’t just stay cooped up in the hotel. Here are a few of my favorite shots from around the west side of our easternmost island:

Kealakekua Bay. The obelisk shape in the distance (sandwiched by two white sailboats) is the Captain Cook monument, which marks the site where the Hawaiians killed Capt. James Cook once they figured out he wasn’t a god after all.

Honu (sea turtle) resting on the sand, Pu‘uhonua o Hōnaunau (City of Refuge) National Historical Park.

Ancient Hawaiian fish ponds at Anaeho‘omalu Bay, Waikoloa.

It’s hard to imagine that all this was followed by one of the worst weeks EVER at the office, but (a) health care reform passed, (b) I’m about to head off on another vacation, and (c) it’s almost time for baseball season, so things are looking up!

I gathered from their conversation that the two young ladies behind me knew each other from working at the casino and that both were on break. One girl was just standing there, a tray full of tobacco products (cigars, cigarettes, snuff, etc.) hanging from her shoulders, and the other was browsing the store, wondering aloud about what she might want to snack on. The latter opted not to get a diet soda.

“Yeah, you don’t want diet soda,” affirmed her tobacco-toting friend. “That has aspartame in it. That stuff’ll kill ya.”

But, y’know, feel free to buy to a pack of cigarettes and all.

Carnevino is a winehouse as much as it is a steakhouse, the food part showing off creations by the Iron Chef and the wine part featuring selections made by Joe Bastianich. I won’t lie, I know nothing about wine except that I like Riesling and Moscato (that probably docked my popularity points right there, but whatever), so I don’t even know who Mr. Bastianich is, but I hear the wines he’s collected here are fabulous. So, let’s focus on what I do know: food.

Everybody knows that my favorite big-name chef in Hawai‘i is Alan Wong, so while I do experience fine-dining once in a while in Honolulu, it isn’t usually at that same level as the kind of stuff you see on “Iron Chef America.” Though Chef Wong does serve a good foie gras, his cuisine is quite different and doesn’t exactly aim to include items like, well, beef carpaccio:

Beef carpaccio with warm lardo crostini, Carnevino.

Fortunately, Chef Batali apparently likes the stuff. Despite my love for sashimi (raw fish), I had never tried raw beef, and honestly, I probably wouldn’t venture to do so outside the relatively safe confines of a gourmet restaurant. Fortunately (again), this was a gourmet restaurant. And wow, was it good. I’m not sure whether the meat itself was super tasty, but I gotta admit, the combination of that and the, err, lardo (as the menu puts it), were heavenly on the crostini. (Yeah, you pretty much have to pretend you don’t understand simple words like lardo if you want to enjoy Chef Batali’s cuisine guilt-free; he makes Paula Deen look like a healthy cook sometimes!)

For my main course, I would’ve liked to try the chef’s take on gnocchi, but since Todd and I were at the Palazzo to take in “Jersey Boys” (yes, again), we ordered off the theater menu, which is set to get you in and out of the restaurant in time for the show – and, unfortunately, the gnocchi was not on the theater menu. I definitely wanted to get a pasta dish, though, so I selected the pappardelle with porcini trifolati. All right, so not having taken Italian, I only had the vague notion that this had something to do with pasta and mushrooms. And what do you know . . .

Pappardelle with porcini trifolati, topped with fresh parmesano reggiano, Carnevino.

The pappardelle noodles were cooked to an awesome al dente texture, as if their cooking time had been perfected to the microsecond. And the chef’s recommendation of freshly grated parmesano reggiano perfectly complemented the mild flavor of the mushrooms.

Todd had an 8-oz. filet mignon for his entree and a plain ol’ insalata romana (pretty much a caesar salad) for his first course, and we all know what those are like. But, here’s where his selections bested mine: Because his second course was just meat with no starch, our waitress suggested that Todd order a side. When he had trouble choosing one, the waitress talked up a few and described one as “addictive.” We knew right then which side we had to get:

Cesare’s tuscan fries, Carnevino.

I know what you’re thinking: “You went to Mario Batali’s and got fries? Seriously?” Seriously. You don’t understand: These aren’t just any fries. They were seasoned with crack, my friends. Herbs, spices, a light sprinkling of cheese . . . and crack. So good.

Dessert options for the theater menu include only unimaginative gelato and sorbet selections, and I didn’t think they were either (a) photogenic or (b) particularly yummy, so I won’t bore you with details there. Suffice to say, I should’ve just asked if I could have an Irish coffee instead.

So if you ever find yourself near the Palazzo, GO. Go see “Jersey Boys,” and go have yourself a Mario Batali masterpiece. But eat something else and tell me what it’s like, would ya? ;o)

Seems like we made it there and out in good time, too: On our way down the mountain, we spotted a good 300+ vehicles waiting in line to be allowed up past the volunteer parking patrol. Yikes.

At least one thing worked out for Christmas. One thing that didn’t: Christmas dinner buffet. I warned Mom that it’d be a problem, but nobody ever believes that anything could possibly as bad as I make it out to be. Until Christmas 2009, when, at 3:30 p.m., the line for the Carnival Buffet at the Rio was craaaaaaaaazy – as in, no way was my grandfather going to wait in that line. And for the price we paid for dinner at the All-American Bar & Grille, we may as well have had reservations at Bobby Flay’s at Caesar’s Palace. But hey . . . At least we had Christmas dinner at all, I guess:

After we dropped the rest of the family back off downtown, Todd and I headed for the Strip to check things out at the Bellagio. Even though the Bellagio is far from being the newest hotel on the Strip, it’s still one of the most glamorous, and their botanical gardens never cease to amaze me:

Cool rocking horse in the botanical gardens.

Polar bears made out of flowers!

Reindeer, probably also made of flowers.

Humongous Christmas tree.

This snowman, made of flowers, is kinda cute, except that he looks like he wants to eat you.

And, of course, the Fountains of Bellagio were awesome, as usual:

One of the best sets this holiday season was Johnny Mathis’ version of “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year.” Great song choice, fabulous water choreography. You can only appreciate this thing more after seeing the special about it on the Travel Channel, by the way, so catch that if you can.

Shocker: I’m not taking the MacBook Pro.

Disclaimer: Todd is taking his brand spankin’ new netbook . . . so I may be blogging and posting photos. But I will also be trying to catch up on my reading. Such internal struggle. Ha.

Wish me luck.

It’s true: The Lodge really looks like, well, a lodge. In the woods. And that’s what it is: more beautiful inn than hotel, surrounded by acres of Norfolk pines (and other trees), wild turkeys and axis deer. (Admittedly, I didn’t see any of said deer myself, but I am assured that they exist.) Like any other scene, it’s less than photogenic on an overcast day, but you still get a pretty good idea from these:

Clearly, this ain’t Waikiki – and that’s exactly what people like me are banking on when we go there.

When you exit the airport shuttle and enter The Lodge, the friendly staff greet you with a kukui nut lei, a warm face towel and a glass of pineapple juice. You’re then encouraged to have a seat in the fireplace-lit Great Room, where the staff joins you to go over the specifics of your stay, along with reminders about any reservations (spa or other activities) you’ve already arranged with the Four Seasons.

Despite the hotel’s rustic exterior (and its public areas’ resistance to letting go of the pineapple industry that has long since deserted the island), its rooms are roomy, modern and exquisite:

Most comfortable bed EVER. I could lie in it all day.

You can’t see it, but the couch faces a large LCD TV.

This little nook is so cute!

The windows let in a ton of natural light – or hardly any at all, if you keep the shades pulled closed. (But why would you come to Hawai‘i and do that?) And, all the bathroom amenities are L’Occitane en Provence, so you know they’re quality.

And far be it from me to not mention food! Now, like most other things at a Four Seasons resort, the food is a bit on the pricey side, but on the whole, you get what you pay for. Three words: lobster potato hash.

Huge chunks of lobster in this baby. I loved it.

I’m not that fond of Belgian waffles, but you carb-centric breakfast people out there will be delighted to know that, in keeping with the let’s-shove-it-down-your-throat pineapple theme, The Lodge serves their waffles with . . . pineapple syrup.

OK, so you can’t exactly see the pineapple gooeyness of the syrup  – but trust me, it was there.

The French toast is also cute:

Surprise #1: You can see the compote in this shot. Surprise #2: There’s no pineapple in it – those fruits are banana, strawberry and mango. I thought the toast looked better than it tasted, but Todd liked it.

And I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the popcorn. Again, this is no movie theater bucket: This is popcorn with truffle oil and shaved parmesan.

Drool. It’s hard to capture the essence of such a great snack in a photograph, but believe me, it’s every bit as good as it sounds, and then some. We had it twice.

I hear they also do a pretty cool high tea at the resort, but we seem to have missed the opportunity to partake, perhaps because we were visiting on a holiday weekend – on Thursday, the Great Hall was fully devoted to setup for the Thanksgiving buffet.

But if you get tired of lounging around on the property (which offers clay-shooting, horseback riding, a spa and an 8-mile hiking trail among its activities, by the way) and sampling the food, you can catch the free shuttle to the Hotel Lāna‘i (which gives you access to “downtown” Lāna‘i City) or The Four Seasons Lāna‘i Manele Bay Resort.

So, see, you’d be crazy to go to Lāna‘i and not stay at The Lodge. My husband is already plotting our return, though, so don’t hog all the spots, OK? ;o)

As I mentioned, the hotel we were staying at, The Lodge at Koele, is one of two Four Seasons properties on Lāna‘i. The other is a beachfront property, The Four Seasons Resort Lāna‘i at Manele Bay. We headed down to this sister property to check it out one afternoon and arrived by shuttle just in time to get situated on the beach for sunset. And what a sunset it was . . .

Apparently, we did experience the famous green flash . . . only, some of us were too busy shooting to see it. Ahh, well. :o)