October 6th, 2011
Wish he was with us for one more thing
It’s funny how the passing of someone you never knew personally, but yet was a part of your personal life can affect you in a way that is surprising. This was the case for me and hundreds of millions people when the world learned of Steve Jobs death yesterday at the age of 56. One of the things Pat and I made sure of when we were putting together The Casitas was that “guests have something into which they can plug their iPods or iPhones into”. It was part of the business model, a must have.
In school when I learned about the likes of Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Edison I wondered what it would be like to live in a time when one person was responsible for history changing innovation. Well guess what, now I know. Steve Jobs made having “the best” something to strive for. He brought families together in ways maybe only foreseen by him. How many parents have looked at the songs on your children’s iPod and been surprised, maybe even shocked, to find many of the same songs that you listened to when you were their age and are on your playlists? Raise your hand if that’s the case. BTW, both of mine are up.
Steve Job’s was the very rare individual that created passion on both sides of the buying equation. People loved working for him and more importantly, people who didn’t couldn’t wait to see what new device he was going to introduce that they couldn’t live without. Pat got up at 5 in the morning to wait in line at the Apple store in San Luis Obispo three times in the hopes of getting an iPad2. This was after 4 “normal” attempts at getting to the store at 8 in the morning.
That was the genius of Steve Jobs, creating the passion and then delivering, time after time. He was no one hit wonder, he was the Beatles of our, my, generation.
Thank you Steve, wish you had time to share “one more thing” with us.
Tags: beatles, benjamin franklin, genius, ipad, iphone, ipod, leonardo da vinci, passion, steve jobs, thomas edison
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January 24th, 2011
We are always trying to improve the experience our guests have when they stay with us at The Casitas. A big part of that experience is the breakfast we serve you in the morning. Recently we made changes to the recipes of two of our personal favorites, the Challah French Toast and the Egg Souffle’.
The changes are minor but they really deliver in the taste department. The French toast is now crisper outside but with a creamier texture inside. This is achieved using 80% less egg than before!
On our souffle’s, we’ve replaced the black forest ham with ground up fresh breakfast sausage. The sausage is sautee’d with the onions and it causes the entire souffle’ to be infused with a nice smoky flavor. Of course, for those guests that don’t eat meat we are always happy to make vegetarian souffles’.
Come see us soon and let us know what you think about the new recipes!
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September 1st, 2010
After a dinner out, we stopped into Gather Wine bar last night down in our cute little historic town of Arroyo Grande. We had a nice glass of wine with our “VP of Innkeeping” Don, who some of you have met—great friend, chef, gardener and host when we need some extra help here at the Casitas.
Don making a fresh batch of scones in The Casitas kitchen!
Kari, the proprietor, was glad to see us since we’ve been so busy here all summer and finally got a night out. We just enjoyed a really nice dinner again at Novo under the trees creek side, a post celebration of Tony’s birthday. I loved my glass of Luminesce Petit Syrah and of course, their amazing Curries. Kari even had one last bottle of it at Gather last night when I was dishing about dinner and she shared that the winemaker is local, living right here in AG! We bought that last bottle and invite the winemaker for a private tour of the Casitas, anytime—just bring us more of your yummy wine please!
While relaxing and catching up, we learned there is a new chocolate shop that will be located next to Branch Street Deli—we’ll fill you in more on that as soon as we have details. Kari also shared that she is teaming up with Chef Rick www.chefrick.com who has catered here at the Casitas and makes the most delish Cajun and Southern fare. Gather is offering a La Paulie dinner later this month that includes wine provided by many of our own local winery faves: Laetitia, Saucelito Canyon, Talley Vineyards, Carlson and Phantom Rivers—all representing our Arroyo Grande Region! Check it out as well as other wine and music events that Kari has lined up at http://gatherwinebar.com/events.html It’s a great cozy place to have a nice glass of wine, beer and now meals too! And I told Tony, we need to get out more…we are so lucky to live here on the Central Coast!
Tags: Arroyo Grande, Branch Street Deli, Carlson, Chef Rick, Gather Wine Bar, historic town, La Paulie, Laetitia, Luminesce, Novo, petit syrah, Phantom Rivers, Saucelito Canyon, Talley vineyards
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