Ballet under the Stars is Back

In Arizona, we plan outdoor events during most of the year with reckless abandon. Organizers bet on clear skies, because the odds are just too good to pass up.

Of course, sometimes they bet wrong.

Like when the Ballet Under the Stars performance we usually attend in Tempe had to be canceled last year due unseasonably late and unusually heavy rains.

We decided to drive an hour south to the Casa Grande performance at the Paul Mason Sports Complex a few days later. The rain had stopped, and it was a beautiful drive with the golden hour sun dropping below the clouds.

While there was still a great turnout, it was a much smaller crowd with even more of a community vibe and much more convenient parking.

We had packed a simple picnic of cheese, crackers, hummus, fruit, and chocolate. We spread out our blanket as the dancers warmed up and the sky erupted into increasingly spectacular shades of pink and orange.

It was a beautiful show.

What to know about Ballet Under the Stars 2015:

There are 5 performances in different locations September 24-October 2 at 7pm. (Unfortunately, I don’t see Casa Grande on the list this year.)
Admission is free, but you can make a donation to support Ballet Arizona online or at an event.
No photography is permitted during the event.
Bring something to sit on (blanket, lawn chair, etc.).
Expect some background noise. There will be people moving around a bit, kids doing kid things, and parents stage-whispering things like “Don’t hit your brother with that glow stick.” or “Stop asking strangers for snacks.” It’s actually not that disruptive, as long as you don’t get stuck behind oblivious people who decide to chat through the whole performance. May the odds be ever in your favor.

September 18, 2015September 18, 2015

This Ain’t Your Mama’s Macayo’s

I wonder what Mexican food was like in 1946. Not so much the food in Mexico, but in the few little mom-and-pop spots in the US, where it was still a novelty. It must have seemed so exotic back then, in the year that the first Macayo’s Mexican Grill & Cantina opened in Phoenix.

While most of Macayo’s restaurants continue to serve their traditional brand of Arizona-style Mexican food, the Scottsdale location is mixing things up with chef-inspired menu items and a renovated restaurant (including a dog-friendly patio!). Their grand re-opening was this week, and they raised over $2000 for charity.

My friend Kelli and I got to be part of a preview event for their new menu one fine Taco Tuesday.

How Macayo’s Scottsdale spiced up their menu…

Comida

Jicama Shrimp Tacos – Instead of dicing up the crunchy vegetable and putting it inside the taco, the jicama is actually thinly sliced to create the taco shell. I have to admit, the first few bites were a little weird. But, once my taste buds got over the initial shock of the slightly sweet, juicy outer layer where there’s usually a blander, drier corn or flour tortilla, I enjoyed it. It complements the fresh fruit salsa and fried shrimp inside really well, and I’d order these again.
Fried Avocado – How do you even fry an avocado without it all falling apart? I don’t know. I just know it puts a nice crispy outside around that lovely avocado mushiness. Macayo’s adds queso fresco, salsa, and chipotle crema, all layered on top of individual tortilla chips.
Homemade Churros – By the time there was a break in the conversation where I could say, “Kelli, you have to eat a churro!” they had cooled off and she was less impressed than I was. My advice: Order the churros, then pounce when they arrive. Dip one in the accompanying Mexican Chocolate the moment they’re under mouth-burning temperature. They’re good a few minutes later, but, when they’re still warm, they’re transcendent.

Also delicious: Bosio’s Shrimp, Queso Fundido, Rolled Tacos.

Bebidas

Specialty Margaritas – I was intrigued by the Watermelon Jalapeño but chickened out, thinking it might be crazy spicy. One of our tablemates gave it a try and said it had just the right amount of kick to it. I ordered the (very pink) Prickly Pear, which turned out to be more regular pear than cactus fruit. It was good, just not really out of the ordinary. They all are served in tapered glasses (which my brother/barware expert Ian and I determined were some kind of hybrid that should be called “margatini glasses”) rather than the typical bowl-like stemware.
Macayo Mule – Kelli ordered Macayo’s answer to a Moscow Mule, made with tequila instead of vodka. It still comes in a copper cup, particularly appropriate here in the Copper State.
Happy Hour – Specials go from 3:30-6:30pm on weekdays. On the weekends, it’s happy hour all day long, amigos!

The new menu (which also includes some old favorites) is available now at the Scottsdale Shea Macayo’s.

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Thank you to Macayo’s Mexican Grill & Cantina for allowing us to be part of their media preview night and to RSVP & Associates for the invitation.

September 14, 2015

Pancake-Making Machine

I read this story a few months ago about a fight breaking out over a breakfast buffet waffle that ended with 30 people getting kicked out of the hotel.

While I wasn’t able to verify the story, the point is that things can get messy around those self-serve hotel waffle makers. And I don’t just mean the dripping batter.

So I thought the Holiday Inn Express had an interesting solution to promote breakfast buffet peace: a patented machine that makes pancakes in a minute. I got to try one out and see the super secret inner workings. It’s pretty neat. You push a button and the batter inside the machine gets squished out and heated through, and in 60 seconds a pancake pops out on to your plate.

A video posted by stephanieliebold (@stephanieliebold) on Sep 12, 2015 at 4:22pm PDT

While the pancake machines (aka “Stack Stations”) are already in most Holiday Inn Express Hotels, they wanted more people to try them out. So they sent a blue truck out with a handful of pancake machines and something not available in hotels – a special laser etcher that puts your photo on a pancake.

So that is how I ended up, not with pancake on my face but with my face on a pancake.

If you would also like your face on a pancake, here’s the schedule:

Tempe Marketplace (today’s the last day!) – Sept. 14, 1-6pm
San Diego – Sept. 17-19
Long Beach – Sept. 21-22
Los Angeles – Sept. 24-27
San Francisco – Oct. 2-3
Oakland – Oct. 5-6
Sacramento – Oct. 9-11

Also, rumor has it that if you signup for IHG rewards at the pancake truck, they give you 500 extra points and enter you in a drawing for more points and/or shwag. I get nothing from this, but I’m generally a fan of hotel rewards programs (I signed up for IHG’s awhile ago) and a bigger fan of free points, so I thought you’d want to know.

Finally, here are Tammy and Jordyn. They were so excited about their pancake selfie, I just had to get a photo of them with it.

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Not really a disclosure: While I occasionally work with IHG, I didn’t get any special compensation for this post. The selfie pancakes are free for everyone. I just thought it was fun and that you might want to give it a try.

August 29, 2015August 29, 2015

7 Things You Didn’t Expect to Find in Madison County, Indiana

There’s a view that the middle of the U.S. is nothing but farm fields.

Drive an hour or so northeast of the of the Indianapolis Airport, and you’ll find yourself in Madison County (not the one with the bridges). It has its share of agriculture, for sure, but there are also cultural and historical sites, and people passionate about things they make.

I bet you didn’t know you could find all this in Madison County, Indiana:

1. A performing arts theater that makes you feel like you’re sitting in a Spanish courtyard under a starry sky. The Paramount Theatre Centre is one of only a handful of remaining atmospheric theaters by architect John Eberson.

2. Large, 2000-year-old heaps of earth built up by mysterious ancient people(s) to align with heavenly bodies at Mounds State Park.

3. Free public wifi throughout downtown Anderson (the county seat), thanks to dozens of hotspots. (PDF map)

4. The House of Glass, a family-run artisan glass studio, which still crafts each piece by hand in the tradition of their French ancestors.

5. A gospel music recording studio that also serves insanely good house-made cakes, Pure & Simple Restaurant at Gaither Family Resources. (Phillip wants me to add that the pot roast skillet was also delicious. So was the chicken bacon mac and cheese.)

6. The first historic district to be added to the National Register of Historic Places – West Eighth Street Historic District. (Walking tour map)

7. The world’s largest ball of paint, a baseball that’s been coated in more than 24,000 layers of paint over the last 37 years and now weighs over 4,000 pounds.

Where to Stay

Our homebase while we explored Madison County was a suite at the conveniently-located Best Western Plus in Anderson, which included breakfast every morning and coffee all day. (Yeah!)

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A big thank you to Anderson Madison County Visitor and Convention Bureau! We were their guests at the Best Western Plus and at Pure & Simple Restaurant. But I wasn’t kidding about that cake.

August 24, 2015July 24, 2016

From Cheesesteak to Cheesecake: “Local” is Relative

“Really?! You want to eat one of those things?”

Until at that moment, I hadn’t thought wanting to get a Philly cheesesteak in Philly was such a crazy idea. But Phillip’s uncles, who we were visiting a few years back, seemed surprised and disgusted at the thought.

I guess when you have lived your whole life just outside of Philadelphia, you’re over the whole cheesesteak thing.

More recently, while in line at Star Wars Celebration Anaheim, we struck up a conversation with some guys from Germany, who had already been to their bucket-list restaurant for their SoCal trip. It wasn’t a beachside seafood spot, Downtown Disney diner, trendy vegan cafe, or even an L.A. taco truck.

It was the Cheesecake Factory.

To me, that’s part of a big ol’ chain I could eat at whenever (but haven’t for a long time). To them, it’s the hangout from The Big Bang Theory, and something you can’t experience where they’re from.

Local – and interesting – eating is relative.
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