Checking-In With Your Pacific Terrace Team
Most of the country is still under stay-at-home orders due to coronavirus, and you may be going stir-crazy while you wait to be able to travel again. With the temporary closure of our property, our team members here at Pacific Terrace Hotel understand that feeling, as they are doing their part to social distance by staying home and staying healthy. That being said, we miss all of our guests and are anxious to get back to the hotel and see you all again soon!
While we are used to checking YOU in, we thought we would check-in with you and send our love. A few of our staff members have let us know how they are keeping busy while self-isolating and shared how they are doing their parts to give back to their community. We’ve also put together some special recipes you can try from home!
A company is nothing without its employees and nothing without our loyal guests. Our hope is that this helps you Picture Yourself at PT until you can visit these sandy beaches and coastal views in person again soon. Head over and say hello to us on our social media pages to stay in touch or tag us at #PacificTerraceHotel to share your photos with us during this time!
Don’t forget, even though we are apart, we are all in this together.
Sarah Richins, Guest Services Supervisor
Sarah is using her time at home to concentrate on furthering her education as she is in her first year of nursing school and a future frontliner. When she is not completing her coursework via Zoom sessions, she is getting outside with her dog and working in her garden to help relieve stress.
Kyla Climaco, Director of Guest Services
Kyla is using this quarantine time to get extra snuggles from her son Marcel, who is 5 months old. She is enjoying being home with him and creating new memories!
Felix Simon, Caribbean Room Breakfast Cook
Felix has been doing his part to help others during this time by going to areas with a large population of homeless and cooking meals for them. Thank you Felix!
Lloyd Walton, Assistant Guest Services Manager
Lloyd has been finding ways to stay fit and healthy and well as trying new things such as caring for house plants. He has been lifting weights and rollerblading around the local PB area for 3-4 miles every day. “Here is a photo of me with a new plant. During my time at home I’ve tried to work on my green thumb, indoor plants have put me to the test but it’s been a fun experience with some success! In my newfound spare time I also invested in a pair of rollerblades to keep myself active. Exploring the streets of Pacific Beach on a daily basis has opened my eyes to the beauty of the beach neighborhood even more so than before. During this time of the world being on pause, it’s been an interesting journey to see what new aspects of life I’ve learned to appreciate.”
Sayuri Medina, Reservations Agent
Sayuri is busy finishing up the semester as she works to complete her Business Administration degree with a concentration in Human Resources. When she needs to take a break from her school work, she looks forward to getting outside and taking her dog on a walk.
A Taste of Pacific Terrace From Home
We’ve decided to share the recipes for two of our favorite Pacific Terrace cocktails, because you deserve it. Take a break from quarantine, sip one of these delicious beverages and pretend you’re sitting poolside!
Pacific Sunset (Pacific Terrace’s Signature Drink)
Tall cup of ice | 1.5oz of vodka | Fill up with orange juice | Splash of grenadine | Garnish with pineapple and cherry
Espresso Martini
Build in a shaker then serve straight up in a Highball glass (martini glass if applicable) | Add 1.5 oz. liqueur (Bailey’s Irish Cream Liqueur or Kahlua Coffee Liqueur depending on preference)| 1/2 oz. Tito’s Vodka |1 pump of coffee | Squirt chocolate sauce around inside rim of empty Highball glass and allow to drip down inside | Shake with ice and strain into Highball glass.
Jen Manuel, Director of Sales & Catering: Jen’s Chicken Pot Pie Recipe – TO TRY AT HOME!
Our Director of Sales, Jen, has been kind enough to share a little bit of comfort food, which we can all use right now! Try her special recipe, and tag us in your attempts at #PacificTerraceHotel on social media!
You can make this using two store-bought pie crusts, or challenge yourself by making the crust from scratch! She’s included the crust recipe as well. Enjoy!
9 inch Two-Crust Recipe
Ingredients:
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for rolling
- 1 cup (2 sticks or 8 ounces) unsalted butter, very-cold, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 6 to 8 tablespoons ice water
Directions:
1 Mix flour, sugar, and salt: Put flour, sugar, and salt into the bowl of a food processor and pulse a couple of times to mix.
2 Add butter, half at a time, pulsing several times after each addition: Add about half of the butter to the food processor and pulse several times. Then add the rest of the butter and pulse 6 to 8 times until the largest pieces of butter are about the size of large peas.
3 Slowly add ice water: Sprinkle the mixture with about 1/4 cup of ice water (make sure there are no ice cubes in the water!) and pulse again. Then add more ice water, a tablespoon at a time, pulsing once or twice after each addition until the dough just barely begins to hold together. You know that the mixture is ready if when you pinch some of the crumbly dough together with your fingers, it holds together. Be cautious with the amount of water you add, too much and the crust will be tough.
4 Make two dough disks: Carefully empty the crumbly dough mixture from the food processor on to a clean, dry, flat surface. Gather the mixture in a mound. Divide the dough mixture into two even-sized mounds. Use your hands and knead each mound just enough to form each one into a disk. Do not over-knead! Kneading develops gluten which will toughen the dough, not something you want in a pastry crust. You should just knead enough so that the dough holds together without cracks. If you started with cold butter you should be able to see small chunks of butter speckling the dough. This is a good thing. These small bits of butter will spread out into layers as the crust cooks so you have a flaky crust! Sprinkle each disk with a little flour, wrap each one in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for one hour or up to 2 days.
Chicken Pot Pie
Ingredients:
- 1/3 cup butter
- 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 cup chopped onion
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
- 1/8 teaspoon thyme
- 1 ¼ cups chicken broth
- 2/3 cup Heavy whipping cream (or substitute milk)
- 2 cups cut-up cooked chicken
- 1 box (10 oz) frozen peas and carrots (thawed ahead of time)
Directions:
Prepare pastry for 9-Inch Two-Crust Pie (listed above), or use two store-bought pie crusts, softened per package instructions.
1 In 2-quart saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Stir in flour, onion, thyme, salt and pepper. Cook, stirring constantly until mixture is bubbly; remove from heat. Stir in broth and milk. Heat to boiling, stirring constantly. Boil and stir 1 minute. Stir in chicken and peas and carrots; remove from heat.
2 Heat oven to 425°F. Roll 1 pie crust into a 13-inch square. Ease into an ungreased 9-inch (2-quart) glass baking dish. Pour chicken mixture into crust-lined dish.
3 Roll remaining pie crust into 11-inch square. Cut rectangle into 12 strips, each ½ in wide. Place half of the strips of pastry across filling. Arrange remaining strips crisscross to make the lattice top.
4 Bake 35 to 40 minutes or until golden brown
We hope this helped you #PictureYourselfAtPT, please head to our social channels and tag us in any memories you have from Pacific Terrace Hotel vacations. We will continue to bring Pacific Terrace and San Diego to your homes, including live beach streams, personalized hotel Zoom Backgrounds, contests, and more.
We’re looking forward to seeing you all again soon.