Happy One Year Anniversary

Today it's been 1 year since I started this blog. It's been a journey and well worth it. I continue to struggle to find time to talk and photograph and travel to the places I want to see and eat at. Real life gets in the way along with everyday responsibilities. But to all 198 Unique Visitors thanks for sticking around to check out my blog at least once if not a few repeat visits.

I promise to finish my Cuba Bittersweet Tale and I have quite a few photographs and stories I'm working on, one is a local L.A. art installation and of course summer food...even the scary tomato.

Happy Anniversary to itsweetandsavory!!!

Rose Cafe

This place is a Venice institution since 1979, in a once converted Gas Company building.

I've been going here since I was a little girl.

I've enjoyed breakfasts with

mom on the outdoo

r full-service restaurant patio or a quick breakfast at the tables

and chairs near the deli counter and when I have more time a leisurely lunch outside with friends.

At lunch my favorite sandwich is a smoke turkey with a thin slice of nutty salty parmesan and a delicious sweet aioli dressing. It's my perfect combination.

My favorite thing to do is come

early morning, order the breakfast special, croissant, scone or bagel with a wedge of brie cheese, butter and jam and a very dark deep rich cup of coffee, latte or tea.

If you choose the coffee, be warned it's strong so if you like that kind its all yours, go black. I, on the other hand, need the milk, and lots of it.

Early in the morning you'll usually see a pack of elderly men who have just finished their bicycle ride, some scruffy celebrity incognito, or a mix of muscular men, fresh from their work-out, at the

nearby

Golds Gym.

My mom fell in love with the glass mugs here, there basic, but she loves to see the milk swirl around the coffee so I grew up with a set of these at home. Also for the jam lovers, they always seem to give me orange marmalade, so not my favorite, now, ritually I have to ask for the grap

e or raspberry, whatever they have that is NOT orange marmalade.

Every month they change the art work in the cafe, usually local artists, always cool, but not cheap.

And if you get there after 10am you can stroll through the gift shop, this is one of the best places to buy uni

que gifts from Japanese tea sets to funky business card holders.

I almost can never resist a purchase here, it's as eclectic as the Venice neighborhood. Los Angeles Magazine call it the "Best Restaurant Gift Shop." I agree.

Rose Cafe is at the corner of Rose Avenue and Main Street on the border of Santa Monica and Venice.

220 Rose Ave.

Venice, CA 90291

Corner of Main St. & Rose Ave.

1 hr free parking w/ validation

Amandine Cafe

Every Tuesday morning I meet up with C. We do our volunteer work before we have to hit the road for our day jobs. Part of the morning always includes stopping for coffee and a bite to eat. This is where I always order a LATTE and thus resulted in my adventure in the last post.

We usually like to seek out a new place that is quaint and relaxing before we have to multi-task our lives away. What always fits our needs is Amandine's, which is owned by Ryuta Toyshima and has been open since 2003. When we arrive we are shyly greeted by the same two people (Luis and Elice) who are behind the counter in white chefs smocks making your Lattes, delivering to your table, and plating your order. Behind the glass in the back you can see someone frosting their beautiful cakes that will soon be behind the glass to tempt you even more.

I time my visits to when my favorite Amandine pastry is out of the oven, the almond croissant. I don't believe I've ever had something so delicious. The croissant is buttery inside, crunchy on the outside and the sliced almonds are roasted perfectly, this is a comforting treat. I even took one to work and gave it to a coworker. I got an email back in seconds that just said "YUM, what's inside, it's so buttery?"

The fresh fruit on the pinwheel pastry is so tasty and has just enough crunch and butter to put a smile on your face.

They call themselves a European Bakery country style bakery café that features a mouth watering array of freshly baked cakes and pastries, soups, quiche, salads, sandwiches and much more. I have yet to try anything past the brioche, croissants, tarts and scones.

Their Lattes are particularly soothing with the right amount of warm delicious milk and espresso. This just puts you in the right frame of mind to face the LA commute. Every week their Olympia, Washington coffee beans are delivered within 3 days after they’re roasted, which is probably why the coffee is so enticing.

I always get to Amandine's early during the week and the line isn't too bad, but I recently made a trip on a Saturday morning, it's an interesting mix of patrons on the weekend, and the line gets long quite quickly. My favorite place is to sit in the front by the windows next to all the pastries. From here you can study the whole chalkboard menu or decide what pastry you'll try next. Or you how about the croissant aux amandes.

Amandine Cafe

12225 Wilshire Blvd.

Los Angeles, CA 90025

What A Coffee Habit Can Lead Too

So I love coffee. I don't drink it like I used too, but I dream about it often. I also like drinking coffee in a nice porcelain cup, which says I like to drink it leisurely. Occasionally....well all the time...I'm rushing around so I usually need to get my coffee to go. As you'll learn in my next post I have a favorite place for coffee and pastries. This particular day I had my cup of joe to go. And low and behold I have been persuaded by the coffee cozie, you know the ones that keep you from burning your hands to death while you enjoy the aroma and taste of those Sumatran beans.

A little background here to this overly complicated story, I live in the City of Angels. We love our Lakers basketball team he

re. Recently though, due to a lovely British import, by way of Spain, much attention has been diverted to the LA Galaxy.

I'm a soccer fan, love to wa

tch the World Cup and enjoy watching the English League games. But having Becks in LA has really boosted my MLS viewing. Thanks to my coffee habit and a great promotional ad campaign for the LA Galaxy I succumbed to the advertising and bought 1 ticket and got 1 free from Ticketmaster's special LATTE. I got fantastic seats in the club level row. Ate the Home Depot Centers stadium food, you have to when you go to these games. I happily slurped my beer and wolfed down my hotdog. The fans at this game were great, everyone around was really into the game and kne

w the players from both teams. We cheered, yelled at the refs, and high fived it through the game. Galaxy lost tonight, but me and C had a fantastic time.

Can't wait to till the next game. Oh and I guess TomKat was there as Becks waved to someone in the stands, I just saw the frenzy of fans excited and chasing them down. I on the other hand was working my way down to row A convinced I was going to get a Beckham jersey from the real deal, to no avail. But I did I manage to sneak a few pictures.

Some people look good coming and going. What else is there to say.

Dishes, plates and silverware

Dishes, plates and silverware, oh my. I love this stuff, can't get enough of it. Recently, however I decided to retire my colorful "Forbidden Fruit" plates, cups and saucers. I had broken a few and the rest were chipped and tired. So I washed them all, packed them up and took off for Crate and Barrel for some new dishes.

Nothing too exciting at this point. I just wanted some basic white dishes. Food always looks better on white plates. SB insisted on getting a few square plates as well, I'm not adverse to that, I like choices. As dessert is positively my favorite part of any meal, we also purchased a few glass dessert bowls. They are lovely, so big though. I put my Espresso Chocolate Mousse in these cups and wow that was a lot of dessert, I only ate half. A far cry from the martini glasses I served the mousse in last time.

To add to the love of dishes I've decided to start collecting something that I would use. So each time my friends travel to a new destination, here's my request "please buy me a dessert dish" something indicative of the region your visiting.

Here's my first plate from Paris. Thank you blacklashes!!

Spring Time

Spring is my favorite time of year. I love the days getting longer and the flowers blooming, and birds chirping. Well I'm not a big fan of the birds, except a

t the Tiki Room at Disneyland, that I can get into. Long lounging lunches with beautiful surroundings and great people watching is among the finest activities. Today, we had a clandestine lunch at a special place,

Little Door Cafe

. This was in celebration of a good friends promotion and we took full advantage a drank Prosceco's with Blood Orange and Hibiscus, two different drinks. The food was fresh and a tasty and finished off by lovely macarons.

Cuba a Bittersweet Tale - Part IV

First observations of my grandfathers street: I was surprised by the dirt road but super excited about the crumbling architecture. It's the romance of it all. But the emotions of someone who grew up here, and is returning to a once glorious place, can be very disheartening.Walking in my grandfathers house I instantly absorbed every detail. My first reactions to the inside: the floors were these amazing Spanish tiles and the ceilings reminded me of small cathedrals.The patio was oddly familiar, I have pictures of my father standing on these tile floors as a child.The furniture blew me away, it's dark teak wood with ratan bottoms and backs. Very British Colonial. There were 3 rocking chairs, 2 additional chairs and a sofa (not like we're used to). These were solid pieces. The sofa (bench) freaked me out a little, only because I have pictures at home of Grandpa and Grandma with Dad, as a baby, on this very sofa (bench). It looked exactly the same. The best part of this is, my great grandfather made every piece of furniture I just described in addition to the enormous front door.A small door opens within a big door. The windows have wrought iron decorative bars over distressed wooden shutters.

Each room had tall shuttered doors separating them. The walls were a combination of muted chipped terracota, revealing a pale green hue with other sections that were a cracked blue green color.Second observations once the romance wears off: The chandeliers were all missing, replaced by these hideous florescent lights that were wrapped in cob webs. Although in the U.S. we would pay a lot of money for distressed painted walls, and I thought it lovely, they were covered with these huge cracks. The kitchen and bathroom were unbelievable. I could hardly look, it was so horrible, small and dirty. Falling apart were the operative words.

The refrigerator was this old Hotpoint and the freezer was covered in ice, you couldn't fit but one thing in there.My dad said that the place looked exactly the same to him, just REALLY OLD. His bed was in the same place, even the foot rest were you'd put your shoes to shine them up was still mounted to the wall. Grandma had her little shrine to Mary as many in this country are very religious.

There was an old manual dial phone mounted to the wall above a desk, I swear Pottery Barn replicated this phone at one time or another. Ironically, this is the only phone on the block. When the phone rings, which isn't to often, you answer it and then you walk outside on the porch and yell whoever the caller was asking for and they come on over and have a chat. Always short, but I found this hilarious and was super excited that during my 2 weeks in Cuba that I got to run outside and howler someone's name.

Chocolate Mousse with Orange Mascarpone Whipped Cream

So last night was the Oscars. One of my favorite shows to watch since I was a little girl. Life though has been so busy and for various reasons I literally only saw one of the movies that had a nomination. But tradition is that I must watch this show. So we had two friends over, the kind of friends that you don't have to dress up for, that can cook in your kitchen and find your silverware drawer and eat your Pretzel Bites and your okay with that (well maybe, Pretzel Bites are almost sacred in our household). With that said I quickly took inventory of what I had at home and made a run to Trader Joes for all the fun foods, salami, sopresseta, provolone, goat and asiago cheese, shrimp, cocktail sauce, and smoked salmon.

As everything was pretty much just layout on a plate I decided to make one thing from scratch. So having just watched an episode of Giada's

Italian Kitchen

on the Food Network I thought I'd make this Bittersweet Chocolate Mousse with an Orange Mascarpone Whipped Cream. Truly this was a treat. The mousse was rich and decadent, super creamy, and the orange mascarpone whipped cream was cool and refreshing. Chocolate and Orange are a super combination, they always seem to enhance the flavor in each other. My friend literally said, "Wow," through every bite she took.

Here's the recipe I followed from

FoodTV.com

:

Mousse:

1/2 cup whole milk

3 tablespoons sugar

1/4 teaspoon instant espresso powder

1 cup bittersweet chocolate chips

3 large egg whites

Cream:

1/4 cup mascarpone cheese, room temperature

2 tablespoons fresh squeezed orange juice

1/2 cup whipping cream

2 tablespoons powdered sugar

1 teaspoon orange zest

For the Mousse: In a small saucepan over medium heat stir together the milk with the sugar and the espresso powder until the milk is hot, but not boiling, and the sugar is dissolved. Place the chocolate chips in a blender.

*Pour the hot milk over the chips. Run the blender on high until combined, a few seconds. Add the egg whites and run the blender on high until light, about 1 minute. Transfer the mousse to 4 small serving cups. Cover with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator until firm, about 3 hours.

For the Cream: In the bowl of an electric mixer, stir together the

mascarpone cheese and the orange juice until smooth. Add the cream,

powdered sugar, and orange zest. Whip until the cream has soft peaks, about 1 minute. Whip the cream just before serving the mousse or cover with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator until ready to serve.

* When blending hot liquids: Remove liquid from the heat and allow to cool for at least 5 minutes. Transfer liquid to a blender or food processor and fill it no more than halfway. If using a blender, release one corner of the lid. This prevents the vacuum effect that creates heat explosions. Place a towel over the top of the machine, pulse a few times then process on high speed until smooth.

Cambodian Chicken-and-Rice Soup with Shrimp

Props must be given to a spouse who cooks and does it well. So this is my shout-out to SB. He likes fusion cooking, experiments much more than I do. He's usually the one who cooks the main course for any dinner party we have and I drive myself insane with making sure all the sides are just right, creating the perfect starter and finishing off with a delectable dessert, always my favorite to make.

On Friday we had quite a few hours to spare (8 to be exact - that's another story) so we talked and caught up on paper work that needed to be done. Finally we had some time to pour over our newly arrived magazine subscriptions from

Bon Appetit

and the gifted subscription of

Food & Wine

. Of course I always look at the photography and my favorite Bon Appetit section, "what to buy now." I also look at the dessert recipes and whatever else jumps out at me, folding the pages of the recipes I want to explore later.

SB always finds the more exotic recipes and immediately wants to try them. I'm the sceptic. But he usually wins me over. As we mapped out our plan for this meal during these spare few hours it got so late we finally ordered food to go and went home late and ate a plate of pasta and garlic rolls from a local Italian Trattoria C&O's in Venice.

So the soup became a reality this afternoon. Ever since I read

Oishii Eats

stories about her trip to Vietnam I've wanted to visit this region of the world. Right now that's not going to happen so we'll bring some of the flavors home from the region. I slurped and savoured every bite of chicken and shrimp fused with ginger, garlic and lime, it literally burst in your mouth with flavor. This was worth the wait. My photo doesn't do it justice. Incidentally, as much as I love photography you would think it be better. I'm working on updating with a digital camera, so far I've used everyone elses from SLR's to quick little sure shots. I've been hasty in taking pictures and not styling since I'm usually starving our anxious to eat. Hopefully has I have new equipment and a bit more time these images will improve.

Here's the recipe from

Food & Wine

, we made a couple of substitutes (noted in parenthesis below), only because we couldn't find the exact items or we just wanted to try something different.

One 3 pound rotisserie chicken

1 tablespoon vegetable oil (we used Olive Oil)

2 tablespoons minced fresh ginger

2 garlic cloves, minced

4 cups chicken stock or low-sodium broth

1 cup water

3 tablespoons Asian fish sauce (we used Oyster sauce)

1 teaspoon honey

1 cup cooked jasmin rice (we used regular rice)

8 shelled and deveined medium shrimp, halved lengthwise (about 1/4 pound)

2 tablespoons fresh lime jice

1/3 cup chopped cilantro

2 tablespoons chopped basil

1 thai chile, thinly sliced (we used red pepper flakes)

Lime wedge, for serving

1. Cut the chicken into legs, thighs, breast and wings. Cut each breast crosswise through the bones into 3 pieces. Remove the thigh bones and cut each thigh in half.

(SB took all the chicken off the bones and put the pieces in the broth).

2. In a large saucepan, heat the oil, Add the giner and garlic and cook over moderate heat until softened, about 3 minutes. Add the stock, water, fish sauce, honey and rice and bring to a boil. Add the chicken pieces and simmer for 5 minutes. Stir in the shrimp and cook just until opaque, about 1 minute. Stir in the lime juice, cilantro, basil and chile and serve right away, passing lime wedges at the table.

Cuba a Bittersweet Tale - Part III

I've been slow about updating this story, but it's important to me to finish as it's been swirling in my mind and heart for a long time.

After a few days with family in Miami we finally board a plane directly from Miami to Cuba, we're taking a mere 45 minute ride across a tempestous ocean. As we fly over the ocean I'm secretly looking out the windows to see if I there are any floating 1950 style Chevy rafts with Cuban's fleeing the island. This is silly but wouldn't you?

My Dad is so nervous he's making me nervous. As soon as we see Habana he starts to cry and then I start to cry. It's one of those emotional moments that can't be helped. It's been nearly 40 years since my dad saw this place. And this airport is literally the last scene he saw of his life in Cuba.

As we get off the plane I try to run a little ahead. I want to capture every bit of my Father's journey and well he can't stop crying, which in turn is making me cry. I'm saying this because I had a manual camera with me so trying to take pictures quickly to capture the moment sometimes come out a bit blurry.

While in Miami the relatives have imbedded in our minds all kinds of horrors that come when you get your baggage and try to get it through customs. Miraculously this is quite pain free. Dad translates everything and we pay a small tax to enter with these HUMONGOUS bags filled with all sorts of things that our friends and relatives in the States would think necessary for my grandfather and uncle.

Now as we walk out of the airport there is this huge crowd of people screaming and calling out all kinds of names. This is mayhem to me and I've travelled quite a bit. Out of this crowd comes this African Cuban man named Luis who calls my dad's name...."Nico" this is the nickname that only our Cuban relatives use for him. How my Dad recognize this man he hasn't seen in 40 years is a wonder. He pulls Dad and I out of the crowd with these huge bags and we head to the car. I was so hoping this would be a 1950's sky blue Chevy. But it ended up being this old white Russian fiat looking car. I'm so not a car person, that is my best description. As we're walking to the car Luis tells us that my grandfather, my Dads father, is in the car.Here comes the water faucet again. Seriously having no control over our emotions I just start balling. I've never seen this man in my life and my Dad has not seen or talked to him in years. I immediately start snapping pictures as my Dad greets his father. The only words coming out my father's mouth at the moment is profanity...why i have no idea....he just keeps saying "Oh, sh*t, oh sh*t" he's just not in control of his emotions. I finally get my hug in and greet my grandfather. It's such an odd thing to feel close to someone you've never met, but I immediately do. This is such a surreal moment and riding in the car looking at the country and soaking it all in. This is in indescribable feeling. Did I tell you HOT and HUMID it is. Wow Miami was bad and Habana is just as HOT. The countryside is lush green with palm trees scattered about, there is slight mix of jasmine in the air infused with the diesel smell of the old cars driving along this very rural road.We finally get to my grandfathers street. This is a dirt road filled with pot holes, but the architecture is amazing. More of that to come. My father has a younger brother who he also hasn't seen in 40 years. His brother has down syndrome and is one of the sweetest persons I met while in Cuba. Dad was equally emotional on seeing his little brother who is about 53 years old at this point. This first emotional day is overwhelming.

Abott Kinney Festival

This has to be one of the most eclectic street festivals in L.A. In the past 14 years this festival has literally outgrown this 1 mile strip of Venice. I remember back in 1993 going to this festival and there were maybe 10 booths and a few small bands, which consisted of a drummer and a base playing

rythmic

reggae tunes. This day there were over 300 booths and just about every restaurant in

Venice had a presence.

All the local color and lure of this small town was out in full force.

Overall it was fun, though it was a bit crowded for my taste and you really see how much this place has changed. Venice still has it's artsy flavor but the money coming into this town shows the most on

Abott

Kinney Blvd. The shops have changed from local vegetarian stops to French fair and cheap clothing shops turn into high end boutiques. It's great eye candy, but not so nice on the wallet.

Cuba a Bittersweet Tale - Part II

So now we're ready to fly to Cuba, right? Not yet. With our paperwork in order, we fly to Miami to pick up our Visa's from our friends and family who arranged our travel to Habana. Once in Miami my dad starts taking me around to all these family members I've never met. Where have these people been all our lives? In fact my dad wondered the same thing. Old memories surfaced, stories unraveled as we drove from one families house to the next. Dad had been in a camp in Miami, conditions at the least in the camp were deplorable, he'd even written his mother in Cuba a letter with a drawing of the camp. The letter boldly said SOS, get me out of here! Family in Miami were alerted to this by my grandmother. They were none too pleased that he freaked his parents out in Cuba. However, when it came time for dad to leave the camp no family members in Miami would let him stay with them. So my dad got options to go to several different cities, he kept saying no, he wanted to go back to Cuba. The last and final option was Albuquerque. Which is where he ended up.

I was getting the taste, literally and symbolically, of what it would be like in Cuba once we arrived. I nearly choked the first couple of times I drank the Cuban coffee, so dark and sweet that it made you purse your lips. But the Cuban bread, how to describe this? It's got a flaky crust which is absolutely perfect and it's soft middle has the texture of finely ground flour. Toasted with butter dipped in Cuban coffee is an amazing breakfast, lunch, or dinner treat. While in Miami I spent time with my half-brother, who I had only seen once in my life (this is another LONG story). I neglected to tell SB I had a half-brother so that made for an interesting phone conversation. To say I was in the dark about these travel arrangements was an understatement. I had no clue and all the Miami relatives scare you to death on what to expect when you arrive in Cuba. We packed two humongous suitcases full of clothing and basic toiletry items. My neighbor who sells Italian import foods gave me two enormous tins of olive oil for my family so my suitcase was stuffed. After a two days in Miami I was antsy I was ready to go. Because we had relatives in Cuba we were allowed to travel directly from Miami to Cuba. Boarding the plane my dad had memories of his plane ride out of Cuba at 14. He said it was a huge plane with big propellors on the sides he was frightened that they'd crash. Now he was scared all over again for other reasons which were a mere 45 minute plane ride away.

Joe's on Abbot Kinney

Recently our friends took us out to dinner to Joe's on Abbot Kinney in Venice. I've passed this restaurant many times and have always wanted to eat there. Joe's sounds like a diner but it's not. Very upscale place, light and airy. My dear friend Conrad who recently passed away has a son who was the architect of this restaurant, so without even looking at the menu I wanted to try this place.

Our friends former boss and spouse love this place and told her about a particular waiter that they always request, Greg. Well this very nice gentleman proceeds to ask us if we've ever been to Joe's, "no", was our reply. He thought it funny that we were all locals and had never been there, my friend said "Abbot Kinney not my scene." Funny thing is he lives on AK. Loved the honesty and so did Greg. He said he could tell we were new since we were studiously reading the menu. He explained it all with confidence and warmth. My friend knew he must be Greg and indeed he was. I see why her former boss likes him. He's confident without being obnoxious, friendly without being snobby. It was already a good start.
Here comes the food. Heirloom Tomato Salad with Burrata Cheese, Pistou, Fine Herbs, Melon Marinated in Port Wine. Really I never get tired of this appetizer.

Then we all order something different. Silver Salmon with braised mustard greens, pumpkin puree, littleneck clams, white onion, water chestnuts, clam juice. New Zealand red snapper with potato scales, wild rice, crispy spinach & red wine sauce. The potatoes literally looked like fish scales. Sorry all these picture were too blurry to include, I'm sure the wine had something to do with that.
Finally one good picture the roasted sirloin of beef with mashed potatoes, crispy artichokes, brown butter balsamic vinaigrette, and red pepper juice. We all tried everything and it tasted as good as the descriptions. The fish was fresh tasting and seasoned perfectly, the steak was cook just enough to melt in your mouth like butter.

Finale was a pumpkin panna cotta with spiced ice cream, gingerbread, maple marshmallow, cranberries (everything around the panna cotta was good, but I was NOT fond of the panna cotta, it was very bland, definitely not my favorite). We also had what I call a chocolate dream, chocolate crunch cake with hazelnut praline and vanilla ice cream, candied hazelnuts I only had a taste of this but wow, it was superb.

We had a great evening again with good friends and Joe's stands as one of my favorite places on Abott Kinney.

Upcoming Stories

I'm apologize for the neglect to updating this blog. Real life has gotten in the way. I have many posts in the works: the continuing saga of my journey to Cuba, recent restaurant in Venice and the eclectic Abbot Kinney Festival. Stay tuned.

Pizzeria Mozza

We waited a month to get a decent reservation time and to me it was worth it. I had my best friends with me and we laughed, ate great food, drank lots of wine and enjoyed ourselves to the full. And look at that, SB made it into my blog (reflection in the menu). We arrived a little early for our reservations hoping to get seated quickly, or to at least seek some shelter from the record breaking heat. Instead we hovered over the wine table and plotted out what to eat while we drank a cool crisp chardonnay.

We started off with the white bean puree mixed with caramelized onions on bruschetta with a tiny well of delicious olive oil. Simply amazing, much better then my white bean dip, but now I have something to perfect it with. We ordered another bottle of white wine a 2005 Niedrist sauvignon blanc, I've never heard of this label before, but I can say it was perfect, slightly sweet, cool and crisp. That is the extent of my say on wine, as I am no sommelier.We also order the salmon bruschetta with pecorino cheese shavings, I didn't get to taste this but SB said it tasted like tuna, our friends didn't think so and seemed to enjoy it. We also ordered roasted olives these literally came to the table in a sizzling gratin dish, they were tasty but very HOT!

I of course order the fennel and sausage pizza as recommended by udon & stilettos blog. It created this zingy, for lack of a better word, flavor to your palate, an interesting combination of anise and spicy sausage. The crust of the pizza made me yearn for a wood burning oven, only on a colder day. Nancy Silverton's recipe for the crust is so light and airy and the high temperature of the oven makes this the perfect crunch everytime you bite into it. D ordered the plate of the day which was lasagna al forno. This was amazing, I've never tasted such great lasagna. The pasta was definitely homemade and slightly green, spinach maybe? The combination of meat a cheese were perfect, and the top had a nice layer of toasted mozzarella. Wow really I can't stop talking about it. SB order a Magheritta pizza, he was less then enthused with it, said it tasted very basic although of course the pizza crust was great, far cry from my own.

For dessert, YUMMY, our favorite part. Although I had to ensure that my friend B would share her triple chocolate torte with cocoa covered hazelnuts, and I believe a Sabayon or light cream sauce. She's notorious for not sharing any chocolate dessert as our last dinner out foretold. It was rich but not overwhelming, the sauce and hazelnuts were wonderful touches that made something average into great. I ordered the ricotta fritters that were gently placed on a lemon marscapone bed along with juicy ripe huckleberries. Also perfect. Cheese, lemon and berries really great combination and worth every bite.

To finish I ordered an espresso. And well D thought it hilarious or maybe NOT that I insisted on taking pictures of everything even the little espresso cup, it's cute, I love little cups. Here's my ode to the espresso...However, he insisted I take a picture of him drinking my espresso and had the gall to request that it be included in this blog. So I'll humor him...I liked the picture I took, but I like the picture B took better when I excused myself from the table. Here's your 15 minutes of fame D. Enjoy!

Pretzel Bites

As this blog is mostly about food and not necessarily about homemade food I must share a recent snack obsession. For those of you who live in California and NY (and I'm sure a few other places) I'm sure you've all visited a Trader Joes (only the best place EVER). Well my new snack obsession is Pretzel Bites. Why you say Pretzel Bites well it combines what I love most... sweet and savory. Yes the salty pretzel is covered in dark chocolate with a sprinkle of white candy. Seriously it doesn't get better than this.

Cuba a Bittersweet Tale - Part I

Several years ago I took a trip to Cuba. I've wanted to write about it ever since so I'm going to chronicle the story here as it fits into what makes life sweet and savory. This experience was truly the trip of my lifetime. To start this series off I must give the back story.

My father is Cuban. What I knew about my father before this trip was limited. He came to the US when he was 14 years old. He lived first in Miami then in a "home" in Albuquerque, NM run by Catholic priests. My maternal grandmother was a very big Catholic and supported the church. She is a hospitable woman who always had the "Cuban boys" over. This is how my parents met. The group of boys that came over for meals all had left Cuba during the Revolution led by Castro and Che who ultimately ousted the dictator Baptiste from the government this Revolution caused many families to flee the island (that's enough history on that subject). These boys left everything, home and family to live a better life in the US. Many of their parents did eventually make it to the States. My father's parents never did. When I was very young I heard few stories about Cuba from my dad, I do remember him singing in Spanish to me, though I have no idea what the words meant. I do not speak Spanish and understand a little, as is the situation with many children of Spanish speaking parents who came to the states in the 60's.

For many years growing up my mom would say "write your grandparents in Cuba, send them a school picture." I felt that the language barrier was too much and only recall maybe sending one or two letters my entire life. As I grew older I had this overwhelming desire to meet my grandparents and see my roots. I was raised an only child, though I have half-siblings, so I have that tendency to want to please and fix everyone. I wanted to fix my father's sadness about leaving his home and family. So for years I kept pressing the issue, "lets go to Cuba." My mom was nervous, my dad was non-committal. I did research on how to get there as I heard American's were still making their way to the island.

Eclectic Tea

Tea in the afternoon is such a civilized meal. Today I went to see the Jane Austin biopic, "Becoming Jane." For any true Jane Austin fan it's a must see. Afterwards I had a few friends over for what I call an eclectic tea. This is because it was not truly English, as is Ms. Austin, although I did serve the usual cucumber and butter tea sandwiches and added scones with raspberry jam and butter. What made it eclectic? Well I threw in a little Italian and French items. Since I love sweets we'll start there. I made a chocolate hazelnut tart. This recipe is from Giada's show Everyday Italian. The bittersweet chocolate and hazelnuts are such a rich combination you can only eat a small amount, but this was delicious, crunchy and satisfying. I did make a basic Pate Sable from Clotilde Dusoulier Chocolate & Zuchini book instead of the store bought pie crust. I thought it might go well with the filling. It was a perfect match.

I also made a favorite dish from a book. Baking with Julia Child, it's called Pizza Rustica. It seems daunting the first time you look at the recipe. But to make it is actually quite easy. First make a basic pie crust:

2 cups flour, 1/3 cup sugar, 1/2 tsp baking powder, 1/4 tsp salt, 1 stick(4 oz) butter, 2 large eggs. Can be done in a food processor and then knead, take 2/3 of the dough, roll out and layer it in a glass pie dish.

Then mix 1lb ricotta cheese, 3 eggs, 1/4 lb mozarella, 1/4 cup pecorino romano cheese, 1/4 lb proscuitto, 2 tbsp parsley, and 1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper. Fill your pie and roll out the extra dough and cut strips with ruffled-edged pastry wheel if you have it handy, and make a basic lattice over the filling. Bake in 350 degree oven for 35-40 minutes. It's truly a sweet and savory dish as the crust is slightly sweet and the cheese and proscuitto is salty.

Along with the tart I follow this with ecletic afternoon tea with fresh strawberries and whip cream.

Walking on Sunshine

Do you remember that song? Katrina & the Waves that was me and SB on Sunday. The Palisades Park was breathtaking and the exercise invigorating. We kept stopping to look at the surf while walking in place. Lots of fun people watching and always some new crazy looking tree or plant to make us ask wonder where that came from? I've taken many photographs in this park of all kinds from weddings to abstracts to nature shots. It's just a lovely place. Afterwards we stopped at one of our favorite local hangouts. Marisco's. It really is local, only peeps you see there are surfers and all us Latins getting a good taste of some authentic California Mexican food. Yes it is different from any other Mexican food out there. Just ask a Texan (heavy on the beef and cheese) or New Mexican food (green chili with that please).
I had two Carne Asada taco's hold the onions and just a small sprinkling of cilantro (sorry Shoefiend) and a little bit of Tapetillo sauce. Great food after a nice Sunday walk.

Guacamole, Peaches & Pomegranates

This sounded so funny to me and my friends who are not adventurous in the food arena. But wow was this refreshing. The peaches were sweet and added such a nice burst of flavor when you scooped up the guacamole on a nice salty corn chip. And pomegranate in anything, martini's, salads...whatever you can think of is just so awesome. This is a great starter. We ate some nice greasy taco's afterwards and just hung with our friends.