Cocktails Anyone

So I have a great boss. Who I've talked about before here. This year he gave everyone in our department and that's 10 of us a fantastic gift. It's a new take on a cosmopolitan. It's called the Sparkling Mandarin. Here's the instructions he gave us:

3 ounces of Mandarin Vodka
1 ounce of Triple Sec
1 ounce of Cranberry juice
Shake well...
Remove lid from shaker and add 2 ounces of Sparkling Blood Orange French Soda. (Included in the lovely package above)
Then stir well - do not shake - the soda is carbonated.
Add a squeeze of fresh lime.
Toss the ice water and strain cocktail into the chilled glasses.
Serve with the garnish of your choice (martini cranberries, lime twists or orange slices).
Sip and enjoy! Serves 2

I told my friend Jessica about this fantastic gift and she asked that I have the cocktail shaker ready in the waiting room for her after she delivers her first baby. Can you hear the ice now?

Sea Salt Carmels

So my friend Jessica who LOVES all the sweets possible always gives me great suggestions on Trader Joe sweets. This past winter season she introduced me to yet another goodie.

Dark Chocolate covered carmels with sea salt on top. Need I say more. This only is in stock during the Holiday season. Mark it down for next Nov/Dec and stock up.

Mindless Monday

Fall

Huntington Library & Botanical Garden

Recently my mom was in town which was nice. We spent one of the days playing at the Huntington Library. This is an amazing place. It's not just about books. Although they do have the Gutenberg Bible (c.1455), this was so different then I expected, smaller and more colorful, I didn't expect to be an illuminated manuscript.

But the best part is the gardens, and lots of them, deserts, roses, lily ponds, frogs, Japanese and Chinese gardens and an Australian jungle. Amazing. But there is more... they have a fabulous art collection. My favorite was the portrait gallery. Enjoy the day and make a reservation in the tea room for a lovely way to finish the afternoon of roaming the gardens and libraries. Be aware....a bit of a picture overload. I just couldn't decide what I liked the most, so I inserted all my favorites.

The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens

1151 Oxford Road

San Marino, CA 91108

626.405.2100

Camping

So these next couple of post will be slightly out of order of when the actually happened. But at the end of August we went camping with 4 families. Total count was 10 adults and 8 kids. We went to the Palomar Mountains near Temecula. It was lovely, perfect weather, not to hot, not to cold. For some first time campers, I'd say they had a great time. We divided the cooking, every couple cooked one meal. Let's just say we all ate great. Not a bad cook in the bunch. I for one had to go on a serious diet the next week due to the sugar shot of evening s'mores. Thanks Deb, Jane and Elliot for organizing.

Gorgeous lillies on the trail

Planetary about a 15 minute drive. SB took these abstract shots.
Are the aliens coming?

Bee caught pollinating.

Doanes Pond, lovely reflections.

My favorite Wildflower shot. Makes me think of my childhood.

Club Ed

So for 1 week in July I went on location for a photoshoot. Not my photoshoot, but another very talented photographer, Lars Toppleman. He has a great crew and the best personality. One of the locations was in the desert, in a place called Club Ed. It's an old movie set, click on the link to read the story. Here are my shots as we walked around the set. Pretty cool place and used for lots of photoshoots and commercials. Just saw a Viagra commercial tonight with gas station.We shot behind the hill on a sandy plateau.

Love the Joshua Trees.And the Easy Rest Inn

Here's the Office to check in at the Easy Inn. It's actually where the caretaker comes during photoshoots. Another person lives on the property keeping all the lookie loo's out.

Old prop gas pumps.

Nice motel pool. Rooms are just facades, I believe only one is proped out.

My favorite Levi's ad with my favorite TV characters from my favorite TV show were shot here. Take a look.

Located off Avenue K in the lovely city of Lancaster. I do have to give props, no pun intended, to the Oxford Inn Hotel, where we stayed. We got two free drink tickets, they offered appetizers and breakfast and let me tell you it was "all good."

Summer Update 2010

It's been a foggy and now, a hot long summer.

I have much to post about and no time to do so.

Work and life have consumed me.

To top it off my scanner doesn't work right either.

I'm ancient of days with film that needs to be scanned in to finish my Cuba journey.

I promised my sister I'd finish my story of Cuba as I have yet to tell my Dad about this blog.

I have three posts to wrap up from July, as it was that month, 10 years ago that I went.

Also coming soon posts on my week long business travel which ended me up in the desert at one point. Awesome old set in the middle of all places....Lancaster.

Don't give up on me....I know I'm talking to myself as by now know one is reading this but me.

Stay tuned.

Afternoon Summer Tea

Every year my friend Sherri hosts a lovely afternoon tea for all the ladies. She is a full-time wife and mom of three and somehow finds the time to make the most amazing creations. She even on occasion does flowers for events as she did from my wedding almost 15 years ago. This year I tried a few new things but the above Pavlova's, made with meringues with cream, kiwi, strawberry, mango, blueberry and passion fruit sauce is my favorite. So lovely to look at and delectable to eat.

Love chocolate and these were rich and unbelievably tasty

Carmelly goodness, yeah I know it's not a word, but I like it anyway.

Can we say sugar coma.

Stress Relieving Chocolate

Some people go for a jog, or to a bar, have a drink or gorge on food. I eat chocolate, not just any chocolate it should be rich, dark and delicious. On this lovely Sunday April day in the midst of cleaning up my kitchen and getting decisively dizzy, cleaning does that to me, I finally realize it's not the normal displeasure at cleaning but in fact it's a 6.9 Earthquake. First time in my city that I felt it roll and roll and roll on forever it did, swaying the chandelier (yes the little wrought iron one in my apartment counts) and blinds. After my heart slows down I need a drink and better than that I need chocolate.

My long-time friend and former roommate Karena and her husband were here visiting and she brought me the best treat. She said to me, "when you just know that you have to get a specific gift for someone nothing else will do." So on her way to the airport in NY they have the taxi stop and wait in Brooklyn while she grabs some treats for me at the Jacques Torres store. I tried to go there when I visited last time but didn't make it. So today after the stressful earthquake I opened the celophane package that wrapped dried cranberries and pumpkin seeds in a crunchy candy coated with the loveliest dark chocolate. Jacques Torres is a genius chocolatier and an amazing cook. I've watched his show a few times, admittedly I can't always understand him, but I'm fascinated by his chocolate creations. Thank you Karena and please come again with Danny and more chocolates.

So what do you do to relieve stress?

Canon Mark II Giveaway

OK Epiphanie is giving away a Canon Mark II camera. I so want this camera.

Check out the site and their lovely bags.

http://www.haveanepiphanie.com/home/2010/2/28/epiphanie-give-away.html

http://www.epiphaniebags.com/#/shop-1/

Stuffed Mushrooms

A couple of weeks ago when I was preparing for a dinner party I went through all the recipes I've pulled from multiple food magazines. As I love mushrooms I pulled an old recipe from April 2003 Gourmet magazine. I adapted it a bit as I was missing a few ingredients and wanted to use the extra pork sausage I had in the frig before it went bad (I hate wasting food).

I made the veggie version for SB and the sausage version for myself. These are very meaty even without the sausage. Whole Foods has some great stuffing type of mushrooms, big cremini's.

3 slices firm white sandwich bread (I toasted mine to make it dry)
2 tabelsppons olive oil
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
20 large (2 to 21/2 inches in diameter) white mushrooms (I used Cremini)
2 tbsps unsalted butter
1 medium onion, finely chopped (I left this out as I didn't have any of the "must" have staple)
1/4 cup finely chopped celery (I left this out too as I didn't have another "must" have staple)
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1 oz finely grated Parmigiano Reggiano
1/4 cut chopped fresh parsley

Preheat oven to 400F
Tear bread into pieces and pulse to coarse crumbs in a food processor. Transfer to a bowl and toss with oil, 1/4 tsp salt, and 1/8 tsp pepper. Spread in a shallow baking pan and bake in middle of oven until golden. 6 to 8 minutes. Then transfer to a bowl.

Pull stems from mushroom caps (to create space for stuffing) and finely chop stems (I put these in a food processor and went to town). Put mushroom caps, stemmed sides down, in a lightly oiled large shallow baking pan and bake in middle of oven until mushrooms exude liquid, about 10 minutes, then remove from oven.

While mushroom caps are baking, melt butter in a 12 inch heavy skillet over moderately high heat until foam subsides, then saute chopped stems, stirring until golden, about 5 minutes. Add onion, celery, garlic, oregano, and remaining 1/4 tsp salt and 1/8 tsp pepper and saute, stirring occasionally, until onion is golden, about 5 minutes. Cool vegetable slightly, then add to bread crumbs along with cheese and parsley and toss well.

I browned ground pork sausage and added it to the mixture after I stuffed the veggie mushrooms.

Turn mushroom caps over, then mound mushroom filling in mushroom caps, pressing gently (you will have some filling left over). Bake in middle of oven until mushrooms are tender and stuffing is golden brown, about 20 minutes.

Eat while warm, delicious appetizer. I took some left over for lunch and the sausage was even better the day after as the flavors melded well.

Books I've Read - January

I just finished this fascinating book called the Billionaire's Vinegar. It's all about a bottle of wine sold thru Christies that broke auction records. Supposedly it's a bottle that Thomas Jefferson purchased from the Chateau and had engraved with his initials, year and vintage. In 1985 it was sold to Malcolm Forbes for $160K. The story features a few real life collectors and one man, Hardy Rodenstock, who seems to suspiciously stumble upon the oldest bottles of wine. I love wine, but can't say I know much about it. This book was a fascinating journey on what kinds of tasting notes wine specialists make, on Christies and Sotheby's auctions and the people who run them, how to make a 1787 vintage fake wine, then how to test wine to see if its fake (i.e. radation before and after the a-bombs) and why some people collect wine to store in a cellar and others drink it, seriously why wouldn't you drink it. If you love wine you'll enjoy this book immensely. I enjoy a good mystery, love history and am grateful to learn something new anytime I take a week to read a book.


My dear friend Bekah and I like to swap books and she told me I must read the above book. I started it last night and already laughed on Page 2. The Sweet Life in Paris: Delicous Adventures in the World's Most Glorious - and Perplexing - City. David Lebowitz has a funny sense of humor and I love when people can just pick up there lives and move to a new city, foreign one at that. I know I'd have to learn patience if I moved anywhere as things are done so much differently. But that's the charm of it all. I'll share a few snippets as I get further into the book. It has fantastic recipes that have already made me salivate.

Dinner for 10

So this past Sunday a dear friend gave his first Public Talk. 30 minutes in front of about 1oo people. He prayed for a natural disaster to keep him from giving this talk. We had rain last week and hail, but thankfully no natural disaster. As a little gift for he and his lovely wife we had dinner for 10 people in our tiny little apartment. It was enjoyable company in a cozy environment.

I have no pictures as I was too busy cleaning, cooking, pouring drinks and entertaining.

It took SB and I days to figure out what to make but here's our menu for 10:

Appetizer: Ceviche - made with Mahi Mahi, persion cucumbers, tomatos, jalapenos, salt and lots of fresh squeezed lime juice. Served in martini glass with Tostito's scoops to accompany. We're High-low class. Just ordinary folks.

Main Course: Fresh Chicken Breast stuffed with Taleggio cheese (rind trimmed) and wrapped in thin slices of prosciutto. Served with Rice Pilaf and pan roasted asparagus with salt and olive oil. Recipe for Chicken Breasts adapted from Bon Appetit.

Dessert: My friend Caroline provide a delicious Ghirradelli chocolate cake with fresh berries on top. It was perfect.

Drinks were open to wine, beer and good old fashion gin & tonics. It was a lovely evening. Can't wait to entertain again.

Trees

This recent storm seems to mimic my life. While I want to hibernate I'm forced out into the elements. I miss baking, photographing and traveling. I've watch Julie and Julia twice and wished I had a better situation myself these days.

I have always had an infinity towards trees, maybe it's the lonely nature of a tree or the big textured trunks that branches off into these leaf wonderful shapes. When I was in New Mexico recently my Dad showed me a painting he was working on. Yes he's finally doing what he loves. I almost gasped because it was a tree, barky textured cottonwood tree. I swear I've drawn that tree a million times. So this post is dedicated to the tree. Here are few of my favorites.

Art Gallery in Sante Fe

It's almost been a year since we visited in New Mexico.
Last year while in Sante Fe, my Mom insisted that we visit this gallery.

After many a u-turn and wrong street, we found it. All SB and I could say was it better be worth it. Oh it was. She had never been here in the Winter, but she said the garden was special. It was magical to say the least. Snow blanketed the entire area.

The sculptures stood out and the ducks ice skated on the pond. We had the whole garden to ourselves and took pictures next to every bear, bunny, Indian, bench, whatever struck our fancy.

The art inside and out is beautiful and inspiring. If your visiting Sante Fe this season this is a must visit place with the whole family.

Nedra Matteucci
1075 Paseo de Peralta,
Santa Fe, New Mexico 87501

What I"m Reading

It's been a while since I've picked up any books to read. So I went to my bookshelf and dusted off this book by Ruth Reichl, the former Editor in Chief of Gourmet magazine, (sadly no longer published - this December was it's last issue). I was given this signed copy quite a while ago by a friend. I couldn't remember why I had never read it. As I got into it, I remembered. Although it gives a great story on how she became a restaurant critic for New West (California) magazine, the LA Times and NY Times, it is a memoir, and you do get irritated with some of the personal choices she makes (I actually yelled at my book, NO DON'T DO THAT!). What I did learn was some of the history of restaurants in my own neck of the woods that ironically I have yet to dine at, such as Michael's and Chinois on Main. I enjoyed learning about the beginning's of what we now call California Cuisine. There are some great stories about Alice Waters, Mark Peel and Wolfgang Puck.

I remembered quite a few years ago when I was working at an advertising agency I met Ruth. She came in to talk about Gourmet magazine. She ordered food from Campanile and inspired me with her words about food and travel. I was hooked. When I got to sit next to her at lunch I quizzed her about how she managed to go to all those restaurants in NY and eat all that food. She told me she took lots of friends and ziplock baggies. It was a the beginning's of my love for food and travel. Every year Gourmet put out an issue on a city somewhere in the world. When the Paris issue came out I even took with me to the city of lights. I was able to navigate the plethora of cafes and restaurant's thru Gourmet's point of view. Sadly the economy and Conde Nast have brought this great magazine to an end.

So long Gourmet, but we can't wait for the next journey of Ms. Reichl, it's sure to be interesting.

End of Summer Haiku

Summer has ended
The last few days at the beach
Chill is in the air With the rain outside
It is definitely Fall
Time to start baking

California Living

So a dear boss and friend hosted a little party recently at his house.

He is kind, tells great stories and the best host ever.

The whole team met for cocktails and each of us had to bring pieces of the dinner and appetizers. We drank "champers" (for Sam) and "Cosmos," that make you see double (thanks John). For dinner Efren blew us away with his pork loin. He marinated it in a secret sauce (you can get it from Costco) I call this pork loin 7,6,5. It means 7 Minutes on the grill on one side, 6 on the other, 5 resting. Cut and serve with a peach or mango chutney. Delish. Roasted garlic potatoes and greek feta in tomatoes, parsley and basil with a light vinegrette.

Oh and his house, awesome, so beautiful, I'd never leave home if I lived here. If you need anyone to house sit, I'm available, I promise to keep it clean and the pillows fluffed.

Cocktail Party

So C wanted to host a party, specifically a cocktail party. She wanted it to be low maintenance so she hired a caterer. Best idea ever. We mixed our own cocktails, pretty strong too, and got a chocolate fountain for dessert (messing but yummy). Rented tables, printed invites and voila. Party was fun and eclectic, nice mix of friends. Things we learned...1. move the bar to another area so you have two conversation areas. 2. hire someone to do the dessert, yes I had chocolate on my dress when I got home. 3. Definitely hire a maid, thanks J for lending your house. Thanks C for taking care of all the big things, it was your party and you did a great job.
Best story of the night was from our dear friend Spencer. SB invited him and C told him "no jeans, where a tuxedo." So Spencer doesn't look at the invite and gets dropprf off by a cab to my tiny little apartment dressed in a tuxedo with a bottle of champagne. Oh and of course we're not there, we're at J's house. So he tries calling us and here's how the conversation goes:

SB says "dude, where are you?"
Spencer, "dude I'm at your house, isn't this where the party is?"
SB, "no dude it's at J's house."
Spencer, "oh"

So he walks 3 blocks home, past the day/dusk workers looking for a job. All the while yelling out to Spencer, "hey senior bond," while is walking down the street at dusk in a tuxedo with a bottle of champagne.

So he finally shows up at J's house, in a Tuxedo. Awesome, I don't think C meant for him to really where it but he was bold enough to make it happen. Loved it, and it made for a great story. Thanks Spence.

AC Milan vs. LA Galaxy

Seriously the very next day after my posh afternoon at the Peninsula hotel we took off for Carson, CA for the AC Milan vs. LA Galaxy soccer or football (for my one British Reader) match. It was one of those hot evenings and SB was none to happy about driving the "parking lot" slash 405 on the evening before we needed to study hard. But I really wanted to see this game, I really wanted to see the players from AC Milan; Inziagi, Ronaldino, Seedorf, Massimo, to name a few. Plus we all knew it was going to be Beckham's first home game since his loan to AC Milan.

The night started off great, good parking (always a plus in L.A.) but really $20 bucks, so ridiculous. When we walk in we all got free baseball caps highlighting the match (why do they always give away baseball hats at non hat wearing sports?)

After that it went south, heres why, we have general admission tickets, I never like that term general admission and now I know why. So the attendant points out the area where we are allowed to sit and since we're early I'm all over getting as close as possible. Well, unfortunately, we were one row off of the general admission area and didn't find this out till during the National Anthem and by this time there were so many people and virtually no empty seats. Meanwhile SB went to get another beer and left me a C to fend for ourselves. C won't move since the guy next to her is razing her about not standing up for the Anthem and I'm yelling at her that we need to move, so I leave her, run up the stairs and seriously start climbing over people to find a seat all the while you hear in the background, "and the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air," (fireworks are literally going off). SB comes back during this mayhem and sees me climbing over people and then running down rows to find a good seat. Once settled we're all rattled, sweating and perturb. Then 4 people come in and squeeze into a 2 space area. Finally the game starts phweeewww, right? NOT.

The 4 people in the 2 seater area start arguing with the people in front that Ronaldino has had too much pasta while playing in Italy. So they start getting mad that these people are slamming one of the worlds best players and yelling back at them , "we know him." I'm thinking, yeah right, you don't know him or why would you be sitting here with us?

Then Beckham comes out and as soon as he touches the ball everyone starts booing him. Gotta love L.A. fans. Everyone is mad about the recently published book that fellow teammate Landon Donovan aired his dirty laundry to the press. Boo him not Beckham, really people Landon went and played for Bayern Munchen during the off season too. He just came back earlier, because he doesn't need to play in Europe to get a place on his National Team. It was a tough night. Beckham got fined that night for calling out a fan who was yelling at him from the stands, Beckham had had it by that time. Now it's been over a month since that game and finally the fans have stopped booing. Such a fickle city to live in. Oh yeah poor Miss LA Galaxy herself gets stuck with the masses in general admission too. WHAT IS WITH THAT! I'm forking out more money next time and enjoying the game with an assigned seat.
Oh yeah the arguers....well they made nice and supposedly went out to the parking lot to smoke a joint. Whatever...

Score was tied 2-2. Not bad against one of the best teams in Europe.