Wino Wednesday

So, starting January 1st, I made an oath to myself that I would not have any alcohol for one month. This was inspired by a Andrew Knowlton, a writer for Bon Appetit.  He says he goes alcohol and meat free every January. So my plan was, alcohol none, meat yes.  While I'm not really a big drinker I am a social one.  I love to have a glass of wine with a good meal, usually only on the weekends.  Occasionally during the week, if there is a work function or the meal just screams for it.

I thought this would be easy.  NOT SO MUCH.  So my plan included SB he said he'd do this with me, only he wasn't sold on the 31 days.  He suggested one week, I didn't think that was much of a challenge.  So he reluctantly agreed.  Did he make it, NOT SO MUCH.  After one week, we went out to dinner to Ye Olde Kings Head.  Nice English pub, he didn't last a minute.  I told him he was "weak" he said that wasn't true that I had to look at it as he made it one "week."  Whatever, I was not to be deterred.

So here's where I remained strong:

1. Company Potluck function -  This happened the first full week in January. Everyone brought a nice french dish to our bosses house, and our lovely host served the best champagne and someone brought a few really good bottles of wine.  How I handled this:  I thought ahead and gave myself a "talking," to remain strong.  So I bought a bottle of Martinelli's Apple Cider, you know the ones in the nice Champagne looking bottle.  My host graciously gave me my own ice bucket to keep it chilled, he filled up my Champagne flute constantly and, voila, no peer pressure as everyone thought I was having a cocktail.  I do have to say it was interesting listening to conversations when your the only one not drinking.

2. Ye Olde Kings Head - I spent so many of my single days here.  Having a nice black & tan pint.  Making fun of my friends for ordering wine in a PUB, who does that, apparently my friend did. I had a Rootbeer, it's all psychological, right?

3. The very next week - We had friends over and I offered them many choices of booze.  The girls wanted to try the Sparkling Mandarin.  Seriously hard, as I have yet to try it.  I made it, they loved it, I drank water, ooooh this was hard.  But I did make Tiramasu, yes I reverted to the 90's favorite dessert.  The ladies fingers were soaked in rum and espresso, I did have some, but technically this is NOT drinking, right? 

4. Drinks after work - An old co-worker wanted to catch-up and share with us her new job endeavor.  So we met at the Alibi room. Thankfully they have a decent food menu of Kogi truck delights.  I reverted to my 7 year old self and ordered Shirley Temples.  Didn't they use to pour in the pink sweet juice from the cherry's.  I only got one cherry.  Come ON people don't you know this is a poor substitution for a Gin & Tonic?

So the month is over, I made it, if you don't count the tiramasu.  Tuesday, February 1, I had my first glass of wine in a month.  A glass of Pinot Grigio.  Was delightful, and I immediately turned red, this never happened in the past, but I guess the detox made me a bit sensitive.

What I learned?  I have more will power than I thought.  It's really about setting your mind to a goal and anticipating the situations that may tempt you and determining alternatives before you get there.

What am I going to do now?  Well a much loved radio station, no longer on the air in L.A., (called Indie 103.1), use to do a segment called "Wino Wednesday."  They'd have a wine maker come in, try wines and talk about it every Wednesday at 8am.  Can you believe that was part of their job, made my morning commute so much more enjoyable.  While I am NO sommelier I am an average Jane.  So I will officially make Wednesday's, "Wino Wednesday."  I will pick a wine and give my very average observations.  I'll tell you where I got it, how much I paid, if I ate anything with it.  I may throw in a few of my co-worker's observations, as they will be willing if unknowing participants in this.  I have one observation for you already.  As CC said: "we're no wine snobs here, so shut up and drink the wine."  That's what we intend to do.

Shoes

So I've heard from my Mom that once I was asked, as a little girl, whether I wanted the toy or the shoes.  I, of course, choose the shoes.  Wouldn't you.  I love shoes, obviously always have, I'm not Imelda Marco's, I have a teeny, tiny closet, where I have to rotate old shoes out all the time.  But I had a lovely skirt, that I could finally fit in. I had a vision, but no shoes to match.  This is backwards to how I usually get ready.  Usually I decide on what shoes I want to wear that day and then voila, my outfit works around it.  This time, not so much.  I found these shoes here, got them at 40% off and they landed at my doorsteps 3 days before the event I wanted to wear them at.  They are a hit, a little uncomfortable at first, but don't we all suffer for fashion. 

Cioppino

So as many of you do, or not, I watch a few cooking shows.  I make mental notes of what I want to make.  This recipe called to me.  I thought about it for a few days, and even saved the episode on my DVR. Then as my co-workers and I were deciding on what to bring to a recent pot-luck dinner for our team someone overheard our conversation, why wouldn't they, we're loud and work in a very open office environment.  She said I have a great recipe and proceeded to describe this.  I immediately knew it was from a cooking show, and sure enough I was right, she said it was good, a little labor intensive, but worth the work.  

It's called Cioppino (pronounced chuh-PEE-no).  I did a little online research, which is faulty at best and devised this history:

They say it originated or was popularized in San Francisco, specifically Fisherman's Wharf.  As much as I love SF, I like the romantic side of history.  So here's my version, it's thought that the word means "chip in".  And that an Italian immigrant, as my great grandfather on my mother side is, was asked to chip in some of his fresh catch for the communal stew kettle on the docks. The word may also originate from Genoese fish stew, called ciuppin, which means "to chop".  Lots of chopping of a few things is part of the recipe. The SF story says it was Portuguese and Italian fisherman, my versions says it could have been a whole lot of different immigrants from all over.  Regardless you can substitute different seafood, fish or other meat easily.  It's delicious and served with a crusty baguette, sliced with olive oil and toasted, it's perfection.  I have to say it's early in 2011, but this is the best thing I've made so far. 

I've heard your not to say out loud that you made something really good in front of your guest, but I couldn't help myself with SB, and technically he's not a guest, and I said "this is really good."  

Here's the recipe:

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 large fennel bulb, trimmed and chopped into 1/2 inch pieces
4 cloves of garlic, peeled and smaked
1 large or 2 small shallots, chopped
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, plus 1/2 teaspoon
1/4 teaspooon freshly ground black pepper, plus 1/4 teaspoon
1 pound spicy Italian turkey sausage links, casings removed (I used spicy chicken sausage, my co-worker used spicy pork, either will work)
2 cups white wine, such as Pinot Grigio (I used what I had left 1 cup of sauvignon and 1 cup Voigner, what can I say, that's what I had left)
1/4 cup tomato paste
3 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1 bay leaf
1 point large shirmp, peeled and deveined
1 (15 ounce) can cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
1 cup fresh basil leaves, chopped
1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme leaves

In a dutch oven or large saucepan (I used a large saucepan, one day I dream of a big Le Creuset or Staub pot), heat the oil over medium-high heat,.  Add the fennel, garlic, shallots, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper.  Cook, stirring occasionally, until the veggies are slightly soften, about 4 minutes.   Add the sausage and break into 1/2 inch pieces with a wooden spoon.  Cook until brown, about 5 minutes.  Add the wine and scrape up the brown bits that cling to the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon.  Stir in the tomato paste, chicken broth, and bay leaf.  Bring to a simmer, cover, and cook for 10 minutes.

Uncover the pan and add the shrimp, beans, basil, and thyme.  Simmer, uncovered, until the shrimp are pink and cooked through, about 4 minutes.  Remove the bay leaf and discard.  Season with the remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper.  Ladle the cioppino into soup bowls and server with the crusty bread. 

Recipe courtesy of Giada De Laurentiis.  Go here.

Tea at the Four Seasons

This post is so out of order of when it happened.  But B and Spongy and our Moms went to Santa Barbara for tea during the Thanksgiving break.  Mom was in town and it was a lovely drive.  B and I've been to the tea at the Four Seasons before, but for some reason we were put in a dark room and didn't enjoy.  
Being with the Moms was the fun part.  It's a lovely room, nice tea.  

Only complaint is it's too light on the sandwiches and heavy on the sweets.  
We all could have used a little more savory.  But if your visiting California, Santa Barbara is a must see place and the Four Season, oh wow, what can I say, it's California living at it's best.

Mindless Monday

So this is what it looks like in California in January.  Reminders of why I live here.

Apples

Where did last year go. It was a busy year for me and not a lot of posting going on. It's when I finally have time off I get a chance to reflect on why I started this blog. First of all it was a chance to pick up my camera more often and take pictures of the things I love. Food. Travel. And the wonderful things that make Life so great, partly more food and more travel. At least I'm honest.

This year I hope to post more often.  My friend at eatdrinknbemerry told me yesterday, you need to pick up your camera more.  He is so right.  I promise more pictures.

SB and I have a pending trip to London and Paris. I'm sure I'll have lots to share, maybe even get a picture of SB on this blog. One can always hope he'll give in, but if not, no worries, we'll have plenty to tell.

Last year was a good year, we finally reached a spiritual goal that we've been working towards for many years. We look forward to whatever the future holds for us. Our motto, "go thru the doors that are open and stop trying to push the ones that are closed." So we hope to continue to live by that thought.

What else have I been doing this past month. Quite a bit of baking and cooking, yay! Also with a few days off from regular life I had time to organize closets, shelves, books, and all kinds of stuff. I tossed out a few old cooking magazines and reminded myself of recipes I've longed too try. On visiting a friend she laid out a forty clove garlic chicken for herself to make and handed me Ina Garten's French Apple Tart to try. So I've made it 3 times since the last week of December.

Did you know that there are 7,500 varieties of apples ranging in color from red to gold, yellow to green, and being slightly larger than cherry and can be as big as a grapefruit. Approximately 2,500 are grown here in American. I found that amazing, I had no idea, as I've only touched probably only 6 - 8 different types of apples. I personally love apples with peanut butter, usually a gala apple. Really though, I like anything with peanut butter.

So here's a picture of my french apple tart (this is the 2nd time). I have to say the 3rd was the prettiest, and was taken to a pot-luck dinner at my bosses house. I forgot to take a picture as I was so worried about getting it transported there without making a mess.

If you want to make it, the recipe is found

here

.

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.