Cheltenham - Day 6 & 7

Oh the trials of trains and travel, exhauste mundo.  Seriously three trains and two taxi's later we arrived from Paris to Cheltenham with a bag full of tea's and chocolates from London and Paris.  We had one hour and half to rest and share one bathroom and get ready for a local meeting with I&G, this was the only chance for us to meet their friends, so despite our exhaustion we went.

The whole time I felt like I was swaying still on the train. I met some of their really great friends. I never get to spend enough time in this town, but I enjoy it everytime. After the meeting we went to a pub and got some dinner, this was the night I saw the Butcher's Banksy, which I was delighted by.

The Count and Countess outside their humble abode.  This was after a nice night of rest.  Featured in arms is Watson a great kitty.  Incidently Watson is kind of like a dog.  Roams the streets about 4 block radius and has a few friends around.  He sleeps in his own little bed every night.  I got up one morning, greeted Watson and sat down and enjoyed the daffodils and lovely purple door outside their window.  Gwen came down and was surprised that "Monkey" was in "Watson's" bed.  I hadn't even notice it was a different colored kitty.  He's Watson's friend and decided to come in and have a lie down in his bed and enjoyed his food as well.   Monkey isn't even his name, but he's definitely a "cheeky monkey" for coming thru the kitty door, stepping over Gwen, while they slept in the basement, giving us there lovely bed.  Cheeky indeed.  

Gotta love this word.

The next day our friends that we met 7 years ago came to spend the day with us.  They were kind enough to take the day off and book a local hotel in Cheltenham.  Last time we saw them they didn't have a little girl.  Now she's 5 years old.  Lovely family and joy to see them again.  We went out for my first full English breakfast (eggs, bacon, sausage, beans, mushrooms and toast) more then enough food for four people.

Then we drove our way through the countryside, this was our first time seeing it after two big cities, it is so green and every village completely charming.  We drove through a small village which I snapped a few pictures of. As we drove by these two horse poked their heads out of the stone building and "nayed."  Loved this.

Beautiful creek running thru this village.

We proceeded to Cotswold farm and walked around petting and feeding all the animals.

Piglets chasing mom down for some lunch.

 

One of many feeding times.

 

Layla jumping on the gynormous bouncy pillow.

 

As our custom has been we stop in the afternoon for drinks at the pub.  Can't get much better than a pint, old friends and lovely little girl.  The Royal pub stop, as we will soon find out, many places stop serving hot food after half past two (2:30 for us American's).  So it's a pint and crisps (potato chips for us in the states)

Our pint options, which we enjoyed.

The Royal owner, owning his pink shirt, who I talked into letting me take a picture of himself next to the lime green lamp.  I think he'd had a few pints as well, which is A ok with me.

We returned to Cheltenham and walked our way to the Royal Well Tavern.  Food here changes everyday according to what the chef decides to make and local ingredients.  Some of us chose the three course tasting menu.

 

Starter of frisee with apples.

 

Mushroom fricasee, wow was this ever good.  I will be making it at home.

SB had the seared mackerel, followed by steamed mussels.  He ate lots of seafood on this trip as this was the most likely options for him.

This is a gem of a place to eat, a must if you get to Gloucstershire.

The Royal Well Tavern
5 Royal Well Place.
Cheltenham. Gloucestershire.
GL50 3DN
Tel: 01242 221212
www.theroyalwelltavern.com

Paris - Day 5

So last night when we were walking down our street I saw a chocolate chicken in the window.  I had to do a second look, how does a chocolate chicken not melt in a window?  Is it always shady on that side of the street? I couldn't get this place out of my mind and then I realized that one of my favorite blogs, davidlebovitz featured a video of Patrick Rogers chocolate factory. We went back today and talked to a wonderful man who explained what every chocolate was and that the temperature was controlled in the window which prevented the chocolate chicken from melting.  I bought two lovely boxes of chocolate and received a free sample for the road.

We took a trip on the Metro to one of my favorite food area's, Madeline.  As we were looking for directions to a place we stopped into a lovely flower shop and Ieuan asked for directions in French.  At a rapid fire pace she gave him directions, and then he begged for hand movements in the direction we were to go.  While this was going on Gwen, SB and myself were admiring this flower shop which screamed Paris.  SB was about to take a photo when the other lady quickly shouted "S'il vous plait, no photo" and a loud double clap.  We all quickly left the shop and giggled outside as we just got schooled like some french school kid. Hilarious.

Ten years ago I visited a store called Fauchon, I remember a bright pink awning with black writing. At that time I saw an older man come in and buy a pink box full of macaron's, which I had never had ten years ago.  I foolishly only bought carmels and a little hot pink purse full of dark chocolate almonds.  Now after all these years later I love beautiful tasty macarons.  However, Fauchon has changed a bit, much more commercial looking and less neighborly. 

The look is a bit 80's tacky, but was still full of macarons and chocolates.  I adored them back then, however I decided to skip on the macarons as Laduree had the ones I really wanted. We stopped here next and waited in line for a box of macarons.  Gorgeous inside.

Gwen's cousin had recommended Angelina's, which supposedly has the best hot chocolate in the city and a place that Coco Chanel and Audrey Hepburn have frequented.  We made our way down Rue Rivolo and found the place.

Gwen's iphone shot, not too bad.

Hands down, it is the best, even SB whose usual words are "it's good, it's fine" said "that has to be the best hot chocolate I've ever had."  Wow a reaction and compliment indeed.  Seriously tasted like two dark chocolate bars melted with a dab of cream.  

We strolled down the Jardin Tuillerie and enjoyed the peacefulness.

  

The Louvre was closed, which were weren't going to anyways but we did take some pictures outside, I didn't enjoy the grounds last time and only circled thru the museum.

Another recommendation was macaron's at Pierre Hermes which was in the Latin Quarter.  I stayed in this area last time but no one else had been there before.  This little shop was not easy to find and when we did, there was a line of pushy older ladies outside.  What a scene for macarons.  We finally got ours and made our way to a fountain outside and sat and all ate our macarons.  I had a apricot pistachio one, it's been my favorite so far.  Perfect combination and two of my favorite flavors.  When I get home I'm going to experiment with this combo.

Then one more stroll through the Jardin du Luxembourg.  We took a break again on a bench with our feet up and just relaxed before a stroll through the rest of the garden.  It was packed, literally.  Last time I'd come here it was early in the morning and maybe me and four other people were in the garden.  I ate my croissant and coffee all alone, what a difference.

Unfortunately after this very long day we had no energy to find a place to eat, so we took to our hotel, ran down the block, grabbed wine, cheese and a baguette and retired to our room for another hotel picnic.  

Paris was fabulous and the day and half was a tease.  There are soooooooo many places I'd like to visit here, one day I'll come back.

Paris - Day 4

Wow what to say about this day.  In a word "tired."  We are really super duper tired.  If anyone has ever done the Eurostar from London to Paris, they know what I mean.  G, Steph, Miche and Pat and I did this 10 years ago, and let me tell you it's the same thing.  Exhausting.  They only thing that keeps you going is it's Paris and indeed it is.  We saw so much today even though it was afternoon when we arrived.

First landmark out of the Metro was the Arc de Triumph and then off to the Eiffel Tower,  I finally got to see it from a perspective I often see in fashion shoots by the military museum.  There was also a starting point for a mile long crowd of rollerblader's, oh I wished I had stayed to see the start of that.  It was crowded in the area that has the view of the tower with French protestors, which I've heard is NOT unusual.  But the picture above, NOT retouched was from this area.  Gorgeous view. We also took some very interesting photographs from under the Eiffel Tower, very cool.

Before the boat tour we notice afashion  photoshoot going on, so I snapped a few of my own. 

 Love it.

 This is a glorious rich, gold shiny bridge.  So decadent.

Afterwards we took a cruise on the Seine River, which I've never done before.  This was a great idea as our tired feet needed a rest and this is a perfect way to see all the major sites.  The bridges and buildings were amazing.  I absolutely loved the carousel.  

We did try to go to a recommended place for dinner, but it was closed. So we settled for another place which was not really very appealing so no photos. Actually the food could have been marvelous, but we were so exhausted that putting the fork to our mouth was more than a minor effort, it was the hardest thing to do next to walking back to our hotel.

England - Day 3

Today we got up and dressed in our finest for a special tour at the British Museum.  Last time I visited the museum I was too lazy to dress up so we couldn't take the tour.  But this time we made it happen and met friends from Germany, Netherlands, Australia, Slovkia, Spain and England of course.  It was an international convention.

We got to see the Nabonidus cylinder which is as big as the palm of my hand, which means it's super small but really cool.  Our tour was on Egypt, the guide and artifacts made the pages come alive with understanding of the culture and practices of this world power.

After that we went home and changed into flatter shoes and more comfortable clothes to start our day long trek thru the city.  We ate lunch at a local Italian restaurant, Wildwood, with gigantic pizza's, and great sandwichs, which we all managed to engulf.  Then we were off to the Tower of London.

 Loved the presentation on this board of the sandwich and chips.

 Seriously should have shared my pizza it was big, but the carbs gave me energy to keep on walking.  

At the Tower we literally ran in and rushed to hear the last tour by the Beefeaters, love these guys.  Found out that they are required 22 years military service with fine conduct before they can even apply for the job.  They are essentially the Queen's body guards.  We actually were able to go into the chapel this time, where Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard are buried along with a few other notable people.  They Queen's jewels were outstanding, so much wealth, it's hard to comprehend.  We were able to see the London Tower bridge from the walls of the Tower of London.  Beautiful day compared to yesterday's rain.  Our heads were full of history and facts.  Bible tour and English History, but cup overflowth.  My favorite subject in school was history and still is in the top 5 things I love.

I know your all wondering where are the people pictures.  Well SB won't allow his face to be shown, but here's a nice peek at our dear friends Gwen and Ieuan who have been the most lovely host in their home country.

Have I told you how tired my feet, legs, thighs are?  Seriously we live in L.A. and everyone knows "nobody walks in L.A."  I have never done as many stairs in my life, never ever ever.  Not even at the stairs in SM Canyon.

However, despite the pain, our stomachs call and we all managed to make our way to Fulham Square, where I wanted to go to a Gastropub called Harwood Arms. We got to the area, but were unable to get in as we had no reservation.  So we instead stopped at the local Alehouse and had a pint and asked around for a good restaurant. We decided on the recommendation of My Dining Room, which took us a while to understand as we thought the waitress was inviting us to her dining room.  Not so much.  Short jaunt down the road and we found the place.  Hands down to date, this is the best meal we've had since we started the trip.  French fair which was so well made and delicious.  They menu changes everyday, but I will scan this one in, when I return, so you can see what a delicious meal it was.  SB and I did the 3 course tasting menu which was well worth the deal.  Pictures to come in a few days.

The Dining Room
18 Farm Lane, 
London SW6 
1PP- 0207 381 3331
Nearest Tube station : Fulham Broadway. -  5 minutes walking distance

Firsty Friday - Day 2 London

This day we got up at 8am after our waking up at 4:00am and making ourselves stay in bed.  It rained just about the whole day, I was prepared hat and thick wool coat.  Gwen and I shared an umbrella and we made our way around the whole city this morning in the rain.  Out and about at 9:15am and off to breakfast at Giraffe.  I forget that bacon here isn't like our American version, it's not the streaky bacon we're used to, it's more like Canadian bacon.  Simple meal but perfect, and all I wanted was tea, I usually have coffee in the morning, but I'm in England so I wanted tea and Earl Grey it was.

Then despite the rain, oh my oh my, lots of shopping, Harrod's, Selfridges, Fortnum & Mason, Top Shop and anywhere else we could find.  After much shopping we headed back to our hotel to drop off our new purchases and head out again for some pints and more shopping to find SB and proper scarf.  After all that walking we decided our tired feet had had enough so we headed home where we decided to have a Firsty Friday instead of a Wino Wednesday.

This week the wine was provided by our friends Ieuan and Gwen, who we are with and actually picnicking in their hotel room, while listening to lounge music courtesy of SB. Wine picture to come as I'm trying to update my blog from a PC and it won't convert my pictures vertically to share with you.  I'll come back and update when I get on a mac.  On with the story, we ran to a posh grocery store, Waitross, for some snacks. Stilton cheese with cranberries, and a sharp creamy bleu cheese, Carr's crackers, grapes, blackberries, kalamata olives, and green olives stuffed with peppers.  SB had beer, of course, called "Old Crafty Hen."

So here's the Wine of the week:
Savigny Les-Beaune 2002 (Domaine Camus-Bruchon).
A nice red burgundy wine.
First Smell:  Black Currants, Plums, Cedar Smell
First Taste:  Plums and Oak.  Dry and delicious.
Observations:  A woodsy wine, it was light but rich in flavor. Perfect with all our treats.

What a great way to spend Wino Wednesday or Firsty Friday with our friends and in a foreign country.  Loving England.

England - Day 1

After a long horrendous ride in coach on AA, 9 + hours we finally arrived to LHR. Truly sucks not to have cash or miles to fly in business class, at the very least, it would make this trip so much more fun. Exhausted and pretzeled up we met our friend Anne for the painting exchange.  Yes we brought a 40x30 painting with us, surprisingly that was the easy part, I thought it would be difficult.  After that SB and I made our way to the Underground and bought our ticket on the Piccadilly line for South Kensington, where we had to ask for directions as I lapsed into planning this part of our trip.  It was a few blocks down on cobblestone streets, which is always fun to navigate with luggage.  When we arrived to yet another set of stairs SB said "I'll bring the luggage up you open the door." Gladly I ran up the stairs to open the door.  As my friend G will remember all those Underground stairs are back breaking after a long flight.  So I was glad to have SB here with me.  First impressions in the hotel lobby was it was lovely. Full of still life photo's everywhere. The inviting host who checked us in, with all the formality you'd expect in England, yes" Mr. and Mrs. P, or yes Mr and Mrs G have arrived.  Would you like a welcome cocktail".  "OH YES WE WOULD."  We settled into the lobby while they fetched our key and our friends Gwen and Ieuan came down. 

It's been 7 years since we've seen each other and Gwen and I've known each other since we were teenagers.  Lovely welcome and nice relaxing time in the lobby with our G&T and good long time friends.  After a nap and a quick wardrobe change we headed out to Covent Garden where I never it made it last time we checked out a few tea shops and then off to our first proper British pub.  Wellington Pub is what it's called.  We drank our pints and then headed to a Japanese food place called Wagamama, it's a chain restaurant but perfect noodles, ramen and curries for our first night.

Old style radio in eggshell blue, perfect.

Gorgeous chandelier.

 Wing back chair, with some serious wings.  This is me in the chair looking around the entrance way of the hotel lobby.  Loved the books and yet another chandelier.

 Landing on the 2nd floor of our 3 stair case walk to our room.  I would like to sit here and read.

 Lovely bathroom

View from our room.  There is a lady sitting in the room at the top left, we have to watch out for her, I wish I knew what she was doing?  Feels so Rear Window.  Night time came and we passed out at 10:30pm and up at 4:00 a.m. ugh....we made ourselves sleep.

Packing

We're off this week to London, Paris, Cheltenham and Tamworth.  I've been trying to pack.
Packing is for the birds.  I want to take one bag plus my carry-on, but let me tell you this is no easy task.
It's the shoes, they are taking most of the room, and we all know how much I love shoes.
So I have a few more days to weed out the non-essentials.

In the meantime, my blog has been driving me crazy so I'm once again attempting a new look.
I have someone that is helping me design a header, logo etc...in the meantime I'm trying this for the next couple of weeks while we travel.  Please bare with me.

Father's Office

No Wino Wednesday this week.  It's Beer Friday instead.  But before I get into my trip to Father's Office I cannot neglect the weird day.

Forgive this long, run on sentence to come.  I need to get it all out at once:
It was a super weird day in fact, our family, well my family, from NM called this morning at the ungodly hour, you know when your in a deep sleep, to tell us there was tsunami coming our way and to evacuate, so we got up and turned on the L.A. News, the trite, non-alarming L.A. news, with it's over fascination with Charlie Sheen, to find out that in fact their was an advisory for Southern California to be hit by a tsunami. Bleary eye'd and all we got it, we found out that their was an earthquake in Japan, and then a devastating tsunami and then the advisory. The waves were suppose to hit Santa Monica at 8:30 a.m., they said 3-4 ft, but none of the experts were sure if it would get bigger as 3 or 4 waves had already hit Hawaii, but weren't as big as they thought.  Our friends who live in the tsunami area at sea-level, in Venice and MDR, left to higher ground or their offices inland. Some went on with their usual days.  However all the piers were closed and helicopters circled the area all day.

So SB and I had one of those silly conversations, or dumb, however you want to look at it. Yes he surfs, yes he wanted to go see the waves at the ocean, yes everyone he called on to check if they were ok asked him NOT to go surfing.  Here's our conversation:

SB:  Let's get dressed and go to the Palisades bluff and look at the waves.
Me:  Uuuh NO.
SB:  Come on we'll be on the bluffs, let's check it out.
Me:  Seriously haven't you and I watched every disaster movie and said "how stupid are those people who go out to the beach and watch the tsunami wave come it."  Yeah duh.
SB:  FINES

So what did we do, we waited till 9:15 and then made our way to the tsunami area, Venice & MDR.  Seriously I'm thinking to myself, we are so NOT smart, but the beach cams all showed less then stellar waves and no need for alarm and the tsunami sirens did not go off.  So we went on with our usual day. I found all this alarming that we are so L.A. you should see us when we get a little trembler, we just sit there and ride it out and then go on with our business.

Finally now that I got this out of the way it brings me to Father's Office.  This week we feature beer in Culver City along with their scrumptious food.  They tout themselves as a Gastropub, which we intend on visiting many of in England.

Now I've been to the original Father's office in Santa Monica, and though they have the same thing as the one in Culver City, CC is definitely without the pretensions of the original.  Santa Monica is small and ridiculous.  I never feel any bar is worth standing in line to get in and then standing in another line to get beer.  Their food is gourmet, they are known for their "office burger" which is a kobe beef burger with bleu cheese, it's rich and juicy.  I personally love their cheese platter and sweet potato fries, served with a bleu cheese dressing.  They do not serve anything with ketchup, and don't ask for it, it's not in the building.  If you want ketchup, bring your own bottle in your coat pocket, like our friend Eric did once.  This evening we said goodbye to a great work-mate, moving to NY.  Very sad to see him leave, he is a SUPER STAR.

The bar has over 36 beers on tap and serves artisan wines and some spirits, only in Culver City.  No vodka in the building.  When my friend asked for a vodka tonic, they told him they didn't have that so they gave him what they thought was an equivalent.  Ginger Ale with a high-end tequila.  He wasn't impressed.

The rest drank Pinot Noir and beer.  They serve a great Alagash and I had a Chateau Blanc beer, well it sounded like that's what the bartender said, Chateau, but he did definitely say Blanc.  It was tasty.  Light with a lemony aftertaste.

Here's the oyster, lovely and delish, at least that was what I was told.  It's a texture thing for me and I need to feel 100% healthy before I'll start eating that.

I love this location, it's easy to park and easy to get in before 8PM.  The crowds start by that time and it's pick-up season all over the place.  For a much more detailed story of this great Gastropub at the Helms Bakery in Culver City go here, a fantastic post at eatdrinknbmerry.

Father's Office - Culver City
3229 Helms Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90034
(310) 815-9820

Saturday Turnovers

What do you do on a Saturday when you don't feel very well and your husband asked if we could go to the store and buy puffed pastry dough for the left-over apples.  Seriously just hearing SB say puffed pastry was exciting enough.  So, though I've posted about this before here, I thought I'd share again these lovely little things.  Super delicious and easy to make. I believe he ate 4 of them in one day.

Oh and you'll love this, ironically since I've been posting about wine, only 3 Wino Wednesday's so far, I get to do some research for a work assignment on....you guessed it Wine.  Seriously how great is that.

Wino Wednesday

I know your all saying the same thing, doesn't she do anything else
other than drink wine?

Yes I do, but lately I haven't had time to blog about it.  I will though.
Two weeks from today I'll be in London and then off to Paris and then back to the countryside of England.
I seriously have waited WAY to long to go, ten years to be exact.
Super excited and in major anticipation.

So here's the wine of the week: 
Vinanza
2008
4 meses en barrica (4 months in oak red wine - Product of Spain)

Provided as gift to one of my co-workers.
She is sharing with the team.
We've been working weekends and late evenings, yes again we deserve this.

First smell: Grapes
Second smell: Raisins
First taste: Smooth, light

Observations: Very light tasting, deep dark cherry color, a young wine, I mean it wasn't heavy and tasted like it could be in the barrel a little longer.

What we ate with it:  Ok I need to be more adventurous in the food area, usually I am.  But today we had, are you ready for this,....bread, cheese....oh and from this little French bakery, in Culver City, called Normandie, some lovely fruit tarts and coconut macaroons.  Must say the cheese had a strong smell and was very nutty.

What the bottle says:  Fruity and fresh wine from Tempranillo and Cabernet Sauvignon grapes. Aged for 4 months in new American oak barrels.  Deep cherry colour with purplish edge.  Very aromatic that exemplifies blackberries and the bramble patch touches of the land that add complexity and certain notes to the fruit.  Meaty in the mouth, with sweet tannin, certain warm notes and a powerful ripe fruit finish.

Where it was bought, how much it costs: Wine Expo in Santa Monica, CA for $15- $20

Wino Wednesday

This week I treated our whole work team to a Wino Wednesday. (And no they are not toasting, I had them hold the glasses up so I could get this shot)

Why? Because...
1. We need a break
2. I like to give
3. I wanted to hear what they would say about the wine.

The wine this week is the following:
Hamilton-Steven's
2009 Pinot Noir
Russian river valley

First smell:  Dark juicy plums
First taste:  Plumy richness, chocolate, cherries
Here are some group observations from us novices:
"Fruity"
"earthy" (said with pinky up)

"very drinkable...i'll drink to that"
Where I bought this?  Trader Joes, of course, for $8.99

What we ate with this wine?
French bread, cheese (dubliner sharp chedder, triple cream brie with bleu cheese) dried apricots, almonds, grapes and dried salami, way in the back dark chocolate covered pretzels.  Uh YUM!

What the bottle said?
Deep garnet red with spicy sweet aromas of dark plum, cedar, and anise. Rich, complex flavors of cherry pie, spice, and bittersweet and chocolate finish silky smooth.

Cellared and bottled by our cellars in Healdsburg, California

Pinterest

Ok I found this new favorite site that is all about pinning up your interests.
I'm addicted.
The design of this site it is lovely.
I saw one of the art buyers in my office with this open on her desktop. 
I forgot everything I came by to ask her and was fully absorbed in this. 
She signed me up and showed me how it works and well I'm still playing collage,
which I've always loved and now I am making my own digital collages.
Seriously hours of fun pinning up all these lovely idea starters we see everywhere.
It's like organizing my mind, which I haven't been able to shut down this week.
Enjoy!

First Wino Wednesday

Kona - A wine from New Zealand, Marlbourough Sauvignon Blanc

So I'm a seasonal drinker.  I like white wines in hot weather, well I also like a gin and tonic, but this is a wine post. Sorry all you mid-westerners and east coasters, and British, it's sunny and warm in So. Cal.

Here's my observations
First smell:  apples
First taste:  pears and apples
After eating a bit and letting the wine breath then I tasted white peaches
It was crisp with a little tangy taste.

Here's a wine makers official notes: Marlborough's free-draining, alluvial loams over gravelly subsoils provide ideal growing conditions for our KONO Sauvignon Blanc. With the abundant sunshine, cool nights and a long growing season in this region, this wine is vibrant with intense citrus and gooseberry flavours and notes of capsicum and passionfruit.

Seriously who talks like this.  I have no idea what capsicum is, so I looked it up, and apparently it's like a bell pepper or chili pepper.  Honestly I would equate the tangy taste I noted with a mild bell pepper.

I drank this wine while I ate french bread and brie supreme super creamy cheese, followed by baked wild caught salmon and asparagus for dinner.  This also influenced my choice of a white wine.

I bought this wine at, where else, Trader Joe's.  I paid a wapping $7.99.  Not a bad wine for that cheap.

Next week I will address the whole ideas of box wine, screw top, corks, etc...

Superbowl

So what did you all eat while watching the superbowl?

I had two friends over, very casual, and I served Trader Joes concocted dishes.
The first one I had at my friend B's house.  It's not her usual fair, but I call this trailer trash cheesy goodness.  Please do not be offended, I have many lovely friends and family that live in trailers, love it and embrace it.  But this is a sharp cheddar pub cheese in a plastic container.  I heat it up with a vegetarian chili that I swear taste like it has meat in it.  Serve warm with nice sturdy corn chips, chips need to be strong as the cheesy goodness is thick.  

The other concoction is another demo at Trader Joes.  Beef and pork meatballs with bbq sauce.  At the store then were microwaving, I usually only use mine for warming up stuff.  So I baked mine for 30 minutes and warmed up the kansas bbq sauce, mix and serve with toothpicks.  Seriously was the best stuff.   We ate other good things too, this was just the start, but fun stuff to munch on.

And of course I made cosmo's for us girls and the boys drank beer, as usual. 
Cheesy goodness and meatballs, YUM.  BOO that the Steelers lost. 

I know I should talk about the ads, it is Superbowl, and I am in the ad business.  So here's my two cents, loved the car ads.  Chrylser with Eminem, epic, emotional, edgy, awesome.  Longest spot, 2 minutes, was riveted from the beginning.  For moms and anyone with kids, and all of us that grew up in the 70's, loved VW's Darth Vadar ad.  That kid was so expressive, and with a DV mask.  What does it tell me about the car? Well other than you can start the car with your key chain fob, not much else.  Who cares, love Star Wars, loved that the mimic the opening shot of that movie and love that kid.  There you go.

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

.