Movies of Myself

Soulnese

We haven't really been keep up with all the latest happenings in the Bay Area food truck world because remember that whole thing about not eating out? We'd only cheated twice and I was super proud, but then Audrey came to visit last weekend and everything got completely blown out of the water.

We walked over to Moveable Feast Garden City which is a scant two blocks away from our humble abode. Only a duck pond, a Korean spa, a sex store and a tobbaco & pipes store separate us from the South Bay's finest food truck gathering each and every Saturday afternoon. It's a wonder we aren't there every weekend.

Especially since Soulnese (self described as Asian soul food) makes regular appearances there now. In a typical overzealous frenzy, I do believe I ordered one of everything on the menu. We got:

• Mac n Rolls - Super fresh eggs rolls filled with an 8 cheese blend mac and cheese and paired with an epic spicy ginger ranch sauce.
• Soul Stix - perfectly grilled prawns wrapped around hot link slices on a skewer
• Garlic Pork fries - exactly
• Fried chicken with Asian slaw - Very crispy, fried up asian style. Love.
• Pork fried rice - I was so full we didn't even get to this, but it made for good leftovers a couple days later. It wasn't anything special, but just straightforward well done fried rice.

My sister went balls to the wall and got a special item: a chicken and waffle wrap. That's right, scrambled eggs, asian fried chicken, garlic sauce, bacon, ham, syrup and an entire waffle rolled up in a tortilla. It was like a Breakfast Burrito Superdream, so amazing. The end of the wrap was a little too syrupy, but I ain't mad at you chicken and waffle wrap. You more than made up for any shortcomings by being a FRIED CHICKEN AND A WAFFLE AND BACON AND EGG BURRITO.

I have to stay away from Moveable Feast for a litte while, I think. It can't be heart-healthy to consume mac and cheese egg rolls on a regular basis, right?

Cravings

So far, the most significant part of our not eating out for two months challenge is that it's made me write an oft-reviewed list of places that I want to go eat at the second this thing is over:

• sushi place
• Benihana's
• any restaurant that serves foie gras
• Jack in the Box, so I can eat whatever burger it is that's being promoted when that guy marries bacon
• sushi place again
• Soulnese - An asian soul food truck. They have egg rolls stuffed with mac and cheese. They have Korean fried chicken and waffles. I MUST eat this.

We're together, now we're undone.

Patrick and I have made a vow not to eat out for the next couple of months. Not exactly sure how this is going to work since it's less than a week in and I'm already dreaming of how I am going to get hecka pizzas and also go to Bonchon Chicken and eat an entire family pack of soy garlic drumsticks. I better be so much freaking healthier at the end of this sitch.

Climax - Usher Only Usher could get away with a song called "Climax". Anyone else and I'd be all scoffing in their faces, but with Usher I'm just like, oh wow, good idea, yes wow. Love this Diplo-produced track so much!

You Ain't Alone - Alabama Shakes I've heard a lot of buzz about this band and I have to say I really like what I'm hearing. This song is all whiskey and honey and fire. A grand combination. 

Oblivion - Grimes This song. Oh my goodness, this song. When I listen to it with headphones on, it is so intensely awesome I don't even know what to do with myself.

Fit Against the Country - Horse Feathers A new Horse Feathers album soon? Dulcet, folksy goodness and layers and layers of wisdom. Don't mind if I do.

Wild Ophelia

 

Chocolate lovers, the folks behind Vosges have introduced a new line of chocolate bars, under the label Wild Ophelia, and they are quite delightful. Their express purpose is to bridge the middle ground between artificial additive-laden grocery store chocolate like Hershey bars and luxury chocolate such as, well, Vosges. They're still five dollars a bar so they aren't exactly cheap, but the quality and flavor are well worth it. If you see this around, holler at it. I got mine at Cost Plus. And if you're wondering what beef jerky chocolate tastes like, well it's as if someone took a strip of beef jerky and dipped it in freaking chocolate. Very weird and kind of wonderful. Chocoholics, unite. 

 

Ode to my terrible fast food lunch in the car

Snack wrap on my lap.
Simple as that.
I like Sweet & Sour sauce
so shut your damn trap. 

Food-Themed Songs I've Made Up Recently

• "Hello, Stuffing, My Old Friend" (to the tune of Simon & Garfunkel's "Sound of Silence"

• "Just Another Fish Nugget, Friday" (to the tune of The Bangles' "Manic Monday")

A Fall Type Brownie

Can I just tell you how glad I am that Megan posted about some amazing Pumpkin Swirl Brownies a few weeks ago? I'm this glad:

I'm not super big on brownies but I do love pumpkin anything so I just had to try these and they seriously, seriously delivered. Moist and tender cake with a beautiful, solid heft. The perfect combination of pumpkin spice flavor with dark chocolate. Add a glass of milk and it was fall dessert heaven. 

If you have time to do some baking soon, I can't recommend these enough! They would be a fantatic end to Thanksgiving dinner, or a welcome addition to any football-watch spread.

Vosges Milk Chocolate Truffles

Oh yes, I treated myself to a box of Vosges truffles. I stopped by their boutique in Las Vegas at the Forum Shops and picked out the milk chocolate selection. They were gorgeous and absolute delectable.

I loved the creative array of flavors infused in the soft, rich centers. They were all delicious, but my favorites were the Field Songs (yam, maple syrup and African grains of paradise) and the Gianduia (crunchy hazelnut praline and praline bits). I'm not usually much of a truffle fan. They're a little too intense for me and often lacking in textural contrasts, but Vosges truffles are different. These were a fascinating treat.

'

The salesperson at Vosges was even kind enough to help us with a complimentary gift of a mini Flowers and Chocolate truffle assortment. Candied violets and choclate covered in hundreds of tiny bits of crushed rose petals. What an echanting indulgence.

Jean Philippe Patisserie

You know that show on Food Network called The Best Thing I Ever Ate? Chefs and hosts from the station present segments on dishes that completely rocked their world. When we were in Vegas a couple of weeks ago I had an experience that could definitely qualify for a spot in the list of the best things I’ve ever been lucky enough to eat: baked goods from Jean-Philippe Patisserie.

World Pastry Champion Jean-Philippe Maury has two Las Vegas outposts of his wondrous confectionery shop. Patrick and I breakfasted at the larger location on the casino floor of the Aria. We purchased five pastries, each one more exquisite than the last. It was an absolutely transcendent experience. I know that’s kind of a dumb thing to say about croissants, but it’s the sweet truth.

What we tasted:

• Cinnamon roll - stout and tender, with the perfect ratio of tart cream cheese frosting to opulent roll. The cinnamon spiral was mind-blowing. 

• Sticky nut bun: the spices were complex, the nuts hearty and comforting. I can’t say enough about their pastry. It is somehow chewy and dense, butter-flakey and subtle at the same time. Extraordinary. 

• Brioche: one was a “regular” sugar type, although there was nothing middle-of-the-road about this most simple and delicious of breads. The other brioche was filled with dulce de leche. Not just caramel, but the real deal, browned sweetened condensed milk. It was thick, nutty, and perfectly sweet, not one ounce too cloying. It was absolute heaven. 

• Palmier cookie: These are my favorite so I am a strict and harsh critic. But I am also a grateful appreciator of a great palmier and this was without a doubt the best palmier I’ve ever had. Super crispy but not dry. Elegant and full of flavor. Glazed by the gods. 

You'll have to excuse the shoddy photo. I only had my phone with me and couldn't capture their glorious beauty. Luckily I have my memories to sustain me. We ate them over a couple of days and I was in raptures the whole time. Patrick tried to converse with me while we were in the middle of the brioches and I was aghast. How could he talk about, how could he even think about, anything but Jean-Philippe pastries while we were eating? At the end of our breakfast at Aria that first morning I announced that I could be painfully abandoned in a ditch at that moment and I would die happy and sated from life-changing butter rolls.

I am utterly despondent that I don’t live near a Jean-Philippe Patisserie, although my long-term health is probably much the better for it. What will I do without Jean-Philippe in my life I implored as we got ready to leave Vegas. When will I be reunited with my beloved cookie beloved?

If you are in Las Vegas you cannot miss out on this. Run, don’t walk.

It's a Grilled Cheese Party

I've been M.I.A. from this blog for the past week or so getting ready for a business trip to Las Vegas and then actually being in Vegas, which, you know what that's like: a strange blur of lights and food and drink and the endless sound of people being swept up in a sea of vice. 

Right before we left on the trip I was also busy with a little afternoon get together. Our friends had the brilliant idea to have a tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwich party. It turned out pretty awesome if I do say so myself.

The creamy tomato soup with fresh basil that our friends brought over was the perfect compliment to our toasty, cheesy sandwiches. Pumpkin ale, Sangiovese wine, vinho verde and the football game on the telly completed the picture.

I made four types of sandos for the party: pesto and mozzarella, cabot cheddar with apples and fresh sage leaves, a croque monsieur with gruyere, prosciutto and dijon mustard and a fourth crazy wild card melange of several cheeses. Brushed with a butter and olive oil mixture, baked at 450 and then a nice browning finish with the broiler. Cheese sandwich heaven. 

As the fall days arrive crisp and cool here in northern hemisphere, so does the craving for these warm, fall comfort foods. Grilled cheese and tomato soup party, guys. Do it!

An Oyster Picnic

We had such an incredibly fun oyster picnic Sunday this past weekend!

Patrick and I went up with our friends Shawn and Ian to buy some super fresh seafood from Tomales Bay Oyster Farm. Six dozen gorgeous oysters, baby! The picnic area by the farm was quite crowded with townies, so we drove over to Drake's Bay Beach to enjoy our picnic instead.

The extra-small Tomales Bay oysters were delectably sweet. Just incredible. I liked them best raw with a simple, classic mignonette sauce I'd thrown together the night before, or with fresh-squeezed lemon and Tabasco.

We grilled a number of our oysters on the barbecue and they were awesome, too; firm, plump and flavorful.

Ian gamely shucked every single one of our 72 oysters by hand. Totally have to give him huge props for that. I don't think I'd ever even seen an oyster knife before Sunday.

It was a bright, cloudy beach day. We haddelicious wine, hot grilled garlic bread, chips and cake and all the oysters we could stuff ourselves with. 

Great food, great friends and a wonderful time. It was pretty much the perfect day. 

Making the Best of What's Left

Mid Week Mini Music Mix

Every single week I meticulously plan out our dinners and lunches, usually on Sunday or on Monday at the latest. I make a careful list of everything we need and try not to stray from that list when I'm at the store unless a new snack item catches my eye. I have to do this; I am just so extremely loathe to waste ANY food. 

Maybe it's because I come from a refugee family and grew up hearing stories about my parents scouring markets with almost completely empty shelves. Maybe it's the old school cheap Asian quality of making use of everything. But I am so entirely racked with guilt when I have to throw away even one onion that it's terrifying. That's why I put time and effort into making sure I have just the right amount of ingredients and no more. This past week was bad for me. I cooked a bunch of new recipes and failed miserably at my estimation. I had to get rid of a quarter head of red cabbage, some chicken, two scallions, half a cucumber and a bag of lemons that went moldy in the heat. Plus I didn't finish some restaurant leftovers from the long weekend, which in and of itself is enough to send me into an abysmal spiral of self-hatred.

So I've started researching not only regular recipes but ideas for leftover ingredients, too. For instance you can make this delicious Zucchini "Pasta" ,and enjoy the fact that it doesn't involve one single second of standing near a hot stove, and then take the invetibale leftover veggies and make this luscious Zucchini Bread. You're welcome :)

Surgeon - St. Vincent Oh, Annie Clark, how I love you! How I adore your elegant, quirky music and your pretty, whip-smart ways.

Loney Blues - Loney, Dear Loney, Dear is Swedish musician Emil Svanängen. His latest album is beautiful, moody brilliance. You're going to be seeing his music featured here again soon, you can count on that.

Fall Creek Boys Choir - James Blake & Bon Iver And here we have the indie falsetto pairing of a lifetime. I don't think this collaboration lived up to its potential, but it's still a very nice song.

Audio, Video, Disco - Justice Justice gets this partied started right. I'm very excited for some new dancey goodness from them! Word.

I’m about to go H•A•M.

This week I am:

• dealing with a weird cold that is coming on slow and lingering like a real jerk.

• thinking quite a bit about the riots in England and what it all means.

• making another potato, rosemary and bacon pizza, because this shit is for real. The whole wheat crust from Fresh & Easy market is delish:

• reading Catching Fire, the second book in The Hunger Games trilogy. The first book was insanely compelling. It was such a nail-biter I woke up at 5:00 a.m. one morning to finish it, after I'd stayed up til almost 2:00 a.m. reading it the night before.

• drawing monkeys and lions. It's actually pretty fun!

• falling crazy in love with everything in the upcoming Kate Spade holiday collection.

• really wishing I could take a trip somewhere tropical.

• listening to Watch the Throne which I am really, really digging. Now we all know that a Jay-Z and Kanye West collaboration can't really go wrong, but I was really curious to see how they would blend their styles. So far it sounds like Jay-Z is doing most of the rapping and Yeezy is in charge of the stylized sound. Most of my friends do NOT like Kanye, but I have been staunchly behind him since "Through the Wire" and I'm not changing my mind anytime soon. I'm looking forward to taking a closer look at the lyric book all this week.

No Church in the Wild (feat. Frank Ocean) - Kanye West & Jay-Z

H•a•m - Kanye West & Jay-z

An L.A. Weekend in Pictures

I'm right in the midst of a DSLR-free month. That's right, 30 days without my Nikon in tow, so I'm itching to snap away but must convince myself to just chill out and enjoy my surroundings instead. I spent last weekend in L.A. at two graduations and it really made me realize how often I hide behind the lens. I ended up talking and interacting with people a lot more and not stressing out about getting a great shot. I did miss my camera an awful lot, but I managed to get capture a few fun moments on my camera:

My mom and I hamming it up at Party City. They were all out of air horns but all was forgiven because of this tropical cutout glory.

My high school has been completely renovated since I graduated. It looks awesome. One of the things they've added, which I think is super cool, are mosaics of floor tiles in the main quad which have the engraved names of every student in every previous graduation class. It looks really neat and, hey - there's me! My sister wants me to add that if you look back to the tile for one of the classes in the '50's, you'll find someone named "Dick Downer". 

I ate some delicious food on this trip including:

dim sum,

donuts,

and more donuts! Fresh strawberry donuts from Donut Man in Glendora are irresistible. We stood around a wooden bench about fifteen feet from the pickup window and destroyed these in a manner of minutes. I think the only words we were capable of speaking during those minutes were, "so good. oh my god, SO good."

Then there was the saga of the 50 piece nuggets. FIFTY McDonald's chicken nuggets for $9.99. Holla.

My cousin supplemented his share of nuggets with a custom sandwich. Here he is assembling his unfortunately-named McGangBang (a McChicken shoved inside of a McDouble). I tried a bite and it was surprisingly good. 

My sister took me to a fun new candy and soda shoppe in Old Town Pasadena called Rocket Fizz. Of course I loved it. 

The Biebs loves it.

Tighty Whities Squirrel loves it.

They sell European Cheese Kit Kats there. What could possibly go wrong??

So yep, I had a great time, though it was impossibly packed and it did take me 3 1/2 hours to drive to San Diego one day. Peace out, L.A.

Chicken Dinner

365 - 145
May 25th, 2011

I threw together a seriously epic dinner last week which was built up around some leftover chicken pieces. I breaded them in herbed panko crumbs and fried them on the stovetop, then sandwiched them on hot, fresh, buttermilk biscuits with homemade KFC recipe cole slaw (word). We also grilled some sweet white corn and I served them up elote style (brushed with mayo, sprinkled with cheese and cayenne). Bomb.

Newspaper Edition

365 - 143
May 23rd, 2011

Clear vinyl. So freaking cool. By the time my special edition Radiohead King of Limbs album came in the mail last week I'd completely forgotten I'd ordered it a few months back. What a great surprise.

Oh Lemon

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May 22nd, 2011

When I was little we had a big beautiful lemon tree in our backyard. The vibrant color of the fruit always made me so happy and the tiny, delicat white blossoms, too. Eventually my father cut it down in a strange bout of anger-driven yard remodelling and we've missed it ever since.

Now that I'm older and I'm cooking more often, I feel even more deeply what a shame it was to kill that tree. I use lemons constantly, in pasta and soups, squeezed on salads and vegetables to give them a fresh and lively brightness. And of course I make hot lemon tea and lemonade often, always a treat. Oh 

I always say that I have few regrets in life and I'm thankful for that, but I do wish I could go back and speak up in defense of the life of that lemon tree.

On Forgetting

365 - 134
May 14th, 2011

As I was packing up the last two leftover slices of pizza for Patrick's lunch this morning, I started thinking back on this Saturday pizza date night. Not just the broad points of driving five minutes down the street and going to the pizza restaurant, but all the little particulars, too.

For instance, the way the light filtered through the Peroni bottles and I thought, what a nice photograph that would make, but didn't take one. And how they brought just a single set of silverware with our salad, so we spent the first few minutes of our meal passing the fork back and forth between us, one tangy bite after another in turn. Or the curious locked cabinet on the wall, full of hot sauces and pizza fixings available only to pizza joint regulars. How many visits would it take to make us regulars, I wondered. 

How many nights like this have I forgotten in my life? Evenings, on the surface, without consequence or significance. How many millions upon millions of details have I lost, swirled together in a fog of time, quietly composing the heart of my story.

"To love. To be loved. To never forget your own insignificance. To never get used to the unspeakable violence and the vulgar disparity of life around you. To seek joy in the saddest places. To pursue beauty to its lair. To never simplify what is complicated or complicate what is simple. To respect strength, never power. Above all, to watch. To try and understand. To never look away. And never, never, to forget."

--Arundhati Roy, "Come September"

Fresh and Easy

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May 12th, 2011

Talk about an amazing, fresh vegetarian spring dinner! Delicious pear and pecorino ravioli from the Santa Cruz Pasta Factory, which I tossed in the pan with warm sage brown butter. And then a magnificent ribboned asparagus salad which was the perfect way to showcase the beatiful purple asparagus we found at the farmers market. Absolutely divine!

Muffin Love

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May 9th 2011

Seriously, you guys. Do yourself a favor and bake some of Megan's Sweet Potato Graham muffins. Every single morning this week has been that much easier for me to get through because I know I have can have a delicious muffin breakfast to start my day. They're somehow light and super comforting at the same time and, with the whole wheat flour, grated sweet potato and Greek yogurt involved, I don't have to feel guilty about eating a couple of them. Yummy, indeed.

Nutella and Go

365 - 126
May 6th 2011

On this morning I had zero time for breakfast. I stuck two pieces of bread in a brown paper bag and a couple of hours later I was eating cold Nutella toast with sea salt while standing at the lunchroom table. It wasn't half bad.

Eating Out

365 - 124, 365 - 125
May 4th & 5th, 2011

Double Feature!

My new joy in life is to eat dinner outside. Every night I've been racing home and cooking at breakneck speed so we can take in at least some warm light before the sun goes down.

We've also been big fans of bread and olive oil and vinegar since we got a rich, delicious late harvest oil and a delightful fig and orange balsamic. 

Last night was so temperate that we stayed outside for hours, talking, listening to music and enjoying these awesome micheladas that Patrick made to celebrate Cinco de Mayo. They're a combination of fresh lime juice, Worcestershire, Maggi seasoning, tomato juice, tequila and Mexican beer on ice in a salt-rimmed glass. So refreshing and tasty!

I hope you will all take the opportunity to enjoy a little time outside this weekend, whether it's at home, at a park or at a nice sidewalk cafe. And while you're at it, please listen to this amazing song from Wiz Khalifa's "Burn After Rolling" mix. It came out a couple of years ago but it sounds as fresh as ever. His verses and Empire of the Sun are soul mates, seriously.

The Thrill (Walking On A Dream) - Wiz Khalifa vs. Empire of the Sun

Dream Cake

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April 26th, 2011

Patrick started a new job this past Monday – hooray! To celebrate I picked up a Dream Cake from a local French bakery called La Patisserie. It really was a chocolate lover's dream. Delicately spongey chocolate cake layered with the fluffiest whipped cream, topped with a world of luscious chocolate shavings. The cake was delish, Patrick has enjoyed his first week of work and life is good.

Three Ways of Looking at Carrots

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April 25th, 2011

Straight from the Campbell Farmers Market. Real baby carrots are awesome. If you get them like this, don't forget to cut the green tops off right away! They sure look pretty, but they're sucking all the water out of your carrots.

Teeniness! I'm choosing a single carrot so the turtles can have a little Easter treat.

Slow-roasted with salt, pepper, late harvest olive oil and fresh thyme from our garden. So sweet and good it's like candy.

Food Truck Date Night

365 - 110
April, 20th 2011

I was supposed to make spaghetti on this night but I so did not feel like cooking. Then I figured out that the Mogo Korean BBQ taco truck was going to be stationed with the Treatbot ice cream truck that evening. Awesome.

There was a line for the food and it was pretty chilly out, but oh man was the food worth it. I blatantly adore the spicy pork quesadilla from Mogo. The tortillas are grilled up perfectly and the creamy chipotle sauce they top it with is incredibly addicting. Their short rib burrito with the kimchi fried rice in it isn't half bad, either.

Afterwards, we ate yummy Treatbot cones and ice cream sandwiches while we watched a bunch of people karaoke their hearts out. One chick just had her mind on her singing and her singing on her mind. Unfortunately, she seemed to only want to karaoke the more boring cheesy 80's ballads. Cutting Crew's "I Just Died In Your Arms" was her best pick. But damn if I didn't see her barely restraining herself from belting out other people's tracks, too.

Two guys treated us to a really fun rendition of Lil' Jon's "Get Low", which, as you guys know, happens to be one of my favorite songs. There's nothing like slurping up ube and coconut-pineapple ice creams while someone shouts "til the sweat drop down my balls" into a microphone. Luckily it was pretty late by this point, so only one sweet little girl's ears had to be covered. Fun times :)

A Springtime Sunday Dinner

365 - 107
April 17th, 2011 

Sunday night's dinner was roasty from lightly charred young asparagus, salty from miso and rich and creamy from butter and poached eggs. What was the right wine to go with it?

An Australian blend which we hadn't tried or even heard of before. Crisp and medium-bodied, the flavors blended perfectly with our meal. What a lovely evening.

Ostiones

365 - 105
April 15th, 2011 

I've had an intense oyster craving for weeks, so it was nice to sit down to a plate of a half dozen on the half shell at Dia de Pesca in San Jose. They were fresh, plump, sweet and tasty. SO good with lime, a bit of cocktail sauce and a generous dash of habanero salsa. 

It wasn't quite enough to fully satisfy the craving, though. It might be time to hit up the oyster buffet. 

Prospect

365 - 98
April 8th, 2011

My friend Steph was in town for a visit over the weekend so I decided to make reservations for us at a restaurant I'd been wanting to try for a while. Prospect occupies a long, handsome space where FIDI and the Embarcadero meet, and word was that it's one of the best newer restaurants in San Francisco.

When we first arrived I was a little dismayed at the huge, noisy crowd engulfing the large bar area, but our overall experience at Prospect was great. The food itself was so damn good that I would have gladly braved just about any shenanigans that the throng of bright-eyed young professionals and boisterous cougars could have presented.

There were interesting and unique appetizers like crispy pigs trotters with shaved pig’s head, peanuts and fried shallots in a subtle chili vinaigrette. There were good cocktails and a bartender with a sublime handlebar mustache. And there was an entree which was the most delicious thing I've tasted so far this year: duck with glazed turnips, pickled grapes, pistachios and savoy cabbage in rum raisin puree. That's right, rum raisin puree.

I haven't had a meal that was this strong from start to finish for a long while and we left full, satisfied and very, very happy. Believe the hype, San Francisco.

The Check:

Food: A+
Service: A
Space: A-
Value: A
Return Possibility: Definite

300 Spear St.
San Francisco
CA 94105

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San Jose Eats
April 2nd, 2011

I'm glad no one told me before we went down to the SJ Eats Moveable Feast food truck event that we would end up standing in line for an hour and a half to buy lunch from Sam's Chowdermobile. Ninety minutes of standing in a crowded parking lot with hundreds of other people waiting to buy food from Hapa SF, Chairman Bao, Louisiana Territory and the like would have seemed overly daunting.

But the time went by quickly enough and the end result was Sam's amazing clam chowder and a gorgeous, buttery roll stuffed to bursting with some of the best lobster I've ever had. SO worth it.

365 - 83

Balsamic Steak
March 24th, 2011

You guys, this balsamic-glazed sirloin recipe from epicurious is the best steak recipe I've ever cooked. It's relatively quick to put together and finish, and I almost always have every ingredient on hand. The pan sauce that accompanies it is incredibly flavorful and so rife with umami.

I'm glad I read the comments for the recipe because one suggested the subsitution of chicken stock for the sherry and I really like the taste that produces. Quick tip: I freez leftover chicken stock in ice cube trays so I'll always have some on hand for a recipe.

465 - 77

Whole Foods Snack Attack
March 18th, 2011 

I really, truly should not be allowed to go to Whole Foods on Friday nights.

I get all giddy because the weekend's finally arrived and I drive over there for "just one thing" and I end up leaving with eighty-five dollars of I don't know what! Oy.

365 - 76

Sock it to Me
March 17th, 2011

Why, Safeway? Why??

Hot Toddy Time

365 - 75
March 16th, 2011

Okay, this is my last "I'm feeling sick" post, I swear. I'm starting to feel better - finally!

This hot toddy really helped my horrible cough during the worst of it, though, and it was so much tastier than any other hot toddy I've had that I wanted to share the simple recipe with you guys just in case you ever want to try it. You don't need to be sick to drink a hot toddy, of course. It's a wonderful treat for any cold day.

Hot Toddy
from epicurious

• 1 oz (2 tablespoons) bourbon
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 2 teaspoons lemon juice
• 1/4 cup boiling-hot water

Combine all ingredients and stir until honey is dissolved. Enjoy!

365 - 69

Blackberry Stone
March 10th, 2011

I need to find a place to pick my own blackberries this year. I've fallen deeply in love with them and can't imagine just how succulent and sweet they will be in the late summer, straight from the plant. I've heard there are places in the Pacific Northwest where blackberries grow wild in hills and fields, free for the gathering.

I like them in oatmeal and cereal, but they add an especially nice touch to breakfast of any kind. Lately I've liked them dotted here and there on toast spread with creamy soft goat cheese. A drizzle of honey over the whole thing makes it perfect.

I had some pancakes left over from Mardi Gras and topped them with fresh berries and some honey caramel sauce from this Tasty Kitchen recipe (which, trust me, also makes everything a million times better). Throw in some tea and the new Martha and it was a decadent breakfast, indeed.

Cracks inside the ceiling and there's shadows at the door.

Mid Week Mini Music Mix

 
Last week I said to Patrick that sometimes I feel like life is one endless cycle of deciding what to make for dinner and then grocery shopping, hot stoves, cleaning up afterwards and hoping you won't run out of ideas and start bringing home KFC every night.

That's making it sound much more dreary than it is, of course.. I still love cooking and I think I've managed to set things up so our little household can enjoy some pretty good meals. Still, there are whole weeks when I just want to eat snacks all night or make something random and whimsical.

Take last night, for instance. All the talk of Mardi Gras and Pancake Day inspired me to make flapjacks with banana and brown sugar almonds for dinner. The whole thing took a lot more time and effort than I really had in me, but damn was it delicious.

Wild Thing - Noah and the Whale Hip, hip hooray for the new Noah and the Whale album! They've sounding much more upbeat and I'm loving it. I noticed while listening to Last Night on Earth that they are just excellent storytellers and the tales they tell are intriguing and enjoyable.

I'll Be Yours - Those Dancing Days You guys, these are five Swedish girls whose band gets its name from a Led Zeppelin song and they are the bee's knees. They're making very cool indie pop music which you guys should definitely check out!

Helplessness Blues - Fleet Foxes A couple of years ago I thought that the golden hour of Fleet Foxes had past. That sound, that dreamy countryside echo, had come and gone. I was so, so wrong. This song is gorgeous and they are as wonderful as ever.

Baby's Arms - Kurt Vile You know what this album is, I've decided? It's sitting in the dark drinking something strong and neat and smoking that last cigarette. It's trying to forget about everything, at least for a little while.

365 - 64

The Boat
March 5th, 2011

On Saturday night we had dinner at Clearman's Galley, more commonly and fondly known as The Boat. I had the cod dinner with a bleu cheese salad and cheese bread. Yes, that is my big beer in the background and yes, I drank all of it. I think this meal shaved a good month off of my life expectancy but I have to say it might just have been worth it.

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Sonic
March 4th, 2011

It's becoming a bit of a tradition to stop at the Sonic Drive-Thru in Gilroy on our way down to L.A. This time we discovered that they're now one of those places that lists the calorie content of each and every menu item on their boards. That makes it more of a guilty pleasure than ever, but the tater tots are completely worth it.

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Morning Blues
March 1st, 2011

I get into these weird moods where I love having oatmeal for breakfast. I call it weird because I pretty much despise oatmeal. The mealy, mush texture is appalling to me. And as soon as it gets cold? Forget it. I can't get that stuff away from me fast enough.

But once in a long while it is the only thing I want to eat for breakfast, strangely enough. Especially with fresh berries and cinnamon and little bits of almond. Especially with a nice mug of tea, over books, in the sunlight.

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Oscar Night
February 27th, 2011

The Academy Awards were a wreck this year, weren't they? Luscious James Franco could be called a disappointment at best, and Anne Hathaway? You're killing me, smalls. I've never cringed so hard at anyone's antics in my life. By the end of the night I was going into palpitations whenever the show cut back from commercial and she was on stage. Her hosting consisted of one humiliating shriek after another. I had no real opinion on her before but now I simultaneously want to pat her head and punch her in the face.

Oscar night dinner, on the other hand, was a real winner. A large Hawaiian pie from my favorite local pizza place. Seriously, if you live in the Bay Area and A Slice of New York isn't hands down your favorite pizza parlor, then you're doing it wrong.

Delicious thin crust baked to order (ours took about 20 minutes) and one of the dudes there even carried my pizza out to the car for me and made sure I had it placed perfectly flat on the seat so the toppings wouldn't slide around. It's that kind of obsession with detail that puts them a cut above the rest.

My only complaint is that they didn't have the Hawaiian (they call it the Coney Island) in a medium size. The large slices were awesomely and overly huge.

And their garlic knots? To. Die. For.

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Eat in the Car
February 25th, 2011

I had to get myself a little Friday afternoon treat :)

365 - 53, Tequila y sangrita, señores y señoritas

Tequila
February 22nd, 2011

Confession: Patrick and I drank almost an entire bottle of tequila in two nights. There is actually a scant quarter inch of liquid left in our bottle. I think we're going to arm wrestle for it tonight. The loser will have to go out and buy another bottle of tequila. So I guess I'm saying there are no losers here.

Homemade margaritas with fresh lime juice, Cointreau and a good, smooth tequila are a lovely revelation. So fresh and feisty. Muy guapo! I wanted to share two tequila-based recipes we heartily enjoyed with you. 1800 Silver 100% agave was our tequila of choice this time around. Reasonable enough in price for mixed drinks but also silky smooth enough to drink on its own.

Pineapple Chile Margarita
adapted from epicurious.com
makes 2 large drinks

Ingredients:

• 8 (3/4- to 1-inch) chunks peeled pineapple
• 4 - 6 slices jalapeño chile with seeds
• 1/2 cup 100% blue agave silver tequila
• 3 tablespoons fresh lime juice
• 3 tablespoons agave OR simple syrup
• 2 tablespoons Cointreau or other orange liqueur
• 2 cups ice cubes, divided

Mash pineapple chunks and jalapeño slices in medium bowl with a muddle or wooden spoon. Mix in tequila, lime juice, syrup, Cointreau and 1 cup ice. Stir to blend well and chill, just a couple of minutes. Strain into large glass measuring cup. If desired, rub a lime wedge along the rim of two tall glasses and dip into margarita or kosher salt. Divide remaining 1 cup of ice and margarita mix between the two glasses.

And prepare to get slizzored. No joke, I felt tipsier after this single margarita than I did after we had two classic margs and about three shots each on a previous night.

Hints and tips: the amount of jalapeño you use will depend on how spicy they are. Mine fell somewhere between zero percent and vaguely warm if you chewed all the seeds whole in your mouth. Thanks for nothing, Trader Joe's! I remedied that by blending a bit of cayenne into kosher salt to make spicy margarita salt. Fiesta!

I also became obsessed with a traditional Mexican tequila accompaniment called Sangrita, or "little blood". The stories and recipes for this spicy and citrusy, non-alchoholic drink abound. After looking through dozens of recipes online I settled on this one and was absolutely thrilled with the results:

Sangrita
adapted from Married With Dinner
makes 4 shots

Ingredients

• 4 oz. tomato juice
• 2 oz. orange juice
• 2 oz. lime juice
• 6 tsp. pomegranate juice
• 1 tsp. hot sauce
• 1/8 tsp. salt, or to taste
• 8 dashes Worcestershire sauce

Combine all of the ingredients in a glass bowl and chill in the refrigerator. Seriously, don't skimp on the chill time. It was most delicious when it was icy cold. Divide into four shot glasses and serve with shots of good quality tequila. One sip of the liquor, one of sangrita.

I also sprinkled red chili powder on the shots for even more of a kick. It's a simple, dramatic and fantastic drink.

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Blackberry Buttermilk Cake
February 19th, 2011

A whole lotta extra buttermilk had me scouring the internet for some new and interesting recipes to try. The first one I settled upon was the Raspberry Buttermilk Cake over at Smitten Kitchen. I used blackberries instead, because the solitary box of raspberries at my local market was forlorn indeed. It is a simple, happy and comforting cake. You can take our word for it because we ate almost half of it for breakfast when it was warm from the oven. 

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Crema Mexicana
February 18th, 2011

Mexican crema! This stuff is my crack. It's the best sour cream you ever had in your life, very similar to creme fraiche, but more flavorful. If you haven't tried crema Mexicana I implore you to go to your local mercado (they might even have it at your supermarket, too, depending on where you live) and bring some of this magic into your life.

I only let myself buy a bottle once in a blue moon because I will eat so much of it so quickly. It's great on quesadillas, tortilla chips, burritos or any other Mexican food, and you can put it on soup, eggs and even on top of berries or a light cake. I'm already getting anxious and distraught about getting to the end of this bottle.

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Sleepy Food
February 17th, 2011

My coworker was sweet enough to bring me some home-cooked food for lunch. It's some sort of Thai vegetable, super thin green stalks with tiny leaves, which she bought at a Thai specialty store in Oakland because it isn't available in the South Bay. She stir fried the greens with eggs and bamboo shoots and spiced it up til it was fiery and delicious.

She also warned me that many people complain of marked drowsiness after eating this dish. I was skeptical. Who ever heard of gettings sleepy after eating a vegetable? But I'm thinking they must be related to, ahem, some other green plant, because my head felt so incredibly heavy an hour after lunchtime it was all I could do to keep my eyes open. I'm still trying to figure out what they're called in English.

Cheesy Fries

Another classy night at home with me:

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Cookin' Makes You Good Lookin'
February 7th, 2011

Mid Week Mini Music Mix

I have really gotten into cooking again and I'm having so much fun trying new recipes and experimenting with different ingredients. Earlier this week I made Martha Stewart's BLT salad and became especially enamored with the Buttermilk Dressing that accompanies it. We're looking forward to eating the leftover dressing with a barbecue chicken salad tomorrow.

Here's a few awesome recipes I've tried in the past few weeks that have become instant favorites, and here also are some divine Frank Sinatra songs. Sintatra just happens to be my all time favorite music to cook to. There's just something about the Chairman of the Board and his fantastic swoony style that makes putting your heart and soul into putting a meal together feel that much more perfect.

Soy Whiskey Roast Chicken from Food Gal - This really lent a festive air to our Chinese New Year celebration and the leftovers were incredible. The succulent sauce really soaked into the juicy chicken over a couple of days and it just became more and more delicious.

Best Cocoa Brownies from Take a Megabite - My girl Megan is a baker extraordinaire and this recipe made the best brownies I've ever had. I'm not a huge brownie fan but they're Patrick's favorite so I baked these as a special holiday treat. Oh my goodness, I couldn't get enough of them! I think we might have fought over them at one point. Simple, gorgeous and divine.

Fannie Farmer's Classic Baked Macaroni and Cheese - Now, I made an absolutely KILLER mac and cheese at Thanksgiving using a Martha recipe. It was truly perfect. But it took ages to put together and sometimes you just want that rich, satisfying baked mac and cheese taste without spending the entire night on the damn thing. Enter Fannie Farmer's recipe. I made this on Super Bowl sunday while simultaneously baking chocolate cupcakes and dishing out a table full of snacks and it was a big hit.

Fly Me To The Moon - Frank Sinatra

I've Got the World On a String - Frank Sinatra

Come Rain or Come Shine - Frank Sinatra

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In Thyme
February 3rd, 2011
 

 I've only very recently discovered how very much I like the herb thyme and now I am anxious to try more cooking that feature the tiny little leaves. It seems to pair especially well with lemons and I've seen luscious-looking recipes for lemon thyme chicken and lemon thyme cookies alike.

The box I bought last week had several sprigs that had flowered. They had the prettiest, tiniest little lavender blossoms on them and I was almost sorry to chop them up and put them into the mixing bowl.

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Pizzelle
February 1st, 2011

Maple pizzelles are good for making ice cream sandwiches, great dipped into coffee and tea or just pretty darn nice as a snack by themselves. I also love this winter edition packaging they had over the holidays although I am mystified that they get to use Disney font. I thought that shit was copyright protected? These are the things I obsess about as I stand bleary-eyed at the kitchen counter before work.

Broccolini with Almonds and Smoked Paprika

Have I told you guys how completely obsessed I am with smoked paprika? I'd never used the spice until last year when an Asian Chile Garlic chicken wings recipe called for it. The smoky sweet flavor and the deep fire red color charmed me immediately and I've been on the lookout for opportunities to use it ever since. I often tap just a bit of it into almost everything; soups, popcorn, eggs, chicken and noodles are amongst my many foods which have received smoked paprika's sweet kiss.  

But I sing in exultation when I see a recipe that actually calls for smoked paprika. That way I know its deep, sweet and complex flavors will really shine. A recent hit was Broccolini with Smoked Paprika, Almonds and Garlic from epicurious.

The recipe is fairly quick and simple. The only change I made was to buy slivered almonds and cut them in half. These resulted in much smaller almond chunks than the original recipe called for, but my almonds browned up beautifully in the pan and I loved the texture of them. This is a great winter side dish that would go well with so many meals. 

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Sunny Bowl
January 22nd, 2011

My severely limited mobility over the past couple of months has really taken its toll on my overall sense of health, especially after an overly indulgent holiday season. The last few weeks I have made some sweeping dietary changes. Basically I'm eating significantly healthier and a good deal less than I was. I really, truly miss my workouts, but until they can resume I have to be vigilant where my eating is concerned.

So thank goodness for places like Sunny Bowl in Mountain View. The only main dish they serve is a simple version of Korean Bi Bim Bap. Jasmine rice is topped with a beautiful array of fresh lettuce, cabbage, cucumber, scrambled egg, carrot, radish and your choice of protein. Sesame oil and the hot pepper paste-based sauce that really makes the dish are set at each table. It's delicious and inexpensive and you don't feel dreadful when it's all over. Awesome!