After a 5 1/2 hour phone conversation last night and court this morning, cooking was absolutely the last thing on my mind tonight. So we went out to La Cabanita (Cheap Mexican). Apparently they upped the prices or something, because our bill was $17.25, which although still more than affordable, is an awful lot of money when you take into account that it's a friggin' hole in the wall in the middle of the ghetto. Had I not been in a huge hurry, I would have asked for the bill itself and not just the credit card statement. I know it's fraud, but I usually sign for Jim's credit card because after over a decade of seeing his signature, I can do a pretty decent imitation.
Anyway, we got the usual: nachos and a chicken burrito. Jim ate almost all of the food. The salsa had a slightly smoky hint to it, and but for the extra spiciness, I would have enjoyed it very much. I know I've raved before, I cannot say enough good things about their beans!
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
No Taco Tuesday
As we missed Taco Tuesday yesterday, Jim wanted to go to Rubio's tonight. Since we didn't get the benefit of $1 tacos, he got a Baja Grilled chicken burrito combo and added a fish taco to it. Apparently they've stopped making the taco part of the combo meal, which kind of sucks, but the guy was really nice about it and upsized the drink for free. The burrito looked a lot smaller than I remembered, but it's been ages since he's ordered a burrito, so it's very possible that it's the same. For me, the best part of the combo is dipping the chips in their beans. Their beans are a little too salty and peppery for my tastes, but for whatever reason, I still love them. There's something about that combination with their chips that makes them freaking good.
Oh, and we got the survey at the bottom of the receipt, which, if you do it, gives you $2 off your next order. Score!
Oh, and we got the survey at the bottom of the receipt, which, if you do it, gives you $2 off your next order. Score!
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Leftovers
Jim wanted Taco Tuesday at Rubio's, but it wasn't meant to be. There just wasn't enough time, so I baked off the enchiladas I made last night and cooked up some Rice a Roni. I felt a little sick looking at the sodium content of the rice, but I don't know how to make Spanish rice from scratch. I also finished up the espresso brownies I made on Friday. I hadn't yet added the icing, which puts them over the top. I melt a Tbsp of butter and stir in water, espresso powder, powdered sugar, and vanilla until it gets creamy. Then all I need to do is spread it on top and stick it in the fridge to harden. Oh, and I mailed off S's baked goods today. Yeah, not much going on in the way of cooking today.
Monday, January 28, 2008
Tried and true
Although Jim ate leftovers tonight and packed more of them for his lunch, I went ahead and assembled some black bean enchiladas for later on this week. He still has enough food for 3-4 meals, but that's not enough to get him through the week. The fact that Jim likes these enchiladas continually surprises me, because they're really simple and vegetarian to boot. I make the enchilada sauce from a seasoning packet--this brand is tomato paste, water, and the seasonings boiled and then simmered for 10 minutes. Then it's heating up corn tortillas in the microwave, laying some sauce down in the baking dishes, dipping the tortillas in the sauce, filling them with black beans, onion, and cheese, rolling them, and then putting four in per dish. When Jim's dad gave him these two Corningware dishes, I thought they were too small to be of any use, but I reach for them time and time again. They're perfect serving sizes for him, and Jim has brought an entire dish to work on many occasions.
So tonight I used red onion, which is a little different than usual, so I'm interested to see if there's a discernable difference in taste. I put sharp cheddar on the inside of each enchilada and topped the trays with cheddar and a low-fat blend of Mexican cheese (cheddar, jack, mozzarella, and colby). I serve them with boxed Rice a Roni Spanish rice crap. Jim absolutely loves Rice a Roni, and since I haven't the slightest idea how to make it from scratch, in this case, I happily take the shortcut.
What's nice about this meal is that it can go in the freezer or be made early and refrigerated before baking it off. Throw in some instant Spanish rice, and it's an incredibly easy meal that's reasonably healthy. I have this chicken enchilada recipe that I swear I'm going to try someday, but this version is so easy and Jim likes it so much that it's hard for me to deviate. This is one of the very few dishes that Jim actually requests. In fact, aside from mac n' cheese, I'm not sure that he's ever asked for anything else. He might say something about wanting pasta in general or something like that, but that's about the extent of it.
I packed up a bunch of the cookies that I baked on Friday and got them ready to mail to S, who's stationed over in Kuwait. I have been terrible about sending him baked goods--I haven't done it since last August, and I'm feeling terribly guilty about it. I originally planned to do it every month, but then I got busy and out of the habit. He, more than anyone else, loves my baking. It's so awesome to bake for him because he will literally inhale anything I make. So I really do enjoy baking for him. CL also raves about my cookies, but I don't see him very often. It's kind of funny in that while I love getting compliments on my cooking, it's so much better to have my baking appreciated. And it's also weird that I don't actually have much of a sweet tooth, but that's another story!
So tonight I used red onion, which is a little different than usual, so I'm interested to see if there's a discernable difference in taste. I put sharp cheddar on the inside of each enchilada and topped the trays with cheddar and a low-fat blend of Mexican cheese (cheddar, jack, mozzarella, and colby). I serve them with boxed Rice a Roni Spanish rice crap. Jim absolutely loves Rice a Roni, and since I haven't the slightest idea how to make it from scratch, in this case, I happily take the shortcut.
What's nice about this meal is that it can go in the freezer or be made early and refrigerated before baking it off. Throw in some instant Spanish rice, and it's an incredibly easy meal that's reasonably healthy. I have this chicken enchilada recipe that I swear I'm going to try someday, but this version is so easy and Jim likes it so much that it's hard for me to deviate. This is one of the very few dishes that Jim actually requests. In fact, aside from mac n' cheese, I'm not sure that he's ever asked for anything else. He might say something about wanting pasta in general or something like that, but that's about the extent of it.
I packed up a bunch of the cookies that I baked on Friday and got them ready to mail to S, who's stationed over in Kuwait. I have been terrible about sending him baked goods--I haven't done it since last August, and I'm feeling terribly guilty about it. I originally planned to do it every month, but then I got busy and out of the habit. He, more than anyone else, loves my baking. It's so awesome to bake for him because he will literally inhale anything I make. So I really do enjoy baking for him. CL also raves about my cookies, but I don't see him very often. It's kind of funny in that while I love getting compliments on my cooking, it's so much better to have my baking appreciated. And it's also weird that I don't actually have much of a sweet tooth, but that's another story!
It's a small world
I didn't finish up with Court until 12:15, and by the time I got back to the office and finished gossiping (OPC wore Uggs to Court!!), I was well into my 12:30 lunch hour. Jim usually comes to visit with me for lunch on Mondays, and when I called him after Court, he was still getting ready, so we were very much short on time today. Our usual fast lunch spots are either In-N-Out or Baja Fresh, and today it was Baja.
I went ahead and got Jim his ginormous Dos Manos burrito, which comes with chips and a scant handful of salad that I eat. I had a $2 off coupon and I actually remembered to bring the sports cup, so the refill was only 99 cents.
Usually I get a bare burrito, but I brought my lunch today, so I just went with that. For whatever reason, I wasn't feeling all that hungry. The Cold Stone last night didn't sit well with me at all, even though I hardly had any.
We ran into JMC's office, or at least all of the attorneys in the office. JMC asked E and I if we were speaking English. He didn't get the whole "rockin' the Uggs" statement. Of course, when the only word he understood was "the," I can see where he's coming from. As much as I enjoyed talking to him (and the others), it cut into my precious lunchtime, which was already shortened.
Tonight Jim and I have a business-type meeting, so it looks like he'll be eating leftovers from Saturday night's dinner. Oh well. He always has Taco Tuesday to look forward to!
I went ahead and got Jim his ginormous Dos Manos burrito, which comes with chips and a scant handful of salad that I eat. I had a $2 off coupon and I actually remembered to bring the sports cup, so the refill was only 99 cents.
Usually I get a bare burrito, but I brought my lunch today, so I just went with that. For whatever reason, I wasn't feeling all that hungry. The Cold Stone last night didn't sit well with me at all, even though I hardly had any.
We ran into JMC's office, or at least all of the attorneys in the office. JMC asked E and I if we were speaking English. He didn't get the whole "rockin' the Uggs" statement. Of course, when the only word he understood was "the," I can see where he's coming from. As much as I enjoyed talking to him (and the others), it cut into my precious lunchtime, which was already shortened.
Tonight Jim and I have a business-type meeting, so it looks like he'll be eating leftovers from Saturday night's dinner. Oh well. He always has Taco Tuesday to look forward to!
Sunday, January 27, 2008
Sushi for beginners
We were supposed to go to The Front Room for dinner, but that fell through and if I think about it, I get grumpy, so I won't. A long story short, Jim, his younger sister J, and I ended up by ourselves going out to sushi at Matsuri's, so really, it wasn't a bad deal at all. And for once, it was Jim's idea to go for sushi. J is moving back to Tennessee next week, and Jim thought it would be a good idea to hit up places that she won't be able to eat at once she's living in the sticks. And for once, Jim was the adventurous one, which was very, very cool.
Matsuri's is a pretty decent sushi restaurant that's overpriced, but the restaurant space itself is so nice that I don't mind going once in a while. We sat at the bar tonight, which is a must at this place, since they don't serve edamame when you sit at a table. I got an entire tray to myself, and Jim and J shared the other one. I love edamame so much. I swear I could just eat that for dinner every once in a while. Jim isn't so crazy about it, but because it's healthy, he'll choke down a bit.
The biggest problem I have with Matsuri's is that there isn't a whole lot of vegetarian sushi on the menu. In fact, even the Futo Maki roll contains crab, which is crazy. The veggie roll is really, really good, but it's the only option I have, other than a cucumber roll. Actually, tonight I added two veggie hand rolls, which Jim has never seen before. He thought it was crazy looking, but I think hand rolls are beautiful.
The veggie roll is equally beautiful in my opinion. I love that they drizzle the sushi with teriyaki sauce.
Jim and his sister shared. Jim did the ordering and got a seared scallop roll, Lion King, and Pink Lady. J wasn't too impressed with sushi, which was a little disappointing. Most of the time I consider Jim pretty unadventurous when it comes to food. He likes steak and potatoes, hamburgers, and chain restaurants. But he's made such an effort over the years to humor me, since I love trying new foods and restaurants and somewhere along the lines, he's learned to like it. I guess I didn't realize how far he's come until tonight. I tease him about being picky, but he's really not. He'll try just about anything. He just isn't too keen on expanding the type of food that he eats. But he can now add sushi, Indian, and Vietnamese to the types of food he likes. I don't think he's sold on Greek yet.
But back to tonight's meal, I thought their sushi looked amazing. Unfortunately, I don't think there was a single thing about it that appealed to J. She didn't like the way it looked, tasted, or the texture of the food. She didn't refuse to eat it, but it was pretty obvious she wasn't digging it too much. So we ended the meal with tempura, the one universal food at sushi restaurants.
Afterwards, we head to Cold Stone. Jim got some sort of cookie dough vanilla ice cream concoction. It also had chocolate chips and chocolate syrup mixed in. For the first time ever, I was actually a little disappointed in Cold Stone. The vanilla ice cream didn't have much flavor to it. Don't get me wrong--ice cream is ice cream, and Cold Stone is some of the best. But usually it's better. J got Strawberry Blonde, which is one of my faves. I was jealous.
Before going out for sushi, I cooked dinner for the fam, since it is Sunday night. I wanted to do something eggplant-based, but my mom doesn't seem to have gone shopping recently for produce, so there wasn't much fresh stuff going on. I ended up making a Rachael Ray recipe from her Express Lane Meals book. I've read the ceci pasta recipe at least a dozen times, but I never actually looked at the instructions themselves. I had always skipped it because the thought of spaghetti and garbanzo beans just is not appealing to me. Garbanzos have only grown on me in the past few years. While I never hated them, they've never been my favorite. But ever since I started eating hummus (in 2005 I had a hummus sandwich at the Pacific Masters short course championships and fell in love with the stuff), I've grown to like them more and more and now borderline love them. But still, pasta and garbanzos? Ick. However, for whatever reason, I actually read the directions, which had you throw the beans into the food processor. Once I read that, I happily tried the recipe. And I'm really glad that I did, because it was surprisingly tasty. The ground garbanzos added a nice texture to the spaghetti sauce. By the way, did I mention how freaking easy the recipe was? All I did was pulse the garbanzos finely and then pan fry them a bit with garlic and olive oil. I added some vegetable broth until the mixture because creamy, stirred in thyme, salt, and freshly ground black pepper and then combine it was the spaghetti sauce. I'm definitely going to tinker more with this recipe. I think I could really make it a delicious meal. Plus it was even LESS than a 30 minute meal!
Matsuri's is a pretty decent sushi restaurant that's overpriced, but the restaurant space itself is so nice that I don't mind going once in a while. We sat at the bar tonight, which is a must at this place, since they don't serve edamame when you sit at a table. I got an entire tray to myself, and Jim and J shared the other one. I love edamame so much. I swear I could just eat that for dinner every once in a while. Jim isn't so crazy about it, but because it's healthy, he'll choke down a bit.
The biggest problem I have with Matsuri's is that there isn't a whole lot of vegetarian sushi on the menu. In fact, even the Futo Maki roll contains crab, which is crazy. The veggie roll is really, really good, but it's the only option I have, other than a cucumber roll. Actually, tonight I added two veggie hand rolls, which Jim has never seen before. He thought it was crazy looking, but I think hand rolls are beautiful.
The veggie roll is equally beautiful in my opinion. I love that they drizzle the sushi with teriyaki sauce.
Jim and his sister shared. Jim did the ordering and got a seared scallop roll, Lion King, and Pink Lady. J wasn't too impressed with sushi, which was a little disappointing. Most of the time I consider Jim pretty unadventurous when it comes to food. He likes steak and potatoes, hamburgers, and chain restaurants. But he's made such an effort over the years to humor me, since I love trying new foods and restaurants and somewhere along the lines, he's learned to like it. I guess I didn't realize how far he's come until tonight. I tease him about being picky, but he's really not. He'll try just about anything. He just isn't too keen on expanding the type of food that he eats. But he can now add sushi, Indian, and Vietnamese to the types of food he likes. I don't think he's sold on Greek yet.
But back to tonight's meal, I thought their sushi looked amazing. Unfortunately, I don't think there was a single thing about it that appealed to J. She didn't like the way it looked, tasted, or the texture of the food. She didn't refuse to eat it, but it was pretty obvious she wasn't digging it too much. So we ended the meal with tempura, the one universal food at sushi restaurants.
Afterwards, we head to Cold Stone. Jim got some sort of cookie dough vanilla ice cream concoction. It also had chocolate chips and chocolate syrup mixed in. For the first time ever, I was actually a little disappointed in Cold Stone. The vanilla ice cream didn't have much flavor to it. Don't get me wrong--ice cream is ice cream, and Cold Stone is some of the best. But usually it's better. J got Strawberry Blonde, which is one of my faves. I was jealous.
Before going out for sushi, I cooked dinner for the fam, since it is Sunday night. I wanted to do something eggplant-based, but my mom doesn't seem to have gone shopping recently for produce, so there wasn't much fresh stuff going on. I ended up making a Rachael Ray recipe from her Express Lane Meals book. I've read the ceci pasta recipe at least a dozen times, but I never actually looked at the instructions themselves. I had always skipped it because the thought of spaghetti and garbanzo beans just is not appealing to me. Garbanzos have only grown on me in the past few years. While I never hated them, they've never been my favorite. But ever since I started eating hummus (in 2005 I had a hummus sandwich at the Pacific Masters short course championships and fell in love with the stuff), I've grown to like them more and more and now borderline love them. But still, pasta and garbanzos? Ick. However, for whatever reason, I actually read the directions, which had you throw the beans into the food processor. Once I read that, I happily tried the recipe. And I'm really glad that I did, because it was surprisingly tasty. The ground garbanzos added a nice texture to the spaghetti sauce. By the way, did I mention how freaking easy the recipe was? All I did was pulse the garbanzos finely and then pan fry them a bit with garlic and olive oil. I added some vegetable broth until the mixture because creamy, stirred in thyme, salt, and freshly ground black pepper and then combine it was the spaghetti sauce. I'm definitely going to tinker more with this recipe. I think I could really make it a delicious meal. Plus it was even LESS than a 30 minute meal!
Saturday, January 26, 2008
Where have all the manners gone?
R and I left M and Jim today for a girl's day out in Walnut Creek. First up was Bing Crosby's for lunch, which R has been wanting to try for years now. I was a little disappointed with the place because of the lack of vegetarian-friendly items. When I checked it out online, the menu didn't list specific vegetarian entrees, but it did state that they were available. So when I asked our server about it, he offered a pasta primavera or a plate of roasted vegetables. Nice. Ordinarily, I'd have gotten the pasta and been fine, but we had been planning on pasta for dinner tonight, so I wasn't going to do it for two meals in a row. He did get my hopes up when he said the soup of the day was vegetarian. I originally ordered the soup and salad, but then he came back very apologetic, saying that it was chicken stock based. Go figure. So I just stuck with a salad, which was quite good. It was mixed greens with parmesan shavings on top and the dressing was a pistachio vinaigrette, something very unusual but also very tasty. It was such an interesting combination between the richness of the pistachios, the tartness of the vinegar, and the sweetness of what I'm guessing to be honey. It was a little weird that there were actual pistachio nuts, but it was fine.
In contrast to my experience, R's meal looked amazing. She got the soup and sandwich combo and she raved about both. What she didn't get to try were the homemade chips, which looked like waffle fries. To redeem the meal, I decided to order dessert, which may have been a first over lunch for me. I tried to keep in mind that we'd be eating a scat dessert tonight, so I chose the yogurt sorbet and was very pleasantly surprised. It came in a little sundae cup with a tangerine gratinata on bottom, topped with two small scoops of coconut yogurt sorbet and a few thin slices of blood oranges. And it came with a delicate wafer. I don't like coconut, but there was so little of the flavor that I really enjoyed the entire thing. R ordered the apple tatin, which looked so beautiful. What I really wanted to get was the creme brulee sampler, but I knew I wouldn't be able to finish. There were several other choices that looked equally delectable, to the point that I would consider coming back simply for dessert.
Afterwards, we hit up Macy's. I found another pair of 7 jeans, this time on sale. Granted, even on sale they're still ridiculously expensive, but they fit so nicely and these were pretty cute. They're a lighter wash and very casual looking, almost carpenter style. I was picturing how cute they'd be with a plain white T. I also got a very trendy Calvin Klein coat, which I love to pieces and was 50% off. I'm hoping it won't look completely out of date by next season, but I'll have to wear it every day for the rest of this one just in case. The sleeves are puffy from the elbow to the cuff, which is fitted. And it's belted. So adorable! I also bought a couple of Nike workout tops which were dirt cheap. I fell in love with this burnout brown velvet BCBG Max Azria top, but ultimately passed on it because it was $106 even on sale, and there's no way I'd get $100 of wear out of it. It did fit me beautifully and was totally my style, though. If I wasn't trying to budget, I'd have gotten it in a heartbeat.
We moved onto Nordstrom's thereafter for the special Clinique thing that R had gotten an invite to. It turned out to be a private skin consultation/makeup deal thing in their back area. I ended up with foundation, powder, blush, and eyeliner. The green eye shadow she tried on me actually looked not scary, and again, if money weren't an issue right now, I'd probably have gotten it in a heartbeat. But I have the colors written down, so in a couple of months I can come back. So now I own my first bottle of foundation! Very exciting stuff. I've never found a shade that blends into my skin to my satisfaction, but this stuff looks great. I'm hoping it won't dry out my skin, but we'll see. I can always take it back if it doesn't work for me. After the event, we shopped around a bit and I got an Adidas long sleeved top and an Under Armour zip up long sleeved mock turtleneck shirt that will be perfect for snowboarding.
Part of me wanted to shop more, but other than a quick tour of Davidson jewelers, we headed back home to get dinner in order. All that was left for me to do was top my pasta with parmesan and get the dessert set up. I actually ended up adding more sauce to the pasta, since it was looking a little dry. Dessert was an instant one, where all I had to do was open up the can of apples in sauce and mix the packet of topping with water before crumbling it over the apple mixture. Yay for Betty Crocker. I hate baking instant things, but this was a dessert Jim had insisted on buying a while ago and it really did need to get eaten up. Since R & M have a love for all things packaged/processed/instant, it was sure to be a hit. I was, however, secretly ashamed for bringing it.
When we got over to R & M's house, R had started her contribution, which was angel hair pasta, jarred pasta sauce, and frozen meatballs. We've been talking about setting up regular dinners, but I'm a little apprehensive, since this is our second one and they have yet to actually cook anything. Maybe I'm a total snob, but I do NOT consider opening up a jar of sauce and boiling some pasta cooking. I've been cooking for Jim for over two years now and I have yet to feed him that. I may have made some very simple quick dishes that relied on convenience foods, but I outgrew making the whole sauce/pasta thing when I was about 7. I remember when my mom was teaching me to cook, she said I couldn't count spaghetti as a mastered dish since it didn't involve any real cooking. Twenty-odd years later, and I still agree with her. Last time we were over there, it was packaged tortellini and jarred pasta sauce. A pattern seems to be emerging, and it ain't pretty. Oh, and just because the stuff was heated up in All-Clad doesn't make it gourmet.
I know I'm being snarky here, but it's mostly because I was offended and a little hurt that they didn't even bother to try what I made. I mean, doesn't politeness dictate that you at least sample what someone else cooked? I took a small serving of spaghetti, even though it's something Jim's 6 year old nephew could "make." Certainly my dish wasn't super fancy, but at least it was homemade and required some skills other than opening jars and boiling water. That should count for something, right? Well, I guess I should be happy that they ate the bag of salad I brought over. Go figure. As long as it comes out of a bag, jar, or box, it's good to eat. Besides the pasta and salad, there was some pretty good bread and canned green beans, which I didn't eat.
I guess I shouldn't really knock the whole convenience meal thing. I know lots of people rely on them. Jim grew up with Hamburger Helper, canned vegetables, and instant everything. I think maybe it's a white American thing. Don't get me wrong. My mom uses some canned foods, but for the most part, it's from scratch. And even then it gets dressed up a bit. For example, we occasionally did eat boxed Mac n' cheese, but my mom would add real cheese to it. Things like that. And we never ate microwave meals. So it's pretty foreign to me. And then R's dad is supposed to be a chef and she's super picky about her food. It's a total contradiction and I just don't get it. Oh well.
But I digress (yet again). I personally thought my pasta dish turned out quite well, and Jim liked it, too. There's something special about smoked mozzarella. It adds so much flavor, and then with roasted vegetables? You just can't go wrong. Seriously! I love the sweet rich flavor of roasted veggies. There is such a depth to them that way. R's spaghetti tasted like spaghetti. I can't say anything else about it. Jim said the meatballs were okay. I wouldn't know, but I'm guessing frozen meatballs are frozen meatballs. Barefoot Contessa and Giada both have meatball recipes that I vow to try someday. The apple dessert wasn't very good. You could totally tell it was instant. The apples were too artificially sweet, which they had to be to cover up the canned-ness. At least the topping was good.
Really though, despite the questionable food served, it was a fun evening shared with friends. And when I stop being snarky, I have to admit that that is what truly matters.
In contrast to my experience, R's meal looked amazing. She got the soup and sandwich combo and she raved about both. What she didn't get to try were the homemade chips, which looked like waffle fries. To redeem the meal, I decided to order dessert, which may have been a first over lunch for me. I tried to keep in mind that we'd be eating a scat dessert tonight, so I chose the yogurt sorbet and was very pleasantly surprised. It came in a little sundae cup with a tangerine gratinata on bottom, topped with two small scoops of coconut yogurt sorbet and a few thin slices of blood oranges. And it came with a delicate wafer. I don't like coconut, but there was so little of the flavor that I really enjoyed the entire thing. R ordered the apple tatin, which looked so beautiful. What I really wanted to get was the creme brulee sampler, but I knew I wouldn't be able to finish. There were several other choices that looked equally delectable, to the point that I would consider coming back simply for dessert.
Afterwards, we hit up Macy's. I found another pair of 7 jeans, this time on sale. Granted, even on sale they're still ridiculously expensive, but they fit so nicely and these were pretty cute. They're a lighter wash and very casual looking, almost carpenter style. I was picturing how cute they'd be with a plain white T. I also got a very trendy Calvin Klein coat, which I love to pieces and was 50% off. I'm hoping it won't look completely out of date by next season, but I'll have to wear it every day for the rest of this one just in case. The sleeves are puffy from the elbow to the cuff, which is fitted. And it's belted. So adorable! I also bought a couple of Nike workout tops which were dirt cheap. I fell in love with this burnout brown velvet BCBG Max Azria top, but ultimately passed on it because it was $106 even on sale, and there's no way I'd get $100 of wear out of it. It did fit me beautifully and was totally my style, though. If I wasn't trying to budget, I'd have gotten it in a heartbeat.
We moved onto Nordstrom's thereafter for the special Clinique thing that R had gotten an invite to. It turned out to be a private skin consultation/makeup deal thing in their back area. I ended up with foundation, powder, blush, and eyeliner. The green eye shadow she tried on me actually looked not scary, and again, if money weren't an issue right now, I'd probably have gotten it in a heartbeat. But I have the colors written down, so in a couple of months I can come back. So now I own my first bottle of foundation! Very exciting stuff. I've never found a shade that blends into my skin to my satisfaction, but this stuff looks great. I'm hoping it won't dry out my skin, but we'll see. I can always take it back if it doesn't work for me. After the event, we shopped around a bit and I got an Adidas long sleeved top and an Under Armour zip up long sleeved mock turtleneck shirt that will be perfect for snowboarding.
Part of me wanted to shop more, but other than a quick tour of Davidson jewelers, we headed back home to get dinner in order. All that was left for me to do was top my pasta with parmesan and get the dessert set up. I actually ended up adding more sauce to the pasta, since it was looking a little dry. Dessert was an instant one, where all I had to do was open up the can of apples in sauce and mix the packet of topping with water before crumbling it over the apple mixture. Yay for Betty Crocker. I hate baking instant things, but this was a dessert Jim had insisted on buying a while ago and it really did need to get eaten up. Since R & M have a love for all things packaged/processed/instant, it was sure to be a hit. I was, however, secretly ashamed for bringing it.
When we got over to R & M's house, R had started her contribution, which was angel hair pasta, jarred pasta sauce, and frozen meatballs. We've been talking about setting up regular dinners, but I'm a little apprehensive, since this is our second one and they have yet to actually cook anything. Maybe I'm a total snob, but I do NOT consider opening up a jar of sauce and boiling some pasta cooking. I've been cooking for Jim for over two years now and I have yet to feed him that. I may have made some very simple quick dishes that relied on convenience foods, but I outgrew making the whole sauce/pasta thing when I was about 7. I remember when my mom was teaching me to cook, she said I couldn't count spaghetti as a mastered dish since it didn't involve any real cooking. Twenty-odd years later, and I still agree with her. Last time we were over there, it was packaged tortellini and jarred pasta sauce. A pattern seems to be emerging, and it ain't pretty. Oh, and just because the stuff was heated up in All-Clad doesn't make it gourmet.
I know I'm being snarky here, but it's mostly because I was offended and a little hurt that they didn't even bother to try what I made. I mean, doesn't politeness dictate that you at least sample what someone else cooked? I took a small serving of spaghetti, even though it's something Jim's 6 year old nephew could "make." Certainly my dish wasn't super fancy, but at least it was homemade and required some skills other than opening jars and boiling water. That should count for something, right? Well, I guess I should be happy that they ate the bag of salad I brought over. Go figure. As long as it comes out of a bag, jar, or box, it's good to eat. Besides the pasta and salad, there was some pretty good bread and canned green beans, which I didn't eat.
I guess I shouldn't really knock the whole convenience meal thing. I know lots of people rely on them. Jim grew up with Hamburger Helper, canned vegetables, and instant everything. I think maybe it's a white American thing. Don't get me wrong. My mom uses some canned foods, but for the most part, it's from scratch. And even then it gets dressed up a bit. For example, we occasionally did eat boxed Mac n' cheese, but my mom would add real cheese to it. Things like that. And we never ate microwave meals. So it's pretty foreign to me. And then R's dad is supposed to be a chef and she's super picky about her food. It's a total contradiction and I just don't get it. Oh well.
But I digress (yet again). I personally thought my pasta dish turned out quite well, and Jim liked it, too. There's something special about smoked mozzarella. It adds so much flavor, and then with roasted vegetables? You just can't go wrong. Seriously! I love the sweet rich flavor of roasted veggies. There is such a depth to them that way. R's spaghetti tasted like spaghetti. I can't say anything else about it. Jim said the meatballs were okay. I wouldn't know, but I'm guessing frozen meatballs are frozen meatballs. Barefoot Contessa and Giada both have meatball recipes that I vow to try someday. The apple dessert wasn't very good. You could totally tell it was instant. The apples were too artificially sweet, which they had to be to cover up the canned-ness. At least the topping was good.
Really though, despite the questionable food served, it was a fun evening shared with friends. And when I stop being snarky, I have to admit that that is what truly matters.
Friday, January 25, 2008
Gardenburger mania
It's still miserable and raining here. I hate endless stretches of rain like we're currently experiencing. My jeans are wet, I'm cold, and the curl in my hair is falling out. You'd think I live in Seattle with this kind of weather. Still, Jim braved the conditions and came to my office to take me out to lunch. He had in mind Grubbing Mexican (our nickname for Los Reyes), but it's a drive and I didn't want to take a long lunch today. Plus the plan is for Chevy's tonight. So we ended up going to Red Robin instead.
Being habitual creatures at these chain restaurants, we ordered our usual: I get The Garden Burger and he gets the Monster burger. Now, the weird thing about Red Robin is that I don't actually get a gardenburger. I get a Boca Burger. But I can't ask for a Boca Burger because the servers all get confused. See, on the menu, the veggie burger is listed as The Garden Burger and it's a name brand Gardenburger. However, it comes with an option to substitute a Boca patty for the Gardenburger. It's all rather ridiculous, but I have confused enough servers that I have learned to simply ask for a Garden Burger and then request a change. I also get it without the Bistro sauce and pickles. Jim's Monster burger truly is a monster. We're talking two patties and two pieces of cheese, plus tomatoes, lettuce, onion, and relish (Jim holds the mayo). In Jim's earlier, pickier years he would hold the tomatoes, which is, in fact, exactly the way his cousin C does, something the two of them discovered several years ago. I thought it was pretty interesting to see how similar they are, despite the lack of time spent together and eight-ish year age gap.
The best part of Red Robin is the bottomless steak fries. In my own younger, faster metabolism days, I took full advantage and always got seconds. Now I'm relegated to a single serving, which I make sure to blot. I like the fries best when they're crispy, not soft, and today the majority of mine were, so I scored! We always get our fries unseasoned because we prefer them without and the bonus is that they're always fresh that way. Even if we liked the seasoning, I think we would still order them the way we do for the freshness factor. After all, they keep the seasoning right on the table.
Being habitual creatures at these chain restaurants, we ordered our usual: I get The Garden Burger and he gets the Monster burger. Now, the weird thing about Red Robin is that I don't actually get a gardenburger. I get a Boca Burger. But I can't ask for a Boca Burger because the servers all get confused. See, on the menu, the veggie burger is listed as The Garden Burger and it's a name brand Gardenburger. However, it comes with an option to substitute a Boca patty for the Gardenburger. It's all rather ridiculous, but I have confused enough servers that I have learned to simply ask for a Garden Burger and then request a change. I also get it without the Bistro sauce and pickles. Jim's Monster burger truly is a monster. We're talking two patties and two pieces of cheese, plus tomatoes, lettuce, onion, and relish (Jim holds the mayo). In Jim's earlier, pickier years he would hold the tomatoes, which is, in fact, exactly the way his cousin C does, something the two of them discovered several years ago. I thought it was pretty interesting to see how similar they are, despite the lack of time spent together and eight-ish year age gap.
The best part of Red Robin is the bottomless steak fries. In my own younger, faster metabolism days, I took full advantage and always got seconds. Now I'm relegated to a single serving, which I make sure to blot. I like the fries best when they're crispy, not soft, and today the majority of mine were, so I scored! We always get our fries unseasoned because we prefer them without and the bonus is that they're always fresh that way. Even if we liked the seasoning, I think we would still order them the way we do for the freshness factor. After all, they keep the seasoning right on the table.
I'm a baking machine
Jim and I stuck to the plan and went to Chevy's tonight. We happened to make it in the middle of Happy Hour and opted to sit in the Cantina. We've been going to Chevy's semi-regularly because of the coupons. Jim's been getting monthly coupons for buy one entree, get one for $3.99, so it makes the restaurant not so much of a rip off. Tonight the margaritas were $3. Jim got a strawberry one and I got a peach one. Now, I really can't hold my liquor, so it's more that I have a few sips and Jim finishes it for me. Unfortunately, I learned tonight that tequila and I really don't mix. I didn't taste any alcohol in the margarita, so I drank it happily and probably too quickly. I only got about a fourth of the way through, but for whatever reason, it hit me hard. My head started aching and my ears were ringing. Jim thinks it's all in my head, but vodka doesn't affect me that way. I didn't feel tipsy. I simply felt sick.
Anyhoo, I ordered my usual meal--portobello and asparagus fajitas. I absolutely love mushrooms. I don't care what kind; I love them all. My entire family is pretty nuts about mushrooms, so around the holidays, since I do the cooking, I make sure whatever I cook is heavy on the mushroom side. This past Thanksgiving I tried a mushroom and leek stuffing, which contained a buttload of mushrooms. We all loved it, and now it's a staple. So if I see a mushroom-based dish on a menu, it's a pretty safe bet I'll be ordering it. The veggies come drizzled in butter and I hold it, but they forgot this time. I wanted to send them back, but Jim hates doing that, so I dealt with it for his sake. Jim got some sort of mixed thing with a taco. I forgot what else he got. Chevy's is one of those places where you always know what you're going to get. We both love their salsa and chips, and I'd go just for those. The chips are light and crispy, my definition of the perfect tortilla chip. The salsa took a little bit of getting used to. I typically don't love smoky flavored anything, and Chevy's salsa has a distinctly smoky taste to it. However, over the years I learned to tolerate, like, and now love it. Of course, I think the chips help more than anything.
Due to the early dinner (which almost never happens), the evening was still very young when we got back to Jim's house. For the first time in weeks, we had a quiet evening at home. It's not something I like to do all the time, but with the rain and the fact that we've been going nonstop for a while now, it was definitely a nice change of pace. Besides, we had a ton of baking and cooking to do for the upcoming weekend.
I started off with Giada's Espresso Brownies, which are the easiest things in the world to make due to using boxed brownie mix. All I had to do was stir water, oil, eggs, espresso powder, chocolate chips and the mix together and pour the batter into a pan and bake them off for 35 minutes. It was more work trying to find the Canola oil, which happened to be in the closet pantry (I swore I put it in the kitchen. Oh well.). I used up the last box of brownie mix, so I've got to keep my eyes peeled for another sale. I believe the last time I stocked up they were 50 cents. Maybe a dollar. At any rate, they were a really good deal. I'm definitely one of those sale shoppers. I hate paying full price for anything, so I will religiously scan the grocery ads weekly and buy depending on what is a good price. Although Jim thinks the pantry is ridiculously full, I save so much money that way. The only thing has been learning what I will and won't use. I've discovered that I am not a convenience food person. I don't like shake n' bake or Pasta roni. I'd rather make it from scratch. So those things have sat around for a while. But I think I've got a pretty good idea of what kind of ingredients I rely on these days.
Back to the baking . . . while the brownies were in the oven, I started on the peanut butter kisses. This is another ridiculously easy recipe that uses Bisquick. Again, all it is is stirring together a few items, this time sweetened condensed milk, creamy peanut butter, vanilla, and Bisquick together. Then I roll them into balls and bake them at 375 for 10 minutes. I got to use my silpat for the first time, which was very exciting! This time I didn't roll the balls in sugar before baking them. I didn't have any extra fine sugar and I don't really like the regular sized granules on the outside. After they come out of the oven, I press the kisses into the cookies and that's it! Piece of cake.
After two essentially instant recipes, I was feeling a little guilty, so I whipped up a batch of chocolate chip cookies. I've made so many batches over the years that I can now make them very quickly. Plus with the Kitchenaid mixer, things when even more smoothly. By the time the peanut butter cookies were done, the chocolate chip cookies were almost done being dropped on the cookie sheet.
I ended up with a pan of espresso brownies without icing (that comes tomorrow), 30 peanut butter/Hershey's kiss cookies, and 18 chocolate chip cookies. I think I've got dessert covered for Sunday, but I may bake one more fruit-based item. We'll see how much time I have tomorrow.
Where was Jim during all of this? Well, he helped by unwrapping the kisses and he did all of my cleanup for me, which was great. Although I love baking, I hate cleaning up afterwards.
Then I turned to the cooking part--I made Giada's roasted vegetable penne pasta. What makes this dish extra special is the fontina and smoked mozzarella cheese. It really does take it over the top. I absolutely love the flavor of roasted vegetables, in this case eggplant, red bell pepper, onion, zucchini, and mushrooms. Tossed with penne (ziti in this case cuz I'm out of penne), marinara sauce, and the cheeses, it's a pretty amazing dish for as simple as it is. Tomorrow I'll top it with some parm and then bake it off until the top is golden brown and crispy. Giada's dish actually calls for summer squash, but I had eggplant to use up, so I substituted it. I'm sure it will be fine, since eggplant and red bell pepper were meant to be together. And smoked mozzarella cheese will cover a multitude of sins. I don't like smoked cheese, but for whatever reason, smoked mozzarella is way different. I guess it's because it doesn't taste smoky to me. I'm not sure what it tastes like, but it's certainly got a fabulously rich flavor. I can't wait to try it tomorrow. One pound of pasta resulted in an absolutely massive dish, so it looks like Jim will be eating the leftovers all next week.
Anyhoo, I ordered my usual meal--portobello and asparagus fajitas. I absolutely love mushrooms. I don't care what kind; I love them all. My entire family is pretty nuts about mushrooms, so around the holidays, since I do the cooking, I make sure whatever I cook is heavy on the mushroom side. This past Thanksgiving I tried a mushroom and leek stuffing, which contained a buttload of mushrooms. We all loved it, and now it's a staple. So if I see a mushroom-based dish on a menu, it's a pretty safe bet I'll be ordering it. The veggies come drizzled in butter and I hold it, but they forgot this time. I wanted to send them back, but Jim hates doing that, so I dealt with it for his sake. Jim got some sort of mixed thing with a taco. I forgot what else he got. Chevy's is one of those places where you always know what you're going to get. We both love their salsa and chips, and I'd go just for those. The chips are light and crispy, my definition of the perfect tortilla chip. The salsa took a little bit of getting used to. I typically don't love smoky flavored anything, and Chevy's salsa has a distinctly smoky taste to it. However, over the years I learned to tolerate, like, and now love it. Of course, I think the chips help more than anything.
Due to the early dinner (which almost never happens), the evening was still very young when we got back to Jim's house. For the first time in weeks, we had a quiet evening at home. It's not something I like to do all the time, but with the rain and the fact that we've been going nonstop for a while now, it was definitely a nice change of pace. Besides, we had a ton of baking and cooking to do for the upcoming weekend.
I started off with Giada's Espresso Brownies, which are the easiest things in the world to make due to using boxed brownie mix. All I had to do was stir water, oil, eggs, espresso powder, chocolate chips and the mix together and pour the batter into a pan and bake them off for 35 minutes. It was more work trying to find the Canola oil, which happened to be in the closet pantry (I swore I put it in the kitchen. Oh well.). I used up the last box of brownie mix, so I've got to keep my eyes peeled for another sale. I believe the last time I stocked up they were 50 cents. Maybe a dollar. At any rate, they were a really good deal. I'm definitely one of those sale shoppers. I hate paying full price for anything, so I will religiously scan the grocery ads weekly and buy depending on what is a good price. Although Jim thinks the pantry is ridiculously full, I save so much money that way. The only thing has been learning what I will and won't use. I've discovered that I am not a convenience food person. I don't like shake n' bake or Pasta roni. I'd rather make it from scratch. So those things have sat around for a while. But I think I've got a pretty good idea of what kind of ingredients I rely on these days.
Back to the baking . . . while the brownies were in the oven, I started on the peanut butter kisses. This is another ridiculously easy recipe that uses Bisquick. Again, all it is is stirring together a few items, this time sweetened condensed milk, creamy peanut butter, vanilla, and Bisquick together. Then I roll them into balls and bake them at 375 for 10 minutes. I got to use my silpat for the first time, which was very exciting! This time I didn't roll the balls in sugar before baking them. I didn't have any extra fine sugar and I don't really like the regular sized granules on the outside. After they come out of the oven, I press the kisses into the cookies and that's it! Piece of cake.
After two essentially instant recipes, I was feeling a little guilty, so I whipped up a batch of chocolate chip cookies. I've made so many batches over the years that I can now make them very quickly. Plus with the Kitchenaid mixer, things when even more smoothly. By the time the peanut butter cookies were done, the chocolate chip cookies were almost done being dropped on the cookie sheet.
I ended up with a pan of espresso brownies without icing (that comes tomorrow), 30 peanut butter/Hershey's kiss cookies, and 18 chocolate chip cookies. I think I've got dessert covered for Sunday, but I may bake one more fruit-based item. We'll see how much time I have tomorrow.
Where was Jim during all of this? Well, he helped by unwrapping the kisses and he did all of my cleanup for me, which was great. Although I love baking, I hate cleaning up afterwards.
Then I turned to the cooking part--I made Giada's roasted vegetable penne pasta. What makes this dish extra special is the fontina and smoked mozzarella cheese. It really does take it over the top. I absolutely love the flavor of roasted vegetables, in this case eggplant, red bell pepper, onion, zucchini, and mushrooms. Tossed with penne (ziti in this case cuz I'm out of penne), marinara sauce, and the cheeses, it's a pretty amazing dish for as simple as it is. Tomorrow I'll top it with some parm and then bake it off until the top is golden brown and crispy. Giada's dish actually calls for summer squash, but I had eggplant to use up, so I substituted it. I'm sure it will be fine, since eggplant and red bell pepper were meant to be together. And smoked mozzarella cheese will cover a multitude of sins. I don't like smoked cheese, but for whatever reason, smoked mozzarella is way different. I guess it's because it doesn't taste smoky to me. I'm not sure what it tastes like, but it's certainly got a fabulously rich flavor. I can't wait to try it tomorrow. One pound of pasta resulted in an absolutely massive dish, so it looks like Jim will be eating the leftovers all next week.
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Cleanup time
My goal tonight was to start cleaning out the refrigerator and pantry. The produce drawer is overflowing with the vegetables I can't seem to convince Jim to eat, while the meat drawer only contains pancetta and proscuitto. I'm exaggerating a bit with Jim and the veggies of course. It's not that he doesn't like them. He just isn't all that good about keeping space in his stomach for them.
Last night was the first night in close to a week where I attempted to sleep Ny-Quil free, and it was a disaster. Something woke me up at 2:30 am and I couldn't fall back asleep thereafter. I had several cookbooks above me on my headboard, and so I started flipping through them instead of counting sheep. I found a scat recipe for a sausage pizza casserole, and the rest is history.
I got to use a can of Pillsbury pizza dough that's been in the fridge for quite a while, provolone cheese, green bell pepper, red onion, a can of olives, and jarred marinara sauce. I only had to buy sausage and mushrooms, and I needed mushrooms anyway for my upcoming potluck with M & R. I trimmed down the recipe by buying chicken sausage instead of pork, and the provolone that I used was reduced-fat. It was an incredibly easy dish. All I had to do was brown the sausage and chop the veggies. Then came the assembly: I sprayed the baking pan with nonstick spray, unrolled the dough, plopped down the sauce, sausage, veggies, and then topped it off with the cheese. The dish went into the oven for 35 minutes and came out all brown and crusty. Jim liked it, although I'm a little concerned about leftovers. The dish was on the watery side, and I have this sinking feeling that it's going to be awfully soggy. I just hope it's edible tonight.
The plan is to keep getting through the veggies tomorrow. I'll be roasting eggplant, red bell peppers, mushrooms, and onions for a baked penne dish for my potluck. The recipe will also use the rest of the marinara sauce I opened tonight. I'm excited to make it--I think the smoked mozzarella and fontina will make the dish extra special.
Last night was the first night in close to a week where I attempted to sleep Ny-Quil free, and it was a disaster. Something woke me up at 2:30 am and I couldn't fall back asleep thereafter. I had several cookbooks above me on my headboard, and so I started flipping through them instead of counting sheep. I found a scat recipe for a sausage pizza casserole, and the rest is history.
I got to use a can of Pillsbury pizza dough that's been in the fridge for quite a while, provolone cheese, green bell pepper, red onion, a can of olives, and jarred marinara sauce. I only had to buy sausage and mushrooms, and I needed mushrooms anyway for my upcoming potluck with M & R. I trimmed down the recipe by buying chicken sausage instead of pork, and the provolone that I used was reduced-fat. It was an incredibly easy dish. All I had to do was brown the sausage and chop the veggies. Then came the assembly: I sprayed the baking pan with nonstick spray, unrolled the dough, plopped down the sauce, sausage, veggies, and then topped it off with the cheese. The dish went into the oven for 35 minutes and came out all brown and crusty. Jim liked it, although I'm a little concerned about leftovers. The dish was on the watery side, and I have this sinking feeling that it's going to be awfully soggy. I just hope it's edible tonight.
The plan is to keep getting through the veggies tomorrow. I'll be roasting eggplant, red bell peppers, mushrooms, and onions for a baked penne dish for my potluck. The recipe will also use the rest of the marinara sauce I opened tonight. I'm excited to make it--I think the smoked mozzarella and fontina will make the dish extra special.
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Trying to be good
Today I went out for lunch with JMC at Mimi's Cafe. Mimi's is a chain restaurant with reasonably decent American food, kind of like Marie Callender's without pie. For whatever reason, it tends to be the go-to meeting/work lunch spot in this area--I've been there probably four times over the past year and all for business related lunches. I'm trying to be good, so I ordered a Gardenburger and fruit. There's not much I can say about Gardenburgers, since they all taste the same. This one came with lettuce, tomatoes, and red onion. I held the pickles, since I can't stand them. There was some sort of thousand island dressing on the side for my burger, but I didn't use it. The fruit consisted of a slice of cantaloupe, a slice of honeydew, and a couple of orange wedges. Yum. Really. The melon was surprisingly sweet. Our server was really good and managed to keep up with my camel-like drinking habits.
Anyway, it wasn't my ideal day for a luncheon, much less a business-related one. I got rocked in court today and I was in the mood for being alone and re-grouping. I got my client everything he wanted, so on that end it was a success. But having to sit there completely stoic while Mom is right across from me bawling her eyes out, accusing me of taking her only child away from her . . . it wears on a person sometimes. Usually it doesn't affect me--I'm admittedly more of an ice queen than I'd like to be. However, (despite what OPP thinks of me) I can't completely shrug it off. I don't have any guilt over what I did because I don't think anyone who was 5150'd two weeks ago and just got out of drug rehab has any business having primary custody of a baby. Even so, it can be pretty intense seeing all of that raw emotion and knowing that I am partly responsible for causing her pain. Not that I don't think she did it to herself--I'm the poster child for advocating personal responsibility. But my job was to ensure that she no longer had primary custody, and I did my job well.
So, back to lunch . . . I wasn't really in the mood to schmooze and talk about switching firms, but I had committed to the lunch last week and needed to follow through. I have a lot of thinking to do over the next few weeks. I hate change, but not to the point that of my detriment. I know I need to find a new job. I don't know if it will be with JMC, but we shall see.
Anyway, it wasn't my ideal day for a luncheon, much less a business-related one. I got rocked in court today and I was in the mood for being alone and re-grouping. I got my client everything he wanted, so on that end it was a success. But having to sit there completely stoic while Mom is right across from me bawling her eyes out, accusing me of taking her only child away from her . . . it wears on a person sometimes. Usually it doesn't affect me--I'm admittedly more of an ice queen than I'd like to be. However, (despite what OPP thinks of me) I can't completely shrug it off. I don't have any guilt over what I did because I don't think anyone who was 5150'd two weeks ago and just got out of drug rehab has any business having primary custody of a baby. Even so, it can be pretty intense seeing all of that raw emotion and knowing that I am partly responsible for causing her pain. Not that I don't think she did it to herself--I'm the poster child for advocating personal responsibility. But my job was to ensure that she no longer had primary custody, and I did my job well.
So, back to lunch . . . I wasn't really in the mood to schmooze and talk about switching firms, but I had committed to the lunch last week and needed to follow through. I have a lot of thinking to do over the next few weeks. I hate change, but not to the point that of my detriment. I know I need to find a new job. I don't know if it will be with JMC, but we shall see.
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Taco-less Mexican Tuesday
Last night Jim was already gearing up for Taco Tuesday at Rubio's, so when he walked into the kitchen today and asked me where I wanted to go to eat, I was slightly shocked. I initially chalked it up to Jim forgetting what day of the week it was. Then I thought that maybe he was more interested in the mac n' cheese that I was in the middle of making. But it ended up that he really wasn't in the mood for Rubio's.
That isn't to say that he didn't want Mexican, because we ended up going to La Cabanita. We've affectionately dubbed the restaurant Cheap Mexican because it used to be in the Napa Solano Express book, which meant that on top of it being a hole in the wall place with dirt cheap prices, it was buy one get one free. It's an added bonus that the food is actually really good.
Jim got a super chicken burrito without the sour cream and we split the nachos. I really like the guacamole, which is mixed with tomatoes and slightly chunky. Yum-o! The beans are what makes the nachos for me--they're amazing. They're probably terrible healthwise, but they're super creamy and flavorful. Jim didn't agree with me, but it seemed to me that his burrito was extra big today. He managed to not only eat the enormous thing but also devour most of the nachos.
Back to the mac n' cheese, it's his mom's recipe. Over the years, I've tried unsuccessfully to get him to try other mac n' cheese recipes, but he always wants to go back to the original. It was the first (and I believe only) thing Jim's cooked for me. Well, he does make a mean fried egg sandwich. Does that count? Anyway, I've made it so many times that I could do it in my sleep. And I've even got the timing down to a science, too. I immediately fill the pasta pot with water and set it to boil. While waiting for the water to heat up, I start grating the cheddar cheese. I finish grating right around the time the macaroni is ready to go into the water. Because the body of the dish consists only of mac, cheese, and milk, I find it important to salt the water beforehand. I know I'm always supposed to salt the pasta water, but I try to avoid it because it's not the healthiest to do. But in this case, I make an exception because I think it makes a noticeable difference. While the pasta is boiling (7 minutes--just under al dente), I prep the baking dish and cut up the butter, which tops the dish. Putting the dish together is super simple. All it is is a layer of pasta topped with cheese and then repeated. Milk gets poured over the dish and then it comes together with a topping of corn flake crumbs and butter. Again, real butter (versus low fat margarine) makes a huge difference as far as flavor goes. Usually I start pre-heating the oven before I start assembling, but today I was strictly thinking ahead for tomorrow night's dinner since I never have time to make dinner on Wednesdays. This way all Jim has to do is pop the thing into the oven and bake it off. He likes his mac n' cheese with applesauce, which is very odd to me, but I've gotten used to it. This is another one of those cultural differences, since I've never eaten applesauce with dinner and didn't know people did so until I started dating Jim.
That isn't to say that he didn't want Mexican, because we ended up going to La Cabanita. We've affectionately dubbed the restaurant Cheap Mexican because it used to be in the Napa Solano Express book, which meant that on top of it being a hole in the wall place with dirt cheap prices, it was buy one get one free. It's an added bonus that the food is actually really good.
Jim got a super chicken burrito without the sour cream and we split the nachos. I really like the guacamole, which is mixed with tomatoes and slightly chunky. Yum-o! The beans are what makes the nachos for me--they're amazing. They're probably terrible healthwise, but they're super creamy and flavorful. Jim didn't agree with me, but it seemed to me that his burrito was extra big today. He managed to not only eat the enormous thing but also devour most of the nachos.
Back to the mac n' cheese, it's his mom's recipe. Over the years, I've tried unsuccessfully to get him to try other mac n' cheese recipes, but he always wants to go back to the original. It was the first (and I believe only) thing Jim's cooked for me. Well, he does make a mean fried egg sandwich. Does that count? Anyway, I've made it so many times that I could do it in my sleep. And I've even got the timing down to a science, too. I immediately fill the pasta pot with water and set it to boil. While waiting for the water to heat up, I start grating the cheddar cheese. I finish grating right around the time the macaroni is ready to go into the water. Because the body of the dish consists only of mac, cheese, and milk, I find it important to salt the water beforehand. I know I'm always supposed to salt the pasta water, but I try to avoid it because it's not the healthiest to do. But in this case, I make an exception because I think it makes a noticeable difference. While the pasta is boiling (7 minutes--just under al dente), I prep the baking dish and cut up the butter, which tops the dish. Putting the dish together is super simple. All it is is a layer of pasta topped with cheese and then repeated. Milk gets poured over the dish and then it comes together with a topping of corn flake crumbs and butter. Again, real butter (versus low fat margarine) makes a huge difference as far as flavor goes. Usually I start pre-heating the oven before I start assembling, but today I was strictly thinking ahead for tomorrow night's dinner since I never have time to make dinner on Wednesdays. This way all Jim has to do is pop the thing into the oven and bake it off. He likes his mac n' cheese with applesauce, which is very odd to me, but I've gotten used to it. This is another one of those cultural differences, since I've never eaten applesauce with dinner and didn't know people did so until I started dating Jim.
Monday, January 21, 2008
No double-dipping?!
Thanks to it being MLK Jr. Day, I got to spend most of it with Jim. Since his sister J is moving back to Tennessee in a couple of weeks, I invited her to come along for our adventure. She seemed a little appalled at our schedule and ended up not participating in any of it. I guess we do have faster paced lives than most, but it seems normal to me. We were certainly busy all day, but it's not like we rushed anything. We started with an 11:30 matinee of I Am Legend, and I'm not sure how I felt about the movie. The problem was that I went into it basically blind and wasn't sure what to expect. I knew it starred Will Smith, his daughter Willow had a part, there was a dog in it, and he was one of the last people on earth. I will say that I hated it when the dog died and that the ending took me by surprise.
Anyway, we headed to the climbing gym afterwards, which was only a couple of miles up the way. We haven't gone in months and were definitely a bit rusty. At least our memories aren't too terrible, since we got through the belaying test rather handily, albeit not perfectly. Jim called his sister between the movie theater and the gym, but she never answered, so it was just the two of us again. There were what seemed to be a million little kids running around. I later found out that they were there to get their cub scout badge for climbing and that there were actually only 20 of them. Climbing is probably a good fit for me, not because I have any natural talent for it, but because it suits my personality. Jim commented that I was being a stubborn Scorpio when I wouldn't quit a climb that was, admittedly, way out of my ability range. For the record, I did manage to get to the top with several rests and a couple of cheats. And while the piano dropped immediately thereafter, I have no regrets. We ran into a guy we used to swim Masters with. I mistook his daughter for the older one. Part of me hates running into the little swimmer kids, because it just ages me so much. I mean, the last time I saw her, she was maybe 9 or 10 and now she's got to be at least 16. She's clearly still swimming, as evidenced by her incredibly ripped shoulders.
Climbing is one of the few activities Jim and I do that we're about the same level. Usually he just blows me out of the water, so it's definitely a nice change of pace. In this case, we both had about enough by 4 pm, which worked out perfectly since we had 5 pm reservations courtesy of Open Table for Giardino's in Lafayette. The restaurant also happened to be in the Entertainment Book, and at the time, I thought we'd be getting a super good deal, since the 5:00 reservation was a 1000 point one.
We finished getting ready for dinner and arrived at the restaurant at 4:30. Jim was starving, and there was a Jack in the Box across the street, so guess where we went to warm up . . . two tacos for 99 cents and a large iced tea later and Jim was a happy camper. Jack in the Box is anything but vegetarian friendly, so I rarely ever go. The last time I was there, we were driving to Yosemite to hike Half Dome and you can always hold the meat on a breakfast sandwich. So I was more than a little curious to check out the tacos, which ended up being disgustingly greasy puddles of taco-shaped things.
Yep, I insisted that Jim blot when I checked out those suckers. Even so, I could see Jim's arteries hardening with every bite.
We walked back across the street and were the first ones in the restaurant. Our server Andres was actually Italian and super nice. Since we were the only ones in the place until after 6, it was some quiet, private time for us to relax and enjoy dinner, a huge deviation from the past weekend's restaurants. Jim ordered the frito misto for an appetizer, which was fried zucchini, calamari, and artichokes. Unfortunately they weren't segregated, so I only got to try a few around the edges, but they tasted pretty good to me. Jim actually preferred the fake version at Hungry Hunter. I saw Giada make calamari on her show, so I'm assuming that her version was more on the authentic side. Giardino's looked just like hers.
Our server also brought out some bread for us to snack on. This was the first time I've ever gotten toasted ciabatta at a restaurant, and this came drizzled in EVOO, which was so light and crispy--I absolutely loved it and ate 4 1/2 pieces! The sun dried tomato dip it came with was the perfect accompaniment.
For our entrees, Jim got the pumpkin ravioli, which came in a brown butter sage sauce. As per usual, it was excellent. I don't know if it's the butter or what, but every time we've had pumpkin or butternut squash ravioli out, it's been amazing. Not that I'm particularly eager to try my hand at fresh pasta, but we may have to do it ourselves someday. So as to not give you the impression that I'm anywhere near converting Jim to becoming a vegetarian, he asked for a side of prawns with his dinner.
I selected the Melanzana, which was basically eggplant parmesan, except this version wasn't breaded and deep fried before baked. It was very, very good. Even Jim liked it, which says a lot. The waiter switched our plates, so Jim asked for parmesan cheese on my dish. I honestly think he would have eaten it without noticing, had I not said anything.
After the tacos, calamari, ravioli, and prawns, Jim was actually kind of full. He probably would have passed on dessert, but they had a mixed gelato selection that I wanted to try (pistachio, spumoni, and vanilla). I'm not sure which was spumoni and which was pistachio, but I loved the green flavor. I always thought spumoni was green too, but the third flavor was brown and had almonds in it, so I was very confused. I didn't exactly dig the brown flavor, but Jim thought it was okay. It came out in a martini glass, and for dessert portions, it was nice and small, which was perfect, since my sweet tooth caps out pretty quickly.
We learned too late that we couldn't do both the Entertainment Card and Open Table, so we ended up just going with Open Table instead. Our server apologized profusely and offered us a free dessert our next time around. And there will definitely be a next time, because I really liked the place. In some ways, it reminded me of Villa Romano in Napa, which is one of our local loves. Besides, we still have the Entertainment Card to use.
On a high note, I think I've finally perfected adding photos to these entries. Nice!
Anyway, we headed to the climbing gym afterwards, which was only a couple of miles up the way. We haven't gone in months and were definitely a bit rusty. At least our memories aren't too terrible, since we got through the belaying test rather handily, albeit not perfectly. Jim called his sister between the movie theater and the gym, but she never answered, so it was just the two of us again. There were what seemed to be a million little kids running around. I later found out that they were there to get their cub scout badge for climbing and that there were actually only 20 of them. Climbing is probably a good fit for me, not because I have any natural talent for it, but because it suits my personality. Jim commented that I was being a stubborn Scorpio when I wouldn't quit a climb that was, admittedly, way out of my ability range. For the record, I did manage to get to the top with several rests and a couple of cheats. And while the piano dropped immediately thereafter, I have no regrets. We ran into a guy we used to swim Masters with. I mistook his daughter for the older one. Part of me hates running into the little swimmer kids, because it just ages me so much. I mean, the last time I saw her, she was maybe 9 or 10 and now she's got to be at least 16. She's clearly still swimming, as evidenced by her incredibly ripped shoulders.
Climbing is one of the few activities Jim and I do that we're about the same level. Usually he just blows me out of the water, so it's definitely a nice change of pace. In this case, we both had about enough by 4 pm, which worked out perfectly since we had 5 pm reservations courtesy of Open Table for Giardino's in Lafayette. The restaurant also happened to be in the Entertainment Book, and at the time, I thought we'd be getting a super good deal, since the 5:00 reservation was a 1000 point one.
We finished getting ready for dinner and arrived at the restaurant at 4:30. Jim was starving, and there was a Jack in the Box across the street, so guess where we went to warm up . . . two tacos for 99 cents and a large iced tea later and Jim was a happy camper. Jack in the Box is anything but vegetarian friendly, so I rarely ever go. The last time I was there, we were driving to Yosemite to hike Half Dome and you can always hold the meat on a breakfast sandwich. So I was more than a little curious to check out the tacos, which ended up being disgustingly greasy puddles of taco-shaped things.
Yep, I insisted that Jim blot when I checked out those suckers. Even so, I could see Jim's arteries hardening with every bite.
We walked back across the street and were the first ones in the restaurant. Our server Andres was actually Italian and super nice. Since we were the only ones in the place until after 6, it was some quiet, private time for us to relax and enjoy dinner, a huge deviation from the past weekend's restaurants. Jim ordered the frito misto for an appetizer, which was fried zucchini, calamari, and artichokes. Unfortunately they weren't segregated, so I only got to try a few around the edges, but they tasted pretty good to me. Jim actually preferred the fake version at Hungry Hunter. I saw Giada make calamari on her show, so I'm assuming that her version was more on the authentic side. Giardino's looked just like hers.
Our server also brought out some bread for us to snack on. This was the first time I've ever gotten toasted ciabatta at a restaurant, and this came drizzled in EVOO, which was so light and crispy--I absolutely loved it and ate 4 1/2 pieces! The sun dried tomato dip it came with was the perfect accompaniment.
For our entrees, Jim got the pumpkin ravioli, which came in a brown butter sage sauce. As per usual, it was excellent. I don't know if it's the butter or what, but every time we've had pumpkin or butternut squash ravioli out, it's been amazing. Not that I'm particularly eager to try my hand at fresh pasta, but we may have to do it ourselves someday. So as to not give you the impression that I'm anywhere near converting Jim to becoming a vegetarian, he asked for a side of prawns with his dinner.
I selected the Melanzana, which was basically eggplant parmesan, except this version wasn't breaded and deep fried before baked. It was very, very good. Even Jim liked it, which says a lot. The waiter switched our plates, so Jim asked for parmesan cheese on my dish. I honestly think he would have eaten it without noticing, had I not said anything.
After the tacos, calamari, ravioli, and prawns, Jim was actually kind of full. He probably would have passed on dessert, but they had a mixed gelato selection that I wanted to try (pistachio, spumoni, and vanilla). I'm not sure which was spumoni and which was pistachio, but I loved the green flavor. I always thought spumoni was green too, but the third flavor was brown and had almonds in it, so I was very confused. I didn't exactly dig the brown flavor, but Jim thought it was okay. It came out in a martini glass, and for dessert portions, it was nice and small, which was perfect, since my sweet tooth caps out pretty quickly.
We learned too late that we couldn't do both the Entertainment Card and Open Table, so we ended up just going with Open Table instead. Our server apologized profusely and offered us a free dessert our next time around. And there will definitely be a next time, because I really liked the place. In some ways, it reminded me of Villa Romano in Napa, which is one of our local loves. Besides, we still have the Entertainment Card to use.
On a high note, I think I've finally perfected adding photos to these entries. Nice!
Sunday, January 20, 2008
Still working on bribery
I made my "go-to" casserole tonight, meaning the one I can do in my sleep. For such a simple recipe, I really do love it. So to me, that's the ideal quickie dinner to make--one that's easy, tasty, and already mastered. I "invented" it, but it's so simple and relies on convenience items that I'm a bit loathe to actually consider it a recipe I created. Frozen hash browns (the southwestern style ones), diced canned imitation chicken, cream of mushroom soup, sour cream, diced onion, cheese, and sliced fresh mushrooms tossed together, baked, and voila! It's a healthier twist on the calorie-laden and coma-inducing tater tot casserole. And it really is, especially if you use low-fat mushroom soup, reduced fat cheese, and fat free sour cream.
I probably make the dish once every six to eight weeks. I try to save it for when I'm in a hurry (like tonight) or not feeling up to cooking. The reason I was in a hurry tonight was to get to salsa dancing. I haven't gone in ages, and I was forgetting what little I've learned in the two other sessions I took. Jim was supposed to come with me, but he ended up sitting in the car listening to the Packers/Giants game. It's not like we actually dance together anyway, so it didn't really bother me. He was happier, we got to go out to eat afterwards, and I didn't have to drive there and back by myself. Since Jim wasn't with me, I attempted to bumble my way through the intermediate class after the beginner class ended, bumbling being the key word. I know I probably drive my partners crazy, but I really do learn a lot more struggling. While I am by no means too advanced for the beginner class, it's nice to learn more than the basic two steps. I was glad that I didn't get hopelessly lost until the very end. But I really am hooked on learning salsa.
Cocina Poblana is located less than a mile from the dance studio, and once again it was GPS to the rescue! It's in a residential area, slightly farther away from the freeway than an ideal restaurant location. But inside awaiting a very charming Mexican restaurant that was about as upscale as Mexican gets. There were actually cloth tablecloths and our water glasses were wine glasses. The menu wasn't laminated, and our chips were served in a fancy tray with an avocado-based salsa and a smoky chipotle red salsa.
The menu was a little more gourmet than the usual burrito/nachos/fajitas deal, but we still opted for the basics: Jim got a chicken burrito, and I got black bean nachos. The restaurant was set up in a way so as to allow us to watch our food being made. Unfortunately, we were too far away to say anything when the cook started flinging liberal amounts of sour cream with a spatula onto our nachos. While it made for a beautiful presentation, it rendered the nachos inedible from Jim's perspective. I attacked them with a fork right away and managed to rescue most of them, putting the sour cream in a globby pile on a separate plate.
The guacamole was light and not too avocado-y, which meant that Jim was okay with it. They also came with pico de gallo, jalapenos, black beans, and only a light amount of cheese, which made them perfect for me. The only complaint I had was that they used Costco-esque tortilla chips. I was quite disappointed that they weren't homemade, because it really did take away from the overall taste of the nachos.
I was hoping to find an amazing restaurant nearby so that Jim would be tempted to go to salsa with me more often. I don't think this did the trick, but I thought it was a really good affordable place, nevertheless. Plus we got 1000 points for Open Table.
I probably make the dish once every six to eight weeks. I try to save it for when I'm in a hurry (like tonight) or not feeling up to cooking. The reason I was in a hurry tonight was to get to salsa dancing. I haven't gone in ages, and I was forgetting what little I've learned in the two other sessions I took. Jim was supposed to come with me, but he ended up sitting in the car listening to the Packers/Giants game. It's not like we actually dance together anyway, so it didn't really bother me. He was happier, we got to go out to eat afterwards, and I didn't have to drive there and back by myself. Since Jim wasn't with me, I attempted to bumble my way through the intermediate class after the beginner class ended, bumbling being the key word. I know I probably drive my partners crazy, but I really do learn a lot more struggling. While I am by no means too advanced for the beginner class, it's nice to learn more than the basic two steps. I was glad that I didn't get hopelessly lost until the very end. But I really am hooked on learning salsa.
Cocina Poblana is located less than a mile from the dance studio, and once again it was GPS to the rescue! It's in a residential area, slightly farther away from the freeway than an ideal restaurant location. But inside awaiting a very charming Mexican restaurant that was about as upscale as Mexican gets. There were actually cloth tablecloths and our water glasses were wine glasses. The menu wasn't laminated, and our chips were served in a fancy tray with an avocado-based salsa and a smoky chipotle red salsa.
The menu was a little more gourmet than the usual burrito/nachos/fajitas deal, but we still opted for the basics: Jim got a chicken burrito, and I got black bean nachos. The restaurant was set up in a way so as to allow us to watch our food being made. Unfortunately, we were too far away to say anything when the cook started flinging liberal amounts of sour cream with a spatula onto our nachos. While it made for a beautiful presentation, it rendered the nachos inedible from Jim's perspective. I attacked them with a fork right away and managed to rescue most of them, putting the sour cream in a globby pile on a separate plate.
The guacamole was light and not too avocado-y, which meant that Jim was okay with it. They also came with pico de gallo, jalapenos, black beans, and only a light amount of cheese, which made them perfect for me. The only complaint I had was that they used Costco-esque tortilla chips. I was quite disappointed that they weren't homemade, because it really did take away from the overall taste of the nachos.
I was hoping to find an amazing restaurant nearby so that Jim would be tempted to go to salsa with me more often. I don't think this did the trick, but I thought it was a really good affordable place, nevertheless. Plus we got 1000 points for Open Table.
Saturday, January 19, 2008
I see dead people
Today's adventure was The Tech Museum in San Jose, where they are currently featuring Body Worlds 2 & The Three Pound Gem (aka the brain). Thanks to our nifty GPS, we managed to get there in one piece with no wrong directions. As we get more used to the device, the more user friendly and addicting it becomes. Although we had the wrong voucher, the person at the desk was nice enough to give us the student price on the tickets, so we saved a few dollars. The exhibit was truly amazing. I was dreading going, since I've never been able to stomach dead things. It is, in fact, the very reason why I didn't go into the family business of medicine. I remember as a young child telling my dad I wasn't going to be a doctor because I did NOT want to dissect cadavers. At the time, he tried to explain that by the time I got to med school, all dissections would be computerized. Well, that still hasn't happened, and if I need to, I'll still fall back on that as my excuse as to why I ended up in law school instead. Anyway, I was absolutely fascinated by the entire exhibit, and the gross-out factor was truly minimal, with the exception of a few of the bodies towards the end. The bodies really didn't look much like dead people, so it seemed more clinical and scientific than anything else. It was only when they took on recognizable human characteristics (hair, for example), that my stomach turned over.
On our way to San Jose, we got take out from Panera in Concord. I happen to love Panera. That is another one of those rare M & R dining suggestions that Jim and I actually appreciated. In fact, it may be the only other one besides Tomatina's. I always get the same thing when I go there--a half Mediterranean Veggie sandwich and half Greek salad. The sandwich is on tomato basil bread with cilantro hummus, tomatoes, feta, red onion, cucumber, and (what makes the sandwich for me) piquant peppers. The salad is your typical Greek salad, except I hold the olives and get the Greek dressing on the side. What I love most about Panera is the bread. I don't think there's anything of the baked variety that I've tried there that I don't love. Plus, while you're waiting for your food, you get to look at all of the delicious baked goods and drool. Oh, and watching the bagel slicer in action? For the record, I do realize that I'm very easily amused, but you've got to enjoy the little things in life, right? Jim got a Chicken Pomodoro panini. It actually was a pretty good sandwich for him to eat on the road because the melted cheese held everything together. My side was a whole grain baguette and Jim got chips. Jim ate most of my baguette and I tried a couple of his chips. I don't really like the chips since they're greasy without the flavor you'd expect with all of the fat like with Hawaiian chips.
After 5 1/5 hours inside the museum, we were both rather famished, Jim especially, but our reservations weren't until 8:45 pm. Since we finished the Bodies sometime around 7:00, we had some time to kill. Outside of the Bodies exhibit were health tests. I discovered that I have 20% body fat, which I was a little devastated to discover. Guess it's time to head back to the gym. We took our blood pressures on two different machines. One said I my systolic (I think that's the one) 122, another 92. Who knows. I am also 5'4" and somewhere between 105 and 107 pounds, depending on the machine. My scale at home says I'm 98, but I know that's definitely not right. Jim swears up and down that I've gained weight, but I've been the same for months now and haven't gained any weight in over a year. I really thought my body fat percentage would be lower, but I am 20% fat. Ick.
So I drowned my sorrows in food at The Village California Bistro and Wine Bar, a lovely restaurant located right on Santana Row. It was a good meal, although nothing particularly memorable. It's one of those places that we enjoyed, but have no desire to come back and try again. Since Jim's been on a big seafood kick lately, what attracted me to the place when I made reservations on Open Table was the lobster fritters appetizer. Unfortunately, Jim wasn't overwhelmed with them. He didn't dislike them, but he expected lobster to be featured in them, instead of just their essence. Or something like that. We shared a Red Raspberry Fresh Fruit Svedka Vodka Infusion. I loved the vibrant red color--so pretty!
I got an organic greens salad, which tasted like salad. The balsamic vinaigrette was thicker and more garlick-y than the typical, but it wasn't anything particularly exciting either. My spinach and mushroom lasagna was pretty good, though. They broiled the top, which is just the way I like it. I could definitely taste the difference with fresh spinach, as opposed to frozen, and the crimini mushrooms were really good. I'm a little curious as to how the dish managed not to be liquid-y with all of the vegetables. I know if I had made it at home that it'd be sopping.
Anyway, Jim got the sole, which came with spinach, mashed potatoes, and a lemon caper sauce. He liked his dish. I liked that it was pretty. I will say that the bread there was really, really good. It was basic sourdough baguette, but they toasted it up so that it was crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside--exactly how we like it best.
For dessert we got the white chocolate creme brulee. As far as creme brulee goes, I don't think it's possible to make it taste bad, but as compared to all of the other creme brulees we've eaten over the years, this one was strictly average at best. The white chocolate flavor was extremely mild, and if the menu hadn't said that was the flavor, Jim said he wouldn't have been able to detect it. I tasted only the slightest hint of it, and couldn't tell at times. It was certainly nothing spectacular to look at, and I would have preferred the top a little less burnt. Jim ordered an iced tea, which ended up coming in a bottle. But it was really, really good--none of that Nestea or Lipton crap.
Anyway, the best part of the restaurant was the overall ambiance. I absolutely loved the interior. We were seated in a two person table, but it was set up like a booth and completely private with etched glass between us and the couple on our right. And for as bustling as the place was, it was also relatively quiet. We had a full view of the bar, which happened to be rather extensive and with a gorgeous wine shelves.
I hope I'm getting a little better about blogging. It was admittedly a little difficult to write about food at first, but I think I'm getting the hang of it. And I'm going to start trying to take pictures, too. Should make things a bit more interesting.
On our way to San Jose, we got take out from Panera in Concord. I happen to love Panera. That is another one of those rare M & R dining suggestions that Jim and I actually appreciated. In fact, it may be the only other one besides Tomatina's. I always get the same thing when I go there--a half Mediterranean Veggie sandwich and half Greek salad. The sandwich is on tomato basil bread with cilantro hummus, tomatoes, feta, red onion, cucumber, and (what makes the sandwich for me) piquant peppers. The salad is your typical Greek salad, except I hold the olives and get the Greek dressing on the side. What I love most about Panera is the bread. I don't think there's anything of the baked variety that I've tried there that I don't love. Plus, while you're waiting for your food, you get to look at all of the delicious baked goods and drool. Oh, and watching the bagel slicer in action? For the record, I do realize that I'm very easily amused, but you've got to enjoy the little things in life, right? Jim got a Chicken Pomodoro panini. It actually was a pretty good sandwich for him to eat on the road because the melted cheese held everything together. My side was a whole grain baguette and Jim got chips. Jim ate most of my baguette and I tried a couple of his chips. I don't really like the chips since they're greasy without the flavor you'd expect with all of the fat like with Hawaiian chips.
After 5 1/5 hours inside the museum, we were both rather famished, Jim especially, but our reservations weren't until 8:45 pm. Since we finished the Bodies sometime around 7:00, we had some time to kill. Outside of the Bodies exhibit were health tests. I discovered that I have 20% body fat, which I was a little devastated to discover. Guess it's time to head back to the gym. We took our blood pressures on two different machines. One said I my systolic (I think that's the one) 122, another 92. Who knows. I am also 5'4" and somewhere between 105 and 107 pounds, depending on the machine. My scale at home says I'm 98, but I know that's definitely not right. Jim swears up and down that I've gained weight, but I've been the same for months now and haven't gained any weight in over a year. I really thought my body fat percentage would be lower, but I am 20% fat. Ick.
So I drowned my sorrows in food at The Village California Bistro and Wine Bar, a lovely restaurant located right on Santana Row. It was a good meal, although nothing particularly memorable. It's one of those places that we enjoyed, but have no desire to come back and try again. Since Jim's been on a big seafood kick lately, what attracted me to the place when I made reservations on Open Table was the lobster fritters appetizer. Unfortunately, Jim wasn't overwhelmed with them. He didn't dislike them, but he expected lobster to be featured in them, instead of just their essence. Or something like that. We shared a Red Raspberry Fresh Fruit Svedka Vodka Infusion. I loved the vibrant red color--so pretty!
I got an organic greens salad, which tasted like salad. The balsamic vinaigrette was thicker and more garlick-y than the typical, but it wasn't anything particularly exciting either. My spinach and mushroom lasagna was pretty good, though. They broiled the top, which is just the way I like it. I could definitely taste the difference with fresh spinach, as opposed to frozen, and the crimini mushrooms were really good. I'm a little curious as to how the dish managed not to be liquid-y with all of the vegetables. I know if I had made it at home that it'd be sopping.
Anyway, Jim got the sole, which came with spinach, mashed potatoes, and a lemon caper sauce. He liked his dish. I liked that it was pretty. I will say that the bread there was really, really good. It was basic sourdough baguette, but they toasted it up so that it was crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside--exactly how we like it best.
For dessert we got the white chocolate creme brulee. As far as creme brulee goes, I don't think it's possible to make it taste bad, but as compared to all of the other creme brulees we've eaten over the years, this one was strictly average at best. The white chocolate flavor was extremely mild, and if the menu hadn't said that was the flavor, Jim said he wouldn't have been able to detect it. I tasted only the slightest hint of it, and couldn't tell at times. It was certainly nothing spectacular to look at, and I would have preferred the top a little less burnt. Jim ordered an iced tea, which ended up coming in a bottle. But it was really, really good--none of that Nestea or Lipton crap.
Anyway, the best part of the restaurant was the overall ambiance. I absolutely loved the interior. We were seated in a two person table, but it was set up like a booth and completely private with etched glass between us and the couple on our right. And for as bustling as the place was, it was also relatively quiet. We had a full view of the bar, which happened to be rather extensive and with a gorgeous wine shelves.
I hope I'm getting a little better about blogging. It was admittedly a little difficult to write about food at first, but I think I'm getting the hang of it. And I'm going to start trying to take pictures, too. Should make things a bit more interesting.
Friday, January 18, 2008
A Vietnamese restaurant success (finally!)
I was super excited for dinner tonight because a) it was a trip to San Francisco and b) it was Le Colonial, a Vietnamese restaurant. Thanks to my latest obsession, Open Table, I was able to get in reservations for 8:30 pm, which meant that there was time to shop around Union Square! We parked the car at the restaurant and attempted to walk to Union Square, but we had quite a difficult time trying to get there. Let's just say Jim and I have very different philosophies when it comes to directions. I'm all about relying on my visual memory or asking someone for directions. Jim would rather use GPS. Yeah, it makes for some really nice fodder for a fight. Somehow we managed not to kill each other and make it to Union Square. We hit up Anthropologie, and they were having 40% off of sale home furnishings. Very exciting, although all I found was a candle. Actually, to be honest, I found a pair of plates that I loved, but one was cracked, and there's no real point in buying a single plate with no matches. I also managed to find a couple of tops.
Anyway, back to the topic at hand (I tend to get very distracted when describing my acquisitions), the restaurant is in an alley, hidden off the main street. It's absolutely adorable and much larger than it appears from the outside. The place is one of those that you'd probably just walk by and not look twice at, but as soon as you go inside, you're completely floored. A diamond in the rough, if you will. They had an inner courtyard with a few diners before entering the main restaurant, which was absolutely packed for the time. Every table was full and the place was hopping. The couple in front of us had a "misplaced" reservation, which I found odd, especially since as soon as Jim talked to the hostess, we were seated. Literally no wait. We were smack dab in the middle of couples country--the back perimeter of the restaurant was set up for booths of two, so we sat in between two other couples.
I had previously cheated and checked out the menu, so I already knew pretty much what I wanted. I had to try the cha gio (Vietnamese egg rolls) and the spring rolls (cold, wrapped in rice paper). Jim doesn't care for much that's cold or raw, but even he admitted they were decent. Of course, of the eight pieces, he ate one and I had the rest. To make up for that, I let him eat 4 of the 6 cha gio. Both were so freaking good! The spring rolls had tofu and portobello mushrooms in it with the usual mint and other veggies. The peanut dipping sauce was the perfect complement. In fact, Jim approved of the sauce, which is extremely rare, since he generally thinks peanuts don't belong with any other food (excluding Snickers). I may be slightly biased, since I don't think there's a Vietnamese spring roll I've ever eaten that I didn't love. I could seriously eat those things by the truckload. Plus I consider them absolutely guilt-free food. The cha gio were the traditional tiny size, about two inches long. It's funny, because at home I'll tend to skip the usual Vietnamese pairings of lettuce, mint, cilantro, basil, etc., but here, I'll load 'em up. It's partly because the lettuce cuts through the grease, and at home, I have the liberty of blotting and re-blotting. The hot egg rolls came with a ponzu dipping sauce, which was amazing. Secretly, I actually found them both to be better than The Slanted Door's versions.
Our appetizers came out very quickly, but there was quite a lag between that and Jim's lobster soup. The waiter brought out the bowl and then poured the soup out of a coffee pot. The smell hit me immediately, and I wanted to gag. It was really, really strong, even with me being all congested. However, Jim couldn't even wait for the stuff to cool down before inhaling it. It had a coconut milk base and lemongrass accents.
After the soup, there was yet another lag. This isn't to say that we were ignored during this time. The service was pretty much excellent, especially if you consider how busy the place was. But I was so excited to see our main courses that the wait seemed like forever. Jim ordered (surprise, surprise) the filet mignon. It came tossed in a garlic soy sauce, Yukon gold potato chips, and watercress. I was rather impressed at the valiant effort Jim made at eating the hated salad greens. He complained that he felt like a rabbit afterwards and was then surprised at the large remaining pile. Needless to say, every piece of steak was gone. I got a vegetarian clay pot, which turned out to be fried rice with tofu. It was very good, but I was a little disappointed--I was hoping for something more exotic. Oh well. It was still delicious. And we also got an order of green beans, which were stir fried with garlic soy sauce and had shiitake mushrooms and sliced almonds. I was surprised at how much Jim liked the green beans since they were very Asian-style prepared, and he historically hasn't cared for them that way. Jim comes from a home where vegetables come out of a can. In fact, my first (and only) experiences with the canned variety of vegetables are when I eat dinner at his parents' house. The first time I tried them, I thought I was going to yak. First of all, the green beans were so pale, they could have passed for lima beans. Then the texture was mushy, like what I would imagine the consistency of baby food to be. And the taste? Horrible! Salty but bland, and completely unrecognizable. The label said green beans, so I guess I have to take the can at its word. I've tried them in dreadful green bean casseroles, which helps improve the going down, but let me just say for the record that it's torture to eat the stuff. I really don't get the canned vegetable phenomena. I mean, green bean casserole tastes five million times better with frozen ones. It's not like frozen ones are harder to find or more expensive.
But I digress. Le Colonial's green beans were fresh and crisp, exactly the type of vegetable I was raised on and love. Of course, these were ten thousand times saltier and drenched in sauce, but the texture was the same. And they were absolutely to die for.
We selected cinnamon apple beignets for dessert, which are cinnamon battered deep-fried slices of apple. It came a la mode with Tahitian vanilla ice cream, caramel sauce, coconut, and walnuts. I could have done without the coconut and Jim was cool with the walnuts, but we both very much enjoyed the dessert (Jim more so than me). Since I'm not a big chocolate fan, we generally end up getting some sort of apple dessert, since Jim loves apple too. For me, other than creme brulee, you can't get better than apple something with vanilla ice cream for dessert.
I really want to come back here. There are several other dishes I'd like to try. Maybe next month we'll come back . . .
Anyway, back to the topic at hand (I tend to get very distracted when describing my acquisitions), the restaurant is in an alley, hidden off the main street. It's absolutely adorable and much larger than it appears from the outside. The place is one of those that you'd probably just walk by and not look twice at, but as soon as you go inside, you're completely floored. A diamond in the rough, if you will. They had an inner courtyard with a few diners before entering the main restaurant, which was absolutely packed for the time. Every table was full and the place was hopping. The couple in front of us had a "misplaced" reservation, which I found odd, especially since as soon as Jim talked to the hostess, we were seated. Literally no wait. We were smack dab in the middle of couples country--the back perimeter of the restaurant was set up for booths of two, so we sat in between two other couples.
I had previously cheated and checked out the menu, so I already knew pretty much what I wanted. I had to try the cha gio (Vietnamese egg rolls) and the spring rolls (cold, wrapped in rice paper). Jim doesn't care for much that's cold or raw, but even he admitted they were decent. Of course, of the eight pieces, he ate one and I had the rest. To make up for that, I let him eat 4 of the 6 cha gio. Both were so freaking good! The spring rolls had tofu and portobello mushrooms in it with the usual mint and other veggies. The peanut dipping sauce was the perfect complement. In fact, Jim approved of the sauce, which is extremely rare, since he generally thinks peanuts don't belong with any other food (excluding Snickers). I may be slightly biased, since I don't think there's a Vietnamese spring roll I've ever eaten that I didn't love. I could seriously eat those things by the truckload. Plus I consider them absolutely guilt-free food. The cha gio were the traditional tiny size, about two inches long. It's funny, because at home I'll tend to skip the usual Vietnamese pairings of lettuce, mint, cilantro, basil, etc., but here, I'll load 'em up. It's partly because the lettuce cuts through the grease, and at home, I have the liberty of blotting and re-blotting. The hot egg rolls came with a ponzu dipping sauce, which was amazing. Secretly, I actually found them both to be better than The Slanted Door's versions.
Our appetizers came out very quickly, but there was quite a lag between that and Jim's lobster soup. The waiter brought out the bowl and then poured the soup out of a coffee pot. The smell hit me immediately, and I wanted to gag. It was really, really strong, even with me being all congested. However, Jim couldn't even wait for the stuff to cool down before inhaling it. It had a coconut milk base and lemongrass accents.
After the soup, there was yet another lag. This isn't to say that we were ignored during this time. The service was pretty much excellent, especially if you consider how busy the place was. But I was so excited to see our main courses that the wait seemed like forever. Jim ordered (surprise, surprise) the filet mignon. It came tossed in a garlic soy sauce, Yukon gold potato chips, and watercress. I was rather impressed at the valiant effort Jim made at eating the hated salad greens. He complained that he felt like a rabbit afterwards and was then surprised at the large remaining pile. Needless to say, every piece of steak was gone. I got a vegetarian clay pot, which turned out to be fried rice with tofu. It was very good, but I was a little disappointed--I was hoping for something more exotic. Oh well. It was still delicious. And we also got an order of green beans, which were stir fried with garlic soy sauce and had shiitake mushrooms and sliced almonds. I was surprised at how much Jim liked the green beans since they were very Asian-style prepared, and he historically hasn't cared for them that way. Jim comes from a home where vegetables come out of a can. In fact, my first (and only) experiences with the canned variety of vegetables are when I eat dinner at his parents' house. The first time I tried them, I thought I was going to yak. First of all, the green beans were so pale, they could have passed for lima beans. Then the texture was mushy, like what I would imagine the consistency of baby food to be. And the taste? Horrible! Salty but bland, and completely unrecognizable. The label said green beans, so I guess I have to take the can at its word. I've tried them in dreadful green bean casseroles, which helps improve the going down, but let me just say for the record that it's torture to eat the stuff. I really don't get the canned vegetable phenomena. I mean, green bean casserole tastes five million times better with frozen ones. It's not like frozen ones are harder to find or more expensive.
But I digress. Le Colonial's green beans were fresh and crisp, exactly the type of vegetable I was raised on and love. Of course, these were ten thousand times saltier and drenched in sauce, but the texture was the same. And they were absolutely to die for.
We selected cinnamon apple beignets for dessert, which are cinnamon battered deep-fried slices of apple. It came a la mode with Tahitian vanilla ice cream, caramel sauce, coconut, and walnuts. I could have done without the coconut and Jim was cool with the walnuts, but we both very much enjoyed the dessert (Jim more so than me). Since I'm not a big chocolate fan, we generally end up getting some sort of apple dessert, since Jim loves apple too. For me, other than creme brulee, you can't get better than apple something with vanilla ice cream for dessert.
I really want to come back here. There are several other dishes I'd like to try. Maybe next month we'll come back . . .
Good food, bad company
Well, to celebrate it being Friday, I went to TGIF with L & L's M for lunch. L's M was by far the better company. L & I are Scorpios, and we really do get along like typical Scorps, meaning that although we get along fabulously most of the time and make great friends, we do have the tendency to occasionally butt heads. Okay, that was my spazz-tastic rant. Yes, to some extent, I believe in astrology. Not that horoscope crap--just the whole zodiac signs influence one's personality deal. That makes sense to me. So many external things influence your personality, so why can't the time of year you were born be one of them? Not that I'm going to live my life around it, but to me, it's interesting. Anyway, today was one of those head butting days. I hope I did a decent job of hiding my irritation, since L's M doesn't need to be in the middle of a tiff. Most of me wanting to reach across the table and smack him. Or at least give him a tongue lashing. But I resisted, mostly because I am beginning to adore L's M. So freaking nice.
Anyway, the food was much better than L was for company. I've never been to Friday's before, so it was interesting. Kind of like a step above Applebee's or Chili's. L's M got fried green beans, which were surprisingly good. I was shocked that I liked them, but I did. L got mozzarella sticks, which weren't so good. For the mains, L's M got mahi mahi, L got fish tacos, and I got garlic chicken primavera pasta without the chicken. It was surprisingly decent, although very strange. There was a sweetness to the sauce that was pretty unnatural, but grilled veggies make everything taste better. It was on their lowfat menu, which was good for me, since I am anticipating pigging out on dinner tonight at Le Colonial.
Anyway, the food was much better than L was for company. I've never been to Friday's before, so it was interesting. Kind of like a step above Applebee's or Chili's. L's M got fried green beans, which were surprisingly good. I was shocked that I liked them, but I did. L got mozzarella sticks, which weren't so good. For the mains, L's M got mahi mahi, L got fish tacos, and I got garlic chicken primavera pasta without the chicken. It was surprisingly decent, although very strange. There was a sweetness to the sauce that was pretty unnatural, but grilled veggies make everything taste better. It was on their lowfat menu, which was good for me, since I am anticipating pigging out on dinner tonight at Le Colonial.
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
You CAN microwave chickie!
Tuesday rolled around and Jim was (once again) unable to resist the call of Rubio's Taco Tuesday. I got home from work and was starting to cook his lunch, when he walked in the kitchen all droopy. "Aren't we going to Rubio's?" Yes, dear. It's just that you need some food to take with you to work, the boneless skinless chicken breasts in your fridge need to be cooked, and I found a recipe in Sara Moulton's book that I wanted to try.
I've already forgotten the name of the recipe, but it was John's recipe, Sara's brother-in-law. Very, very easy and quick, which made it the ideal meal to cook before going to Rubio's. Jim keeps his fridge so cold that the chickens were actually frozen to the point of not being able to separate them. I asked him (since of the two of us, he's the expert on dead animals) whether you could microwave raw meat. He didn't answer, so I took the initiative and did it anyway. Since he's still alive, nor have I gotten any calls from him hunched over a toilet, I'm assuming this one time was okay. So I gloved up and nuked the chickens for 30 seconds on each side. All the prep required was cutting them so they opened up like a book and stuffing them with fontina and proscuitto, two ingredients that were oddly on hand. Then they were floured and pan fried until golden brown on each side (approx. 3 minutes per side). Then they went into a baking dish and finished cooking at 350. As for the frying pan, the brown bits got deglazed with some Marsala wine and chicken broth and it turned into a pan sauce/gravy thing. Jim actually had some leftover chicken broth (the exact amount!) which also got used up. I was very, very happy with the recipe since it used up the Marsala, broth, proscuitto, fontina, and chicken. So from my perspective, it was a great recipe. Plus, Jim really liked it.
For the record, I am a huge marsala wine fan. According to Jim, drinking it is a disgusting experience, but cooking with it has worked so well. There's just something about it that lends so much freaking flavor to the dishes. The last time I used marsala, it was for an artichoke gratinata. I rather strongly dislike artichokes, but I could not stop eating the dish. They were so delicious with the marsala flavor. Oh, and with mushrooms? Divine.
Anyway, while the chickies finished cooking, we went to Rubio's. There actually wasn't a line, but that was also due to getting there at the right time. See, I have this theory that just after 6:30 it gets crazy. So as long as we arrive at 6:30 or before, we can get in and out with no problems. Jim ordered three fish tacos without the white sauce and nachos with the guac and sour cream on the side, plus the usual large drink. I think we were both a little disappointed with the nachos this time. They were a little cold and simply not up to par. There wasn't enough pico de gallo for me, personally. Jim's been getting 3 tacos instead of 2 lately. He says it's because he's been exercising.
When we got back to the house, the oven was beeping like crazy. We had set it for cooking time and it had gone off, but with Jim's oven, the beeping doesn't stop until you actually push a button. Jim got going with the cleanup of the cooking dishes while I packed his lunch, which was both a chicken breast and leftover lasagna. And he ate it all. Nice.
I've already forgotten the name of the recipe, but it was John's recipe, Sara's brother-in-law. Very, very easy and quick, which made it the ideal meal to cook before going to Rubio's. Jim keeps his fridge so cold that the chickens were actually frozen to the point of not being able to separate them. I asked him (since of the two of us, he's the expert on dead animals) whether you could microwave raw meat. He didn't answer, so I took the initiative and did it anyway. Since he's still alive, nor have I gotten any calls from him hunched over a toilet, I'm assuming this one time was okay. So I gloved up and nuked the chickens for 30 seconds on each side. All the prep required was cutting them so they opened up like a book and stuffing them with fontina and proscuitto, two ingredients that were oddly on hand. Then they were floured and pan fried until golden brown on each side (approx. 3 minutes per side). Then they went into a baking dish and finished cooking at 350. As for the frying pan, the brown bits got deglazed with some Marsala wine and chicken broth and it turned into a pan sauce/gravy thing. Jim actually had some leftover chicken broth (the exact amount!) which also got used up. I was very, very happy with the recipe since it used up the Marsala, broth, proscuitto, fontina, and chicken. So from my perspective, it was a great recipe. Plus, Jim really liked it.
For the record, I am a huge marsala wine fan. According to Jim, drinking it is a disgusting experience, but cooking with it has worked so well. There's just something about it that lends so much freaking flavor to the dishes. The last time I used marsala, it was for an artichoke gratinata. I rather strongly dislike artichokes, but I could not stop eating the dish. They were so delicious with the marsala flavor. Oh, and with mushrooms? Divine.
Anyway, while the chickies finished cooking, we went to Rubio's. There actually wasn't a line, but that was also due to getting there at the right time. See, I have this theory that just after 6:30 it gets crazy. So as long as we arrive at 6:30 or before, we can get in and out with no problems. Jim ordered three fish tacos without the white sauce and nachos with the guac and sour cream on the side, plus the usual large drink. I think we were both a little disappointed with the nachos this time. They were a little cold and simply not up to par. There wasn't enough pico de gallo for me, personally. Jim's been getting 3 tacos instead of 2 lately. He says it's because he's been exercising.
When we got back to the house, the oven was beeping like crazy. We had set it for cooking time and it had gone off, but with Jim's oven, the beeping doesn't stop until you actually push a button. Jim got going with the cleanup of the cooking dishes while I packed his lunch, which was both a chicken breast and leftover lasagna. And he ate it all. Nice.
Monday, January 14, 2008
Fast food heaven
Well, we made it all of two weeks in 2008 before succumbing to In-N-Out. That's right kids, despite how I look on the outside, I'm a fattie who loves her In-N-Out. Not surprisingly, Jim is the one who introduced me to the chain something like 8 years ago. The first time I had In-N-Out was in Napa. Actually, that was the first two times. It was before we were dating and back when we were coaching high school swimming together. By the second time, I was pretty much hooked. Of course, it didn't help that later on I went to UC Davis and had In-N-Out only a few miles away.
Looking back, I am so incredibly grateful that I have a high metabolism, because with all of the junk I used to eat, I really should have ballooned up to 150 pounds. Instead, in my first year of law school, my waist was smaller than it is now. Much broader shoulders back then, and probably an extra 10 pounds of muscle, but still. There really is nothing like a swimmer's appetite. I remember we used to get In-N-Out before swim practice and then go to Del Taco afterwards. The thought of doing that nowadays makes me want to puke. But 5+ years ago, my body could handle all of the extra calories and fat. I did start to get in trouble when I stopped swimming, but I've since revamped my eating habits and am A-okay these days.
Anyway, we got our usual. Jim gets a Double-Double meal with onions and ketchup and mustard instead of sauce, and I get a grilled cheese meal with onions and ketchup instead. We upsize his drink and I get a Neapolitan shake. Today's fries were nice and crispy. I'm sure we look like total nuts blotting them, but it cuts out so much fat and so many calories that I don't care. Plus it's a whole lot easier on my stomach. I know a lot of people don't like In-N-Out fries, and I'll admit they took a little getting used to, but I love them now. You just can't compare them to other fast food fries.
Looking back, I am so incredibly grateful that I have a high metabolism, because with all of the junk I used to eat, I really should have ballooned up to 150 pounds. Instead, in my first year of law school, my waist was smaller than it is now. Much broader shoulders back then, and probably an extra 10 pounds of muscle, but still. There really is nothing like a swimmer's appetite. I remember we used to get In-N-Out before swim practice and then go to Del Taco afterwards. The thought of doing that nowadays makes me want to puke. But 5+ years ago, my body could handle all of the extra calories and fat. I did start to get in trouble when I stopped swimming, but I've since revamped my eating habits and am A-okay these days.
Anyway, we got our usual. Jim gets a Double-Double meal with onions and ketchup and mustard instead of sauce, and I get a grilled cheese meal with onions and ketchup instead. We upsize his drink and I get a Neapolitan shake. Today's fries were nice and crispy. I'm sure we look like total nuts blotting them, but it cuts out so much fat and so many calories that I don't care. Plus it's a whole lot easier on my stomach. I know a lot of people don't like In-N-Out fries, and I'll admit they took a little getting used to, but I love them now. You just can't compare them to other fast food fries.
Sunday, January 13, 2008
Improv potential
On Sundays I get to cook vegetarian since it's for the fam. I attempted to adjust a Giada recipe, and the result wasn't half bad. I've actually made the original version several times for Jim, and he likes it. So instead of the original ground turkey, I used imitation ground beef. It comes dry and it's soy-based and super healthy. You soak it and it plumps right up and looks like the real stuff, with a slightly finer texture. Anyway, I was actually missing most of the ingredients, so I had to improvise. I didn't have any parsley, so that got left out. It really could have used it, but I knew that it'd be lacking something, if not in flavor, in color. I swapped out the Pecorino for goat cheese and a touch of mozzarella, which worked pretty nicely. I stuffed a couple of orange bell peppers and zucchini. I want to try portabello mushrooms, so I might pick some up from Costco tomorrow and throw the leftovers in there.
For whatever reason, I'm absolutely starving tonight. Oh yeah, I tried the baked goods Jim and I picked up at the French bakery yesterday in Berkeley. The lemon iced oatmeal cookie was really nice. It had a slightly crunchy texture and the overall flavor was really punched up by the lemon icing because the cookie itself wasn't very sweet. The croissant was pretty amazing. Again, not too sweet, but a really nice texture.
For whatever reason, I'm absolutely starving tonight. Oh yeah, I tried the baked goods Jim and I picked up at the French bakery yesterday in Berkeley. The lemon iced oatmeal cookie was really nice. It had a slightly crunchy texture and the overall flavor was really punched up by the lemon icing because the cookie itself wasn't very sweet. The croissant was pretty amazing. Again, not too sweet, but a really nice texture.
Saturday, January 12, 2008
Giada would have been proud
We spent the afternoon in Berkeley on Solano Avenue, which was absolutely fabulous. Except for the parking nightmare, I fell in love with the area. Jim has been raving about Zachary’s for several weeks now, so we finally carved out the time to go. He went a couple of times years and years ago. Anyway, it’s a Chicago-style pizza parlor. However, we didn’t have 40 minutes to wait for a deep-dish pizza, so we went with a couple of regular veggie slices, since they sell them during the day by the slice. Although I was a bit hard pressed to find the toppings, the pizza was amazing. The crust was very light and crisp, and not the least bit chewy. The bottom was liberally dusted with cornmeal, which added to the crunch. What I especially liked was that even though it was crispy, it didn’t tear up the roof of my mouth, which is pretty unusual for crunchy pizza. The sauce was very flavorful and had a slightly chunky texture that made it seem completely homemade instead of the whole processed pizza chain deal. I couldn’t believe how packed the place was at 2 pm. Even when we left after 2:30, people were still trickling in for lunch. I definitely want to come back for the deep-dish stuff.
Afterwards, we stumbled into an Italian market—I was in absolute heaven looking at everything. I finally saw all of the stuff that Giada talks about on Everyday Italian. I ended up buying some dried porcini mushrooms, a couple of tubes of tomato paste (the most exciting buy since I’ve been looking for that since I saw Giada and Ina use them), and some “bruschetta” ciabatta, which was basically half a loaf of ciabatta slathered with basil, garlic, and other such herbs. While we were in there, they offered us some samples. Jim tried a piece of salami and smoked proscuitto wrapped in a slice of Asiago. I got a lentil salad tossed with olive oil, basil, and other yummy things and the Asiago sans pig. Jim actually liked the proscuitto/cheese combo, which I consider pretty amazing, since he doesn’t like cold cheese.
I don’t know how this happened, but dinner was yet another crab feed! This time we were in Fairfield at the Civic Center supporting the Kiwanis club. JMC bought our tickets, and the other attorneys from his office were there, which was nice. I truly did not care to go, since I abhor the things, but it was for the greater good--schmoozing. He called Friday night asking me what we were doing, and since we had no real plans, I didn't have a valid excuse. I did say I was a vegetarian, and his response was, "I don't care what you eat! I didn't ask you that. I asked if you wanted to go to a crab feed." He really is a funny guy.
I had the usual—pasta, salad, and bread. The bread was cold and pretty gross. I was horrified to dig into my salad and see tiny shrimps floating around in there. I had requested a bowl of plain salad and added some of the dressed stuff being passed around, but the mass distributed stuff had shrimp tossed in it. It was not very appealing to say the least, and Jim was forced to dig through my salad and pick the buggers out. Jim was very happy to eat crab and watch the Patriots/Jaguars playoff game (go Pats!). I was not too pleased to see that the crabs were in huge chunks. It seemed to me that all they did was hack them in half, which was pretty gross. Luckily this place had higher ceilings and more space, so the smell didn’t really get to me. We had seats that gave us a view of the TV, so I had a nice distraction. The guy sitting across from me had crab guts all over himself, and since he decided not to wear his bib, well, you can guess how nasty he looked. I was absolutely thrilled to eat the pasta, which wasn’t overcooked and had homemade tomato sauce. It was really quite delicious.
Afterwards, Jim and MR had a guy’s night watching 28 Days Later. I was in the kitchen making lasagna, courtesy of Giada’s recipe from her first cookbook. It called for 15 noodles, which made an absolutely massive lasagna. I had made the béchamel sauce on Wednesday, which I was so proud of myself for doing. The last time I tried I used nonfat milk, and that did not work at all. The sauce was gummy and flavorless and sticky. This time I used whole milk and a touch of half and half (leftovers, yes) and it turned out fabulous. Anyway, I mixed the béchamel and jarred marinara (Classico) together for the sauce. It also called for frozen spinach, ground beef (I used 96% lean), ricotta, eggs, mozzarella, and parmesan. I assembled it all, somehow squeezing it into the recommended 9 x 13 dish. I really should have used an actual lasagna pan instead of a generic Le Creuset baking tray, but I don’t own a lasagna pan. Anyway, it will be baked off tomorrow, and I’m hoping it turns out. It was certainly a LOT more work making it a) in a large serving amount and b) with meat. I’ve always thought of lasagna as simple, quick, and easy, but it really wasn’t any of the above. It was my first time making it with meat, so that may have been the difference right there. Plus I’ve never made so much at once. Oh, and Giada layers it differently than I’ve always done. She put all of the ricotta on one layer topped with the spinach, then the beef, sauce and a bit of cheese for the second layer, and then sauce and cheese for the topping layer. I’m used to just dividing all of the filling stuff equally amongst the different layers. Who knows if it actually makes a difference. I’m looking forward to the reviews tomorrow. Jim’s younger sister is coming over for dinner, since their parents are out of town. I figure the ciabatta will go nicely, and even though Jim doesn’t eat salad, it might be nice to serve the lasagna with it anyway for his sister’s sake.
Afterwards, we stumbled into an Italian market—I was in absolute heaven looking at everything. I finally saw all of the stuff that Giada talks about on Everyday Italian. I ended up buying some dried porcini mushrooms, a couple of tubes of tomato paste (the most exciting buy since I’ve been looking for that since I saw Giada and Ina use them), and some “bruschetta” ciabatta, which was basically half a loaf of ciabatta slathered with basil, garlic, and other such herbs. While we were in there, they offered us some samples. Jim tried a piece of salami and smoked proscuitto wrapped in a slice of Asiago. I got a lentil salad tossed with olive oil, basil, and other yummy things and the Asiago sans pig. Jim actually liked the proscuitto/cheese combo, which I consider pretty amazing, since he doesn’t like cold cheese.
I don’t know how this happened, but dinner was yet another crab feed! This time we were in Fairfield at the Civic Center supporting the Kiwanis club. JMC bought our tickets, and the other attorneys from his office were there, which was nice. I truly did not care to go, since I abhor the things, but it was for the greater good--schmoozing. He called Friday night asking me what we were doing, and since we had no real plans, I didn't have a valid excuse. I did say I was a vegetarian, and his response was, "I don't care what you eat! I didn't ask you that. I asked if you wanted to go to a crab feed." He really is a funny guy.
I had the usual—pasta, salad, and bread. The bread was cold and pretty gross. I was horrified to dig into my salad and see tiny shrimps floating around in there. I had requested a bowl of plain salad and added some of the dressed stuff being passed around, but the mass distributed stuff had shrimp tossed in it. It was not very appealing to say the least, and Jim was forced to dig through my salad and pick the buggers out. Jim was very happy to eat crab and watch the Patriots/Jaguars playoff game (go Pats!). I was not too pleased to see that the crabs were in huge chunks. It seemed to me that all they did was hack them in half, which was pretty gross. Luckily this place had higher ceilings and more space, so the smell didn’t really get to me. We had seats that gave us a view of the TV, so I had a nice distraction. The guy sitting across from me had crab guts all over himself, and since he decided not to wear his bib, well, you can guess how nasty he looked. I was absolutely thrilled to eat the pasta, which wasn’t overcooked and had homemade tomato sauce. It was really quite delicious.
Afterwards, Jim and MR had a guy’s night watching 28 Days Later. I was in the kitchen making lasagna, courtesy of Giada’s recipe from her first cookbook. It called for 15 noodles, which made an absolutely massive lasagna. I had made the béchamel sauce on Wednesday, which I was so proud of myself for doing. The last time I tried I used nonfat milk, and that did not work at all. The sauce was gummy and flavorless and sticky. This time I used whole milk and a touch of half and half (leftovers, yes) and it turned out fabulous. Anyway, I mixed the béchamel and jarred marinara (Classico) together for the sauce. It also called for frozen spinach, ground beef (I used 96% lean), ricotta, eggs, mozzarella, and parmesan. I assembled it all, somehow squeezing it into the recommended 9 x 13 dish. I really should have used an actual lasagna pan instead of a generic Le Creuset baking tray, but I don’t own a lasagna pan. Anyway, it will be baked off tomorrow, and I’m hoping it turns out. It was certainly a LOT more work making it a) in a large serving amount and b) with meat. I’ve always thought of lasagna as simple, quick, and easy, but it really wasn’t any of the above. It was my first time making it with meat, so that may have been the difference right there. Plus I’ve never made so much at once. Oh, and Giada layers it differently than I’ve always done. She put all of the ricotta on one layer topped with the spinach, then the beef, sauce and a bit of cheese for the second layer, and then sauce and cheese for the topping layer. I’m used to just dividing all of the filling stuff equally amongst the different layers. Who knows if it actually makes a difference. I’m looking forward to the reviews tomorrow. Jim’s younger sister is coming over for dinner, since their parents are out of town. I figure the ciabatta will go nicely, and even though Jim doesn’t eat salad, it might be nice to serve the lasagna with it anyway for his sister’s sake.
Friday, January 11, 2008
A shot I can handle
I had an appointment in Benicia this afternoon, so I met up with M (of M & R), M’s brother K, and Jim for lunch at Schezuan house, a run of the mill scat cheap Chinese food place. I had a mixed veggie special with white rice and an egg roll. Jim ate my soup. Nothing left to say about that except the company was awesome. That’s what made the trip worthwhile. M (and R) have disappeared into domestic bliss, so we don’t see them too often. I have to enjoy what I get these days. However, R called me yesterday, and apparently she won some sort of special spa thing at Nordstrom and we are scheduled for a girl’s day on the 26th. Very, very exciting.
I booked us dinner reservations through Open Table earlier in the week for Va de Vi, a tapas restaurant in Walnut Creek. The restaurant was jam packed even at 8:30 pm. The place is tiny, so it seemed even more crowded. Noise level pretty high, but we were also seated right by the door, which may have affected it somewhat. Good thing the plates were small, because the table size was about that of a fast food restaurant table for two. Anyway, tapas really isn’t a good idea with Jim’s appetite, but I fell in love with them after we tried Hidden in Santa Monica, so I wanted another go around. Our waiter recommended that we start with two to three choices and then go from there. Naturally Jim ordered more.
We each started off with a shot of soup, Jim’s crab bisque at $4 and my chestnut butternut squash at $3. After the first taste, Jim wanted an entire bowl, and I wouldn’t have minded a cup of mine. I was shocked at how quickly they got the food out on the table. It was a little odd drinking soup from a shot glass; however, since this is probably the only shot I can handle, I went with it. Next up was the chile relleno. I have to admit that I am spoiled after trying Bobby Flay’s chile relleno at Mesa Grill in Las Vegas, so this one definitely came up short. It was stuffed with mushrooms and manchego cheese, which was very yummy, and the accompanying paprika cream sauce was also very good. The breading and deep frying were just ordinary though, and took away from the overall dish. I don’t know how Bobby makes his, but they are so light and crispy. This one was a lot heavier and greasy. I liked it. I just didn’t love it. Jim was neutral.
Next out was the crab potpie, which was topped with puff pastry and so beautiful. Jim really enjoyed that. The butternut squash tortellini came out thereafter. It was in a typical brown butter sage sauce, and Jim loved it. Of course, what’s not to love about a dish drenched in butter? I liked it, but wasn’t crazy about the curry essence in the filling. Too odd for Italian food in my opinion. I didn’t dislike it or anything like that. It was definitely very good.
Finally our gnocchi came out and I was in heaven. They got the texture of the gnocchi right and they were these soft little pillows of delight. So utterly delicious. They flavored the gnocchi with garlic and onion and the sauce was mushroom-based with truffle essence. I don’t remember the type of mushroom, but I’ve never had it (or even heard of it for that matter) before, and they were kind of like a cross between shiitake and straw. Definitely the texture of straw, but more of a shiitake flavor. Either way, they were delicious, albeit a little salty.
Jim decided to order two more plates—pomme frites and duck meatballs. The fancy French fries were light and crispy, despite being drenched in oil. It was nothing extra napkins and blotting couldn’t take care of. They were basically ballpark garlic fries flavoring on shoestring potatoes. I was very pleasantly surprised. Jim’s duck meatballs weren’t well received. He didn’t like the spice. They were pretty, in my opinion, breaded and fried and topped with a chiffonade of some green herb.
For dessert, we got an apple cranberry tart and profiteroles. The tart was insanely good. It came in phyllo dough and the cranberries weren’t at all tart and in fact balanced out the sweetness of the apple. Coupled with the vanilla bean gelato, it was delicious. Then we hit the profiteroles, which we chose to stuff with vanilla bean gelato instead of pastry cream, which was a good call, because again, amazingly delicious. In fact, just as good as the ones we had at Hidden, and this time we got three large ones instead of two small ones. It’s official: I’m going to have to try making them myself.
We didn’t like the over $100 bill, but it was a very good evening. I thought it was a very creative touch to bring the bill in a book. People wrote all over the insides, so we left our mark by writing movie quotes over dozens of pages. I don’t think we’ve ever spent 2 hours in a restaurant, but that’s what happened tonight.
I booked us dinner reservations through Open Table earlier in the week for Va de Vi, a tapas restaurant in Walnut Creek. The restaurant was jam packed even at 8:30 pm. The place is tiny, so it seemed even more crowded. Noise level pretty high, but we were also seated right by the door, which may have affected it somewhat. Good thing the plates were small, because the table size was about that of a fast food restaurant table for two. Anyway, tapas really isn’t a good idea with Jim’s appetite, but I fell in love with them after we tried Hidden in Santa Monica, so I wanted another go around. Our waiter recommended that we start with two to three choices and then go from there. Naturally Jim ordered more.
We each started off with a shot of soup, Jim’s crab bisque at $4 and my chestnut butternut squash at $3. After the first taste, Jim wanted an entire bowl, and I wouldn’t have minded a cup of mine. I was shocked at how quickly they got the food out on the table. It was a little odd drinking soup from a shot glass; however, since this is probably the only shot I can handle, I went with it. Next up was the chile relleno. I have to admit that I am spoiled after trying Bobby Flay’s chile relleno at Mesa Grill in Las Vegas, so this one definitely came up short. It was stuffed with mushrooms and manchego cheese, which was very yummy, and the accompanying paprika cream sauce was also very good. The breading and deep frying were just ordinary though, and took away from the overall dish. I don’t know how Bobby makes his, but they are so light and crispy. This one was a lot heavier and greasy. I liked it. I just didn’t love it. Jim was neutral.
Next out was the crab potpie, which was topped with puff pastry and so beautiful. Jim really enjoyed that. The butternut squash tortellini came out thereafter. It was in a typical brown butter sage sauce, and Jim loved it. Of course, what’s not to love about a dish drenched in butter? I liked it, but wasn’t crazy about the curry essence in the filling. Too odd for Italian food in my opinion. I didn’t dislike it or anything like that. It was definitely very good.
Finally our gnocchi came out and I was in heaven. They got the texture of the gnocchi right and they were these soft little pillows of delight. So utterly delicious. They flavored the gnocchi with garlic and onion and the sauce was mushroom-based with truffle essence. I don’t remember the type of mushroom, but I’ve never had it (or even heard of it for that matter) before, and they were kind of like a cross between shiitake and straw. Definitely the texture of straw, but more of a shiitake flavor. Either way, they were delicious, albeit a little salty.
Jim decided to order two more plates—pomme frites and duck meatballs. The fancy French fries were light and crispy, despite being drenched in oil. It was nothing extra napkins and blotting couldn’t take care of. They were basically ballpark garlic fries flavoring on shoestring potatoes. I was very pleasantly surprised. Jim’s duck meatballs weren’t well received. He didn’t like the spice. They were pretty, in my opinion, breaded and fried and topped with a chiffonade of some green herb.
For dessert, we got an apple cranberry tart and profiteroles. The tart was insanely good. It came in phyllo dough and the cranberries weren’t at all tart and in fact balanced out the sweetness of the apple. Coupled with the vanilla bean gelato, it was delicious. Then we hit the profiteroles, which we chose to stuff with vanilla bean gelato instead of pastry cream, which was a good call, because again, amazingly delicious. In fact, just as good as the ones we had at Hidden, and this time we got three large ones instead of two small ones. It’s official: I’m going to have to try making them myself.
We didn’t like the over $100 bill, but it was a very good evening. I thought it was a very creative touch to bring the bill in a book. People wrote all over the insides, so we left our mark by writing movie quotes over dozens of pages. I don’t think we’ve ever spent 2 hours in a restaurant, but that’s what happened tonight.
Thursday, January 10, 2008
Stuffing my face for money? Done!
I ate breakfast for the first time ever at Carl’s Jr., although to be more accurate, we went through the drive-thru. L’s girl M and I got the same meal—egg and cheese croissant sandwich with hash browns and OJ. Now admittedly it’s been probably about a decade since I ate BK’s version, but I remember liking it a lot more. The egg was very thin and folded up like a crepe. The cheese was nice and melted, so points there, but the croissant wasn’t very good. The hash browns were so greasy that I ended up chucking most of them. Plus I couldn’t figure out a way to get ketchup on them without making a mess all over L’s car, and hash browns just aren’t hash browns without the ketchup. If it wasn’t obvious, we were on our way to Tahoe for snowboarding. The OJ was crunchy frozen and from concentrate, but I’m not all that picky about the stuff. While I absolutely prefer fresh squeezed, it’s not a huge deal for me to drink the other kind.
We skipped lunch in favor of a Special K bar (strawberry) for me, and a Luna bar (blueberry yogurt) for L’s M. The guys (one of L’s friends and L) ate Snickers and all sorts of other crap. The conditions were pretty miserable, but I was having a blast. We were all soaked to the bone, the boys especially, when we took a break at the lodge early afternoon. I had hot apple cider, which, although the simple scat packaged kind, may have been the best ever because I was so cold.
Dinner was sushi at Ray’s. Need I say more? Soo good. I hogged the edamame, but no one else seemed too interested, so I didn’t feel terrible about it. L’s roommate V came along, so it was the five of us. The meat eaters ordered a ton of sushi, and L’s M got some tempura and a Volcano (some sort of scallop dish that comes out lit on fire and inside a scallop shell). I got three rolls—eggplant, Florida (seaweed salad on top of an asparagus roll), and a mixed veggie. I got dared to shove the big mixed veggie piece in my mouth. I won $4 from the rest of the table for doing so. Other than feeling a bit like a hooker, it was all good. The only thing missing was mochi ice cream. Oh well, next time.
We skipped lunch in favor of a Special K bar (strawberry) for me, and a Luna bar (blueberry yogurt) for L’s M. The guys (one of L’s friends and L) ate Snickers and all sorts of other crap. The conditions were pretty miserable, but I was having a blast. We were all soaked to the bone, the boys especially, when we took a break at the lodge early afternoon. I had hot apple cider, which, although the simple scat packaged kind, may have been the best ever because I was so cold.
Dinner was sushi at Ray’s. Need I say more? Soo good. I hogged the edamame, but no one else seemed too interested, so I didn’t feel terrible about it. L’s roommate V came along, so it was the five of us. The meat eaters ordered a ton of sushi, and L’s M got some tempura and a Volcano (some sort of scallop dish that comes out lit on fire and inside a scallop shell). I got three rolls—eggplant, Florida (seaweed salad on top of an asparagus roll), and a mixed veggie. I got dared to shove the big mixed veggie piece in my mouth. I won $4 from the rest of the table for doing so. Other than feeling a bit like a hooker, it was all good. The only thing missing was mochi ice cream. Oh well, next time.
Tuesday, January 8, 2008
Typical Tuesday
We got Taco Tuesday right this week. Jim got 3 tacos and we split nachos and a large drink, as per our usual. The beans were way too salty this time. Jim tried one of the tacos without the white sauce and ended up liking it more (he didn’t miss it and it was easier to eat without all of the dripping). I’m glad, since holding it will slash some of the fat and salt out of those suckers. Jim took the last of the meat loaf to work, with a baked potato and yogurt.
Monday, January 7, 2008
What, nachos aren't native?
Jim and I went to a Mexican/Salvadorean restaurant recommended by GWC on Texas Street. I’ve been a bit wary of his advice since The Old Post Office debacle, but he was right on with this one. I think we were both a little horrified to discover that not all Mexican restaurants have nachos on their menu, but we settled for a quesadilla after double-checking with the waitress to make sure they couldn’t make nachos for us. The chips were a little thick for my taste—I love Chevy’s chips because they’re thin and light and crisp. I definitely prefer that texture to crunchy. The salsa was basically a pico de gallo and pretty tasty. I liked the lime flavor. I got a veggie burrito sans cheese and with the guacamole on the side. Jim got a chicken super burrito. My burrito was so good! The rice was moist and flavorful, which is a big deal for me, since those are my chief complaints about Spanish rice in general. They also put fajita veggies in mine, which was an awesome idea. Jim also gave the place a thumbs up. The quesadilla was also good, but then again, it’s very difficult to screw up placing cheese on a tortilla and grilling it. I liked that it didn’t have too much cheese. Oh, and the guacamole was excellent. It was a little hard not to eat all of the stuff on the side. The only complaint I had was that they were beyond slow. Mexican is supposed to be fast. I mean, think of Taco Bell! All you do is slap some food inside a tortilla and roll it up.
I went to Lucky’s after work, but I was thinking of how to clear out the fridge of the perishables, so dinner was Fetuccine Alfredo. The only thing was that I forgot about the parmesan cheese. Luckily I had a nub in the freezer, so although it took forever to grate, I was able to finish making it. I’ve only used Giada de Laurentiis’ recipe, but I think it’s excellent. So easy and quick. I had this idea of making her parmesan twists, but that didn’t happen, so Jim had to deal with plain Pillsbury breadsticks. They got slightly jazzed up with some sprays of I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter and a rub of fresh garlic. I guess I prefer scat parmesan, cuz the fetuccine wasn’t my favorite. I used half and half instead of heavy cream and took out one tablespoon of butter, but that should have only affected the richness, not the flavor itself. Jim liked it though. He got leftover bread sticks, 2 meat loaf muffins from the week before, and yogurt with granola to go.
I also threw together Ina Garten’s eggplant gratin with some of the half and half. I think it turned out pretty good. Jim’s later review was positive.
I went to Lucky’s after work, but I was thinking of how to clear out the fridge of the perishables, so dinner was Fetuccine Alfredo. The only thing was that I forgot about the parmesan cheese. Luckily I had a nub in the freezer, so although it took forever to grate, I was able to finish making it. I’ve only used Giada de Laurentiis’ recipe, but I think it’s excellent. So easy and quick. I had this idea of making her parmesan twists, but that didn’t happen, so Jim had to deal with plain Pillsbury breadsticks. They got slightly jazzed up with some sprays of I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter and a rub of fresh garlic. I guess I prefer scat parmesan, cuz the fetuccine wasn’t my favorite. I used half and half instead of heavy cream and took out one tablespoon of butter, but that should have only affected the richness, not the flavor itself. Jim liked it though. He got leftover bread sticks, 2 meat loaf muffins from the week before, and yogurt with granola to go.
I also threw together Ina Garten’s eggplant gratin with some of the half and half. I think it turned out pretty good. Jim’s later review was positive.
Saturday, January 5, 2008
Girlfriend of the year
Jim’s dad bought us tickets to a crab feed at the Masonic Temple in Vallejo. I ate overcooked penne pasta with homemade sauce (the only redeeming quality). Jim’s dad was nice enough to also score me some salad without dressing. I mixed it with a bit of the wilted overdressed crap they served to the rest of the table and was in business. The garlic bread was completely overbuttered and I killed a tree blotting the grease off. Luckily they served the salad, bread, and pasta before the crab, because as soon as they started bringing out the trays of crabs, I lost my appetite. The smell itself was absolutely repugnant. I became friends with a fixed point over Jim’s sister’s shoulder, since it’s pretty much the only thing I looked at for the rest of the night. I tried to describe the experience to Jim in terms he could understand, but I’m pretty sure he thought I was exaggerating. I told him to picture watching someone eating rotten cow brains next to him and the stench was overpowering. The thing for me is that it seems so barbaric to be cracking the crab. Very animalistic. I hate it. Couple that with the smell, and I’m a goner. On the upside, L and his current girl M came over and brought bau. Yum-o!! I tried the yellow bean stuff for the first time and it was just as good as the red bean ones. The only thing with store-bought is that the dough itself isn’t nearly as tasty as homemade, but I wasn’t going to complain. I may have slightly grossed L out by inhaling the thing in under a minute, but oh well. Later on that night, the boys burned some refrigerated cookie dough. M and I flushed them down the toilet. They really were pretty inedible. And it was kind of fun.
Friday, January 4, 2008
Traitor, traitor
Jim surprised me by showing up for lunch today. We had talked about him skipping taking me out to lunch. Whenever I’m on my own for lunch on a Friday, I go to Yo Sushi, so I had my sushi mindset. Luckily Jim humored me and took me there anyway. I ate at the restaurant for the first time ever instead of my usual to-go order. I got the same things I always get, Futo Maki and Veggie rolls. Jim tried three rolls—a Lion King, Crunchy Roll, and something else. He enjoyed them all, the Lion King the least (it was missing the cream sauce that he likes so much).
For dinner we went to Randy’s in Benicia. I think we both agree that we are now converts from Sandoval’s. The two restaurants are owned by the same family, but the siblings got into a fight and hence, the split. It’s a little odd, since the menus are incredibly similar and the salsa and chips are identical. We were staunch Sandoval’s supporters for a long time, largely in part to the super burrito (aka the Duraflame) and also because of the fantastic service. Unfortunately, neither one exists anymore. And we’ve had such luck with Randy’s service the last half-dozen times we’ve gone that it’s really soured us on Sandoval’s. It’s a pity, because I really used to love Sandoval’s. We went at least once a month for years, but now I actually can’t remember the last time we ate there. Anyway, I got my usual veggie burrito without cheese and with the sour cream and guacamole on the side. Randy’s guacamole is actually better than Sandoval’s, so that alone gives Randy’s an extra point in my book, but Jim isn’t so much a guacamole fan, so he’s okay either way. Jim was adventurous and got a steak fajita burrito. The salsa had a bit more kick than usual. I thought it tasted different altogether and had a slightly different texture, but Jim said it was the same.
For dinner we went to Randy’s in Benicia. I think we both agree that we are now converts from Sandoval’s. The two restaurants are owned by the same family, but the siblings got into a fight and hence, the split. It’s a little odd, since the menus are incredibly similar and the salsa and chips are identical. We were staunch Sandoval’s supporters for a long time, largely in part to the super burrito (aka the Duraflame) and also because of the fantastic service. Unfortunately, neither one exists anymore. And we’ve had such luck with Randy’s service the last half-dozen times we’ve gone that it’s really soured us on Sandoval’s. It’s a pity, because I really used to love Sandoval’s. We went at least once a month for years, but now I actually can’t remember the last time we ate there. Anyway, I got my usual veggie burrito without cheese and with the sour cream and guacamole on the side. Randy’s guacamole is actually better than Sandoval’s, so that alone gives Randy’s an extra point in my book, but Jim isn’t so much a guacamole fan, so he’s okay either way. Jim was adventurous and got a steak fajita burrito. The salsa had a bit more kick than usual. I thought it tasted different altogether and had a slightly different texture, but Jim said it was the same.
Thursday, January 3, 2008
Keeping my hands clean
Thursdays are usually leftover days, but since I hadn’t cooked all week, I ran into Trader Joe’s after work for inspiration and came out with some lean ground beef (90/10). I was thinking of some quick Bisquick casserole, but then came up with a better idea of meat loaf. When I got to the house, a quick inventory of the fridge showed that I did indeed have the necessary fixings for meat loaf. I started by chopping onions, carrots, and garlic and then sautéed them up. Jim was assigned the task of actually touching the dead animal bits. I measured out the bread crumbs, beat the eggs, etc. and was coming along with great timing until I reached for the ketchup and realized that there we were practically out. However, M and his habit of always getting ketchup packets with his fast food (when he doesn’t eat the stuff) saved the day. I ended up squeezing out every single one of those ketchup packets and had exactly enough! Jim was a trooper, mixing the meat loaf with his hands. I spooned the stuff into a muffin tin, which cut the cooking time down to only half an hour (really one of the most appreciated tips I learned from Cooking Light). While that was baking, I tossed a potato into the oven and steamed up some broccoli, and voila, an all-American dinner courtesy of a Cooking Light recipe! Jim apparently liked it since he ate three muffins. I’ve tried somewhere around 4-5 other meat loaf recipes, and he’s liked them all. I have not yet attempted his mother’s version, but that’s only because I don’t have it. I packed up another three for his lunch, plus some crab his sister had given him, another baked potato, and a yogurt.
Wednesday, January 2, 2008
Taco Wednesday??
Due to having New Year’s Eve and Day off, my internal clock was completely off kilter. As a result, we made plans to go to Rubio’s for Taco Tuesday, the problem being that it was Wednesday. I was very confused when the girl rang up the total, and didn’t realize what the problem was until I asked Jim for the receipt. He never would have noticed otherwise. We got the usual—three fish tacos for Jim and nachos w/ the sour cream and guacamole on the side to share. Except for the added cost, there was nothing particularly spectacular or horrible about this trip. Jim wished he had gotten the burrito combo instead.
Tuesday, January 1, 2008
Where it all begins . . .
So, in honor of the New Year, I thought I’d try an experiment. The thing is, I love food. I love to cook it, eat it, watch it being made, learn about it . . . the bottom line is that I think I may love it enough to write a blog about it for an entire year. So here it is: I plan on writing about the food I eat out at restaurants and that I cook at home. Very informal and likely very repetitive, but if I stick with it, it ought to be pretty interesting to go back and read up on my eating habits. Out of respect for others’ privacy, I shall do my best to keep them anonymous with just initials, with the exception of my boyfriend Jim, who doesn’t mind.
Jim and I went to Walnut Creek. The plan was to meet up with the R & M for lunch, but they were running late and Jim’s stomach wasn’t having any part of waiting, so we went to Tomatina’s at 2:30-ish. Even at the odd lunch hour, the place was still packed. Always a creature of habit, I got my usual hummus piadine sans olives and with the dressing on the side. I’m still trying to decide if the lemon vinaigrette actually adds anything besides fat to the thing. We generally don’t like the same restaurants as R & M, but this one is definitely an exception to the rule. Jim got a large pesto chicken pizza with the idea that the leftovers were his dinner. We also got some bruschetta, which was really good, but the portion size as compared to the price was ridiculous. Today’s piadine actually had a little too much hummus on it for my taste, but a couple of sweeps of a knife fixed it. It was Jim’s first time with the pizza—the verdict? It’s a keeper.
Jim and I went to Walnut Creek. The plan was to meet up with the R & M for lunch, but they were running late and Jim’s stomach wasn’t having any part of waiting, so we went to Tomatina’s at 2:30-ish. Even at the odd lunch hour, the place was still packed. Always a creature of habit, I got my usual hummus piadine sans olives and with the dressing on the side. I’m still trying to decide if the lemon vinaigrette actually adds anything besides fat to the thing. We generally don’t like the same restaurants as R & M, but this one is definitely an exception to the rule. Jim got a large pesto chicken pizza with the idea that the leftovers were his dinner. We also got some bruschetta, which was really good, but the portion size as compared to the price was ridiculous. Today’s piadine actually had a little too much hummus on it for my taste, but a couple of sweeps of a knife fixed it. It was Jim’s first time with the pizza—the verdict? It’s a keeper.
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