Life is Peachy!

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Just in case you were wondering, this post is not about Korn’s album of the same title. It’s all about our August theme: Life is Peachy – continuing the tradition of our monthly dinner party!

For a while I was stuck on having a BBQ type menu – or at least a take on American BBQ. I even found barbecue napkins that were super cute so I figured it must be a sign.

But after our trip to San Francisco last month, we kept thinking about the peaches we bought and ate from the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market. They were so sweet, and of course in season too. So we thought we would take a similar approach as our April’s Ode to Lemon and pick one ingredient – peaches – and incorporate it throughout the meal. It ended up working out great!

The menu really complemented the summer month of August:

• Peach Bellini
• Tomato and Peach Salad with Goat Cheese Medallions
• Grilled Chicken with Pretty Peach Sauce
• Black Forbidden Rice with Peaches and Snap Peas
• Grilled Peach Slaw with Pecans
• Individual Toffee, Pecan, and Peach Crisps

I also like the fact that we diversified our recipe sources for this month.

We subscribe to Cooking Light magazine and have had really good luck with their recipes. At least one of their recipes is included in our lineup. But every recipe in this month’s theme is from a different source, and it all came together really nicely.

The only things I didn’t care for was the Peach Bellini and the beer. The Bellini wasn’t sweet enough (a little simple syrup would do it some good) and the peach beer tasted more like peach juice.

But the salad, rice, and dessert totally made up for the drinks being so-so! All in all, another successful dinner!

12 Balconies, Food, & Comedy in San Francisco

Day 1: Friday

That’s right. 12 balconies. The condo we recently stayed in while visiting San Francisco had 12 balconies in it and it was on the 21st floor of a building in the financial district!

When our friends Darin and Vanessa (also our monthly dinner friends) invited us to hang out for the weekend, we had no idea what was in store for us. Vanessa had stayed in this place before and didn’t let on any details. Which was kind of cool, because it was a lovely surprise.

Not only was the condo a-mazing, but the whole weekend trip was one of my favorite visits to the city. N’Gai and I were in the city for my 30th birthday 5 years ago and this recent trip was the week before my 35th. I’ve been back since for business trips but it was nice for us to take this trip together again. Everything we did was fun!

Tommaso's

We went to Tommaso’s Italian Restaurant in North Beach for dinner the first night. It was in walking distance from our condo, which except for Tipsy Pig (more on that later!) everything was! If you check Tommaso’s Yelp reviews you’ll see that they get 4.5 stars out of 5. And we agreed!

We ordered their spinach pizza that almost faked me into believing I was eating salad They make the pizza and then put fresh spinach on top right after it cooks so that when it arrives at the table, it’s just barely wilting but tastes fresh and slightly crunchy. So good! Of course I followed up that “salad” with a plate full of carbs and ordered their Macaroni w/Mushrooms, Olive Oil, Garlic, Parsley, & Sausage. Paleo what?

Tommaso's Spinach Pizza

Later that evening we went to Punch Line Comedy Club, also walked there from the condo. This walk was very necessary! There we saw Joe Klocek open for The Sklar Brothers. The Brothers were good, Joe was better. He was funnier, more natural and un-rehearsed, and killed it. I hope he comes to The Comedy Store in La Jolla so we can see him again.

Here are some additional pictures of our trip, posted to my Facebook.

Day 2: Saturday

I’ve never been to the San Francisco Ferry Building and felt especially fortunate that we got to experience the Farmer’s Market on Saturday morning. We have farmer’s market’s in San Diego, but they are nothing like this! In fact, the next time I plan a weekend trip to San Francisco, I’m going to make a point of visiting this market again.

Grapes, Manchego, and Rosemary Bread from the Ferry Building's Farmer's Market

We had so much fun eating, looking at all of the vendor’s goods, and buying a few things to bring back to the condo. Namely, grapes that looked like they rode the truck to the city, straight from wine country, manchego cheese, and rosemary bread from Acme Bread. I want to live in San Francisco just to eat this as a snack every Saturday!

I also bought a bottle of olive oil from Stonehouse California Olive Oil. I liked the idea of buying semi-local olive oil. Plus, it’s good.

Since July was Darin and Vanessa’s turn to make our monthly dinner, they instead took us out to dinner at the Tipsy Pig in the Marina District. Wow! The food was SO good! As you can see from my Facebook album, it wasn’t exactly swimsuit food. But it was really great and we ordered a variety of items on the menu to try.

Overall, it was our most fun trip to the city and we thank Darin and Vanessa for inviting us along!

Hawaiian June

Hawaiian June

This month’s dinner theme was tough to nail down. My husband wanted seafood, I was thinking vegetarian, and neither of us had a solid menu to go from. So… I was researching dinner theme ideas and came across Hawaiian cuisine. We love the Hawaiian islands! And the theme worked perfectly for June, the month that ushers in summer. Plus, BevMo! was having their 5¢ sale, so it was great time to try some new white wine! Here is the menu we created:

Libations

Grove Mill Sauvignon Blanc, 2009, New Zealand

Appetizers

Coconut Shrimp with Spicy Dipping Sauce
Ono Spareribs

Entrée & Sides

Blackened Tuna Steaks with Mango Salsa
Hawaiian Rice
Roasted Asparagus

Dessert
Banana Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

Although the coconut shrimp was fantastic, the dipping sauce (which I pulled from another recipe) was my least favorite item on the menu. It consisted of 1/2 cup orange marmalade, 2 tsp stone ground mustard, and 1 tsp horseradish. I didn’t care for the overall taste, so I added salt and sriracha to cut down the bitter sweetness. It helped, but I recommend going with a sauce that you know you like!

The blackened tuna was so good that we made it again about a week later. We bought the tuna from Marukai Japanese Food Specialty Store, which is where we get a lot of our fresh fish.

Banana Cake

But the best part of this dinner was the banana cake. WOW! My husband started early in the morning on the recipe so that the cake was cooled and settled in plenty of time for our guests. It was definitely one of my favorite desserts we’ve made. It was fluffier and more moist than banana bread. If you like cake, MAKE THIS RECIPE! You will not be disappointed!

April Ode to Lemon

Meyer Lemons

April’s dinner was fantastic! Our theme was all things Meyer lemon. We got the idea from a group of recipes in a spring issue of Cooking Light magazine. We often find and make recipes from this magazine, and they are almost always good!

Here was the lineup:

Libations

Sparkling Lemon Cocktail with Vodka, Sparkling Wine, Rosemary
Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand and California

Appetizer

Seared Scallops with Lemon Beurre Blanc, White Wine, Shallots, Thyme

Salad

Fennel Salad with Lemon, Parsley, Shallots, Olive Oil, Goat Cheese

Entrée & Side

Lemon Chicken Piccata Sautéed in Sauvignon Blanc
Roasted Asparagus with Brown Butter and Thyme Lemon Rind

Dessert

Lemon Curd Tart with a Macadamia Nut Vanilla Crust, Topped with Meringues

And here were the results!

April Ode to Lemon

Apple Orchard Inn

Cortland Cottage at Apple Orchard Inn, Durango, CO

My husband and I enjoyed a fun trip to Durango, Colorado to go snowboarding, snowshoeing, and snowmobiling. For the first time in our 9 nears of travel together, we stayed at a bed and breakfast and really enjoyed it.

The Apple Orchard Inn has set the standard for any B&B we consider staying at in the future. The Inn has rooms in the main house, as well as six private cottages, all named after different varieties of apples. We stayed in the Cortland Cottage shown in the picture. And it was as cozy as the picture looks!

Kathi, the owner, was so sweet and an wow what an amazing cook too! Homemade breakfast every day, just a few steps away from our cottage was one of the best vacation experiences we’ve ever had! My husband and I really enjoyed meeting new people every morning too. I hope we get a chance to go back, maybe during the summer when it’s green and warm.

French February

This year we were excited to cook French food for French February.

Valentine Sourdough

We decided on a dinner menu that we thought would be a lovely. And while it was… it seemed like a few things went right and a few things didn’t. But I think that had to do with our skills (or lack thereof) vs. the actual recipes. What Julia Child had – we do not. But it was fun anyway! Here’s what we made:

• Toasted bread with apricot fig chutney and goat cheese
• Coq au Vin
• Herb-Glazed Carrots
• Potato Gratin with Duxelles
• Double Chocolate Soufflés with Warm Fudge Sauce

Last year I made a special dinner for my Valentine. It was based on a Chicken Vol Au Vent recipe that Champagne Bakery in Del Mar served, before they Americanized their menu. Because I made up my version, I was wise enough to write down what I did, and here it is for you to also try!

Chicken Vol Au Vent

Valentine's Day 2010

Ingredients

leeks

garlic

cremini mushrooms

spinach

unsalted butter

white wine

extra virgin olive oil

1% milk

sour cream

kosher salt

pepper

puff pastry

egg white

chicken breast

Method

Sauté cremini mushrooms in olive oil, white wine, and unsalted butter. Add leeks and continue sautéing. Then add garlic and sauté for 1-2 minutes before adding spinach. Then add small amount of milk and sour cream, salt and pepper to taste. Cook chicken separate and add at the end.

Cut pastry into circle for bottom and cut another for top. Cut a smaller circle or other shape in the middle of the top pastry (in my case, I used a heart-shaped cookie cutter that my Grandma Barb gave me). Poke holes in the middle of the bottom pastry, and stack top on bottom with egg white in between. If desired, you can add another layer of pastry between the bottom and the top (with a section cut out) to add a more depth and bowl-like shape. Bake pastry according to instructions (don’t forget to also bake the special shape if you made one!) then add the chicken filling just before serving with the pastry shape on top. Voilà!

Related Articles

• French Fridays with Dorie – Savory Cheese and Chive Bread (omgyummy.wordpress.com)
• French Food (francetravelguide.com)

Monthly Dinners

Beginning in January 2010, my husband and I began a monthly dinner night with another couple we’ve known for years. The rules for 2010 are:

1. Each month had to have theme beginning with the first letter of the month corresponding to a country, e.g. Jamaican January.
2. The couple who is hosting must do all the cooking from scratch.

It is almost December 2010 and I wish I had started this blog earlier because I would have liked to keep track of all the recipes we made! I may just go back and add them, as I think most of them are in my husbands bookmarks folder. Here’s what we did for 2010:

• Jamaican January
• French February
• Moroccan March
• Armenian April
• Mexican May
• Japanese June
• Jordanian July
• Argentinian August
• Spanish September
• Italian October (Oman is the only country beginning with “O” and all of us decided it was time to break a rule.)
• Nepalese November (We broke another rule here and ordered take out. It was amazing!)
• December – because the holidays are so busy, we took this month off.

Nepalese November

Nepalese food from Himalayan Cuisine

The first time we had Nepalese food, we were in Boulder, Colorado, one of my favorite places to visit. We were staying in Denver and drove up to Boulder to dine at a little two story restaurant called Nepal Cuisine. We were in a state of euphoria when we left. The food and service was something to remember.

When November rolled around for our monthly dinner night, it was our turn to cook. Nepalese food proved to be one of the most difficult dinners for us to carry out so we did just that – ordered carry out! Recipes online were hard to find so we broke the rules for November and ordered Nepalese food from a restaurant in La Mesa, CA. To find the place, I did what I always do and searched Yelp. That’s where I found a lovely little restaurant called Himalayan Cuisine, and my fellow Yelpers gave the restaurant 4.5 stars.

We ordered food that can be found on their menu and also added a few items of our own.

LIBATIONS

• Recoleta, Malbec/Bonarda, Argentina, 2008
• MacMurray, Pinot Noir, Central Coast, 2008
• Rockcliffe Family, Syrah, Columbia Valley, Washington State, 2008

APPETIZERS

Alu Bhanta - Eggplant & potatoes cooked in Himalayan style curry sauce.

Vegetables Momo - Steamed dumplings filled with minced cabbage, spinach, mushroom, cashew nuts, paneer, onion, cilantro, green onion & spices, served with special Himalayan sauce.

Samosas – Crispy pastries stuffed with jalapeños, cheese, and potatoes. (I actually bought and made these from an Indian supermarket in San Diego called Ker Fresh.)

ENTRÉES

Chicken Makhani - Premium chicken cooked in the tandoor and then cooked in a butter sauce.

Mixed Tandoori - Tandoor chicken, Boti Kabab (lamb), shrimp tandoor and chicken tikka. Served with sautéed onions, carrots, bell pepper and cabbage.

DESSERT

Gulab Jamun - Juicy sweet milk balls. (I didn’t care for these and was glad I decided to serve the mango sorbet and fresh mint!)

Mango Sorbet topped with fresh mint. (I added this and was glad I did, it was a wonderful ending!)

Spanish September

Spanish September

September marked a lovely cooking experience! It was our month to make dinner and we chose Spain as the country from which we made recipes. These are the recipes we used, and of them, the Patatas Bravas and Berenjena con Vinagreta (eggplant topped with tomato vinaigrette) were our favorites.

LIBATIONS
Sangria

APPETIZERS
Patatas Bravas
Berenjena con Vinagreta

SALAD
Ensalada de Melon Chorizo y Alcachofa

ENTRÉE
Simple Seafood Paella

SIDES
Yellow Tomato Gazpacho

DESSERT
Bizcochos Borrachos

Happy Thanksgiving!

Today, my husband and I had a quiet Thanksgiving dinner at home, just the two of us. This was the first year where I felt totally prepared. We selected all the recipes in advance and went to the grocery store early in the week. I didn’t forget anything so I didn’t have to go back and fight crowds!

While I do have some family recipes that we’ve used in the past, I decided to try some new ones to potentially add to the tradition. Here’s what we had, which is pretty typical of an American Thanksgiving:

 

Jalapeno, Sausage, Jack, and Egg Breakfast Braid

Jalapeño, Sausage, Jack, and Egg Breakfast Braid – we had this for breakfast, to give us energy to cook all morning! It was so good and can easily be made with different ingredients. One of these days, I’m going to make it with calzone fillings.

Naked Grape, Pinot Grigio – this too helped provide energy for cooking!

Classic Herbed Bread Dressing - the fresh sage and thyme really make this recipe wonderful! I have a family dressing recipe that I sometimes use, but I like to alternate years with this one.

Green Bean Casserole – this was my first time making this recipe. I really like the use of fresh green beans. And even though I am a cheese head, it really does not need the cheddar on top. Next time, I’ll just add a few more French fried onions to the top for extra crispiness. Either way, it was very good!

Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes – I just made this one up along the way. Red and russet potatoes, roasted garlic, butter, dollop of sour cream, milk, kosher salt, and fresh ground pepper. Came out pretty good!

Turkey – I made the mistake of buying a run of the mill bird. My husband wasn’t pleased. But I had made up my mind that when I was done doing the food shopping, I was truly done. I bought turkey bags and twine though so that made up for us not brining the turkey first. I also used a random mix of spices from the cupboard which worked out great. Now time to make turkey chili!

Homemade Cranberry Sauce – I made this last year and will never again buy canned cranberry sauce! 1 cup sugar, pinch of salt, 3/4 cup orange juice – bring to boil in small saucepan until the sugar dissolves. Reduce heat to medium, add 12 oz of cranberries and watch them pop over the next 5-15 minutes. Viola!

Sweet Potato Pie - my brother-in-law always made these each year but this time my husband decided to learn how to make them so that he can master a recipe for years to come. It turned out delicious!

I am thankful for my husband, family, and health, and thank God for it all. I wish you and yours Happy Thanksgiving!

Hot Fudge Sundae

My husband and I enjoyed a night with my co-workers for my company’s annual holiday party. It was fun! They had casino night set up, raffle, etc. I won a bottle of ONEHOPE 2009 Sauvignon Blanc. I had it before so I wasn’t disappointed in my win!

Extraordinary Desserts in Little Italy

Afterward, we went out with my work “brother” (we all have that co-worker who we affectionately refer to as a family member) and his fiancée. They live in Orange County so since they were out-of-town folk, we took them to Extraordinary Desserts in Little Italy, San Diego.

My husband and I both said that the next time we go we are going to get the hot fudge sundae. And we did! The menu describes it as: Very Vanilla Bean ice cream, brownie chunks with nuts, warm housemade chocolate ganache, and whipped cream. It is SO good! And more than enough for two people.

I also had my favorite tea: Rooibos Bourbon. I can’t find the tea for sale on the Extraordinary Desserts online store but this is probably the same or very similar. It is such a smooth, luxurious tea! Love it!

If you live in San Diego, Extraordinary Desserts is a great place to go and if you have friends in town, take them here!

Pho Shizzle!

Vegetarian Pho

I am addicted to vegetarian Pho. I like to think I know a thing or two about it. Really, I don’t. I just know where to go to get a great steaming bowl of it. Pho Van in San Diego is my favorite place.

Pho is my go-to meal for when I’m sick, or if I feel even the slightest sense that a cold is brewing. That’s not the only time I eat it though. If I want something warm, fast, and healthy, it’s always a good choice.

Pretty soon, my husband is going to have us on the Paleo Diet. Or, what I refer to as the caveman diet. You can only eat fruit, vegetables, and protein. We are waiting for the book to arrive in the mail so we can get the full scoop on all the scoops we won’t be having.

But I realized that I can still have my Pho, sans noodles. Whew!

Anyhow, like I said, I don’t know much about what makes one bowl more authentic than another. But what I will say is that I enjoy it most just how it is pictured above: with lime, lots of Thai basil, jalapeño, mushrooms, carrots, bok choy, crunchy broccoli, plum sauce, and sriracha.

Northern Cali Christmas

My husband and I road-tripped to wine country to spend time with my mother-in-law for Christmas. Our stay was so nice, it always is. While we have quite some time before we retire, we do talk about living in that area someday. And not because it’s warm! But because it is so peaceful.

From Sonoma we headed to South Lake Tahoe to stay in a lovely cabin we rented… but before we got on the road we stopped at the Glen Ellen Village Market to get some snacks. I couldn’t resist the opportunity to pick up a few bottles of local wine. Of the bottles we purchased I saved a few for when we returned home, one of which we enjoyed with our home prepared dinner on New Year’s Eve: 2008 Pellegrini Carignan – Redwood Valley.

Wow this wine was fantastic! We paired it with excellent cuts of filet mignon and rib eye from Siesel’s Old Fashioned Meat & Deli located in Bay Park, San Diego, along with rosemary garlic potatoes and squash. This wine was amazing with our dinner! So good that I Googled Pellegrini Family Vineyard and bought two more bottles right from the vineyard!

Filet Mignon for NYE 2010

I made a statement to my husband on New Year’s Eve that it’s good to be older… We are only in our 30s, and God willing have a lot more time on earth with each other. But what I meant by that is we no longer feel the need get gussied up, go out, spend a bunch of money, only to be hung over the next day! Ah yes, aging isn’t so bad!

Happy New Year to you and yours! I hope 2011 is one of the best years of your life!

Paleo Punks

Paleo Friendly Food

My husband has officially turned us into cave people. I am the first to admit that my cheese head tendencies make me want to do the Atkins version of low carb eating. But I know that the Paleo lifestyle is much healthier.

I come from a big Italian family where bread, pasta, butter, and cheese runs through our veins. But I also know that all of those refined carbohydrates are terrible for us. Boooo!

To help with inspiration, we watched Super Size Me last night. Neither of us are McHeads but it was eye-opening anyhow. Morgan’s vegan girlfriend cracked me up and I was happy that in the end, he was going back to protein (read: meat!).

I am going to give this a real shot. Especially since we are joining a challenge at our gym where we will be required to weigh in weekly for the next 3 months. Having to be accountable to someone is helpful. I don’t want to say that I didn’t lose a pound because I was snacking on cheese and crackers for the past week!

With this new way of eating in mind, I made a kale salad today. I first tried it at People’s Market in Ocean Beach, CA and thought it was good. Here is how I prepared it:

Kale Salad

Kale Salad

2 bunches of kale
2 tomatoes on the vine
2 green onions
1 ripe avocado
2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
kosher salt to taste
juice of two lemons

1. Wash the kale thoroughly, then drain. Remove most of the middle stalk with a knife, then chop the leaves down to about 1″ size. Place in large bowl.
2. Chop the tomatoes and green onions, set aside.
3. Juice two fresh lemons, set aside.
4. Drizzle olive oil over kale and massage the kale until it is less rigid.
5. Add salt, massage.
6. Add the avocado, continue to massage the avocado into the kale to coat the leaves.
7. Add the tomatoes and green onions and mix together.

This can be served immediately or placed in the refrigerator and served later. It’s so good that it just makes me want to continue to eat healthy!

Related Articles

• 50 Paleo, Low-Carb & Health Blogs (liberationwellnessblog.com)
• Lose the Paunch with Paleo Nutrition (medcitynews.com)

Homestyle January

Our monthly dinners kicked off this weekend at D&V’s place. 2011 marks year 2 for this ongoing event and we continue to have a great time.

This time, I made the mistake of not taking any pictures of the food! Rookie mistake of a newbie blogger. What was I thinking? Well, I was thinking about (and eating) the rosemary and olive oil bread they served from Bread & Cie, along with Brie and Irish Cheddar. True to form, I got my bread and cheese on (sorry Paleo)… but the good news is that I indulged LIGHTLY, a skill I am learning. And still lost weight the next day on my weigh-in. That’s how it’s done!

Here was the menu for the night, which was so good!

• Baked Salmon
• Au Gratin Potatoes
• Jalapeño Cornbread
• Asparagus
• Prosciutto wrapped Shrimp with Pesto
• Coleslaw
• Cheesecake

I don’t remember the red wine we had… I know I picked up a few bottles from Cost Plus World Market, but I guess neither were memorable.

We ended the night by learning a new game called Sequence! Next month we are planning to make French food at our place… so excited! Please send French wine recommendations!

Paleo Equals Color

It’s been just more than three weeks since we started eating Paleo style. The first thing I noticed is how much more fruit we consume. I can, 1000 percent say:  we were not eating enough fruit! Look how colorful this is! And this picture doesn’t even show the greens we had in the refrigerator: broccoli, kale, Mexican squash, brussels sprouts, salad, carrots, cabbage…

We’ve also been buying high quality meats and fish from the better supermarkets and local stores. It’s not cheap to eat this way, that’s for sure! But the food on our plate is so alive!

The best part of this way of eating is that (with a lot of cardio) we are both losing weight. I have also found that I rarely crave anything sweet because fresh fruit is acceptable. Hello fresh pineapple!!!

Related Article

• Paleo Spaghetti! (chrisbeatcancer.com)

Life Has Become Too Busy!

The bad news: It’s been way too long since my last post.

The good news: we continue our monthly dinners with Darin & Vanessa and with great success!

I can’t even remember what the dinners were for the rest of 2011! Literally I’m sitting here with my husband, getting an equally blank stare when I ask what the themes were…

I DO know that for this year, we made a vegetarian dinner for January and a seafood theme for March. I’m going to add a separate entries for the dates we had the vegetarian and seafood themes!

Happy spring cooking!