It’s  Christmas Eve, and we do hope you have a plan for the special meals you are serving in the next several days.  If you don’t have a plan yet, you can either browse our Holiday recipes (check out the drop-down menu at the right), or search “Christmas”, and pick up some ideas from what we’ve made in the past. If you’re doing the big traditional turkey or ham meal, you’ll find all the traditional recipes you need by searching “Thanksgiving.”

We thought we’d share what’s cooking in each of our kitchens this year–there are always some traditions, and some excursions of creativity.  I’ll let Barb chime in–I’ve heard her Christmas Day plans are going to be muy bueno!

In Laura’s kitchen:

Christmas Eve is always a quiet relaxed night with just our family at our house.  We go to the Christmas Eve services at church, then come home and make dinner in a leisurely fashion. This year, as in many other years, the plan is to make Homemade Pizza. After dinner, we clean up in an equally leisurely fashion, and (here’s an inviolable rule, established way back in the far reaches of time when Laura was a little girl in her parents’ household) EVERY bit of cleaning must be done before presents can be unwrapped. In fact, if extra cleaning chores can be added to prolong the suspense and frenzy, then now’s the time to scrub the stovetop and use a toothbrush to get at those hard-to-reach crannies around the faucet. Once Every Scrap of Cleaning has been done, THEN we sit down to open presents. I know, we’re rotten, mean parents–it’s a gift!

Christmas morning, we will probably snack a bit and lay around in our jammies. (Or, in the case of the 8-year-old, go outside to sled down the front hill a million times.) We have guests coming for brunch mid-morning. We have loved the last few years of doing a beautiful brunch with Eggs Hussarde, so that’s what we’re doing again. We’ll probably serve it with orange juice in champagne flutes. And we’ll follow it up with my friend Lisa’s Famous Chocolate Mousse. And after all that, will we really need more food? Probably not, but we’ll probably pull out the rest of the ham from the Eggs Hussarde, and make some thick sandwiches on Homemade Bread.

In Barbara’s kitchen:

At our house, Christmas eve will be a huge pot of Dave’s magnificent chili with homemade sourdough bread. The weather is going to be frightful so the spicy warmth of chili will be perfect.

Our Christmas dinner is going to be a good bit later in the day than Laura’s. We have one set of guests driving down from Pennsylvania on icy freeways, so we’ll wait dinner if we need to.

Christmas dinner is, indeed, going to be muy bueno. We’ll be serving 20 people Carnitas, Fajitas, and Chile Verde. Of course this will include all the trimmings like homemade salsa, pico de gallo, shredded cabbage, spicy rice and beans, sour cream, chips, etc. For dessert, if anyone EATS dessert, we’ll have either cake or apple crisp. I haven’t quite figured dessert out…mostly because dinner is going to be such a spread, I can’t imagine dessert being remotely interesting!

The best thing about our Christmas feast will be the people joining us. Our friends and family.are the best Christmas gifts of all.

Barb

It’s never too early and never too late to have a festive celebration and that’s precisely what we did. I must admit, parties could never have been that exciting without a theme to follow. Maybe I have been watching too much that I usually associate parties with masks, dance floor, beautiful desserts ( Oh how I cant live without them) and tea parties served with teacups and muffins on a tray. Then, there are these whole bunch of ladies dressed in nice sun dresses and hats and accompanying them- some fine looking chaps. What a yummy pic but sadly unachievable in the culture I live in.  But still, we all have fun our own way

Cheers to the success of our bobbaas party. It was absolutely a bobbafied fun filled evening with my love ones xoxoxo. Really enjoyed the company of you guys! Picking what you wanna be was easy, improvising and creating the costume was A WHOLE DIFFERENT story. My time was stretched to the limit, considering the short amount of time I had to prepare stuff after work. Renting costumes was a solution but no way were we gonna pay 100 over for the jacked up festive price. seasonal descrimination much.. I pretty much spent some of the evenings doing up the outfits. Santarina’s outfit originally consisted of a plain red skirt n red tube top. Bought some white cloth and sewed it to the tube n skirt and attached a pretty ribbon at the front. Did the elfy one as well with tinsels n cloth and the elfy shoess which consisted of green n brown felt. I must say the angels looked absolutely stunning that day Yayysss Pizzas, and many cakes accompanieddd the event..

Baked some choc cheesecake.

and some choc mousse, courtesy of David Lebovitz again. Thought I’ll try out those lovely mini shot glasses that I bought from Ikea.. They work perfect

A sinful something for a very Merry Christmas

Two presents have arrived before Christmas: Firstly, my results. When I first saw my  results, I was like ok. Worse than my very first semester grades but much better than I expected. Anyway, before that I was mentally prepared to SU one of the electives alr. But after calculating my cap with or without the module, it only improved by .01. What in the tootiest world… So I’ve decided to leave my 3 precious SUs for my last ( or maybe 3 more sems). How awesome.

Secondly, my other pressie came in the form of a mail from NUS. I wouldnt call that a pre christmas present but yes here it goes: I’ve been offered honours for my biz degree. After much discussion with my parents, maybe I’ll accept it afterall. Any other decisions can wait till next semester. Anyway, I’m quite looking forward for bestie to be back. and yes maybe another semester doing the same mod would make things so much better

Half day at work tmr. Plus it’s a time of party and food. That’s whats bond people right. haha. Cant wait to see my colleagues tmr

1117 Granville Street
Vancouver, BC V6Z1M1

www. siplounge.com

After Hub, it was time to meet up with some other friends.  We wanted to check out the Refinery, but it was full when we arrived (at around 9:40pm), so we decided on Sip instead.  There is no formal dress code but the patrons are dressy-casual/ dressy.  We were a party of 9 so they seated us by the door, the only area that could fit all of us.  The couches were comfortable but the area was meant more for drinking and chatting rather than eating from the lower table.  The hostess was friendly and the server was attentive and checked on us throughout the night to make sure we were alright.

Sip Resto-Lounge prides itself on having some alcohol in every dish. We started off with the Belgian beer battered fries ($6), which was fantastic:

The fries were beer battered and seasoned, with chipotle and tarragon garlic mayo.  I must say that these fries tasted much better than Hub’s.  We couldn’t get enough, it was the right temperature, texture, flavour…

The next dishes were the la playa calamari ($9) and the grilled prawns ($26):

I wasn’t very impressed with the calamari, which was served with sauza tequila salsa, chipotle aioli and lime.  I didn’t like the batter and the calamari didn’t taste very fresh.  My friend ordered the prawns because it had a specific alcohol in it and he was very interested in seeing how it would taste, but he told me that the prawns did not have that alcohol’s flavour at all.  Yes, I will ask him what it was specifically.  I looked on their online menu and I’m guessing they change their booze depending on the season, because their menu still says pina colada prawns.

Lastly, we shared the Bailey’s chocolate mousse ($7):

Excellent.  Very delicious- choco mousse, dark chocolate shavings, Bailey’s Irish cream, oreo crust, whipped cream & strawberry.  Cannot go wrong.  Highly recommended.

The only downsize to Sip is the washroom.  There is only washroom and therefore no area to wash your hands or freshen up if it is occupied.  The waiting area is near other customer’s tables and it could get a tad uncomfortable if one has to wait a while.

All in all a good experience, would come back for drinks and to try out more of their menu.

I LOVE RITTER SPORT.
it’s like what my friend lily says; the packaging is excellent, and the chocolate equally excellent.
little squares that break off of a larger square of amazing goodness.

so as part of my christmas gift, she gave me….

Dark Chocolate with à la Mousse au Chocolat

MOST AMAZING. even more amazing than this IS THE MILK CHOCOLATE ONE!

mmMMmm :9

chocolate mousse ones are amazing because if you eat chocolate like i do, you’ll know that when you let it melt in your mouth, what’s left is the other stuff in the chocolate i.e. nuts, biscuits, yogurt in some cases. BLECH right? but this ritter sport is AMAZING because the chocolate mousse after the chocolate melts away is STILL AMAZING.

im going to go to andronico’s some time and just hoard a bunch of these (or.. that’s where i’m told they can be found).

on a related note, lily also gave me a box of candy cane green tea. WHAAAATT?

check it:

haha i lined my nose right under the arch of the box

and upon opening it, the larger flap inside the box had a NARWHAL! with ornaments dangling off it’s tusk (yes, it is a tusk, not a horn. in fact, it is an upper left tooth that protrudes out of its head).

cuuuute (narwhal and girl modeling narwhal included, of course)

hm. too bad this tea is decaf. esp after that caffeine episode and post yesterday. : (

I’m coming up for air long enough to let you all know I’m still alive.  The end of finals can’t come soon enough!  But today I made some progress.  I have almost finished my stats project.  I submitted my biology assignment and I have made a dent in preparing for Friday’s stats test.  I have another stats test on Monday, so I am trying to take the first test a little bit ahead of time (I love on-line flexibility!).  I even made it to the grocery store today.  It was a busy one!

I have been so chilly today!  I had a great 10 mile run on the treadmill today and felt so warm and toasty after my shower.  But after about an hour of just sitting, I was cold again.  I sat with my hot water bottle most of the day and warmed up with yumminess like this…

Nothing like oatmeal to warm you up from the inside.  This is my favorite combination, with pumpkin, apple and raisins.  But I forgot my flax seed and chia until I was half way through.  I love the extra texture the seeds add.

I also dined on some more broccoli slaw and chickpeas today.  I can’t get enough of this!  And fortunately, it super quick to make.  I don’t have time to be creative in the kitchen until I get through these last 2 weeks of the semester, so I’m afraid you are going to see lots of repeats!

I am about to call it a night.  I put in about 4 hours on this stats chapter.  That’s about all I can do in one sitting.  Stats makes my brain hurt!  I made a nice little treat for myself for later on.  I’ve had some chocolate mousse hanging around for a while.  It called to me today and it’s setting in the fridge right now.

Look at those swirls!

I need to kick my feet up now.  Dave is out at a business dinner tonight… it’s just me and the kitties, a bowl of chocolately goodness, and several cheesey Christmas movies to choose from!

so, i mean, not to brag. but for my first chocolate mousse ever, i think this one is a winner. it is chilling right now (i’m going to chill it for two hours, we’ll see how that works), so while we wait for the verdict (judged by a roomful of hungry 20-somethings), let’s see how this bowl of delicious came to be.

a note: this recipe is my mom’s, and the final step was “pipe into bowls, etc.” – soooo i kind of winged it. it was really a list of ingredients. some said “melt”, others said “whip into soft peaks”…i relied on the power of the internet a lot to give me tips and pulled ideas from other recipes

start with 8 ounces of semi-sweet chocolate

i went for the “hacked up into thirds” method of chopping this up. a better woman would have finely chopped it, but i am not that good.

add in 2 ounces (4 tablespoons) of butter. mmmm butter.

i put this into a small-ish pot, put it on the stove, and turned the heat to low-ish (ish is definitely a real measurement)

stirring constantly…lumpy but amazing

i definitely contemplated just stopping here, and eating a bowl of melted butter and chocolate.

an aside on separating these two egg yolks. you can just barely see the slightly more round egg yolk in the bottom of the bowl. that is egg number three of this effort. egg number one…was a hot mess. yolk came out, then the whites (which you want to hang onto) went everywhere. my counter had this amoebic blob of nasty on it and i swore very loudly. so. i got another egg out. cleaned up the disaster. and the second egg separated, if not beautifully, and the third looked like i knew what i was doing. (which i did not)

quarter-cup of confectioner’s sugar. mmmmmm yummy. though admittedly not when soaking up egg yolk.

pour in one ounce of vanilla extract here. in this case, that is one bottle of the good stuff (i have two bottles of it in one ounce form, because harris teeter’s sneaky advertising made me think i was getting each bottle for around a dollar, but in fact…was not. and i just bought them anyway. life on the edge, loves.)

stir it all up. i assume. the recipe card does not specify, but i figured mom did not want me to, say, just dump the whole thing into a bowl for folding without mixing. so i got out my trusty whisk.

so i am skipping the step where i whipped a cup of heavy cream into soft peaks. the picture was all white because it was in a white bowl. this step you’re looking at is the whipped-into-soft-peaks egg whites. it gets crazy foamy when you start and i had this moment of pure panic where i thought “oh god, this bowl had soap in it!!!”. nope. totally normal to look like it’s bathtime.

well, that looks just vomitous, doesn’t it? here we fold the yolk/confectioner’s sugar/vanilla mixture into the melted chocolate. folding, for those of you wondering, is crazy easy. take a flat spatula (our house has about ten million), scrape around the sides of the bowl, then as you come to full circle, cut through the middle. it helps to hold the bowl at an angle. keep going until it is just mixed together – “just mixed”, to my eye, was that i couldn’t totally tell where the one ended and the other began. (poetic, i know)

ooooo that looks good. all folded up and happy.

now go ahead and fold the whipped cream in. much prettier looking

this picture has no purpose beyond my thinking it was pretty.

fold in the egg whites (i noticed i left that step out. sorry. those are good to put in)

and volia! mousse! now in my fridge. i may stay up till midnight just to eat a spoonful. by spoonful, i do mean “entire bowl”.

no real baking therapy here, i just love chocolate, and chocolate mousse is hands-down one of my favorite desserts. i spent 3 weeks in france during my senior year of high school and have a fond memory of eating an entire (large) bowl of chocolate mousse with my host – her parents had serious skills in the kitchen.

tomorrow i am making an apple pie (or a whiskey apple pie. it depends on my mood) with another housemate (my other male housemate, not the one who is helping with this blog).  check in sometime then for that post, i love making apple pie.

Ski Lift Chocolate Mousse

After Thanksgiving, we’ll be serving up a new Winter Dessert Menu here at Boundary Bay Brewery.  We like to offer up desserts that celebrate the flavors of the season and this new Winter Menu is full of hearty, warming desserts perfect to ward off any winter chill!  Look for our new menu during the first week of December!

Winter Crumble

Winter Crumble: a sweet walnut crumble tops a wintery fruit filling of pears, apples, dried figs and cranberries.  Served warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.  A sweet treat to balance the bitter winds of winter.

Ski-Lift Chocolate Mousse:  a rich chocolate mousse spiked with peppermint schnapps!  One bite and you might think you’re dining in a chalet up on Mt. Baker with this new take on a winter warm-up enjoyed by powder hounds around the world.

Chocolate Stout Ice Cream Cake

Chocolate Stout Ice Cream Cake: house made caramel ice cream is sandwiched between layers of bittersweet chocolate cake smothered in a warm chocolate sauce.  Both the cake and the sauce are flavored with Boundary Bay Brewery’s own Oatmeal Stout.  A great dessert for sharing…if you have the will power!

Sticky Pecan Pumpkin Cake:  Thanksgiving has come and gone but if you haven’t had your fill of Autumn flavors you CAN have your cake and eat it too!  Pumpkin pie meets pecan pie in this delicious cake with a sticky sweet layer of caramelized pecans covering a decadent pumpkin cake topped with Oatmeal Stout caramel sauce.

Sticky Pecan Pumpkin Cake

Chocolate Mousse

Serves:4 (1/2 cup each),10,10

CarbsPerServing:5gm

Prep Time:About 15 active time,

1 hr chill time

Effort:Easy

Ingredients:

1 envelope unflavored gelatin

2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa

2 eggs, separated 2 cups half & half divided

5 packets sugar substitute

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

How to Prepare:

In medium-size saucepan, mix gelatin and cocoa. In separate bowl, beat egg yolks with 1 cup half&half. Blend into gelatin mixture. Let stand 1 minute to soften gelatin. Stir over low heat until gelatin is completely dissolved, about 5 minutes. Add remaining half&half, sweetener and vanilla. Pour into large bowl and chill, stirring occasionally, until mixture mounds slightly when  dropped from spoon. In separate large bowl, beat egg whites until soft peaks form;  gradually add gelatin mixture and beat until doubled in volume,about 5 minutes. Chill until mixture is slightly thickened. Turn into dessert dishes or 1-quart bowl and chill until set.

There’s not a lot of incentive for me to get out of bed at 5am on a Tuesday morning, especially in the Northern Hemisphere winter. But when I heard that Australian blogger, Razzbuffnik, and his wife, Engogirl, would be travelling around Europe for a few months, I found that rising at five to go and meet them in Paris wasn’t so bad after all.

Razz and Engo met me at the Gare du Nord and we hugged and fell immediately into easy chatter as if reunited schoolfriends rather than bloggers who’d never before met in person. In spite of the grey skies and drizzle, we forewent museums in favour of a leisurely stroll through le Marais, heading for the Seine.

We popped into a couple of markets, which were disappointing, really, and le Marais was like a ghost town, lacking in its usual buzz. But by the time we reached the Ile Saint Louis, we had decided that spending the afternoon together, eating and talking, was the way forward.

I’d heard about a restaurant called l’Ilôt Vache, filled with cow trinkets from faithful patrons, and we certainly found it, but it was closed. Perhaps that was fortuitous because when Razz spotted a modern-looking frontage with a French-Italian-Spanish fusion menu, we decided to give it a whirl, and how lucky we were that we did.

The restaurant is called Sorza and in spite of it being barely 12.30pm, we were greeted by a warm waitress and took a table in the window. Thus began the longest lunch I’ve had in a while. We were the first to arrive for lunch and the last to leave almost five hours later. Somehow, it didn’t surprise me that Razz, Engo and I could eat and talk for so long – we’ve all come to know each other quite well through Razz’s blog and mine and various e-mails in between posts, so the conversation flowed, just as well as the 2005 Côtes du Rhône that we ordered to see us through the afternoon.

Soon a group of Americans arrived to take tables behind us (Razz thinks that our being in the otherwise empty restaurant must have lured them in) and some locals later joined the fray. As dull as it was outside, we were warm in Sorza’s red interior. Now we just had to get down to the serious business at hand: eating.

Engo and I chose the parmesan soufflé to start. Small and rich, it was served warm and small mouthfuls of the cheesy creaminess lingered. This was not to be rushed; this dish demanded to be savoured. It was served with a long plate of leaves with a pesto dressing, shavings of parmesan and a drizzle of balsamic. The freshness of the salad tempered the rich soufflé and the tang of basil married well with the taste of parmesan.

Between bites, Engogirl practised her food photography with hubby, Razzbuffnik’s smart wide-angle lensed-up camera, as we discussed topics as disparate as the Lord of the Rings trilogy and how much you can tell about a country’s climate from its style of guttering.

Amidst all the talking, it’s a miracle we managed to eat as much as we did. Razzbuffnik’s starter was grilled aubergine with parmesan shavings artfully placed at the centre of the plate, and a sprinkling of pine nuts, olives, sunblushed vine tomatoes and a swirl of pesto completed the dish. We, the small Antipodean triumvirate, out to lunch in the French capital, were thus far impressed.

The mains only convinced us that we had stumbled into a very good establishment indeed.

Razz and I chose the Dorade, or sea bream, with creamy polenta and a small herb garnish. The polenta was the creamiest I’ve ever eaten in my life. When it arrived, it bore a gentle foam, and the bloggers’ consensus was that the texture was reminiscent of the softest scrambled eggs. The fish had been grilled to gently crisp its skin, whilst the fleshy underside remained tender, flaking off the fork as it should. And the bonus? No bones.

By this point, we were all sticking our forks into each other’s plates like old muckers, comparing each dish and making all sorts of lipsmacking sounds of gastronomic satisfaction. Engogirl’s risotto with coquilles Saint Jacques, was particularly good. Razz and I agreed that had we the opportunity to return, we’d definitely have to order it for ourselves because one small taste was definitely not enough.

Hours had passed by this point and it was beginning to get dark outside, but we still had to try the desserts. Engogirl tried the pannacotta with two coulis, Razz whizzed through a house tiramisu, and I had the chocolate mousse with crème de menthe. The mousse option arrived in a glass showing its three tidy layers. There was white cream at the bottom, a substantial amount of mousse in the middle, and a glossy cover of  chocolate sauce. The surprise was the white cream. It was quite literally delicately sweetened cream with finely chopped fresh mint throughout.

After a digestif or two it was time to thank our lovely waitress, who’d suffered our foreigners’ French with great patience, and hit the road.

Opposite Sorza we checked out the gallery windows, photographing this modern take on Gustav Klimt’s women, and learning glare-avoidance techniques from Razz. Then I looked at my watch. It said 5.20pm. No. It couldn’t be. I thought it was about 4.30pm. Now I had less than an hour to get back to the Gare du Nord and catch my train. Could it be done?

In the end, we caught a metro, got lost changing at Châtelet, found the right line headed north and screeched onto a train bound for the Gare du Nord. Thankfully, when we reached the Eurostar terminal, there were hardly any queues. That, in itself, is truly miraculous.

With a sadly hurried farewell to my two Australian friends, I typically found myself in the slowest-moving customs queues, threw my bags through the x-ray machine and hoofed it down to the platform. I made it into my seat with 4 minutes to spare. Now that’s what I call timing.

Razzbuffnik and Engogirl are my kinda company. They’re feet-on-the ground with a great repertoire of anecdotes, and a love of things that rate highly on my list of passions – namely, food and travel. I wish we lived closer so that Razz could cook for me with that extra-special Weber barbecue of his and so that Engogirl could show me her dams (Engo is an dam-building engineer). For the moment, we’ll just have to be thankful for the wonderful day we shared in Paris, and for the biggest blessing we’ve discovered through blogging: new and international friends.

Mission:  Gold Explorer’s Charm – Chocolate Mousse  has been released.   The charm is located in the Explorer’s Camp, back by the tents.  Remember to go to the Beach and click on Moonpebble to complete this mission.

Located in Explorer's Camp

Brand
Nestle NOIR Mousse Delicate
Slogan
“Shaped with the contours of your mouth in mind, each perfectly portioned piece delivers great pleasure!”
Taste
A blend of light and intense chocolate flavours
Price
On sale for $2.09 from regular $4.49
Nutritional facts
150 calories per 3 pieces
Uniqueness
Affordable luxury
Quality
4
Origin
Canada

The candy aisle usually brims with an assortment of consumer grade candies and chocolates to tempt the toddler and mother duo, with mega size party packs recently becoming ever the more popular. In my experience, I have never come across fancy chocolates besides gift packs designed for the holidays during Christmas time, or at least, until now. And a fine chocolate it is, the Mousse Delicate from Nestle is a relatively up and coming variety to their bread and butter familiar names (think Coffee Crisp, Kit Kat, Aero and Smarties). While the appealing price certainly caught my eye, I was glad to take home a cello wrapped box filled with 10 pieces of light dark chocolate mousse enrobed in a smooth milk chocolate shell. It took me a minute as I had some trouble with unfastening the tightly wrapped plastic, slid out the glistening gold foiled tray, to expose the elegantly designed, uniformly shaped chocolates. I thoroughly enjoyed the melody of tastes as they blended together in my mouth, from the rich chocolate mousse whose bottom notes bear a resemblance to ganache with a slight hint of coffee, to the thin milk chocolate shell, gently complimenting the flavour without overpowering it on the whole. It is perfect for ending an evening meal on a sweet note. For those of us in search of a fine indulgence without the guilt, this pick is guaranteed to keep watch of your wallet as well as your health.

Beautiful packaging

Fit for grown-up tastes

Another view of the chocolate

A satisfied chocolatier!

Today i made Chocolate Mousse for my family and my boyfriend.
It was quite easy to make and i had a lot of fun with the presentation
Strawberry fans are so easy to make yet they look so good, all you have to do is cut slices into the strawberry making sure they dont go all the way to the end, then fan them out!
And i also grated the chocolate on my mums new grater she’d be pleased that i forced her to buy it.
Any way im really pleased with how they turned out and im stoked that i bought the little glass bowls (got six of them) for 50 cents each! very shabby chic

This is where it all happened.

OK, this isn’t about oysters, but it is about the ocean, sort of. My story happened on an ocean liner and includes one of my favorite topics – dessert. Remember, I’m a “life is short, so eat dessert first” kind of guy. But, as much as I thrive on desserts, this is really about great memories. My wife, Jerry, and I were on a cruise in the Caribbean with a group of family and friends. These people have been around me enough to know of my proclivity (the dictionary said I was using it correctly) for desserts, specifically and food in general.

This was a few years ago as I'm certain you can tell. I truly look better next to her.

All right, this may be a little revealing – every morning on the ship I would go and check the dinner menu and consistent with my reputation, I’d start with the dessert offerings first. (If you’re not an “eat dessert first” person, well … I’m sorry. Maybe you don’t know the thrill of anticipation for that final tantalizing offering.) After examining the choices, I would decide what I want and then have the pleasure of looking forward to it all day. At home things are slightly different. There are two choices – take it or leave it.

I can almost taste it!

The flames are out - disappointing

Love it!

Well, this particular night there were four desserts on the menu and they all looked wonderful to me: cherries jubilee, a Napoleon, chocolate mousse, and I don’t remember the fourth. One of our couples was celebrating a wedding anniversary, so we special ordered a cake for the occasion as well.

We're at the back of the table - oh the memories.

For some unexplained reason our waiter decided that each evening I should be the first person to order, no matter what meal course we were on. We had a wonderful relationship; I’d order, he’d tell me there was something better, and then he’d bring me what he wanted me to have no matter what I wanted. Anyway, that night was French night, 3 or 4 days into the trip. Following our entrees, he came to me for my dessert order. I said, “I want one of each of the desserts.” His pupils got big for just a moment and then left without taking any other orders. We already had the cake at the table. Our group commented on how strange that was and wondered if something was wrong. We waited and waited, getting really concerned as the dining room emptied. Suddenly, there he was at the back of the room carrying a large tray that looked like it was on fire and behind him were three other waiters, each his replica.  

I can’t help laughing even now. When they got to us, we discovered he had arranged for each of the eight of us to have all the desserts – five in total. I was in heaven, but had a tough time getting it all down as I tried to alter the laws of physics. We laughed and ate for quite a while longer. Well, maybe you can see why this is called the Soulcookie Café. We focus on treats, those that taste good and those that enliven the spirit and give vitality.  I hope you’re looking forward to the unfolding of our menu items. Bon appetite!

Wow!  What a productive day!  I worked for about 8 hours on stats yesterday, and after reviewing this morning, I aced another test!  Woo Hoo!  Even, better, I checked that off my list so I can move on.  I love that feeling!  It must have been the killer elliptical workout this morning that fired me up!

I was able to do a bit of Biology reading before my lab this afternoon, and then I came home and whizzed through my Medical Terminology quiz. (I love the convenience of on-line courses!).  I am now caught up enough that I can devote myself for the next several days to Biology.  With the Chemistry test I had last week, and then Statistics this week, Biology has gotten pushed to the wayside.  Time to catch up!

I try hard not to snack when I study.  Being at home…just me, my books, my computer, and…my kitchen, it could be a little dangerous.  When I get stressed or nervous, I want to eat.  And staying out the the kitchen when I’m not really hungry is a struggle some days.  Usually, it’s the days when I am really nervous about a test or really frustrated by something I don’t understand.  But for the most part, I have done a really good job of this.  The me from several years ago would have eaten her way through the kitchen several times over by now, and would have put on a good amount of weight.

All that being said, I did have a very portion controlled snack today while I was studying.  I have heard a lot about Pirate’s Booty, but I had never tried it.  There was a single-serving bag at the store a while ago, so I grabbed it.  It’s gluten free, according to the package, and made of puffed rice and corn.  I’m always looking for new gluten free tricks, so I thought I’d give it a try.

I am not a salty person….I don’t crave chips or dip or pretzels or cheese.  I love my sweets and those cravings are enough for me to handle!  But occasionally, I like a salty snack.  Today was the day.

This was the veggie flavored variety.  (Eaten with a side of z scores and t distributions!)  I don’t really know what to compare these to.  They aren’t cheesy, but they are the consistency of cheese puffs.  I liked them and would buy them again.  At 130 calories per serving, I was surprised by how big the bag was.  It satisfied the craving, for sure.

Dinner tonight was early.  Dave isn’t home tonight, so instead of having a snack to tide me over for a later dinner, I decided to eat dinner at 5 and then buckle down to finish my Medical Terminology quiz.  Now it’s 6:00 and my must-dos are done for the day!  I guess I will thank my very yummy and simple dinner for powering me through the last quiz.

I had some left over spaghetti squash, so I reheated with some chickpeas and marinara sauce.  Really fast and really good!

Whether I continue to abstain from gluten indefinitely or not, spaghetti squash is a new staple for me.  I just love it!  A great pasta stand-in!  The addition of the chick peas adds a great dose of protein and fiber too.

I sipped some of the vanilla caramel tea afterward while I studied.  I can’t believe I am drinking tea and  enjoying it!  I have tried so long to like tea, then Melissa gives a sample of this, and suddenly, I’m a tea drinker.  Ironically, she just posted that she didn’t like this tea.  Hmmm…..  Maybe I like it because it doesn’t taste like the tea normal people like?!?  I haven’t found a fruity tea that I have liked, so I am on the look out for the sugar cookie tea from Celestial Seasonings that I keep hearing about.

I have just a couple more school-related things I need to do tonight, and then I am going to have some couch time with 2 of my 3 boys.  Jack and Rudy may actually settle for my lap tonight in Dave’s absence!  I made myself a special treat for tonight that I am looking forward to relaxing with.

I’ve never tried this brand of mousse before, but it’s chocolate, so I have a 99% confidence level that I will love it!  (Did you see the Statistics reference!?  I am so scholarly!)

I will be having a big glob of this with my chocolate mouse.

I try not to eat too much “fake” food.  But I really do love Cool Whip.  I don’t eat it everyday, but when I do, I have a nice big scoop.

Do you ever feel “naughty” for posting something you eat that is processed or “fake” or blacklisted by many bloggers?

Thank you for all of the responses to my Statistics project idea.  I have 2 good possible projects and now I need to choose between them.

One last thing:  Make sure to check out my guest post on Heather’s blog tomorrow around noon.  (Don’t worry, I’ll remind you tomorrow!)  I posted about my issues with IBS and the dietary changes I’ve had to make.  I plan to talk more about it here when I have some free time to get some information and sources together to share.  Personal experiences are great, but I want to provide some factual information too.

Good night all!

Louis Lanza, chef-owner of Josie’s, Citrus, Josephina & Better Burger, and author of “Totally Dairy-Free Cooking”, prepares healthy food that actually tastes great! I love dining out with my family and friends (a mixed-eating group) at Josie’s because the restaurant offers appetizers and entrees for both vegans and meat-eaters. The best part is that all of the food is organic, but you wouldn’t know it from looking at the food or the place. It just looks like a fun, hip restaurant. Lanza proves that in addition to greens, tofu and veggie dumplings– meat items, such as chicken soup, steak salad and crab cakes can also be made healthy!  Josie’s shared four recipes with Creative Delites, so that you can delight in their food at home. When I go to Josie’s with my parents, I love the pre-meal cornbread and sweet potato dip. One of my favorite entrees is the vegetable stir-fry and seared asian tofu. See the recipes below for a soup, entree and dessert.

Soup, Entree & Dessert

Recipes by:
Josie’s Restaurant West
(Amsterdam Ave. at 74th St.)
Note: Josie’s has another location on Third Avenue and 37th St.

The Chef:
Louis Lanza

Soup ROASTED BUTTERNUT SQUASH

INGREDIENTS:

1 whole butternut squash, halved and seeded
1 tablespoon honey
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground allspice
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 medium sweet potato, scrubbed
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon olive oil
2 cups chopped yellow onions
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 cup chopped celery
1 cup dry white wine
4 cups vegetable stock or water
2 cups plain, lowfat soy milk
sea salt and freshly ground white pepper
toasted pumpkin seeds, optional

SPECIAL EQUIPMENT:

Food processor or electric handheld blender

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Rub the 2 halves (meat side only) of the squash with honey, cinnamon, allspice and nutmeg. Rub the whole sweet potato with 1 teaspoon of olive oil. Place the squash and sweet potato in a roasting pan or baking dish and roast for 1 hour. Remove from the oven and when cooled, scoop the meat out of the squash. Peel and coarsely chop the sweet potato. Set aside.

2. In a medium stockpot, heat the remaining 1 tablespoon of olive oil over medium heat. Add onions, garlic and celery and cook, stirring, until softened, 5 to 7 minutes. Add wine and simmer for 10 minutes. Add the stock and simmer for 15 minutes more.

3. Add the squash meat and sweet potatoes to the pot and simmer for 10 minutes, or until the sweet potatoes are tender. Remove from heat, add soy milk and puree the mixture with an electric handheld blender, or in a food processor. Strain the soup through a fine-mesh strainer for a smoother texture, season and serve. Garnish with toasted pumpkin seeds, if you wish.

Entre VEGETABLE STIR-FRY

Makes 2 serving
Preparation Time: 15 minutes

INGREDIENTS:

5-6 thin slices garlic, peeled (total 1”)
1 teaspoon garlic, chopped
1 1/2 teaspoons olive oil
4-6 ounces vegetable stock or water
1 tablespoon tamari soy sauce, lite
1 tablespoon mirin (rice wine)
1 teaspoon arrowroot mixed with 1 tbsp. vegetable stock
1 cup broccoli florets
1 cup cauliflower florets
1/2 cup asparagus, sliced
1/2 cup zucchini, sliced
1 cup  shittake mushrooms, halved
1/2 cup red pepper, julienne
1/2 cup  edamame, shelled
1/4 cup  scallions, sliced

DIRECTIONS:

1. In a small bowl, combine tamari, mirin & arrowroot mixture
2. In a non-stick wok, heat olive oil. Add ginger and garlic
3. Add cauliflower, broccoli and stir-fry for 2 minutes. Add 1/4 cup vegetable stock.
4. Add asparagus, zucchini and shittake mushrooms, stir-fry for 2 minutes. Add 1/4 cup vegetable stock.
5. Add tamari, mirin and arrowroot mixture, cook for 2 minutes. Add scallions. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Calories: 180
Fat: 5g
Protein: 11g
Carbohydrate: 25g
Cholesterol: 0mg
Sodium: 515mg
Fiber: 5g

Entre SEARED ASIAN TOFU

Makes 4 servings
Preparation Time: 1 hour

“This recipe has satisfied my customers at Josie’s since the first day we opened our doors. If you’ve never tried tofu before, I think you’ll be surprise at how incredible this tastes. Add this to anything from burritoes to stir-fry or as a substitute for meat.” – Louis Lanza

INGREDIENTS:

1 pound firm tofu
1 tablespoon tamari soy sauce
1 tablespoon rice wine (mirin)
1 tablespoon Thai chili-garlic paste
1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
1 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil
freshly ground black pepper

DIRECTIONS:

1. Place the tofu on a paper towel on a plate. Set another plate over the tofu and top with a heavy object to remove excess moisture, for about 30 minutes. Slice the tofu lengthwise in 4 equal slices. Place in a shallow Pyrex dish.
2. In a mixing bowl, whisk together all the remaining ingredients. Pour over the tofu. Marinate the tofu for 15 minutes, turning several times to coat.
3. In a nonstick skillet over medium heat, sear the tofu slices for 2 to 3 minutes on each side, or until browned.

Calories: 182.2
Fat: 11g
Protein: 18.4g
Carbohydrate: 5.3g
Cholesterol: 0mg
Sodium: 267mg

Dessert CHOCOLATE & PEANUT BUTTER MOUSSE
Makes 7 servings

INGREDIENTS:

1 pound tofu, silken
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup organic cane sugar
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 tablespoons peanut butter, natural
2 tablespoons soy milk, vanilla light
pinch of sea salt

DIRECTIONS:

1. Place all ingredients in food processor and slowly drizzle in soy milk. Blend until smooth.
2. Spoon mixture into 7 serving dishes and refrigerate. Chill for 1 to 2 hous before serving.

(I wasn’t given the calorie count for the dessert, and I figure it’s best not to ask. The mousse is lighter than most restaurant desserts, great for vegans, and perfect for a sharing circle of spoons.)

(alternative button below)

Here at the Food on Fridays carnival, any post remotely related to food is welcome. Recipes are enjoyed, but you can simply tell us if you’re a late-night snacker (please include a list of your favorite indulgences).

In other words, the Food on Fridays parameters are not at all narrow. I think of it as a virtual pitch-in where everyone brings something to share; even if the content of one item is unrelated to the rest, we sample it all anyway and have a great time.

When your Food on Fridays contribution is ready, just grab the broccoli button (the big one above or the new smaller option at the bottom) to paste at the top of your post and join us through Mr. Linky.

Here’s a Mr. Linky tutorial:

Write up a post, publish, then return here and click on Mr. Linky below. A screen will pop up where you can type in your blog name and paste in the url to your own Food on Fridays post (give us the exact link to your Food on Fridays page, not just the link to your blog).

You can also visit other people’s posts by clicking on Mr. Linky and then clicking participants’ names–you should be taken straight to their posts.

Please note: I return when possible during the day and update this post by hand to include a list of the links provided via Mr. Linky. If I can’t get to the computer to do so, you may access them all by clicking on the Mister Linky logo.

Food on Fridays Participants

Food on Fridays with Ann Yvonne

My sister-in-law Yvonne lives in France. Her daughter is finishing up university studies in the States and as she prepares to head out on her own, she has asked Yvonne to provide copies of her favorite family recipes.

So that her daughter can access the recipes at any time, Yvonne set up a food blog and is posting recipes, one-by-one, in French. It’s called “Comme a la Maison.” She describes the purpose of the blog as follows:

Ce blog est pour ma fille, qui étudie au loin et qui veut retrouver ses recettes préférées. Ceci lui permettra de manger “comme à la maison”. Les recettes reflètent notre famille américano-belgo-française avec une petite pointe holandaise. La plupart sont très simples et les proportions sont souvent très approximatives… Soyez donc indulgents! N’hésitez pas à suggérer des améliorations dans les commentaires.

Visit “Comme a la Maison” HERE.

If your French is rusty, you can utilize this handy translation tool (not always 100 percent accurate, however): Yahoo’s Babel Fish. You can translate to and from many languages using that website. Let’s say you aren’t sure what vegetable is pictured. Take, for example, this squash-like thing:

Yvonne says it’s a potimarron. You can pop the word into the Babel Fish text box and ask it to translate from French to English.

It says, by the way, that a potimarron is a “potimarron.” So handy. (Not!)

I poked around for an explanation online. The “poti” part of the word seems to come from the word potiron (pumpkin) and marron is the word for chestnut. I did a little research, and one website said that it does have a slight chestnut flavor. I’ve never seen a potimarron here in the United States; then again, I’ve never looked.

Yvonne posted a soup recipe using potimarron (or substituting pumpkin). It sure sounds delicious, but I’m partial to orange soups.

An easier and possibly more rewarding place to start?

How about with some Mousse au chocolat?

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Visit NotSoFastBook.com to learn more about Ann’s new book.

Over the next few weeks, I will be working with a number of new clients, preparing menus for dinner parties throughout the city. These new opportunities are most exciting for me because, creating a stress free, delicious and exciting meal for a small gathering is something I absolutely love. And for the diners and host specifically, being able to entertain and enjoy the night without the worries of overcooking or a late delivery man makes any occasion a special one. So moving forward, especially into this Holiday season, consider giving the gift of a meal to someone in your circle of friends or family. And rather than running out to the nearby restaurant for a gift certificate, consider what Silver Caterers can offer. For more specifics you can contact me but in the mean time, enjoy the menus I’ll be posting.

This past week, I created a three course menu for five. Sometimes the meal itself can be a special occasion which is why I wanted to make this one seasonally visual and flavorful. How perfect then is the butternut squash and fennel soup I posted about earlier in the month garnished with the roasted butternut squash seeds. The vibrant orange color and the warming quality of this soup, yells “Fall” and was a big hit. For the entree, I wanted to show my affinity towards blending flavors. Taking a bite of roasted sweet potato along with the sauteed swiss shard and spinach all with a bit of poached halibut in a tomato and orange reduction created pure excitement in your mouth. So many great flavors, all working together in unison. And with the beautiful colors, the plate was just as delicious to look at as it was to eat. Lastly, for dessert, a chocolate mousse cake with a fresh raspberry sauce finished this meal off with a bit of richness and a whole lot of smiles. Who doesn’t like chocolate mousse!

Happy Birthday to you!

What do you get someone who doesn’t want anything for his birthday?

For those who have been following my posts (YES!  I do have some regular readers – that is, Mom, Dad, husband, and occasionally one sister when I force her to), you will recall the nightmare I had with my two labradors of which I chronicled here.  Well,  they aren’t always that bad.  Sometimes, they provide inspiration for the best ideas.

Let me tell you about it.

A few weeks ago I was down with the flu and I asked my husband to walk the dogs for me, which he did.  Coming home around 30 minutes later, I asked him (as I always do) “how was the walk?” and he replied “there was an accident”.  Take note, this was a few days after the infamous and expensive chocolate mousse incident!  My heart dropped.  I thought they must have gotten hurt or ate more chocolate.  I asked him what happened.

He said,  “go downstairs”.  Oh no.  I thought to myself.  I rushed down to find the lounge area covered in flour.  My dogs had decided to get a bag of flour on the kitchen counter (I know I should stop leaving food there and it has since been rectified) and have some fun.  They took the bag from the kitchen and brought it to the lounge and decided it would look great on the rug.

Special thanks to Baci & Bizou for deciding on the birthday cake to make!

Now that I look back, it was a pretty funny sight but it wasn’t so funny that morning when I had to clean up the mess!

Anyway, that evening I told my husband,  that I needed a new bag of flour because I was going to practice on a chocolate cake I had never made for his birthday (yes, a bit OC but I thought I should have one go at the cake before serving it on his birthday).  He said “why don’t you just make a flourless chocolate cake”.  Brilliant!

What a great idea.  And then, I added my own twist and decided I was going to make it a macaron cake – they are flourless too!

Chocolate Mousse Macaron Cake

So here it is:  The FLOURLESS Chocolate Mousse Macaron Birthday Cake inspired by those two crazy labradors.  It is also the first of my Daring Bakers’ Challenge for October.  My second post – lemon lime macarons can be found here.

The 2009 October Daring Bakers’ challenge was brought to us by Ami S. She chose macarons from Claudia Fleming’s The Last Course: The Desserts of Gramercy Tavern as the challenge recipe.  Please do check out her website:  Baking Without Fear.

Ingredients

• 125 grams almond meal
• 125 grams icing sugar (not icing mixture)
• 30 grams dutch processed cocoa powder
• 100 grams caster sugar
• 100 grams egg whites (from around 3 eggs)

Procedure

1. Before you begin with the macs, find a 20 cm plate and draw the pattern on some baking paper.
2. In a food processor grind the almond meal and icing sugar for around 5 minutes until very finely ground.
3. Place the egg whites in an electric mixer and whip the whites until soft peaks
4. Add the sugar, 50 grams at a time while the egg whites are being beaten.
5. Beat the egg whites until stiff peaks.
6. Fold the ground almond meal mixture into the egg white mixture in three additions until fully amalgamated.
7. Pipe on to baking trays which have been lined with baking paper.  Start from the center of the circle and go around until you end on the edge of the circle.
8. Let the macarons dry for around 30 minutes until the “shells” are dry. Bake in a pre heated fan forced oven (150c) for 20 minutes.

Chocolate Mousse

• 80 grams caster sugar
• 5 egg yolks
• 200 grams dark coveture chocolate
• 300 ml cream
• Cocoa Powder for dusting

1. Beat the egg yolks in a stand or electric mixer.
2. In a sauce pan, heat 30 ml water and the caster sugar.  Bring to a boil.
3. Add the sugar syrup to the egg yolks in a steady stream.   Whisk until the mixture is at room temperature and is light.
4. Melt the chocolate in a microwave until melted and cool slightly until lukewarm
5. Fold the chocolate into the egg mixture.
6. In another bowl, whisk the cream until semi stiff peaks.
7. Fold the cream into the chocolate/egg mixture.
8. With a pastry bag, fill half a shell and cover with the other half
9. Store in the refrigerator
10. Dust with cocoa powder before serving.

To Dan:  Wishing you a very happy birthday!  Sorry I don’t have a gift for you except this macaron cake (even if I did buy you something I would probably use your credit card anyway!) …  Love lots!  Kiss kiss… Baci, Bizou and Trissa

Hey, wait a minute! I thought mousse was supposed to be smooth and creamy and poofy. What's with those antlers? (Photo attribution at end of post).

First, I must start with an Apology.  Friend Freckles asked about how to keep mousse from getting all crunchy when you start folding the chocolate into the rest of the ingredients.  She asked this a Very Long Time ago.  I had every intention of writing an Amazing Post to answer her question, but then it fell out of my brain completely.  My brain is Very Small and Cramped.  Anyway, rather than Berating me and calling me mean names because I didn’t do what I said I was gonna do,  she instead employed the You Catch More Flies With Honey Than With Vinegar approach and left another comment the other day, ending with a friendly, “by the way–how’s that chocolate mousse coming?”  Non-threatening and honey-esque, yes?  Of course, my first thought was, “What is she talking about?” See, I told you my brain is small and cramped.  At any rate, I did finally remember the question,  so here I am to answer her Excellent Question to the best of my ability.  Sorry for the tardiness, Freckles, but thanks for being nice!

Okay, so what do we know about chocolate?  Chocolate is an emulsion–wee dry particles of cocoa liqueur suspended in the bunch of different fats that make up cocoa butteYou’ve heard of chocolate’s seizing, right?  Well, that’s because you’re accidentally introducing just a Tiny Amount of liquid into the now-melted emulsion.  Do you think the liquid is going to mix with the dry particles or the fat?  I’ll give you a moment.  Insert Jeopardy Theme Song here.  The dry, you say?  You are correct!  Water is hardly going to play nicely with the fat.   So now what has happened is that this Tiny Amount of water has stodged together the dry particles.  The only way to unstodge them is to add enough liquid that the particles can freely slide past each other as opposed to clumping up.  Ever added just a few drops of water to a big old pot of sugar, maybe in preparation for making caramel or something?  The sugar just clumps up and gets stupid.  Keep adding water, though, and eventually you’ll be able to stir it freely and the sugar will even dissolve.  Lovely.  Same principle applies to chocolate.

Here’s another thing we know about chocolate:  you put it in the fridge, and it gets hard.  The fats firm up to the point of Rock Hard.  So, if you start mixing melted chocolate together with some crazy cold cream, it’ll get all chippy on you.

To fool melted chocolate into playing nicely with water-based and cold  ingredients, you’ve got to take both Things We Know About Chocolate into account.  As far as the emulsion deal, you’ll want to fold in the ingredient that has more water in it first.  And that’s egg whites.  Plus, egg whites whip best at room-ish temperature,  so you won’t have to really worry about the cold factor coming into play.  As far as the cream goes, you want to make sure that it’s not crazy cold.  Yes, they always tell you to make sure the cream is as cold as possible and to stash your bowl and beater over at the local Cryogenics Lab alongside Walt Disney before whipping.  But, here’s the thing, if your cream is too cold, you’re running the risk of chipping up your chocolate.  Besides, when it comes to making mousse, I advise only whipping until barely soft peaks.  You’ll continue to “whip” the cream as you fold everything together.  If you whip to medium or stiff peaks, you run the risk of overwhipping during the folding process and ending up with grainy mousse at best and chunky buttery mousse at worst.  Yum.

To avoid Unfortunate Chippage, fold in almost-all-fat yolks first, then fold in the whites.  These have enough water in them to keep the cocoa solids from clumping up, ‘member?  Last, fold in your slightly under-whipped and decidedly-cool-but-not-Arctic cream at the end.

And that’s pretty much that, I think.  Any of you guys have any tricks for avoiding Unfortunate Mousse Chippage?  If so, do tell.

I’ve been working on trying the recipes that I now have saved together in a binder from Gourmet and Bon Appetit magazines. So, last night we made “Inside-out Eggplant Parmesan.” It was really easy, just a lot of steps involved. You could use jarred sauce, and take away the arugula, but where’s the fun in that? I know I am trying to stay on track and write a dessert only blog, but this was too good not to share.
So here it is:

You probably are more interested in the chocolate mousse we made, since this is a dessert blog after all. Also, that is what the title of the post promised you’d be reading about, so here goes:
I made some chocolate mousse from the recipe binder, too.

Chocolate Mousse
 3 eggs, seperated
3/4 of a stick butter
8 ounces bittersweet chocolate (no more than 60%)
cream, whipped

Melt chocolate and butter together.
Whisk egg yolks until thick and pale in color.
Whisk whites until soft peak.
Whisk cream.
Fold in the yolks to the chocolate mixture.
Fold in the whites.
Fold in the whipped cream.

The amount of cream used depends on how chocolaty you want your mousse. (also makes it lighter in texture, but of course the more you add, the more calories you are adding, too.)

By the way, do not be intimidated by the fact that these recipes come from magazines. Remember, that just means they might have some fancy ingredients in them, but mostly, they are made for the home chef.

A note on Gourmet magazine: this month’s issue (Nov. 2009) was the last issue of Gourmet. (sad news, I know.) Good thing I saved over 100 recipes!

On Friday, I drove an hour south to Santa Rosa in Sonoma County, picked up my friend Shannon, and together we drove the half hour or so west to the coast.

I love the ocean, and living so close to the Pacific, it is odd that I spend more time on Atlantic ocean beaches each year for work than I do on our own coast for enjoyment.

Note to self: get to the beach more often.

The salty smell of the air, and something more deep yet subtle, the powerful smell of the ocean itself with the water, fish and plant life mixed into a living and dying smell, it always gets to me. I connect with the unseen, but very felt, energy of the ocean…and I get hungry.

Both Shannon and I were hungry, and we turned north at the coast and shortly pulled into Lucas Wharf. Lucas Wharf features a restaurant, an island themed deli, and fresh fish cut up and sold right off boats.

I wanted a crab sandwich, and the restaurant’s menu didn’t offer one so we went to the island deli where years before I bought delicious dungeness crab sandwiches, sliced sourdough bread brimming barely containing a thousand island dressing like cocktail sauced bounty of sweetly delicious fresh dungeness (the best) crab.

The island deli was new to me, replacing the deli that had made the delicious crab sandwich previously, but it too offered a crab sandwich, so I was in.

Shannon ordered shrimp and chips, I ordered the crab sandwich, and we picked up two bottles of Newcastle Brown Ale to wash it all down with.

While waiting for our food, I stepped outside out of habit. Although I haven’t had a cigarette this year, I still have the habit of going outside while waiting for something. Instead of smoking, I breathed in the rich moist air. The smell of fresh fish for sale made me take a small walk to look at the fish. I thought about how nice it would be to cook some of the great looking fish being offered.

Back inside, our food came. The fare was rather pedestrian. The food tasted good, but wasn’t anything remarkably special; Shannon’s shrimp and chips was just that, shrimp and chips. My crab sandwich was nothing like I had in mind when I ordered it, instead of delicious sweet fresh crab between slices of tasty bread, I got what looked like a “crabby patty” cooked by Spongebob Squarepants, a fried crab cake served on a bun, burger like. Honestly, it was disappointing.

Our deli server brought a sauce that was made in house, and recommended that I try it on my burger. A passion-fruit and chili blend, sweet and hot, textured and layered, it was okay on the crab burger, but brought to mind many possible better pairings.

Shannon had recently said that she would like me to cook a meal for her. Earlier in the week, another friend, Bill, had taken Shannon, Linda and me to dinner in Windsor. I asked Shannon if she would like me to cook dinner at Linda’s house, where Shannon is staying, and if she thought Bill and Linda could join us. With a couple of phone calls, Shannon had everything set up.

After lunch, Shannon and I went outside to look at the fish. I was torn between some beautiful Copper River salmon from Alaska  (I last tasted Copper River Salmon at the Original Fish Market when working the Three River Arts Festival in Pittsburgh, and it was flavorfully delicious) and some ling cod fresh off local boats.

I really wanted the salmon, it was what I had in mind, but local and fresh off the boat won out, and we picked up some beautiful ling cod fillets.

Before leaving Lucas Wharf, I also left with the most important purchase of the day, an 8 ounce jar of the passion-fruit chili sauce.

Shannon and I went up the road, found an uncrowded beach, and took a nice walk. The walk might have been longer, but I was anxious to pick up some groceries and get back to Santa Rosa to start prepping dinner.

We stopped at the Fir Crest market in Sebastopol for additional provisions. In short order, we had assembled carrots, two Mexican papayas, green onions, purple cabbage, grape tomatoes, a bottle of quality Teriyaki, and a bottle of 2007 Rick Sayre Rodney Strong Russian River Valley Pinot Noir.

Not much later, I was in Linda’s kitchen and the prep began. I intended to make a Thai style Som Tom shredded green papaya salad. The inspiration was the sauce of passion-fruit and chili from the island deli on the coast. I wanted to plate the salad and rest a piece of Teriyaki marinated salmon on top. Lots of flavors on one plate, all playing beautifully with the dusty rose petal and warm cherry notes of the Pinot.

That was the meal I put together in my head at Lucas Wharf tasting the sauce and smelling the fish. I made some changes, but here’s what I did – so you can do it too.

First, pour one bottle of quality Teriyaki over 4 fresh ling cod fillets as a marinade, put in fridge.

Open the Pinot, pour a glass to swirl and smell, noticing changes as it opens up. Pouring a glass also increases the surface area for the wine to touch air, allowing breathing to hasten. Bring on the nose and mouth treats.

I peeled the papaya, scooped the seeds out, and grated the papaya into a large bowl. The Mexican papayas were not green, were very ripe, and did not grate so much as smoosh wetly through the grater. After smoosh grating the papaya into the bowl, I pressed the moisture out of the papaya by hand and poured the liquid out. To the drier papaya, I added two grated carrots, 3 thinly sliced green onions, and 1/2 of a cored and super thin sliced purple cabbage. I added about 3 ounces of the magic passion-fruit chili sauce, some salt and pepper, and tossed it all to mix and dress the slaw type salad. I moistened a towel, covered the salad, and put it into the fridge to sit and allow the flavors to marry.

Prep done, Linda arrived home and quickly the Pinot I intended for dinner was in three glasses. Bill arrived and the Pinot was in four glasses. The Frasier in me regretted that the wine was going to be gone before dinner, the regular guy in me was thrilled that I was with 3 friends and that the wine was being enjoyed. Some say red with meat, white with fish; I say any wine goes best with friends. Let go, and things work out fine. Letting go means that the Rodney Strong Chardonnay Bill brought was going to be served with dinner and was going to be great.

Linda and Bill were hungry after working all day, so we fired up the oven, and put aluminum foil over a broiling pan (to make clean up easier). With the oven at 350 degrees, we placed the fish skin side down on the foil and baked it for 25 minutes.

Just before the fish was finished, I gave the salad a final toss, then plated the salad evenly on four dishes. I sliced some grape tomatoes in half and used them as edible decoration around the outside of the salad. Then I rested the baked Teriyaki ling cod atop the bed of thai style salad.

Dinner was great. Great food, great wine, great friends. We decided to head over to John Barleycorn’s for dessert, and to see another high school friend who was working as a bartender. We saw our friend John, but there was no chocolate mousse at Barleycorn’s.

Note to self: The Villa will make chocolate mousse even if out. Never ending chocolate mousse.

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Saturday morning, I awoke at 3:00 AM to head out and set up my booth so I could sell my handcrafted art topped wine bottle stoppers at the Sunnyvale Art and Wine Festival.

I worked all day without a break and was quite hungry when I was allowed to close up at 6:00 PM.

I had an invitation to a graduation party for the daughter of another friend Rachelle. I had known Rachelle since the 4th grade when we attended Mark West Elementary school in northern Santa Rosa. In addition to Rachelle, I was going to get to see another High School friend, Nancy. Nancy is now the tasting room manager for Schmidt Family Vineyards in Oregon.

Before going to the party and seeing my friends, I needed to get some food, check into my surprisingly wonderful hotel, get a shower and change into a suit. Food was the biggest priority.

Near the Domain hotel, I found a Korean restaurant, pulled in and ordered pork bulgogi to-go. I spent a year in Korea, love Korean food, and knew that my hunger would be sated. I would check in to my room and eat dinner.

Jang Tu restaurant, un-fancy on the outside, tucked into a strip mall, has food was beyond adequate. The pork bulgogi, marinated in soy and sesame, and barbecued with garlic, onions and green peppers, was the best I’ve ever had, the absolutely most delicious. The rice that came with it tasted good. I’ve not smoked in over 5 months, but I was surprised to find the rice delicious. I also enjoyed the accompanying kim chi greatly. Chop-sticking a bit of pork, and rice, and cabbage into my mouth, the flavors all delicious, somehow the sum greater than it’s parts, I achieved a near nirvana experience.

The food was so absolutely delicious that i almost went back and ordered another meal, but I wanted to see my fiends more. Barely. That was some fine Korean grub.

The graduation party was an amazing event. My friends both look beautiful, as did their daughters. Rachelle’s daughter Courtney, the graduate, was lovely, amazingly possed, yet unspoiled. Nancy’s daughter will not graduate from high school for about 15 years, Lia is just 3 years old. Lia is amazingly cute. I am envious of Nancy having a child small enough to hold; my own 12 year old son Charlie is taller than I am, we don’t cuddle much anymore.

I have a 2007 Applegate Valley Merlot from Nancy’s Vineyard that I look forward to sharing with some of Nancy’s other friends. I’ll have to build a dinner around it.

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On Sunday, back working the Art and wine Festival on Murphy Street in Sunnyvale, I was visited by Chris Cesano and Jim Cesano. Chris is roughly my age, Jim is roughly the age my father would be. We must be related somewhere generations back, we must have common ancestors from Italy; although we don’t know how we are related, it is comforting to meet others with my last name. I am the oldest Cesano in my branch of our family. To keep this entry rolling along food-wise, Chris has promised me his grandmother’s recipes foe gnocchi and ravioli.

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It is Monday, I am finally back at home and looking forward to seeing my son when he gets home from school.

All is right in my world.

Plans for my week:

Create an application video for my dream job,

Attend my son’s promotion from elementary to middle school on Wednesday,

Go to the island deli at Lucas Wharf on Friday.

That sauce has haunted me all weekend. I want to make another Som Tom salad. I want to toss chicken wings in it (it would be similar but superior to Buffalo Wild Wing’s Asian Zing sauce). I want it on eggs. I must buy more and reverse engineer the recipe.