a day to play...

Official Switch

noreply@blogger.com (Michelle Branch Annett) — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 23:10:00 +0000

Hello Everyone! The time has come for the Official Switch! In an effort to create a more streamlined and focused blog I will be moving over to - The Lucky Penny. I'm very excited!

I hope you enjoy. And I pledge to do my best to keep up a consistent blogging schedule! Fingers crossed.

peace, love, new beginnings, and happiness!

Find a penny pick it up, all the day you'll have good luck!

noreply@blogger.com (Michelle Branch Annett) — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 21:33:00 +0000

Hello... anybody still out there? Unfortunately this post does not mean a full scale return to blogging... as much as I would like it to. I'm still trying to figure out how to juggle the demands of life with my hobby of blogging. Someday I will figure it out, hopefully.

Just wanted to share something LONG overdue. The cutest thing in the world.

And she is all ours! We fostered this scruffy little (and when I say little I mean 40 pounds of strength and fur) 2 year old wheaten terrier mix for one week and she stole our heart... despite her "attitude" towards other dogs. We adopted her and named her Penny. Love. She's working on the "attitude" with the other dogs. Rescue dogs are full of surprises. But I love that I gave a dog a home.

peace, love, finally my own puppy!, and happiness!

Missing You

noreply@blogger.com (Michelle Branch Annett) — Sat, 21 May 2011 01:17:00 +0000

Hi my few dedicated-but-becoming-less-dedicated-as-I-never-post-anything blog readers. I miss you. And I miss blogging. I finally had time to sit down and look at my google reader feed and found that I had up to 800 posts that are begging to be read. As I'm slowly reading through my feed I'm once again amazed by the inspiration, vision, class, and creativity that exists in the blog world. My eyes are constantly being opened to new ways to cook, eat, think about food, decorate, make a home, and many other things. I love feeling inspired when I read others blogs and hope to some day inspire people with my blog. The first step to accomplishing that goal is to probably actually blog, and then blog consistently. Keeping up with my posts has always been my biggest problem and when I finally do launch my recipe / food site I promise the blogs will come on a regular basis. For now, all I can offer is a reasonable explanation to my lack of blogging and some iphone picks. Enjoy.

Reasons why I have been a horrible blogger lately:

1. I dropped my camera in water and didn't get a new one until last week. (Thanks Adam!)

2. While unemployed throughout all of March and half of April I busied myself doing other very important things... alright, I'll be honest I have no idea what I busied myself doing... but hey, I had no camera an no money to buy one! (This might be my least reasonable of excuses.)

3. The rest of April and half of May brought a 3 state road trip for work which occupied every waking minute of my time. Lucky for me I got to be around food all day and am now spending my days watching footage of said food. Details on this adventure to come later!

4. I've been working on the new site.

So now for the fun part - some iphone pics of my adventures over the last two months!

{David Eyre's Pancake - now a go-to item in my house for breakfast and dessert}

{Rainbow in Hollywood over the Academy Award's Red Carpet}

{Beautiful Oscar arrangement that I brought home}

{Working with Tabatha Coffey and Maria Sansone}

{Homemade cream cheese stuffed bacon hugged shrimpies}

{Delicious Dinner Party with Sabrina - Tri-Tip with my famous cream and ale mushrooms, kale chips, and mashed sweet potatoes}

{My Amazing New Bike}

{Long Beach beach evenings}

{Long Beach Grand Prix}

{Hiking with Mom in Havasu}

{Sharing Ice Cream filled Cupcakes with Crystal}

{Cuban Anniversary Dinner}

Thanks to everyone still reading! It has been a fun and challenging past few months, but I promise to share more about my adventures.

Check out the beginning of my new blog! Right now I have some of my favorite recipes up from "A Day to Play" - I'm not anticipating that it will be fully ready to go and have posts up everyday until the end of the summer. But I would love any feedback on what is up there now so I can start making tweaks before the "official launch".

www.fromthefirstbite.com

peace, love, and blogging is happiness.

New Adventures All Around and Stromboli

noreply@blogger.com (Michelle Branch Annett) — Tue, 08 Mar 2011 20:09:00 +0000

I've realized to be a somewhat successful blogger consistency is key. Which happens to be my downfall, especially when you accidentally submerge your digital camera in a stream while hiking. Which leaves me in this peculiar predicament of being unemployed (my web series was canceled a few weeks ago but you should still check it out - www.theinvestedlife.msn.com) and having plenty of time to cook new things and no way of documenting it besides my iphone. So out the window goes my new year's resolution of taking better food photos. But despite my inability to photograph anything new, I sat down today and resolved to get the new blog in better shape. I'm still not ready to debut it, but I'm excited about the possibility of it having some consistency in its postings.

For now, I will try to maintain my small readership my giving you some new posts on this site until the other one is ready to go.

In other new adventures - I made something with pepperoni in it. I notoriously hate pepperoni and always have. I won't even eat a slice of pepperoni pizza that has the pepperoni picked off of it because of the horrible pepperoni grease left behind. And my dislike has nothing to do with pepperoni being greasy or bad for you. I love greasy. I just hate the taste. But Adam loves it and probably has been suffering from pepperoni withdrawals, so when I came across a recipe for Stromboli on the blog Liv Life I decided I had to give it a try - if only for Adam - and the possibility of it being great quick and easy party food. I followed the recipe pretty much exactly. It calls for ham, pepperoni, cheese, and bread - a winning combo (except for the pepperoni). The one thing I did differently was instead of using a frozen loaf of bread like the recipe suggests, I used Pillsbury french loaf. I was unsure how it was going to work, but it turns out it is really easy to unroll the Pillsbury french loaf at the seam and laying it flat in order to lay all the ingredients on it. So easy, and that way you don't have to worry about defrosting frozen dough.

It was so easy and came out beautifully. Adam loved it and it would be great party food.

I even liked it, despite the pepperoni, in fact it was a good way to get me to consider liking pepperoni. But really, do I need to like pepperoni? I like almost everything else that is bad for you, I don't think I need to add another to the list.

I can't wait to try other combos. Next time I think I'm going to do turkey, roasted red peppers, and cheese. Check out the original recipe here.

peace, love, pepperoni?, and happiness!

And wish me luck on the new blog! I'm getting excited!

LOVE

noreply@blogger.com (Michelle Branch Annett) — Mon, 14 Feb 2011 23:31:00 +0000

I love Valentine's Day. And not just because I have the love of my life to celebrate it with. I love that there is a whole day dedicated to telling people you love them - and not just your significant other, but your friends and family also. I love the little valentines we handed out in school when we were young, I love taking a day out of our busy lives to dedicate time solely to the idea of love. Yes, you should make your loved ones feel loved every day, but it's nice to have a day to make them feel extra special. So in honor of Valentine's Day, here are photos with red in them - the color of love.

{love}

{strawberry fields}

{pink lady apples}

{seagull}

{peppers}

{tomatoes}

{museum sign}

{stop light}

{red carpet}

peace, LOVE, and happiness!

Have a happy Valentine's Day no matter how or who you spend it with!

Pizza Wars!

noreply@blogger.com (Michelle Branch Annett) — Wed, 09 Feb 2011 23:33:00 +0000

Christmas brought me an array of new cooking / baking gadgets and goodies. One of those fabulous gadgets was Sur La Table's mini pizza grilling set - big thanks to Mom! I've grilled pizza in the past and found it be delicious and easy, yet somehow simultaneously challenging - so I love the idea of putting the pizza on pizza stones on the grill. Armed with a pizza stone each, Adam and I challenged each other to a fight to the death (or eat to the death) very serious competition that we dubbed PIZZA WARS! We wasted no time getting down and dirty. The first round started with some technical difficulties... heating the stones too high, leaving the crust on for too long, and Adam lifting the metal lid without an oven mitt (I told him they would be hot). Adam emerged victorious with a pizza smothered in BBQ sauce, covered in smoked gouda cheese and drenched in ranch dressing.

But the second round was were things turned very serious. With so much on the line (I hate to loose), I turned to Adam's food fav and weakness - breakfast - as my inspiration and way to win him over. See, we are the only two judges of this very serious competition so I had to turn to what he loves the most to earn his vote. I cooked up some soychorizo (he'll never know the difference from the real thing), eggs, green chiles, and even hash browns. I sauced up my dough with some green salsa and topped it with the hash browns, then piled high the soychorizo and eggs, and finally threw cheese on top from all angles. This thing was destined to be a winner.

{mozzarella, smoked gouda, and sharp cheddar}

But Adam, that sneaky one, kept his cards hidden. He proceeded like he was making a normal pizza with normal sauce and normal cheese and then at the last second, he pulled out the big guns - McDonalds McNuggets - he literally pulled them out of the microwave where he was hiding them from me.

{nuggets}

Yes, I love, love, love McNuggets. Now before you go getting all judge-y on me let me explain myself. First, they are the ONLY thing that cures my hangovers. And if you've ever been around me with a hangover you would most likely be force feeding me loose little golden chicken-like nuggets - I am most definitely not a trooper when it comes to hangovers (or most other kinds of illness and aches, minor injuries such as, bruises included). Second, they taste good and most likely have crack laced into them making them highly addictive, therefore its not my fault. Third, no I don't want to know what's in them - I've seen Fast Food Nation and Food Inc. and I choose to ignore this information when I very occasionally give in to my fast food urges. So in conclusion, don't judge, and yes, Mickey D's McNuggets are the big guns in Pizza Wars. Damn Adam and his smart thinking.

{pizzas on the grill}

Our method of cooking pizza-on-a-grill-on-a-stone starts with getting the stone on the grill and letting it heat up. Once the stone is nice and hot dust it with cornmeal to keep the dough from sticking. Next lay the dough on the stone and let it cook for about 3-5 minutes until the bottom side is starting to crisp up. Flip, and then load up the toppings. Our pizza stones came with metal domes to go over the stone and create an oven like atmosphere so that the cheese gets nice and melt-y. Remember the pizzas will cook fast! Using oven mitts (ahem, Adam) take the pizza off the stones and prepare your taste buds for a pizza party.

{Adam's pizza off the grill}

{my pizza off the grill}

Add any last minute finishing touches and let the competition judging begin!

{my pizza dotted with sour cream}

{Adam's pizza dotted with ranch}

Both pizza's turned out awesome. We made great improvements in crust area - leaving it on just long enough to get crispy but not black. There was no clear cut winner. Both of us chose our own pizzas while saying the other's pizza was also very, very good. He almost won me over with those damn McNuggets - I ate all the nuggets off my pizza and even went and grabbed more ranch dressing to dip them into - but my pizza was just too good that I couldn't vote against it. After much pressing I accepted the fact that he wasn't gonna vote against his and we called a tie and gave ourselves a pat on the back for a very successful Pizza War.

Peace, love, pizza, and happiness!

Breakfast Bacon Apple Tart

noreply@blogger.com (Michelle Branch Annett) — Wed, 19 Jan 2011 02:52:00 +0000

Weekend breakfasts are our favorite meal. Generally because they involve bacon, eggs sunny side up, bacon, hash browns, and did I mention bacon? It's not every morning you have the time to make hash browns and bacon or go to the local cafe down the street and get a heaping plate of Special Spud - which features both. That's why weekend breakfasts are so magical. Not only do they more frequently than not happen late enough in the day to double up as lunch leaving you with the ability to eat more and feel less guilty, but they only happen on the weekends making them something to look forward to. With all that said, you would think this post would be about some elaborate classic big breakfast. Its not. But it does feature bacon.

I set out menu planning on Friday knowing I would make something for breakfast on Saturday morning while we waited for our DirectTV to be installed. I surveyed the ingredients in our fridge and eyed the apples from my farmer's box delivery.

How could I transform those apples into a breakfast dish worthy of Adam's critical breakfast appetite? Simple - add bacon.

So Saturday morning I whipped together a Breakfast Bacon and Apple Tart. And it did the trick. The flakey crust satisfied my craving for both biscuits and hash browns. The spread of cream cheese was reminiscent of a bagel, the apples of apple pie, and the bacon screamed breakfast.

With only two people to the whole tart it was quite filling. It was a nice change to our usual weekend breakfast. Adam had his bacon, the apples made it feel healthy - and that made me feel like I was sticking to my new year's resolutions. It was an all around winner.

Bacon and Apple Tart Recipe:

1 pre-made puff pastry sheet, thawed (I use Trader Joe's puff pastry)
2-3 apples, peeled, cored, and sliced (I used 3 medium sized pink lady apples)
4 slices of bacon cooked almost completely
about 2 oz of cream cheese or lite cream cheese
1 to 2 tablespoons real maple syrup

1. Preheat oven to 375
2. Line baking sheet with parchment paper
3. Place puff pastry sheet on baking sheet with parchment paper and spread cream cheese over it. Leaving a crust with no cream cheese.

4. Layer apples on top of cream cheese.

5. Bake tart (without bacon) in oven for approximately 15 min. (I didn't really time it, just kinda checked on it) The pastry should be puffing and turning golden colored.
6. Meanwhile, cook bacon until almost the desired crispiness you like it. (It will cook a little more in the oven)
7. About 5 minutes before the tart is done - take out of the oven and crumble bacon on top. Drizzle with 1 to 2 tablespoons of real maple syrup. (I like to measure the syrup out and put it in a measuring cup with a spout to get a nice even drizzle.)
8. Continue to cook the tart until apples are soft and pastry is golden. Approximately 5 more minutes.

9. Slice and Enjoy!

peace, love, breakfast, and happiness!

Holiday Recap!

noreply@blogger.com (Michelle Branch Annett) — Fri, 07 Jan 2011 21:23:00 +0000

Hello 2011! Wow, 2010 flew by! And what an amazing year it was, full of life challenges and changes. 2010 brought me back together with my best friend / soul mate / most amazing man I've met, a new home in beautiful Belmont Shore - a real home that I can decorate and make mine, a new job that has allowed me to grow as a producer (as well as consume all my time and drive me insane), and I got to be in two of my best friend's weddings! What a year! I'm looking forward to 2011 and all it brings. Happy New Year!

Here is a little recap of how I spent the holidays:

{my very first real tree at my own place}

{I love the bow!}

{Christmas Eve Dinner at Adam's parent's place}

{Sautéed Kale and Roasted Kabocha Squash with Crispy Shallots}

I was in charge of the vegetable side dish. Which of course I wanted to get fancy with, despite the fact that I was taking it to a mostly non-vegetable eating household. (They claim they eat vegetables, but since they don't like onions and Adam can't distinguish between a zucchini and a cucumber, I reject this claim.) I had just gotten my first farmer's box delivery and was excited to try the amazing fresh, local, and organic produce I received. Two of those items were a kabocha squash (go ahead and google, I had to also) and kale. Recently I have become I big fan of kale. I like the crunchy texture and it's ability to sauté without turning into a mushy mess like spinach does. And it seems I have Adam slightly onboard the kale train - or at least he eats it without saying anything. So I found this wonderful recipe that incorporated my two beautiful veggies. I loved the dish and will definitely make it again, although I'm not quite convinced of the roasting powers of the kabocha squash, I was hoping for a creamier and more caramelized result. But I am in love with the fact that you don't have to peel the kobocha, yep that's right, I didn't believe it either especially given how hard it is to cut. But sure enough, it cooks down just fine and is quite yummy and nutritious. While no one outright hated the dish, except for Adam's brother who I'm pretty sure spit his out, most of it went untouched. But honestly how can you blame them when you have a delicious HoneyBaked ham and crispy cornflake potatoes as your other options? I definitely wanted to conserve space in my tummy for a second helping of ham and potatoes... and possibly a third.

{ham}

{Cornflake Potatoes}

{Broccoli Salad}

I have to admit, I was iffy about the broccoli salad. Yeah I know, Miss-I-love-vegetables-and-get-them-delivered-from-the-farm-to-my-door, was iffy about the broccoli salad. I just can't get into broccoli unless it's in asian food. But Sandy said I would be asking for the recipe after I tried it, and sure enough guess who I emailed yesterday for a recipe?

{Christmas Eve Dinner}

Oh, that brown pile of mush in between the potatoes and the biscuit... that's my other farmer's box vegetable side dish. It was a failure. (Thanks Sandy for trying to like it.) Let's just say I learned that I hate fennel and celery root, and Ina Garten is not always right.

We spent Christmas Day with my parents in Lake Havasu.

{Havasu Sunset}

{Many Tasty Beers}

Not surprisingly, many of the presents were beer. The Bourbon County Stout is mine. That beer deserves a post all its own.

{Twice Baked Potatoes}

Dinner was the highlight (as food often is). I made twice baked potatoes. Don't let their oozy messiness fool you, those things were the bomb.

{Prime Rib}

Dad made prime rib that was simply amazing. Despite the rush-to-get-home-from-the-movies-the-prime-rib-might-be-over-cooked scare. Remind me to get his recipe, this is one dish I need to tackle very soon.

{Zucchini Sauté}

I made my go to zucchini sauté from Deb's Quick Zucchini Sauté Recipe. The only change I make is that I don't add cheese and I use a dash of lemon juice and a sprinkle of cayenne pepper.

I made my Mushrooms in Ale and Cream - which were requested by my Dad - and make a wonderful sauce over prime rib if you wish for something more exciting than au jus. The recipe is from the book Vegetarian Food For Friends and this happens to be one of only two recipes I have ever made out of it. You can also get the recipe here. The Kale and Squash side dish made it's second appearance at this dinner as well - due to the amount left over. But it went mainly untouched once again. Sigh.

{Gruyere Popovers}

The next morning I made Gruyere Popovers which we filled with scrambled eggs and ate greedily.

{Me and Adam with Indy and Hemi}

It was such a lovely holiday and I feel so lucky to have all the people in my life that I do. I hope your Holiday and New Year were lovely as well!

One of my New Year's Resolutions is to write more - which means I will be blogging more - BUT I am starting a new blog dedicated solely to cooking and food. I'm currently working on it and want to get it just right before I unveil it, but I'm very excited and look forward to sharing it with everyone!

peace, love, holidays, and happiness!

Holiday Gift Guide!

noreply@blogger.com (Michelle Branch Annett) — Tue, 14 Dec 2010 21:18:00 +0000

I'm always late to the game when it comes to Christmas shopping. Time slips by me and before I know it it's the week of Christmas and I'm scrambling to get the perfect gifts. Don't get me wrong, I love gift giving - especially Christmas gifts. There is more room for creativity with Christmas gifts than birthday presents or other holidays, but I tend to obsess and agonize over what is the most perfect, unique, and personal gift I give each person on my list. So I wait and wait for a grand idea to come to me or until I see something that just screams "this is for Mom!" or "this is for a best friend who has everything!" and since that seems to never happen, I wake up one day and realize Christmas is just a few days around the corner and I have no gift buying accomplished. So, in keeping with my procrastinator spirit... here is my Holiday Gift Guide... a little bit late... but just in case you are still doing (or just starting) your holiday shopping - like me.

For the Chef in Your Family... who may happen to love salt... like me...

{Himalayan Salt Plate}

{Salted - A Manifesto on the World's Most Essential Mineral, with Recipes}

For the One with a Sweet Tooth...

{Culinary Institute of America 30 piece Decorating Set}

{Tartine Cookbook}

For the Fashionista with a Hippie Twist...

{Moccasins!}

{Recycled T-Shirt Scarf}

peace, love, and happy gifting!

Welcome Winter Dinner

noreply@blogger.com (Michelle Branch Annett) — Fri, 03 Dec 2010 21:23:00 +0000

The cold has come and with it my desire to eat warm foods has amplified itself, especially since I have to fight to keep warm in our house which may or may not have insulation. (I'm leaning towards not.) To welcome winter I decided to pick up some grocery items that seemed wintery to me - a butternut squash (a whole one - not the pre-peeled and diced cubes in a bag that I normally buy), pears, walnuts, and filet mignon (steaks aren't just for summer BBQ's as far as I'm concerned, and it was on sale).

{Curried Butternut Squash Soup, Garlic crusted Filet, and Warm Pear and Walnut Salad}

The Curried Butternut Squash was simple and easy to make but packed a lot of flavor. And when I say simple, I mean simple after the peeling, coring, and cutting battle was won with the squash.

{squash simmering}

I used Ellie Krieger's recipe from Food Network and to be honest I probably wouldn't change much - it was really delicious.

For the Warm Pear and Walnut Salad I toasted walnuts in a pan with some maple syrup and added the sliced pears and cooked them for about 2 to 3 minutes each side. I added the walnuts and pears to chopped butter lettuce and topped it with gorgonzola cheese crumbles and a simple balsamic vinaigrette (I like Trader Joe's low fat balsamic dressing).

{walnuts and pears with maple syrup}

{finished salad}

For the filet, which doesn't need much at all, I like to rub it with fresh chopped garlic, salt and pepper - and that's it. Then I leave it up to the bf to grill it just right... which he seems to be getting better at (thank goodness!).

{Filet}

It was the perfect dinner to get me in the winter mood and ready for some warm, seasonal, delicious cooking.

Happy Winter Everyone! Stay warm!

peace, love, warmth, and happiness!

Happy Halloween!

noreply@blogger.com (Michelle Branch Annett) — Tue, 02 Nov 2010 19:24:00 +0000

Halloween used to be my favorite holiday. I say used to because earlier this year I decided to change my favorite holiday to Thanksgiving. Just to mix it up a bit. Which is a good thing since I didn't get to live up Halloween to it's finest this year with work keeping me so busy. If it was still my favorite holiday I would have really missed out. But now I have my new favorite holiday - Thanksgiving (and a week off of work!) - to look forward to!

But in honor of my former favorite holiday, here are some Halloween pics! I have to say handing out candy to trick or treaters for the first time in my very own house was too much fun for something so simple.

{Pumpkin Patch}

{Picking out Pumpkins}

{I won a gold fish!}

{My Pumpkin!}

{Our Jack-o-Lanterns all glowy!}

Hope everyone had a happy happy Halloween!

peace, love, trick or treat, and happiness!

End of Summer...?

noreply@blogger.com (Michelle Branch Annett) — Fri, 01 Oct 2010 00:23:00 +0000

The warm weather this week (record high in LA on Monday!) reminds that summer did, in fact, happen. I might have spent most of it freezing in my Santa Monica office, but Monday proved that indeed Santa Monica can experience some warmth for the year and that summer didn't just up and disappear. But while I'm basking in the sun on the patio of my office building, and wearing sundresses to work all week, I can't ignore the (3) calendars staring at me telling me that October is just a day away. Don't get me wrong, I'm still gonna hit the beach this weekend and soak in every last drop of sunshine before I give in to Halloween decorations, picking out pumpkins, and bundling up in jeans, boots, and scarfs (time to go shopping!). But nevertheless, it seems like a more than appropriate time to take a look back at my summer, as only one should, in iphone photos.

{a new home, in a new city}

{Down the street from new home}

{KROQ Weenie Roast}

{Work trip to Portland}

{Dinner for One at Stonefire Grill}

{car ride home from the Delta}

{Sonja and I working the ABC Fall Preview Red Carpet}

{lights and palm trees at The Shrine}

{summer brews}

{Teppan Birthday Dinner}

{Inside the truck for TV Guide's Emmy Red Carpet}

{Emmys}

{Five Guys Burgers}

{Naples Rib Company}

{Farmer's Market}

{White Buffalo show at DiPiazzas}

{rainbow}

{Santa Monica Sunset}

Summer flew by, and I thought I didn't have a lot to show for it, but I realize now that I have a lot: a new home to share with someone, a job that keeps me busy (too busy) - but constantly learning, a lot of good food that went in my belly, some short but fun trips, and a new favorite summer time beer.

I'm looking forward to what's in store for the rest of the year!

peace, love, summer sunshine, and happiness!

Delightful Dinner and Easy too!

noreply@blogger.com (Michelle Branch Annett) — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 02:38:00 +0000

I love when dinner comes together effortlessly - a skill that I have yet to perfect, but am getting better at. I didn't intend to blog about this meal, but it turned so wonderful that I had to share, even with my single, only, rather crappy iphone photo.

{Delicious Dinner}

For the chicken, which I call "Juicy Honey Garlic Chicken," I adapted Chef Adam Perry Lang's recipe for a whole butterflied chicken on the grill. The recipe calls for brining the chicken - something I have never done before, or even thought to do - and I wish I had discovered this method long ago, being that it turns boring, dry chicken into something quite magical. I followed the brining instructions for the whole chicken but substituted 2 frozen chicken breasts. I also used dry herbs, mainly rosemary and a healthy sprinkle of herbs de provence. Next time I will use less brine, or less salt, since the recipe was intended for a much larger amount of chicken than I used it for, and I felt my chicken turned out a touch too salty - but damn, it was juicy. While grilling the chicken I basted it with the glaze from the recipe - and I've been using this glaze on everything lately since it is so versatile and delicious - 2 tablespoons olive oil, 2 crushed garlic cloves, juice of half a lemon (I like a whole lemon if it's a small one), 2 tablespoons honey, and 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar. Try it on salmon substituting the white wine vinegar for balsamic vinegar, its subtle yet flavorful.

To go with the chicken I used my new kitchen side dish staple Smitten Kitchen's fabulous Quick Zucchini Sauté. It's sure to be an instant classic. I know this because my bf who wouldn't touch a green thing 6 months ago will actually pick it out of the pan with his fingers while I'm cooking and while I'm swatting his hand away. I like to add a tiny squeeze of lemon and a dash of cayenne pepper, and I never top it with parmesan cheese as the recipe suggests - it just doesn't need it. I suggest you try this recipe asap - it might change your world.

And to finish the meal off, some beautiful mashed sweet potatoes. Simple, healthy delicious. I boiled my sweet potatoes the day ahead and had them in the fridge to use when I got home. I just scooped the flesh into a pot with a little bit of butter (although I'm not sure they even needed it), a squeeze of honey, a spoonful of sour cream (I only had a little, and I think it really helped with the texture), and a healthy sprinkle of salt, pepper, and cayenne pepper. Voilá! Dinner on the table in less than 20 minutes!

Peace, love, yummy dinners, and happiness!

Burger Blogging - Stout

noreply@blogger.com (Michelle Branch Annett) — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 02:12:00 +0000

Before I moved out of Los Angeles I wanted to say goodbye by hitting up all my fav LA spots and some new ones. I, of course, never found the time to do all the things I wanted to do... but then again when do we ever? And it's not like I moved all that far away - and I still work in LA, in fact quite near Father's Office... I need to go there... Whoops, lost my train of thought, well only a little - this post is, naturally, about burgers. What else would I eat for (what turned out to be) my last meal as a Hollywood resident? After a stressful day and the beginning of a cold rearing it's ugly head, we ended up at Stout Burgers and Beer for a much needed night out. And what works better to kill a cold than a nice juicy burger and a couple cold beers? [Side note: turns out a lot of things might work better, since my cold only got worse.] We luckily scored a table without waiting - and the place was packed! After much indecision, being that I had tried the Stout Burger before and wasn't sure which route to go - try something new or stick with what I already know I liked? Ultimately, bf decided on the Stout Burger - a tasty combo of blue cheese, emi gruyere, rosemary bacon, caramelized onion, and horseradish cream - minus the horseradish cream (no big loss). And I settled on the Six Weeker - camembert, fig jam (I'm a sucker for anything fig), mild jack, arugula, and caramelized onions (that sealed the deal).

{Six Weeker Burger}

{Stout Burger}

I'm going to base my scoring on the "Six Weeker Burger" since that is the one I ate while having this blog in mind.

Score Card:

1. Bun: based on texture, taste, and the way it complements the burger. Things that just won't do are soggy and stale.

Stout: 3

2. Meat: looking for good texture, flavor, quality, and seasoning.

Stout: 4

3. Juiciness: applies to the overall juiciness of the burger including the patty, the sauces, and anything else that makes the burger juicy. But beware being too juicy might drop the score down. I want to be able to pick up my burger.

Stout: 4

4. Cheese: mmm... cheese... do I need to explain this one?

Stout: 4

5. Fixin's: Everything else that comes on the burger from lettuce to caramelized onions and roasted tomatoes. Whatever it is it better complement the burger and be delicious.

Stout: 3 - could have used more fig and onion taste. Needed to be to quote Emeril "kicked up a notch"

Overall factors are:

1. The Perfect Bite: how well everything on the burger comes together.

Stout: 3

2. Creativity: use of unique ingredients and pairings.

Stout: 4

Overall Score: 25 out of 35

I wasn't in love with the big bun, the meat is really thick which would be fine if I had more fig jam and caramelized onion taste. But a very nice burger nonetheless!

peace, love, burgers, and happiness!

Beer and BBQ

noreply@blogger.com (Michelle Branch Annett) — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 17:31:00 +0000

Located on quaint Main Street in Seal Beach, a small beach town I became mildly obsessed with while house hunting, the famous Beachwood BBQ seemed like something of myth and legend to me for a while. I had done my prep work - I studied the menu, memorized their slogan "where the fork meets the pork" and came to terms with their philosophy that good meat needs no sauce, and hoped they would come to terms with the fact that I would most likely drown my meat in one of their 4 homemade sauces - but every time we tried to eat there, the wait was just too long. I became even more intrigued.

{Beachwood BBQ, Main Street, Seal Beach}

Finally, one day while apartment hunting and having no luck, we hit the jackpot at Beachwood BBQ and scored a spot at the bar. With 22 craft brews on tap that rotate regularly, you never know what kind of beer you are gonna get, but you can be damn sure it's not gonna be Bud Light. The beer might actually be the highlight of this place, there is always something new to try. And you can check out their HopCam to see whats on tap before you head over. But be warned, this kind of selection of beer isn't just for anyone. I had trouble finding a beer light and simple enough for my parents to enjoy, but for those who are more adventerous in their drinking habits, this is the place to be. The bf can get his wildly hoppy IPA's and I can find something dark and rich for myself to enjoy. But let's not forget the food!

{pulled pork on pretzel bread}

We both got the pulled pork sandwich and I was quite happy with it, and yes, I did make good use of the bottled sauces.

{sauces - photo from Menu in Progess's great post about Beachwood BBQ}

{pulled pork sammy and hush puppies}

I can't say I'm a huge fan of BBQ, unless it's tri-tip which I've found is not a part of traditional BBQ restaurants' menus. But I really enjoyed the pulled pork and the variety of sauces, since I tend to lean towards wanting sweet BBQ sauce, hence why I love Rattler's so much. But my favorite thing at Beachwood BBQ, besides the beer of course, is the Smothered Steak Fries. They are oh so good! Cheddar, blue cheese, bacon, green onion, and spicy wing sauce whip your taste buds into a frenzy... a frenzy I greatly enjoy. Also, I like the Fried Green Tomato Salad. And I'm looking forward to trying the Smokehouse Burger. And now that it's right down the street from where I live, I'm sure I will get to real soon!

peace, love, food, and happiness!

Saturday Afternoons

noreply@blogger.com (Michelle Branch Annett) — Sat, 28 Aug 2010 23:40:00 +0000

I love weekend afternoons, but this weekend I'll be spending my afternoons in here...

{Inside the TV Guide truck at the Emmys Red Carpet Rehearsal}

But I did have a wonderful Saturday morning - bf and I had a nice bike ride to Schooner or Later for breakfast (without much of the normal wait since we got there early!). And while I'm sad to be missing out on the sun, and instead am hanging out in an overly air-conditioned truck, I'm happy to be a part of my 5th Emmys red carpet with TV Guide! Wow! I remember my first Emmy red carpet where I had to hold an umbrella for 2 hours to shade Joan River's posse from the sun. (While I baked to a crisp.) Fun times. Since then I've done a variety of jobs, but this is my first year in the truck, and it's pretty exciting to see the whole show come together! And since I have access to the internet I got to check in with the blogasphere and found this cute little game on Here Comes the Sun:

Always, Sometimes, Never

I always...

Drink at least 8 glasses of water a day!
Get a hug from bf when I get home!
Say "hi puppy" and wave when I see a dog on the street!
Apply Burt's Bees chapstick 80 million times a day!

I sometimes...

Do silly dances around the house!
Do the dishes! (I'm not messy, just most of the time I cook and bf does the dishes)
Get to sleep in!
Wear heels!

I never...

Skip breakfast!
Go more than 2 days without plucking my eyebrows!
Wear tennis shoes! (unless for working out or forced to for work)
Stop thinking about food!

Feel free to join in on the fun and if you do leave a comment with the link to your blog!

Peace, love, Saturdays, and happiness!

Weekend Workaway - Portland, Oregon

noreply@blogger.com (Michelle Branch Annett) — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 18:02:00 +0000

I've always wanted to go to Portland, it seems like a really neat city.

{Downtown Portland - taken with Hipstamatic app on iphone}

But I'm sure you will understand when I say I wasn't jumping for joy when my brand new job told me on Friday at 7:00pm of my first week that they would like me to go to Portland the VERY NEXT DAY. And I happened to be moving my whole entire apartment that day, a task which my parents had driven out from Arizona for. My work and I struck a deal and I moved on Saturday and flew to Portland at 6am on Sunday and hit the ground running for work the second we got there. Whew, I get tired just thinking about that weekend. But nevertheless, it was great fun to see Portland in bits and pieces and I can't wait to go back and truly experience the city, the food, and the beer.

Here are some highlights from the trip.

{Portland's International Rose Test Garden}

I've never seen so many roses before in my life! It was gorgeous!

{Rose Garden taken with Hipstamatic app on iphone}

There were some super cute farmer's markets with vegetables that made me want to whip out a bag, stock up, and get in the kitchen. So many fresh veggies!

{radishes and fennel taken with Hipstamatic app on iphone}

On day two we rewarded ourselves for all our hard work and went to a nice waterfront dinner at Salty's. A dinner that I am VERY happy ended up getting comped by work.

{Salty's on the Columbia River}

{the view}

{Coconut Shrimp Appetizer}

{Salmon with Apple Relish on Mash Potatoes and Spinach with a Balsamic Drizzle}

{Delicious Salmon}

And after quite a few crappy lunches on the run (and way too late in the day for my food needs) we finally hit the jackpot on our last day and had a nice (but not expensive!) lunch at Red Onion, a Thai place we had been walking by the previous two days and I was on a mission to eat at. And boy am I glad we did. This was and still is the best Thai food I have ever had! It felt authentic, not that I would know what authentic Thai is, but it felt that way. And the quality of the meat and vegetables was amazing. No skimping here. They load up your plate with fresh, quality goodness. I got the Beef Pad See Ew and was surprised to find plenty of different vegetables in the dish that weren't mentioned on the menu. I feel like at most Thai places I'm bargaining with them to add more veggies to the noodle dishes. This was pure perfection.

{The Most Fabulous Pad See Ew}

I'm glad I got to experience Portland even with the limited time I had, it's definitely a place that I'm looking forward to going back to!

Peace, love, Portland, and happiness!

Tri Tip!

noreply@blogger.com (Michelle Branch Annett) — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 21:24:00 +0000

Wow it's been a busy few months! But don't think I stopped eating and drinking, cause you know I didn't! So I would like to start my return to blogging with my favorite food: tri-tip. And if you don't know what tri-tip is, since it seems that all too often non Californians are stumped by my mention of this delicious cut of beef, do yourself a favor and click this link ---> yummy tri-tip. I can't quite pin point why I love this cut so much, but I can pin point where this love began. Rattler's Bar-B-Que in my hometown of Santa Clarita. They may have gotten a bigger location and a better website since the days in community college when my boyfriend would bring home tri-tip salads after his delivery shift, but after all these years one thing has stayed the same - the deliciousness of the food... and how cute my boyfriend is.

So after a long day of cleaning out my old apartment, we brought a load of items up to Santa Clarita to drop off at his parent's house and then headed to Rattler's to reward ourselves for our hard work.

It was taste bud heaven. I don't know how I'm suppose to eat my regular lunch after writing this post, it's so unfair. Can't I just make the food on the page come to life? Sigh, back to reality and my regular lunch, but at least I can share the experience with you. My favorite part, besides the tri-rip... and mash potatoes... and delicious rolls, was the grilled vegetables. I hate when you order vegetables as a side and you get a pile of unappetizing steamed broccoli and carrots - how boring, it's no wonder people hardly order vegetables... but these vegetables were pure perfection! Grilled zucchini, green onions, mushrooms, carrots. So good. I can't wait to go back and order the exact same thing.

I hope I have succeeded in my goal of making your mouth water for tri-tip. If you can't make it out to the depths of the Santa Clarita Valley, don't fear, tri-tip cooking help is here! Well not quite here just yet, I'm working on perfecting a tri-tip recipe (and I'm working on getting the bf not to overcook it) and then I will share with you!

peace, love, tri-tip, and happiness!

Summer is here!

noreply@blogger.com (Michelle Branch Annett) — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 01:24:00 +0000

Happy August everyone! It's my favorite month! And my birthday is right around the corner... might as well start celebrating all this week!

{early birthday flowers}

And to kick off the celebrations, last night we drank the most delicious summer beer ever, Anderson Valley's Summer Solstice Cerveza Crema.

I would describe it as an alcoholic cream soda. While some might find that description unappetizing, I love cream soda and am quite happy to have found the adult equivalent that leaves you with buzz instead of a sugar high. Yummm-y!

Peace, love, summer beers, and happiness!

Shameless Self Promotion

noreply@blogger.com (Michelle Branch Annett) — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 00:59:00 +0000

Check out my vlog on Celeblogity.com! If that link doesn't work, go to Celeblogity.com and click on Top --> TV Star Bloggers.

Thanks!

xo

noreply@blogger.com (Michelle Branch Annett) — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 20:37:00 +0000

I'm 100% addicted to Mark Bittman's "How to Cook Everything" and if I had the time I would just read it every single day. The best part about the book isn't the recipes, but that he explains the how and why behind cooking, so I can take the tips and go from there with my own imagination. He tells you the basics behind a marinade and then gives you options on how to mix up the flavors. He truly is my culinary hero. Someday I will credit him for my fabulous cooking skills when I open my own restaurant (ahhh, dreams). Between his book and articles (and of course Deb's SmittenKitchen.com) I probably won't ever need to open another cookbook. Last year it was the 101 Simple Salads that blew my mind, and this year it's... (I can't even take it, I'm so happy)... 101 Fast Recipes for Grilling! I can't wait to get the grill going (now that I have one at my new place!) and spend the whole summer trying out these so simple, yet genius, recipes.

{photo from NYTimes.com}

peace, love, grilling, and happiness!

AND Happy Fourth of July! I have the weekend off! A rarity these days.

CPK Break

noreply@blogger.com (Michelle Branch Annett) — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 22:46:00 +0000

This month has been crazy busy! Between moving into a new apartment in a new city (don't worry... technically I'm still in Los Angeles County) and starting a new job that required me to fly to Portland at 6am on the day after the big move, I've barely had a moment to think, sleep, or even unpack a box. But I, of course, still found the time to eat! After a late night of planning and packing, we found ourselves sitting in an empty living room on two beat up wooden chairs (that absolutely will not come to the new house) staring at a stack of papers and a printer on the floor. We decided to get out of the house. I've been wanting to try the new CPK Small Cravings Menu, and my man won't ever argue with pizza or pasta, so we headed to California Pizza Kitchen to take a much needed break from the move.

{White Corn Guacamole and Chips}

{Crispy Artichoke Hearts}

{Sweet Corn Tamale Ravioli}

I had to be stopped from ordering the entire whole Small Cravings menu. It all looked so good! We really enjoyed the White Corn Guacamole, and I will definitely be making my own version of it this summer. I washed down all that food with... you guessed it... more food!

{Asparagus Soup}

I opted for the Asparagus Soup since it's yummy and it's low in calories, I then promptly cancelled out what I saved in calories by eating these...

{Avocado Club Eggrolls}

What a nice way to end a hectic day!

peace, love, CPK, and happiness!

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

noreply@blogger.com (Michelle Branch Annett) — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 02:26:00 +0000

For me, Memorial Day weekend always symbolizes the welcoming of summer. It's the first long weekend of the summer. The sun is shining, the collective smell of food on the grill wafts through the air, and shorts and sundresses get pulled out of the trenches of the closet where they have been hiding all winter. Ahhh, life is good on Memorial Day weekend, there is no work on Monday and it seems like there is all the time in the world. So to make this Memorial Day truly memorable I decided to take a culinary risk of epic proportions in hopes of delivering my Mom the perfect homemade present - my very first ever pie from scratch, and a strawberry rhubarb pie for that matter. Never mind that I had no clue what rhubarb was (did you know it's actually a vegetable?!) up until about 3 weeks ago when I came across a recipe in the archives of Deb's Smitten Kitchen site. I was mesmerized... the redness of the strawberries and rhubarb, the perfect latticed crust, the golden color of the cooked pie with juicy gooeyness peeking through. It was love at first sight. I had never wanted something so bad. (Well, that's not true, but it felt like it at the time.) But could I do it, I asked myself? Also I asked myself what's a pastry cutter and where do I find one? Finally, I decided to go for it and work out the pastry cutter issue as I went along. I mean, how hard could it be really? The phrase "easy as pie" had to come from some sort of truth, right?

First stop. Strawberry farm for some fresh, juicy goodness.

{strawberry farm}

Next, it was time to get my hands dirty... well more like doughy. I was shocked and in awe of the amount of butter that goes into a pie crust. It's crazy, but in a good way. I like butter.

{I can't believe it's all butter!}

{making the dough}

After the dough was made (with my $5 pastry cutter from Target), I cut it in half and formed two disks which I wrapped in saran wrap and put in the fridge over night. The next morning, yes this was a two day process, I let the dough sit out for about a half hour and then I was ready to roll!

{pie dish, dough, rolling pin}

Rolling the first disk of dough was rather hard but that's because I didn't give the dough enough time to come to room temperature. The second disk was much easier but then I felt it was too warm and tried to move it, completely rolled out, into the fridge, which resulted in flour going everywhere and an almost ruined rolled out piece of dough.

{rolled out crust}

Helpful tip! Roll out your dough sandwiched between two sheets of wax paper. But make sure you flour each sheet well! I made the mistake of not flouring the top sheet... that got me into a sticky situation.

And now the fun part!

{red - rhubarb and strawberries}

{Filling}

{new pie dish}

And then you wait... and check the oven obsessively because it would be such a shame to burn something this beautiful.

{pie}

And Voila! Like they say, easy as pie!

{so pretty!!}

Since I'm not much for baking I found it surprising that I loved making this pie. It was calming, therapeutic, and turned out so yummy I ate 2 slices... and I thought I didn't like pie!

Get the recipe from Smittenkitchen.com --> here.

peace, love, pie, and happiness!!

Vlog

noreply@blogger.com (Michelle Branch Annett) — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 15:34:00 +0000

Hey everyone! I know I've been lacking in posts lately, but there are some big changes coming up in my life that I'm super excited about! I will get posts back up soon! For now check out my vlog on Celeblogity.com. <------- click. Thanks!!

Burger Blogging - 8 oz.

noreply@blogger.com (Michelle Branch Annett) — Thu, 27 May 2010 15:30:00 +0000

I've mentioned before that 8 oz. Burger Bar is my go to place for a great upscale burger, so it's surprising that it's taken me this long to blog about it in "My Quest to Find the Best Burger." The meat is ground in house using only humanely raised hormone free beef, the bacon is house-cured, the ketchup is made with heirloom tomatoes, and the pickles are homemade. Are you sold? I am.

The "8 oz"

While my photo is of the 8 oz burger, I'm going to base my review on the "Melrose" burger since it is what I normally order. The menu describes the "Melrose" as "6 oz house blend, wild baby arugula, garlic roasted tomatoes, and red onion marmalade." YUMMY!

Scoring:

1. Bun: based on texture, taste, and the way it complements the burger. Things that just won't do are: too 8 OZ : 4

2. Meat: looking for good texture, flavor, quality, and seasoning.

8 OZ: 5

4. Cheese: mmm... cheese... do I need to explain this one?

8 OZ: 4.5 (you have the option of adding cheese, I often add the bel paese or the cave aged gruyere.)

5. Fixin's: Everything else that comes on the burger from lettuce to caramelized onions and roasted tomatoes. Whatever it is it better complement the burger and be delicious.

8 OZ: 5

Overall factors are:

1. The Perfect Bite: how well everything on the burger comes together.

8 OZ: 4.5

2. Creativity: use of unique ingredients and pairings.

8 OZ: 4.5

Total Score: 32.5 out of 35

Now, there is a good chance 8 OZ gets such a high rating on my Burger Blogging O' Meter, because I just love the place so much. It is the home of my first gourmet burger... well, that's not 100 percent true, I tried 25 degrees in the Roosevelt Hotel before 8 OZ but was unimpressed. Or maybe the high score is because 8 OZ is about more than just good burgers. It's got a damn good Moscow Mule for one (with fresh ginger juice, swoon), and the non-burger items on the menu are just as good (if not better I dare say) than the burgers. You simply must try the short rib grilled cheese. This is not a request, but more of a demand. You can thank me later. Also I'm a big fan of the tuna melt - olive oil poached albacore, white cheddar cheese, add garlic roasted tomatoes, all on crispy grilled sourdough. I'll happily pay 9 bucks for this tuna melt.

Tuna Melt (please excuse the bad photo, this is pre-new camera)

Overall, I guess you can say I'm just a big fan of 8 OZ Burger Bar. Check it out when you are on Melrose, I'm pretty sure you'll like it.

peace, love, burgers, and happiness