Noble Hostess

The Perfect Summer Steak Sandwich

noreply@blogger.com (Dana) — Wed, 03 Jun 2015 05:08:00 +0000

A lot has happened these last few months - my husband and I began a house hunt, and, through some miracle, found one we liked!

Fortunately, this house does not have any of the following attributes, all of which were highlights at other houses we toured:

Floors so slanted that the dog's tennis balls would be constantly in a corner.
A massive, several hundred-deep Barbie collection in the unpermitted family room.
A neighbor wandering out to vaguely threaten you, with this sign in his window:

Huge One Direction decals in every hallway (free of charge!)
A bedroom, entrance to which is only through another bedroom.
Sketchy boarding-house style locks on every door and makeshift entrances.
An old spa tub our realtor nicknamed "the embalming bathtub."
WINNER: a femur bone in the backyard. For reals.

Also, the last three were all the same house. On our first day of house hunting. It didn't inspire much confidence.

So, while we did see some gems, I will admit that we very lucky in finding the new home, and are absolutely in love with it!

Our realtor was fantastic (if anyone is in the market, let me know - Ray's the best), and the only real stress we had of closing was self-inflicted. Crazy, month-long, "how is this going to fall through????," try-not-to-jinx-it, self-inflicted stress...

But Eureka! It has been a month and we are actually starting to get settled.

In our new kitchen, we now have room to cook meals AT. THE. SAME. TIME.

Having lived in 1920's apartments for the bulk of my adult life, I don't know that I have ever had enough room in my kitchen to put two mixing bowls on a counter next to each other. It is heaven. I squealed with delight throughout an entire cookie baking bender that yielded far more cookies than anyone should have in their house at any one time.

I am also very grateful that this timing worked out so that we have the whole of Summer ahead of us - there are so many things I want to try! I recently discovered that I love watermelon... we are getting a grill (which I hope to dominate)... I have a Rick Bayless cookbook I haven't touched... hell, I may even make crepes again!

I also may do that little thing I loved as a hobby some months back, which is taking photos of food and entertaining. I remember that... vaguely...

So, in honor of the beginning of Summer, I am sharing a post I wrote at the very tail end of Summer and never got around to publishing.

This sandwich is everything good in this world. Enormous. Not skimpy with the bread. Filling. Satisfying. Summer-y in every sense.

Serve it on a cheeseboard or cutting board whole, then allow guests to cut off as much as they want. It is perfect for a weeknight meal, and leftovers are even better.

Here's to Summer!

Grilled Steak Sandwich

Pre-marinated steak or roasts are a great quick-fix for impromptu parties. We got our skirt steak from Costco, which does an amazing job with meat. If your store does not carry this, you can also marinate your meat in the juice of several limes, olive oil, salt and pepper and whatever other spices you like (cumin, oregano, etc.) for 30 minutes for a quick fix. This sandwich is extremely satisfying, and the pickled red onions add a tart, vinegar accent that freshens up an otherwise potentially heavy dish.

1 flank steak or tri-tip, pre-marinated from grocery store

1 ciabatta loaf

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1/2 small can roasted chipotle peppers in adobo sauce

1/2 cup arugula

1/2 cup pickled red onions (recipe)

If not toasting bread on the grill, pre-heat your oven to 350*.

In advance of cooking the meat, pickle the red onions and prep mayonnaise, as both taste better the longer they sit.

To make the mayonnaise: in a food processor, pulse together a half cup of mayonnaise, the chipotle peppers and a drizzle of adobo sauce to taste. This gets spicy fast, so be sure to taste as you go and add one pepper and a 1/2 tsp sauce at a time. You may have a fair amount of peppers and sauce left over if you like it on the low end of spicy.

To prep the sandwich, cook the beef to desired doneness on an outdoor grill, or on your stove in a grill pan or cast-iron skillet. Cooking time will vary greatly depending on the thickness of meat, but The Kitchn has a good guide to tell when to pull it off the heat. Once cooked to desired doneness, cover with foil and set aside to rest for a few minutes while you toast the bread.

Cut a ciabatta loaf in half, length-wise, and toast either on the grill (after cleaning), or for 4-6 minutes in a 350* oven. Put halves on a platter.

Slice the meat to medium thickness (hearty, but still chewable). Spread the mayo on the toasted bread, then add slices of the steak. Top with arugula and quick pickled red onions.

DIY Game of Thrones Pint & Wine Glasses

noreply@blogger.com (Dana) — Sat, 14 Feb 2015 01:51:00 +0000

If you have read my earlier posts (Part 1 & Part 2), you will know that, for my thirtieth birthday, my husband and I threw a Game of Thrones-themed house party. Being presently immersed in the book series, I was excited to find ways to bring out a crafty side of things that would allow me to geek out on multiple levels.

One night, I had the brainstorm to buy Game of Thrones-branded pint glasses as party favors. A quick Google unearthed that these can cost about $10 each on the HBO site. A bit rich for my blood, I would say! Especially as we were expecting about 40 people, I wanted to have glasses available for all without breaking the bank.

I was still riding the high of my purchase of $1 stemless wine glasses from Dollar Tree (of which I had 36 remaining) so I figured, why not take some of those and some discount pint glasses and find a way to etch them? For those new to this technique, etching glasses is done by applying a stencil and painting with an etching solution, letting it set, and washing it off so the design is actually 'baked into' the glass.

The hardest part of this project was figuring out what design I wanted, and deciding how I can get them accurately presented on the glass. I am sure you can make the stencil at home if you have a crafting machine (and design skills), but that is not something I am equipped to handle. Instead, I reached out to Dana of decalsndecor on Etsy, who was extremely helpful in getting me exactly what I needed.

I knew I wanted a mixture of both Stark and Targaryen sigils, so I sent the HBO version of the sigils as a reference. Dana was able to create custom vinyl stencils for me for use on the glasses, and I ended up ordering twenty of each, forty total, for about $29.

Once receiving those, and following the directions provided by Dana, I started by running all of the glasses through the dishwasher to make sure they are free of dust.

Once clean, Ryan and I assembly-lined applying the stencil to the glass. This is done by peeling off a protective layer on the back and carefully spreading from the middle outward. The goal here is to ensure that the border around the design is stuck very closely to the glass so that the etching solution does not slip into an air bubble and etch outside of the design boundaries. After applying, we used a credit card to ensure that it was on tightly.

Laundry room chic.

After peeling the top protective layer, I painted on the etching solution. The most popular I found was Armour Etch, which will run you about $10 for 3 ounces at JoAnn Fabric (or $5 if you download the app, as they are always posting 50% off coupons). I found 3 ounces to be the perfect amount for this project.

After painting on, I let the glasses sit for about 5 minutes each (give or take). I did a test glass and found that the 2-3 minutes I first tried left the design far too faint. 5 minutes worked perfectly. The big warning I kept reading at this stage was to be careful about the surface you use this on, as the etching solution will damage many surfaces. We have a pretty junky utility sink, so it was fine for me. That said, note the hearty, obligatory warning.

After sitting for the 5 minutes, we peeled the decal off and rinsed thoroughly. Note: despite the lack of them in this photo, definitely wear gloves for this stage. It will make it harder to peel the decals, but good heavens, why risk getting something that eats glass on your fingers.

I also recommend having your visiting guests help. Having an artist in residence definitely speeds the process up!

After they are all rinsed (and you are basking in your etched glass glory), your design will be permanently on the glass. That means you can run them through the dishwasher before use and treat them like any other glass - there is zero risk of it 'fading.'

...wow that glass really filled up since the beginning of the blog post.

Et voila! I totalled an average cost of $2 a glass for this project, a big savings compared to the $10 HBO versions.

...and, after all this, I naturally forgot to tell people to take them as favors at the end of the party. Whoopsie daisy. I am now the proud owner of several dozen Game of Thrones glasses! Thank goodness for the return of the show and inevitable parties.

This so wraps the Game of Thrones party posts! I hope that this was helpful in your own party planning, and feel free to reach out about any questions you may have.

Valar Morghulis!

A Game of Thrones Party, Part 2- The Food & Drink

noreply@blogger.com (Dana) — Sun, 01 Feb 2015 17:10:00 +0000

Hello again, friends and fellow Game of Thrones fans. This post is a follow up to my previous post about our Game of Thrones party, featuring the theme details, decor and temporary tattoo craft from my 30th nameday - er - birthday.

While the decor was fun and gave me a chance to fulfill the craftiness I was craving, you surely know by now that menu planning is my absolute favorite part of any gathering. Planning this menu was a challenge, as this group could vary from 25-45 people, taking 'maybe' RSVP numbers into account. It ultimately ended up being about 40 people throughout the day, so thank goodness I planned ahead!

This table also had to be thematically appropriate (I was picturing a hedonistic Lannister spread), and presented in a way that kept with the general house sigil / loose medieval feel of the party. If some of the dishes could tie into book themes, all the better!

As with the first post, the amazing photographer (and friend) Alexander Wysocki was kind enough to take photos for me to use in this post. So let's take a food tour through our Westerosi-inspired spread!

For the main munchables, we are lucky to be close to the much-beloved Porto's bakery, which offers catering at dizzyingly reasonable rate. We got several dozen meat pies as well as several dozen vegetarian-friendy spinach-and-cheese pies, a savory treat we think they would happily indulge in in Westeros.

Our budget didn't account for a large custom-made pie with live doves flying out, so we ordered a large chicken pie (labelled as Pigeon Pie) to throw back to the Purple Wedding. Let's say it is er, more, digestible than the original.

Lastly, we also ordered a bunch of cheese-guava pastries (mostly because they are a Porto's essential) and a dessert platter. OK, the latter is less thematic and more delicious, especially when forgotten in your fridge until the end of the party when everyone is buzzed and hungry.

I incorporated the party's overall house sigil theme by putting heraldic banners into the assorted pastries. This was inspired by the cake toppers provided by the definitive go-to for all culinary things Game of Thrones, Inn at the Crossroads. These fine folks also authored the Game of Thrones cookbook which is, needless to say, awesome.

While their toppers are great, I wanted to go include more houses and use the more popular, show-inspired sigil designs. As with the temporary tattoos, I scoured the web for vector, high-res images and applied them to a banner template. These were printed, cut out, then glued around skewers for herald-like banners. I have included this printable for your use, but again please note that I do not own any of the images, etc. etc. etc.

Click to Download

I also was fortunate enough to have friends hip to what I was planning, one of whom (Katie!) got me a fabulous (and enormous) pewter tray to help with presentation.

We added to the food options with large hunks of cheese from Costco and stone wheat crackers. These were served on silver dishes and slate cheeseboards, as well as the gold chargers I purchased inexpensively at Goodwill.

All in all, you will be surprised at what you own that may be able to double for 'medieval' theme. Take this gravy boat, for example:

This ended up being a prop for one of my favorite details of the entire table.

As die hard fans, we got a big belly laugh by putting out bread and salt for a guest to claim "guest right," a tradition in the series that dictates that, whomever should eat of the bread and salt of a house shall, in turn, have "guest right." After receiving this right, the guest cannot be harmed while at the house in question. In theory, anyway.

This bread and salt was also accented by lion and direwolf shaped butter, which Eileen made by softening salted butter and rubbing into the same lion and wolf molds we used for the chocolate (see below), refrigerating until stiff. We put the bread in a basket with a black napkin, and the butter next to it in a small cast-iron dish with a butter knife. Funny enough, this was the most popular food option of the day! I credit the backlash from the low-carb diets so many Angelenos follow.

For dessert, we bought a dessert platter of small bite-sized snacks, but I wanted something sweet people could grab throughout the day. For Ryan's Batman birthday party, I found Bat-signal ice cube trays, which I in turn poured melted chocolate chips into for Bat-chocolates. I decided to leverage that for this party by filling lion and wolf candy molds, leveling off, then refrigerating until firm. The molds I used happen to be lollipop molds, so I also made some of those and set in a vase full of rocks to hold them in place.

The alcohol options were a much-discussed to-do. For wine, we debated specially-labelled bottles of "Arbor Red," but we would plow through those bottles pretty quickly in our group of friends. Next idea was to have large pewter or ceramic pitcher filled with wine. Turns out it is surprisingly hard to get these pitchers at any semblance of a reasonable price, even after scouring the thrift stores in the area. So, instead, we fell back on our well-seasoned beverage dispenser, filled it with gallons of wine and embellishing the side with a printed out Tyrion Lannister quote about wine. Ta-da!

This inspired a secondary quote from my favorite character, Oleanna Tyrell. As the beverage dispenser was right next to the cheese, it seemed only appropriate.

We were also going back-and-forth on whether or not we should get a pony keg, before deciding that we inevitably will not go through it all (as we are now of a more 'mature' age than two years ago when we kicked two pony kegs and several cases of beer for Ryan's 30th).

Fortunately, you can get lots of delicious beer options at my beloved Costco, from which we got a lovely, wheaty, hoppy Ballast Point sampler and the delightfully available growlers of Dead Guy Ale from Rogue. They must have known.

We also took our growlers to get filled with heavy, aggressive beer from Stone (Arrogant Bastard, anyone?) - not only are growlers just old timey enough to match the decor, but also are a very cost-effective way to serve good craft beer at a party. At the source, you can get a 3-liter fill for about $17 depending on the beer, which will typically save you a few dollars from buying by the bomber.

This, plus an ample supply of beer brought by friends, was more than enough. Ommegang makes an awesome series of Game of Thrones-themed beer, but those prized gems were saved for trivia prizes.

...and water of course. Lots of water. I like the old trick of adding lemon slices to water to "fancy it up." This was surrounded by candles in a separate part of the dining room to prevent beverage crowding.

For all beverages, I put glasses on display (as mentioned in Part 1) that I etched with house sigils. These were quite easy to make, in the end, and I shall show you how! Stay tuned for the final post for this party featuring how to make your very own Game of Thrones glasses!

A Game of Thrones Party, Part 1 - Theme, Decor & Printable Tattoos

noreply@blogger.com (Dana) — Wed, 07 Jan 2015 18:13:00 +0000

I have heard that a lot of women suffer from a kind of withdrawal after their weddings are done. They've gotten in touch with a DIY side of themselves they never knew they had. The wedding ends, only to have the adrenaline rush subside and be left with thick rolls of butcher paper and artistinal twine, with naught to be done with it. That was not the case for me with our wedding - I loved everything about how it turned out, and was happy with the mild crafting I had taken on (the bulk of it having gone to my mother). I felt satisfied, but not eager to keep the momentum going.

...I think that withdrawal just caught up with me.

For those of you still getting to know me, I do not tend to plan parties full of charming crafts and clean, thematic, Martha Stewart-esque spreads. This particular party post comes to mind. I respect those who do, and know some who do it expertly - I just never had that kind of crafting ability, nor can refrain from making a big 'ol mess in the process, ruining the notion of a tidy spread.

Until, one day this past Summer, my husband asked if I would want to have a party for my 30th birthday. We had hosted a house party for his 30th several years ago, which was a big success (It was Batman-themed... I may have strong-armed him into it). Plus, it had been so long since we had thrown a large house party! I was ready to dust off my entry-level crafting skills and apply them to my current obsession. Game of Thrones.

After Season 4's gripping conclusion of the hit TV series, I just plain couldn't wait another half year for it to return to the air before getting another fix of Tyrion Lannister and Westeros. Instead, I dove in and power housed through those books. Dear God, was I ready to talk to people about it! My nerdy obsession with Game of Thrones had reached the same level of geeky insatiability as waiting for the final Harry Potter books to come out.

It seemed only right that my milestone birthday party should not only combines the joy of seeing friends, but indeed welcome them in the warm embrace of the Iron Throne I have come to love.

The more I searched for inspiration, the more I found fun little touches used at various premiere or viewing parties. I also discovered that there is a very delicate balance between throwing a Game of Thrones-themed party and making your house look like a medieval sex dungeon, with candles and blood red fabric draped everywhere, accented by plastic weaponry.

As such, I decided to theme the party around the different houses from the series (and their sigils), versus the general medieval time period.

As a birthday gift, the amazingly talented Alex Wysocki was kind enough to take photos of the party and gift them to me to use for this post so I could actually enjoy my party. So let's take a stroll through this geeky Westerosi soiree, shall we?

If you landed here because you are throwing your very own Game of Thrones party, I hope you find something you can use! Please feel free to message me if you have any questions about details or sources.

Christie and me mid-party prep - note our geeky shirts.

Eileen and I partying like Lannisters, I with my new pewter birthday goblet!

After months of planning out details, I will admit that setting up everything took WORK. I was lucky in that I had assistance from other mega-fans in the form of my husband, Ryan (wearing a Hand of the King pin), and dear friends Christie and Eileen.

Being both an artist and a calligrapher, Eileen inevitably was tasked with penning signs for the different displays. Ryan created a 'name day' hashtag for easy Instagram photo sharing.

My first purchase was a lovely dragon egg cookie jar from ThinkGeek, which I had had my eye on for some time. We filled this with name tags calling out the major houses of Westeros and asked folks to "Choose a House." Ultimately, this was going to be the teammaking tactic for our pub trivia - all Lannisters together, etc. We ended up splitting up more evenly based on level of knowledge but, nonetheless, the nametags were still a fun laugh for those who got stuck with Bolton.

We built a general ambience by using a red tablecloth and buying gold plastic chargers, cheap vases and candle holders from Goodwill and the 99-cent stores. Not my choice for everyday decor, but getting things in red and gold shades means you can easily reuse them as Christmas. Medieval-y enough, but not too over the top.

The centerpiece of the to-do was an idea I got from a FABULOUS Game of Thrones party post by Vixventure.com. I loved everything about her party, and it was a huge inspiration. It features a skull covered in putty, then painted gold. Yes, my friends, that is the skull of 'ol Vicerys, brother of Daenerys, who is killed when Kahl Drogo topples of pot of melted gold over his head. This tickled me to no end, and I am super grateful for the idea.

Additional decor came in the form of a Joffrey shooting target, a a Night's Watch recruitment poster from my friend Christine, a mini Arya guarding the bathroom and cheap ravens from a Halloween store scattered throughout the house.

We set up a table to the side of our main spread (next to the beverage cooler) to hold the glasses for the beverages. Our floral element consisted of long stems of roses from the backyard, and a stack of onions as an ode to Lord Davos (the Onion Knight). That one in particular may have been confusing to folks who hadn't seen the show...

We printed "Lost Direwolf" signs from io9, and hung Michael Tyznik's Westeros Transit Map on the door in case people needed help getting home. Have I emphasized how much fun planning this was?

Even the kids and dogs got involved!

To help distribute the groups of people throughout the house and encourage socializing outside as well as next to the food and drink, we left a bowl of temporary tattoos on our patio table, directing people to go there if they wanted to brand themselves with a house sigil.

Fun fact - you can get temporary tattoo paper on Amazon! After doing vector, high-res image searches for the popular versions of the house sigils, I arranged them to print on an 8 1/2 x 11 page of paper. After a few test rounds, I printed on the tattoo paper and cut out as close to the image as possible.

These were set out in a dish with a moistened one-inch thick slice of kitchen sponge, for folks to dab the design on with. Ultimately, we only had to touch this up once or twice throughout the party.

For interested parties, I have uploaded the layout I used below. Again, please note that I have not created nor claim to have any rights to these designs, just freaking love them.

Click to go to downloadable image

We really wanted to have fun little nerdy nods wherever we could get them, as well as showcase some of our favorite elements of the series. I feel like this really came through, and fellow fans got a few laughs at some of the more obtuse references.

Wondering where the food and booze are? Stay tuned for Part 2, focusing on that very subject!

Sneak Peek - A Game of Thrones Birthday Party

noreply@blogger.com (Dana) — Tue, 02 Dec 2014 02:18:00 +0000

Sometimes you turn 30. Sometimes you want to leverage that into a reason to throw a big, nerdy party and hope people will come because it is your birthday.

Sometimes you have the best friends ever and they will all come and indulge you by enjoying a party themed entirely after Game of Thrones. Oh my goodness, was this party fun to plan. I tried my hand at mild crafting, there were pretty obscure references in the form of centerpieces and butter shaped to look like House Stark's direwolf sigil.

These details, and more, coming to you in a special blog post several months in the making.

In interim, please enjoy this photo of a wine bloodbath.

Hosting tip of the day: if you are going to stab a bladder of wine with a chef's knife to pour into a beverage dispenser, make damn sure you have it fully over the dispenser before you do so.

Oops.

At least bloodbaths are thematically appropriate.

Happy Hour - The Griffith, LA's Official Cocktail

noreply@blogger.com (Dana) — Mon, 17 Nov 2014 23:11:00 +0000

It may be mid-November, but you wouldn't be able to tell here in sunny (permanently, permanently sunny...) Los Angeles.

While other places in the country embrace warm sweaters, fireplaces and mulled drinks, it is still the tail end of patio season here in sunny LA. This has its benefits in the form of an extended season for my favorite parts of Summer - things I imagine people have in mind when thinking of Los Angeles this time of year: not needing to bring more than a light cardigan when going outside, having friends over to enjoying so bright and sunny Sundays and spending time at gastropubs with dog-friendly patios.

One thing you may not know, though, is that we have official LA cocktail that is reminiscent of all of this - the Griffith.

Willow the dog gives it 4 barks!

Named after the famous Griffith Park and submitted by Angeleno Josh Lurie, the Griffith is a bright citrus drink made with lemons and cucumber, accented with simple syrup. What is the main liquor ingredient, you ask? This cocktail is made specifically with organic botanical-infused vodka and Grand Poppy liqueur straight from Greenbar, a distillery thriving within the city of Los Angeles. Oh yes, you can't get more LA than that.

I first learned of Greenbar Distillery at a craft soda mixology event where my friends at Los Angeles Ale Works were pouring their sodas. The spirits for said cocktails were all provided by Greenbar and, let me tell you, they were extremely well received. The folks were friendly and walked us through their lineup, which felt pretty much like the embodiment of Southern California - hand crafted, organic spirits and a selection of craft liqueurs. My favorite, easily, was the Grand Poppy liqueur - this aperitif is like a more mellow Aperol (which you know I love) made from California poppies (our official state flower), California herbs and local citrus.

Flash forward some time, and I am seeing more and more of the Greenbar bottles appearing in friends' home bars and stocked and showcased in Whole Foods (just when you think it can't get any more yuppie LA!). I started buying some different bottles and it really is amazing what a difference these spirits make. The rum and vodkas in particular just taste 'fresher' than the big brand equivalents, in a bottled water versus tap water way.

While deep into trying out new cocktails for this blog (what I go through for you loyal readers...). I knew I wanted to support this local distillery. I reached out to see if they had a favorite cocktail they would like me to write about specifically, and this is how I learned about the Griffith. This cocktail is designed around ingredients that are locally grown in Los Angeles, from the lemons to the spirits themselves. I gave the drink recipe a whirl and, one sip in, was smitten.

Enthused about sharing this drink, the fine folks of Greenbar were even kind of enough to give me some bonus bottles to help me share with friends (class act!). Yup, pretty much the coolest ever.

So let's cut to the drink.

7 Reasons Why I Love the Griffith

1. It looks great served in any glass. Coupe, mason jar, you can have it all. It is like Pinterest in a glass.

2. I like to garnish this drink with some fresh cucumber, which gives it a very 'spa water' vibe. Except so much better because it can give you a lovely buzz.

3. It can be served up for a nighttime treat, or over crushed ice for a daytime beverage. I have made this on many football Sundays (today included), and it is a perfect day drinking cocktail.

4. You can prep the elements ahead and transport. In the past, I have made the simple syrup at home, juiced some lemons and sliced some cucumbers, packing them up in salad dressing tupperware. Bring this with the spirits, borrow a shaker and a muddler and bam, cocktail. Easy peasy. If you were so inclined to flex your mixology muscles on a picnic, this is the drink for you.

5. It adheres the pound cake school of measurements. As someone who can never remember proportions, this is a breeze - 3 cucumber slices and an ounce of the rest.

6. While great for patios, the Griffith is not just a Summer drink. The Grand Poppy liqueur embodies a lot of what I love about Autumnal / Winter drinks - a floral, sweet taste that quietly accents a drink earthy side. The vodka, infused with botanicals, gives it an herbaceous element and balances out the citrus by contributing a savory undertone. Oh yes.

7. It smells freaking amazing.

There is one drawback... on about three separate occasions I got so excited to make (and, er, consume) the Griffith, I forgot to take step-by-step photos. Oops. The good news is I got to cozy up one night, cue up the BBC miniseries North & South on Netflix and take a leisurely series of cocktail photos. Come join me.

Start by cutting 3 slices of cucumber. Look at that moisture by the cut - the definition of fresh.

Put them in the bottom of a cocktail shaker.

Muddle...

...until you get a nice pulp.

Grab a lemon.

Juice an ounce. This will take about one small lemon.

Add the lemon juice to the cucumbers in your shaker, along with one ounce of simple syrup.

Add your Greenbar TRU garden vodka and Grand Poppy liqueur.

Add ice to the shaker. Shake shake shake.

Pour into a coupe glass and serve up. (Or, for a more casual vibe, pour into a mason jar over crushed ice).

Garnish with a slice of cucumber. Voila!

You have a tasty cocktail that embodies everything awesome about LA.

Griffith

1 oz Greenbar Tru garden vodka
1 oz Greenbar Grand Poppy liqueur
1 oz fresh squeezed lemon juice
1 oz simple syrup
3 slices fresh cucumber

Tip: Make your simple syrup about 10 minutes before preparing your cocktail, to allow for cooling time.

In your cocktail shaker, drop 3 slices of fresh cucumber. Muddle. Add lemon juice and simple syrup, then the two spirits. Shack with ice, and strain into glass. Garnish with cucumber slice.

Home Yoga Practice with Dooley

noreply@blogger.com (Dana) — Fri, 17 Oct 2014 03:20:00 +0000

In the last year or so, I have been discovering the joys of yoga - a surprisingly effective workout that makes me feel flexible(ish), relaxed and nicely stretched out.

Another fan of yoga is Dooley.

...and by fan, I mean a fan of of laying on my yoga mat and helping me.

...and by helping me, I mean thwarting every pose by laying on top of me or crawling underneath me.

"You don't need to see the video, I'll demonstrate."

Many of you may be familiar with the ‘hip new trend’ - “doga.” No one I know practices this, of course, but word on the street is that many folks love it.

Doga is the practice of yoga with one's dog. You pose them, integrate them into your practice, and so on. The videos you find, such as the above, feature people bending their dogs as if they were furry yogis, naturally skilled via innate canine zen.

"Hi, ma!"

In my case, Dooley likes to give me a crazy look before squeaking away on a toy in my ear or squirming up to my face and belching on me.

This particular video sums my experience pretty splendidly.

If I am going to continue living in Los Angeles, Dooley and I had better get our act in gear. As it stands, I am pretty sure we would get thrown out of a lululemon on sight.

Has anyone tried one of the professional doga classes? If so, was it helpful or a comical farse?

"OK, that's enough. I'm tired."

How to Transform Store Bought Dips into a Beautiful Spread

noreply@blogger.com (Dana) — Mon, 29 Sep 2014 15:15:00 +0000

As a diligent fan of food and entertaining blogs, I am always looking up recipes. I love trying new things, and keep aggregating appetizer recipes to try. Cookbooks line my shelves, full to the brim with earmarked pages of adorable canapes and small bites with delicate garnishes that I have daydreams of serving at upcoming parties.

You know what, though? Sometimes you just don't have any time to cook.

When those times happen, you can look to one thing to keep your party food looking inviting and well-thought-out - presentation.

Paying close focus to presentation can be one of the most best ways to show your guests that you have thought about their needs and put in extra effort to make things look desirable to them. It is what separates a weeknight family dinner from an actual dinner party.

More often than not, adjusting a meal to have a little extra pizazz and attention to detail will not take much extra time. This can be done by plating on your food on a beautiful platter, paying attention to garnishes, laying food out in a way that is accessible to all - or all of the above.

Presentation skills can be used to easily upgrade store-bought dips, in fact, creating a beautiful appetizer spread for your guests when you do not have time to cook. In this post, I will take two of my favorite store-bought dips and apply my favorite presentation tricks to upgrade simple fare into a lovely, party-ready repast.

Hummus Served with Snap Peas and Baby Carrots

I am not sure if this is an LA thing or a yuppie thing, but hummus is easily the most omnipresent dip at the parties I attend (or host, for that matter). Creamy, savory and just healthy enough to (somewhat) justify eating way too much of it, this superstar is endlessly modifiable to satisfy every craving.

For this example I am using plain old hummus from Trader Joe's, and serving with pre-prepped bags of baby carrots and snap peas.

Selecting the vegetables is as simple as buying a bag of baby carrots and a bag of snap peas, pre-washed. You can easily swap out for a variety platter of vegetables, sliced red peppers, endive leaves, celery or whatever you have on hand.

The presentation upgrade here is how you lay the vegetables out. Grab a platter or large dinner plate, on which you will divide the vegetables 50/50.

Pour your first vegetable out on the first half, and tidy them up so they are all facing the same direction. This isn't as fussy as it sounds, and will take you maybe a minute tops. Do the same with the second set of vegetables.

Then, take your hummus and put it in a bowl. I like to take a spoon and swipe in a circular motion to look 'rustic,' then wipe any extra hummus from the rim of the bowl with a paper towel to make it tidy.

The real magic here is with the garnish. To add color and a little extra flavor, I drizzle a little olive oil over the top, give the bowl a tap or two of smoky red paprika and add a few pine nuts, if I have them on hand.

See the difference? With five minutes of extra effort, you gain so much value in presentation. The diversity of color is very pleasing to the eye, and makes the food look that much more desirable.

Guests will not be able to resisting diving right into this tempting treat.

Bruschetta Dip Served with Baguette Slices

As previously established, I am crazy for Trader Joe's dips. This is in large part because I stumbled onto this savory-yet-slightly-sweet bruschetta dip. It has a fruity taste of the tomato mixed with the pungent taste of olive oil and Italian seasonings. Served with baguette slices, you pretty much can't get an easier appetizer.

Start by slicing a baguette, making each peace uniform. I like my slices to be about a centimeter thick.

Lay the pieces out on a platter in tidy rows.

Pour the dip into a bowl - I like to use the same style bowl as the hummus for a streamlined look - and spoon off any excess olive oil that drifts to the top. Then, add a few taps of dried Italian seasoning, oregano or basil.

This won't add too much to the overall flavor if you use a light hand, but adds a nice color contrast.

Serve alongside your bread slices.

Overall Presentation

After you have both sets of appetizers ready, lay them out on your table. Depending on where people will be sitting, be sure that they have an easy reach to both dip and dipping vehicle (read: bread or vegetables).

If you have a fair amount of people and there is not an easy way for them to enjoy both, consider putting out small salad plates or napkins so guests can grab several at a time and bring back to their seat.

There you have it! With several extra minutes, you can present store bought dips and spreads in a beautiful manner, while saving yourself heaps of time. These little additions show a caring touch and interest in presentation, making your guests feel appreciated.

Do you have favorite store bought dips or presentation tips? Leave them in the comments below!

Happy Hour: Aperol Spritz (A Love Song to Aperitifs)

noreply@blogger.com (Dana) — Thu, 25 Sep 2014 01:33:00 +0000

Aperitifs are a beautiful thing. I first discovered Campari in my early twenties, lured by events the Campari Group would host at art galleries. At these evenings, there would be a bartender crafting cocktails starring Campari's line of tart, bitter liqueur cocktails. My friends and I would enjoy trying out all the permutations - the Negroni, the Americano and, my favorite at the time, La Stella Grande. Sure, it was great to feel cultured at galleries but, if we are being honest, we were nurturing a fetish for the cocktails.

At home, my roommates' and my favorite drink became Campari mixed with orange juice, champagne and a touch of sugar to take the bitter edge off. Eventually, our tastes skewed away from the heavy, sweet drink and, unfairly, we set aperitifs to the side.

So what is an aperitif, exactly? Specifically, it is an alcoholic drink meant to be consumed before a meal as a sort of 'liquid appetizer.' Many different types of drinks roll up under this category but, for this example, I will be focusing on my favorites - Campari and Aperol.

If you do not know what to expect from either of these liqueurs when you take your first sip, you very well may want to spit it out. The flavors are essentially a tart equivalent of a spicy habanero chili or sugary sweet Pixy Stick - that is to say, the pinnacle of its flavor profile.

Where Campari is very strong, herbal-tasting and higher in alcohol content, Aperol (part of the Campari Group family), comes in sweeter, lower in alcohol content and milder in general. It is a great "intro to aperitifs," as it were. Both are amazing additions to cocktails and, after you inevitably fall in love with the taste, delicious to sip on their own.

There are a host of other differences more experienced palettes can discern (certainly those with better palettes than mine). These differences are brilliantly explained by the folks at Post Prohibition.

Outside of the taste, one of the most noticeable characteristics of these liqueurs is the brilliant colors they possess. Aperol has a bright, blood orange red color that adds a shock of boldness to any drink.

You may wonder, if they are so smoothly added to cocktail recipes, why did I shun them for being so sweet? Short answer - I used to add them to already-sweet cocktails and cocktail mixers that brought out that character. Recently, I have been revisiting this love in the much more mellow Negroni or the Boulevardier (bourbon, Campari, sweet vermouth and an orange twist). Then, on one warm Summer day, my friend Christie introduced me to the Aperol Spritz.

Having just come back from her honeymoon in Italy, she was sipping a beverage that had the characteristic red coloring of this family. The Aperol Spritz, she told me, is the go-to sipping drink of Italy. Made with Aperol and chilled prosecco, this drink is refreshing on a warm day and a slow sipper. The Aperol adds a layer of flavor that makes you want to truly savor your cocktail. When served in a champagne flute or a coupe glass, with its red coloring shining through, it is undeniably romantic.

Speaking of romantic, a quick note on Campari Group marketing and branding - this is a case where advertising undeniably works on me (albeit I was already a fan). The classic, painted ads for such brands as Campari and Aperol were turned into wall hangings favorited by female twentysomethings worldwide.

1921 Campari Ad - Capiello

1920 Campari Ad - Dudovich

1988 Aperol Ad - Mattotti

In recent years, the advertising remains brilliant and colorful, focusing on sexy photography that captures the bold colors and nature of the drink. I am a fangirl all around.

2015 Campari Calendar Featuring Eva Green - Behind-the-scenes

Back to the drink! The Aperol Spritz is SO simple that you can very easily whip up a batch to serve at a party. Picture a tray set out with champagne flutes filled with the pre-measured amount of Aperol. Guests can grab a glass and top themselves off with sparkling wine and soda water (or heck, even just sparkling wine if you want to keep it very simple). Easy elegance!

So let's learn how we make this...

Grab your Aperol and prosecco (or other sparkling wine).

You can buy Aperol at Bevmo, or other big box liquor stores.

As mentioned, the classic Aperol Spritz uses prosecco. I only had Cava around - so Cava it shall be!

Add 2 parts Aperol to your glass, then top with 3 parts prosecco or sparkling wine. Top with 1 part soda water.

Oh yes, friends. It is that easy.

If you are an aperitif newbie, leave a comment about your first experience!

APEROL SPRITZ

from Aperol.com

3 parts prosecco (although you could use any sparkling wine - I used Cava)
2 parts Aperol
1 part soda water (sparkling water is the same thing)

Mix in the glass you are serving. Viola!

The Quick Clean: How to Get Your Home Guest-ready in 15 Minutes

noreply@blogger.com (Dana) — Thu, 11 Sep 2014 22:00:00 +0000

For me, cooking is fun. Putting out dishes is fun. Organizing a menu is fun. Shopping for said menu is fun.

Deep cleaning my house is decisively NOT on my fun list.

Sure, I get on a roll and feel fabulous and productive, but it is in and of itself just plain not that fun sometimes. I am prone to clutter, and my big hairy Golden Retriever sheds a second dog's worth of fur just by lumbering around the house.

That being said, I do love HAVING a clean house. That is actually one of the amazing things about entertaining - you are forced to make your house tidy. Goal-oriented cleaning is satisfying because you know you just have to buckle down and get the place gleaming.

However, sometimes you have a last-minute get-together and just plain don't have time for the deep clean you would like. Or, other times, you get so caught up in cooking and making drinks, you totally lose track of time.

Sometimes you need to put your best foot forward with *gasp* only FIFTEEN MINUTES before people are at your house!

Time to prioritize. I am happy to share my personal Quick Clean Checklist, crafted from many last-minute gatherings and reading hordes of Real Simple magazine. It may seem like a long list at first glance, but it is all about the bare necessities. A swipe here, a hide there, and you are ready for guests. Commit to a quick cleanup, without letting yourself get distracted, and you can be ready-to-go in a quarter hour.

Tip: These tasks are best paired with embarrassing pop music or heavy metal. Gets the action going.

Image courtesy Life Photo Archive, Hosted by Google

Stop 1: The Bathroom

This is the place that should get attention first. Bathrooms tend to become a symbol of the cleanliness of your entire home. Fortunately, it can be cleaned lickity split. Here are the basics to ensure you have a guest-ready 'power room.'

Wipe the toilet, both rim and top of the tank. Spray some cleaning spray into the bowl and give it a quick swipe of a brush.
Using one cloth, wipe down any porcelain fixtures - sink, bathtub rim, etc..
Ensure you are stocked with toilet paper (you don't want to leave guests stranded!).
Check that you have a hand towel out.
If your mirror has a sheen of toothpaste, quickly spray with Windex and wipe down.
If you are feeling VERY fancy, light a votive.

Image courtesy Post War Vintage

Stop 2: The Living Room / Dining Room

The cleaning steps for the living and dining rooms are, in essence, the same. These are the rooms where people will congregate, and you want them to make a good impression.

Remove extra clutter from tables and floors and stash somewhere out-of-site (closet, bedroom, etc.). A classic.
If you don't have a designated place to hide clutter, stack it in neat little piles. Looking at you, books.
Group remotes and console controllers together, away from prime coffee table territory.
If you have a dog, gather his toys and put in a basket. I reckon this is the same task if you have children.
On a related note, if you have a big furry beast, gather up the tumbleweeds of fur and throw them out.
Wipe down table surfaces.
If you have an eye sore (such as a stain on a tablecloth), plunk something on top of it (sneaky, yes?)
Light a candle to class up the joint (see a theme here?)

Image courtesy Green in Chestnut Hill

Stop 3: The Kitchen

You want the people you are feeding to feel confident that your kitchen is clean, don't you? I will assume your kitchen is always nice and appropriately hygienic (the one room in the house you must keep spic-and-span), but it is nice to do a pass if its surfaces get un-tidied from pre-party cooking.

Move dishes in the sink into the dishwasher, if available; If you do not have a dishwasher, quickly wash the big items, dry, and put away to free up space.
Wipe down sink - the sink is the focal point of the kitchen, so make that baby shine. Magic Erasers are great for this - one swipe and your sink is gleaming.
Wipe down the stove. This is Splatter Central and also quickly tended to by the above methods.
Throw out any food packaging / vegetable peels / what have you.
Quickly spray some cleaning spray and wipe down the counters. Even the smell of a cleaning product will immediately trigger the "oooh, clean" censors of the brain.

Image courtesy Viva Victoria Vintage

Stop 4: Other Rooms

Close the door. Ta-da!

Bonus Round

Some other quick, impressive hosting tricks if you have a little extra time:

Put out a pitcher or carafe of water. This will show that you thought ahead (and keep people from heading into an untidy kitchen to get their own glass).
If you have one, put out an ice bucket. See above.
Light candles. This one popped up a few times above as it is a really easy way to make your house look cozy.

The ultimate takeaway, though? Your friends are your friends and they won't care too much if your place is clean. They just are looking forward to spending a lovely evening with you, not inspecting your place to see how clean it is.

...or that is what I am banking on, anyway.

What is YOUR favorite clean-up-quick trick?

Build-Your-Own Breakfast Burrito Bar with Fresh Tomatillo Salsa Verde

noreply@blogger.com (Dana) — Thu, 04 Sep 2014 18:55:00 +0000

Looking for a main dish to serve with the H-100's you have totally mastered?

How about something that is hearty, simple and can be made en masse? That's right, friends, it is time for breakfast burritos! More specifically, a make-your-own breakfast burrito bar.

Half of the fun of taco nights, after all, is custom-creating your own spectacular plate and crafting it to your liking. So why not apply this logic to breakfast burritos?

These are also kicked up a notch with the offering of homemade salsa verde. The most fascinating part of this salsa recipe... the entire pot took 80 cents worth of ingredients. EIGHTY CENTS! The tomatillos are extremely inexpensive at a Mexican market, although you can also find at most major grocery stores. Ryan started making this a year ago, and now we almost always have some in the freezer.

So lets' dive right in - how do we make this help-yourself masterpiece?

Let's start with the salsa verde. This can be made far in advance, and, indeed, freezes splendidly.

The star of this show is the tomatillo - this is also known as a "Mexican husk fruit" and the taste is reminiscent of a tomato crossed with a pepper. This is a big time staple in Mexican cuisine. Wash these guys to get started.

Chop up one onion, approximately half a cup of cilantro, three cloves of garlic and one serrano pepper.

Grab your trusty oregano and cumin.

Get your whole salsa verde family together...

...and throw them in a pot. A dutch oven is great here as it provides consistent heat but, if you don't have one handy, any pot will do (just be sure to keep your eye on the heat). Turn your stove on medium heat and, once at a boil, simmer for about 10 minutes.

Once the tomatoillos are soft, blend together using an immersion blender OR ladle one scoop at a time into a blender and pulse until smooth.

The texture should be as such. Allow to cool, then pop into the fridge to chill. After about 20 minutes, it is ready to serve!

Now wasn't that easy? Plus, you have to remember... EIGHTY CENTS A POT! Have I over-emphasized that? Nonetheless.

Shopping note: I always found an immersion blender to be at the tipping point of expensive-to-the-point-of-not-being-worth-it, coming in at about $30-$40 each. Not a lot overall, but not something you use every day either. Then I started making salsas and soups. If this is a favorite of yours, I recommend purchasing. If for nothing else, it was worth it so I could quit scalding myself while transferring things to a blender.

This salsa can be used for dishes, great and small. Pour over a citrus-marinaded chicken for a quick sauce, or served with fish for a hint of heat. Naturally, it is also great with chips as a dip. Today, however, is the day we pair it with breakfast burritos.

These burritos are featuring pepper-rubbed bacon, onion, orange bell pepper and eggs tenderly scrambled together, lovingly served with your fresh salsa verde and shredded pepper Jack and cheddar cheese.

The recipe below is easily modfied to include or omit any ingredient based on your preference. Hate peppers, but love tomatoes? Swap the latter in for the former. Vegetarian? Swap in Soyrizo instead.

So let's go!

Start with your bacon. We used pepper-rubbed, available at many grocery stores, but plain bacon will work just as well. To get your bacon uniformly flat and crisp, cook on a baking sheet. We used a rack in our pan so the fat drains off.

While the bacon is cooking, dice up an onion and your orange bell pepper. Be sure to remove the vein in the pepper, to avoid the bitter taste.

Grate your cheese and put in the dish you will serve it in. Cover and chill in the fridge so it doesn't get melty.

Your bacon is ready when the dog starts staring at the kitchen like this.

...or when it the bacon looks like this. It should be brown all around with crispy edges.

Delicious, delicious, crisp edges.

Transfer bacon to a paper towel-lined plate and allow to cool slightly. Once cooled, chop into pieces.

Yes, these guys will get along royally. Add a little bit of butter to a nonstick skillet and cook the onions and peppers. They are ready once they are soft. Be sure to forget to take a picture of this...

Once the vegetables are cooked, toss in the bacon and 6 eggs, whisked together in a bowl with a little milk and seasoned with salt and pepper (or cajun seasoning if the mood strikes you).

The best egg technique I received is from my friend Yolanda, who never stops moving her eggs around the hot pan. By not keeping the eggs on the heat for too long, they won't get brown or tough. The result is a more tender, even-tasting scramble.

The eggs are ready when it is no longer runny. Remove from heat and transfer to a serving dish.

Serve with a stack of tortillas, warmed in the oven.

Along with your amazing salsa verde, feel free to add any other salsas or sauces you like.

Add the eggs to your brunch spread along with a potato side, such as H-100's (Tater Tots), and enjoy!

Breakfast Burritos with Eggs, Bacon, Onion and Peppers

7 slices bacon
1 medium onion, chopped
1 orange bell pepper, chopped
1 cup cheddar cheese, grated
1 cup pepper Jack cheese, grated
6 eggs
1 tbsp milk (approximately)
Cajun seasoning (if desired)
Salt
Pepper
2 tbsp butter, for the pan
12 medium flour tortillas, for serving.

Preheat oven to 425°.

On a cookie sheet, lay out the bacon. Cook until crisp, approximately 20 minutes. I find that every oven is a little different when it comes to bacon, so this should be based on doneness rather than time in oven.

While cooking, chop the onion and orange bell pepper and set aside. Grate the cheeses, place in a serving dish, cover and chill in fridge until ready to serve.

Remove bacon from oven, transfer to a paper towel-lined plate and allow to cool slightly. Chop and set aside.

In a bowl, whisk together the eggs and milk. Start with 1 tbsp milk, and add more if you like yours creamier. Add cajun seasoning, if desired, and salt and pepper to taste. If using cajun seasoning, be sure to use less salt, as it is often salted already.

Timing Note: Now is a good time to toss your tortillas in an oven to warm them up. Use the dish you intend to serve them in, ensuring it is over-safe. Wrap in a clean dish towel.

Melt butter in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add onions and peppers, and sauté until soft, stirring occasionally, about 3 minutes. Lightly salt and pepper (more is coming in the eggs). Add bacon and stir. Add egg mixture and softly move around the pan with your spatula. Keep moving the eggs slowly, and remove once it is no longer runny.

Transfer to a serving dish and set out with the salsa verde, grated cheese and tortillas (warm from the oven). Enjoy!

Fresh Tomatillo Salsa Verde

adapted from AllRecipes.com

1 pound tomatillos, husked
1 medium onion, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 serrano chile pepper, minced
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
1 tsp dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon cumin
Salt, to taste
2 cups water

Timing Note: This salsa is best if allowed to chill in the fridge. Plan for an extra 30 minutes before serving to account for cooling down and chilling.

In a Dutch oven (or large pot), combine all ingredients and bring to a rolling boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook for approximately 10 minutes, or until the tomatillos are soft. Remove from heat, and blend until smooth using an immersion blender. If you do not have an immersion blender, ladle one scoop at a time into a blender and pulse.

Set aside to cool slightly, about 10 minutes, then allow to chill for about 20 minutes. Serve and enjoy.

Homemade H-100's (aka: Best Tater Tots Ever) with Garlic Aioli

noreply@blogger.com (Dana) — Wed, 27 Aug 2014 17:24:00 +0000

I love making brunch. It is a great reason to get up early and jump right into the kitchen, setting to work making universally loved dishes (looking at you, bacon). It is also, really, the most convenient time to have friends over - you get the morning to cook and clean pre-party (read: shove all of your unfolded laundry into the closet) and the evening to clean up post-party (read: declare that you now will finally fold aforementioned laundry, but really just eat leftovers).

So, what are some elements of brunch that makes the meal so dang appealing? Some options:

It feels luxurious. Saying you are "brunching" feels deliciously upper-crust.
If you are combining breakfast and lunch, you have every excuse to eat two meals' worth of food.
Drinking in the morning. Just sayin', mimosas are amazing.
You have a loose framework to follow - unlike a dinner party where you feel the need to 'wow' with new, clever dishes, everyone has a general idea of what to expect for brunch. There will probably be eggs, some form of bread/pastry and, God willing, pork breakfast meat.
Despite said expectations, it is super fun to play with breakfast food conventions to create something special. Love breakfast burritos? Make breakfast tacos! Minds will be blown!
It is super easy to make vegetarian options for non-meat-eating friends.
It is inexpensive. Flour and eggs will likely be the bulk of your ingredients, and it's hard to get much cheaper.
What you don't eat can often be frozen and re-heated for future brunches. Baked goods such as muffins, biscuits and scones are fantastic for this, and, SPOILERS, potato dishes...

Gratuitous bacon shot. Delicious with H-100's (and everything).

In anticipation of this upcoming football season, Ryan and I have decided to host a standing brunch for anyone who feels like swinging by. No RSVPs are required, which means we are trying out dishes that can scale from as a few as six people to as many as forty.

This is a cooking challenge I am SUPER excited for, as it stimulates the producer-ly planning part of my brain combined with the fun of binge cooking comfort food. The items have to be easy to make and ideally easily frozen if there is a small turnout. Above all, they should be crowd-pleasers.

...and what is a bigger crowd-pleaser than enormous, cheesy, Tater Tots?

Specifically, H-100s from Alhambra's heavy metal-themed burger joint, Grill 'Em All. These babies are packed full of garlic and cheese, then fried in a seasoned panko breading and served with a garlic aioli. For crying out loud. They also have burgers that will make your taste buds explode with pleasure, but that is a different story (:cough: Vampiro burg).

Now are you ready for information you can't un-learn?

Tater tots, including these suped-up heavy metal potato beasts, are totally simple to make at home. That's right, you could eat these every night. Every. Freaking. Night. (Disclaimer: You probably shouldn't do this.)

Not only are they delicious, but they are also a great item to cook at a party because, if you run late, you can have your friends help with the forming of the tots and/or breading.

So who wants to learn how to make some H-100's???

Start with three large potatoes.

Drop them into a pot of lukewarm water, and bring to a boil. Once boiling, cook for approximately 20 minutes, or until the potatoes easily split with a fork.

While the potatoes cook, grate 1 cup sharp cheddar cheese and 1 cup pepper Jack cheese. Be sure to grate extra snacking cheese, if you are anything like me.

Mince 8 cloves of garlic either by hand, or with your nifty garlic mincer. 5 cloves will be for the potatoes, and 2 for the aioli.

Combine garlic and cheese in a bowl and set aside. Try not to eat.

See this tater? It is fully cooked, as evidenced by the clean split.

Let the potatoes cool and peel the skins.

Grate the potatoes on the large side of a box grater.

Combine with heavenly cheese mixture, and add salt and pepper to taste.

Shape into cylinders, approximately an 1 1/2" high, and 1/2" wide. It should fit nicely into the palm of your blurry hand.

Line up your little soldiers on baking sheet and pop into the fridge to chill. While chilling, start preparing the aioli.

Add 2 coves of minced garlic, 1 cup mayonnaise, 2 tsp Dijon mustard, 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar and 1 tsp fennel seeds to a bowl. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Whisk, baby, whisk.

Once combined, pour into serving bowl and chill in refrigerator. Set out about fifteen minutes before you are ready to serve the H-100's so that it has time to reach room temperature.

Back to the Tots. Set up a breading station comprised of flour, egg wash and breadcrumbs.

The panko should look like this - heavily seasoned with paprika, salt and pepper.

Remove your H-100's from the fridge and toss in flour. I find it helpful to do the flour in one batch...

...and egg wash and breadcrumbs in a second batch. The latter is super gooey, so it helps keep things streamlined. This is a great time to have a friend step in and help you, if you are working on other dishes.

Look at all the tasty seasonings on this - this is why seasoning the breadcrumbs is so deliciously important.

Pour an inch of canola oil into a skillet (or other frying vessel) and heat over medium-high heat. When it is to temp (when water sizzles when sprinkled onto the surface), carefully drop in the H-100's with a spoon. Look at 'em bubble.

Check after about 40 seconds to see if the bottom is brown - it will happen quickly. Once golden, flip and let the other side cook.

Remove from oil and set aside on either a cooling rack or a plate lined with a paper towel.

Place into your favorite serving dish, uncover the aioli and enjoy!

There you have it! What is your favorite potato side dish?

H-100's (Cheesy Tater Tots)

Adapted from Les Petites Gourmettes

Serves 6 with ample portions, 8 for moderate portions.

3 large potatoes (I used Russet)

5 cloves of garlic, minced (if making the Garlic Aioli, can mince all in one go)

1 cup sharp cheddar cheese, grated

1 cup pepper Jack cheese, grated

1 1/2 cups flour, for dredging

2 eggs plus 2 tbsp water, for dredging

2 cups panko breadcrumbs

1 tbsp smoked paprika

Salt

Pepper

Timing note: When making these, be sure to leave about 15 minutes for the potatoes to cool post-boiling. When you peel and grate them, you really don't want them to burn your hands. I learnt this the hard, impatient way.

Start by placing your potatoes in a pot and bringing them to a boil. Once at a rolling boil, cook for 20 minutes.

While the potatoes are cooking, grate your cheese using the large side of a box grater and mince your garlic. Toss into a big bowl and set aside.

After 20 minutes, pierce the potato with a fork - it should split the potato, or at least slide right in. You are checking to make sure it isn't hard and undercooked. Once cooked, set aside to cool.

[At this stage, it is handy to make the aioli. See below.]

Once your potatoes are cooled, peel the skins off and grate the potato using the same large side of a box grater. Add to bowl with the cheese and garlic, add salt and pepper to taste, and stir to combine.

Use your hands to shape the potato mixture into Tater Tot-shaped balls, setting them down on a baking sheet once formed. Aim for about 1 1/2" high and 1/2" wide. Once they are all formed, place the baking sheet in the fridge for 20 minutes to chill and solidify slightly.

While chilling, prepare your dredging station with flour, egg wash and bread crumbs. For the egg wash, combine the eggs and water in a bowl and whisk heartily with a fork until smoothly blended. For the bread crumbs, combine the panko with paprika, as well as salt and pepper to taste. I love paprika, so I add an ample amount.

Place a cast iron skillet (or any frying vessel) over medium-high heat and fill with 1 inch of canola oil. The oil is ready to go if it sizzles when sprinkled with water. Remove the H-100's from refrigerator and gently lower 5-6 into the oil using a spoon. They will sizzle and quickly turn golden brown.

Check regularly and flip when the underside is brown, about 40 seconds. Flip and cook the other side, then remove and set aside on a cooling rack, or a plate lined with a paper towel. Continue until all tots are cooled.

Serve warm, and enjoy the heck out of them!

If Freezing: Let cool, and place into a freezer bag in one layer. To reheat, place in a 350° oven and cook for about 20 minutes, or until warmed through.

Garlic Aioli

Adapted from Les Petites Gourmettes

Note: The original recipe calls for malt vinegar and tarragon, which I am sure is lovely. I didn't have any around, so I adapted to the below.

2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 cup mayonnaise
2 tsp Dijon mustard
2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 tsp fennel seeds
Salt and pepper to taste

Add all ingredients to the bowl you wish to serve it in, and whisk. Allow to chill for at least 15 minutes. If your sauce seems too thick, whisk in 1/2 tsp more vinegar at a time until it reaches your desired consistency.

Happy Hour: Pie-Shine Mule

noreply@blogger.com (Dana) — Fri, 15 Aug 2014 19:29:00 +0000

Moonshine. When I think of that word, I picture haggard old men in long underwear drinking it out of a jug marked "XXX" in between stints on a washboard. Now, however, moonshine is a downright acceptable form of liquor (albeit a potent one), happily used for blending in other drinks. Packing a dangerous punch, my husband and I like to use it to sweeten other cocktails (typically with its cousin, bourbon).

Enter: a cocktail combination of champions. It started with our beloved Moscow Mule, star cocktail of our wedding and a weekend favorite. This drink is comprised of vodka, ginger beer and lime juice. Looking to mix it up (literally), we decided to swap out the vodka for bourbon.

Then comes the real magic - adding just a little apple pie moonshine.

Specifically, apple pie-flavored Midnight Moon moonshine.

This addition gives the drink a sweet edge, without over-sweetening the entire cocktail. The ginger beer also adds a sweeter dynamic, but with a spicy undertone. Combined with the autumnal cinnamon and apple flavors, this zesty drink is a refreshing as a Summer cocktail with allusions of the impending Fall.

Making for a crowd? This drink is best made fresh, so set up a DIY station on a cutting board with limes, a paring knife for cutting them, an ice bucket with crushed ice, chilled bottles of ginger beer (refresh as necessary), a jigger for measuring and, naturally, the hooch.

A quick note on the copper mugs: you don't technically "need" them... but my goodness, aren't they just the cutest!? When you put ice in them, they get nice and frosty on the outside and keep the drink extra cold. They also add an exciting air of revelry to a cocktail. "Fancy glasses!," your friends will exclaim, "This IS an night to remember!" Or, you know, probably. In my head, anyway.

...enough of that - let's learn how to make one!

Gather your ingredients. Not pictured: bourbon. It was lurking off camera, making mischief.

Fill your glass with crushed ice. If your fridge does not produce, you can knock an ice-filled freezer bag with a rolling pin, or pulse several times in a blender.

Pour 2 ounces bourbon over ice, and add moonshine. I used about half an ounce.

Squeeze a lime wedge into the concoction and fill the rest of the mug with ginger beer.

Garnish with another lime and drink!

Pie-Shine Mule

2 oz bourbon

1/2 oz apple pie moonshine

1/4 lime, juiced

4 oz ginger beer

Copper mug

Fill a copper mug with ice (preferably crushed). This will get the class nice and frosty on the outside. Pour bourbon, moonshine, lime juice and ginger beer over the ice and stir. Garnish with lime wedge. Enjoy!

Kimchi Fried Rice: I Dare You Not to Crave This

noreply@blogger.com (Dana) — Fri, 08 Aug 2014 18:33:00 +0000

I am lucky enough to work alongside a large host of food lovers. As such, I get to hear about a variety of favorite dishes to cook and eat. Lately, after a heated debate about Korean cold noodles (...pun somewhat intended), I found myself overcome by an insatiable craving for kimchi.

Insatiable, that is, until my Korean friends tipped me off to their favorite take on the vegetable, kimchi fried rice.

Oh yeah. This is good looking kimchi.

Kimchi, for those not yet enraptured, is a spicy, pungent, fermented vegetable side popular in Korean cooking. It is most commonly available using Napa Cabbage, although the fermenting technique can also be applied to radishes, cucumbers and so on. It is served alongside Korean barbecue, in the form of stews and soups, and even in pancakes. It has a taste uniquely its own and dangerously addicting.

So, pairing this hearty, spicy ingredient with the already-indulgent notion of fried rice is pretty much a recipe for a late night craving. Plus, being solely familiar with the Chinese variety, I was more than happen to have my mind opened by this new variety.

The gals at work spoke of how, while each cook tends to have their own special take on the kimchi fried rice preparation, it typically includes leftover white rice, scallions, bacon/pork belly/SPAM (yes, SPAM!) and, of course, kimchi, sautéed in sesame oil and seasoned with Korean seasonings and soy sauce. It is often topped with a fried egg (as if it couldn't get more tantalizing).

From an entertaining angle, this is an amazing dish to have in one's arsenal lest you have last minute weeknight dinners. This is also a handy recipe to double if you are serving a big group, as the ingredients are very cost-effective. It looks lovely in a big serving dish, and you can lay out additional condiments (sriracha, sambal, additional green onions, etc.) in small, passable bowls for a more interactive component.

So, how do we make this?

Start with finely diced sweet onion, garlic and green onion.

...and some chopped kimchi. Try not to eat all of it before the cooking begins.

Cook five slices of chopped bacon in a pan...

...until nice and crispy. Remove from pan and set aside on a paper towel.

Drain some of the fat, add a touch of sesame oil and cook the onions and garlic in the fat until translucent.

Add kimchi and bacon back to the pan, and cook for several minutes.

Add your sauce ingredients of choice - in this case, I used a smokey-colored Korean red pepper powder, soy sauce, black pepper and a pinch of sugar.

Add rice and green onions and cook for several minutes. This can easily be eaten at this stage...

...UNLESS you want to top with a fried egg. Mmm, you should do this.

Serve rice into bowls, top with an egg and sriracha (if so desired). Enjoy!

Does your kimchi fried rice recipe differ? Comment below!

Kimchi Fried Rice

Adapted from Food Wanderings in Asia

Serves 4 (or 3 very hungry people)

For the sauce:

1 tbsp Korean red pepper powder (Note: The original recipe calls for red pepper paste, but I had this on-hand)
1 tbsp soy sauce
Pinch of sugar
Black pepper, to taste

For the rice:

5 slices of bacon, chopped into small pieces
1 tbsp sesame oil
1 small sweet onion, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup Kimchi, chopped
3 green onions, white and green parts, chopped
2 cup cooked rice

Toppings:

2 eggs
1 tbsp butter, for frying egg
Sriracha

Mix all the ingredients for the sauce in a small bowl and set aside to let the flavors merge.

Heat a pan over medium-high heat. Add the bacon, and cook, stirring, until crisp. This will take several minutes. Once crispy, remove and set aside. Drain half of the bacon fat, and add the sesame oil.

Add the sweet onion and garlic to the pan and cook several minutes, until translucent. Stir occasionally so the garlic doesn't burn.

Add bacon back to the pan, plus the kimchi. Sauté for several minutes, stirring, until everything is heated through. Add green onions, rice, and sauce. Stir well, until there are no lumps. Once everything is well-combined, cook for several more minutes to let everything fuse.

Serve in a bowl topped with a fried egg and sriracha (if desired).

Nail That Popcorn

noreply@blogger.com (Dana) — Fri, 01 Aug 2014 17:30:00 +0000

Game of Thrones. Orange is the New Black. Orphan Black. My goodness, there is a lot of good TV to binge watch during this Summer hiatus. It's enough to make a girl never want to get up off her couch again (you know, like a healthy individual). So why not have your friends over and binge watch with company?

Naturally, group laziness promotes the consumption of snacks. What better than the stereotypical movie favorite, popcorn? Buttery, salty popcorn. The real stuff. You can even get cute little popcorn bags and serve them to your guests in individual portions. Delicious hot or cold, popcorn is easy appetizer or snack to make ahead and always welcomed by guests.

The downfall to this beloved treat? The resilient kernels that resist popping in favor of a comfortable position lodged in your throat.

Fortunately, through trial-and-error and help from the bountiful Internet, we were able to find a great method for ensuring that practically every kernel pops.

First off, this trick embraces stove popping (versus microwaving). I resisted the stovetop popcorn method for some time due to perceived difficulty (read: sheer laziness), but it truly does produce airier, fresher-tasting popcorn. Plus, you can customize it to your taste.

So what's the secret? In a nutshell (or kernel, har har), making sure the oil is exactly at the right heat before you add the kernels. This way, each of the kernels reach a uniform heat and pop in unison. Let's walk through it together.

For a large bowl of popcorn, start with a cup of kernels.

Put the heat on medium-high and pour in a quarter cup of canola oil (or other flavorless oil). Add several kernels and cover.

When you hear those kernels pop, remove from heat. Make a mental note that you should clean your pot's enamel before taking photographs.

The rest of the action takes place behind closed doors (or lids, as it were). Pour in the rest of your kernels and set aside for 30 seconds. This gets the kernels up to temperature. Then, put back over medium-high heat and keep slowly shaking around. The kernels should be popping almost immediately, but don't be discouraged if it takes a little bit (that just means that the temperature has dropped during the transfer). When the popping slows to 1-2 seconds in between pops, remove from heat. Give it a few extra seconds in case there are any remaining kernels set to pop (or scream loudly as one suddenly pops up into your face... you know, hypothetically).

A pot of fully popped popcorn!

From here, there are a host of flavorings you can include. For standard butter-and-salt popcorn, I transfer to a bowl and toss with a half stick of butter, cubed. The hot popcorn melts the butter easily, at which point I continue to toss while adding sea salt to taste. Conveniently, this allows you to test several handfuls of popcorn. Go figure!

For popping inspiration, I have compiled the most tasty-looking recipes I could find featuring unique flavors. I have yet to try these so, if you give any of the below a go, please leave a comment and share how it turns out!

Unique Popcorn Flavors

Perfect Stove-Popped Popcorn

Adapted from Elise Bauer's Perfect Popcorn

1 cup popcorn kernels

1/4 cup canola oil (or any flavorless vegetable oil)

1/2 stick of butter, cubed

Sea salt

Place a pot over medium-high heat and pour in a quarter cup of canola oil (or other flavorless oil). Wait a minute or so for it to heat up
Add 3-4 kernels and cover. Stay close and wait for them to pop.
Once you hear that the kernels have popped, remove the pot from heat and discard the initial kernels.
Add popcorn kernels with the pot still off of the heat, and count to 30 seconds (a full 30 seconds, not a speedy "I'm hungry" count). This allows all of the kernels to come to the appropriate pre-pop temperature.
Put the pot back onto the heat, covered, and continue to gently turn and shake to distribute the heat consistently amongst all kernels.
Because all of the kernels have reached a uniform heat already, they should start popping promptly. When there is a 1-2s pause between pops, remove pot from heat and let sit for another minute.
Transfer popcorn to a big bowl.
Toss popcorn with butter, ensuring that it is evenly coated.
Add sea salt to taste.

Happy Hour: Mustang Sally

noreply@blogger.com (Dana) — Fri, 25 Jul 2014 16:46:00 +0000

My brother-in-law, John, has a way with cocktails. In searching for a fresh drink last Summer, he threw together this baby. After intending to try it out for at least a year, my husband and I finally got to try it out from the creator himself on a recent trip back to New York. Sure enough, this drink lives up to its reputation.

There are several ingredients in this drink that I find, even independent of each other, add a little extra ‘something’ to whatever cocktail they are in.

Mint – fresh mint is so flavorful that mojitos and mint juleps don’t call for all that much else. When is the last time you could resist one of those?

Cucumber – a hip cocktail trend several years ago, I still love me a cucumber drink. It makes a libation so much more refreshing, with an innuendo of spa-style cucumber water.

Grapefruit Juice – My good friend Cassie introduced me to the Greyhound cocktail, one of my favorite well drinks. All it calls for is vodka, grapefruit juice and ice. Not only is the grapefruit juice tart and bold, but it also can mask cheap vodka in a pinch (if, let’s say, you are getting free drinks at the fabulous Gold Nugget in Las Vegas, and want to avoid the rubbing alcohol taste of Vodka-brand vodka).

Combine them all, and you have a sure-to-please cocktail for those who love plucky flavors. Why not try it tonight?

Thinly cut 4-5 slices of cucumber.

Cut a lime in half.

Add cucumber and 4-5 mint leaves into a glass. Add the juice of your lime, sweetener of choice and muddle fervently.

Get your tequila ready. Tactfully ignore that you are almost done with a Costco-sized bottle.

Top the cucumber mixture with ice and pour tequila over the entire concoction.

Add grapefruit juice and stir vigorously. Add several small mint leaves for garnish.

And there you have it! Tart, refreshing and the perfect Summer drink.

Mustang Sally

by John Nuber

4-5 thin slices of cucumber

4-5 mint leaves, torn

½ lime, juiced

Honey / sugar /agave nectar to taste (use your favorite sweetener)

2 oz tequila

4 oz grapefruit juice

Ice

Muddle the cucumber, mint leaves, lime juice and sweetener together in a glass. To quote John, “Dear God man, MUDDLE.” Get it nice and integrated. Add ice to the glass, then pour in tequila and juice. Stir it up heartily for about 30 seconds and enjoy!

TIP: If you don’t have a muddler, just use the blunt end of a spoon. I’ve even muddled a drink with a drumstick – anything long and blunt shall do.

TIP 2.0: This is easy to make in a pitcher – just multiply the above by however many servings you are after, nix the addition of ice, and stir for some time longer. If the pitcher is sitting for some time, stir again before serving. Feel free to add minimal ice to the pitcher to chill it, but pour over fresh ice while serving so it does not get watered down.

Guest Post: Bruce's Bear Birthday Party

noreply@blogger.com (Abbey-girl) — Mon, 21 Jul 2014 16:24:00 +0000

Howdy, folks! It’s Abbey, Dana’s friend and neighbor. We recently threw a party for my son’s first birthday, and Dana asked me to guest write about it.

A little background - Dana and I have lived as neighbors since 2011, when she and her then pre-hubs showed my husband and me their amazing new apartment and informed us when another duplex on the property opened up. The property layout is hard to explain, but suffice it to say that we share a backyard.

Was this the best decision of my life? I’d have to make a Google Doc spreadsheet to analyze officially, but I present the following evidence.

1) All of that wonderful food you see Dana posting?… well, we get to eat that. Pretty regularly.

2) Their hospitality extends to the beverage world. Dana’s cocktail prowess alone should sway this argument, and then factor in Ryan’s fantastic homebrews to the equation.

3) We get to see this guy all the time:

To my kid, all dogs are called "Doo!"

4) We get all of the benefits of actually living in proximity: borrowing stuff (cup of sugar, lemons, electric drill), sharing oversized quantities of foodstuffs procured from Costco or our produce subscription box, retrieving mail on vacations, just stopping in to say hello. We should have a sitcom.

5) Multiply this x10 during my pregnancy and immediate post-pregnancy days. I can’t tell you how hungry I was and how many times they fed me.

I think I can skip the spreadsheet.

Anyway - my son’s first birthday party. No pressure, right? Honestly, I’m on the side of the fence of smaller-is-better for kid’s parties, partially because mine were pretty small as a kid, but also because I’d like to leave some room to grow over the years. And also bear in mind (ha!), our families are in many different states, so I’m not trying to accommodate different sets of grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins.

BUT that doesn’t mean it can’t be cute and have a theme. Homemade or smartly purchased is my game, since I also don’t want to spend a ton. I thought of asking Alex, my husband, for theme ideas, since I was raised with just sisters and didn’t have a ton of boy themes in mind. Then I remembered he wanted “dinosaurs in space” as the theme for my baby shower, and thought the better of it.

I picked bears. Why? Well probably because we call Bruce “little bear.” I don’t know why or when it started, but it seemed to fit. It also helped that we love the woods and happened to have a few Adirondack/bear themed knickknacks hanging around the house. Even tissue paper. So that was good. The rest I was able to cobble together from the craft store- just paper and fabric.

Apparently you're breaking the law nowadays if you don't have a homemade banner for your child's birthday.

And the cake - I must confess, I have strong opinions when it comes to children’s party themes (or any cake, for that matter.) My mom spoiled my sisters and me with really great cakes when I was a kid. Carefully constructed carousels, elephants, a Sphinx for my sister’s 9th birthday… It was many years before I figured out that was not the norm.

Anyway, I knew that for Bruce’s first birthday, it had to center around a great cake. I didn’t want a cutesy itsy-bitsy baby kind of bear cake, but more like the Adirondack-style bears I’d seen. If I had been making this a few years ago for a friend, I probably would have sketched the whole thing out and constructed this myself. But being on the other side of parenthood, I searched the internet for a pan. Yes, a uni-tasker (sigh).

But then I found this. The Build-A-Bear cake pan from Williams Sonoma. Even better, it already had instructions for the cake batter (though I used Smitten Kitchen’s Vanilla Buttermilk Cake recipe) all the way through the buttercream and decor. Score! Homemade but something I didn’t have to carefully plot out first.

Mr. Bear was a pretty good success. I stayed away from the fondant clothes, because in general, I’m not a fondant fan. I did need to cover up Mr. Bear’s middle seam, hence his tie (yay fabric remnants and a glue gun!) That Vanilla Buttermilk Cake recipe filled Mr. Bear’s pan and a single 9” layer (later split) perfectly, so all I did was triple the buttercream to fill and frost. Added some last minute touches like these meringue mushrooms I had already made for party food and a decorative flag (since, oops, I forgot to leave space to write in the frosting). Mr. Bear was also tiered and the extra skewers helped hold him in place.

I tried to make the rest of the food bear-ish, but people needed to eat too. (I have a special ability to survive only on Teddy Grahams and honey sticks.) So we whipped up burgers and my mom’s recipe for pasta salad (toddler friendly and I daresay, a hit.)

Meringue mushrooms were something I made all the time as a kid. Again, my childhood was not normal.

Pretzel sticks, honey sticks... we're in the woods! Get it?!?!

Of course, I can’t have a party without employing Dana. She and Ryan headed over early, guessing that I might need a little help (who, me?) Ryan was nice enough to man the grill for burgers and Dana took care of smoked salmon hor d'oeuvres, drinks, and even photography.

What Dana makes when Abbey throws ingredients her way and says "make it pretty!"

Our little bear seemed to enjoy it.

But of course, Mr. Bear couldn’t end there. No, our sense of humor is too weird to waste this occasion. What occasion, you say? The Game of Thrones finale aired the next day, and we decided to continue our tradition of watching it together. So Mr. Bear had to undergo a slight transformation to get an invite…

Don’t worry - I did this out of sight of Bruce. But transforming his birthday cake leftovers into a festive and rethemed Father’s Day cake did feel pretty scandalous. (Who said being a parent didn’t have it’s perks!) Perhaps even one day (18th birthday?) Bruce will get to see what really happened to Mr. Bear.

Happy Hour: Old Vermont Cocktail

noreply@blogger.com (Dana) — Fri, 18 Jul 2014 21:00:00 +0000

I didn't used to like Bobby Flay. Something about him came off as brash and arrogant, and none of his food looked too appealing. Sure, he went to Ireland to film a special, and that was pretty cool, but I was staunchly anti-Flay.

Then something happened to crack my aversion. A magical something, in the form of his White Peach Sangria. I freehanded a version of this for a housewarming party some time back and, well, let's just say it packed a wallop. This recipe is extremely delicious, and worth the extra effort into preparing the peach puree.

But it wasn't the recipe that got me to warm up to him.

It was the spectacular video of Mr. Flay preparing this sangria in which he is undeniably sloshed. I implore you, watch this video and bask in the final shots of him sloshing the sangria everywhere and freehanding fistfuls of fruit into a glass. He opens the video by slogging back drags directly from the bottle, for crying out loud. And that is AMAZING.

A sneak peek of the action.

Some years have passed since then, and I have discovered his new show "Brunch at Bobby's." True, the opening sequence is utterly bizarre, with a disembodied hand throwing an egg at Bobby (prompting slight callbacks to the backlash he got during the January Jones scandal). Outside of that, this show is super solid. You will marvel at the many variations of a frittata, and interesting-yet-manageable takes on brunch dishes that will look so mouth-watering you will actually get up early on a weekend to make them.

And if menu items like Lemon Ricotta Fritters with Fresh Berry Jam or Chorizo-Potato Hash Browns with Black Beans and Salsa Verde don't get your motor running (impossible!), he also makes a brunch cocktail (or on occasion, mocktail) in each episode. They always look gorgeous and citrus-y/sweet/fruity enough to be deemed a 'brunch' cocktail. So, last night, when Ryan and I were preparing to eat Smitten Kitchen's insanely satisfying Spinach and Cheese Strata for dinner, technically a brunch dish, we thought it would be fun to make one of Bobby Flay's brunch cocktails to pair with it.

Good gravy, this cocktail is good. I mean really good. Like, wanting to put a brunch on the books ASAP to share this drink with friends good.

The brunch-y cast of characters.

It has fresh orange and lemon juice, as well as maple syrup, bitters and gin. I'm not nuts about gin and have an aversion to overly sweet cocktails, but this is perfectly balanced. If you worry about your cocktail being cloyingly sweet, rest assured that the syrup is only an accent. Also, note that it is important to use freshly-squeezed orange juice, as it makes the cocktail taste crisp and refreshing while avoiding the added sugar in the store-bought variety.

Freshly-squeezed and Dutch angle-d.

Old Vermont Cocktail

from Brunch at Bobby's on the Cooking Channel

1 1/2 ounces gin

1/2 ounce grade B pure maple syrup (Note: Or any syrup, really. We used grade A, which is actually lower on the syrup hierarchy.)

1/4 ounce freshly squeezed lemon juice

1/4 ounce freshly squeezed orange juice

2 dashes bitters, such as Angostura (Note: We used Peychaud)

Ice

Orange rind

So let's take a journey through this cocktail together - who's thirsty??

Come and get it!

Take Your Food on a Day Trip: Recipes and Tips for the Perfect Picnic

noreply@blogger.com (Dana) — Wed, 02 Jul 2014 17:52:00 +0000

Backyard picnics totally count. Dogs love 'em!

This blog post was inspired by a friend, the lovely Molly, who was on the hunt for a dish to bring to an Independence Day picnic. Really, is there anything more Americana than spreading out a tablecloth in a park and digging into a portable feast?

Sometimes, though, packing everything up and driving to a location outside of your living can seem like a ton of effort. The allure of the AC can easily tempt an otherwise avid picnicker away from their gingham. To help provide extra motivation to get out and about (myself included), I have organized some of my favorite picnic spots, menu-planning tips and recipes to make the prep minimal and the fun maximized.

Comments and other favorite recipes are very welcomed, so please comment below if there is anything you would like to add!

Destinations

The main ingredient in a good picnic is a scenic setting. Or wine. One or the other. In case you are looking for some fun places to take your outdoor feast, here are some places to try out.

What Tools to Pack

After our wedding and the generous gifting of friends and family, I now actually have three beautiful picnic baskets in my possession. There is something impossibly charming about thick plastic, washable silverware and plaid napkins (not to mention straps to lock down your plastic wine glasses).

Of course, a picnic basket is not strictly necessary for a picnic. Heck, it can even be a hazard if you are attempting to picnic in Jellystone. Reusable shopping bags work just fine, preferably the insulated type to ensure food is kept fresh and at safe temperatures.

In addition to the transportation method, here are some good essentials to remember to bring while on a picnic:

Beverages and food (naturally)
Napkins
Utensils
Paper grocery bags for garbage and recycling
Tablecloth or blanket to sit on
A couple Ziploc bags for leftovers (e.g. chips you do not want to get stale in their torn bag)
Freezer packs to keep food safe and chilled
Sunblock
Hand sanitizer (if you are a big baby, as I am)

Corn Salad Al Fresco

A Menu Template for a Group of 6

For your picnic planning convenience, I have put together an outline of a sample spread that would feed a hungry group of 6. Note that I have Italian blood in my veins, so this errs on the side of more vs. less.

Water
Wine or other libation
1 tub of store bought dip or spread (think hummus, bruschetta or that amazing Trader Joe's Spinach and Kale Greek Yogurt Dip)
1-2 dip vehicles (any of the big C's - crackers/chips/crostini/crudites)
1 type of sandwich
1-2 bowls of vegetable-based salad
1 bowl of pasta salad
1 batch of your favorite cookie recipe, or store-bought package

Water

Water bottles all the way! Make it easy on yourself and get a bunch of ready-to-go water or bring your own reusable bottles from home. Plan for at least two medium-sized bottles per person. It may be heavy to carry in depending on your ultimate destination, but better to have too much water on a hot day than not enough.

Wine of All Kinds

You know your friends and their drinking style (er, quantities), but I would plan for roughly 3-4 glasses per person depending on how long you are going to be out.

Wine is a natural picnic libation, although many parks will not allow you to bring in glass. Fortunately, despite the chagrin of high-end wine lovers, there has been a steady influx of boxed and pre-portioned wine meant for glass-free environments. I love a brand called Bandit Wines. This wine provides a great bang for your buck, and is even served at respectable eateries like Gott's Roadside in San Francisco (a fact that can be provided lest a friend tease your wine's boxed packaging). Bandit's Pinot Grigo is my choice for hot Summer days. Make sure you have it nice and chilled before you leave, and try to keep chilled in an insulated wine pouch.

If you are feeling extra festive, Pinterest is a treasure trove of great sangria recipes. One of my favorite boozy party tricks (that works perfectly fine at home, as well) is, if you want to keep a sangria cold for a long period of time, fill an ice cube tray the night before with the wine you are using for the sangria. The cubes won't freeze all the way, but will be just chilled enough to keep your beverage nice and cold without watering it down when the cubes melts.

A Classic Pesto Chicken Sandwich

Inspired by Fiore Market Cafe's Roast Chicken Sandwich

This sandwich is fantastic for an outing as it is fast to make, and very simple to scale either larger or smaller depending on how many people you want to make it for. It is tangy and refreshing. I don't recommend a portion of chicken per-sandwich as it all really depends on the size of your bread and your personal preference.

Serves 6

1 rotisserie chicken
1 small jar pesto sauce (or fresh, recipe I use to follow)
12 slices fresh bread, sliced sourdough or brioche ideal
Mayonnaise
Freshly ground pepper

Using two forks, tear the entire chicken into thick shreds and place into a bowl. Scoop enough pesto sauce into the chicken so that it fully coats each of the shreds.

Lay out the bread, and spread a light layer of mayonnaise onto each slice. Scoop chicken onto 6 slices of bread, and grind some pepper onto it. Top with other piece of bread. You may have chicken leftover (but is that really such a bad thing)?

Wrap tightly in butcher paper or foil.

Fresh Pesto Sauce

2 cups fresh basil leaves
1/2 cup walnuts, chopped
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, freshly grated
2 cloves garlic, minced
3/4 cup olive oil
Salt
Pepper

Place the basil in a food processor and pulse slightly. Add the walnuts and pulse several times until broken into small bits. (Note: This is why it helps to prep the walnuts, Parmesan and garlic earlier, so that you don't have to pulverize the basil to break down the other ingredients.)

Add the cheese and garlic, and pulse until all broken down to your desired consistency. If you have the option with your food processor, drizzle the olive oil in slowly while you pulse so it all purees correctly. My food processor does not present this option, so I just add a little at a time until it has the desired consistency. It may not include the entire 3/4 cup olive oil if done this way. Salt and pepper to taste.

Ryan's Simple Corn Salad

My hubby likes to cook, and I happily get to benefit. He whipped this up last week based on other corn salads that we have enjoyed previously. You can substitute with whatever you have on hand, such as shallots or yellow onion for red onion, arugula for cilantro, etc.

Serves 6

4 ears of corn
1 tbsp butter, softened
2 small red onions, thinly sliced (a mandolin slicer comes in handy here, if you have one)
5 tbsp cilantro, trimmed from the stem
2 tbsp white wine vinegar
Salt
Pepper

Rub the butter on the corn, and then grill the corn on a very hot grill pan or barbecue. Once tender to the touch, remove and let cool a bit. Using a sharp kitchen knife, hold the ear vertically and cut down (away from you) so that the full kernels of corn come off. Transfer to a bowl.

Toss corn with thinly sliced red onion and the cilantro. Add vinegar and salt and pepper to taste.

Heirloom Tomato, Crushed Basil, Fleur de Sel Salad

taken directly from The Lemonade Cookbook by Alan Jackson and Joann Cianciulli

This tomato salad is very bright and satisfying, from a cookbook filled with recipes that embody all things bright and satisfying. For those who live in LA, you may be familiar with the Lemonade restaurants' fresh fare. This cookbook is a good investment for those interested cold salads and unique vegetable side dishes.

If making the pesto sauce earlier in this post, you may have a good amount of basil left over for the vinaigrette. Alternatively, if you like, you can make more of the pesto and just toss that instead of the Vinaigrette

Serves 8 (Yields About 4 Cups)

1 1/2 pounds assorted ripe heirloom tomatoes such as brandywine, sungold, and red beefsteak
1/2 cup Basil Vinaigrette (recipe follows)
1/2 cup fresh basil leaves, hand torn
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 tsp fleur de sel

Cut the bigger tomatoes into 1/4-inch-thick slices and quarter or halve the smaller ones; this vegetable salad looks great with different colored tomatoes of varying sizes and shapes. Put the tomatoes in a mixing bowl and pour in the vinaigrette. Toss gently, taking care not to smash the tomatoes. Sprinkle in the basil leaves. Season with pepper, and toss again to combine. When ready to serve, sprinkle with fleur de sel. Serve at room temperature.

Basil Vinaigrette

taken directly from The Lemonade Cookbook by Alan Jackson and Joann Cianciulli

Yields 1 cup

1 1/2 cups fresh basil leaves, coarsely chopped

1/4 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley, coarsely chopped

Juice of 1/2 lemon

3/4 cup canola oil

1 tsp coarse salt

1/2 tsp fresh ground black pepper

In a blender, combine the basil, parsley, lemon juice, oil, salt and pepper. Blend on high speed for about 1 minute until smooth and green. Pour the vinaigrette into a container and keep any leftover covered in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.

Lemon Orzo Salad with Asparagus and Tomatoes

taken directly from Honeybee Gardens

This recipe is really simple to make, and a go-to picnic favorite for us. It is bright and fresh-tasting, and by far one of the healthier options for a pasta salad. Please click through to the above link to check out the other great recipes and picnic tips!

12 oz. orzo

1 bunch fresh asparagus, cut into 1-inch pieces

1 pint grape or cherry tomatoes, halved

1 lemon, zested and juiced

4 Tbs. extra virgin olive oil

1 clove garlic, minced

2 Tbs. fresh parsley, minced

Kosher salt

Fresh ground pepper

Grated Parmigiano Reggiano

Bring 2 large pots of water to boil. Add a big pinch of salt in each. To one pot, add asparagus and blanch, about 2 to 3 minutes, depending on the thickness of your asparagus. Place blanched asparagus in a bowl of ice water to stop the cooking and keep them green. To the second pot, add the orzo. Cook per package instructions. When tender, drain and place in a large bowl. Add blanched asparagus and tomato halves. Mix olive oil, lemon zest, lemon juice, garlic, salt and pepper in a small bowl. Stir into orzo and vegetables. Stir in parsley and grated Parmigiano Reggiano. This can be served warm, room temperature or cold.

How to Host a Casual Summer Barbecue

noreply@blogger.com (Dana) — Sat, 28 Jun 2014 16:31:00 +0000

Who wouldn't want a plate of that?

Recently, we decided to have a handful of friends over for some barbecue and an easy hangout. As it is, in fact, a million degrees outside, the goal was to put together a menu that would not require slaving away in a hot kitchen all day. Being an advocate of simple, casual get-togethers, I have detailed some tips and tricks for throwing the perfect casual gathering.

Have Glasses at the Ready

"Fill us!"

One aspect of our style of entertaining is... it includes a lot of beverages. This typically includes sharing beer tastes (we run with a craft beer-loving crowd), wine and/or a cocktail that can be made in large batches. Also, copious amounts of water. More on that momentarily.

This little sideboard is actually a makeshift piece of party furniture. Spoilers: it is an old Ikea media console covered in a cute red tablecloth. It came out for a dinner party, and has been so useful that it lives in our dining room until we find a 'real' sideboard alternative. It is convenient to have something set aside purely for a party, on which you can set food, drink or, in this case, glasses, without crowding up your dining room or coffee table.

The glasses are ones I got in bulk. The steins are from a family friend and have a flat side where guests can write their names with whiteboard markers (if you aren't too lazy to find a whiteboard marker, as we often are). The stemless wine glasses are perhaps my favorite entertaining coup, being $1 each from Dollar Tree. Having these out and ready for self-service really opens up your time.

Pitchers of Beverages

Ice, ice, baby.

First, the water. I like to make sure that there is always a pitcher of water filled, namely because of the aforementioned Summer heat.

This party marked the first appearance of the ice bucket, which turned out to be quite useful. I was really impressed with how long the ice stayed solid in there, and only had to be refilled once. This was a cheap find at TJ Maxx that my mom gifted us, and likely won't run you more than $10 or $15. Periodically, I would refill the water pitcher and add more of the ice cubes to make sure it stayed chilled.

Imagination exercise: picture a pitcher filled with lemonade above, as if I had remembered to take a photograph of it. This mythical pitcher was filled with mint lemonade I had made that morning. The base recipe is quite easy, and I simply muddled some mint and tossed it into the lemonade to chill a couple hours and add a minty flavor. This served double-duty as a non-alcoholic option, as well as a cocktail alternative to beer. By putting out some vodka and bourbon, this gave guests the option to spike lemonade if they felt so inclined.

Table Setting

Placemats and all!

Typically, I like to use real plates and some inexpensive, bulk black cloth napkins I bought on Amazon, but this is barbecue. The day before, I went through over ten paper towels eating half a pulled pork sandwich. Let's be real, paper towels are the way to go.

Also, while I don't follow the classic "every party needs a flower arrangement!!" rule of thumb, I do think they are nice and pretty if you feel like indulging. We just snipped some roses from our yard and put them in this vase for some color.

Oh, fork it. Let's just eat.

I believe that barbecue also calls for paper plates, roughly three per person if you want to factor in the inevitable repeat visits to the food. Costco almost always has some variation of a hearty, holiday-themed individual-sized paper platter. Being a few weeks away from the 4th of July, an American flag design it is. Paired with the barbecue, let's just say it added an air of patriotism to the occasion.

The silverware I tossed in a wide-mouthed mason jar glass so people can grab them easily.

The Menu

"I want to eat the meat!"

The food was all about comfort food. No, we didn't eat the dog (as the photo above might suggest). Our good friends Christie and Adam (purveyors of all things delicious) introduced us to Bludso's BBQ, a delicious little hole-in-the-wall in the heart of Compton. We picked up an obscene amount of meat and planned to make the sides ourselves, excepting the big batch of beans the same two friends brought us from Gus's Barbecue (aka: the South Pasadena rival of Bludso's for our meat-loving hearts).

Sides included...

The Dudes' Apple Fennel Slaw

So fresh and so clean.

As I have previously mentioned, the Two Dudes, One Pan cookbook is one of my absolute favorites. Their recipes are simple, foolproof and unique. Their Apple Fennel Slaw recipe is utterly divine. We omitted the jalapenos this time as we wanted it to cool down the meat, but typically we like it nice and spicy.

Pioneer Woman's Macaroni and Cheese

Artery clogging goodness.

I highly recommend Ree Drummond's recipe for some down home, cheesy comfort.

Word to the wise, the six servings she mentions are HEARTY six servings. This made an enormous pot of mac and cheese, which we proceeded to graze on for hours.

Pecan Bars

I chose this recipe because each step of it included bourbon and, well, that is pretty awesome. Admittedly it didn't yield pecan bars as flavorful as I like them to be, but a sprinkle of brown sugar or sea salt perked those right up.

The Timeline

For those curious, here is the timeline I followed to keep things organized and low-stress:

Day Before

Pick up BBQ
Make slaw (better if sits, anyway)
Run glassware through the dishwasher and set out
Top off decanters with vodka and bourbon for spiked lemonade

Four Hours Before Guests Arrive

Set the table
Snip flowers (if using)
Make pecan bars (although easily could be made the day before)

Two Hours Before Guests Arrive

Heat BBQ on low, 230*
Get beverages ready and put in fridge to chill

Forty Five - Thirty Minutes Before Guests Arrive

Set out ice bucket and beverages (make sure the beverages are filled with an adequate amount of ice so they stay chilled)
Make mac and cheese and keep warm on low

...and there you have it! What are your secrets for a quick-and-easy Summer party?!

Streamlined: Showering

noreply@blogger.com (Dana) — Sun, 22 Jun 2014 16:00:00 +0000

This one is an easy one, theoretically. If you have people coming over, you want to be lovely, fresh-faced and looking your best.

You also want to ensure you have everything ready to go by the time everyone arrives.

Almost every time I have a party, I succumb to the siren song of waking up, running to the kitchen and cooking. Or putting up decorations. Or making a playlist. Then my first guests arrive, typically good friends, so naturally I start chatting.

Then everyone has arrived. Not only will I have not showered in at least a day, but there is inevitably a host of three or more ingredients splattered all over me (we're talking flour matted into hair).

So what is the streamlined tip of the day?

Shower. When. You. Wake. Up.

Sometimes taking getting clean is rough, man.

Or shower when you get home, in the case of weeknight gatherings. Whenever you first start to enter "party mode," jump in the shower, get a cute outfit on, don an even cuter apron over it for kicks (trust me, you'll look adorable) and eliminate all that stress at once. Heck, you can even mix the sangria while your hair dries.

Now if you will excuse me, I am ignoring my own advice and am going to start setting out the platters for the people coming over in a couple hours...

The Dudes' Ceviche - A Perfect Summer Treat

noreply@blogger.com (Dana) — Fri, 13 Jun 2014 01:13:00 +0000

Once upon a time, I was very intimidated by ceviche. For those unfamiliar, ceviche is a dish comprised of small pieces of raw fish, 'cooked' in citrus juices and seasoned with peppers, cilantro, or a plethora of other options.

The 'cooking' in citrus juice factor is what daunted me the most. Sure, science and every other place that serves ceviche says that it is cooked, but what if I poison my friends by accidentally serving raw fish that isn't sushi-grade? Well, that was until I went to Mexico on my honeymoon and was positively spoiled by the delicious ceviche made available. Upon arriving home, I wanted more. ASAP.

Fortunately, Vinny Dotolo and Jon Shook (prolific restaurateurs in Los Angeles) have the best cookbook on our shelves (heck, probably anyone's shelves) that includes a delicious recipe. This book is Two Dudes, One Pan: Maximum Flavor from a Minimalist Kitchen, and you should open a new tab and buy it immediately. Really. I'll wait.

OK, welcome back! You won't regret it. Back to my initial ceviche-at-home aversion. In essence, I just make sure to get good quality fish from the fancy grocery store (Bristol Farms, in our case) for my peace of mind. Don't get the manager's special 'probably still good' fish for this one.

Prepped and ready to set in the fridge.

This dish also feels very decadent, while really being extremely simple. The hardest part is making sure to plan an hour to several hours ahead, so the fish has time to marinate. In the times I have made this, we have typically had leftovers. The next day was often even better than the first. Sure, I wouldn't push it any more than 24 hours for aforementioned paranoid reasons, but, until then, you can get your hands on some damn fine ceviche.

Served with tortilla chips, this also makes an excellent appetizer for a party. It is fresh-tasting, bright with the citrus and peppers and stretches amongst a large group of people as folks are far less likely to destroy a dish of fish than, let's say, shoveling in hummus.

Ready to serve!

Peruvian-Style Citrus Ceviche

from Two Dudes, One Pan: Maximum Flavor from a Minimalist Kitchen by Jon Shook and Vinny Dotolo

Serves 4 to 6

Substitutions and Adjustments: This recipe calls for fluke, group, or halibut but, considering our fancy grocery store didn't have fluke or group and halibut was $33 a pound (a little rich for my blood), the fishmonger suggested tilapia. This came in at about $13 a pound, and turned out great. This can also stretch to feed about 8, if served as an appetizer. Finally, I substituted tortilla chips for popcorn or corn nuts.

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice (from about 1 lemon)
1/4 cup fresh lime juice (from about 2 limes)
1/4 cup fresh orange juice (from about 1/2 orange)
1 jalapeño or serrano chile (seeded and deveined for less heat), finely diced
1 tablespoon finely diced red bell papper
1 tablespoon finely diced yellow bell pepper
1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro
2 teaspoons sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
2 8-ounce skinless fluke, grouper, or halibut fillets, cut into 3/4-inch cubes [NH: I used tilapia]
Popcorn or corn nuts for serving (optional) [NH: I served with tortilla chips]

Whisk the lemon, lime, and orange juices together in a large bowl. Add the jalapeño, bell peppers, cilantro, sugar, and salt and whisk to combine. Add the fish and toss gently with your hands. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and marinate in the refrigerator for 1 to 2 hours. Serve in bowls with popcorn or corn nuts on the side.

A Quick-and-Easy Italian Quesa-pizza

noreply@blogger.com (Dana) — Tue, 03 Jun 2014 17:21:00 +0000

Adding arugula on top essentially makes it a salad.

Open-faced quesadilla?
Tortilla pizza?

Let's just go with "Quesa-pizza."

I had a friend swing by randomly the other day, and I had nothing to eat. Well, nothing that wasn't part of my Freezer Binge Cooking Day.

So, if you are looking for a quick-and-easy snack for your impromptu guests that isn't tortilla chips and old salsa, I recommend this quick fix. It has the casual, cheese-laden hint of college "cooking" that pairs nicely with daytime beer.

Plus, isn't anything made better when you sassily turn it into a pizza? In the past we've put palak paneer on a pizza and broiled it so it got nice and melty (palak paneerza, anyone?). We also cooked up some Trader Joe's marinated Bool Kogi and put that on a pizza along with mozzarella and kimchi. Fusion is so hip right now.

This time, as I had some leftover "Italian" ingredients, I went for favorite pizza toppings on my lazy woman's pizza crust (:cough: tortilla).

Italian Quesa-pizza

Serves 2, 1 tortilla per serving

2 tortillas
2 fistfuls shredded cheese (whatever is on-hand - I used shredded Italian blend)
2/3 cup mushrooms, sliced thinly
1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes
Butter
2 cups arugula
Lemon juice, to taste
Olive oil
Red pepper flakes
Salt
Pepper

Start by laying out your tortillas on your work surface and sprinkling each with almost half of the cheese. Set a little cheese aside for later, about a couple tablespoons. Spread half of the mushrooms, then sprinkle half of the sun-dired tomatoes across each. Sprinkle the small amount of cheese you set aside on top. No practical purpose for this, just that cheese on top looks more alluring.

Heat a griddle up over medium-high heat and rub a small pad of butter over it. Put the pre-assembled tortillas on the griddle until the cheese on the tortilla starts to melt. If you are overly hungry, as in my case, cover with a pot lid for a melting catalyst. This also works if you don't have a griddle, just heat up two skillets.

Once the cheese melts, place on the plate you are going to serve on. Cut into desired segments. Use your high school geometry here, as I am pretty sure this is the only context in which I have. Place a heaping cup of arugula in the middle and add lemon juice, olive oil, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper on top of the arugula to taste.

Viola! What is your favorite quick-fix snack?

How to Celebrate a Kentucky Fried Christmas

noreply@blogger.com (Dana) — Thu, 29 May 2014 22:29:00 +0000

It may be May (har har), but that doesn't mean we can't celebrate the warm, cozy, bizarre Christmas presented in this amazing find.

A fried chicken holiday spectacular.

Yes, ladies and gents, that is Christmas Eve... with Colonel Sanders. All of your holiday favorites, in one beautiful vinyl. It is sure to add spice to all of your all evenings.

Let's explore further...

...should we call for help?

The Colonel looks dead. More specifically, he looks like he was trying to suppress a giggle, then caught himself off guard by dying. Or he is trying to feign sleep so the giant Christmas chickens don't come back to life and seek their revenge.

Henri Mancini signed up for this?

It has all of your holiday favorites! Just think - you could sing with your kids, or plop them down and throw on an old timey fast food record. It is the true meaning and spirit of Christmas.

The only collector's edition of anything you will ever need.

...and don't you forget it!

Oh yes. This is a VERY special collector's edition for Kentucky Fried Chicken. To add to the rest of your Kentucky Friend Chicken record collection. Or porcelain bucket collection? Or basket liner collection?

In fact, a quick Google image search does yield the following:

2 Piece And A Biscuit Kentucky Fried Chicken KFC Play Set in Original Package from eBay

Kentucky Fried Chicken KFC Play Set Complete in Box + Instructions from eBay

So we have that going for us. Touche, Internet!

There also is a Christmas Day with Colonel Sanders, so the festivities never have to end.

Do you have a fast food Christmas tradition?

A Cruise Through South Pasadena Homes

noreply@blogger.com (Dana) — Tue, 27 May 2014 02:20:00 +0000

Subtitle: My Creepy Afternoon.

This past week, I got very lucky and was gifted a half day of work. As such, I decided that I wanted to work on my ~~stalking~~ photography skills, and take some photos of the beautiful houses I often drive by. With more or less no knowledge of architecture, please don't judge my classifications too harshly.

Plus, doesn't this guy look like he needs a walk?

Such a sad, deprived dog...

To provide some context, when my husband and I first decided to move to South Pasadena, we felt as if the neighborhood houses had the ultimate "Americana" vibe. It was as if everyone in America, as portrayed on TV, lived on streets just like those we can find around here. Since moving here, we have come to realize that one of the main reasons we got this feeling is because, indeed, so many television families HAVE lived in these houses (in a manner of speaking).

South Pasadena is continually aflutter with film crews, many of whom work for popular TV shows, all filming the beautiful home exteriors. The houses are picturesque, classic Craftsman styles for the most part and ranging in size from grand to quaint.

To kick off our unofficial house tour, Dooley and I headed down toward Mission Street, aka South Pasadena's Downtown area, and wandered North into the neighborhood. Camera slung around my neck, I'm sure I looked like a snooping paparazzo with a furry alibi.

First up...

I LOVE this house. This may be my favorite house in the area, because it is the manifestation of a classic haunted house. It's like Old Man Withers' house, from which you and your friends flee after thinking you see a ghost in the attic while walking by.

It is so rare to see houses this size and this style in the Los Angeles area, with old school brick and meandering stairways. There even is a grand veranda. So dreamy. Even the gate's lighting is Gothic and beautiful.

If I were to daydream about moving into any style of house in particular, outside of the brick haunted paradise, it would be a Spanish-style home. The bungalow we live in now is decorated in hacienda colors and Mexican folk art, and I love the idea of an expansive Spanish- or Mission-style house.

Taking these photos probably made me look less like a creepy stalker, more like an insane person talking out loud to her dog about how we should live there.

We took a quick stop at this pretty street corner for some sniffing.

...after which he started sneezing for about a full minute. Doggie allergies, one presumes.

The trees in the general Pasadena area are also spectacular. The Jacaranda trees have purple flowers and only bloom twice a year. The Spring is gorgeous to behold, albeit probably a major pain to those who garden.

There are also a selection of more modest houses, bungalow-style. These look positively idyllic, like the home of the heroine in most chick-lit novels (the ones I read, anyway).

Look at this lemonade stand, for crying out loud. This is the cutest thing ever.

Even the fire hydrants are charming and quirky.

...before you go thinking that I work for the South Pasadena Chamber of Commerce or have decided to become a realtor, I really am just a big fan of this area. The Pasadena area (once considered impossibly far away from the hip West Hollywood neighborhood I used to live in) is a superbly picturesque place, and would recommend to anyone looking for a place to live.

It is so fun for both woman and dog to explore.

What are your favorite Los Angeles neighborhoods?