Shameless Self Promotion

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

Thanks!

xo

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

{photo from NYTimes.com}

peace, love, grilling, and happiness!

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

CPK Break

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

{White Corn Guacamole and Chips}

{Crispy Artichoke Hearts}

{Sweet Corn Tamale Ravioli}

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

{Asparagus Soup}

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

{Avocado Club Eggrolls}

What a nice way to end a hectic day!

peace, love, CPK, and happiness!

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

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

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

{strawberry farm}

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

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

{making the dough}

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

{pie dish, dough, rolling pin}

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

{rolled out crust}

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

And now the fun part!

{red - rhubarb and strawberries}

{Filling}

{new pie dish}

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

{pie}

And Voila!  Like they say, easy as pie!

{so pretty!!}

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

Get the from Smittenkitchen.com --> here.

peace, love, pie, and happiness!!

Vlog

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

Burger Blogging - 8 oz.

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

The "8 oz"

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

Scoring:

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

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

8 OZ: 5

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

8 OZ: 5

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

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

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

8 OZ: 5 

Overall factors are:

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

8 OZ: 4.5

2.  Creativity: use of unique ingredients and pairings.

8 OZ: 4.5

Total Score: 32.5 out of 35

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

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

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

peace, love, burgers, and happiness

Brightening up the House with Basil

Summer seems like the perfect time to finally get started on that (indoor) herb garden I've been wanting.  I've been using the excuse of not having a patio for too long.  Plus, buying basil at the store gets expensive and goes bad quite fast.  I purchased my basil plant at Trader Joe's for something like two dollars and some change.  What a steal.  I couldn't grab that thing fast enough and add it to my cart.  Since then it has become something like my baby, or at the very least a well adored pet.  (Yes, I do know that I have too much time on my hands.)

I'm hoping the little guy does ok positioned by the window admiring the view of the apartment building next door.  Every now and again I take him outside for a little sunshine in the apartment "courtyard" (more like a walkway).  If I can't keep this plant alive, which is described on the label as "a hearty plant that you don't need to worry about too much," then I'm pretty much doomed when it comes to taking caring of any other living things.  Wish me luck!

peace, love, gardens, and happiness!