Southern Belle in Santa Barbara

Bug Appétit

2012-01-28T16:59:00.000-08:00

Last weekend it was rainy and windy in Santa Barbara. It made for a perfect opportunity to purge and organize my closet. While I felt like I should get a gold star for this painful task, I'm happy to report that not all my weekends are so lame. For instance, just a few weekends ago, I ate bugs. Yep, you read that right. I was in New Orleans to watch this game (Roll Tide), and got a VIP tour of the Insectarium and a surprise bug tasting while in town.

A friend introduced me to the Zack Lemann, a.k.a. the Cajun Bug Chef and Visitor Program Manager of the Audubon Butterfly Garden and Insectarium. He was nice enough to walk us through the museum and give us a private tasting. Not exactly my normal weekend fare.

We sampled Hoppin' Herb Dip ( I had to take a bite to prove that I did actually eat this). . .

. . . some wormy chutney (OK this one was a bit harder to get down)

. . . some Crispy Cajun Crickets and Cinnamon Bug Crunch

. . . and my favorite Chocolate Chirp Cookies. Seriously, these were delicious, and I found out quite nutritious.

Zack was nice enough to agree to an interview to share more tales from the bug kitchen:

Q: How did you land this gig?

A: Well, the famous biologist E.O. Wilson said that most kids go through a bug period, but I guess I never grew out of mine. I volunteered at the zoo as a teenager and wanted to play with bugs in my hometown of New Orleans. When the Insectarium opened in 2008, I jumped at the chance to be their Visitor Program Manager, which is kind of like leading "show-and-tell" with bugs every day. I'm the luckiest guy.

Q: I hear the Cajun Bug Chef has been asked to be on TV several times. Did you pursue a cooking degree?

A: I have had the pleasure of being on Jay Leno, Montel Williams, Today Show, Discovery Channel, Animal Planet, and my favorite was Megabugs with Johnny Rotten. And while I have never attended culinary school, I do have some cajun in me!

Q: What are the best bugs for eating? Will any do?

A: Well, if you're going to procure some bugs for eating, you want to target large, green or brown bugs. Avoid red, orange and yellow "warning" coloration. And avoid catching bugs in urban areas where there is a much greater chance of pesticides and other pollutants on your bugs. I'd say crickets, grasshoppers, beetles, and wax worms are probably the most commonly consumed. Crickets may sound mundane but are one of the best tasting bugs. You can eat them without much adornment. Most bugs taste like nuts but have a wide variety of flavors. For instance, macadamia nuts taste quite different from almonds. Bugs are the same way. Westerners most usually go for bugs incorporated into dishes instead of an unfettered fashion.

Q: Is there any nutritional value in bugs?

A: Plenty! In fact there are quite a few studies underway that are exploring how bug cuisine could help address some of the nutritional deficiencies certain areas are facing. They are typically high in protein but really offer a good balanced profile of carbs, fat and protein. They also provide a lot of calcium, iron, thiamin and niacin.

Q: What's your mission as the Cajun Bug Chef?

A: Well, this is New Orleans, a city obsessed with good food. There is no way I'm gonna cook up anything that doesn't taste good. I've got a reputation to uphold!

Q: What's your favorite way to eat a bug?

A: It's hard to choose just one, but I won't turn down crickets or dragonflies fried with a sliver of mushroom and topped with a dash of dijon soy butter.

Q: OK, you're making my mouth water! Have you had any bug cooking disasters?

A: I was cooking at a private event in 2010 and was asked to cook silkworm pupae. I'd never cooked these before and could only find them canned. When I opened them, they just smelled awful. I doctored them up as much as I could but nothing could cover up the smell. That dish pretty much went untouched at the party.

Q: What's your favorite bug trivia you like to whip out at a cocktail party?

A: Oh that's easy. Dragonfly penises! The male's reproductive organ is split into two parts. One secretes sperm and the other acts as a scoop. This comes in handy when a male encounters a female dragonfly. He can tell if she's already been "deflowered." If so, he can scoop out the previous visitor's sperm and deposit his own. They're very much Alpha Males. You will see them flying around on the back of a female. It looks like they're doing a beautiful dance, but he's really just trying to hold onto her after he's made his deposit to prevent someone else from "scooping" him before she lays her eggs in the water.

If you are ever in the Big Easy, the Insectarium is a must see for anyone. There are so many beautiful and amazing insects to see, walk amongst and learn about (like this stunning pink katydid). And possibly eat if you're feeling adventurous.

Chocolate Chirp Cookies

[I'm dying to know if anyone will make these! If so, please report back!]

Directions

Take your favorite chocolate chip recipe and add roasted house crickets. But don't mix them in the batter with the chips. If you do, no one will see them. Af you you have placed the cookie dough on the baking sheet, gently put a few crickets atop each cookie. This way, when the cookies are done baking you can showcase the bugs!

Oh Snap!

2012-01-17T19:52:00.000-08:00

We had a cold snap last night. And when the temps drop, I go for two things: a fire and soup. OK and maybe a hot toddy.

I decided the perfect Rx would be the bourbon butternut squash bisque I served at my bourbon tasting party a few months ago. While I often think of butternut squash soup as over-rated, this version is definitely off the hook. Seriously, when I served it at the party, I felt like a drug pusher, forcing a cup of this soup on anyone with—or without—a spare hand.

What makes it so different? It isn't overly sweet. It actually isn't really sweet at all. Well, I gave some to my friend's 4-year old daughter who inhaled it but said it tasted "just like watermelon." Well, she is only four so has a somewhat limited palette, but she also just consumed a hearty helping of vegetables so what mom would complain? Well, there was a healthy dose of bourbon in it so maybe that explains the strange proclamation?

Anyway, the roasted butternut squash for the base does get all lovely and caramelized, but it surely doesn't taste like dessert (or fruit). It's perfectly rounded out by a generous addition of leeks, onions, garlic and cumin. The nutmeg adds a little somethin' somethin' that no one can ever put their finger on. It's almost always the secret ingredient in a recipe but this time I beg to differ. This recipe called for soy sauce which added a nice note of saltiness to the sweetness of the vegetables, creating more depth to the soup than I think it would have had otherwise.

Then there was some "flair" added in because really who wants to eat boring soup?! I'm talking about a little maple syrup, some dry sherry and, of course, bourbon. It's been well documented that I like the eat my bourbon as much as I like to drink it, but it's for good reason. When done well, it gives a slight hint of vanilla, caramel and even smoke to a dish, transforming simple ingredients into a three-diminsional tasting experience. In short, it takes a dish from ordinary to memorable, which is just what occurs here.

This really does come together in a snap There's no breaking down of fatty proteins or tenderizing beans for hours. Once the squash is roasted, you're basically just adding a few finishing touches and heating it up to bring all the flavors together. The pureeing is not even necessary but the silkiness of a pureed soup just feels so indulgent. The finished color is gorgeous and the taste positively swoon-worthy.

So cook this up and stay toasty, my friends!

Butternut Squash and Bourbon Bisque

from FoodNetwork.com

Ingredients

8 cups cubed butternut squash

1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1 cup diced onions

1 cup diced leeks

1/2 tsp ground cumin

2 Tbsp chopped fresh garlic

1 Tbsp chopped fresh ginger

2 Tbsp pure maple syrup

2 Tbsp soy sauce

1/4 cup bourbon

1/2 cup dry sherry

1/4 tsp grated whole nutmeg

5 cups chicken stock

3/4 cup evaporated skim milk

Salt and pepper to taste

2 Tbsp cornstarch mixed with 2 Tbsp water

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place cubed squash in a roasting pan and bake for approximately 45 minutes or until tender when stuck with a fork.

2. In a large Dutch oven, heat the olive oil over medium to medium-high heat and add the onions. Cook until lightly golden brown (approximately 8 - 10 minutes) and add the leeks and cumin. Cook for 2 minutes and add garlic and ginger. When the garlic is fragrant, add the maple syrup, soy sauce, bourbon, sherry and nutmeg. Add the squash and stock and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and cook gently for about 15 minutes.

3. Using an immersion blender (or a regular blender), puree soup until very smooth. Add the evaporated milk, salt, and pepper. Cook for two minutes; do not bring to a boil. Add the cornstarch mixture and stir until thickened, about 5 minutes.

Note: Serves 6 but easily doubles.

Tik Tok

2012-01-16T07:26:00.000-08:00

So how's everyone doing with their New Year's resolutions? I know many people, me included, try to clean up our acts in the wake of all the holiday parties and indulging. There is something utterly refreshing about the start of a new year, a new page, a new chance. We make our declarations about eating healthier, exercising more, and imbibing less. So given that, I figured I might as well enjoy one last gluttonous hurrah before all the clean living commenced.

Luckily I had two girlfriends who were insistent that I not go this path alone. We decided to have an "around the clock" dinner party on New Year's Eve. We wrote each hour of the 24-hour day on a separate slip of paper and each drew two "hours" out of a hat. Thankfully, we drew a pretty decent range of times. The challenge was to make a dish and a drink that represents that time of day. The game plan was to start at 7 pm and enjoy a course an hour, thus timing our final course with the arrival of 2012. We figured that would allow us to enjoy a small plate every hour and wash it down with a fine beverage without feeling completely stuffed. Well, let me just say we were stuffed, even with a 3 am departure time.

Things got kicked off with Meredith's "7 am service" of scrambled egg sliders served on top of a homemade bacon-and-Cheddar corn muffin. It was the perfect dish for people who love breakfast for dinner. The bacon studded muffins added a lovely salty note to the sweet corn. But the star might have been her habanero-infused vodka "screwdriver" made with mango and pineapple puree. I could have sipped away on those all night, which probably would've been deadly.

Second up was an early "11 am lunch" of grilled paninis accompanied by an Italian Sangiovese at 8 pm. I served two kinds: one with salami, mozzarella and fig jam and a second with rosemary ham, Emmental cheese and a drizzle of honey. Both turned out to be wonderful flavor combinations that I'd make again.

The next hour, Karen took us slightly Asian for a "1 pm" luncheon salad, which was simple but bursting with flavor. She took an iceberg lettuce salad and dressed it up with mint and a roasted sichuan pepper vinaigrette. But perhaps what stole the show was the sparkling wine she presented with a wild hibiscus flower in the bottom of the glass. It colored the wine slightly pink and added a hint of sweetness. But the real beauty of it was watching the petals unfurl as the sparkling bubbles danced around it. It sounds totally weird but try it sometime to add a bit of whimsy to your next cocktail party. She found a jar at BevMo but look online for other options.

At 10 pm we sat down to enjoy our "6 pm dinner." Meredith went retro with a beef fondue set up with several delicious dipping sauces to boot. We pretty much polished it off in minutes, along with the California Cabernet she'd selected.

Around 11 pm, Karen stuck with the fondue theme but satisfied our sweet tooth with her "10 pm dessert": homemade caramel sauce and beautiful apples to dip into it. It was our one attempt at being pseudo-healthy for the evening. To accompany this dessert, she selected a playful hard apple cider, which was really refreshing.

When midnight struck, we had to take a break to watch the ball drop, blow our horns and toast each other with champagne. While we all claimed to be stuffed, we soldiered on and embraced our final course of the night, which happened to be "midnight!" That was a lucky draw on my part. When I think of eating after midnight, it usually involves a greasy cheeseburger or a slice (or two) of greasy pizza. And since pizza is my favorite food, that's what I went with (sans the grease). I served this Catalonian-style pizza you may recall around 12:30 am.

When all was said and done, it was a wonderfully (full)filling and fun way to usher in 2012. And shockingly no one had a hangover the next morning! I think the late night pizza was the trick.

Bacon-and-Cheddar Corn Muffins

from Southern Living

Ingredients

6 bacon slices

2 cups self-rising white cornmeal mix

1 Tbsp sugar

1 1/2 cups buttermilk

1 large egg

4 Tbsp melted butter

1 cup (4 oz) shredded sharp Cheddar cheese

Vegetable cooking spray

Directions.

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Cook bacon in a large skillet over medium-high heat 12-14 minutes or until crisp; remove bacon, and drain on paper towels. Crumble bacon.

2. Heat a 12-cup muffin pan in the oven for 5 minutes.

3. Combine cornmeal mix and sugar in medium bowl; make a well in center of mixture.

4. Stir together buttermilk and egg; add to cornmeal mixture, stirring just until dry ingredients are moistened. Stir in melted butter, cheese and bacon. Remove pan from oven and coat with cooking spray. Spoon batter into hot muffin pan, filling almost completely full.

5. Bake at 425 degrees for 15 - 20 minutes or until golden. Remove form pan to a wire rack and let cool 10 minutes.

Note: We made this muffin into a scramble egg slider, which was heavenly.

Hello, Sunshine!

2012-01-02T13:28:00.000-08:00

Well, we're officially on day two of 2012. Like I said, I have a good feeling about this year! The sun has greeted me each morning thus far, which always brightens my mood. If I was an animal, I'd certainly be a cat. You'd find me chasing the sun and napping in it whenever possible. I find total contentment just sitting on a window sill with the rays of light warming my skin. In fact, that's often where you'll find me when I'm on a conference call, eating lunch or even just paging through a magazine. I even move from room to room within the house, trying to keep up with the changing angles of the sun.

But I also ate hoppin' john last night to lock in my good fortune and prosperity. And my friend was kind enough to give me an enormous bag of citrus fruit from her yard.

Oh how I love Winter's abundance of varying shades of yellow and orange fruits that pull the branches of trees almost to the ground, just waiting to be plucked.

It's hard to beat a sweet tangerine. It's like a burst of sunshine in each segment. It's hard not to smile when eating one.

So clearly 2012 is off to a good start. I hope you feel the same!

So Long

2011-12-31T17:21:00.001-08:00

So long, 2011! It's been swell but I'm pretty much counting down the minutes until 2012. I'm really looking forward to the New Year. I have a feeling 2012 is going to rock.

I hope everyone has a fabulous time watching the ball drop or whatever your pleasure may be. I am excitedly awaiting the start of a cook fest with two of my best girl friends. We're having an "around the clock" party, where we each cook two dishes from different times of the day and serve it with an appropriate beverage. I got an early lunch (11 am) so am making paninis with a Sangiovese to sip, and then got midnight so am going with my favorite late night food—pizza!!!—and champagne of course. You can't ring in the New Year without some bubbly!

Wishing y'all a safe and special night, and thanks for reading!

A Few of My Favorite Things

2011-12-30T13:04:00.001-08:00

I'm back in Santa Barbara after spending Christmas with my family in the Low Country. I haven't heard a Christmas carol in a few days since my return. It's kind of sad. My mom always start playing them the day after Thanksgiving and has amassed quite a collection of holiday ditties over the years. She's got all the classics like Bing Crosby, some new ones (i.e. the little girl who placed second on America's Got Talent), and my personal favorite, 1992's The Muppet Christmas Carol soundtrack. I love listening to them all. The one exception is Julie Andrew's My Favorite Things. Not to sound like a scrooge but I don't know how that slipped into the category of Christmas carols. Have you listened to the lyrics? There is not one iota of Christmas in it. It's got bees stinging and dogs biting for goodness sakes. There's a reference to Winter but even that's a stretch. But I do like the song because I love The Sound of Music. In fact, I had big plans to perform in the musical when I was young. Too bad I can't sing. I even wanted to change my name to Gretel for awhile. So as the year comes to a close, I wanted to share with you a few of my favorite things from the holidays.

Favorite meal: We've started a tradition of gorging ourselves on Apalachicola oysters, which my brother generously hauls to us each year.

Favorite gift: the glasses my nephew received that double as a straw.

Favorite beverage: Real Coke made with real sugar served out of a real bottle. Perfection.

Favorite laugh: The wine my brother picked up for me — at the gas station! I asked him to get a bottle to go with the short ribs I was serving for dinner. This is a plastic "goblet" of (questionable) Merlot packaged with an aluminum seal and a plastic lid, which was stolen from a Pringle's can, I'm sure. Talk about red neck!

Favorite serendipitous moment: Sunrise on the creek.

Happy New Year's Eve Eve, y'all.

CCCs

2011-12-22T05:24:00.000-08:00

I know the final days of shopping are upon us. Christmas is literally just around the corner. Yikes. Each year there's someone in my life I'm frantically running around town for, desperately trying to find the *perfect gift* and coming up empty handed store after store. On the other hand, there's always my dad who, when asked what he'd like for Christmas, simply replies year after year, "CCCs!!!" In fact, he usually starts campaigning for CCCs around his birthday in October. "Where are my CCCs?" . . . . "You're making CCCs for me for Christmas, right?" . . . . "You know what would taste good right about now? A CCC . . . "

What on Earth might you ask is that?! It's a Chocolate Chip Cookie. Well, specifically my homemade chocolate chip cookies. While some people claim to have the greatest CCC recipe with all sorts of fancy twists and unique spins, sometimes just a plain ole chocolate chip is hard to beat. I always go with the Tollhouse recipe on the back of the chocolate chip bag. And therein lies the humor around "my special CCCs." They're not special at all. They're the most ordinary chocolate chip cookie in the world and yet my father claims mine are the best! How that's possible remains a mystery to me. In fact, my sister-in-law and I crack up every Christmas when my dad opens his box of CCCs and exclaims, "These are the best in the world!" Because truly anyone can make these cookies. In fact, they do. In fact my sister-in-law did make these for my dad once in an act of kindness. And he had the nerve (and short-sightedness) to tell her that mine were better! I mean really. It's the same damn cookie! It's certainly not better.

But this morning I woke up to the sunrise on the creek at my parent's house to make my grandmother's famous buttermilk biscuits for everyone for breakfast. My grandmother, whom we call Monk, makes the best biscuits in the world. And I have legions of people who have tasted them and would agree vehemently. She gave me her recipe a few years ago. Well, she's 92 so doesn't actually use recipes. She cooks and bakes from memory and years and years of practice. Anyway, she taught me how to make her biscuits and even watches me execute them. She says I do it the same way she does, using the same recipe and technique, and yet I refuse to agree that they taste the same. Her's are the best. Mine are not. But people still gobble them up and tell me how good they are. But to me, they're still not Monk's.

And I realized that's why when someone else serves my dad a Tollhouse CCC, he will say they're not as good as mine. It's because sometimes the gift is the person who gave it to you, not the gift.

Happy {Early} Christmas to all.

Red and Green

2011-12-19T20:06:00.000-08:00

Fight as I may, I might as well just accept the fact that the holidays are upon us. It just seems like yesterday it was Easter though. And while I might still stomp my feet and pitch a small fit in protest of yet another year hurtling by, Christmas is here. And because my defiance was no match for Father Time, I made this soup instead . . . as a partial concession and because I like soup.

The last part of that statement may seem the equivalent to someone saying, "Puppies are cute." Duh. Everyone knows that. Everyone loves soup, especially when the weather starts to dip and you're looking for something to warm you up. I hear my friends wax poetic about "I loved when it rained and my mom would make me a grilled cheese and tomato soup. . . ." I'm with them on the grilled cheese. But tomato soup? Yuck. To this day, you won't see me put a spoonful of that to my mouth, but I finally did smarten up when it came to soup. For whatever reason, I was a late bloomer. I guess I was too busy eating butter sandwiches. I'm embarrassed to admit that actually involved Squeeze Parkay, which is perhaps one of the more questionable butter substitutes on the market. But soup is something I've just kind of discovered and embraced in the last 5 or so years. Now I probably eat it several times a week (even if it's just take-out from the local grocery store). It's an easy and healthful option for lunch when I am tempted to eat pizza (which is nearly a daily battle). And it's so nice to make a big vat of it on a weekend and freeze in individual containers to access when I come home from another business trip to an empty refrigerator.

I have some standby soup recipes, but I stumbled upon this recipe a few months ago and thought I'd try it out. It was called Christmas soup, which I thought was random. I wasn't aware of a traditional Christmas soup. I kept reading through the online comments for some tale of tradition but ended up none the wiser. Then I made it and realized how blonde I really am. Seriously, there are stereotypes for a reason, people! Anyway, the ingredients for the soup are all red and green, the ubiquitous colors of the holidays, hence the name Christmas soup. It makes for a very festive soup this time of year. It also makes for a very delicious one, which is more important. Red and green can only take you so far if it tastes like crap.

The soup includes red and green bell peppers, red bliss potatoes, red kidney beans, I added some sausage with peppers in it to keep the red and green theme going, and of course green kale because seriously wasn't it some sort of law that you had to eat kale this year? You couldn't escape kale if you tried. I really do love it but I think its 15 minutes of fame are up. Let another vegetable have the spotlight, you know?

This would make for the perfect dish to whip up over the holidays when time is short and stomachs are growling. It's also a one-pot wonder, which is great because you can spend more time enjoying another glass of eggnog, er. . . I mean enjoying the magic of the season with your family instead of scrubbing dishes in the kitchen.

Christmas Soup

Adapted from Alton Brown

Ingredients

1 lb pre-cooked sausage, sliced 1/4-inch thick on the bias (the original recipe called for keilbasa but I used a roasted pepper turkey sausage)

Vegetable oil, as needed

8 cloves or garlic, minced

2 15 oz cans kidney beans, rinsed

1 15 oz can garbanzo beans, rinsed

1 15 oz can diced tomatoes

2 cups onion, diced

1 red bell pepper, diced

1 green bell pepper, diced

2 1/2 qt chicken broth

1 lb red bliss potatoes, cubed

6 oz fresh kale (approximately 4 large handfuls)

1/4 cup red wine vinegar

1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper

Directions

Place the sausage into a Dutch over and set over medium-low heat. Cook meat until it's has browned well, approximately 15 minutes. Add a little vegetable oil if needed. Remove meat from the pan and set aside.

Add 2 tsp of oil unless there is already that left in the pan after browning the meat and cook onions, bell peppers and garlic and cook for approximately 7-10 minutes, stirring often over medium heat. Add the beans, diced tomatoes and chicken broth. Cover and cook for 45 minutes. Add the potatoes, cover and cook an additional 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Wash, rinse and trim the stem from the kale and tear into bite size pieces. Add the kale to the pot, cover and cook for another 10 minutes until just tender but not mushy.

Add the red wine vinegar, black pepper and sausage to the pot. Stir to combine and serve.

Man Cave Cuisine

2011-12-14T14:35:00.000-08:00

The Man Cave. That boys only room or haven used to escape the wife/girlfriend and any feminine decorating (and commentary). I always envision men drinking beer while sitting in their black leather Lazy-boy and watching the Laker Girls on a 100-inch flatscreen TV or reading the "interviews" in a certain men's magazine (because, of course, I haven't been invited to one to verify this). I have several start-up medical device companies as clients, which are almost always comprised of a small team of male engineers stuffed into a tiny office where they spend incredibly long hours together working on the next great innovation. In many ways, I suppose that is a Man Cave too. . . just not the good kind.

As I was putting together my holiday gift list, I was wracking my brain for something manly I could make for these male clients. I know guys love homemade baked goods, but I wanted something a bit more unique and something overtly masculine. Something fitting for a Man Cave (both the personal and the professional kind). Well, I believe this recipe hits it out of the ball park. Oh yes, this is real Man Cave Cuisine. This is a baked good drenched in testosterone — with a steroid chaser!

It's probably the most quintessentially manly food on the planet: Bacon-Bourbon Brownies! That's right. Throw in a cigar and the men may never again emerge from the cave — unless they're looking for more of these decadent treats.

It started out so innocent, if you can call chocolate and butter melting into a luscious liquid that. But things started getting crazy when I poured bacon grease into the melted chocolate. I know. Totally ridiculous. Actually, I admit I was a bit scared at first. Like the first time I tasted bacon-infused vodka. It sounds like a bad idea but when you taste the finished product you realize the genius in it. But the 3 Tbsp the recipe called for seemed like so much. But really, has anyone ever tasted a fried egg cooked in bacon grease? It's heaven on Earth. And you know why? The bacon grease. So, I went for it. I actually added nearly 4 Tbsp! Living dangerously, I know.

Then I mixed in some sugar, salt, baking powder (which wasn't called for but I didn't think adding a leavening agent would be a bad idea — after all this was supposed to be a brownie not fudge) . . . .

Oh yes, and a healthy dose of bourbon. I think we've already established that everything tastes better with bacon, but I'm going to go ahead and add bourbon to that list.

People love rum cakes, so why not bourbon brownies? People love salted caramels so why not salted brownies (via crumbled bacon)? I can assure you this recipe is a winner. Unless you ask a doctor. He may not be so thrilled, but it is that time of year for indulgences. So make these for your favorite man, who may be that jolly man all dressed in red. You'll surely make the Nice list with these.

Bacon-Bourbon Brownies with Pecans

From Food and Wine

Ingredients

1/2 cup pecans

1/2 lb sliced bacon

8 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped

2 oz unsweetened chocolate, chopped

1 stick plus 2 Tbsp unsalted butter

1 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup packed light brown sugar

3 Tbsp bourbon

4 large eggs

1 tsp salt

1 Tbsp baking powder

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9-in square baking pan with parchment paper, allowing 2 inches of overhang on 2 opposite sides. Spray the paper with vegetable spray. Spread pecans in a pie plate and toast for about 8 minutes, until fragrant. Let cool, then coarsely chop the nuts.

2. In a skillet or microwave, cook the bacon until crisp. Drain on paper towels and let cool. Reserve 3 Tbsp of the bacon fat. Finely chop the bacon.

3. In a saucepan, combine both chocolates with the butter and stir over very low heat, until melted; scrape into a large bowl. Using a handheld electric mixer, beat in both sugars with the reserved 3 Tbsp of bacon grease. Beat in the bourbon. Add the eggs, salt and baking powder and beat until smooth. Sift the cocoa and flour into the bowl and beat until blended.

4. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and sprinkle the bacon and pecans on top. Bake for about 45 - 50 minutes, until the brownies are set around the edges but slightly wobbly in the center; a toothpick inserted into the center should have some batter clinging to it. I would suggest checking as early as 40 minutes. Transfer the pan to a rack and let the brownies cool completely. Lift the brownies out of the pan using the overhanging parchment paper. Cut into squares or rectangles and serve.

All I Want For Christmas

2011-12-09T08:12:00.000-08:00

What do I want for Christmas this year? Well, it's a toss up between J. Crew's Cashmere of the Month Club and this:

Selections from High Road Craft Ice Cream out of Atlanta include bourbon burnt sugar ice cream and an Old Fashioned sorbet with Maker's Mark bourbon, Angostura bitters, brandied cherries and a fizzy citrus twist. Seriously?

Hard Liquor

2011-12-07T17:02:00.001-08:00

I usually prefer my bourbon neat, but if that isn't your cup of tea, you should try it cascading over brie.

I know you're thinking, "Did I just read that correctly?" Trust me. It's not gross. It's downright addictive. I made this bourbon-infused caramel topped brie for my bourbon tasting party and it was devoured.

Don't believe me? Please refer to Exhibit A:

Exhibit A

It was once a stunning appetizer. A real show-stopper. Please refer to Exhibit B to see it in its former glory:

Exhibit B

People gawked and asked, "What on Earth is this lovely and glistening gem you've put in front of me?" (I'm paraphrasing but it was pretty darn close to that.) People turned starry-eyed like a kid in a candy store, all mesmerized and gleeful as their hand reached involuntarily towards the platter and some elbowing of other guests was involved as they jockeyed to grab the knife. It's that kind of appetizer.

While I wish I could claim credit for this genius idea, it must go to Martha Stewart. I found this recipe in an old cookbook of hers, circa 1984, but, unlike many of Martha's recipes, this really was easy and effortless. There was no barn raising involved. In fact, when I think about it, it's probably one of the fastest and most delicious hors d'oeuvres I think I've made. It's great for a party because you can present it and forget about it. Meanwhile, it's pseudo interactive with your guests as they enjoy chipping away at the hard caramel topping to reach the luscious, creamy brie below. It's the perfect combination of sweet and savory. And it strikes an odd yet wonderful balance between being sophisticated yet somehow very playful.

Usually I pour the caramel over a wheel of brie, but for whatever reason the whole of Santa Barbara County was devoid of wheels. So I just used two large wedges, which seemed to still do the trick.

So if you're in need of a fabulous appetizer to bring to a holiday party or are just desperate for something effortless to put out for family and friends on Christmas Eve or for Christmas dinner, this is it. You could spend hours creating something much more intricate and complex, but I promise you this would beat it hands down. OK, maybe a rice crispy treat would give this a run for the money for its equal ease of effort to pull together and its universally loved nature, but that's technically a dessert. As such, I think my claim stands.

Bourbon Caramel Brie

Adapted from Martha Stewart

Ingredients

1 wheel of brie (about 2 1/2 lbs)

2 cups granulated sugar

1/2 cup water

1 tsp bourbon (optional)

12 - 16 pecan or walnut halves

Directions

Place the brie on a serving platter. I prefer wood but you can use something else. If you're concerned about easy clean up, you may want to put a sheet of parchment paper under the brie to cover the surface of the platter.

Combine the sugar, water and bourbon in heavy saucepan and melt the sugar, swirling the pan from time to time. Do not stir as it will cause the sugar to crystalize.

When the mixture begins to boil, cover the pan to allow condensation to drip back down and melt any crystalized sugar on the side of the pan. Uncover after 3-5 minutes and continue cooking over high heat until the sugar becomes a deep golden color, probably another 5 - 10 minutes. The temperature of the caramel should be hard crack, 300 degrees. [Note, I didn't use a candy thermometer. I just cooked it until it reached a truly amber color and it was clearly thickened. It can burn, though, so watch it like a hawk.]

Immediately pour the carmel over the brie to cover the top evenly, allowing the excess to drip down the sides of the cheese. You may have to tilt the cheese slightly to get the caramel to spread evenly. Be very careful not to touch the caramel because it is super hot and also work quickly because it starts to harden upon contact. Press nuts around the perimeter of the cheese. Serve within an hour with cheese and grapes.

To free the platter of any residual caramel, you can either run it under really hot water or stick it in the freezer for a few minutes and the caramel will simply pop off.

Independent Study

2011-12-05T17:25:00.000-08:00

To say I was inspired to continue my "studies" after my trip down the Bourbon Trail is a gross understatement. Basically, I got home, went to the liquor store, bought 5 different bottles of bourbon and decided to invite some friends over to do our own tasting (so I wouldn't feel self-conscious about drinking alone, of course).

I made my own Santa Barbara passport so people could check off each one they tried. Many were not avid or even pretend bourbon drinkers but they were all very good sports and everyone did sample. I'm happy to report some even came back for refills. It was fun to read people's comments.

Angel's Envy was one of the favorites of the night, especially for the non-bourbon drinkers. It was just released this year and has been getting rave reviews. I was in Louisville again a few weeks ago and every bar was sold out of it. Now, that's hard to do in Kentucky! What makes it so unique? It's aged in port barrels for six months after it's been aged in new white oak barrels for four to six years. The result: a very, very smooth bourbon with a fruity, jammy note. It's a bit lighter on the palette but I think that's why some "beginners" really took to it. If you can find it, do try it. It's a treat. Plus it has a cool bottle with angel wings on the back.

In case you're interested in doing some "independent studying" of your own, here's the drill:

1. Look it over — Pour yourself a drink and take some time to study the color. A darker color tends to mean longer storage time, higher proof or some combination of the two.

2. Give it a twirl — Get a firm grip on the glass and swish the bourbon around, a move called aerating. This allows the drink to breathe a bit, which makes for a better tasting experience.

3. Take a deep breath — Part your lips, place your nose deep into the glass, and give the brew a sniff. By opening your mouth slightly while inhaling, you can avoid being overpowered by the alcohol. The smell gives a preview to the taste.

4. Have a drink — To get a complete flavor profile, take a large sip from the glass and work it around to coat the inside of your mouth. This allows the mix to hit different parts of the tongue, from the sweet-sensing tip to the sour-sensing sides.

5. OK, now swallow — Pay careful attention to the flavors as the brew slides down your throat. Test how long those flavors linger. For quality bourbon, the taste should hang around for 15 - 20 seconds.

6. Water it down — Imagine the flavor of undiluted bourbon as a closed fist. Adding in a dose of water to your mix will help you customize the flavor, creating a more intense flavor than drinking the mix uncut.

7. On the rocks — Try pouring the bourbon over ice. As you slowly sip the beverage, the ice begins to melt, allowing you to slowly experience a full range of the bourbon's flavor.

We start them early in Santa Barbara! ;-)

And because I am a sucker for themes, I had to design a menu which included foods with bourbon in them. That way people could eat their bourbon too! The menu included: pulled pork sliders with bourbon BBQ sauce, butternut squash and bourbon bisque, and bourbon caramel topped brie. Recipes to come. For dessert, my friend, Meredith, made these ridiculous bourbon pecan pies. I know, I have nice friends!

I think a good time was had by all considering it didn't wind down until the wee hours of the morning.

After surveying the scene the morning after, I'd say a good bit of damage was done.

I guess it could've been worse: "How well I remember my first encounter with The Devil's Brew. I happened to stumble across a case of bourbon — and went right on stumbling for several days thereafter." — W.C. Fields, actor

Although I usually try to clean up somewhat before I go to bed after a party, there is always that elusive glass you find the next morning that just wreaks and reminds you of a fraternity house.

An Education

2011-11-08T19:21:00.000-08:00

When I first started my blog, my friend Wilson told me I should do a post on how to taste bourbon. Lord knows I drink bourbon like it's my job. You'd think I'd be an expert, but in truth, I didn't know the first thing about the formalities of tasting it. But like the good student that I am, at least in the subjects that deeply interest me (sorry Mr. Arcand), I decided I needed to get an education on my favorite libation.

Because my father is also a great student of bourbon, I suggested we spend his birthday on the Bourbon Trail in Kentucky. So I finagled a business trip to Louisville, met up with my parents, and spent the weekend gaining an advanced bourbon degree. All I can say is sign me up for the PhD program!

Central Kentucky is an idyllic setting, with rolling green meadows studded with pristine white fences holding back stunning thoroughbreds, trickling limestone-filtered streams, and white oak forests. It also happens to provide the perfect conditions for producing the honey-colored drink I love so much. The Bourbon Trail is a route connecting Louisville, Bardstown, Lexington and Frankfort and offering up a number of different distilleries and a peek at some pockets of rich southern history.

We began our journey in Louisville, with a chilly morning at the tracks (I could have used a nip at that point!) and then headed south with my mom at the wheel, our official designated driver since she does not share the same love of "America's official native spirit."

If you've ever seen the movie Sideways, you know that Santa Barbara is located in one of the most beloved, and highly rated, wine regions in California. As such, I've spent a fair amount of time wine tasting. Let me just say the pours can be quite generous! You can get pretty schnockered after just a few wineries. If you're really interested, a few of the bigger labels may have a formal tour, but you usually just show up, they pull out a proper wine glass for you and start pouring. Usually you're tasting no less than 5 different wines per winery, but often you end up wanting to buy a bottle so you may go back and forth between a few — with some extra tastes to help make the decision. As a bourbon tasting virgin, I expected bourbon tasting to go kind of the same way (hence my mom as the designated driver). I couldn't have been more wrong.

The official Bourbon Trail is comprised of 6 distilleries: Jim Beam, Heaven Hill, Makers Mark, Woodford, Four Roses, and Wild Turkey. We had 2 days to hit these, which seemed like a piece of cake. Little did we know. . . . Firstly you have to take a tour (I believe by law) of the distillery to actually get to taste any bourbon. Then the taste is miniscule. When they say it's a "tasting," they're not lying! You're getting like a 1/4 of an ounce of one bourbon if you're lucky! And some even serve them in plastic cups! This photo is the tasting before I actually tasted it.

Each tour is approximately an hour so each stop on the tour is a time commitment. Then you have to drive a good ways to the next distillery. And I cannot stress this enough: you must have a GPS with you. And even then pray you see some nice locals along the way to confirm your route because you find yourself alone on these unmarked, deserted country roads and even having to cross streams in some instances!

The GPS failed to acknowledge this but thankfully there were several pick-up trucks embedded in said stream with high school boys who were kind enough to pause from setting off firecrackers to confirm that we were indeed heading in the right direction.

If you can knock out three distilleries in a day you're doing well. I must say the tours are incredibly interesting and all have their own spin as a result of their unique heritage. You get a real appreciation for the history behind bourbon, as well as the craft.

Firstly, let's talk about what is bourbon, because I learned all bourbon is whiskey, but all whiskey is not bourbon. To earn this classification, a distilled spirit must have these attributes:

It must have been distilled and aged in the US (not just Kentucky) for two years
It must be made with at least 51% corn (rye, wheat or barley malt may also be used)
It cannot be blended with coloring, flavoring or neutral spirits (water doesn't count)
It may not be distilled higher than 160 proof
It must be aged in new, charred American white oak barrels at no more than 125 proof, and bottled at no less than 80 proof.

Some tours are better than others and some bourbons are better than others, but you learn something and appreciate something at each stop. At some you get to see (and even taste) the sour mash barrels. . . .

You learn about the Angel's Share, which is the term used to describe the percent of the barrel that is lost to evaporation during the aging process. The belief is that guardian angels watch over the barrels as they age, and the evaporated portion is their payment. Smart angels.

You learn about the process of producing the charred barrels which give off that wonderfully caramelized flavor and will be amazed by the stories of barrels sitting around aging. Imagine a stadium filled with bourbon barrels. . . .

I'd grown up on stories about bootleggers who were always running from the law. I often wondered how the authorities tracked down these "entrepreneurs." I was fascinated to learn that in humid climates the loss of ethanol (the Angel's Share) leads to the growth of a black fungus that covers everything in the vicinity. Walls, trees, you name it. There is no way to avoid it and therefore the distillers had to have a mobile operation as they knew at some point the black markings would give them away. Thankfully that changed after Prohibition ended, but it was amazing to see the indelible markings of bourbon production.

The highlight for me was getting to "wax" my own bottle of Maker's Mark. Maker's is my go-to bourbon, often considered the "elegant bourbon." I usually enjoy it "neat" or in a well-made Manhattan. As a marketer, I appreciate the branding details they've cultivated to create loyalty and instant recognition. Not only do they have a different mix of key ingredients that produce a slightly sweet bite followed by a soft finish (compliments of the heavier wheat profile), but they have a uniquely shaped bottle that is dipped in regal red wax. Cracking open a new bottle feels almost ceremonial. But dipping your own bottle in wax feels positively bucket-list worthy!

You don the mitts, apron and goggles (after signing your bottle) . . .

. . . and dip away. In truth, I found it a tad stressful as I wanted to generate the perfect wax drip. Which is totally insane. I realized that now.

Alas, I was very proud of my end result.

I'm happy to report after diligent studying, I do now know how to properly taste bourbon:

Look it over — Pour yourself a drink and take some time to study the color. A darker color tends to mean longer storage time, higher proof or both.
Give it a swirl — Get a firm grip on the glass and swirl the bourbon around, a move called aerating. This allows the drink to breathe a bit, which makes for a better tasting experience.
Take a deep breath — Part your lips, place your nose deep into the glass, and give the liquid a sniff. By opening your mouth slightly while inhaling, you can avoid being overpowered by alcohol. The smell gives a preview to the taste.
Have a drink — To get a complete flavor profile, take a large sip and work it around to coat the inside of your mouth. This allows the bourbon to hit different parts of the tongue, from the sweet-sensing tip to the sour-sensing sides.
OK, now swallow — Pay careful attention to the flavors as it slides down your throat. You may taste coconut, butterscotch, marzipan, white chocolate, smoke, or even banana, to mention a few options. Test how long the flavors linger. For quality bourbon, the taste should hang around 15-20 seconds.
Water it down — Imagine the flavor of undiluted bourbon as a closed fist. Adding in a few drops of water will help customer the flavor, creating a more intense flavor than drinking it uncut.
On the rocks — Try pouring the bourbon over ice. As you slowly sip it, the ice will begin to melt, allowing you to slowly experience a full spectrum of flavor.

I would definitely recommend the Bourbon Trail to anyone—non-bourbon lovers included! I'm definitely planning to go back. There are numerous other distilleries in the area that are not officially on the Trail that I'd like to visit. Namely Buffalo Trace, who makes Pappy Van Winkle, my special occasion bourbon, and was named the 2010 Whisky Visitor Attraction of the Year. They've also launched an intriguing initiative called Single Oak Project, the most extensive bourbon experiment ever! I was lucky enough to recently receive a bottle from this experiment from my good friend, Matt, and fellow bourbon appreciator. It's awesome, although I haven't shared it with anyone yet. Whoops. He's the same friend who turned me on to the small batch Reservoir Bourbon out of Richmond, VA this summer. I did share that one. This is the damage from the first night. And that's why I can get stingy with my good stuff. ;-)

I did mention it was my dad's birthday, right? Well, it would be no proper birthday without birthday cake. Get a load of this tower of tastiness! I'm embarrassed to say, we polished it off in a blink.

The 'Wiching Hour

2011-10-17T20:13:00.001-07:00

It's that time of year. . . . You can't swing a witch's stick without hitting a ghost or goblin. Soon it will be the witching hour of Halloween. But for some of us (well, at least me), that hour comes every day around noon. That's when I am overcome with a wave of hunger. I cease to be able to concentrate on anything until food has been put in my stomach. With each passing moment, I become more impatient, annoyed and downright unpleasant to be around. When I worked in corporate, people would always plan to have food on hand if there was even the slightest chance the meeting I was attending would run into the witching hour. Trust me, it was for the benefit of all. And if they were asking me for approval on something, they would be doubly motivated to feed me. I was much more apt to sign off on something with a slice of pizza in my hand. I could honestly never understand how anyone could work out at the gym during their lunch hour. It's one of those great unanswered mysteries to me, along with why someone feels compelled to talk on their cell phone when they're in a public restroom.

These days the witching hour still comes right on time, but I'm less likely to be in a meeting when it occurs because I have more control over my schedule. I'd like to think that I'm a somewhat flexible eater, but I've come to realize that I get a little agro when it comes to food classifications by meal time. I know some people out there go gaga when breakfast is served for dinner. But I like my breakfast in the morning and my dinner in the evening. I think the only gray area is a burrito which I will eat at breakfast, lunch or dinner — but of course eggs are only allowed in the breakfast burrito.

I guess I'm just a traditionalist at heart. As such, it's probably no surprise that the only time you'll find me eating a sandwich is for lunch. For me you might say lunch is the 'wiching hour. [Yes, terrible pun intended.] I often wonder how people can give up carbs. I mean what on Earth are they eating for lunch if the sandwich is the official food of lunchtime? Regardless of your leniency towards meal creep, I think you might get pretty excited about these sandwiches. They're fast to whip together and super tasty. Because really, who wants to eat food that doesn't make your taste buds smile? That's almost as bad as eggs benedict for dinner!

Herbed Chicken Salad Sandwiches

Ingredients

1 Tbsp finely chopped fresh tarragon

2 Tbsp mayo

3 Tbsp Greek yogurt

1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice

1/8 tsp kosher salt

2 cups chopped, skinless, boneless rotisserie chicken breast

1/4 cup minced sweet onion

8 bread slices (this is delicious on rye but I love it on wheat too)

Lettuce leaves (red, arugula, whatever you have on hand)

Directions

Combine the first 5 ingredients in a large bowl. Stir in chicken and onion until mixed well. Slather between two slices of bread along with some lettuce.

Grilled Tuna Sandwich with Asian Mayo

Ingredients

4 ahi tuna steaks (approximately 3 oz each)

6 Tbsp - 1/3 cup mayo

1-3 tsp sesame oil

Arugula leaves

8 slices bread (wheat or ciabatta rolls)

Directions

Preheat a grill pan to high. Dry ahi steaks and sprinkle with salt and pepper. When grill pan is ready, quickly sear the steaks on each side, approximately 2-3 minutes depending on the thickness of the steaks. You want the tuna still pink in the center and it will keep cooking when you remove it from the pan. Mix the mayo and sesame oil together. Adjust ratio to your liking, but it should taste like sesame-spiked mayo not mayo-spiked sesame oil. Slather it on both sides of the bread, pile on the ahi steak and some arugula leaves.

QR Code Caper

2011-09-10T16:49:00.000-07:00

Birthdays are occasions not to be minimized (even if we want to minimize our age). My mom taught me that. She always made "events" out of birthdays. They weren't shrinking violet days. Oh no, they were big, boisterous days that started with a bang, full of singing, breakfast in bed, champagne, or whatever else you wanted . . . except for excessive sleeping because she abhors the concept of "sleeping your life away," even on birthdays. She went out of her way to make birthdays special, memorable and personal. So when my friend Karen's birthday rolled around in late July, we were looking for a way to celebrate that embodied my mom's approach.

We thought it would be fun to do Santa Barbara's Urban Wine Trail, but wanted to kick it up a notch. We devised a sort of scavenger hunt on bikes [drinking and biking, oh my!] with clues for each stop. But Meredith had the brilliant idea to use Quick Response (QR) Codes to direct Karen to each spot. What's a QR code, you might ask?

It's these little guys you see popping up more and more on ads, posters, and displays. You scan the barcode with a smart phone and it provides information, coupons, maps, URLs, etc.

Karen is a massive Beatles fan, so we themed the celebration Karen's Magical Birthday Tour and Meredith designed this "updated" album cover with our faces as the "new" Beatles to set the tone.

Each clue was provided on the CD label, along with the critical QR code which revealed the next destination.

Some clues were pretty easy, but some clues did stump Karen so the QR code was really helpful in getting us to the next stop in the Tour. I took video of Karen opening up each clue and some (OK, 418 to be exact) photos at each place. The plan was to load them on the appropriate CD as a memento, which I still have yet to do.

We picked up our transportation for the day (little Samantha was very disappointed she couldn't join the big girls on the outing) . . . .

. . . and then headed out to get some food to fuel our tour.

Once we had our provisions in hand, we formally began the Urban Wine Trail at La Tour, a very unique, hidden spot (which has since moved to bigger digs but still has Graham at the helm so life is good). We gave Karen a celebratory wine glass to use all day and kicked things off with a lovely rosé champagne.

We really challenged Graham by asking him to find a wine pairing for my BBQ potato chips, but he rocked it.

Next we stopped off at Carr and Kunin to soak up the sunshine and samples. It was a blast.

Then we landed at Oreana where we had cupcakes waiting for us. It wouldn't be a birthday without a vehicle to blow out a candle!

As the afternoon started fading into evening (and the cupcakes were gone), we decided it was time for some more food! We deferred to the birthday girl for her choice of cuisine. She surprised us all by asking to make a tour stop for burgers with a side trip to the batting cage! So we biked along the waterfront . . .

. . . and made our way here, and then grabbed a beer and a bat and started swinging. It was a hilarious sight to behold, no doubt. And this time, Samantha was able to join us.

Taking the queue from the setting sun, we figured it was time for us to bike back home and bring the QR Code Caper to a close.

Away

2011-08-30T20:45:00.000-07:00

I've been away from here for a while.

You see I actually got very sick quite unexpectedly. Sick as in your day starts out completely unremarkable (breakfast, exercise, client conference call . . .) and then a few hours later you're in the ICU! Anyway, the point is I haven't really been up to the task of blogging, or really much else, for most of August. But I was completely humbled by the graciousness and thoughtfulness of so many who visited me in the hospital, stayed with me when I got out, sent me good things to read and beautiful things to look at, and made nourishing, delicious things for me to eat. It certainly makes me appreciate what a blessing good health is — and good friends!

So not a whole lot of cookin' has been going on in my kitchen of late. Seriously, I don't even know when I last made a home-cooked meal or what it was. This is what I "made" for breakfast this morning. I know, it looks like something a college student would eat.

In the wake of the mysterious illness (which is yet to be named but the doctors assure me I'll make a full recovery from), I also felt like I needed to get away and kind of regroup. So I stole away this week. While there will be no food pictures, I thought perhaps you might still enjoy these shots.

I do miss cooking and promise to get back to it soon, as well as blogging. Warm wishes to all for a wonderful Labor Day holiday ahead!

Getting Smashed

2011-08-08T21:04:00.000-07:00

It's Monday. What can I say except I miss the weekend already. I'm having separation anxiety and am wondering how I'll survive until Friday when the weekend comes back to greet us with hopefully this in hand:

It's my 2011 Drink of Summer. I tend to get on these kicks and right now this is it: the Bourbon Blackberry Smash. I first had a version of this a few months ago at a restaurant in town. It was called Red Rocks, which I think is quite a clever name. [I'm in marketing so I can't help but evaluate things like this on menus. . . . ]

But as I ponder how to brand my version, I think I'll call mine Bourberry.

Consider this your gateway drug to bourbon if you think you don't like it. 'Cuz after tasting this, you'll wonder how you made it so many years without this lovely liquor. The next thing you know you'll be drinking two fingers (or sometimes six) "neat" out of a lovely old fashioned glass (or plastic cup).

It really is the perfect summertime drink. The rich, tart fruit at its peak is the perfect match for the wood undertones you find in bourbon. And the sparkling lemonade adds just enough crispiness to it to really quench your thirst. Well, not that you'll want to stop at just one. And because it's considered a "smash," the blackberry seeds are intentionally unstrained , so it's the lazy man's cocktail. Perfect for when it's too hot to do any heavy lifting and you'd rather laugh at the silly face the seeds and lemon slice made in your drink.

I must say, it is rather perfect to sip from the veranda or the pool — or anywhere else for that matter.

So I hope you'll join me this weekend (or tomorrow) and get "smashed!" I hate to drink alone.

Bourberry

Makes 1 drink, but you'll want to quadruple this so plan accordingly

Ingredients

3 oz fresh blackberries

2 oz bourbon

1.5 oz sparkling lemonade (or club soda with some fresh lemon juice squeezed in it)

1/2 oz simple syrup (1:1 ratio sugar to water - or some agave syrup if you're lazy)

lemon wedge for garnish

Directions

Muddle blackberries in a glass. Fill with crushed ice. Add bourbon, sparkling lemonade and simple syrup. Garnish with a lemon slice and sip!

Easy A

2011-08-02T17:21:00.000-07:00

I loved the charming comedy Easy A and thought Emma Stone scored an "A" in my book for her breakthrough performance and the witty humor and smart commentary throughout. I'm definitely looking forward to Emma's new turn as the protagonist Skeeter in the film The Help, based upon Kathryn Stockett's best-selling novel opening August 10th.

If you've read the book, you know good ole Southern cookin' is central to the story. My mouth was watering thinking about the fried chicken they ate. I know that fried chicken. It's cooked in Crisco and it's extra crispy which locks in the juiciness of the meat. You need extra napkins—or a towel—to catch the juice as it runs down your chin. I know that smell of frying chicken. When you're hungry (or not), I'm not sure there is anything that smells better. I can close my eyes now and be in my grandmother's kitchen watching her deft hands commanding those chicken pieces in the skillet like a general while I wait for them to cool down enough to eat.

While I love fried chicken, it's not something you just whip up. It's rather involved and takes some practice before you perfect it. Clearly my grandmother has had a lot of practice. In fact, I'm kind of embarrassed to admit I've never even made fried chicken before! I'm happy just eating my mom's or my grandmother's. It's like if someone sews you beautiful clothing, like my grandmother also did, why bother to learn to sew yourself? That was my rationale anyway, which I realize now is quite short-sighted. So I'm planning to master fried chicken (or at least start trying) this year. It was one of my 2011 cooking resolutions, which may seem a bit off the New Year Resolution track of eating healthier, but it's not an every day dish so I'm not going to feel too guilty about it. So stay tuned for that!

In the meantime, though, let me share with you this Easy A (as in appetizer) recipe that is perfect for summer and has nothing fried in it! I made it as an appetizer while in Palm Springs this summer for a girl's weekend. It was a wonderful treat and easy to polish off poolside with a an adult beverage in hand, which are both required when it's 110 degrees.

I love cherries. They seem like such a quintessential summertime fruit. I can eat them by the bowl full. They always remind me of my dad too. The Colonel, as he's known, has two tricks. One is "The Quarter Trick." I will spare you the description, but if you've ever met him, there's a 99.999999% chance he's done The Quarter Trick for you.

The second trick, which I haven't seen him do in a while but remember it fondly from my childhood, is he could take the cherry stem in his mouth and somehow tie it into a knot using his teeth and tongue. As a 5 year old, that was fascinating stuff! Anyway, if you've got any Easy A cherry recipes, please send my way while summer is still here! This year is flying by. . . .

Prosciutto and Cherry Crostini
Adapted from Cooking Light

Note: I made this as a crostini but you can easily make it into a sandwich if you wanted a larger serving. It would also hold up well for a picnic. You can certainly change out the meat (salami, turkey, etc.) and the fruit (plums, peaches, cherries). I kind of don't think you can mess it up.

Ingredients

1/4 cup fig preserves
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1/4 tsp grated peeled fresh ginger
5 oz soft goat cheese
baguette, sliced on the diagonal
2 cups arugula
2 cups cherries, pitted and sliced
5 oz very thinly sliced prosciutto

Directions

Combine first 3 ingredients, stirring with a whisk; set aside.
Spread cheese evenly over bread slices; divide arugula, cherries, and prosciutto evenly over bread. Drizzle with fig preserve mixture. And plan to make another batch 'cuz these go fast.

Tru Dat

2011-07-20T20:59:00.000-07:00

Two weeks ago, I was in Chicago, which is one of my favorite "eating cities." Some people rate places based on their architecture, museums, sports teams, etc., but I'm all about how awesome is the food there?! I keep a long list of eating spots I want to try in different towns. I think I'd have to live half the year in Chicago in order to make a dent in my list.

Sadly on this trip, my colleague (and awesome friend) and I only had one night to dine as we wished. To a girl like me, that's a daunting and depressing task. How to choose just one restaurant in such a foodie city? I thought if you've only got one shot, you might as well go big or go home. With all the recent hype around Next, that was first on the list, but it's nearly impossible to get tickets (unless you're my cool friend E.G. who somehow snaked some tickets 4 days after I left town and is now out of my will). We happily settled on Tru and decided to go for the over-the-top tasting menu.

I can still recall my first chef's tasting menu experience. It was a 2002 business dinner at Nobu in Manhattan. I was with a group of very sophisticated and successful professionals I'd met earlier that day. They choose the restaurant and insisted we get the 12-course tasting menu (did I mention they were also picking up the check?). I don't think I've ever seen such a parade of endless and exotic dishes in my life. Although I wasn't the most adventurous sushi eater at the time, I was not about to not eat each course in front of these men. What I learned was two-fold:
1) I needed to take more risks with food, as my palate was opened up to a whole new world of ingredients, flavors and dishes. It was liberating and exciting, like travel is for me.
2) There is a physical capacity the stomach can hold. Seriously, I actually threw up half the food later that night as I experienced first-hand what the term "gluttony" is —and it rightly should be one of the seven deadly sins.

OK, back to the tasting at Tru. . . . First off, math is not my strongest suit but the 9-course chef's collection menu somehow ended up being 13 courses. I was a little afraid of a repeat gluttony episode, so we took our sweet time savoring each course—almost 4 hours! That was probably also a good idea because did I mention that each course was paired with wine. . . and we started with cocktails? What a rookie move!

I don't want to be too indulgent here but let me give you a quick rundown of some of the highlights. The photos do not do justice to the taste or presentation. I have a new found appreciation for food stylists and photographers.

Cucumber salad on gelee, bouchot mussel veloute

(beyond sublime, near genuis)

White sturgeon "caviar," avocado, hazelnut

Duroc pork belly, stone ground grits, pickled ramps

. . . which I liked a lot.

Scottish salmon, sorrel, smoked cream

Glazed veal, fava bean, morel mushroom, tokyo turnip, prosciutto

Selection of cow, goal and sheep's milk cheeses

Gold flaked chocolate filled with liquid mint, which you must eat in one shot and close your mouth when you bite down or you'll find yourself covered in liquid mint but is insanely delicious! Give me a bib and I'd eat a dozen.

We closed the place down around 1:30 am, and Ronda was bold enough to ask for a kitchen tour. Our noble hosts let us ooh and ahh over the rows of copper pots, the industrial burners, the food prep for the next day, and all the other behind the scene stuff I found fascinating. It's like walking into the airplane cockpit for the first time when you're a kid.

Ronda enjoyed a moment of imagining herself in the kitchen fray mid-service. . . .

Somehow I get the feeling she wouldn't look quite so refreshed and glamorous on the job.

The time came when we had to say good-bye to our fabulous service team, Aaron and Chad, and head out for a night cap (because we needed more alcohol).

As a parting gift, they gave us a personalized menu, which we lost later that evening (keep reading for how that could've possibly occurred), but the hostess was nice enough to reprint for us the next day when we stopped by and had the chef sign it! It was TRU-ly a first-rate experience in every detail.

Per Ronda's suggestion, we ended up here, found some seats next to our favorite piano man and sang with abandon. Let me just come right out and say this: The more you drink the better we sound.

We certainly enjoyed ourselves on our one night out on the town. Unfortunately, the "night" ends in Chicago at 5 am.

Thankfully, I had enough sense to order a burger and fries from room service at 4 o'clock in the morning when we got back to the hotel. I'm embarrassed to say I ate the whole thing, which is impressive after our 9-13 course (depending on your math) tasting menu. And possibly more shocking than that is we ate a lunch of deep dish pizza at the famous Gino's East the next day!

It's no surprise that I've been on a diet since I got home.

Fine Swine and Wine

2011-07-08T18:49:00.001-07:00

Greetings from Chicago! I have the esteemed pleasure of kicking off the weekend here — with my first stop at this spot, which I've been waiting to try. The theme alone makes me happy: Cheese, Swine & Wine. I mean, what's not to like?!

I have the good fortune of being here with my dear friend, Ronda, and we were happy to start things off with a beautiful glass (er, bottle) of the most lovely summer wine. It's very similar to Spain's txakoli but a vihno verde from Portugal. Light, fruity and slightly bubbly. Vinho verde literally translates to "green wine" but the name isn't referring to the color. It's a reference to the notion that this wine should be drunk right away, when it's very young, or green. So Ronda and I heeded the name and got busy sipping away and enjoying the beautiful afternoon in one of my favorite cities.

Wishing you a great weekend, wherever you might be!

The British are Coming

2011-07-06T16:41:00.000-07:00

My Club Med friend, Janine, recommended I bake something special in honor of the Royal Couple's impending visit to Santa Barbara. Since I can't pony up the $4000 to stomp divots with them, I'm hoping this gesture will temp them into at least a hand shake!

When I thought about something appropriately British to make, scones were one of the first things that came to mind. But honestly, I'm just not that into them. I think generally speaking there are muffin people and there are scone people. I'm in the former camp. I prefer moist, cakey baked options over dry, crumbly ones. Although I've never gotten that excited about scones before, this recipe got such rave reviews it did sound fit for royalty (not to mention the recipe title is a pretty strong endorsement). Plus the recipe said it took only 15 minutes to prepare which got me kind of excited. And it didn't use eggs. Is it just me or does anyone else think eggs are messy?. . . .

[On an aside, I just noticed the bottle of Marker's Mark in the background of this photo. What can I say? Doesn't everyone have that on their kitchen counter next to the bottle of olive oil?]

After whipping these up (in no more than 15 minutes), I think I know why these are a hit: they're essentially chocolate chip cookies masked as something much more refined. But per someone's suggestion, I did add more OJ than the original recipe calls for. It created a texture more palatable to me (read: less dry), but still preserves the essence of a scone.

The butter keeps them flakey and the orange zest adds a touch of flair. In short, I thought the result was a scone — but better. Some people may think this also captures Wills and Kate: royalty but better.

English Royalty Chocolate Chip Scones

from allrecipes.com

Ingredients

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/3 cup white sugar

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

5 Tbsp unsalted butter, chilled and cubed

1/2 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips

8 Tbsp orange juice

1 tsp orange zest

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray a baking sheet with nonstick cooking spray.

2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. With your fingers, a fork or a pastry cutter, cut in the butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in the chocolate chips and zest. Mix in the OJ to form a dough.

3. Turn out the dough onto a floured work surface. Pat or roll into a 9-inch circle about 1/2 inch thick. With a 2 1/2-inch biscuit cutter, cut out 12 scones, pushing the dough scraps together for the last few, if necessary. Transfer scones to the baking sheet.

4. Bake in over until golden brown, about 12 minutes. Remove and move to wire racks to cool.

Double Take

2011-06-11T17:19:00.000-07:00

{Author's Note: I am lame. I started this post on June 11th. It's now July 2nd and a gloriously 85+ degrees with sunny skies in Santa Barbara, with more normalized weather elsewhere, so now this entry sounds ludicrous. But it's a delicious recipe which would be perfect to make this holiday weekend, so I'm going to go ahead and finish this post. I hope you enjoy it and Happy Independence Day!}

It's summertime! Doesn't that seem to be the case as much of the country is wilting under record-breaking temps? Yet Santa Barbara remains all about June Gloom. I'm sick of waking up every day to temperatures in the mid-50s, drizzle and gray skies. It does make for good magazine reading, a favorite pastime, but I'd much prefer to do it by the pool or on the beach than wrapped in a blanket on my sofa.

I'm an admitted magazine junkie and have been having a hard time keeping up with my new inventory. It's getting a little out of hand now as the July publications are arriving in my mailbox and I'm still trying to get through my May issues.

I was absorbing each page of the June Food & Wine issue with the intensity of an X-ray technician scanning patient films in search of anything awry, reading each recipe word for word and studying each photograph as if I was committing it to memory for a test. It can be painful to watch but it's my equivalent of a kid in a candy store. This is how I read cooking magazines. That is until I came to an article called "The Virtues of Vegan Grilling." Literally, I was like, "Yawn. . . . Who wants to read that?" and my eyes glazed over. Truthfully, I've often thought vegans were missing out. You can't expect a Southern girl to understand someone who doesn't have a love affair with pork. And as a pizza and pasta fan(atic), well, it just seems nearly criminal to eschew eggs and cheese. So I mindlessly and hurriedly flipped the pages in anticipation of something of real value when my turning halted and I did a double take. . . .

There in front of my eyes was this vibrant plate filled with grilled broccoli and chunks of bread that made my mouth water. Seriously, you could almost taste the smokiness and crunchiness of the charred ingredients with just a hint of sweetness; a plate which would only be enhanced by the perfectly poured Pilsner photographed next to it while sitting at a picnic table with friends and laughing in between bites of food as the sun warmed your skin.

Instead I was alone in my house under very unfriendly grilling weather. But there was something about that photo I couldn't let go of. So much for my utter disregard for vegan cooking. . . . We may not see eye to eye on everything but they clearly had something here. So, I ran to the grocery store to gather the required provisions. Well, let's just say that I did take some liberties with the recipe because let's be honest, who, besides a vegan, wants to eat vegan ciabatta? Firstly, I've never even heard of such a thing. And secondly, where does one even find it for that matter? I know I shouldn't knock it until I try it, but do you know how awesome pillowy, chewy "real" ciabatta is?

I knew I also needed some protein to make this a meal. I opted for U.S. wild-caught shrimp, which I thought would seem less offensive to the vegans. I know that is ridiculous but I think I was hoping that picking something endorsed by the Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch Guide would somehow help me gain their approval after butchering their recipe.

Since the weather was not cooperating, I had to resort to ye old grill pan. While not as good as the real thing, it still creates some beautiful grill marks and some smokiness which makes it seem almost plausible that you're eating something fresh off the Weber.

When you think about it, this dish is really just a refreshing rift on a traditional panzenella salad with tomatoes and Italian bread. It comes together quickly as there is really no marinating or prep for the ingredients. It's pretty much peel or cut and get it on the grill. I do think it will be a winning dish this summer, regardless of whether June Gloom spills into July or Fogust returns like last year.

Grilled Broccoli and Bread Salad with Pickled Shallots

Adapted from Food & Wine

Ingredients

2 large shallots, thinly sliced

1/4 cup golden raisins

1/4 cup sherry

1/8 cup sherry vinegar

1/8 cup agave syrup

1 tsp chopped fresh thyme

Kosher salt

Grated zest and juice from 1 Meyers lemon (which are sweeter and juicier than traditional lemons)

1/2 cup olive oil

Freshly ground pepper

4 garlic cloves, minced

2 tsp crushed red pepper

2 tsp chopped rosemary

1 1/2 lbs broccoli, cut into long spears, stems peeled

1 1/2 - 2 lbs shrimp, peeled and deveined (depending on what you want your protein to vegetable ratio to be and how filling you want this salad to be)

1/2 lb ciabatta, cut into 1/2-inch thick slices

2 Tbsp toasted pine nuts

Directions

1. Put the shallots and the raisins in two separate, small, heat-proof bowls. In a small sauce pan, combine the sherry, sherry vinegar, and agave syrup and bring to a boil. Pour 2 Tbsp of hot mixture over raisins; pour the rest over the shallots and add the thyme and 1 tsp of salt. Cover both bowls.

2. Light a grill or grill pan. Combine the lemon zest and juice with the olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Set aside 4 Tbsp of the dressing. Add garlic, crushed red pepper and rosemary to the remaining dressing in the bowl.

3. On a rimmed baking sheet, place the broccoli on one side and the shrimp on the other (so they're segregated on the sheet). Drizzle half the dressing over each side and toss well, with just a Tbsp reserve to drizzle over the cubed bread. Grill the broccoli over moderate heat, turning, until lightly chard and just tender, about 8-10 minutes. Transfer broccoli to a bowl, cover with foil and let steam for an additional 5 minutes. Add the shrimp to the grill and grill each side approximately 2 minutes, until opaque and cooked through. Remove and place in a large serving bowl. Don't overcook--the shrimp will keep cooking after you remove it. Finally, add the ciabatta slices until crisp, maybe 1 minute each side.

4. Cut the ciabatta into 1-inch cubes. Add to the bowl with shrimp, along with the broccoli. Drain the raisins and shallots and add to the salad. Drizzle with reserved dressing and pine nuts. Mix well and serve. Yields: 4 servings.

Up in the Air

2011-06-02T09:22:00.001-07:00

This seems to be a place I'm spending a lot of my time lately. The 6:00 am flights are kind of a drag at times when the alarm goes off at 4:00 am, but it is awe-inspiring to see the sunrises . . .

. . . and the sunsets from up in the air.

I always loved the view from the top when you're above the clouds. It looks like a big marshmellow-y carpet that I want to run on. Granted that probably wouldn't end well for a number of reasons, but it doesn't diminish the allure for me.

I've spent a lot of time waking up in new cities . . .

. . . and finding new acquaintances in close quarters, like these lovely critters caught in between the plane window panes.

It's always great to get home, but it's often not a well-stocked one (except for alcohol). It can be a bit exhausting too to fly all over the place so the idea of spending all day in the kitchen making a tasty spread seems like more energy than I can muster some days. After ordering pizza for 3 days in a row, I finally realize that I have to make a change. . . .

And then it's frozen dinner time! That's right, it seems like some days all the cooking energy I can expend is to push 3:00 on my microwave and watch the plastic tray go around and around like a zombie.

Thankfully Trader Joe's has some pretty good options. This one has been in high rotation of late. The finished product always looks better on the box though, doesn't it?

The good news is that since I started microwavin' I've got more time for . . . . ;-)

Happy June, y'all! [Can you believe it's already June?!]

Homey

2011-05-14T20:22:00.000-07:00

This time last week I was at the Kentucky Derby. It was honestly one of the funnest events I've ever been to. It may have been that I could drink mint juleps for 12-hours straight—and I wasn't the only person doing it. It might be because I was with a group of super awesome friends (new and old) and we were all dressed up fancy, which I don't get to do often enough in casual, beachy California. I do know it wasn't because I won any money, that's for sure. I also just love new adventures and experiences. It makes me feel alive, like I'm really taking advantage of my time on this Earth.

Because I played hooky from work for a few days to attend, I landed in Santa Barbara and found myself walking smack into a brutal marathon of professional commitments. I believe in the motto, "you've gotta pay to play," so I'm not complaining, but I must say Friday couldn't come soon enough this week. I'd been functioning in zombie mode for the past few days, just trying to keep afloat and make sure no balls dropped. When I woke up this morning I felt like I could finally take a deep breath and relax. It felt so good to wake up with the sunshine streaming through my window in my own bed. I don't think I moved once during the night so it felt good to stretch out, my toes feeling the cold undisturbed corners of the sheets.

Once I'd run the requisite errands, it was luxurious to just sink into my sofa and watch a few episodes of Glee I'd missed with all my recent travels and read through a stack of magazines that'd been piling up. As much as I love to travel, it felt decidedly wonderful to be home. When hunger got the best of me, I wandered into the kitchen and opened the refrigerator half expecting it to be filled with oodles of fresh Farmers Market produce and a lovely salmon filet. For a girl who's spent 15 out of the last 28 days on the road, I'd say that was clearly delusional. Instead I found 26 jars of condiments, some wilted celery, a dried out bag of baby carrots, an expired carton of milk, and a 6-pack of beer. Not exactly inspiring. As I walked toward the pantry, I spied the cover of the May issue of Bon Appetit. On it was a bowl of simple pasta pomodoro, claiming to be the "simplest, silkiest sauce you'll ever make." In that moment, I couldn't think of anything more perfect or homey than that bowl of pasta. Thank goodness I had the few necessary ingredients on hand because I simply couldn't bare the thought of having to leave my house again.

So I began chopping, sautéing, stirring, simmering, which felt almost meditative after being out of the kitchen for so long. I even loved that my windows were starting to fog up from the kitchen heat.

Shortly thereafter, I found myself eating this lovely bowl of pasta delicately coated in a truly delicious sauce. The simplicity was where the genius laid. At times I love nothing more than to spend an entire day composing a ridiculously complex dish. But tonight, I just wanted to sit down with a beautiful glass of wine, spin a few strands of painted pasta around my fork and turn pages in a magazine while sitting on a bar stool in my own kitchen. It was no Kentucky Derby, but it was perfect.

Pasta al Pomodoro

from Bon Apetit

Ingredients

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1 medium onion, finely chopped

4 garlic cloves, minced

pinch of crushed red pepper flakes

1 28-oz can San Marzano tomatoes, crushed

1 Tbsp kosher salt

5 large basil leaves, chopped

12 oz spaghetti or capellini

2 Tbsp unsalted butter

1/4 cup finely grated Parmesan or Pecorino

Directions

Heat olive oil in a 12" skillet over medium-low heat. Add onion, stirring until soft, about 12 minutes. Add garlic and cook, stirring, for 2-4 minutes. Add a pinch (or more) of pepper flakes; cook for 1 minute. Add can of tomatoes and season with salt; cook, stirring occasionally, until sauce thickens slightly and the flavors meld, about 20 minutes. Remove pan from heat and stir in basil and set aside.

Meanwhile bring 3 quarts of salted water to a boil and add pasta. Cook according to directions but remove 1-2 minutes before tender. Drain, reserving 1/2 cup pasta cooking water. Stir in the pasta water to loosen the sauce; bring to a boil. Add pasta and cook, stirring, until sauce coasts pasta, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in butter and cheese. Transfer to bowls and serve with more cheese if desired. Yield: 4 servings.

Cause for Celebration

2011-05-04T20:02:00.001-07:00

This photo was taken 33 years ago. My father was serving at Fort Leavenworth, KS (the military post not the penitentiary, just to clarify) and it was the day he was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel in the US Army. I don't remember much about the day but I remember being horribly shy and not wanting to pose for this picture.

This photo was taken today. My brother retired from the US Army as a Lieutenant Colonel. It's frankly hard to believe so much time has elapsed; that we're all grown up. Because it does seem like just yesterday my brother and I celebrated the bicentennial in Fort Leavenworth by walking around the neighborhood banging pots and pans (and I remember being a little scared of the fireworks); or my brother matriculated at West Point as a Plebe cadet, or we celebrated my father's own retirement after 30 years in the Army. I mean, where do the years go?

Even though it seems like time does slip through our fingers, the many rich moments remain tattooed on our souls in a way that shape us into the people we are today. I'm so proud of my brother and his selfless and courageous service for the past two decades. The Nation has much to thank him for. But above all, as the head of the ROTC program at University of Tampa, I think it's a fitting swan song that Rob is shaping the future leaders and protectors of our country. I'm so proud of him, respect him immensely and feel blessed to call him my brother but more so my friend. People love Rob and were happy to come together today to help send him on his way in this next chapter. Because ever so often you meet people who make a real impact in your life. That's Rob. He doesn't try to be that way. He just is.

So today was a day of celebration. It was rather infectious actually. We all had a bit of a hop in our step, a brighter smile on our faces, were kinder to strangers, and more patient with loved ones. It was also a little bit surreal but isn't life like that to some degree? It keeps you on your toes and also reminds you of how important it is to honor and respect and remember and celebrate.

In that vein, I wanted to remind you that tomorrow is Cinco de Mayo, a day set aside to celebrate Mexico's heritage and history. I mean, who doesn't love a good margarita?! While this south of the border holiday may not be universally recognized, the folks south of the Mason-Dixon line have never been one to shy away from a reason to party. So even if you're not Mexican, or Southern, or your awesome brother didn't just retire after 20 years of kicking ass in the Army, you should celebrate. Because life is good. Trust me. Look closer if you have to, but it's there . . . beautifully there.

Whether it's the unconditional lick of love from a fuzzy creature; or the beautiful draping of Spanish moss on a warm Southern night; or finding yourself surrounded by people you love even though they drive you a little crazy; or the fact that you can run to 7-11 at 2 am and pay for vitamin-infused bottled water. . . . I mean, really, life is quite grand. Embarrassingly grand. Quietly grand. Remarkably grand.

So celebrate. Make this delicious guacamole. Make these margaritas. Because both are ridiculously good . . . and ridiculously easy, yet make things feel a bit special. But be prepared to have people high-fiving you like a Navy SEAL who just took out OBL.

Salud!

Guacamole with Roasted Chile, Cumin and Feta

from Fine Cooking

Note: For whatever reason, the roasted poblano transforms the typical jalapeño-infused guacamole.

Ingredients

1 poblano chile

1 medium lime

3 firm-ripe avocados, pitted and peeled

3 medium scallions, white and light-green parts only, chopped

5 Tbsp chopped fresh cilantro

1/4 tsp ground cumin, preferably freshly ground

Kosher salt

1/2 cup medium-diced fresh tomato

2 radishes, slivered

1 Tbsp crumbled feta cheese

Directions

On a gas stove, turn a burner to high and set the chile directly over the flame, turning it with tong, until completely charred, 5-8 minutes. Put the chile in a bowl, cover, and set aside to steam and loosen the skin. When cook enough to handle, peel, seed and finely chop.

Finely grate the zest from the lie and then squeeze the juice. Put the avocado in a bowl and mash with a potato masher or back of a fork. Stir in the lime zest and 2 Tbsp of the lime juice along with the scallions, cilantro, cumin, and 1/2 tsp salt. Season to taste with salt and lime juice. and then fold in the chile and tomato.

Heap the guacamole into a bowl and garnish it with the radish and feat. Serve with tortilla chips.

From Time to Time

2011-04-29T19:43:00.000-07:00

Do you have a sweet tooth? Some people are sweet fanatics. I'm more like a transient, lackluster sweet eater, usually drawn to the beauty and color more than the flavor and joy of consumption. I loved Halloween as a kid mainly because it was a competition with my brother to see who could get the most candy, but truthfully the candy sat around until Easter when my mom threw it out. Then the enormous chocolate bunny we received in our Easter basket went into the fridge, looking quite noble, until Halloween rolled around and my mom once again threw out our sweet stash. I suppose that's why when someone asks if they can bring something to a party I usually ask them to bring dessert because I'm just not that enthusiastic about making it or really even eating it. I know that's blasphemy to some, but you should thank me because it means you can have my slice of cake.

I'm the person who would rather eat another piece of bread than pie because I like fat more than sugar. You know why? Because it makes everything taste better.

Let's be honest, which one do you want:

(a) Snackwell chocolate chip cookie

(b) Ben & Jerry's cookies 'n' cream ice cream

Or how about:

(a) Melba toast

(b) Croissant

If you didn't answer (b) to both of those questions, you're lying. My point is that fat creates satisfying, luscious food. And while I do try to eat healthy a good bit of the time, holidays and gatherings seem to bring out the fat-laden food. I'm not advocating a meal staged to induce a heart attack, but we all deserve to treat ourselves to something indulgent from time to time.

I hosted the annual Peeps Regatta at the (temporary) Malia Yacht Club on Easter Sunday. There were about 20 people there, of which almost half were under the age of 3, poised to see who would claim this year's title of Premier Peep Racer. But first we needed to be properly sated. To kick things off, I served a gorgonzola bacon dip along with freshly squeezed blood orange mimosas.

Then came this question: "What is in this dip?!" My response was, "Fat!" That was basically the truth. I took cream choose, half and half, gorgonzola cheese and bacon and baked it into a warm, gooey, fatty goodness, and people basically couldn't stop eating it. Hmmm, I wonder why. . . . One cannot resist such a combination of rich ingredients.

After we finished eating the ham, mushroom spinach strata, the frisee salad with roasted fingerling potatoes, asparagus and snap peas, and the beautiful and sweet "rabbit" pineapple fruit salad ("Thanks, Todd and Ronda!"), it was off to the races!

On an aside, the Peeps Regatta almost didn't happen. I went to 12 different stores before I could find our "vessels!" There was a strange run on these fellows and I kept walking into store after store to find this:

Panic was starting to set in (because how can you have a Peeps Regatta with no peeps?!), when I finally spied these. Granted, they're not the most conventional color, but hey, you gotta take what you can get sometimes.

It didn't seem to deter any of the racers. While Samantha was the defending champ, it was anyone's game. There are not many Regatta rules other than you can't touch your peep.

Reece took matters into her own hands and decided she'd blow on her peep, which was probably 200 feet from her mouth, but hey it must've worked because she walked away this year's winner.

And we were lucky that only one three-year old ended up in the pool. Do you want to guess which one it was?

We've had kind of an iffy spring in Santa Barbara this year but the weather was pretty glorious last Sunday. I think we all enjoyed a day with the sun on our skin, grass between our toes, and laughter with good friends.

Happy Spring! And thank you, Marina, for so many great photos from the day!

Blue Cheese-Bacon Dip

from Southern Living

Ingredients

7 bacon slices, chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 (8-oz) packages cream cheese, softened

1/3 cup half and half

4 oz crumbled blue cheese

2 Tbsp chopped chives

3 Tbsp chopped walnuts, toasted

Grape clusters

Assorted crackers

Directions

Cook bacon in a skillet over medium-high heat 10 minutes or until crisp. Drain bacon and set aside. Add minced garlic to the skillet and saute 1 minute.

Beat cream cheese at medium speed with an electric mixer until smooth. Add half and half, beating until combined. Stir in bacon, garlic, blue cheese, and chives. Spoon mixture into a 1-quart baking dish (or 4 one-cup ramekins).

Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes, until golden and bubbly. Sprinkle evenly with chopped walnuts and serve with grape clusters and crackers.

Calling an Audible

2011-04-10T21:10:00.000-07:00

Well, that was disappointing. . . . I mean the dinner I just made. I haven't made a meal in, well, I can't even remember, so I was looking forward to getting in the kitchen and reconnecting with my inner domestic goddess. Well, she must have been hungover after a big night or something because she totally left me high and dry. Or more like high and hungry.

I've been wanting to make a quinoa, garbanzo, and spinach salad with smoked paprika dressing for weeks now. And tonight was finally going to be the night. I realize now as I read over the title of the recipe that my life has taken a sad turn for the worst if that dish was getting me excited. At best it's a healthy vegetarian salad you'd get from Whole Foods—nutritious but not something you take pleasure in eating. And sadly, that's exactly what it was like. After about four forkfuls I dumped it out and grabbed some turkey jerky from the pantry. You can take the girl out of the South but you can't take the South out of the girl. . . .

Anyway, I started fantasizing about this Swiss chard and mushroom lasagna kissed with white truffle oil I made about a month ago. It was so dang good. I would've paid a thousand dollars to have had just four forkfuls of that deliciousness. It's definitely a vegetarian meal you don't want to miss—unlike the garbanzo bean quinoa salad. It was the perfect balance of richness and earthiness. So satisfying and almost "meaty." Certainly not something you'd find sitting in between the vegan egg salad or tofu farro wrap. No, this is the kind of dish the most diehard meat and potato man would savor and ask for seconds. I promise.

I did make it for the only hunter I know in Santa Barbara, my neighbor. Although he was born and raised in Californian, I think he would make a good honorary Southerner. Nothing cracks me up more than when he's defeathering ducks in his driveway after a successful outing while drinking bourbon. It's about as common as seeing a McCain-Palin sticker on someone's car in town. Anyway, he helped me with a house issue so I made him this lasagna as a thank you.

I love a good lasagna but wanted something lighter and fresher than your traditional meat lasagna in red sauce. I sampled as I was cooking and it smelled so good and tasted even better. As I started to assemble the dish, I realized it was too good to part with! So I called an audible and divided the lasagna into two smaller pans: one for me and one for my neighbor. Lasagna is something that typically can feed an Army so I was a little embarrassed to give him what was obviously only half a pan. It'd be like giving someone half a cake. But I hoped he'd forget all about my tackiness once he tasted it.

The base was a beautiful combination of carrots, criminis, onions and chard. I added kale because I had it and thought it would work well with the chard. The béchamel sauce was lighter than some I've sampled, still having the body required but was more subtly nuanced with notes of nutmeg and cloves. There was lovely, melty Fontina cheese added to the mix for nuttiness. And with no bake noodles the end product tasted more homemade—and you weren't getting bites where there was nothing but noodle.

My neighbor is still singing the praises of that meal, which is excellent for me because I'm worthless when it comes to dealing with house issues. I just noticed today my gutter is starting to fall off on one side of my house so it may be time to whip up another batch of the Swiss chard and mushroom lasagna . . . . .

Swiss Chard Lasagna with Ricotta and Mushroom

from Bon Appetit

Ingredients

Béchamel Sauce:

2 1/2 cups whole milk

1 Turkish bay leaf

6 Tbsp unsalted butter

1/4 cup all purpose flour

1/2 tsp coarse kosher salt

1/2 tsp fresh ground nutmeg

Pinch of cloves

Swiss Chard and Mushroom Layers:

1 lb each Swiss chard and kale, center rib and stem cut from each leaf

4 Tbsp olive oil, divided

1 1/2 cup chopped onion

1 1/2 cup chopped carrot

4 large garlic cloves, divided

1/4 tsp dried crushed red pepper

Corse kosher salt

1 lb crimini mushrooms, sliced

1/4 tsp nutmeg

Lasagna:

9 7x3-in no bake lasagna noodles

Olive oil

1 15-oz container whole-milk ricotta cheese (preferably organic), divided

6 oz Fontina cheese, coarsely grated (about 1 1/2 cups packed), divided

8 Tbsp finely grated Parmesan cheese, divided

Preparation

For the Béchamel sauce:

Bring milk and bay leaf to a simmer in medium saucepan; remove from heat. Melt butter in heavy large saucepan over medium-low heat. Add flour and whisk to blend. Cook 2 minutes, whisking almost constantly (do not let roux brown). Gradually whisk milk with bay leaf into roux. Add 1/2 tsp coarse salt, nutmeg and cloves and bring to a simmer. Cook until sauce thickens enough to coat spoon, whisking often, about 3 minutes. Remove bay leaf. Note: Sauce can be made one day ahead. Press plastic wrap directly onto surface and chill. Remove plastic wrap and rewarm before using, whisking to smooth.

For Swiss chard layer:

Blanch chard and kale in a large pot of boiling salted water 1 minute. Drain, pressing out all water, then chop coarsely. Heat 2 Tbsp oil in heavy medium skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion, carrots, half of garlic and crushed red pepper. Saute until tender, about 4 minutes. Mix in chard and kale and season to taste with coarse salt and freshly ground pepper.

Heat remaining 2 Tbsp oil in heavy large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms and remaining garlic. Saute until mushrooms are brown and tender, about 8 minutes. Mix in nutmeg and season with salt and pepper.

For Lasagna:

Brush 13x9x2-in glass baking dish with oil to coat. Spread 3 Tbsp béchamel sauce thinly over bottom of dish. Arrange 3 noodles in dish to cover bottom. Spread half of chard mixture over pasta. Drop half of ricotta over in dollops and spread in even layer. Sprinkle with half of Fontina, then 4 Tbsp Parmesan; spread 3/4 cup béchamel over. Repeat layering with 3 noodles, remaining chard mixture, ricotta, Fontina, Parmesan, and 3/4 cup béchamel. Cover with remaining 3 noodles and remaining béchamel. Note: Can be made 2 hours ahead. Cover with foil and let stand at room temperature.

Preheat over to 400 degrees and bake lasagna covered for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake until heated through and top is golden brown, maybe 20-30 minutes longer. Let stand 15 minutes and sprinkle with a little bit of white truffle oil before serving.

Time Check

2011-04-08T15:17:00.000-07:00

It's 5 o'clock (somewhere) on Friday afternoon. Does anyone know where my mango mojito I drank in South Beach a few weeks ago is?

Happy Weekend, everyone!

Knocked Up

2011-03-29T18:47:00.000-07:00

I love pizza. I could eat it every day. In fact, I've made a good run at that before — much to the chagrin of those around me. It would definitely be my last supper. And I'd choose pizza from Napoli's in Panama City (Panama not Florida), which I know seems like an odd choice. But I remember having my inaugural slice when I was probably 6 years old. It blew my socks off. It was the first time I realized food could be transformative. I had it again as an adult and am glad to report it's still as life-changing as I remembered. The PC is planning a reunion visit to Panama in 2012, and my mouth is already watering in anticipation of my Napoli's fix.

Anyway, I love the accessibility and versatility of pizza. There are limitless possibilities when it comes to toppings, but I personally draw the line at seafood. I'm sorry, but shrimp does not belong on a pizza. Maybe on a bruschetta, which I realize is like a mini pizza, but I'm holding my position.

For the record, I am open to non-traditional pizzas. When I saw a recipe for a Spanish pizza, I immediately perked up because Spain is my favorite country and I think the flavor profiles of Spanish cuisine are incredible. However, when you think of Spain you certainly don't think of pizza. Maybe jamon, paella, marcona almonds . . . . But this pizza did include a short list of ingredients I love so I thought I'd give it the old college try (although I can assure you I was drinking much better red wine than I was in college).

The result: it's like if Italy knocked up Spain and made a Catalonian pizza love child. It has all the classic flavors of the Costa Brava (chorizo, manchego cheese, tomatoes and olive oil) masquerading as a lovely pizza pie. It looked familiar but each bite burst with a unique combination of surprising ingredients.

Kind of like those cool mash-ups you hear which combines the Beatles and Ke$ha, which sounds bizarre but once you listen to it you realize it's genius. That's kind of the best way to describe this pizza.

Catalonian Pizza

Ingredients

1 store-bought pizza dough

Extra virgin olive oil for brushing

4 small Roma tomatoes, sliced

2 cups manchego cheese, shredded

1/2 lb bulk fresh chorizo sausage

1/4 cup fresh cilantro

Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Place a pizza stone in oven and preheat to at least 500 degrees . Ideally, the stone should heat for at least 1 hour to get the ideal pizza crust. While heating, in a medium saute pan cook the chorizo over medium heat. Break up with a wooden spoon and stir until browned slightly and cooked through, about 8 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside to cool.

Place pizza dough on a lightly floured surface. I recommend a mixture of flour and corn meal. Carefully stretch the dough with your hands into a large circle about 1/8-in thick. If possible, work on a pizza peel as it makes transferring it to the oven a piece of cake.

Brush olive oil over the dough saving about 1/2-in from edge. Sprinkle cheese over the dough, then layer with tomato slices and the chorizo. Season with salt and pepper if desired. Bake pizza until golden brown approximately 6-8 minutes. Remove from oven and sprinkle with fresh cilantro. Cut and serve.

Winter's Bone

2011-03-26T16:29:00.000-07:00

Well, I'm not sure Santa Barbara got the memo that Spring is here. It's more like Winter: Act II. The good news is that this recipe for short ribs is very fitting even though April is literally right around the corner. I made this dish for an Oscar party and also for my friend Meredith's birthday.

It's definitely a crowd pleaser: comfort food at it's best. It's one of those home-cooked meals that just makes you feel loved. So if that's what you're going for, I'd highly suggest you make this — and as soon as possible as I do hope the cold and rain will soon come to an end.

The rosemary-infused wine gravy provides the most wonderful flavor to this humble cut of meat. They're meaty and fatty, in the best way possible, and still on the bone for added depth of flavor. And the mash really is the perfect side, freckled with rosemary and slightly sweet from the addition of parsnips. It will make you rethink what mashed potatoes should be.

I will issue one warning: This recipe does call for an entire bottle of Zinfandel, so if you like to drink while cooking (like me), make sure have a second bottle handy.

Zinfandel-Braised Beef Short Ribs with Rosemary-Parsnip Mashed Potatoes

compliments of Bon Appetit

Ingredients

Ribs:

3 Tbsp room temperature butter, divided

4 lbs meaty beef short ribs

Coarse kosher salt

2 1/2 cups chopped red onions

2 cups 1/2-inch peeled parsnips

6 garlic cloves, chopped

2 Tbsp chopped fresh rosemary

1 750-ml bottle Zinfandel

2 cups low sodium beef broth

1 Tbsp all purpose flour

Potatoes:

1 stick unsalted butter

3 lbs russet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes

1 lb large parsnips, peeled, cut into 3/4-in cubes

1 1/2 cup whole milk

1 Tbsp chopped fresh rosemary

Directions

Ribs:

Preheat over to 325 degrees. Melt 1 Tbsp butter in heavy large oven-proof pot over medium-high heat. Sprinkle ribs with coarse salt and pepper. Add to pot in single layer and saute until brown on all sides, about 10 minutes. Note: you have have to do this in two batches. Transfer ribs to a large bowl. Add 1 Tbsp butter to pot. Add onions and parsnips and saute until beginning to color, about 8 minutes. Mix in garlic and rosemary. Add wine and broth; bring to a boil, scraping up browned bits.

Return ribs and any accumulated juices to pot, arranging in a single layer if possible. Bring to a simmer; cover and place in oven. Braise until ribs are very tender, about 2 1/2 hours. Using tongs, transfer ribs to clean bowl. Spoon fat from pan juice. Boil juices until just beginning to thicken, about 10 minutes. Mix 1 Tbsp butter and flour in small bowl to smooth paste. Whisk into juices in pot; simmer until thickened enough to coat spoon, about 5 minutes longer. Don't skip this step. It creates the most luxurious dimension to the gravy. Season gravy with coarse salt and pepper. Return ribs to pot and spoon gravy over.

Note: This can be made 2 days ahead. Chill uncovered until cold, then cover and keep chilled. Rewarm over low heat before serving.

Potatoes:

Cook potatoes and parsnips in large pot of boiling salted water until tender, about 15 minutes. Meanwhile bring milk, butter, and rosemary to simmer in a small saucepan. Drain potato mixture and return to pot. I personally like my potatoes very silky so try to use a ricer if I can. Stir briefly over medium heat to evaporate excess moisture. Add milk mixture and mash well. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Note: You may find you need to add more liquid to the mash. Chicken stock is a wonderful substitute for milk, butter, mayo, sour cream, etc. But those options also work wonderfully and also create a rich and satisfying dish. The rosemary is subtle but key to create this wonderfully balanced yet elevated side. And you could certainly use all potato instead of the mix with parsnips, but you should at least try it. It's mashed potatoes but with a slight sweetness to them. Not like sweet potatoes but with a complexity that makes them seem special even if you can't quite put your finger on why.

A Meal Fit for a King, a College Student, and a 1-Armed Hiker

2011-03-22T18:06:00.000-07:00

I don't know about you but this year seems to be evaporating before my very eyes! We're already almost a quarter of the way through 2011 for goodness sakes. I've been wanting to share a story with you and I'm realizing it happened almost one month ago. Lame.

Anyway, my friend Karen and I hosted the Oscar Night of Gluttony banquet again, which is I think now officially an annual event. Here's how it works: We each draw three of the Best Picture nominations out of a hat and have to make a dish or a drink inspired by the movie. We then proceed to eat ridiculous amounts of food for hours as we make catty comments about the fashion, acceptance speeches and celebrities. Since the Oscars is a live show, things get started around 3 pm in California. This is great because for whatever reason I love to drink during the day. [Note: I hope none of my clients are reading this post.] It makes me feel like I'm on a mini vacation or something. By 9 pm we're pretty drunk and definitely stuffed. The only major downside is that my photography skills degrade with each glass, so the quality of these pictures is pretty poor. Sorry about that.

The menu this year was quite impressive, if not also a bit random given the range of movie themes. Karen drew The King's Speech, Black Swan and 127 Hours. Those who know me know I have a strange sense of humor so I thought it would be funny to not bring anything for 127 Hours. I mean after all the main character was pinned by a boulder for 127 hours so there was not a lot of food going on in that movie. But Karen thankfully does not share my humor and did actually make a dish for it: homemade hummus and crudite. It was also the only healthy thing we ate that day.

For The King's Speech, she made a very civilized drink called the Royal Cup (recipe below)

And a rich seafood risotto that played off the black and white theme in The Black Swan — which was a recipe that incidentally came from the Black Swan restaurant in Orlando, FL.

I on the other hand, had the joy of conceiving dishes for:

1) Winter's Bone: While crystal meth is central to this movie, I figured it was better to go with something a little more legal so served up zinfandel-brasied beef short ribs served over rosemary-parsnip potatoes to play off the concept of bones and a comforting Winter dish.

2) The Social Network: I was torn between the typical college fare of pizza, top ramen and mac and cheese. Ultimately I went with homemade cookies because I remember getting those care packages filled with cookies in the mail while in college. It was like gold. I could trade them for all sorts of things: a load of laundry, borrowing someone's car, beer, etc.

3) True Grit: It may have been too obvious but I couldn't resist shrimp and grits for this Western remake. I actually have an entire cookbook dedicated to the subject of shrimp and grits and labored the longest over which version to make. A key ingredient was a can of Coke so you know I was convinced I found a winner.

As predicted, a lot of the Golden Globe winners walked away with the Academy Award . . . and I gained about 10 lbs in a single sitting. But I'm already looking forward to next year's indulgent event.

P.S. I'll share posts for some of the other recipes in the coming week, so stay tuned!

Royal Cup

by Karen

Ingredients

1/2 ounce Grand Marnier

3 drops bitters

4 oz champagne/sparkling wine

Directions

Pour first two ingredients into a champagne flute and top with sparkling wine. Sip and enjoy!

Laissez Les Bon Temps Rouler

2011-03-06T22:33:00.000-08:00

You may not be aware of this, but we're on the brink of an important holiday: Mardi Gras! That's right, Fat Tuesday is tomorrow. And that's a wonderful excuse to eat and drink a whole lot before Lent sets in and we're deprived of something good for 40 days. I'm not very good at Lent, but that's probably worth its own blog post. So I think for this one, I'll focus on what I am good at: Eating and celebrating. I think those two qualities are quite Southern, so thankfully are in my DNA.

I wanted to share with you a recipe to help you get in the proper holiday spirit. Even if you're surprised by this occasion, you can still whip up this meal and have plenty of time to sip a Sazerac.

Red beans and rice is pretty quintessential NOLA (short for New Orleans, LA) cuisine. It was originally served on Mondays, utilizing the ham bone left over from Sunday supper. Very low maintenance, it simmered on the stove all day while the women washed the family's laundry and hung it out to dry. Although for the most part, Monday Wash Day is a thing of the past, red beans and rice is still a NOLA staple, both at home and restaurants. Today, though, you'll most often find it served with andouille sausage or boudin, a spicy pork sausage with onion, rice and herbs.

This dish is easy to put together, inexpensive and comforting. The only issue I could possibly point to is the name. It seems like it should be called red beans and sausage because the rice seems like an after thought. Regardless, it's delicious.

While I certainly don't care if your laundry goes by untouched for another day, I must implore you to make red beans and rice in honor of Mardi Gras. Just stick the few ingredients in a crock pot and you're done!

If you're still unconvinced but would like to celebrate, try these other suggestions:

1) Drink cheap beer out of a large plastic cup — at 9 am, or . . .

2) Lift your shirt up and see if anyone throws beads at you.

If you start with the first one, you may likely end up doing the second. Just don't say I didn't warn you. . . .

Laissez les bon temps rouler (let the good times roll)!

Mama's Red Beans and Rice

from Bon Appetit, Y'all

Ingredients

1 lb dried red kidney beans, washed and picked over for stones

1 ham bone or 2 lbs boudin, smoke sausage or Cajun andouille, sliced 1 inch thick

1 onion, preferably Vidalia, chopped

2 cloves garlic, very finely chopped

6 cups water

Hot sauce for seasoning

Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper

Rice, for accompaniment

Directions

Place beans in a large bowl and add water to cover. Soak overnight. Or place the beans in a large pot of water and bring to a boil over high heat. Once the beans have come to a boil, remove from the heat and set aside for an hour. Before cooking, discard any floating beans and drain.

To prepare in a slow cooker, place the drained beans, ham bone (or sausage), onion, garlic and water in the insert of a slow cooker. Cover over low heat until the beans are tender, about 6 hours.

To prepare on the stovetop, combine the beans, ham bone (or sausage), onion, garlic, and water in a large, heavy-bottomed Dutch over. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, then decrease the heat to low. Simmer, covered, until the beans are tender, 4-5 hours. Season with hot sauce. Taste and adjust for seasoning with salt and pepper. Serve with rice.

The Pack is Back: Bring on the Cheese

2011-02-08T11:27:00.001-08:00

My friend Tony is a long-standing and extremely passionate Green Bay Packers fan. So in the wake of their Super Bowl win on Sunday (and to honor football and cheese), I would like to dedicate this post to their #1 fan.

In the South, football borders on religion and we love our pimento cheese. A staple in most Southern homes, church potlucks and even on restaurant menus, pimento cheese is something most of us grew up on but may not have realized we're probably the only folks eating it. What a shame is all I can say. As a child I would eat pimento cheese slathered between two slices of white bread for the perfect lunch. At a party, it may be piped into celery boats for easy enjoyment. For decadence, it was the perfect topping on a burger.

It's nothing fancy. In fact, it doesn't even look all that appealing. But it's downright addictive. It's basically just grated cheddar cheese, mayonnaise, spices and chopped pimentos. You can buy it in a grocery store (in the South), but nothing beats homemade pimento cheese. It's definitely a classic, though, so you don't want to mess with a good thing. No specialty cheeses (read: goat) or condiments (read: dill pickles) need apply. It's cheesy. It's creamy. It's a little spicy. It's both comforting and celebratory.

It's something I find myself making a lot when I entertain because people around here have never had it. And it's fun to watch them try it . . . and then sit down and eat a quart of it. It also makes me feel a little closer to my roots. Actually, it makes me feel a little grown up too. As a child, making and serving pimento cheese seemed like a very adult thing to do even though kids of all ages love it.

The first question most people have is what on Earth is a pimento?! I usually say it's that red thing you find stuffed in the olive in your martini. But if you want to get technical, it's a small, sweet red pepper but more flavorful than a bell pepper. When dried and ground, it becomes paprika. The second question might be how do you spell it, which is up for debate. Pimento or pimiento? Like many words America has butchered and modified, this little pepper is one of them. You find/see both so just pick one. No one seems to mind. Thirdly, how do you say it like a proper Southerner? You'll get an approving nod if you go with "pimenah."

So the next time you're looking for the perfect start to a Southern meal — or a way to just make your guests swoon and call you ego-boosting names, go for the pimento cheese. Warning: Your glory may be short-lived as your guests curse your name the next day as they try to work off all the cheese and mayo on the treadmill. But rest assured, they'll be back asking for more.

Pimento Cheese

From Screen Doors and Sweet Tea

Ingredients

1 cup mayonnaise

1 tsp finely chopped sage

1 tsp fresh lemon juice

1 tsp dry mustard

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce

8 oz Colby cheese, grated (2 cups)

8 oz Cheddar cheese, grated (2 cups)

4 oz chopped pimentos, drained

Salt and pepper to taste

Tabasco to taste

Directions

Before I get started, let me just say, "Do not use pre-shredded cheese!" You will need to grate it yourself. It just doesn't seem to combine otherwise. So without further ado:

In medium bowl, with a rubber spatula, combine the mayonnaise, sage, lemon juice, mustard, cayenne, and Worcestershire sauce. Add the cheese and pimentos, blending thoroughly to combine. Season with salt, pepper, and Tabasco. Refrigerate until ready to eat. Delicious served on bread, crackers, carrot and celery sticks, burgers and even corn on the cob!

She Couldn't Stay

2011-02-02T21:16:00.001-08:00

Today I had to say goodbye to my faithful companion, Summer, who's been by my side for 15 years. It was time for her to go, although I didn't want her to. I guess that's how most people feel who are left behind. I knew she couldn't stay as her health was failing, but you never really prepare yourself for the loss of those special fuzzy creatures.

Summer was an unusual cat. In fact she was more like a dog, which is probably why people who didn't fancy themselves to be "cat people" were drawn to her. She was simply very sweet and very communicative (even if misunderstood at times) and a character. She was an important member in my family and she changed my life in so many ways. The loss of her love and wonderful friendship will certainly be felt for a long time. I already miss her and the many ways she filled my life.

We sampled foods together . . .

. . . cooked together. . .

. . . drank together. . . .

. . . cohosted parties together . . .

. . . and rested together.

I am heartbroken but know how lucky I was to have her in my life for so long. She was the best.

Liquor Stores and Gas Stations

2011-01-27T12:24:00.000-08:00

I love to write on this blog. Truly. It just seems like I've been so busy with my "day job" of late that I haven't had time to post very much. I dream about writing here though. I craft entries in my sleep and am somewhat disappointed to not find them online in the morning, because I've done some of my best writing in my dreams. I seem to lose some of the genius when I try to recreate them. Anyway, I have been cooking, eating, ruminating about food, etc. these past weeks. I just haven't shared much here. If I was a proper Southern hostess, I would've baked you some muffins or cookies to welcome you back after the hiatus, but instead I'd like to talk about some seemingly unladylike topics: Liquor stores and gas stations.

The first time I walked into a grocery store in California, I almost fainted. There were rows and rows of liquor being sold — even on Sundays and even after midnight!!! I couldn't get over having such access to alcohol. In college I recall a sense of panic setting in as the weekend neared. You had to plan ahead to make sure you had enough booze to make it to Monday. There was this mad dash to make it to the ABC store before 5:30 pm on Friday because it was the only place you could by liquor and it wasn't open on the weekends (which is silly because that's usually when you want to be drinking cocktails). It was like stocking up on canned goods before a hurricane. I couldn't help but wonder why anyone in California even bothered going to the liquor store if they could buy a bottle of bourbon along side their milk and bread. I soon found out why. . . .

It's for the tacos and burritos.

Yep, apparently in California many of these liquor stores are fronts for some of the best and most authentic Mexican food you can find. They have these little surprise counter restaurants in the back of the stores. And while these kitchens may look unassuming and even uninspiring, they crank out food that creates almost cult-like followings.

Sure it may not be common place to buy a killer carne asada taco right next to a stack of Hustler magazines and a display of 40 different types of vodka, but trust me you'd wish it was if you ever sunk your teeth into one of these humble treats.

My personal favorite is the chorizo breakfast burrito. First off, a breakfast burrito is God's creation of the perfect breakfast food. You've got all the core components wrapped up in a warm flour tortilla with some cheese and salsa thrown in for some extra protein and veggies — the perfect balance between greasy, comfort food and fresh, bright flavors. It's cheap, portable and a savior following a big night of "over-indulgence," which is a tad ironic because you might think a liquor store is the last place you'd want to find yourself when you're hungover. My favorite liquor store makes their breakfast burritos with mashed potatoes which is truly off the hook, served with this roasted salsa that I could do shots of and leave this world a happy camper. Seriously, it's ridiculous.

I got to thinking about unsuspecting places to find amazing food. I know now, at least on the West Coast, gourmet food trucks are all the craze. But I'm talking about more basic spots that are part of the culture and landscape of a place. Things that seem obvious to the locals yet raise eye-brows to the visitors. I realized in the South it's gas stations.

Maybe that's why they're still called fillin' stations there. You fill up your tummies while you're filling up your car. It might be fried okra or boiled peanuts, but whatever they're serving it's bound to be good. Good like something your grandmother would make. It's probably organic and local but they're not advertising it as such. They call it homegrown and homemade, which are two of the loveliest words I know.

When I was at my grandmothers in LA (which is Lower Alabama not Los Angeles) for the Thanksgiving holiday, the thing we look forward to the most isn't the turkey, which I know sounds blasphemous. It isn't even Black Friday, and this is coming from a clothes horse. It's the Iron Bowl, the football match between the University of Alabama and Auburn played the Saturday after Thanksgiving each year. This is possibly one of the biggest rivalries on the planet. As sports journalist Tommy Hicks explained so perfectly, it's pure, un-adulterated, old-fashioned hate. Every single person is simply on one side or the other and must wear the colors of that school, which can run the gamut from a baseball cap to a tattoo. And bless your heart if you're in a House Divided, which is another way of saying a divorce is imminent. It's not a game where winning is acceptable. You'll only be satisfied if your team beats the other by 100 points. It's really the only game that matters during the year. You could lose every other game yet beat your rival and people will act like you've just finished a perfect season.

Anyway, the whole point of this is that 30 minutes before kick-off, I decided fried chicken would be the only adequate fuel to sustain us during this intense match, which usually includes shouting at the TV until you're horse, falling down on the floor when someone misses a pass, and jumping up on the sofa when someone scores a touchdown or makes an interception. So off I went to get the fried chicken . . . at the gas station.

It's not like getting a hot dog at 7-11. It's real fried chicken. Big ole pieces fried golden brown with a unique seasoning that dances on your tongue as you savor each juicy bite. It's truly finger licking good. You can smell it cooking from a mile away, which is about when your mouth starts watering.

There's good food in life and then there's food that makes life good. It's the liquor store and gas station food that makes me happy to be alive. While it may be nothing fancy, it certainly feeds the soul and makes me appreciate good cooks everywhere, especially those in the most unpretentious places.

Where You Come From

2011-01-19T20:22:00.001-08:00

I can't believe we're winding down the first month of the New Year and I'm just getting around to my first post of 2011! I've been wanting to post for weeks now, but there were two reasons I couldn't. Firstly, I had to finish all my Christmas thank you notes. As any child raised by a Southern mamma knows, not sending a handwritten thank you note is unthinkable and has potential to shame the family, which is basically the worst thing you can do.

Secondly, I was in Boston for business and found myself stuck in the midst of this:

I was easy to spot as I was the only moron trying to walk around in 15 inches of snow in 5-inch platform heels. I got tired of strangers walking up to me and saying, "Those are wicked awesome shoes but where are you from?" And I've never seen people having to shovel a roof before!

Although I didn't get around to making a snow angel, I did have the most amazing and quintessential Boston lunch at this fine eating establishment. I often categorize cities by food, so when I think of Boston I think lobster roll, or the "lobstah" roll as the locals call it. Regardless of how you pronounce it, it's basically luscious chunks of lobster in a light mayonnaise dressing stuffed into a soft hotdog-like roll. But like most dishes, they can run the spectrum from ho-hum to life-changing. Chef Barbara Lynch is nothing short of a culinary rock star, so the fact that after just one bite I felt compelled to grab the entire lobster roll-filled tray for eight and run as fast as I could away from the table so I could stuff myself into oblivion shouldn't really come as much of a surprise.

It reminded me, though, that every place has its own beauty and characteristics — be it a meal or a monument or a method of living — that defines it and makes it unique. Often it's those "special" qualities that endears us to a place.

After having the pleasure of spending both Thanksgiving and Christmas back in the South, I spent some time thinking about all the little things that in many ways become big things that I love and miss about the South when living in California.

Things like frozen dumplings — and an entire case dedicated to them at the grocery store — for quick chicken and dumplings . . .

. . . quite possibly the best breakfast sausage in the world . . .

. . . Blue Bell ice cream. . .

. . . deep fried turkey breast . . .

. . . cane syrup for your biscuits . . .

. . . pimento cheese-stuffed celery sticks . . .

. . . scuppernong jelly . . .

. . . deer sausage, from a buck my cousin's 13-year-old daughter shot, to name just a few.

As much as I love to travel and learn about new places (which often involves food), I never want to forget where I come from and how it's shaped me. So here's to a 2011 filled with many wonderful new experiences and an appreciation for our roots.

I hope the year is off to a fabulous start for you!

There's Still Time

2010-12-23T13:40:00.001-08:00

There's still time to bake these adorable and tasty treats for Santa's visit tomorrow night. I made them with my niece and nephew yesterday to get us further into the Christmas spirit, if that's possible (or necessary) when you're hanging out with a 9 and 12 year-old.

Anyway, you could certainly make the batter from scratch but I just bought a tube of peanut butter cookie dough at the grocery store. It was easy and fast (operative word) to simply slice and shape our little reindeers. You basically just kind of smush in the sides of the cookie to create the elongated reindeer face. Then we baked them in the oven, following the cooking instructions provided, and pulled them out a minute or two early so we could get them properly adorned for the holidays. The red nose was an M&M and the eyes were mini chocolate chips. I loved the "antlers" made from chocolate covered pretzels. Aren't they just the cutest?

The last few cookies were antlerless, though, because my newphew ate a bunch while we were waiting for the cookies to bake. I'm sure Santa will understand. . . .

Wishing all y'all a sweet and merry Christmas!