Chef Celebration

Well May was just full of excitement here in Thathouse. Not just because of Prez’s birthday, the girls’ trip and a still-to-be-blogged-about international adventure.

First, and frankly I kind of can’t believe that I haven’t blogged about this before, my friend Michelle, you know, the one I told you about before? The brilliant writer/lawyer/animal activist? The one who JUST got an agent for her book? Well she’s about to add “published author” to her resume since the book is being published by Simon and Schuster! I got the news earlier and was sworn to secrecy until it became “public” but I don’t really know what that means, so I just kept my big trap shut until I got the go ahead. There will definitely be more info on this closer to the ACTUAL publishing of the book, but I’ve already promised signed copies to my nearest and dearest who are anxious to read it based on the all the hype I’ve already built up.

Second, and only slightly less exciting because this one involves me me me, in May Thatboy and I got to attend a Chef Celebration dinner. It was a dinner we had been looking forward to for months! For those of you too lazy to click on the link, Chef Celebration is a collaboration of San Diego chefs to raise money for a nonprofit scholarship program. Every Tuesday night during the months of April and May, some of the best and brightest chefs join together to create an amazing 4 course menu. The dinner is hosted at a different restaurant each week, and each week 5 different chefs are featured.

After perusing all the menus/restaurants/chefs, I determined we were definitely going to the dinner hosted at Urban Solace. There were two reasons behind this brilliant decision. First, I adore-love-can’t get enough of Urban Solace. It’s one of my favorite San Diego restaurants. Both for dinner and their phenomenal Sunday brunch. Urban Solace bills itself as New American comfort food and that’s a pretty dead on description. Everything just makes you feel SO GOOD, and isn’t that the definition of comfort food?

The second reason I picked this dinner can best be summed up by Prez when I filled her in – “Those are all our favorite chefs!” So true. The Urban Solace line up featured Sean Langlaise of Oceanaire, Matt Gordon of Urban Solace, Joe Magnanelli of Cucina Urbana, Michael Liotta of Quarter Kitchen, and Norma Martinez of El Vitral. Prez had a one up on me since I haven’t been to El Vitral yet, but she’s given it high marks for a while now. She’s already planning a night when we can drink our fill of margaritas and then head to a baseball game to sober up.

The four course meal began with an amuse bouche from Joe Magnanelli, one of Cucina Urbana’s specialties – fried squash blossoms. Served atop whipped goat cheese, and truffle honey. We knew it was going to be delicious and we weren’t disappointed. Especially with the creamy garlicy goat cheese which makes everything better.

The came course number 1. Thatboy and I each ordered something different and split halfway through.

Thatboy began with the Raw Alaskan King Crab Battera with Ostera Caviar, Dashi, and a Ginger-Soy Reduction prepared by Sean Langlais. The server described it as a type of sushi, pressed into a box like shape. I was a little nervous because I’d never had raw crab before, but HOLY MOLY WAS THIS INCREDIBLE! I love crab in general because good crab is so sweet, but this was perfectly tender and sweet and mouth meltable. Thatboy wasn’t as impressed, but I adored it. He preferred my first course.

I had a kobe beef salpicon salad with roasted poblano pepper, avocado, cotija cheese, pickled onion, and crisp plantain chips prepared by Norma Martinez. Role reversal here. I thought it was okay, but Thatboy loved it. We were happy to do a switch and end with each other’s choices.

For course number 2, I had the crispy buttermilk fried sweetbreads with mustard seed jus and pickled greens prepared by Matt Gordon. I wish I could give it a rave review. What was done well was done REALLY well. The buttermilk batter was perfectly spiced and delicious. The pickled greens I could have licked off the bowl if I wasn’t such a lady. And some bites of sweetbread were tender and perfect. But every now and again I’d get a really rubbery/chewy bite which just didn’t sit right with me and keeps me from giving this an over the top review.

Thatboy had the seared dayboat scallop with housemade cotechino sausage and caponata siciliana prepared by Joe Magnanelli. He thought it was fantastic and kept offering me bites. I’ll take his word for it since I don’t eat scallops, or sausage that has a scallop sitting on it. He was please enough with his choice, and happy that my course was gigantic and he could share in that too. Except the pickled greens. I wasn’t sharing those with anyone.

Course 3 brought us our entrees. For me that was the Maple-Whisky Liberty Farm’s Duck, sweet corn spoon bread, glazed spring baby carrots and candied duck cracklin’ prepared by Matt Gordon. We both declared this to be the winner of the entrees. I can’t help it, I just love duck. And this was prepared so well! So tender, so rich and decadent, so sweet! And the spoon bread? Well, I make spoon bread fairly regularly, and this was WAY better than anything I’ve made. Mostly because of the absolute moist richness of the entire thing. I didn’t want to share it either, but I did, because – remember that part above where I mentioned I was a lady? No, before the part about me not sharing my greens.

Thatboy had the Meyer’s Ranch Red Wine Roasted Beef with charred eggplant, smoked piperade and bagna cauda prepared by Michael Liotta. He thought the sauces were fantastic and if HE wasn’t such a lady he would have licked the plate. He found the beef to be a bit tough though, and uninspired. UNTIL the next day. See, after all those courses we got a little full, so we ended up taking a lot of our dinner home to be repurposed as lunch. Thatboy found the next day roast beef to be far superior to what he had for dinner.

Course 4 was dessert, crafted by Norma Martinez. HOLY PHENOMENAL. I had the Ate Con Queso Tostadas, made of Candied Quince & Pink Guava, sweet bunuelo, and manchego cheese shavings. It was served beside a chipotle infused mango margarita sorbet. Seriously, cheese should be a part of every dessert. As should chipotle infused mango margarita sorbet. And let’s not kid ourselves. By this time of the evening NO ONE was a lady and Thatboy and I both licked the sorbet bowl.

Thatboy had the chocolate flan with cinnamon crisps and strawberry cucumber relish. The flan? It was a chocolate flan. But the strawberry cucumber relish? Thatboy went nuts over it. So much so he declared it to be the best thing he’d eaten in years. And guess who has started putting cucumber in Thatboy’s fruit salads in his lunches? I’m no fool.

And in case you’re not quite full yet, the server brought us out the mignardieses - a peanut butter truffle, passion fruit macaron, and lemon cake prepared by Michael Liotta. Thatboy said the peanut butter truffle reminded him of a grown up butterfinger bar, but I was more drawn to the perfect macaron. Light and airy, but bursting with fruity goodness. A very enjoyable way to end the very enjoyable evening. I can’t wait till next year!

The return of Girls' Weekend

Once upon a time, there were four little girls.

These girls had a lot in common. Including their love to lie by the pool and drink. When they realized this, they decided they should take advantage of this commonality and thus the girls' weekend was born. A couple of times a year, these girls would ditch their boyfriends and head someplace sunny where they could enjoy some girl time, some pool time, and some margarita time.

Other people were invited on these weekends, but the core four always remained the same.

They traveled to Vegas, to Mexico, to Palm Springs - all close distances. But even with these close distances, it became harder and harder to get away. Two of the girls started law school, and their time became sparse. And suddenly, it became impossible to find a weekend that worked for everyone. And the years passed.

And then, a couple of months ago, half of the group made an executive decision. Prez and I decided we were going to reinstitute the girls' weekend. And we were going to plan a weekend away. And we'd invite our friends to the weekend that worked for US, and if someone couldn't come, we were going to go anyway - they could come to the next one.

We decided to make the return of the girls' weekend take place between our two birthdays. So it could be a birthday celebration. The original plan was a weekend in Temecula, wine tasting, since it's close to both Prez and I. But then Prez suggested returning to Palm Springs - the site of some of our best girls' weekends. Palm Springs has everything - great margaritas, beautiful pools, and fabulous spas and shopping. Plus, we could use my family's timeshares which made it cheap for everyone. We sent out invitations and got to major planning.

Finally the weekend was upon us. Prez and I took off early from work on Friday and headed out. We were the first at the hotel - the J.W. Marriott, which Prez informed me is where Saved by the Bell took place on their Palm Springs trip. Which for the LIFE of me I can't remember. But apparently they went there for Jessie's dad's wedding?

Upon arrival, Prez poured us some margaritas and whipped out the chips and homemade salsa she brought with her and we sat out on the balcony enjoying the sunset and waiting for the rest of the party to arrive.

The next morning we woke up and headed to Norma's because it was so fabulous last time. The girls were not disappointed by the buildup. And the hotel! We walked around the grounds playing and taking pictures after breakfast.

Prez's pancakes were larger than her head.

And then it was pool time! Prez and I made guacamole and poured margaritas and we were off to lie out with books and magazines. I made everyone "goodie bags" - beach bags filled with towels, spf lipsmackers, and frosty mugs to keep our margaritas cold. And thank goodness for those mugs, because it was hot by the pool! We spent half the time standing in the pool trying to stay cool.

After pool time, we got into our fancy going out to dinner clothes, and we went out to dinner! Passing by it on the street, everyone ooohed and ahhhed over the balconettes at Matchbox Pizza, so we decided to head there for dinner.


And then it was back to the rooms for some girl talk and cupcakes.


The next morning we headed to the happiest place on earth - the outlets! I think we all went crazy at the Kate Spade store, but they were throwing around secret discounts like candy. And we all like candy. And discounts. And purses. I love having friends who love Kate Spade as much as I do. There were other good bargins to be found and our trunk was loaded with bags for the drive home. K1 headed back to San Diego with Prez and I while the other girls went their separate ways. We decided it would be a good idea to stop in Temecula for lunch and wine, so we stopped at South Coast Winery for some drinking. It was K1's first time in Temecula so Prez and I showed her the ropes.

Good food, friends, shopping, wine, and some great relaxation - our girls' weekend was a success. We've already started planning the next one. Vegas anyone?


The only thing that we didn't hit up was the spa, since we couldn't be bothered to leave the pool. In honor of what we missed, I give to you one of my favorite spa meals from earlier trips - yogurt soup. It's a cold soup, which is perfect for hot days by the pool. And the cucumbers double duty for your eyes if you don't want to eat them, almost like making a spa of your own. Don't even get me started on how good the soup would probably be for your skin if you decided to wear it.

Yogurt Soup

2 peeled and seeded cucumbers
3 cups yogurt
2 scallions
salt

8 thin slices cucumber and 1 Tbs dill

1. Spin the cucumbers in a blender or food processor with the yogurt and scallions, until smooth.
2. Salt to taste and chill.
3. Serve in chilled bowls with the cucumber slices and dill.

Girls Girls Girls

Yesterday was Prez's birthday. HAPPY BIRTHDAY PREZ!

Prez and I have big birthday plans that didn't include going out last night, but then we found out our friend Fear-of-Fish was going to be in town. This was a big deal because Fish is hardly ever in the country, let alone in San Diego. In fact, just last week Fish was in the Phillippines! And since she's missing our big birthday bash, Prez thought we should get together for a little birthday celebrating last night.

We went to Piatti, which both Prez and I love. Because we both have great taste. But I don't see Fish very often. In fact, I haven't seen her in a couple of years I think...we tried to figure that out last night. And while Prez is used to me busting my camera out while we eat, I didn't know how Fish would deal with it. So no pictures. Instead, I'll illustrate.

But I'm not a good draw-er. So bear with me.

First we spent a lot of time pouring over the menu.

Then our wine showed up.

And we talked about television shows. Since Fish is one of the few people I know who watches as much television as I do. And most of the same shows. In fact - Fish and I used to barricade ourselves in the sorority tv room so we could watch Buffy together. Yeah, we go way back.

Then we dished the dirt about our mutual friends.

Then Fish filled us in on her most recent travels.

And then the food came and there was no talking.

Then there was more talking. A lot more talking. And then Thatboy called, asking if I knew it was 10pm - and didn't I have to work the next day? So we headed back to Prez's place for some cupcakes.

And then Fish realized she still had to drive waaaaaaaaaaaaay back to her hotel. So we called it a night.

The end.


Poor Thatboy was stuck at home by himself, to fend. He's got more of that ahead of him. Usually I like to leave him with something that is easily heat-up-able. Like lasagna. Or soup. Things that he can put in the microwave. We both love split pea soup- but much like me not being a good draw-er, I'm not very good at making split pea soup look appetizing. So this is another one you'll have to take my word for. It's good. Really good. Good enough to keep Thatboy from making a Taco Bell run last night.

Split Pea Soup (From the Fannie Farmer Cookbook)
1 1/2 cups dried split peas
2 inch cube salt pork
1 onion, chopped
3 Tbsp butter
2 Tbsp flour
2 cups milk
salt
ground pepper

1. Soak the peas overnight in water to cover.
2. Add enough water to the soaking liquid to make 2 1/2 quarts.
3. Put the peas and liquid in a large soup pot and the salt pork and onion.
4. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer, partially covered for 1 1/2 -2 hours or until the peas are soft. Discard the salt pork
5. Put through a strainer or vegetable mill or puree the soup in a blender or food processor. Melt the butter in a small saucepan, stir in the flour, and cook over low heat for a few minutes.
6. Add the milk, stirring constantly, and cook until smooth and thickened. Stir this sauce into the soup and add salt and pepper to taste.
   

Oh Mama

Last year, for my birthday, I asked Thatmom to run the Del Mar Irongirl 5k with me. She hadn’t run a race since I was a little girl, and they had a mother/daughter division. I promised her that we could go at her speed, and she agreed. We finished in 43:32, which was a huge accomplishment for Thatmom since she wasn’t even confident that she would be able to complete the 3.1 miles.

This year I had planned to run the 10k in the same race, but when I told Thatmom of my plans, she asked if she could run with me, and do the 5k again. This year the race was on Mother’s Day weekend, so really, how could I say no? But the past few 5ks I’ve done with Thatmom have taken a lot longer than 43 minutes, so I told her that I had a goal for her – she was going to PR. Specifically, I told her I was going to have her finishing that race in under 40 minutes.

Thatmom wasn’t so confident in my plan, but I promised I wouldn’t push her at an uncomfortable speed, I’d just keep an eye on our pace as we ran.

Last year, we made it to the race, right as it was starting, this year we got there a lot earlier. And it was a good thing we did, because the place was packed! There were so many more people than last year – a lot of the expo booths were already out of their free handouts. Thatmom was disappointed.

Because there were so many people, the race started late, but once it did…well, we were stuck behind a lot of people. Eventually we were able to break away from the pack and set a pace. I kept Thatmom at a regular pace, slowing her down when she tried to go faster (so she didn’t burn out) and slowing us both down when we reached the big hill of the run and she wanted to walk. Anyone who’s run with me knows I don’t walk, and I wouldn’t let her either, but I did slow our pace so she could keep up the mile that was remaining – that was all downhill.

We finished the race in 39:39 – under 40 minutes, which made Thatmom so proud of herself. “I didn’t walk once!” she told Thatboy as we collected our medals and Thatmom was presented with flowers in honor of Mother’s Day. Then we went and stood in line to play in the free photobooth they had set up.

They were offering a free breakfast after the race, but I knew Thatmom would much prefer to go to her favorite San Diego attraction – Pannikin Coffee. She brings up the place on a weekly basis, so it was a given we’d head there to refuel. We spent the rest of the day getting her fitted for new running shoes at the San Diego Running Institute (which is really heads and tails over chains like Roadrunners), and then getting pampered with mani/pedis. I’ve decided that I really need a pedicure after all my races – it’s the best way to relax.

On Sunday, we all met up for breakfast in Orange County at Cafe Mimosa for Mother's Day.

Given the name of the restaurant, we decided to each partake in one of the namesake drinks. There are plenty to choose from! The five of us didn't get through the entire mimosa menu, but what we had was good!



The woman of the hour had the tartine, which she declared the winner of the day. Egg whites with chives and swiss on a toasted baguette.



Thatboy totally chose wrong. He saw the "smoked salmon" on the menu and stopped reading. So when it came out with nothing more than little pieces of toast, he was disappointed. Luckily the rest of us had more than enough to share.



Thatbrother saw mushrooms on the menu and knew exactly what he was ordering! The egg white omelet with mushrooms, spinach, piquillo peppers, swiss, and romesco.



Everyone has a favorite ingredient. For Thatbrother it's mushrooms, for UDubb, it's bacon. She had the omelet du jour with bacon and tomatoes.



My favorite ingredient? Chorizo. So I was all over this chorizo scramble. Especially since the chorizo is made in house. The salty queso fresco and bite of the scallions added a nice contrast.

And so Thatmom's mother's day was filled with running, food, and family. Just how she likes it. Thatboy and I headed back home to prepare for the week. The original plan had been to spend the day at the beach, the two of us. Saturday had been gorgeous. But Sunday was just plain ugly and cold. So instead of the beach, the two of us curled up under covers, drank coffee, and watched movies. And instead of a summery beachy dinner, we had what felt like a more appropriate choice - soup! Thatboy loves barley in his soup, so I'm always looking for soups with barley in them. This scotch broth makes great use of barley and lamb necks - a really inexpensive cut of meat with great flavor. The soup was a huge hit, and a great way to end a weekend.

Scotch Broth (From the Fannie Farmer Cookbook)

• 3 lbs lamb breast or neck
• 1/2 cup barley
• 2 Tbsp butter
• 2 carrots finely diced
• 2 stalks celery, finely diced
• 1 small white turnip, peeled and diced
• 1 medium onion, finely diced
• salt
• pepper

1. Remove most of the fat from the lamb and cut meat into small pieces.
   
2. Put meat in a pot with 8 cups cold water. Bring to a boil and stir in the barley.
   
3. Simmer, partially covered for 1 1/2 hours or until the meat and barley are tender, adding more water if any evaporates. Remove the meat from the bones. Cool the soup and skim off the fat.
   
4. Melt the butter in a skillet and add the carrots, celery, turnip, and onion. Cook over low heat, stirring often, for 10 minutes. Add veggies to the soup. Season with salt and pepper to taste and cook for another 10 minutes or until the vegetables are tender.

Jumping for Joy

Every little girl loves horses, right? I think it's an innate part of being a female. Somewhere between the ages of 4 and40 there's a point where every girl wants a pony.

For me, this happened around 2nd grade. We had just moved to Themiddleofnowhere, PA and I had this teacher, this fabulous teacher who had us read "Justin Morgan had a horse." And after we finished reading it, she took us on a fieldtrip to the stable where her horse, Arabian Eric, was boarded. The whole class got to ride her horse and from that moment I was hooked. One of my friends and I began taking riding classes together every Saturday. The horse I rode was named Sophie, and to little 2nd grade me she looked like she was probably 8 feet tall. And so, when we began learning how to jump, I was understandably nervous. Except nervous isn't the right word. More like scared to death. Paralyzed with fear. You get the idea. I begged my parents to let me quit riding lessons and was perfectly content to maintain a slow trot when going on sporadic horseback rides.

Except, I still love horses. I love to watch them run, seeming so carefree. We live beside a ranch, and I get to see horses daily on my runs. Thatdog is fairly certain they are giant dogs and is always trying to get them to play with him. It is the benefit to living where we do that we have horses right in our backyard. And I don't just mean the ranch - I'm talking about the Del Mar Horse Track.

During the months of April and May, the Del Mar National Horse Show takes over the race track. There are various events ranging from competitions to choreographed horse dancing. Last Friday, Thatmom came into town and we decided to take her to the Five Bar competition.

The Five Bar Competition is a jumping competition in which horses jump over a series of 5 gates, during 5 different rounds. If a horse knocks over one of the poles making up the gate, that horse is disqualified from the next round. After each round, the poles are raised - creating a backwards limbo. How high can you go?

At first, Thatmom was very nervous about the whole ordeal. She was terrified that she'd see some horse or rider fall and die. Or break something. After the first couple of horses were disqualified by knocking over a pole, she relaxed a bit since there were no injuries. In fact, there was only one "fall" during the very last round. When the bar was raised to 6'9". One of the horses decided at the very last minute there was NO WAY IN HELL he was going to jump over that gate. Did his rider think he was crazy? He stopped short and turned, throwing his rider off. But no injuries. She jumped up and dusted herself and went to retrieve her steed who thought that it would probably be a good time to head back to the stables.

All of the horses were full of personality. You could tell by watching the way they carried themselves. Some were practically doing the bunny hop. Thatboy and I would turn to each other and remark - "that horse has got some hops on him." Thatmom picked up our conversation and started pointing out horses too. "That one has hoppys."

We all laughed like immature boys when we noticed many of the horses had some extra...jet propulsion helping them clear the gates. Jumping must make some horses nervous, because there was a lot of farting and pooping going on as the horses cleared the gates. Some of the riders were attuned enough to figure this out and would wait until the horse had done a little business before beginning the jumps. But most of the horses just let it go mid air.

It was hard to pick a favorite because the horses were so much fun to watch. The jaunty ones with attitude, the graceful ones who appeared to sail over the gates, and the ones who had such shiny coats and tails they looked like horse models. Thatmom's favorites were the horses wearing "little hats." She decided she was going to get a little hat for herself and go as "Cracky Z" for Halloween. Cracky Z was the name of one of the horses, but would also make an excellent street name for Thatmom.

By the time the 5th and final round came, there were only 6 horses (out of 11) remaining. And as we watched horse after horse knock over the final 6'9" bar, we worried we wouldn't get to see a clear "winner." And then came London. The only horse who was able to soar over the final bar without even touching it. And the winner of the Five Bar and $15,000.

The crowd cheered for London as he finished his run. And he was given carrots and other goodies as his ribbons were awarded.

But everyone went home with some ribbon. See, all those horses are winners! Even if they're not as good and brave as London. (Which is nice, because I'm not as good and brave as London or his rider, but I do like ribbons.)

And because you are all good and brave, here's a special treat for you! A treat made with real horse meat. Okay, not really. Although we did joke about the losing horses getting sent to the glue factory. This treat is made with fruit. Which horses eat. Maybe not pineapple, but I bet horses in Hawaii eat pineapple every now and again. These are little jello cups I make to pack in our lunches during the week. Kind of like a carrot for my work horse, who hates the jello cups they sell in stores since most are sugar free (and Thatboy hates ANYTHING sugar free). They're easy enough to make and package in muffin liners. And everyone likes snacks that jiggle right?

Fruity Jello Cups

1 can pineapple chunks

1 pkg Jello - you can use any flavor you like. Thatboy like red flavors.

1/3 cup chopped walnuts

1/2 apple, diced

1. Bring 1 1/4 cup water to a boil and pour over jello, stirring until jello dissolves.

2. Stir in pineapple, walnuts, and apple.

3. Pour into lined muffin pan. Refrigerate overnight.