RoundAbout San Diego

A couple of weekends ago I cooked pizza on the grill for the first time. We were really pleased with the results and plan to do this often over the summer months. I first saw someone doing this on the Food Network channel a while ago - it might have been Bobby Flay. I bought the dough pre-made from Trader Joe's and pre-cooked some of the filling. Sauteed some sliced asparagus, mushrooms, and shallots. Used half the dough that came in the packet and let it come to room temperature then rolled and stretched it to the desired size and thickness - this was the hard part because just when I thought it was the right size, it shrank! Once I was happy with it, I threw it on a hot grill (we have a gas grill and the temperature was about 400) shut the lid and let it cook for a few minutes.

What I should have done at that point was flip it over and then put the toppings on. What I did was put the toppings on without flipping. After spreading the asparagus, mushrooms, and onions over the top I sliced some creamy blue cheese onto it, put it back on the grill and cooked until the cheese was melted.



The bottom side got a little burnt around the edges which wasn't that bad and didn't take away from the flavor of the toppings. Next time I will flip the dough once it firms up and then put on the toppings.



We had the pizza for happy hour but it could easily have done us for dinner with a side salad.

We had happy hour in front of the fire this afternoon. It's cold outside with heavy dark clouds ready to rain down on us. I made a sweet onion dip from Martha Stewart's site. The recipe uses reduced-fat sour cream and cream cheese but it was still very rich and creamy.

Sweet Onion Dip



1 tablespoon olive oil
2 Vidalia onions (1 pound total), finely chopped
Coarse salt and ground pepper
1 cup reduced-fat sour cream
2 ounces reduced-fat bar cream cheese, room temperature
1 1/2 teaspoons white-wine vinegar
1/4 cup finely chopped chives
Potato chips, for serving

In a large skillet, heat oil over medium. Add onions; season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring frequently, until golden brown, 12 to 15 minutes. Let cool to room temperature. In a medium bowl, combine onions, sour cream, cream cheese, vinegar, and chives; season with salt and pepper. Chill dip until slightly thickened, about 1 hour; or cover and refrigerate up to 2 days. Serve with chips.

I spend a fortune on fresh herbs at the grocery store each month and have attempted to grow my own several times. I fancy myself as a bit of a farmer, growing my own veggies and fruit, having a chicken or two for fresh eggs, living off the land - it's a nice thought but completely unrealistic. I don't have a green thumb and almost everything I plant dies within a few weeks so I wouldn't survive for very long. Here's the story of my 'Garden of Death'.

Take my mint for example. Everyone knows that mint grows like a weed; you can't kill it. But this is the most I've been able to do with my bit of mint



It's never grown enough for me to use it. The leaves get a little bit bigger, turn brown, and fall off.

When Janet (mother-in-law with a green thumb) was last here, she helped me pick out some nice parsley and chives. I still have a few sprigs of parsley left in the pot so I consider that quite successful. But my chives haven't done anything since I snipped a few to put in a frittata a few months back. However, it still has some green on it so I'm holding on, hoping it will grow back.



I've heard that basil lasts for a year at a time and you have to plant new ones each year. Well, my basil lasted for a few months and now looks like this. Again, it's still green but it's not as if I can use the leaves so I'm having to buy little packets at the grocery store again.



The worst case for my non-existent green thumb is the death of our tangerine tree. When we bought the house we had this beautiful, thriving, green tree that produced so many tangerines we couldn't give them away in the end. A few years after moving in it started shedding all it's leaves until there were none left. Now, we pull off a few of the branches here and there when needed for kindling for our fire. Here are the before and after photos



This is how it looks today



Today I bought a mint plant from Trader Joe's. It's full and green, and has big leaves that I'm going to use this week in a couscous recipe. Around the bottom of the plant is some thyme and an unknown herb. Can anyone tell me what I must do to keep it alive?

It's been a somewhat cold and wet season for us here in San Diego so a couple of weeks ago I made this classic minestrone soup from Martha Stewart's site. It's a lovely warm feeling to sit in front of a roaring fire with a hot bowl of soup and some fresh crispy bread for dunking.

Classic Minestrone



2 tablespoons olive oil, plus more for serving (optional)
1 medium red onion, chopped
2 medium carrots, peeled and diced
1 large celery stalk, diced
1/4 teaspoon red-pepper flakes
1 teaspoon minced fresh rosemary, or 1/4 teaspoon dried
Coarse salt and ground pepper
1 can (14.5 ounces) whole peeled tomatoes, drained and finely chopped
1 large potato, peeled and diced
1/4 head Savoy or green cabbage (1/2 pound), cored and thinly sliced
1 can (15 ounces) cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 pound green beans, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces
1 garlic clove, minced (optional)
1/4 cup thinly sliced fresh basil, plus torn leaves for serving (optional)
3/4 cup grated Parmesan, for serving

In a large pot, heat oil over medium. Add onion, carrots, celery, red-pepper flakes, rosemary, 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until onion begins to turn golden, 5 to 8 minutes. Add tomatoes; cook until some of the liquid evaporates, 1 minute. Add potato, cabbage, cannellini beans, and 7 cups water; bring to a boil. Stir in green beans. Reduce to a simmer, and cook until all the vegetables are tender, about 20 minutes. Season with salt and pepper; stir in garlic, if using, and basil. Serve sprinkled with Parmesan and, if using, torn basil. Drizzle with more oil, if desired.

We froze the leftovers in individual serving size containers which I took to work for lunch later in the week.

I was looking around for something easy to put together for our Saturday happy hour and came across these Cheddar cobwebs on Martha Stewart's site. Very easy to make and so few ingredients you're bound to have them on hand. I made half a recipe and they were gone in seconds. So light, crisp and very savory. They are a bit greasy and I don't know if laying them out on a paper towel would make much of a difference.

Cheddar Cobwebs



1 cup grated yellow cheddar
2 tsp all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp paprika
Course salt and ground pepper

Preheat oven to 375. In a medium bowl, toss cheddar with flour, paprika, teaspoon salt, and 1/8 teaspoon pepper. Drop by tablespoons onto parchment-lined baking sheets (6 per sheet); flatten into 3-inch rounds. Bake until golden and bubbling, 10 to 12 minutes. With a thin metal spatula, transfer crisps to a serving plate to cool.

A couple of Fridays ago we had our happy hour at The Linkery in North Park. A farm to table restaurant, you are pretty much guaranteed the freshest of produce.

The menu is changed daily, focusing on the fresh produce they have on hand. Our Friday night menu offered a wonderful selection of beers, wines, fresh salads, homemade sausages, flatbreads, etc. We had a great time sitting and reading the long list of farmers and artisans that provide all the produce that go into the menu while we drank and ate.

We had the bacon and a pepperoni flatbread, with an andouille sausage on the side. The pepperoni flatbread had a little bit too much jalapeno for my liking so Alex ate the whole thing. The bacon flatbread with the goat cheese and caramelized onions was delish. They messed up our order just a bit so offered us carrot cake for dessert for free - we were happy to accept. Very moist, very sweet.

All in all we liked this place. Casual atmosphere, very friendly staff, fabulous menu, and a really great idea for a neighborhood restaurant. We will definitely go back.

West Coast Tavern is located in the lobby of The Birch North Park Theatre. The theatre, originally built as The North Park Theatre in 1928, has been a movie house, vaudeville venue, and church. In 2004 it was renovated and is once again a movie theatre as well as opera house

The Tavern offers a fabulous section of small plates. Alex and I arrived early as usual and pretty much had the place to ourselves. We started out with west coast fries, and the bacon, blue cheese flatbread with arugula and carmelized onions - a great combination of toppings. A Cupcake Sauvignon Blanc (me) and a Guinness (Alex) rounded out the first course nicely. Up until this night I had always favored the fries at The Prado, but I thought the west cost fries were much better - thin, crispy, with just the right amount of salt and herbs.

We continued with ground lamb sliders and charred green beans. The sliders had a topping of feta cheese, rosemary aioli, and caramelized onions, while the green beans had a sprinkling of chopped wild mushrooms and a roasted garlic vinaigrette. All of it was mouth-watering good.

By this time others had started trickling in and we were definitely beginning to get the "Hey, it's Friday" feeling - don't you just love that?

This was the best chocolate cake ever. Even Alex, who does not like cake without some sort of butter cream frosting, whipped cream, or ice-cream, loved this cake on it's own. It was moist, slightly chewy on the edges, with an intense chocolate flavor. Alex said it has a sort of brownie texture - he should know, he's the expert in these matters. The recipe came from the Blue Kitchen food blog. If you plan on making this I recommend you read the kitchen notes at the bottom of the page. I used a 9" pan and cooked it about 5 minutes more than the recommended time.

Perfect Chocolate Cake



10 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped coarsely
1 cup [2 sticks] unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
5 large eggs
One cup plus 5 tablespoons refined white sugar
1/2 tsp salt
5 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 325ºF. Butter and flour a 10-inch-diameter springform pan.

Put the chocolate and butter in the top of a double boiler so it’s over, not in or even touching, the water. While the water simmers gently below, stir the chocolate and butter together until it’s all melted and smooth.

With a big whisk, mix the eggs and refined sugar in a large bowl by hand until everything is well blended and beginning to thicken. Next, sift the flour, salt and baking powder over the egg mixture and, still using the whisk, fold and stir it all together. Now, gradually, add in the chocolate mixture—gently folding it in about 1/4 cup at a time.

Pour the batter into the prepared springform pan. Put the cake in the oven and set a timer for 20 minutes. When the 20 minutes passes, loosely cover the cake with foil—don’t tuck it down tightly, just lay the foil across the top of the pan.

Bake the cake about 30 minutes longer. Test it, near the center. The tester should come out with a few moist crumbs—not with a glob of raw dough, but not dry either. If necessary, leave the cake in the oven a few minutes more and re-test at intervals.

Take the cake out of the oven; put it on a rack, still in the springform pan, and remove the foil. The cake will be rather puffy and a little of it may cling to the foil—don’t panic! That happens. Walk away for now. As the cake cools, it will fall and flatten out.

When the cake is completely cool, slide a knife around the edge, then gently release and remove the pan sides.

We each had a slice with a glass of port - decadence at it's best.

Alex and I just had a piece of last night's tart and it tasted even better. Also, it didn't fall apart so here are a couple of photos that would have looked so good next to the recipe yesterday.

I spent a few hours today doing last minute shopping at the mall and picking up a few items from Trader Joe's. On my days off so far I have been quite productive in the mornings and totally lazy in the afternoons. I spend my mornings doing housework, cooking, and shopping while my afternoons are spent watching online movies or reading. Is this what I can expect for retirement?

After our left-over dinner of curry and rice tonight we had pan-baked lemon-almond tart for dessert. This comes from The Minimalist, Mark Bittman, of the New York Times. You can also watch his video here. It was easy to make and quite delish - will definitely make again.

Pan-Baked Lemon-Almond Tart

4 eggs
1/2 cup sugar
Pinch of salt
1/2 cup ground almonds
1/2 cup cream
1/2 cup sliced almonds, more for garnish
1 lemon, zest and juice
2 tablespoons butter
Powdered sugar, for garnish

1. Heat oven to 400 degrees. In a bowl, combine eggs, sugar, salt, ground almonds, cream, sliced almonds, lemon zest and juice.

2. Melt butter in an 8-inch ovenproof skillet over low heat; when foam has subsided, add almond mixture to pan, tilting pan to distribute batter evenly. Continue to cook tart on stovetop until edges just begin to set, then put pan in oven and finish cooking, about 10 to 15 minutes more.

3. When tart is done, put it in broiler for about a minute or until just golden on top. Sprinkle with powdered sugar and sliced almonds.

Serves 4.

I served this almost as soon as it came out of the oven which was not the smart thing to do. It fell apart as I plated it which is why there isn't a picture of it. Let it cool down before serving.

Last year when we were in Germany, we often had these lovely, fresh, crunchy, bread rolls for breakfast with cheese and/or jam. Alex and I loved them so yesterday I attempted to make my own. They cooked to a beautiful golden brown color with a nice crusty crust. The inside texture was very good too. But the one thing that was really disappointing to us was the size. They were very small even though the dough rose to twice its volume when it was supposed to. I thought they would puff up in the oven but they didn't. The recipe below instructs you to make 12 rolls but I think the next time I do this I will make 10. The recipe calls for salt but doesn't tell you when to include it so I mixed it with the yeast, sugar, and water. If any of you think this was the wrong thing to do, let me know.

Broetchen



2 1/2 to 3 cups of flour
1 package of active instant yeast
1 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. oil
1 cup warm water

Pour 2 1/2 cups flour into a large bowl and form a well in the center.

In a separate container, mix yeast, sugar, and 2 tsp. of water (water comes from the 1 cup listed from above). Pour mixer into well but do not mix with the flour at this time. Cover the bowl with a cloth and set in a warm place for 15 minutes. Add remaining water and oil and beat until mixed.

Turn dough out onto the counter top and need until smooth. Add the remaining 1/2 cup of flour as needed. Put dough in bowl, cover, and let it rise until double in size. Punch down and divide the dough into 12 parts. Shape in oval rolls and place 3" apart on a greased and floured cookie sheet. Cover and let rise until double in size. Beat egg white and 1 tsp. of water with fork until frothy and brush on the rolls.

Bake in preheated oven at 450F for 15 to 20 minutes until golden brown

On Thanksgiving Day Alex put on a scavenger hunt for Astrid and Pippa to help while away the time before dinner. Using puzzle-maker programs he found online Alex put together 5 word games. When solved, each word game gave a clue that led the girls to a location in the house or around the garden.

The first clue led Astrid to a bigfoot game - but which one? With a couple of choices they had to go through each box to find a prize and the next clue


Some of the clues were easier than others but it kept them occupied for quite a while.


The last clue led them to the spaghetti tree and a final prize of silly string. If you look closely at the tree you can see spaghetti growing on it

It was great that Ben, Kirsten, Astrid, and Pippa drove down from Palo Alto to spend Thanksgiving with us. We all had a fabulous time because of our beautiful weather here in San Diego.

The original plan was to buy a pre-cooked meal from Whole Foods or Jonathon's of La Jolla but I couldn't imagine serving a whole meal cooked by some store on Thanksgiving Day. So with some planning and a lot of cooking ahead we were able to eat a home-cooked meal with not too much work on the actual holiday.

The day started out with fresh croissants with lots of butter and jam, mimosas, and coffee served on the patio. The croissants came from Williams and Sonoma as a gift from Janet and Klaus. All I had to do was take them out of the freezer the night before, let them rise overnight on the kitchen counter, and pop them in the oven about 1/2 hour before ready to serve. Wish I had a picture but alas, it's not to be.

Soon after breakfast Alex took everyone to Mission Trails for a good romp around to help burn of excess energy and work up an appetite for dinner. While they were gone I started prepping for dinner, getting the turkey in (simple roast turkey with rich turkey gravy), setting the table, prepping some veggies, etc.

We don't have a dinner table so Alex made one with some saw horses and left over polycarbonate from the patio cover (another entry). It looked so pretty with all the dinner ware, especially after Kirsten did her decorating bit with the leaves and turkey confetti.



This is the turkey that Pippa made out of a pine cone and some colorful paper. It served as one of the center pieces for our feast.


Charlie turned out to be quite popular with the girls - he was chased all around the yard with silly string being shot at him.


We had dessert out on the patio around the fire pit. Rred velvet cake courtesy of Janet and Klaus from Williams and Sonoma, pecan pie from Trader Joe's, home made apple pie from Danielle, and fresh whipped vanilla cream to wash it all down with. Kirsten bought some caramel with sea salt bark from World Market which I was eating all day and is so good.


Winding down at the end of the evening after a drink or two (or several, but who's counting?). I'm still wearing my favorite apron!


Danielle, Pippa, and Charlie hamming it up for the camera


I'm not quite sure what Charlie was trying to show here but Astrid was sneaking up behind him for a final spray of silly string


The next morning we were a little on the slow side to get going but Pippa and Alex managed to get some quality time together while others were still in bed.


All in all a busy day but a lot of fun.

Well, it certainly isn't Alex!

Boo enjoys asserting her authority over her peeps. Here she is putting Alex in his place by using him as her pedestal.


As I took these photos I kept calling her to get off and she totally ignored me.


Here she is in one of her more adorable moments - posing on her fluffy pink blankie. Work it baby!

We have come to the end of our latest remodel and I couldn't be happier.

It was a long job but we were lucky to get the help of Klaus a few times.

Boo really enjoyed going beneath the house whenever possible, especially when the big light was used which she turned into her personal tanning booth.


Klaus was around to help Alex install the new pocket door after yours truly painted it.


Check out the new shiny copper pipes - who knew we would end up having 'bling' under the floor boards?


Here's Boo again - I think she might be overdoing it a bit. Maybe we should change her name to Boo Hamilton?


This photo shows the top part of the solatube which Klaus helped install. The solatube gives the bathroom a lot of light without having to turn on the electric lights.


Our brand new floor boards - wonder if Alex accidentally boarded in Boo.


All I had to do each night was pour these guys a beer and serve a plate of food. Not a bad exchange for a new bathroom.


Here the sub floor is going down.


I guess Boo wasn't boarded in after all. Here she is distracting Alex from whatever he should be doing.


The shower unit is really beginning to take shape now. The shower pan has been set in concrete and the moisture barrier tacked up followed by the cement board.


The dry wall is now up and ready for mudding.


Once again, Boo wants to be in the thick of it. Here she is helping prime the walls.


Since these photos were taken we've installed a new toilet, towel warmer, and mirror. Alex tiled the shower walls and floor, grouted, and sealed it all. I will post the final photos soon.