RoundAbout San Diego

Alex forwarded to me this article by Emily Weinstein and asked me to make Martha Stewart's perfect mac and cheese. So we had it for dinner tonight. It was delicious with a velvety smooth, very cheesey sauce that was incredibly rich. I did a full recipe (12 servings) thinking that Alex would eat half of it by himself. Wrong thought! It was so rich that we barely put a dent in the dish so I'm now hoping it will freeze well otherwise we will be eating this for the next week. The recipe is below but read the article too - it's a fun read.

Martha Stewart's Perfect Mac and Cheese



6 slices good-quality white bread, crusts removed, torn into 1/4- to 1/2-inch pieces
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, plus more for dish
5 1/2 cups milk
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
4 1/2 cups (about 18 ounces) grated sharp white cheddar
2 cups (about 8 ounces) grated Gruyere or 1 1/4 cups (about 5 ounces) grated pecorino Romano
1 pound elbow macaroni

1. Heat the oven to 375 degrees. Butter a 3-quart casserole dish; set aside. Place bread pieces in a medium bowl. In a small saucepan over medium heat, melt 2 tablespoons butter. Pour butter into the bowl with bread, and toss. Set the breadcrumbs aside. In a medium saucepan set over medium heat, heat milk. Melt remaining 6 tablespoons butter in a high-sided skillet over medium heat. When butter bubbles, add flour. Cook, stirring, 1 minute.
2. Slowly pour hot milk into flour-butter mixture while whisking. Continue cooking, whisking constantly, until the mixture bubbles and becomes thick.
3. Remove the pan from the heat. Stir in salt, nutmeg, black pepper, cayenne pepper, 3 cups cheddar, and 1 1/2 cups Gruyere or 1 cup pecorino Romano. Set cheese sauce aside.
4. Fill a large saucepan with water. Bring to a boil. Add macaroni; cook 2 to 3 fewer minutes than manufacturer's directions, until outside of pasta is cooked and inside is underdone. (Different brands of macaroni cook at different rates; be sure to read the instructions.) Transfer the macaroni to a colander, rinse under cold running water, and drain well. Stir macaroni into the reserved cheese sauce.
5. Pour the mixture into the prepared casserole dish. Sprinkle remaining 1 1/2 cups cheddar and 1/2 cup Gruyere or 1/4 cup pecorino Romano; scatter breadcrumbs over the top. Bake until browned on top, about 30 minutes. Transfer dish to a wire rack to cool for 5 minutes; serve.

I am slowly packing away the master bathroom and half of the bedroom in preparation for our next remodel project. We are going to redo the master bath so I am shutting down half of the bedroom, and sealing it off, in hopes of keeping the rest of the house a little more dust free than we did with the last project. I have so much 'stuff' that I didn't know I had, stuff I haven't seen since we moved into the house, so I'm just getting rid of it all (another trip to Goodwill). One thing I'm keeping is a stack of recipes that I've been saving for some time but saving for what, I don't know. Going through them tonight I noticed quite a few dessert recipes that I hope to try over the next few weekends. So stay posted for some sweet eating.

I stopped making new year's resolutions a long time ago because I could never keep them. But this past new year's eve Alex and I decided to stop drinking alcohol for one whole month. The first 3 or 4 days were difficult for me but it quickly got easier to come home and do some housework instead of just sitting on the couch with a glass of wine. We all know that Alex couldn't hack it past the 7th day, but I'm still going strong and it's been 29 days. BUT, it's been a rough week at work and I've wanted nothing more than to relax at the end of the day with a glass of wine. So I'm writing all of this because I have only 2 days left before I can have a drink and I'm really looking forward to it.

Something that you don't expect to find in San Diego is ice on your car. It was a bit nippy this morning leaving for work and I had to sit in a cold car waiting for the heat to come through while I tried to remove the thin layer of ice on my windshield. This has happened several times this winter which is something I don't remember happening so often in previous winters.

After last night's unhealthy dinner we needed something to put us back on the right track. Tonight's dinner was very healthy and soooo good. This can be served alone as a vegetarian meal or with any grilled meat. We had it with baked breaded chicken from Trader Joe's. I had frozen spinach on hand so used that instead of the frozen greens. I didn't have regular curry powder and instead used garam masala. I cut the yams quite small and they didn't seem cooked through to begin with so I put back on a very low heat for an additional 10 minutes and then let sit with the lid still on while I cooked the chicken. I think next time I will pre-cook them a bit or even try another vegetable, like chopped carrots.

Curried Rice, Beans and Vegetable Pilaf

1/3 cup Major Grey's mango chutney
2 1/2 cups canned unsalted chicken broth or water

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 red bell pepper, diced
2 tablespoons chopped garlic
1 cup long-grain white rice
1 tablespoon curry powder
1 15-ounce can low-salt kidney beans, rinsed, drained
1 small orange-fleshed sweet potato (yam), peeled, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 10-ounce package frozen chopped collard greens, thawed, squeezed dry
1/2 cup dried currants

Place chutney in blender. Add broth gradually and puree. Set aside.

Heat oil in heavy large saucepan over medium heat. Add bell pepper and garlic and sauté 3 minutes. Add rice and curry powder and stir 1 minute. Add beans, potato, greens and currants and stir to blend. Add broth mixture. Bring to boil. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer until rice and vegetables are tender and liquids are absorbed, about 25 minutes. Turn off heat and let stand covered 10 minutes.

Serves 4 - 6

I thought this meal was really good and I will definitely make again. Thanks again to epicurious.com, what would I do without you.

While browsing around the web the other day I came across this great video on youtube.com. There's a series of them called "Great Depression Cooking" with Clara as the cook. Clara is 91 years old and teaches us how her family survived the great depression by cooking really cheap meals. Right away Alex wanted to try the poorman's meal shown on this video



Clara isn't exact with her ingredients so this is what I put together for me and Alex on Saturday night.

Clara's Poorman's Meal

2 large potatoes, peeled and cut into small cubes
1 large onion, chopped
3 large hotdogs, cut lengthways then sliced
Olive oil
Salt and Pepper to taste

Fry potatoes and onions in a large pan on a fairly low heat until soft and beginning to brown (this can take quite a while), stirring frequently to stop sticking. Once the potatoes are soft add salt and pepper to taste, turn up the heat and continue cooking until golden brown. Add the sliced hotdogs and heat through for a few minutes. Serve steaming hot with a side salad.



It was really tasty which surprised me no end. Alex had his with ketchup but I had mine plain. It's not the healthiest of meals but very cheap to make (about $4 for the two of us) and serving it with a salad adds a healthy touch.

We have spent weeks looking for the perfect flat-screened, high-definition TV and we finally bought one. We actually bought two but had to return the first one because it was too big. And before I go any further with this post, Alex has made me promise to say "it was all my fault".

Alex originally said a 32" would be the best size for us but when we went shopping it looked so puny next to all the larger TVs that I convinced him we needed a bigger one. In all fairness, it didn't take much arm bending to get him to agree to a 40" TV. So we got a good deal at Target and brought our new TV home on Friday. Alex was all excited and had even chosen the movie he was going to watch that night after hooking it up. However, once the TV was hooked up I couldn't get over how huge it was and how it overpowered everything in the living room. By the end of the night I had decided I didn't like it because it didn't fit the look we wanted for the living room. With great reluctance Alex did come around to my way of thinking (I did not make him agree with me).

It took nearly all day Saturday to pack up the huge TV, return it to Target, and drive to Fry's Electronics to buy the 32" that Alex wanted in the first place.



I should add at this point that just because Alex was right on this issue it doesn't mean he's right with everything

Well, dear readers, you might have noticed that Bookwoman is no longer an avid reader of roundaboutsandiego.com - she's moved on to bigger and better sites. Facebook seems to be my main competitor. She's been sucked in by the silly super-pokes, filling her safari landscape, and who knows what else she's getting herself involved in. Her witty comments and grammar corrections will be sorely missed.

I have been wanting to post the before and after photos for so long and couldn't wait any longer. We have so little left to do - put up the trim around the window and then paint that and the door trim, and that's it.

After 6 months of renovation we couldn't be more pleased with the outcome. Alex did an amazing job, learning from Diana as he worked. Unfortunately, Diana went off to be a truck driver and left Alex to teach himself to cut and lay tile on the floor and around the tub surround. My contribution to all this was to help in the demolition and to paint all the new walls and ceiling.

So here are the before and after photos. It's gone from hideous lime green, gold yellow, burgundy colors to a cool and calming sage green walls, grey tiling around the tub, and black floors. Absolutely fabulous!







And look at this! No more floor cracks. We took everything down to the floor joists and hope the crack will not return.

Alex made cupcakes this afternoon from a box by the Barefoot Contessa. The Chocolate Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Frosting were easy to make and Alex didn't make too much of a mess while preparing and baking. The cakes were big, so soft and fluffy, and the frosting was incredibly rich. I ate a whole cupcake which was a huge mistake - I should have stopped at the half-way point.

The box makes 12 large cupcakes, 9 of which we froze so Alex can have one everyday for nine days.



When I first googled the cakes I came across the full recipe from Barefoot Contessa. So if you want to try making them from scratch go to foodnetwork.com, although I strongly recommend the boxed version.

Boo has a visitor that has been coming around almost on a daily basis. He's a very handsome grey cat and I don't think Boo realizes that she could do a lot worse. So far she has spurned his offers of friendship and has even chased him out of 'her' yard. The last time he visited she just looked at him, turned her back on him, and walked into the house. I don't think she could be any clearer in her rejection of him. We're not sure where he lives or what his name is but we think he has honest intentions.

Last Sunday we drove out to Viejas Outlet Center, my favorite shopping mall, to return a sweater I bought Alex for Christmas (it was too big) and to do a bit of shopping. It was another beautiful Southern California day with a dry desert wind blowing. Viejas is such a pleasant mall to walk around with attractive walkways and a 'river' running through it that even includes waterfalls.



In the center of the mall is a huge open green which hosts a series of 'Concerts in the Park' during the summer months and in the month of December it holds an ice-skating rink. At the Center Court is the interactive fountain that offers different shows throughout the year. Piped sounds of birds and wild animals will accompany you as you shop - it really is a mall with a difference that will give you a unique shopping experience.

And don't forget, if you want to try your luck with the slot machines or at a table, take a walk across the road to the Viejas Casino.

I'd like to thank Janet for plugging my blog on her Facebook page. Let's hope I get a few more readers - I'm looking forward to all the upcoming comments.

We were 7 days into the new year and Alex could no longer keep his new year's resolution. Shame on him!

We made only one resolution each - not to drink alcohol for 1 month. That was it. I can hear you all now, "Why?" "What on earth were you thinking?" "What are you trying to prove?"

We decided to do this to help with the new year weight loss, to save some money, and yes, to prove that we could do it. Except one of us can't. I've lost 2 pounds so far in my 9 days of no alcohol and hope to lose a few more before I hit the bottle again on February 1st.

Last Sunday was a really pretty day so we took a walk along the waterfront. The sky was a perfect winter blue with big white fluffy clouds poking over the hills to the east and there was a nice wind blowing - but not enough to make you feel cold.

The Port of San Diego has installed some wonderful public art projects around San Diego and we viewed the Urban Tree Project as we walked along the Embarcadero taking a few photos. Here we have "Fire Blossom Tree" by Greg Eng, my favorite of them all, and "Dragon" by Kent Kraber.



There two are titled "Californiascape" by Harmon Nelson, Vicki Leon, and Steve Riggs, and "School of Blue Bottle Noses" by David Boyer. We enjoyed playing around with Californiascape while looking through the working kaleidoscope.



This is the 5th Urban Tree project and there are a total of 31 trees. Click here for more information on the Urban Tree Project.

The Embarcadero is undergoing huge changes to make it more user friendly in hopes that it will become a bigger attraction for both tourists and locals. I've been looking at the plans online and can't wait to see the finished landscape. If you want to view some of the plans click here and then click on the "schematic Design Illustrative Site Plan"

I'm not quite sure what to say about the next few photos - it seems that Alex has a bit of an obsession with seagulls. At least the last one includes a good picture of San Diego's fabulous skyline.





Anthony's Fishette used to be a favorite when Charlie was a little kid. We would take a walk along the Embarcadero or ride our bikes and then stop for lunch here. The fishette has only outside seating while Anthony's Grotto, right next door, is an indoor restaurant. The food is decent and most of it is fried but the fish is always really fresh. I think it's a great place to take your out-of-town visitors for a super casual lunch. Alex and I just had a snack of french fries which were fresh out of the fryer and really crisp - Mmmmm.



The Star of India is one of several ships that make up the San Diego Maritime Museum. Look at Alex standing by the ship being very daring with one leg over the protective barrier. A slight movement in the wrong direction and he could have been taking an afternoon swim.



I love the the San Diego County and City Administration Building which was built in the Spanish revival style in 1936 - 1938. We have so many beautiful buildings in San Diego - I'll have to post more pictures in the future.



What a fabulous couple of hours we had down at the waterfront.