herby, mustardy potato goodness

Yesterday's Food Whore blog entry described her obsession with potatoes - she likes them any way she can get them. I feel a bit like a copycat saying I feel exactly the same way, but I do. And as she described her favorite potato dish that she used to make with her grandfather, I knew I had to have exactly that with dinner.

I tried to take photos, but...well, it was gone. Really really quickly. You'll have to take my word for it that these potatoes are divine.

Herby, Mustardy Potatoes

Serves 2

1 lb baby red potatoes

1 tsp grain mustard

1 tsp dijon mustard

2 tbp olive oil

1/4 cup chopped fresh herbs (basil, parsley, dill, etc.)

salt and pepper to taste

After scrubbing the potatoes, place in a pot and cover with cold water. Bring the pot to a boil and cook potatoes till tender. Drain into a colander and then return the potatoes to the pot. Add all remaining ingredients and stir to combine. (Putting the top on the pot and shaking it also works well!) Serve warm.

Photo by avlxyz via Flickr

What you been up to, woman?

Eating cupcakes....

in Brentwood at SusieCakes...

in Studio City at My Little Cupcake...

and you know...chillin'

Cupcakes....coming out my ears!

The latest in the cupcake craze: Dainties Cupcakes

OK, these are reeeeeeaaal good. Virtually impossible to find behind a scuzzy Century City Winchell's, the shop is only open to the public for retail sales on Saturdays. But it's worth the trek. I mean, look at these things:
Next week we're reviewing Yummy Cupcakes. They have two stores - one in Santa Monica and another in Burbank. You'll have to read the article for my thoughts on the place, but if you're deciding between there and Vanilla Bake Shop this weekend - definitely swing by Vanilla.

Photo by pudgeefeet via Flickr

V-Day Countdown

I like to think that I attempt romance most every day of the year.

Oh, who am I kidding? That is a blatant lie. Liar, liar, pants on fire!

I may serve my caviar on roasted fingerling potatoes with French champagne, follow it up with a filet that melts in your mouth and end it with sweet homemade cupcakes, but I'll do it wearing sweatpants and shuffling around in fuzzy slippers. Cut me some slack - my apartment has hardwood floors! It's cold!

If you're also more comfortable in sneakers than heels, you may be interested in my low-cost V-Day day-date, which can be read over on La.Cityzine.com.

La.Cityzine.com - recent posts

Since I'm feeling a little torn between my new commitment to La.Cityzine.com and my old love, the Better Bitter Blonde, I'm going to have to try and accomodate them both by linking to some of my most recent posts. It's a sad compromise, but I promise that I'll get back to my cooking misadventures very soon.

Where to shop for cooking supplies in LA: Surfas Restaurant Supply

I'm all about the cupcakes these days: Best Cupcake in LA: Leda's Bake Shop?

La.Cityzine.com

Hey there boys & girls!

I've recently started writing for La.Cityzine.com and would love to have come on over and join me. I'll be writing a weekly feature entitled "Best Cupcake in LA" for the next month or two (or three?) so stop on by.

In the meantime, I'll be on vacation in the West Indies, saying hello to my baby sister.

Love ya' long time

- c

Bacon of the Month!

Today’s trip to the mailbox delivered something special: The Grateful Palate’s 2008 Gift Handbook.

Oh, my.

Last year, in an attempt at The Best Girlfriend Ever title, I bought my beau a year-long membership to the Bacon of the Month club and a six-month membership to Amazing Clubs’ Beer of the Month. My thought behind these gifts was twofold. On one hand, neither one of us needs any more clutter in our lives and the “disposability” of edible gifts was really appealing to me. It also crossed my mind that if our relationship went belly-up in the next year, every month he would get a tasty reminder of what a great girlfriend I was - and that satisfied my bitter, vindictive side.

It’s December again, and we’re still together only 10 pounds heavier with a freezer full of artisanal bacon. One would think that a pound of bacon could be easily consumed over the course of a month by two culinary-inclined adults. We’ve had bacon fried in the pan, baked in the oven, wrapped around filets and scattered over stew. We’ve had it for breakfast, lunch, brunch, snack-time and dinner. The freezer is stocked, we have a bacon surplus and still I’m tempted once again to order.

The “Field Guide to Bacon” includes roughly 45 different varieties of bacon, all with tasting notes and a 1 through 5 rating system. Some bacons are good for kids, others are best for breakfast and sandwiches. (I’m partial to jowl & shoulder bacon, myself.) The selection and variety of bacon is amazing. But I can’t have any more bacon in the house. I just can’t do it.

Though what I find especially enticing is this:

Pies! Delivered to your door! Every month! With cocktail recipes!

Oh, my. My, my, my.

Phoebe Lawless will make 75 pies a month for The Grateful Palate – which means only 75 members may join the club. At $66.00 a month (not including shipping) it certainly isn’t the cheapest way to get your pie fix, but if you order it for your sweetie and the relationship goes sour…

its not blonde...

but this quote of the day certainly made me laugh:

Happiness is like peeing your pants. Everyone can see it, but only you can feel its warmth.

The latest disaster: Coq Au Vin

I’ll spare you the gory details, but hope that you’ll laugh WITH me when I tell you that my latest culinary adventure was inspired by the following:

But did not result in Coq Au Vin. Instead, the resulting catastrophe could best be described as a pot of blackened bacon fat and a pile of stringy purple chicken with perfectly purple petite pearl onions.

So after several attempts at chewing, we decided to cut our losses. A liquid dinner never killed anyone, did it?

blonde quote of the day

"I am a marvelous housekeeper. Every time I leave a man I keep his house.”

~ Zsa Zsa Gabor, cop-slapper and actress, b. February 6, 1917

Oh my, Omaha!

We're on a mission, and today the adventure began. It started in Los Angeles, and will end in LA - but what happens along the way will truly test the wills and relationships of three sisters. Along the way, we also hope to debunk myths about middle America and their eating habits.

Since arriving in Omaha this afternoon, I've been nothing but surprised. My sister craved a snack and we ended up at the Urban Wine Company. Fine Omaha dining...

at fine Omaha prices.
3 wine flights
3 mini hamburgers
1 cheese "flight"
1 artichoke dip
... $50.

Happy Halloween!

My sister's spooky cupcakes.

Who Will Make It?

My sisters and I are going on a road trip - Omaha to Los Angeles. Three Days, 26 hours of drive time, 1 puppy. The question is simple: Who Will Make It?

Homework Assignment #2

My first assignment was a bit of a bust. As happy as I was with my description of tuna casserole, my instructor was not impressed with my use of the work "slicing" - nor did he like my timing. Fair criticism, and obviously that what I signed up for. Homework assignment number two was to write the header for a favorite recipe. I'm hoping this one goes over better, but...well...who knows at this point.

Fall is the superior season. Not too hot and not too cold, fall is a welcomed respite from the scorching heat of summer. Children are in school, television shows debut and pro sports ticket boxes re-open. It is also the only season to host two food-focused holidays: Halloween and Thanksgiving. It is no coincidence - with so much going on, sustenance is essential.

Stews make for a hearty one-pot meal when busy days do not allow much time for doing dishes. It’s versatile enough to satisfy any picky eater since most root vegetables can easily be traded in and out. This modern take on the classic French Bœuf bourguignon provides the warmth and comfort of a slow-simmered beef stew with an abbreviated preparation and largely-unattended cooking time. It is best made a day ahead, allowing for the flavors to develop between football practice and season premieres. Serve it with a wedge of crusty bread, over rice or heaped on top of a pile of mashed potatoes. Leftovers, if there are any, can easily be repurposed. Poured into a baking dish, covered in potato mash and baked at 350 until bubbly, this stew makes an elegant shepherd’s pie. It can also be sealed between two pastry layers for a tasty pot pie, leaving you plenty of time to get out of the kitchen and enjoy the season.

Recipe posted here

Homework & Tuna Casserole

I'm currently taking a class at UCLA Extension on Food Writing. It's been interesting, disheartening and frustrating all at the same time. We've had visits from some accomplished and well-known food writers and editors and the question always arises, "So, does your (insert publication name here) accept freelance?" and the invariable answer is a solid NO. Or, in some cases, NO - unless you're really well-known.

See what I mean about disheartening? Frustrating? But its not every day that you get to listen to Russ Parsons of the LA Times talk about how he develops recipes and conducts interviews, so it is interesting. And if it forces me to post more often, then it can't be all bad. Here it is - my first homework assignment: Describe a food memory in 250 words.

I’ve always loved to eat, though not necessarily to cook. There were times during my childhood in which I considered changing my last name to Stouffer’s, if only to make me closer to my then-favorite frozen lasagna. As a child, I didn’t realize there was cooking involved because I was more concerned with the end product. There wasn’t a meatloaf I didn’t like or a dinner I wouldn’t eat except for one: Tuna Casserole.

I curse the individual who first ruined a perfectly good noodle with the addition of canned fish, cheese and condensed cream of mushroom soup. How my mother found the inspiration to combine this foul concoction from the contents of our well-stocked, walk-in pantry eludes me, and how any of us survived the fishy stench emanating from the oven boggles the mind. It looked like a baking dish of gray baby spittle, the texture and color of freshly-mixed wet cement. Spooned out onto my plate, it lost its shape and oozed into my iceberg wedge and dared to mix with the Ranch dressing. The first bite -my only bite- revealed a dozen slimy mushroom pellets that slipped between my teeth when I tried to bite down. The potato chip topping sliced the roof of my delicate 7 year old mouth and as I swallowed, I remembered where I had tasted this once before. Tuna casserole tastes like Kindergarten paste. There would be no second bite. Not today, not ever - because I would learn to cook.

Almost trendsetting...

Because I am a complete Philistine who gets her news and cultural findings from watching CNN while on the treadmill, listening to KROQ on my commute and reading ApartmentTherapy at work, I'm normally a bit behind the times. Not to mention the fact that I work at the mall - which isn't exactly a hotbed of intellectual discourse. But not this time. Oh, no...I am on the cutting edge.

Check out last week's article on jellied cocktails as featured in the LA Times here.

And hopefully, you'll remember that the better bitter blonde posted a recipe for gin & tonic jellies on July 18th!

We're practically trendsetters!

blonde news of the day

I remember hearing about this when the report first came out, and recently came across the article again: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/2284783.stm

Blondes 'to die out in 200 years'! A study by experts in Germany suggests people with blonde hair are an endangered species and will become extinct by 2202.

Seriously? Seriously.

Once upon a time, a girl and her boyfriend were driving down Sepulveda Blvd. They stopped at a red light, behind a big tow truck. Another girl, not paying too much attention, neglected to see the red light and rear-ended the first girl and her boyfriend, sending them forward into the tow truck’s hitch – punching a long, narrow dent into her front bumper and practically removing the back bumper.

But the girl and her boyfriend were OK, and – these things happen. There was a little hiccup with the insurance company, and the first girl decided to use her own company instead. It took her some time to get it straightened out, but eventually she got her car into the shop and 7 days later it came back – good as new! Shiny and clean with brand new bumpers!

One week later, as the girl was fighting traffic so she could meet her friend’s house so they could attend a Pat Benatar concert, she heard a crunch and felt the car move forward – even though her foot was on the brake. The girl’s car had been rear-ended again! A week! One, single week with her shiny and clean car with brand new bumpers!

I’m calling this little recipe the “I-Can’t-@#$%ing-Believe-She-Hit-Me-Right-After-I-Got-My-Car-Outta-The-Shop” – tini.

1. Locate bottle of vodka.
2. Pull glass from cabinet. (Option A: pour directly in mouth)
3. Insert ice in glass, cover with vodka.
4. Add tonic and lime to taste. (Option B: soda and lemon)

Welcome to Greneda

My baby sister is in town.

When CeCe’s in town, you can smell it in the air – and it smells like a vodka cranberry.

My sister CeCe is a potent woman. She barges into Los Angeles every few months and she’s a hurricane of brightly colored high heels and fluorescent cocktails. Instead of lounging with the family watching a movie, CeCe demands that we all play “Drink while you think: Celebrity version” until we’re bent over, cramped, in laughter and my brother is doing his best Michael Jackson Thriller video impression.

CeCe starts veterinary school in the Caribbean in January; so obviously, every drink concoction up until her departure can be viewed as “research.” She and my other sister Kimmy came up with this little doozy just the other night, and needless to say, it got silly.

Welcome to Greneda

Crushed ice
A jigger (or two) of Malibu rum
Pineapple juice to taste
Tiny umbrella (required)

Pour all ingredients in glass. Stir to combine.

Bridesmaid Sweatshop Tuna Ceviche

I’m a terrible, horrible blogger.

I don’t call, I don’t write and I hardly ever cook at home – just ask Citibank, they’ll tell you all about my take-out and restaurant charges. I read magazines on airplanes instead of “books of literary merit” and if attending weddings could be considered a significant creative achievement, I’d be a MacArthur Fellow. (How I’m going to pay my next credit card bill is really going to be a significant creative achievement.)

Since May 2007, I’ve survived the following:
4 weddings & receptions
2 rehearsal dinners
2 bachelorette parties
2 post-wedding brunches
1 pre-wedding BBQ
1 bridal shower
1 couples shower

I still have to go to:
3 more weddings
2 more rehearsal dinners
1 engagement party

As they say, ‘tis the season. In honor of the season, (and some hard-fought, freshly-caught yellowtail tuna), I present you with an insanely easy to make modified tuna ceviche. My married friend Cayley served a similar version of this recipe to us bridesmaids during a “crafting weekend” prior to her July 2006 wedding – a weekend that later came to be known as “Bridesmaid Sweatshop.” While the photo may not do it justice, hopefully reading the ingredients list will inspire my last, faithful reader to give it a spin.

Bridesmaid Sweatshop Tuna Ceviche
approx. ¾ lb sushi-grade tuna, cut in bite-sized chunks
½ cup chopped cilantro
½ cup light coconut milk
½ diced jalapeno pepper, seeds and membrane removed
¼ of a red onion, diced
1 small ripe avocado, diced
1 thumb-length piece of ginger, peeled and grated
zest from one lime
juice from 1-1 ½ limes
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp toasted sesame oil
1 tbsp toasted sesame seeds

Combine all ingredients in bowl and then refrigerate for no less than 30 minutes. Serve with endive spears as an appetizer, or on top of mixed greens for a salad.

Makes 4 appetizer portions, or 2 main courses.