Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Rocking with Bonnie

Love you Bonnie!!The mega screen! The lights and effects were amazing!
Our seats were behind the stage, but we were really close and
Bonnie's binoculars were so powerful I could see John's individual highlights.
When Bonnie asked if I wanted to go see Bon Jovi with her and of course I said "yes!" I bought the tickets a few months ago, put the date on my Blackberry, and thought we were all set. Unfortunately we forgot the correct day and both thought the concert was on a Tuesday, not a Monday so when I got a panicked voicemail from Bonnie this Monday letting me know we f'd the dates up I raced to get ready. Thankfully we were right on time and were even able to catch most of the opening act and had a grerat time watching the show. I only know a few of Bon Jovi's songs, but I do know how hot John Bon Jovi is from watching him in a few television shows. He's so cute!

Daily Macro

Cody's breakfast burrito from Burrito Factory

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Daily Macro

Agua fresca w/strawberry and melon

Monday, February 22, 2010

lense flare

recently I have had a small obsession with lense flare, you know those lovely little light spots that appear in photos when the sun hits the lense just so... yeah I didn't know what they were called either, so I googled light spots, and sunbursts and all sorts of options but nothing... but luckily Christina (my wonderful photographer friend) knew!

I've been experimenting with with the effect like this one, these, and this one here is one of my favourites... I love the warm, dreamy, floaty mood you can capture - they remind me of my childhood... :) here are some lovely ones I found on flickr
photos here

the welcome experiment

today's door comes from San Jose, from Chloe (who sits 2 cubes away from me at work) :) I love how it's all dressed up for year of the tiger! She recently bought her house and is in the decorating stage, so we have fun chatting about which couch, and coffee table she should buy :)

don't forget to send us your door (still trying to make my goal of 50 doors from all over the world... sigh)

Daily Macro

Here's the last photo from the cooking class I took at Dreager's Market. This is the saffron aioli that went with the beer battered shrimp recipe below. Personally, I could live without the addition of the saffron since I didn't think it added anything to the sauce and, to be honest, I don't think saffron is that great anyway. If it's your favorite then try it out, but if you could care less like me I'd omit it. Also if you hate shrimp (Kate) you could probably adapt this and make onion rings instead.

Spicy Beer Batter Fried Shrimp
Makes 8 servings
1 cup all-purpose flour1 tablespoon Spanish paprika1/2 teaspoon kosher salt12 ounce beer1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce1/4 teaspoon Tabasco sauceVegetable oil2 pounds shrimp, peeled and deveinedFlour for dredging
In medium bowl combine the flour, paprika and salt. Whisk in beer, Worcestershire sauce and Tabasco sauce. Cover; let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes.
In large heavy bottom sauce pan or deep fryer, heat about 4-inches of oil over medium-high heat to 375°F.
Dredge shrimp in flour, and then dip in batter. Fry shrimp, a few at a time, 2 to 3 minutes or until golden. Drain on paper towels. Serve immediately

Saffron Aioli
Tiny pinch of saffron, broken up and soaked in 1 tablespoon hot water
2 cloves garlic, peeled
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 large egg yolk, coddled*
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
½ teaspoon sherry vinegar
1 cup pure olive oil
Freshly ground pepper

* to coddle the egg, place the egg in a small saucepan. Cover with water and heat to just before simmering.

Mash garlic and salt to a paste using a mortar and pestle.
In a medium bowl, whisk together yolk, lemon juice and vinegar. Add oil a few drops at a time to yolk mixture, whisking constantly. Continue to add oil until all of it is incorporated and mixture is emulsified. (If mixture separates, stop adding oil and continue whisking until mixture comes together, then resume adding oil.)
Whisk in garlic paste and soaked saffron with liquid. Season to taste with salt and pepper. If aioli is too thick, whisk in 1 or 2 drops of water. Chill, covered, until ready to use.

Sunday, February 21, 2010

Daily Macro

Yes, more recipes and pictures from the cooking class at Draeger's. You really need to try some of these because they were excellent! Above is the lamb brochette with minted yogurt sauce. I like lamb, but since some people don't I think this would be just as delicious with chicken. Hidden behind the brochette is the mini potato pancake. I LOVE tiny food!

Moroccan-spiced Lamb Brochettes with Minted Yogurt Sauce
Serves 10

Twenty 6-inch wooden skewers
1 pound lamb tenderloin
½ teaspoon anise seeds
2 black peppercorns
2 whole cloves
¼ teaspoon cardamom seeds
½ teaspoon cumin seeds
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground turmeric
pinch ground nutmeg
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 teaspoons minced ginger
2 teaspoons kosher salt
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
1 recipe mint pesto, recipe follows

Soak wooden skewers in water.

Slice each tenderloin into 4 strips, about ¼-inch thick. Thread on to wooden skewers and place in a shallow baking dish.

In a small skillet over medium-high heat, toast the anise, peppercorns, cloves, cardamom and cumin until fragrant. Remove from the heat and allow the spices to cool slightly. Transfer to a spice grinder and process until the spices are ground together. Pour the ground spices into a small mixing bowl and add the cinnamon, turmeric, nutmeg, garlic, ginger, salt and pepper. Mix the spice mixture with olive oil and pour over the prepared lamb skewers, coating evenly. Allow the skewers to marinate for at least 30 minutes.

To grill the lamb, bring the marinated skewers to room temperature. Using an indoor or outdoor grill, heat on medium-high and place the skewers in the center of the grill. Cook for about 1 minute on each side (for medium rare) or until lamb is cooked through.

To serve, remove the skewers from the grill and place on a serving platter. Serve with the mint pesto on the side.

Minted Yogurt Sauce
Makes 1 cup

1 large garlic clove1 cup fresh mint leaves1/4 cup olive oil
4 ounces Greek-style strained yogurt
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Finely chop garlic in processor. Add mint leaves and process until the leaves are chopped finely. With the motor running, slowly stream in the oil until the mixture is emulsified. Stir in the yogurt. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Mini Potato Pancakes with
Crème Fraiche and Chives
Serves 8
1 pound Yukon gold potatoes
1/2 cup yellow onion, grated
1 large egg, lightly beaten
2 teaspoons kosher salt
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 to 3/4 cup vegetable oil

Additional kosher salt for garnish
1 cup crème fraiche
1 bunch chives, finely minced
Preheat oven to 250°F.
Peel potatoes and finely grate by hand on a box grater, transferring to a large bowl of cold water as grated. Soak potatoes 1 to 2 minutes after last batch is added to water, then drain well in a colander.
Spread grated potatoes on a kitchen towel and roll up jelly-roll style. Twist towel tightly to wring out as much liquid as possible. Transfer potatoes to a bowl and toss with flour, then stir in onions, eggs and salt.

Heat 1/4 cup oil in a large nonstick skillet over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking. Working in batches of 6-8 pancakes, spoon 1 tablespoon potato mixture per pancake into skillet, spreading into 2-inch rounds with a spoon. Reduce heat to moderate and cook until undersides are browned, about 3 minutes. Turn over and cook until undersides are browned, about 3 minutes more. Transfer to a cooling rack set over a baking sheet to drain, and season with kosher salt. As you continue to make more pancakes, re-stir the batter before each batch. Add more oil to skillet as needed. Keep latkes warm on oven on a wire rack set over a sheet pan.
To serve, top with a small dollop of crème fraiche and a sprinkle of minced chives.

Saturday, February 20, 2010

Daily Macro

Charlotte's mile long lashes and snout!

Friday, February 19, 2010

happy friday!

Cheers to the weekend!
I know I only had a short week at work this week but it's been a busy one! so I am looking forward to going home, lighting the fire (the weather has turned cold and rainy again just in time for the weekend) and opening a lovely bottle of red...

I hope you have a wonderfully relaxing warm weekend!

valentines long weekend road trip - doggy beach sunday

on Sunday after brunch and Cooper's utter disappointment about not being able to get onto the beach we'd camped at, we headed a mile or so down the road to a lovely doggy beach, where we met this cutie. Cooper went straight to the water!
the weather was magical and love was in the air... :) I had to take this photo of this couple sitting on the tree watching the waves by themselves, I imagined that they'd been married for 26 years and this is something they like to do on valentines day...Cooper is a total water dog and McKenzie is not really that into it... except when she falls in (check the face plant here, poor thing)but she sprung back to leap out (love the mid-air snap I got of her here) weeethey really are the best of budsus too really :)Cooper just dying to get in and go for a real swim - moments later a huge wave nearly took him out to seadigging is more McKenzie's style...me with the treewhich made the most comfy bed...bryce's turn with the tree...sand + sunshine + water = 1 happy cooper

Daily Macro

It's bacon! And it's mayonnaise! Two great tastes that taste great together!

Thursday, February 18, 2010

the welcome experiment

today's door comes from Australia - although it's not someone's home, you must admit it is pretty amazing... and look at the view it looks out onto...

this door is from St John of God hospital where my Dad works, and the building is amazing and rich in history.

don't forget to send me your door for the welcome experiment and to enter our give away

art crush

I found kelly reemtsen's paintings on sfgirlbybay today and just had to dedicate them to Melita and all the hard work she is going through right now on her house...

aren't they beautifully mad men'esque

The Kitchen

Here are the last photos of the ceiling and drywall removal. Lat night was full of suckitude,
but at least we got partially through our list of to-do's.
I started to tackle the carpet, but we decided to leave it until the ceiling stuff was done so it could catch most of the debris. We're working on getting rid of the carpet and linoleum tonight. Again with the asbestos concerns..... Now the ceiling in the kitchen is gone. The view before the sense of being completely overwhelmed took control. A sea of dusty pink and grey insulation with no end in sight....I actually look short in this picture due to the massive amount of fluffy, dusty insulation......and viloa! Persistance and team work paid off! We filled countless bags, didn't fight, and got the floor cleaned up somewhat. Hooray Cody and Melita!!!
Now onto pulling nails out of the studs one by one.

I can't wait to see how it all turns out :)

Daily Macro

Just one of many weird, burned looking wires that led to nowhere within our walls.

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

I'm on a horse

I dedicate this one to my Dad, on his birthday (he's an old spice guy from way back...) this commercial is just excellent - you must admit... but, did you know it was done in one take??? check out the making of this ad here

valentines long weekend road trip - sunday brunch

here's the view we woke up to on Valentines day :) the beach was right behind these trees (look how cute that little caravan is on the end)which looked like thisbut to Cooper's disgust, was a no dogs allowed beach :(
I fired up the stove to make us a delicious breakfast (if I do say so myself)
bananas pan fried in butter with a bit of brown sugar
love heart pancakes
(awww)
(double awww)
and viola! banana and raspberry love heart pancakes :)
Bryce (with nice hair) was apparently still hungry...
and here is my love heart lens attempt - which didn't turn out like expected, but hey, I got something else I hadn't bargained for... I am going to try this again, but I think I got the heart too close to the lens, the heart was too big, and I forgot to take the auto focus off (and only took one piece of black card to make it). we'll see what happens when I try again :)
(ok I'll stop with the love hearts now...)
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