Mother’s Day

May 15, 2017May 15, 2017 ~ Girlmom ~ 2 Comments

I hope all you wonderful moms had a great Mother’s day. We earned this holiday! I grew two human beings inside of me and went through hell to get them to exit my body in a safe and timely manner. Then there is the aftermath of the birth, the NICU, the bleeding, the pain! Being a mom is hard and it definitely takes a village. But we do it, everyday. We, you and me, we are badass!

Kaili made me the sweetest Mother’s day gift at school. She knows me pretty well.

Saturday I was taken out to brunch at my favorite of the Brian Malarkey restaurants, Herringbone, where “fish meats field.”

The atmosphere in the place is just amazing.

We decided to graze through a bunch of dishes that we normally wouldn’t order for brunch. Settling in with the endless Rosé, we started with oysters.

I am a huge seafood cheerleader. I have had oysters before and eh, they are fine. I don’t get all the hype, especially when someone says they love them. Wait, do you like the taste of a fresh plain oyster or do you like to dump all the fixings on it? Because I feel like you’re not really tasting the oyster when its dripping with horseradish and lemon juice. Anyways….Here is Shane’s first time trying a raw oyster.

Pretty underwhelming reaction huh? Thats pretty much how I feel about them too.

Next we tore into a perfectly piping hot basket of beignets. We kept having to swat the kids hands away. Back up ladies, eat your eggs, these are ours!

For our third course we decided on the whole fish ceviche. Basically a raw crudo of Branzino. It was amazing. So fresh and clean, like eating the ocean with bits of chili and micro cilantro for a proper punch and crunch.

The girls were being so very good. I think this is a first time in a long time that they were this good at a restaurant. We decided to go with it and try one more dish while they were on this best behavior kick.

The lobster roll. I have yet to have a really good one in my 40 years so I wasn’t sure what to expect.

But this, this was delicious. The lobster wasn’t hidden under globs of mayo, it was left to shine. The brioche bun was pillowy soft, buttery and melted in your mouth. I was so surprised with how much I liked it.

There was some live music in the front of the restaurant, we took our wine and went to listen for a bit. The girls played around patiently waiting for us while simultaneously asking for ice cream every two minutes.

This entire meal from the kids, to the food was perfect. By far the best dining experience I have had in a long time. Since we know I am picky when it comes to dining out, you should all stop by Herringbone if you are in La jolla. I don’t think you will be disappointed.

Eggscellent

April 24, 2017April 24, 2017 ~ Girlmom ~ 1 Comment

Where do the days go? One day it’s Easter and now I am rushing around to get everything for the almost six year olds birthday party.

Speaking of Easter, we had a pretty low key day. Early Saturday morning Kaili woke up sick. There is nothing like slipping in vomit with bare feet after you’ve taken half of a sleep tab, seriously the best! (keep that in mind my young friends.) She woke up with a fever and zero energy, unfortunately she missed her best friends birthday party that day. She seemed to pep up towards the end of the day and we were hoping she would be good for Easter.

The girls woke to their baskets delivered to our door step by the bunny, thank you for the one who gave me that idea. Kaili seemed a lot better, they tore through the baskets, ate breakfast and then set out on hot pursuit for hidden goodies in the backyard.

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The girls were invited to an Easter party by a school friend, once we decided Kaili was up for it we headed out.

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From here you’ll just have to take my word for it because I tucked my phone away for the entire party. The family was very nice, they had waaaayyy too much food, but they also had alcohol so…. We helped hide over hundreds of eggs for the hunt, which was over in minutes. All the girls had so much fun and there was a tad of resistance when we told them we had to go.

For dinner I made a fancy shrimp scampi that was a lot more work than I normally do and although the shrimp were plumper being poached, the taste was pretty much the same. Maybe I will share the recipe some time. I do have a brilliant whole fish recipe for you, courtesy of Chrissy Tiegen! Coming soon.

Sicilian for a Day

April 15, 2017 ~ Girlmom ~ 3 Comments

I took my first Sur La Table cooking class last weekend. The theme was exploring Sicily which is one place in Italy I have not been. There were six of us in the kitchen and it started out with our chef walking us through the footprint of the class.

After a brief introduction and a quick knife skill refresh for some (obviously not me because I am amazing) we started on our first course.

Caponata, the Sicilian sweet and salty version of ratatouille. The longer it sits the better it gets. Served on a toasted baguette with a drizzle of olive oil, it makes a wonderful starter.

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Second course was a Fennel and cara cara orange Insalata, now I am pretty sure those oranges are not Italian but…..I kept my mouth shut. Raw fennel isn’t my favorite, I much prefer fennel seeds, but this salad shined.

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The main course was grilled hanger steak with castelvetrano olive tapenade. The castelvetrano olives are Sicily’s most used bright green snacking olive. It has a meaty, buttery and mild flavor, absolutely delish.

We marinated the steak in olive oil, lemon, garlic, fresh herbs and red pepper. Showered it with flaky sea salt and then grilled to our liking, rare obviously.

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The tapenade started with poaching some garlic in olive oil and then we sat it aside to cool. The olives, capers, anchovies, lemon and red wine vinegar all got to know each other in the food processor. Just enough to marry the flavors but still have some texture. It paired very nicely with the grilled steak.

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Dessert was Cannoli tartlets and we actually started them early in the class. We made a basic pastry crust with the addition of some marsala wine. It hung out in the fridge for a half of an hour before we rolled out the dough and cut into small circles and then pressed them into a muffin tin. They baked for about 20 minutes until golden brown and firm.

The filling for the tartlets was a delicious mixture of mascarpone cheese, ricotta, vanilla bean paste, zest of an orange and powdered sugar all whisked together until combined.

The filling was spooned into the tartlet shells and then we sprinkled chopped dark chocolate pieces and pistachios on top. It was very tasty.

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It was a really fun class and I am looking forward to taking another one soon. At the end of class our chef asked me if I was a spy for the Food Network, I asked her why she thought that and she said it’s because my knife skills were great. Insert told you so.

I have already remade the hanger steak and it might be one of my favorite cuts right now, absolutely buttery and delicious.

Indian Cashew Chicken

January 31, 2017 ~ Girlmom ~ 1 Comment

Otherwise known as murgh makhani or butter chicken here in the states. I am pretty sure Cooking Light knew what they were up to calling this dish Indian Cashew Chicken. If my memory serves me right, I believe the traditional murgh makhani is chicken marinated in cream and spices and then it’s cook in a tandoor, finished in a sauce of spices, butter and I believe a cashew paste. Maybe I shouldn’t be writing this without actually knowing the facts but it’s my blog so….

So, I made Cooking Light’s Indian Cashew Chicken and the results were good.

This recipe starts with marinating chicken in a cashew, yogurt spice mix.

It’s not cooked in a tandoor or even a grill, instead a dutch oven. Simmered with a fistful of spices, onion and some tomato.

It’s not heavy, it looks like it might be but it’s not.

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We ate it along riced cauliflower instead of rice and some toasted naan, I mean it is Indian cuisine, gotta keep something legit. I would make this again, maybe even throw a little butter in there.

Let’s Watch Tennis

September 9, 2016September 9, 2016 ~ Girlmom ~ 1 Comment

Do you know what happens when you go to bed at 7:30 p.m.? You wake up at 3:00 a.m. and that is a fact, at least for me. Instead of stressing about the time and worrying when the girls were going to wake up, I scrolled through Instagram, read a few chapters of my book and then fell back to sleep. I woke to Shane making coffee at 6:45, not bad….hoping for maybe 7:00 tomorrow.

After a very casual breakfast we went to meet the gang at the Olympic venue. Cathy was able to get us tickets to see some swimming, something I haven’t been able to do yet.

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Shane and I decided to head back to the apartment to change and grab some lunch before watching tennis. Apparently a few hundred other people had the same idea and we weren’t having much luck in the food department. We finally settled on some “street” pizza, that is what I am going to call it. More like a pop up tent with some beers and pizza, I think there were fries and hot dogs too…

Doesn’t look terrible does it? Don’t let the picture fool you, it wasn’t good, like at all. AND can we talk about why other countries feel the need to douse their food in warm mayo? Warm mayo is like what would happen if men produced milk, it would taste so bad. You’re welcome for that!

Once back at the tennis venue we settled in for a few matches. As the sun went down we watched Wag’s win his first match of the Paralympics 6-4 6-4.

He had some fans waiting for him afterwards, kids longing for autographs.

And then we all took the obligatory photo together with our wonderful matching ( ahem sarcasm font) t-shirts on.

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We finished the evening with dinner at a restaurant near our abode. Nothing great, just okay food. Well the coconut cake was pretty delicious but all I have to show for it is a picture of our beers.

Today is Shane and my 10 year wedding anniversary. At this time 10 years ago we were a little bit drunk probably very loud. Eight years ago we were in China at the closing ceremonies of the Paralympics. Four years ago we were being serenaded by Chris Martin, Jay Z and Rhianna at the London closing ceremonies and tonight we are settled in our place with Brahma cerveja, so maybe I should say goodnight and talk to him instead of you.

Boa Noite.

Halloween Eve

November 3, 2015 ~ Girlmom ~ 1 Comment

Friday, we took Kaili out of school so we could make our annual trip to Bates Nut Farm. Going the day before Halloween was a big WIN! There was hardly anyone there, meaning no lines for pony rides, plenty of room in the petting zoo and you could actually browse the store without being shoved by the person behind you.

The kids enjoyed themselves, you goat to believe it.

After the pumpkin patch we went to a restaurant on our to-do list and I was honestly miserable the entire time. Kaili was so good and so easy to take out to restaurants. But Averi, well she isn’t. There is whining, so much whining and she isn’t happy unless she is eating or walking around. It wasn’t a very “kid inviting” restaurant and I just felt horrible for her screeching while others tried to enjoy their lunch. Meanwhile, Kaili fell off her chair hitting the ground head first, causing gasps from everyone around us…she was fine. My blood pressure was not.

After lunch we hit a few new wineries nearby because after that lunch, we all needed a drink. The first winery, Deer Park Winery and Auto Museum was like walking into the past. Everything in the “museum” had a layer of dust on it. The wine bar was something out of the 70’s as was the decor. The wine though, the wine was atrocious. The whole experience was strange. Yes, Averi is eating off of old dirty carpet.

After that experience we hopped into another winery but I think we were all done and ready to head home. After baths, finally able to relax we enjoyed dinner outside while the men watched baseball and the girls played until dark.

Playing Catch Up

August 10, 2015August 10, 2015 ~ Girlmom ~ 3 Comments

This poor blog has been so neglected and I have no excuses. Let’s catch up. Averi is 13 months today. Yes I am serious. She has gotten her own little personality. She loves to dance and, like her sister, jams out to Uptown Funk, will that song ever die? Sheesh. She can clap and give kisses and her pretend sneeze is the cutest. I am trying to phase out the bottles and so far so good, ask me again in a week. Her body isn’t adjusting great to the whole milk and she doesn’t want to drink much out of her sippy cup, she prefers water. I am going to focus on getting her dairy through food, again ask me in a week. Remember how I said she is whiny and clingy? Well it turns out all she wanted was her lovey and pacifier, give her those and she is just fine. So unlike her sister, I am okay with her having them outside of her crib, if I am out of options, AKA making dinner or if I have my hands full and can’t put up with the crying any more. I may be creating a monster but right now it works for me.

We have been super busy every weekend the past few months so we are taking a month off and laying low. We spent the last weekend taking a lot of walks and checking out open houses around San Diego, Kaili loves it as much as we do.

I’m trying to get back into meal planning for the week. This week I butterflied my first whole chicken and threw it on the grill. I have been cooking chicken wrong because this was so easy and so good. Plus it only took half of the time to cook as it does a whole chicken AND I didn’t have to heat the house up…winning. I also went back to an old favorite, I forgot how good this dish was and how simple, it’s going back on rotation. I made Kale two ways. I prefer my kale in chip form but I can’t get through an entire bunch of kale that way, so I took the rest and threw it a pot with quinoa and water and once it was cooked, turned it into a salad. I dressed it with olive oil, lemon juice, a serrano and some parmesan. The leftovers made a great lunch topped with chicken.

Kaili and her eating, ugh. It’s a challenge to get her to eat anything new. Lately she doesn’t even want mac n cheese. She is starting to gag on even her favorite foods, the struggle is real. I see all of these great meal ideas for kids but I don’t even want to waste my time making them because I know she will turn her nose up at it. But then on a random day she will gobble down peas and eat an entire avocado…. This is a phase, right?

Kaili has gymnastics again this month and she has some Toys R Us money burning a hole in her pocket, I wonder what she will pick out? Does the Frozen phase fade out or live forever? We shall see. Happy Monday!

Date Night

July 31, 2014 ~ Girlmom ~ 3 Comments

I am way behind on my writing. We have been busy the past few weeks and when I did have free time I couldn’t find the motivation to put pen to paper.

Shane and I were given the opportunity to have a date night last week. I have been waiting to try a new restaurant so it took me no time to decide what to do.

Richard Blais, Bravo’s Top Chef All-Stars winner just opened a new restaurant in Little Italy and it just so happens to be across the street from a new winery. We have been to San Diego Cellars a couple of times but its been during my pregnancy so I have been eager to try their wines.

We spent an hour at SD cellars while waiting for our reservations. Conversations flow easily with Todd, the winemaker and he was filling us in on his future wine making endeavors.

Dinner time rolled around and I walked into Juniper and Ivy like a kid waking up on Christmas morning. I had been waiting for this day for almost a year, to say I was excited is an understatement. We started with a nice bottle of Italian wine to pair with the Kurobuta pork meatball and bone marrow with crispy oysters to start.

I had never had bone marrow before and I was pleasantly surprised. The meatball, topped with a mole sauce was also good.

For our main dishes, Shane tried the pork porterhouse which the waitress claims to have made grown men cry. I wouldn’t go that far but it was pretty darn good. I went with the white bass in a Veracruz sauce served over mashed black eye peas. I wasn’t thrilled with my decision, turns out I don’t love mashed peas but the fish was perfect.

We couldn’t leave without trying a dessert so we easily agreed on the Yodel. A devils cake rolled up in a white chocolate ganache, covered in dark chocolate along some hazelnut brittle and deliciously dressed in hot chocolate. We indulged and every bite was delicious.

It was a great night and I would recommend you try both San Diego cellars and Juniper and Ivy if you are in San Diego, they live up to the hype.
It was so nice to get out of the house with my husband and have time just the two of us, talking, dining, drinking. I didn’t worry about the kids, I didn’t feel guilty being out, I was just happy.

Culinary Bucket List { Asparagus Risotto }

May 30, 2014May 30, 2014 ~ Girlmom ~ 2 Comments

I almost fell off the culinary bucket list wagon. Luckily I got my shit together 3 days before June, phew.

I have not been in any mood or have had the energy or the desire for that matter to do any cooking. It’s been all Lean Cuisine and take out dreams baby.

After a sleepless night I got the ~~hankering~~, scratch that, that is a horrible word. I got a ~~craving yearning~~ a want for a roast chicken, the roast chicken made me think of risotto and I have no idea why. I have only made risotto a handful of times and it’s been the easy way, you know throw ingredients into a dutch oven, stir and slide it into the oven.

The classical way wants you to stir, stir and wait and stir like you are an executive chef in a fancy restaurant, risotto rubbing it’s fanciness all in your face. But since this is a bucket list I thought I would suck it up and try the fancy risotto.

I remembered a recipe my mom sent me years ago, it’s just been sitting on my computer waiting to be used. I followed it exactly plus 2 more cups of chicken broth, and it turned out goooood. Gordon Ramsey would SO not yell at me for this risotto. It kept me on my feet longer than I should have been, contraction, stir, contraction, sit down, stir. But it was well worth it!

So if you feel up to making risotto the fancy way give this recipe a try, if you don’t have the patience, try Ina’s.

1 pound fresh asparagus
4 cups chicken or vegetable broth
¼ cup (1/2 stick) butter
1 medium onion, peeled and chopped
1 cup uncooked Arborio rice
1 cup dry white wine
2 tablespoons whipping cream
½ cup Parmesan cheese
Salt and pepper to taste
Optional garnish: chopped tomato

1. Remove tough ends of asparagus. Reserve tips for later use in recipe. Finely chop the stalks and leave the tips in one inch pieces.

2. Bring broth to boil in a medium saucepan, then reduce to a simmer.

3. In a larger saucepan, melt butter; add onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until onion is transparent. But not brown. Add rice and stir rapidly to coat with butter, Add asparagus stalks and wine, allow wine to evaporate.

4. Add ½ to 1 cup broth, so that the rice is barely covered with liquid. Stir frequently to allow broth to be absorbed. Don’t let rice go completely dry. Repeat, adding broth in ½ cup measurements, until 1 cup remains to be added.

5. Add asparagus tips and finish adding broth ½ cup at a time. When all is absorbed, remove pan form heat. Immediately stir in cream and Parmesan cheese. Add salt and pepper to taste. If desired, garnish with chopped tomato.

Serves 4 to 5