See you Next Year

Top Ten:

1. Family


2. Friendship


3. Pumpkin pie


4. La Cambusa


5. The Rolling Stones


6. His smile


7. That shade of Blue


8. Gin Rummy with Dode


9. Good Morning


10. Rosemary

2011 has made its mark. My horoscope has me feeling rather optimistic for 2012 but then again I doubt anyone's horoscope leaves them feeling screwed for the new year. The holiday season: a celebration of togetherness, grace and political debates. It's all fun in games, spirit and lasagna.

I think 2012 is the year.

A Wonderful Time of Year

Merry Christmas, everybody! I ate all the cookies Santa, sorry. I hope this post finds you well enjoying rain, snow or shine wearing plaid, velvet or bells talking wine, food or politics and smiling hopelessly.

The dinner party on Thursday started the weekend off on a lovely note. From personal experience, putting dough into the freezer turns dough into smoosh overnight. But I surprised myself with composure. Homemade gnocchi is
easy
extremely difficult. One by one I wanted to sling shot the dumplings out the door, across the golf course, over the Grand Canyon and back just in time for dinner. Never mind that, with grace from my mother and poise from my Nana I turned those nothings into somethings. Dinner served, champagne popped at 7:00.



On a sweeter note: first hour Hispanic Literature, senior year in high school...

Anonymous friend: "It's my Birthday tomorrow!"

Me: "I made you cupcakes!"

No I didn't

Anonymous friend: "Red Velvets?"

Me: "Yes!"

No

Anonymous friend: "My favorite!"

And the baking began.

I starred in this situation regularly. I would dig a hole, a deep hole which I filled up with dozens, dozens of red velvet Cupcakes. My mom's kitchen became a red velvet (green velvet on St. Patty's Day) factory nearly once a month. I mastered a recipe off of FoodNetwork. They were velvet, orgasmic, 1 LB of powdered sugar delicious. I even made GaGa velvets for the Glee episode Lady Gaga appeared on. I married that cupcake; it's tradition. Every Christmas until I wilt I will make red velvets.

This year I made a vegan red velvet with a cup or two of powdered sugar, maybe three.

Happy Holidays!



P.s

Those Blackstrap Molasses Cookies above: A-okay! Check it out: http://milkncookiezzz.blogspot.com/2011/02/vegan-blackstrap-molasses-cookies.html

And yes, I'm making a second batch tomorrow.

Stir it up

More recently the kitchen has been more or less a test kitchen. I have a dinner party tomorrow. Besides my How to Make Gnocchi like an Italian Grandmother cheat sheet from Heidi Swanson (101 Cookbooks) it's just me and my apron. Cooking with fresh ingredients and a little this and that has shot my little black book of recipes in the right direction. The plant based whole foods diet definitely made an impression on not only the grocery list but my How To in the kitchen as well. Dinner on Friday is food worth sharing...

This stir fry is great because you can pick and choose what vegetables you'd like!



Grocery List:

Snap Peas, Bok Choy, Asparagus, Jalapeños, Green Onion, Red onion, Orange, Dried Chiles, Tumeric, Cumin, Toasted sesame seed oil, Soy sauce, Chili oil, Black beans, Tahini, Cilantro, Blood oranges or Kumquats, Quinoa, Basil, Mint, Lime, Thai seasoning (optional, for flavor)

Prepare, chop all the vegetables and set aside. Cook the quinoa. While the quinoa is cooking start the sauce. In a food processor combine 2 dried chiles, bunch cilantro, one jalapeño, black beans, soy sauce, chile oil, orange zest and orange juice. In a Wok or large saucepan, heat sesame oil. Add all the vegetables until vibrant with color then combine with quinoa. The sauce may come out a bit thick but once you add it into the Wok with the heat it should coat the quinoa and vegetables. Season with tumeric, cumin, ribbons of basil, mint and lime.

As a side dish you can caramelize blood oranges or thin slices of kumquats

Rocky Road

Disposable cameras seem to capture those moments perfectly.

We have discovered a new trail head up yonder. A 3 mile loop has you sweating but certainly not regretting your decision to take a hike. The picture above is precious, I know. That's my dog Scout. She went through Rattlesnake training and failed to blink while I nearly dove off a cliff at the sound of a Mohave Rattlesnake. Keep prancing, Scout. Life is too short to worry about protecting your family.

 

Scotch & Soda

Scotch & Soda is a store I ran into twice in one day during my SoHo vist. It took me half way around the store and my second stop to realize I was shopping for men. Although I did love the delicate yet harsh style of blouse for women I think I found a new favorite drink rummaging through the men's parkas.

More from Scotch & Soda...



Pictures property of Scotch & Soda 2011

http://www.scotch-soda.com/

Rooftop

My last night in NYC we spent on the town at a have-to-go-back-when-of-age old school lounge bar. On the roof of the Peninsula hotel lies faded oriental rugs, glasses of red and a view like no other. I could have sat with friends for hours in December! I can't imagine what a good time summer spot this is. One day I'll be saying "I'll have the usual."



The rooftop warmed us up for a killer meal at Milo's, a native restaurant to Montreal. I happily moved my wine glass to the side, making room for their famous Greek inspired salad; marinated tomatoes & cucumbers followed by grilled zucchini, eggplant with a yogurt dip I am determined to master in my own kitchen (by Christmas).