the christmas season has begun

spike the egg nog and prep the party food - the Christmas season has arrived!

thanksgiving recap . . .

This year I made Thanksgiving dinner for M and his aunt and uncle.  It was a great crowd to make dinner for.  Here are some pictures from the day.

The Table Spread:

Place setting: rosemary, thyme, and sage - I especially liked these name cards because they looked and smelled pretty, and because after the dinner was over I just tipped them upside down and let them dry out.  Now I have dried herbs that will last up to six months.

Turkey - This year I used the Zankou garlic paste on my turkey.  For those of you that live in LA you know what I am talking about when I say the paste they give you for you rotisserie chicken that kind of resembles vegetable shortening.  That is what I spread all over my turkey, and the skin turned out nice and crispy.  Unfortunately, I over cooked the turkey a little bit due to the fact that my thermometer was clearly NOT working...  She did look beautiful though and had great skin :)

Brussel sprouts with pomegranate, orange and lime zests, and toasted hazelnuts - I got this recipe from Bobby Flay.  This was my favorite dish of the day, and my favorite to prepare.  I don't know about you but I love picking the seeds out of pommegrantes, for me its similar to snapping bubble wrap. Anyway, this dish was all about texture, it had a pop and a crunch to it that was delightful.

Roasted Veggies - I put cauliflower, red onions, and carrots underneath my turkey as it roasted and they were very good.

We also had my granmother's noodles, which I have featured on this blog before.  We also had mashed potatoes, stuffing, and homemade greenbean casserole.

And of course we had pumpkin pie with whipped cream:

After dinner we streamed the British series Sherlock Holmes from Netflix, which is a modern take on the classic.  Believe me by 4:00 p.m. I was ready to kick back and relax.  SH is a particuraly brilliant (much more intersting than the Hollywood version), and I highly recommend.  The first season has 3 episodes, but they are about 80 minutes in length.  Season 2 is due to air in early 2012, and I hope it will be available on iTunes or Netflix.

Courtesy of BBC.

Later in the evening, since many of the stores opened at midnight in Burbank, M and I went out at 11:45 p.m. to see what all of the fuss was about.  We headed to Best Buy, and I couldn't believe all of the people that were out, I would say there were over a thousand people waiting in line at Target and Best Buy alone.  The Cheesecake Factory even had a truck at Best Buy and they were selling food and beverages to those poor souls waiting in line. 

Then M and I headed over to Macys, you should have seen the women in the shoe department...need I say more... hilarious.  We did not buy anything, and we were both in bed by 1:30 a.m.

All in all... it was a lovely Thanksgiving Day, and I am very thankful that M and I spent another Thanksgiving together and with those that we love :)

curtains...

This weekend I installed curtains in our apartment.  I finally got rid of the plastic blinds -- you know the ones that usually come with apartments.  I figured we have been here for 2 years, and we will probably be here for 2 more years... so it was time for them to go.  I really wanted to do a before and after for all of you, but after I put up the curtains, I realized I had not taken any pictures of the old blinds . . . apparently, I hated them that much. 

Inspiration for my curtain choice came from my trip to Hawaii this summer. Ever since we went to Hawaii I have been longing for a "beach" look in our apartment to bring back those good times :) So I ended up choosing a navy striped curtain from Lowes that was meant for a cabana.

 I figured a vertical stripe would make the ceiling look higher in our apartment. 

To help achieve the illusion of a taller ceiling I installed the curtain rod about a foot above the window.  Overall I am very pleased with how it looks.  However, I think I will probably add one more curtain panel for the center of the window, to make it look like there are two distinct windows there, and not a sliding door.  Here it is with the third panel.

now for something to go over the fireplace . . . and wouldn't one of these club chairs look awesome here.

playa - two thumbs up

Me and the gals went to Playa last night.  This is a place I want to return to over and over again . . . 

Atmosphere - warm, bright and modern.

Service - left a lot to be desired.

Food - There wasn't anything, and I mean anything, on the menu I don't want to have at least one more time, but my favorite was the Maize Cake Bombay Taj, Mezcal, and the Sundae.  The flavor of these dishes was exceptional, but it was really the texture that was delightful yet playful. From my cocktail which really had a grit to it - to- dessert that had a crunch and smoothness all wrapped up in one, it really was a dinner that made you use all of your senses.   

Cocktail:

Streetfighter - White Rum, Coconut Cream, Turmeric, Pineapple, Mint

Dinner:

Maize Cake Bombay Taj -  pork belly confit, chile-lime jicama, mango pickle, masala, chana crisp, raita cocktail vinegreta

Maize Cake Breakfast -  63° egg, pan-seared potato, truffle cheese espuma, market mushrooms

Maize Cake Mediterranean - lamb meatballs, spiced yogurt, capers, kalamata olives, feta

Mezcal - Long Green Chile Relleno, Braised Pork Cheeks, Pineapple, Almonds, Chichicapa Mezcal Sauce

Tamale Chili - wild-mushroom duxelles dumpling, filet mignon, chipotle béarnaise

Mussels Meltdown - Vapor Cooked Mussels, Charred Tomatillo-Serrano Salsa, Avocado –Lime Crema

Pan-Seared Loup De Mer - sea bass filet with five sauces: romesco, chimichurri, verde, ají amarillo, ají panca

Dessert:

Sundae - Goat’s Milk Ice Cream, Hazelnuts, Cocoa Nibs, Blue Cornmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

Pastel Café - mocha sponge, espresso crème, toffee honeycomb, colombian chocolate ice cream

sweet and smokey chili

The rain came yesterday to L.A. which made me start thinking about soups and stews.  Today, I wanted to make a dish without buying any groceries -- enter sweet and smokey chili. 

This recipe turned out great.  I love making chili because you really can't mess it up, and because if made correctly it can actually be pretty good for you.  And by correctly I mean make sure you strain the fat off your meat, use low sodium broth, and rinse your canned beans to remove sodium (canned veggies usually have a lot of extra sodium that adds very little extra flavor). 

To get the sweet - I didn't want to add sugar and so I used a red onion and caramelized it.

To get the smokey - I used two chipotle peppers in adobe sauce (seeds and all) and smoked cheddar cheese.

So here is the recipe . . .

Ingredients:

• 1 red onion
• 4 minced garlic cloves
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/2 lb of ground beef (or if I could have gotten groceries, pulled pork would have been great in this chili)
• kosher salt
• pepper
• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• 1 tablespoon cumin
• 2 cups low sodium organic chicken broth
• 28 oz can diced tomatoes
• 1 cup tomato sauce
• 16 oz. can pinto beans (drained and rinsed)
• smoked cheddar
• fresh tomato (optional)
• avocado (optional)
• cilantro (optional)

Directions:

• Slice the onion into thin pieces reserve about 2 tablespoons for garnish and throw the rest into a large stew pot with olive oil and minced garlic.  Cook until the onions are caramelized. 
• Remove the onions from the pan, and add the ground beef and cook over medium high heat.  When the beef is done pour it into a strainer to remove the fat and then return the onions and beef to the pan. 
• Season the onions, beef, and garlic with chili powder, cumin, pinch of salt and ground pepper and return to medium heat for about a minute. 
• Add the beans (rinsed), diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, chicken broth, pinto beans, and two sliced chipotle chilies. Simmer for 30 minutes (and add salt to taste).

Serve with grated smoked cheddar, fresh slices of avocado, sliced red onion, fresh tomatoes, and/or cilantro.  Unfortunately, all I had was the smoked cheddar - but it was still the best chili I have ever had.