Fresh Tart

Snow, snow, go away? It hasn't begun yet, but supposedly we have another doozy of a storm on our doorstep. Yeah. Yay. Hey, at least I'm not hosting a party tonight...or sick any longer... Bring it on. I guess.

Thinking we're not venturing terribly far for the next couple of days, I made sure to swing by the store to grab some tasties. That's me, always planning ahead - at least when it comes to food! (Although I did fill my gas tank today too, food for my car, as it were.) Steaks, roasted potatoes, and roasted asparagus (I don't roast them together - the kids would freak, ha) for din tonight, mmm...Shrimps with a big salad for dinner tomorrow. Hey, I'm hungry, I'd better go make dinner! Have a good night!

Oy. Distant memories, these good times... I have been sick, my friends. The nausea started on Sunday and finally released me from its stomach roiling grip this morning. (I hope!) Thank goodness I felt well for my party on Saturday night! A snowstorm AND stomach flu would have been the complete kiss of death for that party, shiver. As it was, I had to miss Andrew Zimmern's Bizarre Foods debut party last night - NO! I am loathe to miss a party, as you may have noticed, and John said it was awesome (great for AZ, sucky for me, ha). I guess the show outtakes, which are available on the Bizarre Foods site, are absolutely hilarious. Knowing Andrew, I believe it! I didn't dare watch the show, given the state of my stomach, so perhaps I can catch up tonight. Congratulations AZ!

Toasting bread is as much cooking as I'll be doing today, ugh. Stay well out there!

Happy Birthday Stu The Wine Genius! I forgot to wish him Happy Birthday last night when he and Debbie were here for my party. They had flown in from sunny Florida earlier in the day, quickly switched mental gears into winter mode, and then set out in a snowstorm for our house. Today Stu will be ice climbing! The Williams embrace it all, most definitely - that's why they're such a blast to hang out with! (Can you say Napa, in April, with Rudy Maxa and Ana Scofield? Here we come and I. Can't. Wait!)

As was everyone who made it here last night. It takes a certain adventurous (reckless?) spirit to set out for a party in a snowstorm, so those who made it here were definitely ready for some action, namely FOOD. And plenty of food there was! (See below.) Oh, so good, there are some nice leftovers of which I will giddily partake this afternoon...yeah, baby! I probably ate 20 tuna tartare potato crisps last night, uff I was full. Totally worth it, of course! Despite my ongoing efforts to pare things down, I've thoroughly enjoyed several lovely meals and glasses of wine in the ongoing celebration of (the end of) my 40th year. (Yeah, it's been rough, ha. I should have turned 40 years ago...)

I received - get this - a Mod-Hair Ken doll, from - who else? - Kim and Suz! I've oft reminisced about my Mod-Hair Ken, with his white turtle-neck dickie, brown-n-white checked sport coat, and decal facial hair. Soooo cheesy 1970s, I loved him (and so did my Barbies, ha!). Suz and Kim, dear friends that they are, were actually listening to my dumb stories and took it upon themselves to find me a Mod-Hair Ken (yay eBay!), to craft decal facial hair when none was available (yay Suz!), and to design an evil-genius-raunchy, perfectly photo-shopped birthday card (yay Brian and Kim!) that depicted, uh, a me-Barbie in some rather uncompromising positions with said Ken. I'll let you imagine the details. If you're having a hard time, it included pom-poms and an askew dickie. Yeah. 'Nough said. (OMG, it's hilarious, totally made my, and everyone's, night.)

It was particularly cool of Andrew and Rishia Zimmern to show up, because 1) they live in St. Paul so had a nasty drive, and 2) Andrew's Bizarre Foods television series, the filming of which has had him traveling constantly the last several months, finally debuts on the Travel Channel tomorrow (Monday) night (woo hoo!) and they are swamped getting ready for the big event! Make sure to tune in!

Oh, I just have to point out how gorgeous all the girlfriends looked last night! Being the practical yet stylish Minnesotans they are, all showed up in snowboots, carrying their party shoes separately to don once in the house. Genius!

Well, I sure had a great time last night. Again thanks, my dear friends, for making my party so special! And thanks to Silver Service and the staff from Vincent's as well. Snow be damned, we had a party!

Well, what can I say? Several didn't make it to my party tonight, but most did, so how honored am I that my dear friends and family braved snow and wind to be here to celebrate with me? VERY!!! It was a fabulous night, with fabulous people, amazing food from Vincent's, and plenty of wine and good cheer. And the service from Silver Service catering - unbeatable, truly. Both the chefs from Vincent's and the servers from Silver Service were here early, despite the crummy weather, ready to go. I just can't say enough about their level of professionalism.

The tasties included tuna tartare on potato crisps, roasted tomato and caramelized onion tartlets, mini-croque monsieur sandwiches, roasted vegetables, smoked salmon with creme fraiche, steak with chimichurri sauce, chicken and red pepper skewers, imported cheeses with freshly baked baguette, and assorted cookies and truffles. Oh my gosh I had a great time, The Best. I'll post more pics tomorrow, but for now, I'm toddling off to bed, full and happy and so grateful for the company of my brave guests.

And, Happy Birthday Jen (chillin' here with Jon Brown and her husband, Steve Katz)! Tonight may have been my party, but it was Jen Leopold's real birthday!

Friday Morning Coffee with Suz! Man, it's been weeks again, waaay too long. It was great to see her beautiful face and talk super-fast so I could fill her in on all the goings on of the last couple of weeks. You know, the stuff we haven't covered in email or on the phone, ha. Like bitching about the oncoming snowstorm! Bad timing, my friends, since I'm hosting a Silver Service-catered 40th Birthday Bash tomorrow night...pour MOI! Uuuuugh (or more likely a far more offensive word!) if the snow wrecks my lovely party! Vincent Francoual - yes, of the fabulous Vincent A Restaurant- is doing the food, people, this is serious business! (That's the beauty of catering with Silver Service - they work with many of the best chefs and servers in the city.) So although I of course want everyone to be safe - I also want everyone to realize that the food is going to be worth braving the snow - this isn't just me cooking (that's our usual party routine), it's Vincent...

Sigh. Well, at least we were unhampered in our trip to Fugaise for dinner last night. It was as great as I had hoped - for me, silky squash soupfollowed by three small wild boar raviolis (small raviolis, I mean; I have no idea the size of the boar but I'm guessing not terribly small) garnished with figs, wild mushrooms, and truffle demiglace. The usual attentive, knowledgable service. Lovely wine list. Rarrr...

And tonight? Back to spiffing up the house, arranging flowers, setting out candles. And of course plowing through my closet to figure out what the hell I'm wearing - even if I end up standing here alone, just me, a few cases of wine, and a mountain of croque monsieurs, I want to look DAMN GOOD. Hmph.

Hallelujah, feeling the sun and warm(er) breezes today RAWKED (just ask George; I know I've used this pic before, it just cracks me up so much I had to use it again)! It actually smelled like spring during my morning walk - put such a grin on my face that the Byerly's cashier commented on it! (Does that mean I'm usually a crankypants in comparison? I don't think so, but hmmm...) I try not to be so affected by the weather, but hey, turns out, that's just how I roll. (See giddy LA posting below.)

No matter the weather, I'm so looking forward to a kickass dinner tomorrow night... Fugaise, baby, with John's assistant Kris and her boyfriend Harry. What winter-into-spring tasties will Chef Don Saunders be offering (on his refreshingly straightforward menu)? Stay tuned for the sure-to-be fabulous details...

Happy Fat Tuesday! Good day to whip up a batch of Quick Chicken Gumbo, huh? Except that I made a delicious batch of Manhattan Clam Chowder last night (recipe posted in comments, below), and will be having it for lunch today, and even though I lurvesoup...it's a bit much, all of that together, non? So, since I was planning pork chops for this evening, I'll start with mirepoix, turn up the heat with a bit of cayenne, add some rice, flash my bits for some beads (just kidding!), and call it close enough.

Back to the clam chowder...the classic pantry staple, delicious to smell cooking (bacon, onion, and garlic - come on, is there a better cooking smell?), quick to the table, and so hearty and comforting to eat. I love both versions. Have I never posted my New England Clam Chowder recipe? Well, I'll post both then, they're both fabulous. The Manhattan version is healthier - with tomatoes, more veggies, and no cream. But the New England version is gorgeous, and really not all that rich (the amount of cream is pretty small; my version is not thick and gooey, yuck). Try them both and let me know which is your fav.

I love LA! Yes indeed I do, oh my. John and I just returned from a long, lovely weekend in La La Los Angeles. Sunny and 80 degrees, my friends, heavenly. Perfect medicine - warmth, color, flowers, birdsong. We put in place our tried-and-true, John-and-Stephanie formula - great hotel + great scenic drives + great food = amazing trip. And it worked! We arrived on Thursday afternoon, rented a convertible, and made our way to our hotel. Waved good-bye to Lionel Ritchie (he departed as we arrived) and settled in the bar for a snack and a glass of wine. Cheers! After chilling, unpacking, and spiffing up a bit, we tooled over to the way hip Chateau Marmont for a garden-side cocktail and light dinner (I had a particularly delicious deconstructed "salad" of poached warm shrimp in a light sauce, alongside a stack of butter lettuce leaves, a little pile of toasted cashews, and a fan of sliced avocado. Pretty and delicious.)

Friday morning we were up and at 'em, bright and early - or in our case, dark and early, since the two-hour time change had us drinking coffee by oh, about 5:15 am. Which worked in our favor, actually, since our Friday plan was a top-down, ocean-side drive up to Santa Barbara and beyond. I've never been to Santa Barbara before...it's now a favorite, ha. Wow, what a place. We wandered into a lovely lunch spot, sat on the patio, enjoyed the warm sun and cool breezes, delicious salads, and then set off for Los Olivos (setting of the movie Sideways), thinking we'd stop at a winery or two. But the drive through Los Padres National Forest was so stunning, and intoxicating on its own, that when we arrived we decided we didn't really want any wine! (Who ARE these people who took over our bodies?!) Plus, we were anticipating our 7 p.m. dinner reservation at Lucques, and fretting about traffic, so we headed back to LA...

...and good thing, since it took us forever to get back into the city. Oh my, the traffic, it really is beyond description and worthy of its reputation. Like, 10 minutes to travel one block at one point. Aaaagh! Forget about prettying up for dinner - oh no. We went hot and sweaty straight to Lucques and barely made our res. It was hard to calm down and enjoy our dinner, although we did our best. The food was incredible (I particularly loved my white bean soup with nettles and green garlic), the service top-notch, the setting lovely and cozy. Hard to beat. I definitely need to go back in a different (more relaxed!) frame of mind.

Saturday we drove around Beverly Hills and Bel Air a bit (again, wow, the money, it's pretty mind-boggling) then made our way over to John's high school friend David Cremin's lovely home. We hung out there a bit, chatting and catching up with David, his wife Dana, and the youngest of their three daughters, Jessica. Then the five of us piled into their car and headed over to Canter's Deli for lunch. Classic, fabulous deli, OMG was it good. Crunchy, garlicky pickles. A pile of warm pastrami on soft rye. A giant, tender matzo ball in rich chicken stock. A chopped hearts of romaine salad. And the best - The Best - chocolaterugelach I have ever had. We rolled on out of there - stuffed! - bade farewell to the Cremins (who we'll hopefully see in Minnesota this summer!), and made our way back to the hotel for poolside digesting. Which we didn't achieve - there was a waiting list for chairs by the pool (darn!) so we had to relax in our gorgeous room, balcony doors thrown open, sipping cold beer from the mini-bar. Yeah, it was tough, you should feel really sorry for us. We did eventually rouse ourselves, and spiff up a bit, and after an elevator ride with Morgan Freeman (he's tall!) we made our way to the hotel bar to hang out for awhile - it is definitely a scene. Such fun to people-watch in LA, there's nothing like it.

So! Now we're back. The cold snap has broken, thank goodness. Time to return to normal eating! Normal sleep! And yes, normal Minnesota weather (heavy sigh....). And even still, it's damn good to be home.

Happy Valentine's Day! To my friends and family - I heart you!

And in honor of feelin' all that love, I thought I'd make a list of material indulgences (and potential gift ideas for your sweetie?) that I'm loving (or would like to be loving) today, too:

Chocolate: Ritter Sport milk chocolate (inexpensive and available in the candy section at Byerly's; all I can say is, moan...)
Flowers: lilacs - wouldn't they be amazing to smell today, in the depths of winter? Sigh...
Bath: Malin + Goetz bergamot shower gel and body lotion; creamy, dreamy, rich
Snack: Notorious Nuts roasted peanuts (also available at Byerly's, so decadent and delicious)
Shoes: my saucy new lipstick red Mary Jane pumps, of course!
Jewels: my vintage red "present-necklace"from Suz!
Lips: Stila Blackberry lipglaze, xxoo
Polish: OPI Malaga Wine (pictured here)
Fragrance: Escada Magnetism (sweet and sexy, perfect for V-Day)
Dinner: pasta, baby, with some sort of lusty sauce...stay tuned for what I decide to make...
Song: Ben Folds' The Luckiest, so very sweet, and so exactly what I am (meaning lucky, not sweet, ha)...

Today my extra-special Valentine is...BABY COOPER! A Recovering Baby Cooper, that is. He's been feeling less-than-great the last several days. Awww, Coop! He's having a bit of a nap right now, hopefully that will help his tummy feel better. That and 50,000 smooches from his beautiful Mommy Stacey - now she's a Valentine! Happy First Valentine's Day to Cooper!

I made John and Nathan's night by preparing nothing more than avgolemono (Greek egg-lemon soup). It's one of their very favorites, which is incredibly lucky for me, really - four ingredients, that's it! Broth, rice, egg yolks, and lemon juice. Simple perfection. It is delicious, and makes a satisfying dinner with a big (but not fat, ha) Greek salad. Or for Nathan, with toasted pita and eggplant and/or olive spread. Opa!

Earlier I shared a yummy brunch with my aunt Mary, at the newly remodeled Edina Grill. Much comfier and spiffier digs, same deliciously eclectic, comfort-food menu. I had their classic salad of greens with crispy goat cheese (fresh, tasty greens, tossed lightly with a delicious vinaigrette) alongside an over-easy egg. As you know, an egg with salad is one of my favs- soooo good. Mary had their scrambled egg salad (same delicious greens tossed with crispy pancetta, dressing, and scrambled eggs). Variation on the same theme, also delicious. Then she was off to Nisa at Spalon to get (even more) gorgeous and I was off to - where else - Byerly's, aka my second home, to pick up the family's daily bread. Pita, as it were. Opa, again!

And now? Bedtime, my friends! I'm tir-ed, for no good reason, really. The sun shone today and lo, it was beautiful to behold. Should have given me energy, but no. In fact, it hurt my eyes! Have I been so long in the dark that my body doesn't remember how to respond? No! No, no, no! Me thinks I gotta get out of this special hell we call...Minnesota...