Fresh Tart

Wow this weekend flew by, here it is Sunday already. What happened? John was away skiing with the boys and I was going to enjoy a nice, quiet, productive weekend... Which I did, sort of, but then as usual I accidentally kinda filled the time too and before I knew it, the only quiet night I had was Thursday. And it was awesome! A long walk, followed by polenta for dinner (of course). But after snuggling in for an excellent-but-disturbing book (Jesus' Son) and movie (In the Valley of Elah), I had rather completely creeped myself out...

...so was quite glad to see that like the shoots of an early crocus, a spontaneous Friday-night gathering of the Baseball Moms had sprung joyfully from the grey snow into my inbox. Laughter to the rescue! McCoy's or bust! And of course I had a blast, cackling and screaming and talking smack, as well as eating pizza and drinking beer, with Beth, Bobbi, Jen, and Sonja. Thanks ladies!

Then last night, off to my parents' for another delicious dinner (Dad's pheasant roasted in cream, alongside rice, a quick salad with little goat cheese tartlets that I made, with Susanna's scrumptious buttery- cinnamony apple crisp to finish). Hanging with Nathan, Stacey, Dad, and Susanna most definitely set my spirits right again. I admit it, I'm overly-affected by dark stories and movies, but luckily I'm easily steadied by good company, good cheer, and good food. Omigosh, I sound like a hobbit! Well then, just call me Stephanie Baggins, ha. A mite tall for a halfling, but my appetite for comfort is in the right place!

Ah, the post-Valentine's Day aura still surrounds me, and in it, I bask. Nice Friday, NICE! Dinner at Lurcat last night was as romantic as we could have hoped for - sparkly-dim chandeliers, tables scattered with rose petals, raspberries afloat in festive flutes of champagne, ridiculously young couples sprinkled prettily hither and thither, live jazz, and a cozy window seat for Johnny and moi, private and snug. Rather ridic in its perfection, in fact, but we ate it all up - the dreamy setting and especially the hot, crispy pommes frites dipped in creamy Bearnaise (oh dear me, we way overate them and somewhat ruined our appetites...John stressed on it, I rejoiced; therein lies the difference between us, ha). But also silky mushroom soup alongside itty bitty crispy grilled cheese sandwiches. And then slices of rich, tender pot roast in a deep ruby wine sauce, with a side of roasted cauliflower to make us feel as if we'd eaten "a vegetable." And to finish, a dessert we couldn't even eat (shame!), profiteroles filled with cherry ice cream and doused in warm chocolate sauce. The only thing that really traveled well home was the pot roast...

...which made a small portion of The Kill Hash for my lunch today, dang it was good.

Dinner tonight, nothing but warm, salty tortillachips, guacamole, and cold beer when I met Baseball Mom Beth (she of yesterday's lucky listen to Chef Philip on Cities 97) for a Happy Hour brewskie at McCoy's. It was packed - St. Louis Park is hoppin', who knew? Thank goodness Beer Is Food and guacamole is loaded with monounsaturated fats! (Those chips? Call 'em whole grain and forget about 'em! Hey, moderation is in the eye of the beholder, didn't you realize?)

Have a great weekend!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Nothin' like a little love on VD, we all need some love, right? If you're cooking up love for your honey, which I most often do (although not tonight; more on that, below), it's hard to beat the, uh, aphrodisiac perfume of truffles, even in something as simple as Chicken Soup with Bacon, Asparagus & Truffle Oil (add warm, crusty bread for a fully sensual experience, crunch). Or, it never hurts to bring on a little heat, baby, perhaps in the form of Pasta with Tuna Sauce. And for dessert, chocolate but of course, even something as basic as Killer Chocolate Sauce served warm and melty over really good ice cream. Lick the bowl. Rarrr!

My love already arrived, and not in the form of chocolate (perhaps later), jewelry (not later, I'm quite sure, oh well), a card (certainly later) or flowers (hopefully later?), but in...an email from Baseball Mom Beth.

Huh?

Well, Beth just happened to be listening to Cities 97 this morning, and just happened to catch a segment with "Chef Philip," and Chef Philip just happens to be none other than Philip Dorwart of Create Catering, where we just happened to have our amazing dinner last Friday night... So? Well, after I wrote about our dinner, Stu the Wine Genius sent Philip the link to my blog (thanks man!), and Philip scoped it out (eek! nice!), and in turn gave Ye Old Moderate Epicurean some sweet raves this morning as he chatted about food and dining blogs - and naked sushi! - with hosts Lee Valsvik and and BT. You can listen here, if you're so inclined (the "2/14 Chef Philip" segment).

So gosh, thanks to My Super Surprise Valentines - Beth, Stu, and Philip!

How do I top that VD thrill? Well, I probably don't (sorry John!), although I'm gonna give it the old college try when we whisk off for love=food in the bar at Cafe Lurcat. It's abso-friggin-lutely (to paraphrase Mr. Big from Sex and the City) a pommes frites and vino night for me, my friends. Chocolate to finish (just like you)! Hopefully completely immoderate. (Back with moderation over the weekend, don't worry...) Oh. Yeah.

Merry Baseball-y Christmas! Yes, tonight we improvised and had Baseball Moms here at the holiday hacienda - really just Beth, Sonja, and myself, pretty super easy. We decided to gather here last minute, so no planning or shopping required, which ended up being rather fun, I must say. I lurve last-minute pantry cooking, gets the creative juices flowing. End result? A quick crustless quiche with ham, tomatoes, and cheddar, and an olive-fetaappetizer pizza for miladies. Beth helped me build a roaring fire, and Sonja brought deadly little ice cream bon bons from Trader Joe's, mysteriously all gone since John got home, hmmm... (No, we didn't eat them all stacked on top of each other, which made for a fun party-on-a-plate pic, but would be admittedly yuck-o to actually consume, ha.) We lazed and chatted in front of the tree and fire until, well, the fire dwindled, the beer ran low, our tummies were full, and it was time for the ladies to toddle on home.

And so now, it's time for me to toddle on to bed. John keeps yelling from the bedroom how sorry I'm going to be tomorrow and he's right (just this once). So with that, g'night!

Again, I rave about Lucia's. I know, I know, but I can't help it, I love the place. Last night John and I ducked in for another perfect Date Night dinner - cozy, simple, relaxing, delicious. I had a roasted chicken breast, boned but with crispy skin, served alongside mushroom bread pudding in a pool of truffle demi-glace. Shut. Up. As you might already know, I am over-the-moon for savory stuffing/bread pudding/panzanella/panade-type dishes, and for truffle-anything, and I occasionally (!) like me a crispy roasted chicken as well, so I was all over this dish. I even smacked John's fork away with my own - clack! - when he went in for a bite of the bread pudding. He doesn't particularly enjoy stuffingsormushrooms, what the heck was he doing? After I chased such silliness away, I fell into a lovely, truffly trance, mmm... I'd say I ate every bite, but I couldn't pull it off. I gave half the chicken breast to John, and had to leave behind a few carrots and brussels (Lucia's always does the yummiest veggies), but I gave it a good go! And I was stuffed. But in that good way - warm and buzzy and sleepy. I slept like a rock. Man I love that place.

Good thing I got such good sleep - busy weekend! 'Tis the season! Tonight, Baseball Moms, tomorrow night, the neighborhood Frat Party, uh, I mean Afterglow Party, where all the grownups get dressed up and party down and have a grand old time. John would rather die than attend such a fete, so he'll be home with Nathan (boys' night!) while I happily head out on my own. Fa la la la la, la La La Lucia's!

La La Lucia's! It has been awhile since a stop by my favorite restaurant, so when John had a last-minute suggestion to slide in last night, I said (screamed) YESSS! I was really tired, and not at all in the mood for cooking (I had planned exactly nothing for dinner), and it was cold and blustery outside...in my book, the perfect recipe for a lovely night at Lucia's. I ducked into the warm, cozy front room, full of happy people, sipping perfect wine and eating pretty things, and thought, ahhhh, I am home. What? I'm not home, what a weird thing to think. I sat down, became one of those happy people, sipping perfect wine and (thinking about) eating pretty things, and it hit me - BAM - why I had the "I am home" feeling. Lucia's is...my WIFE! Or the wife I wish I had. You know, the 1950s version who has a delicious dinner ready for me at the end of the day, in a warm, cozy room, with a nice glass of wine. What a fabulous thought. I smiled, ordered a thick pork chop, sipped my wine, and waited for my husband while I enjoyed my wife. NICE.

Then tonight, I was out the door again, this time to hook up with the Baseball Moms at McCoy's. We were a pretty small group this time, but it was of course way fun to sip beer, howl, and talk it to death with Beth, Bobbi, Sonja, and Brage. Thanks for the fun night, ladies!

Definitely time for beddy bye, bye, bye... G'night!

Baseball Moms and their boys were here last Sunday (sheesh, it's already Thursday, I'm behind!) for a sunny, splashy day of play and snacks and chat. So FUN! We had my favorite type of food day - potluck, baby, with yummy dips and spreads (Sonja's Gorgeous Cheeseball!) and chips and bars and pie. And hot dogs (Nathan's Famous) on the grill, of course, can't swim without the 'dogs. And coldbeer, can't have Baseball Moms without cold beer. All good, my friends, all good.

The rest of the week? With a bounty of zucchini from my veggie share, and access to absolutely divine tomatoes, we've enjoyed a couple rounds of a super easy zucchini-tomato gratin, based on the filling of the Summer Tomato-Zucchini Tart recipe I posted last summer. Lighter (no crust, just zucchini, tomatoes, garlic, onion, mozzarella, olive oil, herbs, and salt, baked until melting and crispy on top), yet every bit as delicious, especially cooled to just-warm and served alongside a crusty baguette. Or pasta. Or rice. Something to soak up all the gorgeous, garlicky juices. To. Die For. (Recipe posted in comments, below.)

Two down, one to go! Woo hooooo, we are party central again this weekend! Friday night we were invited to dinner by a family at Nathan's new school. So fun - cool people, lovely home, great kids, and delicious wine and food. Salmon, fresh herbs and vegetables, a drizzle of lemon juice and olive oil, all wrapped up in foil and passed over the grill. We opened up the individual packets to find perfectly moist and fragrant fish, with lovely juices that flowed handily over to the pile of rice waiting patiently on the other side of the plate. Yum. I baked and brought a Cherry Tart with Almond Crust, with fresh cherries as well as fresh peaches and blueberries. Good stuff.

Then yesterday, another pool-and-wine party with Debbie and Stu The Wine Genius (Rudy and Ana are in the Hamptons, poor souls, ha). Sooooo fun, a gorgeous, hot day, perfect for floating and sipping. And eating! Stu and Debbie brought two Turley wines, in honor of our Napa trip (and stay at Larry Turley's home), both delicious. In the pool we drank the white, a 2003 The White Coat, a rich blend, quite golden and delicious. With dinner we drank a 2004 Lodi Zinfandel, from the Dogtown Vineyard (not the one we overlooked), fantastic. Tasted just like Napa, sigh.

After a quick shower, it was time to get some food on! I started by grilling bread for a quick appetizer, served alongside hard salami, roasted peppers, and olive tapenade from the deli. For a first course I made a red cabbage salad - red cabbage sauteed until wilted and then tossed with crispy bacon and a warm shallot dressing and topped with a warm, breaded goat-cheese medallion. Crunchy, creamy, salty, gorgeous - all the good stuff (recipe in comments, below). And for dinner I grilled a couple racks of lamb chops, cut into two-chop pieces before smearing them with a mixture of minced garlic, mint, oregano, rosemary, and tarragon (the herbs on my deck) bound with a bit of olive oil. Alongside I grilled Potatoes on the Grill, or more accurately, La Finca Veggies and Potatoes on the Grill, because I threw in carrots, fennel, green pepper, and onion, all from my veggie share this week. For dessert I had baked a Lemon Picnic Cake (lemon cake soaked in lemon icing, yum; recipe in comments, below), withwhipped cream and raspberry sauce. Uff, we were stuffed as we chatted in the dark, watching the pool lights shimmer eerily off the trees, while Nathan took a pre-bedtime dip.

So! Now it's Sun-day, and time for a Baseball Moms and Players Swimming Party! Another hot sunny day, perfect for grillin' some 'dogs, eating lots of salty chips and appetizers, drinking ice cold beer, munching on cookies and bars, and chatting the afternoon/evening away while the boys raise hell in the pool. Yeah, baby!

Girls, girls, girls! Not in a Motley Crue kinda way (at which point I have to admit, I love me some Motley Crue, esp. Dr. Feelgood, on my iPod as I write this, no lie), but in a Suz + Baseball Moms kinda way. First up, Friday Morning (afternoon) Coffee with Suz, on her patio, with a naughty chocolate-chip brownie no less (yeah!), I was as happy as a clam talking it all to death with my Susie-Sales, Heavy-Metal Minx, woo hoo!

Then I took off for Baseball Moms at McCoy's, this time to celebrate Beth Collins' 40th Birthday - woo hoo again! Happy Birthday Beth! As usual, I had a great time, chatting with Bobbi, Suzanne, Bridget, Jen, and Gayle and meeting Lynne and Maria. And snacking on mushroom-brie pizza and the killerest - sweet potato fries with a side of ranch dressing, rarrr... Yeah, gooooood stuff. Man, we Baseball Moms have had a lot of fun over the years. Hallelujah Little League, even (especially!) when baseball season is over.

Soooo...those of you who bet that I wouldn't actually make that walleye last night - you win! Big surprise, haha, I started talking at 5:00 and didn't stop until 9:30! Happy Hours, woo hoo! Gosh I had a great time, gabbing with Baseball Moms Beth, Bobbi, and Jen. Usually someone is running off to a PTA or a Little League meeting, but not this time. Friday Night, baby, no obligations and time to par-tay! Well, sort of. Pretty restrained, but great fun anyhow.

So I'm cookin' the walleye and asparagus tonight! Early, in fact, because then I'm off to see the long-awaited Spider-Man III with Nathan. He saw it last night already...but once is never enough when it comes to super-hero movies, oh no.

Another fun crowd at the baseball game today - my brother David is in town from NYC. Mr. Good Luck Charm, Nathan's team scored their first win (despite the rain out) and were riding pretty high as I ran to my car to get away from the freezing, blowing wet, YUCK!

Glad to be home, dry and cozy, in my soft, warm sweats, ahhhh. Time to snuggle down with an episode of Desperate Housewives while I fold laundry. That's a little ritual of mine. The two go together so marvelously, don't you think? Almost as well as foie gras and Sauterne - but not quite. Gee, sure could go for some foie gras right about now...Napa, anyone? Sigh...