Fresh Tart

Another Sunny Sunday, we'll absolutely take it. This weekend flew by, zip zap, and now I've got sun rash and the weekend's just about over. Crazy.

It's been a weekend of eating food prepared by others - no complaints. Thursday lunch I dined a la Suz at Lucia's, aka The Perfect Lunch Spot. Romantic or girlie is lovely Lucia's, depending on your dining partner - not many spots can boast such versatility. Suz and I girled out, of course, ordering baked trout served with new potatoes and sauteed veggies. (Oh, a new potato-veggie-fish theme! More on that in a sec...) Deee-friggin-licious, as usual.

Thursday night, more girlie fun, this time at McCoy's with my dear friend Mary Pappas, where I ordered my old stand-by...the black bean burger, served with guacamole, onions, pickles, tomato, and lettuce. Eat it open-faced, with a salad on the side, and be very, very glad.

Friday lunch, even more girlie fun, this time at Via with my aunt Marge, cousin Kim, Stacey, and Cooper Cuteness (not a girl, The Coopst, but fun nonetheless). We raised a glass to toast my sister Etta's 24th Birthday - Happy Birthday It'll!!! This was my first meal at Via - the homemade potato chips were a big hit. They do homemade fries as well, always welcome in my world. I ordered their chopped salad, nothing to write home about, but Kim loved her burger, and Marge her chicken sandwich, and the service was excellent and setting quite pretty, so I'll give 'er another go.

Friday night, we invited Stu The Wine Genius and his wife Debbie out for dinner, but they countered with an invitation to their house instead, for salmon, new potatoes, and pea pods (therefore the theme), with Debbie's sister Michelle joining us as well. John and I very quickly accepted (we're no fools!) and bopped on over for delicious wine (always delicious wine with Stu and Debbie) and an opener of olive tapenade on crusty bread. Happy, happy, I love having dinner at the Williams' beautiful home. But wait! Poof, the electricity went out, and after a call to Xcel confirmed it might not return until 11:30 p.m., we packed up the food (and wine) and drove it over here, where potatoes were boiled (finished with butter and a shower of fresh parsley), salmon was baked (with fresh dill and lemon), salad was tossed, and pea pods were quickly sauteed (more butter, Hope Creamery, natch). With Lucia's peach cobbler to finish (to die for), I couldn't imagine a better start to the weekend.

Yesterday, John and I headed over to the US Women's Open Golf Tournament at Interlachen. We had a blast (as guests of Wells Fargo, thank you Jon), strolling the gorgeous course, people watching, sipping beer, and snacking. We ran into several neighbors and friends, took a crash course in who's who in the LPGA, and had ourselves a grand old time.

Tonight, shrimp curry coming up (once I get off the uh, computer), this time I found wild-caught Florida Key West shrimpshelled at Whole Foods. Yay! I predict goodness, I'll let you know if otherwise. LaFinca veggie share bok choy is going into the saute. And oh, this week's share also included a gorgeous bunch of icicle (white) radishes, which went into the salad I made on Friday, they're beautiful and of course crunchy with a peppery kick. I may do a side-salad of those babies, thinly sliced, tossed with minced scallions, rice vinegar, and bit of soy sauce.

Ka-pow! As long as the the sun shines, it's all good. G'night!

Moderate it: have several meals out coming up? As we all know, it's tough to be moderate when eating out - restaurants plot against us with their large portions and ridiculous over-use of fat (I'm not against fat, per se, but bathing food in it is pretty disgusting). One tasty trick is to order fish and veggies and ask them to not soak the dish in oil. A little olive oil or even butter is a good thing - a dousing of fry grease (blech) is quite another.

Ah, a little sun and warmth again, enough for me to be out on the porch, happy, happy. It just doesn't want to be spring around here - two steps forward, one step back, I guess. Not complaining! The cool air, warm sun thing going today is fabulous!

Our Friday lunch date at Lucia's was typically lovely. I spiffed up a bit, always fun. We scored a window table, enjoyed a gorgeous glass of rose, then split a cup of pureed chickpea-carrot soup, topped with a few tiny cubes of crispy fried croutons. Enough to add a hint of richness to the smooth and creamy-seeming soup, absolutely delicious. For our main we both had the salmon, seared crispy, buttery inside, served alongside a few boiled new potatoes (so fresh, so sweet) and sauteed sugar snap pea pods (ditto on the fresh and sweet rave). Gorgeous on the plate, simple and clean, perfect to eat. We left very happy and not at all weighed down.

Then on to the Sex and the City movie. Not completely fabulous, but fun to see anyhow. I'm not giving anything away by saying that it made me appreciate the quality of the TV version even more - more biting, funnier, more beautiful, realer. I came home from Baseball Moms to find John awake and made him watch an (HBO On Demand) episode with me (he always enjoyed the edginess of the show, thought the movie tried way too hard to be girlie; I agree). We chose the one where Carrie's shoes are taken from a party - hilarious. I just needed to put the greatness of it all back in my head, you know? Mission accomplished. And then, I could think back on the movie and enjoy it more, I do like the way the movie ended, satisfying and appropriate. Check out this review on BuzzSugar, good points (I read it this morning, not before I went to the movie). And definitely see it! It's not perfect, but you'll be glad.

It's a grilling day today! Hmmm, I might do hot dogs (Nathan's Famous and Hebrew National are both awesome picks) and a big salad. I'd say I'd only do hot dogs for the kids and throw a piece of fish on for John and me, but when I do that, the hot dogs end up looking so damn good that I totally regret not just going for it. So, I'm just going for it!

Moderate it: one hot dog doesn't have to kill a healthy diet. Yeah, they're not the healthiest choice in the world, but they're not total calorie-bombs either. Have it on a whole-wheat bun, load on the veggies, have a salad alongside, and enjoy every salty bite. Yum.

And now it's Monday. The parties are over, Mother's Day has come and gone, and it's high time to depuff. Bites of pastry, pizza, and lemon tart are lovely, all things in moderation after all... But fresh fruit and vegetables are lovely too, and given the havoc that too many refined carbs, drinks, meat, and dairy wreak on my face and waistline since achieving 40-something, I get downright excited to get back to "normal". Green tea and grapefruit? Woo hoo! The fact is, I have become supremely sensitive to over-indulging (I blow up like a balloon, to put it mildly - see Cancun '08) which is either a sad reminder that I'm aging (I get it already!), or a lucky reminder to, you know, embrace moderation. I'll consider it the latter (snarl).

I actually enjoyed a lovely transition meal last night, at lovely Lucia's, with my lovely mom and sister. I know I say this over and over (and over), but Lucia's does amazingvegetables. I had a cup of pureed tomato soup - no cream, but creamy; perfectly seasoned to taste like soup, not spaghetti sauce (always a risk with tomato soup). All three of us ordered the roasted French-cut chicken breast (boneless, with skin, and the first joint of the wing attached; do any of you ever request this cut from your butcher? I haven't, but I'm going to soon, I'll let you know if they oblige) served alongside a small dollop of mashed potatoes, a tangle of al dente green beans (seasoned with what I'm guessing was butter with a bit of horseradish whisked in - delicious), and wilted greens topped with crunchy walnuts and kalamata olives. Too comforting to be light, but not ridiculously heavy either. Pretty damn perfect.

Tonight? Well, we are not going out for dinner! I'm thinking miso soup and a simple saute of whatever veggies I can scare up from the cooler. More tea, grapes, and a few almonds to finish. Simple and light and clean tasting. My palate (grocery bill, butt, John, dishwasher, eye bags) will thank me.

Moderate it: back-on-track, depuff favorites are green tea, grapefruit, raw almonds, fish, arugula, and kale.

Heck if I'm not seeing green out my window, lalalaaa! Even if it snows again, that green isn't going away until like, October, baby. Yes, we Minnesotans have officially stepped out of our dreadful black-n-white photo-prison into the alternate world we call Not Winter, like Alice Through the Friggin' Looking Glass... Man, is it good.

As was the Halibut with Fingerlings, Fava Beans, Meyer Lemon, and Savory Creme Fraiche I made for dinner last night. I've been just itching to try this pretty recipe, from Sunday Suppers at Lucques by Suzanne Goin (killer cookbook, seriously), and a visit from our friend Niko provided the perfect reason to give 'er a scratch. The slightly overwrought name makes the dish sound complicated, but the steps are easy and can be completed ahead of time, so the actual plating is a breeze. I used small red new potatoes (no fingerlings at Whole Foods, where I knew I could find favas, easy enough trade) and fresh sorrel instead of savory (again, an easy and tasty substitution). The end result was tender halibut, delicious over crushed potatoes and fava beans, made zesty-creamy-glorious with spoonfuls of lemon-parsley sauce and rich creme fraiche. Lovely combo. Mmmm. Hmmm. (Recipe posted in comments, below.)

Niko crept out at the crack of dawn (not in shame, merely for a very early flight back home to his family), so John and I were off on our own today. Errands...followed by an utterly romantic window-table brunch at La La Lucia's! Popovers and roasted potatoes and a fried egg sandwich - open faced, with bacon, tomato (real, ripe tomato, in May, how does she do it?),arugula, aioli, and but of course - a fried egg. Any take on the Spanglish sandwich is just...scrumptious with me.

Tomorrow, stay tuned, dinner for the fam and if I do say so myself, I'm on a bit of a roll lately and I have big plans. BIG plans. Well, not caviar or lobster big, but beef tenderloin big, and that's something. You know I'm done with neither favas nor morels (although John wishes I were, I can tell; he kindly feigns enthusiasm which I do appreciate).

Welcome Not Winter!

Moderate it: OK, there are healthier ways to eat fish than with buttery potatoes and creme fraiche (I considered this a special occasion). To lighten the dish without stripping it bare, serve the potatoes without butter, grill the fish (instead of sauteeing it), and let the creme fraiche (you only need a small dollop) pull it all together. Still delicious!

Happy 2nd Birthday Moderate Epicurean Blog!

And hey, it's a very Happy 41st Birthday for me as well - very happy. As I celebrate, I can't help but be incredibly grateful for a pretty awesome year. Oh, plenty of ups and downs of course, of the usual variety...but for now, the gratitude abounds. In leaps and bounds! Sniff. I'm living my life's current passion - cooking, sharing food with friends and family, and writing about it all. I'm making exactly zero money doing it, but hopefully that won't be true forever. Right here, right now, It's All Good. Thanks for sharing this little adventure with me!

My first official birthday present was this stunning portrait (above) from - who else? - my sister Stacey. A Stacified Stephanie, YESSS, I love it! I brought it home New Year's Eve and waited until today to post a pic. How many of us actually have our portrait painted? And so beautifully! It's so, so...WASP-y, which as Suz would point out, is totally metal! And of course it makes me look much more fabulous than I actually am, bless my sister's heart. I told Nathan that when he's an old man, and I'm long gone, he can point it out to his grandkids and say, that's your great-grandma Stephanie, back in the day. A little slice of immortality. Now that's a birthday gift!

As was brunch at Lucia's this morning, with Nathan, John, Cooper, and Stacey, a sunny, quiet celebration. Which, given this holiday season, is all I was up for, truly. Nathan and Coop played superheroes while I played poached eggs over sausage hash alongside salad greens. I do love warm eggs with crisp salad, delicious. Oh, and I scored more bling (YES!), and flowers from Nathan, and had just the loveliest time.

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!

My office is clean. I'm roasting a chicken (again). John and I had a gorgeous Date Day brunch at La La Lucia's. Life is goooood, my friends, at least right now, ha.

That brunch, that scrumptious brunchious (or something), just unbeatable. Today we sipped mimosas and nibbled on popovers, frittata (their version is more like crustless quiche than the traditional omelet and that's just fine, it's lovely), crispy oven roasted potatoes dipped in sour cream, and lots of coffee. I hardly knew what to bite or sip, all good, all good.

Same goes for last night, by the way, dinner with Andrew& Rishia Zimmern at Harry's Food & Cocktails, in the now-hoppin' riverfront 'hood in the shadow of the new Guthrie. No Chef Steven Brown in the house (darn, he's amazing) but plenty of tasties nonetheless. Rich, rich gastropub (AZ's term) fare, I kinda sorta rolled out of there. We shared a whole mess o'things... A lovely chicken liver amuse bouche. Then bites of salt-n-pepper shrimps, beef short ribs, crispy pork belly with lentils, mussels & frites, burger, walleye sandwich (with avocado&radishes, nice), green goddess salad, BLT, banana cream pie. Uh, yeah, no wonder I was stuffed, uff. Fun though! Some hits, some misses - I'd really like to go back when Steven Brown is in the kitchen. Skip the BLT, but try the plump mussels, fat burger, crispy walleye sandwich, or creamypie.

And tonight, as I said, back to roasted chicken. It was just so damn good, we had to give it another go. In fact, I'm roasting two this go-round, since Nathan is here for din, and hopefully we'll have some leftovers for sandwich fixin's tomorrow. Nothing like a chicken sandwich washed down with a cold beer on a Sunday afternoon, huh? Sweet. Salty. Sweeet.

Whoa, that was a hell of a gust of wind... That's what both John and I were simultaneously thinking as we shot awake last night, around 3:00 a.m., as lightning flashed almost continuously and sheets of rain slammed the windows. You see, we were both fully aware of - and freaking out about - the umbrella we left open on the deck. Dang. Dang. Dang. We quickly decided we'd close it together and ran out into the kitchen only to find...nothing. No umbrella, no table. Just four lonely chairs sitting eerily in a perfect circle. From the lightning we were able to see the umbrella lying upside-down on the ground underneath the deck. It took a bit more searching to discover the table, also upside-down, dangerously close to the house. It appears the whole thing somersaulted right over the edge of the deck. Man, it could so easily have launched like a missile right through a window. We're idiots. Lucky idiots. Sheesh.

At least we got some rain? And didn't lose power? Sheesh.

After we pick up the mess and truly assess the damage (we're moving a bit slowly today), we'll have to decide how to spend the afternoon. Out for lunch? (We ate at Lucia's last night, delicious as usual.) Pool? (It's hot and muggy and not good for much else.) Movie? (We saw The Bourne Ultimatum yesterday, great fun.) Cook here? (I certainly have a stash of veggies again, plenty to work with.) I think I'm in a bit of a fog after that 3:00 a.m. adrenaline rush (and subsequent hours of trying to fall back asleep). Stay tuned...

Date Night - I mean Day! Due to my stepdaughter feeling under the weather, John and I ended up with some unexpected free time today, so we quickly reconfigured our plans and headed straight for La La Lucia's for a decadently late and romantic brunch, sipping mimosas while watching the rain fall outside. Sigh. When we finished (I could have sat there all day), we took our pleasantly plump tummies (full of a bevy of shared tasties, including a perfectly fluffy ham omelet, giant popovers, cool-n-crunchy gazpacho, smokin' hot crispy potatoes dipped in sour cream, and "Baby Buddhas," aka mini-cinnamon streusel coffee cakes) over to the Lagoon Theater to continue the romance...by seeing the movie Once. Spare and bittersweet, it's a lovely (Irish) film, the music is gorgeous (and the real star of the film), in effect the perfect rainy-Saturday Date Day movie. Sigh again. Hope you had a nice Saturday too...