my kinda weekend.

It's always hard to get back into work mode on Monday, don't you agree? Especially after long leisurely weekends that include an impromptu drive up PCH to Neptune's Net for shrimp tacos, late night tapas at Cobras & Matadors, margarita's with a side of movie trivia, lots of time by the beach watching surfers and a couple of deliciously fantastic homemade meals.  It was definitely my kinda weekend, what was the highlight of yours?

happy valentine's :)

whoopie, it's Friday!

A quick post, because I spent way too much time enjoying dipping bread into the white wine sauce from the mussels we had as an appetizer tonight, and now it's time to catch up on some work. I wish you all a wonderful weekend, part of my mine will definitely involve enjoying a great meal (or two) and some quality time with my husband, and trying my hand at these Valentine Whoopie Pies that I found on foodgawker. Happy early Valentine's! xoxo ... naat. 

image via Tracey's Culinary Adventures.

chocolate chip almond biscotti.

Over the weekend I used this recipe for orange flavored biscotti that I found over at Cupcakes & Cashmere. This biscotti brings me back to my childhood, when I would find a Terry's milk chocolate orange in my stocking on Christmas morning, have you ever had one of those?  I loved breaking them open, but the orange & chocolate combination? Not so much.  However, every time I bite into one of these chocolate chip biscotti now, I wonder how it was ever possible to not love this combo!  

Notes:

• I started with 3 cups of Bisquick gluten free baking mix.  The recipe calls for 3 1/4 cups of all purpose flour, but I find I need to use less of the GF baking mix as a rule, and it's easier to add than take away.
• If you are making this with a GF mix, I would use a small pan and bake one loaf at a time.  The dough tends to spread out more than it's gluten-filled counterpart.
• I added 1/3 cup of mini chocolate chips to the batter along with the 1 cup of chopped almonds.

new york steak (with a balsamic marinade).

I'm a firm believer that food tastes better when prepared and enjoyed with good friends.  But there was a moment on Friday when I seriously questioned my belief after realizing I had offered to take charge of the main protein for dinner with two of our good friends and the words, "how does New York steak sound?" popped out of my mouth.  What was I thinking? I'd never cooked steak before, yet there I was standing at the butcher's counter reaching for the freshly packaged steaks I had just ordered.   I walked home (I love living that close to the market) wondering, "is it possible that even if a meal is horrible, can good company and a bottle of wine make it better?" After they were finished marinading I said a little prayer to the food gods, poured a glass of wine and hoped for the best.  After a satisfying mussel appetizer and a couple of good-natured jokes about takeout on speed dial, I plated the finished steaks and we sat down to eat the main course.  Whether it was the company or beginner's luck, the steaks were amazing (prepared medium) with fresh greens and a spicy shrimp & scallop ceviche.  Since we had leftover salad, yesterday I pan seared a tilapia fillet, added it to the tomato and asparagus greens and enjoyed a light post-workout lunch.  What do you do with leftovers after a big meal?

Some other highlights from the weekend? A horror movie marathon on Saturday (Dawn of the Dead and the 2004 remake of Nightmare on Elm St.), a new episode of Big Love, Spanish coffee at Urth and homemade chocolate chip biscotti (pics tomorrow). 

BTW... For the steak marinade I placed a small shallot, 5 cloves of garlic, soy sauce, butter and balsamic vinegar into a blender and blended on medium for 15-20 seconds.  I eyeballed the liquid ingredients and used about a 1/4 cup of melted butter to start.  As I blended the ingredients, I added more of the soy sauce, butter and balsamic vinegar as necessary for taste and texture.

t.g.i.f.

via Valley & Co.

Is it just me, or does this look ah-maz-ing? I spent some time perusing Food Gawker tonight and I'm currently debating which of these three recipes I want to make this weekend:

Cookie + Kate's Chocolate Macaroons

Smitten Kitchen's Almond Biscotti (dipped in chocolate)

Phodography's Chocolate Brioche

I need something to balance out all this chocolaty goodness, so I might try my hand at a lemon dessert as well (maybe a tart or a macaron). Check back on Monday to see what I came up with!


What are your plans for the weekend? 

blue & white.

While we were enjoying a rainy bike ride up PCH Sunday morning (above), my parents were waking up to the icicles left behind by the latest snow storm (below). I love how the color palettes in both pictures are so similar, despite the fact they were taken on opposite coasts in drastically different climates. I wouldn't mind waking up one morning to 30cm of snow, because you know what that means ... snow day! I am long overdue, by about 6 years, I wonder what my boss would say if I called out for a snow day tomorrow... 

soup on demand.

Every time I tell you about Wahoo's chicken tortilla soup, I can barely stay awake long enough to finish the soup let alone take a picture. I'm telling you, this tortilla soup is what you need if you have a cold/flu/allergies/rainy day blues/extra time on a Sunday to lounge around. On Sunday afternoon I was still recovering from our morning bike ride up PCH, so I took advantage of the rainy weather, went to Wahoo's for a cup of soup and ordered Sex and the City 2 on demand. Sadly, I was disappointed in the movie but the soup was wonderful (as always).  For those of you who don't live near a Wahoo's, I'll post my homemade version of the soup later this week.

btw... This is the blanket I mentioned here, I love the funky details on the blanket like the little gold buttons you see here.