Everything is better with Pepper Jack Cheese

Seriously...or maybe I'm just in denial about not being able to eat brie.

merry merry...

It's been a pretty rad day, I wish I had pictures!

Left work about noon, came home and enjoyed a hot lunch and some homemade triple citrus cheesecake. Bought my last gift-in and out of Barnes and Noble in 8.3 minutes (or something like that). Ran to the hospital, Jefe printed out a couple of pictures of the bebe Jesus for us to show off. Sauntered off to one of my dearest locals' house, helped the kids feed the reindeer, watched a couple of Christmas concerts by Miss Madeline and Boo, fed my peeps with some homemade tamales. I am now full of roasted chile, corn, and cheese.

I'm home, cozy...relaxed...satisfied...and full of life and future. It couldn't have been a better day, year, life!

Happy Holidays to you and yours! I hope everyone is feeling the love!!!

Traffic Musings From the Working Lady

I love my morning and afternoon drive...it gives me time to be by myself with my thoughts, or music, or Adam Carolla. Too bad I hate the other people on the road. Here are some revelations that came to me during the lovely Monday morning commute:

*I'm pretty sure that you have to pass some sort of "Most inconsiderate, unaware of how ginormous and slow my vehicle is" driving test in order to drive an Astro van.

*The freeway signs that give you an estimated time frame of how long it will take you to get from point A to point B are: 1) completely inaccurate and most importantly 2) make traffic ten times worse because of all the a-holes that are trying to stare at it through the glare of the sun.

*Does it REALLY take some people 100 yards to merge into the left hand turn lane??? Seriously...GET IT TOGETHER

*Could it be possible that the same people who don't know what they're doing on the freeway on Saturdays are on the road on Monday morning with the rest of us who actually know how to navigate in heavy traffic?

*Why is it that everyone and their mom decides to get on the road on Thursdays at 5. Seriously...what is it about Thursday that makes traffic so bad? I don't get it! It's consistently THE worst night to be on the 91 East, or any freeway for that matter.

*How is it that it has taken literally over 7 years that the carpool lanes on the 91 to be re-worked...and they're STILL NOT F'ING FINISHED!!!

*Accidents would be cut in half if: a) people learned to use their turn signals; b) people weren't too lazy to check their blind spot; c) tailgaters were fined $1500; d) people didn't wait until the last minute to merge out of an ending carpool lane that HAS ENDED AT THE SAME SPOT IN THE FREEWAY FOR OVER 7 YEARS NOW!!! I SEE THE SAME PEOPLE DO IT EVERY DAY I SWEAR TO F'ING HELL!!!

Ok, I feel better. Hmmm...maybe I should consider public transportation. On the other hand, I think I'd rather be in my own little personal space instead of confined in a small area with the rest of the sweaty...filthy...aw, nevermind.

Well The Weather Outside Is...

Hot, windy, and full of smoke, so how about a list of the soups I plan to make when it finally does start getting cold???

1. Minestrone: an absolute MUST, I tend to make way too much of it and the man isn't really into soups so it's alllll foooooor mmeeeee!!!

2. Spicy Bean Soup: a Giada recipe...she kind of bugs me, but MAN this recipe is SO good. I add kidney beans and omit one of the cans of garbanzo beans. It's really good with cornbread, and I have a sneaking suspicion that adding a little pancetta in the beginning would be DE-lectable!

3. Mmmm, chicken tortilla from my Making It Easy recipe book. Perfect combination of spice and acidity-think chicken soup for your cold with a kick. I like to start it with a mirpois combined with the chipotle and garlic. Also, a little super ripe avocado on top is pretty sweet.

4. Butternut squash FOR SURE

5. Wild mushroom-creamy and SO satisfying.

6. Potato Leek: Anyone have a good recipe? I don't want it to be too thick.

7. Albondigas: Staple from when I was little that I've never tried...I think I could rock it pretty hard.

8. Creamy tomato basil: I am SO gonna kick Jefe's ass on this one. He thinks he's all special since he made it AND made homemade sourdough bowls for it to go in!

9. HMMMMM, maybe I can come up with my own ultimate stew. Ooooh like a nice spicy stew with rosemary and a little beef loin, red potatoes, carrot, celery, shallot. Gotta work on that

10. Does rice pudding count? Whatever, you say...it counts and I'm making it!!!

the movie you can wait to see on TV

So you know how there's that one movie that you can talk about and recommend to your friends and blog about and post as movies you like on your myspace/facebook/friendster and additional networking accounts????

Ummmm, "Shoot 'Em Up" would not be one of those. Save it for one of those nights when it happens to be on FX or SPIKE or any other basic cable channel. Whatever you do, do NOT add it to your Netflix Queue, do NOT rent it at Blockbuster, for god's sake do NOT order it on freaking On Demand, just wait for it to show up on your favorite basic cable network and see if you can make it through the first 3 rounds of channel-changing to avoid the horrible Carl's Jr. commercials you will inevitably encounter otherwise.

I am officially truly depressed that two of my favorites-Clive Owen and Paul Giamatti chose this script. I'm sorry-it was terrible, it was not very engaging, and seriously...DISAPPOINTING. I'm wondering how they coerced these people to even read the script. For your own good-DON'T DO IT!!!!

and another thing...

So after I wrote the enormously self-indulgent post below, I happened across a few of my favorite blogs and got to thinking. Why do I love them? Why do I continuosly go back. Sure, there's the aesthetic appeal, there's humor, there's incredibly good writing...but somehow...there's more. These people, they just seem genuinely happy and so comfortable in their lives. Sure, we all have a public persona and I doubt everyone shares ALL their dirty laundry, but somehow the writers tend to speak with a calm sense of just having it together.

Then I got to thinking (of course about ME, because I'm completely self absorbed), I always want to know how people see me as I go through my daily life. What do people think when I'm around and doing my thing? How do they see things when I'm talking quietly in the corner or walk into a room loudly talking to one of my best friends? I suppose only my nearest and dearest would really tell me, but let's face it...their opinions are, like mine, biased. I figure the only way to figure it out is to just be SURE of it, like the blog writers I mentioned. Just dive in and be.

To be honest, I know as I scroll through old things I've written...it's hard for me to leave remnants of bitter and painful memories out of my written thoughts. It's hard to not think about my little dog and not to write about him every time he pops up in my head. He's just there...gone, but always there. I think about people that were in my life that have somehow been removed. I miss them so much, regardless of the circumstances. So many entries have been written, only to be immediately erased after reading how angry and mean I can be. I suppose it all goes back to my mom's little voice saying not to write a letter when you're angry. She's right. I scan back through and realize how stupid, selfish, and stubborn I sound. This is not the person I want to be, nor is it the person I would want anyone to remember, why add more fuel to the fire?

The point is, that people will come and go. I would love to have some of them back in my life and this is why those entries are erased. This is why I try not to let my anger get the best of me (I know...I know, I use the term rather loosely). Regardless of why or how things are the way they are...whether I'm hearing reasons a year or so later or will just never have an answer...it just IS, and I have to be fine with that. There truly is so much that makes me happy and I will try to share more. Waking up in our ginormous, soft, warm bed...the coolness of our patio...the pretty little girl I drew last night. OH and the smell of a California fall in the air. It really is a beautiful day and I'm so grateful for my peaceful little life, I guess I just sometimes wish that some of the people I used to share it with daily were still around.

An Epiphany!!! Or random thoughts...

Vampire Weekend took the Wiltern, flipped it upside down and spanked us HARD on Thursday...and it was good.

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The apartment is officially 3/4 clean, I'm outside on the patio, stuffed into a shell chair, it's about 70• outside and I'm about to make a margarita. Jesus, it's not even 12!!!

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Heading up to the Bowl tonight for a little MGMT, Spoon and some Scientologist (dammit! if it wasn't like finding out one of your best friends was a murderer) AAANNNNDDD if I'm lucky, I get to enjoy a little Blood and Sand tonight. TORO!!!! Seriously, I'm my favorite lush. Wait, strike that...I'm EVERYONE'S favorite lush.

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The breakfast I'm going to be making tomorrow is going to fucking rock the house. I don't pull the homemaker thing too often, but when I do, I would say it's more of a Bourdaine thing...at least he's a chef. Rachel Ray can suck it, suck it HARD.

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Did anyone know how much I loved the Bee Gee's, The Doobie Brothers, Hall and Oates, and Elton John? I didn't.

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This margarita is DELICIOUS!!!

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aaaaannnndd...

WE'RE OFF!!!

I'm exhausted. Yeah...I know vacation was barely a month ago-but it was a long month full of travel, hard work, yet ANOTHER pair of new red shoes (due to the unfortunate breaking of a year old pair), and various social obligations that have kept my weeknights and weekends quite busy.

Anyway, off to another whirlwind break in the Palm Desert for one of my dearest's birthdays. I plan to come back tan, hungover, and wanting another break from the break! Then we have bocce, another wine trip or bar crawl and a high school reunion. Does anyone else feel like it NEVER ENDS??? I guess it could be worse and I could have little to no social engagements, but geez it can be tiring!!! I need some SCOTCH!

Open Sesame

So, my new fave cookbook is "Making It Easy".



The boy's mom was nice enough to give it to me-she loves to give me cookbooks and I love to receive them! It has all sorts of yummy and super fast recipes that require little effort. Perfect for my schedule and...ummm, OK...frequent laziness after work? Anyway, hands down the best dish I've tried so far is the sesame noodles with chicken. Oh my god, it is SO delicious!!! Talk about everything I love about asian and asian inspired foods! Soy Sauce, peanuts, sesame and loads of noodles-I'm IN!!!

So I had my mom and dad over last night and decided to treat them with this and my other new favorite-Zucchini Carpaccio stolen from my boyfriend, Tyler Florence. I wish I had taken a picture, both are such pretty dishes!

Anyway, I highly recommend the book, almost everything I've tried has come out really nicely and is a hit with our company. Pick it upon Amazon aqui!!! I'm just sayin'. Oh and here are the links to the Carpaccio (I leave out the ricotta and the mint and use a little tarragon, oregano and marjoram and go heavy on the lemon juice and leeks) and the Noodles. I would leave the cucumber out next time-or at least peel or score the skin-it is just a teesy bit too bitter. I also used whole wheat pasta, which alone with the sesame oil was SO good!! I think I'm going to have the cold noodles tomorrow with a little soy, scallions,sesame seeds and Srirracha-YUM!

Top 10 Reasons Why I Love Vacation

in no particular order...probably not all that original, but a girls' gotta celebrate!!!

1. I can enjoy our beautiful weather, actually outside, not staring out a window...all day long...by a poooool!

2. I can prepare for said day by the pool by purchasing some cocktail makings and not feel guilty because I am actually getting paid to hang out by the pool-sweet!

3. I get to catch up with all my mommy friends who have totally opposite schedules than I do and catch up with their beautiful babies.

4. I actually get to open the door when these arrive via DHL instead of Jefe having to sign for them...



5. It's noon, I'm on the couch, I'm watching afternoon TV and I have a giant glass of yummy wine in my hand.

6. I get to make breakfast for my babes like banana pancakes and delicious fritattas daily!

7. I get to make delicous dinners without being on a time constraint.

8. No alarm clock for a week!

9. Lunch with my mom and dad at the beach.

10. Fourth of July at the beach with my best buds...keeping the dream alive!

Supper Club Anyone?

Ahhh...to be back at work! The morning and evening commute down the lovely 91, the non-stop emails, being on the computer so much each day that honestly...just haven't been in the blogging mood lately. Well there is finally a light at the end of the tunnel and I am inspired-by food of course!

So I've been doing the whole Weight Watchers thing which means the man and I haven't been going out to dinner as often as we used to but seeing as how it was Mother's Day weekend, I decided to take advantage of the holiday and take a weekend OFF! That and the whole diet (well they claim it's not a diet but who are they kidding?) thing is actually working, so I decided I could treat myself. Anyway, we found ourselves at Manhattan Supper Club in Orange on Saturday night. I have to say I would go back-seriously....like every weekend if I could.

Opened by the same people who brought us Sutra, the decor is equally impressive PLUS you don't have to deal with the long line of people trying to get in. I think the interior was very Viceroy-esque, a little Rococo meets modern if you will. White walls with framed mirrors, fabulous chandeliers and plushly covered booths. Dimly-but not too dimly lit and perfect background music. All lent an equally helping hand to the already relaxing environment.

Although they were out of the pork chop I was REALLY looking forward to, my filet was perfect and came with I think about 8 choices of sauces-mmmm rich carmelized onions, sweet blueberry-merlot reduction, creamy blue cheese melt-all RIDICULOUS! We finished with the molten chocolate cake which is probably the only thing that has come even remotely close to the chocolate soufflee at 555, but don't get me started. Needless to say we had a great time. They also sell little cabinets where you can store your wine. I thought it was a nice kitschy little touch.

So-next time you're in downtown orange, check it out! Site and menu can be found here. We recently started doing a little supper club type deal with some friends and I'm thinking this will definitely be one of my picks...you should make it yours too!!!

It's a mad MAD world

I don't know about anyone else...but this weekend was a total blur due to a little East Coast team football game PLUS the excitement of the primaries has left us with little time to focus on our regularly scheduled TV shows. Well, last night...before catching up on a little No Reservations, I was excited to see that there was an episode of Madmen our trusty little DVR had recorded...yeah, just sitting there waiting to be viewed by my eager eyes.

I'm still kicking myself over dragging my feet on automatically programming this into our scheduled recordings after a friend had highly recommended it. Produced by those who also brought us The Sopranos, Madmen is equally high in production value. Set in mid 20th century Manhattan and based around a Madison avenue advertising agency, it's glossy set design, authentic costuming, a superb ensemble cast as well as engrossing storylines, I am absolutely hooked. Though much of the plot is devoted to one lead, each episode sheds a little more light on at least one additional surrounding character. It not only leads to the complexity of each role, but I think it also lets the audience empathize with more than one storyline. Additionally, the writers make it a point to comment on the differences in the social workings of the 1960's as compared to today's norms. Everyone drinks, everyone smokes, divorcees and working women are shunned, and the wives are at home while the husbands provide for them, both equally miserable in their canned happiness.

Needless to say, I suggest anyone with a soft spot for mid-century anything should absolutely check it out. The only downside...it doesn't come back until FREAKING JULY!!! Ugh...and I thought the wait for LOST was bad!

Check out more information on MADMEN here.