California Dreaming

Make mine a "Sazerac", please.

Phew! What a holiday season! But now that I have caught my breath and enjoying being home. I can start to tell a few stories of a magical holiday season, that was had by me!

As I hinted back in December, I went to New Orleans to celebrate a BIG birthday.  New friends met us for the big birthday weekend, which was their first visit. This trip had fun, fun written all over it! 

This wasn't my first trip to the "Crescent City", but I had a few things to see, do, eat and drink. Please note that not one item is on Bourbon Street.

Disclaimer:

I don't "do" Bourbon street, but for our "newbies", we walked down Bourbon,  at 8:30 in the morning, on our way to Cafe Du Monde.  Anyone who describes New Orleans and uses Bourbon street as part of the describtion, is doing New Orleans a great disservice. That's all I have to say about Bourbon street.

Any hoooo................................

 

My "Must Do" list included several items, here were a few:

• Find & Eat Calais.
• Have Sunday breakfast/brunch at Elizabeth's Restaurant.
• Ride the St. Charles streetcar to view the Christmas lights.
  
• Beignets & Cafe au Lait at Cafe Du Monde
  
• Watch the fireworks, at midnight, in Jackson Square.
  
• Drink a Sazerac.

When it came to Sazerac's, we found out that not all Sazerac's are created equal.

The  best Sazerac's, in our humble opinions, were from the following establishments.

The Sizzle Stick Bar

Muriel's Jackson Square

The Sazerac Bar, at the Roosevelt Hotel.

 

My favorite was The Sazerac Bar, which claims being the place were the drink was invented. BUT   this is highly disputed, depending where you get your resource material. Anyway, the Sazerac Bar is the type of bar that I love and usually they are set in old established hotels that exudes an old world elegance & style. 

The Roosevelt Hotel is one of these hotels.

The Christmas decorations at the Roosevelt are part of the Holiday experience in New Orleans. Sorry this photo doesn't do it justice but it was magical.   

Travel Tip # 1: The woman's public restroom is one of the elegant ones. If you are around Canal street, it's a good thing to know in a city with few public restrooms. Remember to tip the attendant.

Just off the lobby is the bar.

After many hours of walking, eating and shopping, this was an oasis in the middle of the desert. It was time to taste the famous drink.

For those of you who watch the series "Treme", it was a Sazerac, that Jeanette threw in the NYC critic's face. Sorry, I digressed.

You ask, "What's in a Sazerac"? Well....................

A true cocktail with 3 ingredients. But this isn't a sissy drink, it's a true sipper. It is the perfect cocktail to partake while relaxing in this elegant bar. Watching the bartenders is entertainment in itself.

The drink being prepared in this shot, is a Ramos Fizz. At home, I use a blender, not sure if I have the skill for this technique! 

Next time, make mine a Sazerac, please.

California Dreaming -Winter Fruits-Citrus

As I find myself crawling above the stacks of work and personal obligations, I wonder, "Where did the holidays go? Wasn't it Christmas & New Years, yesterday"?

It doesn't help my diminutive sense of time, that I went from a glorious 50th birthday celebration weekend, in New Orleans (more on that later) to the frozen tundras of Kentucky for work.

There in Northern Kentucky, I found fellow associates, born & bred Californians complaining about the quality of the fruits & vegetables, especially citrus. This discussion made me stop and think , "Do I take for granted the daily bounty of California?".

Answer: yes.

Winter months in California provide an abundance of citrus;from grapefruits (Oro Blanco, the best), Mandarins, Navel oranges to the ever present Cuties.

Citrus is everywhere.

Growing up in the Central Coast of California (a.k.a. Salad Bowl of the USA), citrus was part of my Christmas flavors (also Dungess Crab, See's Candy & sourdough bread). I have lived in places where I had avocado, fig & citrus trees growing in a backyard. The idea of not having easy access to these fruits/flavor, is foreign to this Cal Gal.

Where am I going with this diatribe?

As I peel my "Cutie", I give thanks for living in California.

Amen.

Last Call-VO & Water

I forgot about this picture.

It might seem to you like an arty image of the sun shining thru a window, in the late afternoon, bouncing off a beverage.

But no.

It's Seagram's VO & water, my mother's favorite drink. This was Tiki Don's way of paying homage to Bab's, the woman you gave me life.

This was our last drink together, in her home, before the new owners took possession of the house.

Cheers mom.

Green Tea.....Can you say "aaaaahhhh"?

When the temperatures go past 90 degrees and there isn't a pool, ocean or lake in sight. There is nothing more refreshing and cooling to me than drinking Japanese, cold green tea.

I can't remember if it was a trip to Hawaii or Japan that I tried this brand of unsweetened, iced green tea. But instantly, I became a convert and ever since have had difficulty finding it on the mainland.

Then I found this version by ITO EN on the mainland. These are very good but not the same.

The moment I arrive in Kauai, my first stop is Costco, where I buy a case of this wonderful beverage. If I am truly lucky, there will be this seasonal version.

I have been known to pack the last few bottles in my suitcase to take home. Where they live in my pantry, for those first scorching hot days of summer. After drinking the last drop of tea in the last bottle, I start counting the days until our next trip to the Garden Island (Kauai).

Do you have a favorite summer drink?

Fiesta at Rick's

I am not shy. I'm not. 

You need an icebreaker, you call me. Those of you who know me in my later years, would be shocked to know that I have mellowed with age.

Now, don't get me wrong. There have a been a few "rare" moments that I have been tongue tied, star struck. I can count them on one hand. But the most recent was because of this man.

Rick Bayless

Yes, the Chefs Chef, Rick Bayless. Winner of Top Chef, author, traveler and owner of one my favorite restaurants, Frontera Grill.  

Now this was a few years back, but when I was offered the chance to have my copy of his cookbook, Mexico-One Plate at a Time, autographed, while dinning at Frontera Grill. I literally stopped speaking, could only make gurgling sounds and wanted to crawl under the table.

My then boyfriend, now husband was surprised if not blown away at my reaction. Smirking, he got up with my cookbook and had Rick autograph it. (Thank you, DT).

This same fearless man gave me Rick's (Yes, I am on first name basis, if I could speak to him!) newest cookbook, "Fiesta at Rick's".

 

What makes this cookbook different from all the others is that recipes are categorized by party type but has everything from suggested play lists, the ability to scale up or down the serving sizes and various types of beverages. 

I HIGHLY recommend this cookbook. If you are not sure, check out his TV series, Mexico, One Plate at a Time. It is because of Rick, I am not intimidated by mole's or experimenting with Tamarind.

I truly wish I was Rick's older but weird sister, that he occasionally invites to travel to Mexico and invites to his backyard Fiesta's. (Note: I have a very vibrant fantasy life!).

Did I tell you, I am not shy.

He has something to say..Micheal Ruhlman

I have been reading and following Micheal Ruhlman since I saw him on an episode of Anthony Bourdain's "No Reservations".

No Reservations in another of my "guilty pleasures", but more of that in a later post. 

What I found intriguing about Micheal was his love for his hometown but how articulate he was in communicating that love to Tony.

Michael has some very interesting points about cooking and humanity in this video which was a team effort from the The White on Rice Couple.

 

Had Something to Say - Cooking from michael ruhlman on Vimeo.

 

 

Condiments and other paraphernalia

I had a recent conversation with a co-worker about adult beverages. Bloody Mary's came up as a drink of choice. After further discussion, it was the drink's various garnish or garni that was the attractive part of the drink. Pickled green beans was one item that garnered a lot of praise. It was agreed that the best Bloody Mary's are spicy and accompanied with lots of garnish. A drink and an appetizer in one order!

I didn't think much of the drink until I saw this posting. This is my type of cocktail stirrer!

Yummy for my tummy.

This year we finally decided on starting an actual vegetable garden. We tried unsuccessfully to grow tomatoes and peppers in containers on our deck. Well after 4 years, we said enough.

My favorite husband, fenced off an area off of our deck with both deer and chicken fencing. We have a bit of wildlife problem. Inside he constructed 5 raised beds with chicken wire on the bottom. Again we have a wildlife problem. I will post pictures later on the process.

We planted 2 miniature Zucchini plants May 15th, with the thinking that small zucchini's would be easier to eat than regular sized squash. Wrong.  We keep forgetting that these need to harvested small. So far 4 giants have been brought to my kitchen. You can only make so many breads or muffins.

Guess what? I found the perfect recipe, check out Homesick Texan blog for the best enchilada recipe.

There's hope for my zucchini's!

Cherry Blossoms & Rome.

Right now I seem to have Cherry Blossoms and Rome on my mind. Strange combination, I know. That being said, here's this week's favorite things:

Cherry Blossoms:

Cannell et Vanille makes me drool. The photography combined with the recipes is sublime.

The Kitchn has a great article about how to have a Hanami (flower viewing) picnic. It reminds me of my trip to Japan during Cherry Blossom season, but more of that trip later.

Speaking of Cherry Blossoms,if you are in San Francisco April 11th, check out the Northern California Cherry Blossom Festival.

Rome:

Rome Every Day has the most enchanting pictures of the daily life in Rome. I feel I am in Rome with Elenora's images. She also has a great food blog too, Agliio, Olio & Peperoncino.

One of my favorite magazines, Saveur. This month's issue has "Classic Roman Food". After finishing the feature, I wanted to go back to Rome,now!

A Traveler's Library is a great blog for both the traveler and reader. It was here that I discovered Donna Leon's book, "The Girl of His Dreams", set in Venice. I know this is supposed to be about Rome but it's still Italy.

So there are my favorites for the moment.

Winter Citrus Love

Do you know that there are only 59 days left of the Cuties season? That's right, the winter season is winding down.

I love Cuties because how easy they are to peel, the sweetness and the small size. Very cute! These little guys are one of my  "seasonal" loves. 

Seasonal has become a buzz word thanks to great restaurateurs and chefs (i.e Alice Water etc) , Whole foods and the Slow food Movement.  But I remember growing up in central California and only having seasonal produce. We didn't have have Cherries or Strawberries in December. No, sir. Thanks (maybe) to better/faster transportation; the face of the produce section of our  markets has changed. I won't buy produce that isn't in season, here where I live.

Today I can't wait for the cherries to come into season or tasting the first peach of summer. For me these seasonal flavors are part of living in the moment and embracing the season. 

So for now, I am embracing what's left of winter and my little cuties.

Do you have a seasonal favorite flavor?