Pigeon-y

This is the story about a pigeon that thought she was a guinea pig.

About 6 months ago my mom’s next-door neighbor, Michael, opened his office door to find a wonky, tiny baby bird at his feet. This was a curious little nestling as it had, rather than feathers - yellow, pubic-like hairs and a distorted beak. Presuming she had fallen from her nest prematurely, rendering her tainted and unwanted by her parents, Michael took her home with him.

Michael, his 9 year-old daughter, Ruby, and my mom were utterly perplexed as to what type of bird has no feathers, but rather, hair and such a bizarre look to it. Ruby thought it was a Dodo bird. After some research they realized she was actually a baby pigeon. You see pigeons don’t actually leave their parents until they are fully grown. During their first week of life baby pigeons are fed a high-fat, high-protein diet of crop milk produced by both parents. They grow very fast.

According to good, old answersdotcom, in the case of domestic/feral pigeons, they walk well at about 18 days of age and start exercising their wings about a week later. But because they have been regularly fed by the adults and haven't done much exercising, the babies are often bigger than their parents by the time they start to fly, which is on average 30 to 32 days after hatching.

So Ruby named her Pigeon-y and Michael was her mother.

As Pigeon-y grew into adulthood she became recognizable as a pigeon and had one beautiful, little turquoise spot on her sternum (you can see it in the above photo). Michael would cradle Pigeon-y in his hands and gently thrust her into the air to try to teach her to fly. She would flap her wings wildly and plop back into his hands. Then one day she flew about 10 yards. Eventually she would circle the yard about once a day but she never, ever left the property again.

Ruby has 2 guinea pigs that live in a large, open pen in the front yard during the day and in a crate, inside at night. Pigeon-y’s days were spent in the pen with the guinea pigs, and at night in a little cardboard box in the house. 

After some time everyone began to realize that Pigeon-y thought she was a guinea pig. She would play with them, chase them, and protect them. In fact, if other birds came close Pigeon-y would scare them away. The 2 guinea pigs liked to cram into a small plastic dome, which Pigeon-y would perch on top of. Then the guinea pigs would walk around in the dome, causing it to move across the pen with Pigeon-y on top – like she was on a float in a parade.

Pigeon-y even started sleeping in the cage at night with the guinea pigs and decided she preferred their food and grass to her bird seed.

And Pigeon-y loved her mother, Michael. She would perch on top of his shoulder or head as proud as a peacock.

When Michael would go out of town my mom watched over the guinea pigs and Pigeon-y. She was in awe of this bird’s moxie and spirit. Pigeon-y became a beacon, a port in the storm for my mom. She embodied so much courage, strength and beauty. Her cooing sounds were so rich, smooth and delicate, my mom wanted to just swallow them. Pigeon-y sang the song of the canyon.

Over the past few months I have heard many tales of Pigeon-y’s adventures and antics from my mother, told with a song in her voice and a twinkle in her eye. I have even watched, in awe, Pigeon-y playing with and protecting her guinea pigs. And you have to admit it’s a pretty amazing story that speaks volumes about determination and love across species.

As you all know, we live in the canyon, which is where the wild things are. Sadly, a couple of nights ago, Pigeon-y was taken from her family, her guinea pigs and her yard by, what we believe to be, a hawk. These things happen. But with the holidays upon us, I felt it apt to share with you the story of one abandoned pigeon that found her friends and family and whose resilience, character, serenity and magnificence changed a number of lives forever.

Here we have a soup that has a surprising amount of delicate yet bold flavors, and elements that I never would have thought would have complimented each other in such symphonic unison. It starts out thick and hearty, but somehow finishes wispy and soft – almost ethereal. 
It is vegetarian.

Buttermilk Corn Soup with Curry & Mint

Serves 4

INGREDIENTS

2 Tablespoons butter

1 shallot, finely chopped

2 cups yellow corn kernels

2 cups vegetable stock

1 ½ cups buttermilk

1/2 teaspoon dried mint

1 teaspoon fresh mint, chopped

1/2 teaspoon hot curry

1/2 teaspoon coriander

½ teaspoon cumin

salt & pepper to taste

crème fraiche

DIRECTIONS
In a heavy saucepan sauté shallot in butter until translucent (approximately 5-7 minutes. Add corn and mix to coat corn with shallots and butter. Add vegetable stock and simmer for about 20 minutes. Add dried mint, curry, coriander and cumin. Let simmer to allow flavors to marry.

Blend using an immersion wand.

Add buttermilk, fresh mint and salt & pepper to taste. Cook down for about 30 minutes on low heat.

Garnish with a dollop of crème fraiche and serve.

Printable Recipe

Boba Fett and The Matterhorn

  
My mom and Susan have known each other since elementary school and still disagree whether they were in first or second grade together. Regardless, they are dear, dear friends. They got married around the same time and got pregnant around the same time. Susan’s son, Ben, and I were born 4 days apart. I'm older! 

Ben and I were like siblings throughout our early childhood. We were always at each other’s houses; we built forts, had sleepovers, pulled each other’s hair, had food fights, and even took baths together. Ben taught me to just get the soap wet to fool our moms that we had actually cleaned ourselves. He also peed in the tub to create a “fountain effect”. One time at the state fair Ben had a total and complete freak out on the Matterhorn. It’s far from being a scary ride – at any age, and I took great pleasure in mocking him for that for quite a few years following. I'm sure I got bubble gum in my hair for that.

I remember Ben’s cherished Star Wars figures, watching Top Gun (for the 78^th time) together, playing the Super Mario game thing, slinging spaghetti noodles (with sauce) at the wall from the dinner table, playing hide and seek, and often having chicken fricassee for dinner at his house. Ben and I fought like Scotsmen but we did share a love for chicken fricassee. I don’t recall us throwing that stuff onto the walls.

As Ben and I got older and discovered our own personalities, styles, and friends - went to different schools and listened to different music (he the Grateful Dead and me, Public Enemy), we drifted apart. However, we have always been apprised of the broad strokes of each others' lives through our moms. Ben is married and living in San Francisco with a really cool job as head brewer at Magnolia Pub. His beer is sold at Chez Panisse!

Mom and Susan share a history.  After all of these years, many moves away from and back to Richmond, us kids, marriages, divorces, hardship and beauty, Susan and my mom remain dear, special friends. Susan visited mom out here in LA just a few months ago. The three of us went to the Conan O’Brien Show. Ben and I are Facebook friends. I think he has a moustache now.

Perhaps it’s the cooler temperatures or perhaps it was my recent trip home and the memories getting all stirred up, but lately I can’t stop thinking about that fricassee. I can only really remember having it at Susan’s house, so I emailed her for the recipe. Here’s something wild, look at her response to me, “I'm honored you asked me, since I learned this from your mother. I used to make it all the time because Ben liked it so much (your mom made it first, as I remember).”  

Well hush my mouth. How adorable is that?!

So I just finished making a batch of the stuff. It was my second try. The first one was solely from taste memory and, while good, it resembled nothing either in look or taste to what I recall as a child. The second go was with Susan’s (my mom’s) recipe, and I’ll be a monkey’s uncle – I got it! 

While devouring my heaping platter of the stuff I could see Susan and Ben’s house on Roseneath Road vivdly - like I was just there yesterday, down to the cereal boxes (Ben was allowed to eat Cap’n Crunch, unlike SOME people) in the kitchen and the clown art on the walls. I wonder if Ben still has his Boba Fett figurine. I always coveted it.

This is the recipe exactly as Susan sent it. While it is bare bones, if I could suss it out, I imagine you can do the same. I did add a dash of sherry (sherry makes everything better, right?) and some chopped, Italian parsley (for the pretty picture).

As a child this dish was probably paired with, well, milk. These days it goes beautifully with the Ridge Vineyards, “Three Valleys” Zinfandel.

Mom & Susan’s Chicken Fricassee

Serves 6-8

Boil a small chicken reserving the stock (I like to boil it with celery, onion and a little sage).

Pick the meat off the bones when it cools.

Make a roux with butter and flour. While it is doing its thing (watching for the right point), add a little lemon juice and small amount of chopped garlic.

Add reserved chicken broth.

What you're doing now is seasoning the liquid to get a nice, creamy, tasty, somewhat thickened broth.

When you like the taste of the broth, add the shredded chicken.

Add salt and pepper as needed.

Serve over rice or noodles.

18. The Buttermilk Truck

Oh joy! Today was special in two ways: I finally got my hands on the Buttermilk Truck’s goods, and Dixon was there to join me! It has been some time since I’ve had good ole Dixon with me in fun food land. And it was the perfect truck for us to hit together as breakfast is his most favoritest of meals (and I owed him a birthday treat, so I paid). 

The Buttermilk Truck is all breakfast, all the time. They have two menus: a daytime breakfast menu and a late night breakfast menu. The truck is owned by the former pastry chef at Bin 8945, Gigi Pascual, who uses upscale ingredients and makes all of her pastries and batters fresh daily.

They were Tweeted to be on Cole at Sunset from 12-2pm today. We met right at Noon. The line was occupied by only a handful of folks so we got up to order pretty fast. Dixon ordered the Buttermilk Biscuit Breakfast Sandwich served on house-made buttermilk biscuit with cheese and fried egg (with a choice of applewood smoked bacon, tocino, or chicken apple sausage). He wanted bacon, but they were out (at Noon???), so he decided to be adventurous and try the tocino. He added an order of rosemary, garlic hashbrowns and topped it all off with, what else, a cup of coffee. 

I ordered the Hawaiian Bread Breakfast Sliders with Portuguese sausage, sauteed onions and shoyu scrambled eggs on Hawaiian bread and a bottle of water. The grand total: $11.50 (sweet!). I will say that considering the scant few people about, the wait for the food was a bit much – I’d say a solid 10-15 minutes.
 
While we waited a food truck friend shared with us bites of his House-made Cake Donuts (“fried to golden brown and dusted with powdered sugar and glazed with cinnamon vanilla glaze”). Dixon and I agreed that they were very tasty and reminded us of the state fair. They were crunchy on the outside and warm, soft and billowy on the inside - rich with flavor and oily delicious.
 
Dixon’s food came out first, so he grabbed some napkins and some packets of Tapatio(!!!), and went to his car to set up the tailgate - no curb for us. Dixon can be pretty cool sometimes. I met him moments later when my food was up. 

We both enjoyed our orders. It was an unusually hot day and we were smack under the sun making heavy breakfast and coffee slightly, well, wrong - but whaddaya do? Dixon housed most of his before I reminded him that I wanted to taste everything. The hashbrowns were gone. But he said it was his favorite thing that we ordered and that the rosemary was prominent and well seasoned. His biscuit was good, if dense and not very biscuity looking. Again, I wasn’t able to really get a grasp of the tocino, but it sounded real nice…

My sliders were alright. They were a bit intimidating to look at. I ate two and Dixon had one. They were certainly enhanced by the Tapatio, but were big and bold on their own. I loved the sweet, Hawaiian rolls and the Portuguese sausage. The eggs seemed an afterthought and other than an in color, I sensed little to no shoyu. Caramelized onions? Barely. 

Honestly, I was a little bit underwhelmed with the Buttermilk Truck. Perhaps it's just growing pains, but the wait was too long, they were already out of bacon (a breakfast staple, without a doubt), and they also ran out of biscuits while we were there. And all of this without a mass influx of people ordering them out of inventory. Regardless, Dixon and I agreed that it would be fun to try their late-night breakfast menu after some drinks some time. The Fried Chicken with House-made Cinnamon Waffles with butter and syrup looks amazing.
 
Perhaps we shall meet again, Buttermilk Truck. Perhaps we shall.

17. The Dosa Truck

Yesterday I was headed to Miracle Mile to finally try Baby’s Badass Burgers and found myself in a sea of food trucks. I quite seriously have never seen this many of them in the same place, at the same time. I get to say it: Food-Truck-O-Rama!!

And, of course, my indecision attacked my resolve. I ended up at The Dosa Truck. Well, they had all the pretty, dangly, colorful, streamers and lanterns and pretties adorning the truck! I’m a sucker for packaging. I also had not stumbled upon the Dosa Truck yet and I see Baby’s Badass around quite a bit.

Probably as a result of the galaxy of trucks in one location (or perhaps their karma), there was almost no line in dosa land. I asked for suggestions and was told to either go with the Shiva Shatki (1/2 sweet potato, 1/2 masala dosa) or the Slumdog (Indian “pesto” rubbed inside the dosa with paneer, fresh spinach and masala dosa potatoes). I went with the Slumdog and a homemade ginger limeade, totaling $8. The wait seemed a hair lengthy, but I never got too antsy. Plus, entertainment factor - the owner, Brooklyn-born Leena Deneroff, was frenetically scurrying about making sure everyone knew about her HOMEMADE ginger limeade. She’s in the top picture in the white shirt.

So, for those of you as yet unaware, a dosa is South Indian street food. It’s a crispy, sourdough crepe made from rice and lentil flour, stuffed with regional and gourmet ingredients, then rolled long and thin. Paru’s on Sunset makes a damn good one.

I liked this. It appeared to be a lot of food at first, but after bite #1 I knew it was going to be the perfect portion. The dosa itself retained a bit more of the oil’s taste than I would prefer, but was light, airy and nutty. The stuffing, however, was inspired, fresh and delicious. The fresh spinach was a surprising touch that lent itself beautifully to the paneer and potatoes. And the pesto was an ideal accent, and one I would have never expected! The limeade was zingy and refreshing and also a model element in enriching the meal.

As sure as the truck reads, “Ooooom good”. I finished everything in under 5 minutes and yes, I’ll be back.

Grilled Cheese Night at Campanile

Village Voice critic Jeff Weinstein called Campanile (opened by Mark Peel and Nancy Silverton in 1989) “the last restaurant of the ’80s”.

Jonathan Gold recently said, “it appears that Weinstein may have been correct. No restaurant since has managed to marry populist tendencies with the highest levels of culinary ambition, and no restaurant has introduced even a fraction of the number of wines, from Italy and boutique California, to the American palate.”

I have only been to Campanile a few times in the 8 years I have lived in LA - once for lunch with my dad, once for dinner with Chris and his dad, and once for Grilled Cheese Night (Thursdays) with a friend about 6 months ago. But we were only there for wine and catching up times.

And then again last week.

April and I met Yvonne and her friends, Becky and Dave, last Thursday to get our grilled cheese on. I was the only one of us that had been there before. April and I met up with Yvonne at the bar to have a glass of wine and to wait for Dave and Becky to arrive.

We decided to get a flight of wine each to share and sample - 3 ladies, 3 reds, 3 whites and 3 rosés. Taylor, the wine director, told us he would select some gems for us. Taylor is a gem. About halfway through our flights Dave and Becky showed up, and we were led (with our flights) to our table.

We started out with an order of Beer-Battered Squash Blossoms with arugula, almond, parsley pesto ($11) and two orders of Raviolo Gigante with brown butter, pine nuts & sage ($12). Taylor paired our starters with a sparkling vouvray. Upon tasting it, Yvonne, in her non-inside voice, announced, “It tastes like drinking diamonds!” She was right.

I do love a squash blossom and these were ginormous, healthy specimens. The batter was only slightly heavy for my taste. The raviolos were exceptional. Exceptional. You can’t go wrong with brown butter and sage, but I would have preferred hazelnuts to pine nuts here.

We decided that all five of us would get a different type of grilled cheese sandwich so we could each taste as much as possible. Here we go: 

BLTA with braised bacon, tomato, avocado, bibb lettuce, green goddess ($17) 

Braised Lamb with braised artichokes, roasted cherry tomato, feta cheese ($18)

Fresh Burrata with cherry tomato, garbanzo bean, serrano ham, parsley pesto ($17) 

Skirt Steak with gruyere, tomato, arugula, aioli ($18) 

Classic Grilled Cheese with marinated onion and/or whole grain mustard ($16)

Lest I forget, the “basket” of fries that comes for the table (on Grilled Cheese Night only) is really something. This is not news, however. They came in as runner up in LA Weekly’s “Top 10 Fries”. In fact, when our server tried to clear the table, and the fries with it, Yvonne went into near hysterics, screeching (also in her non-inside voice), “No tocas mi papas fritas!!” (which I’d like to add, directly translated means, “nonheadresses my chipses”.) Needless to say, we may have begun to frighten a few people at this point.

Taylor paired each sandwich with its own wine, and/or multiple wines. I cannot say enough good stuff about Taylor and his attentiveness to our table, by the way. We were able to taste so many wonderful wines that were all ideally matched with our foodstuffs.

We finished the meal up with the Chocolate Croissant Bread Pudding with chai ice cream, caramel sauce ($12) and the Pear Tarte Tatin with ginger ice cream, candied hazelnuts ($12), which were paired with various ports and a Moscato d’Asti. Perfection.

 

We all loved our evening, each others' company, our conversation and, of course, sandwiches and wines beyond our imaginations. I felt like we were the happiest, most indulged, most well attended table ever. It was one of those times where I realized there was absolutely nowhere else in the world I would rather be.

I might add that Yvonne, April and I were fortunate enough to spend some time after dinner, at the bar, with Taylor and superstar chef, Mark Peel. Jealous much?

Needless to say, all three of us girls plan on returning with frequency to Campanile for grilled cheese on Thursday nights, and beyond. In fact, April and I plan to return this week to sit at the bar, order a couple of things off the menu and split a bottle of wine.

16. Mattie's Southern Kitchen

 Better than snuff, ain't half as dusty. 

Although they have only been around for less than a month, I have been as anxious as a long tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs, for what feels like eternity, to try Mattie’s Southern Kitchen. My friend, Yvonne, is a friend of Chris, the owner, and got me all geeked about it in the first place. And, in case I have not mentioned it this week yet, I am from the south and am always looking for edible nostalgia.

I called my friend, Heather - whom I have known since high school. I thought she’d appreciate the theme of this truck. Plus, it was her first food truck! So, with mounting excitement, I drove to meet her at Miracle Mile to give Mattie’s their day in court.

As they say on their blog, “We don't serve soul food. We don't sell comfort food. We sell southern food.” I for one appreciate identifying that distinction, as the three are disparate.

Here is a list of what their menu offered up this past week:

Fried chicken
Barbecue (Eastern Carolina pulled pork)
Shrimp & Grits
Vegetable Gumbo
Collard Greens
Mac & Cheese
Creamed Corn
Hoppin' John (veggie) Wrap
Blackened Catfish Po Boy
Fried Shrimp Po Boy
Buttermilk Biscuits

Although the woman taking my order suggested the Shrimp Po Boy (“because they only had one roll left”), I went for the fried chicken plate with creamed corn, collards and a biscuit ($8). Heather got the fried chicken sandwich ($5). I wish she had ordered something wildly different than me but c’est la vie. The line was thin and the food came out lightning fast. Upon my compliment regarding the pace the guy in the truck simply said, “That’s the name of the game”. Cute.

And so I grabbed my spork (who doesn’t love a spork?!) and some napkins, and Heather and I scurried to a little wall to sit on to enjoy lunch.

Fried Chicken Plate

Fried Chicken Sandwich

First off, this was a gracious plenty of food for $8. It reminded me of the classic meat and threes I used to love when I lived in Atlanta, and it looked just right. I was impressed. I immediately dug into the collards, which I had seasoned with a bottle of peppery vinegar they offered at the truck along with some hot sauces. Spot on. Cooked down long enough, but not too much, with a perfect salty brine. The creamed corn was not exactly creamed, but was still really tasty. I’m used to unrecognizable kernels swimming in butter and cream. This side still retained its status as vegetable, which is smart. It had a nice sweet and smoky flavor and still was as buttery as I wanted. The chicken was good. The crispety skin was plentiful and seemed to be the result of nicely rendered oil, which I always appreciate. The meat was cooked perfectly, retaining its moisture. My only misgiving would be that I prefer a little more kick to my fried chicken skin - use a bit more pepper, perhaps? It’s a minor beef, actually. Everyone thinks their mom makes the BEST fried chicken – even if it’s exactly the same as, say, Mattie’s. Welcome to the south. Hell, we still think we’re fighting the Civil War down there.

Interestingly, the piéce de résistance turned out to be the biscuit. Both Heather and I were flabbergasted over how moist, flaky, fluffy, melt-in-your-mouth, perfect these were. If available, I would have added butter (hey, I’m from the south), but these needed none. Recipe please!

I deeply regret not trying the sweet tea about which Zagat wrote, “essentially a glass of sugar moistened with tea, a demi-beverage to gladden the heart of anyone from south of Mason-Dixon.” I also was sad to not see the fried pickles on the menu. But I shall return. I NEED to try the shrimp & grits and the mac & cheese.

So to Chris and the rest of the gang, from the bottom of my stomach, thanks y’all! 

15. The Gastrobus

It seems like it’s been awhile since my last food truck. I realized though, that I had better hop back into it as I have less than two months (with holidays sprinkled throughout) to complete my mission. I have been extremely fortunate in the past 24 hours; two of the trucks I have been pining away for have both been in my hood! Yesterday I was able to try the Gastrobus for lunch, and today I finally checked out Mattie’s Southern Kitchen (review coming very soon). Happy days, I tell you.

The Gastrobus was set up on Sunset at Cole, yesterday for lunch. Perfect. I can park in the Staples parking lot, recycle my old ink cartridges and grab lunch. A friend met me so I could try a few different things, which is always appreciated.

The Gastrobus hit the streets this past July, run by husband and wife, Antonio (former chef for Wolfgang Puck) and Lana Medina. They serve up classic gastropub fare (obviously, minus the booze), pulled pork, skirt steak and BLT sandwiches, sweet potato (which are rumored to be phenomenal) and regular fries with homemade aioli, along with a constantly changing menu of specials. And they do something very impressive in my opinion - all of their produce is from the Sunday, Los Feliz farmer’s market and they do a special Sunday menu at the market, as well.

I sidled up to the bright yellow bus, all a flutter, to order the wild mushroom soup ($4) advertised via tweet. Yep - no asking for suggestions today, folks. I also ordered another special, the roasted turkey and cranberry chutney sandwich ($6). Had I ordered the special soup and grilled cheese together it would have only totaled $6, just so you know.

Okay. This soup was FANTASTIC. I consider myself somewhat of a soup aficionado (and I make a super mushroom soup as well) and really, this was a show-stopper. Served in a Styrofoam cup, with a plastic spoon and a drizzle of basil oil on top, this piping hot, rich, elegant soup was probably the best thing I have ordered from a truck to date, and would rival most soups I’ve had in a bowl with linens, in the finer establishments in town. I thought there was sherry in it, but apparently no (I asked). They used milk instead of cream and beyond that perhaps we can thank the market-fresh, wild mushrooms. I actually wanted to race home with it to pour into a bowl, dip crusty bread into it, and pour a glass of Margeaux.

The sandwich was pretty impressive as well. The turkey was plentiful and cooked perfectly, retaining its moisture. Their homemade cranberry chutney was a beautiful, and timely, accompaniment, but I found its ratio to other elements in the sandwich a bit much. That being said, I am normally not one to order things with jams, chutneys or really, with any gooey, fruit related items involved. So I can’t really speak to that. The caramelized onions were a wonderful surprise and the warm brioche was a perfect choice for the bread. And it was all Thanksgiving-y!

My friend ordered the BLT ($6), which was damn good, and sizeable considering it’s a BLT. The bacon was nice, thick, smokey, and soft-cooked. The stand out element, though, was the homemade herb aioli. God is in the details in this beautifully simple sandwich classic. Nicely played, Gastrobus.

Fantastic fare, enormous portions, good prices, and big smiles from the Medinas in the van… The Gastrobus gets mad accolades from F for Food. I will, without a doubt, return. Hopefully they will share that soup recipe with me… 

Jogging

It’s an exciting day here at F for Food. A wonderful bakery, Sweet Square Dessert Bars, has recently contacted me to review their sweets – so flattering! While I do enjoy the occasional nugget of chocolate, I would be fooling you all if I claimed to have the most refined dessert palate.

So I have called in the troops.

I have wanted to bring my foodasaurus friends into the fold for some time now, and have finally found the perfect platform to do just that.

Yes, of course, I did taste a few of these scrumptious bars made by the lovely Samantha Page and Camilla Yates, owners of Sweet Square. But I knew to give them a fair trial I would need to pass the baton to my favorite dessert expert, Yvonne. 

So read on, my friends...

-Elliott

Love their look!

My favorite food blogger, F for Food, knew about my incurable sweet tooth and was kind enough to ask me to sample and review an entire box of dessert bars from Sweet Square. What joy! Days like this, where my tastes buds are called into dessert action, are what I live for.

As I walk up to Elliott’s house I’m already anticipating the dessert heaven that awaits me to devour. I am handed this little brown box which when opened reveals an assortment of sparkling dessert bars sitting there staring up at me. I thank Elliott and tell her that I need to go home and do some much needed jogging. I think Elliott might have been impressed with my jogging determination and now thinks that I have discipline and control in my life.

But when I got those lovely little dessert bars into my car, I stuffed one into my mouth at the first stoplight. It happened to be the S’mores Bar – a chocolate chip base lined with soft squishy marshmallows and topped with a graham cracker crust - not bad, actually pretty good.

 S'Mores Bar

Now I’m at the second stoplight and the Peanut Butter and Jelly Bar gets eaten – I really enjoyed this one; the peanut butter contrasted the sweet jelly and I loved the additional peanut butter crumble - a must get and yes, a big glass of ice cold milk would go lovely here.

 Peanut Butter & Jelly Bar

I wasn’t even half way home when the Toffee Brownie fell victim to my dessert binge – a rich chocolate punch with bits of crunchy toffee bits mixed throughout (I think I’ll run an extra mile today). 

Toffee Brownie

At Hollywood and Highland I thought someone was honking at me but no it was just those bars calling my name again. This time I went in for the Oatmeal Fruit Square – it was OK. I couldn’t tell what kind of fruit was in it although the buttery crumble on top was the real highlight of this sweet treat.

Oatmeal Fruit Square 

At this point I have the entire box sitting on my lap as I’m driving. I realize I’m in full dessert gluttony and make a conscious decision to just go with it. So I eye this little blond number sitting amongst the rest of the bars, and I’m thinking it’s a Blondie Brownie of some sort. But when I bite into this little treat I’m taken on an unexpected flavor ride when bacon pieces start exploding in my mouth! It was definitely a salty and sweet combination –The Makin’ Bacon Bar was interesting but not my favorite. 

Makin' Bacon Bar

Now I’m a block away from my home and the Magic Cookie Bar was the last man standing and needed some affection. Well, it found all the love it would ever need in my stomach. I liked the balance of white and dark chocolate that went well with the shredded coconut. (***Another sign of a good day is when you eat dessert for dinner.)

Magic Cookie Bar

Considering I ate the entire box of dessert bars before I even made it home, I have to give Sweet Square 2 thumbs up. The first thing I did when I got home was not immediately go jogging but instead I went straight to Sweet Square’s website, and discovered that they had even more dessert bars to try. (Note: All of the brownies look like a chocoholics dream.)

Today I may have skipped out on exercise but instead I was able to flex my dessert muscle. I am proud to report that muscle is now well toned and ready to take on anything that the Sweet Square ladies throw at me, and yes, I will definitely go jogging tomorrow.

P.S. If you have been tempted here, don’t fret. You can find these geometric delectables here.

Going down the only road I've ever known.

Each time I return home I can expect an entirely different experience than the time before. I can always count on the familiarity and comfort factors, but I never really know what, or who, I will stumble into when I’m here. Sometimes I seek out old friends and sometimes I hide. Sometimes when I seek out old friends I don’t find them, and sometimes when I hide my old friends stumble across me. Sometimes there are even tiny, unexpected romantic dalliances with mysterious people from random chapters of my past. Returning home is always interesting, as I can rarely control how my visits will unfold. I like this.

My previous visit featured a surprise reunion with a very old and very dear friend with whom I had not had contact for over 5 years. Her absence in my life was not my choice and I was always bemused about it. But when we bumped into each another on the street one afternoon, it all felt fine, good - familiar. There seemed to be no need to discuss anything about the past. A couple of hugs and the promise for a glass of wine later was more than sufficient.

That glass of wine was lovely. Seeing her again felt like a thought being picked up after an ellipsis. When she left, I stayed behind to have a moment and finish my glass of wine. Then, surprisingly, I was approached by someone with whom I attended both elementary and middle schools. We shared mutual friends throughout high school and beyond. Apparently we were even in the same crowd that met up each year, on Christmas night, at our old watering hole (aptly called “Hole in the Wall”). I suppose it was our “St. Elmo’s Fire.” Honestly, I didn’t remember him very well. So it was wonderful to spend some time with him throughout that week, reminiscing, and learning about who and what we have become over the years.

And here I go again. Back in Richmond.

Yesterday, as I was staring blankly into the cheese section at Kroger, debating whether or not to buy my favorite packaged pimiento cheese, someone touches my hand and, both literally and figuratively, shocks me. It was an old friend from my very early youth.

I remember a Halloween slumber party at her house when we were about 9 or 10-years old. We watched “Hush, Hush, Sweet Charlotte” (her parents wouldn’t let us rent a real horror movie), which seemed dorky at the time, but completely scared the life out of me (and it is a great film, by the way). I made the mistake of falling asleep before the other girls and awakened to Tootsie Rolls stuffed in the back of my underpants. I learned a valuable lesson, and never fell asleep before anyone else at a slumber party again.

I actually recall quite a few Halloweens with Kelly. She was also the person who approached me in our middle school hallway to advise me that maybe I should start considering wearing a bra (I was mortified!).

And so there we were, with our shopping carts parallel, in the cheese aisle of Kroger, all grown up. As she was talking about motherhood and I, rainbow chard from my garden, I could see a fly-on-the-wall perspective, still image of us. It all seemed surreal, and slightly scary, like a shot from “The Stepford Wives”. As she guided me to another aisle to look for hazelnuts, I suddenly wanted to go have 23 kids OR go to a bar and have 23 shots of tequila.

I did neither. I went home, put on my pine-cone jammies and dad’s slippers, put some John Lee Hooker & Miles Davis on the stereo, and made this dish while I contemplated the trajectory of my life.

Scallops With Wild Mushroom Risotto and Rosé Fonduta

(adapted from CD Kitchen)

2 servings

INGREDIENTS

1/4 cup minced shallots, divided

3/4 cup rosé wine

1/4 cup heavy cream

1/4 cup brie cheese

Salt and pepper to taste

3 cups chicken stock

1 cup dry, white wine

2 Tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided

4 Tablespoons butter, divided

1 cup arborio rice

1 cup chopped wild mushrooms

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

3/4 pound sea scallops

DIRECTIONS
In a saucepan over high heat, combine half the shallots with rosé and reduce until rosé is almost completely evaporated. Add cream and bring to a boil. Remove from heat. Add brie and gently stir with a wooden spoon. Season with salt and pepper, cover and set aside and keep warm.

In a saucepan, heat broth and keep warm.

In a large saucepan over medium heat, combine 1 tablespoon olive oil and 1 tablespoon butter. Add the rice, mushrooms and remaining shallots and sauté without browning. Add 1/3 of the broth, 1/3 of the wine, and increase heat to high and stir constantly. When broth is completely absorbed, add the next 1/3 of the broth, 1/3 of the wine, and reduce until absorbed, stirring constantly. Add final 1/3 of the broth, 1/3 of the wine, and cook until absorbed. Remove from heat, allowing the risotto to remain soft. Add 1 tablespoon butter, Parmesan and salt and pepper to taste. Stir to combine. Cover and set aside.

In a large saucepan over high heat, combine remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil and 2 tablespoons butter. Allow butter to become slightly browned. Spread scallops evenly over the bottom of the pan, but don't stir. Add additional butter if necessary to coat the bottom of the pan. Cook until brown on one side. Turn over and cook for 2 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

To assemble the dish, divide risotto onto two plates. Divide and arrange scallops over the risotto. With a spoon, drizzle cheese fonduta over scallops and risotto as desired.

Fondle my sweaters? No, I said fondue the cheddar.

I’m headed back to Richmond to help my dad in recovering from his second back surgery. Actually, I am currently in the Cleveland airport having a glass of sauvignon blanc to make the most of my layover. I hope there’s time for a second glass. I haven’t quite recovered from the medical emergency someone had mid-flight from LA. It was the first time I had ever heard someone say, “is there a doctor on board”, in any context. But I feel like hearing it over a loud speaker, 14 zillion miles above the ground, while I am sandwiched in the middle seat with my knees touching the seat back in front of me, is probably the worst time. Additionally, you should know that - for me - the period of time between the plane landing and my feet carrying me off the plane, is by far, the most agonizing 74962 minutes of travel. So imagine how we all had to stay in our seats an additional 28465 years as the paramedics met us on the tarmac to assist the ailing flyer. Not happy times.

So yes. Maybe even 3 glasses of wine.

Tonight Dad and I are staying in for dinner. I’d rather go out. But he is feeling a little scared about his surgery tomorrow and wants to keep it local (comfy and snuggly). He tells me it’s really rainy and cold there. We will make beef stew.

We all throw the term comfort food around quite a bit (and certainly in the autumn and winter months) but usually to reference something filling and hearty. Fried chicken, meatloaf, chili, mac and cheese, potatoes and stews are a few standard comfort foods. But we all have our own dishes that literally make us feel comfortable, safe, and warm. Food that feels like Mom tucking you into bed at night. These also usually need to be dishes that you can prepare fairly easily, or at least, that you know how to make. Something that you’re comfortable with.

April came over for dinner the other night and, as you may recall, she is a vegetarian. I am often stumped with menu planning for her because vegetarian meals don’t usually feel like they have a main course. And no, I am not going to make a faux meat, football-shaped concoction. 

In reverence to Gourmet’s demise I dug up a recipe from their November, 2008 issue and did some re-working. It is a beautiful centerpiece to any meal and also works well as a shared side dish. I kept it pretty standard for April - but gave it a major overhaul after, using chicken stock rather than vegetable, and adding a number of my own touches.

What I am referring to are individual, roasted sugar pumpkins stuffed with a strata of toasted baguette, aged gruyere and Emmental, and a creamy mixture of chicken stock, allspice and a dry rosé. What you get is a fondue-soufflé-like, bread pudding-ness inside of that roasted pumpkin. Each spoonful has a bite of the rich cheesiness with the roasted pumpkin scraped from the sides. It’s pretty amazing, totally comforting, snuggly, warm, substantial and delicious. It’s like a bear hug. It’s also surprisingly easy to prepare. I will serve this lovable, hug of a dish for my dad during his recovery in beautiful, chilly Virginia.

You can substitute the sugar pumpkin here with an acorn or kabocha squash. You could even use one large pumpkin that everyone can be served from, which is more in the style of traditional fondue. This recipe doubles or triples very easily.

Roast Pumpkin with Cheese “Fondue”
(adapted from Gourmet November, 2008)

Serves 2 (as main course) or 4 (as a side dish)

INGREDIENTS

1/2 (7-inch) baguette, cut into 1/2-inch slices
2 small sugar pumpkins
3/4 cups heavy cream
1/2 cup chicken stock
1/4 teaspoon grated allspice
2 Tablespoons dry rosé wine
1 shallot, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
2 teaspoons fresh sage, chopped
1 1/4 cups coarsely grated Gruyère
1 1/4 cups coarsely grated Emmental
1 Tablespoon olive oil
Salt & pepper to taste


DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 450°F with rack in lower third.

Toast baguette slices in 1 layer on a baking sheet in oven until tops are crisp (bread will still be pale), about 7 minutes. Transfer to a rack to cool.

Remove top of pumpkin by cutting a circle around stem with a small sharp knife. Scrape out seeds and any loose fibers from inside pumpkin with a spoon (including top of pumpkin; reserve seeds for another use if desired). Season inside of pumpkin with 1/2 teaspoon of salt.

Whisk together cream, broth, rosé & allspice, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper in a bowl. Mix together cheeses, shallot, garlic and sage in another bowl.

Put a layer of toasted bread in bottom of pumpkin, then cover with about 1/2 cup cheese and about 1/4 cup cream mixture. Continue layering bread, cheese, and cream mixture until pumpkin is filled to about 1/2 inch from top, using all of cream mixture. (You may have some bread and cheese left over.)

Cover pumpkin with top and put in an oiled small roasting pan. Brush outside of pumpkin all over with olive oil. Bake until pumpkin is tender and filling is puffed, 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 hours.

Note: Pumpkins can be filled 2 hours before baking and chilled.