Italian Night: The Difference 7 Minutes Makes

Once upon a time, I thought pasta with marinara was a little simple (aka boring) for my tastes. Then we went to Italy. Now I can not stop drooling over my memories of steaming hot, perfectly al dente spaghetti tossed in a simply delectable pomodoro.

So tonight, I denied my dependence on food network recipes and improvised, sans recipe and armed with only a handful of tomatoes, a bunch of basil, some garlic, onion, red wine, and e.v.o.o. It was cooking in its most basic form - purely to taste with a little of this and some more of that. Taking a cue from a fantastic plate of pasta I had in Verona, I pulsed each of the ingredients through a food processor, separately to prevent emulsion. Not only did it provide great texture, it made prep a breeze! The end result? Well... the first photo was taken at 7:44PM ... the second photo was snapped at 7:51PM...

Craving a sweet treat after our quick weeknight dinner, we headed out to our favorite gelateria in Laguna: Tutto Amore. This place makes me feel like I'm heading through the streets of Venice all over again, with the two Itals who run the joint and converse in Italian non-stop. I could listen to that beautiful language all day long!! And the gelato? It is no joke - tastes just like the real thing! I am tempted to head out there every night in hopes that this place doesn't go under in this terrible economy. If that's not sacrifice, I don't know what is!

My Very First 29th Birthday... Part Deux

You know me... I'll use any excuse to spend some more time with my lovely friends. And few excuses are better than birthdays! Hence, a delightful dinner at the Zinc Cafe in Laguna Beach (perfectly refreshing gazpacho + potato arugula pizza + swanky white ... just in case you were wondering) followed by fun times at Ocean Ave, a "brewery," in quotes because I've never actually consumed a pint of their brew, nor do I ever remember anyone ordering one during our numerous visits over the years. Weird, right?

Speaking of weird, I once believed that I had a rather unfortunate super power to magnetically attract every weird-o within a 10 mile radius. This night was no exception. The evening began with some fantastic jazz by a trio who must have been playing together for the at LEAST 60 years... seemingly weird but actually delightful and relaxing in the best way. The weird part began a passer-by found the trio equally delightful and relaxing but did not want to come in for a glass of wine or a delicious bite to eat. So she just enjoyed the music from the other side of the hedge about 1.5 feet away from the keyboardist, swaying to the melody to the very last drop, when the trio announced their last song. It was funny for the first five minutes, amusing for the two songs that followed, and definitely creepy for the remaining 20 songs.

It doesn't end there. We finally get to Ocean Ave and the only other people there are 40-50-somethings. It seems that one of these little princesses were out past her bedtime. P.S. If in 25 years, you find me even slightly resembling this pretty gem, PLEASE INTERVENE!

I don't mean to be a jerk. I promise. But some things just beg to be shared. I'm happy to say that I had a wonderful night in the company of fantastic friends. Birthday mission accomplished!

my very first (of many, I'm sure) 29th birthday

Today was a good day: quiet, relaxing, and full of good food. In case you didn't already know, I spend most of my time dreaming of and planning the next delicious bite of food I will consume. And when I'm not eating, I make every effort to be sleeping. So it made complete sense to spend my birthday participating in my two favorite pastimes - eating and sleeping.

I spent the morning nursing a tall cup of perfect hubby-made coffee while attending to non-birthday related matters (property management - yuck! and bills - double yuck!). This was promptly followed by a leisurely drive up PCH to Zinc Cafe in Corona Del Mar, where I obsess over the menu upon each visit by walking between the deli counter of prepared salads and entrees and scrutinizing each item on the printed menu overhead. (The servers love that I do this because they have about a million better things to do than watch me make up my mind.) I finally decided on the daily special: summer salad of hardboiled eggs, steamed fingerling potatoes and haricot verde, Kalamata olives, heirloom tomatoes layered with slices of goat cheese, and herbed cottage cheese over a bed of fresh butter lettuce and dressed in a shallot vinagrette. I also helped myself to a cup of the chili, which comes with delectable knot of garlic bread, and a Zinclini - my new favorite cocktail of fresh raspberry puree, peach-orange juice, and sparkling wine. Mouth-watering? Yes please!

Our delightful lunch was followed by a trip to Sprinkles for a red velvet cupcake for now and a raspberry cupcake for tomorrow's breakfast. What? Cake for breakfast is normal... The best part was running into Evie at the plaza. Cupcakes and family - a perfect combination.

Dinner followed a long, long nap. We opted for an intimate family dinner on the patio at Sol, except this place is BUSY! I don't think it's even been open for two months and it's popping off! It's easy to see why - the interior is simultaneously cozy and stylish, with many rustic accents and crafty furniture. The cuisine is fresh, inventive, and sourced with sustainability in mind, playing off traditional Baja fare. Fantastic guacamole sol, with mangoes and goat cheese... sweet and crispy fried calamari... super flavorful baked shrimp scampi... and uber-fresh fish tacos with all the fixings. The cocktails are fancy too! They offer refreshing beeritas (the equivalent to three margaritas topped off and a bottle of inverted beer) and various martinis. All delicious. It was definitely a wonderful meal! Check it out and spread the word. I'm hoping this place sticks around, it's that good.

All of this was courtesy of my perfect husband, who took the day off of work, just to do all the little things we haven't been able to recently. Thank you husband, you are lovely.

On Vacation From The Comfort Of Home

Have you ever pretended to be on vacation in your own hometown? No?!? Well, you SHOULD because it is fantastic! How did this magical weekend occur? Well... it began with a long overdue visit from our fantastic friends, Pat and Molly, newly engaged and glowing white hot, from both loving bliss and a severe lack of sun at their digs in SF. We had the pleasure of spending every single waking moment with this adorable couple, as happy in love as we are. So we filled our time with a fantastic show at the Laguna Beach Pageant of the Masters, beach time on the Peninsula (meaning that everyone swam and basked in the sun while I hid under my towel from over-carmelizing into an extra dark chunk of coal), multiple ping-pong tournaments to the heavenly sounds of a JT concert on DVD, sunset cocktails at Las Brisas and shopping at boutiques throughout Laguna. But I digress, what did we fill our stomachs with? Mouthwatering sandwiches from Champagne's Deli, where meats are over-roasted and breads baked from their own kitchen... Refreshing ice-cold whitefish ceviche and creamy guacamole at Las Brisas... Satisfying tuna melts from Big Belly Deli (where'd I'd ALWAYS rather be).... Eggs Benedict and Belgian Waffles at the Beach House in Laguna... various mediterranean delicacies at the Panini Cafe... and a classic diner breakfast from the Galley Cafe. At the end of the weekend, we felt like we had just returned from a relaxing weekend spent somewhere else in the company of great friends. Can't wait to do it again soon... (that means, COME BACK PAT AND MOLLY!!!)