Fabio From Top Chef at Cafe Firenze!

Do you watch Top Chef? Fabio from last season of Top Chef owns a restaurant with his brother in Moorpark, California called Cafe Firenze. We decided to go there for dinner with our daughter on Sunday night and we hoped to see Fabio while we were there. We ordered our food and were enjoying our appetizers when we felt some excitement fill the restaurant.

From our seat we could see that Fabio had arrived and was overseeing the operations in the kitchen.

I was such a happy camper to see Fabio in person after enjoying him on Top Chef!

Photobucket is holding all my photos I stored with them from 2007-2015 hostage unless I pay them a lot of money. I’m slowly cleaning up many posts from this time period and deleting their ugly grey and black boxes with a ransom request. Such a time consuming bother.

Family Celebration

After I picked up Katie from LAX we headed East to Whittier for a family gathering to celebrate Katie being here and Letty and my birthday.

My sister Kathy and my mom. My niece Michelle and Katie. My sister Vera and SIL Letty.

My niece Michelle and Melissa with my Grand Nephew Jackson. Michelle, Jessica, and my sister Lana. Kathy and Lana. Oops…I managed to miss getting my niece Debbee in any of these and she’s probably quite happy about that :0)

For dinner everyone brought along a favorite Chinese take-out item to share and my mom made this birthday cake for Letty and me along with those flaky delicate yummies on the right which are called Kudrishky. Kudrishky are a light flaky Russian dessert that is made from a dough rolled very thin, curled and fried. After they cool you dust them with powdered sugar.

The birthday girls! These extended birthday celebrations are a fun deal!

Corned Beef & Cabbage

Kathleen at Cuisine Kathleen is hosting a bit of the Irish food fest. So I decided to join in by offering this simple Corned Beef & Cabbage how to. I’m looking forward to cooking this up tomorrow for our meal tomorrow night! An early Happy St. Patrick’s Day to you!

When Irish eyes are smiling,
Sure, ’tis like the morn in Spring.
In the lilt of Irish laughter
You can hear the angels sing.
When Irish hearts are happy,
All the world seems bright and gay.
And when Irish eyes are smiling,
Sure, they steal your heart away.

I’m combining this post with Three or More Tuesday that Tam at The Gypsy’s Corner hosts each week. I think the regular clover qualifies for 3 and the three vegetables I include in the Corned Beef and Cabbage qualify, too!

I bought the flat cut corned beef brisket seasoned in a package with an extra spice packet enclosed. I covered the brisket with water and brought to a boil with a couple onions quartered. After it came to a boil, I lowered the flame to simmer and let it simmer for a couple of hours. I pulled the meat out and added the cabbage, potatoes, and carrots and simmered the veggies until they were done. Put the meat back in the pot till I was ready to serve it. It has always turned out great but I really do notice the difference between the flat cut and the cheaper cut…

Don’t forget to click over to Kathleen’s to see all all the celebration posts around… and don’t forget the Guinness!

Birthday Dinner at the Tam O’Shanter in Los Angeles

First off I’d like to thank you all for your sweet comments and prayers for me on my birthday. It really meant a lot for me to read them. God used them to encourage me and to bless me. I cherish my bloggy friends, those I’ve never met and those of you I have had the privilege of meeting and spending time with.

For dinner on my birthday we drove into Los Angeles just East of Griffith Park on Los Feliz to the Tam O’Shanter Restaurant, an Icon in Los Angeles. The Tam O’Shanter has been serving good food with great service since 1922. The restaurant has a Scottish influence with Robert Burns donning the walls and waitresses wearing plaid with a Tam O’Shanter on their heads.

This restaurant does traditional very well. Their quality and service have not degenerated over the years. We were very pleased with the food and service.

We both decided to go with the food that made the restaurant famous their prime rib, mashed potatoes, gravy, Yorkshire pudding, creamed corn and creamed spinach! We enjoyed the fresh and creamed horse radish, too.

We were treated to the Tam O’Shanter’s famous Chocolate Souffle for our dessert and the manager sent along a little pitcher of hot fudge sauce that was such a treat for us because it was from the famous C.C. Brown’s of Hollywood that Dear and I used to drive miles to just to enjoy their hot fudge sundaes. They were located on Hollywood Blvd. just down from Grauman’s Chinese Theatre. What a fun memory. C.C. Brown’s has closed its doors but the Lawrey’s chain that owns the Tam O’Shanter bought the rights to the Hot Fudge. We split the lovely souffle in two and loaded it with the whip cream and hot fudge sauce! Oh my was that a lovely end to a wonderful meal.

C.C. Brown’s began in 1906 in downtown Los Angeles where Clarence Clifton Brown invented the Hot Fudge Sauce. In 1929 he moved the business to Hollywood, where it existed in its original form until the summer of 1996. C.C. Brown’s moved to its long-term location at 7007 Hollywood Boulevard at a time when two major landmarks –Grauman’s Chinese Theatre and the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel — had not long been built.

Here we are at the restaurant ready to dig into our amazing souffle! See the lovely flowers? Willow dropped these off to my condo before we left for the restaurant. Clever girl she bought 5 deep pink and 8 light pink Gerbera Daisies to celebrate my 58 years. Thank you Willow.

On the way home from our wonderful time at the restaurant we talked about God’s love and how we, because of His love, offer our love to each other and to all the people God puts in our path. We are called to love. Can we really love too much??? I don’t think so. I pray that I’ll be able to increase in my love for others this new year…

It’s Mostly About Food Glorious Food…

So here we are at the end of another week looking back at some favorites we all experienced. Susanne at Living to Tell the Story is the hostess for this weekly event.

Funny but most of my favorites this week are food, food, food. It’s a wonder I can still fit into some of my clothes.

1. Oh how I love it when the Fresh from the fields Strawberry Stands open in Southern California. I got a box from my favorite stand this week and they were so fresh and delicious…

2. My family really enjoys artichokes! I made some for my kids when I was in Seattle and decided to treat Dear and I to some when I got back to Southern California. Oh so good! Dear likes to dip his in traditional Mayonnaise. I like to dip mine very gingerly into Ranch dressing. My kids like to dip them into Italian dressing.

3. A new favorite I’ve bought a couple times now from Trader Joe’s is their Chimichurri Rice with Vegetables. Oh how I love the flavor of this dish and the spicy zing! We had it as a side with our Barbecued Salmon last night and my taste buds were so happy.

4. When I was at Costco this week I was excited to see Clam Chowder in their frozen section from The Splash Cafe in Pismo Beach. Dear and I had some at the cafe when we were in Pismo Beach and this brought back some good memories. I couldn’t resist and bought some for a meal soon.

5. The last item is not food. I have been looking for a container of some sort to put my different tea-bags in so I don’t have to open 6 boxes every time I’m serving tea for Bible Study. I found this cute ceramic napkin holder at T.J. Maxx that works just right for me!

Ok I have an extra favorite and it’s not food!

I have really enjoyed The Cottage Tales of Beatrix Potter series by Susan Wittig Albert! The library found me the latest in series and I’m excited to read it.

To see more favorites or to join in visit Susanne at Living to Tell the Story.

Mexican Corn Soup ~ Foodie Friday

I’m joining in with Designs by Gollum for her Foodie Friday. I’m resurrecting this recipe that I posted a long long time ago. It is a wonderful soup with a great spicy kick.

Mexican Corn Soup (prep: 15 min. Cooking: 10 min.)

1 – 16 oz. pkg. frozen whole kernel corn, thawed
1 – Cup chicken broth (I used the whole can of chicken broth and just 1 cup of milk instead of two so I wouldn’t have a half a can of broth left.
2 – Tbsp. butter or margarine
1 – 4-1/2 oz. can diced green chili peppers
1 – clove garlic, minced
1 – Tblsp. snipped fresh oregano or l tsp. dried oregano, crushed
1/4 – tsp. salt
1/4 – tsp. ground black pepper
2 – cups milk (I used one cup see chicken broth above)
1 – cup chopped, cooked chicken
1 – cup chopped tomatoes (I used a can of diced tomatoes w/jalapeno, med/hot)
1 – cup shredded Monterey Jack Cheese (4 oz.)
cilantro as garnish if you like it

[The soup is great with the full can of broth and tomatoes. I do not like half cans left over. ]

In a blender container combine half of the corn and the chicken broth. Cover; blend until nearly smooth.

In a large saucepan, combine corn puree, remaining corn, butter, chili peppers, garlic, dried oregano (if using), salt, and black pepper. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer, uncovered, for 10 minutes. Stir in milk, chicken, tomatoes, and fresh oregano (if using); heat through. remove from heat. Stir in cheese until melted. Sprinkle with fresh parsley if desired (this is where I substitute cilantro instead)

Enjoy

To see more Foodie Friday visit Designs by Gollum.

Tea Recipes

These are the recipes that I thought worked well for my tea…

Mock Devonshire Cream from If Teacups Could Talk by Emilie Barnes ~

1/2 cup heavy cream, 2 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar, 1/2 cup sour cream

In a chilled bowl, beat cream until medium-stiff peaks form, adding sugar during the last few minutes of beating. Fold in sour cream and blend. Makes 1-1/2 cups.

Cynthia’s Chicken Salad (from Jan Karon’s Mitford Cookbook & Kitchen Reader)

4 cups diced cooked chicken
1/2 cup chopped toasted pecans
1/2 cup chopped green onions
1 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup sour cream
2 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

Combine the chicken, pecans, green onions, and celery in a large bowl. In a separate small bowl, mix together the mayonnaise, sour cream, lemon juice, salt, and pepper. Stir into the chicken mixture. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Cucumber-Basil Tea Sandwiches (from Victoria ~ The Pleasures of Tea ~ Hearst Books)
1 – 8 oz. package softened cream cheese
2 Tablespoons half and half
2 Tablespoons snipped fresh chives
1 unsliced loaf or 12 slices rye or wholewheat bread
1 English (seedless) cucumber, cut into thin slices
24 fresh basil leaves

In a medium-size bowl, beat together the cream cheese and half and half until it is the consistency of soft butter. Stir in the chives.

Spread the cream cheese mixture on the bread and top with several slices of cucumber and a basil leaf. Serve the sandwiches immediately, or cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Makes: 24 Sandwiches

Enjoy!

Valentine’s Day Adventures and Surprises!

We started our Valentine’s Day very early with a low tide walk at Emma Wood State Beach in Ventura. This was a very cold morning for Southern California and we were layered well and I had my gloves on. Our faces were very cold when we walked into the wind. The only others up and paying attention to us were those 2 doggies in the window! We stopped for breakfast at Allison’s in Ventura then made a stop at Target where we bought 2 bookshelves for our living area (I wiill show how the space was transformed in my Metamorphosis post for Monday :0) Then we stopped at the Home Depot to buy an upper kitchen cabinet to put in our bathroom for some extra storage. I’ll show that project next week. Now Dear had the perfect Valentine’s Day ahead of him putting things together with his hand tools!

While we were busy recreating our space in the condo the doorbell rang and the florist brought this lovely bouquet from our children to us for Valentine’s Day. So unexpected and so appreciated. What wonderful thoughtful children God has blessed us with.

Can’t help but show you…

Isn’t the vase they came in pretty with the etchings on it?

Then after all the projects were done and we got cleaned up we were ready for our Valentine’s dinner. A very lovely, fulfilling day filled with lots of love…

God is good to us! Blessings on your upcoming Sunday.

Friday’s Fave Five~

Oh my life has been busy since last Friday! It’s time to stop and think about our favorites from this last week and also to be thankful for all the good things God causes in our lives. So visit Susanne at Living to Tell the Story to join in or to see some favorites from around the world. Just want to give a shout out to our friends in Paraguay and Belgium that join in…

On Saturday we traveled across town to a friends Aunt’s funeral. You might wonder why a funeral makes my top 5 but funerals have been a natural part of my life from childhood. It was a good time of supporting the family and seeing friends and family that we haven’t seen for years. Reconnecting, encouraging and enjoying the company of loved ones from our past and present. It was especially good to see my parents, that cute couple in the collage.

On Wednesday I hosted a Tea for my Bible Study Group. It was another great time of fellowship with ladies that have had such a different life experience from me and each other. God has brought us together for a time and it’s always interesting to see how we connect and grow together.

Wednesday night Dear and I went to Ventura for a soccer game. We stopped at a restaurant for dinner first that we hadn’t been to since 1988. It was a fun evening. I’m a huge soccer fan and we got to see the Seattle Sounders our new MLS soccer team play a pre-season scrimmage game against a local Ventura team. We found one other fan from Seattle in the stands and I wore my Sounders Jersey that my son and DIL gave me for Christmas. Fun times and we won 6-1!

I really enjoy walking every week. Willow and I spotted our little Dove again yesterday. We couldn’t walk Monday and Tuesday because “Life” got in the way but it’s always great to resume and continue this discipline…

Now for #5. Yesterday I posted some ingredients that I was putting together for an experimental meal. I said I would reveal the mystery ingredient and let everyone know if it was edible. Well here’s the reveal. The not so surprising ingredients were whole grain pasta, pasta sauce, and basil. The surprising mystery ingredient was my leftover chicken salad mix from my tea on Wednesday.

Strange but true it was very good! Dear went back for seconds. It gave a creamy and crunchy texture to the pasta that was surprisingly good. So my 5th favorite thing from this week is experimenting in the kitchen and having good results! :0)

To see more favorites visit Susanne from Living to Tell the Story.

Mystery Pasta…

I just called Dear at work to warn him that I’m experimenting for dinner. I always like to warn him ahead of time just in case it’s one big flop! I’m using these basic ingredients and then throwing in something very unconventional. I’ll let you know what happens and what the mystery ingredient is tomorrow.

The Happy Wonderer ~ ellen b.

To honor and encourage

Tag Archives: Food