Carrrots are Orange

So... I looked around the web about interesting facts about carrots that I could work into a story. There are no intersting facts about carrots. The best I could come up with is that China is the world's leading producer of carrots. Take that one to your next cocktail party. Also, carrots are orange.

I can say something interesting about soup. Well, at least a question - why does a cup of soup cost $6? Dude. Soup is one of the cheapest things to make.

I have eaten great carrot soup around the world - from Galway to Paris to Seattle. A good, creamy carrot soup would make a great appetizer to your upcoming Easter dinner. For me, I was opting for this as a full meal after running. To balance the sweetness (and to boost the carbs!),  I added a parsley, bacon dumpling. Enjoy!

* Ingredients *
For the soup...
2 tablespoons butter
1 onion, chopped
6 cups chicken borth
2 pounds carrots, chopped
3 tablespoons freshly grated ginger root
1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
1 cup whipping cream
Salt and Pepper
Sour Cream

For the dumpling...
3 strips bacon, cooked
1/2 cup flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 tableshortening
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup parsley, chopped


* Instructions *
1. Add butter to stock pot. Melt over medium heat. Add onions. Cook until translucent.
2. Add carrots, brother, ginger and  cayenne pepper. Bring to boil and simmer until carrots are tender. About 10 minutes.
3. Transfer broth and carrots to blender or food processor. Pureee until smooth.
4. Transfer back to stock pot and fold in cream. Bring to boil. Add salt and pepper to taste.
5. For the dumpling, mix all ingredients. Spoon batter on to greased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes.  
6. Serve soup with a dollop of sour cream, dumpling and chopped fresh parsely.

Italian... Randomly.

So, this is completely random. Three people in the 4 days have spoken Italian to me. I think this is the first time that I have heard it outside of Italy.

I don’t speak Italian. Nor, do I pretend to speak Italian. Nor, do I look Italian.  I do like Prada and Fendi tho. I speak *their* language.

Now, I will tell you the first to speak Italian to me - normal. He lived in Roma and it just came up in conversation. Second two people – outta nowhere. Nowhere - I tell you. Thus, random and a little spooky. 

Aside from not speaking the language, I do love Italy. I’ve shopped in Rome, caught powder in Courmayuer and stood in the rain in Siena.

Italians are for the most part are known for the most amazing food. I did however have the worst pizza in the world in Florence.  It was so bad, I took a picture. NOTE: I did not cook that pizza. I don’t know what self respective Italian restaurant would consider bread, ragu and cheese as pizza but I succeeded in finding the only place that this was served outside of a college dorm room.

I don’t often cook Italian food. When not baking, I like to cook French bistro food. However, all of this talk of Italy must me a sign, right? Tonight for my dinner, I decided to make a little pasta dish, inspired by carbonara, but also with a Seattle seafood influence.  Buon Appetito!

Carbonara ~ Seattle Style

* Ingredients *

3 ounces pancetta

1/2 pound Penne pasta

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 teaspoon salt

3 cloves garlic, diced

1/2 pound fresh scallops

1/2 cup half and half

1/3 cup white wine

1 1/2 tablespoons flour

1 teaspoons salt

2 cups frozen peas, cooked

1/2 cup grated Romano cheese

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1/4 cup chopped Italian parsley 

4 eggs  

* Instructions *

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Spread pancetta on a rack and place rack on baking sheet.  Cook for 10-12 minutes or until crispy. Cool and crumble into small pieces.

2. Cook pasta in boiling water with 1 tablespoon olive oil and 1 teaspoon salt till al dente. Approximately 11-13 minutes.

3.   Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in to skillet over medium heat. Add garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add scallops and cook for 3 minutes. Set aside.  

4. In saucepan, combine half and half, white wine, flour and salt. Simmer until reduced, stirring frequently. Stir in scallops and garlic.

5. Toss pasta with sauce, pancetta, peas and cheese. Topped with parsley and poached egg.

If you don’t know how to poach eggs, I recommend checking out this site. 

PS If you are on a low cholesterol diet, maybe this recipe isn’t for you! J  

Tuesday Dinner: Beer and Meat

Randomly, I have had 3 conversations in the past week about Ireland, cooking with alcohol and beef stew. I think the universe is sending me a sign about what to have for dinner… a little Guinness Beef Stew. Plus, it’s time to cook at home. I’ve been eating out too much lately. ‘Tis the season, I guess.

Guinness is an awesome ingredient to add to your cooking and also a pretty good beer. I had my first pint of Guinness at the Gravity Bar in Dublin. While there is a certain cache to that, it’s also entirely pitiful it’s taking me that long in life to veer away from Bud Light. Don’t worry. I am slowly learning to venture out more with my drink selections, and after all who knows if I would have enjoyed it as much if I had a pint stateside. Guinness always tastes better in Ireland. 

* Ingredients*

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 lbs beef stew meat, well trimmed and cut into 2 inch cubes
1/4 cup flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon pepper
2 large bay leaves

1 large onion, roughly sliced

1 lb mushrooms, quartered
3 garlic cloves, peeled and minced
1-2 Yukon Gold Potatoes, roughly chopped

4 carrots, peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks
1 16 oz Guinness Stout

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

1 1/2 teaspoons thyme
1 teaspoon rosemary
3 tablespoons tomato paste

2 cups beef broth

*Instructions*
1. Heat olive oil in Dutch Oven. Evenly coat the meat with flour, salt and pepper. Add meat and bay leaves to Dutch Oven. Brown meat about 2-3 minutes per side.

2. Pre-heat oven to 250 degrees.

3. Pour Guinness over Worcestershire sauce into pot. Add onion, mushrooms, garlic, potatoes and carrot to Dutch Oven, followed by rosemary and thyme.

4. Dissolve tomato paste in beef broth. Add to beef and veggie mixture. 

5. Place Dutch Oven in oven and cook for 5-6 hours.
6. Serve with bread. 

Nothing Says LA like Leather

This week was off to LA for a little work and a little adventure.

Since this is another week of travel, i.e., not crafting, home decorating or baking, I thought I'd share some of my City of Angels fave activities.

Well, at least these are the must-dos for the 2 day mid-week business trip. If we are going all time favorite LA activities, I'd suggest hitting up Dodger Stadium, biking along the Santa Monica beach and of course, cheering on your team at the Rose Bowl New Years Day. 

The list of agenda items below is more a schedule for wanna-be celebrities or those of us who just want to pretend we are a Real Housewife of Beverly Hills. (OK, just joking on the last part. The only RHW I'd ever wanna be is Bethanny Frankel... maybe Sonya Morgan pre-DUI... Crap, I'm off topic.)       

Agenda Item 1 - Take a bubble bath     
Long flight, post a weekend of Halloween parties and nothing felt better than a soothing soak. The Grafton on Sunset even made it fun by providing a toy frog to keep me company. I named her Francie. Not only was this luxurious, but it took me back to when I was in grade school and would load up the tub with My Little Pony Seahorses and other such toys. Life is no fun if you still can't play like you are a little kid. 

Agenda Item 2 - Enjoy a Drive Up Mullholland
Best views of city are up Mullholland Drive and a beautiful setting can give you a moment of stillness to breathe (even in the smog) and enjoy all the great things that are happening in your life. I made the drive more interesting with some tunes on the radio. Great thing about LA you can find everything on the radio - much of it in Spanish. This time it was best of the 80s - Sheila E "Glamorous Life" and "Alone" by Heart. Perfect songs for my mood. 

Agenda Item 3 - Pretend I'm Important by Going to work at a Movie Studio
My meetings for the last two days were at the Disney Studio Lot. It just makes you feel a little big time driving onto the lot, even if it's in a Chevy Impala. Big excitement at the studio was watching a filming of "Brothers and Sisters." I may or may not have been yelled at by a PA for walking in the background. Still so worth it.  Dave Annable… babe, but kinda short.

   
Agenda Item 4 - Loehmann's
I used to think the Loehmann's in midtown Manhattan was THE BEST store that I ever shopped. Designer discount, need I say more? I now stand corrected. Just past the Beverly Center is my new fashion mecca. Bring your credit card or at least the will power to resist a $5000 Gucci Parka on sale for $1600 or the 3 racks of Catherine Malandrino separates. To remind everyone, I am on the "I unexpectedly needed new brakes" budget so my only purchase was a Cynthia Steffe leather dress. C'mon, nothing says LA like a little leather. Really, how could I not fit this into the budget? 

Agenda Item 5 - Get a manicure next to Ving Rhames
I often wonder what to do in the extra hour or two before I have to go to the airport. Today, I stopped in for a mani-pedi at Oasis in Burbank. I couldn't help but notice a large bald black man seated in the chair next to me. The conversation proceeded as follows -

** FADE IN **

A - "Are you Ving Rhames"

LBBM - "Yes."

A - "Wow. I love your movies. No one will believe this."

LBBM - "You wanna take a picture?"

A - "People will have to trust me. I'm not picture perfect right now." (OK... Give me a break. It was 95 out and I had been going for 8 hours.)

LBBM - "Yeah, my hair is messed up too."

(Laughter)

** FADE OUT **

Nothing like a little brush with fame to end my LA adventure.