Friday, March 30, 2012

Breakfast this morning was Yogurt Fruit parfaits (picture to follow!). I started making my own yogurt using the EasiYo method developed in New Zealand. They use a powdered form complete with yogurt cultures rather than the older method of heating your milk, cooling it a bit, then adding purchased yogurt as your culture. You then heat it for 8-12 hours and you have yogurt. The EasiYo method is pretty self-contained and easier. I prefer Greek yogurt-it has more protein in it than regular yogurt, plus I like the taste and consistency better (Greek yogurt is usually thicker).

We left home after cleaning up dishes and made a stop at Michael's first (to check out crafts for baking), then went on to Trader Joe's. Vicki had never been to a Trader Joe's. She's hooked now though, lol. However, there are no Trader Joe's in Texas. Bummer... Since we were so close, I took her to "Nothing Bundt Cakes" and "Edible Arrangements". She was impressed by those also!

We had lunch at BJ's Brewery down by Mt Rose-got right in and enjoyed a salad and flatbread. Vicki especially liked their Tropical tea and even got an iced tea to go.

From there, we drove up to Virginia City. I can't believe she's never been! The drive up to Virginia City was sunny and just lovely, but by the time we reached our destination, it had gotten cloudy and colder. Even so, we walked from one endof the town to the other, stopping in several shops. We had out picture taken in the Virginia City "jail" and bought ourselves some fudge and toffee at "Grandma's Fusge". We stayed a couple of hours then came back down the mountain.

Our next stop was the Chocolate Bar. Vickie said she has never been to a chocolate bar, so how could we NOT go?! We got our seats, then proceeded to order the chocolate fondue (it came with bananas, strawberries, cubes of pound cake and brownies) and thw Caramel Brownie with ice cream. We had so much sugar, we ended up ordering a steak appetizer to add some savory to our sweet. You could have rolled us out the door. I think Vickie has a higher sugar tolerance than I do, lol! She ate more.

After the Chocolate Bar, it was home to make dinner for Jordan (ugh! More food?!). I made pot roast with carrots and potatoes. It takes less than an hour to put it together, then cook it in the pressure cooker. Vickie and I did eat a little-it was probably good for us to eat "real" food! Besides, Jordan needed the company at dinner.

Vickie and I have been talking a lot about baking since she got here. I showed her how I make my No Knead bread (from Jim Laey's book by the same name). She was impressed at how easy it was. The dough will sit overnight and I'll bake it in the morning. We'll see if she is still impressed tomorrow!

It was a long day and the day was full, so now it's bedtime.

Thursday, March 29, 2012

We got up slowly this morning, at least Vickie and I did. Jordan was up at 4:30am as was Ah Choo. I baked an Oven Apple Pancake for breakfast this morning. You saute apple slices in butter, cinnamon and brown sugar, then pour a batter over it and finish it off in the oven. Yum!! A little powdered sugar sprinkle and serve.

Vickie has asthma and has not done well with living with Ah Choo, so poor Ah Choo got shipped off to Janell's house. :-(. It seems strange not having him around, even Vickie said so!

After that, we drove up to Truckee, where we had lunch at Moody's. I wrote an article a week or so ago about all the changes at Moody's, but had not had a chance to get there because of bad weather. So today, we decided that would be as good a place as any to test drive there new menu. We started off with Truffled Deviled Eggs, then moved on to a Roasted Beet Salad with Frisee and shaved Parmesan cheese. The next course was Potato Leek Soup (that was OMG good!). We also had Maple Glazed Pork Belly with a mixed green salad and sliced apples. I ordered their mussels that came in a coconut chile sauce-Vicki had one, and I ate the rest myself, lol! They were very good!. As a finale (although we did debate having dessert as we were so full despite sharing everything) we had their Chocolate Whoopie Pie with Peanut Butter filling served with vanilla ice cream drizzled with peanut sauce. Lord have mercy! It did not look like any whoopie pie we had ever seen but did it ever taste good. Everything we ate was excellent. Then after all that, they comped us! Could it be because I said I was there to follow up on an article I had written for Examiner.com? I think so, cause the manager I interviewed came over to introduce himself, lol. I asked them if they were sure they really wanted to do this and they said yes. How nice was that?!?

We walked off lunch while strolling through some of the shops along Truckee's main drag, then hopped back in the car and drove to Lake Tahoe via Hwy 89. Beautiful scenery! We stopped at several placed at the Lake so Vickie could take pictures. Emerald Bay was closed due to snow and ice, so I didn't feel so bad that we did not have time to drive completely around the lake. By the time we left to drive back to Reno, it was cloudy and getting colder at the Lake.

We got back to the house in time for my sister to pick us up and drive us to dinner. We went to Campo, downtown. Since we weren't too hungry, we shared the small charcuterie plate (everything but the cheese made on the premises), Vickie had a salad, Janell had a small order of pasta and Vickie and I shared a Margherita pizza-most of which we brought home. We had a nice time with Janell. She and Vickie had not seen each other for quite some time.

Now, here we are, stuffed, in our jammies and getting ready for bed (while Jordan is still at work!).
'Night all!

Wednesday, March 28, 2012

My how time flies!

Sunday was a quiet day. I made Chocolate Orange Truffles (will add pictures tomorrow!) and worked on the computer. The LAHI project is done, as is my map of LA County hospitals in ArcGIS. Now the two projects need to be merged (above my pay grade). Interesting project!

Monday I went shopping for my personal chef client. I usually shop at Whole Foods, I like their meat and seafood especially. Sometimes I shop at Trader Joe's. We had the house cleaned today also, in anticipation of my friend's visit on Wednesday. In the adternoon, I mixed up cookie dough for "Big Chocolate Chunk Cookies" and made Pineapple Tartlets. I read some and rubbed the kitty belly.

Tuesday I cooked up a storm. My client had a big list! Brisket with Root Vegetables,

Austrian Pork Stew served over egg noodles,

Turkish Chicken Thighs, Lamb Masala with Jeweled Rice,

Crab Salad melts, Asparagus Soup with a crispy proscuitto garnish,

Apple Turkey Piccadillo,

Caribbean Wraps (chicken, mango, cilantro, onions and black beans), "Sassy" Asian Tacos, Orzo with Broccoli and Almonds, and a Mixed green salad with tomatoes, goat cheese and white beans. All yummy but we'll see if my clint is happy! I was too tired to blog by the time I got home last night!

Today I ran errands before I picked up my friend, Vicki, from the airport. She flew in from Houston to see me. We've been friends for over 35 years!! It was great to see her. And it is the one year anniversary of our friend Betty's death.

We went out to lunch at the Wine and Cheese Board and had a great time. Then went shopping at Kohl's. Retail therapy always helps, lol.

Tonight for dinner I roasted Yukon gold baby potatoes as well as a pork loin roast wrapped in pancetta (Italian bacon). I served it with asparagus. Everyone enjoyed it-including me! Vicki went to bed early-she's two hours ahead of us by her internal clock. Me? I'm blogging, then a little reading, then bed.

Saturday, March 24, 2012

Jordan and I went out to breakfast with friends this morning. Hobey's in Sun Valley. They had spinach omelets as their special-those are pretty good. And you can't beat the prices! It's also a great place to people watch.

I dropped Jordan off at the University, then met my sister, Janell at my house. She wanted some company while she drove across town, so I went with her.

I was suppose to meet one of the waitresses, Mickie, from Arlington Gardesn at 1pm but she got sick this morning. She wants me to help her make appetizers for a church fundraiser in May. At least 1,500 individual pieces (150 pieces of each of 10-12 different appetizers!). She wants me to see the church and their kitchen and see what I think and what I might be letting myself in for, lol. Guess we'll try for tomorrow.

So instead of touring the church, I stayed home and cleaned. I went through my office and re-organized it, (getting rid of a few things it was obvious I was not going to use), threw out a dying plant, did a little dusting, watered the rest of the plants, washed the sheets, changed the bed covers to a lighter weight (spring!) and now I am going to try and finish the LAHI project. Ah Choo is off sleeping on the stairs-he's very tired after helping me in my office!

Chicken with roasted potatoes and steamed globe artichokes for dinner tonight. I still want to try and bake a small batch of chocolate chip cookies, see how easy/hard it is to make only 8 cookies at a time.

A lovely day today-sunny and warm. Yeah!

Friday, March 23, 2012

Thursday was pretty much spent on my computer, correcting a map in ArcGIS and working on the LAHI project. I did make it out to lunch with my friend, Ric. To Arlington Gardens-his favorite place. There is something to be said for going to a place where everyone knows your name (sounds like a song!).

Today, I ran a couple of errands, but again, worked in ArcGIS, AND finally finished the map, at least as far as I can take it for now. Still working on the LAHI project, slow but sure. I like being busy.

One of the waitresses at Arlington Gardens does a lot of volunteer work at her church and asked if I would help her cater a fund raiser in May. We are meeting tomorrow to go see the church and talk about submitting a bid. We'll see what happens.

I took the Pistachio Cake out of the freezer last night and put it in the fridge. We went over to Kasia and Gary's for corned beef and cabbage (it went with the green cake!). I'll add pictures of the cake tomorrow, when I am back on my computer. Everyone liked the cake. And it was good, if I do say so myself! But it IS green!

I took a picture of the pistachio cake without the milk crumb on top before taking the cake over to my friend's house just to show the really green frosting, lol.

I'm thinking of what cake to make next-I could make my own birthday cake! Hmmmmm, gotta think about that..

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

The first day of spring! And what a lovely day it was. Sunny, in the 60s-what more could one ask for (I don't know. a million bucks? Nah..)

I baked No Knead bread this morning, after mixing the dough yesterday. I love how this recipe works. It's from Jim Lahey's book, "No Knead Bread". I just read he is coming out with a new book called "My Pizza" using the same method as for his No Knead bread. Works for me!

After I got the bread in the oven, I mixed up dough for Blueberries and Cream cookies, one of the recipes from the Momofuko Milk Bar cookbook. I still find Christina Tossi's recipes intriguing-such an unusual mix of ingredients and flavors. Makes me want to bake my way through her book just to try things out!

I went out with my sister, Janell after that. We did errands, ate lunch at Sushi Rose (it was better than the last time we were there) then went to Kohl's to do a little retail therapy. I bought a Kitchenaid hand mixer. When I am using small quantities of whipping cream or egg whites, my Kitchenaid stand mixer is just too big. And if I want to make any small batch baking, you really need a hand mixer to do them justice and not make yourself crazy. Then it was home and time to get some work done.

I spent the afternoon working on the LAHI project. What a mess some of these files are in! I've been searching the OSHPD.ca.gov website for various information. Sometimes it's there and sometimes it isn't. Just goes to show that life IS messy-clean it up! While I was working on those files, Jordan came home and had a conference call to listen to one of the masters students defend his dissertation. I thought the student was a little confused and did not clearly present his material-I guess all the professors agreed, cause they put the student off for the time being. Poor guy!

I took a break and baked up the Blueberries and Cream cookies. They are tasty! The use freeze-dried blueberries (Trader Joe's) and the rest of the Milk Crumb recipe I had left from making the pistachio cake (which, by the way, get's it's "unveiling" on Friday evening at dinner). Yum! And not too much sugar. I did add a 1/2 cup more flour than the recipe called for after I remembered how much the previous cookies I made from this cookbook spread. These cookies turned out nicely shaped and rounded.

Dinner was leftover Beef Bourguignon. I served it over mashed potatoes. Even better the second day!

After dinner, I did a little more work mapping in ArchGIS, then worked in Excel and before I knew it it was time for bed.

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Tuesday is when I go to my personal chef job (cooking in my client's home). Sometimes it takes all day, sometimes no. Today I had time some computer work in the morning, then packed up all my cooking "stuff" and headed off to cook.

Today I made Cavatelli pasta with Sweet Italian Sausage and Roasted Bell Peppers-

Beef Tenderloin on a bed of Spinach Pesto and Roasted Potatoes-

a mini Swiss Chard and Gruyere Cheese tart-

Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Bacon-

a French recipe for Pork Belly with Lentils-

Chicken Piccata-

Chinese Chicken Salad with Baked Ramen Noodles (sorry, no picture :-(, and Beef Bourguignon-

Long day! Good cooking though-always enjoy cooking and baking!

Monday, March 19, 2012

Yesterday we woke up to snow-a good day to stay indoors! For breakfast I made the same Artichoke Red Pepper Frittata I had made for my personal chef client. Excellent flavor combinations. Very yummy!

After breakfast, it was back to the LAHI project. It never ceases to amaze me the information you have to wade through to get what you want. I am logging lots of computer time of late. Keeps me busy, lol. And Ah Choo seems to be catching up on his sleep!

Today I went grocery shopping for my Tuesday client. I've found that shopping the day before (I used to shop the same day) gives me time to find potentially difficult ingredients, and I feel less rushed on the day I cook. Everything still is fresh, so it makes sense to do it that way.

I came home after shopping and errands and made Double Nut and Date Tassies. Little mini tarts. If I didn't know there were dates in these little tarts, I would have thought they were made with caramel-just like a pecan pie! Sprinkle them with a little powdered sugar and you are done. They are easy to make, too. Another recipe from eatingwell.com.

Next I made Smoked Cinnamon Rice Pudding using arborio rice. This makes the rice pudding very creamy, almost like custard with rice. Of course Jordan put his two cents in by saying he likes more rice and less "pud". So for Jordan, I guess I'll have to make the more traditional rice pudding-one way to use leftover rice.

Dinner was marinated pork, baked potato and green beans with a little sauce over them (Jordan actually makes a variety of "little sauces" for artichoke dipping, topping green beans, topping asparagus, etc. He does a nice job most of the time. He does it strictly by taste. Apparently something he picked up when he helped with a friend's restaurant years ago.

The woman who wrote "Small Batch Baking", has written a new book called "Small Batch baking for Chocolate Loves". I bought it in eBook form and have been reading it during spare moments. It's nice to know you can have great tasting cakes, cookies, pies, tarts, etc on a small scale and don't need to made a large batch of anything. I want to try her chocolate chip cookies and her brownie recipe. It would be fun baking my way through her books, trying everything to see what it tastes like. And you wouldn't feel terribly guilty making all thse things, because they are small and you have little or no leftovers. You could make something new every day!! Yum-o, as Rachel Ray would say.

Now it's bedtime though. Tomorrow is another day.....

Saturday, March 17, 2012

Happy St Patrick's Day to you all!

Most of Friday was spent doing projects for Jordan. Coming up with a lunch menu for an Excell class (easier to use data everyone can relate to rather than finding some other data more common), calling hospitals in LA county to confirm their addresses and phone numbers for the LAHI project (which needs to be finished).

I did get some baking in-a new recipe for shortbread. This recipe is from Lorraine Pasquale of Simply Baking on the Cooking Channel. She uses part rice flour in her recipe in addition to all-purpose flour, butter, granulated sugar (some bakers use confectioner's or powdered sugar). The texture was flakey but the flavor was quite good. I still like Ina Garten's Shortbread cookie recipe!

I also did laundry and picked Jordan up at the airport (in the pouring rain-a rare occurrance for Reno!). He made it back in one piece, tired, but ok otherwise.

Today I made a mini-Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting for his birthday, which was Wednesday, but since he was out of town, we decided to wait on the birthday cake. It looks so cute! I used two four inch cake pans. I bought "Small Batch Baking" by Debby Maugans last year, but have just this year started using it. It really is amazing what you can make for just one or two people-and without making a huge dessert (with leftovers you feel obligated to eat!). I used it a time or two while in Hawaii, but will certainly be using it more. I like how she encourages you to use empty food cans for cakes and other baked goods, rather than going out and buying little pans (I just happen to love gadgets, so I already have small pans, lol). She has small batch recipes for cakes, cookies, pies, tarts, crisps, crumbles, breakfast sweet breads and special sweets for romantic occasions!

For lunch I reheated some Ribollita soup (with added Italian sausage in my case). I LOVE this soup recipe from Giada de Laurentis. It is so easy and uses mostly pantry items. You can make it strictly vegetarian or add meat to it. It's all good! Sprinkle a little grated Parmesan cheese over it, then serve with a salad or crusty bread-YUM!

The rest of the afternoon was filled with more phone calls to LA hospitals to confirm addresses and phone numbers. I am amazed at the numbers of people who don't know the address of the place they work. I guess you just drive to work or take the bus and you've done it so much you don't even think about it.

Ah Choo was most content to sleep next to me as I worked on the computer-see?

Dinner at Hobey's tonight. Corned Beef and Cabbage with a pint of Guinness. If you don't like to drink your Guinness, Nigella Lawson has a great chocolate cake recipe that uses Guinness. Either way, it works!

Thursday, March 15, 2012

I got to sleep in until almost 8am this morning with no interference from the cat. Imagine my surprise! Jordan is usually up early and feeds him (Ah Choo definitely loves to eat), so he is used to eating early. Not this morning, although Mr Kitty made sure feeding him was at the top of my list upon arising.

I ran a couple of errands, then had a phone interview with JJ Morgan, long time manager at Moody's in Truckee. Abbi PR has been after me for a while to do an article on Moody's. The restaurant closed last fall for remodeling and re-opened in January of this year with a more varied menu. They are trying to bring in more clients. Guess I don't have an excuse not to write it....

I answered emails, talked to a head hunter at a staffing agency, then baked a pistachio cake. I am making a pistachio cake for a friend of mine using a recipe I got from the Momofuko Milk Bar cookbook I bought while I was on Maui. It's three layers thick but only six inches in diameter. I like the smaller cakes. This one gets "built" though inside of a cake ring using acetate strips for side support. It was interesting but lots of fun to do. Put a cake layer down, brush with pistachio oil, top with lemon curd, sprinkle with "milk crumbs" (a yummy, buttery crumble made from powdered milk, flour, sugar, cornstarch and butter, that is then baked, crumbled again and tossed with white chocolate), and then spread a layer of pistachio frosting over that. Then repeat two more times. It has to "set up" for 12 hours in the freezer before serving. Really interesting technique. I'll take pictures before I give it away.

Dinner tonight was at Beaujolais Bistro (a French restaurant on West Street downtown) with a friend of mine. We had fois gras, pate de Champagne, and then the Cassoulet. Yum! Yum! And time spent with friends is always good.

Guess I'll see what tomorrow hold, but for now, it's bedtime.

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

We were up early this morning and on the road to Sacramento. Jordan and I attended a Cal-Fire meeting this morning. He is trying to coordinate a seminar between the California and Nevada fire disaster members. There is much land that both California and Nevada have in common as far as borders. I was there to see what it was all about so I can act as an event planner/coordinator for this seminar. Cool!

We had snow and rain on the way over (chains or 4-wheel drive required) and on the way back. The roads were open, though. Good thing we had my sister's 4-wheel drive!

We ate lunch at an OLD restaurant called Old Ironsides (as in sailing ship). Must have been built in the 40s or 50s. "Dive" came to mind but the people were nice, interesting atmosphere and ok food. Eating lunch close to the State Fire Marshall's office gave Jordan a chance to talk with one of his masters students who had also been invited to attend, as fire safety and planning has something to do with his dissertation.

After we arrived back in Reno, I dropped Jordan off at the airport. He's on his way to Denver as I write for more meetings. I dropped the car off, then went out to JJ's Pizza with my sister for dinner. Now I'm thinking, it is bedtime. It's been a very LONG day!

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

I was up early so I could go to my eye doctor's appointment and get going on my personal chef job for today. Ah Choo would prefer I stay home with him so I'm available for filling his food bowl and rubbing his (Budha) belly, lol.

The appointment went well and I was off to cook. Yesterday I made the Pineapple Empanadas, so that part was done. I started out by making an Artichoke Fritata. Good lunch meal or light dinner. Just add a salad and you're done!

From there, I moved on to make a Crispy Pear and Celery Salad (sorry, no picture, I forgot to take one!). The salad has chopped pear, sliced celery, cubed white cheddar and a raspberry vinaigrette. It's served with a mixed greens.

From there I moved on to the pasta dishes. Penne with Italian Sausage (chicken sausage) and Arugula. The pasta in this dish is tossed with Parmesan cheese that has been made into a paste with a little oil and pasta water.

After that-Broccolini, White Bean and Fontina Pasta:

Then Beef Tataki, rare sered sirloin, thinly sliced and served over matchsticks of carrot, Daikon radish and sliced onion tossed with a soy sauce mix including ginger and scallions and lemon juice.

The last two dishes I made were Chicken with Creamy Mushroom Sauce, made using baby shitake mushrooms, yum! I put them over the last of the pasta I had made earlier.

And last but not least, Alaskan Cod with Creamy Tomato Sauce:

All these recipes are from eatingwell.com. I was giving them a try to see if you really could have great tasting food with fewer calories. The answer is yes!

Tonight we are eating at Burger Me as part of some research for an article on same said restaurant (Burger Me). Should be good, now that they have been up and running for close to six months. Once I same the food, I'll finish my article for Examiner.com.

Can't wait until warmer weather gets here and the wind dies down some..... I could wait a while!

Monday, March 12, 2012

Sometimes getting used to the time change is hard! Did NOT want to get out of bed this morning, lol.

I went grocery shopping for my personal chef client today. Seems to work better for me when I shop the day before. Besides, I have an eye doctor appointment tomorrow morning at 8:30am so better to have done the shopping today.

I also made Pineapple Empanadas, which I just boxed up for giving to my client. They are not hard to make. All you need is chopped pineapple, apricot or pineapple jam, cinnamon, breadcrumbs and pie dough. Cut out three inch circles and fill them with your cooked pineapple mixture, seal and bake. How easy is that?!

Otherwise the day was filled with talking on the phone, computer work and learning WHY I will never be a Summit API developer. Such is life....

Here is Ah Choo-such a cush life this kitty has...

Sunday, March 11, 2012

I made Pain Perdu for breakfast this morning! I have been wanting to make this recipe for some time and today seemed like a good day to do it (slightly overcast and cooler than yesterday). Besides the fact that the French usually eat this for dessert, Pain Perdu is slightly different than our American French toast in that the bread is soaked in milk flavored with vanilla extract, then dipped in egg sweetened with sugar. You also brulee the tops after they are sauteed in a pan in butter (what else?!). Here is the Laura Calder recipe from "French Food at Home" on the Cooking Channel:


Pain Perdu

Total Time: 20 min
Prep:5 min|Inactive Prep:5 min|Cook:10 min
Level:Easy
Yield:4 servings

INGREDIENTS

1 cup/250 ml milk, plus more if needed
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
4 slices baguette
1 egg
2 tablespoons sugar, plus more for caramelizing
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, plus more if needed
Vanilla ice cream, for serving
Cherries and blackberries, for serving

DIRECTIONS

Stir together the milk and vanilla in a shallow dish. Soak the bread slices in the milk mixture for about 5 minutes, turning once so that they absorb the milk evenly.

Beat the egg with the sugar and pour onto a plate.

Heat the butter in a skillet until sizzling. Take the bread from the milk, holding it above the bowl to drain slightly. Dip into the egg mixture to coat both sides, then drop into the sizzling butter and fry until golden brown, about 5 minutes per side.

At the last minute, sprinkle the tops with a little extra sugar and "broil" with a blowtorch (or place them on a baking sheet under the broiler until the sugar, melts, bubbles and turns golden).

Divide the bread among serving plates. Serve hot with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and a dribbling of fresh, ripe cherries and blackberries that have been sauteed in butter and sugar and possibly flamed.


Now I did not serve it with ice cream, lol, nor did I flambe cherries and blackberries. I just served it with fresh strawberries and sprinkled it with powdered sugar. If you serve it like regular French toast, then this recipe only makes enough for two people. The Pain Perdu truly was crisp on the outside and creamy, custardy on the inside, just like she said it would be!

I had every intension of baking today, but did not get any baking done. While I was doing some computer work, Jordan got a call from a friend of his who was in town and wanted to get together. Jordan invited him over for dinner. What to make??!!

I rooted around to see what we had and came up with Rolled Pork Florentine (also a Laura Calder recipe) served with a pan sauce (my recipe, lol), roasted fingerling potatoes, and steamed broccolini. It does pay to keep some meat in the freezer as well as frozen vegetables for occasional just like this. Keeps you from running out to the store all the time. For dessert I made individual Baby Tiramisu. Everything got rave reviews, for which I am always grateful!

Tomorrow maybe I will get some baking done, lol.

Saturday, March 10, 2012

Tonight we lose an hour by turning our clocks forward. Bummer! I hate losing sleep! Ah, well, whatcha gonna do? Life goes on, as they say.

Yesterday I made Coconus Macaroons. It's suppose to be a healthy recipe and other than the sweetened condensed milk in the recipe, there is no other sugar. I used unsweetened coconut flakes. Toasted sliced almonds, almond extract and egg whites. The recipe also calls for chopped pistachios and dried cranberries. I made half of the cookies without the pistachios and cranberries and half with. Both were good. Although they looked like the picture the recipe showed of the cookies, I was a little disappointed in their appearance. They taste great though! I had to do the cookies in batches and found that the second and third batch spread a little less, so next time I make them (Jordan loved them), I'll let the batter sit a while to firm up. Once the macaroons cooled, I drizzled chocolate over them.

Jordan and I went out to dinner last night to Sardina's. I'd never heard of it. Apparently Friday was their last day at this location (McCarran and Mira Loma. It is owned by a married couple. She cooks, he runs the front of the house. They moved here from Chicago to open a restaurant. Guess they've done well. The new restaurant will be on Longley Lane near Cafe de Thai. I thought the bread was dry and had little taste, but the salads were good and I liked my entree (Del Monico pasta-shrimp, scallops and clams in a white wine garlic sauce served over angel hair pasta). Jordan had Chicken Saltibucca. He also liked his entree. The couple seems very nice. We will definitely go again.

Today I wrote two articles for Examiner.com and did some online research. Seemed like a lazy day-the weather is suppose to change to chance of rain the next couple of days. I was getting ready to make a pistachio cake but needed eggs, so I had to put it off a day or so.

After dinner (stuffed pork chops, broccoli and steamed fingerling potatoes), we watched the Indie movie "Flow". It's a Sundance film about water and big business taking over water rights in almost every country of the world. Parts of this movie were similar to what we had seen in another movie shown at UNR, but this movie was even move depressing. The World Bank apparently has it's fingers in everything and in some instances has forced small third world countries to turn their water rights over to one of three big water businesses or lose any World Bank financial aid. Amazing. I think I will not be buying any Coke, Pepsi or Nestle products anytime soon...

Not a movie condusive to a good night's rest, but it is bedtime (or should I say past my bedtime-due to the time change!).

Thursday, March 8, 2012

Another day of errands and computer research.

I went to check out homa'ge bakery this morning. Janell went with me. It's in the same house on Ralston that the Cake and Flower Shop used to own. The owner/baker is Nicholle Almbaugh and she opened her sop about two months ago. She has cakes, scones, muffins, cookies and cookie bars. Homa'ge also sells coffee, espresso, lattes, etc. Nice atmosphere, but I wish they had more tables and chairs. Ah, well, not my decision to make. The art on the wall is graffiti-type art, made by a local artist. Janell got coconut cake and thought it was a little dry (and it kinda was). I got a peach muffin, which ended up being a little doughy in the middle. It tasted like peach, but did not have as much spice as I would have expected. I also brought home a piece of carrot cake and a mystery bar. Jordan ate the mystery bar so I have no idea what that was like. The carrot cake was moist but a little too much clove and nutmeg. Everyone has different tastes!

Janell and I moved on to lunch at Chili's. I had a salad, Janell had their soup/sandwich combo. They run lunch deals all the time at Chili's, which is nice if you are watching your pennies.

After lunch, Janell went off and I got my hair cut, had Jordan's tires checked and ran an errand. I spent the rest of the afternoon checking out exactly what a "Nutraceutical" company is. I have an interview tomorrow for one of these companies. Apparently there are 4-5 nutraceutical companies in Reno. Who'd of thought?

Dinner (salad with Brown Rice and Goat Cheese Cakes. I had made a few for my personal chef client, and they looked so good, I made them for Jordan and I. He enjoyed them, which is good!

A little reading, then bed....

Wednesday, March 7, 2012

Even though I had the desire to sleep in this morning, Mr. cat (aka Bonda Ah Cho or just plain Ah Cho) would have nothing to do with it. He ran up and down the stairs, pawed at the window blinds, meowed, and ran cicles in the big sunken tub until I finally got out of bed. Killjoy!

After breakfast, I did some work online and talked to my mom for a bit. I had an appointment at Renown Imaging, then did some shopping at Trader Joe's (we were low on a few things and they have really good prices). When I got home, there was a call from Jordan Spinelli of Burger Me Reno. I am doing an article on the Burger Me in Truckee and Reno. Jordan is the General Manager of the Reno restaurant. So I asked him my interview questions and told him I would get over to Nurger Me on Robb Drive this week to try them out (again), then write an article for Examiner.com. He seems like a nice guy. And he offered to comp a burger. Nice!

I applied for two more jobs online, then ran some errands. My Jordan had several student meetings starting at 6pm so we did not eat until 7:30-8:00pm. Mini Meatloaves with potatoes and greens. Yum!

Now the cat and I are bonding as we both lounge. Almost time for bed....

Tuesday, March 6, 2012

It was snowing this morning when I got up! After such nice weather yesterday. Go figure!

Before I could go to work, I had to take Jordan to UNR first. I gathered all my equipment and my supplies (food and spices). I had to review lots of recipes to be sure I didn't forget anything, which sometimes seems an impossible task.

I made it to my clients house around 11am, unpacked and started to work. Today I made Mediterranean Tuna Salad with Chickpeas, Brown Rice and Goat Cheese Cakes on a bed of mixed green,
Chipotle Orange Glazed Chicken,

Maple Chili Glazed Pork Loin, Mini Meatloaves stacked with not only the meatloaf but sauteed spinach and mashed potatoes-everything you could want in one easy package,

a Hasselback baked potato (sliced but only part way so the potato remains intact with sliced garlic stuck in between the slices),

roasted broccoli, rice and Miso Mirin Glazed Broiled Salmon with rice and buttered green beans.

Long day! It was, however, a nice day spent cooking. But now I am most tired!

Monday, March 4, 2012

A beautiful day today! I think the temperature in Reno reached 70 degrees! But alas, it is not to last, snow and rain is predicted for tomorrow. Go figure!

I ran errands, making sure I also shopped for my personal chef client today. It makes things easier to go in already prepared.

Today I made French Silk Pie, a deep dark chocolate filling made with egg whites and chocolate pudding with a chocolate cookie crust. It is served with whipped cream as a garnish. This is for my personal chef client, who likes to have a dessert a week.

A trip to the Oriental market to buy shiro miso, (a white bean paste for a recipe I have for Miso-Mirin Glazed Salmon I am making tomorrow), then on to dinner at Silver Peak. I met my friend Neda there and we had a "girl date" and caught up on what's been happening in our lives. Friends are definitely a good thing to have!

Tomorrow I need to get back into a cooking routine. I've had a few weeks off with no professional cooking done. Now it's time to get back to work!

Sunday, March 4, 2012

I am finally feeling better, thank goodness! Life has not been very exciting over the last week, what with being sick and all. I got my computer back. I also went back and added some pictures to last week's blogs so I hope you'll go back and look at them.

Saturday I ran errands with my sister. We went to Barnes and Noble Bookstore. I could spend hours looking at cookbooks. Amazing what's out there!

Saturday evening, Jordan and I went out to dinner at Macaroni Grill. It was ok. They are running a promo of Two Tapas, Two Entrees for $25. Such a deal!

We slept in this morning, not intentionally. Jordan has been working such long hours, no wonder he slept in. The cat is always ready to get us up, however, so when he lets us sleep in, it's a miracle, lol.

Breakfast was fruit and yogurt with toast. For lunch, I had asparagus that needed to be used so I went back to the book "Lunch in Paris" by Elizabeth Bard. The book talks about how she came to live in Paris and her life since moving to France. She included many recipes, most of which are fabulous! There is a recipe called Asperges au Pistou, Jambon Cru et Oeuf Poche. In English: Asparagus with Pistou, Cured Ham and a Poached Egg. French sounds so much better! You poach your asparagus (about 8-10 spears per person). Once they are done to your liking, toss them with a little Pistou (a mix of basil, garlic and olive oil) or if it is more convenient, you can use a nice Italian pesto. Plate them neatly on a large plate. Poach one egg to the soft boil stage, drain the egg and place it on top of the asparagus. Drape the sliced ham, or in my case, proscuitto, around the asparagus so it looks pretty (I knew I should have taken a picture, lol!) and serve. It was really good! Say what you will about the French, they know how to cook and how to make pastries.

I made Mini Baked French Donuts in the afternoon. One of my sisters gave me a donut maker so I decided today was the day to use it (plus I was in the mood for donuts). I mixed up the dough-

After some trial and error, I found my small cookie scoop was the best thing to use to place the batter in the little donut wells. Unfortunately, the instructions do not tell you how much of the batter to put in each space, so I had to guess.

The donuts take only about three minutes to bake in this machine. Once the donuts are nicely browned, you remove them with a wooden spoon/spatula (so you don't ruin the teflon), then dip them first in melted butter, then in Cinnamon Sugar. (Can you say YUM?)

They turned out well. I liked the French Donut recipe that came with the machine. So here is the plate of finished donuts. I must confess, it was hard not to sit down and eat the whole plate, but I stopped after two. Jordan asked me what I was going to do with them. I said-"eat them?" I think that would be a bad idea, lol. So I will likely give them away...

Dinner was leftovers, revisited. Seems like my sister had a much better meal! She emailed me this picture of the Orange-Soy Glazed Pork Ribs she made for herself today. Good job, Janell!!