MVP

A few weeks ago, after living on rental furniture for over a year, we finally had our things delivered. I'm happy to report that we are now sleeping on our own bed, lounging on our own couch, and eating dinner at our own table. Or we would be eating dinner at our own table if we didn't eat it on the couch. Whatever.

Besides furniture, we also had a whole lot of other stuff that we'd been missing. Dishes, a toaster oven, towels, movies; you name it, it was in storage, replaced by cheapo rental crap. We missed our stuff - many of our conversations went something like this:

d: Man, this iron sucks.
s: i know. and the worst part is...
d: we have a better one in storage in New York?
s: yeah! ::sigh:: i can't wait until we get our stuff back.

This conversation could be repeated, substituting just about anything in a typical home for iron. Can opener. Sheets. Lamp. Paper Towel Dispenser. Frying Pan. You get the point.

Needless to say, we've been very much enjoying our own things.

Before the big delivery we would talk about the things we were each most excited for. I was looking forward to the bed (i LOVE our bed. its huge and sooooo comfy) while D was excited for the previously mentioned iron and the ottoman, to which he is strangely attached. But when the things came, and when everything was finally unpacked and in place we had a surprising candidate for best re-acquisition: the kitchen stool.

Truthfully, I didn't even remember we had one. I don't remember buying it, I don't remember using it; in fact, I DO remember climbing on my kitchen chairs in Brooklyn to get to the things out of reach. But now I use the thing ALL THE TIME. That little stool has been the most-used item in our house the last few weeks.

And the bed? Still amazing.

Happy Passover!

The Jewish holiday of Passover begins tonight at sundown. It is traditional on the first night (and the second, if you're really observant) to have a meal and service called a Seder. I'm not Jewish but D is, so for the last few years we have had what we call a "sorta-Seder".

Our sorta-Seder is part traditional, part borrowed, and part our own. We don't read through the entire service, just the parts we like and the parts that involve wine! We are having guests this year for the first time and I've just about finished the preparation, but I wanted to share the menu - hopefully it will keep me a little more on track with posting recipes/pictures than last year.

Sorta-Seder 2010

Matzoh Ball Soup

Roast Chicken with Sage and Rosemary
Roast Potatoes
Broccoli and Califlower
Charoset

Cheesecake with Strawberry Sauce

Ropa Vieja

I like food. Really. I like to buy it, I like to cook it, and I really, really like to eat it. And I don't discriminate. Unless it comes from the sea, I probably like it. But if I had to pick one favorite this would be it. Ropa Vieja.

It means "old clothes" in spanish, and its a traditional Cuban dish. I first discovered it while exploring Cuban cuisine at a place called Havana Cafe in Phoenix, AZ. It was my first time eating there (now I'm a regular customer whenever I'm in town) and I'd never heard of the dish, but it sounded good. Its basically a stew of shredded beef, peppers and onions, seasoned with garlic, cumin, oregano. My dad and I once took my grandmother, who grew up in Cuba, and she said it was the most authentic Cuban dish she's ever eaten in the States.

This recipe is straight from Havana Cafe's website. I tried making it once a few years ago and it couldn't have gone worse. The butcher gave me the wrong - more expensive - cut of meat, which just didn't shred right. I didn't know how to peel tomatoes so I just threw them in chopped (I've since learned) and it was underseasoned. But I couldn't let my favorite dish go without a fight; no, this recipe deserved a second chance! So with a few more years of cooking under my belt I tried again, and I'm sure glad I did.


Ropa Vieja
courtesy of Havana Cafe

2 ½ pounds Flank Steak

4 Bay Leaves
1 Onion, cut into eighths
1 Carrot, sliced
1 Potato, cut into quarters
Salt and Pepper
Water to cover

2 Tbsp Olive Oil
2 Onions, thinly sliced
4 cloves Garlic, minced
2 medium Green Peppers, seeded and thinly sliced
2 Habanero Chiles, seeds and stem removed and chopped
1 can Chopped Tomatoes
1 can Tomato Paste
Oregano
Cumin
2 Bay Leaves
Salt and Pepper
1/3 cup Red Wine

Wash the flank steak and place it in a large heavy pot. Add the bay leaves, onion, carrot, potato, salt and pepper; bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer for 1-2 hours until meat is tender.


Remove steak to a plate and cool, strain liquid into a bowl and set aside. When steak is cool enough to handle, shred it using two forks.

In a large fry pan, add olive oil and sauté the next 5 ingredients until tender. Add the tomatoes, wine, and 1 cup of the reserved liquid. Season to taste and cook for about 20 minutes uncovered to reduce and create a sauce for the shredded meat.

Add the shredded meat and season to taste. Serve with rice and beans or moros.

Seal Beach

On our way home from San Francisco we stumbled upon Seal Beach, which ended up being so amazing it deserved its own post.

These guys were everywhere! Up and down the beach, all basking in the sun. They were pretty adorable, but also quite stinky.

The best part was that if a seal got too hot, they would use their flippers to flip sand onto their backs - after a while, some of them partially buried themselves!

There was a seal-rumble! I don't know what these guys were upset about, but they were loud.

Obligatory self-portrait :)

San Francisco

Both D and I had a long weekend for Memorial Day - a rare treat for a couple who works in sports and medicine. We decided to take the opportunity to head north to San Francisco. One of D's friends from college lives in the Bay Area so it was a perfect opportunity.

We woke up bright and early Saturday morning and got on the road by 6am. I didn't take any pictures of the trip up, but once you get out of LA it's pretty much farms and cows. We met up with D's friend and headed to Berkeley for lunch and to check things out. After lunch we headed to a baseball game. D had met his friend while they both worked for the Diamondbacks, who happened to be playing in Oakland that weekend. Their old coworker hooked us up with some tickets and we had a great time.

On Sunday we headed into the city to do some exploring.

We climbed up San Fran's many hills and took in the sights:

We ate the best sourdough:

We went to Chinatown:

We saw the famous streets:

We enjoyed the houses, big and small:

(I'll take one of each)

We checked out Alcatraz, from afar:

We saw things you ONLY see in San Francisco:

And, of course, we took pictures of ourselves:

On Monday it was time to head back to LA, and we decided to take the PCH most of the way home. We stopped off in Monterrey and checked out Carmel-by-the-Sea, and even saw some Redwoods. The PCH was beautiful, but I didn't take one. stinkin. picture. the entire 10 hour trip down. What do I have a camera for, anyway? But believe me, it was pretty, and if you've never seen it you should go!

Dear Friends,

I don't remember if I mentioned this, but my computer has been uncooperative lately. I couldn't get it to recognize my camera's memory card but FINALLY got it to work tonight. This means I will finally be posting about my many escapades - starting next week - with Memorial Day weekend in San Francisco! Yay!