When I am Old

Oh let's be these ladies when we're old!!!!

THIS is what's missing from my life. A standing Pie Date with a friend every Friday at 4:00. Unfortunately I don't know anyplace on this side of town to go and get a GOOD slice of Pie. How I miss Marie Callendar's! Well perhaps Marie Callendar's will have returned to Houston by the time I'm 94.

If you're wondering what on earth I'm talking about. I just read a blog post by The Pioneer Woman about visiting her Ga-ga. And then you can visit Marie Callendar's Website unless you live near one, in which case, go there & eat pie, instead! I grew up 2 miles from the 1st & Original Marie Callendar's restaurant how I miss their German Chocolate & Coconut Custard pies!

Breakfast at Las Brisas

Way back on June 26 when I very first had arrived in California I took Dad to breakfast at Las Brisas in Laguna Beach. It's one of his favorite places to go and we always try to get down there with him when we're in town.... this time in honor of Father's Day.

table view

I love the Eggs Benedict and Vegetable Crepes while Dad is partial to the Omelet bar. The view is spectacular. You can see the whole Laguna crescent (all the way to Dana Point on a clear day!)On this day the roses were putting on a show and the air was full of fragrance. After breakfast we walked along the cliff top, down to the boardwalk then window shopped our way down Pacific Coast Highway. I bought fudge... you have to buy fudge when you're on vacation. It's a rule! The marine layer never did burn off that day, but we were cooler for it. It was a wonderful beginning to my stay.



Las Brisas is located on Pacific Coast Highway in Laguna Beach steps away from the cliff side gazebo. We only go there for the Breakfast Buffet which is served every morning EXCEPT Sunday.
http://www.lasbrisaslagunabeach.com/

Sweet Potato Fries at Fuddrucker's

Yesterday Robert called and met me for lunch at Fuddrucker's. They are now serving sweet potato fries. I love sweet potato fries so I paid the extra $0.50 to upgrade to sweet potato fries. Robert got their regular wedge cut fries.

I am of the opinion that Fuddrucker's wedge fries are some of the best fries going so we We decided to do a taste test.
While the sweet potato fries were good.... Tasted side by side we both agreed the regular wedge cut fries are better. I love to dip them in honey mustard, in fact, it's the fries that keep me going back.

If you're a fan of sweet potato fries, they are also now serving them at TGI Friday's restaurants.

Oven Baked Pancake

Sorry no posts for awhile - I've been down, feeling lonely this week.

When I was a child we used to sometimes eat at The Original Pancake House. As I remember it we would go on Sunday after church, it was far from home, they were always very busy and we had to wait forever. They had so many good things I had a hard time deciding what to get... There were Pigs in a Blanket, Silver Dollar Pancakes, or the Dutch Baby. Today we're talking about the Dutch Baby. So much do I love these things that when I go back to visit family in California I always have to eat at The Original Pancake House. So about that Dutch Baby... It's a large baked pancake - it gets all puffy, tall and crisp around the sides and moist and custardy in the center melting with whipped butter and dusted with powdered sugar. It is served with additional powdered sugar and lemon wedges on the side. Kind-of a breakfast version of Yorkshire pudding or a giant popover. It is heaven!


This recipe fills my craving for that wonderful pancake. It's very easy to make, I generally make it in a Pyrex pie plate or one leftover from a pie shop pie. It would also cook perfectly in a 10" cast iron skillet 12" is too large. The lemon juice will dissolve much of the sugar and you really do need more sugar on the side in order to strike the right balance between tart and sweet. I got this recipe from the Food Section of the Orange County Register in 1994 (wow! before I was even a bride!)

Oven Baked Pancake

Ingredients:
2 large eggs
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup flour
1/4 tsp salt
nutmeg, a few grains
1 Tablespoon oil

1) Place oven rack in center position. Set oven temperature to 450 degrees F.

2) Blend eggs, milk, flour, salt, nutmeg in blender (this morning I just beat them with a whisk and it worked fine, just be sure to beat the eggs on their own before adding the other ingredients.) Put oil in pie pan and heat in oven for 5 minutes.

3) When oil is hot, pull oven rack forward and pour batter into pan still on oven rack. Be sure to pour it into the middle of the oil. The oil will spread to coat the pan as you pour in the batter. Push rack back in and Bake uncovered for 18-20 minutes.

4) Cut into wedges, top with butter and drift with powdered sugar. Serve with lemon wedges and small bowl of powdered sugar and serve.

Serves 1 or 2 by itself. Can serve 3 or 4 if served along side additional breakfast foods like sausage, eggs, and fruit.

Dinner: Grown Up Grilled Cheese/Panini

I haven't posted any recipes in a long while due to the hurricane. Now that the kids are back in school I am back to work so I made an easy dinner, tonight. I first made these sandwiches a few weeks ago, they were a big hit with my family. Ethan is so enthusiastic about these that he was asking me to make him another before he had finished the first half, he ended up eating his entire sandwich plus half of mine! And I had been afraid he might be put off by all that green... Silly Mommy.

I have been doing a bit of grilled sandwich research (surfing) this morning. Lo and behold I came across this quote about the Monte Cristo sandwich (YUM!) On Wikipedia

"The first well documented appearance of the Monte Cristo sandwich is on menus at the Blue Bayou and Tahitian Terrace restaurants at Disneyland's New Orleans Square in 1966."

The Blue Bayou is where I have enjoyed most of the Monte Cristo sandwiches I have consumed and I have to say that they are WONDERFUL!

Pesto Mozzarella Grilled Cheese


I got this idea from Tyler Florence on the Ultimate Rainy Day Episode of Tyler's Ultimate. But he made pesto from scratch - I'm sure homemade pesto would be even better, but this is the quick and easy weeknight version & I have trouble finding fresh basil in large quantities, so I'm using prepared pesto.

Ingredients:
Loaf of Sourdough Bread
Tub of Prepared Pesto Sauce (find it in the refrigerated pasta section)
Mozzarella Fresca (Fresh Mozzarella it's with the specialty cheeses and usually packed in liquid - it's much softer than standard Mozzarella which has been aged.)
Olive Oil
1) Slice Mozzarella and Bread if not pre-sliced.

2) Spread pesto sauce on insides of bread, top one side with mozzarella slices and assemble. Brush one side of bread with olive oil (it actually tasted butterier than using butter!)

3) Place sandwich oiled side down on heated iron or griddle. Brush remaining side with oil.

4) Now in order to press the sandwich you will need something with some weight. Here is what I did. Top sandwich with a sheet of heavy duty aluminum foil, place the flat bottom of a cookie sheet on top of that (large flat surface that will press down on all the sandwiches) and top that with something heavy (I used my cast iron skillet or you could use some heavy cans.) Grill until browned and flip. When both sides are toasted remove to cutting board and cut sandwich in half.

Tips: On the TV show, Tyler used a nice artisan Sourdough and cut it into thick slices and grilled it on a Panini press. I found that when I tried to use my grill pan and weight with thick sliced bread, I did get those pretty panini grill marks, but only the ridge part of the sandwich browned, and the bread was too thick for the cheese to get warm enough to melt.
I did much better with both browning and melting using sourdough pre-sliced by the bakery (thinner uniform slices) and toasting the sandwiches on a flat griddle - still pressing the layers under under foil, cookie sheet, and cast iron skillet. You could easily make this a Tricolore Sandwich by adding slices of tomato. (The word Tricolore refers to the Italian flag: red, white and green - In Italian Cuisine dishes with these three colors are also described as Tricolore.)

Tea At Paris In A Cup

One of the highlights of my trip this year was having tea with my Dad at Paris in a Cup!
The food was delicious, unusual, and beautiful. I felt so spoiled.

Dad and I both had the Madame du Barry which included: Warm Scones with Crème & Preserves Assorted Tea Sandwiches with Petite Salade Composee’ Petit Fours and Hot or Cold Freshly Steeped Tea.

More About Dining at Sapphire Laguna, CA

Their food is described as "Comfort food inspired by cuisines from around the world..." I didn't know what that meant BEFORE dining at sapphire but after having experienced it, I would say that is an accurate description. The menu was more expensive than what I am used to with most entrees in the $30 price range, but I felt it was more than appropriate for the caliber of food.

I had the Onion Dusted Lamb Sirloin with Bleu Cheese Gnocchi, Rapini, Tomato Basil-Olive Jus. This was the most delicious lamb I have ever had, I could never have imagined how olives could go with this dish but it was wonderful. Dad had Grilled Berkshire Pork Porterhouse with a Casserole of Black Eyed Peas and Cabbage, Apple Gravy. Debbie had Pan-Seared Beef Tenderloin & Lobster Ravioli with Creamed Spinach, Wild Mushroom Ragout, Chervil Butter. I had a taste of both the pork and the beef tenderloin... everything was excellent but I would have to say that the tenderloin was the most delicious and and taken in combination with the fantastic sides paired with it, I think it was the best dish on the table. (Ethan had Fried Chicken and shoestring Fries from the kids menu) The food was impeccable! It was food like the amazing imaginative things you see on a show like Iron Chef America with unusual combinations, uncommon ingredients, and artistic presentation. It was a unique and memorable experience. I wold love to go back and try the Chicken Pot Pie. The desserts and salads we saw at other tables looked fantastic so I'm hoping to get back sometime and try some of those.

Reservations are required, we had the extreme good fortune to get in on a cancellation. I think my first choice for seating would be on the inviting patio. The dinning room was very Laguna, eclectic with handcrafted blown glass lighting fixtures, elegant comfortable seating around large round tables and many interesting details to take in, one wall had a basket weave texture to it our table conjectured that perhaps the wood on that wall was salvaged from barrels or casks. The dinning room was noisy but in a bustling comfortable way, I did not feel at all anxious about having my 9-year old with us and there were many children present. This isn't one of those fancy restaurants where you have to talk in hushed voices and worry about using the correct fork. The menu is available online and does list prices so you can see what you are getting into.

Sapphire
200 South Coast Hwy
Laguna Beach, CA 92651
Sapphire Laguna: 949-715-9888