A Toast to Me!

Probably one of the most disturbing things that can happen in the morning, just before going to work, is walking into your garage and realizing that someone broke in during the night — well this is what happened to me this morning. I opened my door and it took me a minute before I realized that I didn’t leave the light on, or the trunk of my car open or the garage door 1/2 way up.

Believe it or not, I’m the type of person that actually keeps to myself. I’ve met my neighbors while walking my dog. I try not to turn the TV on too loud, I make sure that I lock my doors, I try and unplug things when they’re not in use to conserve energy, and I try and leave quietly when I leave for work because I don’t want to disturb anyone. So to have somebody come into my space uninvited was a little upsetting.

I hope that whomever it was that broke in is happy with themselves. I hope that they got whatever it is that they felt they could sell and then realized that the stuff in my garage has no value to them. I get that times are tough, but I wouldn’t think of going into someones space and taking their things and it floors me that there are others in this world that think this behavior is ok.

Dear thief – because let’s face it, that is what you are, I sincerely hope that you enjoy MY things. I can’t wait for the moment that you realize that tearing MY hands-free unit from my dashboard won’t work because you tore it out wrong and now its broken. I hope that MY GPS unit gets you to where you need to go and that your child enjoys playing with MY collectible Barbies. I hope that you and your friends enjoy smoking MY hookah and that one of MY phone chargers charges your phone. I’m glad that you’ll now be able to clean your clothes with MY laundry detergent and that your eyes are protected from the sun with MY sun glasses. I, on the other hand, will now need to spend MY hard earned money to replace the items that YOU stole. If you needed MY things because YOU don’t have a job, I’d be happy to help you write your resume — although I’m not sure how many companies are looking to hire thieves, so don’t hold your breath on a job prospects. Tonight when I go to bed, I do so knowing that I am a decent person who works hard to buy the things that I have. I hope that you also sleep well knowing that you are the piece of shit that you are.

claudia General

Every Christmas my sister-in-law’s mother makes this amazing fudge.  Every year I go home and hope that there’s some left for me.  What is it with this fudge?  It’s creamy, yet firm.  It’s chocolaty, but not overly sweet.  I’ve asked for the recipe, but haven’t been so lucky as to get it.  What I do know is that there’s supposedly a dab of instant coffee in it, and that you have to stir for a certain amount of time.  I know that my sister-in-law helps her make it, and I know that I want to make it too.

Every year,  just before the holidays, I scour the internet in hopes of a recipe that will come out similar, but haven’t had much luck.  And, I just finished watching the Christmas episode of Ree Drummond’s show Pioneer Woman — in which there was fudge, but of course that was the one recipe that wasn’t shared.

If you, or anybody you know, makes an amazing fudge… please, please, please, for the love of Holidays, please consider sharing it with me.  Please?

claudia General, Recipes

I just spent a great weekend with my family celebrating Christmas.  As usual, my mom did an amazing job with the food and everyone was in great spirits.  A new tradition that my little brother and his wife have started is breakfast on Christmas morning – this year I was asked to bring a dish and it turned out pretty darn good if I may say so myself .

Anyways, during the morning we got into a conversation about a friend of our who recently paid his debt to society and is now out trying to re-enter the world.  He’s far from perfect and has a long way to go, but he says that he’s taking it day by day — I really hope he is.

My sister-in-law commented on how he made her feel uncomfortable on a recent visit — nothing that he did in particular, just his presence.  She said that she didn’t know why, and she gets that she doesn’t know him very well, so it was just a feeling.  I, on the other-hand, grew up with him.  I explained to her that growing up, he was always vying for attention — and any attention was good attention to him, even if it was bad.  But that despite all of his many many flaws, I respected that he was a man of his word.

Enter another mutual friend, one that is very close to her and my little brother.  This “friend” is one who is known to take advantage of situations and of people. I personally don’t think he is a good person because he is a proven liar.  My brother and sister-in-law insist that to know him is to love him.  I, on the other hand, still classify him as a man of no integrity because his word means nothing.

I have known both of these men, my friend and theirs, all of their natural lives – which is now around 30 years.

So which is a better person?  My brother insists that their friend is the better one because he has not been in jail and does not illicit an intimidating air.  I, on the other hand, feel that my friend is a man of his word, and therefore is a man of some integrity.  I guess it comes down to trying to define what makes a person one of quality.

I think it’s fair to say that we will probably never agree on who is the better person.  I wish my friend luck and strength to continue to take things day by day and to hopefully make good decisions.   As for their friend, I wish him well as well.

claudia General, Random, Reflections

So I made tamales for the first time in my life, why?  Because we challenged one of the guys in our office to a Tamale Cook-Off.  What was I thinking?  I’ve never made them before!  But how hard could it be, right? So I’ve spent the last 2 weeks searching on-line for the perfect tamale recipe – man there are a bunch out there!  To be honest, it was a bit overwhelming.  I mean, you can make them sweet or savory, out of creamed corn, strawberries, pork, chicken, meat, pineapples, just about anything really. Then there’s the masa (the dough), it can be flour based or corn based.  And then the husks which can be corn husks, banana leaves, basically anything that was an outer encasement of a fruit or vegetable that’s large enough to wrap around the filling.  The decisions alone can be enough to make you just say *&^%-it and buy them already made from the nearest Latin market instead.

So what do I do?  I go to the closest Latin market and avoid the pre-made displays of tamales at all costs.  Instead I figured that I would just make it up as I go – I mean why not?  I can cook, I know the basic concept and it should be fun to make — and what’s more fun than experimentation??

I purchased corn husks, there were two kinds – One had a label that was all green & red and had cluttered writing on it, the other had a clean label, easy to read — so I bought the simple one.  Then I went over to the butcher and surveyed the protein options — ohh, looky here, the chicken thighs were on sale, I’ll take 12 of them please .  I go over to the chili section and there were SOOO many to choose from — I think I’ll just use the green chili sauce I have at home.    Off  to the produce — we’re good, I’ve got carrots, celery and garlic at home.  And the last stop would be the masa – I saw some premade corn and flour masa (dough) over by the butcher, close my eyes and pick a bag from the refrigerated display and flour masa it is.  Alright, let’s do this!

At home, I fill a pot with water and set it to boil.  I separate the skin from the thighs and throw them into the pot, followed by some shredded carrots, chopped celery and a little bit of chicken bouillon powder.  I let it all boil for about an hour.  Once the chicken is practically falling off of the bone, I take the chicken out and shred it.  I then strain the broth and place the carrots, celery and shredded chicken into another pot.  Add the green chili, garlic, salt, pepper, garam marsala (because I had it and I just like the flavor), celery salt and parsley (because I’m not a cilantro fan) and cook it all together. Filling is DONE! (oh, I put the broth in some containers and will use them later for another recipe — it’s yummy stuff!)

Time to assemble.  I get the pre-made masa and the corn husks, which I’ve been soaking in water for the last hour in order to help make them more pliable) and arrange my work area.  Grab a husk place a thin layer of dough in it and then place some filling in the center.  Fold the tamale – which I found to be not so easy probably because I’m so used to unfolding them, that folding them is a new concept to me, tie it and set them aside.  Once they were assembled, I set up my steamer with about 4 inches of boiling water, and arranged the tamales.  They steamed for about 3 hours until the masa pulled away from the husks on their own.

Today I tried them for the first time and they were yummy!  Now that wasn’t so hard

claudia Recipes

On occasion, I’ll visit a local restaurant who has AMAZINGLY, DELICIOUS food, where the wine list is affordable, the appetizers are decadent and unique and their main courses are apparently just as appetizing.  Truth be told, I’ve never made it there for an actual main course – really who needs to order a meal when the appetizers are so incredible?  If you’ve ever been to Mixers in Valencia, you know exactly what I’m talking about!

Anyways, one of my absolutely favorite items on the Mixers menu has to be their Risotto Balls.  There’s just no way that I can go to Mixers without ordering some — and if I don’t, it’s because I’m out of my right mind at that moment.  I have been fascinated as to how can something so luscious be encased in breaded deep fried goodness.  *shrug*  beats me!

This brings me to Thanksgiving day when my friend’s mother told me about a new show she’s hooked on — The Chew on ABC.  She told me that I had to watch it — so that evening, I went home, searched for it and set it to record.  I know I switched topics, but you’ll see, it will come round full circle, I promise.  Anyways, my first episode of The Chew was this Monday.  I got home from work, turned on The Chew and made myself comfortable.  Guess what the first recipe was — Fried Risotto Balls!!!!!!!!!!  I think I must have rewound it 3 times just to make sure that my eyes weren’t deceiving me.  Chef Michael Symon was making this dish he called “Arancini” — to me they looked just like the ones that Mixers makes — I’m so excited!

The recipe seems easy enough and this weekend I think I just may try and make them.  Basically it’s left over risotto, and egg, Parmesan cheese, seasoning, and breadcrumbs.  Mix the risotto with the egg, cheese and seasoning – scoop up a little ball worth, cover it with breadcrumbs and place it in the fryer.  I’m sure you can probably bake them some how, but why would you do that when you have access to a fryer?  So excited!  I may be over-simplifying the recipe, but it looked easy enough to me. 

Here’s Chef Symon’s recipe:

Step 1 – make risotto (you can get his recipe here from The Chew’s)

Step 2:   When the rice mixture is cool, remove it from the refrigerator and add the 1 egg, 1 egg yolk, 1 cup Parmesan, and ½ teaspoon of salt. With damp hands, form balls of about 2 tablespoons of rice mixture. With your thumb, make an indentation in the center and place about 1 teaspoon of the diced mozzarella in the center (you’ll use about 8 oz of mozzarella for the entire recipe). Close up the indentation by reforming the rice around the mozzarella to keep it inside. You should get about 16 arancini. Store in the refrigerator until ready to bread and cook, up to 1 day.

Step 3:   Heat up the oil in your deep fryer to 350 degrees. Meanwhile, coat the arancini in the breadcrumbs, shaking off any excess. You want to bread these immediately before frying them so they don’t get tacky and gummy. Deep fry the arancini for 2 ½ minutes or until very golden brown. Remove from the fryer and lightly season with salt. Serve with your favorite tomato sauce and enjoy!

If you’ve made these — let me know how they came out.  I can’t wait!!

See, told you I’d make it back around

claudia Recipes

In true “Claudia’s going to try wines” style, I went to a friend’s house to celebrate the release of his first published article.  A very good friend of mine brought out some of his wines for us to try, talk about generous because I was there about 4 hours and at that time, guests had gone through nearly 4 cases of wine!  Peter, knowing that he is responsible for the creation of this particular wine-fanatic, pulled out a special bottle that he purchased years ago- and he shared it with me .  He popped the cork and poured me a taste of what had to be one of the best wines of the evening (aside from Army of Geese, of course!).   It was a bottle of 2003 Domaine Alfred Pinot Noir from Edna Valley.  I say “was” because it quickly became the hush-hush, “you’ve got to know somebody to try it” wine.  The nose was fruity, yet earthy.  The alcohol and the tannins had smoothed out and I dare say that for every review I’ve read today stating that the wine was just “ok”, that you opened the bottle up way too early – because this wine was at it’s prime my friend!  It was delicious and #YUM, and that would be an accurate way to describe it.   

To say that the other wines Peter poured that evening were less than DELICIOUS would be inaccurate as they were stellar!  Peter poured a French Beaujolais, for which I can’t think of the vintage nor vineyard/winery, that I had eyed almost 3 years ago.  I never had the chance to try it then, but was so glad that I was able to taste it now.  Truth be told, I was so impressed that 2 bottles made it home with me *shhh*.  (Hi Peter! )

The next wine that I was patiently waited to try was Volatus.  I am going to go out on a limb and say that it was the 2004 that we opened.  I remember trying it at the last Loose Goose Wine Festival, for those that attended the festival this was the wine poured by the woman wearing a flight suit.  At the time, I remember thinking that this wine was REALLY young, but that it would be delicious when it was ready — well, let me tell you, it’s READY!  The wine is very well balanced, just enough tannins that make you want to take another sip and enough fruit that give it a wonderful flavor.  I can’t wait to try it again in about 6 months – 1 year to see how it holds up — I have high expectations!

And, of course, we had the 2005 1667 Army of Geese, which is just a treat in its own right.  For those of you who have tried it, you know what I’m talking about.  It’s so easy to drink, rich yet approachable.  Delicious with any meal, and so satisfying on its own — you can never go wrong with Army of Geese.

Such a delicious, rewarding, fulfilling evening – full of wine, friends and accomplishments.  I was both thrilled and honored to be a part of it and look forward to the next one!

claudia Wine

Last week I was struggling with the menu for a wine pairing afternoon that myself and a friend were hosting.  The start of the planning process was a little labored (see last week’s post), but eventually turned into a delicious treat for 6 friends to share.  The following was our menu:

We started off with a few simple starters that included various cheeses along with pita chips and a pepper jelly dip paired with a Mezzacarona Moscato.  The spice from the jelly dip, the saltiness from the pita chips and the sweetness from the Moscato were just perfect together. What an unexpected treat!

We followed with a chilled Gazpacho that had concentrated flavors of cucumber and paired it with a Napa Valley Sauvignon Blanc from Spiral Wines.  The pairing worked well and at less than $5/bottle, the wine proved to be a a true value wine for our end of summer afternoon.

Next was a crunchy avocado salad, a Bobby Flay recipe from Foodnetwork.com, which we again paired with a Sauvignon Blanc, this time from Kim Crawford Vineyards. I really wasn’t sure if the pairing would work because of the tomatoes and the vinegar from the salad, but again we were surprised to find that the pairing was very light and refreshing.

One of my favorite summer dishes to make was the next one, a Smoked Salmon, Avocado & Mango sandwich.  I first found this recipe in Tom Colicchio’s book titled ‘Wichcraft.  It’s a rich, yet light sandwich that reminds me of my trip to Maui years ago.  I wasn’t sure what to pair this with, so I went to my wine rack and found a rose’ that shared its coloring with that of the smoked salmon – let’s try it.  The sandwich itself was amazing, and the wine was itself was good.  I think the pairing would have rocked if we had hosted this celebration a few months ago, or if it was a younger bottle — but overall the pairing was successful, thank goodness!

Probably one of the most anticipated recipes of the day was another Bobby Flay dish – Grilled potato and Goat Cheese Napoleon with Balsamic-Basil Vinaigrette which we paired with a Viognier from Poet’s Row — How delicious does that sound? Well I can assure tell you that this was so yummy that I confess to making it for the follow 2 nights for dinner!

The meal concluded with a dish that I admit to being skeptical of at first — a light bread pudding recipe from Hungry Girl which was paired with a Ste. Domaine Michelle Brut Sparkling Wine.  The wine I wasn’t concerned about, but the bread pudding…. hmm.  Well to my surprise, the bread pudding was decadent and really really really good!

We chalked the afternoon up to another successful celebration – complete with delicious wines, amazing food and irreplaceable friends.  I’m SOOO looking forward to the next one!

claudia Wine, Wine Pairing

Today I feel like my mind is just about everywhere — thinking about new possible ventures, exisiting work, relationship, things like that — but what I should be thinking about is what the heck are we going to serve at Sunday’s wine pairing linner?  In case you were wondering, “linner” is that meal that you fit in between lunch and dinner — in this case, the first course will be served somewhere around 2:30pm.

Last night I was reviewing some of my recipe books and everything looked delicious, as you can imagine.  But, it seemed that everything required extensive amounts of time in the oven — and since its still fairly HOT outside, the oven is probably one of the last appliances I’d like to turn on.

Which brings me to today, where I find myself glued to foodnetwork.com in search of inspiration and recipes for this Sunday.  I have no doubt that the menu will eventually be amazing — but, man, this planning has stumped me!  I did find one recipe by Bobby Flay that looks simple, delcious and gourmet enough to make the menu and its for Grilled Potato and Goat Cheese Napoleon With Balsamic-Basil Vinaigrette.  It sounds refreshing and fulfilling, and it can be served as one of our courses.  My next thought is a Smoked Salmon, Avocado and Mango sandwich which is also refreshing and smooth at the same time.   As for the other three courses, I’ll keep you posted!   Oh and the Wines?  What about the wines?  I’ll figure that out later too!

claudia Recipes

Saturday I ventured off to spend the day with my parents and family friends up in Hungry Valley.  In case you’re wondering what Hungry Valley is, it’s a California State Park located off the 5 fwy near Gorman, CA (right of the Grapevine).   I had a great time — well except for when Corky got out of the motorhome.

Let’s set the scene.  Hungry Valley is full of hills and trails.  It’s home to coyotes and rattlesnakes.  There is no artificial lighting, unless you bring it.  It was dark outside.   We just ate BBQ and my dad decided to toss the bones onto a trail for wildlife to enjoy.  My mom opens the motorhome door to put away leftovers.  She takes just a little longer than expected because the dogs are all anxious to get out of the motorhome and she’s trying to hold them back.  Corky sneaks out. EEK — my heart stopped! 

Fortunately there were a couple of flashlights handy, so one was tossed over to me.  I start calling his name and my dad tells me to keep talking because Corky was on the other side of the campsite coming towards me.  I keep calling him, Corky comes over and I pick him up.   I can breathe again.

The time span totalled about 90 seconds.  It felt like forever!

It may not seem like much of an ordeal, but Corky is my little buddy.  His presence reminds me that there is good in the world.  He pays as much attention to me as I do to him.  Who knew that a little 13lb dog can mean so much.   

About an hour later, a coyote was spotted eating the scraps from our dinner about 20 ft from our campsite.  Sorry Mr. Coyote — no puppies on the menu tonight!

claudia General

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