Rosemary Pink Diamond Fizz

Last Thursday night I was a lucky girl; lucky because I finally got to eat at MB Post, a great local restaurant that I have been dying to try, but even more lucky since my BFF drove up from Newport to visit me and she was my +1 at dinner!

MB Post was awesome and I will share more about what we ate in another post but I must say I was not only really impressed with the food menu, but the cocktail menu was pretty unique and creative as well.

So I got really inspired to mix it up and tried something new and different that we enjoyed while we watched the Olympics Opening Ceremonies. For some odd reason I wanted to make something with rosemary so I took to the internet and found this recipe for a Rosemary Pink Diamond Fizz. I thought it turned out great and it wasn't too 'girly' for Dave's taste either.

Rosemary Pink Diamond Fizz

• 5 - 6 inch sprigs of fresh rosemary
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup Ruby Red Grapefruit juice, preferably fresh squeezed
• 1/3 cup good quality gin
• about 1/4 cup dry sparkling wine.... I used Prosecco
• Cocktail shaker - mine is a penguin shaped cocktail shaker :)

Combine the rosemary and sugar with 1 cup of water in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil, swirling occasionally to dissolve the sugar. Remove from the heat and let the rosemary infuse the sugar syrup for 10 minutes. Strain, discard the rosemary, and refrigerate until cold.

Happy Fruit = Happy Hour 

Fill a cocktail shaker half full of ice. Pour the grapefruit juice, gin, and 2 Tbs of the rosemary simple syrup over the ice. Put the lid on the shaker and shake vigorously. Strain into champagne glasses and top each with a generous splash of prosecco, then add a sprig of rosemary for garnish, sip, and enjoy! 

Pesto Parmesan Chicken

A girlfriend of mine made this for dinner for me a while back, it used to be in my weeknight dinner rotation quite often. A couple of weeks ago I realized it had been quite a long time since I had made it so, I decided to bring it back into the rotation, and I have been very pleased that I did! You only need a few things and the recipe is quick and easy.

Pesto Parmesan Chicken

• 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts 
• 3 tablespoons basil pasto
• 2 tablespoons mayonnaise (you can use light, to lighten the calories)
• 1/2 cup of bread crumbs
• 1/2 cup shredded parmesan or Asiago cheese
• Basil for garnish, not vital if you don't have any basil on hand

I would love to tell you all that I used fresh pesto that I made from scratch with basil from my garden and a mortar and pestle. But.... I don't have a garden or a mortar and pestle for that matter so for that night, store bought it was!

Heat the oven to 400 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with foil; spray with cooking spray. Between pieces of parchment paper or waxed paper, please each chicken breast smooth side down; gently pound with a mallet or rolling pin until about 1/2- inch thick

In a shallow dish, mix together the pesto and mayonnaise. In another dish mix together the bread crumbs and cheese.

Dip the chicken into the pesto and mayo mixture then dip into the cheese and bread crumb mixture, making sure the chicken is fully coated with both mixtures.

Bake 15-20 minutes, turning once, until the juice of the chicken is clear when the center of the thickest part is cut and coating is golden brown. Garnish with fresh basil if you have some on hand.

Heats up very nicely for lunch the next day at work!

The Huntington Library

A few weeks back we joined some friends for one my favorite summer pastimes, outdoor concerts. I just love listening to live music during warm summer months. Whether it be at the Hollywood Bowl, down at the beach, or in this case a massive rolling lawn, there is something great about packing up a picnic of sandwiches, wine, and cheese, and listening to music among the stars.

The concert we attended was at The Huntington Library in Pasadena, the whole evening felt very Great Gatsby, so it was only fitting that the band featured that night played music from the roaring twenties. After the concert we toured the gardens. Below are some of the pictures I captured form the evening. If you have not been to the Huntington I highly recommend it!

Summer Brew

This weekend is already proving to be sunny, hot, and the perfect weather for hitting the beach and enjoying summertime drinks. If you are looking to change it up from the usual margarita, mojito, or daiquiri, you should try making some summer brew. I have already made summer brew this past Memorial Day and 4th of July and I have a feeling I will be making it a few more times before football season starts.

Be warned summer brew is not for the lightweights, it can pack a punch and maybe even leave you with a headache the next day if you drink multiple glasses. You can always add less vodka, or even add a little water. I think it is a great drink to enjoy on a hot summer day!

Summer Brew

• Something large to mix and dispense the brew
• 4 beers - Corona and Tecate are the best choices for great results
• 1 frozen limeade
• Vodka- you don't need to use the good stuff, but also don't cheap out or else you will really get a headache. Trader Joe's has a great vodka called Vodka of the Gods, that is good and not too pricey

Depending on how many you plan to serve you can adjust the above ingredients accordingly

Add the defrosted limeade and beers to the container, then use the empty limeade container to measure out the vodka. You will fill the limeade container with vodka three times- you can add more or less depending on how potent you want the brew. Then stir, serve, and Enjoy!

Scallops Provencal

Four years ago following my move back to California from NY my mom and I took an incredible trip to the South of France and Italy. So this time every year I get nostalgic for Europe and day dream about the incredible places we saw, wine we drank, and the food that we ate. So last Friday night, after a trip to Santa Monica Sea Food I decided to bring the taste of France to our dinner table and I made scallops provencal a la Ina Garten and her Barefoot in Paris cookbook.

Santa Monica Seafood is a great place, they have an oyster bar where you can sit and eat, as well as an incredible selection of all the seafood you can imagine under the sea!

1 pound of these guys were coming home with me for dinner! 

Scallops Provencal

• 1 pound of fresh bay or sea scallops
• Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
• All-purpose flour, for dredging
• 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, divided
• 1/2 cup chopped shallots (2 large) 
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves
• 1/3 cup dry white wine, then enjoy the rest with dinner :) 
• 1 lemon, cut in half

Place the scallops on a plate and season with the salt and pepper on both sides. Then dust the scallops with flour, this will help them to sear nicely. 

In a large saute pan, heat 2 tablespoons of the butter over high heat until sizzling and add the scallops in 1 layer. Lower the heat to medium and allow the scallops to brown lightly on 1 side without moving them, then turn and brown lightly on the other side. This should take about 3 to 4 minutes total.

Melt the rest of the butter in the pan with the scallops, then add the shallots, garlic, and parsley and saute for 2 more minutes, tossing the seasonings with the scallops. Add the wine and cook for one more minute. If you want a thicker sauce add a bit of flower at this step.

It is a very easy recipe, and I could not stop raving about how delish it was! Next time if we are really hungry I might skip the salad and serve the scallops over pasta? Who knows? I do know one thing the kitchen smelled amazing that night! 

50/50

What I wore 50/50

When planning an outfit I am of the school of thought that if I am wearing something short and tight on the lower half of body I should balance it out by wearing something a little more loose and less form fitting on the upper half of my body, and visa versa. It is what I call the 50/50 rule.

Below is a great display of the 50/50 rule in action, tight short bandage skirt on the bottom, button down chambray shirt on top! I was also wearing flip flops which dressed down the look even more.

I love my chambray shirt it is the perfect addition to any summer wardrobe and it is great for chilly summer evenings at the beach.

The goods: skirt, pleasure doing business- purchased at Saks. Shirt, JCrew. Sunglasses, LV

Mini Frittatas

I have always loved Giada De Laurentiis, she makes good food and her recipes are fairly simple and manageable. On a lazy Saturday or Sunday you can find me on the couch watching re-runs of her cooking shows. A while back I saw her make these Mini frittatas, they have been a go to of mine to make when people are coming over for brunch. I mentioned here that friends came over for brunch on the 4th so of course I made them again, and everyone loved them!

Mini Frittatas

• Nonstick cooking spray
• 8 large eggs
• 1/2 cup whole mile
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 4 ounces thinly sliced ham, chopped
• 1/3 cup freshly grated parmesan
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian parsley

Ingredients do not have to be exact add more or less of the things you like, or change it up and add something else that will go well with eggs!

Preheat the oven to 375
Spray 2 mini muffin tins, mine have 24 cups each, with nonstick spray.

Whisk the eggs, milk, parsley, pepper, and salt into a large bowl. Giada's recipe tells you to add the ham and cheese at this point but I think it is better to add those ingredients after the egg mixture has been poured into the muffin tins, otherwise they are not as evenly distributed since the heavier ingredients stay at the bottom of the bowl. By waiting until the end you will have an even ratio of ingredients in each mini frittata!

Fill prepared muffin cups almost to the top with the egg mixture, then add the ham and cheese. Learn from my mistakes and do not to fill the muffin tins all the way to the top or else they will not come out in the desired mini muffin shape after baking, I over poured a few of mine, which you will notice in the picture below.

Bake until the egg mixture puffs about 8-10 minutes. Using a rubber spatula, loosen the frittatas from the muffin tins, serve on a platter and enjoy!

Sweet Summer Treat!

It is official summer is in full swing so last night we decided to grill up some burgers for dinner, which happens to be Dave's personal favorite, that and steak, what can I say the boy is a meat and potatoes kind of guy... Being a Sunday night I figured we could splurge and have some dessert, nothing crazy, just simple and sweet.

Grilled peaches, vanilla ice cream, and honey.

Start by halving some peaches, and removing the pits. The peaches we picked up weren't quite as ripe as I had hoped but we still managed to enjoy.

Prior to grilling the peaches I sprinkled some granulated sugar over them. Then grease a grill pan with some butter and place the peaches on the grill pan, or a BBQ if you don't have a grill pan.

Careful to not let the peaches burn, remove them when they have some nice grill lines on them. Scoop some vanilla ice cream into a bowl, add the peaches, drizzle with honey, and enjoy! 

Breakfast Pizza

This 4th of July we had friends over at our place to kick off the day, eat some food, and enjoy some drinks. Knowing it was going to be a long day of drinking in the sun the girls planned brunch. Once we were full and satisfied we set out on our bikes and the fun really began. I have been wanting to try making breakfast pizza for quite sometime now, so I though this would be the perfect chance.

 

Breakfast Pizza

• 2 pre-made Trader Joe's raw pizza dough
• Flour for dusting
• Kosher salt
• 6 strips of bacon
• 1/2 cup grated parmesan
• 2 cups grated mozzarella
• 6 large eggs
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons minced flat leaf parsley
• 2 tablespoons minced chives
• 2 scallions thinly sliced
• 1 shallot, minced

If you choose, or you have the time you can make the pizza dough from scratch but I have always been really happy with the Trader Joe's dough so I decided to use that. Leaving the dough out at room temperature for about 15 minutes prior to prep helps the dough to be a little less sticky and easier to handle and stretch.

Preheat the oven to 375. Lightly dust a pizza stone, or cookie sheet if you don't have a pizza stone, with the flour, as well as rubbing some flour between your hands. Pat the dough into a disk with your fingertips, then drape the dough over your fists and carefully stretch it from beneath to form a 12 inch cirlcle. You can also achieve this with a rolling pin if you haven't mastered tossing pizza dough up into the air! 

Sprinkle the dough with half of the parmesan, mozzarella, and bacon. The bacon should already be cooked and coarsely chopped. Crack three eggs over the top and season with salt and pepper.

Bake the pizza for 10-15 minutes depending on your oven. When the crust is golden, the cheese is melted, and the egg yolks are cooked, sprinkle half of the parsley, chives, scallions, and shallot on top. Let it cook for another couple of minutes, then pull it out of the oven and let it cool for 2 minutes, slice and serve immediatley. Prepare the second pizza the same way.

Even better the next day! We had the leftovers for breakfast the next morning.