Presents, Presents Everywhere!

Usually I’m not one to care if I get anything for my b-day (on the 19th) or for X-mas….but this year has been pretty special so far and J and I have received some pretty nice gifts thus far and it’s not even Christmas yet or our birthdays.

I came home yesterday and received 3 UPS notices for packages that were left at our apartment’s leasing office for pick up. I was very excited. All in all, this is what we received:

 1. a Haier 18 Bottle Wine Cellar - we received this from our friends L, L2, S, and G. It was very kind of them to get us something so nice and useful. J belongs to an Ultra Reds wine club at our favorite wine shop and he hasn’t opened any of them, so it’ll be nice to put the bottles in the cellar.

2. J got a set of Laguiole by Sabatier Stainless Steel Steak Knives from my sister PC. These will be very useful, since we are in need of new knives anyway — plus, we’re having steak tonight, so we can test them out!

3. I received my gift from J yesterday as well. I got my new Creative Zen V Plus MP3 Player. It is so tiny and fits perfectly in my palm. It’s a great little player! It holds photos, videos, audiobooks, and music. I’m in love with my new little toy!

Then when I came home tonight, there was a big box sitting by my front door. When I opened it, I was so excited! My sister PC got me a Kitchen Aid Mixer and it’s a pretty red color.  I’m so excited to start using it!!!

So, there you have it. We’ve been pretty blessed thus far. Thanks to the kind people in our lives that got us these really wonderful gifts.

Create Your Own Recipe Book

I frequently get e-mails from Epicurious, a wonderful website that hosts Bon Appetitt and Gourmet magazine recipes. I’ve used quite a few recipes from these sites myself. I used to be a subscriber to both publications, but I decided if I needed a recipe, I’d just go online.

The other day I received an e-mail from Epicurious declaring I could make my own recipe book (they call it Tastebook) by following this link. One can create their own book by selecting 100 recipes of one’s choice. It allows you to create a cover for your recipe book, a title, description, and you get to browse around for recipes. You can even add your own personal recipes to the book. There’s even a preview book option so that you can take a look at what you’ve done so far and make changes if necessary. The recipes have all been divided into chapters titled “Appetizers & Drinks”, “Meat & Poultry”, etc. 

So far, I’ve added 24 recipes to my book….I still have a ways to go. I’ve already selected quite a few tasty dishes, such as: Goat Cheese Ravioli with Bell Peppers and Brown Butter, Roasted Salmon with Horseradish Creme Fraiche, Beef Braised in Barolo wine, and Sea Scallops Brochettes with Orange-Saffron Aioli, to name a few. I can’t wait to try these out!

After you select your recipes and your book is complete, you can purchase it for $34.95.

Not a bad deal at all…..I think this would make a great Christmas gift. Feel free to check it out and pass the word along.

Our Little Visit to Saratoga

Yesterday turned out to be more than what we expected. J and I decided to go to Saratoga (it’s about 15 minutes from where we live.) J’s always driving through Saratoga to go up into the mountains on his bike rides. He’s also a fan of Cinnabar wines and they have a tasting room in downtown Saratoga. It’s a cute road with little boutiques, cafes, and restaurants up and down the street. Why we never went there before is beyond me. I instantly loved how pretty Saratoga is, it’s nestled right below the mountains and the scenery is beautiful. We stopped off at Cinnabar and did a tasting, which only cost $5 and we got to sample 4 wines, plus a dessert wine. We got to sample 2 white wines: a Marsanne and Chardonnay and 2 reds: Mercury Rising Cab and a Lodi Petit Verdot. They were all excellent. Really good wines. I liked the chardonnay especially. I’m used to Chardonnays being very okay, but this one was very crisp and clean on the palate. The dessert wine we tried was an Ice Wine and it’s pretty tasty — it was very sweet, but it would go nice with a fruity dessert or something. We bought 2 bottles of wine from there – J bought a Cab Sauvignon and I bought a Paso Robles Valdiguié (which is a limited release from Cinnabar). Haven’t tried it or anything…but it seemed interesting enough and I’m always up for something new.

After we left Cinnabar, we walked around downtown for a while. We decided we’d eat dinner there, but none of the restaurants were opening until 5 or 5:30. We checked out some of the menus hanging outside the restaurants and we decided we wanted to eat at la Mère Michelle. We still has an hour to kill before dinner so we stopped by this wine shop called Uncorked. I didn’t even realize there was a wine shop besides Cinnabar. We had a good time in Uncorked. We both did a $10 tasting and got 3 different wines to sample: a Fess Parker Chardonnay, a Page Mill Cab Sauvignon, and a Mann Syrah. They were all okay. I wasn’t crazy about any of them. It was just nice to sit down and enjoy some wine. The wine selection the owner has is great. There are a lot of good wines in his shop. We left with 6 bottles or so.

Once we were done at Uncorked…we headed over to the restaurant. It’s set inside a Victorian house. The restaurant’s been around since 1972…so it’s vintage. We were seated at a table near the windows. They had all the windows open, so you got nice fresh air flowing through. I was wined out….so I didn’t pursue anymore wine, but J did and he ordered a bottle of 2002 Grgrich Hill Zinfadel. By the way…they have a huge wine list, featuring lots of known wineries and wines. We were impressed by their list. For starters I got the Baked French Onion Soup au Gratin and J got the Mixed Green salad. They make everything fresh so it was a good 15-20 minutes before my soup came out, which I appreciate, because you rarely go places where they make it from scratch as you order it. Well, the soup was good….fresh and hot, but in my honest opinion, it lacked a little something. It needed more flavoring or seasoning. I’m always used to the soup being a little saltier. Oh well….can’t complain too much since everything else was delicious.

I ordered the Prawn and Scallop Cakes Topped with Lobster, which sits on a Lemon Vodka Caviar Cream sauce. J ordered the 20 oz. Bone-in Rib Eye. Both our entrees came with candied carrots, steamed broccoli, and scalloped potatoes. Can I just say that everything was superb and delicious. The prawn and scallop cakes were to-die-for…such a nice change from the traditional crab cake. I got 2 cakes on my plate and both were topped each with a lobster tail. I love lobster and this was wonderful and fresh. The scalloped potatoes were delicious! They were so creamy and so tasty. It’s not like any scalloped potatoes I’ve had before. This was wonderful. J’s rib eye was just as good…cooked to perfection. He ate the whole thing! All 20 oz of it. After our delicious meal, we ended on a sweet note with 2 scoops of the restaurants homemade double vanilla bean gelato. Yum yum yum.

We will definitely go to la Mère Michelle’s again….but only for a special occasion. It is a bit pricey for the meals. We will return to Saratoga for another excursion in the future.

Bleu Ginger Review

On Saturday night, my husband J and I met up with our friends L & S for dinner at Bleu Ginger Restaurant, which is classified as Asian Fusion. The funny thing about this place is that it’s in some strip mall and when you’re inside the restaurant, you’d never believe it was in a strip mall. The decor is very chic and beautiful. The ambiance is very intimate and tables are set far enough from other diners so that you can just relax and enjoy yourself without feeling crowded.

When you first walk into the restaurant, you see the hostess and a huge pot filled with white orchids. To the left is a fountain with a mosaic wall and a little stream of water if flowing down and it’s lit up with a pink light. There are 6 glass circles on the floor by where the hostess stands and each one is illuminated and with a different color or design. The rest of the restaurant is just as nice with beautiful light shades each with a different design. All along the walls are paintings. There are a 2 or 3 tables where diners can sit and relax on couches. The table we were seated at had very comfortable chairs. You sit in it and you don’t ever want to move. The chairs were great.

So, right away, I was impressed with the decor and the ambiance of the restaurant. Now comes the food….

We started off with a couple of appetizers:

• Fusion Rolls (Fried salmon, mango, avocado, cilantro, and lettuce wrapped in rice paper, served with sesame citrus soy)
• Pan Fried Dumplings (Handmade pot-stickers filled with scallops, shrimps, scallion and ginger served with sesame soy)

All I have to say is that they were both delicious. Very fresh flavors, especially in the rolls – the salmon and mango went perfectly together. I loved the dumplings because the mixture inside was blended well together.

Now the main courses. We each ordered a different dish (which is smart, that way we all get to sample a little bit of everything.

I ordered the Steamed Chilean Sea Bass (Chilean bass with glass noodles, shiitake mushroom and ginger wrapped and steamed in banana leaves)

J ordered Bo Luc Lac (Wok seared filet mignon steak cubes, (8oz) with soy black pepper sauce)

L ordered Atlantic Salmon (Fresh Atlantic salmon with sweet chili sauce, sauteed with oyster mushroom chayote, carrots, served with fried taro mashed potatoes)

S ordered Niman Steak with Sweet Potato Garlic Fries (Grilled Niman Rach NY steak with mushroom sauce) S substituted the fries for the fried taro mashed potatoes

Overall, everything was very good. I loved my sea bass wrapped in the banana leaf. It was very refreshing with the ginger and mushrooms. I got the chance to sample J’s Bo Luc Lac and boy, oh, boy was that delicious. Of all the dinners ordered, his had to be the best. The cubed filet mignon were so tender and the flavor and seasoning was excellent. The salmon was just as good – I usually have a hard time ordering salmon and enjoying it, but they did a good job at Bleu Ginger. I didn’t try S’s steak, but I did try the taro mashed potatoes and they were so creamy and rich. Entrees get 5 stars!

For dessert we all had the Fried Banana with Ice Cream. I’ve had this dessert at several places, but J and I agree that this is the 2nd best we’ve ever had. Whatever coating they had for the banana was extra tasty and the coconut ice cream that came with the dessert was just as good. The best part of dessert was the bottle of wine I ordered. I love moscatos so I was very pleased to see that they had one of my favorites: St. Supery Moscato. I can never find this bottle at any of the wine stores around town…so I told J that the only way I can stock up on this wine is if we went to Napa. I already did Napa two weekends in a row in March, so it might not be bad to go again soon.

The conclusion is that this is a great restaurant. I will definitely be heading back there in the future. Food was excellent, ambiance was wonderful — what more could I want. If any of my family or friends come out here, you know where I might take you…

I’m Gaga for LuLu

I welcome you now to a restaurant review.

On Thursday, I had the pleasure of going to San Francisco for dinner at Restaurant LuLu. I was meeting a friend from high school who was in town. My friend C and I met at the restaurant at 7:30 and it was really busy inside. The nice thing I noticed was that though there were a lot of people in LuLu’s, it didn’t sound like it. You didn’t feel you had to shout to be heard. The music was at a minimum volume, which is what I prefer.

The host brought us to our table. Now, I will complain about the chairs. Though the chairs were cushiony and comfy, you didn’t have a lot of room to move them and they didn’t move from the table so easily when you wanted to excuse yourself to go to the ladies room. Other than that, everything at our table was fine. Our waitress was very attentive and sweet. She came over several times to ask us if we wanted anything to drink. At this point, C and I were gabbing away and barely looking at the menu. Eventually we both ordered an Aromatic Whites flight ($10.50) We received 4 generous tastings, the wines were:

1. Piepoul de Pinet, Dm. des Lauriers, Coteaux du Languedoc 2005
2. Chenin Blanc, Chateau du Hureau, Saumur-Champigny, Loire Valley 2004
3. Riesling ‘Glintzberg‘ Domaine Roland Schmitt, Alsace 2004
4. Gruner Veltliner, Glatzer, Carnutum, Austria 2005

The wines were all very tasty. I preferred #1 and #3. They all had strong fruity overtones, in fact C and I agreed that the Riesling smelled like bananas (though it didn’t taste anything like it, it just had the smell.) It was very interesting to say the least.

When we ordered our food, the waitress recommend that we order a couple of appetizer plates and split a pizza (according to the host, their pizza is the best!) We decided to take their advice and we settled on a Bowl of Baby Lettuce and Bread with Vinaigrette, Portabella Beignets with Garlic Aioli sauce, and a Pizza with Heirloom Tomatoes. Most of it was delicious.

Here’s what I thought of the food:

1. The salad of baby lettuce with bread and vinaigrette was okay. There were some parts of the salad that I found too bitter. I wasn’t a fan of it.
2. The Portabella Beignets were superb. Very delicious. The Portabellas are sliced lengthwise in 3/4 inch thick slices, lightly breaded, then lightly deep fried. It sounds fatty, but it melts in your mouth as you eat it. The garlic aioli adds a lot to the taste as well.
3. The pizza was very tasty. I love heirloom tomatoes and these were delicious. The pizza had red and yellow sliced heirloom tomatoes. The pizzas are made the old-school Italian way — they are on a thin crust baked in a wood-fire brick oven. It was marvelous.

The nice thing about the whole meal was that it didn’t cost too much at all. We split the bill down the middle and it ended up being about $42 per person (including the tip). Not bad for San Francisco.

I would recommend it to anyone who likes wine because they have an extensive wine list. It’d be great for a first date — not too fancy, but nice enough to impress your date. Be there or be square. If you’re ever in SF, stop by for a wine tasting or sample some small plates.

Wine, Oh Wine, Oh Wine…

Last night my husband J and I went out to this wine bar called UNWINED (get it? ha ha). We met up with our aunt and uncle, K&K and another couple B&B. At first I didn’t know what to expect. The place is part of shopping strip mall (so you always have to be a little weary of these things…)

Once we settled down and looked at the menu. I felt myself unwinding a little bit (I just had to say that because of the name of the place…) They offer at least 50 different wines to taste and 14 different flights. If you don’t know wines, a flight is where you get to sample 3 or 4 different glasses of wine for a great price. We all ordered different flights. I got myself the Riesling flight. I like Rieslings cause they tend to be a little sweeter and lighter.

The 3 Rieslings I tried were:

1. Emrich-Schonleber, Halbtrocken, Nahe Germany 2003 ($18.95/bottle)
2. Schmitages, Mosel-Saar-Rumer, Germany 2005 ($14.95/bottle)
3. Grans-Fassian, Kabinett, Piesporter Germany 2004 ($23.95/bottle)

They were all very delicious and I loved them all. They were all crisp, smooth, and had strong overtones of fruits. My favorite one was the Grans-Fassian. It was just the right amount of sweet. Of course, I had to buy a bottle. The owner told me it’s his last case, so I may have to stop by this week and stock up on some before it’s out. As you can see from the prices, they are all very reasonable. Since I’ve been out here in CA, I have enjoyed wine more and more — and why not? I am in wine country after all

Another great thing I liked about this place was that the owner of UNWINED was very gracious and personable. He came over and talked to us. Since he knew I liked wines a little more on the sweeter side, he brought over a sherry for me to try. Though I am not a fan of sherry or ports, I took a sip and I felt as though I was drinking through a vat pureed raisins. It reminded me a lot of a madeira wine — which is very sweet. It was nice for him to do that…but in the future I will refrain from all ports or sherries.

I also liked the tapas plates they offered. Now mind you, this isn’t tapas in the Spanish sense, but they called them tapas or “small plates.” We ordered a few of the cheese plates — there was Stilton (stinky bleu cheese) and Jarslberg Swiss, Manchengo and Parmesan, Gouda and Gruyere, and Brie with Figs. Each plate was accompanied by bread, dried fruit, and nuts. I also ordered smoked salmon on creme fraiche with dill on brioche toasts. It was all very good and accompanied all the wine.

The only trouble with wine tasting is that once you start tasting, you can’t stop and before you know it, the bill stacks up. For the 6 of us, our bill totaled about $280. We split the bill 3 ways, so it all worked out in the end. Besides, we had a great time!

If any of our friends ever come out to visit, I’m taking you to UNWINED.