Red Velvet Cupcake Wine!!!

Seriously.

We saw this at Albertson's last week and I was floored. I mean I've had Cupcake Winery before but just their Rosé sparkling wine (the night Charlie gave me my ring!) and I've tried their whites, but Red Velvet!? How could I resist?

We had it before dinner with a bit of Scharffen Berger's 65% cacao chocolate bar. In December of 2008 Michelle, Melissa, Michelle's brother Jimmy and I toured the Sharffen Berger factory in Berkeley and that's when I fell in love. I've never been a huge dark chocolate fan, but theirs is creamy and delicious and tastes amazing. The pairing was awesome.

The wine had undernotes of mocha, blackberries and creamy chocolate and is recommended to pair with Smokey sweet food such as big juicy Bacon cheeseburgers.

It's a "California Red Wine", sampling from several vineyards in what I can only guess come from the Alexander and Napa valleys, but to us it tasted like a sweet Cabernet. Just like a red velvet cupcake it was dark, rich and left you craving more.

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Lisa turns 40, and feeds us all night!

So one of my clients, Lisa, turned 40 this past weekend. She had a fabulous party down in Venice Beach at Big Red Sun, a totally awesome and adorable landscaping and plant arrangement studio, with a big beautiful backyard perfect for a celebration.


The crowd was an awesomely amazing and eclectic mix of artists, foodies, hippies, and friends. The conversation was never dull, and the laughs were constant and hearty. I am amazed at how many people came to show Lisa how much she was loved, my hope is that, at 40, I'll have at least half the crowd she did.


Venice Wines provided an amazing wine bar, with everything you could imagine, including lemonade and sparkling cider for a non-alcoholic option. My favorite was the Argentinian Sparkling Chardonnay, and the sparkling rose.


Adam accompanied me as my date, and we just had the most fabulous of times.


Baby Blues BBQ took care of the grub, and boy was there a lot of grub.


Living in Atlanta for over a year, I got used to amazing BBQ. In fact, some of the best BBQ I've ever had was at Fat Matt's Rib Shack in downtown Atlanta. But I can tell all you Angelenos, that if you want some GOOD 'Q, Baby Blues is about as close as I've ever come in the West. When asking for sutible BBQ substitutes after I had moved back, a few people had mentioned, "I hear Baby Blues in Venice is pretty good." If I had known how close it came, I would have tried it YEARS ago.


Their Corn Cakes are, most simply put, the most amazing cornmeal based bread I've ever had in my life. Sweet, moist, with just the perfect amount of wow. Their ribs, come second to Fat Matt's, but are still fall right off the bone tender.


We had Baby Back and Kansas City ribs, as well as BBQ chicken, and all were just awesome. Their Mac and Cheese was also pretty much to die for. In fact, I don't really have much of anything bad to say about them. They even had collard greens with bacon, and sweet baked beans. I felt like I was back in the South.


My darling, very pregnant client Nina was also there, looking adorable with her newly trimmed bangs, so we had to have a photo op.


The cake, as amazing as I'm sure it was, I didn't get a chance to try. I was wayyyy too stuffed. BAD FOODIE! BAD BAD!


So thank you Lisa, for an amazing party, amazing wine, and amazing grub. Happy Birthday pretty lady!

Hungry Boys are Hungry

So Jim and I have been scheming.


The plan was to introduce Kristi, to his roommate Lee. Simple enough. So yesterday we went over to their apartment to cook dinner, have some drinks and just let the hilarity ensue. I'll refrain from posting any overly silly and embarrassing pictures, or at least I'll try.


A few nights ago, I went over and asked the boys what they wanted for dinner. The answer was an astonding STEAK! MASHED POTATOES! VEGGIES! So... We went to work on a menu.

Kristi was in charge of the veggies, and the garlic bread. I was in charge of steak and taters. Jim was in charge of booze.


Berta's Rosemary Garlic Red Rose Smashed Potatoes;

Red Rose Potatos, about 2-3 for each hungry participant
5-10 Garlic cloves, peeled
2-3 springs of fresh rosemary
Butter (I used 2 tbsp butter and about 4tbsp of spray butter, poured right in)
Milk
Salt
Pepper

Wash and quarter the potatoes, and place them into a pot of cold water with the garlic and rosemary. Bring this to a boil and let it cook for about 20-30 minutes, until the potatoes are fork tender.


Fish out the garlic and rosemary, and drain the potatoes into a colander to drain and steam. Letting the potatoes steam is VITAL. Steaming helps excess water drain out of the potatoes, so they aren't mushy.


In a bowl, mash the garlic and rosemary to a pulp.


Transfer the garlic pulp back into the pot on the stove, over medium heat. Add the milk, butter, salt and pepper, and bring to a slow boil, stirring so the milk doesnt burn.


Once the taters have steamed out, and the liquid is boiling, transfer the liquid into a heat proof bowl. Alternate adding potatoes and liquid into the pot, mashing between each addition. Set on low to keep warm until you are ready to serve.

This is the time to make the boys clean the table and get it ready for dinner, thanks Lee!



Kristi's Deliciously Famous Roasted Veggies;

Vegetables of your choice (we used asparagus, broccoli, carrots, zuchinni, squash, onions and lemon)
Olive Oil
Rosemary
Thyme
Steak Seasoning
Salt
Pepper
Chives
Fennel
(Dried spices work best)


Chop veggies into bite size pieces, and drizzle with oil, and coat with seasons. Place into a preheated oven, at 400* for 25-40 minutes, tossing every 10-15 minutes, until roasted.


Berta's Garlic Herbed Ribeye Steaks;

Ribeye steaks, boneless or bone-in
Olive Oil
Rosemary
Parsley
Garlic

Finely chop the rosemary, parsley and garlic and add oil to make a paste. Rub all over room temperature steaks and let rest 15 minutes.


Grill on a HOT grill for 5-10 minutes each side depending on how well done you like your steaks. I have a great way of testing the doneness using the finger test and it can be found near the bottom of this post.



Kristi's Nummers Garlic Bread;

Butter
Garlic, minced
Parsley
French Bread of Sourdough loaf

Heat oven to 400*. Combine butter, parsley and garlic in a pan on low heat until melted.


Brush butter mixture onto sliced bread and place into the oven on the bottom rack for 10-15 minutes or until golden brown.


Enjoy this meal with a Robert Mondavi Pinot Noir, served in only the classiest of plastic goblets from Medieval Times.


Serve up a big helping for each plate...


... and chow down...


...with laughs...


... and good friends.


Finish off the nightcap with some Coronas.


I mentioned he was spoiled yes?



Drunk Elvis also made an appearance toward the end of the night, but that's on another blog entirely.