Joannie's Fruit Cake

You all know what they say about fruit cake. The numerous jokes and how some people use them as doorstops. I have had my share of the terrible hard and dry ones in the past.

My friend Joni who is more like a cousin since her father and my father used to be best friends, loves to cook and bake. I recently had her pumpkin chocolate cake on Thanksgiving and loved it; considering I hate pumpkin and so does she! 

One of Joni's specialties is her Fruitcake. It is her grandmother's recipe. She used to help her grandma make it together with her mom, Tita Julie. She promised to give me one the next time she saw me, which was Christmas Day. I reminded her not to forget my fruitcake, or I would have sent her back home!

The fruitcake was really heavy (weight wise). Two days ago, I decided to try it as I slowly unwrapped the many layers of wrapping. The aroma of the brandy was intoxicating. I couldn't wait to take a slice. As I did, it sort of fell apart but it was a good sign because it was so very moist. I didn't need an electric knife to cut it.

The cake was so incredibly delicious. I haven't had anything like it before. When I called her, she explained to me that all the fruits are individually soaked in brandy, the pineapple, orange and citron peel are individually glazed.There are currants, golden and amber raisins and whole candied cherries. She also uses unsulfured organic molasses which is only sold out of state. I know I'm not doing her justice in explaining this process since I am not a baker. I only remember that she told me it takes about 5 days for the process. So this is not your "buy the ingredients, put it together and pour brandy" kind of cake. 

It really takes a lot of time and love to make this and it's only when you experience the unwrapping, the  whiff of brandy and your first bite will you understand what I am talking about. 

Joni's email address if you are interested in this amazing experience is JoanF@joanofartenterprises.com

Cremé de la Crêpe

After visiting our friends Frank and Mary, we planned to have an early dinner at Cremé de la Crêpe. Wednesdays are their "free corkage night'. We took advantage of that, plus I was dying to try their Mussels with fries. I was ready to compare it with the ones from Meet in Paris in Culver City, which prepared them perfectly. 

We were both starving. I ordered the Mussels, and I was offered a choice of sauces. I decided on the Dijon Mustard. I was pleasantly surprised by the quantity of Mussels and the large number of fries. As soon as I tried it, I was hooked. The mussels were delicious, and the sauce was addicting. There was a large amount of fries that they begged to be dumped in the dijon mustard sauce. I was in 7th heaven! 

Zohreh ordered the Crab Burger with a generous amount of fries. She was happy with her burger and insisted I try it, so I did. It was mouth-watering. She could not finish her fries, so I lent her a helping mouth.

I was impressed with their food's quality, quantity, and presentation. I can't wait to return to Cremé de la Crêpe. They have multiple locations. We went to the one located at 550 Deep Valley Dr. #145 in Rolling Hills Estates, California.

Musso and Frank

The last time I dined at Musso and Frank was with Sandi in March 2019. They closed during the pandemic, and I've been dying to return. Zohreh and I spent the night at the Everly Hotel, a one-night stay Christmas present from my son. Zohreh has never been to this iconic restaurant which opened in 1919. She's wanted to go since she saw the restaurant featured in movies including The Kominski Method.

I looked for Mr. Landroche, the maître d', but unfortunately, he was off that evening. So was our last server, Nick. We ended up with Craig, who was just as fun and professional as Nick. We had to order their famous Martini. We both ordered them very dirty with 3 olives. 

I was able to convince Zohreh to leave the ordering to me. But, before we ordered, Craig brought us some of their delicious sourdough bread with lots of butter. 

We both like Caesar Salad, so we split an order of that. I ordered their Classic made-to-order Grenadine of Beef with Bearnaise sauce. We had to have the famous Original Fettucine Alfredo, which tastes like the one I've had several times in Rome. Zohreh agreed that this was no ordinary Alfredo which is normally too rich. This was light and just heavenly!!!

We really were both too full for dessert. Craig filled us in with some history. He informed us that we were sitting in the Marilyn Monroe-Joe DiMaggio booth. He also told us that the 1st booth was Charlie Chaplin's, which he liked since he would park his horse right by the entrance and could keep an eye on him.  We thank Craig for a nice dining experience and look forward to our next visit.

Musso and Frank is located at 6667 Hollywood Blvd., in Hollywood, California.

Potato Pizza at Bonello's New York Pizza

Wayne and Tiffany came over yesterday for an informal dinner which pizza was to be the main event. I had warned them that this was not their ordinary pizza and that it was heavy on carbs! They gave me a puzzled look and seemed perplexed. I immediately told them to "hold their horses" and told them to be open because it really was delicious, especially when they took my suggestion of adding spicy honey to the pizza. 

I asked Tony at Bonello's if he could partially cook the pizza, and I would finish cooking it in my oven. He asked if I had a pizza pan, and I said yes, though it was much smaller than his regular-size pizza, which is humongous. He was so nice to lend me one of his pans to ensure everything went well. I preheated the oven to 500 degrees and cooked the pizza for 10 minutes, and let it stand for another 5-10 minutes. It looked incredible! 

They loved the pizza. My response was, "Would I serve anything that I didn't like and was not delicious?" I served it with a salad. 

Before they left, Tiffany saw the beautiful moon outside and wanted a picture. So we all went out in the cold, and I took pictures of the moon and the lovely couple. 

Iccho

When Amy called and wanted to take me out to dinner, I chose her favorite restaurant, Iccho. We got there before 5 p.m. and went in the back door only to be told they were not yet open so we had to go back to the car and wait. 

They started us out with a small dish of Edamame. Amy had to have her glass of red wine, and so did I. She ordered a Pork Belly dish which was very good. 

I was torn between Shrimp Tempura and Udon. It was wet and cold outside so I thought Udon would be great. When our server came, I told her about my dilemma, and she suggested I order the Udon with Tempura on the side which was on the menu and I neglected to see. I so loved the Udon, and the Tempura was cooked to perfection. I got 2 shrimp and some vegetables with them. That really hit the spot!

We both enjoyed the evening and I left the restaurant happy and full. I just wish they open earlier than 5 p.m. Iccho is located at the Rolling Hills Plaza at 25310 Crenshaw Blvd. in Torrance, California.