Mary Lou's Luncheon

Mary Lou invited 3 of her "dancing" friends over for lunch yesterday. She had made a Ham Quiche, a Mushroom Quiche, Cole Slaw and Marinated Oranges. We could tell she put a lot of work into everything. The quiches were super delicious as they were very light and airy. The cole slaw went well with both quiches.

The unusual item on the table was the sliced oranges. I had one bite and I thought this was the sweetest most wonderful orange I have ever had. It must have been picked directly from the Garden of Eden! Mary Lou revealed the secret; they were marinated in honey, lemon juice, ginger and orange rind overnight. We all were fascinated by these orange slices.

When we were all stuffed, she brought out individual ramekins with mixed berries and an oatmeal topping which were baked then topped with ice cream. I was to excited that I forgot to take a picture of her masterpiece.

Mary Lou was a great hostess. When I got home, all I could think of was my bed. It was time for a short nap. What a nice and pleasant way to spend and afternoon.

Love & Salt

A friend had given me a $50 gift card for my birthday last year. The day finally came to experiment to see what Love & Salt was all about. I did not make reservations as I was not sure what time we would get there from seeing a great movie at the Laemmle Royal in West Los Angeles. In case you are curious about the movie; it was titled "Remember" with Christoper Plummer and Martin Landau.
Back to the restaurant....we got there at 5:40 p.m. They have only been open for 10 minutes. We had no reservations so they told us we could sit anywhere as long as we are done by 7:00 p.m. Not a problem.

Love & Salt is "Italian" inspired with a "California"soul. They have Wood Oven Pizza, a few house made pasta, vegetables & grains and some fish and steaks. Our very knowledgeable server explained that most of the plates were small and meant to be shared. Sandi had her eye on the Creste di Gallo, slow braised lamb ragu with reggiano parmesan. It was aldente and good but we both agreed we have had better lamb ragu. I asked the server about the Grilled Mediterranean Octopus with chorizo, crispy potatoes, preserved lemon and salsa verde. She assured me it was tender and not rubbery. She was right as the octopus was very tender indeed. It too was delicious but it didn't "grab me" with it's tentacles.

We also decided to order a pizza to share. The Duck Egg sounded good with pancetta, panna, potato, rosemary,  mozzarella and parmesan. It arrived with a raw egg on top and as soon as I took a picture, the server poked the egg yolk as it flowed on to the rest of the pizza. The server helped distribute the yolk to the rest of the pizza. The crust was thin which was nice, though Sandi made the comment that it was not crispy enough. Again, we both liked it but would we want a repeat?

I have to say we were both full even with the smaller plates. The best part of our dining experience was perhaps the dessert. It was the simplest but most delicious gelato; Marionberry Lemon. We shared one scoop and it was quite satisfying.

Love & Salt is located at 317 Manhattan Beach Blvd. in Manhattan Beach California.

Easter Dinner 2016

Last year Sandi invited us to her house for Easter dinner. I think she felt compelled to do a repeat performance. As usual, her table setting was set beautifully in pastel colors. I brought some color coordinated chocolate eggs and bunnies. She had lots of hors d'oeuvres, including olives stuffed with blue cheese which was very good with Champagne.

Her main entree was an Easter Ham. She insisted on making ham even if she doesn't like ham because she abides by the rule that on Easter, one should serve ham. I like ham so who am I to argue especially when she announced that she was planning to serve it with 2 kinds of sauces; pineapple and a raisin sauce.

I could not decide which sauce was better; they were equally delicious with the ham. The Macaroni and Cheese was perfect with the panko topping mixed with with garlic and Parmesan cheese then fried. The Brussels Sprouts were roasted with chili, garlic sauce and sweet soy sauce. Those veggies were not enough so she had to make Multi-colored Baby Carrots and some Coleslaw. She was afraid that would still not be enough so she bought some Potato Salad.

Since none of us are shy in any way, we ate till we could eat no more.....aside from the impending dessert.  We seem to always have room for that. I baked an Apricot Cream Strudel.  I wish I could take full credit on making it but all I did was buy it frozen from Mishi's Strudel and then popped it in the oven. Sandi served it with a scoop of salted caramel ice cream.

As we consumed what seemed to be everything on the dinner table, we relaxed a bit. Aaron turned the news on the television as we watched another one of Los Angeles car chases wherein the bad guy drove on the freeway and and residential areas in high speed. The cops finally did a pit maneuver and the person got out of the car....the guy turned out to be a gal! She had her hands up and as she walked towards the police car when she suddenly went for the driver's seat of the patrol car. She was going to run away from them. Luckily, the police was fast enough to stop her.

Family, great food and entertainment. What more can you ask for on an Easter Sunday......thank you Sandi, for inviting your other family.

Panera's Mushroom Souffle

If you haven't had the egg souffle's of Panera Bread, you are missing out. These are the best items to order. It beats any bagels, sandwiches, pastries etc. etc. My favorite has always been the Artichoke Souffle. A few weeks ago the lady in front of me ordered a Mushroom Souffle. The saleswoman told her they were out of it.  I asked the lady about it and she said they're new and it's delicious.

The following week, I saw the Mushroom Souffle sitting with it's siblings. I ordered one. I was shockingly surprised on how delicious it was. How can anything this good come out of a Panera Bread Store; life truly is full of surprises. The souffle had roasted mushrooms, tomatoes, spinach, onion and Romano, Parmesan, Cheddar and Neufchatel Cheese.

An Egg Souffle with a cup of the dark roast coffee and you will be ready to conquer the day. I must warn you that they run out of these souffles as early as 9:00 a.m. I called and asked them why they don't make a lot to begin with so as not to run out.  Their response was because some people come and buy a bunch of them. When that happens early enough, they cook another batch.

Panera Bread has many locations. Hopefully there is one near you.

Good Stuff

So far, Good Stuff has been thriving at the Promenade in Rolling Hills Estates. It has not been there very long so it might be premature to say that it is doing great judging by the crowd inside.

My friend Yvonne invited me for breakfast the other day. She is an alumni of Good Stuff. Even the waiter greeted her like a long lost friend. She used to go almost everyday in Redondo Beach, with her mother, who has since passed away.

I asked her what was good at this restaurant. She mentioned that the waffles were good. They had 1/2 a waffle with eggs on the menu. I was going to order that but decided instead on a whole waffle. I was not allowed to order that; she suggested I needed to order some protein; eggs. She was looking at "the Basic" on the menu. This included 2 eggs, potatoes, 4 pieces of bacon and a side of either toast or pancakes. We ordered 1 of each so we could split the pancakes (2 came in an order).

I was starving as I had worked out earlier at the gym so by 8:30 I was experiencing full blown hunger. The breakfast was as good as can be. I ate my 1 large pancake, 2 fried eggs, potatoes, and all 4 pieces of bacon.

Yvonne was not as hungry as I was, judging by her left overs. She only ate 1 egg, 2 pieces of bacon, a few bites of potatoes and half her pancake. I on the other hand, cleaned my plate out!

I will have to go back and try their waffles next time. I thank Yvonne for a very filling breakfast.

Hikari Japanese BBQ and Grill

On my way to Sandi's house, I noticed something different in the corner of Lomita Blvd. and Pennsylvania Ave. in Lomita. There was a new restaurant right next to Patisserie Chantilly. Hikari Japanese BBQ and Grill; 2383 Lomita Blvd. Suite 102.

We were the first customers for the evening. There was one long communal table in the center and several other tables along the walls. We immediately noticed there were heating elements on each table so I was ready to drag Sandi out the door but thought of asking if they have other dishes we didn't have to cook ourselves. We were in luck as there were numerous items on the menu that were cooked by the chef.

It took us awhile to make up our minds. Masaki, our young male server was very patient and eager to explain the menu to us. We finally decided on 2 dishes to split. The first one was called Bibimbap. Sandi said she liked the name and the description sounded good; it is essentially mixed rice with meats and vegetables and an egg. This is presented on a stone pot that is very hot and we allow the Bibimbap to cook a bit. Masaki asked us if we like our rice a bit burnt....oh yes! He mixed everything and swept the rice and flattened it with a spoon on the sides of the hot stone to continue cooking.

The other dish which I ordered was the Sauteed Pork Belly and Eringi Mushrooms with Miso Butter Sauce. This was unbelievably mouth watering. I ate it with the Bibimbap but towards the end of the meal, I just poured the left over sauce aka butter miso in my rice. The serving was quite small. We thought of ordering another Bibimbap or Pork Belly. For two people, you really need more than 2 dishes. Because of the small servings, we definitely had room for dessert.

Only one thing caught my eye and that was the French Toast. I thought it was odd to have this as a dessert. We had to try it. It was definitely quality and not quantity. Super yummy as the bread was thoroughly soaked so each bite was wonderful.

Masaki was going to introduce us to Chef Takeshi but he was too busy preparing a dinner for a party of 20 last night. Perhaps we will meet him next time.

Sandi's Chili & Key Lime Pie

Everyone has their own Chili recipe but sometimes it's what you put on it that adds that extra pizzazz.

Sandi served it with a dollop of sour cream and Fritos Corn Chips.  When I tasted how good that was, the dollop multiplied and ended up more like 1/4 cup. The Fritos which was a bit salty balanced the spiciness of the chili. She served this with Corn Bread from a mix that she bought from Trader Joe's. It was delicious and even more so when we applied some of the honey butter she made. This was a healthy meal on account of the beans which were packed with antioxidants, fiber, protein, vitamin B, iron, copper, zinc and magnesium. To make up for the sour cream and fritos, she made a healthy salad.

What is dinner without dessert....not a dinner! I have always loved her Key Lime Pie. She finally decided to make it. I am still madly in love with it and now even Piero fell in love with it. This pie had a chocolate graham cracker crust which which is always perfect with something tart. The fluffy meringue was the "icing on the cake".

What a nice dinner on a cold night. Grazie mille Sandi!