little ms foodie

Thanks Chufi, The salmon was seared seperately until just done, about 3 mins ea. side. then I added it to the fennel and cucumbers. It was REALLY moist! I really liked this recipe- it was fast and easy, about 25 mins total with only a bit of chopping prep. We got home late so it was a good night to try it.

Salmon with Saffron Braised Fennel and Cucumber (from Nov. Food and Wine) served with frissee salad with bacon and vinaigrette with poached eggs. Pouilly Fuisse in the glass. cheese plate for dessert Hard aged jack at 1:00, Cabot Vermont Cheddar, asian pears and Blue de Basque

I can't seem to place this shop? What is it near?

grapefruit sprinkled with sugar and an espresso...........

The steaks in shallot sauce and baked potatoes were very happy to meet the onion confit last night. Tonight they are incorporated into steak, goat cheese and onion confit sandwiches!

Just received an email from Open Table today with christmas eve options: Open Table List In the list I would highly recommend Nells, Fish Club, Rays (downstairs- not up) and Tulio.

YEAHHHHH!! My goodness what a superb find to read this today. I'm so excited about your cheesemaking blog. Everything is fantastic already. Just added Casuelita's to my happy hour list. Yum!!! p.s. show the rain.....SHOW THE RAIN!!! haha!

Percy, that is beautiful! truely...my cat is even licking the screen! Dinner tonight... Top Sirloin steaks with shallot sauce, onion confit and baked potatoes with garlic, parsely, EVOO butter and creme fraiche. The rest of the bottle of Masi Ripasso Campofiorin 2001 from the other night.

I don't use a crock pot but just my All Clad saucepan and cook all day on the stove while doing other things. My second batch is in a little jar in the fridge. tonight it will meet steaks in shallot sauce and some roasted potatoes. I have already decided that roasted sweet potatoes tossed in sage butter and mixed with onion confit will be on my Christmas dinner table! I love it on top of goat cheese on baguette. Will be trying the melted Gruyere and onion confit sandwich this weekend!!

ok, I've also fixed my link, it was still showing what I was looking at last. Yep, you caught me! Emeril's in Las Vegas

I just came across this today while using Open Table (which I love BTW!). they have put together a list of restuarants who use their site and are offering special menus, times, etc for new years eve: Restaurant List

Susan, I may have missed this earlier in the thread but when you and Russ get fresh oysters how long can you keep them? And how do you keep them? I'm asking because Dayne and I buy fresh oysters periodically and have always been told to use them by the next day. Just wondering!

The hubby and I went to Nell's last night for our final 25 for $25 until March..oh so sad... I've been once last year but Dayne had not. We were seated in the middle area in a booth. We both decided to go with the wine pairings for an additional $20. They were fantastic!! We both started with the potato leek soup with thyme and tuscan olive oil. I make a lot of this soup and have to say that I will be adding thyme to it now! very delish. The potatoes were pureed while the leeks left in a small chop, excellent texture and flavor. This was paired with a glass of Kanu, Chenin Blanc south Africa 2003 and went together flawlessly!! Next up Dayne had the Butternut Squash Risotto with Kale and Parm. The risotta was done perfectly! this was paired with a Labo Barbera, italy 2001. Very nice. I had the Striped Marlin with white beans, spinach and basil brown butter. YUM!! The fish was perfectly crisp on the outside but still moist on the inside. The white beans and spinach were a huge hit together and I don't generally like cooked spinach. Very nicely paired with a Campuget Viognier, France 2003. For dessert I had the ginger creme brulee with cardamom shortbread cookies. Creme brulee had just the right amount of ginger. Paired with a Hidalgo Rare Napoleon sherry, Spain- love this! must find it and buy it! anyone??? Dayne had the apple crisp with cranberry ice cream and cinnamon currants. He inhaled this! paired with Syncline last harvest chenin blanc Columbia Valley 2003 I mentioned Jon Sconz from this board who knows the chef and Chef Phil Mihalski came out and chatted with us for a while. He is very nice and interesting to talk to. We will definately go back as the food is very good and so are the prices. I still think the interior is strange though. We agreed that the aucoustic tile ceiling, yellow paint and big double glass doors really need to go! Wendy

Interesting little quiz on dining cultures. Take the Quiz 8 out of 11 for me!

toasted leftover baguette with cream cheese and egg nog lattes (thanks to the hubby!)

Katie, I found this about their port: Anne Amie

Here's a list of the flavors: CRUNCH!

Just back from an annual tour of the northern willamette valley for tasting and buying. The 2001 Oregon Pinot Noirs are tasting so good right now! I have to say that many of them when tasted 2 years ago were a bit ho hum. I am excited to start opening things I cellared for a few years. I am certainly no expert at any wine, just a fond fan of the grape. I have to say that my favorites include Lange, D. Drouhin Laurene, Bethel Heights, Witness Tree, and Erath. There are so many though that are doing great wines IMO that I would always buy an Oregon PN over a CA one just for the pure delight of experiencing different bouquets, flavors and styles.

sounds like a terrific trip. (and glad you enjoyed the piece on Bryce/St. Barts. he's a great guy and it's a wonderful project, if a sad one.) ← We were actually able to taste the St Barts at Erath. Very interesting, kind of hard for me to pinpoint things but lots of tart berry, pepper and a bit spicy. When I asked Bryce a bit about the wine and what he thought for opening it he replied "as you can see life is short, I'd say drink it now....but that's just me"

Everyone's t-day dinners look amazing! I got off easy and just had to bring appetizers to the family gathering: pancetta, leek and goat cheese tartlettes. Damn tasty and the first time for me making my own tarts. yeah!! Spent the weekend in OR wine country so I've been eating but not cooking!

Bravo, Bravo!! Beautiful food, beautiful blog! I'm already incorporating some ideas for Christmas dinner. Thank you!

Just back from the north Willamette valley for our annual Thanksgiving wine weekend. What a beautiful 3 days! The weather was gorgeous minus a bit of fog. We drove in on Friday, shortly before noon and stopped at Chehalem, Owen Roe and JK Carriere. Owen Roe was really fantastic, they were tasting a few of their lables- O'Reilly's, Owen Roe and Cottonwood (not theirs but a new winery). Sinister Hand was completely sold out except for large format, they are doing a very interesting Syrah and we bought some good everyday Merlot from their O'Reilly lable. Only picked up a few bottles of St. Barts at Chehalem (if you haven't read J Bonne's article it is really worth the read, very nicely done Jon.) JK Carriere is a favorite of ours, although a bit pricey. We picked up a magnum of 2002 WV Pinot that we had called in a month ago and also a bottle of their Anderson Valley - only 50 cases produced. This was a very small fruit year and many wineries were sold out of certain wines this weekend! On to Domaine Serene where we really only were impressed with the Chardonnay futures and then over to Sokol Blossor who has grown so much since my last visit. Not overly impressive but we picked up a few 99 PN's that are tasty and ready to drink now! We stay out at the Youngberg Inn which is just gorgeous. Dinner that night was at the Joel Palmer House where we haven't been to in 3 years. The service was a bit 'bumbling' for lack of better words. There seemed to be some contest with handing out bread Amuse was a nice bit of wild mushroom risotto with truffle oil and shaved truffles. Very good. We had a Patty Green 2002 WV PN which went very well with our meal. They really know their wines here, when I described the characteristics I was looking for they matched it perfectly! We each had a soup- Dayne the porcini corn chowder and for me the matsutake. We had to send both soups back as they were barely lukewarm. After sometime they reappeared with tons of truffles shaved on top and many appologies. But they still weren't hot. Excellent soup though. Dayne had the beef stroganoff which was buried in black truffle shavings, I had the filet in porcini sauce which they had also put a slab of 'faux gras" on (chicken liver pate with mushrooms) and covered in truffle slices. Jack, chef and owner, came out to see if we were pleased. The meal was fine, it didn't seem as nice as the last time we were there. But we were pleased. Finished dinner with a chocolate banana bread pudding. Sat. we headed out early. Down to the Enola Hills area first. Bethel Heights, Witness Tree and Cristom. We really like the wines that come from this area. Also they are a bit off the normal path and except for the occasional tour bus can be much quieter. Had a very moving and wonderful conversation with Bryce at Witness Tree. He is the winemaker who St Barts was made for to help with the cost of his ALS care. Bryce is such a passionate person who obviously loves his life that it's heartbreaking to know that he won't be around much longer. Cristom had some very interesting pre releases that we picked up as well as some library selections. I am quite excited to try the 95 pinot I found there and see if it held it's fruit!! Back on the road heading up north to Patricia Green and Adelsheim which also had Shea. YUM YUM YUM. that just about sums up our tastes at these 3! Dinner that night at the Bistro Maison in McMinville. We tried this place last year and fell in love. Perfect bistro food, warm, inviting, great service!! Escargots and Soup L'onion then Coq au Vin and Duck Confit. A bottle of Road's End PN from Carlton Wine Cellars....mmmmmm!! Sunday on our way out we hit our two old favorite stand bys- Erath and Lange. At Erath we bought a few different years of one vineyard so we could do a vertical tasting at home as well as some everyday drinkers and a refreshing little Gwertz. At Lange we bought futures that we will pick up next year of their Freedom Hill 2003. All their futures were already tasting great so it was a hard decision! We also grabbed a few bottles of their Pinot Gris 2002 that we just had with turkey dinner and was fantastic! Another successful wine shopping trip and we've already made our room reservations for next year!!

Haha! Suzanne...I love making reservations!! nicely done. please excuse the very blurry photo... tonight was Thomas Keller's herb gnocchi from the new Bouchon cookbook( recipe on CBS early show) and breaded chicken breast pounded thin and rolled with some gruyere inside. served with Chianti for dessert one chocolate and one vanilla cannoli, picked up at one of my favorite espresso shops.

Yesterday Dayne made apple donuts for breakfast!! mmmmm

no they didn't! I only recently started photographing my cooking and it's not easy! And you can't make your guests wait forever for their dinner, just because you want that perfect picture.. ← You can't??? hmm...that explains some things!! LOL!