eG Foodblog: CaliPoutine (2011) - Surviving and Thriving in the Land o

[heidih]

Thanks for reminding me about the swap meet. I think we will check it out. If you're free on Friday and would like to join us, let me know. I'll call this afternoon for a reservation.

Now I have to go check out Dale's diner.

Thanks for the invite - unfortunately tomorrow is a "zoo" of commitments. Will look forward to your report about At Last.

[CaliPoutine]

lunch today. Local Mexican place. First up chips and salsa. I'm not a fan of chips( I know!!), I'd much rather have warm tortillas.

I got the lunch special, a chicken enchilada ranchera style( comes with sour cream and guac). I got double rice, I'm not in love with their beans. Kinda pasty. I much prefer black beans.

Julie gets the same thing every single time. A cheese enchilada. Both entrees were 7.95 each.

I currently have some ground turkey sloppy joes simmering on the stove.

[Kim Shook]

I actually HAVE made a boob cake - for one of the doctors at work. I've also made a...um....gentleman cake (urologists)! I don't know what you are planning for icing, but I found that a few coats of really thick glaze worked best to accentuate the 'contours' !

I looked at the At Last menu. It looks great - I'd love some mac and cheese with ham!

[CaliPoutine]

Dinner tonight.

I cooked some onion, garlic, spices, carrot and celery in evoo. I added 1lb of of ground turkey( breast). I then added organic tomato puree, worsteshire, brown sugar and cider vinegar. I also added a Tbls of tomato paste. We had this on small slider buns from Trader Joes.

I dont think Julie liked it very much. She asked me how I was going to make the sloppy joes. She said " are you using tomato soup"?, and I said " Ummm, NO"?, I dont use canned soups. She then replied " just dont tell me whats in it". Sigh......

[Peter the eater]

Any idea what the white ground turkey package means by "natural flavoring added"?

I like a sloppy joe where the bun is eclipsed by the slop.

[CaliPoutine]

I actually HAVE made a boob cake - for one of the doctors at work. I've also made a...um....gentleman cake (urologists)! I don't know what you are planning for icing, but I found that a few coats of really thick glaze worked best to accentuate the 'contours' !

I looked at the At Last menu. It looks great - I'd love some mac and cheese with ham!

How did you make the cake? I was thinking of baking a 9 x 13 and then using two stainless bowls to make the boobs. I was going to attach the boobs to the body, and frost it with flesh colored frosting.

What kind of cake did you bake

[CaliPoutine]

Any idea what the white ground turkey package means by "natural flavoring added"?

I like a sloppy joe where the bun is eclipsed by the slop.

Hmmm, not sure. Maybe Pam knows since its Empire Kosher turkey.

They were good and the small slider bun was enough. My blood sugar was perfect this morning too.

Btw, I bought those black and white checkered papers at Restaurant Depot. I use them when I send baked goods on platters to J's work. I also use them to line plates. Easy cleanup and the papers were cheap.

Coffee today.

Edited October 14, 2011 by CaliPoutine (log)

[Zeemanb]

Any idea what the white ground turkey package means by "natural flavoring added"?

I could be wrong, but when I see that I generally associate it with salt water being added to various meat products. But most of the time it will say "x-percentage of solution added"...so not sure here.

[heidih]

Here is a link to the USDA page on the term. Sounds like spices, but not meat extracts or MSG.

[andiesenji]

I actually HAVE made a boob cake - for one of the doctors at work. I've also made a...um....gentleman cake (urologists)! I don't know what you are planning for icing, but I found that a few coats of really thick glaze worked best to accentuate the 'contours' !

I looked at the At Last menu. It looks great - I'd love some mac and cheese with ham!

How did you make the cake? I was thinking of baking a 9 x 13 and then using two stainless bowls to make the boobs. I was going to attach the boobs to the body, and frost it with flesh colored frosting.

What kind of cake did you bake

I made dozens of these back when I was catering. I started with a 1/2 sheet pan cake but a 9x13 is good for a smaller cake.

I used two SS pudding basins as they have rounded bottoms, some mixing bowls work too and for one smaller cake I used cappuccino cups - either one fill 1/3 full of batter to get the best proportions.

The bottom cake has to be fairly dense to avoid it collapsing under the weight of the "boobs" (a mistake I made with my first one). I just used one of the Bundt cake recipes as they tend to be firmer than regular layer cakes.

You need to carve the base cake to imply shoulders and a narrower waist but that isn't difficult.

Most of the ones I made were actually bikini cakes rather than "naked lady" cakes.

Edited October 14, 2011 by andiesenji (log)

[onrushpam]

Hereis a blog with step-by-step instructions for one that turned out pretty well. It doesn't have a cake base, however.

[heidih]

Forgot to mention that I like the wooden spoon shot above. Is that your cooking implement of choice? I feel awkward in a kitchen without one

[CaliPoutine]

lunch today was in Seal Beach. I didnt really want to go to Seal Beach because of the salon shooting on Wednesday, but we were both craving pizza and this place has good NY style pizza( which is sorely lacking in our town). 2 slices and a drink are 6.50. I had mushroom, J had pepperoni.

We wanted a little treat so we proceeded to Belmont Shore for a cupcake from Frosted. I've tried lots of cupcakes from all over LA and Frosted is one of my favorites. Julie always orders a choc. with vanilla frosting. I had the chocolate with toffe frosting and we shared the hi-top. Salted caramel( 1.45). The cupcakes were 2.95 each.

We have a 6pm reservation tonight @ At Last.

Btw, its about 82F here. Perfect weather to enjoy the pool. See ya later.

[Peter the eater]

Enjoy the dip -- you deserve it!

[CaliPoutine]

Forgot to mention that I like the wooden spoon shot above. Is that your cooking implement of choice? I feel awkward in a kitchen without one

For most things, yes. For eggs, I use a silico spatula, but only one that is made in the USA. Either Le Creuset or Williams Sonoma. For chicken, I use tongs.

[CaliPoutine]

Dinner tonight( my pics are taking forever to upload, I'll have to try again tomorrow)

Julie and I shared the "house" salad(5.25). Mixed greens, pecans, bacon bits and mozzarella. I didnt realize there were raw tomatoes in here too. I asked that the greens be changed from spring mix to romaine.

I had the polenta appetizer(6.50). This is the dish featured on Diners, Drive Ins and Dives. I get this every single time. Julie ordered the stuffed center cut pork chop. I had a few bites too. It was dry, which surprisd me. I think this is another dish that was on the tv show. You can watch the video of the show on You Tube. I told the waitress that it was dry, but that we would still eat it. She brought a complimentary bread pudding for dessert. I LOVE bread pudding, but this wasnt that good either. It was cold in the middle and hot on the edges.

I took a picture of the food from the table next to ours too.

[CaliPoutine]

Here are the dinner pics.

salad

polenta with mushroom sauce

stuffed pork chop

The gentleman at the next table ordered this mac n cheese w/ham( for you Kim)

His wife ordered mahi mahi with a mango salsa. She said the fish was bland.

Complimentary bread pudding. This was meh. Cold inside and warm on the edges. Ive had much better bread pudding.

So, overall, a somewhat dissapointing meal. I've eaten there half a dozen times, but only for lunch so not sure if this was a "dinner" issue or what. The total cost of the meal came to twenty nine dollars and change( without tip)

I have two groupons to use today. One for breakfast, the other for dinner.

[percyn]

Are these "Now" groupons or regular ones?

[andiesenji]

Are these "Now" groupons or regular ones?

Depending on your location, if you first sign in to Ebates and then to Groupon or Restaurant.com, you can get cash back as well as the discount.

My daughter lives in the bay area and uses this extensively. There is nothing much up here in my area but closer to L.A. and the O.C. there are many ways to save $$$ this way.

[Dejah]

Randi: I love that you took pictures of the food on the next table. I like to do that too, especially if it's something I'd want to try and replicate at home.

I once told another egulleteer to do that, and she actually used it as her signiture line.

Enjoying your blog. Have some places I'll try next August. And I'd love to cook with you when I'm down that way again...or go for a meal.

[CaliPoutine]

Are these "Now" groupons or regular ones?

just regular ones. I buy them for Long Beach because we are here a lot.

Todays breakfast was a groupon for Cafe Lafayette in Seal Beach. 2 Breakfasts and 2 mimosas for 15.00. We both dont drink( for no other reason that we dont like the taste) so we had sodas. My entree was normally 11.95 plus 1.25 extra for egg whites. Julies was 9.95( or maybe 8.95). I had to pay the tax and the extra money for the egg whites. My omelette had bacon, avocado and jack cheese. The whites were coooked perfectly. I despise brown on my eggs. The potatoes were awesome too, creamy inside and crisp on the outside. This came with sourdough toast.

Julies was a baked french toast with a mixed berry sauce. Another of Jules's food quirks is that she doesnt like syrup, so if she orders pancakes or french toast, it has to have a sauce or a berry. I thought maybe she didnt like syrup because she never had real maple syrup. I had her try that and Nope, she didnt like that either.

Edited October 15, 2011 by heidih
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[CaliPoutine]

I took a pic of the dogs this morning when we fed them. We have our 4 here( the two big dachsunds, the cairn and the westie). My aunt has 3 mini dachshunds and she is watching 2 others doxie mixes( not in the pic). The white stuff on top of their food is a Tbls of plain yogurt. My vet recommended that for their digestion.

After breakfast we went to Los Alamitos. We went to Katella Deli so I can order Julie's Retirement cake. I'm having a party for her at my aunts place on Nov.`12th. She isnt retiring until January, but I will be deep in the middle of bar study by then. I ordered her a 1/4 sheet cake, one layer of white, one of chocolate with a chocolate pudding filling and a whipped cream frosting. I had the same cake when I graduated law school. I'm going to either have an edible photo put on top or the air force emblem. Not sure yet.

We bought 2 rolls to make lunch with( turkey sandwiches), some macaroni salad, a hamantashen( J's never had one) and some macaroons. The macaroons were 35 cents each. The last one I got in Santa Monica, I paid 2.00 for.

Edited October 15, 2011 by CaliPoutine
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[annabelle]

That is the biggest hamentashen I have ever seen! What kind of filling?

Edited October 15, 2011 by annabelle (log)

[CaliPoutine]

That is the biggest hamentashen I have ever seen! What kind of filling?

Cherry, but it tasted like canned pie filling. The actual cookie part was bland. J didnt like it( either did I).

[CaliPoutine]

Dinner tonight.

We went to La Strada on 2nd street( Belmont Shore) in Long Beach. I bought this groupon for 30.00. It came with 1 app, 2 entrees( up to 21.95 in value) and 2 glasses of wine. We subbed soft drinks for the wine.

The appetizer section was kinda sparse. sauteed mushrooms, eggplant parm, caprese, brushetta. I chose these shrimp that were in a lobster cream sauce. It came with 4 shrimp. I enjoyed them although I didnt detect any lobster flavor.

For the mains, I had a chicken dish that included tomatoes, mushrooms, artichoke hearts, garlic, rosemary, basil, olive oil. It was tasty. There was a huge chicken breast underneath all the veggies/pasta.

Julie had spagetti and meatballs. She said " its not as good as your sauce". Sweet.

I never went to La Strada before, even though I've walked by it a million times. I'm glad I bought the Groupon to try it out. The restaurant was packed, when I went back to see how much I paid for the Groupon, I saw that they sold over 1,0000. I wish I would have bought another one.

Sorry I didnt get to post the boob cake. I have to figure out the logistics re: making it. I need it for next Sunday. I'll post it in the dessert thread when I finish it.

I'm also sorry that I didnt give you more cooking. Like I mentioned, my culinary life has really changed since moving back to Cali. I hope when the kitchen is finished, I'll be able to do more cooking at home.

Edited October 16, 2011 by heidih
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