My Three Birthday Cakes

Although my birthday was over three months ago, I just had the last of my birthday cakes a couple nights ago. That sounds weird, so I will explain.
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It was important to my mom that I have a small birthday celebration at my parents' house; she really want to buy me a cake. Maybe it was because some of my cousins were in town and I do not get to see them very frequently, or maybe just because it was my 30th birthday. I told her I wanted a vanilla ice cream cake. I hate chocolate.

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Seriously, I hate chocolate. People who know how much I like food are usually astonished by that. But I have never liked it. Now, I admit, a Belgian friend of mine always promised that she would bring me some of her favorite chocolate from Belgium, and when she finally did, it was fantastic. So it is certainly possible that I just hate crappy American milk chocolate. But I have never had a chocolate cake that I like. (When I was a kid at birthday parties, there was often a vanilla ice cream clown cone purchased just for me.)

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So I got a simple, vanilla cake that was great. A lot of the people there like chocolate, though, so my parents also bought a chocolate cake in a style that they thought would be more appropriate for me: beer.

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My friend also bought me funfetti, which I don't think I have ever had but she assured me I would like. Her oven did not work at the time, though, and even when she got it fixed I had left the funfetti mix at my parents' and never remembered to pick it up. (Yes, we could have easily bought more at the store, but it just wouldn't be the same, you know?) Recently I remembered to get it, and she made it for me just the other day. I can't believe I made it 30 years without having that. If God himself baked cupcakes just for me I doubt they would be much better.

South Pasadena Pizza, Volume 3: Homemade

I wanted to cook something at home last night so I could watch the election returns. (This was my 4th Presidential election and the 4 candidates for whom I have voted have received a diminishing number of total votes... at this rate, by the 2048 election, the person for whom I vote will receive approximately six votes.) I decided homemade pizza would be good. I no longer have my oven pizza stone, and I've never had luck with fresh dough in the oven without it, so I bought a pre-made thin pizza crust from the store.

There was plenty of leftover tomato and basil pasta sauce from the chicken parmesan my friend made last week, although it's a bit thick and sweet, so I put some in the blender with a couple cloves of garlic and some oregano. I grilled a couple ears of corn and caramelized some sweet onions.

I used three kinds of cheese (all from Trader Joe's): Gouda, English cheddar with caramelized onions, and a dusting of parmesan on top. After I cooked the pizza (about 15 minutes in the oven) I added some chopped basil and cilantro. The pizza was good, although the sauce still was much too sweet, particularly considering the sweetness of the corn and sweet onions. I should have added more garlic to the sauce in the blender. However, I ate a leftover slice for breakfast this morning, and I doused it with a generous helping of Tapatio, and it was much better.

Olive Oil Dinner

I wanted to cook a dinner for a few friends that showcased my own olive oil. To start with, I put out a spread of crostini (I just cut up a baguette and grilled the slices for a couple minutes on my panini press) with fresh mozzarella, peppadew peppers, and basil on top. I also included some Port Salut (a French cow cheese) and some manchego (a Spanish sheep's milk cheese.) I poured a little of the Sicilian chili oil on a plate, which went perfectly with the softer cheeses.

My friend made the vegetable dish; she sliced some zucchini and cooked it in a wok with lemon oil and some fresh rosemary that I stole that morning from my parents' house (they have perhaps the most fragrant rosemary that I have ever smelled in their backyard.)

I grilled slipper lobster tails (from Fish King) on the indoor grill and made up a sauce of champagne, vanilla and butter. A flank steak had been marinating for a couple days in a mixture of garlic, black pepper, and my mandarin oil. I grilled that to about medium rare then drizzled some extra mandarin oil over it.

There was a salad of lettuce, grilled corn, jicama and croutons, for which I made up a oil and vinegar dressing with my lemon oil. I guess I did not take a picture of it. For dessert we kept things very simple: a cherry pie from Pie 'n Burger.

The Beauty Of The Days Gone By

I love Van Morrison. I have been listening to his music for more than half my life and I have indelible memories for many of his songs. Whether it's listening to "Ancient Highway" while driving through Kentucky at sunset on a warm winter day or listening to "These Are The Days" with a bunch of friends while watching Michael Jordan's last game (I don't count the two seasons he came back,) Van's music has been a soundtrack to many of my favorite days. A few years ago my brother and I were in Belfast and we drove over to East Belfast to make a pilgrimage to the house Van was born in. Van is the man.

So instead of calling this post "leftovers," I'm borrowing the title of one of my favorite songs of Van's. My friend and I had leftover chicken parmesan from the night before and I decided to put it in a sandwich. I put some mustard on bread, added some more cheese, some pickles, and some basil, then put the sandwich on the panini press. It was even better than the night before.

A Dam Fine Day

My brother and his buddies sometimes do work for a reality TV show (they are experts at using rope and this particular show creates physical challenges that often utilize rope.) The other day my brother was building a set at Sepulveda Dam and asked if I would help out, which sounded like fun to me.
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We stopped at Carl's Jr. for breakfast. My brother swore to me that their steak and egg breakfast burritos are awesome. I took one look at the picture on the menu display and decided there was no way I could order something like that. (He ordered it without egg, which made me laugh.) I took one bite of his anyway. It was not good.

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But neither was my sourdough breakfast sandwich. I certainly was not expecting it to be as good as something homemade, but I was not prepared for just how bad it would be. So the lesson is: don't eat breakfast at Carl's Jr. It really tests my idea of every meal of every day being its own party.

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It was a nice day at the dam, however, and I worked up quite an appetite hauling around trusses, unwinding rope, and trying to drive a golf cart up the spillway (I could only get it about ten feet.) At lunchtime some of the production crew on the show surprised us with a HUGE box of sandwiches from Philly's Best. I have never had one, but I have several friends who love their sandwiches.

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The sandwich I grabbed had steak and American cheese. It was absolutely fantastic. Was it better because I had spent hours sweating and I was hungry? Maybe, but maybe not. The steak was tender, there was the perfect amount of cheese, and the handful of peppers I added were great. Even the fries, which had been sitting in a bag in the back of a truck for perhaps half an hour before I took a break to eat, were still good.

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I will be visiting Philly's Best again in the next couple weeks to try another one of their sandwiches.