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Oh Dear! I forgot how difficult (for me at least) it is to tune and tweak a template to get it to look the way you want. This past week I pulled my hair, I cried , I destroyed all the work that was done already by accident, I called the poor soul that was helping me a zillion times. He is probably changing his number right now as we speak (type). (Sorry man! Thank you for all your patience, you are an angel). Then the dammed plugins…..ahhhhhh! I could totally chew some nasty plugins and spit it out. LOL. I made the design for ‘bakerwanabe’, but some little nasty details were depending on the skills of a programmer. Oh! I wish I new html, php, etc.etc. It’s so frustrating having something in your head and not to be able to make it work.

The template is okay now, almost working, I’m still having some issues with the Meta. I have to put my password again and again all the time I change pages, it’s a mystery… Sigh*….big sigh*…but there is good out of all this chagrin. The response couldn’t be better. I want to thank all of you that came and befriended me all over again at foodbuzz, my phone biped the whole day on Thursday with foodbuzz friend requests or comments. I really appreciate the support. I even made to top 9. Thank you guys so much. So last Saturday I planned a picnic at the beach, to relax and get rid of all the bad energy. It was a night picnic, I brought some lanterns, and had my little salad with under the moon light. I don’t know about you but I think night picnics at the beach are darn romantic, the ocean waves, the moon light, the mosquitoes… well not everything is perfect. But it was worth it.

Picnic Pasta Salad

Ingredients:

• 1/2 pound short pasta
• Kosher salt for the pasta water
• 1 pound grape or cherry tomatoes
• 3/4 cup good black, kalamata olives, pitted
• 1 pound good feta cheese, medium-diced
• 1 cucumber diced
• 4 radishes shaved in a mandolin
• 1 can of garbanzo bean washed and drained
• ¼ of purple cabbage sliced very thinly

For the dressing:

• 3 tablespoons lemon juice
• 6 tablespoons good olive oil
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 3/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 cup fresh dill, chopped

Directions:

Cut the cherry tomatoes in half and place them in a large bowl. Cook the pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water (season the water is very important). Boil for 12 minutes, or according to the directions on the package. Drain well and allow to cool. Place the pasta in a bowl and add the tomatoes, olives, feta, cucumber, garbanzo beans, radishes, and cabbage. For the dressing, combine the olive oil, garlic, lemon juice, dill,  salt and pepper and whisk to combine. Pour the dressing over the pasta, and toss well.

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Ah Friday! Sweet Friday! The promises that I’m finally going to kick my flip-flop up and relax. Yes…. Thankfully I don’t have to kick some high heels, flipies are my friend. LOL. Do you know what is my favorite thing to do on Fridays, drive the Pacific highway, Awwwwww…. how pretty is that, all the surfers in the water waiting for a wave, the sun shinning on the sand and the smell of the ocean. Nothing can bit that. It’s lovely…and on the way there is this amazing garden store overlooking the sea.  Its pure awesomeness, moving to California was the best decision we ever made. I can’t say enough how happy we are, the weather so far is unbelievable nice. Not too hot, it feels like spring. We don’t even need air conditioner; the house is always with a nice breeze. Sometimes I even feel cold, I have to put a little cardigan. And my husband laugh hysterically when I tell him I’m cold. Yes… it is his mission in life to mock me. But I don’t hold against him. So Tonight I made this dish that totally says summer I put some candles outside in my balcony and we just had some peaceful lovely dinner sipping some wine. And talking about our day.

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Israeli Couscous with Bacon and Mussels

Ingredients:

• 1 cup of couscous
• 1 pound of mussels
• 3 slices of bacon chopped
• 1 yellow onion chopped
• 2 garlic gloves minced
• 1 teaspoon of red chili flakes
• Cherry tomatoes
• ½ pond of calamari
• 2 tablespoons of parsley chopped
• 1 cup of dry white wine
• 2 cups of chicken stock

Directions:

Soak mussels in a large bowl with cold water, changing the water twice, this helps to remove any grits. Scrub the mussels well and pull out the beards. Heat a large pan and fry the bacon until crispy, remove then bacon from the pan and set aside. Add the calamari in the bacon fat toss calamari quickly around and cook only 2-3 minutes until done. Remove calamari and set aside. Add onions, garlic, and the chili flakes. Cook, stirring, for 5 minutes or until soft. Add the tomatoes, parsley, and wine and bring to a boil over medium high heat. Reduce heat to medium allow to simmer for 2 minutes Cook mussels for 2 more minutes shaking the pan, then remove the open mussels and set aside discard any that didn’t open. Add the Israeli couscous and the chicken stock and return to a simmer, cook until tender. Return the mussels and any juice to the pan and heat through quickly seasoning with sea salt and freshly grounded black pepper.  Serve with some more chopped parsley. Enjoy.

Garlic Bread:

Cut an italian or focaccia bread in half and spread liberally with butter then sprinkle some poppy seeds, sesame seed, salt and minced garlic.

Tuesday was my driving test, to get my driver’s license, so when I left the house in the morning my husband said:

Him– Good luck, but don’t be upset if you fail the first test.

Me- I’m not going to fail.

Him- yeah right, I’m the king of the road and I failed my first test. It’s okay if you fail, no big deal.

Me- I know it’s no big deal, but I’m not going to fail.

Him- we will see.

So 1 hour later I text messaged him the fallowing words all with capital letters.

“KING OF THE ROAD” EAT MY DUST!

So to celebrate my brand new license I made this dish with this really pretty Broccolini I found at the Farmer’s Market.

I just found out my little blog was featured in this really cool interactive online magazine. WWISH. Thanks Hillary U .for thinking about my site.

Pasta with Broccolini and Kielbasa Sausage

Ingredients:

• 1 pound of gemelli*
• 1-tablespoon olive oil
• 1-pound Kielbasa sausage
• 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper
• 1 bunch broccolini
• 4 tablespoons butter, cut into pieces
• 1 cup grated Parmesan (4 ounces)
• Cherry tomatoes
• Kosher salt and black pepper

Directions:

Pre-heat the oven 350F and punch some holes in the sausage with a pairing knife and roast it for 10 15 minutes or until golden. I found that is easier that way and you don’t need to use any oil. When it’s done let it rest. Cook the pasta according to the package directions. Drain the pasta and put it in a large serving dish. Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. And the broccolini sauté it for 5 to 6 minutes. Stir in the garlic and cook 1 minute. Add red pepper flakes and the cherry tomatoes. Stir 1 to 2 minutes. Toss the pasta with the sausage season with salt and pepper. Enjoy.

* “Twins” in Italian, this medium-sized shape resembles two short pieces of tubular spaghetti twisted together.

I don’t know about you guys but I watch every chef program available, It’s like cook school for me. I love Top Chef, Chopped, Iron Chef, and now there is the Chef Academy with this Famous French chef Jean Christophe Novelli at Bravo on Mondays. It’s really funny because they of course choose the right characters and there is a bit of everything and lots of drama.  They prepared this tomato sauce that just looked delicious, it’s a bit unusual the spices he used but the end result was fantastic. I would have never thought adding vanilla and star anis into my tomato sauce, but it gives an amazing flavor. I have also tried this weekend the famous Umami burger and wow…. It was Umami. I had the Father’s office burger before and my standard was pretty high, but I have to say Umami was freaking delicious. I had to run around the block zillion times next day but it was totally worth it.

Grandma Louise’s Tomato Sauce

• 6 lb (2.7 kg) Beef or Heirloom tomatoes
• 4 Star anise
• 1 Vanilla pod
• Sea salt & cracked black pepper to season
• White sugar
• 2 Sprig fresh thyme
• 1-2 Bay leaves
• INFUSION
• Fresh garlic
• 28gm bunch fresh basil
• Extra virgin olive oil

Place a heavy cast pan to heat up. Wash the tomatoes and halve roughly. Place into the hot pan and season with salt, pepper and a touch of sugar. Add the anise, vanilla, the bay leaves and thyme.  Allow the tomatoes to start to cook then press them gently with a masher to help them to release their juice. Reduce the heat down to just simmering and continue for about 1 to 2 hours until a thickened paste. This slow evaporation of the moisture from the tomatoes will produce a deep color concentrated flavor without any bitterness. Crack the garlic and add along with the basil that is just halved and throw in. Combine with the warm paste and finish with a good amount of olive oil to finish the infusion. Allow cooling before storing ready for use.

* If you have added too much sugar to start this can be balanced out with a touch of vinegar. Always taste the tomatoes uncooked to determine their natural sweetness before you add the sugar. The amount of garlic to infuse with greatly depends on its strength; again make your own judgment. Additional seasoning such as cumin, fennel seeds, chili etc can be added this is of course personal taste again.

Last night I had this dream I was cooking lasagna with Martha Stewart, I was her BFF. We went groceries shopping and back to her fabulous well-decorated house. She told me about some of her parties and we laughed while cooking amazing lasagna. When I woke up I told my husband my dream and he laughed because I always have some dreams with celebrities, and most of the time with some food involved. I already had dinner with Elisabeth Tailor where we ate steak and fries (I know, crazy right?) and now cooking lasagna with Martha. But from my dream the feeling left in my mind was that I really miss my BFFs, I miss them a lot they are like family to me. Move to a different country have some downsides, you have to learn the language, the life style, and traditions and make totally new friends. Of course it’s very exiting but leaving your family behind and BFFs is really painful. I became very protective of my feelings lately, because I made wonderful friends when I lived in Australia and it was very painful when I had to leave. So I guarded myself here and didn’t get too involved with anyone. But I can tell you I really miss the BFF ‘thingy’. And NY doesn’t help much with this predicament; people here are always running somewhere. I am always running somewhere. Not much time left to socialize or make friends. And among Manhattan women if you say that you actually use your stove and oven, they look at you like you are from another planet. They say:  Really? With a look of confusion. I can understand that, most of the apartments here, the kitchens are so small and unequipped that it’s hard to believe you can actually use it. But I was lucky enough to find this place that have a reasonable size kitchen, sure I have to store pots and pans inside my micro, but I can’t complain. I know, the recipe today should be lasagna, but nope, it’s too hot for bubbly lasagna. I made a Caponata salad with orzo instead.

Caponata Salad With Orzo

For the Caponata:

• 2 Zucchinis cut in cubes
• 1 Eggplant cut in cubes
• 1 Yellow pepper
• 2 Potatoes cut in cubes
• 1 Red onion
• 2 Cloves of garlic shaved
• Green olives
• Salt and pepper
• Red pepper flakes
• Oregano
• Olive oil
• Orzo

First I roasted all the vegetables with some salt, pepper, oregano, red pepper flakes, and olive oil. In a 400F oven for approximately 25 minutes, cooked the orzo in chicken broth and drained, setting a side to cool down a bit. Then I tossed all the vegetables and the orzo with some “Dill vinaigrette” (I know, I use this vinaigrette in almost all my recipes) but what can I say? It works for us we absolutely love it.

For the Dill vinaigrette:

• ½ cup olive oil
• ¼ cup lemon juice
• 2 garlic cloves minced
• Salt and pepper
• ½ cup of chopped dill