An illustrated lunch from my favorite LA restaurant, Bottega Louie. Italian sodas, meatball sliders and fries, and beignets with raspberry compote for dessert! Delicious.
Category Archives: Food & Cooking
my favorite meals in Italy, illustrated
My waiter checked about 12 times to make sure I was alright with eating a fluffly fluffy bunny. I was. And it was delicious.
After a solid week of Italian food you would eat a burger too. I ate this at the charming Caffe Propaganda. Best part? Your menu looks like a turn of the century newspaper. http://www.caffepropaganda.it
Delish! A room temperature smoothie was a little different, but I loved it.
Tavolo caldo’s (literally hot tables) are great for cheap, quick food here. My mum and I pretty much bummed around the beach getting beer and gelato here occasionally for 3 days in Peastum.
I thought I was being ohhh so adventurous getting the “spicy sausage” pizza. Turns out it was plain jane pepperoni. I laughed and then proceeded to devour it. Delicious.
I love the way Italy does their giant symmetrical salads.
The best carbonara. Ever.
I will never look at zucchini & eggplant the same way again.
Ox tail is a Roman specialty. Unfortunately you have to have ninja eating skills to be able to get it off the bone.
But really, how are there this many types of thinly sliced pig things?
Cupcakes For Grandma
I love birthdays. And I love my grandma. And I love decorating baked goods. So naturally I was delighted to create her birthday cake (or birthday cupcakes in this case) last week!
The finished product! I’ll show you how I got there in a moment.
The grand plan sketched out. I saw the daisies in my yard as I was heading for the store and instantly fell in love with a textural yellow/white/black theme (with daisy accents of course). Cupcakes are far more fun than one big cake, but I wanted to be able to write something, so I decided on one mini-cake for the middle and then a ring of cupcakes around it.
This little guy was very attached to his carton.
As it turns out, all that business about water and oil not mixing is spot on.
The batter! High elevation cupcake baking tip: only fill the cupcakes up half way. Anyone that tells you two thirds have never baked somewhere that snows in June.
The base frosting. My little sister found this brilliant recipe which melted smooth. Pretty sure it is made entirely of powdered sugar and butter (like all good things).
My leaves in progress! I made them on wax paper and then put them in the freezer till I was ready for them. I’m not sure if this is orthodox frosting technique, but it worked for me!
My dipping method! I allowed the frosting to dry a bit then I just dunked them in and rolled them around in the sprinkles. Worked like a charm.
Words done, leaves starting to go on.
Final steps, putting on the fresh daisies!
Polka dots and sprinkles oh my!
I’ve been drawing cyclopses a lot lately. Couldn’t resist a cute frosting ‘clops for one of the extras!
Another spare. This one later got turned into a full cupcake of frosting grass.
And then…. I had to find a spot for it in the fridge. We worked it out (just barely).
Candles on! *cue bad (but heartfelt) singing*
Happy Birthday Gma!
Oh did I mention that my birthday is tomorrow? So long teenagedom! It’s been real.
Spartan Baking: Birthday Cake Making in College
You know that book you jokingly receive for graduation, something like 101 Ways to Eat Ramen? It should really be something like How to Beg, Borrow, Repurpose, Substitute and Steal a Meal: College Edition.
The first chapter is on strategically joining clubs that provide the most free meals. The second? Spartan baking, by which I mean making food without having access to any of the items on the back of the box. Don’t be scared soldier, I have a case study for your benefit.
The Birthday Cake, Sparta Style
The goods: cake mix from Trader Joe’s, eggs someone was giving away, and expired butter.
Don’t have a mixing bowl? Psssh, those are a waste of space anyway. Just throw the mix directly in the pan!
Melt butter in any container you can find, add to mix. See how it looks like a volcano now? Show me a mixing bowl that can do THAT.
Add salvaged eggs!
See how it looks like lava now?
Eggs make the best lava moats.
Proceed to mix with anything you can.
Voilà! Cook it and eat up Spartan.
What We Ate: San Francisco Food Porn
I am overrun with San Francisco pictures, so I’m afraid days 3-6 will have to wait. In the mean time…. how about a look at all the awesome food we ate over the last week? Yes?
Dinner Day 1: Delightful berry pie (à la mode, of course!) at Mel's Diner. This meal also included a tiny jukebox at our table playing "Rock around the Clock".
Don't mind how obsessed I look. I just love diners.
Dinner Day 2: The Stinking Rose in North Beach specializes in garlic everything. Need an example? We started with a pan of roasted garlic and ended with garlic ice cream... pictured above.
Breakfast Day 3: This is the "Waffle Bacon" from Eats on Clement street.
Basically, they cook two slices of bacon into the waffle and then top it with cheese and a couple of eggs. Legit breakfast. Also... an indication that we needed to slow down on the greasy food. Turns out you really can't eat that for more than a couple of days in a row. No matter how delicious it is.
My partner in crime's selection. Chocolate chip banana pancakes!
Midmorning coffee Day 3: A couple of cappuccinos from Blue Bottle in the Ferry Building.
Day 3 Midafternoon Dessert: Cookie Sunday and Mint something or other at Ghirardelli Square. SO GOOD.
People pictured for scale.
As it turns out, the life of an ice cream spoon is not an easy one... as illustrated by these specimens.
Day 3: The Bread Baby!! This thing was large and in charge. Also, yummy.
Dinner Day 4: B Star. I think you can tell by my beaming and the decimated plates that it was truly scrumptious.
Lunch Day 5: Sushi in Japanese Garden at Golden Gate Park. Probably the best atmosphere ever.
And then... we ordered (and demolished) another. Noms.
Dinner Day 5: We had a serious hankering for French Onion soup. Thanks, Yelp! We found a little French place that fit the bill.
Dinner Day 6: Blossoming Flower Tea! Wait for it...
Wait for it...
BAM! Blossom City.
Dinner Day 6: The House Noodles at House of Nanking were subtly delicious.
More posts on museums, gardens, and a special “Spot the Golden Gate Bridge” game are coming soon!
*Oh, and a very warm, special, and baked with love thank you to Kate, who took the photos of me and of the Ghirardelli ice cream.
Rainbow Jello From Yesteryear
When I realized how old these pictures were I felt like I belonged here. No joke. Which makes me sound like a dramatic young person with no sense of time. … ….
But anyway, these are from Christmastime 2009. Cue flashback to senioritis, college applications, winter break, and this wonderful evening being peer pressured into trying to swallow rainbow Jello chunks whole.
Oh you haven’t heard peer pressure rainbow jello swallowing? I’m sure the media will be covering this new and terrible youth epidemic any day now. Right after you are warned of the dangers of eating ______ food while pregnant, hear a story about puppy adoptions, and are shown helicopter footage of an accident no where near you.
This one sort of looks like a hole in the rainbow ozone.
