The Dreaded Job Hunt...

So I was sitting on my couch after waking up the other morning (it was around 11) and I realized that I need a J.O.B. After a month of rest and relaxation which was desperately needed I have finally started to beg for a job. The places i am applying don't exactly display help wanted signs in the window so getting a position is an uphill battle. But I think I have Finally overcome my crippling anxiety, my resume and cover letter are now in the hands of the powers that be... Now comes the hard part actually securing a job and rockin it. I can't think about it it makes me stressed out! Step 1 complete

Stress Relieving Food?

I am a classic emotional eater, but i would not have it any other way! These foods have been alleviating my recent job hunt stress... Food is healing so here are the recipes of my medicine.

Fava Bean Pesto on Everything!
Ingredients
As many Favas as you can get your hands on
1 handful of basil
1 handful of mint
Piave Cheese
Olive Oil
4 Cloves of Garlic

Best secret ever passed down to me, blanch the mint and basil before using so you preserve the bright green color of the pesto. Ok so bust out the greatest invention since the wheel, your handy Cuisinart thing! Cut up cheese, take out. Put in Garlic and cut up, then... Add Blanched and peeled favas, mint, basil, and cheese. Slowly add in olive oil while everything is being turned into a fine paste. Do is to the consistency that looks good! Use on bread, for sandwiches, pasta, apples(JK). Almost anything

Next...

Cherry Arugala Salad

So this is super simple since cherries are coming into season pair them with a nice green that balances their sweetness like arugala. Dress up however you want with lemon, sherry, or balsamic, and olive oil... Just a yummy idea that i have been eating recently. Also try adding the elusive crunch element, almonds, fennel, something good...

Ok So F.F. about my life
1. Humphry Slocombe!!! Holy Fucking Christ! Most amazing Ice cream ever! Salt-Peppa ice cream and Secret Breakfast (bourbon and cornflakes), you must travel to the holy site

2776 Harrison St. Cross street is 16th S.F. duh

2. Been hearing whispers of secret street food gatherings on friday nights in the Mission must investigate
3. Applied to RITUAL today...

Annie!

Blueberry Picking

I drove up to San Luis Obispo on Friday to have a reunion with three of my best friends from home. It was great to catch up with them, especially since one drove cross country from Florida to be there. After a stressful week of school, it was great to escape Santa Barbara and forget about all the stuff I have to do (aka paleoethnobotany plant collection project!). Saturday was perfect, relaxing. Tide pooling at the beach, eating amazing burritos, soaking up that warm California sun... life can't get any better.

I left SLO late afternoon while the sun was still high and its warmth still strong. I was rocking out to The Eagles and Pink Floyd my whole way back, windows down, enjoying the way the wind tossed around my hair. About five miles north of Gaviota there's a sign for pick your own blueberries. I had seen it before, though never felt inclined to stop. For some reason, yesterday, I had the urge to. Maybe it was my desire to prolong my arrival back in Santa Barbara or maybe it was just a desire to get some delicious berries and embrace the last hour of sunlight.

And so it went, I went and picked blueberries. There's something about repetitive tasks that is very theraputic and relaxing. One by one picking the plumb little purple morsels from the comfort of their bushes. Delicately holding them within my hand, taking care not to smooth them, and then PLUNK! dropping them into my little metal pale. I was out there for probably an hour... most likely smiling the whole time. It was like a little treasure hunt... looking for the perfect little gem.... thinking I had found it.... having to taste a sample.... and then starting the cycle all over again. Search, pick, plunk.... with the occasional taste. They were sweet, they were tart. They were fragrant and aromatic.

I was in the field for probably about an hour... unaware as to high full my little tin pale was becoming. As the sun faded behind the mountains, I called it a night and decided it was time to head to Santa Barbara. I looked down at my sandeled feet, stained brown from the dirt and recall wiggling my toes- feeling in tune with my surroundings. I paid for my bounty and got back on highway 101. As I rounded a bend, fog appeared between two mountains. It was that perfect line of fog, misty, alluding- beckoning me forth. Alas it consumed me and I felt all giddy, happy, calm. Is it weird that fog can sooth me?

A Perfect Party

People in IV are always trying to come up with new ways to have a party. We party in the park with live music and alcohol licenses, at the beach with our profs on biology field trips, and even in the ocean on barges made of inflatable kindergarten pools and kitchen tables. For Taylor's birthday, we threw a party that I'd say was incredibly successful, mostly because of the concentration of awesome people* in one little apartment celebrating Taylor's special day, but also because of what they had to eat and drink.

Deciding on the libations we would provide at the party was a topic of discussion all week. My main concerns were cost and my grandmother's couch. We couldn't break the bank, and we also couldn't have anyone get sick in the apartment. With the fires raging a few miles away, the ash kept most people inside despite the perfect May temperature that night, but thanks to the consideration of great friends and the carefully executed menu, we had a perfect and mess-free party.

To throw your own perfect party you need to find your own perfect boyfriend and gather all yours and his perfect friends on his birthday.. i.e. I can't help you there. But, once you've got that, here's what you should do:

Step one: feed 'em.
...because we dine before we drink! We made fajitas with barbecued chicken and carne asada. This lucky meat got a killer marinade of citrus, cilantro, cerveza and... chipotle peppers in adobo sauce (GO BUY THIS NOW!). Homemade guac, wokked-up peppers and onions (the Q ran out of propane), good Santa Barbara salsa, and lots of limes! Thanks to the boys for barbecueing!

Step two: hydrate.
Margaritas were the ideal drink to accompany our Mexican spread. Instead of leaving bottles of tequila around the house (bad move) we made margaritas. All that slurried ice helped everyone on their way to avoiding that nasty, "they don't call it te-kill-ya for nothin!"** hangover. I don't know that it actually worked for everyone, but people seemed to enjoy them anyways. Also, if you make drinks, you sorta play bartender, which is not only fun, but, at least theoretically, prevents anyone from doing handle-pulls on your carpet.

Margaritas for a party

6 lbs limes, squeezed for their juice
2 c simple syrup (recipe follows)
1 Handle tequila (whatever is in your means)
Salt
Ice

Fill a blender about 3/4 full of ice. Follow with 2-3 shot glasses of lime juice, 1/2 shot glass simple syrup, 6-7 shots of tequila, and a dash of ice. Blend until smooth. This makes 3-4 drinks, depending on the size of your blender. The recipe accounts for approximately 5 batches.

To make watermelon margaritas:
First fill the blender about 1/2 full of watermelon. Blend with the tequila. Then add the ice and the rest of the ingredients and blend as usual.

Simple Syrup:
Combine equal parts water and granulated sugar in a heavy pot. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer down until sugar is completely dissolved. Remove from heat.

~~~
Party Hearty :)

La

~~~

*Thanks to the Tahoe/SLO crew for coming all that way! We love you!
**What ALC's mom says!

MAC AND CHEESE!

As this American classic always begs for reinvention, I am happily sharing a recipe courtesy of Greg... This recipe takes on new meaning with the inclusion of interesting cheeses. Beware...

Mac and Cheese

1/2 lb Vermont Chabot Cheddar
1/2 lb of Swiss Cave Aged Gruyere
1/2 lb of Fresh Pecorino Brigante (Sheeps milk, soft)
Fresh Oregano
1 pint of Strauss heavy cream
Butter+Flour= Roux
Salt and Pepper
Oh yeah you need Pasta too! 1lb Preferably something that cheese can get into

First cook pasta in HEAVILY salted water (It should taste like the sea), Drain don't rinse.
Hard Part in a sauce pan melt 3 tbs of butter and add an equal amount of flour, cook the mixture while stirring until it because a light golden caramel color. Slowly whisk in cream that has warmed slightly to room temp. Make sure everything is smooth, let this heat up for a few minutes until hot enough to melt cheese. In handfuls add the cheese to cream mixture reserving half of the cheese. Once sauce is incorporated and pasta, mix. Next is the fun part that takes a little skill. Have gentle heat underneath the pan and begin adding the remaining amounts of cheese to the pasta mixture. Stir and let cheese melt and become gooey! Salt.Pepper.Oregano. Serve

Please, Don't Eat and Drive

What I Advise You Do With Spinach

I go through phases with spinach. It's a green not unlike that guy that I meet every-other weekend since Fall quarter but he never remembers my name and even though we got along so well two weeks ago, and two weeks before that, seems we start from the beginning every time. Such is spinach. I used to buy it for salads, but I realized some time ago that I prefer feisty greens like arugula in my digestif.* It's great chopped into ribbons and swirled through my breakfast eggs, and I love beds of the sautéed stuff right below a filet of pan-fried fish. Nevertheless, when I'm buying greens, it's the arugula, the chard, and (when it's available) the mâche that I go for.

But, after tonight's dinner, I will certainly be buying more spinach. It was as a last resort that I bought the fateful bag last Saturday, but my trusty salad man had sold out of the tender greens and only had spinach left. After a surprisingly satisfying sandwhich** on Sunday, I went back to the fridge looking to make a salad. I made the vinagrette in my favorite salad bowl that Taylor ...acquired... for me and put a handful of the greens in too. One bite and I knew, this was not salad spinach.

It sat in the fridge until tonight, and I knew what I had to do: chicken saag. I wanted to eat something rich but not too heavy, so this was the perfect dish. The spinach blends into the tomatoes and spices and the whole thing gets velvety and luxurious, especially after the addition of the butter (don't skimp on the butter!). The saag was my favorite dish at the late Star of India in Petaluma (you will be missed!) and what I ate nearly every week through junior and sophomore years of high school. I loved it and I'd never attempted it, but after studying a few recipes online, I got the method and got to work.

~~~
This is a highly modified version of the recipe at www.indianfoodforever.com

Chicken Saag For Two
This is lovely served over steamed basmati rice.
Also, it will get better with age, so make a
bigger batch if you are in to left overs.

2 chicken breast, cut into pieces
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1/2 of an onion, chopped
1/3" piece of ginger, minced
1 Tbs milk
About 6 cups chopped fresh spinach
4 tinned tomatoes, chopped, with a few Tbs of their juice
2 Tbs butter
1 Tbs curry powder (I like Madras)
8 cardamom seeds, smashed
A few tishes of cayenne pepper
Olive oil
1/2 tsp Garam Masala
Salt

In a little oil, fry up the chicken until golden. Remove and set aside.Sauté the spinach with a few tablespoons of water until it's wilted and the water is boiling. Blend the spinach with the water until the water begins to take on the color of the spinach. Set aside.

Sauté the onion, garlic and ginger a bit of oil until onions are translucent. Add the tomatos and their juice, the curry powder, the cardamom the cayenne and a tish of water. Simmer on low for about ten minutes. If it begins to dry out, add a little water and cover. Add the chicken and the milk and simmer until the chicken is tender.

Add the spinach and the garam masala to the pan. Cook on low until most of the liquid has evaporated and the spinach sticks to the pan. Turn off the heat, stir in the butter, and cover until ready to serve.

~~~
Enjoy!
-La

~~~
*As Taylor has taught me, a clean and well executed green salad at the end of a meal makes for a wonderful finishing course. A salad seems to cleanse my palate, makes me feel like the meal is complete, not to mention, it aids digestion!
** Two slices of TJ's Harvest Whole Wheat Bread (one slice toasted), tomato slices, really good deli cut turkey, salad greens, avocado, sharp cheddar, brown mustard, freshly-ground pepper. Yum!

Glorious Gluttony

Ok so my weekend as usual consisted of some serious competition level eating. I think that I truly might have a slight chance against the greatest of Japanese competitive eaters. So here is the menu for the weekend that must be recreated...
Thurs:
Lamb petit rack with a spring ragout of fiddle heads, ramps, sunchokes, fava beans, and shallots drizzled with a maderia reduction
Friday:
Smoked Salmon Scramble, Whole wheat walnut bread, Applewood smoked bacon
Oven fried chicken covered with parm and breadcrumbs, braised collared greens, MOST AMAZING MAC AND CHEESE! and homemade Pecan Pie
Six wine tasting
Saturday:
Duck prosciutto, Pugs Leap cheese, baby lettuce mix
Pulled chicken in mex spices, homemade salsa, fried black beans, and quesodillas
Recipes to follow shortly