Oh, Tony, You Were So Right

To help ensure my sister brings in her 30s with the appropriate fanfare, tonight she and I dined at Piccolo. Yes, that is a quote from Anthony Bourdain on the home page. And I watched that episode of No Reservations when he dined at Piccolo. It was the kind of dining experience one doesn't get to have often (unless of course, one does ... but I don't.)

The restaurant only seats 36 people at a time, so it is very small and quaint. We happened to get seated at the best table in the house, right in front by the window. In fact, the setting was so intimate I decided not to bring out my phone and snap pictures of my food ... even though I truly desperately wanted to capture the experience. It just felt like it would have taken the magic out of the meal.

We enjoyed a lovely 2008 La Cana Albariño with our meal. There is something about Spanish wines for me right now. They are light enough and pair so well with food. So here's a rundown of my meal:
The first course: Shad roe with Benton's bacon, cucumber, asparagus and miso. I have to admit, I didn't really know what I was ordering ... I was imagining fish eggs ... turns out it may be fish eggs, but it was not the cavier like fish eggs I was expecting! It was very meaty and almost like a meatball ... It was good, I really liked the accompaniment of the bacon and cucumber with the miso sauce. It was a pleasingly simple first course to start the meal.

My second course was the scrambled brown eggs with pickled pigs feet, truffle butter and Parmigiano. In all my research prior to eating at Piccolo, time and time again this was the dish that was applauded. In fact, according to one source, it is the only dish that remains a constant on Chef Flicker's menu. So I had to have it. It did not disappoint. The eggs were fluffy and delicate, and the pigs feet were brilliant with the cheese layered on top.

I followed the splendidness of the egg course with Monterey bay squid and black rice pave with manila clams, "cocktail sausages" and tomatoes. The sausage was a bit hard, but the squid and clams were cooked perfectly. The rice was cooked al dente, which is how I like my rice, but if you are someone who prefers your rice soft ... this would not be the dish for you.

We split the final savory course which was a sweet veal breast with ricotta gnocchi, spring onions, prunes d'Ente and black pepper. This was by far and away my favorite course. The veal was soft, tender, melt-in-your-mouth perfection. I was happy that this was how we ended our main meal. I almost didn't want dessert because I didn't want the taste to leave my mouth.

For dessert, we decided to order two of the three choices and split them. So we went with the warm Calabrian fig and peanut brownie with banana ice cream and the walnut cake with crème fraiche, pear caramel and trail mix. The brownie was a bit try, but the walnut cake was superb. And with a lovely french press coffee to end the meal and cut the sweetness. I couldn't have been happier.

It was a fabulous dinner, a bit heavy on the salt in total ... but as someone who loves salt ... this did not bother me one bit. (Of course, I plan to drink a lot of water tonight because I can only imagine how puffy I'll be in the morning!)

But perhaps the best way to sum up the dinner in all its glory was how it ended as we walked to the car.
As we were departing, a couple that had been dining at the same time as we had were walking on the sidewalk. They turned to look at us and both men smiled. Then the slightly older man in the couple said, "It was a wonderful meal, wasn't it?" And I smile back and said, "Yes, it was magnificent." Only a divine experience could have you musing with strangers post-meal and smiling in the way that this did.

Thank you, Chef Flicker for a lovely meal.

Farewell Oprah Show

Yes, yes ... it's a bit cliche for me to be writing a farewell to the Oprah show ... I am sure this is one a million farewells that have been penned this last week. But I am just now catching up on the farewell shows this week. (Thank goodness for DVR - because it allowed me to watch Oprah's show efficiently ... especially the 30 second skip feature!)

It's amazing how influential one person can truly be. No matter what her motivation, she did help bring positive change into the world. I hope she's allowed her own personal space now, some privacy, some relaxation and some peace. While I know she's venturing on to her OWN network (because really, one show was not enough to contain all that she had to give ...) hopefully orchestrating behind the scenes will give her joy.

She captivated audiences unlike anyone else on the daytime TV circuit ... she gave crazy gifts to her audience ... she made public mistakes ... she is human after all ... and she was ridiculed and criticized at levels that many of us would have crumbled. Yes, at the age I'm at, I probably age myself an additional ten years by enjoying Oprah and Martha Stewart, but I have to say I admire their ability to go out and proclaim what they want and go after it and keep it. Both women have had public humiliation (jail, scandal) but yet, the public still loves them. I raise my glass to you Oprah.

Self Indulgent Writer

I am able to cross another book off my list. I finished The Red Queen by Margaret Drabble. It took a little longer than I would have liked ... The story in itself was very, very interesting. It followed a Korean Crown Princess for the first half and then an Englishwoman for the second half ... their stories intertwined delicately. However ... I considered it such a self-indulgent piece of work ... Margaret actually wrote herself in as a character at the end of the book. At first I was confused and had to double-check that it was categorized as fiction. But yes, yes it was. I was stunned, I am sure this is not the first writer to put themselves in as a character of their book ... but to have your second heroine go out to lunch and befriend yourself? A bit indulgent Mags, a bit indulgent.

Growing Up

This week was a big week for K. On Monday, he had his five-year-old check-up. Did you know they start testing for cholesterol at this age? It was probably more traumatic for me than him when the boy guy cried when his finger was pricked. And D and I had to join forces when he received his shot to distract him. He was a major trooper. (And of course, I can totally sympathize, because today I had my own biometric testing done - but here's too great numbers for both of us!)

Then we had his first soccer practice Monday evening. It was an hour of trying to understand what the objective of this "extra" training was from the area soccer club. The normal coach gives up the reigns to some area high schoolers so they can practice coaching ... it was organized chaos at best.

Tuesday was preschool graduation day. Okay, I'm not a huge fan of unnecessary ceremonial rituals, but I wanted to support my baby. So, I took the day off and made sure I could be there for his celebration. Unfortunately, the normal pomp and circumstance was absent because his teacher was rushed to the hospital the night before with internal bleeding. They did show a video where each kid said their name and what they wanted to be when they grew up. Most kids you had to strain to hear ... but of course, not K. He was so confident and project his voice in a way that you would have expected at the end a political statement that this advertisement was sponsored by someone. Of course, while most kids said they wanted to be firemen or princesses ... he responded: "I want to be Ben 10 when I grow up." We had our own celebration in the afternoon when we took the boys to the science museum and saw the King Tut exhibit. O was so well-behaved (thank goodness for the stroller) and I was impressed that K chose to see this exhibit over the Lego exhibit at the children's museum.

Tonight, my little man went to his first birthday party. Yes, I've managed to hold off until now when it came to attending birthday parties. (Because really, does a three-year-old appreciate it?) However, this party was for what I would consider his first "real" friend. It's a neighborhood boy that he has frequent play dates with and they play soccer together. It's a nice family and I can tell K is in love with his little friend - he just gets so excited to play with him. I do worry that my overly extroverted son might be a little dominant (which only makes me worry that O will scare everyone and have friends who will want to be his friend because he can dominate the world.)

I can't believe my babies are growing up. K really showed that he's becoming a little man and O is already such a big boy. I cannot believe he's 17 months old. And now he's actually saying recognizable words. And who would have ever guessed that I would have two men with such amazing personalities. Let's just hope that D and I can provide them the best experiences so that they grow up to be outstanding men.

Italian Delight

It's not every night that I am able to eat at a 2011 James Beard Award-winning restaurant. However, tonight was one of those nights I did. It was my monthly gathering of the wine club and our treasure was Bar La Grassa. You can click on the website to see the number of acclaims and awards the place has received. I will say, it can be scary to get to eat at a place that has received the accolades that BLG has received. If you build your hopes up, it may just end up in serious disappointment.

However, BLG did not disappoint. Of course, one may question how someone who is fasting and abstaining from grains and sugar for three weeks did eating at an Italian restaurant ... and looking at a menu that lists a dozen delicious sounding bruschettas and so many pasta options that your mouth waters ... it wasn't easy. But that was part of the excitement. While my friends had a delightful red onion and goat cheese bruschetta ... I dined on grilled radicchio and pancetta with garlic dressing:

 
I never thought I would describe a normally leafy vegetable as meaty, but that is exactly how it tasted (and let's just say the pancetta elevated it to a new level.
 
For dinner, while my pals dined on lovely plates of pasta and gnocchi. I savored the most beautiful piece of halibut with ramps, leeks and mushrooms. It was the kind of meal that just melted in your mouth. Spritzing it with lemon was like the final blessing to a piece of perfection on my plate. The flavors blended together lovingly and I could tell that the preparation of my fish was done by someone who cared about what they were sending out to the table.
 

I ended my meal with a delightful little cheese plate (I forgot to take a picture ... I was clearly in divinity-land by this point.) But it was a nice ending to a culinary experience that I could get used to. And apparently the caramel crepe was said to be the best dessert one of my world-traveling pas has ever experienced ... so something I'll have to keep in mind when I reintroduce flour/sugar into my diet into moderation.

With my meal, I decided to go as authentic with the wine as I could. I didn't capture the vineyard, but the wine was a Saovo. It was crisp and delightful, like a Sauvignon Blanc.

When it is all said and done, BLG definitely earns its reputation and I am sitting her with a smile on my face as I remember my meal.

A Week Without

Refined flour and sugar ... and I feel fine. I cannot believe it, but I actually don't feel like I am missing anything. Okay, well that's not completely the truth. I see a beautiful loaf of artisan bread and cannot wait until I start reintroducing whole grains back into my diet (and then silently pray that the artisan bread is made out of whole grains.)

Of course, with this flour/sugar detox, I am probably eating a lot better. More vegetables and fruits are entering my system and no bad artificial sugars. It hasn't really affected my exhaustion yet, but that may be the insane amount of hours I am working right now. So, I'm hoping by the third and final week of this detox I'll feel like I have scores and scores of energy and can shout of mountain tops.

There was this great muffin and bagel breakfast at work this week ... but I just held my cup of tea and engaged in conversation so that I was busy. I have to say, if I can exercise this will power when it comes to other things, maybe I'll be able to accomplish my goals of writing a book. If I can will myself to that type of discipline, I could probably accomplish a lot and learn to keep my mouth shut more. Something I am finding increasingly more difficult to do at work. I won't go into details here, but it has become more evident that when leaders are removed from the actual work, the less of a clue on practical application there is. Fortunately, my own boss is an exception to this rule. I usually benefit from her insight and perspective when she's further removed from something because she asks the right kind of questions. I just wish some of her peers had that same perspective.

Well ... that is a lot of Friday night rambling ... now it's time to catch up on Grey's.

Mother's Day

I cannot believe I almost didn't capture Mother's Day on here. I am of the school of thought of spending Mother's Day with my boys. Until this year, we actually would end up seeing both my mom and D's mom, too. So it was a bunch of good motherness happening.

In fact, this year we broke a lot of traditions. Typically, we always spend Mother's Day morning participating in the Race for the Cure. This year, I passed on the event. It was a hard decision, because I love the spirit of the event and teaching my children to stand for a cause ... but with all the craziness that has infiltrated my life ... I just needed a break. And so, I told myself that this year, I was going to sleep in. It's horrible, and I did have some feelings of guilt creep in on Saturday evening and Sunday morning, but then had to say to myself, that there is always next year. (And maybe I will run it next year!)

So, instead, we decided to pack up the boys and go to the MN Zoo. As members, we tend to visit the zoo quite a few times. I'm sure I've posted about many of our numerous adventures in the past. This trip was special, because it was our first trip where I could tell that O was really enjoying seeing the animals. He would point to the animals and squeal in delight or make noises. So, yes, maybe I did get a little overenthusiastic when D wanted to bypass a few of the animals and I insisted that we couldn't deprive O of the experience. Fortunately, since it was Mother's Day, he humored me.

We happened to leave just as it was starting to rain. We then decided to try and grab a late lunch at our favorite Korean restaurant. However, I think everyone in the metro area had the same idea. The place was packed, so we just went to the Korean grocer next door, picked up some items and then headed home. Where I of course embarked on my roasted chicken nightmare.

We ended the evening with treats from the DQ for the family and snuggling as we watched The Amazing Race finale. Our team didn't win, but we still cheered on the three final teams with gusto. When it was all said and done ... I couldn't have asked for a better day ... spending it with all of my boys.

Roasted Chicken Nightmare

So, this month's Food & Wine recipe did not turn out so well... From the May issue, I decided to conquer a lemon and honey glazed roasted chicken. We enjoy the occasional chicken, and being able to roast one is probably something that I should be able to do.

Suffice it to say that the smoke detectors went off a few times because our oven was clearly due for a cleaning. The chicken looked pretty when all was said and done. Just like the image from the magazine. The thermometer said it was safe to eat ... but then I started to carve it ... and I hit blood. And I'm sorry, but if I'm feeding my babies and I see blood in my chicken ... well it just is not going to go into their mouths.

As someone who has suffered from the horrors of food poisoning from chicken, I just cannot ever be responsible for my loved ones suffering. So, I felt bad throwing the chicken away and granted I did taste it ... and it did taste good ... and I'm still here with no food poisoning incident ... I just feel better playing it safe.

Perhaps one day, I will try to conquer the roasted chicken again.

Cinco de Mayo ...

and I can't have a Margarita. Now, before you start jumping to speculative conclusions, it's not because baby three is on the way. (Much to D's dismay, I must say.) No, instead, it is because I am taking on the challenge of eliminating sugar as much as possible from my diet. In fact, I'm going to try and jump start it by going three weeks without sugar and white flour at all. It's day three on this craziness ... and so far so good. Of course, I've had a little as I'm not totally jumping in until after I do my grocery shopping on Saturday. But, I have said now to the white rice, bread, etc for the last three days. I figure by writing about this silly idea, maybe I'll commit to it.

After the three week fast from sugar (and this is white sugar, not natural sugar in fruits) I'll go back to adding only whole grains. I have to admit after three days, I'm starting to feel better. I'm the least tired I've been all week. So, I think that's a good sign ... but maybe we should check in next week. (And I will be making an exception to not having alcohol for these three weeks because I have wine club next week ... and being that I enjoy wine only about once a month ... I am not going to deny myself that tiny little pleasure.)

Here's to healthy living.

May Day

It's the first day of May ... and it's freezing and raining here. The buds on the trees are defying the weather and making their appearance ... and some of the flowers are trying to show they are tougher than the weather thinks. Alas, I think the plants may be stronger than I am. I walked outside briefly this morning and quickly turned around as the frost on the deck was freezing. I probably have frostbite on the bottom of my feet.

The sky is gray and the clouds are a constant. Now don't get me wrong ... this is exactly the weather I love in the fall. In fact, if it was October, I would be singing this weather's praises. But it's not. It's May 1 and we've had the longest winter I can remember. It's time for a little warmth and sun on my face. It's also about time that our calendar starts to become crazy busy every weekend. Which I'm okay with, because when the weather is nice ... it's actually fun to get out of the house. When the weather is crummy, I just want to snuggle on the couch and read a good book. (Which is pretty impossible when you have a crazy one-year-old who wants to be the center of attention.)

So here's hoping to a delightful spring that should be on it's way ... because, really, we only have six more weeks until summer.

On another note, the royal wedding. Yes, I was one of the two billion people who watched it (okay, I didn't watch it live, so maybe I don't count in that two billion). But I did watch it. Ah, it made me long for a beautiful British wedding full of tradition. I have the good fortunate of attending a wedding in three weeks and I really think I want to get a new dress with a fabulous headpiece. Is that wrong? Just watching all the guests with their creativity and fascinators, it was splendid! Yes, I really think that I was born on the wrong continent sometimes. If I can be crafty enough, I may indeed make a fastener for the wedding. But first, I must find the dress!