Baking, Mary

repost: zombie graveyard cake for halloween

Halloween is right around the corner! And if you need a rockin’ cool cake to make for your Halloween party (or any other zombie related event), you should try your hand at making a zombie graveyard cake. It’s not too bad to make this sucker and the best part is that is doesn’t have to look neat – zombies like gorging on flesh, they’re not exactly concerned with how they look, you know.

This is a repost from my old craft blog that I decided to port over here for the holiday. Enjoy!

[zombie graveyard – view one]

The cake is a yellow cake with vanilla pastry cream (dyed red) and fresh strawberries in the middle with chocolate frosting.

[zombies coming up out of the dirt]

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Recipes, Products, Mary

new england style clam chowder / cast iron pot review

I recently received the opportunity to review one of Martha Stewart’s enameled cast iron pots. My dad helped me out with this one as he’s the one that made this really deliciously simply New England Style Clam Chowder. With just a few ingredients, this soup together comes together really easily and is super tasty.

The cast iron pot helped to keep this chowder warm for hours after it was made, too. Impressive!

I choose the smaller 3 quart enameled cast iron pot for its size and versatility. They also have 6 quart and 8 quarts pots and I can only imagine how hefty those suckers are. The smaller 3 quart is a perfect size – and not too heavy to lift.

The enameled surface creates a beautiful rich color (if you know anything about me, you’d know that I would of course pick a green cast iron pot. “Hmm, what color should I get? Is green available? Hells yeah!”). The coating also prevents rusting and you don’t need to season the pot like you do with traditional cast iron.

Besides the pretty green color, the cast iron pots are available in red, blue, orange, purple, white and yellow – all gorgeous colors!

Okay, enough talk about the pot – onto the chowder!

We’ve had this huge ass can of chopped sea clams for awhile now. It was high time that it get used. This is a 51 oz can of clams – you can get this at Costco (Dad says it comes in a two pack). You will need the whole can!

You’ll also need a couple of bay leaves. If you’re like us, you’ll just go out to your backyard and get a couple from your bay leaf tree.

What? You don’t have a bay leaf tree? You should get one.

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San Diego County, Mary, Multiple Locations, Coronado

the brigantine / coronado – san diego, ca

As a San Diego native I’m a little embarrassed to say that I’ve never dined at the Brigantine before! It’s a local chain of seafood restaurants and for whatever reason… I just never went. Probably due to the fact that the most of the people I hang out with are opposed to seafood for some ungodly reason. Oh, little sea creatures, come fill my belly with your delicious ways!

Ahem, you can just ignore me.

So, I was invited to come dine at the restaurant recently and I took Laura with me, since she’s my one seafood-faring friend who lives nearby. We met up at the Coronado location for a night of seafood treats!

[brown bread (wheat, rye & molasses) and sourdough]

Though we did start our seafood adventure with bread. I am not one who turns down bread. In fact I’m having a cheese and bread party very soon for my birthday, because, well… why not?! Bread and cheese, my two great loves. Mmm.

This complimentary bread was very tasty – served fresh and warm with a little vial of butter. The sourdough was crisp and the brown bread was delicious with that touch of sweetness from the molasses.

[lemon press – lemonade and ginger beer]

I wasn’t in the mood for any “hard” drinks, so I opted for this Lemon Press drink – a mixture of lemonade and ginger beer (or ginger ale… I can’t remember which, fairly sure ginger beer). Really delicious and crisp drink – a tad on the sweet side, but not overbearing.

Overbearing sweetness is so… overbearing.

Stop rolling your eyes at me.

[virgin mango margarita]

Laura wasn’t in the mood for the strong drinks either, probably because I wasn’t, and opted for this virgin Mango Margarita. I had a little sip of this frothy looking drink – had a good punch of flavor and was definitely very mango tasting. A bit sweeter than my Lemon Press. Maybe a touch too sweet.

[prince edward island mussels and littleneck clams in garlic wine broth]

We started off with appetizers after trying not to eat that whole basket of bread (it was hard). We started with this mixture of mussels and clams in a garlic wine broth. You have the option, too, of getting just clams or just mussels, if so desire. We so desired to have both though.

The clams and mussels were very nice with a tenderness and a slight chew. The garlic wine broth was a little on the weak side – I would have preferred a richer tasting broth with more garlic – but I’m kind of a garlic fiend. It was still satisfying though in it’s own way (though maybe I prefer Anthology’s version of this dish a bit more).

[crab & shrimp fondue with garlic toast]

Oh wow, I ordered something with cheese in it? What a surprise!

NOT!

If you put something with a lot of cheese on your menu, I’m gonna order it. I think I have a special stomach just for cheese.

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Mary, Recipes

salted caramel apple galette with pink pearl and cortland heirloom apples

Fall makes me think of things like falling leaves and pumpkins and warm soups and apples.

Apples! Sure, we can get apples year round but we don’t always get apples like these. I was recently given a few apples to experiment with from Frieda’s – two different varieties that I had never heard of!

The Pink Pearl (left) and the Cortland (right).

Pink Pearls were developed in the 1940’s by a Northern California breeder while the Cortland was developed at the New York State Agricultural Experiment Station in Geneva in 1898.

As you can see, the Pink Pearl has pink overtones within the flesh of the apple. It’s got a slightly tart taste. It’s not like “Granny Smith OMG tart” either – a bit more mild with a touch of sweetness. The cortland is very white and crisp and much sweeter than it’s counterpart.

These unique heirloom apples will be available at local Sprouts stores starting October 17th, so you can get some of these beautiful apples for yourself!

I decided to take these beautiful apples to produce this: a salted caramel apple galette.

Want to go on a apple galette making journey with me?

Of course you do!

First things first… we need salted caramel sauce.

Oh, I suppose you could just cheat and buy a jar of sauce. They do make a really wonderful one at Trader Joe’s. But I was feeling rather down in the dumps that day due the radiator in my car bursting and causing my car to break down that I wanted to do something therapeutic: like baking and making caramel sauce from scratch.

Caramel sauce it actually quite easy. Sugar and water, into a pan, set it to shimmer. And don’t touch it! No stirring!

Okay, maybe I swirl it around a little… but that’s just to see how amber it’s getting.

All of those crazy bubbles get in the way, I tell you.

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Multiple Locations, Liberty Station, San Diego County, Mary

slater’s 50/50 / liberty station – san diego, ca

It was high time for me to visit Slater’s 50/50. Jake and I had heard kind of mixed things about the place – some people really liked it and some didn’t and some just thought it was okay. I had to decide for myself though and after a few failed attempts at visiting, Jake, T and I went on that hella hot weekend we had a few weeks ago – when it was in triple digit temperatures. We went next door to Ace Hardware just for the A/C while waiting for our table. I do like their notification system – which sends you a text message to let you know when your table’s ready. Very neat!

We were seated in a corner table. Pretty much my thoughts were, “Gee, do they have enough TV’s in this place?” Must be an ADD person’s heaven. Me? I thought it was distracting. But maybe I’m the only one (or maybe that’s the point).

[combination plate – onion strings, french fries and panko fried mac n’ cheese – $6.95]

We decided to get the combo plate for appetizers. Jake and I both thought we were getting regular mac n’ cheese, since it was further below on the menu – we both didn’t notice it was fried mac n’ cheese. Oops.

We each got one mac n cheese ball. It was very crispy on the outer, with a melted, cheesy middle. A little on the bland side. Not as great as I thought it would be, especially since I was expecting just mac n cheese… but that was my fault for not reading the menu properly. These were okay.

The onion strings/rings things were good, I dug those. French fries are french fries. I will say though that we were hoping for fries on our plates, but when we realized we didn’t get more fries, we ordered 2 more orders. One order tasted like they dropped a salt shaker on it, it was so salty that it was inedible. We had that one taken off our order after we told the waitress though but did not get another order – wasn’t necessary. Besides, the fries weren’t that awesome.

[build your own burger – starting at $8.95]

All three of us did the “Make Your Own” sandwich thing. This is T’s creation – which had fried chicken instead of a hamburger patty.

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Poway, Multiple Locations, San Diego County

the original pancake house / poway – san diego, ca

Jake, T and I were in my ‘hood one Saturday afternoon and I decided I wanted to try this Filipino place. But then when we got to the Filipino place, I remember that the Original Pancake House was right next door and I suddenly wanted pancakes instead! Sometimes I just don’t know where my stomach is going to take me.

I haven’t been to this location in forever, but it’s pretty much the same as the one in Clairemont.

Here are some sides that our waitress brought out first – the lingonberries for T’s pancakes, some applesauce and sour cream and some butter.

These are T’s Swedish Pancakes – which look like crepes! These are very thin and kind of holey (they say “lacy” on the menu), resulting in a thin and delicious pancake. I had a couple of bites and it was really tasty – excellent with the lingonberries. I’m pretty sure the only other place I’ve had lingonberries is at IKEA!

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Mary, Recipes

caramel cracker cookies (make your own candy, put it in a cookie, woohoo)

I’ve made these chocolate caramel cracker things a lot – usually around Christmas time when I decorate them all up and give them away as desserts. Then one day I day a thought… what if I put that crazy candy inside of a cookie? So I did it. And then I immediately gave away a bunch of the cookies because it was too much to have that deliciousness just sitting in my house. If you need some deliciousness in your house though, might I suggest making these? You might want to give some away, too. Or hey, keep ’em for yourself. I won’t tell.

First things first! We gotta make the candy. It’s easy, I swear. Don’t be frightened of the word “candy”. We won’t even use those scary candy thermometers or anything! Promise.

Brown sugar, butter, and condensed milk is what you need for the caramel goo. The chocolate chips are for later.

Get a tray and put your fancy silpat mat on it – or just aluminum foil. You’ll want this – it’ll make it easier to remove the candy and you’ll thank your stars you did that step.

For the goo, you just melt the butter and sugar with about half a can of sweetened condensed milk. Sit around and watch this on the stove and stir it every so often. You want to cook it until it starts to bubble and thicken up. From there, you’ll want it cook it for another 2 minutes. It’ll look all frothy and lovely, like below:

Pour the goo over your saltines.

Mmm, goo.

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Downtown, Miscellaneous, San Diego County, Mary

taste of downtown ticket giveaway

The 13th Annual Taste of Downtown is almost upon us once again! I’m going to be headed down to check it out for the first time this year – and you can, too! Check out this post for more details on how you can score a pair of tickets to the Taste of Downtown for yourself!

Date: Thursday, October 11, 2012 in Downtown San Diego
Time: 5:00PM – 9:00PM
Price: $30 in advance / $35 day of

Last year, this event took place on the night of the infamous San Diego Blackout and had to be rescheduled. I didn’t go that time, but I do remember it was probably about as hot as it is now (can someone please turn the heater off already) and I spend the evening reading by candlelight. Hopefully there will be no more crazy blackouts – instead just lots of food and lots of walking!

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San Diego County, Mary, Lemon Grove

chef john’s fish and chips / lemon grove – san diego, ca

Chef John’s Fish and Chips is  tucked in on the other side of Broadway in Lemon Grove, a little bit away from the main drag and the famous giant lemon. It kind of looks like it’s in an old Arby’s or Long John Silvers, but I don’t know for sure if that’s what it was – my days of venturing into Lemon Grove are a bit sparse these days.

Jake and I opted to share a few items to get a feel for the food here. Our order was taken by a very nice Asian lady and was passed onto an Asian chef – I assume Chef John – to make. We could see him making our food to order while we waited in one of the booths.

[squeezy sauce bottles]

We were brought these squeezy bottles full of sauce along with our food. I was amused that they were labeled. I think of lot of places would just make you guess and probably not even bring you ranch unless you asked for it.

[fish and chicken strips combo – $7.99]

We got the fish and chicken basket. Jake is normally not a seafood eater, but he does like fish and chips… go figure. Fried fish though generally doesn’t taste super fishy though, so I get that train of thought at least.

The chicken strips were pretty good for what they were. Nice strips of white meat, not too overly greasy. Lightly seasoned and tasty.

[fried fish inside]

The fried fish was made with cod. It was hand battered and fried to a nice crisp – not super greasy, either. The fish was very tender and came apart pretty easily. I especially liked the crispness of it – nice and crunchy but still retaining the fish flavor. Jake thought this was one of the best pieces of fried fish he’s had.

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Multiple Locations, Mission Valley, San Diego County, Mary

beach bowls, kona pies and girly drinks at islands restaurant

I’ve been to Islands quite a few times. Those skin-on french fries they are are highly addicting. But they’ve got other stuff, too! You know burgers, whatever. And sandwiches! And tacos! And also new things, like paradise mai tai’s and chicken beach bowls.

I’ve sure you’ve been here before, too. Let’s keep this short and sweet, yes? (See emphasis on the sweet at the end…)

[Maker’s Wedge and Paradise’s Mai Tai]

Jake and I both opted to try one of their new drinks – I chose the Maker’s Wedge (right – maker’s mark, ginger liqueur, pine juice, lime and agave nectar) and he went for the Paradise’s Mai Tai (which had Bacardi rum, Myer’s Rum, lime juice with a tropical mix). There was also a drink with Jagermeister… but yeah, no, thanks. Not going there.

Someone other than our server took our orders, so the most amusing part was when our server put the mai tai in front of me and the whiskey drink in from of him.

Heh heh heh.

I teased him about his girlier drink while we waited on food to arrive.

[Islands Beach Bowl with grilled chicken]

Island’s newest Beach Bowl is chock full of veggies with your choice of either grilled chicken or mahi mahi and includes fresh grilled pineapple, red bell peppers, snow peas, water chestnuts, red onion, broccoli & diced scallions in a hoisin sauce and all of that served over brown rice. This bowl screams “I’m good for you and low in calories” (just under 576 calories) and you might just want to opt for this one after viewing the calorie intake of the burgers on their menu.

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Mary, Recipes

grilled hot wings and homemade ranch dressing

The only thing I find interesting about football is football food. The  sport doesn’t hold my interest at all, while thoughts of delicious appetizers make me excited.

Jake wanted to watch a Chargers game and asked if I would make hot wings. Pfft, you barely have to ask me to do such things. “Make something delicious!” he says. “Okay!” I say. That might be the basis for our relationship.

Maybe.

[butter and hot sauce mixture]

I made a hot sauce mixture from scratch and took it to Jake’s house to pour over the wings.

This is the hot sauce mixture inside of butter. Looks kind of gloopy and weird, doesn’t it? It also seems like a hefty amount of butter, but I did prepare four pounds of chicken wings…

Also, it’s only a half a stick of butter. I’m not Paula Deen, y’all.

[pouring the hot sauce]

I want you to know that in retrospect, I would not have not poured the sauce over the wings first. I should have put this sauce on after the grilling since the sauce pretty much evaporated into thin air while cooking.

So basically, don’t do this. I’m showing you an image of what not to do. Just sprinkle some salt and pepper over those wings and don’t do what I did. Or you can try it if you want. I won’t judge you and the recipe police aren’t going to take you way or anything.

You know why? Because they don’t exist! Woo hoo!

My idea was that I was marinading the wings, so I put the wings back into the bag they came and ported these over for grilling at my house. No sense in dirtying up another bag of plastic, right?

I decided that grilled was the best option. It was hella hot that weekend (like, triple digit record breaking hot) and turning on the oven was out of the question. My dad already had the grill on for some ribs he was making, so we just threw my wings on.

Best idea ever!

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Mary, Orange County, Orange, Travel

civil war in huntington beach + johnny reb’s bbq in orange, ca

It’s no longer a secret that I like Civil War stuff.

Well, it was never really a secret to begin with. But it’s kind of one of those things I’m shy to share about myself – seems like kind of a nerdy, geeky thing to like. I’m a nerdy, geeky kind of girl though. History is neat.

[signs to camps]

The Civil War Reenactment in Huntington Beach, CA is a very impressive event to attend. There’s two separate camps, a small town called Reedsberg and an impressive battle filled with troops and lots of canon fire. There’s also tons of people to talk to who are more than happy to share a little bit of history and knowledge with you.

I just love walking around the camps, seeing the uniforms and getting a feel for the place.

[the confederate camp tents]

There were people set up and cooking and people just doing their “day to day” thing within the camps.

[the undertaker was in]

We also visited the undertaker.

[my poor baby, ready for viewing]

Jake stuffed himself in a coffin and I photographed it. I refused to get in myself. But I’ll happily take photos of others in the coffin.

[more tents in the confederate camp]
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