I'm Dreaming of a Dose of French Toast!

French toast topped with strawberries and New Mexican
Pinon nuts

Great on an October fall morning weekend when the sun is just rising over the back patio fence and the squirrels are peering into the patio sliding door to see what’s cooking!


Ingredients
3 slices organic multi-grain bread
1 large organic egg
¼ C organic heavy cream
1 t vanilla extract
1T ground cinnamon
1 pinch of kosher salt
¼ t organic olive oil for cooking
Organic butter for cooking
6 organic strawberries
¼ Pinon nuts (alternative, pine nuts) If allergic to nuts, do not use.
Organic maple syrup
Shaved organic dark chocolate (optional)


Pre-heat medium sized pan on medium-low heat.

In a small mixing bowl, mix and scramble egg, cream, vanilla, cinnamon, and salt. Set the bread slices aside until soaking.

Pour mixture into a 8" x 8" glass or tin Pyrex for bread soaking. Soak each slice of bread separately on each side for about 30 seconds. Let the bread soak the mixture. Don’t over soak another slice of bread while cooking the first slice bread.

In the pre-heated pan, put ½ t olive oil and a little butter. Place soaked bread into pan and cook for about 1 to 1 ½ minutes until the side is golden brown and then flip with a spatula to the uncooked side for about the same amount of time.

Pre-heat the oven to “warm” and turn off. Each time a toast is cooked, put it on a oven safe plate and put into oven that is warm. It keeps the cooked French toast warm while the other slices are being cooked.

Top with sliced strawberries, Pinon nuts and dark chocolate shavings (if you’re craving sweet). Drizzle maple syrup on top too.

Happy eating!

Amazing Amuse Bouche!

The best amuse bouche I've ever had was at Joel Robuchon's The Mansion. He's the chef that has the most Michelin stars (18). The executive chef is Claude LeTohic at the restaurant in the MGM Grand Las Vegas.

When the wait staff brought over the dishes, my wife and and I looked at each other in utter disbelief. We were giddy like kids and couldn't wait to dig in. I mean, enjoy each spoonful. I knew our anniversary dinner was going to be a great one.

The amuse bouche is dungenous crab topped with Oscietre caviar served in the caviar tin. The sweet crab and mild salty roe complimented each other. C'est magnifique!

So Long Summer

Today is the last day of summer. No more weekend walks on the beach. No more bright yellow sunflowers. Forget about the violet and pink peonies. No more camping in the mountains with family and friends. No more summer campfires. No more baseball, softballs, beach balls and volleyballs. No more Frisbees. No more county fairs and state fairs.

No more long days, but longer evenings. Now is the transition to autumn. Fall brings cooler weather and the fall colors- burnt orange, bright reds, browns and aubergine. Good bye summer, and hello fall. The holidays are just around the corner.

Dining at Bardessono - Yountville, CA

It was the hottest time of the day, 3pm on Vintner Golf Course- Yountville. It was a summer scorcher, 103F, July 2009. I couldn't wait until the end of the round. A refreshing dinner was on my mind. The place? Bardessono.


To get to the restaurant from outside parking, one has to walk through the serene, minimalistic setting. We were greeted with a smile and a good evening once we got to the hostess. We arrived an hour early from our reservation, but we were accommodated after a ten minute wait. We were seated outside section under a heater. It was a pleasant evening so we didn't mind sitting outside. We actually preferred outside in the breezeless night. We were seated at a table with a glass top, the seats dark tan plastic rattan. In my front view, there was a sandstone color block sculpture of a nude woman.


Alfonso, our waiter, recited the specials; an heirloom tomato salad and the second special, a Sockeye salmon. We passed as we ordered the chilled shell fish pistou ($14) - a seafood salad with a mild pesto-like dressing. It was refreshing and cooling to the palate.


My wife ordered the Atlantic Cod ($25) with brandade & deep fried parsley, and creamy risotto drizzled with a lemon sauce & capers. The portion was large, about 8 oz and the fish was nicely done. The skin was crisp and the flesh moist.



I had the lamb two-ways (seared and braised) with spring veggies ($31) atop a coconut basmati rice. The lamb was medium rare and melted in my mouth. The rice was creamy and matched well with the lamb.

The wine of choice was the 2005 Lail Vineyard's Blueprint Cabernet Sauvignon ($58/half bottle) (Philippe Melka, wine maker). There are hints of blackberries and cassis with a touch of oak. The cab held it's own with the lamb, and went well with the cod.

For dessert, we shared the Coffee bar ($10), it looked heavy but one bite, it was light and sweet and very chocolaty with chocolate nibs and Chantilly cream. I ordered the Blue Bottle coffee (brown lump sugar & cream) in a french press (equal to two servings, $6). The bottle water, flat or with bubbles, is complimentary.


The venue is very relaxing and the service attentive, and the staff was eager to please. They are friendly and helpful. Bardessono is a go back place. It's hard to believe that it's been open since March 2009 as it seems like it has been serving for years.

Watching Sailboats in San Francisco Bay

Watching sailboats in the San Francisco bay is relaxing. It was a sunny day with lots of wind. The typical summer marine layer was hovering among the towers of the glorious Golden Gate Bridge. The sun rays shinning on my face and the wind blowing through my hair almost made me feel like I was on one of those sailboats, of course, without the work of sailing.

I watched as the boats came about, jibed, fell off and headed up. They raced toward the Golden Gate Bridge and returned sailing passed Alcatraz towards the finish line. Who won? I didn't care. I could hear the sails luffing in the wind and then the sails went silent when the sails caught all the wind. It was full speed ahead. I could see the seagulls above racing with the boats. And then in a flash, the gulls were way ahead of the boats.

There was a an old man in his SF Giants hoodie on the same pier where I was standing, casting his three fishing poles one after the other. He only looked up, not at the sailing boats, but to check that the bait was still on his hook and then with a heave, he cast his line out into the bay water. Then he sat down on his make shift seat, an inverted five gallon dirty white bucket, watching his lines and listening for the sound of the bells attached to the poles hoping to catch a fish.

I stood against the rails watching the sailboats, hoping to catch a splash of the sea water on my cheeks as the sailboats passed me. And for that time, I had no care in the world. I was just relaxing.

Sour So Sweet!

Candied Lemon Peel

An uncle and aunt were headed to the Philippines. They invited me and my wife to pick lemons from their two lemon trees before they left. They didn't want them to rot on the tree while they were away. We took them up on their invitation, drove to their home and picked about 100 lemons and filled two plastic bags.

After washing and stripping (use a lemon zester) the lemons, the peels are ready to be candied.

In a 1,5 quart sauce pan, fill with simple syrup (1 C water and 1 C organic sugar) and add 1 C of stripped lemon peels. Boil for 15 minutes and then reduce to a low boil for 1,5 to 2,0 hours with cover on, stirring occassionally.

Drain well and place boiled lemon peels and 1/2 C organic sugar in an air tight container. Shake well. Refrigerate overnight (or more) and then add another 1/2 C organic sugar. Shake well again. Candied peels should be dried and covered with sugar granules.

Eat like candy or use as a dessert garnish. Enjoy!

"Certainly, travel is more than the seeing of sights;
it is the change that goes on, deep & permanent,
in the ideas of living. " - Miriam Beard