birthday & easter eggstravaganza

My birthday this year was pretty low-key, but also just perfect. I had a fun Work Birthday Celebration on Thursday (my birthday eve), and we got lunch from Dormont Dogs and one of the most fantastic cakes I've ever tasted and seen from Vanilla Pastry Studio. (the folks at big Burrito know how to celebrate).

Dormont Dogs is a little venture started by Chef Captain Barnes and his wife, and they make the best dogs I've ever had. Great ingredients and clever combinations make for some delicious hot dog fare. You can almost get everything on the menu in a veggie dog version *and* they have sweet tea on the menu. It doesn't get much better than that. We had a FEAST.

And, if that wasn't enough, the cake that Vanilla sent over was just unbelievable. I'm sad I didn't get some pics of it, but it just didn't last long enough for that. It was a four-layer vanilla cake with a melt-in-your-mouth, light-as-air buttercream, covered in shaved coconut. And, between the layers alternated the buttercream and the most delicate and perfectly tart lemon cream. The cake was so moist, and while I'm sure it was far from a "lite" treat, it tasted so light, so spring, so sunny, so delicious that even after consuming my fair share of slices, I still can't stop thinking of it. Really, really stellar.

And, that was just Birthday Eve!

On the day itself, Barbara gave me some fantastic handmade gifts, and we had a quiet evening at home. Check out The Meerkat Johaansen with his new friend The Meerkat Snicklefritz! You should have seen them laughing and playing!



On the next day, Barbara made me breakfast in bed, and I had a half-industrious/half-lazy afternoon around the house. In the evening, we went out for my birthday dinner at Eleven (my favorite restaurant in town) where Chef Derek Stevens works magic with food as his medium. We had the Chef's Vegetarian Tasting Menu (this is available every day, folks!). The meal was beautiful, and we even lucked into an extra course that the chef sent out for us to try. Here's the run-down...

Amuse Bouche:
a tiny little grilled cheese sandwich on house-made bread with morels, Upland Farms Pleasant Ridge Reserve cheese and ramp pesto.
A fantastic way to start the meal! My first taste of morels and ramps for the season, and a taste of a cheese that I'd been wanting to try since Chef Bill Fuller declared it "the best cheese produced in America".

First Course: Soup and Salad
golden beet puree, whipped goat cheese, sumac
Three Sister’s Farm mesclun, olives, lemon, garlic, mint
A beautiful plate. The greens in the salad were so perfectly tender, and expertly dressed with a hint of lemon, and balanced with briny olives and delicate mint. Lovely.
The soup was the texture of velvet, and delectably sweet, and nicely balanced by the tang of the goat cheese. There was another odd taste that I couldn't place in my tastebud memory banks--I guess the sumac? I don't know anything about it. Will have to do some googling.

Second Course: Asparagus and Peas
raclette, sauce gribiche, fingerling potato crisp
This dish was Spring personified. Not only was it just a beautiful plate, but it had it all--bursting with seasonal freshness, rich colors, a mix of bold and delicate flavors and a little whimsy thrown in.
This was the only photo I took during the meal. I wish I'd captured everything, but I was too busy enjoying everything to concentrate on documenting it. But, really, wow. I'd never had sauce gribiche, but our server described it as a "tartar sauce, in vinaigrette form". It was briny with little capers, lemony, and super-fresh tasting while also being rich and satisfying. A perfect foil for the tender spring veggies. And, the tiny little whisper-thin fingerling potato chips were the perfect topping. Not only completely adorable, their crispness provided yet another layer of texture. Again, wow.


Bonus course!
Morel and Ricotta Ravioli
ramp pesto, Swiss chard, Parmigiano Reggiano
This is one of those moments that make me love my job. Getting to work with really talented chefs, and best of all--getting to try the fruits of their labor! The chef sent out this plate for us to try, and it was easily one of our favorites of the night. The ravioli were pillow soft, and stuffed with a rich ricotta and morel filling, and topped with some braised ramps and Swiss chard with a drizzle of ramp pesto. Fantastic!!!

Third Course:
Trumpet Royale
dandelion greens, semolina gnocchi, cipollini onions, balsamic vinegar
The main course was our least favorite, but it still had some great components. The mushrooms themselves were lovely (the surface just perfectly scored), but the texture just was a little tough. We ate around those to try the perfectly bitter dandelion greens and the rich little gnocchis. Yum.

Dessert:
Ehrrin - Meyer Lemon Meringue Shortcake
lemon ice cream, lemon curd, blueberry hibiscus tea, candied lemon
Oh! This plate was just beautiful! And, the lemon ice cream was rich and sweet, but the curd and blueberry tea was tart. The meringue and the shortcake rounded the whole thing out, and it was just divine. How I love a lemon dessert!
Barbara - S’more
marshmallow ice cream, graham cracker, milk chocolate Godiva mousse
Mmm! Rich and light at the same time! The mousse probably was the standout here, but the whole plate was just amazing. I had to sneak several bites to confirm.

Mignardise:
Salted Caramels
Ah, a perfect send-off for our last bite. Perfectly lovely little caramels, just with a hint of saltiness and with the bottom coated in a superfine granulated sugar.

A meal to remember indeed! Oh, Eleven, how I love thee!


Ah...

And that brings us to Easter morning. Barbara and I both woke up to Easter baskets chock full of tempting treats (the first thing I tried was a Smoked Chocolate square...interesting). And, after we'd dug through our baskets, I went to the kitchen to unpeel the eggs I prepped yesterday. I'd seen a photo of these on my favorite food porn site, Tastespotting , and needed to know more. The photo was from the Barefoot Kitchen Witch blog, and she walks you through a step-by-step of how to create these stunning Easter treats. I can't believe how simple it was! I'm following her to a tee, and making deviled eggs with them for our Easter dinner at Barbara's sister's house this afternoon. I hope everyone is as charmed as we are!

Happy Easter folks!

so much stuff, so little time (to blog).

My birthday was super. It was nice to go the low-key route, especially since this sinus infection has pretty much Taken Over My Life. But, even though (on my birthday, last Thursday) it was just a leisurely dinner, and I didn't have anything stronger to drink than water and herbal tea, just being up until 1 a.m.-ish kicked my behind. I was exhausted the entire next day.

It is this way with those of us who are old(ish).

For the big night out, I'd asked around to some people for suggestions. I couldn't decide where to go, but I wanted somewhere off my regularly beaten path--somewhere festive, somewhere good, somewhere not crazy-ass expensive. And, a friend suggested we try The Melting Pot in Station Square. I have a long-time love for fondue, since my mom went through her Fondue Period in the mid-70s, so I thought it just might be wacky enough to work.

To start, it was just kind of surreal to be in Station Square. It's weird down there. I think it's for tourists who desire an inauthentic glimpse of Pittsburgh. Or, suburbanites who want a taste of the Big City, but to not get dirty. I'm not really sure. The Melting Pot is in the mall-type thing, which is also very bizarre. Any time I've been there I've wondered at all the odd shops and the nearly non-existent clientele. How do they stay afloat? But, anyway, back to dinner. It was fine, but not stellar, definitely designed for meat-eaters, but we had a great time nonetheless. Our group was a small foursome--just me, Barbara, Mags and the E-Dawg. We think our waiter may have been very, very stoned.

Afterwards, we met back at Barbara's. She'd made a strawberry jello cake (which I'd reminisced about several times). And, E-dawg complimented the cake with some Toasted Coconut ice cream. Yum!! The (figurative) icing on the cake, was that B got me some awesome cooking-themed gifts that I LOVE! A Cuisinart ice cream maker (electric! with an extra canister!), a copy of David Lebovitz's The Perfect Scoop, and a set of baking ramekins. So fun! (the next day I made some frozen yogurt--exactly how I like it, maybe better than Pinkberry).

We stretched the celebrating on out to the weekend, and had a little family party (I borrowed Barbara's family) on Saturday afternoon with her mom, sister, brother-in-law and niece. She and her sister, Sissy, made a snowball* cake!



*Now, it must be noted that Barbara broke the news to me several months ago that Hostess Snowballs are not vegetarian. I didn't realize this, and had long considered them to be my favorite of the snack cakes. I'd been missing them sorely. And, maybe, holding a grudge since Barbara ruined it all for me--as if she'd added the animal fat all by herself. All is forgiven now! It was SO good!!!

And, yesterday I concluded (?) my multi-day birthday extravaganza with my pal Maria. We had dinner at Casbah. It's been one of my favorite Pittsburgh eateries for years, but my pocketbook hasn't allowed for very frequent visits. But, now with my fantastic employee discount (and a generous friend celebrating my birthday), that has changed! We really had a beautiful meal--the food was gorgeous and delicious, the service was really nice, yet understated, the presentation divine.

I started out with a Parisienne Fizz to drink, which was a glass of champagne with a splash of an elderberry liquer. I love champagne and champagne cocktails, and this one didn't disappoint. It was light and floral and a little sweet, but in a good way, not cloyingly. And, I chose the Mixed Greens salad which was a mix of romaine, raddichio and spinach, with feta, crispy fried banana peppers, fried blue cheese stuffed olives (don't let the "fried" make you think this was heavy--it wasn't, but was extremely flavorful and interesting), tossed in a creamy red pepper dressing. Some fantastic bread on the side (I think it's the Mt Athos Fire Bread from Mediterra).

My entree was one of the best things EVER. I had the Sweet Pea Risotto, and it was like spring on a plate. It was the most perfectly creamy risotto I've ever had with tender little peas studding the rice, and it was accented by some wild forest mushrooms, julienned slices of preserved lemon, some beautiful al dente baby carrots, and topped off with a little shaved parmigiano reggiano. If I couldn't gotten away with it, I'd have licked the plate.

For dessert, I chose the Meyer lemon crepes. The crepes were filled with house-made ricotta and Meyer lemon curd, the plate was drizzled with a Meyer lemon-vanilla vinaigrette, and topping this lovely plate was a scoop of olive oil gelato. Woah. Wow. Geez. Gosh. It was amazing!!! (Thank you, Maria, for the lovely meal and the sparkling conversation!). Maria had the Arugula Salad, Orecchiette pasta, and the dark chocolate and raspberry bread pudding. She also loved her meal (I had a few mouthfuls here and there, and it was fantastic). I wish I had photos of my meal. It was truly stellar. [And, for work, I get to meet the chef (Chef Alanson Peet) tomorrow! I'm totally geeked about it. (Geek being the operative word)].

i like a fuss.

...because it's my special day! Yep, the big 3-5 (although I was guessed at 36 this morning, dangit)!

As you know, I recently started a new job with big Burrito. It is busy as all get-out, but I'm really enjoying it. It's a great working environment, super co-workers (even the one who guessed me at 36), a challenge (in a good way), and a pretty good time all around. *Especially* if it's your birthday!

Seriously. These peeps treated me right! I got to order lunch from wherever I wanted (Spice Island for some Java Fried Rice--vegetarian with tofu; egg okay. natch.), got the dessert of my choice (I said "coconut cake or cupcakes with ice cream", and got some *amazing* coconut cupcakes in both white and chocolate cake, with a coconut custard center, and white coconut buttercream from Vanilla Pastry Studio--YUM), a gift certificate for the restaurants, some gorgeous hot pink roses, a really cool little succulent houseplant, some Incredibles note cards ('cause I'm incredible), a mug, some cookies, an amazon gift card....

Have you ever heard of such a thing?! I've never had a fuss like this from a workplace--especially considering I've only worked here for a month! It's so super sweet, and I'm just blown away by the generosity, and that it feels really genuine. It's like a big family here, and I'm the newest baby.

Other than all that goodness, I did get something else for my birthday--a sinus infection! Yesterday I felt like something or someone was standing on my face. My body hurt. I wanted to cry and I wanted my mom. But, I got squeezed in for a doctor's appointment, and got some antibiotics. I generally try to avoid taking them, but I'm so thrilled I'm taking them now! I feel a gagillion times better today than yesterday. I [heart] antibiotics, and you--I'm looking at you, Louis Pasteur.

Tonight I will be celebrating with my lady, Mags and E-dawg in a low-key kind of way. I love having a birthday as my own personal holiday of all that is right and good. Hooray!

3 items! "Happy Birthday, China-Bear!" & "A Dozen Delights!" & "An Update on the K-Bear!"

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, CHINA-BEAR!

In more pet news this week, China-Bear, my cat and long-time companion, turns 16 today! She was all in a flutter yesterday picking out her birthday outfit, birthday meal(s), gifts, and other such festive fancies. Here she is thinking about it:


Also, I'm not exactly sure what happened after I went to bed last night, but all I'm sayin' is that the China-Bear woke up feeling mighty darn frisky this morning, and the Meerkat seems to have become a man. Coincidence?


and, now...

A DOZEN DELIGHTS!

You may have already surmised that I'm a big fan of Dozen Cupcakes, Dozen Bake Shop, and the owner of both, the King of Cupcake Manor himself, James. Well, now there's even more to love! Dozen Bake Shop just started doing a vegetarian/vegan dinner on Friday and Saturday nights (three seatings each night, go here for more info and to RSVP).

Pittsburgh doesn't have a lot in the way of vegetarian dining, which constantly hurts my little heart, so I'm thrilled to have another option! I went on Saturday evening with Barbara, and met up with Mags and the E-dawg. We sat upstairs in the new seating area (with a little outside seating area/balcony, too!). The structure is that you RSVP in advance, then you come in, there's a limited menu on the board while you're waiting, you order at the counter, get your drinks and a table number, and then shortly some fantastically delicious food arrives at your table.

We all ordered the eggplant lasagne, which was a HUGE crock of bubbling goodness--eggplant, sauce, lots of ricotta, breadcrumbs, cheese, with a little lightly dressed (as it should be) side salad. We also ordered the starter/small plate of the 7 Onion Tart with red wine reduction. It was YUMazing! Seriously--so good! We didn't order some other items, but James dropped by with some to share--and I'm SO glad he did--the Seitan Po'Boy (with sweet potato fries) and a slice of some beautiful red velvet cake. By the time we left, I was stuffed beyond all reason, but happy as a (vegetarian) clam!

The Seitan Po'boy and the 7 Onion Tart tied for first place in my affections. The seitan was perfect with a vegan (onion?) gravy, and a spicy sauce, and the bread was also fantastic. The onion tart was simply a taste sensation.

In fact, all of our food was so delicious that I only remembered to start snapping pics after we'd already made a significant dent in the offerings. But, check 'er out.

Eggplant Lasagne:


Seitan Po'Boy, and a space where the sweet potato fries once were:


7 Onion Tart, nearly completely decimated:


Red Velvet goodness:


Good food = good times:




*note--there was also a butternut squash casserole with maple infused creme fraiche on the menu, but we didn't taste it. sounds good, though, huh?

Check it out! Support LGBT-owned businesses and good vegetarian food options! Where it's at, yo!

AN UPDATE ON THE K-BEAR

Okay, and lastly, I just wanted to say thanks for all the sweet messages, emails and calls about the K-Bear. He's actually doing really well! He seems to have shaken off the soreness, and has started to heal. He now likes to go by the nickname "Face" (he thinks it makes him seem tough. never mind the yellow kerchief...). He's looking pretty good, eh?

officially winter

Okay, so we've been playing at winter here for a while--some cold, some flurries, our winter coats and hats and gloves. But, it finally hit for real. The roads are bad, and intermittently scary, there's real snow (I think I had about 5" at my house by yesterday afternoon). I even got to leave work early yesterday! What does all this mean to you? It just means that I'm planning on using it as an excuse for not blogging for a few days. That, and my uterus has been playing games (not fun games) with me for nearly a week now. I am a cranky, bloated, tender, crampy, uterachey, crompy monster. But, that said, I'm real glad to be back to bloggin'!

First of all, the vegan-flavor cupcakes for Kramer's birthday celebration. I ended up making a sort of "almond joy" type of cupcake. I made the coconut cupcake recipe from this blog. As for the frosting, I made a chocolate-almond flavor, and I just kinda winged it like she suggests. I used powdered sugar, Earth Balance, a little hemp milk, some cocoa, some vanilla and almond extracts, and just kept beating it and tasting it until I was happy with it. Then I topped them with the toasted coconut and slivered almonds. They were yum--and cute! Here's a close-up, and one of Kramer blowing out her candles.


"blow like you've never blown before"


Also, Taste of India was pretty tasty, but I don't know if there's a place that can unseat Udipi from the top seat in my heart for Indian fare in the 'Burgh.

Saturday Barbara (PYT) made a little light dinner and hung out and played Skip-bo with me while I complained about my uterache. Obviously, I am a big bowl o' fun around this time of the month!

Couscous with garlic and veggies:


The next morning we made a big breakfast, and it was magically delicious! Sunday Brunch is my favorite meal of the week. She made her famous tofu scramble and some veggie sausages and coffee. I made some roasted dill potatoes, peanut butter-n-jelly french toast (from a recipe that came from a kid's cook book that my brother and I had when we were little), and some fresh-squeezed oj. So tasty and perfect for a chilly morning.


Sunday afternoon we went to a Baby Party. It was for her niece Violet's first birthday. However, I mistakenly thought that it meant [Dress Like a] Baby Party, and showed up in a diaper and bonnet. Boy, was that embarrassing for the first meeting with her extended family!

[Just kiddin', folks. It was a really cute baby party with delicious cake, and hilarious baby antics.]

In other news, my sandwich addiction this week is egg salad with fake bacon. I had an "Egg Salad BLT" at Hoi Polloi last week, and had been thinking about it since. Also, E-dawg and I had been talking about subbing all or most of the mayo in egg salad for greek yogurt, and then Heidi posted another egg salad recipe a few days ago. So, I gave that a whirl. I used 4 eggs, 1 T. mayo, 2 T. fage 0% greek yogurt as the base. But, it just was a little too tangy, and not enough mayo-y for my liking, so I'll likely switch back, or at least flip-flop the mayo to yogurt ratio. So, to off-set the tanginess I added some minced sweet gherkin, some parsley and salt and pepper. It was good, but not perfect. Adding the fake bacon helps, though.


Night before last I threw together a pasta dish with broccoli and a bastardized alfredo-type sauce. I didn't use a recipe, just threw some stuff together--a little half and half, a little marsala, a little parmesan, a little freshly grated nutmeg, a little garlic and onion, a little butter, some salt and pepper. It turned out pretty good!


Tonight I'm doing some shopping for tomorrow's valentine's dinner with Barbara (aka PYT). I'm going to try the recipe that's on the cover of the new Vegetarian Times magazine for a vegetable wellington. Sounds deelish!

it's a cel-e-bration!

Hi y'all! I hope you've all had happy and satisfying holidays. I definitely have. I only have a sec now (but hope to find some time to write tomorrow), but just wanted to give a shout-out to a few peeps who are celebrating personal holiday-style today.

The first, my dear, dear love, the K-Bear, Caleb, K-lip--mommy's baby tulip, CornNibblet, Kipper, the Kippopotamus, Kibbit, PunkinPie...aka my #1 dog. As in, I am hangin' with my literal dog. It's his birthday! He's 12 years old today! I first met him when he was but three days old, on New Year's Eve 1995. He looked like a blind hamster. The next time I met him he looked like a little old man puppy. The next time after that he came home with me. We've been inseparable since. He is full of 100% pure sweetness and love. We've so far commemorated the day with Happy Hips treats, Canine Carryout treats, my famous "dog casserole" (contains no actual dog), pig ears, and extra-big and frequent walks in the park. Happy birthday, baby boy.

Here's us holding paws:


Here's when he was taste-testing my homemade dog treats (he gave them two paws up, way up, btw):


Here's the picture that was featured on Dozen's website a while back when he was enjoying a doggie cupcake (speaking of Dozen, it's their 1st birthday today!):


And, I have a really cute picture of him on xmas, but I don't have a way to get the pictures out of my computer at the mo'.


And, another person celebrating today is my pal Kara. She just graduated! I'm actually heading out in a minute to celebrate with her. Woo hoo! Congrats, grad!


Also, last but not least, yesterday was Nowlzie's birthday! (she and the k-bear are both Capricorns). Tonight is her bowling birthday party. I so much wish I could be there, but alas, it's in Brooklyn.

I hope she is having this much fun:

and...