Scalo Wine and Dine -- another wonderful meal

Another delightful evening at Scalo Nob Hill (www.scalonobhill.com).

I'll cover the menu first, with pictures, then have a couple of rants.  Feel free to skip the rants.

First course was a simple baby greens salad with cucumber, red onion, feta, and tomatoes.  Dressed with a light but flavorful dressing.  This was paired with a blend of Semillon and Sauvignon Blanc wine.

Second course was an extremely savory ground veal kabob with curry seasonings, paired with a flavorful red.

Third course was the quintessential comfort food, high style.  Boneless chicken brest with attached leg; grilled and roasted.  Served with mushroom risotto and roasted pan juices and a surprising pairing with red wine.

And dessert!  What a dessert -- chocolate ganache tort with a thin crispy crust and raspberry coulis; served with a Kopke port.

Rants:
1.  Show up on time!  This weekly event is clearly advertised with a 6:30pm start.  The restaurant very generously waits for people to show up, shifting the whole prep and delivery schedule awry.  In addition, those attendees who do bother to show up on time are left waiting, waiting, waiting.

2.  If you make a reservation, commit to it, or do the restaurant the courtesy of a 24-hour cancellation, NOT a 60 minute before the start cancellation.  You do realize that the chef and staff prep according to the reservations, ordering ingredients, meat, and wine at least a day in advance.  For 13 people to cancel an hour before the start is the epitome of selfish and rude behavior.

Rant over.

A Delicious Dinner

For my Albuquerque friends or anyone planning a visit to Q-Town, a locally-owned restaurant, Scalo Nob Hill, hosts a Wednesday Wine and Dine that is fabulous.  This is every Wednesday, mind you.

Start checking their website on Saturday (it varies when they post the next Wednesday's menu):  www.scalonobhill.com.

Here is the menu for this past Wednesday:

And here's a a pic for each of the four courses.  Each course is paired with wine matched to the food.

The butter lettuce with roasted carrots:

Tuna crudo with heirloom tomatoes:

The main course:

And, the delicious dessert;

All this for the amazingly fair price of $29.50, before tax and gratuity!

Well, it's been a while....Purrito Wrappers

Sorry, everyone.

Let's just say I underestimated what was involved in maintaining a blog,

So, I'm giving it another shot, starting with my most recent project.

I've become a big fan of a live stream on YouTube:  Kitten Dorm.  The couple foster orphan kittens and momcats with kittens.  I've been doing some modest support, including making paperbag albums for each of the kittens and momcats.  (Tutorial and photos in a future post.)

Most recently though, I wondered what else I could make and asked Kitten Dorm what they needed.

Out of that e-mail came a shopping list for SewExpo (www.sewexpo.com) -- this fabric:

From the fabric I made these:

This is half of the batch -- all backed with flannel.  They can be used as wrappers for just bathed kittens or as a soft mat for kittens to sleep on

Three of the wrappers will go to Kitten Dorm and the rest will go to CatLove Rescue, with which Kitten Dorm is affiliated.

Holiday Thoughts

As we speed through the holiday season with thoughts of gift giving, decorating, visiting, and baking, let me request that we all have some additional daily thoughts.

A thought for those who cannot be with their families because they are on duty here and abroad.  Our police, firefighters, doctors, nurses, chefs, wait staff, kitchen workers, hotel workers, pilots, flight attendants, mechanics, shipping and freight carriers, and pharmacists, to name only a few.

A special thought for those in military service here and abroad.  They are always on duty so that we can be safe at home and abroad.

A fervent thought as an ambulance passes that the attendants, EMTs, and emergency room staff work up to their best potential to save that life.  If it is the destiny of that life to move on to the next chapter, that the passing is gentle and with grace.

And, finally, a positive thought for each of us.  Let us look around and see the plenty of what we have, the joy of our friends and family, and the hope and anticipation of the New Year to come.

A decent meal in 10 minutes (with help)!

So, let's start with the full truth -- this is not a "from scratch" meal.

But on busy nights, having a usable leftover, some sausages in the fridge, and a veg in the freezer can make a fast, balanced, and decent meal.

We had a side portion of Christy Mae's potato salad, frozen chopped spinach from Whole Foods, and Andouille Sausage by Wellshire Farms (also purchased at Whole Foods). 

Got out the grill pan, heated it up, and slapped the sausages in there to heat them (they are already fully cooked) and get the skin nicely marked and crispy.

Dumped the full bag of frozen spinach in a medium large Corningware dish (from S&H Green Stamps), put the lid on, and thawed it in the microwave.

Turned the sausages. Nice markings!

Had some heirloom garlic from friends -- sliced about 4 cloves, heated about 3 Tablespoons of butter in a large non-stick skillet and, with the fire on medium-low, threw the garlic slices in there to start cooking (but NOT browning).  Tossed in a bit of salt and four grinds of the pepper mill.

Drained the hot (and thawed) spinach (nothing fancy -- just slip the lid back, lean over the sink, let it dribble out), and tossed the spinach in the frying pan.  Gave it a stir.

Checked on the sausages, gave them another turn.

Got out plates, forks, steak knives, squeezed some Grey Poupon on each plate (we like to dunk our sausage slices in mustard), and divided up the potato salad.  You don't want to know how many different types of mustard we have in the refrigerator.

Stirred the spinach around -- just trying to cook off additional moisture and get the garlic essence through out.

One more turn of the sausages -- in the grill pan for about 9 minutes total.

Serve it up! Yummy!

P.S.  We saved half of the sausages (2 links) and half of the spinach for another night.
P.P.S.  We are not affiliated with nor employees of any of the above referenced companies.

Catching up on things: a haul video

Trying to catch up on stuff, now that we're back from our trip.

Pictures are being sorted, haul videos of the craft and fabric shopping at local stores are being made, and we got through Hallowe'en!

Only had about 90 trick-or-treaters, so will be giving all the extra treat holders (filled, of course) to friends.

In the meantime, I did get the video of my October Stampin' Up order completed and it is uploaded to Youtube, on my channel:  craftytravelfrog.

Hallowe'en Treat Holders -- All 154 of them!

Well, we got them done!

Here's a picture of 154 empty treat tubes:

And, here they all are, filled with yummy treats!  They'll hold two fun-sized candies plus one mini, or four minis.

There's a "video" of how to make the treat holders on my Youtube site. 

Will let you all know if we run out of these!

Happy Hallowe'en!

Easy dinner for a cool night.

Normally one doesn't think of fondue as easy, but this recipe is totally easy ('cause it cheats) and is easy to vary.

Here's the original recipe, from an old Campbell's Soup Cookbook:

Technically this serves 4, but mi esposo and I barely manage to have any left over.

1 clove garlic cut in half crosswise
1 cup white wine
1 can Campbell's Cheddar Cheese soup
2 cups of fairly well packed grated cheddar cheese (we use Tillamook Extra Sharp)
3 tablespoons cornstarch

1 small round of sourdough bread, cut into "mouth-sized" squares, making sure there's crust on one side.

Special equipment:  fondue pot and fondue forks (not essential, but it makes it official), small can of sterno.

Rub the garlic over the inside of the pot and discard.

Stir the cornstarch into the grated cheddar cheese and set by the stove.

Add the wine and the can of soup to the pot, whisk to combine and bring to a simmer.  Once you see little bubbles around the edge of the liquid, stir in handfuls of the cheddar cheese-cornstarch combination, using a wooden spoon (or a heatproof spatula).  Let each handful melt into the soup-wine mixture before adding the next.

When everything is combined and smooth, remove the pot from the heat and set on the fondue stand.  Light the sterno and keep a low flame under the pot.

Pierce a cube of bread through the crust with the fondue fork and swirl through the fondue; let drip back into the pot, letting the fondue cool a bit on the bread.  Insert into mouth, let eyes roll into the back of your head, and repeat.


Other yummy things to dip into the fondue:  tart apples, cubed; just fork-tender pieces of broccoli and cauliflower.

If there is any leftover fondue, it easily reheats.  You may need to add a bit of wine to thin it.  It also makes a tasty spread on crackers in its chilled state.

CTF's variation:

2 cloves of garlic, minced or put through a garlic press
1 cup white wine
1 can Campbell's Cheddar Cheese soup
2 cups of fairly well packed grated cheddar cheese (we use Tillamook Extra Sharp)
3 tablespoons cornstarch
Minimum of 1 small can of chopped green chiles (or about 1/4 cup of diced freshly roasted green chiles) 
                  OR
2-3 chipotle chiles in adobo sauce, finely minced.

1 small round of sourdough bread, cut into "mouth-sized" squares, making sure there's crust on one side.

Special equipment:  fondue pot and fondue forks (not essential, but it makes it official), small can of sterno.


Stir the cornstarch into the grated cheddar cheese and set by the stove.

Place the garlic, wine and the can of soup to the pot, whisk to combine and bring to a simmer.  Once you see little bubbles around the edge of the liquid, stir in handfuls of the cheddar cheese-cornstarch combination, using a wooden spoon (or a heatproof spatula).  Let each handful melt into the soup-wine mixture before adding the next.

When everything is combined and smooth, add the green chiles (or chipotle chiles) and heat through.  Remove the pot from the heat and set on the fondue stand.  Light the sterno and keep a low flame under the pot.

Pierce a cube of bread through the crust with the fondue fork and swirl through the fondue; let drip back into the pot, letting the fondue cool a bit on the bread.  Insert into mouth, let eyes roll into the back of your head, and repeat.

Other yummy things to dip into the fondue:  tart apples, cubed; just fork-tender pieces of broccoli and cauliflower.

If there is any leftover fondue, it easily reheats.  You may need to add a bit of wine to thin it.  It also makes a tasty spread on crackers in its chilled state.

Leave a comment and let me know if you tried the recipe.

Repurposing tissue boxes

Have you noticed how pretty the boutique-sized tissue boxes are?  The graphics on the boxes are striking -- even the ones from the warehouse stores.

I started saving the boxes, thinking "there must be something I can do with these" (famous last words).

One day, I pulled one out and stared at it and noticed (I mean really noticed) that there was a nicely shaped oval cut-out in the top and a lot of other useful decorated paper (more like lightweight chipboard) on the other sides.  So, I took it apart at the flaps and then dismantled it by cutting on the fold lines.

The size of the top was pretty square with the two sides parallel to the long side of the oval having a bit more space between the edge of the oval and the edge of the paper, so I trimmed off a bit on those two sides -- made it look a bit more proportional to me.

The oval edge was a little rough (having been perforated for the bit you remove to get to the tissues), so I distressed it further.  Then I pulled out some solid colored cardstock that coordinated with the colors in the tissue box and an ink pad and a focal point stamp that would fit nicely in the oval, and a card was born!

The weight of the tissue box "paper" is pretty heavy, but the Nestabilities dies do work with it.  I haven't tried it with the Sizzix dies, yet, but will shortly, as I punched squares out of the smaller pieces that I will "quilt" together in a patchwork and run it through with the Top Note die for a background element.

I recently made one of my "movies" showing the steps I go through to dismantle the tissue box and make a card with the top part.  It's on my YouTube channel.

Have you ever repurposed a tissue box?  What did you do with it?

A second life for toilet paper tubes and chopstick wrappers

Do any of you save stuff to use in your crafting projects?

I do a little...right now I have large bags full of toilet paper (TP) tubes that I have been saving since last Hallowe'en.  Last year I got the "brilliant" idea to make treat containers, rather than buying the little sacks to hold 3 or 4 mini candies (like Snickers, etc.).  I used the decorative waxed paper from Michaels and Hallowe'en paper I found on sale and 85 tubes later had something pretty cute.    We actually ran out, DH had to run to store for more candy.  We ended up with nearly 100 kids!  So since then we have been diligently saving TP tubes and paper towel tubes (as back up), and even got some TP tubes from friends.

I have all the decorative paper and decorative waxed paper cut out and have started making the treat holders.  There's a short video on my YouTube channel, if you'd like to see how it's done.

I also save chopstick wrappers, if they have an interesting graphic.  One of our local sushi places has a wrapper that has green and red colors on it and the text "Oh Happy Day".  I have a stamp with the Chinese character for happiness and a stash of origami and other Asian papers.  When I get a wrapper or two, then I make cards, triming the wrapper to fit the card, backing it with some red or green paper and applying the stamp.  Easy card, looks pretty cute, and it goes to the Soldiers' Angels group in my town.  They collect all kinds of hand made cards, sorted by theme and holiday, and send out boxes to the troops 6-8 weeks in advance of the holiday (usually always mixing in some general cards for birthdays, thinking of you, congratulations, etc.).

Then there are the boutique-sized tissue boxes.  But that's another story.

NM State Fair Food -- More!

A short note.

First, the SPAM contest was great this year.  Some amazing recipes and the junior and adult division winners look like strong contenders for the National competition.   The "man from SPAM" always brings some SPAM stuff as giveaways and we won a pair of socks!

Second, a new favorite food at the fair -- Torpedo Dogs!  A unique method of preparation nearly guarantees no drips out the bottom of the bun.  4 or 5 sauces to try with a delicious Polish Dog.  Yum, yum!  Their stand is fashioned out of a shipping container.  Look for them around Albuquerque!

NM State Fair, Food, and Jackalopes

I love State Fairs.  I love the exhibits (4-H and FFA), the crafts, cooking, sewing, and quilting submissions, the SPAM contest (as an observer only), the horses, the baby animals that grow up before your eyes, the food.

In our house, we refer to the start of the State Fair as the beginning of the "eatin' season".  On the heels of the fair comes the Balloon Fiesta, then after that it's Thanksgiving, and after that it's Christmas (or the Winter Solstice, Hanukkah, or Kwanzaa, or the special observance of the winter season of your choice).  As a matter of fact, I advise anyone to either get their cholesterol tested BEFORE the State Fair or after the middle of January, because it's pointless to do it during the eatin' season.

A new creature this year in the Poultry and Rabbit barn is the rarely seen jackalope.  These were particularly special since they are of the mini persuasion, not the usual significantly larger persuasion that can get up to four feet tall, if you include the ears.

Here's a picture of the darlin' in his cage:

Here's a close-up of the little guy:

Hope you enjoy your State Fair!

A most delicious Wine and Dine at Scalo tonight

I believe I said that last week was pretty darn good.  Tonight, that was topped.  Please keep in mind that this report is based on my tastes and impressions.  I'm not a professional wine taster, but sure appreciate the good stuff in wine and food.

We had a representative from the winery, Flora Springs Winery, with us tonight.  A family-owned winery in St. Helena, CA; begun by Flora and her husband.  Flora is now 100 years old and still active; her son owns the winery and her grandson is in charge of operations.  The winery has been in operation for 33 years.

Our menu was thoughtfully paired with selections from the winery by the chef of Scalo Nob Hill.  Note that the price will be going up.  My spouse and I were speculating  what such a dinner would cost in San Francisco, CA, or New York, NY and came up with $75 or $100 per diner.  Tonight's dinner was $22.50 before tax and tip.  The cost will be going up to a mere $27.50 next week.  Still an  amazing bargain, considering the quality of wines and food that are paired together.  Many thanks to Scalo and its wine distributors for this generosity, and, for tonight, to Paul Trioni, from the Flora Springs Winery!

The salad was a simple and savory green apple and endive salad with a honey dijon vinaigrette dressing.  This was paired with a 2010 Sauvignon Blanc in the Sancerre style. with the grapes coming from Oakville.  While still nicely dry, there were melon components in the taste and this paired very nicely and smoothly with the salad.

The second course was a delicious and fresh tasting shrimp and avocado spring roll with a nicely bold soy and ginger dressing.  This was matched with a 2010 Chardonnay with minimal oak, from the Carneros area of Napa.  (By the way, the Flora Springs Winery owns all the land the grapes are grown on and do not buy grapes for their wines.)  I could pick up tastes of baked and fresh apples with a clean crisp fragrance in the glass.  This wine was not over-powered by the savory sauce served with the spring rolls and the tastes held true during enjoying the spring roll.

The main course was braised beef cheeks served with mushroom risotto, a red wine jus, and slivered fresh scallions. This was served with a 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon, a wine for which the Floral Springs Winery is most known.  The cheeks were tender, the risotto deeply flavored and both were well matched to the Cab.  Honestly, one could drink this Cabernet with hamburgers and have a delightful combination.  This cabernet sauvignon was 100% of the cabernet grape from the Rutherford region in the Napa Valley.  In the glass there was the fragrance of deep red cherries with a hint of roses (yes, roses!), along with a hint of tobacco and leather.  On the tongue, the soft tannins were present but not dominant, leaving a pleasantly dry finish and the hint of roses and leather persisted to the end.

Dessert was a most delicious and smooth chocolate creme brulee, served with a 2009 Merlot.  This was a blend of 97% Merlot and 3% Malbec.  Definitely tastes of dark cherry and black pepper on the tongue, a most satisfactory companion to the richness and smoothness of the chocolate creme brulee.  A hint of smoke on the finish that delightfully completed the taste.

If you have the opportunity to enjoy one of these Wednesday Wine and Dines, I think you will be pleased.  The reservations fill up quickly; your best bet is to sign up for the weekly notifications and reserve as soon as you can (at the Scalo website -- yummy education on the plate and in the glass).

A (Pretty) Quick Thank You Card

Made a quick (for me) Thank You card for a friend's generosity and am sharing with you (after we've put it in the mail).

Stampin' Up! products used:  Pool Party and Island Indigo inks, Naturals card stock in Ivory, Island Indigo card stock, 'thank you" from You're My Type stamp set (1/4/12 - 4/30/12 occasions mini catalog), Labels Collection Framelits, and  Bitty Banners Framelits.

Star background is created by sponging Pool Party through star punchinella from Gauche Alchemy, sold through Art Fire.

The multiple "thank you" background stamp is by Inkadinkado -- pretty sure I got it at Hobby Lobby either on sale or with a coupon.

The Mimbres frogs is a stamp I've had for years -- sorry, could not find a current site for it.

I am not a representative of or a design team member of any of these companies, but I sure appreciate them all!

A new haul video is up -- my Stampin' Up! haul

Hi.

Can't believe September is 1/3 over, already.  At last, we're starting to get some cooler weather.

My Stampin' Up! order came in, so I thought I'd do a "video" of it.  It's up in YouTube land. 

More later!

A Lovely Wednesday Evening

A local favorite restaurant of ours hosts a Wednesday Wine and Dine.  The menu is composed around a winery's or regions' wines that the organizer can procure.  Tonight was our second time at Wine and Dine, and while the first one was certainly tasty and memorable, tonight's was truly delicious.  Props to Scalo Northern Italian Grill for a delicious menu and excellent pairing of wines to the food.  And, props to Esser Vineyards for enabling the provision of wines from the SW distributor.  Esser is based in Napa Valley, but all the wine selections for this evening were from their Monterrey vineyards ( I think I have this correctly -- the grapes are most definitely from Monterrey).

The soup was a delicious savory and spicy Cold Tomato and Cucumber Gaspacho that included sweet peppers and fresh herbs. It  was most favorably paired with a 2010 Sauvignon Blanc that complemented the soup while also tasting refreshing on its own.  Before the soup was served, the citrus and floral notes were enjoyable.  But the melon notes did not come out, for me, until after a taste of the soup.  Smooth but not cloying.

The salad was a deceptively simple chopped salad of romaine, yellow and red peppers with slivers of red onion, dressed with a roasted pepper vinaigrette.  Our whole table raved about the vinaigrette and I plan to grill the staff later this week on how it was done.  The wine paired with the salad was a 2010 Chardonnay.  Smooth but not cloying, only spending 6-8 months in oak, this was bright and fresh.  I could taste the citrus as well as some tropical fruit flavors but it was not sweet at all.  Delicious by itself and with the salad.

The entree was a NY Strip portion served with Gorgonzola mashed potatoes and grilled zucchini in a savory mushroom sauce.  The original plan was to serve this with a 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon, but the restaurant and the wine representative decided to change the wine to a 2009 Merlot and that was a most successful change.  Smooth and leathery on its own, the wine melded with the flavors of the entree with ease.  Each bite of steak, potatoes, or grilled zucchini with the mushroom sauce were enhanced and respected (if that's possible) by the Merlot.

Finally, a 2009 Pino Noir accompanied a raspberry sorbet decorated with mint slivers.  A delicious combination and a very tasty wine on its own, with cherry, tobacco, and oak flavors.  The sweet-tart of the dessert complimented the wine and the wine was not overcome by the sorbet.

Amazingly, Scalo manages to offer these Wednesday Wine and Dines for $22.50 (before tax and gratuity).  This is a bargain in delicious eats and impressive wines.  See their website for information on future Wednesday Wine and Dines. 

Cooking counts as Crafting, yes?

I'm counting things done in the kitchen as coming under the Craft designation; I'm pretty sure my efforts don't qualify as Art.

We're invited to a Labor Day hangout, and as it is still too stinking hot to turn the burners on, opted for already cooked shrimp.  A minor complication -- DH neglected to notice that the tray of already cooked shrimp were frozen on his recon earlier in the week.  So now, 2 1/2 hours before we're supposed to show up, we're thawing shrimp.

What I wanted to share was our cocktail sauce recipe.   Cannot take credit for invention of the recipe, just the adaptation.  We first tasted this at Cutter's in Seattle -- they had a most excellent shrimp and crab cocktail with this flavorful and spicy cocktail sauce billed as the "Fireworks Prawn Cocktail".  We inquired as to the components and all they would share is that wasabi (the green spicy horseradish paste that comes with sushi) is part of the recipe, and it definitely adds a yummy flavor to the sauce.

So we tasted and tasted to try to detect what else might be in the sauce, and here is our version.

Fireworks Seafood Cocktail Sauce

Notes:

• Amounts are approximate, as this is a "season to your taste" kind of sauce
• Makes about 2 cups.  Recipe can be halved or doubled, as needed
•  Recommend making at least 1 hour before it is needed
•  Takes about 10 minute to prepare.

2 cups of your favorite tomato ketchup
1 large clove of garlic (minced, mashed, put through the press -- your choice)
1 tablespoon pure horseradish (the grated stuff in a jar -- NOT horseradish sauce or cream)
4 teaspoons of wasabi (this is usually in the Asian food section of grocery store in small green box -- is in a tube, lasts nearly indefinitely)
4 shakes of Worcestershire sauce
4 - 6 grinds of your peppermill
About 2 teaspoons of juice from lime (our preference) or lemon

Mix all together and taste.  Adjust as needed, adding more wasabi, lime juice, etc.  Refrigerate until needed.  This will improve and the flavors blend as it sits in the refrigerator.  Taste again before serving and adjust as you need.

This also keeps well -- at least 10 days in the fridge (between the horseradish, wasabi, garlic, and citrus juice, how could it not?).  It's actually quite tasty as a sauce for hotdogs and sausages.

Haul video from Joann's is up on YouTube

I did get the pictures taken and "video" put together yesterday and it is now up on YouTube.

My channel is, fortunately, also called craftytravelfrog.  This makes my third video!

Shopping at Joann's and Rebel Donuts

Did a little bit of shopping at Joann's -- jewelry making supplies are 25% off (today is probably last day) and stamps and stamp sets are 40% off.  But check their website -- they are having Labor Day sales and there are coupons.  Did pick up some jewelry making things -- will do a short "video" later today and post on YouTube.

Then on to Rebel Donuts, here in Albuquerque.  An independent donut shop with unique combinations of flavors, and they are making up new combinations every day.  DH had the maple glaze, which he pronounced as delicious and I had the Zinger, which was new that day -- raised donut with raspberry jam sprinkled with cocoanut and topped with a swirl of butter cream frosting.  Not a giant donut and the tart flavor of the raspberry jam nicely balanced the richness of the butter cream.  Yum, yum.  Highly recommend.  Open 7 days a week, 7am to 4pm weekends, to 6pm on weekdays.

Craftiness: First earrings

Woohoo!  Made my first pair of earrings and they are not awful.  Learned a lot (I think they call them "jump rings" because they jump out of your pliers when you least expect (or need).

Here's a picture as I finished them:

But I don't think I'll keep them this way.  Am wearing them now to see how they feel.  I believe they're a bit long and jangly and will probably take out a jump ring or two and probably one of the extra dangles -- probably the star.

What do you think?