Weekend Fun

I had one of my favorite married couple pals over yesterday for a brunch. These two have known me for over 20yrs...truly scary because they can dish out serious dirt on me and it also means we're old! I made a wild mushroom fritatta, Mr. Lex fried a pound of bacon and we served endless mimosas. The last time I got together with these two we had a 8hr brunch. I told them this time it probably won't be eight hours because now I've got a little girl and unfortunately it wasn't eight hours.

It was close to NINE! They came over a little after noon and did not leave until almost 9. That's okay because it was raining, I love their company, it rained most of the day and they brought me a bottle of my favorite bourbon - how could I kick anyone out for that? Unfortunately I forgot to take a pick of how our day started but I can show you how it ended:

As for the Doritto taco  from Taco Bell, just like the McRib from McDonald's, it was anti-climatic. But then again it's from Taco Bell. I think I would have just enjoyed this better if my doritto flavored taco shell wasn't so stale. Well at least I can now go on with my life knowing I tried this thing.

I'm also making great use of my little cocktail making book my husband picked up for me from a bargain bin. I used the bourbon (Bulleit) in an afternoon cocktail:

It's an Old Fashioned: Bourbon, sugar cube mashed in bitters and water and four cubes of ice. It knocked me on my ass. A sip of this and I immediately aged forty-five years.

Well I guess I needed a "grandpa" beverage to go with my cardigan.

I hope you are all enjoying your weekend!

Guest Post for Monday, 10/17 and a booze review YAY!

Hello all,
I hope you had a lovely weekend. We are still stretching out our Indian Summer here in the Bay Area so it was sunshine all around.

I can really get use to this Fall sunshine!

I just wanted to share my lastest guest post for missomnimedia.com on PRIMERS!

A step that is either forgotten or neglected. This is what keeps my face from melting during sweaty spin or yoga classes during my lunch breaks!

Also, I wanted to share a very yummy, Indian inspired cocktail I had on Saturday at one of my favorite SF restaurants - Dosa, across the street from Sundance Kabuki theaters in Japantown:

The Bengali Gimlet.

A traditional Gimlet is a gin cocktail with just fresh squeezed lemon and lime juices. It's a very refreshing cocktail. This however, is it the exotic, sexy cousin from India.

This still features Gin - Tanqueray Rangpur Gin. This gin is pretty tasty and I'd like to add this to my liquor cabinet. It is a flavored gin with notes of Rangpur limes (from India), juniper berries and bay leaves. It does sound like a herbal pouch for a soup base but if you like savory cocktails - this is really tasty.

I need to try this with just tonic and a fresh squeezed lime next time. I do not recommend this for a dirty martini (traditional martini w/olive juice) or any other dry cocktails (traditional gin martini) - it just sounds unsavory to me.

The kicker? There is a curried nectar component to this drink that gives it a light cumin, curry scent. As I got to the bottom of my martini glass the scent grew stronger and the curry flavor got stronger. This is definitely not a bad thing since I do love a savory, spicy cocktail as much (sometimes more) than the fruity and sweet "vacation" type drinks. A gimlet is not the same without the citrus flavor so fresh squeezed lime is added. This is served straight up (no ice), strained and served into a martini glass.

We had cocktails only since we had to make it to our movie, Moneyball (LOVED!) But after sipping on this, I had a mad craving for Dosa's famous Paper Masala Dosa.

I'll have to come back for more and this time I will be eating their delicious Indian food!

I was a Girl at Bar...last Friday!

Yes, sometimes Moms do make it out of the house on a Friday night spontaneously! I get a text from a girlfriend that has not been out for impromptu cocktail night probably since her son was born - about 6yrs ago.

Clearly, I had to go since who knows when I'd get this kind of giddy text again.

I know it's been a while but yes - BOOZE Review is back!

The Scafflow from one of my favorite SF Restaurants - Gitane. This is a place I urge my husband to take me back to for date night - it's funky, in that 70's Euro-bohemian way and I find it super sexy! I also love it for cocktails just with the girls.

Back to the cocktail - 4 ingredients: Rye, Dry Vermouth, Grenadine, Lemon
So simple and oh so yummy - this is a type of drink for warm, balmy summer nights (which are far and few between in SF, sadly). Do not let the rye scare you. This would be a sneaker drink - the more you drink it, it will sneak up and knock you on your ass. Luckily, I just had one but I'm craving another! Before you sip, you smell the fresh lemon and a bit of sweetness from the grenadine - it's lovely. Then you sip, you don't get too much of a bite from the rye but the after taste lets you know it's there. My tried and true favorite cocktail, The Kentucky Buck has met its match!

The second drink I tried out was the Coctel Carnival: apple brandy, ramazzotti, caramel, amaretto, lemon

You're probably thinking that this would be an acoholic version of a caramel apple but actually it was stronger than it was sweet. I tasted a lot of the apple brandy above anything else and something that was oddly herbal. Then after some investigation, I discover it was the Italian bitter, Ramazzotti (blend of orange peel, anise, herbs and roots). Ramazzotti is a tonic and can be digested as an apertif or digestif. I'm still trying to decide if I like this one or not. Actually, I am glad it wasn't too sweet but I don't know if I like the mixture of this cocktail. I think I'm more of a fan of The Scafflow.

I may have to return to Gitane to do another taste sipping!

As you can see this rare occassion called for a dramatic smoky eye!




Happy Monday, I hope you all had a lovely weekend and those of you that celebrated, a great Father's Day.

Desire and a Booze Review (yay)...

Hey Sweets!
I hope you either had a wonderful Mother's Day or you spent it with a Mother. And if you don't celebrate this Hallmark holiday then I hope you had a lovely weekend.

First, I want to quickly share my new BRIGHT pink blush that makes me smile when I look at it.

Desire blush by NARS (no surprise there, I know).

I realize in the pan - it's almost a scary, bright PINK but relax. It is described on the NARS site as, "cotton candy pink"...mmm...I love carney food, don't you?

This is a heavy swatch on my NC 42 skin.

And here it is applied with complete blush brush control:

It's a lovely raspberry flush. This is the pink I have been looking for. The flush has stayed with me even after a sweaty cardio class during my lunch break. I'm sure the intense workout increased the blood flow but after my body has cooled down and I no longer look like a sweaty mess I still have a pop of pink on my cheeks. I guess I should also attribute that to my LM oil-free primer for keeping my face melt-free.

My final assessment - why did it take me this long to buy this blush? Luckily it's part of the permanent line so you have time if you're still on the fence. Honestly, this works across the board for skin tones. My favorite NARS M.A. has the lovely complexion of a young, fair maiden/Snow White clone (dark hair/fair skin) and this looks just as sweet on her as it does on my tan, Filipino/Dutch Indonesian complexion.

Excuse the 'fair maiden' reference, clearly I'm watching too much Game of Thrones on HBO. I am loving that show!

Retail:
$27 USD
I purchased this at Sephora but this is also available at department stores that carry the NARS line. This is also available online. Free shipping with a purchase over $25!

So quickly onto Mother's Day brunch. The hubs, mini-cupcake and I enjoyed a semi-fancy lunch at a chic little French spot, Chez Spencer. If you are familiar with the food truck race show on Food Network last season, this restaurant had the food truck, Spencer to Go. Since they were representing two things I hold dear to my heart: San Francisco and French food, they had my vote! They came in third place. Oh well.

So here's my Mama's Day meal:

Mushroom tartine with poached egg but take a look at the lovely cocktail above it.

Why have a champagne cocktail when you can have a gin cocktail named La Parisienne? It contains Nolet Gin, Noilly Prat (dry vermouth), Cassis (blackcurrant liquer), and a lemon twist. Now, I love a good martini and this sounds like it's a sweet version of a gin martini. The problem I had is that the scent through me off. I love cassis in kir royale champagne cocktails but this time around it gave off too much of a floral scent, therefore I felt like I was drinking soap. Sensory overload, perhaps?

Otherwise I enjoyed my meal and our dessert of warm chocolate pudding cake (I was so excited eating it, I forgot to snap a picture of it).

My mini-cupcake enjoyed it too and yes, she travels with her own fork - smart little girl!

Happy Monday with a Booze Review

Hey there,
Did you remember to set your clock ahead an hour (my U.S. peeps)? I am so happy that I didn't have to set all of my clocks ahead. I didn't even bother to set it back an hour back in the Fall - glad to see that my laziness paid off! What I hate is training my body to fully recover just by losing that one hour of sleep. I should warn my bosses today about my extra crankiness. Poor Mr. Lex he had to deal with a cranky Mommy and an even crankier baby.

I'm feeling better now so let's talk about a new cocktail I had last Saturday:

At Farmer Brown's - a fancy Soul Food inspired restaurant.

The MiLK Punch - I'm thinking it's a reference to the late Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.? And if so I don't know if I'd dedicate this drink in his honor. I was a little underwhelmed by it.

Of course, it's a bourbon cocktail. So here's the description: bourbon muddled with orange, Vanilla simple (I'm guessing a simple sugar syrup infused with vanilla) and heavy cream. I may be missing an ingredient, I can't remember. I think it had some shaved cinnamon or even nutmeg on top?

I am guessing this is a Bourbon version of the classic White Russian - Coffee liquer, vodka and cream. This fell a little flat for me - I think the cream just got in the way for me because it wasn't as sweet as I thought. Also, I didn't get any orange flavor. So I immediately ordered a Bulliet (bourbon) and Ginger Ale immediately afterward.

As far as dinner goes - I ordered the Dirty Rice. It was very tasty with just the right amount of spice. You can't go wrong with rice, sausage, mussels and prawns. And for dessert, my girl friends and I split the banana bread pudding and the pecan pie with black pepper whipped cream. Black Pepper? YES and it was awesome! My mouth is watering right now just thinking about it.

Especially since I decided to cut my caloric intake dramatically in attempt to shed some pound in the next 8wks!

Booze reviews...#7, #8 and yes #9

(no it's not for a fruit salad - fresh ingredients for delicious cocktails!)

The week ended on a very HIGH note. It's great to know that I was going to be meeting with my girls later that night for a few cocktails after a very stressful work week. I was even more excited to meet at my favorite bar in the Financial District, SF - Rickhouse. I love hanging out at this place - it's got a bit of a Speakeasy feel and you are surrounded by whisky barrels and endless whisky, scotch and other spirits you are probably unfamiliar with all around you.

YES, aside from Sephora, this place makes me happy!

First drink of the night:

The Kentucky Buck
A bourbon cocktail also contains fresh muddled strawberries, fresh lemon juice, angostura bitters and topped with ginger beer. This may be my favorite cocktail - I need to learn to make this on my own. It's a great balance between sweet, tart and smooth bourbon.


My second drink is this below:

I really wished I heard what the bartenders said when he told me what this was. I was looking to keep in the bourbon theme and when asked if I wanted to keep it sweet and fruity or something like a classic Manhattan and I opted for the Manhattan theme. That's another cocktail I just can't say no to. So this is just like a Manhattan but I felt like I tasted more of an orange hint to it. I don't know if it was a bitter that I was not familiar thrown into it or if the giant orange zest had anything to do with it but that's what elevated this Manhattan like cocktail. The GIANT ice cube helped! I think I'll just stick to a regular Maker's Manhattan.

This was my friends drink:

The Berry Bramble - I believe you can either choose gin or vodka and she chose vodka I believe. Doesn't it look like Hawaiian shaved ice but a fancier and alcoholic version of it?

This was my last and I was not disappointed by it one bit. Again, under the bartender's recommendation this is The High Plains Drifter (named after the Clint Eastwood western, 1973). Don't let the feminine glass fool you. This is a Rye Whisky cocktail. Other than rye - it has angostura bitters, an Italian bitter, sarsaparilla and grapefruit juice. I would definitely drink it again and I was pleased to know that the very attractive blonde bartender in front of me created it. I kept giving her accolades because I was that proud of her!

Please don't make me choose between this and my Kentucky Buck!! We ended the night at another bar/club, John Collins. I cut myself off and helped myself to a Korean taco truck - mediocre at best but at least it sopped up some of the alcohol.

It was a great night with my girlfriends and I didn't go to bed till almost 3am. The Mimosa at Brunch helped me get things moving along on Saturday!