seven grand and bottega louie

i love going to a new city and exploring the town's shopping and restaurants.  but something we don't do very often is go into our city and see what it has to offer.  l. a. is an exciting town with great restaurants, museums and night life, you just have to fight the traffic to get there.  we made plans with some friends to meet up for drinks and then have dinner at a cool restaurant.

we met susan and lara at seven grand located in the heart of the city.  seven grand is a whiskey bar with a cool hunter's lounge vibe. is that even a thing? it is here.
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not only do we never go to bars, but i never drink whiskey.  i'm a wine, beer and umbrella in my drink kind of girl.  this place has cool beers, an international wall of whiskey, pool tables and cigars.  out of my element but up for the challenge.

we ordered what they were having - an american trilogy.  it was fun watching the bartender work his magic; muddling the brown sugar and bitters together, stirring them with both hands, and then garnishing with the orange peel.  such a cool craft. we hung out at the bar sipping our cocktails and chatting.  this would be fun place to go with lots of people to shoot some pool.

after the drinks we went across the street to bottega louie.  i knew about this place mostly because of the macaroons but loved it the minute i walked in with it's high ceilings, open kitchen and gorgeous dessert display.  the only problem was that there was over an hour wait for a table.

not that we were in a hurry. i parked myself right by the kitchen watching the chefs prep, cook and plate the orders; beautiful salads, toasted sandwiches, and creamy pastas.  it made me hungry for sure.

luckily our friends have been here before and they knew one of the bus boys who quickly got us to the top of the list. that shortened our wait time by an hour - score!

another round of drinks and some bread to get us feeling comfortable.

these were incredible - portobello mushroom fries with a basil aioli.  i'm sure i'll be craving these again.

we ordered a pizza, a club sandwich that had an awesome surprise with a hard boiled egg, a salad - cause you have to, and a porchetta sandwich.  we tasted and shared and talked and laughed.  the place was pretty amazing and the company was spectacular.

for dessert bobby and i had the peanut butter terrine that was lovely.

and an affogato to celebrate susan's birthday.

of course we had to bring home a box of macaroons to share with the kids.

thanks to susan and lara for getting us out of the valley and into the city.  can't wait to do it again.

brockett cookie bake 2014

bring on the sprinkles, chocolate chips and the fudge.  it's time for the annual brockett cookie bake.  this year we also incorporated the early christmas get-together because this ever growing family is getting busier and busier during the holidays.

this is a tradition that bobby's family has done for many years.  the siblings would get together at one house, bake cookies and other sweet treats and then go home with a sampling of what everyone made to enjoy during the holiday season.

as the family grew, more and more people came and more and more recipes were shared. and now it's a full on party.  and a win-win for me. food, recipes, and tradition all rolled into one - pun intended.

this year everyone brought their a-game with new recipes as well as the tried and true.  you bake and eat a cookie.  have lunch then eat a cookie. open gifts then eat a cookie.  it's non-stop fun.

i always make the pretzel hugs.

pretzels with a hershey hug.  in the oven at 250 for a few minutes until the chocolate gets soft but not melted.  then straight out of the oven you add m&m's.

this year we tried the peppermint m&m's and they were better than ever. let them cool in the freezer or fridge so the chocolate sets. these are a fun treat to put in a jar and give as a gift.

i also tried 2 new recipes.  this one is a chocolate chocolate chip cookie with a rolo baked in the middle and sea salt on top.

they were decadent.  i also made these sugar cookie blossoms.

i love how festive they looked.  and they were pretty tasty too.

the littlest kids (and a lot of grown up kids too) do the cookie decorating.  that makes them a part of the festivities as well.  it's always fun to see what designs they will come up with.

and of course this family has a great sense of humor.

here's a sampling of what we brought home.  peppermint fudge, snickerdoodles, lemon bars, pretzel toffee (my favorite), peanut butter cookies.  after a few days in the one container everything starts tasting the same, but we enjoy it.

uncle ed and aunt elaine have hosted the cookie bake for the last few years.  they have the perfect kitchen for it, and the oven of my dreams.  but an added bonus is the cappuccino machine.

i don't know how i earned the honor but mine is usually the first one.  i feel so special.

and we share a cocktail or glass of wine. it is a holiday party after all.

this year we also exchanged gifts for the kids at the cookie bake.  every child in the family receives a gift from another family.  gift are sent from all over the country.  it is so fun to watch them rip open their presents.

and to watch the next generation of cousins share in this tradition.

we take lots of pictures too.

but mostly we are a family.  we catch up and share stories and updates.  we wish each other a merry christmas, share lots of hugs and kisses,  and we think about those that can't be with us.

thank you to everyone for continuing this tradition.  we look forward to it every year.  

wishing the brockett clan a very sweet christmas!

food adventures | nola

food, glorious food.  and it was glorious in new orleans.  we joked that we never felt hungry the entire trip. but i had so many restaurants that i wanted to try and there were only three meals a day - so we made the most of it. i did some research before hand using this source.  and then we did some yelp and google searches while we were there.

you can't talk about new orleans food without talking about beignets.  we visited cafe du monde 3 times during the 4 days we were in new orleans. we stood in the long line, got a table and ordered the only thing on the menu; beignets and cafe au lait.  the only decision we had to make was how many orders we wanted.

i have to admit i took an ungodly amount of photos of these fried delicacies.

pictures of us.

overhead.

close up.

and just plain beignets. aren't they pretty?

they are blanketed with powdered sugar that made you choke and got all over our clothes, camera and phones.  we had them for breakfast or as an afternoon snack.  they are open 24-7 so really anytime is a good time for a beignet.  we even brought back the mix and some chicory coffee to give as gifts and make at home.

our first meal was after the city tour.  the guide dropped us off at cafe amelie in the middle of the french quarter.  we did make reservations at every dinner spot since there were lots of people in town for the game and there were places we had to go.

the weather was pleasant which was perfect for the patio seating.  the food was good but the atmosphere was what made this place memorable. it was enchanting and mysterious.

shrimp and goat cheese with walnuts.

grilled salmon with horseradish cream.

shrimp and grits.

and amelie's bread pudding - this was amazing!

there are 2 things you need to know about the napoleon house -

pimm's ginger julep

and the warm muffuletta

on a sesame seed bun, with plenty of melted cheese and olive salad. too good to be true.

 for the birthday dinner we made reservations at peche. it was voted best new restaurant and best chef by the james beard foundation.  so it was no surprise that the reservations were either early or late in the evening.

shrimp and fontina croquettes

it was also no surprise that the food was outstanding.  because our reservations were early and we had eaten that huge muffaletta just a few hours earlier, i can't say we were starving by dinner.  so we opted to share and try little bits of what was on the menu

crab and jalapeño capellini.

and two desserts

chocolate peanut butter banana pie

and salted caramel cake.  happy birthday becky!

 for breakfast we tried johnny's po-boys, recommended by one of the tour guides.  it was literally around the corner from the hotel and offered a huge menu for breakfast and lunch.

 i enjoyed watching the line cooks hard at work.  one making biscuits, one grits, frying up eggs and bacon.  they crowded over each other, yelling as they were plating.  it was exciting.

 and did i mention the biscuits.  we had a clue they would be good when we saw an abundance of sticks of butter in the display case.  seriously good.  they split them and grill them and serve them with jelly or gravy.  i could have eaten more, many more.

it's a small place and we were there sunday morning as they were getting the football crowd in but totally worth a stop - even if it's just for a biscuit to go.  and bring one home for me.

 we stumbled upon tableau on sunday afternoon. we wanted to get away from the sports bars and get a bite to eat before aunt lanie and sarah flew home.  we got here at the end of the jazz brunch but in time to still here some music.  i texted this photo to bobby who replied "wait, you're at disneyland?"  yep, it disneyland but bigger.

you have to order a bloody mary at brunch in new orleans.  so i did.  you basically drink morning, noon or night. in the restaurant, on the balcony or in the street.  it's all good here.  we paced ourselves but tried a little bit of everything.

creole french onion soup, with plenty of gruyere.

the asparagus and seafood salad.  the portions were small but the taste was good. and it was an upscale brunch for us.

sunday night we were ready for something other than shrimp and grits. pizza sounded good to all of us.  we thought about dominos but opted to venture out and try dominica's.  there was a 90 minute wait for a table so we knew it had to be good.  and we checked out the roosevelt hotel which was right next door while we waited for a table.

here's the thing about domenica's.  i had read about the roasted cauliflower with whipped feta dip and i was all for it, but the ladies needed a little convincing.   the server said it's a must and we would never look at cauliflower the same way. and she was right.  you pull of a piece and dip it into the feta, and cream cheese dip and your taste buds go to heaven.  absolutely the most amazing thing i ate. please go to domenica's and order the cauliflower.  you will not be disappointed.

 and the pizza was good too.

i was inspired by the water glasses they had made out of wine bottles.  great idea.

in terms of overall experience, the best we had was at commander's palace in the garden district.  we took the street car into the area where we had reservations for lunch.  i wasn't sure about dining here, thought it was a tourist trap, but i was wrong.  the service was incredible, the food was authentic and the martinis were .25 cents.  how can you beat that?

walking through the kitchen to get to the patio was super cool. you can eat at a table in the kitchen.  i'll have to remember that for next time.

 our second round, because we had to have them in martini glasses.

 turtle soup - don't hate me.  not sure i would order this again.

 and you guessed it, shrimp and grits. it was the best.

 and another birthday celebration with the commander's palace bread pudding souffle and hat.

that final night, after all that walking i went back to the room to get my coat while they decided where to have dinner.  melissa came up to me and said, our moms are officially done.  they won't walk one more step and they're having dinner at bubba gump's just a few feet away from the hotel.

knowing that that would not sit well with me, melissa dropped them off and then came back to get me so we could have dinner at a local place.

i can't say we did much better since a lot of places were closed.  but i hadn't had a po' boy all trip so it was satisfying.

yes, we had fantastic meals.  we ate a lot of shrimp. and we drank our fair share. but what really made these meals special were the people i shared them with.

the conversations we had.

the sharing of food and laughter.

the sister (and cousin) hood.

the celebration of life and spending time together.

i left with a full stomach and a full heart. cheers to that.