Baby I Was Born This Way.

Sorry fellas, but going to Vegas is soooo much easier when you're with a group of girls. No lines. Free drinks. No lines. I was lucky enough to go with a bunch of hot ones last weekend for my cousin's 25th Birthday. My girl Jo booked her mom's timeshare for us at the WorldMark hotel, where we enjoyed a one-bedroom suite with a full kitchen and second murphy bed. 

Our first night started off on the right track and kept right on trekking the entire night.

We had a hook-up at Tao nightclub, and were invited to enjoy free dinner, drinks, and VIP entrance to the club right after. I'd been to Tao in New York City, and forgot that the Las Vegas location had a restaurant as well. The menu was pre-fixed since our dinner was comped, but we had no cause for complaint:

 And after, true to Las Vegas form, we enjoyed Tao nightclub from the VIP section. There was acrobatics, strobe lights, and of course, confetti.

Our Tao connection gave us the name of a secret agent to find at the Marquee nightclub at Cosmopolitan hotel, which none of us had been to. So, the next night, we cornered the first MIB we saw with a guest list and told him that we were to look for "Carlos." Since we weren't on the list, he asked us who told us to ask for "Carlos", and when we told him, he ushered us right to the front of the line. (Secret society much?...)

While we were in line, the MIBs told us that sometimes they bring ladies to a table to fill space, and that they were going to bring us to one in the House room and get us a round of drinks. Legit.

Needless to say, it was a much-needed weekend with a group of amazing women. Cheers to Vegas, land where music's a bumpin' and a girl is appreciated!


Tip: Ladies, if you do Vegas right, all you really need is cash for the room, tip for your servers, a couple classy dresses, and great gals to bump that beat with!

I Got It From My Mama

Wednesday nights are typically dedicated to catching up with some of the best women in my life: my cousins. We usually try to get on a conference call as business hours come to a close, during which time we're all either driving home or preparing dinner. Last week, I was doing the latter.

Making lemon chicken out of the breast, lemons, salt and pepper I already had stored in my refrigerator while talking on the phone was no easy task, but somehow I managed just fine :o)

Originally I had planned to make just regular chicken soup, but decided to spice things up a bit and try a recipe for Chicken Tortilla Soup from Orange County Fare, a cookbook I'd recently purchased from the Junior League of Orange County.

So, with the house phone on speaker (yes, I have a LAND line) and chicken defrosting in the microwave, I engaged in the wonderfully theraputic multi-task of mingling and mixing. What came of it was nothing short of spectacular:

When Mom got home, she made ground beef and taco mix to go with our soup :o) It was delish!

Overall, chicken tortilla soup is an easy recipe. All you really need is chicken stock, crushed red tomatoes, and whatever veggies you'd like to add. I ended up finding the crushed red tomatoes and "whatever veggies you'd like to add" in our refrigerator, so I was spared a trip to the market. 


In honor of the chicken tortilla soup I had at It's All About the Cake, I decided to make mine a little spicier (or as my Dad would say, "Give it a little KICK"), by chopping up two Chipotle Adobo Peppers with the seeds and throwing them into the pot.


Then, I put my shredded lemon chicken in the soup, crushed up some corn tortilla chips from Los Golondrinas since I already had them, sliced fresh avocado, and laid it all on top of my bowl o' soup.

Tip: Work with what you've got. There's nothing wrong with substituting ingredients to a recipe, in order to save a trip to the grocery store!

Great Runs, Sick Plays, Perfect Days

I'm just going to cut to the chase. Superbowl Sunday is famous for many things. Unparalleled commercial creativity, a ridiculous halftime show, football world championship, and my favorite: the food.

I just did a post about my friend Michelle's amazing talent for cooking... but I'm going to brag once again. Driving up to Los Feliz, I couldn't help but hype up the spread we were about to feast on to both my boyfriend, David, and my friend Krit. But nothing, NOTHING, could have prepared me for the amount of food I would see prepared throughout the day.

Below is just a fraction of the dishes to which our palates were privvy:

 Turkey Sandwiches

 Guacamole in Avacado Cups with Shrimp

Tangy Ribs

Buffalo Wings and Sweet Chili Wings (Michelle did I say that right?)

And as if all of the above wasn't more than enough, our hostess accommodated special requests for international dishes as well. Before halftime, I went into the kitchen and noticed that Michelle was cutting potatoes. When I asked her what she was doing, she said she was making a dish specific to Montreal for a couple of our friends who had tried it before. 

I then watched her fry the potatoes and season them with salt, then put pieces of cheese curd, imported from Montreal, on top of the fries and slather it all with a classic French gravy. It turned out to be my favorite of the day!:

Dish of Amazingness.

Hostess Michelle with Nachos Supreme!

While the food was certainly a highlight, I couldn't help but excuse myself to take some photos of her lovely home:

To sum up, the food was phenomenal, the home was immaculate, and the game was certainly worth the wait. The absolute BEST part of the day though? The people I got to share it all with.

 Tip: For those of you whose days off are few and far between, make sure the days you can take for yourself are fun, memorable and spent with the people you love. (Oh, and stop feeling guilty. You deserve it!)

La Cuisine D'Arbour: Très Belle. Très Chic. Très Délicieuse.

After my post, It's Certainly not ALL About the Cake, my beautiful, French-Canadian friend, Michelle, was determined to show me what a true Croque Monsieur looks and tastes like. The description alone was enough to get me to her pad in Los Feliz!


The night started off with a couple bottles of Cabernet and a slice of brie cheese to spread on tiny bread. (The brie and bread were short-lived. Michelle took it away from us so we would have room for the feast at hand.)

As we were enjoying our GNI (Girls' Night In) with inappropriate banter and the slight influence of fermented grapes, Michelle was piling gruyère onto bowls of French Onion Soup. I took a couple shots of the soup going into the oven. Here is the before: 

And after... :)

As the Croque was a'cookin, the four of us migrated to the dining table to enjoy can you guess?... More cheese! We delicately (and by delicately I mean voraciously) devoured our French Onion soup while dipping small pieces of bread in home-made cheese fondue!

Wine was graciously poured by our hostess.

Needless to say, the French Onion soup did not last long. 

The guest of honor? Monsieur Croque. Michelle had explained to me that a true French Croque Monsieur is a sandwich made with sliced bread spread with dijon mustard, some folded smoked ham, a TON of gruyère cheese, toasted to melted perfection and topped with a fried egg, salt and black pepper. 
Ummm YES PLEASE? It's not that expensive to make either. Check out her masterpiece below:

And what meal would be complete without the greens? After all, something had to break up all that cheese! I had told Michelle that the only thing needed to break up cheese is wine, but of course, she already had something else in mind. With our Croque Monsieur came an amazing salad with arugula, thinly sliced pears, onions, avocado, and champagne vinaigrette dressing (made from scratch, of course).

Finally, staying true to French custom, we enjoyed some pressed croissants with nutella and strawberries. Jo and I had bought an assortment of pastries from Il Tramezzino, an Italian cafe in the heart of Beverly Hills. Below is just a portion of the desserts we savored:

Chocolate Cannoli and Tiramisu

Classic Cannoli with Strawberries and Cream

So, while I stick to my guns about the Croque Monsieur du Jour at What a Dish, I will take my girl's home-made cooking ANY DAY.

Tip: French food can be fun, inexpensive, and easy to make. All you really need is cheese, bread, spread, and any protein you want! Oh, and a (cheap) bottle of wine.