Bunny Cooks Piggie for Grumpy Bear

After a yummy filling Korean Brunch and going to the grocery store to complete my shopping list of things to make the yummy pork we got…. I started prepping making my salsa verde, roasting and of course braising the pork.  We didn’t get pork shoulder so I used a ham hock and a pork loin.  Which was nice since one was leaner and one was fatter MMMM – I started pretty early… cuz I’m super paranoid, but then again we didn’t get to eat til about 9pm anyways.  Which is fine, cuz inbetween I watched Friends with Benefits, some teevee [W got me hooked on Big Bang Theory SO FUNNY] ANNNNNND I got two new piercings :D WEEEEE

Piggie a la Bunny

The beginning….

I used Red Stripe for the beer element, also drank some :] TEEHEE

ALLLL DONE and ready to shred!!!

Dinner is served.  I made a Habanero Corn Mango Jicama Salsa, my spicy Salsa Verde and W made a yummy Guacamole.

Bring on the piggie!

Me being a ninja and taking a picture of W taking a picture of the food.. again.. I’m a creeper

Taco #1

Great Night, Great Food, Great Company……

And then there was the tequila… which led to midnight shopping at CVS… which led to this….

BWAHHAHAAHHAHA…

Feeling Frenchy….a quick Dinner at SDLT

French Tip Hello Kitty sort of Frenchy :]

I got some new kicks at Neiman Marcus :] Vera Wang Lavender <3 Gorgeous, sexy, I need to wear them ASAP!

Bought a little of this, a little of that, maybe a lot of things on sale at Williams Sonoma :] — totally Kitchen Porn… and then headed to my fav go-to spot for a quick bite of French Food right by my house!!!  Sel de la Terre – yep the place I always go to for Wine Tuesdays… today would just be a normal night :]

I started off with a few simple appetizers….

Charcuterie plate with duck liver terrine, pork rillette, crostini,
whole grain mustard, chutney

I LOOVED the Pork Rillettes.. usually they just have a Duck Liver Terrine on the menu but Rillettes?! YUMMMYYY my fav, well when done right and these were SOOOOO done right!!!…

Creamy lardo on top of the tender melt-in-your-mouth pork… MMMM… flavored so well and on my fav brioche toasts and crostinis they have there. HAPPY!!!… The Terrine was tasty as always :] Gherkin gherkins gherkins… crunch crunch…. and of course the much loved whole-grain mustard!

Salad du Jour: Greens, Pork Lardons & Duck Egg

LOOK AT THAT SEXY DUCK EGG!!!! SUPPPPPPPER RUNNY on top of super fresh greens and huge chunks of fried lardons underneath. OMG I LOVE YOU BACON!

Red wine braised beef short rib, roasted French radishes, celery root puree, onion strings

A little on the salty side but tender.. on top of super creamy celery root and of course happy crispy onion strings on top! Usually I have thinner onion strings but these were short, fat and still tasty!!! :]   Looooved the radishes!! I’m a huge radish person, not bitter at all, tender but still had a bit of a bite, snap and chew to it. Drank a little California Pinot Noir with this :] YUM!

Special du Jour: Bouillabaisse with Fluke, Shrimp, Clams, Mussels, Potatoes, Fennel, etc..

A nice creamy tomato saffron base… it was tiny tho.. wish it was bigger.. MOST of it was potatoes :[ WAA, I want more shellfish!  But the fluke was soooo tender and was actually a big piece, it was just a little bit smaller than the crostini on top!  Fat juicy shrimp… NOM NOM NOM… I love fennel! I got two glasses of this Chardonnay they recommended for me to pair with this dish.  I usually order red, but the white was good… with the bouillabaisse, alone it was a bit sweet.

Free Rosemary Frites thanks to Foursquare, per usual :]

I wasn’t planning on really eating much, get healthy, but OMG, their fries are always like best part of the meal!!!  Thin, crispy, perfectly fried, hot from the fryer and just enough salt and rosemary. HAPPPPPPPY

Dessert time!!!!…..

Apple Cider Beignets with Salted Caramel

CHUNKSSSSS of apple, FULL of apple cider flavor.. the caramel sauce was hot gooey and salty and perfection, I ended up licking the little bowl clean!  The beignets were SOOOOO good, tons of cinnamon sugar, PIPING HOT!!!.. it took awhile to get the dessert out, I was already done with half of my large Irish Coffee [you can see it’s butt in the above photo] and even tho I was stuffed, I finished the whole thing! LICK!

When I came home I tried out one of my new purchases from Williams Sonoma!

Gurgle gurgle

SOOO FUN :]

OH… and after all that wine I MAYYYY have made some crispy chicken skin and chicken dish from leftovers… onions, scallions and eggs included <3 MMM SUPPPPER crispy chicken skin <3

 

happy birthday part UN – piggie/clown style

I’m all about birthdays, especially when it’s mine…as a child I HATED having my birthday in the summer. Everyone else got punch and cupcakes during class and I would be one of the few that couldn’t. Sometimes I would celebrate it in June before school let out. I felt left out :[ But it’s been awhile since the days of ABC, eating playdoh and finger puppets. I LOVE having my birthday in the summer. Sunshine, great tans, and August is the easiest month to get out of work – slowest month of the year.

I abuse the fact that it’s my birthday and I tend to celebrate for the whole month of August. Thankfully all my friends and family are down with it and just go along with me. This year I decided to start early and have my first party on July 31 :]

What can I say, I’m addicted to birthday parties.. and finding the perfect bday dresses ;D — of course good food is a must… Remember last year?!

I have a HUGE crush on David Chang and his food and of course, pork… so it only seemed appropriate to go to Momofuku Ssam Bar

We got the 6-Course Prixe Fix Menu… but then added on a lot of other items.. because I’m a fatty like that ;D I’ll star * the items that we added on…

* greek sardine –

arugula, strawberry, toasted rice
Amazing. I don’t get why anyone would not like sardines.. it’s fishy, because it’s supposed to be. Salty, fresh and delicious. The strawberries and the arugula just added so much to it.

spanish mackerel –

melon, mustard
Not fishy at all.. super tender and I loved the sweetness that balanced off the slight savory to it.

bread + butter –

sea salt butter (vt) + whipped lardo
Apparently I’m the only one that was super excited about having whipped lardo ;D Pork fat is an amazing thing…. we had a few plates of the bread and it was demolished asap. We were all starved… we got to the place at 545 but we probably didn’t really start eating til way after 630. What can I say, my friends always roll late – haha LAME. But we had gotten our drink on by then.. especially with the help of Matt’s White Dog.. one sip and I was done…. except.. I kept going…

White dog is what distillers call whiskey when it comes off the still, but before it goes into the barrel. It is, in other words, raw whiskey, without the mellow flavors and rich hue that the barrel brings. It is as clear as water and if it is destined for the barrel, as opposed to the bottle, is strong.

Source

country hams tasting  —



finville ham (finchville, ky)
broadbent ham (kuttawa, ky)
edward’s wigwam ham (surry, va)
Delicious!!! I don’t know which was which and they didn’t have the smoked ones – boo – but they were delish!