On November 30th, three members of Bar Crudo were involved in a fatal hit and run that left one dead and two critically injured.

Those that know and love Bar Crudo for their excellent food and sincere hospitality have been materially shaken by this horrible event. Several bloggers in the Bay Area have not only expressed their heartfelt sympathy but are also sounding the call for help from the Bay Area foodie community.

Help can come in many forms, specifically, eating at Bar Crudo and/or attending the benefit at Bar Crudo tomorrow, December 10th from 12-6 where the suggested donation is $10-$25. The money raised will go to the victims and their families.

From Bar Crudo:

We'll be serving oysters, crudo, wine, beer, and guest hors d'oeuvres. Hog Island Oyster Company has generously donated 800 oysters to be served at this event (that's a lot of oysters people, we need your help!), Range, and Le Petit Robert will also be donating food, with other restaurants and business's soon to join in support of this benefit.

For those touched by this tragedy, it isn't going to be a merry Christmas for a long time. Give what you can, eat at Bar Crudo when you can, and help those who whose lives have been changed forever.

Bar Crudo
603 Bush Street (at Stockton)
San Francisco, CA 94108

"Pretty women wonder where my secret lies
I'm not cute or built to suit a model's fashion size..."
- Maya Angelou

The minute I saw it, I knew I had to have it and I knew what I had to do. A shoe this captivating, this spectacular, this dramatic and dazzling requires a very special occasion and a very special audience.

The minute I saw it, I envisioned it as a magnificent centerpiece perched regally on a bed of flowers commanding attention of everyone around it.

The minute I saw it, I knew I had to host a girls dinner, a Phenomenal Woman dinner, in homage to this fabulous shoe with a bow of reverance to Maya Angelou and her phenomenal poem.

Last Friday, nine amies (friends) came over for an official "girl's night" chez moi. The most exciting thing for me, besides my uber-sexy centerpiece, was the combination of countries represented around the table. Three Americans, four French, one German, one Italian, and one Singaporean. Ten women from different countries, ten different backgrounds, ten different careers, friends, hobbies and habits.

And all these ten women came together around a table, toasted to this fabulous shoe, to each other, to new friendships and to Phenomenal Women everywhere. It was a magical evening.

Les femmes phenomenal...

I knew that this evening deserved a very special menu. When I was back in San Francisco at Thanksgiving, I visited my friends Katie and Chris in St. Helena and, as usual, they made a delicious dinner seemingly effortlessly as we gathered in the kitchen, drinking wine and snacking on foie gras. Home-made squash raviolis in a white wine broth just about took my breath away. Katie made the filling while Chris rolled the pasta and I filled the divots and cut them apart. They were so delicious, I decided to try to recreate them for my Phenomenal Woman dinner.

After the most miserable flight of my life -- 36 hours, 4 stops, rain delays, circling over Wisconsin, a refueling stop in Rockford Illinois, 2 missed connections, lost luggage, stolen items, no water and cranky flight attendants -- I arrived back in Paris a day late on Wednesday night, sick as a chien (dog) about to cough up a lung. On Thursday late afternoon, it was raining and cold and I knew I had to shop but didn't dare try to trek around town on the subway, guaranteeing another week in bed.

So I hailed a cab, with our first stop at Jean-Paul Hevin on rue St Honore to purchase his fabulous chocolate shoe. Second stop was to Dehillerin for a pasta machine. 60 euros later (yikes! twice the price as in the US!) I headed for La Vaissellerie, one of my favorite stores in Paris. It is filled from floor to ceiling with a gazillion dishes, plates, utensils and culinary gadgets. If I ever wine the lotto, I am going to walk in and order one of everything. Ten large wide bowls, perfect for my raviolis, and I was ready to head home, cough up my other lung and collapse.

Up the next morning, I headed to the market, made my rounds to tous mes fermiers then back home to start chopping and kneading and rolling and sauteing. My friend Virginie came a few hours early to help with the final mad rush. She chopped and stirred and plated and took on her assignment of de-seeding a pomegranate with great gusto. It was her first time seeing a pomegranate up close and personal. The pomegranates I bought at the farmer's market across the street actually came from California, which accounts for the 5 euro ($6.65! ouch!) price tag on each!

By 4pm I was covered head to toe in flour, kneading dough, rolling dough, rolling out sheets of pasta, filling pasta and making raviolis. I made one batch with flour and egg and a second batch I made with flour, egg and pureed beet for a beautiful deep red color.

The filling I made with roasted pumpkin and other winter squash, ricotta, sauteed onions, garlic, parsley, and proscuitto. I had to squeeze the heck out of the squash and pumpkin to get all the juice out otherwise it would make the raviolis soggy sponges.

For the broth, I sauteed more finely chopped onions in olive oil and parsley, deglazed with white wine and added chicken broth. After cooking the ravioli in water I added them to the broth, then served them in a hot bowl in the broth with a quick grate of fresh Parmagiano. "Hot food, hot plate, cold food, cold plate," admonished Chef Henri to his twenty-four stumbling students.

For the next course I served a salad that I found when flipping through Sunday Supper at Lucques just before leaving for the airport -- a combination of arugula, persimmons, pomegranate seeds, and roasted hazelnuts. I drizzled a light Clementine vinaigrette over the top and served it after the raviolis.

A stellar cheese plate from both Philippe and Madame Leitao at the market included a Tomme de Cumin, Bleu de Queyras, Chevre au Figues, a brebis, and a chevre wrapped in grape leaves.

Now if you remember from past posts, I am pastrily-challenged. As inept as one can get with a whisk, would be an understatement. And for the first time, a chocolate dessert turned out perfect for me! I was beyond giddy. I selected a tried and true flourless chocolate cake recipe I learned, again, from my first cooking classes at HomeChef. I wanted to use my two large bottomless heart molds but my cookie sheet was warped so the chocolate leaked out. I quickly maneuvered the batter back in the bowl and grabbed my silicon heart shaped mold sheet. I filled the little hearts and popped them in the oven along with a few Hail Mary's. Thirty minutes later they were ready. A scoop of my home made vanilla-persimmon-pomegranate ice cream, a swirl of leftover chocolate batter and a few raspberries and it chocolate a-go-go! A decadent ending to a great evening.

Voila le menu...

Femme Phénoménale! Phenomenal Woman!
Vendredi, 1 Decembre 2006
chez Laura

Moet & Chandon Champagne Brut Imperial

Pate a l'Armignac - Pate with Armignac
Saumon Fume sur Brioche avec Creme Fraiche au Citron - Smoked Salmon on Toasted Brioche topped with Lemon Creme Fraiche
Endive avec Roquefort et Framboises - Endive with Roquefort and Raspberries

Domaine de Banneret, Chateauneuf du Pape 2001

Ravioli a la Courges d'Hiver dans un Court-Boullion au Vin Blanc - Winter Squash Ravioli in a White Wine Broth

Salade de Roquet, Kakis, Pepins de Grenade, et Noisettes Grillees avec une Vinaigrette aux Clementines - Salad of Arugula, Persimmons, Pomegranate Seeds and Roasted Hazelnuts in a Clementine Vinaigrette

Assiette de Fromages - Plate of Assorted Cheeses

Decadence de Chocolat et Cognac - Chocolate-Cognac Decadence Cake
Glace a la Vanille Faite Maison - Home Made Vanilla Ice Cream

Voila les recettes...

Basic Pasta
- adapted from HomeChef

1 cup flour
1 egg
olive oil (as needed if too dry)

1. Pour the flour into a large glass bowl

2. Make a well in the center and crack the egg into the well.

3. With a fork, gently whisk the egg the gradually incorporate the flour from the inside of the well.

4. Incorporate as much flour as possible. If it's too dry, add a few drops of olive oil at a time. If it's too wet, then slowly add more flour.

5. Form a ball and let it rest in the fridge for a minimum of 30 minutes.

6. Cut it into 1/4s. Take 1/4 of the dough and place the rest in a zip lock bag to keep moist.

7. To knead the dough, run it through the widest setting on a pasta machine until it is smooth.

To make the raviolis:

8. Begin rolling the dough through the machine from the widest to narrowest and stop at the desired thickness. For the raviolis, I stopped at the 2nd to the last slot.

9. Lay the sheet of dough over the ravioli mold

10. Drop in the filling and brush the exposed dough with egg wash.

11. Place a top sheet of pasta and press down with the mold.

12. Separate the squares and place on a floured towel or cookie sheet.

13. To cook, drop gently in boiling, salted water for just a few minutes.

To make the beet pasta: Puree 1/2 beet with 1 egg and combined with 2 cups flour.

Ravioli Filling
- adapted from HomeChef

1 pound pumpkin and sweet potato flesh, roasted
olive oil
1/2 onion, finely diced
3-4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1/4 bunch parsley leaves, finely chopped
1 tablespoon oregano, finely chopped
2-3 slices proscuitto, finely chopped (easier to cut if frozen)
1 cup ricotta
1 egg yolk

1. Roast pumpkin and squash in a 400F oven until just starting to brown. Roll in a think cotton towel and squeeze out as much water as possible.

2. Saute the onion and garlic for a few minutes, then add the proscuitto and parsley.

3. Combine everything in a large bowl. Season to taste. You probably won't need much salt as the proscuitto is salty but you will most likely need some fresh ground pepper.

Chocolate Heart
- adapted from HomeChef

2/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup cognac
6 oz (170 gr) bittersweet chocolate (I used 70%)
4 oz (115 gr) butter
3 eggs
2-1/2 teaspoons flour

1. Heat oven to 350F.

2. In a small bowl, combine the sugar and cognac and dissolve.

3. In a double boiler, melt the chocolate and butter, then add the sugar-cognac mixture.

4. In a glass bowl, whisk the eggs then add the flour and whisk until combined. Add to the chocolate mixture and combine.

5. Pour into an 8-heart silicon mold (or a buttered, parchment-lined 8" cake pan) and set on a cookie sheet with sides to hold a water bath.

6. Bake for 30 minutes

Voila le poem...

Phenomenal Woman
by Maya Angelou

Pretty women wonder
where my secret lies
I'm not cute or built
to suit a model's fashion size
But when I start to tell them
They think I'm telling lies.
I say
It's in the reach of my arms
The span of my hips
The stride of my steps
The curl of my lips.
I'm a woman
Phenomenally
Phenomenal woman
That's me.

I walk into a room
Just as cool as you please
And to a man
The fellows stand or
Fall down on their knees
Then they swarm around me
A hive of honey bees.
I say
It's the fire in my eyes
And the flash of my teeth
The swing of my waist
And the joy in my feet.
I'm a woman
Phenomenally
Phenomenal woman
That's me.

Men themselves have wondered
What they see in me
They try so much
But they can't touch
My inner mystery.
When I try to show them
They say they still can't see.
I say
It's in the arch of my back
The sun of my smile
The ride of my breasts
The grace of my style.
I'm a woman
Phenomenally
Phenomenal woman
That's me.

Now you understand
Just why my head's not bowed
I don't shout or jump about
Or have to talk real loud
When you see me passing
It ought to make you proud.
I say
It's in the click of my heels
The bend of my hair
The palm of my hand
The need for my care.
'Cause I'm a woman
Phenomenally
Phenomenal woman
That's me.

The holidays are here. Ready or not. As the calendar year acclerates head long towards its own oblivion, we find ourselves embracing-- or bracing for-- the inevitable season of parties.

Like caroling, office parties can be among the most dreaded-- or intriguing-- of holiday activites. All the atrocities these last and longest nights of the year compel us commit-- over-eating, binge-drinking, sleeping with intoxicated co-worker(s)-- can and often will be done in plain view of all your colleagues, their spouses and your boss.

Are you ready?

If you find yourself in charge of planning such a party, be of good cheer. Office parties can be fun. If you find the word "fun" a bit hard to swallow, then let's say informational-- you can find out a lot about your co-workers or employees by the way they eat, drink and talk to you under the influence of alcohol. I should know-- I work several of them every season. Adding up all my years as a professional waiter, I would estimate the number of office parties I've observed to be in the low hundreds. My offering to you this week is a practical guide of what to do and what not to do to make your festivities as festive and as low pressure as possible.

Find a good restaurant at which to host. By good I do not necessarily mean upscale. Find one that will suit your needs and your budget best. And do it early. If you haven't found one by now, it is most likely too late. Start looking next year around June or July to get the time slot you want. If you're still haven't found a place or looking for next year, you might to start by looking here.

If you plan on entertaining on a large scale, meaning any number of guests higher than 12 consider either renting a private dining room or part or all of the venue of your choice. Other diners won't want to share in your holiday cheer-- they have enough of their own to contend with. If the restaurant has a banquet manager, he or she will be your best friend and guide you through the process.

Select a banquet-style menu. This may be actually required of you. Off-the-menu ordering for a party of 20, 40 or 100 would cause many restaurant kitchens to break down and cry. Banquet menus allow a chef to plan ahead for your arrival. The benefits to you include:

The practicality of having food pre-selected, which allows your guests to concentrate
on each other rather than the menu and allows your servers to spend more time enabling you to have fun. And I do mean enable.

A pre-selected menu gives you better control over spending. $25.00 per person?
$100.00? It's your budget, you choose.

Decide what sort of alcohol will be served prior to the party date. Wine and beer only? Not uncommon. Full bar available? You decide. If offering cocktails and budget is a concern, be sure to instruct your servers as to what type of drinks your guests may have. Top Shelf liquor? I've seen greedy waiters and guests conspire to order $125.00 snifters of Louis XIII cognac and charge it to the host.

If you are the boss and a teatotaler, I strongly advise imposing the same sanctions on your employees. Even if it is a luncheon. I don't care if it's a work day, this is a holiday party. Let them live a little. They will like you more for it, if that is important to you.

If there is a food and beverage minimum to meet and you are concerned about exceeding it for budgetary reasons, tell your server of your concern. For example, if wine is to be served for a party of twenty people, ten bottles should be on hand-- half a bottle of wine per person is the general rule. Tell your waiter to inform you when the tenth bottle is opened and proceed from there.

Also, ask the waiter to let you know when you are nearing your minimum. A good waiter can be your closest ally in these party situations. Your welfare will be taken into account, not only because he or she is a professional, but because you are the one paying the bill. One thing I must add here is that, as a salesperson living off an often arbitrary percentage of his or her commission, it is counter-intuitive for a server to actuall find ways of saving you money. If your server has helped you keep your bill from reaching budget-busting heights--sometimes hundreds of dollars-- you should take into account that he or she has saved you a lot of money and show your appreciation financially. An additional $50.00 or $100.00 tacked onto the tip is a nice touch and a show of good will. If your server is apathetic, you could be in trouble.

Again, if money is a concern, skip the bottled water. The Hetch Hetchy reservoir is one of the best sources of drinking water in country. The bill for mineral water can reach $100.00 or more. As a server, I'd rather see my host spend his or her money on a better wine. Speaking of...

Everybody seems to want Pinot Noirs these days. I, like everyone else I know, blame the film Sideways for this. I take that back. I blame people who don't know anything about wine who saw the film. Not in on the little joke, they drove the Merlot market into the ground and Pinot Noir prices through the roof with their demands. I happen to love Pinot Noir, but guess what? People drink A LOT of it. Since it is higher in acid than, say, Cabernet Sauvignon, people will keep drinking and drinking and drinking, which can be fun...and expensive.

Chardonnay? I have nothing against this grape either. It's just that it seems to be the go-to grape for people wanting white wine. Always. It is not a boring grape by nature, but its omnipresence sadly makes it so. If you think the demand is so high for Chardonnay and insist upon having it, fine. But please let me fill you in on a little secret. Many people ask for Chardonnay because, chances are, they couldn't tell you the name of any other white grape. Show some originality. Exhibit a little flair. Ask the beverage director which wines will best serve both your menu and your budget. Often, European wines-- especially whites-- are a better choice for party drinking than California Chardonnay. Serve something with an approachable nose and an unpronouncable name. Moschofilero, Gruner Veltiner. It will give your guests something to talk about other than pipelines and quarterly reports.

Should you be the type of person who likes to decorate, at least see the space in which you are planning to entertain before hauling out the holly. Many restaurants will most likely have their own carefully chosen holiday decor and take offense to your need to tart it up a bit. Flowers are a nice touch, but keep them low key. Last week, I was in charge of a party of 41 people who agreed to pack into a private space designed to hold 30 comfortably. They had been warned. They were good people, I enjoyed them. But when the hostess asked if we could cram yet another small table in to showcase the gingerbread mega-mansion some of her co-workers had made, my confidence in her decision-making ablilities was badly shaken. The holidays seem to fill some people with unreasonable expectations. Keep it simple. Keep your reality in check, please.

Another important decorating tip-- You may think confetti strewn about your holiday tables is fun, but the person who pierces the roof of his or her mouth on the edge of a tiny Christmas star or snowflake might disagree with you. If you find cute a necessary component of Christmas, please confine your seasonal decorating to your own holiday theme sweater.

I leave the rest up to you.

Best of luck.

Obviously, I drink a lot of cocktails. And as such, I keep my liver to the ground, seeking out new cocktails, new mixes, and new flavors. Last week I was at the Square One Organic Vodka-sponsored SmartsCo-Charles Communications holiday party, and I sucked on a cocktail that I could only describe as a shiny glass of California Christmas.

Made with bright, fresh Fuyu persimmon juice, the cocktail was a glowing orange with dark little specks floating on the top (I'll come back to those fabulous specks). Taking a sip, my mouth and nose were not only suffused by juicy, slippery persimmony goodness, but also with spices. Cinnamon?! Nutmeg?! Ginger?! I marched right up to the mixologist and begged to know what was in there. He smiled as I tumbled out with, "I think, nutmeg?" He confirmed nutmeg, ginger, a caramelized sugar syrup, and those fabulous specks? Vanilla bean! Of course! I would have dramatically slapped my forehead if I wasn't already reaching for another glass of the stuff.

I've made a snap decision: when it comes to cocktails, persimmons are the new pomegranates. Not having good access to them in Boston, I only started eating persimmons when I moved out to California -- the land of good and plenty -- but while I have eaten persimmons in salads, desserts, and savory preparations, I had yet to drink persimmons. Consider me transformed and transfixed.

I got in touch with Allison Evanow -- CEO and Founder of Square One Vodka -- who bartended while getting her MBA and is the mastermind behind this most sumptuous, most celebratory cocktail. She told me she dubbed it the "Golden Gate" because of its remarkable color. (When this cocktail sweeps the nation, as it surely must, it will be called the "Square 'simmon.") Allison also explained that she usually takes a "food approach" to making cocktails and this one does require more kitchen fury than simply shaking or stirring and straining. For one thing, the sugar syrup is no simple affair, it's actually a caramelized sugar syrup burnished to a lusty golden hue. Also, the persimmons have to be juiced and strained before being plied with the clean and organic vodka. Always thinking like a cook, Allison dropped this little tip, "the leftover pulp that doesn't make it into the base juice would be incredible as a 'jam' on some local artisanal bread for breakfast toast!"

Allison confirmed that the other ingredients were crystallized ginger, vanilla bean, and nutmeg. Regarding the vanilla bean, Allison confessed, "[I] love the vanilla bean flecks in it, so I chose not to garnish it as I don't think it needs it with all the other bean flecks floating in there!" Check out the recipe.

Bay Area bartenders, listen to me: you need this cocktail.

Now.

Please?

Has your baking kicked into high gear yet? This season there are cookbooks for just about every kind of baker or wannabe baker. These three each have an unusual twist or two that caught our eye...

One Cake, One Hundred Desserts
The subtitle of this book is "Learn One Foolproof Cake Recipe and Make One Hundred Desserts". This is a twist on the "Cake Doctor" books where you mess with a cake mix. Here one simple cake recipe, which is printed on the flap, can be tranformed into practically infinite variations. There are pan cakes, upside-down cakes, cupcakes, layer cakes, roulades, you name it. There are classics like Boston Cream Pie, Tart Tatin, German Chocolate Cake, and Lemon Poppyseed Cake, then there are wacky cakes like Peanut Butter and Jelly Upside Down Cake, Milky Way Cupcakes, Ouzo Fig Cakes and more. This is such a great idea it's hard to imagine no one has come up with a cookbook like this before.

Sweets Soul Food Desserts & Memories
The South is known for its desserts and now soul food gets its turn. Author Patty Pinner grew up in her family's restaurant, but her recipes are more about family than restaurant. The recipes range from Mama's Sweet Potato Pie, Lillie Bea's Cherry Cobbler, Grammaw Mariah's Deep-Dish Apple Pie and My My's Pound Cake to more unusual offerings such as Aint Pinky's Cantaloupe Pie, Aint Millie's Graham Cracker Cake and Miss Milie's Little of Nothing Cake. Each recipe comes with a story about the family member it is named after. This down home cookbook is just plain sweet.

The Sweet Life
While this is a restaurant cookbook, the recipes are easy to follow and never overly complicated. Author Kate Zuckerman is a pastry chef at Chanterelle in New York but earlier in her career worked at Firefly in San Franciso. Her style is friendly yet knowledgeable. This a great book if you want to try to make something of restaurant caliber. There are lots of classics here like Chocolate Souffle, Creme Caramel and Crispy, Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies, but then there are innovative recipes with some creative flair like Goat Cheese and Purple Basil Souffle, White Chocolate and Grapefruit Truffles with Hazelnuts, Brioche Pudding with Truffle Honey and Pineapple Soup with Mango and Passionfruit. The sweet life indeed! This book features plenty of gorgeous photos and essays on ingredients and techniques.

It's persimmon time, and Culinarily Curious gives us a recipe for Persimmon Fruitcake.

From the moment that persimmons hit the market each fall well into the Christmas season, barely a weekend went by without the sweet-spicy smell of persimmon cake wafting from the oven as it baked.

Gift guides can be found all over the blogworld these days, and a couple of local bloggers have created their own guides. The Ethicurean crew helps us focus on Shopping Local First, and suggests many ecologically conscious gift ideas, and on 101 Cookbooks, Heidi brings us another installment in her several-year gift guide.

Garrett at Vanilla Garlic interviewed Guy Fieri, winner of The Next Food Network Star. Guy is opening a restaurant in Sacramento.

Tex Wasabi's will be opening up on Arden, east of Howe and will bring some definite fun to the Sacramento dining scene. It also plans to shake up and all preconceived restaurant conceptions you had when you hear is genre: California style sushi and Southern BBQ.

What's the difference between a pumpkin and a squash? Click on over to World on a Plate as Jeanne tells us all we need to know.

Part of the confusion can be cleared up with the definition, pumpkin really only means "large hard-skinned squash." Beyond this the meaning is mostly arrived at by cultural usage of the term. What is considered a pumpkin changes as you travel around the globe and also regionally. Here in the U.S. pumpkin typically refers to the rounded orange squash of any size that is carved for Halloween or pureed for Thanksgiving pie. Bottom line...pumpkins are a type of winter squash.

In an entertaining post, Cookiecrumb defends the lowly casserole and charges us all to dig out our casserole dishes and add some recipes to our repertoires.

I still have my Corning Ware dish with the blue flowers. Not even Saveur managed to scrounge up one of those icons for their photo spread. And if you must know, I got the Corning Ware as a gift for starting a bank account. Back when banks gave gifts. It's that old.

Sara at Exploring the Silver Spoon is cooking her way through the Silver Spoon Cookbook and her reviews are inspiring me to pull that cookbook off my shelf and give it a glance. Most recently, Sara reviewed the delicious-looking Broiled Eggplant recipe.

In lieu of food gift giving, June Taylor, the Bay Area's darling jam, marmalade and all around fruit artisan, has opened the doors to her Still Room for retail sales. June Taylor's kitchen is located a few blocks south of 4th street's main shopping drag, around the corner from the famous Vik's Distributors chaat house.

For those of you San Franciscans who, if so inclined to wake early on a Saturday, get to the Ferry Plaza Farmers' Market regularly, buying June Taylors' fruit conserves and syrups in person, and tasting all of them, is easy. But maybe, like so many others, you like to sleep in, aren't parked in front, or have no interest in carrying a box of glass jars through the bustling crowds.

The Still Room's holiday hours might well be one of the ways you want to buy local, seasonal gifts directly from the actual people who produce them. Through Christmas, June Taylor will be open for walk-in sales: Friday: 12-4 pm, Saturdays: 11-4 pm, Sundays: 11-4pm.

And if you're interested in getting thorough hands-on experience making marmalade with the woman herself, follow this link to sign up for one of her winter classes. Last year I was one of many fortunate students to catch a glimpse into how she seamlessly balances sweet, sour and bitter citrus fruits, creating possibly the last artisinally made marmalade in the world; made by hand, in very small batches, no two jars are exactly the same. And if you take the class you'll get to take home a jar of what your class preps, cooks and bottles!

I'm not a big fan of shopping with the crowds. But if I had to, I'd choose 4th street in Berkeley over a mall or merely catalog shopping. For the food lover, this area offers a plethora of lunch, dinner and snack options.

Clean, soul-satisfying Japanese influenced meals can be eaten at O Chame. Bold, fresh Mexican food from the people who brought us Dona Tomas, can be found at Tacubaya. High end foodstuffs at The Pasta Shop, hearty charcuterie at Cafe Rouge, strong coffee at Peet's, visually delicious objects at The Gardener, the world famous Kiehl's, cookware of all styles and needs at Sur La Table, any music you want to listen to at Hear and, saving the best for last, uncooked, Strauss milk-based seasonal ice creams and sorbet at Sketch.

Shopping for those who have seen and eaten it all can feel impossible. But I have never once given anyone a jam, syrup, conserve or marmalade from June Taylor's vast repertoire and had her/him not be wowed by it. I hope you make it to The Still Room to see where thousands of pounds of fruit are transformed into jewel colored jars, and the one-woman company is housed.

June Taylor Company
The Still-Room
2207 4th Street
Berkeley, CA 94710
510-548-2236

If you didn't get your fill of what the French consider a very "bizarre bird" and have a hankering to roast up another turkey over the holidays, here's what not to do...

My Paris flatmates, John and Pierre, announced a few months ago that this year Thanksgiving was going to be in San Francisco and some of their closest French friends were flying in for the week to experience this crazy American tradition up close and personal. Naturally I couldn't pass up this opportunity so I hopped on United, San Francisco or bust. Actually it was "bust" coming back to Paris but that's another story that requires copious amounts of martinis, but I digress...

We didn't get started cooking until about 3pm (so much for our 4pm start time) because we first had to do a few things... such as scour the oven. At some point in the wee hours of the previous morning, someone decided it would be a good idea to go crazy with the oven cleaner. Not such a good idea in the light of day. Then Pierre popped and poured some champagne and announced that we could now begin cooking.

So a frantic scramble ensued to make the cornbread muffins for the stuffing, prepare the glaze for the turkey, get the cranberries going, prep the sweet potatoes and green beans, and make appetizers that would last 6 hours until dinner! I made my standard go-to app that I learned at Farallon: toasted brioche (round Hawaiian rolls in a pinch), topped with smoked salmon and a dollop of lemon creme fraiche to calm the hungry crowd.

The stuffing was finally ready so we filled up the turkey, rubbed olive oil, salt, pepper and paprika on the turkey, and - drumroll...here is what NOT to do - glazed the turkey. I should have waited until there was about an hour left of cooking. I wasn't thinking. I was tired, frazzled, exhausted from waking up at 4am from jetlag, a bit tipsy from the bubbly and distracted by all the hilarity going on around me that I just slathered that bird with abandon and sent him on his way.

An hour later, I checked on the turkey and it was charred, completely burned black. I wanted to cry. I was distraught. All that work and I ruined the turkey. ARGH! Pierre kept telling me it was OK and filling my champagne glass. John, who'd just emerged from a nap, had a clear head and the smart idea to baste it, cover it with foil and turn down the oven. So we did and continued to cook it for another few hours. I was still inconsolable.

Flora made the cranberry sauce with sugar, orange juice, orange zest and fresh grated ginger. There are no cranberries in France so this dish was most intriguing. So much so that Pierre decided they would be exponentially better mixed with vodka. They hijacked half my bowl of cranberries, pureed them and made cranberry martinis! Amen and pass the ice. When life hands you cranberries, make cocktails I say! As long as it diverts attention from the charcoal lump of a turkey...

Pierre snipped the ends off mounds of green beans while I cut up the sweet potatoes and chiffonade'd the sage. A quick toss in some duck fat and it was good to go in the oven. The green beans I blanched, then sauteed and tossed with toasted sliced almonds and crumbled Roquefort. I was praying everyone would be so enamoured of the rest of the meal they wouldn't notice the cardboard dry turkey meat. When it was time to take it out, I cringed, dreading the inevitable.

John kindly helped me pick off the charred skin and, to my absolute disbelief and joy, underneath the skin was the most moist, juicy, delicious turkey I'd ever made! I've only made two but you know what I mean. The charred skin must have formed an impenetrable seal that kept the turkey from drying out. It was delicious and I was estatic! I didn't ruin the turkey after all so more champagne was poured and toasted. I brushed a little more glaze over the now-naked turkey and around 9:00pm, we finally served to our French friends a traditional American Thanksgiving dinner. Ok, I brought French wine from Burgundy....all in the name of fostering Franco-American relations :)

We were so hungry that we dispensed with prayers and sharing things we were grateful for and dove right into the meal. Dessert was a berry crumble that I learned at one of my first cooking classes at HomeChef. It's the best crumble recipe I've ever had anywhere, ever. We lumbered to the couches in the living room where I promptly fell asleep. Happy Thanksgiving! And if you still want to make a turkey for Christmas, now you know what not to do!

Le Menu de Thanksgiving

Champagne Veuve Cliquot

Saumon Fumee sur Brioche Grillee avec Creme Fraiche Citron

1999 Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru "La Garennes"

Haricots-Verts avec Amandes et Roquefort

Patates-Douces avec Sauge et Grasse de Canard

Cranberry Sauce

Dinde Roti Farci

Dessert de Crumble de Fruits Frais
(I was too tired to take pictures at this point...)
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Les Recettes - The Recipes
The turkey, glaze, cranberry and stuffing recipes I adapted from Shiela Lukins' "Celebrate!". That, along with her "New Basics", are my first go-to books when I need inspiration.

Cornbread Stuffing

1 package Jiffy Corn Muffin mix. Yes, a box mix, spare me the flame mail. When you have 3 hours to pull together an entire Thanksgiving dinner, you do what you have to do. Cook the muffins according to the instructions then crumble them into a bowl.
1 head celery, small dice
1 large onion, small dice
1/2 bunch parsley, finely chopped
1 cup dried apricots, chopped
1 cup dried cherries
2 tablespoons butter
1 package of mild Italian sauages, casings removed, sauteed, broken into bits
1 cup Swansons chicken broth

1. Saute the celery, onions, parlsey until opaque

2. Add cherries, apricots and butter and combine

3. In a large bowl combine sausage and cornbread and add in the celery-dry fruit mix.

4. Add the broth slowly mixing as you go. Don't let it get soggy, add just enough to moisten it.

The Deadly Maple Ginger Glaze

Olive oil
1/2 large onion, finely diced
2 tablespoons fresh grated ginger
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1/2 cup fresh squeezed orange juice
1/4 cup molasses
2 tablespoons maple syrup
2 tablespoons honey
grated zest of 1 orange

1. Heat a sauce pan with olive oil and add onion, ginger and garlic

2. Cook, stirring, until onions are opaque

3. Add the remaining ingredients and bring to a boil

4. Simmer and reduce for 10-15 minutes until thick and syrupy

5. Let cool.

Orange Ginger Cranberries

2 pounds of fresh cranberries (2 pounds was about 2-1/2 bags so rather than have a half bag of cranberries that I would never cook again until next Thanksgiving, I just threw in 3 bags, turned out fine)
4 cups sugar
2 cups fresh squeezed orange juice
zest from 2 oranges
2 tablespoons grated fresh ginger

1. Comine all the ingredients in a large heavy saucepan and cook over medium heat until the berries start to pop open, about 10-15 minutes.

2. Skim the foam off as they are cooking.

3. Let cool and serve as a side dish

note: you can also puree some of this, strain it, combine in a cocktail shaker with vodka and ice and have your self a fabulous martini!

Charred, Burned, Torched Turkey a la Laura

1 turkey
stuffing
glaze
oranges cut in 1/8s
1/2 bottle white wine

1. Wash and dry the turkey

2. Coat outside and inside cavity with olive oil, salt and pepper (and paprika on the outside)

3. Fill the cavity with stuffing

4. Place the oranges around the turkey in the pan

5. Add white wine to the pan

6. DO NOT glaze the turkey yet like I did below in the picture or it will burn (trust me on this one!)

7. Baste every 20 minutes with the wine and juices in the pan

8. Wait until there is about 1 hour left, brush the glaze on the turkey, cover with foil and finish cooking.

Bon Appetit!

"This is the Bristol, Madame, not the Crystal." I couldn't get that line from "What's Up, Doc?" out of my head as I made my way to the new Bristol Farms, located on the underground level of the Westfield Centre. The Centre not the Center. I had been to the Westfield twice before but, being a native Californian and, therefore, unaccustomed to the idea of basements, I remained unaware of this "extraordinary food store's" existence until my friend Bill mentioned it to me.

Though I had never set foot in one of their stores until yesterday, I am very familiar with their take-out menu-- for a number of years, every funeral my family endured was catered by Bristol Farms, thanks to a cousin affiliated with the company. Armed with the superstition that I might kill a member of my family by getting too close to the sandwich counter, I made my way to the store.

I was greeted at the entrance to the Westfield Centre by a nice man with a picket sign. He explained that this particular Bristol Farms market was a non-union store. Being as unfamiliar with the pros and cons of union membership as anyone can be, I was non-committal, but I wished him luck anyway and went on my way into the store.

The store is broken into two distinct sections, separated by a walkway that spills into a food court. On one side, a place for groceries and whatnot. On the other, a place made up almost exclusively of whatnot. A lifestyle store of sorts. So many Bristol life decisions to be made here. Where to start? I might purchase something to nibble on at the Bristol Chocolatier counter or create something more substantial to eat with a purchase from Bristol Kitchens (see below).

I might also choose something interesting to read at the Bristol News Stand while I void the previously consumed Bristol chocolates with the help of an embarrassingly wide array of cleansing aids found in Bristol's Natural Living section.

Need ideas for holiday gift wrapping? Choose from a wide array of gift paper and bags...

I think you get the idea.

Feeling I had lived out at least one Bristol lifespan, I moved across the way to the hopefully-more-substantial side of the Farms.

What I found inside the actual grocery store was a wide array of prepared foods-- a sushi bar, pizza counter, deli, etc. Feeling hungry as I wandered the aisles, I decided to see how much of my appetite I could satisfy by eating every free sample I came across.

The offerings were primarily dairy in nature-- the cubes of cave-aged gruyere, Boorenkass Gouda and Mammoth cheddar were pleasant; the Fiscalini Farmstead Bandage-Wrapped Aged Cheddar did, in fact, taste like an old Ace bandage, as promised.

Over at the meat counter, I enjoyed a piece of Teriyaki-marinated Hibachi beef stick while listening to the man behind the counter explain to a female customer the joy of cooking. "All you're really doing is reheating this. Turn the oven on to 350F, pop it in and go watch Dr. Phil or whatever. Just don't forget it's in the oven." The woman looked unconvinced.

The most enjoyable course of my free lunch was had at the crepe counter. Behind it were two very young-looking men discussing their handiwork. On top of the counter was one piece of crepe. I took it before anyone else could do so and asked what it was I was about to eat. "It's a s'more crepe. It's experimental." Experimental, but very good, graham cracker crunch and all. I expressed my enthusiasm over their tinkering, hoping they might finish with the caramel apple crepe they were creating, but I was afraid to stay any longer for fear of looking needy or worse, creepy.

My next stop was the charcuterie counter-- home of a wonderful selection of cured meats, which was the original purpose of my trip to Bristol Farms. I ordered half a pound the of meat I intend to discuss in a future blog from a very friendly woman who could barely reach over the counter to hand me my purchase.

At the seafood counter, I was not so much impressed by the variety of fish on display as I was by the quality and size of what was available. Grouper and bass big enough to feed a large family, one bass was, infact, as large as some family members. The expression of disbelief I read in his clear eye told me he was not yet convinced he was dead and sitting on a bed of crushed ice, so fresh was the kill.

The produce section contained a variety of beautiful fruits and vegetables. I decided that this will be my go-to place if I should ever need brussel sprouts on-the-stalk or New Zealand red tamarillos, but for everyday shopping? No.

The pastry department was fun, if faintly troubling. The patissieres have created what looks like a cupcake drag parade. Garish frostings, cakes that look like very fake breasts. It gave me a new appreciation for confectionery camp.

What I found troubling were the fresh flower cakes. At first, they just seemed silly. A rose on a layer cake is pointless, if benign. Gerber daisies, when eaten in quantity, can cause liver failure.

Appetite curbed, I headed to the check-out counter. The only person in line, I was able to rush by the selection impulse purchases made so easily available by Bristol Farms' merchandising team. Though tempted by a king-sized Snickers bar and a Spanish language version of People magazine, I managed to get through with just my cured meat.

A young woman waved me over to the number ten counter. She smiled as she scanned my purchase and asked how I enjoyed my visit to Bristol Farms. I wanted to tell her everything. I should have told her how refreshing it was to encounter such a pleasant, helpful staff; how much I loved looking at the fish and the pastries. It was probably wise of me not to mention the fact that I felt as though I walked into the supermarket equivalent of a Red Light District-- one where the pimps and madames were congenial, to be sure, but the overly-merchandised whores aggressive.

Instead, I just said. "It was fine. Thanks."

I'm not saying I won't be back. I'll run out of meat soon enough. Besides, I like to be horrified from time to time. And who doesn't enjoy an occasional trip to a brothel? I know I do.

A few minutes in the Check, Please! Bay Area greenroom, and I came to the conclusion that Gillian was a woman after my own heart. Here she is, a designer of cocktail ware and here I am, a recently published author of a cocktail game.

Gillian's company, Chase & Co., creates high-end cocktail glasses and accessories, and I went nuts when I heard they had a specially-designed cocktail muddler. A muddler, as any mixologist worth his Kosher salt would know, is a tool -- usually wooden -- used to crush herbs, spices, and other ingredients in the bottom of a glass. A muddler is necessary for making such cocktails as a Mint Julep (grinding together the sugar and mint leaves) or an Old Fashioned.

Last Christmas my husband took me to a restaurant supply store where I shopped to my hungry heart's content. One of my most treasured purchases was a wooden cocktail muddler. Sadly, a few cocktails later and the finish is starting to wear off the end. Kind of creeps me out to think I've probably drunk that finish or, at the very least, served it to my guests as a toxic garnish. Gillian nodded knowledgeably when I told her of this situation and mentioned that there are a lot of crappy muddlers out there. Of course, Chase & Co's muddler is not one of them. It's made of eco-friendly bamboo and its smooth shape looks as though it would rest quite comfortably in the hand. Bamboo is one of the hardest woods you can find, which is why there's been a relatively recent explosion of bamboo cutting boards on the culinary market.

Ever since I registered for my wedding, I have been obsessed with glassware. Even though my tiny apartment protests quite loudly at any more glass additions (and my husband worries about earthquakes taking out the lot), I keep wanting to supplement my eclectic cocktail collection with new finds and fancies. When I visited Chase & Co.'s website, I fell completely in love with their mojito glasses. Their classy design recalls Hemingway, cigars, and lime-riddled drinks under a Cuban sun.

A few months after we taped this episode of Check, Please! Bay Area, Gillian emailed me with the news that two of Food Network's shows (Food Network Challenge: Bartender Battle and Throwdown with Bobby Flay) recently featured a bartender by the name of Tobin Ellis who used Chase & Co.'s signature mojito glasses in both battles. Nice placement!

You can find Chase & Co's cocktail ware at Gump's, Sur La Table, Tommy Bahama, and Z Gallery. I think they'd make great Christmas presents. I know they're going on my list.