For Schizzle at Schnitzelhaus

The gentle rain falling must have washed away some of the commuters' reason. I left late on purpose and unfortunately got to work even later thanks to the sluggish traffic. How easy is it to forget to drive in the rain?

You know how I always talk about my Filipino side? Well, today my German side was satisfied when Ant drove Bridget and me to Schnitzelhaus where we had a delicious sampling of German food. It is now on the AGOL Approved List and perhaps some day we will be able to drink beer from their famous stein as seen on the link above. I doubt it, but Ant has high hopes. The owner's approach was rather brusque especially with his version of bon appetit which was something like You will enjoy! I know he didn't mean anything by it because the place was very welcoming. His great food spoke for itself, danke.

Our afternoon walk around the building was considerably cooler than yesterday thanks to the rain. Bridget and I remarked on the difference in temperatures and what we can look forward to in the changes. Gosh, Christmas is just two months away! I hope to surf right over the holidays. Maybe if I close my eyes it will pass quickly...

With the rain beading outside the third floor windows and knowing it was cooler made me think about having a Baking Day. Baking day with flour, sugar, eggs and chocolate since I don't have a honey to have the other kind of Baking Day. Ha! Staying at home on a rainy day and having a (lazy) loving day with someone you care about is so much fun. You just might be able to incorporate baking cookies or a cake. Need sustenance, non? Sometimes your AGOL has way too many ideas. Sigh.

I decided on soup for dinner from my Chinese place. Instead of calling ahead of time, I was on the phone with Tawny who had stayed home from a hyper extended knee. I arrived at the Chinese place and put my order in for some egg drop and won ton soups plus other stuff I ordered at the last minute because it smelled so darned delicious in there. Hmpf!

Selecting a chair on the side to wait on my order, a lady struck up a conversation with me by asking if I always order the same things. I replied that I almost order the same things because when you have a craving for something, that is all you want and deviating from it results in disappointment. She agreed. I told her that I usually call ahead when I am at a certain point on the highway and that I have a preset on my phone with their number. It is filed under "China". She laughed and thought it clever. We continued to happily chat and I told her that her son had held the door open for me when I came in. She was grateful to hear something nice; she'd been experiencing teen angst with him.

Back home, I walked Cabal in no rain which was a godsend. My meal was exactly what I wanted and will be able to enjoy it again tomorrow for lunch. The soup definitely hit the spot.
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For Schizzle at Schnitzelhaus

Mangia, Cara Mia!

Received a happy call from Trish in San Francisco today. She had a wonderful going away party from her old job last week and her new job was going well. Her boyfriend Dave got a new job, too and has been making arrangements to have Trish formally move in with him in the city. Singing gigs for Trish were also coming in. I was thrilled that she was finally living la vida loca again.

I updated Tawny via text that I was declining her invite to her pool party with a couple of our other friends. My sociable mood was nowhere to be resurrected and the rain was off and on all morning. It decided to make its presence very known in the afternoon instead. Luckily, I was able to walk Cabal around and enjoy the lush greenery before the downpour...

I've not bought eggs in several months for two purposes: 1) I don't eat eggs enough to make buying a half dozen or a dozen worth it before it goes bad and 2) It is a deterrent to easily baking pastries and cakes. With the weather, today was a perfect Baking Day and I was compelled to cook something that took time. The next thing I knew I was making Sunday Gravy (as some Italians call it) with meat. Cooking can be a hedonistic activity if approached correctly and I was game today.

I left the canned whole tomatoes mostly in tact instead of crushing them further and added it after browning the lean ground beef in some raw olive oil, onions and lots of pressed garlic. Mincing doesn't extract all the garlic oil goodness. Added tomato paste to deepen the flavor, mixed dried herbs (fresh ones were not an easy option today) and some spices. I left out the wine today.

This was reducing nicely. I adjusted the taste by stirring in some crushed hot pepper. Later the secret ingredient (blowing a kiss!) because it has to be made with Love. Kinda hokey, I know, but that's how this AGOL does it.


Can you tell I am showing my Filipino side in the pic below? If you don't get it, good for me! I like to boil the dry pasta unbroken so that the long strands are kept. It makes it easier to twirl on a big spoon. (Ran out of spaghetti so had to settle for angel hair.) The pasta water must also be well seasoned with sea salt and the pasta cooked al dente. No wimpy strands on my fork.

Sprinkled some grated Romano cheese and more of the crushed hot pepper over this garlicky goodness. Just missing some of my famous garlic bread and a nice glass of Shiraz.


The sun shone again when this was served. The dish was tasty and the good food aroma inside intoxicating. Steam had built up against the sliding glass doors thanks to the condensation from the coolness of my apartment to the steam bath outside. In between bites, I remembered that tomorrow is a holiday.

Mangia, Cara Mia!

Wishing on a Baking Day

Woke up feeling more rested today from getting more than four hours of sleep which is average for me. Okay, it was five last night. One hour made a world of difference.

Made up my mind to have iced coffee this morning which spelled a near disaster during my extended vendor meeting. The AGOL was extra effervescent let's just say. It was a supreme effort to appear near normal and slow my speech to an understandable speed.

Broke for a quick lackluster lunch fare in the break room. Spent time with Tawny suffering through my temp's attempt to include me in her birthday festivities this weekend. She had already been crassly campaigning for cake to be brought in Friday to another employee. Even as far as dictating what type of frosting she should have and what color the design would be ideal. Ugh. That left a poorer taste in my mouth than my lunch. Hope she's not disgruntled when she doesn't receive one.

Bridget and I attended an online training class that bored us to near sleep. She actually had her head down. We couldn't even surf the Internet because opening another screen would cause us to be disconnected from the conference. Was that smart planning on the program? Glugged more iced coffee during the call to keep up.

Where I sit on the third floor, I can see outside ahead of me or behind me. It was the same view of dark sky and water pelleting against the window. If it were 25 degrees colder outside, it would be a prime Baking Day. I would love to bake chocolate chip cookies on such a day...or my famous rum cake.

Here's my favorite vanilla waiting to be poured into my heart-shaped measuring spoons.


I thought more about it on the drive home, imagining the measuring of ingredients and the delicious vanilla laced aroma it would release during baking. Still no eggs in the fridge though and I wasn't stopping anywhere, but home. Settled in after walking my dog in the rain with a bowl of creamy butternut squash soup sprinkled with my favorite crunchy rice noodles.

Yes, I even have a heart-shaped enameled cast iron casserole pan. I make soup and healthier dishes in here. It serves well on the table, too. Smiles all around.


What can I say? You just have to do everything with love.

Wishing on a Baking Day