Mother's Day Brunch - For Moms and Moms-To-Be

I can't imagine we're going to be entertaining much post-baby, so M and I were eager to host Mother's Day brunch at our home. We went for sweet and savory, with a french toast casserole, arugula, sausage, and gruyere frittata, and a green salad.
The french toast casserole was a risky experiment as I loathe Paula Deen and this is one of her famous recipes. I read that the topping can be too rich but I thought my family could handle it (and they did!). Super easy and made the night before, this dish is a keeper.
M whipped up his delicious frittatas which were light, just salty enough and balanced out the sweetness of the casserole.
After a leisurely rest, we had dessert, fresh fruit and unsweetened whipped cream.

As the sunlight streamed in, we toasted the morning with guava and mango champagne cocktails (and water for me) and celebrated moms and moms-to-be everywhere!

The Park - Echo Park

For one of my last pre-baby dinners, tried The Park the other night with Portia. While our food took a tad long coming out of the kitchen, all in all it's a great addition to Echo Park. The Park is small, loud, and moderately priced and reminded me of a NY-type of establishment. As more and more restaurants move into the hood that are out of our "prepare for baby budget" (ahem, Lot 1), The Park's price points are appreciated, especially given the size of their generous portions.

Just Another Last Minute Reservation at Pizzeria Mozza!

It was meant to be. Gail, knowing us so well, recently got us a Mozza gift card for our 2nd wedding anniversary. We've been going back and forth trying to decide when to use it: pre- or post-baby? I'm sure we'll definitely need a night out after too long with our little one but who's to say when that will actually be able to happen. We're really trying to save $ right now in preparation for baby, so a great dinner out on Gail seems perfectly suited to now. (For more on pre-baby dining quests, see Jonah's extensive posts at la.foodblogging here.)

Our stomachs spoke. M wanted to go to some opening at a gallery on Crescent Heights and Beverly, so Mozza came to mind. After I got home from work we gave them a ring and miraculously they had a 6:15 reservation for us! Yay!

Perfect as usual. We ordered the brussels sprouts which we adore. Like candy. Since I'm pregnant, cured meats are out the window which means the prosciutto bread crumbs are not an option. Honestly, they don't even need them, they're that good. But M gets all of the crumbs, so he's a happy one. We also got the beets with horseradish, which they've been out of the last few times we've been. Really fresh, bright, and sharp. And so Passover appropriate!

Choosing a pizza is especially challenging on the pregnancy diet as almost all of their heavenly pies have some sort of sausage (the lovely fennel sausage - nitrates), cured meat (guanciale, speck, salame - nitrates/nitrites), or blue cheese. So we got what we got last time and enjoyed it just as much: the rapini, cherry tomato, anchovy, olives, and chiles. Divine! The anchovies are packed with Omega 3's which are great for our Lambchop's brain and eye development and they're low in mercury so highly recommended. The pizza was slightly spicy, salty, and just so good. I could have easily eaten four more.

The best part? We have enough left over on the gift card for at least one more dinner! Thanks again Gail!

(picture courtesy of: http://www.bunrab.com/dailyfeed/2007February/dailyfeed_february-07_p3.html)

Dine Out for a Good Cause - 4/17/08

Eating out just to satisfy your hunger? So yesterday. Tomorrow, eat out for a good cause: Dine Out Los Angeles is a one-day LA-wide event where 20% of profits from a bunch of restaurants will go to Aid for Aids. This West Hollywood charity helps prevent hunger and homelessness among people with HIV/AIDS. Participating restaurants in the hood include:

Masa
Cha Cha Cha
Cliff's Edge
Casita Del Campo
Brooklyn Bagel Company (love their fresh out of the oven bagels!)

Go on, get eating!

Dine Out LA

Silver Lake/Echo Park Updates: Andiamo and Two Boots

As we've seen time and time again, everything's ready to go at Andiamo except the red tape. I checked in with Anthony (the owner?) a couple weeks ago and he was still waiting for a series of bureaucratic oks. But the menu looks promising (you can check it out here) and it's Pomodoro-esque inside: cute, small, simple and sleek. I'd say it's any day now and not a day too soon! With Michelangelo's supposedly on its way out, we're looking forward to a new Italian in the hood. Also, my husband noticed orange vespas outside... we're thinking they're the delivery vehicles.

I've been meaning to post about Two Boots for a while now. There's been an enormous dumpster outside the future Two Boots for the past few weeks collecting the innards of whatever was there previously. But it seems like it has a long way to go. Phil Hartman, one of the two owners, reported back in February that they're shooting for a late spring opening. Who knows how great it will be (mixed reviews run rampant in NY) one would think that its location next to the Echo/Echoplex will make it a success.

Bittman's Macaroons

Made these babies while in a Valentine's baking mood last week. While they looked just golden and beautiful naked, I felt the need to enrobe them in some bittersweet chocolate. Hubby and coworkers thought they looked like little volcanos, while two coworkers thought they resembled breasts. As breastfeeding is on our horizon, perhaps that's where my subconscious was.

Anyhow, they were fabulous and incredibly easy and quick to prepare. They are officially on the menu for Passover this year.

http://bitten.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/02/08/recipe-of-the-day-the-ultimate-minimalist-macaroon/

I Love Sue Moore and her Dogs

God, I just love Sue Moore.
Here I thought that pregnancy would mean living without hot dogs for nine months as most are preserved with nitrites/nitrates. But no, here comes Sue, former meat forager for Chez Panisse, of Let's Be Frank with her incredible dogs made from the best grass-fed beef. Not only are they lacking scary hormones and antibiotics and no-no nitrites/nitrates but they're also packed with 600mg of Omega 3's which are awesome for my tiny one's brain development. And the best part? They're really, really good. So good it's almost impossible to stop at just one. Sue serves these beauties with caramelized onions and the softest bun along with other traditional fixins. And she must be one of the friendliest folks you could ever meet. You can find Sweet Sue and her cart in the Helms Bakery Complex.

Helms Ave
between Washington Blvd and Venice Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90034 (888) 233-7265

www.letsbefrankdogs.com