Maui is a tropical paradise- what’s not to like? It’s so gorgeous and lovely and the very nice people are so full of Aloha spirit there that I’d go even if they had sub-par food (a few of the Caribbean islands come to mind, but I’m not naming names). But they don’t! The food there is some of the best. Especially if you are like me, and enjoy eating spicy raw fish multiple times a day.

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Behold! This fantastically tasty sandwich is from La Bombonera, a funky, cheap-ass deli counter in Old San Juan.

American cheese, ham, crusty bread, all pressed in some 1950s machine. Heaven. I think it was only 2 dollars. Swig some cafe con leche along with it, and you’ve got a breakfast of champions. The place ain’t fancy and the people aren’t that nice, but that’s not what you’re after. There will be other tourists there, but plenty of locals too.

La Bombonera is at 259 Calle San Francisco in Old San Juan and open daily from 7:30 AM – 8 PM.

My friend Eliza gave me these awesome little containers. They are about an inch and a half high and super frickin’ adorable.

Their sole purpose is to allow you to bring a little bit of soy sauce with you wherever you go, just in case. They come with a little tiny eye-dropper so you can fill them up with soy sauce. So far they have never leaked and they always make me smile when I pull them out at lunchtime! Something about those vacant, beady eyes and perky ears- they are really endearing little pals to have around.

Eliza got these for a couple bucks at one of my very favorite stores in the world, Daiso Japan. Daiso is kind of like a super cool Japanese Dollar Store, except most things cost two dollars instead of one. Daiso has a crazy cross-section of stuff, from garden supplies to kids’ toys to dishes to cards (many in hilarious Engrish) to fake flowers to, er, individual soy sauce holders. With ten bucks in hand, you can have a GREAT time in there.

There are 3 stores in the Seattle area and 6 in the Bay Area- here’s a list of all U.S. locations.

I was out in Boston a while ago, and spent a couple hours in Concord, Mass, which is you know, where that whole “shot heard round the world” thing went down. Right in town there’s an old cemetery with some Revolutionary era gravestones. We spotted a couple of odd ones, like this one where they misspelled the guy’s name and had to fix their “typo”:

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Even though caves kind of freak me out, I am itching to go to this crater mineral bath in Utah.

Visit the Homestead Resort site for more info.

Welcome to Stonefridge: a fridgehenge.

That’s it. It’s Stonehenge made of old refrigerators. According to this website (which also has a bunch more pictures) an artist created it outside of Santa Fe, NM, until some art-hating, fridge-loathing jerk COMPLAINED and made them take it down.

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Now I’m no expert on Texas. In fact, as a hippie liberal San Franciscan, it’s usually something I purposely don’t mess with (as advised by many a bumper sticker and t-shirt.) I’d just humbly like to share some of my favorite and most memorable food experiences from Austin.

Austin, Texas is a terrific town to spend a long weekend (or more) visiting. They’ve got so much to offer! Sights, sounds, history, bats, live music, art, you name it. On top of that, they have a wide variety of eateries and drinkeries (is that a word?) that are sure to please every palate. Heck, they’ve even got a wine country (sort of.) Simply put, I had a terrific time eating and drinking my way through Austin and I recommend you get your butt out there sometime.

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I spent a chilly Fall weekend in Chicago with friends and wanted to share some of my favorite photos. I hadn’t been there for almost 20 years so it was a treat to spend a few days there, albeit cold and windy days!

Bertrand Goldberg’s Marina City towers seen from the river.

The fun/frightening Carnival Foods signage was the only (literally) bright spot on this overcast and rainy walk near Oz Park.

We caught a man on Halsted Street working diligently on this Barack Obama mural (just a few days before the November 2008 election.)

The comics at Second City hilariously dressed up one of the stodgy old guys carved onto their theater building’s facade for Halloween with a cape and Darth Vader mask.

Am I anthropomorphizing too much, or does this Lincoln Park house look like a person to you too?

Caramelized butterscotch and apple bacon hanging from a wire contraption during a mind-boggling molecular gastronomy dinner at Alinea.

Wolfy’s!

I call this apartment building “the frowny robot building.”

Crowds approaching Anish Kapoor’s “Cloud Gate” sculpture (aka “the Bean”) in Millenium Park.

We were driving aimlessly through the suburbs and randomly came upon this half-scale model of the Leaning Tower of Pisa, built in 1934. The parklands that surely surrounded it at one time have been oddly subsumed by a YMCA and a Costco. (And yes, we took the obligatory “pushing it back upright” series of photos…)

The sign for Empire Liquors in Wicker Park sports real liquor bottles enclosed in mesh.

Loooooved this warning posted in the awesome Old Town Oil shop.

On a recent trip to Vieques, Puerto Rico, we ate at a fantastic little restaurant called El Quenepo. I loved their grilled caesar salad and thought that while the dish was fresh in my mind, I’d try making a version at home. Grilling the romaine hearts adds a fantastic layer of smoky complexity that compliments the strong flavors of the dressing.

Vieques is a notoriously, unabashedly casual place, and El Quenepo is probably the “fanciest” restaurant on the whole island. I say that in quotes because, well, nothing on Vieques could remotely be referred to as fancy- we’re talking about a restaurant with a hand-painted sign and no glass in the window frames. Still, it’s an utterly charming place with a laid-back island aesthetic and an adventurous, sophisticated fusion menu. The owners are a young couple from Virginia who encourage local farmers on Vieques to grow food for use in the restaurant, which is a real treat in the Caribbean, where most folks don’t emphasize the importance of eating locally. If you find yourself in Vieques, I highly encourage you to head to the Malecón in Esperanza and give El Quenepo a try.

A few notes about the recipe:

1. This would work better on a BBQ grill, but alas, I don’t have one, so I used a grill pan, which worked just fine.
2. For the bread for the croutons, you can really use anything. I used sliced sourdough that had gone a bit stale.
3. If you’re uncomfortable using a raw egg yolk, you can leave it out.
4. If you prefer your caesar with anchovies, you can add 3 to the dressing and/or you can place them on top of the salad when you plate it!

Grilled Caesar Salad

serves 2 as a main course; 4 as a side.

Ingredients:

• 1-2 slices bread
• garlic salt to taste
• 3/4 cup grated parmigiano or pecorino cheese
• juice of 1 lemon
• 1 clove garlic, peeled
• 1 raw egg yolk
• 1/4 cup good quality extra virgin olive oil
• 2 Tblsp slivered almonds
• salt and pepper
• 2 small heads of romaine
• extra olive oil for grilling and toasting

Method:

• Make the croutons: Cut bread into 1/2 inch cubes. Heat a generous amount of olive oil in a non-stick saute pan (at least a couple tablespoons). Add bread cubes and a healthy sprinkle of garlic salt to the oil. The bread will quickly soak up the oil. Add more as needed (don’t be afraid you’re adding too much because in this case there’s practically no such thing.) Taste and add more garlic salt as necessary. Cook bread cubes until toasty on all sides, flipping often. Remove to bowl and set aside.
• Make the dressing: Put cheese, lemon juice, garlic, yolk, oil, almonds, and salt and pepper in a food processor or blender. Blend until thick and creamy, scraping down sides in between. Set aside.
• Grill the romaine: Cut the romaine lengthwise, leaving the hard connector part on the bottom intact (you’ll remove it later.) Heat a grill or grill pan to very very hot. Brush the cut side of the romaine with olive oil and sprinkle with coarse salt and pepper. Press the cut side onto the grill or pan, checking every 5-10 seconds (it will cook very quickly.) You don’t want the lettuce to wilt too much, just to get the cut side smoky and grilled.
• Assembly: Place romaine on plate and sprinkle croutons around. Drizzle dressing over.

This is one of my favorite posts from my previous blog… so I’m reposting it here while I’m on vacation! Enjoy!

I spent a long weekend in the Hamptons with my two very best girlfriends, Lori and Michelle, who sadly (for me) are two displaced California lasses who have decamped to New York City. The reason was ostensibly Lori’s bachelorette party, but it was really just an excuse to spend some quality time together.

I usually don’t make such fancy shmancy stuff, but this was an occasion that called for something special. Plus, I was excited for the opportunity to pick up some incredibly fresh local seafood and build a seasonal meal around it. This dish screams “springtime” and turned out fabulously well, if I do say so myself. And although it seems a little complicated, for me, at least- it was not so very much effort for such an impressive result. When I do buckle down and commit to a more complex or fussy meal, it is really exhilarating when it turns out well, because I sometimes fear that I’m losing my chichi cooking chops by tending almost always towards the simplest types of cooking. This was the first meal that I’ve cooked in quite some time that gave me that “yep, still got it” feeling.

I was loath to put up the recipe because I completely winged it, and don’t have exact measurements, but Lori and Michelle were really hoping to re-create the meal at home, so I’m summoning my best powers of memory and estimation to try and offer you a coherent recipe.

Seared Sea Scallops with Melted Ginger Leeks and Crispy Mushrooms
This is the amount I made for 3 people, but it could serve 2 or 4 if you just adjust the scallop amounts- the mushrooms and leeks will be an OK amount either way. I served it with asparagus risotto.

Ingredients:

• a couple Tblsp butter
• a couple Tblsp olive oil
• ½ pound oyster mushrooms, chopped finely
• 1 large or 2 small shallots, chopped finely
• ¾ cup white wine
• ½ cup heavy cream
• 2-inch piece of ginger, peel on, sliced
• 9 fresh large sea scallops, rinsed and dried well
• 2 medium-sized leeks, cut in thin slices
• salt and freshly ground pepper

Method:

• Put about 1 Tblsp olive oil and 1 Tblsp butter in a sauté pan and heat over medium high heat. Add mushrooms and season with a lot of salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until small and dark brown and crispy. Remove to a plate and set aside.
• Return mushroom pan to medium high heat and add ½ cup wine. Cook until almost completely evaporated.
• Add cream and cook until bubbling. Turn off heat and add ginger. Set aside.
• Season scallops with salt and pepper on both sides.
• Put about 1 Tblsp butter and 1 Tblsp olive oil  in a sauté pan over high heat. When hot,  place scallops in pan, flat side down. Cook about 3 minutes per side, until nice and crispy brown on each side. Remove to plate. (Remember that the scallops will continue to cook a bit after removing from pan, so it’s better to err on the side of undercooking rather than overcooking.) Remove to a plate and set aside to rest.
• In a small pan, heat about 2 tsp olive oil and add shallots. Saute until soft but not brown.
• Add leeks and cook, stirring, about 2 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.  Add ¼ cup wine and cook until almost evaporated.
• Discard ginger pieces from cream. Pour cream over leeks. Cook about 2-3 minutes, until leeks are soft.
• To plate, pull out some leeks with tongs and make a bed on the plate. Place 3 scallops on top. Pour a little bit of the leek cream over the top of the scallops. Sprinkle with a handful of mushrooms.