Full Days.

Whenever I'm away I usually manage to post even if I'm having an amazing time, because lets face it - you cant have amazing, outstanding fun all.day.long...right? There's usually a break sometime in the day where I unwind for a bit by writing a short blog. Well, this trip has not allowed me any down time. It has been jam-packed with running around visiting all of my favorite people, doing yoga, cooking, eating, beaching, playing, drinking...everything.

Saturday morning I hit up a super early hot yoga class and then met Breezie and Rachael for coffee @ Java Hut in Encinitas. We hung out and sipped coffee for three hours. These are my two most favorite ladies on the West Coast so three hours barely touched the surface of all that we had to catch up on.

Brie had some stuff to attend to, so Rach and I continued our date on the beach in Cardiff and even jumped in the water for a bit (which was surprisingly warmer than expected). Later that evening we all had dinner at Liz and Larry's house (where my mom and I are staying). I put out a spread, made two cocktails (a Gin + Basil Gimlet and Sangria), and cooked us up some dinner. It was great to have Jak with us also, Breezies boyfriend, because he's a spectacular human being (and was only back from the ocean for ONE night after 10 days away, and prepping for another 10 day trip).

Gim and Basil Gimlet (or Spritzer) with Meyer Lemons

• 6 Meyer Lemons, juiced
• Pre-bought unsweetened Lime Juice (about 1 cup)
• 1 lime sliced (as garnish)
• Gin
• Sparkling Water or Club Soda (optional: this is if you want a lighter more refreshing "spritz")
• 2 cups water
• 1 cup sugar

Make the simple syrup by combining a huge handful of basil with the water and sugar and cooking over a medium heat for a while. Remove basil. Add the simple syrup to the lime juice and juice of the meyer lemons. Chop a bunch of basil and add to the pitcher (reserve a few leaves for garnish). Two shots of gin plus one ladle-full of the lime/basil syrup concoction and you're good to go. If you want to make the drink last, and for it to be a bit lighter, add some club soda. This cocktail is deeeelicious.

• Big bunch of basil

After dinner we headed to Zenbu to dance for a bit and then made our way to a house party where the dance party continued into the wee-hours of morning. Funny enough, I ran into Mark Richards and Kevin DeFeo, childhood friends from Ocean City, at the party. It was a blast to reconnect with them and to share the dance floor after not having seen them for over 10 years. Insanity. Walked home to Edinburg Ave, went to bed late and woke up too early, and then met up with my Mom for some coffee. Rachael, Kira, Mom and I sat down at Cardiff and soaked up some sun and enjoyed the brisk ocean for a bit before saying our goodbyes.

Straight from the beach, to Grays house for one of his world famous smoothies, and then to Del Mar for a twisting workshop with my darling Lauren Duke. The class was a bit emotional for me, I was "weeping" throughout the class, but it was nice to get rid of some of the sadness I've been holding onto. I met up with Gray after class and we fell right into our old routine, a sunset walk up to the dog park with Marble. Back to the house to cook a feast for friends (Gray invited everyone to his house so I could see all of my friends, thank you thank you Gray!) and a feast it was! A dozen awesome people, a ton of great food, and a little bit of wine, dancing and foot massages. Boom. I love my West Coast family. Again, stayed up too late and talked so much - but it still seemed too little.

Woke up this morning, excited for the day and looking forward to our morning appointment at the Korean Spa. Yay!

Tequila Spritzer

Cilantro Lime Tequila Spritzer with Jalapeño Slices :

Serves: 8

Ingredients

• 2 cups water
• ½ cups sugar
• ½ cup cilantro, plus 8 'sprigs'
• 1 liter club soda
• 1 cup freshly squeezed lime juice (about 8 small limes)
• 8 ounces tequila, or less depending on taste
• 2 jalapeño peppers, sliced into rounds

Instructions

1. In a medium pot add water, sugar, and cilantro. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes to make a simple syrup. Strain out cilantro and discard. Chill the simple syrup mixture in the refrigerator for 2 to 24 hours or freeze for 1 hour to speed up the process.
2. In a large bowl combine chilled syrup, club soda, lime juice, tequila; stir. Serve over ice with a sprig of cilantro and top each drink with 2-3 jalapeño slices.

FUCKING EPIC AND SPICY AND DEEEELICIOUS AND REFRESHING! Boom. 

Cailin Callahan

www.cailincallahan.blogspot.com

Tastes like Summer

I love Steve + Cookies (a fabulous restaurant in margate) Ugly Tomato Salad. It's big slices of juicy tomato topped with fried onions, blue cheese and a sherry wine vinaigrette. We have been having a TON of tomatoes from the garden...delicious red, green and orange tomatoes. So, I decided to try and recreate Cookies goodness at home. The three colors of the tomatoes were spectacular. Then I thinly sliced shallots, dipped them in egg and tossed them into some rye flour before putting them in a hot pan to fry/sautee them til crispy. The dressing was amazing: one clove of garlic in the blender with about 1/2 a cup of sherry wine, a small bunch of fresh oregano (from the garden), a few splashes of apple cider vinegar, and a drizzle of agave nectar -- I pureed it in the blender and then emulsified it by adding EVOO slowly as it pureed. OUTSTANDING. BEST DRESSING TO EVER PUT ON TOMATOES! I didn't have blue cheese, so I did without - and I sprinkled some sliced basil (from the garden) on top to finish it off, some kalamata olives and a sprinkle of salt (to make up for the lack of blue cheese saltiness). It was outstanding.

The next day, after teaching back to back yoga classes, we managed to have a great family day at the beach. Dad was pretty tired, but he's always a good sport because he knows how much my mom loves the beach. The ocean was warm and refreshing and delightful. 

That night, back at the house, I'd promised to make margaritas. But I hate margarita mix, and I wanted something super refreshing. So, using our juicer, I juiced cucumbers, limes, and yellow (yes, yellow!) watermelon. Because of all of the fresh limes, the juice was pretty tart - which I like - but to cut the bite I added a bit of agave nectar. To each salt-rimmed, topped off with ice-glass, I added a shot of contrieau (orange liquer), and a generous amount of tequila. FREAKING DELICIOUS. If you don't have a juicer you could always just put watermelon in a blender and add lime juice - leave out the cucumber or just use it as a garnish - and use agave to sweeten. 

Chambord + Champagne

The night started out with an early dinner at my FAVORITE RESTAURANT IN NEW JERSEY: THE DIVING HORSE - and no, I'm not talking about the 'gentlemans club' in AC, I'm talking about the amazing-locally-sourced-and-perfectly-prepared-restaurant in Avalon. I had the Crab Wedge (which has a ton of fresh herbs, the fresh tarragon makes it extra special) and the tuna crudo appetizer (raw tuna, over watermelon sprinkled with some sea salt and served with a chipotle sauce). Epic. As amazing as I remember it. I went every week last year. Unfortunately I can't afford it this year, but I'll still try to make it in every once in a while. Lauren and Nate were our servers, and I felt like I was seeing old friends again. It was great to catch up with them and to hear about their winters. The chef sent out two desserts for our table: a polenta panna cotta with rasperry couli and their 'kit kat'. Amazing. 

After dinner with MariaLena, Kaitlina and Becky - the four of us saw Snow White and the Huntsman (again). We said our goodbyes and then I headed back into avalon for one cocktail with the Blondtourage: Kristy, Lauren and Bridget. It's been foreeeever since I've seen Bridge, so it was great to catch up. We sipped on champagne with a shot of Chambord in it - and it was FREAKING FANTASTIC. 

Chambord is a French black raspberry liqueur, which when added to champagne will rock your world. Check.It.Out and Drink.It.Up.  

Blackberry Mint Julep

I LOVE THAT IT'S ALMOST SUMMER!! After living in Costa for a few years I have grown accustomed to HOT weather, like 90degrees-in-the-morning type hot. Thank GOD it was a mild winter, otherwise I would have lost my damn mind, or just turned into a depressed drunk. Ha! Speaking of cocktails: my favorite thing about summer is not the beach, not the shoobies, not the madness...but hanging out in my parents back yard, grilling, eating and drinking and laughing. We are professionals. And better yet, I love being able to throw on one of my (3,000) dresses. I hate clothes, and I don't know how to dress for the cold. So summer time is MY time. Last night I made a spread of: 

• Blackberry Mint Juleps
• Grilled Summer Squash w/ Bagna Caruda + Fried Capers
• Grilled Broccoli with Lime Butter and Parmesan
• Dill Biscuits
• Smoky Eggplant Anco-Spread
• Grilled Shrimp + Scallop Skewers

and some plain rice. 

I'll post all of the recipes at another time, but for now I'll just focus on the Blackberry Mint Juleps. I have been obsessed lately with classic cocktails - with a little twist. Traditional Mint Juleps are Bourbon, simple syrup, and muddled mint. I kept that recipe the same but added on some muddled blackberries, used agave nectar and a bit of powdered sugar instead of the simple syrup, and topped them with a splash of club soda so we weren't just sipping straight bourbon. Good times on the regular. 

Cinco de Mayo

Cinco de Mayo is probably my favorite holiday...I mean, it's all about margaritas and Mexican food, what's not to love about that?!? Mindy and Leslie joined mom, dad and me for dinner. I made some spicy salty sweet fried peanuts, guacamole, mango salsa, shrimp tacos, and sopapillia cheesecake. To drink we had margaritas, but I certainly didn't use any of that premade bullshit. The first few rounds were using a citrus blend: orange, grapefruit and fresh line juice. The second round was a batch of fresh made juice: watermelon, cucumber, mint, and lime. Then, after it was shaken and poured I put a slice of jalapeño in there for some added spice and depth. Que rica! Can't wait for next year...

Tinto de Verano

TINTO DE VERANO

"Summer Wine"

Mom's birthday is tomorrow, April 8th...but she celebrates for a month. So, we are celebrating today. Tonight to accompany the duck my parents will be eating (I'm still being "meat free", aside from meat that we have raised or my parents have killed) I am making some asian inspired sides. I'm doing my green papaya salad and a lemongrass infused stir-fried rice. But, we had some time to kill while Dad was napping...so I figured it was COCKTAIL TIME. The sun was shining and I had some red wine sitting in the house, so I made a spin off of Heidi Swansons' "Tinto de Verano". Her recipe calls for cheap Spanish red wine, a sparkling lemonade or lemon-lime soda, ice and lemon wedges. Well...I had expensive Spanish red wine (thanks to my friend Rochelle who is a distributor of spanish wines and sometimes gives me leftover sample bottles...), a Tempranillo. And I made my own sparkling lemonade by mixing club soda, agave nectar and the juice of one huge lemon and a juicy lime. It's about 1/3 to 1/2 red wine, and then topped off with the sparkling lemony beverage. Serve over ice, in a small glass, with a lemon wedge. DELICIOUS. Que Rica!

Drink To Your Health!

Last nights yoga flow was called Spring Cleaning...a flow with lots of kundalini breath work and twists to cleanse the body of toxins. At the end of class I presented everyone with a cup of Turmeric Tea, and it was delicious! Several people asked for the recipe for this healthy drink so here it is, along with a bit of information about Ayurveda and our bodies.

"According to Ayurveda, good health is dependent upon our capacity to fully metabolize the NUTRITIONAL, EMOTIONAL, and SENSORY information that we ingest. When our digestive energies, known as "Agni" are robust, we create healthy tissues, eliminate waste products efficiently and create "Ojas". Ojas is the basis for clarity of perception, physical strength, and immunity. If our agnis are weak we have an abundance of "Ama". Ama are the toxins that our body cannot process, which will result in allergies, congestion, headaches, low energy, and chronic pain. "

Turmeric Tea Recipe:

2 cups water

1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger (or fresh ginger, zested)

juice of 1/2 a lemon

1 tablespoon maple syrup

Bring the water, turmeric and ginger to a medium high heat and allow it to steep for 10 minutes. Strain and then add lemon juice and maple syrup. Enjoy.

Turmeric Nutritional Benefits:

• known for its anti-inflammatory properties
• natural antiseptic and antibacterial agent (can be used on cuts and burns)
• natural liver detoxifier

*There are many many more benefits, but I thought I'd keep it short and sweet and list the most important :)

Emma's Cup Cocktail

It's my last night here in Seattle, and we decided to stay home for a delicious J-Ngan homemade dinner and some of Jules spectacular cocktails. The one that J, J and me are sipping in this photo is: 2/3 dry white wine, 1/3 Aperol and a generous splash of St.Germain. Shake the shit outta it to mix it and ice it, then serve strained into a cute cup. Using a vegetable peeler, peel the rind of an orange for the garnish. Enjoy, or better yet- enjoy with good friends...

Italian Spritz

The "spreetz" (Spritz) is the signature cocktail of Venice. Aperol is an Italian aperitif. Some of it's main ingredients are bitter orange, gentian (gentian is a flowering plant that is often used in the making of liquors, aperitifs, and bitters - giving cocktails a floral-esque flavor), rhubarb and cinchona. It looks similar to Campari, but be warned - they are not the same. They look and smell very similar, and even have some similarities in taste - but the alcohol content in Aperol is half that of Campari, coming in at only 11%. A Spritz is Aperol, Prosecco (italian sparkling wine), and club soda - along with an orange slice and two green olives. It is light and refreshing -- perfect to sip on before a meal, and totally acceptable as a drink to be consumed throughout the day, starting early in the afternoon.

I was turned on to these Italian Aperol Spritzs by Julisa, of course. Who, I have found out, was introduced to them by the lovely Janice and Jeremy. J & J had gone to Venice for a trip and fell in love with these classic Venetian cocktails. They enjoyed them all day long through the trip and when they got home they were sure to mix up one of these for their friends. Julisa fell in love with the cocktail instantly, and then put it on La Medusas drink menu. And after that it seemed to pop up on drink lists throughout the city. So, Seattle - you have Janice and Jeremy to thank for bringing this classic but totally trendy cocktail into rotation! Since J & J were responsible for introducing us to this cocktail, I found it only fitting that Janice be the one who showed us how it was done:

Spritz:

• Aperol
• Prosecco
• Club Soda
• Orange
• Green Olives
• Ice
• Glass: wine glass or rocks glass, either is good :)
  

First you fill the cup 1/4 the way with ice - you want to chill it, not water it down. Next you pour one part Aperol in a glass, top with one part prosecco, and then you can do one part club soda - or if you want a more potent spritz then you can just add a splash or two of the sparkling water. J-Ngan squeezed some orange into the cocktail, then garnished it with an orange slice (which I squeezed into my cocktail), along with two green olives (we used Picholine olives, pit in) that she stuck onto a bamboo skewer. So boom:

one part aperol

one part prosecco

one part club soda

garnish: orange slice and green olives

ENJOY, or as they'd say in Italy, Divertiti!

Home for Halloween.

Well, we got home just in time for Halloween...Marny's first ever!! Actually, we got home on Hallows Eve. Brad and Rochelle made an epic feast of salad, duck, pork loin, onion dip, homemade bread and a red wine coli. Bah. So amazing. Julie brought ginger cookies that were divine, and I made some soup and spiced cider. It was great to be back home and be with my Dad...being away from family when they're hurting is never easy. He didn't make it too long - but we drank and ate enough for a small army....

SPICED CIDER RECIPE:

2 quarts apple cider

2 oranges, sliced

1 apple, cut in half

cinnamon

whole clove (4)

nutmeg

allspice

Pour cider into pot. Throw orange clives in. Stick the whole cloves into the apple. Sprinkle a bit of cinnamon, nutmeg and allspice in. Bring to a boil and then let simmer. To make this an alcoholic beverage...add DARK RUM and enjoy :)

Family Farming

After an exciting afternoon at the beach on Saturday, we decided to spend Sunday at home. We had a big breakfast of Dad's homemade (hunted, killed, butchered, and cooked) venison breakfast sausage and some french toast! Damn good! Then we putzed around the house and eventually made our way out into the garden to take care of some chores. Cabbage, Cauliflower, Radishes and Sugar Snap Peas were the harvest....and there were plenty of peas to go around!

Sugar Snap Peas

Red Cabbage

Cabbage

Greens

My Dad, showing us around, and pointing out the gardens local Bunny...

Mom, pulling up the roots from the cauliflower. The cauliflower plant will only yield one and then its gotta be pulled and another replanted.

Mom and Dad...stoked on their organic garden

Em and Me...pickin' peas

Gary, there for moral support and regulation {aka eating half the peas!}

Mom pea pickin'...

Dad pea pickin'... (its a family affair)

Mom's radishes, that Dad said would never grow! Take that!! Can't say that I'm excited about the radishes, but I sure am excited to sautee their greens!

The main harvest were the sugar snap peas. We blanched and froze a bunch of them, ate a ton, and still have a heap more. So, last summer I tasted a fantastic summer cocktail, the SNAPTINI, at the Ebbit Room in Cape May. If you click on Snaptini, I have it linked to the original blog. But here I've reposted the recipe as well....a perfect excuse for an afternoon cocktail if you're garden is overloaded with sugar snap peas :)

SNAPTINI
makes one drink

1/4 cup organic snap peas, ends trimmed
1 lime, cut into 8 wedges
1 ounce simple syrup (or AGAVE NECTAR)
1 1/2 ounces gin
Coarsely ground organic black pepper

In a cocktail shaker or tall glass, combine the snap peas, lime wedges, and simple syrup and muddle thoroughly. Add the gin and a handful of crushed ice and stir, then pour the mixture, unstrained, into a rocks glass. Garnish lightly with pepper (one crank of the pepper mill is plenty).

**From personal experience, you WANT coarse ground pepper in it -- I acutally added some extra to my cocktail. It gives the drink some depth and an earthy flavor. Without the pepper it's a bit too sweet.

As far as the nutritional breakdown for sugar snap peas:

Good points

• Very low in saturated fat
• No cholesterol
• Very low in sodium
• Very high in dietary fiber
• Very high in iron
• High in manganese
• High in magnesium
• High in pantothenic acid
• High in phosphorus
• High in potassium
• Very high in thiamin
• Very high in vitamin A
• High in vitamin B6
• Very high in vitamin C

Bad points

• Very high in sugar