Plenty Playoffs

And I wouldn't have it any other way.

Well, maybe if the teams I wanted to won...but having basketball almost everyday is good enough for me.

With the exception of a few blowouts, I'm very much enjoying the Playoffs. I wish the officials wouldn't call so many technicals, or just fouls in general...it's the Playoffs after all. But then again, it is the NBA. I gotta say tho, I have been luvin some of the hard fouls. Like Brad Miller's foul today on Kendrick Perkins definitely brought a smile to my face. Warmed my heart, even. And Big Baby's flop was just another one the C's command performances. I mean, it's right up there with Rondo being hoisted off the court a few days earlier. A leg injury. Oops. I mean ankle injury. I mean, knee injury. Hmm...it's so hard to remember what your injury was when it's totally not legit. I wish there was a bet I could place on how many "injuries" the Celtics will sustain in this year's playoffs.

I like how the Bulls are making the Celtics work...not happy about the Mavs...somewhat disappointed in the Spurs...wish that Philly would get it together, they have potential, but I passing lessons are in order...happy with the Cavs (for now)...frustrated with Houston...somewhat surprised with the Magic...impressed with D Wade...and little underwhelemd with the Hawks...quietly cheering for CP, but that's only cause I'm still hating the Nuggets, Blazers and the Jazz...of course luvin the Lakers.

But for reasons beyond my understanding, I guess we all can't be Laker fans...



Such hostility. He will stay unnamed for protection purposes. I was just sharing the score too...and this is the thanks I receive...

In between games, I managed to find this super yummy sandwich spot in Newport Beach, Cest Si Bon. I think what really sets this place apart is the amazingly delicious bagettes they use. The bread is made throughout the day and is the perfect balance of crispy crust and soft interior. Best of all, it's not overly bready. It's amazing...like the Lakers.



Oh, and did I mention the chocolate croissant? I luv anything buttery and flaky and filled with chocolate.

Mike (Fab Fiver) introduced me to Kean Coffee...so I of course had to check it out.



Yummy and pretty latte art. The left is a honey vanilla latte and the other is a Turkish cafe latte infused with cardamom. Amazing coffee. Some of the best I've had.

And what would the weekend be without cooking? Here's what was happening in the kitchen.



Yippee Yi Yo mini sirloin burgers...

Well, these are actually half beef, half buffalo mini burgers with havarti, balsamic mayo, caramelized onions, tomato and argula. The balsamic mayo was just a reduction of balsamic vinegar and sugar, and the caramelized onions took forever...but so worth it. I really liked the extra beefy flavor from the buffalo. Definitely recommend going half and half with the beef. And mini. So cute! All I need are some mini cowboy back up singers.



Three words. Chocolate. Almond. Buttercrunch Toffee. Ok that's four. But buttercrunch and toffee go together. Sooooo amazing. I have hidden this in my fridge because I couldn't stop snacking on it. The combo of the toasted almonds, chocolate and toffee...and the crunchiness!

And back to basketball tomorrow. Have I mentioned that I l-o-v-e this game?

Just Say No to Semi-Homemade

80% store bought, 20% homemade = 100% mediocrity.

I don't mean to sound foodie snobby...but give me a break. Food TV...what were you thinking?

I was willing to overlook this Semi-Homemade with Sandra Lee silliness as a moment of indiscretion...I think we all have one of those from time to time. The Lakers did have Kwame Brown, after all. But to give this woman and her table-scapes...yes table-scapes a second show, Sandra's Money Saving Meals...well, I'm speechless.

I know, I know. She's had a hard life, and come a long way. And I know that's she speaking to the busy home cook who's just trying to get it done. I know. But surely there is a better way to make spaghetti than with an entire jar of pre-minced garlic and an entire bottle of red wine. And countless packets of powdered onion soup mix. Open two cans and call it dinner. Is this the best she saying we can do?

I hope not. I get that most people don't exactly share my excitement at the very thought of perusing Whole Foods for new and exciting produce and dinner ideas...and maybe some semi-homemade applications are preferable. But please Sandy...cook...something! I honestly think that anyone who can read can cook, and there really is a life that exists outside of canned, processed foods, that don't involve countless hours of cooking. I wish this is what she would tell people on her show. More food. Less decorative glitter/matching outfits with her set.

Exhibit A

Chicken Scaloppini with Spring Vegetables

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 cups seasoned diced potatoes (recommended: Reser's)
• 2 cups frozen sliced carrots
• 2 cups frozen early harvest peas
• 2 cups frozen haricots verts
• 2 1/4 pounds thin-sliced chicken breast fillets, rinsed and patted dry
• 1 (1.8-ounce) packet leek soup mix, divided (recommended: Knorr)
• 1 (10 3/4-ounce) can condensed cream of asparagus soup (recommended: Campbell's)
• 1/2 cup white wine, preferably Chardonnay
• Vegetable oil
• Flour, for dredging

Directions

Combine all vegetables in the bottom of a 5-quart slow cooker.

Whisk together 2/3 of the leek soup mix with the condensed soup and wine. Pour over vegetables. Cover and cook on LOW setting for 4 hours.

Heat oil in a large skillet. Combine the rest of the leek soup mix with some flour. Dredge chicken fillets in flour mixture and place in skillet. Cook for about 2 1/2 minutes each side.

Remove vegetables from slow cooker and arrange in a serving dish. Top with chicken.

Ok...spring vegetables. Let's see what these encompass...pre-diced potatoes and a plethora of frozen vegetables. If that doesn't say spring, I don't know what does. And don't even get me started on her calling this a scaloppini. I can't even think about the ridiculous amount of sodium in this recipe.

And, this in from Anthony Bourdain.

SANDRA LEE: Pure evil. This frightening Hell Spawn of Kathie Lee and Betty Crocker seems on a mission to kill her fans, one meal at a time. She Must Be Stopped. Her death-dealing can-opening ways will cut a swath of destruction through the world if not contained. I would likely be arrested if I suggested on television that any children watching should promptly go to a wooded area with a gun and harm themselves. What’s the difference between that and Sandra suggesting we fill our mouths with Ritz Crackers, jam a can of Cheez Wiz in after and press hard? None that I can see. This is simply irresponsible programming. Its only possible use might be as a psychological warfare strategy against the resurgent Taliban--or dangerous insurgent groups. A large-racked blonde repeatedly urging Afghans and angry Iraqis to stuff themseles with fatty, processed American foods might be just the weapon we need to win the war on terror.

And you thought I was mean. Well.

Game 1

I love this game.

But I especially love the Playoffs. Because, I feel like everything matters. I've never really subscribe to the belief that losing one game is "just one game". And I'm pretty sure the players don't either. That's loser talk. To me, every game counts in the Playoffs, and that always brings rivalries and hard feelings to the surface. Which makes the games that much more exciting.

There were a few surprises...both happy and sad. Happy that the Lakers won...overjoyed to be exact and that the Rockets totally blew out the Blazers at home. Especially with Brandon Roy calling himself the "Yellow Mamba" because you know...he's yellow. To that, I have this to say to him: Look buddy, I'm yellow...Yao is yellow...you are not yellow nor a mamba...nor does such a snake exist.

Even Blazer fans can't get behind this. Here's what one has to say:

"I like your anti Kobe sentiments. I agree that we as fans should come up with something better and give B-Roy our own cool nickname, however when someone does let me know. I will continue referring to him as B-Roy since ‘yellow mamba’ is just too darn unoriginal. Couldn’t he even be yellow sour patch kid? Yellow SPK. He’s hella sweet if he’s on your team, but leaves a bad taste in everyone else’s mouth with his awesome play."

Yellow Sour Patch Kid. Seriously? Yellow Mamba's not sounding so bad after all...

But it wasn't all peachy. The Mav's won. At San Antonio. I don't want to talk about it.

Aside from it being the start of the Playoffs, this weekend was also about Earth Day. The Lost Bean in Tustin celebrated with 50% off coffee...and freshly made crepes!



Straberry and Nutella crepe with an iced hazelnut latte. Such a good start to the Playoffs.



Check out these gorgeous roses. I luv how they're all bunchy like crumpled tissue paper.



Fusilli with spicy pesto. I just luv the little mozzarella balls. So buttery.



Chocolate, mint and hazelnut cookies. Straight from my shiny new cookbook, Urban Italian. And no, you can't have enough cook books. These chocolate cookies are melt-in-your-mouth delicious, undoubtedly due to the crazy amount of chocolate and almost absent amount of flour. The peppermint extract give these cookies a refreshing kick at the end, and the ground hazelnuts add richness. The recipe calls for almonds...which I didn't have on hand. But, hazelnuts and chocolate just sounded so much better anyway.

Pretty yummy, too.

What Are You In For?

Postures my traffic school teacher at 8 am this morning.

Most people are in for speeding, some for running red lights, a handful for rolling through stop signs and one other dude for illegal passing, same as me. Although, I take issue with the "illegal" part of my passing, but whatev. I mean, just the other day, I witnessed an Irvine cop do the same thing. Hmm...funny. I didn't see him in traffic school today or ever.

Having never been to traffic school, I thought that perhaps, as the name implies, I would learn something about traffic. But it was actually 8 hours of talk story with this ex-cop. Not an entirely bad thing, I suppose. Except that I missed 2 of the playoff games today. But he did have some interesting stories to share and I had more of those tasty tacos for lunch, and perhaps best of all, whatever drama I missed from basketball, I got from my class.

We were discussing things that gave us stress while driving...

Volunteer 1: My kids fighting.
Volunteer 2: Running late.
Little-Miss-Know-It-All: I think we are all ungrateful for the things we have. Who cares if your kids are fighting? At least you have kids. And if you're running late, it's your fault anyway. You should be thankful you have a job to go to:
Volunteer 1: (angrily whispering) She (Little-Miss-Know-It-All) must not have kids. Doesn't know what she's talking about.
Volunteer 1: (to teacher) Maybe you should just sit and let her (Little-Miss-Know-It-All) teach the class.
Class: Oooohhhhh!!! (me: blinking)

Guess you had to have been there. It was a pretty awesome showdown.

But not all was lost. The one thing I learned was how to look up your particular violation via the California Vehicle Code. He recommends that you always check your violation here and then decide if you can contest your ticket. What a wonderful idea. So let's see what I was ticketed for, shall we?

Section 21961: This chapter does not prevent local authorities from adopting ordinances prohibiting pedestrians from crossing roadways at other than crosswalks.

You can only imagine my surprise. Pedestrians?!?!?!!? What does this even mean? It was a passing violation! What the heck??? I can't even find the appropriate fine for this supposed traffic crime. Ridiculous.

I can't believe I missed basketball...Playoff Basketball for this.

Where Did the Regular Season Go?

Seriously. Where?

My current work computer wallpaper with the Lakers schedule needs to be replaced.

But then again, Playoffs is quite possibly my most anticipated sports event all year. (Let's not discuss last year, shall we?) Everything's just infinitely more intense and exciting. Even tonight's last regular seasons games were pretty good. Who knew that Philly was going to beat the Cavs...at home?? But then again, LeBron wasn't playing tonight. Now if only the Suns had lost...

These comments courtesy of David Stern almost make up for it. Actually, they do make up for it. I have a lot of hate for the C's...and I used to not be a fan of David Stern either, but I feel a change of heart coming on. Perhaps.

David Stern Has No Issue With the Cavs’ Dancing

Tough Luck, Beantowners: “During a pre-playoff conference call with reporters on Monday afternoon, Stern was asked about the Cavs’ celebratory performance during Sunday’s blowout victory over visiting Boston. According to a transcript of the call, Stern was asked, ‘Is there some way of dealing with LeBron James, who danced on the sidelines yesterday? It was an embarrassment towards the Boston Celtics, and approaching the playoffs where emotion tends to run high?’ ‘I missed that dance, but I think celebrations by our players do have a place,’ Stern said. ‘If I were the Celtics, I would make sure that that tape, if it exists, runs every game in the locker room as a sort of motivation. I wouldn’t spend my time telling our players about that. Although I don’t know the specific instance, and sometimes you can go over the line. I don’t know if he did or didn’t at this time.’ In a follow-up the reporter stated that ‘it looked like a way to provoke the other team.’ ‘I certainly wouldn’t want to provoke the Celtics,’ Stern said. ‘I think perhaps it was just over-exuberance at the time.’”

Every game in the locker room. Sort of motivation. HA! That's gotta hurt. I like. A lot. Cry on, Celtics.

W.W.Y.D.?

What would you do if....

You were Varejao.

Ouch. Seriously. Judging by his non-reaction, I can scarcely believe he's not wearing some form of armor. He hardly even blinked!

But what would you do? Honestly, I think I would have to defend my honor...maybe some ankle biting? Blame it on the ninja/samurai in me, but I could not allow Ray Allen to get away with such underhandedness. I mean he is a Celtic...but still...I thought that perhaps even they had some sort sense of dignity. Silly me.

The moment I saw this, I knew it was going to be all over Yahoo! and sports blogs. Here's what some of them had to say:

Sportaphile: "This wielded three funny results which were: A) Varejao didn’t respond to being elbowed in the sack whatsoever, which either means he’s the strongest man on earth or has ... B) Instead of retaliating and smacking the [expletive] out of Ray Allen (which is what 90% of the population would have done), he holds his arms in the air and follows Ray around like Frankenstein. C) Varejao received a technical foul for his troubles. I'd like to think the referee gave Varejao a tech just because he was too scared to punch Ray in the face ... nobody likes a sissy."

I know we're supposed be talking about Ray Allen here...but I couldn't resist this one. Sissy. Hah.

SLAM Online: "Desperation can drive a man to do nearly anything."

Waiting For Next Year: "Allen's [postgame] remarks wreak of 'poor me.' His layup that was blocked by LeBron James will be played on loop for the remainder of the playoffs. His team had a shooting percentage of 15 percent at one point well within the game. But because he decides to get tangled with an opposing player, his reaction is two throw an elbow? I’m sure that will go over well considering the last time these two teams played, Glen Davis decided to use a clothesline instead of, you know, fundamental defense. Personally, I wouldn’t be surprised if Allen gets fined. Had the referees been in a place to witness the altercation from the appropriate angle, he may have been ejected. Opposing teams fans love to point the finger at Varejao, who obviously gets under the skin of a few people. I never think that Varejao’s always in the clear — I’m not that biased. But in this instance, I fail to see what actions took place that called for Allen’s cheap shot."

I like how this writer also took the opportunity to call out Big Baby Davis.

And of course...there's always an outlier. Those misguided Celtics fans.

CelticsBlog: "While [The FanHouse] says "Varejao clearly didn't do anything to deserve that elbow." I say, umm ... did you miss the part where he trapped Ray's arm and tossed him to the ground in the first place? Now, did Ray's reaction look pretty dirty? Yeah, it looked pretty bad. Here's the thing though, he wasn't even looking at Anderson and he threw the elbow back, probably hoping to catch him in the gut and ... well, missed. Clearly he didn't make any solid contact or the man would be doubled over in pain (one would think). We'll see if Ray gets a suspension for a meaningless end-of-season game. I'm sure the Celtics haters will use this as further evidence to hate on the Celtics. Of course anyone who thinks they can call Ray Allen a dirty player needs to do a little bit of research before looking silly."

These dirty Celtics and their fans. Did Ray Allen's reaction look dirty? Heck! It was dirty! Unquestionably filthy! I needed a shower after seeing that bs. Going for Varejao's gut? Please! Are we watching the same footage? That was a clear elbow to the cajones. And then questioning if any contact was made. Ok dude, just cause Big Baby Davis would be balled up on the floor in a puddle of tears and Paul Pierce would need to be carried out via stretcher and to a waiting Medi-Vac helicopter to a local hospital, doesn't mean that all players are that wimpy. Some of them take it like a solider. A concept this Celtic fan is apparently unfamiliar with. And then going on to call us all silly???

Are you kidding me? Typical.

Easter Eats

And not a single Easter egg!

I actually don't really like hard-boiled eggs. I think they smell funny and the texture of the yolk really freaks me out. Crumbly, creamy...like overly wet pastry dough. So you can imagine how freaked out I was when I saw this:



An entire box of double-yolk eggs! Ah!

But I did try to follow one Easter tradition and made an application of lamb: Giada's Lamb Stew with Cipolline Onions.



I added orzo pasta as well and topped with an argula, mint and Meyer lemon zest gremolata for freshness. I typically am not an onion fan, but these little cipolline's are amazing! They're so sweet and cute! The lamb was also not at all gamey (but still tasted like lamb), which I think is due to the intense braising in red wine. Overall, a very yummy (and egg-less) Easter.

I had lots of time to ponder this lamb stew while cruising at the Santa Ana courthouse on Thursday during jury duty. Luckily, I didn't get called...and I even had the perfect excuse this time! My last jury duty experience was too close for comfort. Even after I told them that all I did in my free time was watch every reality show made, they still put me in the box. Until I said this:

me: "I think he's guilty."
Defense: "Is there anything we can do to convince you otherwise?"
me: "No. Nothing."
Defense: "Why?"
me: "Your suit doesn't match. How can I believe you?"

And the next thing I know, I hear "The Defense would like to excuse Juror #10." Yesssss.

But last week was different. There was couches, cubes, study tables and Wi-Fi. Pretty awesome. And since I was at Santa Ana, I had big taco plans for lunch. I visited El Toro Carniceria on 1st Street...a mere 1.1 miles from the Courthouse. Walkable. But I forgot to factor in my 10 lb purse. Downtown Santa Ana. Not so walkable. I realized this a little too late.

Surprisingly (or perhaps not so surprisingly), I was one of the only people walking. But, I think it was all worth it. El Toro Carniceria, is as the name implies a meat market. And I luv these places for their autenticity. And El Toro did not disappoint!



A quart of lard! Exactly what I needed!



A plethora of dried chiles.

And did I mention the tacos next door at the taqueria?



Birria taco. Look at all that meat!



Potato taco. Perplexing, I know. But the mashed potatoes and deep fried taco is such a winning combo of contrasting textures.



Carnitas. I absolutely luv carnitas, and I make a point of trying it at every taco place I go. What I liked about El Toro's carnitas was the lack of oil. Which did not mean lack of juiciness. The carnitas also had a nice texture of soft pulled meat and crunchy caramelized edges.

But perhaps my fav thing about this place was the pillowy soft and fresh corn tortillas. Amazing. Remember those quarts of lard earlier? Well, let's just say I have a feeling what contributes to all that pillowy goodness.

And after 3 tacos, I definitely needed that walk back.