Food

It seems our entire last week has revolved around food. Last weekend for lunch, we tried Corktree Cellars, a new restaurant in Carpinteria. I had the Lobster Melt Panini, Brooke had the Club Sandwich, and we shared a bowl of the corn bisque. The lobster melt was the best, and at $9.95, it was a great value. Brooke also had the Sauvignon Blanc "flight" (~$8), which consisted of 3 small glasses of wine. Flights were offered for several other varietals. The only thing we wouldn't order again is the watery, slightly odd-tasting, corn bisque.

As we have for the last 6 weeks, on Monday night, we hosted a small casual dinner, then watched Weeds on Showtime. This week, we had an Asian-themed dinner.

To start, I made a Chicken Satay with peanut sauce and a cucumber relish.
Normally, I would grill the chicken. But with my limited time on a Monday night, I chose to bake instead. I definitely missed the crispy, smoky flavors from grilling over coals, but I think it turned out okay.
For the entree, I made a fried rice, honey walnut shrimp, and a garlicky broccoli. I love Chinese sausage (the normal, liver-free variety) in my fried rice. I don't know why it's not used more often.
On Wednesday, we went to our friends' place (which has a great ocean view) for a potluck and champagne tasting. As we would for the WWWT, we had a blind tasting of four bottles of champagne (okay, really there was only one champagne and three sparking wines). Although Brooke and I both voted on the Veuve Cliquot as our number one pick, the Korbel Extra Dry came out the evening's winner by one point.

On Thursday night, we went to dinner with some friends at Pierre Lafond Bistro for their Grilled Cheese night. Everyone had the grilled cheese sampler which included 7 different grilled cheese sandwiches and a choice of soup or salad. The picture doesn't do it justice, because we were too busy eating to remember to take a photo.