Where Did the Weekend Go?

As always, the weekend went by far too quickly. The concert on Friday night was great, though I'm clearly an 80-year old woman, or at least turning into my mother, as I was falling asleep on Ben's shoulder half way through. I blame jet-lag, and not my fading youth. 

We stopped for a quick meal at a Mexican restaurant next to the concert venue. Ben failed to notice the "B" rating on the window, and made the unfortunate decision to indulge in some of their "chicken." All was not well for about 24-hours, and anyone who thinks the difference between and "A" and a "B" rating is sorely mistaken, as my poor husband can attest.

Despite the rain all day on Saturday, which basically incapacitates all of LA, it being such a rarity, we made it down to Redondo Beach for a dinner party at Trish and Sean's. Everyone was in charge of a course and a wine pairing for said course. Somehow we lucked out and were only in charge of salad. The wine we were supposed to bring was a Frenchie varietal, and we couldn't find it nor could we even determine if it was a red or a white, so we just snagged the first one we thought would look good. We ate salad, rock shrimp risotto, ratatouille, lamb chops and an insanely good french toast dessert that had been soaking overnight in a blend of eggs, heavy cream and Grand Marnier topped with caramel and ice cream (recipe below). Safe to say that the fasting Ben and I swore to do post-Italy has yet to start. Curses!

Sunday was surfing for Ben and bookclub for me. The waves were ridiculously huge and the water was ridiculously dirty after the rain for Ben. Turns out he's my very own David Hasselhoff, as he had to rescue his friend who's surfboard leash snapped and was stranded far out from the beach. Scary. 

On a far tamer note, for bookclub, we had finished "Julie and Julia," which was hit and miss with the girls. 

Next up is "Pope Joan," all about some mid-century Pope that was allegedly a woman. Historians waffle between myth and reality on this one- but sounds like an interesting read nonetheless, even if it wasn't the book I was rooting for. 

The highlight of bookclub was Vicki bringing baby Stella for us all to meet. She's beautiful and still a heavy sleeper at 3 weeks. We were all "oohing and ahhing" like mad, as people tend to do around these precious little bundles of joy.

Then it was the Oscars! Lots of red this year.

Best Dressed:

Jennifer Garner / Keri Russell / Helen Mirren / Kristen Chenoweth / Heidi Klum / Penelope Cruz

FRENCH TOAST WITH DULCE DE LECHE - Serves 6

1 1/2 qt heavy cream

10 eggs

1/4 c brandy or Grand Marnier

1 vanilla bean

1 tsp orange zest

2 cups sugar

6 thick slices of day old bread - crusts on or off

1/4 c butter

1 jar dulce de leche (or caramel if you can't find it)

1 pint vanilla ice cream

Mix cream, eggs, brandy, vanilla bean, orange zest and sugar in a large bowl.  Add bread and soak in the fridge overnight.

Heat butter in a large saute pan, and saute bread till golden on each side and cooked through - 10 minutes-ish depending on how thick the bread is.  

Drizzle with dulce de leche/caramel and serve with vanilla ice cream.