Miss you dude


Leon's at a trade show in SF geeking out this week and I'm all by my lonesome. Well, I have Heylove, but she misses him already, too. That mopey dog wouldn't even get out of bed this morning. I might be a total wuss and ask my mom to stay over. Oh no, too late! I'm a wuss for other reasons.

Saturday night before Leon left, we had Aioli. We'd never been there in the summer time so I reserved us a spot on the patio. It was sweet out there, though Leon had complaints about the air conditioner being so loud, but I thought it was fine. We had a chunky gazpacho to start, which was very fresh and had a little bite to it. Then we had my favorite tapa there, the portabello al jerez: the most tender portabello mushrooms simmered in garlic-sherry sauce. It's served by itself, but it would have made a really good polenta or mashed potato topping. We also ordered the vegetarian paella. They put so many colorful veggies in it, you just want to stare at it until you remember that it's what you came there to eat. For dessert we had chocolate mousse with berries. Delish!

On Sunday, I made my first pizza with our new pizza stone. It worked so well, I am totally stoked to use it again. The cornmeal crust from TJs came out wonderfully crispy and held up to all the toppings I loaded it with (olives, mushrooms, asparagus tips, cherry tomato halves). This crust is seriously the best deal in town. You can get a ball of premade dough for about a dollar. Add toppings from whatever you have in the kitchen and you have a super cheap pizza dinner. Eventhough you can probably make your own dough for cheaper, I'm willing to pay a buck for the convenience of the premade one.