independence day

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realized I have had good intentions to post but have been a little out of control and just winging along.  We headed to Sarasota on the fourth.  It happened in a funny and typical way…  I woke up Wednesday (pre-4th) and thought we should go to Sarasota for the weekend. Z’s aunt and uncle live there and I decided it was alright to leave Walter at home alone.  Through a series of phone calls we found out it would be alright for us to go and headed out for the weekend on Saturday morning.   Sarasota is a couple of hours from Orlando and can be reached by the Sunshine Skyway which is an incredibly tall bridge over Tampa Bay that makes Z nervous to drive over.  We had a nice low key restful weekend shopping and hanging out at the beach in the rain walking up and down Lido key.  We walked to St Armands circle in the rain before the boat races and had breakfast sitting at the tiny counter in the tiny Blue Dolphin Cafe.

spike

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i have this thing about cookbooks and kitchen tools (plates, knives, pans, etc) and I have also realized I have a serious love affair with burgers. During our last pass through the bookstore I spied Spike Mendelsohn’s new book, Good Stuff, named for his new eatery (it’s on the to do list at right!) in DC. Spike is of recent Top Chef fame and we actually saw him cook with Richard Blais at a fun event here in Orlando where I got his autograph. Chefs are the new rock stars…
Anyhow, Z snapped it up and hid it from me until my birthday (my idea.) I am ridiculously excited about it. We made cheese fries and the Good Stuff Melt for dinner. Spike is a proponent of wrapping your burger in paper to meld the flavors together which I think works well. This melt is filled with …good stuff. In the form of Good Stuff sauce, sauteed mushrooms, sauteed onions and two cheeses. It was great. This book is worth digging into a little further.
A side note. His cheese sauce, if you try it, is the most ridiculous recipe I have ever seen. It starts with a roux which is NORMALLY equal parts butter and flour. He calls for 1/4 cup butter and a CUP of flour. That is not the stuff that good sauce is made of. I knew that before I made it but figured maybe it would work. Not really. I am not deterred though and will be cooking my way through this extravaganza of burgers and sides and wedge salads.

kouzzina and the magic kingdom

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we had a birthday dinner reservation at Kouzzina by Cat Cora last night.  It is a Mediterranean and Greek home-cooking kitchen inspired restaurant by Cat Cora (think female Iron Chef America.) Kouzzina is Greek for kitchen and the dishes are inspired I suppose by what you might find in a home kitchen in Greece.
It is at the Boardwalk at Disney which is supposed to be reminiscent of the Jersey Shore.  Around 3pm we remembered that we had a couple of passes for Disney parks tucked away and decided that after dinner we would head over to the Magic Kingdom for the summer Nightastic events and a few rides.
We made our way to the endless parking lots at Disney and parked at the Magic Kingdom to help make our getaway after the fireworks.  To make it to Kouzzina and then back to the park took 4 monorail rides, 3 boat rides and 2 bus rides.  We actually laid eyes on Epcot, Hollywood Studios and the Magic Kingdom.  No lie.
What about dinner?  Well, I wasn’t really sure how I expected Greek inspired and maybe a little dumbed down for Disney food to be but I was pleasantly surprised.

We ordered Kasseri cheese as an appetizer which is a sheep’s milk cheese that is pan fried in olive oil and sprinkled with fresh oregano and capers and served alongside a deeply char-grilled lemon half that has been drizzled with olive oil and served with grilled oil oiled bread.  This is an perfect start to a meal with it’s salty creamy cheeseand tart lemon.  It really leaves you ready for more.

For supper I had the Kouzzina trio.  In reading the menu I was a little off taken by the idea of cinnamon stewed chicken and orzo but the ultra tender chicken was spiced delicately by savory cinnamon and tomatoes.  The Pastitsio is a sort of Greek lasagna with bucatini and cinnamon beef and bechamel and kind of addictive with Mizithra cheese on top.  It was rounded out by a garlicky lamb slider that was spicy and bright with tomatoes and cucumber.
Z had flank steak with herb saltsa (ground green herbs, lemon and garlic) and garlic pan roasted new potatoes over just slightly wilted whole leaf spinach.
We were too full for dessert which was  disappointing (Greek doughnuts with honey and baklava…) I am definitely going to recreate some of these recipes at home for their classic, bright, gorgeously warm deep flavors.
Magic Kingdom isn’t so bad on your birthday either except they give you a button and everyone is consistent about saying ‘happy birthday – you don’t look a day over 21’ which clearly means that you do.

birthday eve

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yesterday around four we headed out for a little birthday eve adventure.  Heading north northeast through Orlando we made our fist stop at Zori Store where they carry nothing but flip flops.  A dream in the heat of Florida summer and after a pedi.
Then we headed east over the St John to Daytona Beach, home of Bike Week, Nascar Racing and Spring Break.  Before supper we made a detour straight out to the beach and the Ponce Inlet Lighthouse to climb the 203 stairs of terror!  As we pulled up there was a couple getting engaged up top and outside.  I’d drop the ring for sure.  It is rumored to have a ghost but my main fear was the height!  We made it up the stairs and the view is really nice and kind of unnerving.  It isn’t for the faint of heart.  The drive down the beach road was filled with surfers and beach patrol and dreams of a home on the dunes.
My free Red Robin Blue Ribbon Burger, no pink, no lettuce or tomato and swap the onion bun for sesame seed birthday burger was perfect and our evening getaway was complete.