my kinda dessert: easy AND delicious

I made this chocolate almond torte for dessert. It was surprisingly moist, and since it was loaded with almonds, it actually wasn't too sweet. It was so easy that I will share the recipe with you (and if my parents are reading this, the entire torte only has 230g of carbs -- so you can easily have a good-sized slice for less than 30g of carbs):

1 cup (5 oz) unblanched or blanched whole almonds

7 oz good-quality unsweetened chocolate, roughly chopped

1 cup sugar

1/8 tsp salt

7 large egg whites (1 cup)

1/4 tsp cream of tartar

powdered sugar or unsweetened cocoa powder for dusting

whipped cream for serving (I preferred the torte without the whipped cream; Tom thought it was a good garnish)

Position a rach in the lower 1/3 of the oven; preheat to 350. Grease the sides of a 9" springform pan (with a removable bottom) and line the bottom with parchment paper.

Combine the almonds, chocolate, 1/2 cup of the sugar, and the salt in a food processor and pulse until the almonds & chocolate are finely chopped but not completely pulverized; set aside.

In the clean, dry bowl of a stand mixer, beat the egg whites with the cream of tartar until soft, moist peaks are formed when the beaters are lifted. Gradually add the remaining 1/2 cup sugar and continue to beat until the egg whites are stiff but not dry. Add 1/3 of the nut mixture to the egg whites and fold in witha large rubber spatula until nearly incorporated. Fold in half of the remaining nut mixture, then fold in the rest of the nut mixture.

Scrape the batter into the prepared pan & spread evenly. Bake until the torte has risen & is golden brown on top and a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean, or with a little melted chocolate (25-30 min). Set the pan on a rack to cool for 10 min. Remove the sides of the pain & invert the cake onto the rack. Remove the bottom of the pan and then the parchment liner. Turn the cake right side up & cool completely. Cover or wrap tightly, and store for up to 3 days at room temperatures.

To serve, transfer the cake to a serving plate, dust with powdered sugar or cocoa, and serve with whipped cream if desired.

roasted leg of lamb

Our friends Kevin & Claudia came over for dinner last night. Tom served a DELICIOUS leg of lamb -- it was a Bobby Flay recipe. The rub had ancho & pasilla chilli powders, toasted cumin seeds, olive oil, and salt & pepper. It was awesome.

We ate this with a 1997 Merryvale (a Napa blend) and a 2006 Groth cabernet. We had been saving the Groth for a special occasion, as it had been one of our favorites. Happily, the Merryvale was even tastier than the Groth! (Thank, Kevin & Claudia, for this treat.)

rockin' out after dinner

Taran specifically requested that he be allowed to play the "mini-guitar" (he's done this before) with a microphone, with Tom backing him up.

Taran introduced each song with, "Ladies and Gentlemen!".... and proceeded to rock out.

After a few songs he was done -- and happily watched Finding Nemo.

makin' pasta

Wendi, Rasesh & Taran came over this weekend for dinner.

Wendi & Rasesh brought awesome wine.

Tom made great meatballs, to go with the spaghetti that he & Taran made.

Taran did a great job.

Fair or Fowl?

 Tom did Game Night for journal club last night.  Except for the chicken, all of the protein was provided by Steven Kohara -- from a recent hunting trip in Canada.

 This "game hen salad" was Tom's creation -- it was delicious.  It had a wonderful spice profile: Tom's been getting in to 5-spice.

 The chicken-noodle soup had fresh pasta, of course.  Nothing better on a cold night.

 I don't think I'd ever had goose before.  I liked it quite well, although I was surprised that it didn't really seem to take on much of the wine flavor from the braising process.  The beets were delicious -- another 5-spice triumph (especially since beets are not typically my favorite vegetable).

 The duck was more subtle than the goose.  The rosemary gravy really made it.

The tarte was ok (my contribution) but not worth the work.  I had been excited about it because of the pistachio crust -- which I thought would be excellent with the lemon.  However, you couldn't really taste the pistachio in the crust, which meant it wasn't worth the extra work.  In the end, it was basically a very tasty lemon bar -- but lemon bars would have been a WHOLE LOT easier to make!  Oh well; live & learn.  Still a very successful evening.

Tom had a great trip to Keystone

This is our friend Mark -- who invited Tom up to ski at Keystone this week.

Tom says they had perfect conditions: 30 degrees, no wind, quite a bit of sun, and this morning: 2 inches of fresh powder. Cool.

Congratulations, Aaron & Brianna

I didn't get too many photos of the bride & groom at the wedding... as you can imagine, they were pretty busy. That's ok -- they were gorgeous, and appeared to be enjoying themselves immensely.

I did appreciate these pictures that I was lucky enough to get at the end of the night of both Aaron & Brianna and Paul & Kathee making their grand exit from the Art Museum. A good time was had by all.

Adrianna dancing with her Grampy

I love all of these pictures because I think my dad and Adrianna were enjoying themselves equally.

Shake it, baby!

Spinning & twirling became the order of the night.

the Belle of the Ball

I love this photo because Adrianna is clearly adoring her father so much. Derek had better hang on to this picture for future reference!

Adrianna shimmied and shook with everyone -- she was really enjoying the party.

the Main Event night

I don't often get to see Tom in his tux -- so I was thrilled when Kathee requested that he wear it.

From left to right (top): Jodie, Matthew, Suchan, Jason, Bob; seated are aunt Nancy & Marcie.

The Four Sibs! This doesn't happen very often.

more luncheon photos

My aunt Merry (from Michigan) with the always-composed groom.

I was happy to see that Aaron & Brianna looked relaxed & happy.

Aaron & Brianna, with Jodie, Jason & my dad.

celebrating with the Rosenbergs

This weekend, my cousin Aaron got married. We thoroughly enjoyed seeing so much family. As you can see, Tom and Kathee were in a party mood! This was our first night after rolling in to town. We closed the bar down...

This is my aunt Nancy and uncle Stanley, who were in from Florida. All of the out of town guests were invited to a luncheon, where we could all hang out & catch up a bit.

This is my cousin Matthew, and his girlfriend Suchan, in from Texas.

These are my cousins Jodie and Jason (more Florida family), and of course, my mother.

the best cream cheese EVER!

Our Christmas present from Sherry & Mike this year was a culture, some rennet and instructions to make our own cream cheese. The top photo is they whey as it drains from the milk-curds.

This morning, we had the best cream-cheese I've ever tasted, spread onto an English muffin. This was so good, that Tom was inspired to make bagels tonight. So, tomorrow we will have bagels, cream cheese, and smoked salmon. YUM.