Almond Butter & Dark Chocolate Chunk Cookies

Two cookies diverged in a burst of baking inspiration,

And sorry I could not bake both

And be the baker of two kinds, long I stood

And looked at one as hard as I could

Wondering if it would inspire cookie-baking growth;

Then took the other cookie, as just as fair,

And having perhaps the better claim,

Because it was peanut buttery and warranted care;

Though as for that the flavors there

Had appealed to me really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay Almond butter, or peanut butter – what to choose – ack!

Oh, I kept the first for another day!

Yet knowing how way leads on to way,

I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two cookies diverged in my mind, and I--

I took the one less popular by,

And that made all the difference.

With that, I won't post again until after New Year's, so have a good one - and see you in 2008!

These Are a Few of My Favorite Things

Hey, if Oprah can have her favorite things, why not me? I've decided to pick out a few, every-day favorite food-things to share with you. These are all foods that I always have around the house; foods that fit my solo-dwelling lifestyle perfectly and that I enjoy on a regular basis. Oh, I won't be giving all of you a free supply of any of these foods...I'm definitely no Oprah in that respect.

My first favorite thing is Whole Foods Buzz-Free Decaffeinated Coffee. How can one love decaf, you ask? I cut out caffeine about 5 years ago and never looked back, and with this rich, decadently delicious decaf offering, why should I? Sometimes I secretly replace my friends' regular coffee with this stuff and they can't tell the difference....well, at least until their monster headache hits a few hours later. But taste-wise, it's as good as the "real" stuff.

I love these individually-wrapped potatoes from Melissa's. They stay fresher longer, and are easy to "bake" in the microwave. I'll often have a piece of fish, some salad and one of these for a satisfying and healthy dinner. Five minutes in the microwave and I've got a perfect baked potato.

Sorry for the tiny photo - I couldn't find anything bigger. I always have Silk Soy Creamer in the fridge. I'm not allergic to dairy and I'm certainly not vegan, but I prefer to avoid dairy for every-day stuff like creamer (I reserve it for the fabulous cheese plate at my favorite restaurant). I just feel better when I eat less dairy. Silk makes a smooth and creamy creamer that doesn't break up into little bits like most soy milk does. And it lasts a lot longer than real dairy creamers, which is good for me since I use only a splash of it in my morning (decaf) coffee.

I eat an egg almost every day, so it's important to have GOOD eggs. These Organic Valley eggs are fresh and fabulous every time. The yellows of the yolks are reeeeeeeeeaaaaally yellow, and I love the packaging - I never get a cracked egg in this snuggly bunch.

Though I am not allergic to wheat or gluten, I really enjoy these gluten-free crackers from Mary's Gone. They are made of seeds and are really crunchy and hearty, but are very low in fat and calories. I often substitute tortilla chips with Mary's Gone Original crackers since they hold up to salsa wonderfully. It's also my absolute favorite cracker for another favorite-yet-unmentioned-item: Whole Foods scallion and parsley hummus.

I love chili. When I watch Food Network shows about chili or chili cookoffs, my mouth waters. I even love the canned stuff; when I was little, my dad used to make Hormel chili, add a few dashes of Tabasco, then pour it over slices of toasted bread for a hearty lunch. But canned chili, even the low-fat variety, is full of sodium and calories, so it's hard to truly enjoy it. Behold the Boca Meatless Chili. It comes in single-serving packages in the freezer section, and it's loaded with flavor and that real, chili heartiness that one who loves chili looks for. It's a good-sized serving, and only has 150 calories per package. Sometimes I pour it over a Melissa's potato for a real treat.

I always have at least one bar of dark chocolate in my fridge. Usually, it's this one: Chocolove's Orange Peel in Dark Chocolate with 55% Cocoa Content. I LOVE the flavor of orange peel with dark chocolate, and this bar doesn't disappoint.

I hope you enjoyed some of my favorite things! Happy Holidays!

Only two more days: Menu for Hope!

Menu for Hope ends tomorrow, December 21st. So please click here to find out more and donate today!

Warm and Fuzzy Soup

What do you do when you have an entire butternut squash leftover? You make soup! Thinking that one medium-sized squash would not be enough for my dinner party (see last post), I bought two. Well, after cutting up one, I realized I had enough to feed 20 people, so I decided to make soup out of the second one. It's so easy: Simply saute some onions and shallots and thyme together in a pot with a bit of olive oil, throw in cubed butternut squash and cover it all with chicken stock. Bring to a boil and simmer for 30 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste, then blend it all together in a blender. You can add curry powder if you want a little spice, or whatever spices you prefer. In the end, you've got an incredibly healthy and hearty soup that'll warm you to your core. Top with some crusty croutons and you've got yourself a meal.

Devil's Chicken

I was so eager to start eating the Devil's Chicken Thighs I made that I completely forgot to take a photo of all the chicken in the baking dish. I also forgot to take a photo of the roasted butternut squash, the crackers-and-parsley-hummus appetizer and the special gluten-free cookies. In any case, I had a dinner party Friday night and the whole meal was a success! :)

The Devil's Chicken Thighs, courtesy of the Sunday Suppers at Lucques cookbook, was a bit tedious to make but incredibly delicious. I substituted the regular breadcrumbs with ones I made out of rice bread (one of my dinner guests is allergic to wheat), but you couldn't tell any difference and it worked really well. To accompany this mustard-flavored chicken, I roasted some sweet butternut squash and made a simple salad of greens, tomatoes and Persian cucumbers.

For an appetizer, I found some gluten-free crackers from a company called Glutino. Unlike the rice crackers that many wheat/gluten-allergic folk eat, these are just like regular, buttery crackers but without the gluten. I also found chocolate covered, and lemon wafer cookies from the same company, and I have to say they were the most "realistic" gluten-free cookies I've ever had. They were light, crispy and delicious. I highly recommend Glutino products to those of you who are gluten or wheat-free (I got mine at the new Whole Foods in Pasadena).

Next time I have a dinner party, I promise to take more photos!

Menu for Hope: Gourmet Salt Box (UW31)

Today is the kick-off of Menu for Hope, the annual food-blogger fundraiser started by Chez Pim a few years ago. It's fun, it's easy, you can win fantastic prizes (see more on that below) and you'll be helping out a worthy cause: world hunger.

You can read all the details here at Rasa Mayalsia (she is hosting the West Coast prizes on her site), and view a whole array of prizes. In a nutshell, for every $10 you donate, you get a virtual raffle ticket to bid on the prize of your choice. At the end of the two-week fundraiser, Chez Pim will announce the winners. Pretty instant gratification, if you ask me! The fundraising is being handled by a bonafide charity called Firstgiving, so none of the bloggers are handling any monies. Click here to check out information about Menu for Hope through Firstgiving.

The prize sponsored by Rainy Days and Sundays is this beautiful boxed set of salts from NapaStyle. The prize code for this is UW31.

The box, which is made from non-endangered acacia wood, contains 4.5-oz of each of the five salts: Sundried Tomato, Citrus Rosemary, Roasted Garlic, Hawaiian Red, and Gray Salt. It is a $58.00 value and, from my own personal experience using Michael Chiarello's salts, this will inspire many great recipes! Shipping in the U.S. and Canada only.

Donation instructions:

1. Choose a prize or prizes of their choice from Rasa's list or the complete prize list on Chez Pim.

2. Go to the donation site at http://www.firstgiving.com/menuforhope4 to make a donation

3. Specify the prize you would like to bid for in the 'Personal Message' section in the donation form. Each $10 donate will get one raffle ticket toward a prize. For example, a donation of $50 can be 2 tickets for UW01 and 3 tickets for UW33. Please write 2xUW01, 3xUW33.

The results will be published on Chez Pim on Wednesday January 9th.

So please donate today, even if it's only $10.00. Just think, you can walk away with this gorgeous salt set for a mere $10.00! Last year, Menu for Hope raised a whopping $62,925.12. Let's go for $100,000 this year!

Christmas Cookie Baking Fest

Every year, I bake a zillion Christmas cookies for the staff at the Chateau Marmont restaurant. I go there often for work and everyone from the waiters to the reservations manager has become like family to me. So, I bake, I package and I deliver little treats once a year to these fine people as a small token of my appreciation for all the hard work they do.

This year, I made Ina Garten's Jam Thumbprint cookies and her White Chocolate Chunk cookies (with a twist). I also made little mini pecan pies(she calls them Pecan Toffee Tassies) , from a Paula Deen recipe. For the jam thumbprints (above), I used a sour cherry jam instead of the raspberry that Ina uses in her recipe. I think the cherry adds a great contrast to the sweet coconut, and it just seems more holiday-ish. The cookies were easy to make, and came out really buttery and lovely.

For Paula's mini pecan pies, I substituted the almond brickle chips with Heath toffee chips. I don't really know what almond brickle chips are, and could not find them anywhere at the grocery store, so I went with the toffee chips. Another change: instead of rolling out the store-bought pie dough before cutting it with a cookie cutter, I cut the circles out first, then used my fingers to make each round a little bigger to fit inside my mini-muffin tin. I really hate rolling dough out, especially when I have a bazillion cookies to bake, so this was much easier.

I love how the "pies" came out - they are the perfect two-bite snack. I have a feeling that this will be everyone's favorite. I will definitely be making these again.

Last but not least are Ina's white chocolate chunk cookies. I also made a couple of small changes here. Instead of using 1.5 lbs of white chocolate chunks, I bought a 12-oz. bag of white chocolate chips, and added another 8 oz. of cocoa nibs. The white chocolate is very sweet, so the nibs give the cookies some flavor balance, and it adds a great nibby crunch to the cookie. These cookies are incredibly easy as well, and I will be making another batch for some friends this season.

So what does one do after baking 150 cookies? Gift herself with a tall, ice-cold beer! Actually I drank this beer because a) I really wanted a drink; b) I had a ton of liquor but no mixers or even one lemon or lime or any kind of fruit in my house; c) I had no wine in the house. I looked through my fridge and found one Amstel Light, and it was at least two years old. I hardly ever drink beer, and what beer I do have in the fridge is leftover from a dinner party where someone brought beer. Still, it hit the spot. I also found two Asahi's back there, so I'll save those for another desperate day.

I put 8 of each cookie in a cellophane bag, and tied it with red and green ribbons. They all went into a big basket, with a note on what each cookie was (you never know about nut allergies or the like, so you always want to write a good description if you are giving away any type of food).

A big thanks to my new KitchenAid mixer - without you, this would have been a major task (as it has been in the years past). I feel like a new me with you by my side - anything is possible!

The Kitchen Sink Pasta Sauce

Earlier in the week, when it was about 58 degrees outside during the day (that's f**king freezing here in Los Angeles), I decided to make myself a hearty fish stew for the week. But the day after I bought all the ingredients, it was back up to 81 degrees (in December - ARGH!), and fish stew was the last thing I felt like eating.

I had some salmon, scallops, cremini mushrooms and a whole slew of other fish stew ingredients just calling out for some attention. So I put the scallops in the freezer, cut up the salmon into cubes, sliced the creminis and looked at what else I had in the fridge. I had some cherry tomatoes that were getting too soft, so I sliced those in half, sprinkled them with chopped garlic, sea salt and olive oil and put them into the oven to roast. There was also some leftover bruschetta and bag of baby spinach. I could do something with all this.

I heated up some olive oil in a pan and threw in some chopped garlic, then added my salmon cubes and cooked them half-way through. I removed them from the pan, then cooked my cremini mushrooms. Once those cooked down, I added the salmon, as well as the roasted tomatoes from the oven, back into the pan with the 'shrooms. I threw in the bruschetta (it's just tomatoes and garlic and basil - how bad can that be?), some chopped basil, a few dashes of red pepper flakes and a handful of baby spinach to the sauce and sooner than you could say, "kitchen sink," it was done.

Some cooked whole wheat rigatoni and a sprinkle of grated Parmesan was all I needed to finish this impromptu supper. The sauce, thickened by the bruschetta and roasted tomatoes, clung to each nook in the rigatoni - it was, dare I say it myself, fabulous.

My Latest Obsession

I eat a lot of salads. The reason why I never tire of salads is because I always make my own dressings. My latest obsession is a simple dressing of really GOOD balsamic vinegar (I bought mine in Italy but you can get good, aged balsamic from Modena at any gourmet store), really GOOD extra virgin olive oil (I bought mine in Italy but you can get good, extra virgin olive oil at any store) and a squeeze of anchovy paste (you can get a tube of anchovy paste at any better grocery store). Whisk it all together, add a dash of salt and pepper, and you've got a rich, healthy and delicious dressing that will make your salad sing.

Friday Night in Italy

One of my favorite places to be on a Friday night is La Maschera in Pasadena. About once every month-and-a-half or so, my sister and I will meet there, hunker down at the wine bar and order a few dishes to split. Everything from the food to the people who work there is truly Italian, and I always feel like I'm right back in Italy when I'm at La Maschera.

Last night, we started off with a bottle of Barbera, which was moderately priced at $39 and very, very good. Nino, the sommelier who is behind the wine bar almost every night, is always very helpful with the wine selections and last night was no different. The nose on the Barbera was oakey and rich, and the flavor was bold and fruity.

My sister and I always split 2-3 things at La Maschera, because, along with the best bread basket in town, it's the perfect amount of food for two people. I apologize for not taking a photo of the bread basket (half crispy flat bread, half baguette slices) and the accompanying white bean puree (creamy and delicious!) and tomato/garlic/basil mixture (fresh, clean, lovely), but we were so hungry we dove into it before I remembered to take a photo. We started with the quail appetizer, which was in a rich reduction sauce with bits of crispy prosciutto and dried apricots. We'd never tried this before and it was absolutely wonderful.

We then split the tricolore salad, which we always get. It's a fresh combination of greens and radicchio, dressed with a light vinaigrette and topped with really good Parmesan shavings. They always split the single portion into two for us, which we always appreciate.

We then shared another regular order for us: the chicken sausage pizza. La Maschera's pizzas are all made on a super thin, crispy, almost cracker-like crust which is crisp all the way through to the middle of the pie. It's not too cheesy, the tomato sauce is perfect and the fresh basil added after the pizza comes out of the oven adds that perfect fresh balance. We LOVE this pizza and have a hard time trying other things because we adore it so much. I can say that I have tried their gnocchi with lamb ragu, plus a special pasta with white anchovies and both were excellent and very reminiscent of dishes I had in Italy.

The whole La Maschera experience for us is everything we want for a relaxed, Friday night dinner: friendly and helpful service, fabulous homemade food, and a warm, cozy atmosphere. It's laid back but refined, which is a difficult balance, but they manage to pull it off effortlessly. It's become our local place to catch up over great food and fantastic wine, and I hope it's around for a long time.

Michael Chiarello and Dark Chocolate Shortbread with Sea Salt

Today I had the pleasure of interviewing chef and entrepreneur Michael Chiarello for a magazine. He was totally gracious, articulate and kind. I did the interview in the back room of his new NapaStyle store in Pasadena, and did the photo shoot inside the store. Oh, one thing I can reveal since it won't be in the story is that, for Thanksgiving, Michael hosted 40 people for dinner at his place, and Billy Joel was one of his guests - how cool is that??

I wanted to make something to take to Michael, but there's always that fear of making something for a renown chef. So I put a lot of thought into it and decided on chocolate shortbread cookies with cocoa nibs and sea salt, since Michael is well-known for his love of natural salts (he has his own line, which includes the gray salt he uses for everything!).

The cookies are not too sweet. Though I used regular cocoa powder in the recipe, the flavor is very much like dark chocolate. The unsweetened cocoa nibs give them a great texture, and the salt adds the perfect balance of flavor.

Though he didn't try them while I was there (didn't expect him to), hopefully he'll like these cookies as much as I do. I think they go great with coffee or a rich red wine or port, so give them a try for your next get-together or to give away as a gift for the holidays! To see the recipe, go here (scroll down once on the page to see the recipe).

Brussel Sprouts from Heaven

Yes, I realize many of you are thinking, "Ewwww, brussel sprouts?!" But I beg you to hear me out: These are the best, most succulent brussel sprouts you've ever had. My best friend Tawny reminded me of how fabulous garlic, brussel sprouts and good balsamic vinegar are together when she made this as a side dish for her family's Thanksgiving feast. So last night, I whipped up a batch for my dinner.

Simply saute some chopped garlic in olive oil for a few minutes, add brussel sprouts (trimmed and cut into halves) and let cook for 10-15 minutes on medium-high heat (the sprouts will begin to caramelize). Throw in a few splashes of chicken or veggie stock and put a lid on it, allowing the sprouts to steam for another 10 minutes or until the stock evaporates and the sprouts are tender but not mushy. Turn off the heat, and drizzle GOOD balsamic vinegar over the sprouts. Serve immediately, and get ready for sheer bliss. I had mine with a salmon steak and some sauteed cauliflower. YUM.

Say Hello to My Little Friend

Look what I found in my package of Earthbound Farms Organic Spring Mix. A chunky little worm, still alive, though a little slow thanks to being in my refrigerator for a good few days. I took him outside and as soon as he felt the sun he squirmed, as if saying, "Ack!! Too much heat!" so I put him on a shady tree on the patio and wished him well.

On a completely unrelated note: I've just started writing for Pasadena Magazine (you can get it at any bookstore in the greater Los Angeles area). For the January issue out in mid-December), I interviewed Emeril Lagasse about his involvement in next year's Rose Parade. But what I am really excited about is that I'm interviewing Michael Chiarello this week for a feature that comes out in March. I have always been a huge fan of his receipes (they always turn out great) and love his new NapaStyle store here in Pasadena. Stay tuned!

Thanksgiving Feast at the Folks'

This year we had Thanksgiving at my parent's house, and it was fabulous. My sister, her husband, our friends Kayo and Mika, and I showed up with empty stomachs (well, Kayo had "pancakes and a sandwich" for lunch, but she's got a hollow leg so no matter) and were ready to feast. And what a feast it was! My sister and I clearly learned from the best!

We started off with my dad's sea urchin mousse with thinly sliced Japanese cucumbers and a yuzu dressing. Refreshing, light and the perfect way to start off Thanksgiving dinner.

My mom made her favorite watercress salad with Asian pears and champagne dressing. I love the peppery flavor of watercress.

This year my parents opted for canned cranberry sauce, which is fine considering we never eat much of the cranberries anyway.

Behold the lovely turkey, stuffed with a traditional Italian sausage bread stuffing! It was tender and juicy and perfectly cooked. And there's nothing like that crusty top from the stuffing sticking out of the bird.

We always have corn with our Thanksgiving meal. I love this white corn: sweet, crisp and delicious.

Another family tradition: oyster bread stuffing. This is absolutely the best stuffing in the world as far as I am concerned. Bread, butter, fat oysters, a little seasoning and some Panko breadcrumbs on top. FABULOUS.

Straight-up mashed potatoes. I really like the density of real mashed potatoes (as opposed to purees, which can be too watery or too doughy).

Here's a photo of my plate with everything, including my dad's homemade gravy with giblets.

My parent's pumpkin pie is not too sweet, which is the way our family generally likes desserts. It's light, creamy and really hits the spot!

Here's my slice, topped with sour cream (my parents mix a little sugar with sour cream - try it sometime, it's great on pumpkin pie).

San Francisco Eats

I went to San Francisco this past weekend for a quick visit to one of my favorite cities in the world. I lived in the city for 8 years, and go back whenever I get a chance. There's just something about San Francisco that has always felt like home to me; I feel an instant click whenever I am there. The people, the weather, the politics...it's just more me than Los Angeles will ever be.

All that said, the cuisine is a major reason why I love SF. But this time around, I was plagued with bad luck when it came to the food. The only photo I took was of the best dish I had - the famed chilaquiles at the Primavera booth at the Ferry Building Farmer's Market (the booth is only there on Saturdays and they don't always have the chilaquiles, so I got VERY lucky!). This breakfast is absolutely, completely and totally the best breakfast in town or in the state of California or, dare I say it, the world. You've got a mix of crispy fried tortilla chips tossed with a spicy red sauce and chorizo, topped with Mexican crema, cojita cheese, chunks of avocado and chopped onions. It's served with soft scrambled eggs and savory black beans. Yes, it's a lot of food, but you will eat every last bite because it's THAT good. Besides, after I ate my chilaquiles, I went on a 7 mile walk and didn't eat again until dinnertime. It'll fuel you for the whole day.

Other good food I had in SF on this trip: The cream puff at Beard Papa's (first time I've ever tried). The turkey hash with poached eggs at Universal Cafe. The amazing burger at the Slow Club. Unfortunately, I didn't take photos of these because I either forgot, or have featured the same meals on this blog before. Oh, one other notable: Claire's Squares at the Ferry Building Farmer's Market (as recommended by Becks & Posh). Fantastic.

But on to the mediocrity that seemed to plague this trip:

• Piperade, the Basque tapas restaurant that came highly recommended by numerous foodie friends and the every food magazine/website/guidebook. Their signature dish, the piperade, is simply stewed onions and bell peppers topped with a poached egg and a few slivers of serrano ham. It tasted OK, but this is their signature dish? The crab salad was bland and didn't have any acidic balance, and their pork was overcooked and tough. My friend thoroughly enjoyed her halibut in brown butter/hazelnut sauce, which was absolutely delectable, and we all liked our sides of machengo cheese potato gratin, but for the price and with all the hype, I expected a lot more. Oh, and the service left much to be desired. Our waiter was rude, unfriendly and inattentive.

• Americano, the restaurant at the Hotel Vitale, where we stayed. I booked a 10:30 a.m. breakfast for me and a few of my best girlfriends. When we showed up a few minutes late, we noticed the waitstaff was busy breaking down all the tables and cleaning up the place. We stood there, waiting for someone to notice us, and when they did not, I walked over and asked the manager about our table. "Oh, it's after 10:30 now and we stop serving after 10:30." I asked why, then, they take 10:30 a.m. reservations, and he said that this was the last seating of the morning. The thing I don't get is that if a restaurant is going to start breaking down tables at 10:31 a.m., why book a 10:30 a.m. reservation? As if we want to sit there amidst all the chaos of table-clearing, dish clanking and vacuums running? We left without eating and went to the Fairmont Hotel instead, where we had a good but average crab cake and Cesar Salad lunch.

• Citizen Cake, the place I always go to for the best almond croissants ever made. We poked our heads into this Hayes Valley institution, only to realize they had split up the restaurant into two parts: The bakery, which was very small and featured only pastries, cookies and cupcakes (no sign of their fabulous cakes and bigger baked goods) and 3-4 small tables; then the restaurant, which served lunch and dinner. What a bummer. The restaurant, with newly dark painted walls and a bar where the fabulous bakery counter used to be, looks depressing and small. The cafe is way too small and looks more like the average coffee shop than the destination place for Elizabeth Falkner's famed baked goods. The old restaurant, which combined both the bakery and the main dining room in one space, was light and airy and open, and allowed patrons to see the bakers actually making the cakes and pastries. They were also out of almond croissants, so we walked down to La Boulangerie and had a very good almond croissant down there. I think that's going to be my new cafe stop in Hayes Valley.

• The Slanted Door, a place I've been wanting to try for a very long time. What a complete and utter disappointment. We ordered their shaking beef, which everyone insists is the best dish there, and it was basic and mediocre. There were about 7 small chunks of beef, half of which were overcooked, some onions and spices - for $26.00. The "spicy" cauliflower and "spicy" Japanese eggplant had no heat at all, though the eggplant had good flavor. We did enjoy the hoison pork ribs and the egg rolls, and the drinks were tasty; unfortunately, the bar staff "lost" our drink orders twice and we went 45 minutes without any drinks while we ate dinner. The manager apologized and comped two of our drinks, and gave us a free dessert, but overall it was a very disappointing experience.

I think where I went wrong on this trip is that instead of researching out some of the lesser known places, I opted to go to everyone's favorites. In the past, I've gone to old favorites like Il Borgo in Hayes Valley or just scoped out the neighborhoods instead of reading up on what's hot.

I'll be back for New Year's Eve, so hopefully I'll have better luck next time!

QuickTake: My Favorite Weekday Breakfast

I'm big on breakfast. Though I have never been officially diagnosed with hypoglycemia, I definitely get that shaky, tired and dizzy feeling if I go too long without eating - especially in the morning. So I always eat breakfast within 30-40 minutes of waking up, and this is a good example of my typical weekday first-meal. It's sprouted grain toast, two slices of thinly sliced turkey lunch meat, sauteed baby spinach (water squeezed out after cooking) and an over-easy egg. Talk about starting the day off right!

QuickTake: Opah Pita Pockets

I cooked up some Opah last night, and had some leftovers, so I made some Opah pita pocket sandwiches for lunch today (sprouted wheat pita, tomatoes, lettuce, onions, hummus, salt & pepper). Opah is a very tender and lovely fish that is available at better grocery stores like How's and Whole Foods. It's got a high fat content, like salmon, but milder in flavor. Anyway, it was a good lunch.

I've Died and Gone to Whole Foods!

Today I went to the grand opening of the new 77,000+ square foot Whole Foods on Arroyo Parkway in Pasadena. Though a million other people decided to go around the same time I did, it's really hard to make 77,000 square feet of space feel crowded so it wasn't that bad (the parking lot, however, was full).

The first thing you notice about this place is its the absolute wealth of culinary offerings. I think I actually gasped out loud when I first walked in...it's just so...so...awesome. So, without further ado, here is my mega Whole Foods experience:

Since it was lunch time and I was famished, I decided to get some food from one of their overwhelming collection of food "booths" (more like little restaurant islands, really). I opted for the combo plate from their Mediterranean booth - hummus, chicken skewers, salad and Lavash bread. Very good. Fueled up and ready for my walk around this massive store, I headed off with camera in hand:

I couldn't really do their wine selection justice since I don't have a camera capable of taking panoramic photos. But just check out what I did manage to capture. It's a wine lover's haven, let me tell you. Wines from California, France, Italy, Chile, Spain, etc. etc - the list goes on and on.

Perfect, clean, beautiful, colorful vegetables and fruits fill their GINORMOUS produce section. I imagine you could find just about any vegetable in existence here at WF. Just in this shot alone (which captures about 1/10th of the produce section) we've got Japanese and Italian eggplants, as well as bitter melon and three kinds of zucchini and peppers.

This is the much-anticipated wine and tapas bar. It's small, but actually really nice. "Inside" (meaning a section separated from the store by shelves of wine) the place you'll find bar seating as well as a couple of couches and cozy chairs and coffee tables. I didn't want to take a photo since there were people occupying those cozy chairs and I wasn't in a paparazzo mood. I noticed people had little plates of cheese and smoked meats with their glasses of wine. I can't wait to try it.

The sushi booth offers fresh, hand cut sushi and sashimi as well as pre-packaged sushi if you're on the run. They even have a nice, marble counter top/bar where you can sit and enjoy your food. And from the looks of it, most of the people behind the counter are Japanese (I heard them speaking Japanese and yes, I know, not all Asian people look the same - bah).

This is a selection of fancy meat. Check out that strange beef/cheese/asparagus roll up there on the top left. Pretty, though not really that practical in my book. Still, the array of specialty prepared-but-raw meat is quite impressive. Great for dinner parties or last-minute gatherings.

The cosmetic/vitamin section of this Whole Foods is HUGE. It takes up about 1/4 of the first floor (did I mention this is a two-story Whole Foods with an escalator and everything?). Here's a shot of their bulk soaps. Not bad at $1.29 an ounce, and probably the cheapest thing in the entire store.

Sausages!!! These are all fresh made and look absolutely divine. They have everything from chicken to beef to pork, with all kinds of flavors. Vegetarians: Look away!

These sandwich-makin' dudes were hard at work creating all kinds of filling and tempting sandies. I saw caramelized onions, roasted turkey, smoked mozzarella and all kinds of other ingredients for the perfect sandwich. BTW, all the gourmet food stands are upstairs, and with so many to choose from, it's really tough to decide what to get. Going to this Whole Foods on an empty stomach might not be such a great idea.

Along with their wide selection of wines, this Whole Foods has a ton of great sakes as well. This is just one of two, large shelves of sake. I really need a panoramic camera...

Next to the Mediterranean place is the wood-fired pizza booth. There's actually a wood fire pit that cooks up these long and luscious pizzas in just minutes. See what I mean about having to decide what you want to eat for lunch? It's like going through a 20-page menu, but it's all animated and alive and tempting you right in front of your face. Torture!

Oooooooooh, pastries, how I love thee. Whole Foods actually knows how to make good crossaints (crispy on the outside, tender on the inside) so I imagine they know what they're doing with all the other bready concoctions you see here. They certainly LOOK great.

I think this is my favorite part of the new Whole Foods. HOT NUTS. Yup, you heard right. This booth has about 30 different kinds of nuts - spiced, candied, maple, garlic - and they are served hot. I sampled some cinnamon candied pecans and they were warm and lovely and I really did go into a state of hypnotic nutty bliss for a few seconds eating them.

My brother-in-law would love this section: fresh cut fruit in ready-to-go containers. Now I realize that all Whole Foods has this, but there is way more selection at this one. Blueberries, mangos, pineapples, strawberries, watermelon, honeydew...

This fresh whole fish section is about 3 times the size of the one at the Whole Foods I normally go to. Check out the size of some of these...amazing. And of course they'll gut, scale and fillet anything you want.

OK, this is just too much: A dessert bar, where you can load up for a mere $7.40 per pound. Not cheap, but really - how much rice pudding, carrot cake, chocolate cake, apple cobbler, bread pudding and warm brownies can one eat? Wait, don't answer that.

As if the all-you-can-eat dessert bar wasn't enough, this Whole Foods also has a gourmet chocolate shop complete with a huge chocolate fountain (not pictured) and homemade truffles. I'm getting a toothache just looking at this photo.

This is my favorite section of the new Whole Foods (and if I've already said that about another section, I changed my mind just now). Look at all this glorious cheese! Sheep, cow, goat; bleu, Stilton, Gorgonzola; soft, medium, hard - it's all there, just waiting to be eaten. Today's free samples included a wonderful roasted garlic butter (yes, butter!) and an amazing Stilton laced with walnuts and honey.

More sweets! The Whole Foods bakery has fresh-baked cakes, cupcakes, cookies, brownies and whatever else your little heart desires. They also have a wide array of gluten-free goodies in the refrigerator case. Speaking of gluten-free, I noticed that in many sections of the store, there are special subsections specifically for gluten-free foods.

Look how pretty these brand-spankin' new bulk bins look. It's actually overwhelming trying to go through all of these...just...too...many...choices.

And last but not least, my second favorite section - the fresh baked bread. I could stand here all day and inhale the scent of warm, yeasty bread.

All in all, I am thrilled beyond belief that I live only blocks away from this dreamland o' food goodness. Though I won't be buying all my groceries here (they don't call it "Whole Paycheck" for nothin'), I will definitely come here for my specialty foods and the occasional lunch/dinner. I think it's a great addition to Pasadena, and judging from the number of employees I saw today (including a ton of hot guys - you heard it here first!), I'm guessing this Whole Foods has brought a fair number of jobs to the area.