If this block could talk.

This amazing piece o kitchen furniture came out of a Portuguese butcher shop in Spain.  I was just gifted this amazing piece by a client of mine,  who knows that I am a fan of anything regarding tools of the culinary nature.

When she called me and asked if I would like to take this off her hands,  I said yes in a clam manner although on the inside i almost made a mess of myself.  My wife and I have been looking for a piece to go in this section of our kitchen for a while but never found the perfect accoutrement.

It weighs almost 500 pounds and is about 120 years old.  There are indention's  in the block from where over time it had worn away from cut after cut after cut.

My only thought is when I look at it,  I think to myself I wish it could talk.  The stories that it would tell.

You see i think that in a time that we are so consumed with all that is new,  its nice to reflect on something that has a history older than yourself.  When I look at this block it is not just a block but someones love, sweat and tears.  Not only in the craftsmanship but in the fact for at least two families it brought money to them so that they could survive.  The man who made the block slaved over the making of the beast.  Each piece of wood in the block is about 2x2.  Each block is dovetailed one end being male and one being female.  All being joined together like a huge jigsaw puzzle.

The second family to make a dollar on this block is the butcher that the piece went to.  I can only imagine the countless legs of Spanish jamon had been fabricated on the wood.  How many pounds of chorizo had been cut and wrapped on there.  All the stories of everyone who went in to the shop to buy meat to take home to feed there family's.  All the stories that were shared around this beautiful piece of art.  How much money had exchanged hands in front of the block.

Where did it go after Spain?  How many families enjoyed food prepared from this?  How many cries, laughs, pain, joy and love did this old tree endure?

All i know is from this point on,  in my house it will have some great stories when it leaves!

Only if this block could talk.

Wing and a Prayer

As I was sitting reading my Gourmet magazine one summer afternoon,  I came across an article claiming that this recipe was the best marshmallow that you will ever eat.  So since I had time on my hands and all the ingredients for that recipe I decided to give it ago.

As I was mixing up all the sweet goodness I realized I was dealing with the stickiest thing that i have ever dealt with in my life.  It was everywhere!  After i was done I cut them up and gave it the old taste test and I'll be dammed if that wasn't the best marshmallow I have ever eaten.

So fast forward about a year,  I had made a few dozen here and there just for fun and tweaking on the recipe to make it more of something that I would like to eat.

My oldest daughter came to my wife and i and asked us to cater her first coed birthday party.  She had not ever had a birthday party with all her mates from school.  So we decided that would be a good time.

She had told us that she wanted a party that the theme was BACON.  After all it was her favorite food at that time.  Everything that we made for that day had bacon in it in some way shape or form.  From hamburgers, to bacon wrapped tater tots, to bacon caramel  corn, to the star of the show a bacon marshmallow.  

This was going to be the one thing that made the kids go freaking bananas.  They were going to tell me that was soooooo gross and disgusting.  Well that is not what happened at all.  they were gone before i could even say happy birthday.

My wife looked at me and asked why we were not selling those.  "people are going to buy the hell out of those" she said.

So we came up with our name and via Face book Donna Drummonds' was born.  We sold almost 1000 pieces over thanksgiving and Christmas.  And now we are giving it a bigger launch so with all your help.  We are going to get Double D's out in to the public.

We have made the following

S'mores
Peppermint
Meyer lemon
Coconut
Pumpkin
Root beer
Banana
Rose
Bacon
Ouzo

They are packed as shown above.  All dipped on a stick are $3.00 for an order you may email me at doubledsgourmettreats@gmail.com.  Valentines day is coming our new heart day flavors will be reviled soon.  Stay tuned.

Donna Drummonds is committed in taking you back to your childhood one bite at a time.  Happy eating

It was just a cup of tea.

It was just a cup of tea.  But to my daughter it was what got her to her manifestation.
As i walk through life I just go on and on and on.  I always wonder what my children pick up on as they watch me do what I do.  Do they realize that all I do is out of love and honor?
My wife and I take pride in the fact that we are servants in this life, not slaves.  We give to our children, our friends, and our family as an act of love,  kindness and support.  We try to create a place in our lives that is out of giving and not taking.  Because we give we shall receive.  This is a trait that we are constantly trying to convey to our children.  It is something that you can talk about until you are blue in the face, but until you are seen in action,  that is where the teaching takes place.  Like Pavlov's dog,  you do as your surroundings show.  The act of doing comes directly from the heart not the mouth.  The opposite of what our parents used to say, "Don't do as I do, do as I say." I really that that was such bullshit when I heard it then as much as I think that is bullshit when I hear it now.  No lip service in my house we are "ACTION PARENTS."  (our comic book names).
My  oldest daughter wanted to try out for an upcoming show up in L.A.  So being the family we are, we loaded the family truckster and headed off to "Tinsel Town" for the weekend.  "Everyone gets a turn." as my wife always says, "We all support each other and now its Kanani's turn." 
We stayed in downtown L.A.,  after we checked in we went to dinner.  After dinner as we were walking back to our hotel my youngest daughter was all jacked up, I'm guessing from the energy of the city.  Completely different than that of the sleepy beach town we live in.  She was bouncing off the walls.  She was skipping around and then yelled at the top of her lungs," I love the city.  Look at that building it's pink the building is pink can you believe it?"  We started cracking up, these kids today.

The next morning I got up at the ass crack of dawn, because I am the early guy and hate more than anything to be late.  So I rousted my daughter up at o'dark thirty.  Hopped in a cab headed for the Staples Center taking one step closer to all of our destiny.  On the way I needed coffee, so  we stopped at Starbucks and copped a cup.  I order a black brew like my ladies and ordered her a cup of chamomile tea with honey.  I handed it to her and she thought I was nuts," I can't drink coffee, dad, I'm too young."  I told her this is not coffee ding ding it's tea and it will help you get your voice on this early in the morning.  The tea will warm up her throat and the honey will sooth the vocal cords when she warms up she will be golden. 

We went to audition and waited for about 5 hours.  Eventually my wife and youngest showed up.  It was now her time to shine.  She sang for the judges and she rocked it out.  I on the other hand was a god damn mess I could barley see and breathing was labored at best.  I don't think that a stage dad is in my wheelhouse.  They asked her to send in a video of another song online.

On our way home we were kind of recapping the day and she looked up and said, "Now that is over, I will have zero anxiety trying out for Showstoppers on Monday.  It will be a piece of cake."

A few years ago, we decided as a family to send my daughter to Valley Middle School instead of the one that she was slotted to go to ( Calivera Hills) because Valley had an award winning show choir and a performing glee club.  So she was going to leave all her mates from grade school and go off to a new school where she knew no one.  I thought that was pretty ballsy being how most 11 year old girls are terrified of there own shadow let alone leaving anything remotely familiar and starting all over.

She started sixth grade head high no tears no stress all positive.  I was so very proud of her.  I know people twice her age starting a new job that would make more of a big deal and stress about it and make themselves sick worrying about who, what, where, when, and why all the people in the new office don't like them.  Not my girl, she was on a mission.  That first week she started Ensemble.  That is the back up choir for Viking Singers and Showstoppers, you have to be in 7th and 8th grade to be in those.  But as a sixth grader you have to be in the Ensemble in order try out for Viking Singers and Showstoppers in 7th and 8th grade.

The school year went off with out a hitch.  Straight As and got to be in a few plays and at the winter performance she got a solo.  She was one fo the first sixth graders to ever get a solo, so basically, she had a blast.  That brings us to the end of the year.  She tried out for Viking Singers and Showstoppers.  And of course, she  made it. She was on the moon. You had to slap the smile off her face all summer. 

She started with a dream and never looked back.  She practiced and practiced and practiced on her own regard,  none of us ever asked her to.  This was her journey and she knew it.  We were there the whole way with her supporting her and loving her.  That night on the way to a celebratory dinner.  I stopped to get gas, and when  I got back in to the car my wife and my daughter were all teared up and hugging.  I was dumbfounded what the hell happened, you were just happy now sad.  My wife explained to me that my girl was telling her that the only reason she got into Showstoppers was because of me.. 
"What I did nothing."

It was the cup of tea that I had made her have at the TV audition in L.A. 

The tea to my daughter represented me taking the time to nurture and care for her and her voice.  That is what she saw,  I on the other hand saw nothing.  That was in her head the reason she was where she was.

We walk through our life with our children, our friends, and our family and we really don't realize the impact we have on others until someone lets you in on it.  It was just a cup of tea that I was offering my daughter to help her wake up and start her day.  But to her it was the beginning of something amazing.

When we act out of the goodness from our heart and just move threw life's small obstacles,  take a little time now and then to ask yourself.  Are you embracing life's challenges and moving forward with your head held high?  If not, I ask you to do this:  Reach out and do something nice for someone else.  Start buying those special people in your life a cup of tea.  You will start to move mountains. The simpler the task, the greater the reward.

Fresh Fruit Napoleon

Well here we are embarking on the best part of the year, Spring.  I is my favorite season,  i get to eat what i grow out of my garden.  You cant get any fresher than that.  Imagine eating a berry that actually tastes like the name that they call it.  Strawberries sweetened by the sun, so sugary and juicy that it will blow the back of your head off its so delicious.  Blueberry that don't taste like fake sour candy,  but in fact taste like little packages of heaven squirting their goodness into the mouth in which they are popped. 

One of my favorite desserts to make in the summer is a fresh fruit napoleon.  They are extremely easy to prepare and when presented everyone is just amazed on how beautiful they are.  When they taste it it takes them to a place of pure bliss. 

1 package of phyllo dough
20-30 fresh strawberries
a handful fresh blueberries
3 mint sprigs
1 half gallon of heavy cream
1/2 cup butter melted
powdered sugar
bourbon vanilla
white or brown sugar

Preheat oven to phyllo dough instructions
Thaw philo on the counter under a damp towel until playable.  On a baking sheet lined with parchment paper take one piece of phyllo,  brush it with melted butter and sprinkle a generous amount of sugar on top of the butter,  this will act as glue.  Repeat this 5 or six times.  Make three or four stacks of phyllo,  pop into the oven and cook until brown.  Cool and set aside.

Take your cream and put into an electric mixer,  add 1/4 cup of sugar and a tbsp of bourbon vanilla.  Put mixer on medium high and mix until you have hard peaks. Set aside in a cool place.

Now you build the tower,  Pastry, then whipped cream, then berries, again then top an put a dollop of cream in the middle. Garnish with a mint sprig and more berries. 

Refrigerate until serving. 

Now you can put your own spin on this,  make individuals or different shapes.  Make tall ones and small ones. Substitute different fruit and puff pastry instead of phyllo.  Have fun the cream,  if kids aren't eating it put your favorite spirit in to the mix.

Make the kitchen your playground, try new and exciting things that will make your friends and family smile from their stomach.  Let me know if you try this and tell me how it goes.

Happy cooking

Cowboy Daves butter milk pancakes.

Try these I finally made the perfect pancake. More of a souffle than a dense heavy pancake. It's light and luxurious.

Cowboy Dave's buttermilk pancakes.

1cup flour
1/2 ts powder and soda
1/2 salt
1 3/4 buttermilk
1tbsp oil
1 egg
1 tsp dry Active yeast.

Add yeast to warm water 105-115degrees let stand until it begins to bubble.
Mix dry together
Shake butter milk before adding to batter.
Separate eggs
Add buttermilk and eggs together and mix well
Add wet to dry
Let stand at least 30 minutes to an  hour is best.
10 minutes before you are ready to cook whip egg whites to stiff peaks with a 1/2 teaspoon of lemon juice and a pinch of salt then fold in the batter (this will make them super light)
Heat a cast iron griddle med high.

Make the pancakes as big or as small as you  like. It's fun to add fruit or even fried bacon to the cakes. Have fun be creative. Its only breakfast.


I have been making these for the past 10 years and have been eating these for the past 30. My best Friends father used to make these for us Sunday morning after surfing. They were always amazing. It took me promising my first born, to have him give me the recipe. I have been manipulating the ingredients for years to get a texture and flavor I had in my head. Well folks here it is I hope you all enjoy. Play with the ingredients and fill them with everything in the house. Make traditions for your family that will last for generations. It's fun, my kids and my friends always know we will be messing around with some sort of pancake on Sunday morning. Rain or shine.

It's the thing like Sunday morning pancakes that bring me back to my childhood and remind me what is really important.  We are always searching for the next thing in life that will make us happy.  That  next thing that will fulfill that whole in our heart or soul.  What if it really isn't that difficult to fill.  What if that whole is just a yearning for a time in our life when everything just made sense.  A life of naivety and simplicity.

What if,  just what if you can find it in a bowl of pancake batter every Sunday morning. 

Keep Cooking my friends.  Lets save the planet one dish at a time.

Ciao

The drunken Pig

If you haven't tried this and you eat meat this recipe is for you. 

7 strips of gourmet bacon
1 liter of your favorite vodka

Cook bacon off in the oven at 350 for about 20-30 minutes.  Remove bacon from pan and lay out on paper towels.  try to get a lot of the residual grease off the bacon.  Remove the cap and insert the 7 strips of bacon into the bottle.  Close and let sit in in a dark place for 7 days.   After the time has passed strain the vodka twice through cheese cloth triple folded then one more time though a fine sieve or a coffee filter.  Remove the bacon from the bottle and was the bottle.  Return the flavored vodka to the bottle and refrigerate. 

I know by now some of you might think that i have lost my ever loving mind.  Well it would seem so until you start to realize the possibilities that you have here.  Bloody Marys,  BLT martini,  your favorite vodka cream sauce.  All of these are great, but with the bacon vodka its just that much better.  You almost cant even taste the bacon flavor until someone points it out to you .  Try this and I promise your be a  fan after one sip.

Put a little mussel into it.

Simple ingredients create amazing results.

1 Lb fresh mussels {cleaned[
8 cloves of garlic chopped
1 bunch parsley chopped
10 cherry tomatoes halved
1 onion diced
2 tsp olive oil
1 cup chicken broth or veg broth
1 cup dry white wine
4 tbsp butter divided
baked french fries.
salt and cracked pepper

Bake or fry your favorite fries. Then set aside

Clean the mussels under cold water do not submerse they will drowned
in a wok or a giant pasta pot place oil and heat slowly the garlic the onions and the salt and pepper.  When the garlic and onions are translucent then add cherry toms and cook down to where the tomato almost is not a tomato anymore.  Toss in your mussels, saute them to a little over tow minutes to release the flavor from the shell add your butter, wine and your broth.  Cover the pot and let them steam for 10 minutes undisturbed.  Remove lid then check to see if the mussels have opened if they have then turn off the heat. Toss in your parsley then mix well.  In a nice size bowl place fries in the bottom lay the mussels on top of them pour over the savory broth and enjoy.

I made this last Saturday night for my wife and one of my dearest Friends.  It reminded me while I was eating it the simplest things in life or actually the best.  Although you might think this sounds really difficult i assure you that it is not.  It is simple and delicious. 

In a life of uncertain chaos it is really nice to know that some things will pull you back to what is really important..  We cannot change the world.  we cannot control the wars or the unjust that happens to millions of people on a hourly basis.  The only thing that we have control over is our own catacomb that we call our life our existence.  I say turn off the news turn up the heat in your kitchen create memories that are positive for the ones that you love.  Through the mouth I say gets to the heart the quickest. The end of days may be coming.  And when they do My friends and family will arrive onto the pearly gates full and ready for a nap. 

Have an amazing day,  happy cooking.