Hiatus Ended, And Eating Resumes At Scoozzi Restaurant

The foodie blogosphere has been pretty quiet lately, huh? Guess we've all been doing what we do best - cook and eat. For those of us who were lucky enough to have family around during the holiday season, I'm sure things got a little crazy. They're bound to, especially if you happen to live in a dinky little apartment with ONE bathroom, and are blessed with eight people to share it with! Yes, that's what my place was like this past week or so - and I wouldn't have traded it for anything. It's funny, but we actually managed pretty well. Even Ozzy didn't appear to be too traumatized by it all. The best part was having Mom around to do most of the cooking. I did take over desserts, because I love making them for my Dad - he has an incorrigible sweet tooth (and now you know where I get it from). It was fun ganging up on DH with my sis-in-law, and even being the butt (literally) of my kid brother's many "fat" jokes. And through it all was the constant pampering I got from everyone - a pregnancy perk that I'm going to sorely miss!

Now that everyone has left - just this morning, in fact - I'm starting to settle down and gather my scattered thoughts. Over the next few days I'm sure I'll be thinking about all the fun we had, the laughs and giggles, especially at the dinner table. Have more than a few mouthwatering recipes to share with you all, but in the meantime, I thought about putting up this restaurant review while the taste of the food was still fresh in my memory. My pregnancy brain being what it is - unfocused and forgetful - I need to get this down on paper, pronto!


Although I have my favorite New Haven restaurants that I regularly visit, it's usually on a whim and so I never have my camera with me. On this occasion though, I went prepared. Recently DH and I decided to try out the popular jazz brunch at Scoozzi in the middle of Yale's campus in New Haven. It's actually smack in between the Yale Center For British Art and the Yale Repertory Theater. And the name itself reveals that the menu leans towards Northern Italian goodies. The space is cozy and bright, thanks to the floor-to-ceiling windows, neutral colors with bursts of scarlet and comfortable seating (something I'm very particular about these days, since I'm carrying around a little person inside me who likes to give mommy horrible backaches!).

I really enjoy listening to live jazz, and although I like some vocal crooning with my Sunday morning jazz, the duo over at Scoozzi played some fun tunes which had my feet tapping throughout the meal. Speaking of which, let's get right down to it ...

DH and I shared this vegetarian entree as an appetizer, of Patata Americana, which were sweet potato and walnut ravioli, topped with butternut squash, organic mustard greens, dried cherries, red onions, sage butter sauce and toasted pumpkin seeds for garnish. Sublime. I don't know what I was thinking when I thought about sharing this with DH - it was so good that I could easily have polished it all off by myself. Rest assured, this lapse in judgment will not happen again.

Next, I had the Anatra, boneless duck breast, ricotta-crusted sweet potato & chestnut polenta, with sauteed swiss chard and a port wine demi-glace. This type of polenta was totally new to me, and I wasn't crazy about the texture - too pasty. I'll give points to the chef for an interesting concept. But the duck, with the greens and sauce was definitely good.

DH went for the grilled Scottish Salmon over fettuccine with spaghetti squash, spinach, plum tomatoes and hollandaise sauce. I warned him it would be bland. And it was. So although this dish was pretty enough to photograph from all angles, I could see my man was not thrilled about it. Lack of seasoning is what it all boils down to.

Luckily, the meal ended on a high note for me, with this adorable slice of a Tres Leches Cake, which was a special for the day. I did wonder what the heck it was doing on an Italian menu, but that didn't bother me for long. Particularly since it was soft, moist, light and pretty delicious. It actually got me thinking about making this cake at home - which I plan to, soon. So overall, I had a lovely brunch at Scoozzi, and I hope to go there again, since it was reasonably priced (huge difference from similar Manhattan restaurant prices!).

*Sigh* ...

Now look what I've done. It's only 4pm and I've already made myself hungry looking at these pics again. I'm definitely not one of those lucky pregnant women who only look pregnant from the front or the side, because all their weight gain is on their belly. My carb cravings have ensured that I expand to a rather unsightly, lumpy spherical shape. But will that stop me from scampering off to the kitchen at this very moment to grab a slice of my home-made Cardamom Pistachio Pound Cake (yes yes, recipe coming soon)?! Not. At. All. So on that note ...

HAPPY NEW YEAR to you, dear readers! I hope 2010 is memorable in every wonderful, happy, joyful way for us all.

My Blog Anniversary And Something Special To Share

I've been waiting and waiting for an appropriate moment to share this rather delicious piece of news with you. Between all my kitchen experiments, cat wrangling drama, Pacific Northwest vacation, and moving to a whole new state, I managed to get myself knocked up! That's right dear readers, I'm pregnant, I'm sooooooooo pregnant. And it's been infinitely wonderful. Even though these days I'm getting very familiar with Mr. Braxton Hicks himself, my ankles have disappeared, and I can't even bend over to put my own socks on anymore, I still can't complain. Without getting too melodramatic and making you all uncomfortable, suffice to say, it's been a tough road getting to this pregnancy, and the fact that we may finally get to hold our own little munchkin, our very first, in our arms is a dream-come-true for DH and I. I don't have too many weeks left, so I'm trying to wring every last drop of enjoyment out of this pregnancy as I can - hence, the weekend outings to plays, movies and restaurants etc., and let's not forget the incessant pigging out.
The reason why I chose this day to tell you all about it, is because today is my blog's one year anniversary! At times I can't believe a whole year has gone by, and at other times, it feels like I've been doing this forever. DH thought it was just a fling when it began, this blogging, but now even he sees that it's turned into a torrid, long-term love affair. This anniversary post is already off to a good start. Now I need to follow it up with a recipe that's worth celebrating. I think I know who to turn to for that.

Say hello to The Pioneer Woman's pear crisp with vanilla ice-cream! It makes sense that Ree is here with me in spirit to kick off my blogiversary. After all, her amazing blog, her gifted writing and delicious food is what inspired me to enter the world food blogging myself. When I used to work full-time, there were days when I would secretly be scouring Ree's site, when I really should have been working on that report for my boss. I couldn't help it if Ree's adventures on the farm were more compelling than mindlessly crunching numbers for the man! And this recipe is another winner. I made it just yesterday, when CT had its first big snowfall of the season, and the windchill made it almost impossible to even think about going out anywhere.

It's always more fun to cook seasonally, when you can. These pears were so sweet and perfect as a holiday dessert.

PW's Pear Crisp (find Ree's recipe on her blog)
Serves 8

Click here for printable recipe

Ingredients:
4 whole pears (I used Bartlett, but Bosc work great too)
2/3 cup sugar
1/4 tsp salt

1.5 cups AP flour
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup packed dark brown sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup pecans, finely chopped
1 stick butter, melted

Method:
1. Preheat oven to 350 F.

2. Peel, core and dice your pears. Place them in your baking dish, tossing them gently with the sugar and salt.

3. In a separate bowl, combine flour, sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, chopped pecans and stir together. Drizzle melted butter over this, and stir with a fork till everything is combined with delicious chunks strewn throughout.

4. Top the pears in the baking dish with this crumb topping. Bake for 30 mins in the oven. If you think the top needs more crisping, place under the broiler for just a minute or so (keep an eye on it!). Serve warm with a generous dollop of vanilla ice-cream.Verdict: The sweet pears still had a bit of bite left to them, which I liked, and the crumb topping with the pecans was just amazing! I adore that warm super-crunchy sweetness in my mouth, combined with the smooth coolness from the ice-cream. And this is such a simple recipe, that I'll definitely be making it again and again throughout the holiday season, and beyond. DH took one big bite, and moaned. I rest my case.

I'll be sending this recipe in for the Christmas/Holiday recipes round-up at Foodie Fans of The Pioneer Woman - a fun blog hosted by Debby and yours truly.

Take a closer looksie, why doncha?! Isn't this what you really want ...

... when it's this cold and frigid outside?!

This isn't Morse code - it's what my balcony looks like right now!