So few posts...

I feel like I need to explain my lack of posts this past month. It all boils down to computer issues. For example, last night I sat down to download pictures and post about my fun weekend in Santa Rosa, and my computer screen was black! The computer was on, but nothing on the screen. So now I'm posting from work (don't tell my boss!), and hopefully my computer is back up and running tonight...I feel like my little mac is on its last legs...please send prayers for my computer =)

Pizza 'n' Such

We made pizza last night, and the "such" is all the things I've meant to post in the last few weeks, but somehow didn't manage to find time to sit and blog...so here's a quick rundown of my recent life:
1. KFOG Kaboom

KFOG is San Francisco's classic (and modern) rock radio station. Every year they have a concert on a pier in SF, followed by a grand firework display choreographed to music. I have never been to Kaboom before, and when my parents ended up with an extra ticket, I took them up on the offer to go with them. Let me just summarize the day/evening by saying the drinks were free flowing, and you'll have to ask someone else how the fireworks were...I didn't quite make it that far. I really think my dad has to take part of the blame here...he made me a double martini, which I probably would not have had if I had known there was 4 oz. of gin in it (and that was after champagne and wine!) So here's a few pictures of the day, and I will spare you all the details of how it ended.

Me and my dad
My mom and Pam

2. Mother's Day
The day after Kaboom was Mother's Day. Originally, the plan was for Scott and I to cook brunch for my mom, but due to my well-deserved hangover and Scott's unfortunate work schedule, we rescheduled brunch for the following Sunday. So I spent Mother's Day watching Sex and the City, season 2, and then had dinner with my parents and grandma (my dad grilled some wonderful lamb).
3. Baby Shower
Our friends Brian and Irina are due July 3rd. Scott went to high school with Brian, and now Brian and Irina live less than a mile from us in Walnut Creek. The shower was really lovely and HOT, it was probably 100 degrees on Saturday! Sorry the pics are small

Brian and Irina...the mama to be!

4. Mother's Day Re-Do
We finally had our Mother's Day brunch on Sunday. Scott and I made crab cake benedict, brulee-d grapefruit, and country potatoes, accompanied by mimosas. Sorry, I forgot to take pictures!
5. Pizza!
Last night Scott and I experimented with grilled pizzas. Scott has been perfecting his pizza dough at work, and yesterday finally made it at home for me...delicious! We made 3 mini pizzas, but I only have pictures of the pre-grilled pizzas since they took longer than anticipated to cook, which means we drank a few too many beers waiting for them, and I was a little to toasty to man the camera by the time they were done...

Our menu
Pizza #1 on the grill (ps--our "pizza stone" is a $1.99 unglazed tile from Home Depot!)

4. Lakers!
GO LAKERS...we've made it to the Western Finals...beat Denver!

Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms

I've had this recipe for a few years, tucked into the vegetable section of my recipe binder, but have never gotten around to trying it. I made it last night, and its a quick, easy, healthy meal...only 184 calories (but then I had to pair it with a cup of clam chowder from the Yacht Club...not 184 calories anymore!)
Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms
(courtesy of Cooking Light)

4 (6-inch) portobello mushrooms, stems removed
Cooking spray
1 cup chopped red tomato
1 cup chopped yellow tomato
1 cup panko (Japanese breadcrumbs)
1 cup preshredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup chopped chives
salt
fresh ground black pepper

1. Preheat broiler
2. Remove brown gills from the undersides of mushrooms using a spoon, discard gills. Place mushrooms, gill sides down, on a foil-lined baking sheet coated with cooking spray (use use a silpat with no cooking spray). Broil the mushrooms for 5 min.
3. While the mushrooms broil, combine the tomatoes, panko breadcrumbs, cheese, chives, and season with salt and pepper.
4. Turn mushrooms over, and sprinkle evenly with salt and pepper. Divide tomato mixture evenly among mushrooms. Broil 5 min. or until cheese melts. Yield: 4 servings (serving size: 1 mushroom)
Calories: 184, Fat: 5.3g, Protein: 12.6g, Carb: 21.6g, Fiber: 3.5g
(I love Cooking Light, they're the only magazine that gives nutrition facts!)

*Instead of broiling, this would be easy to make on the BBQ. Also, its easy to halve the recipe, that's what I did since portobellos come in handy 2-packs at Trader Joes.


**Silpat mats are handy baking tools. They are nonstick silicone mats that go right on your cookie sheet and eliminate the need to grease. I use them everytime I use a cookie sheet...makes clean up a snap! I did ruin one once though...I was browning coconut under the broiler and forgot about it, when I remembered it, the house was full of smoke and the coconut flakes were charcoal, and the silpat was forever stained black...oops =)

Ode To Mac

For the past few months, a threatening pop-up kept appearing on my computer screen: "Startup disk almost full." Didn't think too much of it since it said almost full. However, I did know that I was nearing the full capacity of my little 5 year old Powerbook G4, it only has 55GB memory, and I only had 3MB available. So, being a responsible computer owner, Scott and I decided to take all of our music collection off the computer and store it on an external hard drive to free up some space. Seems easy enough, but once we transferred the music, all our programs started shutting down: IPhoto (and my 3,000 pictures with it), internet, Microsoft Word, Itunes...everything GONE! Preparing for the worst, I came to terms that I lost all my photos and would most likely have to buy a new computer with a credit card, ugh.
Being a mac user, I made an appointment at the Genius Bar (the help center at Apple Stores, run by a bunch of techie guys). Scott and I took our computer in Saturday morning, feeling like we were going to get a life or death diagnosis on a loved one. Charles was our tech guy, and he single handedly saved our computer from a brink of disaster...he restored all my photos, erased a bunch of old programs, backed up everything on our external hard drive...and it was free! Seriously, I bought a mac 5 years ago, hearing good things about it from my brother, and now I am a mac user for life. This is the first problem I have had in 5 years, and the company fixed it on the spot for free. Wow, impressive customer service. Oh, and get this...Scott and I took it back home and had trouble downloading Firefox, so on Monday Scott went back to the Apple Store and they worked with him for 2 hours to get our baby back to top shape. Phew, disaster averted...computer is back!