I, Me, and Myself | VeniVidiEdi

A friend asked if I would ever do a restaurant review of vegetarian cuisine. The answer to that would be …uhh, never! Just kidding. I did have a great meal at Udipi. It’s Indian cuisine at Sugar Land and was actually featured by Anthony Bourdain. But that review would have to be at another time. It’s holiday season so it’s the peak time for foodies. I will concentrate on the calorific and carnivorous cuisine which is another name for American holiday spread (isn’t it?).

A good place to start would be Steak 48. It’s wonderfully situated at River Oak District. This is where I want to live when I grow up…it would be a parallel universe where I will be shopping all day and dining all night without getting fat nor broke…ahh dreams…Anyway, location is great. This steakhouse ranked highest among its class for November’s Thrillist, so naturally, we had to try it. Like I always said, steakhouses in Houston are really competitive. Each time one opens, it always offers some sort of innovation. This time, steaks are wet aged for 28 days,as opposed to the usual dry aging process.

Started with pull apart bread and River Oak Rita. D had his usual Manhattan.

Appetizers - Rhode Island Calamari and Shrimp with Cherry Peppers. Batter is so light and crisp, absolutely delicious! — Appetizers – Rhode Island Calamari and Shrimp with Cherry Peppers. Batter is so light and crisp, absolutely delicious!

I had a New York Strip which was done a perfect medium rare. I love cutting a good piece of beef and its almost quivering, so nice and red inside, perfectly seared in the outside.

D had his usual filet mignon. He still prefers Vallone's I have to agree. — D had his usual filet mignon. He still prefers Vallone’s I have to agree.

The yellow squiggly things on the side is the mac n cheese.

For dessert we had vanilla caramel cake. It was surprisingly good.

Overall, it’s everything we hoped for. Is it the best? I would still go with Vallone’s. But service is impeccable and wine list is very comprehensive. If you’re ever in the area, and you still have a bunch of cash burning a hole in your pocket after having gone shopping (unthinkable!), then this is the place to be.

For us, it was a good date night while we wait to pick up Beans from marching band. It was also a good excuse to check out how the city is already preparing for the holiday season. There’s nothing like a good meal and company to usher in a time for, well, good meals and more good company!

Everyone wants to have everything. That is expected. The problem is the expectation that it can be achieved by putting in 40 hours a week. Elon Musk said something to this effect on an interview regarding his drive to develop rockets to space. I am putting in 36-48 hours per week at work and I am not even close to achieving a tenth of that magnitude. Between my job, household work, band mom duties, I find that I am always playing “catch-up” with everything else. I go on a marathon phone call with my Mom who I haven’t spoken to for almost two weeks (sorry!!!). I double up on my time at the elliptical to make up for the days I missed (and for the extra cupcake, extra cup of rice, second glass of sangria…you get the picture).

Today, I am catching up with the TV shows I missed. I will start with Blacklist. I love this show but it airs the same time as Thursday Night Football. Next is Big Bang Theory, which airs the same time as Monday Night Football. Football will always take priority, so I always DVR these shows in the hope that I will find time to catch up. Today is that day. I am marking it by making a special treat/comfort food—-tres leches cake!

The first time I had tres leches cake was when I first moved to Houston and my childhood friend, Rhea Robinson, made it. I absolutely loved it. I tried so many recipes that didn’t quite turn out right, until I found Martha Stewart’s. In the quest of finding the best recipes, all roads lead to Martha Stewart. She cleverly uses a basic French sponge cake. The beauty of this recipe is that it doesn’t use butter. That is a big deal because as the name implies, the three kinds of milk should be pretty much all you need (and more) for your caloric requirement.

Preheat oven at 325, then spray 9×13 pan with butter.

Gather up your ingredients.

Six eggs, separated. 1 cup sugar, 1 cup flour.

That’s all! See why I love this recipe? For today, I add 1/4 cup of espresso coffee for flavor. I am binge-watching so I need all the caffeine I can get.

Beat egg yolks and sugar. Once fluffy, add coffee.

Fold in flour. Go easy on folding, you don't want to "deflate" it. otherwise you will end up with a crumby and hard cake. Use big strokes and cut in through the middle. — Fold in flour. Go easy on folding, you don’t want to “deflate” it, otherwise you will end up with a crumby and hard cake. Use big strokes and cut in through the middle.

Meanwhie, mix the 3 milks. Cream, evaporated milk and condensed milk. I am using dulce de leche condensed milk. It complements the coffee flavor of the cake

Once cake is cooled (about 20 minutes), drizzle the milk mixture on top of cake. Allow to saturate for about an hour. Refrigerate.

Here's a slice for Mr. Reddington! Yum!!! — Here’s a slice for Mr. Reddington! Yum!!!

Many versions add whipped cream and fruits on top. I sometimes do that because it looks a lot prettier. But I don’t have fresh fruits today. So i’m settling for coffee…which works just as well.

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Steak 48

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