WGC? #27, #28, #29, & #30!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

you guysssssssssssssssssssssssssss. . .rogray did it!!!! cue the horns, release the doves, find him a key to the city!! rogray made it to number 30!

rogray decided that he was going to wrap it up on valentine's day which meant he had to make breakfast, lunch, dinner & dessert in the same day.

i agreed to it -- the reason i had to agree to anything was because i had to wake up early to eat the breakfast and if any of you have seen me in the morning you know that it is not only very hard for me to do but also not a pretty sight. it involves some whining, a few tears and the smashing of my alarm clock against the wall. i'm an adult.

rogray had to wake up really early and cook.

here's the morning coffee:


and the morning o.j.:


the scene is set...here comes rogray:



what's this?



oh, french toast croissants with apples soaked in a maple, caramelized sugar sauce? just a little something you threw together at 6am? as rogray's niece and nephew would say "oh, wow."

this was wow -- the croissants made regular french toast look like the j.v. squad and the apples were beyond description -- also the whole thing gave me a sugar high like you wouldn't believe and i only ate one of the croissant things...

next up lunch:



tomato, basil and mozzarella salad with a tuna, lime, scallion wrap.

rogray had to make this the night before so the tomato, basil, mozzarella salad didn't hold up very well but the tuna was good especially after i drizzled it with olive oil to off-set some of thetanginess og the lime juice. we agreed it wasn't our favorite thing but it was a nice lunch -- especially since it was made for me by my valentine...ok, that was cheesy and gross...moving on.

dinner...oh, dinner. rogray told me he would make me whatever i wanted since it was valentine's day so i told him lamb, polenta, and roasted vegetables (brussel sprouts, butternut squash and parsnips).

the table was set. the wine had been poured:


we got this when we went wine tasting in santa barbara with jk one of our last weekends in l.a. it was our favorite thing of the day and was as good as we remembered.

and while the wine breathed i waited...rogray made me wait until very late -- 10:30 pm to be exact at which point i was not being a very good valentine because my hunger was forcing me to writhe around on the floor and whimper "i'm hungry" over and over again...he's so lucky.

and then he brought me dinner:



oh. wow.



so so good -- moist, tender lamb shanks with olives and stuff (thank you mark bittman. you nailed it this time.) the polenta was the perfect side dish with the lamb -- although we both agreed it wasn't as soft as we would have wanted and the veggies werewintery and wonderful. rogray said that it was on par with wgc? #4 because there was a lot to do all at the same time but unlike #4, he didn't sit on the floor and start crying -- he didn't even seem stressed.

after a short digestive period rogray popped back into the kitchen for #30. and here it is:



baked apricots with toasted pine nuts and homemade chocolate sauce.

i mean, are you kidding me? this was so good -- the apricots had a nice tartness, the pine nuts crunchy and the chocolate sauce was perfect...in fact at one point we decided that we could just eat the chocolate sauce at which point we did. right out of the bowl. classy.

once dessert was consumed and all the dirty dishes were left piled into the sink to be dealt with at a later date i climbed into bed and passed out in a food coma. it was great.

so now i'm really going to go overboard. the re-cap (please imagine that *suddenly i see* song that is playing on all the reality competition shows are using for their contestant re-caps while you scroll) and i highlighted in bold my favorites:

1. arroz con pollo



2. pasta in spinach, goat cheese sauce with spinach



3. chiken marsala and garlic sauteed brocolli



4. roasted acorn squash with sage, goat cheese mashed potatoes in a red-wine reduction with wild rice and wilted spinach



5. penne with tuna in an olive oil-parsley sauce



6. marinated pork with balsamic braised veggies



7. spaghetti with toasted hazelnuts and shaved asparagus



8. salmon in a Dijon-dill sauce with sauteed kale



9. spinach-artichoke dip & apple-cranberry pie



10. turkey tettrazini



11. rotini with truffled sausage & olives
--no picture--

12. steak with a real caesar



13. Mediterranean chicken with lemon & olives, cumin scented rice & curried cauliflower --no picture--

14. pine-nut cookies, ginger cookies and herbed potato chips



15. israeli chicken with tomato-onion and zucchini-mint salads



16. winter vegetable stew with potato gruyere pancakes



17. mongolian beef



18. linguini with crab meat & radicchio in a white wine sauce



19. stuffed peppers with feta cheese sauce



20. pork with sweet garlic & fennel



21. spaghetti with beef and mushrooms in a cream sauce



22. asian chicken with mushrooms and green beans



23. eggs benedict



24. tilapia with cumin and tomatoes



25. fusilli with pesto, feta and tomato



26. pork in plum sauce with a simple salad in dijon-shallot vinaigrette



27. french toast croissants with apples soaked in a maple, caramelized sugar sauce




28. tomato, basil and mozzarella salad with a tuna, lime, scallion wrap



29. lamb shanks, polenta, and roasted vegetables



30. baked apricots with toasted pine nuts and homemade chocolate sauce




people keep asking if this means that rogray is going to stop cooking now that he made it to his goal. well, no. but he did say that he needed a break. he then added that he would like to make brunch onsunday and there is a salmon recipe he would like to try to make monday...if you could see me you would know that there are hearts coming out of my eyes...i love my rogray.