Apple & Goat Cheese Pizza

I don't know about your neck of the woods, but here in the tri-state area it's been like a second summer!  I've been spending this entire week in sleeveless shirts and skirts as the temperatures have been pushing 80 degrees each day.  I'm hoping the warm spell will last through the weekend so that the BF can enjoy a few more beautiful days as well.

Restaurant Wars 2013 - California Pizza Kitchen

First off today, I have to say Happy Anniversary!!! to Boyfriend.  It's been ten years since our first date.  Ten years, seven cities, nine different apartments, over twenty different countries, we're like our own little Amazing Race.  That's right, BF and I have been a couple for a whole decade.  You might ask why we aren't yet engaged or married.  My answers generally vary from 'We've only been living together for 2 years' to 'We're really busy' to 'If I get engaged, then I have to plan a wedding.'  We'll get around to it before all this food blogging catches up to us and I can't fit into a size 4 wedding dress!

Now, back to the reason for todays post - Restaurant Wars 2013!  It's been almost a month since my last RW post because I've been out of town so much recently!  March and April found be travelling to my hometown for a long weekend and to Washington, DC for a work conference.  I also spent my weekend mornings training for my half marathon.  I reorganized my RW schedule based on restaurants that are close to our apartment and therefore easy weeknight meals!

This week brought us to California Pizza Kitchen, on a surprisingly busy night.  Our CPK is located inside of a mall, like most locations these days, and tends to be a popular place for dinner.  It would be forty-five minutes if we wanted a table.  How long for the bar?  You can sit down right now!  I highly reccommend sitting at the bar at CPK.  The bartenders are fun and lead to quick drink service.  You can also watch all the pizzas being made and get good views of the TVs.

Personally, I love all of the unusual pizzas at CPK.  I always wind up with their pear & gorgonzola, spicy Korean BBQ or Jamaican Jerk pizza.  BF is more of a classic pizza fan.  Meat and cheese is his go to pizza.  This trip to CPK was no different - I went with the Thai chicken pizza and BF got the Meat cravers.  Apparently vegetables have no place on a pizza in BFs world. 

When it came to reproducing CPK at home, I had a little leg up.  While browsing the local bookstore in Montclair, I stumbled upon this book.  Published in 1996, previously owned, this cookbook cost me $8.  Deal.  The best thing about this version of the cookbook (they have updated it twice since the original was published), this book contains several pizzas that are no longer offered on the CPK menu.  Like BF's favorite - The Rosemary Chicken and Potato Pizza.

 I remember heading to CPK in the early years of our relationship and ordering this pizza.  He's been upset ever since it was pulled from the menu.  When I discovered the recipe in my new cookbook, I knew this would be the recipe to make for RW - CPK.  The only problem, this recipe is so involved.

It took me almost two hours from chopping the first clove of garlic to when I pulled the pizza out of the oven.  You can prepare some things in advance (which I should have done, but I neglected to read the recipe ahead of time, bad blogger) and shave some time off of the prep.  I have also reorganized the directions, to allow you to multitask during the cooking process.

Make this pizza, it is delicious.  And according to Boyfriend, very close to the original.

Parmesan Chicken and Thyme Gnocchi

Sometimes you just need to eat something unhealthy for dinner.  I'm not advocating going to Popeyes (Love that Chicken!) every night for dinner, stopping at the cupcake factory on the way home and washing it all down with a two liter of soda.  No, no, no!  I'm just saying that there are those days, the days that you some how struggled through, scratching and clawing to the finish line.  You barely make it through the safety of your front door and when you do, it feels like a victory.

You need to make a little victory lap around the foyer as you shed your coat and shoes.  You're high fiving your roommates, spouses, children and pets as you drop your purse/briefcase.  The day is finally over and you deserve something special, something delicious, but most importantly, something simple.  A day like this doesn't need to be topped off with an hour in the kitchen.

My Thursday was that kind of day.  Usually Thursday is a great day because Thursday is bagel day at work!  Unlike most Thursdays, this week we had a meeting.  The king of all meetings.  The monthly meeting.  It was scheduled to last from ten o'clock until three o'clock.  We all knew that this was a lofty goal and were all unsurprised when we stumbled out of the room at four o'clock.

After my long day sitting in a meeting, I was looking forward to a quiet trip home on the train.  Apparently the New York Yankees didn't think that was a good idea and had to play a game last night.  The train was packed with dudes, drunk dudes, drunk dudes wearing Yankees jerseys, LOUD drunk dudes wearing Yankee jerseys.  Ugh, so much for doing my crossword puzzle in peace.

Gorgonzola Risotto

You’ll notice a little something different about today’s post. No pictures of food! Now don’t worry, I am giving you a recipe (a very delicious recipe in fact!). However the pictures of the food weren’t nearly as pretty as my pictures from New York City last weekend! You might remember that I met my mom in New York last weekend to celebrate her birthday. We had three girls-only days in the big city.

I’ve been to New York a many number of times and know my way around pretty well. Of course, it’s pretty tough to get lost when you’re in Midtown, all the streets are numbered. Once I get to the East Village is when I start to get all turned around, especially after coming out of the subway. I think all I need is a compass, then I wouldn’t go the wrong direction nearly as often as I do. It’s too bad the compass on the iPhone doesn’t work in New York. The signal bounces off the buildings and your GPS thinks you are inside of a building three blocks away, not helpful.

So what did we do in our weekend in the city? We went shopping, we saw the sights and we watched a show. We also ate a lot of cupcakes. Seriously, we had cupcakes every single day that we were there. Rather than heading to just a single bakery, we decided to check out a couple of different ones. You know, we had to compare and contrast the product, right?

Personally I fell in love with my peanut butter cup cupcake from Crumbs, although I was covered in frosting when I finished eating it. I was licking it off of my elbow, I’m pretty sure there was frosting in my hair too. I was a little wired that night! Mom liked her vanilla cupcake from Eleni’s Bake shop, located inside of Chelsea Market. They also served up a mean raspberry cupcake, super delicious.

It was a great weekend, full of history, culture, shops and sugar!