Dinner and a movie with dessert (tiramisu)

Tiramisu, courtesy of the kitchen wench's friend

(from Fresh & Easy).

I was pleasantly surprised last night when my friend brought dessert for our dinner and a movie night. It was tiramisu from Fresh and Easy. Typically I am dubious about commercial made baked goods/desserts. This one proved me wrong. It was creamy and not too sweet, with a good ratio of cake (ladyfingers?) to mascarpone filling with a dash of almond liquour and a sprinkling of cocoa powder on top.

Tiramisu means (literally) "pull me up" in Italian. That is what this version of Tiramisu will do for you.

Bliss.

I made spicy garlic shrimp and thin spaghetti with a tomato/basil/red onion/olive oil salad and the focaccia bread came from Grande Orange. I was in there yesterday and that place does such a great business, no matter what time of day you go. They have all kinds of Christmas gift ideas right now from cute t-shirts to kitchen towels to candies you don't see everywhere and toys for the kiddos. Very fun stuff. Hard to resist and buy just bread.

Just buy bread. Just buy bread. I had to tell myself.

Their focaccia varies and yesterday's version had some type of grey sea salt that had been carmelized (how do they do that?) so it was a bit salty and almost savory. Very delicious. I had to "test" some before dinner. Just to make sure it was safe for human consumption, mind you. Focaccia bread is a great dipper for the tomato/basil/red onion/olive oil salad. It is a meal in itself if you make the salad large enough.

:)

Last night's movie was Gypsy (courtesy of Phoenix Public Library) with Rosalind Russell, Natalie Wood and Karl Malden. Talk about talent! Rosalind Russell plays the mother who lives vicariously through her two daughters who work in vaudeville as their manager Karl Malden waits patiently for her (Rosalind's) hand in marriage.

Dinner and a movie was rounded out by a not so fancy shiraz-cabranet wine called Big Kahuna which I would have balked at not so many years ago. It has a twist off top which I now know is popular because of the cork shortage. A delicious wine that paired well with our meal.

My companion agreed, it's more fun to cook for two than for one.