Last year while in Sante Fe, my Mom insisted that we visit this gallery.
Art Gallery in Sante Fe
Last year while in Sante Fe, my Mom insisted that we visit this gallery.
Last year while in Sante Fe, my Mom insisted that we visit this gallery.
What I"m Reading
I remembered quite a few years ago when I was working at an advertising agency I met Ruth. She came in to talk about Gourmet magazine. She ordered food from Campanile and inspired me with her words about food and travel. I was hooked. When I got to sit next to her at lunch I quizzed her about how she managed to go to all those restaurants in NY and eat all that food. She told me she took lots of friends and ziplock baggies. It was a the beginning's of my love for food and travel. Every year Gourmet put out an issue on a city somewhere in the world. When the Paris issue came out I even took with me to the city of lights. I was able to navigate the plethora of cafes and restaurant's thru Gourmet's point of view. Sadly the economy and Conde Nast have brought this great magazine to an end.
So long Gourmet, but we can't wait for the next journey of Ms. Reichl, it's sure to be interesting.
End of Summer Haiku
The last few days at the beach
Chill is in the air
It is definitely Fall
Time to start baking
California Living
The whole team met for cocktails and each of us had to bring pieces of the dinner and appetizers. We drank "champers" (for Sam) and "Cosmos," that make you see double (thanks John). For dinner Efren blew us away with his pork loin. He marinated it in a secret sauce (you can get it from Costco) I call this pork loin 7,6,5. It means 7 Minutes on the grill on one side, 6 on the other, 5 resting. Cut and serve with a peach or mango chutney. Delish. Roasted garlic potatoes and greek feta in tomatoes, parsley and basil with a light vinegrette.
Oh and his house, awesome, so beautiful, I'd never leave home if I lived here. If you need anyone to house sit, I'm available, I promise to keep it clean and the pillows fluffed.
Cocktail Party
So C wanted to host a party, specifically a cocktail party. She wanted it to be low maintenance so she hired a caterer. Best idea ever. We mixed our own cocktails, pretty strong too, and got a chocolate fountain for dessert (messing but yummy). Rented tables, printed invites and voila. Party was fun and eclectic, nice mix of friends.
SB says "dude, where are you?"
Spencer, "dude I'm at your house, isn't this where the party is?"
SB, "no dude it's at J's house."
Spencer, "oh"
So he walks 3 blocks home, past the day/dusk workers looking for a job. All the while yelling out to Spencer, "hey senior bond," while is walking down the street at dusk in a tuxedo with a bottle of champagne.
So he finally shows up at J's house, in a Tuxedo. Awesome, I don't think C meant for him to really where it but he was bold enough to make it happen. Loved it, and it made for a great story. Thanks Spence.
AC Milan vs. LA Galaxy
Seriously the very next day after my posh afternoon at the Peninsula hotel we took off for Carson, CA for the AC Milan vs. LA Galaxy soccer or football (for my one British Reader) match. It was one of those hot evenings and SB was none to happy about driving the "parking lot" slash 405 on the evening before we needed to study hard. But I really wanted to see this game, I really wanted to see the players from AC Milan; Inziagi, Ronaldino, Seedorf, Massimo, to name a few. Plus we all knew it was going to be Beckham's first home game since his loan to AC Milan.
The night started off great, good parking (always a plus in L.A.) but really $20 bucks, so ridiculous. When we walk in we all got free baseball caps highlighting the match (why do they always give away baseball hats at non hat wearing sports?)
After that it went south, heres why, we have general admission tickets, I never like that term general admission and now I know why. So the attendant points out the area where we are allowed to sit and since we're early I'm all over getting as close as possible. Well, unfortunately, we were one row off of the general admission area and didn't find this out till during the National Anthem and by this time there were so many people and virtually no empty seats. Meanwhile SB went to get another beer and left me a C to fend for ourselves. C won't move since the guy next to her is razing her about not standing up for the Anthem and I'm yelling at her that we need to move, so I leave her, run up the stairs and seriously start climbing over people to find a seat all the while you hear in the background, "and the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air," (fireworks are literally going off). SB comes back during this mayhem and sees me climbing over people and then running down rows to find a good seat. Once settled we're all rattled, sweating and perturb. Then 4 people come in and squeeze into a 2 space area. Finally the game starts phweeewww, right? NOT.
The 4 people in the 2 seater area start arguing with the people in front that Ronaldino has had too much pasta while playing in Italy. So they start getting mad that these people are slamming one of the worlds best players and yelling back at them , "we know him." I'm thinking, yeah right, you don't know him or why would you be sitting here with us?
Then Beckham comes out and as soon as he touches the ball everyone starts booing him. Gotta love L.A. fans. Everyone is mad about the recently published book that fellow teammate Landon Donovan aired his dirty laundry to the press. Boo him not Beckham, really people Landon went and played for Bayern Munchen during the off season too. He just came back earlier, because he doesn't need to play in Europe to get a place on his National Team. It was a tough night. Beckham got fined that night for calling out a fan who was yelling at him from the stands, Beckham had had it by that time. Now it's been over a month since that game and finally the fans have stopped booing. Such a fickle city to live in. Oh yeah poor Miss LA Galaxy herself gets stuck with the masses in general admission too. WHAT IS WITH THAT! I'm forking out more money next time and enjoying the game with an assigned seat.
Oh yeah the arguers....well they made nice and supposedly went out to the parking lot to smoke a joint. Whatever...
Score was tied 2-2. Not bad against one of the best teams in Europe.
High Tea at Peninsula Beverly Hills
So a couple of weeks ago my friends and I took our friend Ashlee to the Peninsula Hotel for High Tea. Ashlee just got married and we wanted to do something nice for her.
My only complaint for the afternoon is we didn't get to sit in the "Living Room" which is a lovely room, with big comfy shabby chic sofa's and harp playing. We did have our tea outside on the patio which was very pleasant and did allow us to talk a little louder than we would usually.
The sandwichs and desserts were yummy, they even let us have a few extra salmon ones and let us choose what we wanted more of the tier for the vegetarians among us.
The next picture of scones leads me to tell a story of a high tea my friend Miche and I went to at the Four Seasons in Carlsbad California many moons ago. This Four Seasons is a beautiful location and we had a whole weekend to indulge. My friend Miche and I had been to many high teas before so we knew what to expect. However, her mother had never been to a tea.
She said, "I would start with the scones."
Miche and I said, "oh great." As we reach for a scone with our hands....
She says, "Oooohh we're touching, we're touching" and proceeds to pull out silver tongs and gently clutch a scone and place it ever so delicately on a piece of English China.
Miche's mom is mortified. Miche and I nearly fell off the couch dieing laughing. Really who does this. Snobbery can be so hilarious sometimes.
Back to our tea. Peninsula Hotel in Beverly Hills is a must visit tea if your into that kind of thing. It's nice to get dressed up and take a break from the monotony. On our way out of the hotel lobby we saw a line of really nice cars, including a couple of Ferrari's. We got a kick out of a guy unsuccessfully trying to start his engine, embarrassing to say the least, but he and his trophy lady finally got it right just about the same time my keyed Ford Explorer pulled up. Even us "beer" girls can have "champagne" taste.
Peninsula Beverly Hills
9882 S. Little Santa Monica Blvd
Beverly Hills, CA 90212
Studying for 2 weeks
I'm in a school studying for 2 weeks. I have images from the Peninsula Hotel and a rowdy night at the Home Depot Center. Yes I can be sophisticated and sporty. Hey I'm two of the spice girls "Posh" and "Sporty" spice. Which brings me to David Beckham, yes he got booed Sunday night and no I will never buy a General Admission ticket ever again. I know you can't wait to hear it all. Hopefully I can get something up over the weekend when I have a little break.
Fourteen Years and Osteria Mozza
So here's how our week started off. Apparently I was a little bit grouchy the other day about SB's non-enthusiasm regarding dinner at Osteria Mozza. Seriously, he's a foody, you'd think he'd love this. But he's also practical and not the romantic, planning type. But FOURTEEN years deserves a nice dinner at the very least. So when I got home Wednesday afternoon, the above flowers were waiting for me. With this note:
He said: "I wanted you to know that I have a heart."
And he does, the best man ever. He makes me laugh just about everyday, cooks just about every night and cleans (does the dish's, our laundry and scrubs the shower) all while working hard in several jobs with multiple responsibilites. (And yes I do work a 40 hour work week and put in 70 hours of monthly volunteer time, not a lazy wife, we're just a busy couple). He is my best friend and I appreciate him more than words can say. Now enough of the mush...let's get to the eating part.
We did make it to Osteria Mozza. And it was well worth the wait. As it was a last minute reservation it was either 5:30 or 9:30 on a Wednesday night. We choose the old folks hour of 5:30 which was perfect, except the L.A. traffic, which is never ideal.
It took us a long time to figure out what we wanted to order, the menu is daunting. I asked what are Osteria's specialities. We pretty much ordered them all.
The staff recommended the Grilled Octopus with potatoes, celery & lemon. I'm not a big tentacle person, but SB wanted this. And it was perfectly grilled with a lemony flavor. Unexpectedly delightful to the my untrained palate.
Burrata with grilled asparagus, brown butter, guanciale & Sicilian almonds. Who doesn't like bacon and brown butter. YUmmmmm.
I ordered Orecchiette with sausage & swiss chard. This was rich and the bread crumbs added a perfect crunchy texture. I took my time eating this and drinking the red wine which I order by the glass and you get a 1/2 carafe which really amounts to a glass and 1/2.
SB orderd Pan Roasted Halibut con pepe verde, which tasted like it was basted with wine and lots of capers.
Osteria Mozza
6602 Melrose Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90038
1.323.297.0100
Chocolate Kiss Cookies
For our outing at the Hollywood Bowl I knew I had to bake something. So of course I pick one of the hottest days of the summer to bake in a downstairs apartment with no air condition. Smart, right, not so much. Worth it, definitely.
I pulled a recipe from a much coveted down home cookbook given by a long-time friend who I haven't seen in over a decade. It's the much used Dow City - Arion Quasquicentennial Cookbook 1869-1994. Yes that's correct I said "Quasquicentennial" which means the 125th anniversary of this small town in Iowa. All the towns people contributed recipe's for this book. My friend walked me through whose to follow and whose to avoid. I watched her make many of the recipe's myself so I knew this one was a winner.
Chocolate Star Cookies (I use Chocolate Kisses)
1 c. Butter
1 c. Peanut Butter (for this recipe I used creamy Skippy's)
1 c. Sugar
1 c. Brown Sugar, firmly packed
2 eggs, beaten
4 T. milk
2 tsp vanilla
3 1/2 c. flour
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
Additional granulated sugar
1 pkg of chocolate star or kisses)
Cream butter, peanut butter, sugar and brown sugar; add eggs, milk and vniall. Sift together dry ingredients, except additional sugar and candies; add to butter mixture. Shape into balls; roll in sugar and place on cookie sheet. Bake at 375 degrees for 8 minutes. Remove from oven and press and chocolate star or kiss on each cookie until the cookie cracks around the edge. Return to oven for 5 minutes. (Recipe contributed by Annie and Jana Sitzmann)
Ray LaMontagne, Jenny Lewis, Blizten Trapper @ Hollywood Bowl
On our way out we ended up being parked right behind the bowl. They had the doors open pulling all the instruments off the stage. We ran took a picture and jump into our nice ride. Now everyone thinks we're somebody and well we are, just not the flashy, no choney, bliztd celebs of the day. In fact it was four women have a good evening together laughing all the way home.
Make the bowl a destination this summer if you can, even the bus ride is a blast if you go that route. But can't deny the luxury of a box seat and a little valet parking.
Some images courtesy of Deborah Justine, camera stealer and Holga photographer.
Happy 2nd Anniversary
A DJ spins music till it get's nice a dark.
This evening we had a great DJ spinning groovy tunes. As it get's darker they start projecting old movie posters on the mausoleum wall. At about 8:50PM it was tribute to Farrah Fawcett, old classic movies. At 8:55PM the DJ spun a tribute to the King of Pop.
Hollywood Forever Cemetery
6000 Santa Monice Blvd at Gower
Intelligentsia - Venice Coffee Bar
Finally I got to visit this place. The other SoCal location is in Silver Lake, but I never get that way, so I was super happy it opened on Abbot Kinney in Venice.
Though it took a while for them to open the space is modern and cool
The barista's take there time and are very attentive to each and every guest, so it's not for someone in a hurry. As you can see in the guest book above a few people left because it was too slow. The line on Saturday was out to the door to the sidewalk. Meanwhile Abbot's Habit was very quiet, I would be really upset if that placed closed because on Intelligentsia. But it's the new spot, so we all want to check it out.
I do have to say the coffee is really good and the pour is art in itself.
If you have the time check it out.
The croissant and chocolate almond brioche were delish.
If you don't have the time to visit the artful coffeebar then run down the street to Abbot's Habit. There you can check out the art on the wall, drink a cup-o-joe, order a tofu muffin (seriously good) or some Rosemary Toast and sit outside with the local's and their canine friends.
Intellgentsia Venice Coffeebar
1331 Abbot Kinney Blvd.
Venice, CA 90291
La Grande Orange
I think I'm addicted to the color "Orange." I regularly read L.A.'s Daily Candy and get the weekend updates on things to do in L.A. So for literally 5 days I had been trying to go to the new Intellentgensia Coffee shop on, you guessed it, Abbot Kinney. Well they must have delays to get it opened despite the promotion on Daily Candy. So C and I took a Tuesday detour to another place I have yet to try, La Grande Orange on Main Street in Santa Monica.
This place is always packed at night but when we drive by in the morning we parked right in front and walked in the dining room which was pretty cool even though it was a bit dark for morning. They have only been open about 2 weeks at this point.
It was not what we had in mind for a cup of coffee and a small breakfast.
Pastries and coffees a galore.
I had a Havana latte, and believe it or not I added sugar in it before tasting it. Seriously what kind of Cuban am I if I can't remember that a Havana (should be spelled Habana) latte's (or Cafe con leche) has LOADS of sugar. Seriously with the coffee and my amazing scone I was having a sugar rush.
Check out the blackberries in this scone. Mega berry.
Outdoor patio with you guessed it
C loved this place so much she back that night for dinner and said it was amazing.
La Grande Orange
2000 Main St
Santa Monica, CA 90405
(310) 396-9152
Elect-a-Guru
3 Square Cafe
I drive up and down Abbot Kinney Blvd in Venice, California on a daily basis. I rarely get to park, as parking in L.A. is so not fun. But this past week I found a primo parking space and went from store to store to explore. I use to live in Venice over 15 years ago, back then it was a artsy sleepy beach town with an edgy interior and all the eclectic people that make this place unique.
Now for the first part of my rant: Why aren't people as friendly anymore? Venice has change so much, with all the new money moving in, people have lost their sense of small neighborhood talk. When I lived in Venice, I knew all my neighbors. Across the street were the four channels, an apartment building with four windows that faced us. On any given day someone would be hanging out the window strumming an acoustic guitar or in another "channel" changing into beachware for a quick run to the boardwalk. Next door was a lovable man, who also liked to get drunk and listen to Tina Turner "We don't need another Hero" (Thunderdome). He always watched out for us with all the crack addicts roaming the streets at night. I still giggle thinking of this man listening to that particular song.
And the second part of my rant: While visiting the 3 Square Cafe on Abbot Kinney and San Juan at 9:30a.m. on Memorial Day, we were told that the would only serve Brunch and not breakfast. Tell me if I'm wrong but isn't Brunch suppose to be breakfast and lunch so thus shouldn't it be served closer to the lunch hour, say 11a.m.? Oh and our waiter was so not friendly (which reverts to my original rant) and didn't seem even entertain our breakfast quandary. We considered leaving, but stood the course and order from the side menu.
The ironic thing about this two part rant is I know I'll keep going to Venice and eating at these places, despite the unfriendliness and the early brunches. There is still an artsy side to it despite the gentrification of the place. Here's to hoping people start saying "hello" more often and being a bit more neighbourly.
Orange You Glad It's Friday
Many years ago I painted my kitchen nook orange. Immediately the conversation place in the house was the tiny kitchen nook. I loved it when I painted it with Sanre and still do. Here's to one of my favorite colors....
Blue Monday
Cuba a Bittersweet Tale - Part VI
Everyday as we sat in Abuelo's home I had the opportunity to view many acts of kindness. One day a neighbor came by and kissed all the family on the cheek and then proceeded to give Abuelo and Berty a hair cut. No money was exchanged, just a cut and conversation. Then she left. Luis who took Dad and I everywhere came by and gave Berty a shave on the patio.
And then there is Rosa who has spent many years taking care of Abuelo and Berty, cooking, cleaning and just being a care giver to our family, extraordinarly kind.
Abuelo who struggled to get up from the pain he was enduring and settle in his chair.
Dad sitting down to converse with Abuelo, read a letter together, attempting to explain the last 40 years of his life. How do you do that in 2 weeks. Craziness.
These are the portraits from those days that I just sat and watched these interchanges.
The innocence of children when there are no video games, TV, cell phones, text messaging is truly amazing. These kids would play baseball in the pouring rain, and I mean a torrential downpour, then they'd get a donkey pulled cart and ride around the block.
And then the innocense changes, as soon as I snapped this photograph I walked back into my grandfather's house. Out of no where one of these little boys came flying in the house and grabbed my camera, it was so lightening fast I didn't have time to react, however everyone else did, and I never let my camera down again, no matter where I was.
One thing I learned about myself, and any future photography career I wanted to have is that I am not cut out for photo journalism. On one of these observation days I was standing on the porch, this kid walked by a neighbor's house on is way home. Apparently he owed them some money for something, but didn't pay up. This was two teenagers arguing at a door. But then this older man with a huge belly and no shirt comes out and starts yelling at this kid, who knows what, the dialog was too fast. Then this kid walks away and grabs a brick. He takes the brick and runs up to this older mand and slams the guy in the head. Blood starts coming out profusely, down his face and large tanned belly. Everyone now jumps in to stop this situation, kids and adults a like. All this happened right in front of me and was incredibly violent, I went to snap a picture and then froze, I got scared as everyone was extremely edgy. Dad pulled me in the house and a never got a photo of the incident, but it's seared into my mind and that solidfied my non-existent photo journalism career, left to a life as a part-time blogger.
Potato Leek Soup
So today I had one of those Julie and Julia moments, though not as well written. I was out in Venice and stopped at one of the many local farmers markets. I decided to pick what was fresh, in season and just looked good. I choose a long white to pale green leek and a bag of fingerling potatoes. Then a quick phone call to SB to ask him to look at Ina Garten's potato leek soup recipe so I could get the missing ingredients. Cream and creme fraiche, arugula, I forgot the arugula, although I thought I had some at home. Yeah no. So I did without the "color" and got home to chop up the potatoes and leeks and seasoned them with salt, pepper and olive oil.
Ok so here's where I'm crazy. We have an event tomorrow, my hair must be dyed, yeah I hate when I start showing any greys. So I do this while I'm roasting veggies for 40 minutes. Then I wait the needed 20 minutes, for the hair dye, and watch a Champion League soccer match. Buzzer rings, for my hair, not my veggies. I sure take my time getting in the shower thinking I'm being so efficient. Not so much, seriously as soon as I turn the shower on SB comes in "hey there is a timer going off, what's that for?" Aaacccckkk. Dye in the hair, shaving and washing to be done, so I say, with frustration at my poor time management, "take them out, oh no, please flip the p&l's and I'll hurry up and finish my meal." Now I'm rushing, I quickly finish a not so relaxing shower and grab my clothes and bee-line it for the kitchen.
I take the sheet pan out and light up two burners, I add wine and chicken stock to the pan, but there aren't really any good bits that she described to scrape up. I grab my food processor and in batches I puree the veggies while adding chicken stock, and then into a stock pot. I had to add more chicken stock then I thought as it was way to thick for soup. I bit of heavy cream, creme fraiche and parmesan cheese (I used pecorino, seriously, that's all I had) and simmer till the soup is warm and everything is incorporated. I have to say it was quite tasty. I needed to add a pinch more of salt. However, next time I'll try to remember the arugula as I think a bit more color and another flavor might be good. I ate this with a glass of wine and a couple of slices of rosemary La Brea bakery toasted bread, drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with salt.
Thankfully nothing burned during my multi-tasking moment. I do have to say at the very moment I sat down to eat this soup we had a nice little 4.4 earthquake that had my heart going. And, as all seasoned Californians, we keep on sipping our wine and go one with the task at hand.
Oh and the hair, it'll do. That is until the budget allows for a real hair salon visit and a proper hair style. This is not Mastering the Art of French Cooking, or styling by Rachel Zoe, but Ina's a good place to start if your wanting to cook great easy meal.
