happy halloween

scary stuff!

woman hold up half the sky

i read nick kristof and sheryl wudunn's book, half the sky last year and found it passionate, brilliant, powerful and an eye-opening call to arms. 
now i'm looking forward to checking out the new exhibit, women hold up half the sky, inspired by the book, opening this weekend at the skirball cultural center. 

have an unexpectedly enlightening weekend. 

wtf headlines...

occasionally, actually often, i read a news article that baffles and angers and topples and reinforces my assertion that our government's domestic and foreign policy is heading down a slippery slope.
here are a couple of recent articles from the los angeles and new york times -  one about this country's ridiculous stance on the overdue bid for palestinian statehood and another on the ongoing ignorantly frightening efforts to ban a woman's right to choose. .

(bernat armangue/ap photo)

fungi dinner

i had a couple of friends over for dinner last night and made this yummy pasta from a recipe i found online. it's an easy, fresh, delicious, chilly weather dinner made with an assortment of wild mushrooms and the best quality ricotta cheese you can get your hands on.
belly warming deliciousness.

père pépin

my parents never worshiped any god or attended any church. they had more important and better ideals and concerns to pass down to their kids.

my father preached the importance of current events and politics and knowing and caring about what was going on half way around the world. my mother, well my mother baptised my brother and i in her kitchen. she bestowed upon us a curious palate and a great deep love for food - high quality, fresh ingredient, simply made, beautifully presented and brilliantly delicious food. she worshiped jacques pepin and julia child and lidia bastianich and practiced what they preached daily in her kitchen. she would sit, notepad in hand, watching pbs in the afternoon, taking notes as her apostles led the way. she learned from them how to make and master the most amazing everything and to this day, there has not been a single home kitchen that has produced in my opinion, the perfect meals that hers did. 

i have 3 of her jacques pepin cookbooks now, our families version of the passed down bible.

here is a recent new york times article about the master himself, and here are a couple of his classic cookbooks that hold a great many of my mother's secrets.   

music monday - agent orange

the u.s. is apparently pulling all it's troops out of iraq by the end of this year. so what better song for a monday than this brilliant beat ...welcome home boys and girls, sorry your country got most of it wrong...


"i threw a rock and i ran .... they bagged dad for what he's worth....and you're going to ask me who's sane...?" 

the english patient

i devoured this book in a few nights the first time i read it 15 years ago and just recently picked it up again, searching for some favorite lines (there are several in this book). michael ondaatje's haunting masterpiece stayed with me for months, as did the beautifully heartbreaking anthony minghella film adaptation.
anyway, here are the lines i went looking for:


“We die containing a richness of lovers and tribes, tastes we have swallowed, bodies we have plunged into and swum up as if rivers of wisdom, characters we have climbed into as if trees, fears we have hidden in as if caves... I wish for all this to be marked on by body when I am dead. I believe in such cartography - to be marked by nature, not just to label ourselves on a map like the names of rich men and women on buildings. We are communal histories, communal books. We are not owned or monogamous in our taste or experience.”  - m. ondaatje

have a literary perfect weekend!

per se

this is per se restaurant. 
this is last night's menu. 
this is their 4 star review in last weeks new york times.
this is their tasting menu dessert finale.

that sound you hear (yep, that sound) is my mouth watering and my stomach grumbling. 

this is an important addendum to my "last meal" blog entry from a couple of weeks ago.

snail mail

the romantic, jane austen, george sand and anais nin reading dreamer in me longs for the good ol' days of  handwritten letters, smelling of paper and ink, perfectly folded and sealed and delivered by a bike peddling post man.
here is a letter written by johnny cash to his wife june from a nice little website dedicated to the long lost art of the long distance letter.

a (apple) + a (architect )

apple's iconic glass and light filled retail stores are another lasting steve jobs legacy. here is an article about his collaboration with the architecture firm, bohlin cywinski jackson, who continue to design the growing list of 30+ apple stores worldwide.

and here is the link to bcj's website, showcasing some of the most gorgeously designed residences of the past couple of decades.

*photos courtesy of bcj.com

music monday -gotye

this song should be played at a high volume, preferably while driving down your favorite scenic, winding and empty road as the sun sets. 

*warning - late 1980's flashbacks of driving on the gw parkway or river road may ensue. 

la la lights

this short video by colin rich captures some of the nocturnal beauty of the city i've called home for almost a decade now.

have a magical, light and motion filled weekend.

heath

these classic, simple beauties from heath ceramics would make each sip of a morning cup of joe or afternoon espresso (with a little sweet accompaniment of course) more divine.
don't get me started on heath's tiles, house numbers, vases or kitchen towels - almost everything that comes out of their sausalito california factory is worthy of its very own blog entry!

seafood with clooney

dinner - an always delicious seafood feast at the hungry cat which included these little lovely fresh out of the ocean santa barbara sea urchins.

and a movie

based on the play farragut north by former hillary clinton aide beau willimon, the film falls a bit short in the depth and complexity department. But, despite the fact that it does not fully deliver as either a political thriller or moral fable, it is a gorgeously shot film - filled to the rim with amazingly great actors doing what they do best - which itself is worth your price of admission. 

passion(fruit)

i discovered the magical deliciousness of the passion fruit on my first trip to brazil over 13 years ago (and i love the portuguese word for the fruit, maracuja). it is the loveliest and most fragrant of tropical fruits and to this day i can't forget my first sip of the life changing nectar and the delicious grilled 'peixe tropical ao molho de maracuja' served at restaurante aprazivel in rio. 

passion fruits are pretty hard to come by in these parts, so imagine my jump for joy delight when i saw them at my local grocers this past weekend and got 3 perfectly ripe beauties from mp, courtesy of the santa monica farmers market. 
i threw myself a maracuja party on sunday; mixing the fragrant pulp with butter, spread over crusty bread for breakfast and later made this yummy moist passion fruit pound cake from an old washington post recipe. 
the plan is to go to the farmers market tomorrow morning, buy the whole lot and stock up for winter. passion fruit hoarders! 

music monday - cactus

suggestion for a good monday morning - pick a favorite team leader for your pandora playlist and go about your morning as all your favorite tunes come streaming in. this monday morning i picked new order and got in return one of my favorite pixies tunes... 
now if only i could get my hands on some tickets to their sold out show at the music box on november 19th. 

eggstatic

i could, and maybe should, start some sort of  blog dedicated to my love for eggs and how almost every meal could be made more delicious with an egg on top. eggs on toast, eggs on salad, eggs on pizza, eggs on pasta, eggs on rice...you get my point. 
well, my taste bud twin is obviously onto something and has written this little list of la's 10 best egg topped dishes for the huffington post. 
have a sunny, side up weekend!

photos courtesy of waterlooandcity.com

a singular voice

there are 317 apple patents with steve jobs's name attached to them and it really is a fitting memorium to his life changing, transforming and innovative legacy that i, and millions of people around the world, found out about his passing yesterday on a product he designed. almost all (if only there was an apple audi) the technology i love and own and use on a daily basis was created and designed and brought to i can't live without life by steve jobs's genius and revolutionary vision. 

i watched this video and read about half a dozen articles on his life, legacy and illness last night and felt compelled to mourn and celebrate the life and passing of the greatest creative thinker and innovator of our lifetime - i think the onion front page this morning said it best, "last american who knew what the fuck he was doing dies..."

ithink we're all thinking different now...

fall films

i haven't been to the movie theatre since june but oscar worthy film season is just around the corner and i can't wait to catch all of these films and documentaries coming soon to a theatre near us...i'm thinking i need to join some sort of movie of the week club.

     

    

last supper

this past sunday, the new york times magazine issue was dedicated to all things food (and drink). the magazine featured sections on health, restaurants, cooking, culture and my favorite - chefs, food writers, and restaurant owners talking about what they would want to eat as their last meal.  
my last meal could easily be almost any of their choices or a dozen oysters or pieces of jaw dropping sushi, a mario batali cacio e pepe or a home cooked plate of steaming sour cherry rice (with lots of the crispy tahdig). but at the end of the day i think i would decide on perfectly scrambled or poached eggs served on fresh crusty bread with triple cream soft cheese, a few slices of juicy tropical fruit and a fresh baked warm scone with jam, all washed down with a perfectly pulled cup of joe. yes, my last supper would be breakfast, what else!
what would you choose for your last supper?

music monday - beirut

this monday's music selection is brought to you by a catchy little beirut tune which for some unknown reason i had in my head all yesterday - sunday morning coffee, toast and jam soundtrack by a great band who happens to be playing here in town at the greek theatre tomorrow night. if you wish to listen to the original album version of the street rendition below, click here.