favorite sweater

wearing mine as i type - though it's now getting a bit too warm and a tank top is soon in order.
have a hot and cozy weekend! 

apron springs

i never wear an apron when i cook or bake. okay, i don't cook often, but still... when i do, there is always an inevitable splash or splatter or squirt and stain that ends up on my shirt or pants and i always kick myself for my inherited lazy stubbornness. so when i finally do get around to purchasing one (soon, really), los angeles based hedley and bennett's  gorgeous classic aprons are the ones i covet more than any other. they are functional, affordable and incredibly handsome. yes, handsome. 

best backyard table

i have no idea who designed this table or where i found this picture - it was sitting in the "need to clean up/research" folder on my desktop. but i know i kept the image for a reason - i want this table (or a similar variation of it) in my backyard, if and when i have a back yard. the cut out middle gutter is genius for ice or flowers or candles or condiments and just to be cheeky and show off my awesome table, i would place shucked oysters along with the bottles of wine at my inaugural welcome to my backyard party.

tar & roses

my current favorite local restaurant and one of the hardest reservations to get in town is tar & roses in santa monica. their locally sourced, seasonal menu is perfect in every way and the only flaw (besides having to call several weeks in advance for a decent reservation time) is that a lot of the menu items sells out early. (we missed out on the squid ink taglietelle w/octopus and the cauliflower w/white anchovy last time we ordered @8:30 pm. but here is the list of the deliciousness we did get to feast on along with a couple of pictures before it all disappeared.   

king trumpet mushrooms w/soft egg, rosemary and chili de arbol

wood roasted potatoes w/garlic and spicy tomato aioli

wood roasted eggplant w/romesco and burrata 

ricotta gnocchi w/asparagus, favas and pea tendrils

kurobuta pork tenderloin w/creamed corn, kale and smoked peach

whole fried snapper w/cold soba noodles and dipping sauce

homemade chocolate bar w/roasted hazelnuts and salted caramel ice cream 

music monday - moby w/patti labelle

i'm not particularly fond of patti labelle, but this moby version had me hooked when i heard it behind the wheel on the pch last week. 

and the oscar goes to...

i'll have to wait until january for mira nair's the reluctant fundamentalist, but i am more than ready for some serious oscar buzz worthy films that have just, and soon will be, arriving to a theatre near you! 
pass the (unbuttered) popcorn please and have a star studded weekend!

debt collector

in his latest rolling stone magazine cover story, matt taibbi clearly and insightfully explains just how mitt romney made his millions with bain capital- by creating debt. "This is the plain, stark reality that has somehow eluded America's top political journalists for two consecutive presidential campaigns: Mitt Romney is one of the greatest and most irresponsible debt creators of all time." if you read one new story this week, let this be it.

once upon a time...the end.

i could read and get lost in lists like this and this all day long.

quinoa (or bulgur) corn salad

i made a slightly modified version of  this easy, tasty recipe yesterday. i didn't have quinoa, so i used bulgur instead. i also substituted a package of micro-arugula for the cabbage, lessened the olive oil to about 1/3 of a cup (or less) and left out the cucumbers because i find that they make day old salad (there was plenty for left overs) too soggy. It is a perfect, versatile summer salad meal or side dish, specially when tomatoes and corn are in season, and i just couldn't put my fork down (yes, i considered adding a fried egg to a serving this morning)!

music monday - the xx (yes, again)

i realize i posted a new xx song a few weeks ago and i apologize for the redundancy. so, although i could easily spend the next dozen monday's posting each one of their just released songs -  i'll settle for this one, swimming in my head for the past few days.

need a drink

i'm feeling a bit overwhelmed and nauseous with all the news of turmoil and hate and stupidity and anger coming out of the middle east this morning (mostly stirred up by hate and stupidity originating right here on our shores). but this little cartoon put a little knowing smile back on my face - sometimes you do just have to step back and take a breath (or a sip)!

have a delicious wine glass half full, never empty, weekend! 

1966 pancakes

in 1966, new york times food writer, craig clairborne,  published a recipe for pancakes which he had eaten at david eyre's house in honolulu. 40 years later, the recipe is still being made, shared and blogged about - personalized versions of an easy perfect meal, served for decades, and one which i'm eagerly attempting to master once i finally get my hands on my very own cast iron skillet.

*photo graphic via the nytimes.com

no i.d. = no vote

there are lots of problems with the way we run our elections - but voter impersonation, is not one of them! click here to read and see a great short new york times op-ed piece by mo rocca on the latest attempt by our right leaning elected officials to fix something that frankly is not broken and will serve no purpose other than to make it harder for about 5 million members of the (mostly left leaning) 99% to cast a vote in this coming november elections. smell something fishy?

tom ford

if i happen to win the $120 million mega lottery tonight, my fifth stop after the bank, urasawa, the real estate and travel agents will be the tom ford makeup counter. tawny pink, bitter bitch and cocoa mirage are just some of the gorgeous colors for the just around the corner fall season and tom ford's new makeup line proves once again that he can do no deep pocketed woman (and perfect man's suit) wrong!

music monday - daughter

sunny monday morning + coffee + this song = not a bad start. 
gorgeous - just listen. 

i can't see clearly now

well, it's happened. i turned 40 and now i need reading glasses. seemingly overnight, the ingredients written on food packages, small menu's in dimly lit restaurants and small fonts on my laptop became blurry and hazy. with my contact lenses off, i'm still a visionary microscope, but with them on during the day, i am the one you see squinting, frowning and moving the itsy-bitsy type back and forth. 
so, determined not to become the lady with glasses hanging around her neck (just yet) i've been on a mission to find cool and inexpensive reading glasses. after disastrous visits to a couple of drug stores my quest has led me to eyebobs and warbyparker. both brands have tons of perfectly fun and chic styles and most are priced under $100. guess where i'll be store locating myself to tomorrow?
have a clearly focused weekend!

dragon fruit

this little guy was in season at the farmers market last week, and though the taste is not as exotic as the colors would have you think (think sweet asian pear or kiwi), dragon fruit (also know as pitaya) is the most gorgeous shade of fruit that i've come upon in these here parts.

reality check

unless you have gone completely off the grid here, you no doubt have read and heard all about how missouri representative (and republican senate candidate) todd akin, commented to a st. louis television station about 3 weeks ago, when asked about his stance on abortion in case of pregnancy after rape. "It seems to be, first of all, from what I understand from doctors, it’s really rare. If it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut the whole thing down.”  wow! how a man can make such a ridiculously ignorant and medically impossible statement in 2012 is beyond belief - your average caveman had a better grasp on biology. yet although almost all his party has come out against their latest poster boy and called for akin to drop out of the november race, 3 days later, most of these same republicans approved the platform for the republican convention that calls for a constitutional amendment outlawing abortion with no explicit exceptions for cases of rape or incest.  

as a woman, i'm offended, appalled and frightened at the prospect of such dark aged, asinine dogma becoming the law of the land. but then, i read something as powerful and amazing as eve ensler's reply to mr. akin via the huffington post and i am reminded that sanity still has a pretty articulate and vibrant voice. 

fig financier

it's peak fig season in these here parts and the farmers markets are bursting with local green, brown and black beauties (not to mention all the neighborhood trees). ripe figs are one of my most favorite fruits and the perfect bookend to summer fruit season. the new york times had a nice feature on figs last week and an easy recipe for fig hazelnut financiers, which were as delicious as i imagined them to be after i baked my first yummy batch (dozens more to come, trust me) this past holiday weekend.