soups on

its cloudy and drizzly here in sunny socal today - a perfect day to find yourself slurping on one of the ten best soups in los angeles according to the la weekly.  what better way than to warm your tummy and prep it for all the turkey holiday week feasting that's about to happen next week!
have a warm bowl of a weekend!

*photo's via laweekly.

bond

james bond, via daniel craig and skyfall had it's highest grossing opening weekend this past week. I was a contributing ticket buyers - money gladly and perfectly spent. my favorite james bond film? maybe not, but one of the best i've seen in recent memory which only makes me think i really need to get my hands on the just released 50th anniversary bond box set and hold a 22 film screening marathon. 

stuffed quinoa peppers

another delicious and healthy hit from the vegetarian times. this recipe made more than a dozen peppers, enough to freeze and save for a later date. my yummy batch lasted over a month and came to the rescue for half a dozen last minute lunches and dinners. 

alder & co.

i could throw a dart and love any alder & co. item that i land on. every item at this oregon store is beautifully crafted, thoughtfully selected and simply gorgeous. 

vine foods

not surprisingly, californians rejected proposition 37 at the polls this week - refusing the mandatory labeling of genetically modified foods. thanks to the over $45 million spent on anti prop 37 commercials by monsanto and other massive corporate food giants, california voters were (falsely) scared into thinking that their food prices and taxes would sky rocket and local farmers would go out of business. voting sheep being blindly led to slaughter.
i've been making an effort in the past couple of years to read food labels and make a concerted effort to know where exactly the products i use and the food i eat are  coming from and what exactly is going into them. vine.com is a great source for natural, organic and green products - all one click away and delivered free to your door.
have a genetically modified free weekend!

storm and the city

new york magazine dedicated their latest issue to sandy's effects on the city. there are some great articles along with an amazinv cover photo, showing manhattan and the divided city's power supply. 

singing in the rain room

we don't see a lot of rain here in sunny socal, so when i came across this awesome london art installation, i found myself craving an afternoon of listening to thunder and jumping over puddles. a rain soaked weekend in london somehow seems lovely right about now - a perfect post election day for singing in the rain! 

go vote!

i'm heading out to vote this morning...and for the first time, feel anxious and slightly nauseous about the impending results.
stay tuned....

awesome art by oliver jeffers.

music monday -feist

this whole daylight savings, fall back time thing has me hungry for dinner at 6, ready for bed at 9 and up at dawn.  this song somehow just fits this morning. 

thai brussels sprouts

ok, so i've never been a big fan of brussels sprouts. they were always far too bitter and chewy and never part of the rotation of vegetables we ate as kids. well, now, brussels sprouts are on almost every new gastropub and restaurant menu in town. marinated and roasted until they are charred and crispy -  the new must have menu item can be actually quite delicious! so when i came across this easy momofuku recipe, i had to give it a go. i skipped the puffed rice and can officially report now that brussels sprouts (prepared the right way) deserve their current place in the culinary trend sun!
have a crispy and tasty weekend! 

petite cocoa batons

my current sweet snack obsession: