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:

the choice is clear

6 days and counting - just in case you still have doubts, read the new yorker's endorsement of obama, along with the one issued by the new york times this past weekend.

sandy

devastating eerie pictures courtesy of the new york times. 
hope everyone on the east coast is safe, dry and enjoying a cozy board game and good book day at home.  

  

music monday - la light

the music is nice, but the video has me transfixed. home sweet home...

roc star

instead of yet another noodle or sushi spot, a void has been filled on the west side and there is no longer a need to drive all the way to the san gabriel valley for delicious dumplings (well, maybe once a year). roc star soft opened this week on sawtelle, and if the long line and 45 minute wait is any indication, it's going to be a huge neighborhood hit by the time it's official signage and doors go up in a couple of weeks. in addition to these crab and pork babies, we had amazing glass noodles w/crab and an assortment of fresh and cripy stir fried veggies, each better than the next. this is one roc star that the neighbors are lucky to have!
have a steamy, yummy weekend!

vitsoe

i've been feeling slightly cluttered in our little apartment and have been dreaming of having an entire wall of shelves and drawers and storage - all perfectly designed by vitsoe. the 606 universal shelving system is timelessly simple and adapts to every space imaginable. i've been imagining it on all my walls recently - their catalogue is on the way.

avocado chimichurri

my current home cooked meal recipes have mostly come from the pages of a great magazine i recently discovered while in line at whole foods. vegetarian times has great,  fresh and easy recipes - most healthy and so far, all delicious. this delicious avocado chimichurri toast was lunch yesterday (and appetizers the night before)!

the politics of it all

the last of the 3 presidential debates aired last night - and instead of feeling informed, i was instead made nauseous - like bad reality tv. 
the 2 weeks left until election day couldn't come fast enough....

*image via aslan media

music monday - cat power

the latest cat power album, sun, was released las month and is currently on heavy rotation on my spotify playlist. you can download her first single, cherokee, free on her website as well as listen to my ruin, my current favorite track.

zucchini rice gratin

i made a slight variation of this yummy stick to your tummy dish last week, when the weather turned chilly and the oven being on for an hour at 450 degrees was actually a good thing.
have a tasty rich weekend!