Belvita and a smoothie

I just came back from an audition for Belvita.  I was really excited because it is rare that I get to audition for anything that I would actually want to endorse.  But man, i love those crackers!  have you had them?  Go now and run to the store and get yourself a box.  I'll wait...

Delicious, right?  Somewhere between a graham cracker and a Biscoff, with seeds and whole grains in it so it doesn't feel so much like a cookie.  Generally, i don't make breakfast so I live on these, drinkable yogurts from Trader Joe's and smoothies in the morning.  Speaking of smoothies, i have some leftover chiffonade of greens from last night's salad so I threw them in my Ninja blender (an amazing tool for the kitchen that doesn't take up too much space!)
http://www.amazon.com/Ninja-Kitchen-System-Pulse-Blender/dp/B005GYRXA0/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1364496783&sr=8-6&keywords=food+processor+ninja

I added half an apple, some coconut water, a spoonful of peanut butter, flaxseeds and a few ice cubes.  It looks like vomit, but is actually very good.  i highly recommend saving any extra undressed salad and throw in a handful anytime you make a smoothie.

But back to Belvita--I am panicked that Fresh and Easy is going to stop carrying them.  When I first found them, they were displayed prominently at eye level.  As the months have gone by, they have migrated further down the shelf and are now just a toe kick for the cracker aisle.  Buy them, people! And if you don't like them, send them my way!

No cooking for tonight. As the last part of my birthday present, Hubs is taking me to see Billy Bragg.  I love him.  Both Hubs and Billy.  He was one of the first concerts I ever saw and his patter is hilarious. He is just so damn good live! The  "Back to Basics" cassette was the soundtrack to my junior year of high school.  It's been a few years since the last time I saw him, and I have never seen him with my husband, so I am extra excited!  Beforehand, we are going to a Spanish gastropub in Koreatown for dinner--my premium for donating to KCRW.  Support your local NPR station, folks.

City Council Sandwiches

My neighbor called me in a panic this morning.  There was a city council meeting about a development at the bottom of our street in six hours.  We live in a cute little enclave in the hills of Echo Park, but there is only one way in and one way out.  The roads are narrow and when there was a fire at the top of the hill last year, it raged out of control when the firetrucks couldn't make it all the way up to the building.  They had to do several helicopter airdrops and by the time the fire was out, the house was destroyed.  On top of that, there is no fire hydrant on our block, so we are appealing to city council in the hopes that they will make the developer widen the streets and install a hydrant since they will be adding so many new residents to the area.  My neighbor didn't want to be the only one to speak at the meeting so she begged me to come.  That would take a sizable chunk out of my day, but I had a plan B in my fridge.  There was enough dough for a small loaf of apricot bread.  I had leftover pork butt roast and some good blue cheese.  Voila! a lovely sandwich.  Paired with a chiffonade of kale and chard from my neighbor's garden and dinner was served.  I dressed the salad with flax seed oil and meyer lemon, a pinch of salt and a grind of pepper.  Not a bad for a Plan B.

As for the city council meeting, they pushed another agenda ahead of ours and we spent two hours there before we had to leave.  We never even got to speak.  However, there was some choice people watching--A chubby doctor in hooker heels, ankle tattoo and a skin tight skirt, an elderly lady with the loudest ringtone ever which she couldn't turn off, a high schooler with pink hair clearly on assignment for school.  I highly suggest checking out your neighborhood city council meeting; just bring sandwiches.

Kale Carbonara

I've got a busy day today.  Three auditions in three different parts of the city all spaced about 2 hours apart, just short enough to not make the drive home worth it, but long enough to give me time to kill.  Then on tuesday nights I play volleyball, so I'll have to go straight there.  We went out to dinner last night with the hubs' friend from out of town. (Scallop burrito from Senor Fish-holla!) We also went out to eat all this past weekend.  I hate the idea of eating out so often, so although I would usually just tell hubs that he was on his own for dinner tonight, I made a quick and semi-healthy dinner instead. He can heat it up when he gets home.


Kale Carbonara

Start boiling a large heavy pot of salted water.  While waiting for that to come up to temperature, chop up four slices of bacon into small pieces and brown them in a skillet.  Finely dice a small onion and add it to the pan once most of the fat has been rendered but before the bacon is too dark.  Once the onion is translucent, turn the heat to low.  Chiffonade a big bunch of kale (or chard or spinach or any leafy green that can stand up to boiling water).  When the water begins to boil, throw in the greens and pasta.  I used brown rice fusilli, but any pasta works.  Boil until al dente.  While waiting, lightly beat two eggs in in a small bowl and shred a bunch of parmesean. (I used pre grated--about half a cup--I ain't ashamed!)  Reserve a cup of the pasta water and drain the pot.  Immediately throw everything back into the pot. I take about half of the pasta water and mix it with the eggs and then stirring the pasta and greens vigorously, pour the egg mixture into the pasta.  The heat of the noodles and the residual heat of the pot should cook the eggs and turn it into a creamy sauce.  Throw in the cheese and the bacon and onion.  Stir and there you have a really quick one pot meal that even a husband that hates to cook can easily heat up while you are on the court digging a ball.

Bad Birthday food

I love food.  I think of it like currency.  There is the food you eat to live (salads, whole grains, lean proteins) which is like the money you spend on rent, insurance, gas, etc.  But then there is the food you eat just for fun (dessert! fried chicken! deep dish pizza!) which is more like the money you spend on manicures, cute shoes and vacations.  So eating a bad meal feels like throwing away money both in terms of what I spent on the food itself and the calories I've wasted on crap.  Unfortunately, my birthday weekend was filled with regrettable food.

Now the birthday budino was quite luscious.  That and a room full of my closest friends screaming at the "Magic Mike" dance sequences was a great way to start things off.  (if you haven't seen the film, pay the extra money for the blue ray combo pack which includes the deleted dance sequences.  This is not a fine piece of art, my friends.  But damn, it is fun to watch as long as they aren't talking!) But before that hubby and I had gone out to the local French restaurant for a nice dinner.  Taix is as old school as you can get in LA. It's been around for over 50 year and the waiters are from a bygone era of career waitstaff as opposed to, "Hey, I'm just waiting for my pilot to get picked up then I can quit this job" servers.  But the food was equally dated.  I had the seafood paella.  Paella always sounds good in theory but I have never found it as satisfying as described.  Maybe its because i find saffron to be a little soapy.  or maybe it's because I had just heard the "This American Life" episode about how pig anuses are masquerading as calamari, and there was A LOT of calamari in the paella.  But I didn't enjoy it.

The next day I ate a hasty breakfast of leftovers and left to play a full day of volleyball.  I got back, showered and we headed down to Fullerton for my friend's wedding.  She had alerted me last year that she would be getting married on m birthday so I was prepared.  I knew she spent a ton of money on this and I guess I was just expecting more.  the location--gorgeous.  the dress--beautiful.  the live band--a treat.  but the food was typical terrible wedding food: dried chicken breast stuffed with pebbles of frozen vegetables and a little bit of cheese, a tasteless hunk of white fish in soggy breading, bland rice and unseasoned asparagus.  There weren't even any hot appetizers.  Just some cubed cheese and ritz crackers.  I was starving and appalled.  We've been to two other weddings this year, not counting our own.  Both of them were not as traditional but had awesome food.  I really think the food makes the event.  Have something special, something unique to the couple.  We did a whole roast pig and ten pies that i baked myself.  people are still talking about it.  NOBODY talks about dried out chicken breast a year later.  And worse yet, i was still hungry after all that crappy food.  We left the wedding when they started playing Shania Twain and were going to hit a dumpling place on the way back, but decided instead to try The Hat.  They advertise their "World Famous" pastrami.  Now we live close to Langers, which in my opinion has the tastiest, fattiest, most unbelievably juicy pastrami around town.  But I have driven past the Alhambra location of The Hat many times and have always seen a line.  So i convinced the hubs to give this location a spin.  Mistake.  I should have known.  Is anything ever labeled as "World Famous" ever the best?  The pastrami was like meat flavored loofah and the chili cheese fries we large but dry and flavorless.  I was full, but of shitty food.  Birthday Fail.

Birthday Budino

Tomorrow is my birthday.  However, I have to go to a wedding  so my friend is throwing me a little birthday slumber party tonight.  The gals and I are getting together and watching "Magic Mike" a really awful film except for the dance sequences, which I hear are extended on the Blue Ray combo pack. Woohoo! But awful films are a long standing ritual at slumber parties, so I think it will be perfect.  Many of my friends had birthdays this month as well, including my hubby.  I'm pretty caked out.  So instead of the traditional birthday dessert, I've decided to make the butterscotch budino from Mozza.  A few years ago I took a boyfriend out for his birthday.  Word on the street is that Mozza has the best pizza in LA and so that is where he wanted to go.  $12 for parking and a pre-tip bill of $123.  Now, I have been known to thrown down some ridiculous money for dinner-- Daniel in New York, the late and great Charlie Trotter's in Chicago, Melisse in Santa Monica--but I will never be able to justify $150 for a night of pretty good pizza.  NEVER!  I will say though, that the butterscotch budino dessert was divine.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/09/dining/091mrex.html?_r=0


This dish is salty and sweet, creamy and rich.  I am not and have never been a chocolate girl.  Cathy cartoons confounded me when i was a child. (For her love of chocolate, her clear eating disorder and her insistence on staying with a man who never loved her--but I digress).  But anything salty and sweet can have a place at my table anytime.

The girls are in for quite a treat tonight!

Eating Greek-ish

I'm gonna live forever!  Well, no, but you would think so by reading those goofy Yahoo News non-news items.  I exercise several times a week, follow a generally healthy diet full of olive oil and vegetables, and get 8 hours of sleep a night thanks to my child free life.  However, my joints hurt due to years of volleyball and dance.  I've read that turmeric helps with joint inflammation and at this point I am will to try any sort of snake oil the travelling side show wants to peddle to me.  Today we are going to have a light and civilized meal of chopped vegetables, homemade ricotta, the apricot and ginger bread from The Tipsy baker blog and turmeric yogurt hummus.  Throw a can of rinsed canned garbanzos in the blender with 5 oz of greek yogurt, a teaspoon of turmeric, teaspoon of cumin, and salt to taste. Throw in a tasty salad of greens that my neighbors asked me to pick from their garden while they are on vacation and it's a dinner that will guarantee pain free joints and immortality.

Simple and delicious

Went to bed without dinner but with a serious tummy ache last night.  As someone with a cast iron constitution, this was surprising.  I woke up, however, feeling great, but ate carefully throughout the day--banana smoothie breakfast, leftover brussel spout and kale salad for lunch, some cottage cheese and pineapple for a snack.  By dinner, I felt okay enough to have something more substantial.  I turned to an old favorite: The Spanish Tortilla from Cook's Illustrated.  This is really a lovely and sublime dish that is a cinch to prepare if you have a food processor or mandolin.  I tried to make The Tipsy Baker's milk mayonnaise to accompany it.  She  has referenced it in both her blog and her excellent book, "Make the Bread, Buy the Butter". It kept separating though, so I threw in an egg yolk and it emulsified right away into a delicious and garlicky dip.  Since i already had an extra egg white in the fridge, I used the two egg whites i had with 7 eggs instead of the 8 called for in the recipe.  That made me feel like I could overlook the 6 Tbs of olive oil in the tortilla, plus the incredibly rich and delicious mayo.  A quick side of asparagus quickly cooked in a hot skillet with a little bit of water to steam them (my go-to side dish when i am in a hurry) and a delicious dinner was on the table (coffee table) in no time at all.  I only remembered to photograph it after a few bites, so not as pretty as it could have been, but still tasty!

Downfall: Pie

Trying so hard to be good, but it was the husband's birthday this weekend and he had requested a peanut butter pie, which I made and is pictured above.

The soup was velvety and delicious.  The salad was surprisingly good.  I thought that with all the uncooked vegetables it would be too, well, vegetal.  But slicing the brussel sprouts and kale very thinly helped.  I was feeling so smug about how healthy dinner was.  But pie.  Damn you pie!

Hubby had always proclaimed himself to be a cake man.  He found pies too cloying or pedestrian.  I baked him a cheesecake when we were 15 and in love, and he still remembers it fondly.  However, we broke up when we were 16 and then spent the next 19 years living apart.  When we rediscovered one another, (thanks Facebook!) we found out that we were both living in California--him in SF and me in LA.  Our first year back together we spent dating long distance.  And the times I would go up to see him, I inwardly wept at his bachelor existence.  His bed felt like a prison mattress, his couch (free of course) was torn and lumpy.  And his refrigerator was a cliche--beer, condiments, a few moldy bits of unrecognizable leftovers and supermarket lunch meat.  And so I cooked.

I roasted pork butts, I made mac n cheese, I baked fresh loaves of bread, and since we were still courting, I made him pie.  What my future husband did not know was that I spent my college years perfecting my pie crust, learning exactly how to handle the dough so it is neither too fragile nor too tough.  I seduced him with cream pies, fruit pies, and let's face it...my pie.  ;)

And so my husband is now a pie man.  He requested this particular confection for his birthday this year, eschewing the traditional chocolate cake.  In fact, he also requested that we have wedding pie instead of cake, which we did.

However, there is only the two of us, and this pie calls to us like a mythological siren.  "eat me," she cries out "for I am not done yet!"

We have answered her call, but we split the slice, which makes it okay.  Right?

The tyranny of the daily healthy dinner

I'm procrastinating starting tonight's dinner by starting this blog instead.  I grew up the daughter of Korean immigrants who owned a Chinese restaurant with Peruvian cooks and a gay piano bar in Indiana.  It was a colorful upbringing to say the least. Currently, i live on the Eastside of LA and make my living as an actress.  It's a comfortable, if somewhat unpredictable living.  However, it affords me lots of time to pursue my various interests, the main one being food.

My husband, and childhood sweetheart, has gained a few pounds since moving to LA.  It's the byproduct of a long daily commute (formerly shorter and done on a bike) and my exuberant culinary forays.  I've been trying to cook healthy(er)  on weeknights, while saving the whiz bang lard and bacon dishes for weekends and special occasions.  It bums me out sometimes.

Tonight is monday, and mondays in 2013 have been healthy soups.  I am going to try this cauliflower one with a side of brussell sprout and kale salad.  Super healthy, no?

http://blogs.seattleweekly.com/voracious/2010/10/creamy_cauliflower_soup_from_a.php

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Kale-Brussels-Sprout-Salad-368295?mbid=ipapp