Naomi: Cooking for one and for friends



For years now, even before I wrote the recipes in what I think of as my "static blog," Fiftytworecipesfrommymother, at the request of my children, Sarah and Sam, Sarah had been urging me to keep a daily (more or less) record of my cookings--the meals I make for myself in my (surprisingly) solitary life as well as those I make for friends. For whatever reasons, I've never done it.


But, after months of wandering, I've finally begun. As I haven't quite mastered the art of cooking for one, and love throwing together grand meals at the last minute, I have been encouraging friends to call to check on what I might have on hand any evening for a quick meal. Instructions can be found in my entry for March 20th--What's in Naomi's Refrigerator.

This is primarily a record of the meals I prepare for myself and others, accompanied by "mug shots" of the food (when I remember to photograph before eating). Shot by my phone, with no styling, they may not capture their subjects at their best, but so be it.



Friday, July 6, 2012

July 6th. Los Angeles touring! No cooking! Pann's. Museum of Jurassic Technology. Paradise Cove

No cooking.  Dan arrived from San Francisco around 9:30 am.  He had mentioned that someone had recommended he visit the Museum of Drastic Technology.   A reasonable confusion--and as a name, a bit more comprehensible than the correct name of the Museum of Jurassic Technology--I hadn't been there in years and was delighted to put it on the tourism schedule.
First of course, we had to eat.  Luckily, en route to the Museum (which doesn't open until noon on Friday), we could stop at Pann's.  Another spot I hadn't visited in decades.  I knew it was famous for it's Googie Architecture  and thought it was the site of the coffee shop scene in Pulp Fiction (turns out that's not true--the coffee shop in that movie was Holly's--an earlier incarnation of Pann's--same owners--that has since been demolished).  Those reasons, one accurate, one not, seemed good enough to merit a breakfast stop.  And--indeed we were not disappointed.  We had huge and satisfying breakfasts--Dan ordered catfish and was astounded to discover the catfish came with eggs, potatoes, biscuit, etc.

Well fed, we had time for a bit of touring before the museum's opening.  I'd thought we'd get a glimpse of Eric Owen Moss's architecture at the Hayden Tract, but somehow, got a bit befuddled with the curves and turns of National Boulevard and managed to bypass it--going instead straight to the Museum of Jurassic Technology which was, as always, mystifying and terrific.

Dropped Dan at Sam and Andrea's and returned home to bike to Linda's for the next event of the day--her birthday celebration at Paradise Cove.

Despite our doubts--fears of lingering cloud cover,  Friday afternoon traffic, high cafe prices and even steeper and more mysterious parking fees, it turned out to be a perfect choice for our small but multi-generational crowd.   The beach is beautiful--chock full of exotic amenities like giant beds, cabanas, etc.  (none of which we utilized), and the cafe while pricey and not extraordinary, doles out generous portions that are easy to share.  We consumed an enormous amount of calamari, french fries and more.    Food expectations are easily met when you get to sit at tables on the sand, and children can dig away while parents and grandparents eat.  A fine time was had by all.

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