September 21. Space Shuttle flying over House.

Surprise excitement as the Space Shuttle twirled around California on its very last flight before landing at LAX to be hauled to the science museum in Exposition Park.  I hadn't been paying a lot of attention, but the plan was for the shuttle to do some low-flying circles around Los Angeles on Friday morning.  It was one of those jolly and unexpected communal events.  The boardwalk wasn't packed, but there were plenty of people out, hanging out of windows, on the beach, on Ocean Front walk, glancing north in anticipation.  No-one knew (or at least I didn't know) exactly what we were expecting.  Then suddenly, looming down the coast was an enormous 747 with the Endeavor atop.  Just as it hit our neighborhood, it turned eastwards--everyone I know thinks it flew directly over them--and perhaps it did--it was very big indeed.

In any case, whatever anyone's thoughts about the space program, it's beginning, it's end, whatever, this huge photo op--made everyone unexpectedly happy.

In anticipation of my departure for New Jersey, I've begun massive cleaning, but took a break to bike to Ralph's for flowers and perhaps some protein.  At the never-too-inspiring fish counter, I spotted fillets, that looked thin and elegant and were on manager's special--an excellent buy.  It was called arrowtooth flounder and was described as wild caught.  "It's like sole," the guy at the fish counter told me.  I always assume "manager's special" means cook immediately--so there was dinner ready to go.

Before cooking fish, I made a side dish of sauteed onions, zucchini, red pepper and aging garden tomatoes with lots of garlic and parsley.  Always looks better un-cooked, chopped or not.

Once the vegetables were nicely cooked, I moved them out of the frying pan into a sauce pan, wiped the pan, dipped the filets in milk, then in the mixture of bread crumbs and panko which had worked so well on halibut fillets a while back.

This has generally been a pretty effortless project.  The fillets were large--so I made one first.  It fell apart as I served myself, but worse yet, it was completely mushy and almost tasteless.  It seemed thoroughly cooked, but perhaps I hadn't browned it sufficiently.  For my second helping, I added a bit more oil, and cooked until it was browner and crispier.  But now, the only bits that were tasty were those well browned bread-crumb mouthfuls.

As you can see, I had a pretty high ratio of brown to white mush, but can't say it was a taste sensation.  But this is a moment to  praise Google.  I checked out arrowtooth flounder and learned that although it is the most common fish in the Bay of Alaska, it is basically inedible--due to its complete mushiness. The stuff I read might not have been completely authoritative--there was speculation about an enzyme that in response to heat caused fish to turn to mush.  But there was no speculation at all about the fish's ultimate unsavoriness and mushiness.   There you have it.  Lesson learned  Do not buy arrowtooth flounder.  Unlike that twirling space shuttle, it will make you very sad.

September 20. Rajas con Crema with scrambled eggs. Carol's birthday. Hunan Eggplant. Nice Cream.

Elena leaving early for the Huntington, but time enough for me to make Rajas con crema with scrambled eggs for a proper breakfast with Elena.

She went off to the Huntingdon.  I went to yoga hours later, breakfast, praise be, well digested.

Carol called, as planned late in the afternoon.  Turns out today is her birthday (I have it listed, on my list of significant dates, but alas, as is often the case, it had slipped right by).

I instantly invited her to stop by (this had always been the plan--even when I was birthday ignorant).

She reminded me that thirty years ago, for that long ago important birthday, I'd made a most excellent roast chicken with tarragon from the Julia Child cookbook, that was my special occasion recipe for years. 

I had not made such a grand effort this year.  We had assorted left-over snacks (I'd done lots of shopping before Elena's visit)--humus, roasted cauliflower, bits of frittata--and once I learned about the occasion I'd put up brown rice and made one more round of my new favorite--hunan eggplant.  I only had one small eggplant, but since I had all the necessary ingredients, it  fit the bill.

One Eggplant's worth of Hunan Eggplant in wok

We were having such a fine time, it was almost seven when we looked at the clock and realized we'd have to hurry to catch Grace who was working at Nice Cream a few blocks south on the Ocean Front Walk, for a little bit of birthday ice cream.  The store was in fact closed, but Grace was there and waiting--and was happy to let us have all the tastes we needed before settling on salted caramel gelato (actually I had mine with a little chocolate sorbet as well).  A fine birthday time was had by all.  

September 19th. Frittata. Arugula Salad. Spaghetti with garlic and parsley.

Made a morning frittata for Elena.  A variation of my new quick frittata.  Here's the recipe--no quantities--just ingredients.  I always use four-six eggs--with a splash of water and a crushed garlic clove or two,  but everything else is discretionary.  The main ingredients are herbs and cheese.  I finely chopped chives, dill and parsley.  Added grated parmesan and chopped smoked mozarella--as well as a bit of left-over brown rice (so little we didn't even notice it--sometimes when I use rice, it feels like the main ingredient--and that's fine too).  Oh--also threw in a few tablespoons of roasted tomatoes.    

All, in all, it was irresistible (at least to me).  I'd planned to eat after yoga, but I ended up sampling a bit too much.   I'm generally very good about not eating for hours before yoga (took me a while to learn this, but today (thrown off both by excellent fritatta and earlier class)  I abandoned caution and paid for it in downward dog!

Hours later, made a quite excellent salad for Elena and me--mixed greens with lots of arugula, golden beets, bacon, tomatoes--maybe more...

And later still, with Elena out for the evening, I made myself my emergency meal for visitors--spaghetti with olive oil, garlic and parsley.  I do eat more and better when guests are around, even if they're not joining me.

Many hours after yoga

September 18th. Roasted Tomatoes. Roast Cauliflower.

Roasted a pan of aging garden tomatoes with ordinary Roma tomatoes from Farmer's market.

Salad for lunch -- garden tomatoes, lettuce and a spare rib or two.

Rare outing in car to Lamps Plus where I was hoping to look at many fans, but the fans I wanted to see do not make appearances there.  So, as is often the case in my random shopping life, alarmed by the news that it could take two weeks for the fan to ship (this is always the case they said with Modern Fans--is this true?  false?  I didn't seem to have the energy to find out, so to move the process along, I ordered the fan then and there).

Inspired by the ease of that purchase, I stepped into OSH which shares the parking lot.  I was looking for an over-sized dustpan for aid in sweeping the side-walk, but didn't see the appropriate item.  Instead, bought a squeegee with a long-ish handle to help move my window-washing program forward.

Elena's plane was late--and it wasn't clear what dinner plans were but just the possibility of a visiting eater is all I need to do a little cooking.  A cauliflower had been sitting in the vegetable bin for weeks--the time had come to roast it--and as the oven was going to be on--why not roast the golden beets I'd bought just the other day?

The cauliflower and roasted tomatoes could easily be called into action.   If Elena had no other plans, I'd make pasta with garlic and parsley--the vegetables could be added or not--and there was lots of salad stuff as well.

In fact, that meal would have to wait.  Elena arrived exhausted--it was already close to 8pm.  She had tentative plans to meet friends, Andrew and Chrissy.  They wanted to go to Woodfire Pizza on Washington.   Lots of discussion about how Elena would meet them.   The easiest solution seemed to be that I would just take her and join them.  I'd been there once before with Carol and thought it was o.k.--but although it was a comfortable place to sit and quiet enough for us to carry on two simultaneous conversations, the two pizzas and two salads we got were not very good at all.  So the food was disappointing, but the conversation was fine.  No small thing.

September 17. Left-overs and Happy Hour Hamburger

Rosh Hashonah left-over lunch--Challah (i.e. brioche) with honey and apples.  The last bit of frittata, Sliced tomatoes from the Levine's garden.

After a four pm yoga class, met Linda for Happy Hour burger at M Street Kitchen  on her corner.  We had the burgers and a crispy spicy tuna roll.  The happy hour beer for the day was IPA (is this a type?  a brand?).  Although I am the cheapest drunk in the world I can usually manage a couple of beers--but I became instantly tipsy.  Our young waitress assured me this was not so strange as the alcohol content of my beer was extraordinarily high.  Nonetheless I was able to bike home successfully, all lights wildly flashing.

September 16. Challah and Apples with Honey, Hunan Eggplant. Tomato, Corn and Cucumber Salad. Green Salad with Figs and Cheese.

Woke up thinking about New Year preparations.   This is my third New Year in 9 months (had the extra bonus of Tet in Vietnam).  I've never been a champion of Rosh Hashonah meals, but I am quite committed to the round challah and apples dipped in honey.  In years gone by, I've plotted and planned to get my challah on time (they do sell out at the best bakeries), and I've even been known to bake my own.

Not this year.  Here it was the morning before--Rosh Hashonah-inappropriate spare ribs in the fridge--and no ceremonial dishes or guests.   Addressing myself to some of these issues, I biked to the Ocean Park Farmer's Market.  I'd been thinking I'd go to the lovelier Mar Vista market--but biking on the bike path in the heat is so preferable to trundling down Venice Boulevard, there was no contest.

Brioche, impersonating Round Challah for the New Year

I knew the Bread Man sold challah, but he was no-where to be found.  Stopped at the only bread outlet, Ca'Oro--where I was instantly offered a bag of four brioches.  This was not an option I'd exercised before, but earlier this morning, I'd suggested to Sarah that is she couldn't find a remaining round Challah mid-afternoon in Brooklyn, she could probably substitute brioche.  And here I was with my own brioche alternative. To celebrate their potential excellence, I bought a little jar of sage honey, fresh from the hives.   I'd assumed the apples would be the easiest part of my mission.  Wrong again. We're still in the midst of stone fruit abundance--nectarines, plums, peaches, not an apple in sight.  On the way home, I stopped at One Life. Many apples.  Organic $3.50 a pound.  Is this possible?  That would be close to $3 an apple.  They had non-organic Braeburn's for $1.99.  One would be enough for me, but I am always shopping for those as yet un-named visitors, so I bought two and headed home, on my way to the New Year. 

Getting Ready for New Years Dinner

Called Natasha around 5pm.  Days ago we'd discussed possibility of sunset walk on beach.  I attempted to lure her with promises of honeyed bread and apples.  It worked.  She and Joe showed up at my door with bags of bounty from their garden -- and we headed to the beach.  We by-passed the thousands (I don't think that's an exaggeration gathered at the drum circle), and walked along the sand as the brilliant orange/pink sun sank into the sea.

Returning home, we set to work preparing a meal.  Natasha made two salads--tomatoes from their garden with my cucumbers and kernels from the corn I'd bought at the Wednesday market (I'd cooked the corn earlier and it was still delicious)  and a green salad--arugula, kale, mixed greens with figs and cheese.  I had my left-over hunan eggplant and rice, as well as the herb frittata--and to start of course--we had blessings over the candles, the brioche/challah, and apples and honey as well.

It was a  fine beginning  to the New Year as well as an excellent example of my favorite way to entertain--some seemingly random shopping, a walk and spontaneous supper.

September 15th. Spare Ribs.

Yesterday, I'd stopped at Ralph's to buy gladiolas, but  but lured by some excellent sale prices, I also bought--for the first time in decades, a rack of pork ribs.  On getting home, I realized (oh how these things sneak up on me) that it would soon be Rosh Hashonah, and spare ribs weren't really my idea of a holiday appropriate meal.    But--there was a small possibility that Randi might stop by--so why not get those ribs going?

I have no memory of making spare ribs--though I'm sure I have over the years--but combining two recipes--one from the internet for Chinese Style Spare Ribs with one  from the Gourmet Cookbook Chinese Hawaiian "Barbecued" Ribs.  I was half-tempted to set them marinating for days--but all advice was for between four and twenty-four hours.  Decided the six-to-eight hours available to me would be quite enough.
Limited by the ingredients on hand (I only had a little bit of crystallized honey--should have perhaps just heated it up--honey might is often the preferred meat sweetener, but instead used a mixture of brown and white sugars.

This is more or less the marinade I made for about 2 1/2 pounds spare-ribs:

3 tablespoons hoisin sauce
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons white sugar
4 cloves crushed garlic
1 inch cube peeled ginger, grated
1/4 cup ketchup
1/8 cup red wine (long lingering in fridge).

Stir until sugar is well-dissolved.  Coat ribs with mixture (I put them in a glass roasting pan).  Cover pan and refrigerate for 4-24 hours--turning once or twice.

Pre-heat oven to 325 degrees.  Put slabs of ribs (un-cut) on a rack placed on a foil covered jelly-roll pan or cookie tray.  Cook for about two hours, basting every twenty minutes.  They should be tender and well-browned.  Don't baste for the last ten or twenty minutes so they'll get a bit crispy.  Let sit for five-ten minutes before cutting into rib-sized pieces.  

Randi didn't make it.   I just nibbled a few ribs with salad for dinner and that was that.  

September 14th. Frittata with rice, herbs and two cheeses

Began the day with a very fast frittata.    Chopped dill, chives, lemon basil, grated parmesan and smoked mozarella.
Amanda had it for breakfast with toast.  It was a late afternoon meal for me.  After yoga, I'd stopped at Ralph's.  I was in search of their bargain gladiolas--and was happy to find them.  Bought two bunches--one purple, one white, and a few other surprise items as well.

That evening, I was meeting Suzanne and Peter at a book party for Michelle Markel's new children's book, The Fantastic Jungles of Henri Rousseau at my local book store,  Small World Books on the boardwalk.  I hadn't been there in a while, and it was a perfect opportunity to catch up some of the Sholem crowd, which was well represented.
Peter was eager to go to Santino's--a pan-Latino restaurant bar on Lincoln with Brazilian music.  I'd never been--I think it might be relatively new--but it was lively--very noisy--the food was fine (we didn't eat that much).  I don't know if I'd return--but I was happy to visit one of the mysterious spots I often bike past.  

September 13th. Left-over chicken with farfalle.

For breakfast, cooked up the beet greens from farmer's market, and happily ate them with a fried egg.

I'd stopped at the 99¢ store on the way home from yoga.   I'd been planning to go to Trader Joe's for a few items, but it's been so hot and muggy, I  didn't want to bike over the hill, nor did I want to go home for the car, so the 99¢ store it was.  My purchases included a pound of pasilla peppers.  Although I wasn't about to eat them, following a new rule which I adhere to sporadically I roasted them so they'll be ready one of these days for a round of rajas con crema.  (Towards that end, I'd also bought a 1/2 pint of heavy cream).

Heated up the left-overs two drumsticks.  There wasn't quite enough sauce, so I sauteed some more veggies--onions, carrots, celery, garlic, and soft tomatoes from Farmer's market.  After adding the new sauce and ate the drumsticks with farfalle.

September 12. Hunan Eggplant--Again!! Drumsticks with Tomatoes and Onions

Salad for lunch with long-ago roasted golden beets.
Filling the gap left by absence of Ashtanga teachers, I went to a yoga workshop at 10, which meant I had time for the Wednesday Santa Monica Farmer's Market.  Summer Bounty!!  Japanese eggplants, zucchini, tomatoes, lemon basil (by mistake--wanted thai or regular--but so be it).  I'd come prepared with backpack, so easily biked all that produce home.

Lena came by late afternoon with Phoebe who has just learned to almost crawl.  She crawls, but doesn't yet realize it's full locomotive potential.  We were quite happy chatting and watching as she made her way to assorted toys I brought from my quite ample supply box.

Patty called as we were bidding farewell.  She's just returned after months in Michigan and was happy to join me for dinner.  This is the situation I claim I most enjoy---a surprise dinner guest--no time to shop--just poking through the fridge and  cupboards to see what I can whip up.

New Round of Hunan Eggplant

Of course, I had that chicken in a sauce that had been getting better by the moment--the cacciatore sauce and the fresh tomato sauce had been augmented by the portobello mushrooms.  And I had a new batch of Japanese eggplants for another round of hunan eggplant.  I put up brown rice as soon as I hung up the phone--that would take about 40 minutes, but everything else could be ready in minutes.  Patty arrived with salad and ice-cream and we had a splendid feast.

September 11. Frittata. Drumsticks alla cacciatora.

Emily came over for some editing work.  For lunch, I made a different fritata--well--not that different.  Sauteed onions and chopped zucchini--mixed with six eggs, left-over brown rice, parsley, dill, grated parmesan and chopped smoked mozzarella-

The five drumsticks I'd been defrosting were ready to be cooked. Although I wasn't sure if I wanted a proper meal, the gray afternoon seemed a good moment to do some cooking.  I had been thinking just marinating the legs in some soy sauce brew but couldn't resist one of my favorites--Marcella Hazan's Pollo alla cacciatora.  I love the sauce--lots of onions, garlic, carrots, celery and pepper--there wasn't going to be much meat (how far can five drumsticks go?)--but this is a dish that always makes me happy--so although I had no plans to eat it that evening, I was happy to do all that browning and sauteeing--I'm often  happy enough just filling the house with the aromas and sensations of meal preparation---the actual meal is just gravy.  At the last minute I added the fresh tomato sauce I'd made the other day--so all in all it was quite a fine meal waiting to be eaten.  

While the chicken was cooking, I found two good sized  portabello mushrooms in the fridge.  They'd been there a bit too long, so I sauteed them with garlic and parsley....also for a future meal. 

A little nibbling on all of this counted as dinner.   

September 10th. Fried Egg with Roasted Vegetables. Quesadillas. Hamburgers at Lisa and Gar's

Up early enough to fry an egg with the last of the roasted vegetables (re-fried)  for breakfast.  For lunch a   a quesadilla with smoked mozarella and roasted tomatoes.

I'd defrosted chicken legs I'd bought some time ago and was planning to make them for dinner, but instead, after speaking to Lisa decided the chicken could wait another day.  She and Gar were making hamburgers.  I had two 1/4 pound burgers frozen in the fridge, and brought them over, along with the last bits of my hunan eggplant.

The rest of the meal was excellent indeed.  For starters there was burrata with fresh tomatoes followed by the burgers on ciabatta rolls with grilled eggplant and many fine condiments. Grapes and rasperries with greek yogurt and mint (from my garden)  for dessert.

September 9. Left-overs. Hunan Eggplant.

After all those activities and meals yesterday, today was a quiet day at home.  No visits.  No cooking.

Another round of hunan eggplant, to which I may have become addicted.  Also rice with the portabello mushrooms.  Here's that photogenic eggplant again.

September 8th. Westminster Garden. Gjelina. Beach Walk. Hunan Eggplant once again.

Monthly work day at the Westminster Elementary Garden.  A little digging, but mostly hauling of weeds to dumpsters, and a bit of snacking.  It was a special working day for the kindergarten garden so more parents and kids then usual. The pictures at the above link are from two years ago, and those dirt patches are now bursting with vegetation (source of the many weeds pulled up and dumped).

Gjelina for lunch with Diana.  She drove across mountains to satisfy her Gjelina cravings, and of course, I was happy to indulge her as I am not immune to such desires myself and have found myself thinking more and more about various dishes.  We miraculously got a table as soon we arrived (we discovered after we'd finished eating that our particular table, right next to the front window was the hottest spot in the house (not in terms of hip, but in heat from the sun).  No matter.  We barely noticed it during our quite perfect meal of squash blossom pizza and burrata with peaches and prosciutto.

Bumped into Joanie at sunset on the beach--After long walk, returned home and made a dinner of rice, hunan eggplant and a salad.

Walked Joanie home with my bike well after 10pm.  Coming home I'd watched 3 episodes of Breaking Bad--the end of Second Season until 2AM

September 7. Tuna Salad Corn Salad. Gratitude.

I've been thinking tuna salad for weeks. Perhaps that quite delicious rockfish has spurred me on to more seafood meals.   Made a very basic but good tuna salad--with  celery.  scallions, capers,  chives and dill.  Had a restaurant proper lunch of tuna salad sandwich with the last bit of left-over corn salad...

Late  in the afternoon, biked to meet Lena and Phoebe on Rose--now site of many restaurants and hot spots--is this the new Venice?  New Abbott Kinney?

We stopped at Cafe Gratitude, newly opened in the building on the site of the old and much missed Pioneer Bakery.  I realized I'd read about the Larchmont branch which had opened a while ago in the New Yorker--turns out it's part of a chain famous for vegan food named with exhortations or maybe they're affirmations--"I am awesome," I am fearless," etc.--bold names for food that despite all the plaudits is not quite bold enough for a person who is used to a little more meaty heft.  A little post meal research revealed a long and peculiar history of this quite popular spot--all available to any intrepid googler.

We lingered so long that Julian ended up meeting us there for dinner--which we all agreed was adequate if not inspirational.
By the time we left, a bit past sunset, the new restaurants on the block were filling up with patrons--this is one rapidly shifting situation.

September 6th. Nectarine and Mango with Cottage Cheese. Sauteed Rockfish fillet with fresh tomato Sauce. cucmber salad

A perfectly appropriate summer post-yoga lunch--a particularly delicious mango with cottage cheese

Biked to library for the rest of Breaking Bad Season 2--then to Ralph's.  Now that I'm rarely driving around town, my grocery trips are determined by need for milk.  My purpose is to buy milk, but I rarely stop there.  This tendency has always caused storage and spoilage problems, but now also causes burdens for the bike rider (that would be me).  I like to think I can conjure a meal as long as I have parsley and garlic, and perhaps I can, but I do like to have something else on hand--and unfortunately--I spot potential everywhere--and am soon lugging home way too much.

This time, I kept things pretty much under control.  The produce at Ralph is increasingly local--but I didn't get much--eggplant and zucchini and bargain gladiolas.  Wandering past Ralph's relatively dreary fish counter, I was inspired to buy rockfish (whatever that might be--it's label announced it was wild caught--so why not?).
A proper fish dinner:    I dipped the fillets in milk (is this something that's done?), coated it with a mixture of ordinary bread crumbs and panko and sauteed it quickly.   Some of last weeks tomatoes were a bit too soft--perfect for a fresh tomato sauce of onion, garlic, parsley and tomato to accompany the fish along with a cucumber salad.

September 5th. Salad with hardboiled egg, tomatoes, avocado. Rajas con cream quesadilla.

Salad for a very late lunch.

Later, remembering the many pasilla chiles I'd roasted on Friday after all that shopping with Sam and a 1/2 pint of un-opened heavy cream bought months ago (expiration date finally nearing),

the time had come for rajas with crema.   I substituted the cream for a Mexican variation and it was just fine.  Then made a quesadilla with cheese and rajas as well as a corn salad with red pepper, dill, chives and scallions.

Despite my vows to let the conventions pass me by, I ate my quesadilla Did it while watching the DNC.  I was completely sucked in yesterday--by Michelle Obama's shoulders as much as by her speech.  I'd heard smidgens of the Republican Convention while driving (these radio moments are something I've lost with all my biking), and then was alerted by Laura T. to find Clint Eastwood and chair on the internet--violating my resolve to not spend an iota of time on the conventions.   And now, here I am lured in by the Michelle/Maddow combo, deciding to stay home and watch the second night.

Soon after I finished my early supper after my late lunch,  Lisa called.  She and Gar are back in town for a few weeks and she was happy to stop by for some rajas and convention watching.

Delighted that my rajas were going to eaten so quickly, I added more cream to the generous amount of remaining sauteed onions and peppers for the next round of rajas.  Alas, distracted by something--e-mail?  convention?  I solved the problem of too-many-peppers by burning most of them to a crisp.  Was able to salvage about one quesadilla worth for Lisa--which we prepared about 35 minutes into Bill's speech.  She happily ate it accompanied by the unburned corn salad.

September 4. Leftovers.

Yoga and library.  Quiet day with left-overs.

There was a bit of last  night's chicken, leeks and rice for lunch.

For dinner?  Pretty minimal.  Many left-over vegetables -- the potatoes, sweet as well as white,  carrots and onions that I'd roasted with the lemon chicken on Friday night.  I sauteed some of them (there were plenty) along with left-over green beans and portobello mushrooms, only adding a some salt and smoked paprika.  It was surprisingly good, if not terribly photogenic.

September 3. Burrata with roasted and fresh tomatoes. Chicken with leeks and spicy Chinese sauce.

Labor Day.  Decided at last minute, due to scarcely leaving the house yesterday, a splendid sun-filled Sunday, to start this day with  beach yoga .  Not the greatest yoga.  I've become less tolerant than I used to be of the sand and sun, but the short-comings were more than redeemed by the perfect breezy weather, tumultuous surf and  excellent sighing of dolphins (you can find dolphin pictures at the beach yoga site.  And, whatever my complaints I always love  balancing by the water, looking at the sea upside down, and getting to stare (more or less) at the ocean for an hour and a half.

Chicken and corn salad with dill, lime and cilantro for lunch--and the last of the strawberries (they were about to go) with a bit of yogurt.  And a few squares of chocolate to celebrate labor day.

Sam was driving back from the Sierras and then flying back to Boston.  We hadn't been sure how long his drive would be, how much time there'd be before rushing for his plane, whether there'd even be time to  Inspired by a pound of organic chicken thighs I'd defrosted and two leeks I'd bought at the farmer's market as well as the memories of that delicious Hunan eggplant, I made the following:

Stir Fried Chicken with Leeks.

INGREDIENTS
One pound chicken thighs cut into one inch pieces.
2 good sized leeks, thinly slices in rounds.  .
4 plump cloves of garlic, minced or crushed
1 tablespoon finely chopped ginger
2 tablespoons chile garlic sauce
1/2 cup chicken broth
T Tbsp. soy sauce
1 tsp. rice vinegar
1 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. sesame oil
1/4 cup chopped cilantro

Heat oil in heavy saute pan or wok.  Cook chicken pieces until beginning to brown (maybe five minutes).
Remove chicken with slotted spoon.  Add leeks to pan.  When they are soft, add ginger, garlic and chile sauce.  Cook for a minute or two--then add broth, soy sauce, vinegar and sugar.  Bring to a boil.  Return chicken to mixture.  Heat through.  Add sesame oil, garnish with cilantro and serve over rice (I had left-over brown rice--very good indeed).

This was very quick to make--important because Sam was in from the mountains and off on a plane in record time.  We did have an appetizer of the remaining burrata with both roasted and fresh tomatoes and shredded thai basil (the basil, I suppose, providing some cross-cultural linkage between the dishes.

September 2. Left-overs.

Quiet day at home.  Scarcely stepped out.

There is a refrigerator full of stuff--two meals of left-overs in relatively rapid succession:  rice with hunan eggplant.  Chicken and Corn Salad with dill, chives, cilantro, tomatoes and avocado and lime dressing.

September 1. Deviled Eggs

Woke up early enough to get eggs boiled and chilled before biking with Robin to meet Linda for 11 am showing of AiWeiWei documentary at the Monica 4.  It was terrific, and I'll take this opportunity to recommend it to all. I left  Linda and Robin as they headed towards a Chinese lunch (I could have sworn I smelled food cooking while we were in the theater, but that was just a trick of the movie mind). I biked home to make these deviled eggs

30 Deviled Eggs

All my preparations paid off.  Once I understood how to use the pastry bag with star attachment -- these elegant piping was as easy as can be. Here's the recipe for 30 eggs!  That's two and one half dozen, adapted from the Gourmet Cookbook.
INGREDIENTS
30 large eggs
1 1/4 cups mayonnaise
5 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Salt and Pepper
Chopped Chives
Smoked Paprika..and as a special bonus, a pastry bag with a on-half inch star tip

Using so many eggs, I was worried they might shatter if I crammed too many into a pots, so I used four pots, one for each burner.  I covered the eggs with cold water--two inches above egg level, partially covered each pan and bring to a rolling boil.  Reduce heat to low, cover completely and cook for 30 seconds.  (I aimed for this precision--but with those four boiling pots--I suspect these seconds varied considerably).  In any case, soon after the 30 seconds, remove all pots from heat, cover and let sit for 15 minutes.  

When the eggs are well chilled, they should peel easily (I'd say 28 of my thirty egg shells leaped from the whites, while only two took a tad longer).

Cut the eggs in half.  Scoop out the yolks and mash with the mayo, mustard, cayenne, salt and pepper.  The internet had all kinds of hints about food processors etc., but the fork mashing worked fine with me.  Well, perhaps the fork works especially well in connection with the pastry bag.  Having learned at my return visit to Sur La Table that I did not need the plastic connector, I slipped the star attachment into the pastry bag (below)  and made these lovely squiggles seen above.  I am not going to reveal how messy this was.  I couldn't manage to keep the egg mixture from squeezing out the top and onto my hands, but repeated washings and good luck kept the eggs looking as lovely as can be.  Once the squiggles were in place, I sprinkled the eggs with smoked paprika and finely chopped chives and carted them to Kate's where they joined many other delicious items on the groaning board.

Pastry Bag with Star Attachment