April 12. Hike to Bach on the Beach. Chicken soup with Matzoh balls. Sauteed Zucchini and Mushrooms. Salad. Silicon Beach.

I was planning to go to yoga, but got an e-mail at dawn from Natasha suggesting we walk to the Annenberg Beach House for a piano performance of Bach's well-tempered Clavir.  I've fallen behind in my surveillance of Los Angeles art and music events, but today is the first official day of Natasha's retirement.  I had a long to-do list, but how could I not jump at her 7am offer to walk with her from my house to the Annenberg Beach House where there would be a performance of Bach's Well-tempered Clavier in conjunction with 29 other pianos throughout Los Angeles.  We weren't quite sure what to expect (Natasha might have been surer than relatively clueless me).  We did know that it would be starting promptly at noon.  We weren't quite sure how far it was from my house (later learned it was about 3 and one half miles).  We ended up almost running to get there in just under an hour--about 55 seconds before starting time.   We had no idea that the pianist at the Beach House would be Lucinda Carver, the director of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra.  Despite the short-comings of ocean side acoustics, we were thrilled to have a half hour concert of Bach with a bit of Chopin on a sun-filled rain-cleansed day.  

Bach on the Beach

We walked home, through Santa Monica, an urban counterpoint to our beach walk.  After almost eight miles of walking, I wasn't about to start cooking, but no matter, the refrigerator was full.

While I re-heated the chicken soup and matzoh balls (oh I did make a lot), Natasha sampled the vegetables I'd cooked on Tuesday night.  Though delicious, it was so random, I hadn't recorded it, but given Natasha's enthusiasm (as well as Meghan and Ivan's enjoyment on Tuesday), here it is. As in all recipes of this ilk, quantities are infinitely flexible.
SAUTEED ZUCCHINI AND MUSHROOMS WTH ROASTED TOMATOES
1 onion
2 or 3 small zucchini, sliced in rounds
Crimini or white mushrooms, sliced
a few cloves garlic
roasted tomatoes.

I had a motley assortment of tomatoes--four relatively tasteless Roma tomatoes nearing their due date, maybe half a cup of canned tomatoes in the fridge and some cherry tomatoes as well.  I decided to roast them (I actually staggered their roasting time, starting with the fresh Romas, with some olive oil, garlic cloves smoked paprika and coriander then adding the cherry tomatoes and finally the canned tomatoes).  I began the roasting before slicing the onions, so everything was essentially cooking at the same time.

As the tomatoes stewed away in the 400 degree oven, I sauteed the onion for about five minutes in olive oil , until they were soft, then added the zucchini.  After a few minutes, as they were beginning to brown, I added the mushrooms (you might want to add some more oil, or butter if the pan is looking dry).  When the mushrooms are browned and soft, add the tomatoes which should be well cooked by now (unless you're much quicker than I am--in which case you could probably figure out your own timing).  Add garlic and parsley.  Serve hot, warm, or at room temperature.

So--a lunch of many courses--soup, veggies, salad with fennel and those caramelized chocolate matzoh for dessert.    I even sent a container of soup home for Joe.

That late lunch meant I didn't have to think about dinner before going to the Venice Town Council's discussion of Silicon Beach.
While I was away, or looking elsewhere, tech companies, including Google have arrived in the neighborhood. Is this cause for woe or   celebration?