July 31st. Big Salad. Left-overs galore.

Feeling very Californian, made myself a big lunch salad--shredded romaine lettuce (my latest favorite), tomatoes, hard boiled eggs, a few slivers of hard salami, roasted red peppers with a chipotle Russian dressing.   Maybe it's the almost crispy romaine which reminds me of ice-berg that is urging me to pass up my traditional vinaigrette for a dressing I must have loved as a child.  Maybe this turning to child-hood favorites is a sign of advancing years.  I do not know.

There is still one more hamburger waiting to be eaten.  I boiled two potatoes at lunch, thinking they might be part of my salad, but it looks like they'll go into a dinner concoction.  And indeed they did.  With bacon in the fridge, how can I not begin with it?  My hand was forced.

Cooked up one very thick strip of bacon cut into lardon sizes (my bacon is a package of ends and pieces from Trader Joe's).  When the lardons were nicely crisped I removed them from the pan, leaving quite a bit of bacon fat (the piece I used was indeed mostly fat).

I'd cut the two boiled potatoes into large dice and began browning them in the bacon fat--as they began to darken, added one small onion thinly sliced and chopped garlic.  As they softened,  I tossed in a cup of corn kernels (from a can this time, no fresh corn in the house).  When the kernels browned (just another minute or two), I added the last left-over burger--broken into small pieces (not the most ideal, either for this dish, or for the left-overs themselves, but the best I could do), along with a few slivers of the long-ago roasted red and yellow peppers.  When everything was warmed through, topped it all with slivers of thai basil.  A classic tasty left-over meal.

July 30. Fruit with Cottage Cheese. Penne with

Cottage cheese and fruit.  long-left-over penne--very delicious--though I could barely remember when I'd made it.  Luckily I have this record (luckily if these things matter)--it was last Monday--a week ago--good to know it could last a week without spoiling.

For dinner, the third meal from that  pound of hamburger.    Inspired by that Manly Burger at Umami, I worked on replicating it a bit.  Of course, just reheating the burger deducts many points at the outset, and the solitary piece of rye toast wasn't much of a hamburger bun, but I added enough ingredients--bacon, sauteed onion, roasted peppers and cheddar cheese--topped it all with lettuce and lots of  chipotle russian dressing to obscure those deficiencies--and it was quite all right.

No picture--so I'll re-run the sad photo of my penne with roasted tomatoes, roasted zucchini, thai basil and parsley.

july 29th. Shrimp Tostada, Left-Over Hamburger, Salad

Late lunch at Isla Bonita truck.  They were out of ceviche by the time I arrived there around 3pm with Rachel and Frank after very long yoga workshop.   Instead, ordered a shrimp tostada and worried that I was too hungry for that added a carne asada taco to my order.

Shrimp Tostada with ample avocados and still un-squeezed lemon

Rachel and Frank had biked to yoga for the first time.  I led them to the truck where they had shrimp burritos--they gave the truck high marks as we ate our late Sunday lunch on the curb.


Dinner, left-over hambruer with romaine and tomato salad, not nearly as photogenic as those shiny shrimp and avocado chunks.

June 28th. Hamburger with lettuce and tomato. Butterscotch Brownies for Pot-luck

Started the day melting butter for that reliable stand-by-butterscotch brownies, to bring to a potluck at Randi's friends Michael and Joy.

The brownies were for the evening.  It always takes them a while to cool enough to cut evenly so I was quite pleased with my early start.
With no yoga, and no thoughts for dinner beyond the brownies, it was time for me to cook up the pound of hamburger meat that had defrosted in the fridge.
Made four burgers--in the olden days I used to mix in grated onions, an egg, etc.  i think that was what my mother did.  Now, I just divide the pound in four more or less equal parts, heat up the cast iron pan sprinkled with salt and cook the thick burgers a few minutes on each side, avoiding the temptation to squoosh them down.  Ate one with that recurring chipotle mayo and lots of lettuce and tomato.

July 27th. Surprise Beach Picnic. Corn and Bacon Hash.

Biking home from yoga, I spotted Natasha on the side of the Bike Path in Ocean Park.  She was with Joe and her cousins Joanne from San Diego, Karen from Park City and their mother Pearlita from Sierra Madre.  The sisters were visiting their mother and they'd taken the opportunity for a beach outing.

I was, as indeed is often (though not always) the case post-yoga, starving and deep in thoughts about what might possibility be in my refrigerator.  Startled by the appearance of a picnicking group almost on the beach path--the group had lots of chairs, including a wheeled one, so they had not proceeded very far from the parking lot--I could not refrain from asking if they might happen to be picnicking.

Indeed--they had just packed up the remnants of their lunch and were happy (I think) to have another nibbler join in.  Joe immediately offered a tupperware of geometrically cut watermelon pieces.

That was just the beginning.  Although they'd just packed up their meal, there were plenty of leftovers and within minutes an assortment of sandwiches and packaged treats was set up for its photo opportunity.

In addition to the watermelon, I had a ham and cheese sandwich, little peanut butter sandwich cookies and the excellent Meyer lemon cookie thins in that elegant yellow box.  Plus I had an unexpected visit with Natasha's cousins and aunt whom I'd met at the end of May at Maya's wedding.  A very jolly interlude in the sun before continuing my bike ride home.

That evening I made a corn and bacon hash--I'd been inspired by a similar recipe at the Smitten Kitchen the other day.  I had all (or most) of the necessary ingredients so no reason not to make a Bacon Corn Hash.  I thought I was making a fairly large amount, but I ate every last bit, so here my recipe for:

BACON CORN HASH FOR ONE

Two or three slabs thick bacon cut into lardons, 1/2" x 1".

Kernels scraped from two ears of fresh corn.

Three medium potatoes, diced.

Two or three green onions, or shallots.

A few strips of roasted red pepper (for color and a bit of zing--optional)

Bacon Corn Hash waiting for an egg (it does look like I ate a lot)

Cook the bacon in a heavy pan until well browned and bordering on crispy.  Remove the bacon from pan, and if you're bold enough cook the potatoes in the remaining fat.  You could of course, drain the fat, and use oil or butter--but why would you?  THe potatoes, if you don't par-boil them (and I didn't) will take a while.  Try to have them in a single layer, and patiently wait until they're nicely browned on one side--then turn them over.  If you're not patient--you'll do more stirring, but it won't speed things up.  Par-boiling will make it much quicker if you do need things quicker.  Otherwise, you can clean the kitchen a bit until the potatoes are almost done--if you're using shallots you might want to put them in next, then the corn--if you have green onions, reverse the order. Return to the bacon to the pan. Toss in some bits of roasted red pepper, and salt and pepper to taste   Heat through.   If you'd like, you can do as I did and fry an egg in another pan and eat with for a very fine meal indeed.  

July 26th. Culver City Expo Line. Mo-Chica. Grand Park. Dinner Salad

Long planned lunch date for DineLA with Marci, Linda and Natasha.  After a quick trip to Home Depot to check out refrigerator for for New Jersey, met everyone at Marci's and headed for the new Culver City light rail station. I'd used the Blue Line years ago and the Red Line too, but this was my first voyage on the Metro Expo Line which just opened its western-most outpost in Culver City.
After parking in huge free lot, we bought four senior discount tickets (25¢ each!) and road the train to its terminus at 7th and Figueroa.  It was a splendid ride, traversing neighborhoods both residential and industrial, and passing minutes from USC, the Staples Center, the Museum of Natural History, Exposition Park-- destination worthy spots).  From there, it was a short walk to our destination--Mo-Chica, the just-relocated and much touted Peruvian Restaurant on 7th Street for its DineLA lunch.  The ride was so fast, we arrived a bit early, so got to wander through Bottega Louie.  It's been open for years now, but I have been so out-of-town and so behind in my downtown development lore, it was completely new to me.  I've fallen ridiculously  behind in my inadequate food photography as well, but couldn't resist recording a sampling of their pastries.

Unsampled, but still dazzling desserts at Bottega Louie

We admired, but were very controlled and purchased none of above.  Instead, as planned, we had quite an excellent lunch at Mo-chica--where we had quite an excellent lunch.  We eschewed the alpaca as perhaps too cuddly, but ordered many other unknown dishes; the entire menu was relatively unexplored territory, and given that we were four, we could do a broad sampling.   Most were stews of one sort or another with quinoa or rice--surprising and tasty variations on comfort food (to emphasize that comfort point--two of the four were served topped with a fried egg).  And although I don't think we expected it, the desserts---a seriously fruited creme brulee and alfajores (peruvian sandwich cookies) filled with dulce de leche best of all.

AFter lunch, we expanded our downtown explorations with a visit to the brand new Grand Avenue Park.  With its expanded fountain, which stretched into a huge watery sliding surface and it's many flamingo pink benches and chairs, it held out another whiff of the elusive  promise of an ever livelier downtown.

Thinking ourselves quite clever, we decided to get the Red Line at the Civic Center stop and switch at 7th to the Metro Expo Line.  It was now peak hours, so our tickets were now 55¢.  Marci (who had done actual pre-trip research unlike the rest of us) said that she thought that ticket would only be for the Red line, not the trip to Culver City.  That didn't make sense to us.  We saw the map.  It was clearly marked that the two lines intersected--in our sense of subway protocol, this meant free-transfer.  These feelings were confirmed, when we got off the train at 7th street, and saw a waiting train (looking like it was waiting just for us) on the platform just above.  A Metro employee confirmed that this was indeed our train and we jumped on, congratulating ourselves for our Los Angeles public transport savvy.
We had to stop singing our praises at the La Brea stop, where we were asked to present our tickets to two sheriffs (you buy your tickets, but don't have turnstiles or other entry points--there are just random checks on the trains.  We proudly showed our four tickets, and were promptly told that they would not do the trick (Marci had been right.  You need a separate ticket for every line!  Is that possible?).  We pulled out all our well-rehearsed arguments, and in the course of discussion managed to travel one station closer to our destination, but no luck.  We were told that unless we got off the train and bought new tickets, we would be fined $75 a piece.  So much for our bargain outing!  We did as we were told.  We went down the stairs, bought four more tickets from the machines and returned to the platform.  As an extra bonus, or reminder of the seriousness of our offense, the sheriff appeared to be waiting for us on the platform--making sure we were following all instructions.  She  then asked if we were really senior citizens (perhaps she thought we were double criminals, or maybe it was just a joke).  In any case, we will now (and advice everyone else) to read up on the relatively Byzantine payment policies of our otherwise very promising new Metro system.
Took advantage of being in my car for a stop at Trader Joe's on the way home.  Finally I could buy coffee ice cream as well as two ears of corn, three pounds of cherries, organic strawberries and a few other essentials.

July 25. Salad with Left-over Seared Tuna,

A reprise of yesterday's salad--that eternal tuna with asparagus, potato, egg and tomato.

Popcorn supplied at a screening of Samsara that night. The film,  a direct descendant of Koyaanisqatsi, was visually astounding--first time I've ever seen images of Mecca--coming to local theaters at summer's end.  

July 24th. Manly Burger. Snacks at the Beach. Dinner Salad.

Rebecca, visiting Los Angeles between her Teach for America Orientation in the Mississippi Delta and her actual first grade teaching in Clarksdale, Mississippi, site of the Delta Blues Museum.  Laura and I had stopped there on our drive west two years ago. I' said I wouldn't remind returning some day.  Maybe I'll get to visit Rebecca during her stint.
But first--lunch in Santa Monica.  Although she'd had a late breakfast, she was happy to have coffee and a snack while I ate a more proper meal.  Umami Burger, won the proximity, convenience and unique to Los Angeles awards, plus the menu could meet our differing needs.  I ordered a Manly Burger--in addition to having a splendid name, it is topped with beer-cheddar cheese, fried onion strings and bacon lardons.  Rebecca had the fried onion rings (they might be called tempura rings--huge, lightly battered circles)  and iced coffee. With some sharing, we were both quite satisfied and lingered well into the afternoon--long enough for the originally noisy room to almost completely empty.

After all that lunch, I was happy enough with a dinner salad -- some of that seared tuna with a potato, hard-boiled egg, and asparagus on romaine.  

July 23. La Isla Bonita. Penne with roasted zucchini, tomatoes, parsley and thai basil.

Fish on Taco Truck

Spent a bit too much in yoga thinking about lunch tacos.  After admiring the bas relief fish covering the far side of the Isla Bonita truck, I decided to forego my usual sea food fare and ordered two tacos--one carne asada and one carnitas. It might not have been the fish that dissuaded me.  It was cold and damp--i wanted to eat at home rather than curbside and those tightly rolled tacos travel much better than the carefully arranged ceviche and camaron tostados.  Plus--I may be on a program to work my way through the menu.   

In my current re-infatuation with the Isla Bonita truck, I'd forgotten the many veggies I'd recently bought.  I had assumed I'd finish the tuna this evening, but instead I went to work on the squash from a long-ago farmer's market and these quite lovely asparagus from the 99¢ store.  Here they are--with just a dribble of olive oil and black pepper--ready for a round of roasting.
Also roasted the red and yellow pepper from the 99¢ store.

Here they are after roasting,  before and after peeling.

As lovely as they are, these peppers didn't make it into tonight's dinner--they went straight to Tupperware, as did those quite tasty (I did sample one or two) asparagus.   I'm pleased to note I did not have to put every single vegetable into my penne pasta dish.

While the vegetables were roasting, and the water was coming to a boil, I sauteed one small onion and three garlic cloves--as they began to brown I added a splash of red wine--let it boil away, then added two of my frozen chicken broth cubes, and yesterday's roasted tomatoes. Chopped the yellow and green roasted squash as well as parsley and thai basil.  Cooked about half a pound of penne. Tossed the penne, squash and herbs into the pan.  Heated it through and served with freshly grated parmesan.  Didn't do very well in its photograph, but looked good enough in person and made a fine meal.

July 22nd. Scrambled Eggs. Cottage cheese with peach and raspberries. Seared tuna

While making coffee this morning I roasted the grape tomatoes I bought yesterday along with the half tomato left over from last night's sandwich--added some cloves of garlic, coriander and smoked paprika.  Discovered a bit later that I had unwittingly followed the directives in a Julia Moskin article in the NYTimes (published days ago, but just caught my eye today)advising that vegetables should be roasted or otherwise cooked  as soon as possible after purchase to avoid the inevitable summer spoilage.  Also very happy as house filled with excellent smells of garlic roasting in olive oil and  juices of tomato.

Early breakfast followed by early lunch--light and delicious--excellent peach with cottage cheese and rapidly aging (though just bought yesterday) raspberries.  Lunch was probably a bit too light--by 3pm hunger pangs were detected, and thoughts of the Taco truck on Rose began to fill my wandering brain.  I might have been able to ignore them, but I had to make a library run, so a quick detour to Rose and Fourth fit right in.  

The truck was still there, but missing many items at the end of a busy beach Sunday. Branching into new territory I ordered a camaron tostada and a taco al pastor to go (with a Mexican coke as well).  The bike ride home ruined the presentation of the once picture perfect tostada, but did not impair it in any other way.
Of course, that four o'clock meal wouldn't hold me through the night, so for dinner I had yet another round of the seared tuna (those four chunks of fish are supplying meals for days) with the last of the green beans, golden beets and one freshly boiled potato  (I suppose I'm holding those lovely tomatoes for another day).

July 21st. July 21. Left-over tuna. Grilled cheese, tomato and hard salami sandwich.

Quiet Saturday at home--cleaning and catching up. AFter devouring a late -morning cucumber salad appetizer, I prepared a relatively extravagant lunch of the left-over tuna.  I ate it cold, but sauteed the remaining half of the baked potato with shallots  as well as the green beans and tomato.

I was doing some good cleaning-out-the-fridge work and managed to construct a fairly proper plate brightened by sliced roasted golden beets.  Discovering a jar of chipotle peppers in adobe sauce deep in the fridge, I mashed it with mayonnaise and a bit of lime juice for an excellent chipotle mayonnaise (very good, though it does photograph a bit like pink slime.)

Saturday Lunch of Many Colors

With next to no milk in the larder, I had to make a store run, and tricked myself into leaving the house with the promise of another visit to the Isla Bonita Taco Truck.  Alas, as I rode my bike down Fourth Street, I spotted that very truck, tightly sealed and about to pull out.  I didn't get the shrimp tostada I'd been thinking about, but I did learn the truck's hours--roughly 10:30-4:30 every day except Thursday--the day off.  Valuable information ending years of speculation and wonder. 

In fact, despite my tostada dreams, I was scarcely hungry and managed to fulfill my food musings by visits to both the 99¢ store and Ralph's where I stocked up on fairly basic items (Ralph's was selling organic peaches for $1.49 a pound--oh this changing food universe!).

I was thinking about a very low calorie dinner of cottage cheese and fruits (in addition to the peaches, I'd bought nectarines, raspberries and cherries!), but instead had a grilled cheese sandwich with tomato, hard salami and a re-made chipotle mayonnaise.  Low-calorie--no, but quite delicious.  

July 20th. Ceviche Taco. Happy Hour at Sunny Spot, No cooking at all!!

Another day of eating out.  The summer weather has been so remarkable here at the beach, it's hard to hurry home to prepare a meal.
With plans to meet Linda for an early Happy Hour at Sunny Spot, another relatively new restaurant at the intersection of Abbot Kinney and Washington Boulevard, I wanted to eat a light and early lunch.  I'd learned about the happy hour from Robin, who'd raved about the bargain priced hamburger and papaya mango salad, so when she called (looking for the recipe for no-knead bread), I told her of our plans and she happily agreed to join us.  But first--I had to have lunch.
My goal was La Isla Bonita truck on Rose and Fourth for a ceviche tostada.  Accompanied by a bottled Coke with real sugar from Mexico, I thought it would meet my exact specifications for a delicious, light and suitably filling meal.  Biking there, I thought I'd give Patty a call to see if she wanted to join me for a curbside snack, as she is leaving momentarily for the shores of Lake Michigan.  She welcomed a break from her packing and list-making and we had a completely delicious lunch--I stuck with my planned meal while she had a shrimp tostado with good sized shrimps and even more avocado slices than the ceviche.  The lines were longer than I'd ever seen them (I often come later in the afternoon--it was just before 1pm--still in proper lunch hour territory), but all moved quickly and we were happy as can be.  A good going away snack for Patty and a fine little lunch for me.

Linda decided to pass on Happy Hour, so a few hours later, hungry again, I biked to Sunny Spot with Robin where she got to more or less repeat the meal she'd told me about--Robin had a palmetto--a yummy rum cocktail.  I asked the waiter about the four bottled beers --he said they were all Jamaican and all the same--the bottle he brought me--was from Costa Rica--but I suppose it was Jamaican in spirit.  We shared a hamburger and papaya mango salad.  After my very light lunch, I needed a bit more food--so we topped it off with an order of fried plantains that were spectacular.  Two excellent bargain meals in Venice with not one moment of food foraging or preparing!

July 19th. Seared Tuna. Santa Monica Twilight Concert. Haim.

Early dinner. Despite the heat and waste of energy, couldn't resist baking one more of Andrew's giant potatoes while proceeding to make the rest of the meal. Read the instructions on defrosted tuna after the fact (the Trader recommends defrosting in a marinade for extra tastiness--but I'd defrosted bare-naked--the tuna--not me).  Marinated for about twenty minutes in a TJ teriyaki marinade I'd found in the fridge (one more item of unknown provenance--I hadn't bought  it--but there it was).  

As the tuna stewed in its marinade, I parboiled the by-now-aging green beans from the Sunday market.  When the beans were cooked, I quickly seared the tuna in my cast iron pan with a bit of olive oil--just about two minutes on each side--to get that charred on the outside, pink in the middle look.  Removing the fish from the pan, I quickly re-heated the beans with the few remaining cherry tomatoes from long ago, tossing in the remainder of the marinade.

After this more impressive than the above photograph meal (the picture is a mere sampling), I decided at the very last minute to bike to the Santa Monica pier for the Thursday night concert.

I knew next to nothing (beyond limited Internet research) of the band Haim, but it was a beautiful warm summer night so why not bike to the pier to hear three sisters from the Valley who had grown up singing at fairs with parents.  I arrived just as the first band (Wildcat! Wildcat!) had finished their set.  The crowd was sparse--and it looked like the break would be long.  Just before the music began again, Katya, Gina and Becky appeared in the crowd and joined me--my solitary outing suddenly transformed into a very social one.  We were all surprised by how much we enjoyed the band--three hard rocking, guitar playing and drumming sisters.  A surprise summer treat.

July 18th. Love the Locals at Ozuma. Dinner at Kate's. Rajas con Crema.

First thing in the morning, roasted the golden beets as well as the pasilla peppers and one aging red pepper.  Not clear what their ultimate destiny would be, but the time for roasting was nigh.

Gina is in town, and I'd arranged to join a Santa Monica lunch party.  I'd told Katya about my recent discovery of Ozumo  with it's Wednesday Love the Locals specials, and we agreed to lunch there after meeting at the Santa Monica Market.  We were a grand party--Katya, Joe, Gina, and Patricia.  Would they have a table big enough?  Not in the sun?  We settled into a booth inside, and everyone was pretty impressed with the food (the service bordered on the non-existent, but we were still happy enough).

Big day for eating with minimal cooking.  Dinner at Kate's in Beverly Glen.  Time to drive the car.  A reminder of rush hour traffic heading east.  Called before leaving to see if anything was needed (knowing the sorrow of those last minute ingredient anxieties).  An onion was requested.  Learning that Kate was making a serious Mexican stew, I told her I'd roasted pasilla peppers and we decided I'd make Rajas con crema on arrival.

Chuck, Gail, Annette and I were treated to a grand meal--an excellent guacamole followed by the stew (the name which now escapes me, but it was delicous) with tortillas, salad and my traveling rajas.  There were a few unlikely drops of rain as we settled onto the patio to eat--and an even more surprising burst of thunder lightning and a few more giant raindrops as I drove home, but we were able to dine in fine style on the patio and I do believe an excellent time was had by all.


Dinner at Kate's.

July 17th. Crispy Kale. Summer Salads.

A day of nibblng on assorted salads.  I'd bought kale at the Mar Vista Market thinking I'd make some variant of the Gjelina breakfast sandwich of fried egg with kale, but instead, not feeling particularly egg-y, I decided to try replicating those crispy snacks that are suddenly inundating the markets.

CRISPY BAKED KALE CHIPS
Pre-heat oven to 350°
Wash and thoroughly dry one bunch of kale (any variety, I think)
Pull off of stem and cut or tear into bite size pieces.
Spread on baking sheet (single layer not necessary).
Sprinkle with olive oil, smoked paprika and salt.
Bake for ten to fifteen minutes, stirring occasionally until slightly brown on edges.  Kale should get crisper as it cools--but you might have to experiment a bit.

July 16. Fried eggs with beet greens. Umami Burgers. Twice baked potato

I was so happy with yesterday's lunch of fried eggs with beet greens, I  had it again for an early breakfast today--of course--the greens were cooked and ready to go--so how could they be ignored?

Met Patty after noon yoga for a late lunch at Umami Burger, in the very same Fred Segal complex of my yoga class.  Due to my wanderings, I had been completely unaware of the existence of this ever-growing enterprise that began in 2009. I learned about it from vegetarian Andrea, who is a close follower of LA restaurant data, even in the meat category, when I joined her and Sam and Dan at 800 Degrees for pizza.  She explained that this concept in relatively fast food pizza was a new addition to the Umami family, and suggested I might try those famous burgers which were available across the street from my almost daily yoga.  It took me almost two months--but I finally made it.  

We were both starving and ordered more than we might usually--an Umami burger and a truffle burger as well as onion rings and sweet potato fries.  I surely should have taken a picture, but I did not.  We did manage to clean all our plates and I was pleased to be  slowly catching up the ever advancing hamburger culture.  

After that very late and big lunch, I thought I might by-pass dinner, but that is almost never possible.  I baked one of the giant potatoes that Andrew had left as part of his pre-travel refrigerator emptying ritual and ate half of it stuffed with cheese, onions and tomatoes.

July 15th. Mar Vista Market. Ferris Wheel. Fried eggs with sauteed beet greens and shallots.

Biked to the Mar Vista Farmer's Market with Robin.  After biking to Echo Park, Mar Vista now feels next door (as indeed it is)--and biking to that market is faster than walking to the market in Ocean Park--and yields a much better--and more reasonable priced range of produce. We'd thought we might buy ourselves a breakfast snack, but there was so much grazing of samples, that we managed to eat our fill as we shopped.   I packed backpack and bike basket to the brim with oranges, peaches, kale, beets and potatoes.
I left it all briefly at Tim and Robin's for our planned ferris wheel ride.   This police fair was very strange indeed.  A mid-way of sorts plunked right in the middle of Windward Circle, adding to the normal weekend traffic chaos, blocking access to all businesses and not seeming to draw much of a clientele.  The rides, which were far from state of the art, were mostly too intimidating for us older gals--loops that flipped you up-side down and inside out and perhaps worse.  We opted for the most old-fashioned of ferris wheels-- we were the only riders--happily viewing sea and boardwalk from a reasonable enough height at a not frightening pace.
Back home, after unpacking my bounty, I was hungry once again.  That grazing only takes you so far.  Luckily I was well supplied and  sauteed my new beet greens with shallots which were a fine accompaniment to fried eggs.
Later that day, after a walk (actually mostly a sit) on the beach with Patty, I ended the day with a simple salad of greens with
ferris wheel with robin...fried eggs with sauteed shallots and beets.
cucumbers, smoked salmon, tomatoes, lettuce

July 14th. Marathon Biking.

In what I thought might be a spasm of lunacy, but which turned out to be a surprisingly enjoyable outing, I biked to meet Laureen at a celebration of Woody Guthrie's Centennial in Echo Park. I wasn't quite sure what that event would be, but decided I would seize the opportunity for another long distance bike ride.  This time, going solo, I did a bit more route research.  With ith the aid of Google as well as an account of a bike ride in the other direction, and came up with a route that was both doable and pleasurable.
I'm becoming oddly familiar with the bike lane on Venice Boulevard--in all the years of driving that route, I have to admit that I never looked with envy at the few cyclists peddling along, but now, biking seems the eminently preferable mode --and quite easy to negotiate.  Turning left at Hauser, I jogged my way towards  4th street, a route we'd used when I biked to the Philharmonic in April. Heading north and east, many of the streets I was instructed to turn on began with the letter C--Catalina, Corinth, Council, Coronado, etc.  This alliterative confusion led to much checking of my instructions--but wonder of wonders, the ride was surprisingly simple.  Not short--it took over two hours--door to park (google had estimated 1 hour and 42 minutes, but I am obviously slower than the google-bike-time-keeper.  Laureen had arrived just moments before at  El Centro del Pueblo (lots of freeway traffic).   The Centennial Celebrations had begun, but the crowd was thin, and the sun very hot, so after a quick stroll around, we headed for lunch at Masa around the corner on Sunset.  Laureen had been here before--it was big, air-conditioned, and relaxed--it was about 1:30--breakfast, brunch and lunch were all possibilities.  We opted for lunch--the Manchego salad--greens with manchego, dates, apples and caramelized walnuts.  Hard to go wrong there.  The specialty of the house is Chicago Deep Dish pizza, but we stuck with a classic "bistro" pizza, the thin crusted cerro gordo with roasted shallots and roasted garlic.  I always think I'll be ravenous after a long bike ride, but I think I ate a relatively normal amount (there was even pizza left over for Laureen to take home).
It was still to hot for us to properly appreciate the festivities in the park (I suspect things didn't really get going until much later in the day), and after a bit of wandering on Sunset, we found our way to Xoia the Vietnamese restaurant across the street.  There looked to many delicious things on the menu (which had a bit of a Mexican influence as well).  I would have been happy to try a lemon grass carnitas banh mi, but alas I can't eat two lunches in a row.  Instead we enjoyed the  air-conditioning along with a Vietnamese iced coffee for me, and a mint-limeade soda for Laureen before I headed west for a surprisingly enjoyable bike ride home.

July 13th. Hosteria del Piccolo, Venice Beach Biennale, Police Carnival

Post yoga at 10...then....lunch with Natasha--birthday lunch as it happened at Hosteria del Piccolo...I had thought we were just going to meet for a quick snack, but Natasha had intended this to be a belated birthday lunch.   It was a complete treat and surprise for me.  The restaurant is less formal, less expensive than it's parent, Piccolo on Dudley in Venice.  We ate on the patio--shared three dishes--the first--a bean and tomato salad--Foglia Seinza with white means, shallots, heirloom tomatoes and tuna on a pizza crust.  A bit heartier than a regular salad--followed by linguine with clams--and for dessert--profiteroles with a salted caramel sauce.  One treat after another.    

After lunch, Natasha was planning to stop by to borrow The Hare With Amber Eyes.  She parked (never so easy in my neighborhood) so we could check out the Venice Beach Biennale--an arts event organized by the Armand Hammer Museum--pretty goofy--regular artists(i.e. artists invited by the Hammer, I'd guess)  selling some of their wares alongside the regular Venice artists--invited by no-one.    Quite a scene.
And that was just part of the Venice madness.  Biking to the library after Natasha left, I discovered that Windward Circle was packed with carnival rides, midway games, and many roving cops.   Not many visitors--I thought it might be a movie set, or yet another art project, but one of the many officers of the law told me that it was in fact a real fund-raising carnival put on by the Police Department to raise money for their youth projects.


Later that evening, after I'd eaten another unphotographed  salad for dinner, with the last of the aioli and a hard boiled egg and was about to step out for a last look at the setting sun,  Emily called.  She was at the front door with Jake.   Too bad, I'd just finished eating.  I could have whipped up some quick meal, but instead added some triple sec and a very strong chinese alcohol to the left-over mango smoothie--and served them both very strong sunset viewing drinks before they headed off for  dinner in El Segundo
Robin called--she'd bought tickets for the rides at the tiny fair, but they wouldn't let her ride alone.  As Tim refused to join her on the Ferris Wheel, she was hoping I'd do it.  Years ago, we'd had a fine ride on the Ferris Wheel at the Santa Monica PIer, so although I couldn't do it until Sunday--we made a date.   And that was the end of a very socially packed day.  

July 12th. Orange Mango Smoothie. Steakhouse dinner

AAMet Lena and Phoebe (now five and a half months)  at Whole Foods/99¢ store lot, yes that very parking lot of last year's video.  Maybe time to watch it again.  I, of course, am on my bike, and doing most of my shopping at the 99¢ store--milk, organic lettuce, Mexican cheese--training myself for minimal purchases to facilitate bike transport.   Quickly walking through Whole Foods with Lena (she walked there--so no parking lot woes for either of us), I also bought four almost ripe avocados for the weekend.
While walking to my house, I'd been thinking we'd have ice cream sundaes, but in a flurry of righteousness, I bypassed the super sweet for moderately sweet and more nourishing  mango, orange, black cherry yogurt smoothies.  Not sure if they really qualified as righteous but they were definitely delicious.

MANGO SMOOTHIES

Two mangos, chopped
Juice of two oranges
One container of Chobani black cherry yogurt
Milk--to thin if it's too thick.
Ice--same thinning purpose.

Mango Smoothie

It's always a bit messy cutting those mangos--but it wasn't long before everything was whirling in the blender en route to this glass.

A few hours later, I was ready for another meal.  Much to my surprise, I made myself a very proper dinner of New York steak, a simple salad of romaine with a bit of Humboldt fog and half a baked potato with a topping of stewed tomatoes and shallots with the last of the burrata.

July 11th. Left-over pasta. Scrambled eggs with burrata, shallots and tomatos.

Not much pasta left, but heated  once again with chicken broth, more burrata, parsley and a few grates of lemon zest, it was a tasty late lunch.

And then there was dinner--this time the burrata got to be scrambled with eggs and tomatoes sauteed with shallots and garlic.  Quick, delicious, and eaten before I remembered to snap their photos.

July 10th. Burrata breakfast. Splendid salad at Carol's. In n Out.

That burrata is the gift (to myself) that keeps on giving.  It's still tastes fresh and worked perfectly in tiny sandwiches with roast tomatoes for breakfast.  Truth be told, expected to finish off the burrata in my next two meals.

Snack of the week

But the burrata remained untouched the rest of the day.    Carol called while I was in yoga, suggesting I come by.  Instead of going home, I decided to bike straight to her house--a pure bike path route--8.7 miles along the Ocean Front, through the Marina, then onto the Ballona Creek Bike Path to Sawtelle.  And there was a promise of lunch once I got there.  Who could ask for anything more?  Carol is famous (at least to me) for her salads.  When I met her, as a relatively new arrival to Southern California, I was wowed by her salads, bursting with ingredients--nuts, dried fruits, etc. that I'd never seen on the eastern seaboard.  Now, of course, these California influenced salads have taken over the world, and I'm happy to give full credit to Carol.

Surprised myself by stopping at In'n'Out on Washington as I biked home.  With my new advanced knowledge of the Super Secret Menu, I  now order  my regular animal style burger medium rare and my fries well done.  Next time, I'm going to take a bigger leap into super secret land and get it with extra everything--and maybe chiles too--how exciting will that be?

Packed the burger and fries into my bike basket for a quick ride home--not quite quick enough as the thousand island dressing had time to work its way through the wrappings--it was easily cleaned up, but next time I'll have to be more careful.

July 9. Pasta with Burrata. Teeny sandwiches with yy aioli, burrata, roasted tomatoes

Jury duty this week--but as is often the case, don't have to report today.  Dropped off necklaces at Huli's to be fixed and picked up repaired chairs (progress in restoration).

Sammy and 14 month old Sy stopped by around 6--we were going to walk to the beach, but snacked instead.

Stuffed refrigerator with many delicious items happily mixed and matched.

Humboldt Fog Center Stage

First course---teeny open-faced sandwiches some with burrata, roasted tomatoes and cherry peppers, others with Humboldt Fog cheese which I'd gotten at my spree at Surfas.
I heated up the left-over penne with portobellos and asparagus with a few cubes of frozen chicken broth--and tossed with a few tablespoons of burrata.  Many cheeses would be fine with this dish (the parmesan was great on Saturday), but the burrata was quite spectacular.  Sy had a half a banana as well before they hurried home for bath and bed.

July 8. Sunday. Antipasto spread at Linda's.

Reprised the burrata and roasted tomatoes for breakfast before bike ride to Armand Hammer with Robin to see the chock full and often exciting Made in LA show.

Artichokes, aioli, snack for a late lunch.  Early dinner at Linda's--a splendid antipasto spread, prosciutto, many cheeses, peppers, and salads.

I'd brought my caramel nut sauce and strawberries which we ate with vanilla Ben and Jerry's supplied by Linda, before heading to Culver City to see Mike's band--the Standards play an excellent set at the Cinema Bar on Sepulveda--time-warped and completely enjoyable--setting, music, company and all.

July 7th. Dinner Artichokes with aioli, Guacamole. Penne with asparagus and portobello mushrooms. Ice cream with strawberries and caramel nut sauce.

Dan, Andrea and Sam are coming for dinner.

Big vegetarian menu.For starters-- the artichokes were already steamed (I'd scarcely made a dent at lunch) , but I did have to make a fresh round of aioli.

All the avocados were guacamole ready, and I even had a bag of chips--and there was still a bit of Fourth of July corn salad.

These were all old stand-bys, but the main course--penne with portobello mushrooms and asparagus was completely new and refrigerator inspired.

INGREDIENTS
One bunch asparagus
Four portobello mushrooms
3 shallots
4 cloves garlic
1 cup vegetable broth
lemon juice
1/2 cup parsley
parmesan cheese

Steam the asparagus for just a few minutes--barely tender--then cut into pieces about the size of the penne and set aside.
Slice the mushrooms, saute in butter and olive oil--when the mushrooms are nicely browned,  add finely chopped shallots and garlic and cook for another minute or so.  Add vegetable broth (you could also use wine, or chicken broth--you just want to add enough liquid to make a bit of a sauce.  

Cook Pasta.  Toss pasta with mushrooms, asparagus, finely chopped parsley and cheese (I used parmesan, but many possibilities here as well).

I'd forgotten the cheese, so before dessert we had a mini-course of burrata--it was amazingly fresh and delicious-- with roasted tomatoes.
Last week, I'd made a very delicious salted caramel sauce, but tonight I made a caramel nut sauce from Deborah Madison.
CARAMEL NUT SAUCE
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup dark corn syrup
1 cup cream
pinch salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Toast the nuts for about five minutes in the oven pre-heated to 350°.  Combine sugar, corn syrup and cream in heavy saucepan.  Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently until smooth. Add salt and cook for another five minutes or so--it will thicken a bit--but won't be really thick until it cools.  Stir in vanilla and nuts.

mini-portion of ice cream with caramel nut sauce and strawberries

I served it over ice-cream, strawberries and raspberries, along with the tiny bit of left-over salted caramel sauce for comparison. High marks all around--the salted caramel,  containing cream and butter was perhaps richer, but both were very delicious indeed.  

July 7th. Artichokes and Roasted Tomatoes. Ballona Creek Bike Path. Surfas.

While having my coffee this morning, roasted tomatoes and steamed artichokes for dinner tonight.  To make sure they would be dinner suitable had a sampling for lunch along with the left-over corn salad before heading out to explore the Ballona Creek Bike Path.  I had no idea how far it goes--but at the moment it ends near the new Culver City Metro Station.  An extension goes right by the previously elusive Hayden Tract and ended right across the street from Surfas.

I'd been thinking I might have to stop at In 'n' Out since I was in the neighborhood, but given the proximity of the Surfas cafe, which I'd never tried, there was no way not to park my bike and go inside.  I ordered half of their "ultimate grilled cheese sandwich,"  white cheddar, fontina, blue cheese with mayo on pecan raising bread with a small salad, and while I was waiting, wandered into the store, for the first time in years.

My goal for the day was to empty the refrigerator, and not add new items, but I couldn't resist buying a tub of burrata when I learned it was only delivered on Saturday (this of course felt like fate--I've since learned that Bay Cities sells it for a few dollars less--and if you happen to be in El Monte you can buy it at the Gioia factory for almost half the price.  And how could I not buy a little slice of Humboldt Fog once I was informed that there was a price war somewhere in fogland--and it had never been cheaper.  Of course I had to get a baguette to go with (what could be better--or at least more French-- than biking with a baguette in a basket?)

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.

July 5th. Leftovers. Fresh fruit.

Lunch--left-over corn salad.  caramelized tofu with roasted cauliflower and brussels sprouts.

Big shop at Ralph's and Trader Joe's--for still to be imagined meals.  Ralph's had organic strawberries and raspberries of $1.99 each.  How the world of produce has changed!  Should we be wary consumers?  I'm afraid I can't muster up the necessary vigilance so  but for the moment, I'm happy to trust in Ralph and his organic farming buddies.

Minimal dinner of nectarines and strawberries with cottage cheese and yogurt.  Avocado salad.

July 4th. Corn Salad

Bagel with cream cheese and smoked salmon, raspberries with cottage cheese breakfast and lunch combo.

Made a corn and garbanzo salad for the annual Bar-B-Que at Gail and Ira's.

Mixed kernels of four ears of corn, one can of garbanzo beans, one red pepper chopped into pretty small pieces, two shallots, chopped fine, a few tablespoons of finely chopped parsley and cilantro, coriander, cumin, salt and pepper.  Many other variations, obviously possible.

July 3rd. Left-overs again. Caramelized Tofu with Brussels Sprouts and Cauliflower

The last of the frittata and the last artichoke for lunch.  My intention to whip up another batch of aioli came to naught.  Instead, I spiced up a little Best Foods mayo with lemon juice and a little hoisin sauce--worked on both the artichoke and frittata.  And there was still a bit of ice cream and raspberries for dessert--this time with a slightly aging butterscotch brownie crumbled on top.

Uh-oh--not so unusual --discovered that the expiration date on box of tofu (months after purchase--so doesn't usually come around) was two weeks ago.  But--as is so often the case with expiration dates--warning was premature.  Opened the box, pressed and drained the tofu in anticipation of a soon-to-be-cooked meal.

Caramelized Tofu

Instead of early dinner, did the most tedious task of jury duty orientation on line (according to promise on web-site--this chore will enable me to report for jury duty several hours later on first reporting day--let us hope).  That task completed, I quickly cooked up a pan of  caramelized tofu, to which I added the roasted brussels sprouts and cauliflower and then, unexpectedly biked to a story-telling show where Bill Ratner was reading at the Talking Stick on Lincoln Boulevard.  It was a complete surprise and a total treat.

July 2nd. Cleaning out the vegetable bin.

June gloom has returned.  Lots of eating away from home the past week (or is two?).  Tomorrow is garbage pick-up day--so a good time for a glance into the refrigerator.  Many items have been around a bit too long.  No meal plans in sight--but I'm always happy doing some cooking while making and drinking morning coffee.

In principle (and also in reality, I suppose), cauliflower and brussels sprouts--perhaps due to their wintry natures have extremely long refrigerator lives, but they do not last forever. If they were required to come with expiration dates, they've be long overdue--so no reason not to roast them up.

Ready to Roast

The big head of cauliflower yielded two and a half jelly roll pans to roast--with the brussels sprouts taking  up the slack.  After yoga biked to paint store to look for colors for newton house--by the time I'd finished I was starving--I needed nourishment before continuing home (especially because I thought I'd stop at the 99¢ store.  Many possibilities--I hadn't had a Bay Cities sandwich in ages and was thinking of eggplant, but Bay Cities is closed on Monday.  Maybe it was time for a ceviche taco at the truck on Rose, but enroute, I stopped at  Sapporo, a Japanese restaurant in the Albertson's parking lot.  which has recently replaced another not particularly memorable very similar restaurant at that very  spot.  There was an excellent lunch menu with many bargain specials--another surprise of a meal.

Lunch special with sushi and tempura 

No longer famished, I could with relative calm peruse the aisles of the 99¢ store.  Due to the limitations of a)my appetite, b)my refrigerator and c0my bike carrying capabilities, I tried to limit my purchases, but still--due to the surprise addition of five ears of corn, toilet paper, giant artichokes, etc., I found myself juggling a few too many bags on the way home.  But--I did make it without anything breaking, dropping, spilling or being crushed.  This is indeed progress.

For dinner, I cooked up many of the aging items from the refrigerator--one abandoned and resuscitated  baby bok choy, the oldest of the portobello mushrooms, one small zucchini with the long ago roasted tomatoes as well as garlic, shallots, parsley and the kernels from one of the five ears of corn,which made a quite passable sauce for farfalle.  Raspberries and vanilla ice cream for dessert.

July 1. Leftovers for Lunch. Ma Po Tofu at Eric's

Another gorgeous Sunday.  As reports of hot muggy east coast weather, Colorado Fires and dreadful weather circumstances almost everywhere, these splendid California days are a continual source of wonder.

Biking home from an early afternoon yoga class, the bike path, side-walks and streets were packed solid with Sunday celebrants.  Made my way through the crowds for a fine left-over lunch of a simple salad and frittata, with a few butterscotch brownies that hadn't made it to last nights Fireworks party.  

Late in the afternoon, I was delighted to take up Eric's invitation for a Venice respite and got to visit his family's new house and have a dinner of Ma Po Tofu which he whipped up.