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.