Oh Dear New Orleans!

Ever fall in love? You know that feeling...suddenly it hits you - blam! This is it! I love New Orleans that way.  Chicago will always be my true love, the one that I had 18 good years with and then for one reason or another, it was time to leave.  New Orleans is like that new romance lurking in the corners of your life that you haven't acted upon yet.  It's exciting, scary, dangerous, a little voodoo-y, delicious, weird, wonderful.  All the things I like.  Here's a pic of our first meal in town.  Mudbugs and Beer is how someone described it, but truly, you can't know how delicious that crawfish (and the shrimp) was until you go there and eat some for yourself.  I was lucky I had a few natives around to show me the best way to eat this stuff.  Did I mention the fresh and broiled oysters? O.M.G.  More to come on Crescent City for sure!

Relax Much?

Can you relax? I have a hard time with it.  The other day, I baked a bunch of stuff.  Guess what? I relaxed.  But when the baking is over, life continues...but you have baked goods, so it's always better.  I made Alice Medrich's Cocoa Brownies (my GAWD that woman is a genius.  I got the recipe from the website Food52) and Deb Perelman's Whole Lemon Bars (from her cookbook - another genius).  Then, I made my standard no-knead bread (originally from Foodie With Family blog, I believe) with dried garlic, onions, sesame seeds, poppy seeds, black sesame seeds, flax seeds, herbes de provence, white pepper and smoked salt - heaven! All for now - busy week ahead, then off to New Orleans! 

Tocino - A Love Story

Do you ever come across a recipe that is so killer you just can't stand it? Well, here is mine:  Tocino.  Ever heard of it? If you're from the Phillipines, maybe you have.  But I'm telling you, this has rapidly morphed from being my new recipe to an old favorite.  It's wonderful.  Best of all, it's easy, which appeals to my lazy side, believe me.  I got it from Rebecca Lindamood's terrific blog Foodie with Family.  If you don't know Rebecca's blog, take a minute and check it out:  www.foodiewithfamily.com. She often posts the most amazingly exotic recipes made easy by subtitutions that are well within any home cook's reach. 

For example, tocino is made from rather exotic ingredients in the Phillipines, however, Rebecca makes it simple for us and the results are nothing short of astounding.  She lists pork shoulder on her site for this dish, but I get pork butt (heehee).  Is that the same thing? Not sure.  Here's a funny thing though - my butcher always gives me the stink-eye when I order the pork butt (heehee) for it.  You have to get the butcher to slice it thin - some butchers sulk and slice it too thick - guess what, the recipe still works.  It's practically foolproof! But it's a pain to slice, hence the stink-eye. 

I don't fry the pork, but grill it.  It makes a bit of a mess, and there is a slight learning curve involved in grilling it.  The sugar cure really makes the flames go high, but bear with it and let the pork char a bit.  Pile it up over the flames and then put the sizzling pork on a plate when it really starts to darken.  I've even had black pieces - they work just fine.  There is so much flavor! I do add one exotic ingredient - fish sauce.  I'm addicted to it.  You certainly don't need to add it.  But if you have an Asian market near  you (who doesn't?), this is readily available.  I like the Vietnamese fish sauce best, as opposed to Korean.  You can also completely eliminate any or all food coloring.  This dish pretty much makes itself.  I hope you make it! Here is what you need:

3 pounds pork butt (heehee), sliced into 1/8 inch slices and cut in half lengthwise (can be thicker if you have a sulky butcher)
3/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup white sugar
1 clove garlic, pressed
1 tbs. soy sauce
1 tbs. fish sauce (optional)
3 tbs. kosher salt
15 drops red food coloring or 3 tbs beet powder (what? also optional, please)

Combine everything except pork in a large bowl.  Add pork to bowl, one piece at a time.  Mix together as much as you can with your hands.  Transfer to two ziploc bags, or one GIANT ziplock bag.  Let sit in fridge for three days, turning it from time to time.  Or, stick it in the freezer until you need some/all of it.  The idea is to let it cure in the bag.  It won't look like much going in.  But over time, the juices release and get all red and the salt and the sugar work their magic.  Then, either grill it over hot charcoal or fry it in a cast-iron.  Beware though - it's sticky! But sticky goodness is what it's all about with pork, no? I serve it with jasmine rice and lots of hot sauce.

That was a lot of work!

Hey - that was a lot of work - but worth it! Can you believe this is the view from my girlfriend's living room? It's a little blurry - but that's the ocean.  Ah-mazing.  Everything turned out great - except, my provolone crisps ended up like chewy rubbery pieces of gum in the salad.  That did not turn out well at all.  But pretty much all the other recipes were hits.  The two crackers listed in the last blog post are really the best.  Both come from Smitten Kitchen - do you know that website? I've talked about it before.  The flatbread recipe can be found on her website - the grissini recipe, well, you gotta buy the cookbook.  But here's a hint - if you go to her website and search Russian Black Bread, it's pretty much the same ingredients, scaled down.  So good.  Two of the cookies came from 101 Cookbooks, another great site. The dark chocolate sables came from Smitten as well.  Love me some Smitten.  She just posted those on her site the other day.  I also like Pinterest for recipes.  All for now.

First New Post in a Long Time

Oh yes it has - it's been a long time since I blogged.  I think I need to return to it.  There's a lot going on, and since I only have one blogger pal on here (who came to see me! wavewavewavewave) I can definitely vent.  Maybe not today, though.  Let's just say, I'm tentatively putting my toe back in the blogging pool.  Did I really only post once in 2012? Yup.  Oh well.  What's new in my world? Not much has changed.  I'm learning my sixth one woman show.  I'm still with Dean, still living in my new apartment. Went back home three times last year because my Mom had a slew of issues.  Still cooking, learning new recipes.  Still at the same jobs.  Those jobs in my apartment that needed completing? Still incomplete.  Oh well.  Sometimes, you have to let things slide a bit.  Especially out here.  This Sunday, I'm cooking for 14 people! My pal lives in a big new house in Manhattan Beach and I'm providing the food.  Here is the menu:  

Pumpernickel Grissini
Rosemary Flatbread
Whipped Feta and Lemon Dip
Creme Fraiche Horseradish Dip

Lacinato Kale with Pumpkin Oil, Balsamic Vinegar and
Provolone Crisps

Homemade Garlic-Onion Bread
Homemade Cultured Butter with Fresh Marjoram

Chicken Saltimbocca
Parsnip Puree

Whole Vanilla Bean Cookies
Nibby Buckwheat Cookies
Super Dark Chocolate Cookies

Sounds good, right? I swear I could do this for a living, but the only bummer is, dealing with the public.  Been there, done that, it's over.  Maybe I can just get friends to hire me?? I'm burying the lede here: I'm a little burned out on my job.  Oh well, who isn't? In these tough times, I'm lucky to be employed. 

The picture is from my local supermarket's parking lot.  Pretty amazing skies around here lately. 

All for now. 

Let Go Let Cake

So, a brief history of my cakes - they generally suck. I could not figure out why this or this recipe did not turn out well. Everything looked fine, but the taste was heavy, dense, cardboardy. I kept experimenting with this, and this. Still, bupkus. The cakes were not good.

Then, my pal said, why are your cakes cold? I said, because I stick them in the fridge when I'm done frosting them. She looked at me. "Are you crazy? Leave OUT your baked good, that way they won't dry out and taste crappy!" She's from the South and knows about these things. "We used to leave baked goods out for a week!" Yikes.

For me, this was really tough. I come from a family where fridge-ing and freezing are done almost without thinking. But I decided to give it a try. I did have some help from this awesome chick because I was trying out a new recipe of hers and if you read in the comments section, you'll see how kind she was to talk me down. I also tried this cake recipe, (the chocolate version) because Deb is god. I really wanted to try these two together. BTW, I did the caramel version of the frosting.

Then, I left the damn frosted thing out for two days - covered of course - and you know what? It was amazing. AMAZING.

That said, the leftovers are right where they belong - in the fridge. See pic for deets.

Happy Baking! And thanks to all my pals who helped! You know who you are.

Back in Los Angeles

I'm back for New Year's - it's going to be small this year. No party, just a nice dinner with friends and Dean. Now, one of the friends just called to say his pop's in the hospital, so it might just be Jan, Dean and me. We'll see. I've done a lot this year, I want to keep the end kind of on the small side. Christmas was fine, and so was Mom's birthday. My two favorite pictures are attached. The lighthouse one was taken on Christmas Day on the shores of Lake Michigan in Kenosha. The balloon one was taken at Mom's party as the festivities were winding down. Happy New Year everyone!

Happy Holidays Everyone!

We are off to Chicago-Wisconsin for what might be the shortest holiday trip ever. Dec 24-28. Mom turns 85 on December 27 - we have Xmas Eve, Xmas Day and friends to pack in. We'll do it, somehow. Merry Christmas to you and yours!

Good Lord, this is going to be quicker than I thought!

Gahhhhhh! Messed up on my ticket - we come back a day earlier than I thought. This is a bummer on so many levels. Nothing can be done, though. We'll have to make the best of things. It'll be a blur of a trip (see pic - get it?). But at least we'll be there for Xmas and Mom's birthday. We can sleep, I suppose, later.

It's Christmastime - and for some reason, this year, I have the spirit a bit. I put up a tree. Something about this new place seems to support a tree. My neighbor, who has two kids, tricked out our front lawn with reindeer, sleigh, icicle lights, the works. Too funny! I have no idea why Christmas has hit me so much - I only had one show this season - that usually gets me into the spirit. But I am just in a what-the-hell kind of mood about it. We head to Chi-town on the 24th and celebrate Mom's 85th on the 27th. Incredible! More to come, promise!

Settled In - so Mom's coming!

I'm finally settled in. Well...mostly. There *are* some straggly issues, but they won't be resolved before Mom's visit come Saturday. Should be interesting to see what she thinks of the place. Dean's been working like a madman to help me finish this. The remaining projects are just ones that are quite a bit of work and I just don't have the heart to nag him, after all he's done. I think Mom will like it. It's defintely more luxe than my old place. We'll see!

Sadness

I feel a little...ashamed right now. Last night, Dean and I had kind of a tough night. But, this morning I woke up to news that a friend in Chicago (an old acting buddy) just lost one of his *kids* to a horrible train accident in Naperville. Now *that* little nugget will put things into perspective for me. I feel like I should have been more grownup about the stuff that went down last night, fully knowing that true sorrow does exist in the world and in fact can be right around the corner. But what's done is done and now I can only wonder how my dear friend, who always had light and love in his eyes and heart will now proceed with what's left of his life. His wife and remaining son and all of their friends are indeed the beacons of hope, but how can one do this? The kid was only 17. Why was he walking at a train station? How did he manage to be on the tracks when he was hit? I can't stand that stuff like this still happens. But it does. I moved into my place two months ago today and I've been a ball of stress and nerves the whole time - but why? This was not true sorrow, this was sheer anxiety and imaginings. Lesson learned - at least for today, hopefully for longer.

As Promised

A picture of my New York kitchen. The fridge is to the right, out of frame. But that was it. For five people, 15 nights! Very tough. Tim Gunn would have been proud - I made it work!

I'm back.

So, New York: it got easier. After a grueling week of repairmen in and out of the place, things finally settled down. I was still pretty clenched though. I called my friend, who was paying for the whole thing and whose daughter was one of the quads: HOW DO YOU DO THIS? I shouted. She laughed. Now you know what it's like to be a Mom. That clenched feeling? Starts the day you come home from the hospital. You do get used to it, though.

Oy! Well, the second week, I really did end up having some fun. I saw probably one of the best plays I've ever seen, The Book of Mormon. A must-see for anyone.

Now I'm back in LA, and the best thing is: my new place finally feels like home. Don't get me wrong, gentle reader(s - I'm optimistic), I'm nowhere near done. But the boxes are unpacked and after 15 solid days in a small NYC apartment with 4 kids, I felt like I walked through my door into an airport waiting lounge - it felt huge! And it felt good.

It's Tougher Now

Tonight, for the first night since we've been here, I sense a chasm. They are all in one bedroom with the door closed, skyping someone. Who? Eh, it doesn't matter. Me? I've got my own worries. Two blisters that are just killing me. Thank God a friend recommended moleskin. How did I get to be this age and not know what moleskin is? Jeez.

So....after that first grocery store trip, I realized this: The fridge is not working. The FRIDGE is NOT WORKING. I have 400 dollars worth of food in there. Not only that, one of the kids came home the first night and broke the front door lock. How? How did she do this? Fridge guy came, eventually. Back door was broken, that guy came. Bathroom had issues, another guy came. Locksmith came. Then, management company sent THEIR locksmith over, cause it had to be their guy, not the guy listed on the front door. Wish I would have known this before I walked all the way to the East Village Hardware store to get extra keys made for the kids.

So, now, the fridge fixed. The back door fixed. The bathroom fixed. The front door lock - NOT FIXED. You can still just open it right up from the hallway. The lock guy promised to come out. For the first time, a NYC repair guy let me down. Ah, feels like home.

My dinners are being met with...well, polite reviews, not terribly glowing. But I'm doing my best. It's so small this kitchen. It's literally crazy how small it is. I promise to post a picture.

I'm dreading the fourth weekend. I have them all day and night for three days. How will I do this? I'm sort of counting the days already! More grocery shopping today. Endless work, but I knew that going in. My feet are killing me! These repairs are killing me! I just wanted it to be a little easy, not HARDER than my life is in LA, if possible. Yet, unbelievably it is.

There are bright spots - a friend took me to lunch in Chinatown today. I almost wept with gratitude. It was lovely to have someone pick me up, drive me somewhere and treat me to lunch. The little things.

Anyway, I know it'll settle down. The apartment stuff is really working my nerves. Very noisy hallway, lots of comings and goings. What do the upstairs neighbors do all day and night? Sounds like - moving furniture in stiletto heels. Just so bizarre.

I'm still glad I did it. It'll make me kiss the ground I walk on in LA!

Quads

I just gave birth to quads. That's what this feels like. Did I mention that in my old place in Los Angeles, I had what was known as the smallest kitchen in America? Yeah well this one here on the Lower East Side is half that size. HALF! FML, as the saying goes (f**k my life) and it applies here fosho! Went to two grocery stores, a hardware store and two dance stores in Times Square today. Then came home and 1. Baked cookies. 2. Made dinner. 3. Cleaned up dinner. 4. Did laundry. 5. Put everything away. 6. Pretended to fall asleep so the kids would go to bed. 7. Ate earlier cookies like a furtive NYC rat in the dark. 8. Sent an email to the parents asking for more food money. NYC= the city that eats your money!

But you know what? As stressful and financial this whole thing is, I'm happy. Even in the difficult moments, I'm thinking, hey at least you are out of LA and the hell that is unpacking and in a kickass city. The girls here! The guys! The heck with LA, the beautiful people are right outside on my stoop!

Ah, N'Yawk. My only regret is not living here sooner. Feels a little late now. LA has made me soft. The kids already know the subway system. I find myself wishing for a car and better shoes. It's really going to be a lot of work, this, but that's okay. I'm already broke from the move, so what's another coupla…hundred? Bazillion more like it. Off to bed for reals this time!

(pix to come. iphone sez no from phone posting, which this is)

New York Citayyyyy

Holy mother o' Gawd almights, am I really doing this? My boxes are not all unpacked. I have the wrong shelf paper down. There are a ton of things to do in the place. I still don't have a dryer. The ink is barely dry on the lease. Yet incredibly, I'm off to New York City for two weeks to be a chaperone to kids at American Ballet Theatre - one of the kids is the daughter of a dear pal. So off I go. Wish me luck. I'll try and post more while there about what it's like to go from having ZERO children to having suddenly FOUR, one of whom is 22 and technically I'm Not Chaperoning Her, so she can come and go as she pleases. As Lorrie Moore would say, no longer one unworried scrap of happiness. Anyway, we are hitting the ground running as they say, or toe-shoe-ing. As soon as we land tomorrow, the kids want to try and get half price student rush tickets at ABT (where they will be dancing) to see some famous ballerina's last performance of Cinderella. Don't mind me kids, I'll be sleeping during that performance, if I can even get in. Just found out at the parents meeting that one of the children (a boy) is DATING another of the children (a girl). Good Lord. Now I have to play SISTER too, it seems. Keep yer hands to yerself! Both kids, in fact, ALL the kids are lovely. They are ballet driven. Very disciplined. Wish me luck! Signed, Mama Rose, Alice in the Brady Bunch and Barbara Hershey's character in the Black Swan. PS Here's a pic of my patio. Look how the lights from inside reflect on the tree. We hung lanterns, patio lights, chandeliers. It's gonna be amazing!

I'm all in

....moving sucks. More to come. But I'm out of the old place forever. New place, here I come!

I'm not ready

I'm not ready, but tomorrow's the day. I guess I'll get done what I can get done tonight. Last post while living in old digs. It's tough, man! I watered my garden today for the last time and realized that every single plant there, with three exceptions, was planted by me. I knew the origin of everything. My lemon tree has a huge crop! I harvested it. Might as well get some use out of it. My two angel trumpet trees, beautiful! Full bloom! One for Mom and one for Dad. The plant I got from my office 9 years ago. Two plants Dean brought home free from estate sales. Some stuff I planted that used to be houseplants in Chicago. I said goodbye to all of them. Drummer came by last night. He's very unhappy with the turn of events. My neighbor said I could babysit him. That's going to be nice! Tomorrow, we get the truck and start in. Friends are helping. I'm so lucky, I know. It could be so so much worse. When I think of 2000. Buried my Dad, lost my job (had a year's notice, and we got a severance, but still), packed half my stuff and put it into Chicago storage, packed the other half into a U-Haul and off to LA I went. How on earth?? How did I do THAT? I look back and wonder. Of course...that was 10 years ago. How things change in a decade! Don't know if I'd have that in me now. Not only that, I moved out here with no car, no job and no apartment! Not for lack of trying. I'd come out on a recon a few weeks earlier - nothing. I had to store my stuff out here as well while I crashed at a friend's house. Started job/house hunting. The job was easy - but my little house, the one I'm about to leave, was much longer. 6 weeks! In Chicago, you can find an apartment in a weekend. Even this new place-3 months! But back then, all I was doing was apartment hunting. Temping a little, then I found that first job and apartment basically in the same week. Just amazing. It was fall. What will fall be like this year? The sound of the pep rallys at Venice High, the one sound I always associate with moving into my house, will now be a thing of the past. But this was before - before Dean, before my current job, before Late Nite Catechism. It was just Benny and me - now Ben's long gone. Well, life changes. That's about the only thing I know. It'll be a wrench to leave tomorrow but the new place is becoming more and more welcoming. Dean has been working like a dog to make it look beautiful for me. I'm lucky. When things are more settled, I'll post again with pictures. But for now, one last look at Dad's Angel Trumpet tree. Farewell, lovely Tivoli Ave - it's been a great run!

Moving right along

We've gotten a lot done. I wake up feeling like I've been hit with a baseball bat. Had a little scare yesterday, but will elaborate at a later date. I'm working too hard and catastrophizing all over the place: no news there. Thank God for my boyfriend. I've taxed his patience to the limit. Ditto everyone else, really. Big stuff getting moved on Saturday. Hope I'm not at the old place too much longer after that. Saw a great movie last night (boyfriend insisted!) Bridesmaids. Really interesting character played by the lead actress. Loved it. Onward. Must keep packing and moving and moving and moving and moving. Soon it will be over.