Good Olive Oil

I found this great olive oil at the regular market (Ralphs or Albertsons or something like that). I was pretty surprised at how good it was. I'm a big fat olive oil snob. I can't help it, it's in my blood. This stuff is reasonably priced and has a really fresh, verdant flavor.



Thought I'd share...

My Mom Reviews - "The Woman Behind The New Deal" by Kirstin Downey

Here is another review from my mother, the voracious reader. This one looks amazing.

The Woman Behind The New Deal By Kristin Downey
Reviewed by Penny Davies

When our book group selected, Kirstin Downey's "The Woman Behind the New Deal...The Life and Legacy of Frances Perkins," I was less than delighted. The quality paperback was 398 pages long, with pages and pages of bibliography and notes in the back. It appeared to be a gargantuan tome to a woman unknown to most of us. I had a vague idea of the reputation of Frances Perkins, Secretary of Labor, during FDR 's administration, but I really didn't know that she was also responsible for Social Security, Unemployment Insurance, Minimum Wage, the 40 hour week, etc. etc. This book tells the history of those times, through the life of Ms.Perkins. She was smart, intuitive, and knew how to get her way with FDR. She accomplished things that would be
impossible to legislate today.

It was an historic time between 1929 and 1949. With the depression underway, millions were out of work, and Frances Perkins, the first woman cabinet member, used her smarts to establish the New Deal. She started off as a social worker, married a man who was bipolar and lived in institutions for practically her entire married life. Her only daughter had serious psychological problems too. She had a close relationship with FDR, who she pushed and pulled to get her way. She always dressed in dowdy black in order to make the men in power picture her as "motherly". Because she was a woman, she was badgered, mistrusted, and generally resented by the men in Washington. But that didn't seem to bother her...she attained most of the legislation on her "list", (except for Universal Health Care). She cared about the downtrodden, the poor, the underpaid worker, immigrants, the unemployed, seniors, children... She cared at a time in our history when something tangible could actually be done to improve their lives.

This is an extremely fascinating picture of a determined, intelligent woman whose story is practically unknown. Her private life was a shambles, but she did so much for this country. We owe her for paving the way for subsequent women in government. She was loyal to President Roosevelt and worked with him and Harry Truman for twelve tumultuous years. This is definitely a good read, an excellent biography about an amazing woman. Frances Perkins, a remarkable life.

The Bride, The Groom... & Fernando The Taco Man

A few weeks ago, The Husband and I threw an engagement party for our good friends Rick and Robin (whose wedding we are officiating in June). This party was so much fun to put together. We gave it a vacation theme because Rick and Robin's initials are R&R and also because, well, they like to party. We live in the front house of a triplex and our neighbors in the back have a huge beautiful yard. With their generosity, in two days, we turned that yard into a vacation-party paradise.

Meet the bride and groom...

This is Fernando the Taco Man. I'm in love with his Tacos. Like crazy in love. We had to feed 35-40 people at our party, so instead of working myself to the bone, I made drinks and cake and Fernando took care of everything else. It was awesome.

He brings his cart and all the ingredients and stays for 4 hours. His tacos are fresh, well seasoned, and delicious. We had, pastor, carne asada, carnitas, chicken, grilled onions, grilled mild peppers, rice, beans, guacamole, chips, two salsas, cilantro chopped onions, radishes and limes wedges. If you are planning a party where you have too feed 30+ people, I absolutely recommend Fernando (his number is (626) 278-6327). He was such a nice man, with such an amazing service. Look at all this yum....


The Husband ate seven tacos that afternoon. Seven. And the best part was that there were plenty of leftovers for dinner that night (and then some).

I made homemade margaritas with fresh squeezed orange juice.

We bought Mexican Cokes made with cane sugar. Yum.

And the Bride's favorite beer.

I made a double batch of The Pioneer Woman's Tres Leches Cake and managed to tier it.

And this Lemon bundt cake is my favorite recipe from the book 'Under The Tuscan Sun' buy Francis Mayes (I'll blog this one soon, it's too good).

Rick has an affinity for beer coozies, so we stole all of his collection and added some of our own for everyone to use. This one was epic.

Until...

The whole day was so fun because I didn't have to kill myself in the kitchen and we could still eat like a kings. But best of all, Rick and Robin had a blast and all their friends left happy and full.
We cannot wait for next Summer! These people, know how to party. Love you R&R.

The Secret Dog Park

My friend Avi took me to a secret dog park up in the Hollywood hills. I don't even know if it's a legal dog park. Probably not because they are normally dirty, dusty and reek of pee. This one was different, clean and grassy with a beautiful view. It didn't hurt that the rain had just wiped the city clean and the wind had driven all the smog away either.
I haven't seen my dog this happy since the last time we drove an hour and a half down to Huntington to take her to the dog beach. This park was like a little slice of dog heaven, and it's right here, in Los Angeles.
I can't tell you where it is, because then it wouldn't be secret. But you should try to find it, I promise it's the best dog park you'll ever go to.

Fall

It's fall in Southern California. It's a strange time for those of us who have spent a fall (or four) on the east coast. In California, it doesn't look like what fall is "supposed" to look like. We have some deciduous trees, but not many and any rain that we get just makes the grass and bulbs come to life. It ends up looking more like spring with a few colored leaves on the trees.

So, in honor of my beloved home state, I thought I'd share something else with you that doesn't look like what it is supposed to.


I found them in my yard, none of the other leaves on the tree look like this. I thought it was strange and sweet. Even sweeter since there were two.

Butternut Squash Soup

Looking for an awesome soup to start off your Thanksgiving? Oh look, I've got it.

It takes a few ingredients, a little elbow grease, some love and BOOM you've got a big pot of awesome. I made this for our Halloween party, where I called it "Mr. Butter's Nuts Got Squashed Soup." Despite the name, it was gobbled up. The spices were just perfect for my batch, but you never know with starchy root veggies and gourds. You may need to add a little more of the spices (but don't go crazy, jeeze).

Mr. Butternut's Soup

1 1/2 Large Butter Nut Squashes
1 Large Onion
3 Stalks of Celery
3 Large Carrots
3 Large Potatoes
1/2 Stick of Salted Butter
8 Cups of Chicken Broth
1 T Sea Salt
1/2 t Ground Ginger
1 1/2 t Curry Powder
1 1/2 t Cinnamon
1 1/2 T Brown Sugar

You'll need a large pot, an immersion blender and a veggie peeler.

Cut butternut squash in half, clean out seeds and peel with veggie peeler.

With a large sharp knife, cut squash into thumb sized pieces. Your palm will get sore from cutting, use a towel on top of the knife if you need it.

Clean and chop your mirepoix (Onion, celery & carrot).

Peel and dice potatoes. Once all veggies are prepped, melt butter in a tall heavy soup pot. When butter is melted, add veggies and cook for 6 or 7 minutes then cover with broth.

Once the soup begins to boil, add 1 T of salt and pepper to taste. When all the veggies are soft use immersion blender to make the soup smooth and creamy.

Once soup is pureed, add ginger, cinnamon, curry and brown sugar. Add more spices if you think they are needed. Serve with hot fresh buttered bread and thin slices of green apples. Enjoy! Happy Thanksgiving... eat too much for me!

Teen Witch The Musical!

I saw "Teen Witch The Musical" at the Groundlings on Monday night. It's a live stage adaptation of the silly 80's movie. It's wonderful. I've seen it three times over the years and it just gets better and better. Go and see this show. The last performance was sold out and there is only one show left, so reserve your tickets immediately. Trust me, it is such a good time.

Monday November 15th
8pm
@ The Groundlings Theater
7307 Melrose Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90046
For Reservations call
The Groundlings Box Office @ 323-934-4747
www.groundlings.com
Tickets are $8.00 at the door

Colleen Smith
Eliot Benjamin
Jordan Black
Candace Brown
Drew Droege
Artemis Pebdani
Amy Procacci
Derek Ringold
Nicole Sciacca
Kenny Stevenson
Patty Wortham
Mike Zara

Backstage with Drew, Kenny, Jordan and Artemis.

The costumes are wonderful-bad

Watching Artemis, seriously puts me in danger of peeing my pants.

Coleen rocks the trench coat.

Drew as the drama teacher, with the longest, skinniest, hairiest, girl-legs of all time is just so much fun.

We saw a peek of Jordan's bum.

Drew's aforementioned legs...

I actually liked Candace's dress here. Is that wrong?

I promise you, you will love this show. Go!