Going Down to K-Town

Sorry for the brief hiatus – I am back on Long Island, permanently as far as I know (long story) and will be attempting to get work in NYC in the near future. So posts will probably be even less frequent than they have been and not as interesting. Apologies, but I can offer you two more LA posts, mostly photos of a couple of events I attended last weekend.

I Know, I Know...

...I've been MIA lately, and there's good reason, I promise (personal stuff I won't go into here). There will be a couple photo-heavy posts up hopefully by tomorrow, but until then, how about another Omnivore's 100? This one, created by Cakespy a few years ago, is one after my own heart - a dessert 100! So here you go, copy this list, bold-face everything you've eaten, cross out anything you never 

intend to eat (what dessert would you never eat??).

Baking is Better

I think it's fair to say I am much more partial to baking than to cooking. Case in point: for dinner last night, I sauteed some tofu, mushrooms (pre-sliced), snow peas and edamame (pre-shelled), cooked up some brown rice and then...dumped it all into a bowl with Trader Joe's Sate Sauce poured over it. Healthy, yes. Gourmet...not so much. But the entire meal minus the rice was from TJs, so I get yuppy points.

Busy, Busy, Busy...

My blog has been a bit quiet as of late: real life is intervening as I continue my hunt for work (besides temp work, that is). I also haven’t been cooking much as Todd has been out of town, but now that he is back hopefully that will change. I should have some material from this weekend, but until then I decided to do something a bit fun. If you are a reader of food blogs or a blogger yourself, you have likely at some point run across The Omnivore’s 100, a list put together back in 2008 by UK blogger Andrew of Very Good Taste. It’s a compilation of 100 foods every omnivore should try – bold-face everything you’ve tried (even if it was just a taste), and put a line through anything you never, ever intend to try. Turns out my diet is more varied/adventurous than I thought! Try it for yourself, it’s quite fun; I know there are a few similar lists floating around the Internet that I might do later.

Good Food, Indeed

I spent yesterday morning and part of the afternoon at the Good Food Street Fair in Santa Monica, and came away tired, happy, significantly poorer and very, very full! Some snapshots of the day:

(Almost) Vegan Oatmeal Cookies

This past Sunday I was supposed to spend the day outside, starting with a morning hike in Griffith Park, followed by a potluck picnic (both organized by the LA Foodies meet-up group). I had a batch of these cookies all baked up and was excited to explore yet another part of my new home city. But when my alarm went off at 8am, I awoke to nausea and a splitting headache. I gamely got out of bed...for all of five minutes, just long enough for me to realize that a hike was totally not happening, and then I was back under the covers for the duration of the day.

Chinatown Summer Nights

This past Saturday I attended the Summer Nights event in LA's Chinatown. After meeting up with a few other members of the Pleasure Palate meet-up group in front of Hop Li's Seafood Restaurant, we walked a couples of blocks til we found the "official" entrance to Chinatown:

Weekend in Tucson, Part III

My second and final morning in Arizona, Todd and I took advantage of the rental car and went on a bit of a road trip. While I didn't think Tucson itself was very attractive, the surrounding countryside is actually quite pretty in a rugged, deserted sort of way:

A Weekend in Arizona, Part II

When last we left sunny Tucson, AZ, Todd and I were chilling at Epic Cafe, where we escaped the heat and got our (or my) requisite afternoon caffeine buzz while waiting to meet Kei and Martha (the couple who have kindly loaned their guesthouse to Todd for the month) for dinner.

I am quite happy to take credit for picking our dinner location from the list of possibilities Todd had emailed before my arrival. I chose Maynards Market & Kitchen, a restaurant, bar and market place located in Tucson's historic train depot, which is still active today (we sat at the outdoor patio right next to the train tracks, making for an interesting but at times loud meal). 

(Image curtesy of Maynard's website)

A (Very Hot) Weekend in Tucson Part I

As I have mentioned in previous posts, Todd is halfway through a month-long gig at the University of Arizona, where he went to graduate school. This past weekend I flew down to visit him, so for you enjoyment I present to you 48 hours (actually less) in Tucson, Arizona.


One thing to know before visiting Tucson in early September: it is hot. Not even the hottest time of the year, and every day was over 100 degrees. I landed Friday evening at almost 10 at night, so I couldn't really appreciate the heat til the next morning, when I woke up and realized it was almost 90 degrees before 9 in the morning. Luckily, Kei and Martha, Todd's friends who were letting him stay in their guesthouse, have a pool.