Where's Sherlock Holmes when you need him?

Q: What's this?

A: Not a scene you want to come home to.

   Very curious about how my short little Taylor managed to get all the way up on my countertop and pull down a full plate of mint-chocolate-chocolate chip cookies & a piece of Mary Ann's Texas sheet cake that was way back against the wall. (But I guess I shouldn't be too surprised since I myself scaled a 10-12' wall in the Ruckus.) This boy's back legs are like coiled springs.
   Hitting this height is a new low for him... And this is the THIRD dish he has broken recently in his gluttonous pursuits. This was my favorite sushi-serving platter, so I put the dogs right outside & am leaving them out (yes, in the pouring rain!) to prevent me from breaking THEM into little pieces...
   This little incident has unequivocally proven that chocolate is both a stimulant and an aphrodisiac for dogs. Because Taylor has been a total spaz all night, howling, whining, pouncing, throwing toys, and then following Aki around, humping her until she gets pissed off and roars & snaps at him, then once she settles... coming back for another round. It was a LONG night! And Taylor woke me up periodically, getting into things and chewing them up.

   I swear to Dog that IF I ever have children, they will NOT be eating any sugar, because my nerves can't handle any more than a hopped-up Shiba Inu. He is a TERROR!!!

Dinner Experiment

   Some of dishes that Britten concocted last night inspired me to come up with my own version tonight, so I stopped at Trader Joe's this afternoon to procure the ingredients. Roasted pork cutlets with sweet & spicy chili sauce and matchstick Granny Smith apple & mango (this would make a great wrap with Romaine lettuce too); fresh tofu with ginger-soy gyoza dressing, and purple potato latkes with spicy peanut sauce. For dessert, Mary Ann's homemade Texas sheet cake. Kinda fun to play without a playbook and cross your fingers, and everything was soooo good... I'll make this one again for sure!
   Reminds me of a quote I read this week that I love, from one of my favorite chefs, who just happens to be local. And a genius: "Expectations are the death of pure experience."  — Jonathan Justus

I Know Some Doggies...

Who are cruisin' for a brusin'!!!

And giving me the evil green glowing eyes won't help!

   Any ideas on how to get them to leave the food bin alone are welcomed. They chewed off the latch while I was in Tahoe and are dragging it out every day now. I do want to keep it in the kitchen... after all, I have a built-in cubby designed specifically for it. (Can't add a door; it will block a wall vent.) WHY oh WHY did I want to adopt a smart breed instead of an easy breed?!

Funny-slash-weird

   Today was one of those days where I needed a laugh. I had a long day at work, and then a meeting that lasted until almost ten. By the time I got home, I had been done 14 hours, missed a happy hour with friends, and was starving. So I started heating up leftovers.
   When I walked over to the sink to wash my hands, I noticed something sticking out of the disposal on the other side of the sink. Which was odd, because nearly 100% of my food waste goes into the compost bin. My first thought was that I had absent-mindedly shoved some celery remnants in there while I was making soup.
   Upon closer inspection, I realized that it was a SPROUT that was GROWING out of my disposal! Of course it totally grossed me out initially, as I was thinking it was a fungus. Ugh! So I bravely reached my hand down there and pulled out... a large handful of PUMPKIN seeds that must have been washed down there when Dave & I carved pumpkins 3 weeks ago, each with a 6-8" sprout!

   So if you need a pumpkin for Halloween next year, feel free to stop by. I'm growing them inside of my sink.

Cheesecake for Ginny

   Since I had taken the day off to recuperate and begin packing for my next adventure, I took the opportunity to (finally) make a replacement cheesecake to celebrate Ginny's birthday. Cheesecakes are one of my very favorite things to make, because they are also one of my very favorite things to eat! This one is a lemon swirl cheesecake, which I consider to be the best one in my repertoire (though it's hard to beat chocolate peppermint!).

Baked graham cracker crust

Mixin' it up (with the Kitchenaid Mom gave me 10 years ago!)

Resisting the urge to clean it off with my tongue

With the lemon curd swirled in to the batter

With the topping

And into the oven! Can't wait to help devour this thing at work tomorrow!

Christmas in LA: Food Aplenty

   C is for Cookie, that's good enough for me. I kinda felt guilty for eating the dough before Kelley had a chance to bake it. Kinda.

   "What's that, Mr. President? You say you need 40 dozen meticulously-hand-decorated sugar cookies, STAT?"

"I'm on it!!!"

Good enough to eat!

   Suzanne's buckeyes freakin' rock! Do non-Ohioans eat these too? They may be the most delicious thing ever (especially Suzanne's recipe), and I have tasted many delicious things, so I don't say that lightly. We'll call these "First Breakfast."

   Followed by Second Breakfast, a yummy frittata. (Aka, the easiest and yummiest way to use up all the odd & ends in the fridge.)

   Another fridge-cleaning exercise produces a super-delicious grilled salmon, avocado, artichoke, roasted onion, roasted brussels sprouts, goat cheese and balsamic salad:

   And the homemade pizzas for dinner didn't last long...

Kristin & Eric approve!

Sunday cooking

   Tonight I had some leftover produce & chicken to use up, so... perfect time to make my favorite soup. (And thanks to Kelley for teaching me the recipe!)

It smells SO GOOD when the veggies start to soften & caramelize!

I recommend serving with garlic bread, which I have a profound weakness for.

   Check out this photo set from the French Laundry that Israel sent to me. The food is art. But I cracked up when I read some of the names of the dishes: Compressed Summer Melons, Salad of Toybox Tomatoes, Fairytale Eggplant? Well in that case, you can call my soup "Terrine of Earthly Delights & Wilted Spinach with Crackbread."

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