Monday: Spin & Glace

   Again Mom worked outside, while I worked inside (cleaning out & rearranging the closets in my master bedroom, making the donation pile even bigger). She finished the flower beds and mulched them while I ran out to drop clothes off for tailoring, went grocery-shopping, and went to the hardware store for another go at replacing that blasted hose.
   I got home just as Mom was finishing up outside, and it wasn't a moment too soon: the ominous clouds started to gather, and soon after dark, the sky opened up—and it rained for the rest of the week! It's ironic that this was Mom's vacation week, timed with the poor weather, because the weather all year has been surprisingly good. What a bummer.

   While the rain damped everything else, it didn't dampen our mood. We headed out for a huge dinner at Spin: a pizza feast, since it was 3-for-the-price-of-2 night! We tried the goat cheese & roasted chicken with caramelized onions; BBQ chicken sausage; and my usual: salsicca con mela. The best pizza on Earth, seriously. Followed by: the best ice cream on Earth!

 

Salted pretzel and fleur de sel caramel. (Insert coma here.)

Milk, Necromance + Pizza

(This post isn't going to be nearly as weird as the title implies.)

   After breakfast, Kelley took me to see the Handmade Galleries store in Sherman Oaks. It was set up kind of like an antique mall, with individual booths and cases rented by different artists and craftsman, selling everything from toys to clothes, jewelry to framed art. I found a fabric art character book that I LOVE, as well as a mounted and preserved exotic butterfly.

Next door was a Three Dog Bakery... temporarily closed! (Sorry, Nelly!)

Sean had a little snack...

Magnolia blooms abounded

gorgeous neighborhood: Sherman Oaks

We stopped at Sweet Butter Kitchen/Cafe/Market for some refreshments:

   Sean had some milk, and we had a banana dulce de leche almond ice cream bar made by Milk (yeah, WOW!) If you had any doubt that it was delicious, it didn't last long enough to start melting:

And in case you have any doubt that

Sean was hungry, get a load of this:

   After we were temporarily satiated, we headed home, and Dave came over to pick me up for Round Two of fun. When he saw the butterfly I had purchased, he asked if I had ever been to Necromance on Melrose, the exquisite store for dead things. I hadn't, so we were off!

I spotted this sign on Melrose, and Dave graciously stood in the busy street to
snap this photo of me and my ridiculous boot. The humor was worth the risk, no?

   Turns out that a visit to this store is like a visit to a natural history museum... except that these artifacts were for sale! I walked away with another box of butterflies, and a piece of fan coral and large white starfish for Kelley & Eric. The owner (?), Nancy, was friendly and happy to share her wealth of information about the deceased creatures in the store. It was all very fascinating (if a little sad, because I will always prefer live animals over dead ones!)

They look very lifelike... but they're not.  :(

   Then Dave took us on a drive up Mulholland Drive, to see the spectacular, sprawling city view from the hills. Unfortunately, we didn't enjoy it for long, as the park had closed for the night—unbeknownst to us—and the park rangers watching on camera took our photos and warned us to leave immediately. Oops. At least we weren't arrested... yet.

    A quick stop at Pitfire yielded a pile of perfect pizza pies, so we went home to share, and feasted!

Wayne's Labors on Labor Day

  Madeline & her parents, Diane & Wayne (aka "my KC family") invited me over for Labor Day Homemade Pizzafest 2011. I traded texts with Madeline earlier in the day:
Me: Is it ok if I'm not there right at 6? Bringing dessert. Making it now!
Madeline: Of course it's okay. But the dessert should be here at 6. ;)

You KNOW that's how I roll!

  And thus, I made it to The Tompkins' home, cheesecake in hand, at 6:28. One of us was late! ;) The other usual suspects, Bob & Ana, Tasha, and Alexandra were already there. And Wayne was already at least 3 pizzas into his stellar performance...

A sampling from Wayne's pizza palette: prosciutto & fresh mozzarella; chicken with mole sauce; fresh pesto & mushroom; salsa fresca with carmelized onion & apples. Not pictured: honey & Sriracha sauce (aka "hot cock sauce")

  In the end, we devoured 12+ unique mini pizzas, most of Alexandra's gorgeous homemade mixed-berry pie & most of my cheesecake. We never seem to have many leftovers. And we ALWAYS have a great time!

Also this...

Kristin & Jeff Are in Da House!

   Doctors Kristin and Jeff just arrived in KC, doing the long drive from Pittsburgh, PA all the way out to Portland, OR for the next stage of their careers. They've been in the car for about 12 hours today, and we were all starving and made two giant homemade pizzas and then devoured them both. (The sundried tomatoes were the best part.)

   Kristin recently won this awesome award (and clock) and I wanted to do something to celebrate her great achievement...

So then, a little equation...

THIS:

 PLUS THIS:

 PLUS THIS:

EQUALS THIS:

 WHICH CAN ONLY LEAD TO THIS:

(For full effect, listen to this while viewing photo)

Blue blue blue

Photo from femmeonfeast

   This morning I got up early, had coffee and read the paper, then started laundry and washed the car inside and out. Then I left to meet Nicole, Stacy and Abby at Blue Stem for a champagne brunch (bellini = yum). As I walked in, the host directed me toward the table, cautioning me to watch out for the service dog on the way. I assumed it would be a Lab or a Golden. Imagine my surprise when I saw a pretty red Shiba in a blue service jacket sleeping lazily by her owner's side! I didn't get a chance to inquire about the dog or the type of service it provided, but it made me happy to see a Shiba dispelling the stereotype that they're aloof and not fit for service. (And brunch was amazing, too! Yay!)

   Blue was a theme this weekend. Last night I finally tried Blue Grotto in Brookside, a swanky gourmet pizzeria and wine bar, with a terrific antipasti selection. Everything we tried was yum.

Photo from restaurant website

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!