Operation: Jambalaya.

That is the code name for the latest unexpected (sorta) turn in my life. Michael is working on a big budget Warner Bros. movie, called The Green Lantern... which really doesn't interest me at all, except for the fact that it has Ryan Reynolds starring in it. And who doesn't like Ryan Reynolds? He's a hunky piece of dream cake. But anyway, since the film industry is gradually abandoning Los Angeles for tax credits in other film locations, they are shooting the movie in New Orleans. And, since the director wants him and his colleagues to continue their work near/on set... well, we're going to New Orleans!

First it was for four months, then it was for eight months. Then it was for a minimum of three months, but as many as nine months. We're settling on six months, and planning to be there longer.

When are we going, you ask? Well first it was November 30th, then it was January 4th. Then it was November 30th again, but now it's January 4th "probably." Considering it's the 6th of November with no clear answers... some of his colleagues put their foot down, and basically said "you know what? I'll be there on the 4th. See you then." But, that's the movie industry for you. Everything has to be last minute, apparently.

So! The unofficial but official enough plan: Go to New Orleans on January 4th, and plan to be there well into the following summer.

And why would *I* go you ask? A few reasons.

For starters, I don't enjoy L.A. It's not a particularly interesting, or fun city to be in. I also don't have a job and can't seem to find a job here with good steady income. Combined with the high cost of living, it's really just a recipe for accumulating debt. I also hate the weather here. It's 80+ degrees most of the year during the day, and freezing at night (it is a desert, after all). And don't even get me STARTED on the traffic... so. What's there to miss, honestly?

New Orleans is a more interesting, entertaining, and fun city to be in. It has a lower cost of living and a much lower unemployment rate, partly because the city's population is still recovering from Katrina. So I will be more entertained, more comfortable, with actual money in my pocket! Makes sense, right?



And best of all: the movie pays for living expenses (housing and food). So what we're left with is a free, extended vacation to New Orleans where we have a front row seat to Mardi Gras and we can take frequent weekend trips up to Atlanta. Why wouldn't I go??


GOODBYE LOS ANGELES! Goodbye to your smog, terrible neighborhoods, heaven-help-us-all traffic jams, and high cost of living with a complete lack of a job market.


So the past week I have been artfully seeking housing options... and I think I've found one. Walking distance to a free ferry that crosses the Mississippi River and drops you off right in the heart of the French Quarter. And best of all? PET FRIENDLY! NO CANINE WEIGHT LIMITS! We're meeting with the owner next week, who coincidentally and conveniently lives in L.A....and we're going to go from there.

So what it comes down to is, my quality of life - and my blog - will be much better, soon.

(And yes, I will come up with a recipe for jambalaya.)

Blueberry Tart

I got called a tart yesterday (by a friend), which reminded me to make one of my favorite desserts. I don't know what season blueberries are in, because they never seem to be in season here in California. I don't know where they grow these things, but they sure as hell don't grow them here because they're always like $10.00/lb year round. Every so often they go on sale, and you think to yourself, "oh blueberries must be in season." But then you pick up a box, look a little closer, and realize that the only reason they're so cheap is because half of them are rotting and the grocery store is just trying to get rid of them.

So when it comes to any recipes that use a lot of blueberries, I always opt for frozen. If you're just going to cook them down anyway, why does it matter if they're fresh or frozen? You're just going to assault the poor things with heat and sugar so much that they'll hardly resemble their original form, so I don't think it matters at all. And besides - blueberries are always in season in the freezer section. Especially if you shop at Costco, like me.

So I made a tart because I wanted to, but you could easily take the same filling and put it in a pie. Use 6 cups of blueberries, and double the amounts of everything else.


Blueberry Tart

Single pie crust (http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/pate-brisee-pie-dough)

3.5 c. frozen blueberries
1/4 c. sugar
1/2 cinnamon stick (if you don't have one add 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon)
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbsp water
1 tbsp cornstarch


1. Put the blueberries, sugar, cinnamon stick, vanilla and water in a saucepan. Heat over medium until the blueberries begin to sweat. Reduce to a simmer, and cook for about 45 minutes, stirring occasionally.

2. Meanwhile, make a single pie crust and fit it to a tart pan. I didn't grease mine, but I guess you could if you really wanted to.

3. Mix the cornstarch in a tiny bit of cold water just to dissolve it. Add it to the blueberries, and stir it well. Remove from heat.

4. Pour the blueberries into the tart pan fitted with the pastry, and bake for approximately 30 minutes in a 375 degree oven.

I actually wasn't paying attention to how long it took so I'm just guessing on the time... so, remember people: if the edges of the crust are browning, it should be done.

Cat Torture Exercise

They told me two things: my dog probably won't get used to cats, and even so, my cat probably won't get used to dogs.

"Oh, it'll be fine..." I said.

And here we are, five or so months later:

Oh snap.

I follow Weird Al's Twitter... naturally... and he sometimes posts videos of random things he does. One happens to be of him in a grocery store.

Long story short? I shop at the same Ralph's as Weird Al Yankovic. Do I feel that my life now has new meaning?

I think I do.

It has been... approximately 3 months and 26 days since I first arrived in Los Angeles. Battered and torn from my university days, I was welcomed into the uncomfortably hot arms of this mostly unforgiving city. Given that I have been to L.A. many many times since my youth, I had an idea of what to expect from living here. And truth be told, I wasn't expecting much.

You see, I come from a city of culture. Los Angeles has it's own, strange culture... but it doesn't really embrace other cultures. Not the way San Francisco does. And I MISS that. I thought, "why is there never anything to do here? What did I USED to do?" And I realized that L.A. is missing two big parts of San Francisco culture/nightlife: cafes with amazing live music ANY night of the week, and pubs. I mean REAL pubs. Not an "Irish pub" which is really just a sports bar covered in green lights. And it's a damn shame!

Michael and I were driving around the other day, marveling at how ugly Los Angeles is... and we had to think about why it's so ugly. I mean really. Why is it so ugly? And we came up with three big reasons. One is the architecture... there is a lot of cheap, decaying apartment or strip mall buildings that are just fugly. Seriously. The second is all the ads. There are signs and billboards and ads all over the place. They even have these ads on wheels that they put on the side of the road everywhere. The third and final reason we came up with was the lack of trees and green stuff in general. Los Angeles is like that nasty girl you see in public without any regard for what she looks like. Lipstick smeared, mascara running, hair tangled, and her thong hanging out of her sweat pants with the word "princess" stamped across her big, misshapen ass.

But people visit, and they think L.A. is nice. So why is that? It's because people go to the nice parts of L.A... Beverly Hills, Malibu, Pacific Palisades, maybe Orange County. Universal City. They don't realize that a good 80% of the city is not a pleasant place to live or even briefly visit.

Lucky for us, Michael and I live in a nicer neighborhood. We pay more for this privilege, and unfortunately it still means that we're surrounded by shitty neighborhoods (Van Nuys and North Hollywood, namely).

It hasn't rained since we moved in mid-June. Most days, it was well above 85 degrees F. The past week, finally, it has been considerably cooler. Maybe in the high 60s to low 70s. Thank Christ. We're all hoping it stays this way. Occasionally, the temperature would cool, and we would mistakenly assume that the weather was changing... only to wake up to another 80 degree morning. But I have a good feeling about this one. So, since the weather has improved, it means Darwin gets longer, more frequent walks. Yesterday, I decided to take my camera with me when I walked Darwin, just to see if I'd find anything photo-worthy on the way.

Dog is photo-worthy.


Dog is still photo-worthy.

Aside from the weather turning, this is really
the only evidence of autumn that I have seen down here.


I love magnolia trees. Mostly because they're beautiful,
but partly because I live off Magnolia Street.

And after such beauty, I came across this little
strange display. I think Darwin found it just as
peculiar as I did. Why is it broken? More importantly,
why is it outside on the front lawn?

As if that wasn't weird enough, I soon found
this. As amused as I was... really, though.
It's not nice to steal someone's scarecrow.

So this is my street, which isn't usually that
exciting. However...

The sky was really vibrant that day.

Pumpkin Bread

I don't have an introduction for this one. All I have to say is, I like pumpkin bread, which is why I created this recipe. I think I still like pumpkin pie better (refer to previous entry), but that is probably just because I can slather it in whipped cream. I read somewhere that the Native Americans are responsible for pumpkin bread, but that's probably a load of hogwash. And if it is correct, you know they probably didn't have access to sugar, so it was probably super gross anyway. So I think it goes without saying that my recipe is better than theirs.



Pumpkin Bread

1/2 tsp salt
3/4 c. brown sugar
1/4 c. granulated sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1 1/4 c. canned pumpkin
1/4 c. honey
1/4 c. oil (vegetable or canola - and I like to add a splash of extra virgin olive oil to the amount)
1/4 c. milk
2 eggs; beaten
1/2 tsp fresh nutmeg (ground)
2 tsp cinnamon (ground)
1/4 tsp ginger (ground)
1/4 tsp clove (ground)
1 3/4 c. flour
3/4 c. walnuts; chopped

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. In a large bowl, beat together the salt, sugars, baking soda, pumpkin, honey, oil, milk, eggs, and spices.
3. Add the flour gradually and mix until just combined.
4. Fold in the chopped walnuts.
5. Pour the batter into a well greased loaf pan.
6. Bake 55-65 mins, or until a toothpick comes out clean from the center.

Pumpkin Pie

With it being so well into September, in my mind, Fall is unofficially upon us! Oh, Fall. How I love thee. The weather gets colder, the food gets hotter... the leaves stay the same color because I live on the West Coast. We have Halloween, my birthday, and Thanksgiving to enjoy. In that order. And, with the new season upon us comes the triumphant return of Winter squash! Namely: the almighty pumpkin. You can cook it, bake it, decorate it, and even put a tiny flame in it. Few things in life are so versatile as the pumpkin.

And so, I'm beginning the season with a Thanksgiving classic. Traditionally (or at least commonly) pumpkin pie filling is made with evaporated milk. My secret ingredient is sweetened condensed milk, and I use it because it makes the filling a lot more dense.Which I prefer to the lighter, more airy alternative.

If you're lazy like me, you can use a store bought pie crust. I do it all the time, and trust me, nobody cares. But if you're so inclined, you can make it from scratch too. I recommend the following recipe, which has always been my favorite: http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/pate-brisee-pie-dough.

(Sorry for the crappy photo, but, I never claimed to be a photographer.)


Pumpkin Pie

1/2 c. light brown sugar (packed)
1 tbsp cornstarch
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1.5 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1 15-oz. can of pumpkin puree
1 14-oz. can of sweetened condensed milk
3 eggs; lightly beaten
Single pie crust

1. Place the rack in the middle of the oven, and preheat to 425 degrees F. In a large bowl, beat together the sugar, cornstarch, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, pumpkin, and condensed milk.

2. Gently add the eggs to the mixture, and beat until thoroughly combined. Careful not to beat on a high speed, or you'll whip the eggs and have air bubbles on the surface of the pie.

3. Roll out the pie crust and fit to an ungreased pie pan. Pour the pumpkin filling into the pie shell.

4. Bake the pie for 10 minutes, then reduce the heat to 350 degrees F, and bake for about 30 minutes more. Don't open the oven door!

The pie will be done when you tap the pan and the center does not jiggle. If the edges of the crust begin to brown, take the pie out of the oven, and cover the edges with tinfoil strips.