Summer Fresh: Weekly Wal-Lah

     It's a flavor infusion mania of fresh herbs with the right blend of spicy, tangy, savory and sweet for an amazing dinner . . . . . Ready, set, go. . . .Get your taste buds ready! Dish #1 Smoky and Savory Potato Salad:    I started off halving the bag of mini red potatoes and throwing them in a pot of boiling water with a bit of sea salt. While the potatoes were cooking, I threw some diced thick hickory smoked bacon in the skillet with diced onion and minced garlic, cooking the mixture until...

Proof of Rejection

     As it goes with most good things in life, our vacation's end caught up with us too quickly. Not only did our friends have to return to work, but with our real life responsibilities soon to follow, we packed the bags smarter than before and set forth to the airport entirely too early. Patrick was a paranoid maniac with a one track mind that morning. His mission: making our trip home as boring as possible.      I convinced him with my sweetest-most-pathetic-wife-in-the-world-face-if-I-don't-eat-NOW-I-will-disintegrate-into-bone-dust-and-blow-away-look to...

Topic #3: Food, Get in my Belly!

I just love all the vine covered buildings and fences. . . . . .      Hardly anyone you ever meet in L.A. is actually from L.A. it usually seems. People of different cultures from around the world flock there, fall in love, and fail to ever leave. It's no wonder the surrounding cities can charge so much for housing . . . . . it IS a wonder how the government could be bankrupt, but that's a whole 'nother bag of Doritos. Due to the blending colors of skin, there's such a variety of authentic cultural food to be consumed...

Topic #2: Ocean

     I love the mountains, but my passion doesn't halt there.          As you drive through Old Topanga Canyon Road, you wind along the asphalt among the modest village of homes, schools, eateries, and shops tucked beneath the trees. Then out of nowhere, you find yourself peering dead-on to the ocean shore, seeing little more than the color blue. Blue skies, blue water. . . . .with nothing between you and the Pacific but your car and...

Topic #1: Mountains

     I've thought short and hard on a way to describe our trip, contemplating how to explain why we are in love with Los Angeles against the grain of most people I talk to, while avoiding mundane and boring entries at the same time. I've decided instead of writing about each day, to break it up into topics. If you didn't know, I could write an entire book about these subjects, but I'll keep them as short as my enthusiasm will allow. Obviously, I have many reasons, but we were only in the area for 4 days,...

Who'd Hike on Purpose?!?!?

And our trip continues . . . . . . . . .  We lived in the yellow building to the left       After a traumatic beginning to our day, we were relieved to walk off the plane in Burbank, grab our luggage, check out the rental car, and hit the ground running in drama free conditions. We drove to our old neighborhood (surprised at all the new things we saw), equipped ourselves with refreshments from the old local Albertsons and visited the infamous Oberservatory in Griffith Park to enjoy the view before our upcoming hiking...