Blah-Blah-Blahg: Food For Nought

When Driving Across Country:*swiss army knife, swiss army knife, swiss army knife
*Bringing along 19 pairs of shoes in your compact vehicle is not unsound thinking (also employing litotes cannot be underestimated).
*Purchase pepper spray to harness your inner Condy Rice
*Taking Qigong stops may be more imperative than taking pictures
*Hold your breath for cemeteries, tunnels, and the November election
*Take along your favorite bottle of wine or fancy beer (that can't be found just anywhere) for the end of the road
*It's always prudent to possess home-made amulets to protect your soul, your wheels, your wobbly luggage, and your array of carefully -planned snacks
*Something obnoxiously "conscious" is always in order. I suggest becoming a member of the Sigg club - I mean who doesn't absolutely require a designer, reusable water bottle?
*Scoops ice cream must be visited prior to the whole affair

Invictus

Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds, and shall find, me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.

by William E Henley

I Do Give A Fig

Did you ever have crackers with feta and fig jam spread on top at a party? Well, get real because it's fig season. Plus, chard is infinitely tastier and healthier than a measly cracker.


Serves 4

INGREDIENTS:
2 lbs of red Swiss chard, stems trimmed
2 Tbsp butter
4 chopped shallots
6 large, black mission figs, cut in half
scant 1/2 cup of high quality feta cheese
fine, well-aged balsamic vinegar
1/2 tsp kosher salt

DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat the oven to 350º. Chop the Swiss chard stems into 1" - 2" pieces. Place chard, shallots, and butter in a large pan over moderately low heat. Sautee until shallots are translucent and chard softens - about 6 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, chop the chard leaves and place all the figs, cut side up on a foil lined baking sheet. Place a piece of crumbled feta on each of the fig halves. Roast the figs in the oven for about 9 minutes, until the feta begins to brown ever so slightly at the edges. Take the figs out of the oven and drizzle a drop of balsamic on each fig.
3. While the figs roast, place the chard leaves in the pan with the stems, shallots, and butter. Add the salt and cover the chard with another pan. Let cook, stirring occasionally until all the leaves wilt - about 9 minutes.
4. Spoon the chard and all of the juices onto a platter and carefully place the roasted figs on top of the bed of greens.

***Although I love this dish warm, the chard is lovely when served at room temperature. The figs will still taste nice, but look far better straight out of the oven. Extras are great spread on a grilled panino.

Recipe constructed by Cristina Paul

Blah-Blah-Blahg: Food For Nought

Reasons Everyone Misses L.A.

1. Rastafarian midget sightings are a healthful symptom of the location.
2. The Grand Spa's oil massage and body scrub on 6th and Virgil - it's the best of Korean Spa treatments and open 24 hours. So many bushes and nowhere to hide!
3. The Hollywood Bowl summer concert series - music to fall in love with and by - even if you're living in penury. N.B. When leaving, there is usually an older black gentleman outside of the Bowl with a ragged hand puppet and a soulful voice that will stick with you like a bad meal. I am not quite sure what his act is all about, but it's memorable - poor ventriloquism? transparent gospel puppetry? Check it out.
4. Farmer's markets everywhere, the unparalleled produce, the people who frequent the markets, and sell at them - especially a salt and peppered younger fellow who works the greens stand on Saturdays in Santa Monica. He also makes an occasional cameo at the Tuesday Culver City farmer's market.
5. Santa Monica Yoga - neither pretension nor yoga mat are required.
6. Seeing no contradiction in consuming vast quantities of probiotics while enjoying sunsets made more beautiful by my personal contribution to local smog.
7. The palm trees.

The Summer Day

Who made the world?
Who made the swan, and the black bear?
Who made the grasshopper?
This grasshopper, I mean—
the one who has flung herself out of the grass,
the one who is eating sugar out of my hand,
who is moving her jaws back and forth instead of up and down—
who is gazing around with her enormous and complicated eyes.
Now she lifts her pale forearms and thoroughly washes her face.
Now she snaps her wings open, and floats away.
I don't know exactly what a prayer is.
I do know how to pay attention, how to fall down
into the grass, how to kneel down in the grass,
how to be idle and blessed, how to stroll through the fields,
which is what I have been doing all day.
Tell me, what else should I have done?
Doesn't everything die at last, and too soon?
Tell me, what is it you plan to do
with your one wild and precious life?

by Mary Oliver, from The Truro Bear and Other Adventures: Poems and Essays

Chipotle is Mint For Me

INGREDIENTS:
1 (15 ounce) can of black beans, mostly drained
2 cloves of garlic
1/4 cup fresh mint leaves, packed
1/3 roasted and salted pistachios
1/2 - 1 whole chipotle pepper from a can of peppers in adobo sauce (the amount depends on your capsaicin tolerance)

DIRECTIONS:
1. Place all ingredients in a food processor and puree until smooth. Add extra salt or chipotle if desired. Serve alone or garnish with caramelized shallots, avocado, or queso fresco. This is a divine dip for flatbreads, crackers, chips,or veggies. Plus, it's a great accompaniment for poultry and beef dishes. I'm thinking this could make a cameo in a taco or spread on a new-fangled cross between a sope and a pizza.

recipe by Cristina Paul

Blah-Blah-Blahg: Food For Nought

During a recent visit to my local post office, I saw the line and assumed they were giving away free Priuses. Nope, just a whole lotta people sendin' a whole lotta stuff. So, sans book or phone, but with plenty of imagination, I decided to list the top ten things to pass the time in line:
1. Kegel exercises (sorry boys, this one's more for those of the XX persuasion).
2. Count the number of freckles on your neighbors face - WITHOUT getting caught.
3. Think of a compliment to give to somebody in line or the person who helps you - my person had awesome turquoise jewelery.
4. Imagine the secret contents of each box and package of every person in line. Then imagine what each of them thinks you're smuggling or toting. There was a man with a magnificent peroxided mullet at the front of the line. He was sportin' some seriously obsolete sneakers and a Hawaiian shirt. I imagined he was pulling some kind of Adam Sandler trick like in Punch Drunk Love involving lots of nerdy math, coupon clipping, and the will to go far (like 26 miles to Catalina Island) all on someone else's dollar.
5. Imagine what you would trade at Burning Man if you were radically self-reliant rather than a khaki-wearing, regular-flosser who compulsively moisturizes and always remembers to take vitamins.
6. Give yourself a simple hand reflexology massage.
7. Think of what you will wear for the entire week.
8. Plan the menu for your next dinner party; you should also think of a good excuse for the dinner party, for example, the upcoming meteor shower on August 12. OR you could contemplate the concept for and recipient of your next CD Mix - thinking of a good title is often the best place to start.
9. Resolve on one thing to spend big on. Now, resolve to forgo something wasteful - like a take-out menu (you can always check one out online), wooden chopsticks (you'd be surprised how many precious trees are cut down, instead bring your own or don't frequent a place that uses the cheap stuff), you get the picture...
10. Write a tender love note (something you feel, but could never say) on the floor, with your feet, to someone you admire. Hey, it's a good ankle strengthener and people will think you are crazy - which means they may want out of the line and - voilá - it's your turn!