Other feet have scuffed these wooden floors

the fallen leaf envies fruit on the branch
old love letter in the drawer
itches with envy at the weight
of newly-penned passion on the table top
always a struggle in the comparison
but two needs one to come before
larger, smaller, brighter, sweeter
forgotten sweater in the closet
(did I forget a sweater in the closet?)
things remembered laugh at Easter
they are, it is, they are
barking up the same tree
retreating to the same brown bed

by Cristina Paul

Romesco Sauce

because old-hat hummus has worn out its welcome

Serves 3-4 as a sauce for meat or 6-9 as an appetizer with flatbreads, crackers, veggies, and such

Ingredients:
1 ounce dried, seeded guajillo pepper (about 1 inch of 1 pepper) or 2 chiles de arbol
4 Roma tomatoes
1/4 cup best-quality olive oil, divided
1/2 cup roasted and salted Marcona almonds
3 water crackers or 1/2 slice of toasted country white bread with crust cut off
3 cloves garlic
1 teaspoon kosher salt
2 teaspoons sweet paprika (preferably Spanish)
1 teaspoon of champagne or red wine vinegar (a mix of both is best)

Directions:
1. Set the oven to broil. Cover the peppers with boiling water and allow to soften for 30 minutes and reserve.

2. While the peppers are softening, halve the tomatoes lengthwise and place them, skin side up, on a foil-lined baking sheet. Brush 1 tablespoon of oil over the tomatoes and broil the tomatoes until the skins begin to darken and crack, about 5 minutes. Cool on their tray and set aside.

4. In a food processor, coarsely chop the nuts, crackers or bread, garlic, and salt. Add the pepper, tomatoes, paprika and vinegar and process to a rough paste. Slowly pour in remaining 3 tablespoons of olive oil in a steady stream and process until just combined. If served as a dip, you may want to drizzle extra olive oil on top and sprinkle on some extra paprika. Add a dash of cayenne pepper if you’d like more kick. Set out flatbreads, crackers, chips, or pita and watch the sauce disappear.

***The food section of The LA Times just ran a recipe for romesco sauce; I like mine better, insofar as all the ingredients are actually available at most markets, it’s less labor intensive, and it tastes divine.
****If you don’t have a brush to brush the olive oil onto the tomatoes, an even better alternative is a sturdy sprig of rosemary.

Recipe by Cristina Paul

Blah-Blah-Blahg: Food For Nought

Hunting for duplexes, much like searching for a mate, inevitably forces one to compromise. And hunting for property in L.A. really puts the AYYYYY in compromAAAAYse. So while cruising relatively undesirable neighborhoods, with scrawled notes in hand, I noticed something about the places my brother and I had been looking at. Some of the duplexes were like ugly girls with nice clothes on, and these didn't bother me. Other properties were pretty girls with haggard clothing, they had real "potential". Some were just ugly girls with ugly clothes. Now these properties truly had nothing to recommend them. I wondered who resided in them and said a tiny little prayer - for myself - in hopes that I wouldn't suffer from night tremors because of the indelible mark the pooplexes had left upon my consciousness.

When I returned to my own rabbit-hole, I fitfully sharpened all of my knives and felt much better, resolving to look again... next weekend.

Here's just one of the portraits of modern decay. You'd think the realtor would have at least removed the rickety shopping cart or righted the teeter-tottering sign post for the picture.

The Man Next Door Is Teaching His Dog to Drive

It all began when he came out one morning

and found the dog waiting for him behind the wheel.

He thought she looked pretty good sitting there,



so he started taking her into town with him

just so she could get a feel for the road.

They have made a few turns through the field,



him sitting beside her, his foot on the accelerator,

her muzzle on the wheel. Now they are practicing

going up and down the lane with him whispering



encouragement in her silky ear. She is a handsome

dog with long ears and a speckled muzzle and he

is a good teacher. Now my wife, Millie, he says,



she was always too timid on the road, but don't you

be afraid to let people know that you are there.

The dog seems to be thinking about this seriously.



Braking, however, is still a problem, but he is building

a mouthpiece which he hopes to attach to the steering 

column, and when he upgrades to one of those new



Sports Utility Vehicles with the remote ignition device,

he will have solved the key and the lock problem.

Although he has not yet let her drive into town,



he thinks she will be ready sometime next month,

and when his eyes get bad and her hip dysplasia 

gets worse, he thinks this will come in real handy.

by Cathryn Essinger from My Dog Does Not Read Plato

Mexican Hot Chocolate Cake

Serves its purpose and 12 people

Ingredients:
CAKE
1 ½ sticks of butter, plus extra for greasing the pans
1 ½ cups all purpose flour, plus more for dusting
1 cup cake flour
1 tsp each: baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1 ½ cups baker’s sugar
3 large eggs, separated
2 tsp good quality vanilla extract
1 cup sour cream

BUTTERCREAM
4 sticks butter, softened
1 lb box of powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp cinnamon
scant ¾ tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp salt
5 oz bittersweet chocolate, melted and cooled
5 oz white chocolate, melted and cooled

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350˚. Allow butter, eggs, and sour cream to come to room temp. Grease and flour two 9” rounds and cut parchment paper for bottoms. In bowl, stir together all dry ingredients.
2. Beat butter on medium-high speed in a mixer for 30 seconds. Beat in sugar until well combined. Beat in yolks one at a time.
3. Add flour mixture, vanilla, and sour cream to butter mixture. Beat on low speed until just combined.
4. In a clean bowl, whisk egg whites on medium-high speed until stiff peaks form. Fold half of the whites into the batter. Then fold the rest in.
5. Pour batter into pans. Bake for about 25 minutes – cake should spring back to the touch. Cool cakes in pans on wire racks for about 10 minutes. Then remove carefully from pans and cool completely before frosting.

For buttercream: Beat 5 sticks of butter on medium-high until softened. Slowly, add the powdered sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, cayenne pepper, and salt. Gradually beat in the melted and cooled chocolates. Continue mixing on high speed until the frosting has a smooth consistency.
This cake can be frosted and will retain its moist texture and flavor for up to two days if covered at room temperature.

••••Inspired by Oaxacan hot chocolate, Rufino Tamayo, and my abuelitos' posadas

Recipe by Cristina Paul

Blah-Blah-Blahg: Food For Nought

LOOK
I saw OSS 117: Nest of Spies
It's the perfect film - a spoof on the spy genre with homoerotic hilarity, farcical fight scenes, and endearing idiocy. This film parodies the French OSS spy films of the '50s and '60s as well as the early Bond films (BTW it is the 100th anniversary of Ian Fleming's B-Day on May 28th - he wrote the original Bond novels). Plus, the film features amazing costumes and some beautifully furnished sets - think thin lapels and sleek Scandinavian credenzas.
LISTEN
Recently I have been obsessed with Art Tatum - he's got magnificent hands whose sounds can penetrate even the most callous of hearts.
READ
If On A Winter's Night A Traveler by Italo Calvino. If you can't hang with this meta matrushka doll of a book, check out Baron In The Trees by Calvino instead. It's silly and if you don't think so, perhaps you need to reread.
If you're into non-fiction and unafraid of accusations of new-age insanity, pick up a copy of Many Lives Many Masters .
DRINK
My friend introduced me to a beer that will make your tongue wag. It's a Belgian beer called Rodenbach that has immediate appeal simply because it comes in a 350mL wine-type of bottle with a cork. It's been around since 1821 and they brew three different types of sour ales. Cheers!
QUOTE
"Many who believe in English speak it"
from My Life by Lyn Hejinian
SAY
If you're sick of saying "back at ya" or "likewise" try "boomerang" on for size; I like using it in text messages and emails when responding to my many admirers.

Love, Learn Some Manners

We blew on eyelashes
that were really wishes,
wishes that were truly dancing questions,
oozing my mind over you

Now, I try to wring words from
wrinkled sheets,
but the couch and the chair
compete for my attention,
this is not something to be set down
on paper (napkins),
to chat about in the elevator,
let's wait until we can claim this
memory
I offer to you half my bed, my whole pulse, and the quiet of this kiss

by Cristina Paul