Blonde ambition

Did everyone have a good Super Bowl Sunday? What is it about that game that makes even people who aren't football fans want to party down?

We had a few friends over, and made some tasty nibbles. Buffalo chicken wings, of course - and sesame-soy-glazed wings, for variety. A salad with celery and tart apples, some chips and guacamole - great food for noshing in front of the TV.

For dessert I tried something new - Blondies. Blondies are basically brownies without chocolate, and they're just as easy to make. A rich, buttery batter made with brown sugar, they bake up into dense bars. The recipe I used called for browning the butter, which lends an even richer depth of flavor.

Pink Saturday - Valentine macarons

Pink Saturday - Beverly, at the blog "How Sweet the Sound" hosts Pink Saturday. Valentine's Day is the perfect occasion to let the color pink inspire your creativity!

What kind of treats are you giving for Valentine's Day?

Macarons are a traditional French pastry, dating back to the 18th Century. Invented at Versailles by the Dallouya family of bakers, the delicate little cakes were served with jam to the royals. The sandwich version with ganache cream inside was invented in the 1880s by patisserie Laduree.

"Marie Antoinette" photo from the New York Times

The 2006 Sofia Coppola movie "Marie Antoinette" featured macarons and led to their current popularity. Indeed, one story has it that the movie's costumes were inspired by the colors of a box of Laduree macarons that Ms. Coppola gave the designer.


Macarons are made of meringue, or beaten egg whites and sugar, mixed with ground almonds, also called almond meal or almond flour. They are often tinted with delicate colors, and flavored with extracts or nutmeats. The filling can be buttercream frosting, jam, cream cheese or rich chocolate ganache.

If you're an adventurous cook, you can give them a try. This website gives a basic recipe, and helpfully provides links to other online recipes and helpful sites. Success for making the perfectly domed cake depends on the proper handling of the delicate meringue - so look forward to several tries! Perfect or not, they are so luscious you'll enjoy eating your experiments!

The Laduree pastry shop in Paris is said to sell fifteen thousand of them every day. If you can't jet over to Paris in time for Valentine's Day, you can get macarons at several bakeries in Los Angeles.


One of those is Jin Patisserie in Venice. Its proprietor, Kristy Choo, worked as a flight attendant for an international airline, which gave her the opportunity to sample sweets all around the world. She later attended the California Culinary Academy, worked at the Raffles Hotel in Singapore, and eventually opened her shop and cafe on Abbot Kinney Boulevard in Venice.


Here in a tiny shop and garden, serene and simply landscaped, you can sit at outdoor tables and sip tea. Pastries, cookies and tea-sandwiches are served. The macarons are available in traditional European-style flavors, such as vanilla, pistachio, rose and strawberry. For those with more adventurous tastes, there is a macaron with a filling of salt-caramel, and Asian-inpired varieties, such as tea, wasabi, and ume - a Japanese favorite made with sour plum.


There are delicate sponge cakes and mousse and other pastries available at the shop.


If you can't make it to Jin Patisserie in person, you can visit the website and order from the e-shop. There are also exquisitely crafted chocolates made with tea, chrysanthemum, lemongrass, black sesame, ginger, cinnamon, and other exotic flavors. Perfect for your very special Valentine, on this Pink Saturday.

Bon voyage, Muriel

Today I attended a memorial service for a lovely lady who passed away at the age of almost 98 years. She was a great philanthropist who enriched many lives. I spent a little time online looking for a photo of her to post, but one of the interesting things was that when I googled her image, what I got was pictures of all the people and programs that have benefited from her generosity, but very few pictures of herself.

I guess that's a statement in itself, about what's important to her.

My friend Roger Bourland has posted a nice tribute to her. Go read it.

Muriel liked cookies.

Administrative Professionals' Day

Wednesday, April 23 is officially Administrative Professionals Day - the holiday formerly known as Secretaries Day.

This is a little new to me. I've had a long career doing all kinds of peculiar things for a paycheck, but my current job is the only one where we've celebrated Administrative Professionals Day.

Where I work, the traditional holiday is observed by taking the entire office staff out to lunch. As a middle manager, I figured that I should pay for the folks who report directly to me, but last year my own boss one-upped me and picked up the tab for us all.

While I am delighted to buy my co-workers lunch, it's the "holiday" itself that seems odd to me.

Other than lunching, what else could you do to celebrate Administrative Professionals? Have songs celebrating the joys of the copymachine, special food treats (marshmallows shaped like pencil erasers, maybe?), games like typing competitions or Trivial Pursuit featuring Windows keyboard shortcuts? Gift-giving traditions, like leaving anonymous treats in peoples' In Boxes, wrapped in InterOffice Mail envelopes?

What is it about secretaries (or administrative professionals) that inspired such a holiday to begin with?

I know it's about gratitude for services provided, but why are office workers any different than other workers who provide service? I imagine it's because of the relationship - office workers see enough of their bosses in stressful situations to be familiar with their moments of weakness as well as their strengths. I'm wondering if secretly there's not a bit of guilt involved in celebrating the "holiday", some way for bosses to mollify workers for the year's worth of resentment serving them.

Only once in my life have I worked as a secretary, but it gave me a clear understanding how annoying it is to serve and support someone who, simply by virtue of having a secretary, is deemed too good to do his or her own administrative work. I lasted less than three months.

In a two-person office, only one of us - me - was expected to put paper in the printer tray, change the cartridges, pick up the newspaper and sort the mail. Both of us drank coffee - but only one of us washed cups.

Some people are suited for such personal service jobs, and some aren't. I clearly belong in the latter group. I tend to take care of myself, and expect most people to do the same.

But Los Angeles teems with those who require personal service, and equally with those eager to provide it. My boss - a woman earning over $100,000 a year - had a well developed sense of her entitlement - it was as strong as her computer skills were weak.

There's nothing more annoying than trying to explain to a Power-Suited Diva how to "tab" through an online entry form, and discover that she isn't familiar with the Tab Key.

But where was I? I was appreciating the people I work with now. Yes, You Guys.

Thank you, M_____ for your careful proofreading that catches those 2007's where I meant to type 2008. Thank you, S_____ for reminding me of the task due today that slipped off my radar screen. Thank you, R_____ for your encyclopedic knowledge of what those flashing symbols mean when the printer/copier jams. And thank you all, for being kind enough not to roll your eyes TOO dramatically when I ask a stupid question. You are all jewels.

I'm grateful for your kindness and forbearance. And I promise you will never have to wash my coffee cup.