Thematic Photographic - Blue

"Thematic Photographic" - Carmi at the blog Written, Inc. presents a weekly themed photographic challenge. This week's theme is BLUE. Check in and see who else contributes photos based on this idea.

Colorists say that complimentary pairings across the color wheel are vivid and effective. Here, the combination of blue and orange give a little kick for a special event centerpiece.

French comfort food - California style

We're at a French bistro. Bentwood chairs, pressed-tin ceilings, old-fashioned tile. Waiters in white shirts and black ties, with long black aprons.

I'm having a classic French onion soup, topped with a toasted croute and some gruyere cheese, browned and melted. It's hot, intense, and delicious. A glass of St. Veran alongside is perfect.

A memory of last summer in Paris?


No, it's Santa Monica, California. We're cruising the Third Street Promenade, and checking out the new Santa Monica Place.

Anisette Brasserie occupies the ground floor of one of Santa Monica's most prominent landmarks. Designed by architects Albert R. Walker and Perry A. Eisen, it was built in 1929 for the Bay Cities Guaranty Company, and is a fantastic example of Art Deco style. At 12 stories, it towered over the smaller scale buildings in this beach city for many years. Even though taller buildings have since risen, it's still a landmark in town today.

You wouldn't think that there would be a natural connection between a Southern California beach town and a classic Parisian bistro. But despite the incongruity, it works. The Art Deco movement had its origins in Paris. And the style blossomed in Los Angeles.

So a classic French bistro works beneath the palm trees in Santa Monica. Don't you think so?

And the clock still works.

A Pie a Week - Savory tarts

Since starting my "Pie a Week" project this summer, I've eaten a lot of pie. I have to confess, though, it's not dessert pies I like best - it's savory tarts.

The recipe is pretty basic - You can make a savory tart with almost any combination of vegetables in your fridge. Bake the vegetable and cheese with a rich egg custard, and you have a delicious and elegant lunch or brunch. You can cook one in the morning, and then have a nice dinner in the evening without heating up the kitchen.

First, you have to make the tart shell.

I've become so comfortable with the all-butter pastry recipe from chef Gordon Hamersley that I can make it in a few minutes.

• 1 1/2 cup flour
• 1/2 Teaspoon salt
• 10 tablespoons (1 stick + 2 tablespoons) butter, cut into 1/4" slices
• 6 Tablespoons of ice water.

Mix the flour and salt in a bowl, then cut the butter into it with a pastry cutter, two knives, or your fingertips, until the butter is broken into pieces the size of a pea.

Pour the mixture onto a floured board and make a well in the center. A couple of Tablespoons at a time, mix in the ice water.

Gather the dough together, then roll into a log shape, about eight inches. With the heel of your hand, smear the dough on the board and gather it back together and repeat - this is called fraisage, and will form sheets of butter in the dough, creating the flake.

Shape the dough into a disc and wrap in plastic or foil and put in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.

I use a Silpat sheet when I roll pastry dough. With a little bit of flour sprinkled on, I can roll this dough directly with my silicone rolling pin, but if your dough is sticking, you can roll it between two sheets of parchment paper or waxed paper. This dough stays together beautifully for me. If the edge gets misshapen, break off a piece and move it to where there's a gap - it should fill in nicely.

Line a tart pan with a removable bottom with the crust. For me, this dough is so easy to work with I can lift up the Silpat sheet and turn it upside down over the pan. Then I gently ease the sheet off the dough, and settle it into the pan. Trim the excess - you can roll it in a flat disc and freeze it for future use.

For a quiche or tart with custard, you have to pre-bake the shell. Line the shell with foil, and fill with dried beans or rice or pie-weights (you can buy these in cooking supply stores). Bake at 400 degrees for about 15 minutes, then remove the foil and the weights - use a fork to prick any places where there are air bubbles. Bake another 15 minutes, and cool.


What did I have in the fridge? I had some zucchini squash, some onions, and a half a large beefsteak tomato. I shredded the zucchini and chopped the onion, then sweated them in butter over the stove. I sprinkled in some fresh, chopped oregano for a little extra flavor.

I diced the tomato and let some of the liquid drain. I waited until the onion and zucchini were a little caramelized before adding the tomato. I spread the cooked vegetables in the bottom of the tart shell, and then grated some French Comte cheese I had in the fridge.

Then I whipped up a custard with eggs and half-and-half, poured it over the vegetables and cheese, and baked the tart in the oven at 350 degrees for about 45 minutes.

It was pretty when it came out.

And look at how flakey the crust is! Also - buttery and delicious!

The classic quiche Lorraine is a tart with chopped ham or bacon. If you had nothing but an onion in your refrigerator, and some cheese parings, you could make a carmelized onion tart. Fennel would make an interesting tart, maybe with some tomato. You could use mushrooms, or peppers. Mild chiles with cheddar cheese would give a tart a Southwestern twist.

The combination of flavors is endless. And like pizza, it's a great way to use what's left in the fridge to make a great meal without having to go shopping.

Mean Girls

Many authors have written about the unique phenomenon of female bullying, and it's been the subject of popular fiction as well. "The Devil Wears Prada" and "Mean Girls" show on screen how nasty women can be to one another. It happens in every phase of life - school, the workplace, the neighborhood, families. It happens in clubs and gyms and on sports teams.

Non-fiction self-help books about girl-on-girl bullying fill the shelves at the local bookstore, and articles fill women's magazines. There's even a jargon term for what women do to one another - "relational aggression". The bullying tactics include:

• Betrayal - breaking promises or confidentiality
• Exclusion - convincing others to shun the victim
• Gossip - spreading personal information
• Humiliation - shaming the victim in public
• Lies - spreading lies

When a situation goes toxic, it's hard to combat. One reason is that women seem to be able to discern nuanced emotion, and they tend to give weight to finely calibrated gestures. So a subtle sneer of the lip, a sidelong glance, a cold shoulder turned at a precise moment - these things dig at women, while barely registering with men.

I spent the first 18 or so years of my career working mostly with men, in a blue-collar environment, engaged in physical labor that was often dangerous. My co-workers and even the people we worked for tended to be non-conformists, misfits, risk-takers, substance-abusers and outcasts. Conflicts in the workplace were profane, outrageous, and usually brief, concluding with someone's ass getting kicked and everyone else getting drunk and telling stories about it.

I am not used to conflicts where one person gets upset because another person moves a decorative object. I don't know how to deal with that. In fact, sometimes I don't even notice the things one person does that sets another person off.

I'm currently on assignment where I have no direct power, but I'm looked to as a person with knowledge and leadership. I'm here to support workers who are stressed by overwork, inconsistent policies, uncertainty and neglect. I'm here to support a new manager who needs some help.

Have you experienced a situation of "relational aggression" - whether at work or elsewhere? Have you been bullied? Have you had to mediate such a conflict?

How do you defuse a "Mean Girls" atmosphere?

Weekly Jack

Although he was raised in the city, found on the streets of L.A.'s Highland Park, Jack has adapted to our hippy-dippy ways here in Topanga.

He enjoys relaxing on the front porch and looking out at the world.


This ceramic sculpture featuring a mystic spiral was a gift from our friend, artist Rick Oginz.

Here, Jack's resting his paws on the spiral, as if it were a personal touchstone for him. Is he channeling its energy?

I'm worried he's getting just a little too groovy and New Age.

What do you think, is he getting in touch with his inner chakra?

Or does he have other ideas?

The world in a city

I love Los Angeles because it's so diverse. You can find a world of experiences here, so different and yet so nearby.

We recently went to a wine bar down in Venice. The place featured wine by the glass and small plates of cold and hot mezze. Antique chandeliers hung from the ceiling, and the walls and wooden chairs were painted with a deliberately wrought distressed effect, as if the paint had been blistered off by age. The waitress wore a short black mini-dress, with bright scarlet lipstick that matched the red crocheted snood worn over her jet-black hair. Tattooes ran up her arm and wrapped her ankles. She caught me giving [The Man I Love] a brief kiss as I sat down, and pronounced it "sweet."

We nibbled at artisanal ewe's milk cheese from Spain, a chunk about the size and shape of a Chanel lipstick, served with a cherry compote and four whole almonds on a plate that had been brushed with liquid chamomile-flavored chocolate. The flavors together were so good I wanted to pick up and lick the plate when it was all gone.

Earlier that weekend we'd gone to a little shack in Inglewood, painted brightly with scenes of the beach at Nayarit, and were warmly greeted by a smiling, middle-aged woman. She brought a bowl of fresh green salsa and some warm crispy tortilla chips. Behind her, at the grill, the chef performed marvels with fresh seafood and bright, hot chiles. Two skinny African American kids came in and ordered some deep-fried fish, and stood at the narrow steel-topped counter, hiking up their baggy pants while the chef and the lady at the counter asked after their families. The chef held up a fresh whole tillapia to show them, its scales glittering blue in the light. I tried a michelada - a huge glass goblet filled with a mixture of clamato and beer, spiced and with a squeeze of lime.

We were served broad oval platters full of shrimp - mine in a creamy sauce of jalapenos and crema, his with their heads on, swimming in an orange oily brew flecked with red chiles, cilantro and redolent of tequila. Alongside, white rice with diced fresh corn and onions, and round slices of fresh cucumber to cool the chile heat.

Which place would you like to go to, if you could choose?

The good news is you could try them both, if you wanted. If you flew in to LAX this afternoon, each of these places is just a short taxi-cab ride from the airport.

How's that for wish fulfillment?

Elderberries

The Elderberry is a pretty little tree with pinnate leaves and clusters of white flowers. It's a nice tree for a small urban garden, because it doesn't get too big and because the pretty flowers of spring are followed by autumn berries. Nurseries have selected several cultivars of elderberries for their elegantly cut leaves, or striking foliage in bright gold or deep purple-black.



In Europe, the native elderberry is Sambucus nigra. In folklore, it's said to ward off evil and protect you from witches. That may be due to its use in folk medicine. It's prized for its flowers and fruit, both of which are traditionally made into cordials, syrup, or wine. The berries are said to help combat flu symptoms, containing antioxidants called flavanoids, which stimulate the immune system, and anthocyanins, which have an anti-inflammatory effect. The berries are also loved by birds, so if you grow an elder tree in your garden, you will be doing your part to support wildlife in your neighborhood.



Here in California, our native elderberry is Sambucus mexicana, and it grows throughout the Santa Monica mountains. Like its relatives, its a smallish tree with pretty corymbs of white flowers, followed by clusters of small dark berries, their skin touched with a frosty bloom like that on plums and blueberries.



The berries are smaller than the size of a pea.

This summer I saw so many of them I decided to pick some and experiment with making a syrup.



It takes a lot of elderberries even to fill a cup.

It was kind of a pain separating the tiny berries from the stems and twigs, but since the woody parts of the plant are said to be (mildly) toxic, I was pretty diligent about it. I used a recipe from David Lebovitz's site (scroll to the bottom for the recipe), and ended up with enough syrup to fill a leftover mustard jar.



I wasn't quite sure what to do with it, but then I thought of something.



Vodka martinis with a squeeze of lemon and a droplet of elderberry syrup? How about using a stalk of lavender as a stir-stick? Not too bad.

Elderflowers are also made into concoctions, and during a spring trip to New York City, we noticed that several trendy restaurants had summer cocktails featuring a liqueur made from elderflowers.

St. Germain is a hot new item on the backbar in the fancy cocktail lounges of New York and Hollywood. It's said to be made from wild elderberry flowers gathered in the French Alps by old men who deliver them on bicycle to the markets, where they are processed with eau de vie and cane sugar. The resulting liqueur is a delicate, fragrant thing, pale gold in color and packaged in an ornate and heavy bottle costing $39.99 at our local fine wine emporium.


I think I might wait for next spring's blooms and see if I can gather enough blossoms to make my own elderflower cordial. Here's a recipe worth trying if you don't want to spend $39.99.

On the other hand, there's nothing like a French gimlet made with flowers picked by old French men on bicycles.

If you want to know more about elderberries, visit this site Here.

Smokin'!

During the 1920s, Los Angeles west of Downtown was the place to be. The stretch of Wilshire Boulevard west of Westlake Park was developed with fine hotels and high-rise apartment houses with names like The Windsor, The Langham, The Asbury and other names evoking the aristocracy of Olde England. Hollywood elites such as Norma Talmadge and Gloria Swanson lived in fine apartments, and opulent movie palaces like the Westlake showed first run films. This neighborhood sported the famous Brown Derby restaurant, and the elegant Ambassador Hotel, with its swank nightclub, the Coconut Grove.

But by the early 1960s, the expansion of L.A. and a changing economy brought decline to the neighborhood. The Ambassador Hotel, still remembered for its elegance, gained a different place in cultural history in 1968 when Senator Robert F. Kennedy was assassinated in its kitchen after winning the California Presidential primary election. By1989 the once elegant hotel had closed.

At the same time, U.S. immigration law changes in 1965 brought millions of Korean immigrants to Los Angeles. The neighborhood, with its declining real estate values, became an affordable place to settle. By 1974, there were some 70,000 people of Korean descent living in what was now known as Koreatown.

I don't know when Soot Bull Jeep opened but it sure looks like it's been around for a long time. According to the City Directories in the Los Angeles Public Library, it used to be Joe and Nino's Pizza Place in the 1960s. But today, Soot Bull Jeep, as its sign says, is known as a natural charcoal Korean barbecue house.

There's nothing fancy about the place. It looks like a cheap diner. You walk in off the street into a dark room with dim fluorescent lights, with formica-topped tables, each set beneath huge steel exhaust flues. The walls are covered with a textured siding that looks like fake red bricks, and the floor with reddish ceramic tiles. The tables are set with metal chairs upholstered in red vinyl. There's a haze in the air, and the scent of charcoal smoke.

As you walk in, a waitress wearing a white uniform with a black apron motions you to a table. Each table has an open grill set in the center. She turns on the gas and shovels a few lumps of charcoal onto the fire, then sets a grill atop the flame. She tosses a plastic folder with a single page menu in front of you. While you consider the offerings, she brings chopsticks wrapped in paper, a handful of small plastic dishes, and a couple of plastic glasses with ice cubes in them.

No - don't drink the ice water. It's there for a reason.

Order a big bottle of Korean beer - OB or Hite - instead. By now, the charcoal is glowing, and flames are flickering in the grill. The waitress comes back and asks what you want.

Marinated short ribs are a pretty good choice. You can also get other cuts of beef, including tender sliced beef tongue. You can also get marinated pork, or chicken, or seafood such as shrimp or eel. For about $19 you get a large platter of protein. We were a party of three - one order of short ribs and one of marinated pork was plenty for us.

A whole array of small dishes appear at the table. There's a bowl of clear broth with something white and starchy floating in it. There's another bowl with slivered scallions in a sesame-flavored oily dressing. Other bowls hold a pulverized pinky bean paste, pickled cabbage in deep red chile, threads of pickled daikon and stir-fried spinach in sesame oil. Whole garlic cloves. Dark liquid soy sauce. Cucumbers in a pale orange liquid. There's also a small steel bowl filled with short-grained rice, and a plate with fresh lettuce leaves.

The waitress brings the platter of meat and, with a pair of long steel tongs, quickly lays it out on the grill.

If it looks like you know what you're doing, she leaves you alone. If she thinks you don't get it, she'll come back and grab the tongs, flipping the meat when it's ready and even telling you how to eat it. She also carries a pair of heavy-duty shears, which she'll use to clip and snip large pieces into bite-size bits. Our short ribs included the boneless slices of beef plus two chunks of ribs - after we ate the delicious slices our waitress returned to snip the membrane from the bony pieces and pull the chewy meat from the bones.

The little dishes are called banchan or panchan. They're intended as accompaniments to a meal. They range from condiments to pickles, to vegetables, tofu, and sometimes noodles.

The marinated pork was spicy and tender, and left a burning tingle in the mouth. The starchy rice and pickled vegetables were a nice cooling contrast. The typical practice is to tear off pieces of lettuce leaf and wrap the morsel of meat with a bit of pickle or smear of bean paste to eat by hand.

You have to be vigilant and watch your food cooking - don't overcook it or the waitress will come by and flip it for you. Use the tongs to turn the meat instead of your chopsticks - you don't want to flip raw meat with your chopsticks and then put them in your mouth later.

As you sit there, the smoke rises, despite the pull of the heavy duty exhaust fans that thrum and roar above you. The smell of charcoal suffuses your clothes and hair, especially if the place is busy and all tables are cooking at once. You may even catch a few flying sparks - don't dress in your finest when you come here. If drippings or a fatty, grill-stuck morsel catch fire, the waitress quickly douses the flame with a strategically-placed ice cube - see, that's what that glass of ice is for!

This is good late-night food, also good hangover food, with strong flavors and hot spices. Eating here brings out some wild primal urge to cook bloody meat over a roaring fire. It's not for the faint of heart. Unlike the glossier Korean barbecue joints where the grill is gas-fueled, clean and safety sealed, Soot Bull Jeep has a touch of danger that appeals to your inner cave-man.
When you're finished and pay your tab, the waitress sends you off with a stick of melon-flavored gum to clear your palate.
Alley-Oop never had it this good.

Pink Saturday - Sun Tea

Pink Saturday - Beverly at the blog "How Sweet the Sound" hosts Pink Saturday. Let the color pink inspire you!


One of my favorite things to drink on a hot summer day is iced tea. My family was from the South, so we grew up drinking iced tea sweetened with sugar, and flavored with a sprig of mint.

Nowadays you can buy bottled teas to drink cold, but when I was young, you had to make it yourself. The best and easiest way is to use the rays of the summer sun to steep it. Just put water and teabags - or even loose tea in an infuser ball - into a clear pitcher or jar of water, and put it in the sun.

Here our upper deck off the kitchen has a southwest exposure, taking full sun most of the day. Just steep it for a few hours and it's done.

There's more to tea than Lipton - the other day I found in my cupboard some hibiscus teabags.


I think I bought this tea in a Persian grocery on Westwood Boulevard here in Los Angeles. Hibiscus tea is made from the dried calyces of the hibiscus flower. In Latin America it's called flor de Jamaica, and is often used to make agua fresca, or sweetened, flavored water. In Egypt and the Middle East it's called Karkade. It is said that hibiscus tea was enjoyed by the pharoahs!

Well, the pharoahs would probably enjoy a cool glass on a hot summer day in Los Angeles. Hibiscus tea has a tart, astringent flavor. It contains anthocyanins, which is supposed to help relieve high blood pressure.


Pink tea for Pink Saturday! Enjoy a glass!