Sundae in the Park

Hmmm, I might get the dead tree paper this week!

Top 10 from the list is discussed here and they are:

1. Vespertine
2. Providence
3. Spago
4. Lukshon
5. Taco Maria
6. Spring
7. Trois Mec
8. Cassia
9. Mozzaplex
10. Rossoblu

Oooh, and the map function works (for me) if you haven't hit your monthly LA Times limit.

My question is extremely late, but I’m in El Segundo for a couple of days. Other than in-n-out, are there any spots I should consider in the area?

Eh, no. Back when I stayed in hotels by the airport, I always headed up the 405 a few exits and hit whatever looked good on Sawtelle Blvd (usually Tsujita or the Annex; it's mostly but not all Asian food). Bonus - lots of places are open late.

Gochujang noodles with ground pork and baby bok choy. It was a recipe from a Blue Apron trial that we saved and have made countless times since with different kinds of noodles. We like it best with the original recipe Korean rice cake ovalettes, but fresh wheat noodles from the market taste great as well.

Eater has a nice LA dining guide, including neighborhood-by-neighborhood suggestions. Maude and Spago, which are both suggested for Beverly Hills, are also recommended for that neighborhood in the 2017 LA Weekly 99 Essentials list.

Hahahaha, I had no idea where Beverly Hills was until you made me look. I'm not sure where I thought it was, but it's not where I'd imagined. Obviously there is shopping in Beverly Hills itself, but beyond that I don't know what to do there. Looking at a map, it's close to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), which has wonderful grounds and is close to several other museums (see 3rd post in this thread). I agree with DR that either the Getty Center or the Getty Villa are wonderful experiences. Beyond simple proximity, there is a LOT to do in the greater LA area, so it just depends on your interests and how hard you are willing to work to get places ;-)

Wineries burnt/damaged in the recent wildfires as of 10/11/17. I'm sure this list will be updated and expanded in coming days So far looks like Signorello Estate, Paradise Ridge, Frey Vineyards, White Rock Vineyards, and Oster Wine Cellars have been lost.

Using stuff up in the fridge:

• vegetarian wontons w/ sweet chili sauce (squeezed right from the bottle onto each wonton, of course)
• mango, plums, and grapes
• leftover tri-tp with salsa

Tri-tip meal this week! We've been having this quite often since about midway in my pregnancy, when I needed low-carb meals I actually wanted to eat and we discovered the beauty of at-home tri-tip. I buy a whole, untrimmed tri-tip and only take of the silverskin and some of the fat if it is over a half-inch thick. We use a Santa Maria-style dry rub and grill it till the big part is medium rare. At that point, the skinny part of the meat is medium-well to well done, which is perfect for a pregnant lady who doesn't want to be a bother to others (and is so great for guests with a variety of meat done-ness preferences!). We usually serve it with creamed spinach, sauteed mushrooms, sauteed zucchini, and bread and/or potatoes of some kind. Leftovers are great as-is but also wonderful in sandwiches. Inspired by a dish at the Avofest, we've been eating this round of leftover meat as sandwiches on French bread with a lot of guacamole and and a little salsa.
 

We caught the Avofest (or the 31st annual CA Avocado Festival) this weekend and it was absolutely delightful. The free-to-enter festival itself is small and really crowded as the day goes on, but avocado fans who enjoy outdoor festivals should consider a visit to Carpinteria (small beach town just south of Santa Barbara, about 90 mins north of LA without traffic) during fest weekend. The festival is mostly confined to one street, there isn't much of a kid zone (crafts but no bounce houses??!!), and the only ride is a small ferris wheel. The four sounds stages, however, provide reliably groovy, dance-worthy entertainment, there are craftsman and artist displays, and lots of avocado treats (deep-fried avocado! avocado ice cream! honey avocado ale!) to sample. Almost everyone is carrying the generous tray of guac and chips sold by the high school cheerleaders, who are basically selling at cost (or, given the price of avocados these days, possibly lower). All this is good fun, but the key is that the festival is held about two blocks from the Carpinteria state beach (pretty beach with tidepools!) and campgrounds. As such, fest-goers are constantly wandering down the street to the beach and back. (While at the beach, I pointed out the tents up the street to a pair of lost fest-seekers who were quite chagrined.) In addition, right at the edge of the festival is the Tomol Interpretive Play Area, a wonderful park for the littles to blow of some steam, as well as the entrance to a nature trail walking path. We didn't get a chance to try any of the restaurants but Linden Avenue has a bunch of eateries and touristy shops. We're planning to return for years to come!

23 hours ago, TrelayneNYC said:

Not a bad way to start the week, don't you think? 

Looks lip-smackingly delicious, per usual!

We had peppers and sausages tonight. Sausages are started in a cold pan over medium heat, and once you have some browning and fat rendered, dump sliced peppers (we usually do 1:1 for the # of sausages:peppers) in the pan, dust with salt and pepper, cover, and let it go low and slow until the peppers are done (with an occasional stir to distribute the juices). And by done, I mean confit-ed into a savory, almost jam-like substance. We sometimes have it with rice or in buns, but tonight I ate them with stewed zucchini and roasted cauliflower. If you have any leftovers, they go really well with eggs and toast.

On 8/25/2017 at 10:57 AM, astrid said:

There is a coupon for the jerky in the September coupon book.

I bought...many bags. Lots of folks eyed my cart and asked about the jerky. Sale goes through Sunday!

Found and tried the dark chocolate caramel sea salt poppers. The outer shell is a bit waxy and the caramel isn't the best, but the overall bite is quite good (with noticeably crunchy salt) and the packaging (2 lbs of unwrapped candy!) makes for easy gorging.

We had guests over three nights in a row so I made a batch of salted peanut butter cookies and a double batch of molasses spice cookies. Both keep soft very well and, served up with some freshly whipped cream, pleased everyone mightily.

We've been making chicken enchilada casseroles quite often lately. Satisfies my love of casseroles and leftovers and his of enchiladas (which, after almost 15 years together, was a surprise). You can make your (red) enchilada sauce, and I did, the first few times, but the kind in the can tastes absolutely fine as well. Using fresh corn sautéed with a bunch of peppers and black beans instead of refried really ups the nutrition (and IMO tastiness) factor.  Add some salsa and guacamole, and whatever fresh fruit you have available for the table (mangoes go particularly well) and you have a really well-rounded but super simple meal.

If you're willing to travel off the strip and in the mood for Asian food, go to Raku. We talk about the Thai places in LV a lot but it' s hard to eat a varied meal by yourself at those restaurants unless you want to have a LOT of leftovers. But Raku has small, exquisite portions, so you can try many different things. Worth a thought!

20 hours ago, Pool Boy said:

I love tater tots.

You're not alone (anyone remember the early Glee episode about tater tots?)!! For a while tater tots were prominently featured on the menus of several of our favorite food trucks. I couldn't resist and they were good but I got tired of paying "gourmet parking lot" prices and bought a bag of frozen tots instead. Cheap AND delicious! And easy enough to eat yourself sick such that I haven't been tempted by the tots in years...

6 hours ago, dcs said:

Tickets for the full run of the show (October 21, 2017 through January 1, 2018) will be released on September 1 (today) at noon PT.  Tickets are $25.

Hahahaha, ouch. Tickets are already sold out for the entire run as of 1:45 PM. I got in the ticket-purchasing queue at 12:55 PM and was number 95,653 in line. When the tickets were sold out there were still over 70,000 people in queue before me, so I never even got close. You can still get same-day tix once the exhibition opens but I imagine the lines will be killer, so totally impractical for folks with little kids. Ah well!

On 8/29/2017 at 7:35 PM, DIShGo said:

I had a Lodge Dutch oven that lasted for years.

Mine is almost 10 years old and still looks perfect. I like that the top handle is metal. Got mine on Amazon and love the classic design (more squared edges). A quick search today, however, shows that they've really changed their design to ape the Le Creuset look - I like the old look better. 

On 4/4/2012 at 1:11 PM, 1000yregg said:

The next day, went on a mini food truck safari. Started at eggslut for breakfast and had "thee slut", a coddled egg served in a small jar over potato puree, with a side of toast. We then went to a park nearby Universal studios where trucks hang out. I had the loco moco and spam musubi at Aloha Fridays truck. It was cheap- $10 for the lot. I noticed that food trucks are cheaper in LA than in DC or Baltimore- what gives?

Sadly the truck is no more but there are several brick-and-mortar Eggslut locations now, with likely more to come. Here's a hunger-inducing photo essay from the LAist about their wares from the Grand Central Market location.

This is pretty old news at this point, but Pok Pok LA is closed (as of March this year). Eater has a good rundown of reasons why Angelenos didn't embrace the concept or location (the article doesn't mention the other, nearby Ricker restaurant, Pok Pok Phat Thai, closed in Aug 2016).

I'm sad I never made it to either spot, but coming from the north, I'd have to drive past Thai Town to get there.  That means passing up some tremendous and tremendously cheap eats, and I could never quite bring myself to take the time. Which is kind of bizarre, considering that Pok Pok Portland is a must-eat whenever I'm in PDX. I guess it just goes to show how choice always depends on the available alternatives! Plus the allure of going to the original location (do the NY folks feel different about eating at a Pok Pok versus the Pok Pok?).

We couldn't get through it. We knew what was "coming," but once we hit the tragic reveal we had to stop. As recently new again parents it was just too much of a drain on our emotions and free time. Normally I'm all about the Boston-area movies, as the accents and familiar mannerisms briefly take me home, but even for the wrenching performances completing the movie wasn't worth it for us at this particular time.

On 8/22/2017 at 10:21 AM, dcs said:

Reserve some advanced tickets (they are free) for The Broad on a Saturday or Sunday and make a day of it.  The Broad opens at 10am on the weekends.  I would reserve at 10 and be on line by 9:30 if you want a chance to get into Yayoi Kusama's Infinity Mirrored Room in any reasonable amount of time (there is a separate signup for this once you enter the museum).  The website says the Infinity Mirrored Room will not be available with free general admission beginning October 1, 2017 through early January 2018.  I am not sure if this means a fee will be applied, or if the exhibit will be closed, but the upcoming special exhibitions page indicates the slightly different titled Yayoi Kusama: Infinity Mirrors being exhibited Oct 21, 2017 - Jan 1, 2018.   eggslut and Wexler's both open at 8 so there is plenty of time to eat before heading to The Broad (it is only a couple of blocks and one steep hill away).  It is easy to while away several hours in this place and then it's either back to the Market for lunch, or somewhere else downtown.  It is all walkable.

What a great itinerary idea for combining The Broad and Grand Central Market!! It speaks perfectly to my desire to combine food and activities in a geographically efficient manner, with bonus points for walkability. Plus I've seen pictures/articles about the Mirrored Room and would love to see it or an iteration. Some more details about accessing The Broad:

• the advanced reservations seem to go very quickly. There are currently no reservations available for Sept. Reservations are released at noon online on the first day of the month for the following month. Example - I will try to get tickets for sometime in October on Sept. 1.
• you can try to get same-day general admission tickets via the onsite standby line, but I understand that the line can be quite long. Updates on line length are posted throughout the day via their Twitter feed.
• the museum is closed on Mondays
• The current Kusama exhibit is the Infinity Mirrored Room—The Souls of Millions of Light Years Away. This exhibit will close at the end of September, and then on October 21, the space will reopen as a different, larger exhibit (Infinity Mirrors  - apparently the same exhibit that was at the Hirshhorn) and will require separate paid tickets from general admission.  

On 8/21/2017 at 10:31 AM, dcs said:

I visited the market several times last week for breakfast and can highly recommend the bacon, egg, and cheese sandwich from eggslut.  The chipotle ketchup puts it over the top.  Also not to be missed is the bagel, lox, and cream cheese from Wexler's Deli, that is served with a pickle spear and side of coleslaw or potato salad.  I can vouch for the potato salad.  From their website:

Ah, these are the exact items I most desire to try from the Market. Thanks for the drool reinforcement.

Since Golden Island pork jerky is on this buzzfeed list of underrated Costco buys, I thought I'd throw it up here. Anyone have thoughts on the Kirkland prosecco or Looka frozen macarons? I've never seen the dark chocolate caramel poppers but will definitely buy them if I see them.

The Cosmos Creations salted caramel puffed corn snack is wonderful, textured kind of like the churro bites we have out here (that you can only really find at farm stands for some reason) and a good balance of salty/sweet.

Pretty good discussion about why Halo Top and its competitors are storming the nation's ice cream shelves in Slate.  Still don't care for the stuff but I think the this article hits the nail on the head why - I would love to guiltlessly eat a whole pint of ice cream several times a week, but would prefer to eat smaller quantities of better-tasting/higher quality/more real food products. Apparently that is NOT the norm and the market is responding accordingly.

How do we not have a Jeni's thread yet? My OH friends are NUTS about this stuff and it really does seem to be storming the nation. I can even get it out here in CA at certain stores. If you must have it you can order online and they deliver.

I once attended a Columbus-area wedding that had a Jeni's ice cream bar instead of cake and it was, indeed, splendid. 

12 hours ago, dracisk said:

I'm very interested in those Parmesan whisps, but I'm pretty sure I can't be trusted to have them in the house.

They are quite addictive but very salty, so after the first gorge as astrid notes below, they should last a while. They are terrific as a chip-like, carb-free, savory snack.

5 hours ago, astrid said:

Yes, I have seen pork jerky in all the east coast Costcos that I have been to.  They are similar to Chinese pork jerky that I grew up with, but better because they are not stale.

I love the parmesan whisps as well, I really regret not stocking up on more when there was a coupon.   A bit pricy but a bag goes a surprisingly long way for snacking.

Yes, exactly about the Golden Island jerky! It always makes me think of the Chinese pork jerky I ate while in Macau, but is actually superior. And, you know, available here.