I'm with Frieda

I now work for Frieda's Specialty Produce and loving it. It's not permanent yet, but I'm telling you guys anyway for full disclosure.

This job is a foodie's dream comes true. I get to hear about exciting fruits and vegetables every day, and once in a while I get to take something home to play with.  Employee sales also yield a bounty of great loot and there is always something new to discover.

For example, I was sent home with some Kale Sprouts, a hybrid of Red Russian Kale and Brussels Sprouts. Essentially, combining Brandon's favorite new vegetable and my all time favorite vegetable into one!  I grabbed a recipe suggestion for Brussels Sprouts from Girl + Fire Paulette and cooked up these little purple-tinted beauties. A rough "add this and that for that much" recipe is below.

I mentioned the employee sale a minute ago.  The staff in the warehouse loves me now because I'm an easy target. With a little nudge, I'd buy the farm!

My very first order for the sale, I didn't order correctly so there was no produce set out for me to pick up. The guy in charge just had me take a peek at all that was still available.  I intended to only buy Baby Potatoes and Lady Apples. I walked out with Lady Apples, Meyer Lemons, Zululand Baby Pineapples, and Heirloom Tomatoes!  The following week, I didn't have exact change, so the same guy showed me some Rambutans, and instead of trying make some change, I ended up ordering more stuff.

My safety jacket for the warehouse might as well just say, "SUCKER" on the back! LOL

Needless to say, I went ahead and canceled my Tanaka Farms CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) subscription. I really did love that program and it was a tough one to let go of. As I told you guys, we eventually reduced our subscription about a box a month and we still can't keep up.  There are only two people in this household, y'all, and one of them can be a picky eater at times. The produce just kept piling up.

Going forward, Brandon and I can still have a culinary adventure whenever we feel like it, and we'll supplement the rest with the Farmer's Market on Sundays in Long Beach. That's good too because I really miss going to the market.

Anyways. My new cooking adventures will be a very interesting one indeed. I hope you'll come along!

Now, the "recipe" for a very addictive Kale Sprouts dish.

Pan-roasted Kale Sprouts with Bacon and Brown Sugar

This recipe is not measured in anyway. Be brave and trust your judgement! :)

Ingredients:

• About 3-4 oz. of Kale Sprouts. You can get them in bulk at some places and prepackaged in the other. You can just use Brussels Sprouts for this.
• 4 strips of bacon
• A splash of water or chicken broth
• 1 clove of garlic, minced. (Just press it through a garlic press.)
• A pat of butter
• A generous pinch of brown sugar - about a tablespoon
• Salt and pepper to taste

First, cook up your bacon in a skillet until crispy. Save about a tablespoon of bacon dripping. (Some would cook whole slices then crumble them later. I like to chop mine up first and fry up the bits.)

While the bacon is cooking, prep the Kale Sprouts. Give it a wash then trim of the bottom like you'd do with Brussels Sprouts. Halve the larger ones. Leave the little ones whole.

Add Kale Sprouts to the hot bacon dripping, season lightly with salt (bacon is already salty!).  Saute for a few minutes until the Sprouts wilt a little.

[Now, if you're doing this with Brussels Sprouts, you cook until they're nice and brown.]

Add a splash of water/broth to de-glaze the pan. Add garlic.  Once it comes to bubbling/sizzling, let reduce a bit, [if using Brussels Sprouts, until they're fork tender]. Add the pat of butter, brown sugar, and the bacon. Toss to coat.  Season to taste.

Voila! (Sorry. We were so hungry I didn't stop to plate it for a photo!)

I'm not dead yet

Well, just so y'all know.


I'm still getting the CSA box but with less frequency. Even with every other week delivery, we still couldn't go through that much produce.  You know how it is in this mood-eating household.

Having said that, we have had some great experiments with mystery vegetables like kohlrabi, and veggies we never had before like rainbow and Swiss chard.  It's been quite fun.

I've taken tons of photos but I haven't blogged about them yet. I'm a horrible blogger.

But...I'm getting back into it. Promise! :)

Food.OakMonster.com

I think it's time we move to our real home on OakMonster.com. So here we are!

Please make sure to update your RSS setting and all that.

I'm still playing around with the layout and all of that so you maybe seeing new things going on around here for a while.

Other than the fact that my newest batch of Moo cards has HmmFoodGood on them, I'm pretty happy about the move.

What do you think?

Glory be the Church of Cheese

Forever and ever, amen!

(Click on the strip to see larger image.)

10 out of 11 ain't bad

Today I went to farmer's market to stock up for the week.

I washed all the produce and put them away.

Then I baked Pim's recipe banana bread.

Then I boiled some eggs for breakfast for the rest of the week.

Then I sat down and peeled and scraped peels off of 12 lemons and started my new batch of Limoncello. This time, I'm using grappa.

Then juiced all 12 lemons.

With juice of 6 lemons, I made fresh strawberry lemonade with basil infused syrup.

The rest of the juice, I poured into ice cube tray and froze for later use.

Then I added some vodka to my glass of strawberry lemonade.

Then I made Coq Au Vin for dinner.

Then I grabbed a Mochi ice cream with a paper towel to thaw out a bit. But I got into writing my OakMonster blog a little bit and forgot.

11 things food related I did today and I messed only one up. Not too shabby.

A food revolution: My reaction to Food Inc.

You know me. I eat everything. Never say no to anything except for margarine, sweeteners, and anything boasting low calories or low fat.

Just about a year ago, I had a rant about people not eating what they preach. As I am a non-selective omnivore, I don't preach about cruelty to animals if I was still buying farmed meats. It wasn't because I was against ethical eating. But my belief is that if you personally don't eat ethically, you don't have any rights to whine about how bad it is out there for the animals or the planet.

After I watched Food Inc., I now have one foot in the door of ethical eating. I'm still a long way from being a complete preacher for the cause, but at least I am going to try to get as many people as I can to watch this film and work it out for themselves.



Before this movie, I have started going to the farmers market and be conscious of what I bring home a little bit more for a few reasons. First, there *is* a convenient farmers market right here in Long Beach. Duh! And lastly, Brandon has a sensitive stomach that reacted to a few things. We have come to find out that it is most likely the high fructose corn syrup. On my part, I tried to look at the label as much as I can to weed HFCS out of his diet. He does a little bit too but not quite as much.

But this film actually gets Brandon himself to start looking at labels on his own. (Although he still can't quite get rid of Dr. Pepper but he has reduced the amount consumed tremendously.)

Now THAT is the power of Food Inc.

What changed our minds is to watch as the food conglomerate manipulate every aspect of the food chain for their profits.

The seed license thing pisses us off royally. You have to use their seeds or if you even get a cross-pollination, now your feed is theirs because of the genetic marker which subsequently drive all the farmers to use only their seeds and had to buy new ones every season. And the seed company, the only one there is, doesn't get prosecuted for monopoly? Seriously?

Brandon had first hand experience with this when he spent a year at a college in Oklahoma. The college obviously had a focus in agriculture. His friends were ranchers and farmers, so he heard all of these corporate bullying stories.

Sure, I'm no farmer myself and can't say that I know one. But I grew up in a country where rice farming is the life blood. I cannot imagine somebody out there in Thailand going after poor farmers saying they cannot use their rice as seeds, that they need to buy seed rice from just this one company every season. Seriously. I cannot even fathom that.

Now, on to the meat. I am still a long way away from giving up meat altogether. But after Food Inc., I am trying my best to not purchase or consume commercial chicken.

What changed my mind is the footage of the newly hatched baby chicks piled onto moving conveyor belt to get sorted, grabbed up one by one and stamped on the head to go to a farm where their feed has been engineered so that they would grow so fast and with much larger breasts that their bones and internal organs can't keep up. They would take 2 or 3 steps before they had to sit down again and many of them flat out died because of the growth spurt.

However, the image of happy piggies on a free range farms makes me want to eat them more. LOL. But I digress.

Another thing Food Inc. brought up, which has also been the reason why I haven't ventured into ethical eating sooner, is the high cost of "real foods". When you can feed your entire family of 4 for $10 at McDonald's but you can buy a few pound of fruits for just that much, most people would go for the McDonald's because that is all they can afford.

That was us for many years. Now that we are able to pay a little more for our foods, we try to shift that direction and find savings in other aspects of our lives instead. But still, when Food Inc. put it in front of us to see how things are being manipulated so that fresh food is more expensive than fast food, that doesn't sit well with us either.

Then again, we *are* addicted to junk food here as well. We are no angels. But I must say that the guilt associating with pulling up to any drive through has gotten a little bit heavier that before.

But man, watching how "meat filler" was made really turns me off to buying burger patties ANYWHERE.

So there. Personally, I am going to try to...

• Cut down / Give up commercially-grown chicken and commercial burger patties.
• Avoid any products with HFCS as much as I possibly can.
• Eat seasonally and locally. Whatever fruits and veggies I can get at the farmers market should be the ingredients for my dinner. If I have to go to grocery store for a produce, that means it is not in season and I shouldn't be eating it in the first place.
• If I can help it, buy organic or humanely raised/killed meat. This one is a tough one, however I am going to try!
  

Oh, and I have started to do Meatless Monday thing on Tuesdays. Not to save the planet but for a spiritual reason. You can follow my progress over at OakMonster.com.

Now, off you go. Rent Food Inc. If you have Netflix, you can watch it right now on your computer or through your XBox.

Do it. It'll totally change how you see what you're eating now.

*

Do you have any tips to share on how to eat more ethically or how you are changing the way you're eating at home? Share them right here in the comments. I can use some suggestions. :)

*

ETA: Just got back from farmers' market with a pound of ground bison to once again make bison burgers. Whole Foods was just a stone throw away but the Mister rather us spend $$ to support the grass-fed, free roam bison ranchers. I don't mind that at all.

Also, I went into Fresh & Easy, picked up my favorite grab-and-go chicken masala and rice, and after much internal debate, I put it back down. I REALLY frickkin' love that stuff but I wouldn't be sticking to my ethical eating guns if I consciously purchase that thing. I'm proud of what I did...but at the same time a little sad about not eating what I like any more. :-(

Happy Halloween

My apology for having been absent so long . Thrill the World has finally come to a close, officially, although I have to lead another mini team of zombies to dance at Halloween on Pine once more before we can call the whole thing quit.

The big team, over 100 zombies, are going to perform at the Clippers half-time show on the same night. I'm sticking with my hometown(ish) because I'm cool like that. Besides, I just made some money for Inner-City Arts for not being up at Staples Center. So yey, me.

Anyhoo. Happy Halloween, everybody!

We've been spotted!

Kids, our humble little blog has been nominated for an award at Just-Spotted.com. Who knew we would get this kind of love from the OC!

So, spread the word around and go vote for us, would ya? I'd be grateful if we're not dead last. ;-)

New direction

Well, kids. I've got me some braces.

I haven't cooked since the separators went in a few weeks ago. Well, outside of my mashed potatoes with peas experiment? I cooked nada.

My poor husband has been feeding himself since then, more or less.

Now that the braces are actually in, I haven't eaten anything really solid in a few days. And I expect that every month after tightening, I'm going to be begging for something soft and liquidy AND delicious.

All those soup and puree recipes I tossed out? Yep. Regretting doing that now. But I'm sure y'all will provide me with enough inspiration and guidance to find some more.

Sometime this weekend, I will have to completely restock my fridge and pantry with soups and other mush-able veggies. AND I will need to purchase a hand blender.

Definitely, I'm whipping up Giada's sweet pea and mint puree and freeze them in little baggies at some point this weekend.

Because a girl can only drink Muscle Milk and mush up Animal Crackers for so many days.

Now, about that potatoes and peas experiment. It was an experiment born of complete burn-out on soup...and the fact that my eyes were dilated from the optometrist that I couldn't leave the house to go buy anything else to eat. So I raided the pantry and the fridge.

I didn't know how it was going to turn out so I didn't take a picture. And it actually was pretty damn tasty!

Mashed Potatoes and Peas

The "recipe" is totally adjustable to how many potatoes you have or want to cook.

Boil up some baby Yukon gold potatoes (halved or quartered) with a few cloves of garlic (smashed and peeled) and salt. Drain and smash them around a little bit.

I did remove the skin once the potatoes were cooked. It was easier that way. (Then again, I didn't think I could chew the skin.) But that's really optional.

In another pot, heat up some butter, the amount you would use to mash the potatoes, with a few sprigs of thyme. When that sizzled, add frozen green peas, season, and saute that around. When the peas started to get mushy, add cream--again, just about the amount you'd use to mash the potatoes with--and heat through.

Take out the thyme sprigs before pouring the butter/cream/peas mixture into the potatoes. Now mash around some more.

Add a handful of Parmesan cheese and a pinch of pepper. Mash some more. Serve.

Magazine Drive

This is a re-post from my other blog. It started as a weekend update that turned into somewhat a foodie experience. So, here it is.

I was on the couch most of the day yesterday. Oddly enough, it was quite a productive afternoon.

I haven't quite gotten caught up with all my magazines. I would leave them on my little side table/cabinet by the couch so I can read them when I plop down. However, the Man of the House doesn't like seeing stuff on there (even though he generally sits on the other side of the couch), so he would put them in the cabinet.

Since I don't see the magazines there, I forget about them. Until the newest one arrives in the mail to remind me about the last one that I didn't read.

"Everyday with Rachael Ray" and "Real Simple" get read earlier on and don't hang around the house very long. I read through them and ripped out the recipes or tips I need and then tossed the mags. With "Self" magazine, this one needs a thorough reading so it goes straight to the bathroom counter. (Yes, I read a lot in there. It's a family thing.) I usually keep them in there also because I see them every morning when I get ready. Just seeing the magazines there is a good enough motivator. And finally, "Entertainment Weekly" gets read almost immediately, or before bed, as any good pop culture vulture would.

However, the one that I get really, REALLY behind on is "Food & Wine". These guys do need undivided attention. Unlike a recipe book like Rachael Ray's or generally boring foods of Real Simple, F&W is an educational read for me. After all, I am an inspiring cook. You can't really improve your skills cooking simple stuff all the time!

I read F&W almost as thoroughly as I read "Self". I did put it in the bathroom once and found it thoroughly inappropriate for obvious reasons.

So yesterday, I put the telly on and parked my butt on the couch and went through the stack. 2 Rachael Ray's and one Real Simple later, I finally got to F&W and found that I pretty much haven't read them since August.

And boy, what a resource! I learned all sorts of things just going through 2 of those last night. I may not rip out all of the recipes but I briefly look at those left behind as well. I checked out the ingredients I didn't know and was surprised by little things I picked up like Jose Andres. Last week I didn't even know who the guy was until I saw him on Anthony Bourdain's D.C. episode. Now I saw in F&W that he has a restaurant, The Bazaar, in LA at SLS Hotel, AND next week is LA Restaurant week and you can get a prefix there for $44.

Knowledge is indeed power.

And all of this from sitting on a couch, reading magazines and watching television.

ASIDE: I also watched 2 documentaries over the past few days. Encounters at the End of the World about people who live and work in Antarctica. And then I watched via Netflix on-demand Man on Wire about Phillippe Petit who walked the wire between the top of the World Trade Center towers back in the 70s. Both are essentially about a completely different breed of human, seeking their places in the world in non-traditional ways. Encounters was a little bit slow at time but Man on Wire played out like a crime caper and it was quite fun to watch. See? Horizon expanded over the time spent on a couch!

Ethical Eating

The conversation started out with where to buy a bus pass. A check cashing place next door to a Vietnamese market. Which has great seafood. Some of them in tanks.

"I can never pick the seafood out of the tank," said someone on my bus. "I feel so bad."

"But you do eat seafood, don't you?" I had to ask.

"Yes. But I can't pick it out of the tank like that."

"So, you're saying that you will eat the fish as long as you don't see it coming out of the tank you just looked at?"

"Yes."

THIS, people, is what I have a problem with.

Those who will whine about how they can't stand to see lobsters in a tank, cows in the pen, or, like most Californians recently, chicken in tiny coup. But they still eat the things from the conditions which they said they don't condone.

People do eat according to what they believe too. Vegans and vegetarians who do it to not harm animals. Some people will eat just about anything else but baby animals i.e. veal or lamb. Folks who only pick free-range meat products because they want to know that the animals have been treated humanely.

And then there's Ted Nugent who only eats what he hunts. I'm against hunting or fishing for fun--if you're out to kill it, it should be because you need it to nourish you, not because you're bored. So I'm good with Uncle Ted there too.

I believe that the sooner the animals I eat get on my plate, the sooner their suffering has come to an end. So I will eat any kind of meat from anywhere. I don't go around whining about how cruel it is that the chicken don't get to spread their wings because I buy generic farmed eggs coming out from one of those farms. If I really have a problem with that, I would be buying free-range.

I respect other people's food ethics. I just don't like people who act out loud that they care about the welfare of the animals but probably have no idea or don't even know where what they're about to eat came from.

Am I a bad person for not caring how the cows die for my burger? Probably.

But hey, at least I'm honest!

Oh and speaking of animal cruelty before coming to your plate. If I could give an award for "Most likely to convert people from eating lamb", Jamie Oliver's "Jamie At Home" cookbook wins that prize.

On his chapter on lambs, on the left hand page discusses the differences between lamb and mutton, and all the different cuts of the meat.

On the right hand side is a picture of the most adorable baby lamb on the planet, staring at you like, "Why do you want to eat me?"

Yeah, dude. Thanks.

Thai food. All the time.

2 weeks, babies. I'll be gone for 2 weeks. Not that you'd miss me much over here anyway...right? ;-D

I'll be in Thailand enjoying home cook meals and local fares. Will write about it from there...or when I get back.

P.S. Chef House--wish you could be home at the same time too, dude!

Hmm. Bacon.

@fresh_and_easy introduced me to Lords of Bacon.

It's good to know someone is more obsessed about bacon that I do.

Happy Little Callous

As you might have noticed, I haven't been in the kitchen in a while. My life has been orbiting around Pick Up Stix and Pizza Hut's Toscani Pasta because of my crazy schedule. This week I decided to cook a little.

I hit Fresh & Easy last night with the ingredients for a crock pot pot roast I would toss together this morning. Having watched the knife skills video recommended by Chef Jay a while ago, I decided to give the new knife grip a shot.

All I did was cutting carrots and quartering red potatoes and onion. I have this little red mark on the side of my index finger from gripping the knife on the blade, not the handle. It hurts a little right now, but I'm sure in time I will have a callous on that to compliment my kick-ass knife skills.

Mr. Chocolate's surprise appearance

Last week's episode of Girls Next Door, the girls went to Madam Chocolat to make chocolate body part for Hugh Hefner's birthday.

The girls wanting their private parts cast in chocolate, I wasn't surprised about that.

"Was that...is that...oh my god!? Is that who I think it is?" I pointed at the television.

"Who's doing what?" Brandon leaned over from his computer.

"Is that Jacques Torres?! Is that Jacques Torres putting the molding stuff on Bridgets' boobs?!?"...And now he's taking the mold off of Holly's hoohah!"

"Who the hell is Jacques Torres?!"

Okay. I must admit that was a total foodie moment.

When I first started watching Food Network years ago, Jacques was the one in the morning doing his chocolate show. Ah...the great sugary constructions I could never repeat in my own kitchen!

And of course, he appears on Food Network many times after that as a judge on their challenges and what not.

But well, here he is on GND, helping his wife with their chocolate work at the shop, helping Kendar makes her "chocolate starfish". It's just...bizarre. LOL!

Mr. & Mrs. Torres and the rest of the crew, you guys are such good sport! :-D

The Omnivore's 100

Blogger friend Kuri posted this list on his site of 100 things to eat before you die. What kind of a food blog are we if we don't answer the call!

Readers and contributors, feel free to do your own version and post your results here as well as there. :)

The Omnivore's 100

1) Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions.
2) Bold all the items you’ve eaten.
3) Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.
4) Optional extra: Post a comment here at verygoodtaste.co.uk linking to your results.

OakMonster's additional - I'm going to Italicize what I haven't eaten yet but REALLY want to someday! Also, the VGT version links some of the lesser known items to Wikipedia for your convenience. Not here. You get to do your own culinary research and learn something new! :)

69 out of 100 over here!

1. Venison (Home made, kill-our-own dear sausage at my friend's family's home in Texas. Staring out the window at some of the dear while I ate that. A little screwed up.)
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros
4. Steak tartare
5. Crocodile
6. Black pudding (I haven't had the "blood sausage" version, but I have eaten "steamed blood". Actually, I love that stuff.)
7. Cheese fondue
8. Carp
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush
11. Calamari
12. Pho
13. PB&J sandwich
14. Aloo gobi
15. Hot dog from a street cart
16. Epoisses
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes (Well, mead is made out of honey...?)
19. Steamed pork buns
20. Pistachio ice cream
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries
23. Foie gras
24. Rice and beans
25. Brawn, or head cheese
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper
27. Dulce de leche
28. Oysters
29. Baklava
30. Bagna cauda
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl
33. Salted lassi
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float
36. Cognac with a fat cigar
37. Clotted cream tea
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O (I was the jello shot queen during my college years. Making them to carry into the Coliseum in the cooler that carried food to feed song girls and yell leaders. LOL.)
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat
42. Whole insects (Apparently, I did when I was a kid. Fried locust, something like that.)
43. Phaal
44. Goat’s milk (It was in a tea...)
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more
46. Fugu
47. Chicken tikka masala
48. Eel
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut
50. Sea urchin
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone
54. Paneer
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal (I could eat this in high school and it went nowhere. Not in my hips or my but...)
56. Spaetzle
57. Dirty gin martini (Dirty vodka martini is my favorite however.)
58. Beer above 8% ABV
59. Poutine (I MUST get to Quebec!!)
60. Carob chips (Gross...but I ate it.)
61. S’mores
62. Sweetbreads
63. Kaolin
64. Currywurst (Saw this on Anthony Bourdain's Germany episode. I was drooling everywhere.)
65. Durian
66. Frogs’ legs
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake
68. Haggis
69. Fried plantain
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini
73. Louche absinthe (Thanks to Dave and Nik!)
74. Gjetost, or brunost
75. Roadkill
76. Baijiu (Believe it or not, parents had this in the liquor shelf. So we tried it as a kid. One sip and we almost died. LOL. It tasted like jet fuel then, probably still is now.)
77. Hostess Fruit Pie (Brandon craves this once a year. One bite is enough for me.)
78. Snail
79. Lapsang souchong
80. Bellini
81. Tom yum
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant. (Some day I will be able to afford this...)
85. Kobe beef
86. Hare
87. Goulash
88. Flowers
89. Horse
90. Criollo chocolate
91. Spam
92. Soft shell crab
93. Rose harissa (Had regular harissa, but that's a completely different thing.)
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox
97. Lobster Thermidor (Not recently, but in one way or the other, I had this in Thailand.)
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Snake

On bacon

Yelp's newsletter ended with this bit.

...chef Anthony Bourdain calls bacon the “gateway protein” for its mystical ability to tempt even the staunchest vegetarian back to the dark side...

Best quote ever.

P.S. Thanks to the lead from Food Goat, I see this alarm clock in my future.

A little crush

Okay. Not completely a food blog entry. But kind of.

My "crush" on Fresh & Easy store is covered by the press.

Finding Nirvana at Salad Bin ran in the Business Casual Column in the Torrance Daily Breeze today. (Folks reading this 2 weeks from now may not see the link. I’ll be sure to post a PDF later.)

Thanks, Muhammed again for coming down to my humble abode last week!

Julie: Day 8 - And other news

First of all, please welcome Chef House of She Said Pastry He said Food to our humble blog. House and I "met" online after he responded to one of my posts about my mom's passing. We got to talking and the next thing I know, he started to blog. He may be an experienced chef, but House also talks about street food and how to improve our home cooking. Hopefully we can all learn from his input.

Welcome, Chef House!

And now, Julie report. She was SUPER bubbly last night. She rose up to just about the same size the other day. Since the photo and report is one day behind, Julie's bake off day actually is tomorrow. I will report in on how she did and, yes, I will post the instruction as well.

Bargain Gourmet

LA Times released their list of Los Angeles good bargain for foodies. Everything from one dollar tacos to pre-fix meals for less.

It's not exactly "cheap" eats, but you'll get more bang for your bucks for good food all over town.

I just wish they release one for the OC as well.

P.S. LA Times also reported that Thomas Keller is to open Bouchon bistro in Beverly Hills. Someday, I will eat there. Hopefully not a replacement for one thing on my list of things to do before I die, to have a meal at the French Laundry...hopefully on the night that Chef Keller is there.