i love the griffith observatory

omg, you guys have to check out jitlada thai on sunset in hollywood.  best mussels ever.  and that curry can do no wrong.  

afterwards, it’s nice to drive up to griffith observatory but i suggest you skip the planetarium show.  worst narrator in the whole world.  seriously, she was so annoying i couldn’t even concentrate on what the hell she was talking about. but the rest of the place is pretty damn cool.  especially if you’ve seen rebel without a cause.  the grif obs is my favorite place to take out of town guests.

mariscos in south la

Some very wonderful people took us to eat mariscos Nayarit style in South LA before we left for NYC. Those people are Sebastian and Rosa.

There were oysters (cheapest best oysters you’ll get in LA, I GAR RON TEE it!). There was a LOT of ceviche.

There was an octopus and shrimp cocktail. Damn, that octopus was tender. TENDER!

There was an enormous molcajete of bubbling seafood goodness- prawns, shrimp, octopus, abalone, crab leg…

Unfortunately, I am not technically savvy (well, more so than my grandma but not enough to figure out how to upload a video from my camera without it being turned into a picture). So what would have been an awesome video of bubbling molcajete with fun music in the background is just a boring picture.

All that food plus bringing your own beer and roving tamborazo bands made us very happy campers!

what happened yesterday

I woke up when my mother called yesterday although I had drifted in and out of consciousness all morning as the electricity flickered. Mom wanted me to proofread her syllabus and recipes for a talk she was giving called Hearty-Healthy Cooking. Some of you know that she’s a dietician for the pediatric ICU in a North Carolina hospital. No, she doesn’t do anorexics. You should also know that she was recently able to lower her cholestrol by 100 points through diet and exercise alone. She’s quite strict when on a diet! And I’m so proud of her diligence, which lead to this lecture. Growing up with my mom in the kitchen (and sometimes my dad cooked as well. He was also a nutritionist for most of my life, although he’s since changed professions.), I always thought she knew everything about food. I still think she gives the best advice about nutrition, but I was surprised when I found I had several ideas for her lecture. For example, she was talking about how many people who recently switch to a vegetarian diet miss the “meaty” taste of, well, meat. I gave her some sources about the fifth sense, umami, which does occur in foods other than meat. Foods such as mushrooms, tomatoes and red wine can give dishes that savory flavor that you might miss when eating vegetarian. I, myself, have gone through periods of vegan or vegetarian diets, not because I think it’s wrong to eat animals, but because of environmental concerns. But I could never do it for more than 6 months, as I discovered. Perhaps I was missing the umami of it all.

After talking with my mother, I discovered our power was out. We decided to go digging! Or, record shopping at least. Our first stop was Turntable Lab LA on Fairfax across from Canter’s, the hangout of Summer and Seth before they broke up. In real life I mean. No sales at the Lab that day, but they do have tables where they let you preview any record they have. I bought a couple great albums: a Joe Bataan album of which I only had listen to one song before I knew it was coming home with me and a remixed Afro Rock Vol. 1 record. Then we headed to Burbank for our next stop.

I pleaded with Miguel to stop for sustenance first! The Riverside Cafe had been on my radar since I used to work down the street from them a year ago. It’s a family run cafe with lots of outdoor seating and it’s dog friendly! We took an outside table as it was very pleasant. We do live in LA afterall, might as well take advantage. They have an extensive menu of breakfast and lunch options. I chose a roasted red pepper sandwich with goat cheese and carmelized onions. This proved to be the best part of our meal and also the messiest. Miguel’s eggs and sausage were decent. The country style potatoes we shared were overly greasy and expensive. I know if I lived in the neighborhood, I would be back for the wonderful service and the bowls of water for the pooches, but it was a bit expensive for just decent food. I bet I could recreate my sandwich at home for 1/4th the cost and 92% less mess. (I always pretend to hate goat cheese because I think it tastes like the smell of piss, but I’ve been slowly tempted by it more and more.)

On to Astro Records on Magnolia in Burbank, the only place I’ve found records for 50 cents in LA. Even the thrift stores charge at least $1 a record. I scored a Mongo Santamaria album and some other album that I can’t remember right now for 50 cents each. I also picked out a Roger album for Miguel from that bargain bin. What a find. Then we were back on the 5 heading home to play with little Dotty, who is currently having her female parts removed. Wish her well, everyone!

If you are interested in reading more about umami, I suggest Barbara Fisher’s blog, Tigers & Strawberries. Her first blog about umami can be found here. She does a series of blogs featuring recipes with a non-meat umami source.