Black marks

Technically not pizza. Ham, gruyere, and caramelized onion tart. I'd like to say this Alsatian concoction was inspired by a particularly memorable meal I had in Paris a couple winters ago, but the truth is that I copied the ingredients off the back of a Trader Joe's frozen entree.



The torrential rains make ants seek shelter in my kitchen. I wish we have a pair of anteaters in the menagerie of animals within borrowing distance. With all the rains, and various livestock milling about, I've got an urge to build an arc.



Honey bear squeezy bottle is now panda bear squeezy bottle.

Feeding livestock

Finally a beautiful clear day after the cold rainy days. Perfect excuse for a stroll around the neighborhood. We have snow in them thar hills!



The neighborhood sheep like to sit on benches. There have been sightings of mountain lions in the neighborhood recently. So raising sheep in your front yard may just be setting out food for the giant kitties.



Preston like-y them sheep. Am I violating some kosher laws by feeding a sheep dog lamb and rice based kibble?



Must... stop... making... pizzas...

Kid in candy store

An dreary overcast day calls for playing hookey. Off to see the Murikami exhibit at the Geffen Contemporary in Little Tokyo! Clearance priced discounted sushi probably isn't a good idea. Please notify the authorities if there are no more blog posts following this one.



And this is what happens when Davy goes exploring Little Tokyo without adult supervision. Some seasonal Pocky sticks. Chestnut, milk, and limited edition winter flavors. And panda head shaped cookies. And 3 boxes of collectable itty bitty panda toys with gum. And a toy vintage television set. And bear shaped candies. And Calpis and CC Lemon candies. And instant ramen noodle bowls with pig in chef hat logo. And Boton rice candy that had a bald eagle temporary tattoo prize. And panko bread crumbs.



The rapping kitty collection grows. I think I've got the friendship and security kitties covered. And I must choose my wish carefully before before I fill in one of the eyes of the daruma doll.



Midnight snack of curry flavored ramen. With pig head shaped fish cake extrusions. Kawaii!

Buttered up

I made my own butter from cream and flavored it with a smidge of basil. Because I can.



And a killer carrot ginger honey chile sauce.



Beginnings of one batch pizza dough. And the beginnings of another bread failure. Based upon my bread baking history, I'm setting my expectations low.



Delicious garlic bread with Davy butter. And a refreshing shaved fennel and meyer lemon salad. It's like Fresca with a fork.

Yummy umami

Pasta made with many things umami. The mysterious savory fifth "taste" that the Japanese refer to as "umami." It's what mushrooms and parmesan cheese have in abundance. Umami translates into "yummy."

CMYK my ass

I managed to use up all the toner less than 5 hours after the new printer showed up on my doorstep. Phooey! They don't ever tell you that the "starter toner kit" isn't the same as the full capacity ones. And a set of the toner cartridges cost more than what I paid for the printer. Damn ye greedy corporations! If I didn't have a conscience, I would abuse Costco's return policy and get a new printer whenever I run out of toner.

Sausage fest

Making my own sausage tonight. So many many many jokes possible here. But we won't go there.



It's just too easy to do. Especially since I used "screw" shaped pasta. But it could be worse. At least I didn't make cream sauce.

Hungry like a wolf

The big bad wolf is in town this week. I've lost count how many times this arbor went flying.



I had wanted to make roasted veggies with only purple ingredients. But my purple cauliflower was MIA. The purple onions I had were moldy. Eggplant were out of season. And there were no purple carrots to be found in the garden. So we make do with purple potatoes with yellow onions, parsnips, and normal carrots.

Killed it

CSI time in the backyard again. The spacing and depth of the puncture wounds seem to suggest the murderer is around 57lbs, 29 inches long. The psychological profile states that we should look for someone with an affinity to peanut butter biscuits and a sneaky tendency to sleep in people's bed when nobody's looking.



Cold winter fingers make Guitar Hero especially challenging.



But when you hit all the notes right, you get 5 golden shiny stars rather than the normal flat ones.

Salivating

4 ft long artisanal bucatini noodles make for dramatic presentation. What I didn't expect was the effort to swallow a mouthful of these noodles. The task requires the skills of those talented performers over in the San Fernando Valley. This is why I can't ever be in the movies.



Assembling the flavor profile for Szechwan beef noodle soup. I realized the foolishness of trying to cook a long braise dish at 11:30pm.



Thankfully, the crock pot comes to the rescue, and I slumbered to the wafting scents of anise and szechwan peppercorns.

J Lo

Taco flavored kisses.

Damp dark places

There's a saying in architecture that "All great buildings leak." This new round of crazy ass rainstorms kind of puts a damper on my mood that not even great architecture can overcome.



Unagi survived the deluge. The fountain levees held. Which is more than I can say for my dining room. I can't imagine what the folks who experienced Katrina went through. I'm moody and irritable with just a drip from the ceiling.



The UPC scanner at the checkout line also displays on the screen "Pork Feet (Cutted)." And it's printed on the receipt. How cool is that?



But not as cool as gold plated ear wax pickers in fashion colors.

Re-peatza

Pizza shows up in the repertoire too often. We must try to fix that. But oh, how I love the entire cheese food group.