living locally in los angeles

It's a Yummy Cherry Mojito summer!

2011-06-01T10:41:00.000-07:00

Earlier this year we went to a friend's wedding in Puerto Rico. Upon our arrival, the hotel graciously offered Welcome Mojito's to kickoff our mini-vacation. Since we have been back in California, we can't stop making the homemade version. And it helps that we have a voracious amount of mint growing in our backyard.Last week's CSA from Auntie Em's kitchen sent some fresh, local cherries. Here

Please vote!

2010-07-12T08:25:00.000-07:00

I am reaching out to anyone who is reading my blog these days. A restaurant in LA called Forage started a program a while back to have urban farmers give their harvest to the restaurant in exchange for a meal. The program was shutdown and now they are starting a group called The Homegrowers Circle. With the help of a grant, they are subsidizing the nominal certification fee so that those

Enjoying last year's harvest...

2010-06-24T17:08:00.000-07:00

Here's a reminder to use your canned foods. I had tomato soup in my cabinets from last summer that I'd nearly forgotten about. It's especially helpful when you are famished and don't want to run out to the store, but also don't want to slave away in the kitchen for hours.I made a quick & delicious late lunch of tomato soup topped with fresh homegrown oregano along with a yummy arugula salad.Pop

Upcycle Your Sweaters

2010-01-18T10:39:00.000-08:00

I try to go through my closet at least once a month to weed out the clothes that I never wear because they are damaged or don't fit or just are not my style anymore. Normally I donate these items to Good Will or bring them to a clothes swap.Just found a great service, Reknit, that will take your old sweaters and turn them into something else. This month they are "reknitting" sweaters into

Recycled Ornaments

2009-12-12T05:13:00.000-08:00

It's not often you find an easy and attractive recycled idea. Check out these instructions from Martha Stewart for making an ornament or decoration made out of holiday cards past. I like this idea a lot because you are actually doing something with all the cards people send you and not just throwing them in the blue bin or collecting dust around the house. I might consider this a tradition to

Living Locally Spotlight In the News

2009-12-06T18:51:00.000-08:00

If you have been keeping tabs on tv or on the newsstands lately, "living locally" has shown up in a few of my favorite places.Last week's episode of Top Chef focused on local produce & protein from Napa Valley, CA. The contestants were challenged to create a menu use only local ingredients, except for a bit of salt & pepper. Top Chef is a perfect venue to get the word out for living locally.

Local Autumn Dinner: Roasted Lemon-Herb Chicken with Sweet Potato Fries

2009-11-06T05:56:00.000-08:00

We have a few staple meals in our household and one of them is definitely chicken. Donny's favorite. I found this great roast chicken recipe here from WFM. Use local chicken breast or leg & thighs. Instead of buying lots of herbs at the store I picked a few handfuls of herbs from my garden, i.e. basil & parsley. The recipe is very easy, but it does call for overnight preparation. Homemade sweet

Got Recycling?

2009-10-01T17:25:00.000-07:00

Today I was reminded of the little efforts we do to recycle. The milk bottle our household just emptied was made in 2007 and the new one I bought today is from 2008. Our favorite (featured) is Broguiere's from Montebello, CA. Plus, our market offers several brands & types of local CA bottled milks and whipping cream. A quick $1.50 refund at customer service for recycling each bottle makes it any

Let's all go to the movies!

2009-09-24T15:50:00.000-07:00

I saw Julie & Julia today. I liked it. Of course that is no real surprise. A) my Mom raved about the film and Meryl. Who doesn't love Meryl Streep? B) I like food and things about food and things about making food. And C) I am, I guess, what you call, A Blogger and that is what the co-main character does in her journey. She blogs. I found the film really inspiring and not just because 1 year ago

Homemade Ketchup

2009-08-31T16:01:00.000-07:00

Homemade ketchup is a tasty way to savour your tomatoes all year round. This recipe yields about 3 pints of ketchup. Feel free to multiply it for larger quantities. Other recipes use a food mill or food processor, but this blender ketchup recipe seems more accessible for the basic kitchen setup.Step 1: Grow tomatoes.Ingredients:8 lbs. of ripe tomatoes (1 pound is 3-5 medium sized tomatoes)1

Make Your Own Sundried Tomatoes

2009-08-23T12:00:00.000-07:00

No matter what size your home garden - from a few herbs to a dozen tomato plants - food preservation & storage is key to making use of your harvest. Donny and I have spent the last few weeks learning about canning, drying and freezing our delicious food. I look forward to sharing several recipes and ideas we've used.First on the list is an easy and delicious one - homegrown homemade sundried

2009-08-19T09:53:00.000-07:00

I am an only child. A lot of people think that only children are spoiled or get what they want. That is a stereotype, but what is true is that parents do put a lot of energy into just the one kid. One of my pepper plants has an only child. I use this term for a small vegetable plant that only produces one piece of fruit. If you notice that your plant is putting all of its effort into just the

2009-07-26T08:21:00.000-07:00

Our rooftop garden is now an idea of the past. Once all of these tomatoes are harvested we will no longer farm on the roof. Landlord interference.We had a total of 6 tomato plants + 2 volunteers on the roof this summer.All photos courtesy of D.

RIP Julius Shulman 1910 - 2009

2009-07-16T13:45:00.001-07:00

Here is an excerpt from the LA Times obituary of legendary photgrapher Julius Shulman who passed away yesterday. In my opinion, Shulman made one of the greatest impacts on Los Angeles architecture and lifestyle (through photography, no less) to date:Julius Shulman, whose luminous photographs of homes and buildings brought fame to a number of mid-20th century Modernist architects and made him a

Accidental Wheat

2009-07-16T07:31:00.000-07:00

Donny and I planted some wheat grass seeds in a small pot. I thought it would be cool to make our own wheat grass like at Jamba Juice, but he just thought it would be good decoration. Either way, the wheat grass has grown quickly and plentiful. What we didn't expect is this:...actual wheat.

West Los Angeles Subway??

2009-07-13T19:33:00.001-07:00

It almost doesn't seem real that I am blogging about a subway in LA that would potentially get me from Venice to Downtown Los Angeles. The rumors of a "Subway to the Sea" have been floating around for the 9 years I've lived in LA and I'm sure they were around decades before that. The biggest rumor of the stalled planning is that Beverly Hills is against having a subway under their quiet little

Local Pan-Fried Onion Dip Recipe

2009-07-02T12:32:00.001-07:00

This Barefoot Contessa onion dip recipe has been a favorite of mine for a while now. I love to serve at parties and it will be a great snack for the 4th of July weekend. I am very excited to make this dish with our homegrown onions. For the next harvest we will probably store the onions or use for tomato sauce and salsa.Ingredients2 large yellow onions4 tablespoons unsalted butter1/4 cup

If your coffee can't be local...can your coffeeshop?

2009-06-18T06:03:00.000-07:00

Something has gone terribly wrong in Venice. And it's called Intelligentsia Coffee. One of these "coffeebars" landed on Abbot Kinney this past Monday in the old Scentiments (flower shop) plot. Donny and I walked in there last weekend and were not sure if we were still in Venice; in that bad way.The coffee was good. And the pistachio scone was yummy. But the interior decoration and overall

Disposable Technology

2009-06-09T11:07:00.000-07:00

Found pic on Gizmodo this morning. I think this is something we can all relate to and don't think about often enough.art by Kyle Bean

Local Q&A: Canning et plus

2009-06-05T16:03:00.000-07:00

Q: So my girl and I wanna figure out the best, cheapest setup to can some vegetables over the summer. Mostly tomatoes, if that makes a difference. We don't have too big a garden. 10 tomato plants, 4 pepper plants, some beets and onions. We're not preparing for a zombie apocalypse. Just wanna avoid tossing what we don't eat fresh. Also, how are you?A: Canning is a lot of fun if you make a day or

Local Aphid Resurgence

2009-06-04T12:18:00.000-07:00

Donny checks the tomato plants every day. He waters them, makes sure the leaves are growing above the ladder rungs and if they're not he trains them to. He is also on the lookout for aphids. Last season we had a bountiful amount of fruit, but just as many leaves covered in the green slimy suckers. Aphids can not only prevent your fruit from growing, but it can quickly kill your plant. Next to

1st sign of Summer Flowers

2009-06-03T11:38:00.000-07:00

In my mind the best kind of summer flowers are that which turn into tomatoes. In the past week almost all of our tomato plants in the rooftop garden have begun to produce fruits. I've seen maybe a half dozen of the tiniest tomatoes you could imagine. The rest of them are little flowers that almost look like marigolds. Any day now they will all be that gorgeous red color. It is very uplifting to

Do you "Bike in Style"?

2009-06-02T15:27:00.001-07:00

Donny and I ride our bikes on the weekend almost exclusively. Getting dressed for riding bike is no different than figuring out what to wear to work or going out to a nice restaurant. There are times where we take 4 hour long rides to/fro Redondo Beach and on those occasions it makes sense to wear something in the neighborhood of my converse sneakers, comfy shorts and a tank top or t-shirt plus

Reminder: Reuse Packaging

2009-05-30T10:15:00.000-07:00

The idea of local living is a constant struggle. Growing your own food is ideal, but of course there are types of foods and certain brands that you feel you just cannot live without - or maybe you can't get local. After a quick bike ride to Whole Foods this morning for some fair trade coffee we found one product, while not from So-Cal, inspires another aspect of local living - reusable

Beet Holiday Harvest

2009-05-27T16:40:00.000-07:00

This past weekend we excitedly harvested and consumed the 1st of the season beets. See their 2 month story.Quick Beet SaladTrim the greens and add to your compost. (I have seen some beet green recipes online, but haven't tried them myself.) Rinse the beets and use a potato scrubber to get the dirt off and clean them up. Cut them in half and toss them in a pot of salted water. Boil the water

Taking stock of our Local Urban Garden

2009-05-20T09:46:00.000-07:00

Last weekend Donny and I spent a good chunk of Saturday & Sunday planting more and cleaning up our garden. We are preparing for a light spring harvest and a plentiful summer feast! See down below for a taste of whats to come AND here is what we have growing: FRONT GARDENBLUE BERRY BUSH ΩDILL *LEMON TREE Ω²MINT ^(9) WHITE ONIONS °(2) PARSLEY PLANTS(2) ROYESTA TOMATO PLANTS **(2) SAN FRANCISCO

President Obama's Local Garden

2009-04-16T14:07:00.000-07:00

This story has been out for a little while, but it is still no less inspiring. If you have not heard already Michelle Obama has begun the process of setting up a vegetable garden at the White House. The space and weather conditions are pretty ideal, not to mention the greatest impact will be what it says to the rest of the country. More and more I am hearing friends tell me about their own

Spring Seedlings

2009-03-29T10:07:00.000-07:00

Tomato seedlings: Fog, Sprite, Royesta, Celebrity Tomato seedlings: Fog, Royesta, Celebrity Pepper seedlings: Salsa, PepperociniTomato seedlings: RomaBeet seedlings (large pot)Onion seedling(all 2 weeks old)

Local Voting

2009-03-04T11:47:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was Election Day for many of you, including those in Los Angeles. The two hot topics on the table were the race for Mayor and Measure B (Solar Energy). Here are some numbers comparing registered voters to actual turnout. It's pretty depressing considering the people who came out in November. Registered Ballots Cast % ReportingCity of Los Angeles

Bread

2009-01-30T10:22:00.000-08:00

Donny has a favorite bread called Black Pepper Parmesan that is made by Manhattan Bread & Bagel. He will often ride his bike down on Tuesdays to the Manhattan Beach Farmers' Market to pick up a loaf or two. Even though he likes to make that ride a couple times a week for exercise, its a long way to go just for bread. Twenty-four miles roundtrip to be exact. Last time he was at the market, the

Living Locally returns to Los Angeles

2009-01-09T09:42:00.000-08:00

I am not ashamed to say that at the core, Donny and I are lazy when it comes to cooking and preparing food. While we do like to make our own food and create homemade dishes our natural instinct is to go out to a restaurant or get something delivered. Last night was no different. We had not "thought" about what to make for dinner, which translates to "we think" there is nothing to eat. Of

Local Pennsylvania Edition: Dining in Harrisburg

2009-01-06T17:32:00.001-08:00

Donny and I had a brief, but busy trip back east for the holidays. While visiting friends and family in the Harrisburg area we had planned a night out. Since we spent the week eating mostly home cooked meals & fast food we thought a dinner at a nice restaurant was in order. One of Donny's friends picked the place. Our only request was that it didn't serve light beer or hot wings. Let's just

Local Pennsylvania Edition: Living Tree

2008-12-25T10:52:00.001-08:00

This holiday season my mom and her partner opted for a live Christmas tree. This tree (pictured) was purchased from Mostardi's Nursery in Newtown Square, PA, but I'm told you should be able to find them from most local orchards or nurseries. Depending on where you go the live tree can range anywhere from $50-$180. Call ahead to be sure.The tree my mom bought is about 4 ft. tall and comes in a

Los Angeles Trash Part 2: BLUE

2008-12-18T04:14:00.000-08:00

What can you put in the BLUE bin?- Clean dry Paper: computer, ledger, wrapping, arts and craft paper, unwanted mail, flyers, telephone books, note cards, newspaper, blueprints, magazines, file folders, paper bags, Post-it notes, catalogs, envelopes (with or without windows)- Cardboard Boxes and Chipboard: cereal, tissue, dry food, frozen food, shoe, detergent, paper towel and toilet rolls- Metal:

Los Angeles Trash Part 1: GREEN

2008-12-17T03:58:00.000-08:00

I've put together a 3 part post that will help you figure out what trash items you can put in each of your 3 Los Angeles bins: black, blue and green. If you do not have a home composting system yet or want to know more about where to throw out your trash, here are some answers. And the more we know about what we can recycle or compost, the less waste will clog up our landfills. What can you

Local Ghostwriter checks in about Rooftop Garden

2008-12-06T13:33:00.000-08:00

In addition to being too busy to write about my Thanksgiving, I have also been remiss in taking care of the garden. News from a ghostwriter about the rooftop garden.I was just up on the roof. I gave the plants a once over. I think the siberia that split may give some fruit after all. I think we could end up w a hundred tomatoes total. The only one suffering from the recent cold seems to be

Nature Mill in the News

2008-12-04T07:20:00.000-08:00

I have been gone from this blog for a bit because work has taken over all my free time. I have every intention of doing a few Thanksgiving posts after the fact. Some of the recipes I used went over like gangbusters with my group and maybe some of you can use them for the upcoming holidays later this month.In the meantime, I'd love to talk about my Nature Mill composter. I have been posting for

Local Thoughts

2008-11-17T22:31:00.000-08:00

Lately everytime I turn on NPR I hear facts about how little we Americans are spending money these days. The host often rattles off percentages of how much we spent this quarter versus last quarter, versus 6 months ago, versus last year at this time; expenditures from home construction, to holiday shopping, to new cars. Everyone is "pinching pennies". We automatically assume this is all due to

Local Decorating

2008-11-16T10:44:00.001-08:00

Donny and I have been living together almost a year ago now. We didn't buy really any new furniture at the beginning. Mostly little accessories since we were lucky to have a lot of existing pieces that went together nicely. After much debate we agreed to get a new tv and a dresser for the bedroom. It was our immediate reaction to go online and see the newest, cool, vintage inspired, modern

President-Elect Obama

2008-11-05T08:51:00.000-08:00

Election Day 2008

2008-11-04T05:25:00.000-08:00

I am off to work at my local polling place. Please do not let the rain deter you from voting. This will be a historic day.Aside from the obvious race for president and Prop 8 - get an I voted sticker for free samples at: Starbucks, Krispy Kreme and Ben & Jerry's. Not all exactly local establishments, but I will promote anyone for a day if they support voting. Let me know if you hear about

Pumpkin Carving

2008-10-26T13:57:00.001-07:00

Local California pumpkins.(Pictured left: Malika's ghost. Pictured right: Donny's glare scare)

October Weekend Harvest

2008-10-22T07:27:00.001-07:00

Rooftop garden pickings.

Strawberry Harvest

2008-10-14T09:04:00.000-07:00

Sunday morning picking from the garden.

Traveling Locally

2008-10-13T12:33:00.000-07:00

I recently went on a 48 hour jaunt from Los Angeles to Shreveport, Louisiana and back. In the 16 hours of travel in such a short period of time I realized very quickly that it is near impossible to keep a local living regiment while flying, unless starvation is something you are willing to pursue. This is probably pretty obvious, but since I have not traveled much in the past few months it is

Abbot Kinney Festival 2008

2008-09-26T10:31:00.000-07:00

This Sunday, September 28 is the yearly Abbot Kinney Festival in Venice. It is basically a really well organized block party. This year should be no exception. I am looking forward to it. Aside from the music and the people watching and the mass consumption of alcohol & yummy food, there will also be several options to educate and participate in eco-friendly activities.- a "green" food court -

Tending to Horsetail

2008-09-25T08:50:00.000-07:00

I think our horsetail is dying. Although it is a weed and it is still breeding, it is definitely getting dry and brown. As you can see from the pic it still has many pretty green stalks, but there are just so many brown, dead ones too. We purchased the horsetail at the very begining of summer and immediately split it up into 2 equal size containers. It was sort of an experiment to see how

LA's cutest weed killers

2008-09-18T08:26:00.000-07:00

The Community Redevelopment Agency for the City of Los Angeles (aka CRA/LA) helps to revitalize older communities and attracts building homes for all income levels. This particular property near Bunker Hill in Downtown Los Angeles has been overgrown with weeds. Normally the city would hire workers to remove them with weed wackers that project smoke and toxic emmissions into our air. Instead

What is Local?

2008-09-12T07:45:00.000-07:00

I probably should have done this post awhile ago, but it is a difficult question to answer. Plus I also think the answer is different for everyone. We were talking about this subject a few nights ago - what do we consider local? To the Eat Local Challenge - they consider local within 150 miles, but they also allow you a short list of things you can't get local, i.e. coffee or spices.To the couple

Local Venice Salt

2008-09-09T06:00:00.000-07:00

I live about 1/2 mile from the Pacific Ocean. Donny and I enjoy biking beside it, boogie boarding in it and now we make salt from it. Thats right, I had a successful go at making my own salt. And it is so easy. Here is how to make your own salt.First you have to get over the fact that you are collecting water from the ocean, since Donny was quite shy about that. He really didn't want anyone to

Venice Whole Foods Market is finally OPEN

2008-09-06T06:00:00.000-07:00

The Venice Whole Foods is now open for business and it is huge. With a wine tasting bar, make your own peanut butter section and an in-store smokehouse, there are a lot of new and exciting foods to get from this store. But the real question is - how local is it?For me, the ultimate local aspect is the store itself. It is about a 10 minute walk and will hopefully soon increase my walkscore (check

Make Your Own Granola

2008-09-04T10:06:00.000-07:00

I am mostly okay with paying more money for farmer's market food because it often tastes better and lasts longer, not to mention the local aspect, but everywhere we go granola is often very high priced. We eat a lot of granola around our house; I often eat it as a snack and Donny has gotten into eating organic yogurt with granola and fresh berries. I found a couple granola different recipes and

Urbanic

2008-09-02T12:00:00.000-07:00

I feel very lucky there is a stationary shop called Urbanic that is right here in Venice and fits all of my needs. I recently spoke with Audrey, the co-owner, about her paper boutique. I expressed my concerns as a consumer. I want to know what the card is made of, where it was made and any inks/processes used to make it. Not only does Audrey understand, she told me it is something that the store

I LOVE Paper

2008-08-30T18:05:00.000-07:00

My grandparents actually planted the very first seed in me to collect stationary. When I was in elementary school they went on a roadtrip across the country and sent me postcards from every state they visited. We're talking postcards made from paper, wood, copper, etc. Of course I saved every postcard they sent and it started to become my thing. As I got older, postcards became a little passe.

Hot Sauce Cook-off

2008-08-26T03:48:00.000-07:00

It is no secret that we have been growing the hottest pepper on earth, the Caribbean Red Pepper. We recently harvested "mini" carrots and have had them in the refrigerator for about a week now. We'd like to use them before they go bad. Decidely the only appropriate thing to do is to make hot sauce. Unfortunately we could not decide on just one recipe and thus spawned our first cook-off. I used a

What are kids learning about the environment?

2008-08-21T14:04:00.000-07:00

I don't have any kids and I've never lived with a kid, so I don't know that much about raising them. I can guess that if a tween hears something from one of their role models they might listen. Miley Cyrus has a new video out called "Wake up America", which is loosely about going green. It's an interesting video and I'll leave my thoughts about production value aside. What I'd like to comment on

Segways are killing the beaches

2008-08-20T12:16:00.000-07:00

Okay, lets get it out of the way first. I actually likeWill Arnett's character, George "Gob" Bluth II, from Arrested Development. I think he's clever and funny, but this segway phenom has to go. Or at least they need to resolve their identity crisis.The bike path next to the beach is for bikes, plain and simple. We bikers tolerate skateboarders and rollerskaters because frankly most of us use

Moving plants

2008-08-17T15:49:00.001-07:00

The reason for planting veggies is to harvest and eat them. I feel like we spend way more time tending to them, which isn't so bad because we love our free time together up on the roof and in the sun. Today was half harvest, half moving day for some of our plants. Donny noticed the tomato and pepper plants outgrowing their pots. We ended up moving the 2 tomato and 2 of the pepper into larger 14

Westside vs. San Fernando Valley

2008-08-15T10:41:00.000-07:00

There are many reasons why I choose to live on the Westside versus the Valley, but for this forum I will stick to issues based on local living.LA City Council is starting a pilot program for the city to do our composting for us. They will provide us with kitchen pails to throw our scraps into. Each residence would then collect their scraps in the large green bins we already have, for the city to

Rooftop Gardening continues

2008-08-11T16:35:00.001-07:00

I would like to say that our rooftop garden is flourishing, but that is only partially true. Our neighbor's cat as continued to cross over onto our part of the roof and do his business. Donny even called him an expletive at dinner last night, so you know its getting bad. This cat is a real menace and will do anything it takes to squat on our veggies, even if he gets a little metal fencing up his

Fast Food

2008-08-04T10:54:00.000-07:00

The other night I was listening to The Tim Conway Jr. radio show on 97.1 Free FM. Arsenio Hall was his guest. They were discussing the recent ruling that bans further development of fast food chains in South Central LA. Tim was preaching that any restaurant should have the right to build where they choose, especially if the demand is there. He also thinks it is

Maggots

2008-08-01T12:12:00.000-07:00

Warning!If you gag easily, then I urge you NOT to read the rest of this posting. Maggots have taken over our compost. I knew this already, but seeing it by myself today made it a little more real. I have to be honest. I have a problem with small creepy crawlies. My definition of a creepy crawly is usually a mouse, a rat or even something as large as a possum. Something that I feel has no

Composter Down!

2008-07-28T15:53:00.001-07:00

I biked to the twice monthly Santa Monica Flea Market at the Santa Monica Airport. The selection of goods was so much better than the Fairfax High Flea Market last month. I walked away with two tablecloths and a kitchen towel. I could’ve bought a lot more, but I am trying to cut back. Donny and I planned on rinsing out the composter today. Fun Sunday, right?? Stringy food and large

Rooftop Gardening

2008-07-27T14:29:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was a successful day in continuing our rooftop garden. Donny already planted a caribbean red pepper, 3 regular red peppers, 2 kinds of basil, 2 tomato plants, and a mint plant. Together we planted 4 cloves of garlic and an asparagus plant. And for a few weeks now we’ve been breeding horsetail. It’s on the expensive side, so Donny thought it would be a good idea to split up one

Family Summer Visit Pt. 2

2008-06-29T16:23:00.000-07:00

The weekend ended up being all about recycling. On Saturday we took a family field trip and walked to see my hairstylist Jen at Ohm Salon. Donny, Kim and my Mom all got haircuts, except my Mom’s cut was the most renegade. She chopped off 10 inches of her hair and donated it to Pantene beautiful lengths. I did the same thing in ’06 and donated to Locks of Love. I’ve had a bet going with my

Family Summer Visit Pt. 1

2008-06-27T13:59:00.000-07:00

Having family visit your home is always an excess of something. Excess of emotions, excess stress on your body and more scheduling than normal. I feel like I usually eat more food, spend more money, and drink more alcohol when I’m around my family. So my Mother and her Partner are in town from Philadelphia to visit Donny and me. They are here to see our new place and enjoy Los Angeles. We

Blue is the new Green

2008-06-26T12:03:00.000-07:00

So I finally did it. I chose to forego my car and ride the Big Blue Bus to/from work almost every day for the last 2 weeks. I take the #2 bus, which is two blocks from house. I ride about 10 minutes to Broadway and 4th Street, which is downtown Santa Monica by the 3rd Street promenade. I walk across the street and usually wait a few minutes. I then transfer to the #5 bus, which is another 15

Eat.Shop

2008-06-12T14:05:00.000-07:00

In my unprecedented amount of free time, I have been reading books & magazines about 250% more. Fancy that. (See new GoodReads widget sidebar.) In this quest for information, I have been re-introduced to my favorite travel guide series – there is a new edition out for Los Angeles. I first found the eat.shop guides last year when I was preparing for a trip to Europe. I had already found my

Time vs. Convenience

2008-06-10T12:50:00.000-07:00

Sometimes it can feel like living locally means driving more. I venture out to so many different Farmer’s Markets during the week to get everything we want. Culver City has the trail mix Donny likes. La Cienega sells shrimp from Santa Barbara. Santa Monica sells blueberries I love to snack on. And Venice sells fresh squeezed organic orange juice in a ½ gallon that I’m drinking right

Homemade Party

2008-06-05T10:22:00.000-07:00

So we finally had our housewarming party. After a week of cleaning & organizing, 2 trips to the farmer’s market, 2 stops at the Ralph’s, and 2 passes at the Whole Foods, we were ready. We had a mostly local/organic/homemade menu: 2 pitchers of Bloody Marys made with my own tomato juice, a pitcher of Mojitos, Mimosas, onion dip, a plate of fromage & charcuterie from Joan’s on Third (our favorite

Gasoline

2008-05-31T17:01:00.000-07:00

It is no secret that gas prices are at record highs. Today I paid over $4.70 p/gallon, which was $52.17 for my 12 gallon tank. The last date I filled up at the pump was March 26, 2008. Between then and now I have been out of town a total of 4 weeks for business and pleasure, which means I have been in LA for 48 days on 1 tank of gas. This is definitely the longest I have ever gone without

Planning

2008-05-19T09:51:00.000-07:00

My ex-roommate and her boyfriend came over for dinner. I bought a 3 pound grass-fed bison roast from the Santa Monica Farmer’s market and my ultimate goal was to serve a completely local meal. Local in the sense that we could use ingredients already in the house, i.e. spices and condiments. And that as long as an item came from the state of California we wouldn’t discriminate. We already had

Vegetable Garden Pests Part 1

2008-05-17T12:52:00.000-07:00

This morning I found we have a big problem. The gnats and aphids situation was out of control. There were swarms of gnats in front of our door and in front of our neighbor’s door. At a glance, you could easily see hundreds of tiny pests living in my vegetable garden. I quickly started spraying the homemade bug repellent I made last week. That worked for the moment, but what to do about this

Supermarkets

2008-05-11T09:16:00.000-07:00

I have not been in a "regular" supermarket in a long time. It was a lot brighter than I remember and a lot colder. Donny has found the Best Bacon In The World and we ran out. The Ralphs on Lincoln boulevard happens to be the closest market to our abode, so we took a little bike ride together to replenish our stock of bacon. It is amazing how quickly you forget

Alcohol

2008-05-08T13:59:00.001-07:00

I woke up this morning, excited to make homemade moonshine. The recipe, which I give Junio credit for finding, had too many steps. All I wanted to do was pour everything in a mason jar. And that is exactly what I did. 2 small containers of blueberries (frozen) from the Culver City Farmer’s Market, ¾ cup pure white cane sugar that we already had in the cupboard, 1 ½ cups + unidentified extra

Apartment Buildings

2008-05-07T14:03:00.000-07:00

I have been remiss in watering my vegetable garden. I was out of town for 3 weeks on business and we were out of town for a week visiting family, so I got out of my routine. Donny gets on me about it sometimes. I convinced him that less water is sometimes good for the plants, which might be true, but I am also lazy. Although our garden is right outside of our front door, it still means that I

Water

2008-05-06T14:07:00.000-07:00

The plan is to eat locally as much as possible. I was inspired by the 100 mile diet book, Plenty* - written by a couple in Vancouver, Canada. In that duo the husband was the instigator. He cooked most of the meals and was willing to take more risks with food. My situation is a bit different. I would like to jump right in and eat local foods only, even if that means not getting to eat my