things and days

Sorry for the absence. If I were to detail all the things distracting me from sharing a new baking experiment with you, you may forgive me. At the very least you'd probably understand. Short list: Life, Work etc. etc.


We have had a lot of grey days in Los Angeles, those of you in town know what that does to Angelenos. I felt urges to bake things every day it rained. I almost succeeded in doing so, with very little proof to show for it. We were not taking pictures of everything we ate, we were just eating. There was a lot of this:

Which turned out to be a blessing in disguise. I do no have the talent to write the next part eloquently or without tears, so  I will just say it. Shortly after this photo of our snuggle day, we had to lay our beloved Lady Jumbo/ Meeshee the cat to rest. It was tearful, sobbing, snot filled morning. It was the right decision to make, and I am sure she was comfortable. None of this comforts me at all though, because all I can think about is how weirdly empty it feels in here. She was not an active, rambunctious kitten... she was more of a behind the scenes cat prone to late night snuggling and the occasional sun bathing session.  But, after 13 years, you get to know someone or something and you feel close to it. I am sad. I miss her. Etc. Etc. Etc.

I did manage to make an extremely successful batch of peanut butter cookies. Those who were given samples came back with raves. It really tried to work on the recipe and change the things I did not enjoy about previous pb cookies. Some of these new modifications included: turbinado sugar for a toffee like flavor, milk and dark chocolate chunks, a little bit of molasses for texture and the scrapings of a whole vanilla bean pod. They were pretty damn good, if I do say so...


Anyone familiar with the LCD Soundsystem song "Someone Great"? I can't help but think of the line "The coffee isn't even bitter..." when I think about what has been going on this week. For some reason it is on repeat in my head. I guess life resumes, right?

Lindsay Lohan Ruined My Day

Lindsay moves to Venice.
Lindsay pisses off jewelry store owners.
Media circus descends upon Abbot Kinney.


Normally I am not bothered by any of this, but I can't help but feel that the line to the street for 5 hours was a direct result of people trying to find Lindsay Lohan and rubberneck a mediocre jewelry store. I left work feeling ragged, and the only thing that would cure it was the two things above.


My Dad gave me this jug of wine for Christmas - we opened it on pizza night and have been trying to drink it since then. Its not a bad problem to have, though I do feel like I am competing against something or someone. The bread was made night before last, using the left over pizza dough  - which is actually bread dough being used for pizza dough. Anyways, I made a loaf of bread and it was really really good.

The cure for a bad day? A grilled cheese sandwich and a glass of red wine, and some quality time with those animals who were stalking my sandwich. I am pretty sure Lindsay Lohan is the way she is because she has not had a grilled cheese and a snuggle with some great animals in a long time - though the wine may be a problem :)


For those curious, I used Danish Fontina for the cheese component and leftover pizza sauce for dipping.