Girl Talk Thursday: How to Eat on Set.

This week's Girl Talk Thursday is about food and cheap meals and eating under $10. Which is pretty much what I always do when I'm working. I'm a big fan of the one pot meal. Sunday happens and I throw a bunch of stuff in a pot. The end result is a chili or a stir fry or stew or soup or something that reheats well and can sit in my fridge for a week. I do a lot of stir frying when I'm cooking for myself. Some veggies, tofu, rice if I'm ambitious. It's all pretty simple and meat isn't involved so generally it stays low cost.

This week however I am not cooking. I'm currently working and therefore I'm being fed. Lunch is a big deal on set. People LOVE their food. I've already had to do two lunch runs today alone. First was for some stunt guys with an early call. Went to a local restaurant, picked up some burgers and a couple of Arnold Palmers, and that was lunch. Second was a McD's order for an actor. Big Mac, no onions. Easy.

My lunch today came off of a truck. Veggie burger topped with guac, side of french fries. Most amazing Mango & Mint smoothie ever. Actually, I think I have more smoothie in the fridge. Mmmm... smoothie...

My lunch was actually the crew's breakfast. Working in the office I'm on a different schedule than everyone else. While we may be shooting nights, all of our vendors still have normal business hours. The office needs to be open when they are. Our staff of four is currently working split shifts. Our coordinator and other PA are on the early shift working 8 AM to roughly 8 PM. The assistant coordinator and myself are on the late shift. Our call is 10 AM and we've been going until 11 PM or so (last night was nuts and we didn't finish until after midnight). Crew call however isn't until 5 PM and catering works around that. They started serving "breakfast" at 3:30 and that's when we had our lunch (minus the other PA who I made order something at 1 when I was grabbing the stunt guys orders). I was almost there until they served "lunch" tonight and considered staying. But I was tired. And not really hungry. Bed sounded like a much nicer option.

I was also eating from crafty all damn day. Fruit, nuts, the smoothie, chocolate... I had a bagel in the morning... COFFEE. So. Much. Coffee.

I didn't need anymore food tonight.

This show is a little different than a lot of the shows I've worked on in that our office is right next to the stage so we do have access to craft service and catering. On a lot of productions the office will be located somewhere other than where shooting is taking place. When that happens we're on our own for food. We stock our own kitchens, buy our own lunches. I'm getting spoiled here. I like it.

Oh man, yesterday at lunch they had this cucumber and dill salad... It was so damn good. The veggie options have been a little sparse on this show but they're doing okay. I'm eating plenty. And a lot of it has been YUM.

I'm going to gain twenty pounds by the end of this week. I know it. Ah well, isn't that like storing fat to get through the winter or something? After this week I'm back to unemployment and fending for myself. My meal options will be getting much slimmer. Back to the toast and hummus for me!

Monday, Monday

I am lazy and bored today. Need to get that out there before anything else. I am actually doing a little work, should be doing much more. Today's list of Should Haves:

-Grocery shopping
-Novel revising
-Food eating
-A bit of reading
-Dish cleaning

Plus work of course. The work part I'm getting to. The rest of it, I'm looking at and thinking about but not actually doing. I'd blame my laziness on a busy weekend but really, my weekend wasn't that busy. I'm just lazy!

I will stop that though. I'm going to get some work done. Then I'm going to go the store and buy food because it's good to have things to eat. Then I am going to go to my first of two writing classes that start this week. And then I'm going to come home and go to sleep at a time that reasonable people go to sleep and then tomorrow I will wake up at time that is also reasonable.

And while I'm doing all of that (and continuing to be mostly lazy), you should go look at these things.

Listen to my friend Cherie talk about filmmaking and kickstarter and editing over on this Coffee and Celluloid podcast.

Then if you want, enter to win stuff from Film School Rejects. There are flashlights involved apparently.

Finally, since you'll be hungry from all that, check out this contest that Eco-Vegan girl is running. You could get a book! Or a dinner at Seed. Which looks super tasty. I've been dying to try it. I should probably get on that.

Okay, I'm done being lazy and boring for the moment. Off to be productive for a few seconds. Woo!

Girl Talk Thursday - Valentine's Day

I haven't written a GTT in a bit but how can I resist the topic of Valentine's Day? As Maria puts it over at her blog, it's everyone's favorite holiday to hate. It's a sugary sweet commercialization of a holiday that tells us if we're not in a Nicholas Sparks style sappy love-me-until-I-die-tragically relationship, we're doing something wrong. And there's candy EVERYWHERE. Which is wonderful after the first chocolate or two. Get halfway through that box of Godiva in single sitting however... you're not so happy with life.

This is what Valentine's Day is supposed to be. One way or the other, the most romantic night of your life or the worst day of your year. Dramatic. Or so they tell me. Honestly, I've never really cared all that much for Valentine's Day. Sure when I was a kid I loved any holiday that allowed us to receive and eat candy in school. Picking out which Valentine's cards I was going to pass out each year was a high point. Barbie or Ninja Turtles? My Little Pony or He-Man? Sesame Street? AWESOME every time.

It was a tradition I was sad to see go, replaced in later years by the candygram fundraisers and carnations delivered during class. I'm sure I received a few of those, I did have a boyfriend in highschool, but do I remember? Nope, not really. The one Valentine's Day in highschool I do remember clearly is the one freshman year when I decided I was going to hand out candy to my friends even if I was five years too old for it. Screw that! Candy is delicious! I bought a giant bag of those individual boxes of Nerds, the ones that were out special for the holiday. Hearts on boxes, candy died red and pink, crunchy and sweet and just barely sour enough to make your mouth pucker. I handed them out gleefully to any classmate who came within a five foot radius declaring proudly as I shoved candy into their outstreched hands "Nerds from a Nerd!"

It was a surprising success. At least, no one made fun of me to my face and everyone seemed to enjoy the five second sugar high after English class. This was freshman year after all. Most of us hadn't discovered a stronger high yet.

As I've gotten older Valentine's Day has continued to mean much the same thing. I know there have been a few good ones, a few romantic ones. There were flowers and dinners and all of that through college when I again had a boyfriend. As an adult however, I've spent the last several Valentine's Days single. Not that I've really noticed. Three years ago I remember a friend asked if the present he was getting his girlfriend was a good one. Two years ago I assume the holiday happened but I'd be hard-pressed to provide you with the evidence.

Last year however was thoroughly debauched in the best way possible. Yes, I was still single. No, I did not have a date. Instead my roommates and I threw a party. Ostensibly it was a Singles and Cookies mixer. A stupidly cute idea that I'm still proud of. The idea was to come single and mingle or, if you were in a relationship, to bring your date and a single friend. Or a plate of cookies. Bring cookies either way really. It half worked? We had a table full of cookies and cupcakes and candy hearts and it was amazing. I made several different kinds of cookies (I was ambitious) including a version of these from Lauren's blog. Minus the bacon, plus the Irish Whiskey.

So cookies - check. Singles - I was there so check. Rest of the plan - ummmm... A good number of people showed up. Actually, kind of a lot of guys showed up. After a few rounds of tequila (who's idea was that again???) the party morphed from mixer to frat party flashback. Various bits of nonsense happened. The details are amusing but not particularly appropriate for this venue so let's just say everyone had a good time and leave it that. Yes? Good.

I was eating cookies for days after that. Those chocolate ones and these other ginger ones I made that were phenomenal, chocolate chip ones, a couple of cupcakes even. The day was decidedly unromantic but fun and memorable it definitely was. I don't really know how many more of those sorts of parties I have left in me, but really how many of those parties do you need in a lifetime?

I know I won't be repeating it this year. What will I be doing? I don't know. Maybe my roommates and I will have a few friends over for dinner. Maybe we'll do nothing. I haven't really thought much about it to be honest. I don't have a date and that's fine. I don't particularly want one. I feel no need to wallow in front of the TV, bombarded by cheesy Lifetime movies with a pint of ice cream melting in my lap. If anything I'm sad I won't be going to Madeleine Bistro to try out their special day tasting menu as I'm sure Chef Dave will be putting together something truly special. That of course has more to do with the fact I'm broke than the fact I'm single. C'est la vie.

In the end though, Valentine's Day really is just another day in my life. A day made a little bit sweeter by the explosion of sugar going on around me.

A Return

Hey guys, check it out! I'm alive! Whoa, I know, it was doubtful there for a second.

Life has been a little busy, a little not. I've been working a little bit. Not the full time job I was hoping to have found by now but little odds and ends here and there. A couple of days as a story assistant, a night helping a friend with a wrap party, a day taking notes for someone else... that sort of randomness. Whatever pays the bills I guess.

I have been going through a bit of soul searching, a bit of that "what am I doing with my life?" business. All kind of boring really!

And since I don't want my first post in over a month to be BORING, let me share fun stuff.

Um... Fun stuff... I have to have something good to share, right? Okay, maybe not much.

I can leave you with a list of what I've been reading, watching, etc. All stuff that's worth checking out.

Watched the Super Bowl yesterday. But that's yesterday's news really. Not today's.

Reading Kitchen Confidential Updated Ed: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly (P.S.)by Anthony Bourdain. Finally. Have loved him forever, No Reservations is a fabulous show, and his book is just as wonderful as I was hoping it would be. Sex, drugs, the seventies, food atrocities, mobsters, this book has got it all. Love it. And him. True story.

Watched An Education this weekend with the roommate. It is also wonderful. Carey Mulligan's performance lives up to the hype and her nominations are well deserved. I really enjoyed the screenplay by Nick Hornby. I have to admit to a bit of the nostalgia factor with all of the talk of French cinema, existentialism, jazz clubs, the wonderful dresses, etc. And there's the whole thing where I love almost all things British... including good looking men with British accents... The ending did leave me a bit unsatisfied, a feeling of "this is it?" Either way, it's a lovely movie that's well acted and I enjoyed it a lot. I'd actually love to see it again so I can think though a few things a bit more but that's what DVDs are for.

On TV I've been watching a lot of Chuck, which is delightful as always, Doctor Who, those last few episodes with David Tennant are Excellent and not to be missed if you're at all a fan, and The Inbetweeners on BBCA. OMG, have you guys seen this show yet? Please do. It's awkwardly hilarious. The kids in that show are such little shithead trouble makers... The episodes leave me in giggles for days.

Also worth noting that this week is the final episode of Friday Night Lights that's been airing on DirecTV. I actually still have the last two episodes to watch so Wednesday I fully plan on having a three episode FNL marathon to be followed up by an episode of The Inbetweeners. When did Wednesday get to be so good for television? I don't know.

Alright, that's what I've got. I will be back for more later.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Mr. Turkey says Happy Thanksgiving!

And maybe don't eat me? I'm actually going for the Tofurky this year. Wish me luck? I've been lazy previous years and ordered from Whole Foods but this year I was even lazier and never made it to the ordering stage. TJ's for Tofurky it was! So now I've got my Tofurky in the fridge, plans for at least adding some seasoning, and... I dunno, I guess that's it? There's lots of other food happening in this house.

I'm going to go have some coffee now. I need it.

Unemployment Tuesday: Happy Thanksgiving!

Another installment of Unemployment Tuesday here. Let's keep our fingers crossed that we only have a couple of these left. There are glimmers of hope, good things on the horizon, possibilities. Like I said, fingers crossed.

Hey, so Thanksgiving is this week! Happy Thanksgiving!

This year's been pretty rough for a lot of people. There are always folks in need and this year is certainly no different. There are a lot of great programs out there, food banks and whatnot, and it would be great if we could all give something small. For example, in Santa Monica there's this Turkey Dinner. Or Amber Benson is running Tara 4 Charity where if you buy a Tara doll this week 100% of the proceeds will be donated to the Los Angeles Regional Foodbank. If the price tag of the doll is a little steep for you, you can make a donation directly to the foodbank and send your receipt to Amber for a chance to win one of three dolls they'll be giving away. Check out her blog for more details.

For those of you not in LA, there are food and clothing drives going on in pretty much every city. A quick google search should find you a good one.

Other links!

My friend is still trying to go to China. Only one week left for him. Click to vote and help him get out of here!

Another friend of friend has a video trying to get on TV. Check out Be Like A Duck (it's really, really cute) And click it a vote if you're a fan. I think you will be.

Inkwell Bookstore had this link up the other day for this super cool little video. It's recommended viewing that's definitely worth the two minutes.

PC Pro ran this feature on the correlation between science fiction and, well, science. For anyone who's ever been inspired by a sci-fi story, seen the possibilities for the future, it's an interesting read.

LA Times has a couple of interesting reads this week. First there's this one about the changing of the guard at Disney. Disney's new chairman Rich Ross is changing the game on the lot. Several execs are out all ready, the 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea remake has been nixed (thank goodness for that one), and who knows what's next. The question remains whether or not these changes will all be for the best. (Thanks to L for linking to this one)

On a lighter note is this piece by Scott Timberg about Cormac McCarthy and the upcoming release of the adaptation of his novel The Road. If anything involving McCarthy can be considered light that is. The Road opens tomorrow and stars Viggo Mortensen. Whatever Timberg has to say about women relating to McCarthy's work, well, I'm a fan. The Road is a fantastic book and I'm looking forward to checking out the film. (And thanks to DL for this)

If nothing else it's gotta be better than New Moon. I actually went to see it this morning, don't ask what possessed me, and yeah. I almost walked out after an hour. I probably should have.

That's all I've got at the moment. Need to get back to my novel writing. We're into the final week here. I've got a lot of work to do.

Unemployment Tuesday: Still there

Another Tuesday, still unemployed. Sent my resume out to a bunch of different places over the last week, have so far gotten zero phone calls. Ah well, next week is Thanksgiving. I'm going to eat lots of food and more pie and by the end of November I'm going to weigh 500 lbs. Who needs a job when there's pie?

SPEAKING OF PIE!

I've spent a lot of time in the last week baking it. On Saturday I took part in KCRW's Good Food Pie Contest that was held at the Westfied Topanga Mall. Didn't win but I did get to eat a lot of pie so really, who lost? 

Actually, speaking of winners, I happened to be standing next to the winner of the cream/custard category as we were all waiting to hear the results. Her peanut butter pie looked amazing! She's got some pics up on her blog, they make me wish I could have tried it.

Congrats to all the winners :)

My pie all plated for the judges and stuff

My pie was okay but it was nothing wonderful. I made a Raspberry Marzipan pie which was pretty tasty but due to an unfortunate power outage the night before I never had time to make a test pie. Heh, I'll plan things better if I ever try this again. I did however have a chance to make a few adjustments and redeem myself on Sunday for a potluck I hosted.

Actually, you can see my pie in one of the pictures in the LA Times article about the contest! Okay, it's not even close to being featured but they did take a pic of the table my pie was on. It's the second from the farthest end in the picture of all the pies. That's at least a little bit neat, right?

Pear & Blackberry Marzipan I made for Sunday's dinner. 

Soooo much better than Saturday's effort!

See, I told you, this last week involved a lot of pie.

Otherwise I'm still just focusing on my writing. Got a little behind for Nanowrimo with all the pie baking but after 3k or so words today I'm starting to get caught up. This novel writing in a month thing is intense! It's also taking up most of my words.

Links! (Because I really am out of words now)

Meant to post this bit about Ginger Snaps way back before Halloween. Oh well, it's still an awesome movie which you should watch. Then you can read this. Lots of talk about the horror of female puberty. Mostly about the horror of being a female going through it, but also the damage that our raging hormones can inflict on others. Why do I enjoy these movies so much? Well, actually, I guess that's probably obvious if you've seen them.

Another link probably more Halloween than Thanksgiving related but whatever! Martin Scorsese's Top Eleven Scariest Films. Some obvious choices like The Exorcist or The Shining but also some other pretty great selections.

What else? NASA found water on the moon! Neat!

Entertaining blogging about the spectacle that is Megan Fox, her (fake)boobs, and how this all relates to feminism. One of these days I really will write about what it's like to be a woman in the film industry. Sometimes it's everything you'd think it would be, sometimes it's entirely different. Either way, it's pretty hard to forget about gender and the politics that result from it.

So anyone else think Left For Dead 2 looks pretty rad? I kinda wish I had a way to play it!

Since I haven't had a chance to scan things that need scanning, I haven't really written everything I've planned to write on my trip to Israel. My friend Jen is more proactive than I am! Check out her blog Creative Confectionary and see some great pics of the delicious food we ate.

That's all I've got for this edition of Unemployment Tuesday. Should I keep doing this every week? At least until I find a job? I'm thinking about it! We'll see how many words I have left next Tuesday.

Unemployment Tuesday: November Edition

A couple of months ago I posted this entry here mostly just talking about my mental state after a month of unemployment. Since that post I've had one job and have left town once for my trip to Israel. And now here I am, once again, unemployed and sitting on my couch. So now what?

(If you find my rambles about unemployment boring and/or depressing skip to the end for links to fun stuff! I promise fun links!)

What do I do with myself as an unemployed girl in LA? My lack of job doesn't leave much room for any sort of activity that requires money. Los Angeles is not a cheap place to live and I have to be incredibly careful about what I spend when and on what. Want to buy groceries this week? Guess I'm skipping the movies! Want to go to out with a friend on Tuesday night? Let's see if I can stretch the groceries I bought last week through til next. I don't have to cut out every single thing I'd like to do, I just have to be very, very careful in my planning.

What else do I do? Socially, things like hiking are wonderful. It's a mostly free activity (there's always gas to consider but I don't do that much driving in general), I get outside to enjoy the nice weather, I get exercise, I get to spend time with friends, and the combination of all of those things is wonderful stress relief. When I have groceries (I'm kidding, I eat) I spend a lot of time cooking. Another wonderful way to relieve stress, be creative, and save money. I usually get not just one meal out of whatever I cook but several. Fabulous way to save money and stay healthy! Woo!

I don't know what to say really about the state of the economy. Last report from the L.A. Times puts National unemployment over 10% and California's over 12%. The highest since 1983. The year I was born. Not sure what that means other than the fact that I don't have a job and I'll be lucky to find one before the end of the year.

One of the problems with my industry and trying to find a job this time of year is that typically productions don't start up now. The holidays are kind of deadzone. Hollywood shuts down for almost two weeks and what's the point of starting up a film office or a television show if you're just going to have to close it all down for two weeks anyway? Why not just wait until January? Most productions do. I would love to find a job in the industry now but I can't count on it. What else can I do? Troll craigslist, register with temp agencies, continue to send my resume out to wherever I can. This wherever now includes jobs that are not necessarily film or television related.

Another question I'm frequently asked by friends is what I do with my day when I don't have a job. I do things like go for hikes with friends and ride my bike of course. Mostly though, I do actually work. I write. A lot. I read, another important activity for anyone wanting to write. While I have this free time I spend several hours a day at my computer just writing. I spend another big chunk at my computer job searching. I take advantage of the time I have being unemployed but I don't relish the idea of remaining in this state forever. If for no other reason than the difficulty it causes for things such as paying rent. I like to pay rent. It's nice having a place to live!

Hey also, guys, this whole healthcare thing... Dude, healthcare is expensive! I'm not completely thrilled with the bill that passed the House on Saturday but hey, it's something. When did trying to care for people become such a bad thing? Don't we all deserve a basic level of care? The healthcare system as it is broken. Any step towards actually fixing it seems like a step worth taking.

ANYWAY. Not trying to start a political debate on my film blog.

Hmmm... what else? How about you guys go see some movies for me and tell me how they are? Suggestions: Where The Wild Things Are, Antichrist, An Education, Inglourious Basterds, Paranormal Activity... anything else out worth seeing? I'm also super excited about the upcoming Mr. Fox movie. Looks great!

How about some books? There are good reading things to do! I finally finished Stays Crunchy in Milk
which is fabulous, especially if you like fun stories about cereal characters (and you should really). Actually that's the only book I've read lately. I have another pile of reading things to do from friends so I'm focusing on those. I have a lot of talented friends!

Speaking of friends, a couple of mine and the things they've done have been mentioned places lately. A few days ago Roger Ebert's twitter (@ebertchicago) linked to this piece at Etheriel Musings about "Medicine For Melancholy". Elsewhere my friend Amy and her film "City On A Hill" was mentioned here. Nice things were said in both places about good people doing good things! Check 'em out.

Finally, my friend is trying to go to China. Vote for him?

Oh, while you're at it, you can check out my pie video on youtube (like you haven't all ready), rate it, and let me know if you think I should make another one. Maybe this week? Not that I'm going to make a video EVERY week but I am making more pie anyway... so maybe? What do you think?

I made a Pumpkin Pie and then went insane.

Last Friday before Halloween I went over to a friend's house for pumpkin carving. At the end of the night, after the pumpkins were carved, we noticed that there were still several pumpkins left. One of them happened to be a small pie pumpkin. After some insisting on their part, I took the pumpkin home.

Today, I turned it into pie.

Which in and of itself isn't all that unusual. I have even posted about pie baking in the past (remember my Blueberry Raspberry Pie over the summer?) What causes me to question my sanity is what else I did while cutting and scooping and otherwise massacring my poor, defenseless pumpkin. Um, I made a video?

Yes, I made a video. Of me. Making a pie. And then I posted it on Youtube? Well... yeah... I guess I did.

I was going to post the full recipe, and I still might later, but for now enjoy this somewhat complete demonstration of how to make a pumpkin pie truly from scratch.



I actually tried to record more of the whole process but for some reason the video thing on my computer kept stopping. So large chunks, like when I added all of the spices, just didn't record. Lame! I figured a couple of things out though and if I ever decide I'm this bored again I think I'll be able to make a few improvements.

In case you're wondering, the pies turned out great.

West Hollywood Book Fair... and Cookies?

The Ginger Cookie madness is never ending. Mostly because I will not let it end. Delicious, delicious madness.

I was meeting a friend for dinner at Real Food Daily Sunday after the book fair and as I was a little early, I decided to grab a beer at the counter while I waited for him. On display they have a variety of tasty looking baked things under protective, pretty glass covers. What happened to be right in front of me? Giant Ginger Cookies. It was fate. Or destiny. Or some such thing. It was also an incredibly tasty way to finish a very satisfying dinner.

At least this time I included a picture.

Book Fair was great! I knew there was a reason I linked to it ten billion times. I forgot about the triathlon or whatever it was going on Sunday morning which unfortunately meant I was stuck trying to make my way up from the westside in the most oblique manner ever. But after two hours of back tracking and driving in circles and getting vaguely lost (why have I been getting lost so much lately? Thomas Guide, where did I put you???) I finally arrived to find free parking and the Border Grill truck. And my roommate who was very confused as to how she managed to beat me there.

We wandered around, caught a few panels, got things signed, I bought more books as I figured I would. We took a break at one point to grab some water from the grocery across the street. That ended in an almost awkward disaster as I saw a former co-worker I had no desire to ever make casual chat with again. Luckily I was able to escape before being noticed.

Panels! I didn't make it to all of the ones I wanted to check out (like the one about Zombie stuff with Amber Benson) but I really enjoyed the few I saw.

Bryan Lee O'Malley and Joshua Dysart talk Scott Pilgrim

Josh Dysart (Unknown Soldier) had a great panel chatting with Bryan Lee O'Malley about Scott Pilgrim and the process of adapting that comic into a film. I'm such a nerd for things like this. I love hearing about the different experiences people have from various angles of getting into Hollywood. It's always a challenge regardless of whether your experience is good or bad. I also found interesting how the movie and comic evolved sort of together and yet end up in different directions. I'm looking forward to seeing how it all compares.

Josh also did a a great job as a fan and fellow comic person leading the discussion. It was fun to watch them both talk.

Gerry Conway, Asterios Kokkinos, John Rogers, Laura Valdivia, Kevin Seccia

The Comics on Comics panel was hilarious. Good points were also addressed and the super enthusiastic kid in the audience made for some additional entertainment. He was really into his Venom.

D.J. Kirkbride, Darren Clavadetscher, Ed Laroche, Kiyoshi Nakazawa, Joe Matt

(Jordan Crane eventually showed up too!)

The last panel I caught was the Indie Creators panel. I think it was actually one of the more interesting panels I've seen. The guys up there had quite diverging opinions on various comic type things, from the practical side of marketing to the more esoteric question of "what is the perfect comic?" They got feisty!

And if you've been following my comments section, you'll be happy to know that I did manage to say "hi" to D.J. Kirkbride after the panel. I also bought Jordan Crane's comic which I'm very excited to read. I would have grabbed more (including Popgun which is just a bit out of my financial grasp at the moment, sorry D.J.!) but I'm still broke. Oh the glamorous life of the freelance filmmaker...

I really did enjoy the book fair and I can't recommend attending next year's enough. My afternoon focused pretty heavily on the comics but that's by no means all that's there. They had a variety of panels on all sorts of genres, poetry, theater, etc. I talked to various booth people about indie publishing, writing classes at UCLA, some cool sounding theater stuff, more comics, books, and lots of writing.

There are also a number of things going on for kids and families. Kids should be encouraged to read and love books! This is a great thing! I would totally bring kids if I had any! Maybe next year I can borrow few. Parents won't mind if I just pull a few off the street, right? I'll return them after the book fair...

What I did manage to buy:
Uptight #3 by Jordan Crane
Unknown Soldier by Joshua Dysart
Death's Daughter by Amber Benson
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Seth Grahame-Smith

Completely unrelated, I've been listening to a lot of Neko Case, Regina Spektor, and David Byrne lately. In case you were wondering. I don't know, it seemed pertinent that I share this information with you... um... yes...

Go read stuff!

Thinking Things Through

There are always lots of things to think about. My mind has been mostly full of one of them for the last few weeks.

In just over a week I'll embarking on one of the biggest trips of my life. No exaggeration! I'm leaving L.A. for two and half weeks and what's more, I'm leaving the COUNTRY for 10 days. This is huge guys. I'm 26-years-old and I've never left the country. Maybe it's my socio-economic place in this world, but from where I'm coming from this is not really normal. Almost everyone I know has at least been to Mexico or maybe Canada. I never have. Up until two days ago I didn't even have a passport.

Needless to say, I'm very excited. Excited and nervous as heck. Mostly emphasis on the excited though. My plan for the weekend involves lots of last minute shopping and packing. I don't need to get much but there are few items that need to be purchased. I've already picked up my shoes.

I'm also not planning on bringing my computer with me so this means that as of a week from Saturday I will be offline. No blogging, no Facebook, no Twitter once I leave the states... no more online timesuck. I will have my ipod with me so I could potentially be updating from there when wireless makes itself available. But that's about it.

I have to admit that I'm almost as excited about the prospect of disconnecting as I am about the trip itself. I love the internet and what it does for me but sometimes... I just need a break. This sure is going to be a big one.

In the meantime, there are still other things to occupy my brainspace with.

Roman Polanksi. Okay, not going to say much more about this but I think I can better articulate my thoughts on it all after reading more and talking to folks and thinking about it. Here's what I think. Looking at the crime - reprehensible. There's no excusing it, plain and simple. Looking at the reactions to the story - ridiculous. On the one hand, we have people yelling for his head. People who up until a week ago couldn't have cared less. 33 years and you get offended now? Come on. On the other hand, this petition to free him? No matter what else, he's still guilty. Whatever other absurdity is going on, how can you justify signing a petition to release someone guilty of the crime? And Woody Allen signing in support? Seriously? I feel like I'm watching a satire, not real life. It's all absurd.

And I'm done. That's all I'm going to say about it. I didn't much care about what Polanski was doing last week beyond a passing interest in what his newest film might be and I think it's probably best to stick to that. There's all ready enough hypocrisy to go around.

More fun things!

For the Vegans: Came across this site thanks to @ecovegangirl. Curious if your beer/wine/liquor is vegan friendly? Check out Barnivore! Happy to see that some of my favorites like Stone and Abita are on the list.

Also on the vegan front is Vegan Oktoberfest  at Verdugo Bar on Sunday. I probably won't make it since I'll be at the book fair all day but it looks tasty!

And how many times can I link to the book fair? Really?

Rashomon is playing at the Nuart! I have so much going on and I've seen this movie not just a few times but still. A nice new 35mm print? Tempting...

Thom Yorke is doing a surprise show tonight but good luck getting tickets to that! And if you did get tickets, don't tell me. I don't want to know. You jerks.

Adam P. Knave has an interview up about Stays Crunchy in Milk. It's good! Go read it! And then read his book that my favorite grammarmonkey edited.

That's all I got at the moment. This work thing is actually requiring me to work. So back to that!

Happy Labor Day!

What did everyone do for Labor Day?

I know I sure had an enjoyable weekend, even if I wasn't at Dragoncon. I feel like I really needed the three days. Two days is just not a long enough weekend. Even with the extra day I still managed to not get everything done that needed doing. I did relax though and that is important.

Highlights from the weekend included:

Friday night seeing my wonderful neighbors and their band Ocelot Robot at The Good Hurt on Venice Blvd. I'm still not quite sold on Good Hurt (the Stella was warm! What up with that?) but it's growing on me. Mostly I just enjoy seeing the guys play and hanging out with everyone. They have another show coming up on October 17th. Sadly I will be out of town but if you're in the area and need something fun to do, check out The Good Hurt and Ocelot Robot! If nothing else, it's always cool to support your local bands.

Saturday I actually got down to it and spent the day writing. Yes, as usual I've been slacking on the writing around work. Saturday was good though. The screenplay re-write is still going slowly but I did make a little progress. I also cleaned up a short story I've been working on. I think I'm fairly satisfied with that one so I may even release it into the world soon we'll see.

Sunday was delicious. After spending the morning dealing with the plumber (boo!) I ventured into downtown to one of my favorite new spots Wurstkuche. Sausage and beer really has to be one of the best combinations of tastiness to ever have been discovered. This place does it's beer and sausage right. They even have veggie sausage for me! Throw in the exotic Rattlesnake and Rabbit or Alligator and Pork with the sausage classics and you've got a little something for everyone. If sausage isn't your thing but you like beer, this is still an excellent spot to try. They have an impressive selection of beer on tap that always seems to include something new or rare or just plain not on the menu. The guys working there all seem to love the beer and will enthusiastically recommend something to your taste.

I should look into this more but I believe that veggie sausages are even Vegan as are the fries. There's apparently some question on the buns. Either way, it's a super tasty place to go for the eating.

My Chouffe beer. An excellent recommendation.

Veggie Chipotle Sausage
 

After an incredibly satisfying beer and sausage adventure, we made our way out to Hollywood Forever Cemetery for the Cinespia screening of Ferris Bueller's Day Off. If you live in LA and haven't checked out the movies in the cemetery yet, well, what are you waiting for? This season is almost over (they only screen in the summer) but there are a few flicks left. Go catch one! It's $10 a person and you can bring blankets, food, drinks, or whatever with you for a picnic and movie on the lawn. It's a lovely way to spend an evening with some friends. I'm also always impressed with the range of films they screen over the course of the season. It includes everything from the classic to the artsy and it's almost guaranteed that they'll show at least one movie you love by the end of the summer. I try and go a couple of times a year and I have yet to be disappointed.

Ferris Bueller, you're my hero.

Monday, the actual Labor Day, I finished off a few errands while pretending to be a responsible adult and then said Screw the laundry, I'm going to the beach! Well, I never did make it to the beach but I did make it to a sailboat. We sailed off of the beach though, so that sort of counts right? Seriously, it was amazing and completely made my weekend. Sailing is one of my favorite things ever even if it is something I haven't done nearly enough of yet. It was the perfect way to spend the holiday.

At times like these, I enjoy living in LA

Once I got home last night I somehow managed to find the energy to actually pull together lunch for the week. I made a slight variation of this Tomato and Corn Biscuit Pie and it is AMAZING. If you need something simple and savory and wonderful, go make this right now. Seriously. I stayed pretty close to the recipe making a few substitutions based on what I had in my kitchen. I only had white onion so I used about half of one of those. I sadly also had no fresh basil so I went with dry. Finally, we didn't have any lemon (my bad, I thought we did) so I used about a tablespoon of orange juice. It was sweeter than the lemon would have been but I thought it worked out quite well. Really, the key to this dish is the tomato and corn. If those are fresh (my corn was soooo sweet and good) then you're pretty sure to get a tasty meal. The biscuit crust is also super, super easy. I can't wait to try just making actual biscuits with that recipe.

OMG delicious

Yes, I am very, very satisfied with the state of my lunch this week.

We shoot this weekend so I don't expect to be writing much for the rest of the week. Today was all ready super busy and I suspect that will continue for the next few days. I will try and get something out for Girl Talk Thursday though. This week's topic is Halloween costumes! A topic I dearly love to discuss. I'm all ready thinking hard on what this year's costume will be. Maybe I'll let you in on the possibilities come Thursday.

On that note, I am out. Hope everyone had an excellent weekend!

Lazy Veggie Tortilla Soup

So lazy in fact that I don't even have a picture for you. All though there is still some soup left so I suppose it's not too late.

It's great being back at work but I am definitely not used to the schedule anymore. Amazing how quickly that can happen. Gathering coherent thoughts for this post is harder than it possibly should be. Work is going well though, it's good people which is the most important thing for me at this point. I'm tired but it's obviously more than worth it.

Now maybe one of these days I'll get a job I like AND it will last more than three weeks! What a concept!

After a day at work, the last thing I normally want to do is commit to hours in the kitchen. Tuesday night is not a good night for a homemade dinner. Last night was not just any normal Tuesday though. It was J's birthday (happy birthday again!!!) and we were having a few people over for a Vegan Taco Night.

In addition to the tacos, I decided I wanted to make a Tortilla Soup. It just sounded like a really delicious way to add something to the dinner. The soup itself is super easy. And the tortilla part is in theory super easy as well. This isn't just Veggie Tortilla Soup though, it's LAZY Veggie Tortilla Soup. As in, I made the soup and then was lazy. I didn't make any tortilla strips. I definitely went with the crumbling baked tortilla chips into the soup... The soup itself also takes less than an hour, prep time and all. Another plus when you've got a dinner for 8 people to prepare for.

If you decide to not be lazy, you can very easily accomplish the last step. Grab your tortillas, spray a skillet with some olive oil spray, cut the tortilla into strips, fry them up, and there you go. You can of course actually heat a pot of oil and deep fry them if you want the less healthy option. Apparently this works better with slightly older, dry tortillas.

I didn't do any of that. If you don't want to either, baked tortilla chips work surprisingly well. All you have to do is take a handful of chips, pile them onto a baking sheet, and pop them in the oven until they're nice and toasty. You don't need the oven to be all that hot, around 200 should do you well. Stick them in for the last 15 minutes of soup cooking and you should be set for when it's done.

On to the soup!

This recipe is completely vegan since it was for J's birthday. If you are a cheese person, you can also add some shredded cheese for garnish. I was really happy with how this turned out. Only thing I would possibly recommend is adding a little more water, mine was a little thicker than I really wanted it to be.

Vegan Tortilla Soup

1/2 large white onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp dried basil
2 Tbsp olive oil

3 sticks celery, chopped

1 12 oz can tomato paste
4 cups veggie broth

1 small tomato, chopped
1/2 cup corn
2 cups water

Cumin
Cayenne Pepper

small bunch fresh cilantro, chopped
Juice of 1 lime

Heat oil in a large pot. Add onion, garlic, and basil. Saute until the onion is soft. Add the celery and saute another minute or so, keeping an eye to not burn the garlic. Add the tomato paste and veggie broth and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally.

Once you reach a boil, reduce to a simmer and add the tomato and corn. Add the water and let simmer for five minutes or so. Add your cumin and cayenne pepper to taste. I start with maybe a tsp of each and go from there. At this point, add more water as needed to get your desired consistency.

Let simmer for at least another five minutes. The longer you let it sit, the more the flavors will integrate. The last thing you want to do is add the cilantro and lime, around five minutes before you're ready to serve. Stir in the cilantro and squeeze the lime into the soup. I used one but I think I could have actually added a little more.

If you actually manage the tortilla strips or if you went the lazy way with the chips, add them as you serve. One way to go is to add some strips to the bottom of the bowl, pour in your soup, and then garnish with some more strips. You can also garnish with avocado. It's all delicious!

The soup is also amazing served cold the next day, something perfect for these hot LA days. Made for a great lunch today at the office!

The Cake that was Baked

Oh man, guys, the cake is good. I feel like I've been on sugar overload for the last three days. I am extremely pleased with the results. First off, the frosting is amazing. It's a perfect blend of tang from the cream cheese, sweetness from the absurd amount of sugar, and vanilla from, well, the vanilla. I adore it.

The vanilla bean experience was a fantastic one. I'm even in the process of making my own vanilla extract from the leftover bean. Should I be as excited as I am about this? I think so.

The cake itself is great. I was super paranoid about the baking time since our oven isn't the most consistent and made sure to check it at precisely 25 minutes. To my surprise, it was actually ready right then so I pulled it out. Somehow I managed to not dry it out at all! It's moist and wonderful. Personally I would almost like it to be more chocolately but I am kind of a chocolate freak. I've had no complaints from anyone else.

No complaints except from L who was a bit dismayed by the amount of sugar and butter and cream cheese involved. Not that she's wrong in that, this is not a healthy dessert.

I almost never eat sweets like this so I honestly really don't care. Since I generally try to go vegan in my baking so J can partake, a lot of what I do tends to be more on the healthier side (not that vegan is necessarily inherently healthy, I've still made some very unhealthy vegan treats. The healthy is just more likely in what I usually make). I'm perfectly happy to indulge every now and again.

I'm bringing some of the cake in to work tomorrow. We'll see what my coworkers think!

If you're curious to try this yourself, visit grammar monkey on her blog Do Not Feed the Editor. Actually, you should go visit her even if you don't want to bake the cake. She's awesome and entertaining and most definitely worth the visit.

While I was baking I did a mini "photo shoot" of the process. The pictures are up on Flickr for your viewing pleasure

Also for your viewing pleasure, more bad art! I'm sadly going to be slower on the uploading of my sketches since I don't have easy access to a scanner at the moment. For Jeremiah's sketch I actually took a picture with my phone and uploaded that. Not ideal, but whatever works!

Enjoy this for now! I've got another few coming and always feel free to add to the requests.

Jeremiah the Possum. 

He who lives outside my window.

LA is Burning. And Other Stuff.

The Station Fire in Angeles Forest is still burning like crazy. The view of the smoke today was epic, even from the Marina. Apparently brush that hasn't burned in over five decades is now burning and parts of Glendale are even being evacuated.

Down here in the Marina we're plenty far away but the air quality is still pretty gross. The last few days have not been good for breathing. Combine the bad air with today's heat, not fun. Apparently parts of the westside were even experiencing brown outs but if we lost power at any point today I didn't notice.

Here's an AP article with more info on the fire along with a few images.

In other news.

I'm baking my cake! I'm actually in the middle of it. I've just taken the cake out of the oven and it's currently cooling. In a minute I'll start on the frosting. So far it's going well! I've taken pictures, of course, and those will be up just a little later.

I even bought a real vanilla bean for the frosting. It's my first vanilla bean guys! I'm inordinately excited about this vanilla.

Speaking of pictures, Thomas Lennon just posted a good one on Twitter.



Last night was, as a friend put it, classic. Not really sure there's a better way to describe it. It was really great to see cast and crew that I haven't seen since December but sad as well, given the circumstances. So classic is one way to describe it. Bittersweet another.

Strangely I did not actually have a camera with me last night. A few friends did though so hopefully I'll get to see other pictures. Or maybe it's just better if this particular evening lives on only in my memory. Either way.

All right, time to make some frosting. Expect another post once the cake is finished and tasting has commenced. There shall be details and pictures. I'm convinced this is going to be delicious!

Sometimes I Do Things: Bad Art and Baked Eggs

Believe it or not, unemployment can occasionally be boring. Shocking to hear, right? I fill my time with a lot of things: my writing, cooking, reading. The internet can be a huge time suck. However sometimes, that all is not enough. Or sometimes I just need a little additional inspiration.

The other day the boredom got the best of me. So I reached out to my dear friends and asked for suggestions. I've gotten a couple of interesting ones.

Unfortunately the one involving a trip to Portland isn't quite possible for the girl who has hardly worked this year. Drawing a Mermaid Punk Band though? That I can handle.



Even more exciting than my bad art, is my baking. My friend Liz suggested I bake but left the What up to me. After some thought I decided to go savory with some baked eggs. You can bet I am happy I went with that decision.

Combining ideas from Tastes Like Home and 101 Cookbooks (I love this site), I made this incredibly satisfying lunch.



Baked Eggs

3 Eggs (or 2 or however many you want, I was hungry)
Butter
1/2 Tomato
1/2 Onion
2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
1 clove Garlic
paprika
cumin
red pepper flakes
pinch salt

Preheat oven to 375.

Heat Oil in a skillet. Add Onion, garlic, paprika, cumin, red pepper, salt (and any other seasoning you want). Saute a few minutes until the onion is soft but don't brown the garlic. Add the tomato. Saute another few minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.

Line a small oven safe dish with butter (or whatever buttery spread you prefer). Crack one egg and add to the dish. Add the onion and tomato mix. Add the next egg or two. Place in oven and bake for 15-20 minutes.

I decided to top my eggs with salsa and it was delicious. If I had planned ahead a little more I think I actually would have made some salsa from scratch. The tomatoes from the Farmer's Market were that good. I also had a couple of pieces of toast and a side of blueberries.

I think next time I'd go closer to the 15 minute end rather than the 20 minutes. Or possibly try the oven at 350. Either way, this oven I'm using runs a little hot and I generally like my eggs just slightly less done than they were. I think next time I'll also leave off the salt. The cumin and paprika were more than enough and the red pepper adds a nice kick.

I seriously need to make this all the time. It's so amazingly good. I also really want to try a few of the variations suggested on 101 cookbooks.

Sunday Brunch anyone?



***

I've also received a few other suggestions I plan on exploring over the next couple of weeks. Or however long it is I end up being unemployed for. Next week there will be cake baking. There may also be some knitting. And more bad art. Definitely some more bad art.

Feel free to suggest anything else I should try! I'm open to almost all things new.

Surprise Party Saturday and Mad Men Monday

AMC is running a Mad Men marathon today in anticipation of season 3’s premier next Sunday. I have a feeling I am going to get nothing accomplished today. I’ve seen bits and pieces of Season 2 but I missed most of it. Today is the day I catch up.

If you haven’t seen Mad Men yet, I highly recommend checking it out. The show is fantastic. It’s well done on every level, from writing to acting to production design and wardrobe. It’s also incredibly addictive. Whenever I start watching, I never want to stop.

Start at the beginning if you can but make sure you don’t miss the end of season 1. The bit with the Kodak slide show is fantastic.

Whatever acclaim this show has received, it’s well deserved.

Mad Men Season 3 premier: Sunday, August 16 at 10 PM on AMC.

***

Today is my roommate K’s birthday. About a month ago our other roommate J and I decided we were going to throw her a surprise party. Along with our friend L we took a month to tell people about it, plan it, and get everything together. I never thought we would all actually be able to keep the surprise and pull everything off but somehow we managed.

It was a summer time cookout. The yard was strewn with streamers and balloons, there was a piñata, we grilled. The turn out was great and most importantly K had a good time. Her family even came to town from Phoenix and their presence more or less guaranteed the success. It was wonderful.

Of course every summer cookout needs some sort of delicious summer sides. J made a beautiful fruit salad with lovely fresh seasonal fruit. Melon, berries, kiwi, pineapple. Tasty!

My contribution was a delicious pasta salad from Smitten Kitchen. The dressing alone was sublime.

Summer Pea and Roaster Red Pepper Pasta Salad from Smitten Kitchen.

I really didn’t change a thing beyond using canned peas instead of fresh. I didn’t have any fresh ones and even less time to shell them if I had. The dressing is what made this so good anyway.

Since the first step does involve roasting the pepper for an hour, make sure you’ve got the time. Otherwise, it’s super easy and even more delicious.

My other contribution was spicy corn and peppers. Also incredibly easy to toss together. This recipe actually came from my little brother.



I prefer fresh corn for this one but again I was lacking on the time so I went with a giant can. Worked well enough. Since I was making this for the party I also used more pepper and onion when I normally make it as just a side. For a smaller serving size, go with 2 ears of corn, 1 pepper and half an onion or so.

Spicy Corn & Peppers

1 large can of corn or 2 small
1 red bell pepper
1 green bell pepper
1 white onion
3 cloves garlic
Cayenne Pepper
Hot Sauce (I love the Louisiana Hot Sauce but use whatever your preference is)
2 Table Spoons Olive Oil

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet. Add the onion and garlic, sauté until the onion is soft but be careful not to burn the garlic. Add the peppers and corn. Sauté for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the cayenne pepper and hot sauce to taste. I like it spicy so I usually end up going pretty heavy on them.

That’s pretty much it. Once everything is heated, the peppers are soft, and it’s spicy to your taste, you’re good to go. An easy, fresh summer dish that’s been a hit every time I’ve served it.

***

Happy Summer everyone! And Happy Birthday K!

Girl Talk Thursday - How Do You Unwind?

I try to keep this blog, and my online presence in general, positive and upbeat. My goal isn’t to be on here bitching and whining and moaning about how awful things are. Because they’re not! Things in general are good.

But seriously guys, I’ve been mostly unemployed since the beginning of February. A little work here, a little work there, but thankgodforunemployment ‘cause how am I paying rent this month? I’d be a liar if I said I wasn’t stressed out.

It does get completely overwhelming, especially this time of the month when all the bills are coming due. Sometimes the stress manifests itself in really bizarre ways. Take the other night; I had just gotten home from San Diego and Comic Con and a brilliant weekend. Real life came back and some of that reality was unpleasant. Like the balance of my bank account (not surprising even though I spent next to zero dollars over the weekend).

I went into the kitchen to make dinner and was immediately confronted with a sink full, no, not full, OVER-FLOWING with dirty dishes. I was tempted to ignore the mess but of course items I needed were buried in there. So I pushed back my sleeves and started washing dishes.

Mid-scrub on a mashed potato encrusted mixing spoon I lost it. I started bawling over the dirty dishes. WTF right? Something about the potato that would just not come off put me over the edge. All I wanted was a quick dinner and a clean spoon and knife and cutting board so I could make that happen. But no! I had been thwarted by potato!

It’s actually kind of funny to think about it now.

And this is the part where I unwind.

I let myself have a good little cry and a few minutes of self-pity. Then I put the potato spoon down since I did’t really need that particular spoon. I picked up the knife, went to the cutting board, and chopped the hell out of some onion. After a few minutes I felt better.

After a large glass of wine and a giant pot of simmering veggie chili on the stove, I felt amazing.

Cooking is one of my favorite unwinding activities. It requires focus so my mind is forced to stop wandering for a while. All I think about are flavors and spices and tasks. When I’m finished, I have something delicious to enjoy. So not only does it take my mind off of stressful things, it gives me a reward for all of my hard work! It's great.

The wine doesn’t hurt either.

****

Some other unwinding things I do:
-Take pictures
-Bike rides
-Phone chats
-Drink some good coffee
-Happy Hours with the friends
-Beer! And I mean a good tasty beer, not a whole bunch of gross PBR type beer. Although I’ve been known to drink that on occasion when a certain former co-worker is involved. My current obsessions include all things Stone (but especially the IPA) and Flying Dog’s Gonzo. So good.
-And of course the old stand-byes of reading, movie watching, reading about movie watching…

Notice how I didn’t mention Facebook or Twitter? Yeah… just sayin.

(It’s my first Girl Talk Thursday! Happy Dance!)

Production: Returning to Unemployment, Quiche, Bicycles, and other Summer Activities.

It’s official, or rather has been official since last Friday. I’ve returned to Unemployment-Land. The land of… well, unemployment? Job(less)-centric anxiety attacks fueled by a dwindling bank account balance, uncertainty over the future, and infinite amounts of boredom. The question of “Why am I doing this?” being asked countless times a day, in between cups of increasingly cold coffee and a phone that remains stubbornly silent. WAITING.

At least, that’s what it could be (and I have to admit, has been). It doesn’t have to be that though and I am determined to not LET it be that this time around. It’s summertime and I live only 30 minutes or so by bike from the beach. I have a basket full of projects I had to put on the back-burner while I was working, including a feature length screenplay that I’m all ready 60+ pages into (yes, seriously, I’ve actually been writing something beyond a blog. How weird is that?).

So rather than lamenting about my lack of prospects, my financial uncertainty, or any of that other stuff, I am going to instead focus on the things I enjoy spending my time doing. Writing. Taking pictures. Bike riding. Cooking. Spending time with my friends and family. These are the things I’m out here for after all. What’s the point, I ask myself? Well, all of that really.

Writing: As I mentioned, I’m working on a screenplay. Yes, I know everyone and their mother in LA is working on a screenplay. I’m working on incorporating all of the clichés into my life. Screenplay? Check!

I am really excited about this writing adventure though. Sure I’ve written things before but this is by far the longest, most real feeling project I’ve worked on. I don’t know how good it is or anything like that but honestly at this point my goal is more to finish something. The rest of those concerns are for the next draft.

Bicycle: I got a new one! After my old one died (the rain killed it, I swear) I was feeling rather helpless and stranded. So on Friday, just in time for the 4th of July festivities, I ventured up to Hollywood and bought my new ride out of some random dude’s garage. I love you, Craigslist.

She was a little rusty but some steel wool and scrubbing took care of that. Really the bike is in great shape and kind of completely perfect for me. I now even know a tiny bit about Raleigh bicycles. Yes, I googled it almost as soon as I got home. NERD.

Here she is:



Photography: (I know, I’m going out of order here) Back in December I purchased my friend’s old Nikon D40X. He was upgrading and since this was the camera I’d be lusting after for months, it was the prefect opportunity. I took it on a road trip and played with it a little but now I’m finally, actually, attempting to learn how to really use it. So far my photo subjects have included flowers, my friends, my cooking experiments, my new bike, bees (poor idea), and an onion (um, better idea than the bees?). I don’t know that I’d call my photography “Good” yet, but I’m learning! I’m pleased. You can see some of my efforts over on Flickr.

And, finally,

Cooking: Quiche! I made one! I’ve been promising my mom I’d post this recipe (I’m only two weeks late) so here it is:



Adapted from Vegetarian Times

Vegetarian Times has this whole cool crust part of the recipe involving phyllo dough but I have to admit to laziness on this part. I went with the store bought Pillsbury variety. Which is apparently vegan, good news for the roommate! Not that she’d eat an egg filled quiche anyway, but I digress.

As they also note in the magazine, a quiche is perfect for customizing. Add the ingredients you love. The original recipe called for Feta cheese, which I don’t really like, so I used Gruyere instead. It also called for a red onion but since I had a yellow one all ready on hand, I went with that.

Crust:
Pillsbury Pie Crust (usually found with the pre-made cookie dough and biscuits and all that stuff)

Filling:
Fresh Spinach (You can also use frozen. 1 10-ounce pkg., thawed and all liquid squeezed out)
1 Yellow onion, finely chopped (depending on the size of your onion, you might not need all of it. I had a bit left over)
½ cup cheese (I used Gruyere, one of my favorites and GREAT for baking)
10 cherry tomatoes, halved

Batter:
2 eggs
1 cup soymilk (or your milk of preference)
pinch ground nutmeg

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Coat a 9-inch pie pan with cooking spray. Make the crust at this point if you’re going from scratch. Press your crust into the pie pan.
2. Filling: Stir together spinach and onion. Sprinkle cheese over crust. Top with spinach mixture. Arrange tomato halves over quiche.
3. Batter: Whisk together all ingredients in medium bowl. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Pour quiche batter over the filling in the crust. Set quiche on baking sheet, and bake 45 to 50 minutes, or until top is brown and center is set.

And that’s it. Seriously. How easy is that? If you’re making a bigger pie, it’s ½ cup milk for every egg used.

The recipe really is great. I think my favorite part was the nutmeg. It added such a perfect, subtle touch. The cheese on the bottom keeps the crust from getting too soggy so it held up really nicely for meals over the rest of the week. I think I may actually make another one this week. Maybe trying out a few different ingredients. Maybe not.

Other upcoming culinary adventures: Whole Wheat Pasta Stir Fry (also ganked from Vegetarian Times), a spinach smoothie, and a Rhubarb-Mango crumble my lovely friend posted over on her blog Do Not Feed the Editor.

I suppose that’s enough chatter for now. I should probably actually eat food, not just write about it. And there is more screenplay writing to be done as well. Maybe I’ll even make it outside today.

Unemployment-Land, here I am.

Production: What's for Lunch?

Again, lack of updates! I know! The short version of things to play catch up: I've been working for the last week and a half on some additional photography for a feature up at Warner Bros. in Burbank. Since it's only additional photography it's a super short job. We prepped last week, we shoot four days this week, there's probably a little bit of wrap next week, and then I'm done.

I was all determined to cook myself a lunch for tomorrow but I just got back a little bit ago from watching True Blood at L's and at this point I think it's just going to be a sandwich. Oh well. I have all kinds of exciting, tasty things from the Whole Foods I'm anticipating the eating of.

I love Whole Foods btw. I'm so underwhelmed by most of the groceries out here. We have access to such fabulous local produce and yet the Ralphs and the Pavillions et al manage to stock the worst stuff. That's probably not local and is definitely not fresh. What up with that?

I do like all the farmers market stuff but it really does get pretty expensive. And none of the markets I've been to can compare to what I was used to back east. Farmers markets in NYC? Lovely. If anyone has any LA suggestions for a good one, I'm all ears. Suggest away.

But the Whole Foods! They stock local and fresh and not hideously expensive! Plus, the stores are so awesome people just have to start making out on top of the apples! Those are some seriously exciting apples. (I swear I witnessed just that while shopping for Passover veggies with G. It was the Whole Foods in Manhattan Beach. If you were looking for someone to make out with amidst produce, you might want to try there...)

Do I really have to wake up at 5:30 again tomorrow? I love that I'm working and I am enjoying this job. But damn. Much more than three weeks of this would be exhausting. And would it not be nice to have another PA in the office? Oh you have no idea...

I am really enjoying being up on the lot at WB though, I've really got to say. I absolutely adore zipping along the back lot in the golf cart. Our golf cart is so zippy! Heh, and all the tourists on the studio tours totally stare at me. It's the "Look! Someone making movies!" stare that's a half curiosity, half envy, full of excitement stare. I know it well because I've done it plenty myself. And this is my industry. I'm silly.

Okay, I'm going to make a sandwich for tomorrow, set the auto on the coffee pot (most brilliant feature ever), and get some sleep. We start shooting on Tuesday and I feel like this is going to be a very, very long week.