T2-oh my!

I am the proud recipient of a Canon T2I. My parents got me the camera as a Christmas/Early Birthday gift. I am in love with it so far.

Three Hour Dinner...Coq au Vin

For New Years Eve, David and I had our friend Jonathan over to make Coq Au Vin, our selected recipe from the All About Braising book that I gave him for Christmas. Along with the book, we also used the new Le Creuset French Oven that accompanied the book to make the gift one step closer to a full meal! During a hectic New Year's Eve day, we made several stops throughout the greater LA area to get the ingredients for the recipe. We checked out a Loz Feliz butcher called McCalls to pick up the chicken. Due the the slew of last minute meat shoppers, the shop was too busy to butcher the chicken leaving the task to us. We made a couple more stops to get the rest of the items and headed home to prep for cooking.

Jonathan arrived promptly around 7 and after watching a YouTube clip about butchering a chicken:

we, or shall I say, David and Jonathan, accepted the challenge of taking apart the bird. For a first attempt, the bird, while left on the cutting board looking like a victim of a massacre, a majority of the meat was gotten off in decent portions. I lead the vegetable and herb chopping, David the dredging, and Jonathan was the master of the stovetop. About an hour and a half into prep (cooking the bacon, cutting the carrots, onions, parsley, thyme and dredging and browning the chicken) our other friends came by for a beer before they set off for their final destination for the evening. The presence of the new folks brought a new energy to the kitchen. A few beers later, the mashed potatoes were cooking and the French Oven was almost ready to be pulled out of the oven. The table was prepared and finally, around 10 PM, we sat down to eat out masterpiece. The verdict was unanimous....the meal was wonderful and worth the wait.

Mushrooms on the chopping block. 3/4 a pound of them to be exact.



Browned chicken pieces waiting for wine



As the wine morphs to gravy.



David dredging the chicken.



Jonathan the butcher.

A Challenge.....

As a follower of Murakami on Facebook, I came across this reading challenge for the new year. I have to admit, I have only read two of the author's novels, 'A Wild Sheep Chase' and 'Kafka on the Shore'. However, they were so wonderful that I found myself following the author on my social network of choice.


After such a great experience with the two Murakami books I read, I decided to accept this challenge for the new year. Lucky for me, an individual who doesn't read more than 10 books per year, there are several levels of readership to consider. I am going to strive for the 'Sheep Man' level by reading 3 books. The first will be one which has been on my to-do list for some time, 'The Wind-up Bird Chronicles'. Any Murakami readers out there have any suggestions for the other two?

better than balloon boy....

....is balloon dog

This quick little fellow also likes to take a stab at balloon's water filled cousins:

An Ode to my Midwest Folks who Love Church's........

Cutest Wrap Ever

Traditionally, I have been a die-hard tissue wrapper when it comes to gifts. Tissue is cheap and when accessorized correctly, has an aesthetic that I love. This holiday season however, I strayed a bit from the norm. I was in Paper Source getting some (gasp!) paper goods, and I ran across this:

Needless to say, all of my gifts for friends and family thus far are wrapped and on on display under my tree wearing this cute print. It was one of those rare times that I was up sold. Dogs in holiday hats though....totally worth it!

Happy Holidays

Promise that a more substantial post will come soon. As evidenced by these pictures, I have been a bit busy. Holiday cheer has infiltrated the home. In fact, Frito and I took a walk to the Echo Park Animal Alliance's 'Photos with Santa' event for our furry friends. However, while I watched in amazement for a bit at all of the excitement, ten bucks was too much for a photo. More aptly, I had a bad feeling about being one of those folks who take photos of their pets with Santa. It seemed like a gateway drug of sorts to throwing a full fledged birthday party for my four legged pal.