We did it! Finished bathroom and kitchen!

We finally did it! The bathroom and kitchen are finished and construction is done at the new house. Hoooooraaaaaay! The bathroom was actually finished a while ago, but I haven't gotten around to posting about it. Here are the pics:

Bathroom Before: 

Bathroom After! 

For both the kitchen and bath, I wanted to make upgrades that would add value to the house for resale, that I could enjoy immediately. I wanted to make things modern but in keeping with the vintage feel of the house.

In the bathroom, we took out all the fixtures and put in a new tub, toilet, vanity, and medicine cabinet. We used a carerra marble hexagonal tile and white ceramic subway tile. We also enlarged the window and added a recessed cubby for toiletries. The new tub is great for soaking and we have a super shower head. The vanity has lots of a storage and a beautiful marble top, and the medicine cabinet is mirrored on the inside which adds even more opportunity to preen. I love it!

Kitchen Before: Nothing totally horrible or non-functioning, just kind of sad and blah.

Kitchen After!

We replaced the lower cabinets with Ikea kitchen cabinets (another post about that ordeal to follow later) but kept the upper cabinets which were original to the house. I was worried about the contrast, but I think it works. I chose caesarstone countertops in Frosty Carrina, and it looks like marble but is more durable. I shelled out a few extra bucks for drawer pulls from Restoration Hardware, and got the RH knobs from my contractor from another job. The biggest splurge was the range - a Thermador dual fuel range. Since most of my time at home is spent in the kitchen, I thought it was worth it.  Plus they threw i a free dishwasher (a deal from Absolute Appliances). I also got a KitchenAid fridge, a new hood, and an Ikea farmhouse sink.

And the tile behind the sink? That is a cement tile that I picked out despite not wanting to add more gray to the house. But I just fell in love with it. Over the counters we used white subway tile since there wasn't enough room for the cement tiles. I worried the space would feel disjointed, but I think the matching cabinets by the stove and the fridge tie it all together. I also got a bonus custom-made wine rack thrown in.

There's still plenty of work to do on the house, but the two most important areas are done. I'm going to pick out some new light fixtures and do some accessorizing, but construction is finished. Two months later, I've unpacked all my kitchen boxes and can start cooking up a storm. Get ready for some more food posts!

Of course, Mimi didn't "Do it herself" this time. My contractor, Todd Segal, did a great job both with installation and design advice, with budget friendly solutions. I found him through an article in the LA Times, he was local to Highland Park, and he's a fellow New Englander. Now that my job is finished, I can share him with the world. Thanks Todd! 

And thanks to my "DH" (dear housemate), who put up with construction, was a great help, and put up with my crankiness. Thanks friend!

Highland Park Hideaway

I've been in the house 1 week now and am loving it. Despite the stress of my poor sick Puppy, it's been a great week in the new house. I get lots of natural light in the morning and wake up to the sounds of birds chirping. It's cute but a little annoying at 5:30AM, but better than the helicopter and highway traffic which I used to hear. The house is in shambles because of the construction and there's dust everywhere, so I haven't even unpacked. But I still love my little house, vegging in front of the tv with Puppy, and exploring the neighborhood.

Highland Park is AWESOME. When I decided to move here, I had no idea where or what it was. It is a very cool, funky neighborhood which has become a benchmark in LA for rapid gentrification (which I guess includes me now). There was a lot of plaid. It was featured on NPR's Marketplace last year when they set up a storefront in the neighborhood to track the progress of gentrification. Economics and politics aside, I love it! It feels like a community where people know each other, it's ethnically diverse (11% Asians!), it's close to downtown and Pasadena, and it has less of the urban sprawl feel that most of LA has. It's a little gritty, but it has character, much like the neighborhoods I've lived in before (which all skyrocketed in real estate price after I left. You're welcome).

And most importantly, HP has great food. Already I've found my favorite huarache and burrito place, a great pizza place, and a boozey cocktail bar with a great patio. All within strolling distance. What more could a girl need? A Korean restaurant or ramen shop would be nice, but hey, I can't get too spoiled. Not when I have these tacos right next door...

 And a fun little fact about Highland Park: fashion megastore Forever 21 started right here. It actually started as "Fashion 21" and you can still visit the original location on Figueroa Street.

While I don't support their labor practices, or skimpy clothing, it's funny to see their origins right here.

Home Sweet Home

Well, I did it! I finally moved into my new house! Moving itself was pretty uneventful. My apartment was pretty small and I got rid of my most excess junk when I moved west. But it's still amazing how much stuff I accumulated in just one year. My first night in the house alone was a little scary, but when I woke up this morning to the sound of birds chirping and sunlight streaming in the windows, I was just happy. Plain happy.

Fortunately, the contractor got the bathroom sink and toilet installed in time for moving day. But I am still without a shower or kitchen. Hopefully they will get wrapped up quickly. In the meantime, I've set up my bed, couch, and tv, which is really all a girl needs. Plus, I've set up several napping corners for Puppy. Poor little guy had heart failure on moving day, and was in the animal hospital all weekend. It was very scary, but he is on the mend and back home.

I'm going to be slow to settle in and unpack. Partially because I am basically living in a construction site and there's dust everywhere. But also because I may still decide to paint, fix windows, etc., etc. Now that I've spent about 24 hours here, I have a better idea already of what I want and where. Before it was all kind of theoretical, but luckily I don't think anything we've picked remotely will result in a hot mess. So far, the bathroom is looking great! The floor tile is done, the bathroom tile needs to be grouted, and the medicine cabinet and shower fixtures need to be installed. And then it's on to the kitchen.

Not much else to report. Stay tuned for more renovation stories, likely including my co-workers ostracizing me for being unshowered and stinky. I guess it's a good excuse to get a membership at the Korean spa!

Decisions, Decisions

I've been a busy woman this past month+ since I last posted. After much document signing, I finally closed on my little California cottage in Highland Park. I can't wait to move in, but I still have a few more weeks left on my current apartment lease and we're busy working on the bathroom and kitchen upgrades. They say you should wait and live in the space for a while before you renovate, but the bathroom and kitchen were so grungy, I just wanted to tear it out. Which we did on Thursday!

I hope the bathroom will be done by the end of the month when I have to move. I figure I can live without a kitchen for a few weeks - there are lots of great restaurants and taco trucks within walking distance of the house. Walking distance. In LA!

However, the bathroom needs to get done quickly. It has been a whirlwind of decisions for such a small space. What kind of sink, what kind of tub, what kind of tile, what kind of faucet, what kind of finish, etc., etc. I've developed a whole new vocabulary related to bathroom fixtures. And while I had some idea of what I wanted it to look like, when it got down to actually picking and buying the stuff, I panicked a little. The vanity and sink alone almost made me give up. But then I reminded myself - it's just a bathroom. Yes, it's my first real home and I want it to be functional and beautiful and an oasis to relax in. But it's a bathroom. And it will be much nicer than any bathroom I've ever had regardless. Because it's mine! (and because the vanity I picked has a lovely marble countertop and we have this cute tile and I finally picked a showerhead with multiple settings and...).

I wish I could slow things down and plan a little more thoughtfully, but at a certain point, you have to stop Googling and just make a decision. Otherwise, you fall down a rabbit hole of specs and consumer reviews, and it's 2AM and you've spent 4 hours comparing drain covers. So I'm not going to obsess and I'm just going to enjoy the process of being on my own personal HGTV show, without the cameras or free designers.

Speaking of which, here is Puppy making sure the cable works in the new house watching Property Brothers. Of course the first thing I bought was a little rug for him to snuggle on! Don't worry. It won't be on the floor forever. I have my eye on a very cute mid-century modern credenza from the shop down the street. That will be an easy decision to make!

What to Inspect When You're Expecting (to buy a house)

Today I had a 3-hour inspection for my house - which I now feel comfortable calling mine because I know I definitely want it. I was worried that the inspection would tell us that the house was a disaster and I'd have to back out of the sale. But it went very well and I learned a lot about my house, the history of California building codes, etc.

Inspections are daunting because it is the job of the inspector to tell you exactly what is wrong with your house, from the outside in. When I purchased my last condo in Cambridge, I knew what I was getting into because I bought it from my brother. And even then the inspection was terrifying! You leave with a laundry list of things to fix, repair, or just hope they won't explode while you sleep. Walking into this situation I know nothing about the house's history (although I think I can get some juicy gossip out of my neighbor who has lived next door for 40 years). But luckily, there was nothing unexpected or of major concern. And with a good inspector, they will be honest about what is urgent, what is good to address down the line, and what would be good for living in comfort. My inspector was all of these!

There are a lot of cool historical details about my house. There are built-ins in the kitchen and bedroom closets, beautiful glass door knobs, cool architectural details on the ends of the roof (I forget what she called those). The house has redwood siding, which sounds very fancy to me as an East Coaster. There are some areas which need work, but for a 90 year old house, she said it's doing great. I have copper plumbing, my electrical was done properly, and the roof was well constructed and doesn't need to be replaced. Those were my major concerns and there's nothing to be concerned about.

One problem I was glad to hear about was the foundation under the bathroom needs some repair. Which means...bathroom renovation!! I was going to hold off on this until Phase 2 of my home repair, since it wasn't urgent. But all structural repairs get put in Phase 1 so yay! Here's my inspiration:

I love the dramatic color of the clawfoot tub, the hexagonal tile on the floor, and the subway tile on the walls. What a way to start the day showering in this room? Time to start pricing projects out...Closing day seems so far away!

Status Change...Pending

Hello Interwebs,

I apologize for my absence. It's been almost a month since my last post. I've been crunched at work by day and house hunting on nights and weekends, obsessively checking RedFin and visiting open houses. I didn't make it through the Whole 30 - I did about a Half 30. But I continue to eat about 85% paleo, with a few exceptions like my birthday dumpling crawl of the San Gabriel Valley! We hit up 3 tasty places and I will say that by far my favorites were the giant meat pies at Beijing Pie House in Monterey Park. They were almost like British or Aussie meat pies, but when you bite into them they are filled with delicious savory broth. Yummmmm.

But enough about food! and on to an update on house hunting. The market in LA has been crazy. I started looking in mid-February, after coming back from Boston and realizing that the Game of Thrones prophecy, "Winter Is Coming", was not a metaphor but a real life disaster in my hometown. I was never going back. My first 2 weekends house hunting I saw a few really cute places, but I still wasn't sure about exactly what I wanted. Then as the weeks progressed, fewer and fewer houses came on the market, and they became smaller yet more expensive. Every house seemed to end up at least $50K over the list price. My realtor told me that the common strategy is to list low to get more people in the door and start these crazy bidding wars. (I know this is a good strategy because that's how I sold my Cambridge condo. Karma is a bitch). So I had to adjust my thinking - either go with a smaller place without all the "must haves" that I wanted, or go way out of my budget and eat dog food for the next 10 years. And not the fancy organic kind Puppy gets. I made a few offers but got quickly outbid, and in one case was beat by some Mr./Ms. Moneybags with bags full of cash.

I started to give up hope. Maybe it wasn't my time. Maybe it was a sign I shouldn't put down roots in LA. There are earthquakes! drought! Kardashians! Going through RedFin listings was starting to feel like reading OKCupid dating profiles - taking the fun out of a major life choice and making it kind of sad and creepy. Every day my RedFin updates read "Status Change - Sold" or "Pending", and had very few new properties. Finally, I thought, "If I don't see something this weekend, I give up. I'll rent for a few more years till I get my own bags full of cash."

Ah, me of little faith. Last week, I found a listing that looked potentially promising, or potentially disappointing. The pictures were terrible, there was no staging, and it was a 2BR with a "bonus room off the master bedroom." I had already seen a few places where the "bonus room" was in fact the 2nd bedroom, and would have been barely big enough for a hobbit. But it was in a great location and it had a red door - and I'm a sucker for colorful front doors!

I went to the open house, and the listing agent never showed up. But my brilliant agent encouraged me to go back and we went to take a look the next day. I walked in skeptically, not wanting to be disappointed. But after just a minute, I knew. This was The House. This was The One. It had a good amount of space, great location, built-ins in every closet, a detached garage to convert someday, and character! So many of the houses I saw were cookie cutter flips which looked slick but sterile, often with terrible fixture or decor choices. The kitchen and bath weren't great, but they weren't unlivable, and I knew it could make it my own.

Actually, I know I can make it my own. Because the day after we saw it and put a bid in, my offer was accepted! On my birthday! It was the best present I could get. And it was well within my budget with room to spare for renovations. So you know what that means? This blog is about to Blow. Up. With some home renovations. Who's ready to do a little light demo?

Although I shouldn't get ahead of myself. The home inspection could reveal major problems that aren't worth dealing with. So it's not in the bag. But if I do want it, flaws and all, it's mine.

And the best part of my week was seeing my RedFin notification today featuring My house - Pending!

Mucho thanks to Heather D, my fabulous agent!!! We still have a ways to go, but she has been an amazing guide through this process. Check her out at her blog, The Good Life LA. She's also got a great post about where to find the best pastrami sandwiches in LA!

Roasted Romanesco and Salmon and Paleo Aeoli

I've now completed 2 weeks of the Whole 30. It's been pretty good, except anytime I have to eat out. I had Korean food a few times and pretty sure I had some soy sauce, but I'm not going to beat myself over that. I haven't been posting all my meals, but this week I did make Nom Nom Paleo's kalua pork, paleo mayo, and a few thrown together dishes like this one...

Roasted Romanesco & Salmon with Paleo Aeoli

I love romanesco! It's like a broccoli and a cauliflower married and had an alien baby. It looks weird but is so tasty. You can eat it raw or steamed. Or roasted - which works for pretty much any vegetable you don't recognize.

1 head romanesco, chopped into pieces
1 tbsp avocado oil
1 salmon filet
lemon slices
a few sprigs of dill
salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 450. Toss the romanesco in oil, salt and pepper. Roast in the oven for 15-20 minutes. Clean the salmon and pat dry. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place dill and lemon slices on top of the fish. Roast in the oven for 10-15 miutes. Easy and done!

Paleo Aeoli
While my fish and veggies were roasting, I thought I'd try Nom Nom's paleo mayo. I've tried to make aeoli in the past but could never get it to work because I didn't have a food processor. Little did I know I could just use my immersion blender. This was so easy and tasty. It was a good substitute for the usual yogurt dill sauce I use when I make salmon. I must admit - the one thing I'm really missingg these days is dairy.

1 tbsp lemon juice
1 egg yolk
1/4 tsp dijon mustard
salt and pepper
couple sprigs of dill

Throw it all in the immersion blender cup and blend. Simple!

Broiled Whole Mackerel with Crispy Ginger, Garlic, Tomatoes, and Spring Onions

I've never understand when people say, "I don't like fish that's too fishy." Isn't that the point? I love fishy fish. Especially a nice broiled mackerel. Mackerel is flavorful, high in the good omegas, cheap, and still sustainable if you care about that kind of thing. It's pretty popular in Korean cuisine, and when I Googled recipes there were a lot of British recipes as well. I'll throw my hat in the ring with the recipe I came up with tonight for Whole 30 Day 12. The crispy aromatics were a nice textural contrast to the oily fish, and the white balsamic vinegar was a nice substitute for rice vinegar.

If you're squeamish about handling whole fish like I am, close your eyes :)  It's well worth the ickiness. Or you could use mackerel fillets. But cooking a whole fish is so much more hard core!

Ingredients:

1 whole mackerel, cleaned and gutted

2-3 cloves garlic, sliced thinly

1" piece of ginger, julienned

1 green spring onion

handful of cherry tomatoes

1 tbsp coconut aminos 

1 tbsp white balsamic vinegar (available at Trader Joe's)

1 tsp coconut oil

Cut slits in the mackerel. Allegedly this helps prevent the skin from exploding; I think it just looks good. Sprinkle the mackerel with freshly ground black pepper. Place on a baking sheet (with parchment paper if you hate scrubbing pans). Broil in the oven for 10-12 minutes, flipping over half way through. You'll know the fish is done when it feels firm to the touch. You'll also be able to see the white flaky meat in those slits you cut.

While the fish is broiling, fry the garlic, ginger, and white bulb of the onion in the coconut oil. Add the cherry tomatoes and continue to cook till they blister and split a bit. Add the coconut aminos, white balsamic vinegar, and the green stems of the onions. 

When the fish is done, drain some of the oil from the pan. Mackerel is very oily and you don't want to overdo it with the grease. Pour the prepared sauce over the fish and dig in.

Silver Lake Saturdays - Whole 30 Day 10 - Butternut Squash, Parsnip, Leek, Cauliflower "Gratin"

Today was my favorite kind of day. A sunny Silver Lake Saturday when I don't have to do anything, but do just the things I feel like doing. Which today was going to workout at the Silver Lake Reservoir with LA Beach Fit, a trip to the Silver Lake farmers market, a tasty new recipe, and cruising the Sunset Strip with Puppy.

I haven't been to the market (or workout) for a few weeks because I was sick and it's been "cold" (50s-60s). So I think I went a little crazy. In addition to the usual bounty of fruits and vegetables, I stocked up on local sustainable fish, Greek treats (olive spread, garlic spread, and sundried tomatoes), and some cute non-edibles.

Silver Lake Market

Foxy Tote Bag by Berdoo T-shirt

Fun dog print on a couch by Upcycled

After my shopping spree, I went home and threw together this delicious Whole 30 friendly roasted veggie "gratin".

Butternut Squash, Parsnip, Leek "Gratin" with Cauliflower Bechamel

Ingredients

1 butternut squash, peeled and cubed in 1" pieces

1 large parsnip, sliced in rounds about 1/2" thick

1 leek, sliced in rounds (cleaned well)

1 tbsp Whole 30 friendly cooking fat (ghee, coconut oil, etc.)

1/2 head cauliflower florets

1/2 cup coconut milk, or other Whole 30 friendly "milk"

1 garlic clove

3 eggs

salt and pepper

other herbs as desired

This is basically the same cauliflower bechamel sauce that I used in my Paleo Moussaka - I love it that much!

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Toss your chopped up squash, parsnips, and leeks in coconut oil, salt, pepper, and herbs. Roast in the oven for about 15-20 minutes as you prepare the cauliflower bechamel gratin sauce.

Add cauliflower, coconut milk, garlic, salt and pepper in sauce pan. Bring to a boil, then reduce to simmer for about 15 minutes. Remove from heat and blend with an immersion blender. Add the eggs being careful not to let them cook in the hot sauce. It'll look kind of runny and lame - not like a real creamy, rich, non-Whole 30 bechamel sauce at all. But don't worry - the eggs somehow magically make it puff up into deliciousness.

Take out your half roasted veggies and pour the cauliflower bechamel over them. Pop back in the oven for another 25 minutes. You're done!

You could use pretty much any root vegetables for the roasting, I just had this on hand from my farm box and trip to the market. You might also want to add some greens like kale or swiss chard, just be careful to discard some of the water that will be released as they cook or you'll get a watery mess.

Lamb and Orange stew - Day 7

Yesterday was a leftovers day, and today I made new leftovers. I had lamb steaks in the freezer, and there's nothing better than a spiced lamb stew. I've made a few different versions in the past, my favorites using some type of dried fruit. I googled around and saw some versions using orange which I thought I was weird, but I got a ton of oranges in my farmshare so I thought I'd give it a try. Here's the recipe.

2 pounds of lamb meat, trimmed and cut into 1 inch pieces
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp paprika
1 tbsp paleo friendly fat (I used coconut oil)
1 tbsp minced ginger
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 chopped onion
3 celery stalks, chopped
4 carrots, chopped
2 cups stock (beef, chicken, or veggie)
1 blood orange

Mix the spices in a bowl, add lamb and toss to coat. Heat the oil in a large heavy pot, add lamb to pot and saute until brown on all sides. Work in batches so you don't crowd the pan. Remove the meat, add a smidge more oil, then saute onion, garlic, and ginger till onions are translucent. Add back in the meat, remaining vegetables, and stock. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until lamb is tender, about 45 minutes-hour. The longer you simmer, the more tender and flavorful the stew.

Zest the orange peel and set aside. Cut remaining peel and white pith from the oranges and coarsely chop remaining fruit. Add oranges and zest to the stew. Cover and smiier another 15-20 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

I don't have a crockpot, otherwise I would recommend using one. I make a lot of soups and stews. Maybe I should get one!

Bubble, bubble, not too much toil or trouble for this tasty stew

Whole 30 Day 5

Today was Day 5 of the Whole 30 and I feel like I'm still going strong. If you like to cook, this is a great nutrition plan/food lifestyle/diet/whatever you want to call it. I hate using the word diet, because it implies total self-denial and misery. Maybe this is my "new-trition lifestyle"?

Today I got a delivery from my biweekly farmshare from FarmBox LA. I like FarmBox because you can get deliveries weekly or every other week, and they have a variety of sizes and add-ons. I get the basic fruit & veggie share, eggs, chicken, and a fish of the week. I've also tried their cheeses and even probiotic homemade dog food for Puppy. What a spoiled little boy. Plus, your goodies come in this super cute basket!

With today's harvest, I made a prosciutto wrapped rockfish with a lemon, dill, caper sauce. I also roasted some asparagus and French breakfast radishes. Asparagus and French breakfast radishes are SPRINGTIME vegetables. I'm already getting spring veggies! If I were back home in Boston, I'd still be getting kale, potatoes, and squash. And more kale. And more squash. Hooray for Cali!

And I'll also post my bestie's Whole 30 dinner of the day: Eggplant ricotta stacks from the Nom Nom Paleo cookbook. Five days into this culinary adventure and we are Nom Nom addicts. I highly recommend buying the cookbook. Even though you can find a lot of the recipes online, it's really cute in hard copy, and it's always good to support our Asian sistahs!

The other book I read to kick off the Whole 30 was "It Starts With Food" by Melissa & Dallas Hartwig. If you're interested in the "whys" of the Whole 30, it gives a good foundation in nutrition without being too technical or too cheesy.

That's it for Day 5!

Chawanmushi, Paleo Moussaka, and Material Girls

I love weekends because I can just cook up a storm. Eating paleo requires a good amount of work, but it is totally worth it. Plus there are so many great free recipes online that you're never at a loss for inspiration or guidance.

For breakfast, I made a Japanese chawanmushi - a savory egg custard filled with whatever meats or veggies you want. I won't post the recipe since Nom Nom Paleo does such a good step-by-step tutorial here. It seems a little complicated, but you're basically just boiling water, so no sweat. I filled mine with leftover roast chicken, portobello mushrooms, and kale. Somehow the kale all ended up at the bottom. The dish is already pretty paleo, except for substituting soy sauce with gluten-free coconut aminos.

For lunch, I just had leftover avocado chicken salad. But for dinner, I made my new favorite dish - paleo moussaka!! Moussaka is like a Greek shepherd's pie with eggplant, ground lamb or beef, a tomato sauce, and a bechemel sauce. I used this recipe from The Iron You and the cauliflower bechemel sauce she makes is amazing. I halved the recipe because I had only 1 eggplant, but I wish I had tripled the cauliflower sauce. It looks kind of thin and runny before you put it in the oven, but somehow it puffs into this fluffy, polenta-like consistency. And even though I used coconut milk, you really didn't notice the coconut flavor. Seriously it was so good! Nostimo! (That's "delicious", in Greek).

And since I had a Greek-themed dinner, I'd like to send a shout-out to my favorite Greek-American friend, Elaine Dimopoulos, who has a book, "Material Girls", coming out in May! They just released a trailer for her book (which I didn't even know was a thing) and I am so excited to throw her a fabulous LA book tour party. The book is amazing, so I highly recommend pre-ordering it now!

Improv Initiation at UCB, Homemade Bone Broth, and Avocado Chicken Salad

Today I did my first improv performance as the final act of a beginner class I've been taking at the Upright Citizens Brigade. UCB was started in NY by Matt Besser, Amy Poehler, Ian Roberts and Matt Walsh. They have 2 theaters in LA, one of them in a brand new state-of-the-art facility. It has been a great experience, although I've learned I'm not that fast of a verbal thinker on my feet. But I wasn't the least funny person in the class, so that's good. UCB takes a very theory-based approach to teaching improv, plus they give you free entry to shows as a student. Although at $5-10 a ticket, it won't break the bank.

I think I'll probably continue with more classes at UCB, or one of the other major comedy institutions here in LA. But I don't think the casting agents will be banging down my door anytime soon.

As for my Whole 30 progress? Today I invented a pretty cool recipe for lunch, and I made some nourishing bone broth for my cold. For those of you new to the bone broth craze, check out this article from the NY Times. Normally I don't go crazy for fads, but there's nothing I love more than soup so this one was right up my alley. Also as someone more into savories than sweets, it was a nice break from the endless juices of LA.

For my bone broth, I roasted a small cornish hen and 4 marrow bones. For the hen, I mixed some ghee, lemon zest, orange zest, ginger, salt and pepper, and rubbed it all over the little bird. I also put half a lemon and a chunk of ginger inside the cavity of the hen. Then I roasted it in the oven at 450 for about 25 minutes, flipped it over, and roasted it another 25 minutes until it was 165 degrees. After it cooled down, I stripped off all the meat and set it aside for later.

The bone marrow was even easier. Rinse the bones, pat them dry, sprinkle with a little salt, and roast them in the oven for about 15 minutes. I ate the marrow from one of the bones and I swear, my throat felt better immediately. It doesn't look like much but it was delicious!

When all the roasting was done, I threw the meat and bones in my favorite dutch oven. I added 1 leek, a bunch of garlic cloves, 2 carrots, 4 stalks of celery, and about an inch long piece of ginger. I also added 1 tsp of cider vinegar and 2 tbsp of Red Boat fish sauce (paloe friendly). I let that baby simmer for a long time - about 9 hours - until it was rich and golden.

And here's my lunch recipe! Avocado Chicken Salad on Mini Portobello "buns"

I love making chicken salad with leftover roasted chicken, but I didn't have any paleo-friendly mayo. But I had some perfectly ripe avocados - another perk to living in California! So I basically made a "rustic guacamole" with ingredients on hand, mixed in the chicken, and voila! Paleo friendly chicken salad.

Ingredients
Shredded roasted chicken
1 Avocado, mashed
1 shallot
1 clove garlic
lime juice
cayenne pepper
jalapeno (if you have it, I didn't)


Preheat the oven to 350. Mince the shallot and garlic. Mix it with the avocado, lime juice, pepper, and salt and pepper to taste. Let chill in fridge for a few minutes while you prepare the mushroom buns. Hollow out the portobellos and brush them with melted ghee, coconut oil, or other Whole 30 friendly fat. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast in oven for about 8 minutes, flip over for another 5 minutes.

Mix the roasted chicken and avocado mash. Scoop into the mushroom caps and enjoy!


Whole 30 Day 3
Breakfast - kale, pineapple smoothie
Bone broth
Lunch - Avocado chicken salad on portobello buns
Dinner - Himalayan sherpa stew at Tara's Kitchen. This is a tomato-based vegetable soup with chicken and yummy spices. I dream of it on cold(ish) days.

Whole 30 - Day 2

Somehow I've contracted a nasty cold this week. Maybe my East Coast constitution is not used to these West Coast germs? I've passed the worst of it, but my throat is so sore it's made eating a chore. Luckily, my Whole 30 soups have felt pretty good going down. I can't wait to make more this weekend!

Whole 30 Day 2 Menu

Breakfast: scrambled eggs with spinach; fruit

Lunch: Leftover Thai-ish soup

Dinner: NY strip steak, vegan kimchi, leftover Creamy Leftover Veggie Soup

Vegan kimchi??? I was passing a froofy health food store in Los Feliz and they happened to have 4 kinds of kimchi. All of them had sugar except the vegan brand. I actually don't eat kimchi that often, but when I lived in Korea and ate kimchi almost every day for 2 years I never got sick. SARS also didn't hit the country that hard and Koreans attributed it to kimchi. Is kimchi a magical medicinal superfood? or just stinky cabbage? Regardless, it's tasty and if it gets me over this cold faster than I'll eat it.

My bestie also sent me this pic of her Whole 30 soup recipe today. It's the Carrot & Cardamom soup from Nom Nom Paleo.  Poor girl lives in Chicago so I'm sure it really warmed her up today.

Whole 30 - Day 1!

So around new year's I got it into my head to do the Whole 30 diet. The Whole 30 is based on a paleo style diet, but slightly more strict. No dairy, no coffee, no honey, no wine...basically all the best things in life (that you can consume). But I wanted to give myself a reboot, and I convinced some of my besties to do it with me. So we planned and shopped and we're starting today. And I'm going to keep myself accountable on this blog. Sorry for those of you who don't care, but there will be some tasty recipes I'll try to share!

Today's Whole 30 Menu:
Breakfast: kale sautéed in ghee and scrambled eggs
Lunch: Thai-ish pork curry soup
Dinner: Creamy Leftover Veggie soup and Pan-roasted chicken thigh

I need to work on making my pics look more like food porn, but I just want to eat it up! Recipes below. Enjoy!

Creamy Leftover Veggie Soup

Ingredients:
1 leek
3-4 cloves garlic
1/2 cauliflower head, chopped
Chicken or vegetable stock
Coconut milk
Cumin
Sea Salt
Pepper
Any leftover veggies! Tonight I used some leftover spring mix salad greens, Trader Joe's broccoli & carrot slaw, and spinach

Directions:
Saute leeks and garlic in a diputch oven or large pot. Add cauliflower and heartier veggies, like broccoli and carrots. Add about half can of coconut milk and enough stock to cover the veggies. Add 1 tsp cumin, salt and pepper. Let come to a boil and then simmer till cauliflower is softened. Add remaining greens. When the greens have cooked down, take pot off stove and blend the mixture with an immersion blender or blender appliance of choice.

Enjoy!

Thai-ish Pork Curry Soup
I use this soup base with whatever protein and veggies I have on hand. That happens a lot. This is how I did it last night.

1 Shallot
3-5 cloves garlic
1 tsp ginger (fresh or powdered)
Thai green curry
Pork cutlets
Sweet potato
Red pepper
Carrot
Celery
Chicken stock
Coconut milk
1 tbsp Coconut oil
Red Boat fish sauce (gluten free)
Lime juice
1/2 cup pineapple, cut in chunks

Heat the coconut oil in a dutch oven or good simmering pot. Brown the meat on all sides. Remove and set aside. Saute the shallots, garlic, ginger and curry. Add back the meat. Add veggies. Add coconut milk and enough stock to cover everything. Bring to boil and let simmer till your meat is tender. At the end, add 1 tsp fish sauce, 1 tbsp line juice, and throw in some fresh or frozen ( unsweetened) pineapple.

Pork cutlets were all I had on hand and they weren't the best choice for souping. If you have a tougher meat, add your veggies after the meat and broth have simmered a while.

I would have also added some chili peppers if I had some. And thai basil or lemongrass.the options are limitless!

Househunt Week 2

I had another fun weekend of house hunting. Saturday I found a cute, renovated 3-bedroom in an up-and-coming neighborhood in Mt. Washington, which borders Highland Park. It was 80% perfect, which was good but not quite good enough. The common space had an awkward layout which couldn't really accommodate a living room and dining space well, and the closets were small. But I was really excited by the outdoor space which was completely bare. I could envision my little grill and dining patio, a vegetable patch, some fruit trees and a hammock, and xeriscape drought resistant plants...But I think I can find something better which already has most of that stuff in place. And a place for my tv.

Today I looked at some condos around Culver City, which is on the West side of Los Angeles. One of the units was really nice, but it was in a huge complex which I didn't love. I live in a big complex now, and while it's nice to feel kind of cloistered, it has its inconveniences as well. Plus, I really don't like carpet and all the places I saw on the West side had beige carpet. 

I also like the idea of living in an area which is in transition. The last few places I've lived went through major development while I was there - Red Hook Brooklyn and East Cambridge. It's exciting to see a neighborhood changing before your eyes, and NELA feels like a real community. Yesterday there was a street fair on York Street with local artists and vendors, kids and dogs running around, etc. What's not to love?

Chalk art

Yarn bombed bike rack

Househunter Los Angeles

Spring is in the air in Los Angeles. While it is pretty much 70 and sunny all the time, December-January had a somewhat "wintery" feel at night. Cooler temperatures, more rain and overcast skies...I know this is nothing compared to what my hometown of Boston is experiencing right now so I'll just be quiet. But this week I definitely felt a slight seasonal shift. Cherry blossom trees suddenly exploded with pink and white flowers, and I almost hit a hummingbird on my way to work! I didn't even know hummingbirds lived here!

With spring, comes real estate season. After spending a week at home in the cold, snowy climes of Boston, I realized I was ready to a.) never live another winter and b.) find a real home to settle down in. Originally I was planning to wait another year. I wanted to try renting somewhere on the West Side to try out a new neighborhood and test the commute. And who knew? Maybe I would start to hate LA like many people do. But after seeing all that snow back home, I decided I'm ready to take the plunge. Plus interest rates are at an all-time low, so if I buy now, I can afford more home than if I wait another year. 

So this weekend I checked out my first round of open houses. The housing market in LA is crazy right now. A house will go on the market one day and be gone the next. Prices are pretty outrageous depending on neighborhood, but at least you can get more for your money here. For instance $500K could get me a nice 2BR condo or house with decent amenities, whereas I don't think I could even find that in Brooklyn now.

Of the 8 places I saw this weekend, only 2 caught my fancy. And both demonstrate the decisions I need to start making:

1. Condo or house? Do I want to deal with maintenance? Or do I want to pay an HOA fee (which range from $300-400)
2. Urban or Suburban? Do I want to feel like I'm in the middle of the action? or do I want a private oasis away from the traffic, noise, and griminess of LA?
3. Beach or Mountains? This is the best part about LA. You can live close to beautiful beaches or have spectacular mountain views. The closer you get to the beach, the pricier it is.

The first place that I saw and liked was a brand new development in Eagle Rock - an up-and-coming neighborhood between other more up-and-arrived neighborhoods in Northeast LA. The interiors were gorgeous, spacious, and modern. And there is the option to design some of your own fixtures (at extra cost). And the price was right. BUT it was on a really busy 3-lane boulevard and next to a small freeway. So while it was perfect on the inside, once you step outside or even open a window, you feel like your on a highway. Puppy and I did not move to LA to stay inside.

The second place I saw was a charming cottage which needed some updating, but it was a private oasis with amazing mountain views and outdoor space. I actually liked the vintage kitchen since it suited the character of the space. And I could really picture myself kicking back and relaxing in front of my picture window with a glass of wine and Puppy on my lap. But it was a little on the high end of my price range considering it needed work, and it was on top of a mountain with very narrow streets. This doesn't affect me too much, but I think it would be tough for car-less visitors or roommates. It was also a bit further off the beaten path in Mt. Washington, which is next to the hip neighborhood of Highland Park.

Not bad for my first weekend though. Here's hoping I can find something inbetween these two to call home!

Return of the blog! West Coast Edition!

Do people still blog? It's been a long time since I lasted posted to this blog - almost 3 years. What happened?! A lot. Since my last post, I became a workaholic at a new job, went totally crazy, had the last straw with winter, and finally quit the job and winter and moved to Los Angeles. But don't worry, I won't become, like, totally LA. I mean, you'll probably see more posts about smoothies and bootcamp, but I still eat lots of yummy bad food. I'll probably start a new home search sometime in the next year, which means new DIY projects. My new LA life allows me the time to be interesting again, in a crafty/cooking/old lady kind of way. Just the way I like it. So welcome to the new and not-quite-improved blog - West Coast Edition!

In the meantime, I've kept up my crafting obsession, especially as my friends and family have kept up their procreation activities. Most recently I finished some baby quilts. Quilting is great because it is so much faster than knitting. But it requires way more precision and careful measuring than I am capable of. Plus, I hate ironing and you have to iron every little piece, and then again and again. But these turned out beautiful and the recipients were happy with them.

Korean alphabet quilt - pattern from Monomo at Etsy

Amurican alphabet & numbers quilt - these were for twins so they both got their own

Baby Athena's quilt inspired by Cluck Cluck Sew

Most of the materials were fat quarters I bought at my favorite craft store in Cambridge, MA - Gather Here. For Athena's quilt I created one of the fabrics on Spoonflower.com using the logo from my college a capella group (which her mother was in). Surprisingly I also found some cute material at Target. Who knew Target carried fat quarters?

And in case you're wondering, Puppy is enjoying his new life in the California sun! Here he is modeling a cute dinosaur hat (Dino Cap by Kris Hanson on Ravelry)