Car Horn Concert (via www.zefrey.com)

Enter artist Zefrey Throwell,  known for his birthday suit antics on Wall Street. Part migraine inducing noise, part whimsical fun, “Entropy Symphony: Movement III” interjected a music of sorts to Los Angeles last Wednesday, performed by a most apropos instrument, our car horns. All told, the symphony in five parts featured 1,000 car horns, honking in time from freeways to hillsides during the 6pm commute.

But how can you not obsess about this craftsmanship by artist Lisa Nilsson? Her work puts my piss poor giftwrapping non skills in the corner … for life. Enjoy.

Profile (detail) 2011

Abdomen 2011

Thorax 2011

Abdomen (detail)

Female Torso 2010

Male Torso 2010

Directed by AB/CD/CD

First we went to Spice Station, an aromatic subterranean respite from oh-so-hot sidewalk jungle.

Rainbow Jars

Overhead Spices

Spices - big jars.

Outside the Spice Station

Bar Keeper Droppers

We closed out the day at Café Stella – a shady (as in, protected from the sun) little sweetheart of a restaurant. It’s worth mentioning that the service here is terrible, but the atmosphere makes up for it.

Rosé Reflection - Stellas

Pretty Plant - Outside Intelligentsia

 

 

Being on Pinterest has really opened my eyes for art … partially because I “follow” really cool, artsy people, like Courtney Blazon, who post really cool images by illustratresses like Angie Wang, for whom I am going bananas ATM. Here are some of my favorites:

Angie Wang, Secret Jungle. 2011

Angie Wang, The Story of Beauty. 2011

Angie Wang, Cassowary Jones Versus The Frivolous Wolves. 2011

Angie Wang, Lotus Attack. 2011

Angie Wang, Annie Duels The Sun. 2010

Angie Wang, Nightmare. 2009

Angie Wang, Fursuit Triptych. 2009

Angie Wang, Young Monsters. 2009

PS: If you are not on Pinterest, but you want to be, message me, and I’ll send you an invite. I’m a really nice person.

Ingredients

ingredients:

1 c. butter ( I prefer salted )

1/2 c. powdered sugar

1 tsp Good quality vanilla

2 c. sifted flour

1/4 t. salt

1 c. chopped pecans (if raw, toast first then chop by hand )

First thing you want to do is toast the pecans. You can do this in a pan or in the oven but make sure to keep a careful eye on them as you dont want them to burn.

Once out of the oven chop them up to around the consistency pictured above.

Using a stand up or hand mixer blend butter, sugar, vanilla and pecans. Next add flour and salt then mix well. Make sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl as it will be very sticky.

Wrap dough in plastic wrap disc and chill for 1 hour.

Form crescent shapes with scooper and hands.

We had a visitor.

Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes depending on your oven. Keep an eye on this as well. The color will be a nice golden brown along the bottom of the cookie. This is when they should be about done. You can smell these buttery delights from down the hall.

Let cookies cool on wire rack for about 30 minutes.

Cover in powdered sugar.

Viola! Enjoy!!

Red, Green, Yellow, Green, Red, Green

SALAD
2 cups whole wheat (pref gluten free) pasta
1 can black olives, sliced (and divided in half)
1 zucchini, chopped
3 oz. grape tomatoes, sliced in half
1 yellow bell pepper, seeded and chopped
4 stalks of celery
1 cup artichoke hearts packed in water, drained and chopped
1/2 cup roasted red peppers packed in water, drained and chopped (fresh is good too)
crumbled feta (I used sheep’s milk feta) – however cheesy you like for salads to be

Chia Gel

DRESSING
1/3 cup chia seeds
2 cups water
1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
Dash of kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 tablespoon dijon mustard
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup fresh basil
(cayenne pepper if desired)

1. Put water in a bowl and add chia seeds. Stir and let it sit for 10 minutes. Stir again and let it sit for another ten minutes. Refrigerate. (This will make more chia gel than you need for the dressing, but you can add it to all sorts of other things for protein and goodness)

2. While chia gel forms, cook pasta according to package instructions

3. Meanwhile, combine basil, 1/2 of the olives, red pepper and goat cheese in a large bowl.

4. Once chia gel has formed, make dressing by combining the other half of the olives, balsamic vinegar, 1/3 cup of chia gel, salt, black pepper, dijon and garlic in a blender or food processor. Blend until smooth.

Mixing pasta salad

5. The pasta should be ready now – so drain it and then rinse with cool water. Toss the pasta with the vegetable mixture and add dressing. Mix together and chill for at least 30 minutes.

6. Enjoy.

Introducing: The Strange Planet Animals by thegoodmachinery. I can sleep better knowing I’m not alone in wanting to live in a world where giraffes are neon pink and gold. Dig it.

Pink and gold horse

Pink Polka Dot Hippo

Neon Metallic Giraffe

Gold Dot Bear

Neon Zebra

Hot Dog

Metallic + Neon Zoo

According to Wiki: Lionel Sternberger is reputed to have invented the cheeseburger in the mid-1920s at the age of 16 when he was working as a fry cook at his father’s Pasadena, California sandwich shop, “The Rite Spot,” and “experimentally dropped a slab of American cheese on a sizzling hamburger.”

This week is Pasadena Cheeseburger Week.  A celebration of Lionel’s All-American saturated fat nightmare. Of course we had to see it for ourselves.

Beer

My burg: w/ hot peppers on a hawaiian bread bun

It is worth mentioning that neither of us actually got cheeseburgers. Logan was sucked in by a bacon covered hot dog and as I am dairy impaired, I got a plain burg with peppers – it’s the thought that counts.

Bacon wrapped, sauce covered hot dog

Tots

Directed/edited by Jeri Rafter and sang/danced/twirled by Kati O’Toole.

Tonight, I invented a sneak attack masterpiece.

Yum.

BUFFALO CHICKEN POCKETS

CRUST

2 3/4 cups whole wheat pastry flour + extra
1 tsp. kosher salt
1 tbsp. garlic powder
1 tbsp. onion powder
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk + an extra 1/4 cup additiona

INSIDE
1 1/2 cups cooked chicken, shredded (2 breasts)
5 oz. Goat Cheddar (or any goat cheese will do), grated (or broken)
3-4 tbsps Frank’s Red Hot sauce
6-7 dashes Worcestershire sauce

Cook chicken however you like – I used a bit of olive oil on the skillet and cooked it on low.

While chicken is cooking heat oven to 375.

Next, put flower, salt, garlic powder and onion powder into a mixing bowl and mix. Measure almond milk and oil in the same cup.  Mix liquids with dry ingredients until you have firm dough.  If it’s hot where you are, like it is in LA, slowly add in a bit of the extra almond milk.

Place dough in a floured surface and roll it out into a 1/8 inch thin layer. Using a 4 inch round cookie cutter cut the dough into circles. I don’t have any large cookie cutters, so I used a cereal bowl to cut out 6 dough circles. Heat oven to 375.

Set dough circles aside and mix together hot sauce and worcestershire sauce (in a separate bowl). Chicken should be cooked by now. Shred it with a fork. Mix together the shredded chicken and hot sauce / worcestershire mixture. (yummy!).

And now the fun part – place the shredded chicken and put it in the center of the dough circle. Sprinkle cheese atop the chicken. Fold the dough over into a semicircle. Crimp over the edges and arrange on a greased baking sheet. Sprinkle cheese on top. Bake for 20-30 minutes or until golden in color.

ENJOY!