Saturday, May 29, 2010

Happy Memorial Day!

Some vintage photographs and ads from the 50's and 60's to prepare you for your BBQ.

Love a woman in a fabulous dress & full makeup grilling the world's largest steak with one hand and holding a stick of butter in the other. She is perched elegantly next to a disposable grill.

My back hurts looking at this photo. Grills must be seated or standing level. Always.
Always have beer.
I love eating pork & beans straight from the can. I will make this. This is how all of my guests dress for my barbecues. A glass of milk to go with your hamburger?
My brother still loves a cold glass of milk with his dinner. My family usually serves bread with butter with all of our meals. I believe this may be another habit from the past...
The dapper Duncan Hines in 1952.You can't go wrong with kebobs.

Yes, the California barbecue can't be beat. Happy Memorial Day!

Thank you to the veterans who have died serving our country.

Thursday, May 27, 2010

Swinging Star Wars

Someone asked me to blog about Star Wars. Every single time someone mentions Star Wars, I think of Nick Winters aka Bill Murray crooning his own take of the Star Wars theme song. Can you tell who's on piano?*


This song always makes me smile.


*Paul Shaffer from Letterman!

Strange Magic

I love art featuring gals solo, especially when something strange is happening.



April Brimer's "Strange Magic" Opening Reception is June 3rd but it's in Seattle :(
For my LA peeps, she displays some of her work with www.wandrdesign.com

Far4
1020 First Avenue
Seattle, WA 98104

check out more of her work at:
http://www.aprilbrimer.com/

Monday, May 24, 2010

Almond Joy of Cooking

Nice photobomb @hoverkitten!I love Almond Joys and wanted to try my hand at making candy, so I thought Food & Wine's Coconut Chocolate Candy Bars sounded great. There was no photo provided, but the recipe popped up as a staff favorite, so I thought I'd give it a try.

WARNING. Heed the following bits of advice before attempting these tricky treats yourself

1. Unsweetened coconut is hard to find. I found it at Gelson's after going to Ralph's, Bristol Farms, Pavillions & Trader Joe's.

2. You're gonna stir that coconut milk for more than 45 minutes. Nonstop. It can be hard to find too, but I found it in the Asian foods section of Ralph's.

So I started with two pots cooking, but wait to melt the chocolate. It takes less than 5 minutes to melt, while making the coconut filling takes about an hour.

The best part of making this recipe? Toasted coconut smells heavenly. Don't be tempted to buy the sweetened or it will taste WAY too sweet. This is just shredded coconut spread on a sheet, in the oven for 4 minutes and done. After making the devil's brew that is the coconut/coconut milk/corn syrup/butter concoction, I let it cool in the fridge. This is when you should melt the chocolate and spread a thick layer of it on a cookie sheet w/ wax paper. I patted the filling onto the cooled spread out dark chocolate, then drizzled the rest of the chocolate on top.
You can see I didn't make a thick enough base. It's top heavy, but it tastes like a yummy almond joy or Mounds I guess, since there aren't any Almonds in it! Sprinkling almond slices on top would not only make it prettier but tastier too. (It's so tasty too! Vitameatavegamin anyone?)

Here's the recipe with my notes in italics:

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups unsweetened shredded coconut
One 14-ounce can unsweetened coconut milk, stirred
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
11 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped and melted

Directions

1.Preheat the oven to 350°. Spread the shredded coconut on a baking sheet and toast until lightly golden, about 4 minutes. Let cool completely.

2.In a medium saucepan, combine the coconut milk with the sugar, corn syrup and 4 tablespoons of the butter. Cook over moderately low heat, stirring frequently, until thick as jam, about 40 minutes. Remove from the heat and whisk in the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter and the toasted coconut. Transfer to a bowl and let cool.

3. Now begin melting the dark chocolate. I used a bag of dark chocolate chips. Cover a baking sheet with wax paper. Using an offset spatula, spread half (or more) of the melted chocolate on the wax paper in a 10-by-7-inch rectangle. Refrigerate until firm, about 10 minutes. Spread the coconut mixture over the chocolate and refrigerate until set, about 10 minutes. Spread the remaining melted chocolate over the coconut (and add almond slivers if you like while it's still wet) and refrigerate until firm, about 20 minutes. Trim the edges of the rectangle, then cut into 40 squares. Cover and refrigerate until serving.

Another link to the recipe

Saturday, May 22, 2010

Pink Lincoln

Who likes Abraham Lincoln?
Who likes Disney?
Who likes the color pink?
You're gonna love Mark Ryden (if you didn't already.)

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Dreaming Kitty

This overcast, rainy weather makes me want to stay in bed watching movies.
I just want to sleep in bliss like this sweet kitty.
25 seconds of perfect cuteness.

Sunday, May 16, 2010

Miss USA

I had heard such a ruckus about the racy Miss USA photos, which don't seem all that bad compared to these! Ok, this first photo I love. She looks fresh faced and gorgeous. I need her false eyelashes. So who was doing the makeup & jewelry for the rest of the contestants?Shame on whoever is to blame! What a difference styling can make. But wait. I just learned the pageant is in Las Vegas. Starting to get it now.

Good luck ladies. I'll be tuning in to see you gorgeous freaks of nature and waiting with bated breath to see who will be this year's Carrie Prejean.

Thursday, May 13, 2010

LA By Design

Some snaps from events of late. First, the Legends of La Cienega 2010.
Ron Woodson, Peter Gurski, moi, Jaime Rummerfield & Romain Bouticourt.One daytime shot with Cassandra LaValle of coco+kelley!Next, Kahi Lee threw a party for Facehunter Yvan Rodic inside the penthouse she designed at the W Hotel in Hollywood.
With beautiful Nina Petronzio of Plush Home.
Kahi Lee of HGTV flanked by boys.

Saturday, May 08, 2010

In God We Trust

Henri Cartier-Bresson shot these images for the 1960 annual report of Bankers Trust Company. Each photo tells such a story.
This is a drop in the well of his incredible work. The French photographer was a master of candid photography.
His work is on display at MOMA until late June, but you can view more online here.

It is through living that we discover ourselves, at the same time as we discover the world around us. - Henri Cartier-Bresson, 1952

Thursday, May 06, 2010

The Black Keys

I'm still in a state of disbelief that these two guys from Ohio are The Black Keys.

But they're the real deal.
I just bought tickets to see them this fall & I'm obsessed with their album & the video below.
It's an homage to Howlin' Wolf, makes fun of videos with bikini-clad babes, looks like it was cheap to make & has hints of Triumph the Comic Dog. How can one resist?


It doesn't show the full screen. Click here to link to the vid.

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