Spring Chowder

Well maybe its not a real chowder because the soup was not that thick, but it was sure tasty!

I made one serving just for me. I am so selfish!

Here are some little chopped up potatoes.

Lemon thyme and chives from my garden.

Here is the thyme in my herb garden.

Here are the chives too. I just love their little purple flowers. I love having an herb garden all year round. I am actually going to expand it this spring. Also I ordered nine heirloom tomato starts from a grower up north on etsy. We didn't have time to do our own this year. Next year though I am planning to go off. My husband is currently building special beds for his succulents which I can also use as a cold frame for next year. He is also installing poles for a shade system over the portion of our backyard that we use for his nursery and our vegetable beds. The summers are pretty brutal here and a lot of time our veggies eat it by the time August rolls around.

Recipe for chowder

Half an ear of fresh corn

half of a red onion

two small red potatoes about 2 to 3 ounces

a couple of sprigs of thyme

a small bundle of chives chopped

half a cup of whole milk

one cup water

half a teaspoon of butter

a pinch of red pepper flakes

one ounce of ham

In a small pot melt your butter on medium heat (also I used a 1/4 butter and 1/4 olive oil) add salt and pepper( to your taste) your chopped up thyme and your chopped onion until soft. I cooked mine until it was browned because that's how I like it. Then add milk, water, and potatoes. I brought the mixture up to a boil and then brought down the mixture to a simmer for about 10 minutes. Be sure to keep stirring so the milk doesn't burn or form a skin. At this point I added the corn and chives to the pot. I brought it back up to a boil and then turned it off. You can continue to keep cooking it if its too watery for you. That's what I did. Then I chopped up my ham and fried it in a pan until it was browned. I didn't add any oil for this. You could use bacon or prosciutto. I used ham because of the left overs from Easter. You could even put chopped up smoked salmon in it as well or no meat at all. Pour your soup into a bowl, add your chili flakes or not and ham. You could also change the ration of water and milk or you could use cream but that's a lot of cream or you could just use milk. I used that ratio because I didn't want to use that much whole milk. The whole soup had about 344 calories and was satisfying. Experiment with what you have that's what I do. Enjoy!

Anita O'Day - Trav'lin' light

I love this song. I love this version. I hope you like it too. Grab yourself a cocktail and relax.

Easter Celebration

This year Easter was a meatapalooza (i seriously wonder about my spelling sometimes....did you catch my previous ridiculous spelling of that word?). I am not complaining though. Sometimes I feel bad for the husband. He is a vegetarian. Yum brown sugared and honeyed ham is whats above.


We always have an array of Italian things since my step father is well Italian. One of the meats above is mortadella(i think thats how you spell it) with pistachios....yum and more yum. I swear I could eat slices and slices of that and be happy.

Of course there are always Italian sausages cooked in a crock pot for ages. They literally melt in your mouth and you can practically spread them on your bread.

My mother is hilarious. She made ina gartens coconut cupcakes. They looked really pretty but then she tells you "there not so great." Which is funny because she makes them for practically every function we have. Well the kids liked them.

Here is my mothers little Easter tree with decorations and all.

Oh yes and Easter Baskets for all the small children that came. I dont get one anymore. How sad. When I was a kid my Easter basket was filled with markers,glue, crayons,paint, and a huge pack of colored construction paper. I wish someone would make me one now. Oh well at least the eats were fantastic and I got to drink loads of wine. That always makes for a great day!

19th century man in Japan

19th century man in Japan, a photo by chimurenga on Flickr.

I was recently looking at a lot of different sets of photos from 19th century japan when i came across this man. Its from chimurenga's flickr set. Anyway he is so super dreamy and handsome. He makes me want to write love stories about him.

Easter Hare

Coloring eggs is my favorite Easter time activity. So I am passing this tradition on to my children.

Usually I just use food color in my cabinet but Sophie asked for the paas egg coloring box at the store.

I think they turned out pretty well.

Here she is making crazy faces while I tried to tell her about the Easter hare that laid eggs and how eggs represent life and the goddess of spring Ostara or sometimes better known as Eastre or Eostre. I like the pagan version of this holiday as we are not religious in a western sense. The stories are fun and meaningful.

I believe the coloring of eggs came from rituals in Persia.

Sophie dumped out all of the coloring solution in the sink and asked me to take a picture of her plastic container mountain.

Here is my VERY messy and scary kitchen. Its amazing how an hour of my family being in here does this.

Here is dinner from Friday. Roasted pork tenderloin.....the other white meat. I hope you have a great day. Last year there was an earthquake in Mexicali. I thought I had a little too much to drink as the room started to sway.

Martha Tilton - "A Little Jive Is Good For You" (1941)

I havent posted any music lately what a shock. This is one of those soundies from the 1940s. Its like the music videos of their day. I love this one a lot. The guy with the bandages on his head is hilarious and to me he looks a little bit of george bush jr which i could totally see acting like this dude for fun when he has had too much to drink or maybe not. Perhaps its just my vision of our past goofball president. Enjoy

Baked Eggs

They had mozzarella, green onions, and a little cream.



They formed holes in the center when they cooked.

To me they were over cooked yet edible. Some may think I am sick but I kind of like my eggs runny. I think thats why I really prefer a fried or poached egg. I also made some crappy desserts with the left over caramel. They looked pretty but that was about it. I will post those later.

Indonesian Donut Shop?

Last week my husband had some days off so we had breakfast here.

My daughter is constantly begging to come here.

I think every little girl always gets a donut with sprinkles. I did but now I think they taste terrible as I dont like donuts. They always give me a stomach ache now if I eat one.

So I had a ham and cheese croissant with jalapenos and it was tasty.

I think they ladies that run the place are indonesian as its decorated with all kind of fabulous art.

Maybe they are not? I dont know but everything they sell is sure tasty!

Hideaki Akaiwa

I dont know who to credit this picture to but I read a story about this man and well he is totally my hero. Go here to read the story. Thanks anna!

the toy dolls - i've got asthma

So I have a lot of pictures of some cooking I did last week and other activities too. I over did it and activated my asthma so its been a pretty crappy time here. The house is a mess and there are tons of dishes and my husband even had to take some days off to chase after the children. On the good side I have caught up on some of my animes....Hooray. So I thought I would share one of my favorite songs from the 80's by the toy dolls. Enjoy!

Santa Monica

My friend recently moved to the beach at the end of last year.

How cool do the inside courtyards look?

Here is the view from the street above pacific coast highway. In the wee distance is the Santa Monica Pier.

Pretty ocean!

Here is the walking pathway on Ocean Ave. This picture is taken from the rooftop of her building. There are little chairs and some table up there too.

My friend also made dinner.

It was sausage and chicken gumbo.....my pictures of it are not so great as i had a lot of wine.

She made apple compote for the vanilla ice cream too.

Here is a picture of downtown Los Angeles from the Santa Monica freeway on the way home.

Left Over Mash Up

Take some red rose potatoes and cauliflower and steam them about 10 to 15 minutes....

Chop up some left over cheese. I had dubliner.

Then mash it up while the veggies are hot. Add a dash of your cream that is on the way out and some butter.I also used salt and pepper.

Then EAT. Yum indeed....right Rita? I was thinking about her last post when i said yum. Well you could just use some olive oil, salt, and pepper. That would be equally delicious but i had a whole bunch of stuff that needed to be used. Oh yeah i also steamed some garlic cloves too.

Aqua de Beber - Astrud Gilberto

Some music to go with a pretty sunny day here in california....i am off to the beach.

Vibrant Dreams

are what this anthropologie catalogue is giving me.

I love lanterns and these lanterns are very cool.

Seriously....i need this couch in my house.

This bathing suit cover up is some modern fantasy designed by Endora. I think that was her name. You know Samantha's mother from the tv show Bewitched. I thought Endora was the coolest dressed lady ever with fabulously coiffed carrot colored hair and a witch to boot but i digress. Anyway i love these catalogues. Where do they find these colorful chipping dreamy places to shoot....its like post apocalyptic chic....im in love with it too.

Kruder & Dorfmeister - High Noon - Bossa Stone

Here is some relaxing music...its an oldie but goodie....love the k&d....they make me feel like a lounge lizard.

Old Plants New Plants

This week i also dismantled some succulent arrangements i made.....maybe you saw them here....maybe you didnt.

Succulents are so easy to propagate. I just cut the stems and dipped in rooting hormone (you dont even have to do that) and then placed them in pots.They will be rooted in a couple of weeks. Easy as pie except this is easier than pie!