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Just a quick post to let you guys know that I am back. I did not eat the doughnuts, but was exposed to a lot of stuff that I just don’t eat anymore. Had a wonderful trip in my new home town. Didn’t have to go to DisneyLand and I’ve got the best suntan I’ve had since I’ve moved to California. I still have the weird tan lines on my thighs. Oh well.

Totally fell in love with the children. Who wouldn’t? Look at them.

Each morning after a fun filled day we would compare injuries from the previous day’s activities. Luca was the winner from his wave boarding and body surfing experiences. We dubbed him “King of the Injuries”. Somehow a 12 year old boy doesn’t mind all of the cuts and scapes, I still wince when I bend my little finger that I injured playing beach football. I miss the Germans but I’m glad to be back.

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Today is a quiet Sunday at the homestead. Decided I would try to gather some fruit that grows wild along the fence in the outdoor living room. I was surprised at how much fruit I was able to get off the vine. I think I’ll try to make a cobbler for dinner tomorrow night. Val and I are in heated dispute about just what type of berries these happen to be. He calls them blackberries, I think they are bigger and redder than the ones in Louisiana. A friend came and gave them a different name, but heck if I can remember it. If you have any ideas I would love to hear your comments.

Please note the prickly thorns that run along the vine, plus they have stickers below the leaves. It is difficult to get the fruit without getting injured. I don’t think the birds even try. Here is a photo of my forearm having a slight anaphylactic response to a scrape.

Shout out to all the Father’s in the blog universe, Happy D-Day!

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Yesterday, was a day for Laurie Girl on the Go to spend some time with her nursing friends, Sandy and Susan. First stop was Cerritos College to see the end of year woodworking and manufactoring exhibit at this year’s Student Appreciation Day.

Years ago, when I first moved to Long Beach these new friends and home owners decided we should take a wood working class so that we could be handy around our recently bought homes that were in major need of repair. What were we thinking? Woodworking is hard and takes years of practice. Plus they were teaching us how to make things not repair things. The class was loads of fun. I’ve learned to really love the wood and have a deep respect for the craftsmanship in every table, box or cabinet I saw.

Being a new member of the blogging community. I neglected to remember my camera so here is a photo of the my only fully completed project from my class. A beautiful “push stick” made out of cherry.

For those of you who might not be familiar with a “push stick”, it is a tool used in the wood shop to push the wood near the saws so as not to put your vulnerable fingers near the menacing teeth. If you could have only seen the moldy piece of raw wood from which this stick was rendered, you might have a greater appreciation for the hours of cutting, sanding and oiling it took to bring it to its luminous finish. For the moment I use it as a trivet in the kitchen and think fondly of those days in “the shop”.

It was wonderful to be back among the men and woman, surrounded by nice people who had such pleasure in their art. Their pieces of craftsmanship put my push stick to shame. We ran into a former class mate who had built a 4 car garage next to his house and converted it to a woodshop. Although he stated he didn’t spend enough time in the shop, he had two beautiful jewelry boxes in the exhibit. Ahh…to be there again was great.

Maintaining my persona as “Girl on the Go” the nurses stopped at a uniform shop for much needed new nursing outfits then a quick stop at TJ Maxx for a new bathing suit. I hadn’t gotten the memo that swimming was on the agenda for the day. We headed to Susan’s for a dip in her pool. It was a great way to beat the 100 degree heat wave.

The evening ended with dinner at one of our favorite restaurants, The Fish Company. Last night’s dinner choice was crab stuffed halibut with a mushroom cream sauce. Could have been something I had gotten in New Orleans except with a different fish. Tasty, fresh and cooked to perfection, plus they held the lemon which made me really happy.

Wow, what a day. Thanks nursing friends for a wonderful adventure and helping me discover what size clothes I wear.

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Last night we had our first feast under the vine at K&V’s house. It was in honor of M&M’s stop over in Long Beach during their Pie In the Sky Part II road-trip. You can read all about M&M’s adventures at M&M’s incremental updates (see link in blogroll).

It was a wonderful night of good food, great friends and dogs. K&V once again orchestrated a killer evening of food. Everyone commented on my new look. The dogs were on their best behavior sniffing around for a bite of steak or lick of custard. Ahh….what a great life I’m living. I want to keep it.

For the foodies in the loop here is our menu followed by some snaps of us enjoying the time and space convergence of our lives. Love to all and Happy Trails M&M!

The Food:

A carpaccio of beef with a selection of olive oils
Roasted artichokes
Walnuts and dates with Parmigiano Reggiano
olives and pickles
Cocktails and champagne

Steak Frites with a variety of sauces
Val’s glazed farmers market carrots
A salad of arugula with beets, oranges and goat cheese
Brunello di Montalcino

Spring berries with bay leaf custard
Coffee, port and champagne

The Friends:

Bloggers go wild vying for best photo.

Good conversation & happy glow

The Poodle

Michelle & Nuala bonded over having the same hair texture and color.

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Today is the first day to return to the Farmer’s Market and Trader Joe’s after the crisis turned to epiphany defrosting of the crap-shit. It was like I wearing a new pair of glasses. Nothing seemed that interesting, maybe it was due to the heat. We are in the midst of a two day heat wave which has all Californians grumbling. I swear for a land that has a climate variation of 20 degrees all year long (at least that is what it feels like to me) these people do a lot of complaining and commenting on the weather. Heaven forbid if there is a gray cloud in the sky. For whatever reason - heat, sanity, or exhaustion from all that cooking I did last week - this was my food and flower purchases for today.

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If you look on the blogroll you might notice a new link has been added. My friend, Angela Agosta, is a woman created for social impact in the world. In the year that I have known her she has traveled to Kenya to work in a secular mission. Literally leaving Kenya the day of the elections, thus avoiding the violence. You can read about her work in Africa in her December, 2007 archive.

Angela’s latest adventure has her working as a North Pacific Groundfish Observer off the coast of Alaska. For those of us who love our sablefish (a.k.a. black cod) Angela’s recent post shows how these men plus one woman work to bring us dinner on the table. For now her posts will be infrequent since she is spending 4-6 weeks on the Bering Sea. It amazes me that this blond hair, green eyed cutie is willing to put herself in such dangerous situations. Enjoy. -

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Hello - Today is the day for “Laurie Girl on the Go” to be sitting still while the GE repair man sets about fixing my five thousand dollar crap-shit of a Monogram refrigerator. I’m not sure if I should start my blog with the words crap-shit, but so it goes. Those of you that know me know the turmoil I’ve had with the high end appliances that I put in my super state of the art kitchen. In the past four years each of the appliances have had major parts burning up or burning out; requiring lengthy repairs and complete overhaul. These stainless-steel covered nemesis have dogged my journey in creating a perfect cooking environment. I have come to refer to these costly monsters as “crap-shits.” Here is my latest story -

Sunday morning I woke up to find a puddle of water on the kitchen floor outside the freezer. Everything inside was melting. Quick action and I was able to save all of the stuff from the bottom baskets and put them in the outside freezer. An old Kenmore model that I inherited from K&V. This White Knight has not given us any trouble.

When I returned home from the Farmer’s Market I was ready to face the beached whale that was rotting in my kitchen. In my fury to get out of the house I neglected to notice the recent Costco purchases of pork chops and Teriyaki Meatballs. Next shelf I discovered my Louisiana food hoard of crawfish tails, andouille sausage, frozen turkey gumbo, merlitons with shrimp. The list kept growing. Top shelves frozen dinners and leftovers that needed to either be pitched or eaten. What was I going to do with all of this food?

I had already told myself I was willing to throw out the TV dinners and junk that I had been saving for emergency back-up meals when I didn’t want to cook. Disposing of some of my new foods discoveries was starting to hurt. I knew I wouldn’t be able to cook, eat or store all of the food that was left in the belly of the whale.

As I was taking food to the garage I was constantly thinking of meals I could make, who I could invite for dinner, who did I know that liked to cook, what foods worked on individual food plans. My nursing training helps me assess and plan during a crisis. By the end of the excavation everything had either been transported to the back Kenmore or placed in the garbage and I had a plan.

I phoned K&V and asked them over for chicken dinner Monday night. Josh got a lunch of crawfish grits and given Teriyaki meatballs to take to his poker game. Chris G. & Roy took some of the pork chops off my hands. The plan was working. Everyone was willing to commit to helping me eat my food. I started to relax and realize that things were going to be okay. Phew.

Then I started to question what was a single girl doing with so much food? I mean good god! I always joke that I’m a quasi family of four, but I was shopping like I was feeding a family of four on a daily basis. And I’m talking a hearty family of four . A single girl doesn’t need this much food. A family of four doesn’t need this much food. What was I doing with all this food?

I realized that I just loved buying food. I loved the look, texture and feel of each item I had purchased. Anticipating what I would make or how it would taste. Finding a new item I’d never tried, had to be bought. Might never be made, just knowing that I owned it was enough for me. I never wanted to run to the grocery to buy food on the spur of the moment. If my vegetable bin was empty I would start to panic. I know I am a compulsive overeater. Now I am seeing that I am a compulsive food over-buyer.

Yikes, that hurts. I’ve started rethinking not only how I consume food, but how I purchase it. I need to make honorable and wise food purchases. Stop the hoarding. Stop the impulse buying. No more chicken thighs twenty thighs at a time. Can you hear the angels singing? It sounds like freedom. It sounds like sanity.

Okay that being said, here’s the insanity. I’m still going to allow myself one decadent pleasure with food. A foodie must have her pleasure. I reserve the option to purchase sensuous shaped fruits or vegetables that I find at the Farmer’s market. Right now I have a well shaped sweet potato that reminds me of a Botero nude. Besides, who wouldn’t want this beauty laying around the house?

As for the Monogram refrigerator. After 2 hours of serious service repair. Terrance, the wonderful GE repair man, discovered that the main circuit board had gotten stuck in the defrost cycle so that is why everything was melting. When he changed the main board, than the compressor wouldn’t work. The whole repair job started back in January with a faulty ice maker. All I can say is, it’s a crap-shit!

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