Before we moved to Los Angeles, Chris and I lived in Atlanta where we developed a savage hunger for thai food – as it seems to fullful our basic ingredient fancies to a tee. Recently I’ve been trying my very un-thai hand at a few of our favorites at home to see what gives.

This soup is very simple, consisting of 3 main elements: the deeply flavorful broth, chicken, and enokis. Since the chili’s are whole while cooking, the soup doesn’t get too spicy. Serve each bowl with 1 chili so it can be broken apart to control how spicy each serving is. The broth alone is so delicious I think this would be great with seafood and different veggies as well. Enjoy.

Heat wok with about 2-3 ts oil. Add garlic, chili’s, lemongrass, and ginger. Saute for 5 minutes to soften, add stock, coconut milk, and season with a little fish sauce. Bring to a boil, then turn the heat way down and cover. Let this steep for a couple hours in order for the lemongrass oils, chilis, and ginger to flavor the broth. I like lots of flavor so I load up on ginger and lemongrass and then pick it out later since your not going to eat them anyway.

**Traditional Tom Kha Gai uses kafir lime leaves and young ginger if you can find them. It’s rare that either one is available to me so I use standard ginger root and sometimes a few pieces of rind from the lime I’m using.

After some time, turn up the heat to a simmer, add the chicken, and let simmer for 10 minutes. Squeeze the lime into the soup, and add the enoki’s. Simmer 30 minutes more to ensure the chicken is cooked, taste to see if you need more fish sauce, and your done. You can leave over a low heat unill serving and it won’t overcook, the flavors just get better.

{tags Tom Kha Gai lemongrass recipe}

Who would have thought the salty, yummy flavor of anchovies goes so well with artichokes? We had this last night and Chris devoured them; and he claims to not like anchovies. Now that I think of it, I never did tell him either. I’m sorry my darling, it turns out you LOVE anchovies. You long for the slimy fishy delight, I know you do.

Lightly drizzle a glass baking dish with olive oil. Cut artichokes in half, arrange in the dish and squeeze a few drops of lemon juice onto each. Heat butter with two turns of olive oil in a meduim pan. Add garlic and anchovies, with the back of a wooden spoon work the anchovies into the oil until they completely dissolve.

Add breadcrumbs and lightly toast before mixing in parmesan, parsley, and pepper. Remove from heat. Press a spoonful of the mixture onto each arichoke and bake at 400°F degrees for 20-25 minutes until golden.

{tags stuffed artichokes anchovies recipe}

It’s been a long week ya’ll. Our water-heater stopped working and I shaved my legs in the sink. Now, I’ve got razor burn something fierce and it stings like hell. On Wednesday, I was rushing to work and get this; I had my geriatric clogs on because I have to hike up this hill every morning, so I look down and I’m wearing one navy blue and one black shoe. Lucky for me too because when I got back to my car I saw my reflection and my effing shirt was on inside out. Brilliant.

Today, I left work carrying my laptop in my arms because my bag was full. I set it on the roof of the car while I put my bag and coat in the backseat, forgot it was there, and drove off with it still on the roof. Uhhh duh. I didn’t realize untill I got home when I called work, and the security guard actually found it in the parking garage. Amazing. Who knows how banged up it is, but still – I’m lost without my lappie.

It wasn’t all bad though, I went in for a much needed processing. Processing being manicure, pedicure, and waxing. My nails look pretty kick-ass and so does my you know what. Eyebrows people, eyebrows. I’d never mention such things on my blog. Ever.

We also made some cash on the market, thanks to C, so we ordered a new 6 megapixel camera. I know it’s tacky to brag but its really neat, plus I’m not here to appease your bourgeois social anxieties now am I? Skaaahhahaha! And C got some good news that I can’t share with you guys just yet, but soon.

Now dear readers, I’m leaving you for artichokes. Buttery delicious artichokes. I’ve been craving them for days and who am I to deny myself? I’ll get to it just as soon as I go to the market, lock my keys in the car, lose my cellphone in the bulk pistachio bin, and abandon my purse on the bread aisle. Hugs and Kisses.

{tags lumix-fx9 powerbook los angeles sanita clogs}

{tags weekend cat blogging cute kitty}

~ System Administrator about the Quest Communications rep who just left: “So are you going to get the new rack from them or what?”

~ Operations Manager: “No way, he didn’t even buy me lunch. Plus he’s wearing white pants after Labor Day.”

ps. Have you seen John Galliano’s crazy new goth collection?

{tags haute couture}

{tags weekend cat blogging cute kitty}

After my hissyfit last Friday, which basically revolved around an ongoing fear of being either rushed and/or crowded (two of my least favorite things besides nextels and spiders), I have emerged this week polished shiny and starting each day with new found efficiency. I should probably preface this with a statement of intent.

That being the mission of a seriously uptight person intent on coping with the daily wildcard scenarios guaranteed to unfold working in downtown Los Angeles, California. Control what you can, DEAL with the rest, right? The more put together I am from the getgo, the better I’m able to endure the unexpected yet standard daily unravellings. The precious little things I’m talking about may come as second nature to most of you. And cheers to you, I strive for a day when orderly mornings come as naturally to me as parking tickets or spilled coffee.

Thanks to Chris, this morning I awoke to find my trusty bento box clean and packed with a delicious lunch, and my robe was in the bathroom so I could put it on immediately rather than dashing around the house naked and freezing searching for it. My hairbrush was actually in the bathroom instead of my car where I left it, hot coffee awaited me on my desk, and I was out the door at 7am on the dot! THAT is what I’m talking about. Teamwork people. Teamwork.

There used to be a time when I was content being sucked into a disorganized vortex of lost keys, dead cell phones, pockets full of quarters, dead laptops, tangled powercables and empty gastanks. True story: Once my car got stolen and stripped so bad they took my ignition and instead of replacing the ignition I started it with a screwdriver for almost a year untill I got a new car. That would never fly with me now; these days I come apart if my car is even dirty, yo.

{tags caramel latte no foam please}

It finally got cold out around here. I wanted soup so bad and when Chris said tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches, that was it. I looked up a bunch of recipes online that all seemed either too complex or involved bacon, of which I have none. I wanted just a mild classic tomato soup I could curl up on the couch with. Heres what I came up with, it’s delicious, simple to make, and scratched my itch oh so perfecto.

Saute carrot, onion, celery, garlic, about 10m untill soft. Pour in tomatos and broth, let simmer for about 45m. Remove from heat, let cool a bit, and adjust salt and pepper. Slowly add cream stirring constantly untill you reach desired consistency, I used the whole cup. Blend with immersion blender or put about half into a blender then add back in. Heat it up if it’s too cool before you serve it with thin pieces of basil and cheese on top. We used Manchego but any good melty cheese would be delicious. Don’t forget to eat this with some grilled cheese sandwiches. The Earl of Sandwich will be proud.

{tags tomao soup recipe}

Here’s the thing – When I get up in the morning, I need some space to adjust to the fact that I’m like an earthling and shit. I can’t just be thrust into the world alone bereft of my forcefield. Said forcefield should be in full effect and consists of the following:

~coffee
~excedrin
~claritin-d
~five dollars
~brushed hair
~gas in car
~inhaler

It may seem daunting, and it totally is, but one variable can send me reeling into a tailspin of chaos. Like sands in the hourglass or ripples in the the pond, whatever, one failure to comply and the dominos fall all the way up untill 7pm or so.

Its like real life Amazing Race or Fear Factor. Everytime I turn around there’s another road block, a detour, more insect guts to swallow, less wiggle room, more noise, another bomb to defuze while jumping out of a helicopter, do not pass go! Do you see? Do you SEE?! No? Oh. Maybe if I tell you they’re filming Fast and Furious 3 outside my building this very moment and if it wasn’t for the lighting, I couldn’t tell the difference between this and normal driving around here. True and TRUE, y’all.

Relax, my only point is that this morning I had no parking money, claritin, or coffee before I left the house. Thats 3 out of 7 or a 43% chance of failure. Not bad odds, but still. Days like this I should come with a big orange sticker on my back – Highly Volatile or Bio-Hazard makes more sense. If I DID, then maybe the lady who was riding up on my heels and bumping into me in line at the grocery store would have backed off. And maybe I wouldn’t have turned my highbeams on her and leaned on my horn as she walked accross the parking lot. It was a horrible thing to do, I know that. But it felt so good, plus she she knew exactly what she was doing tampering with me like that. Look, I can be a real spiteful bitch when I want to, but I’m usually not aggressive like that. I’m adjusting, I sat home for a couple months, and now I’m back in downtown gridlock and I think I’m in shock. I seriously do.

{tags prozac martinis}

First of all, I don’t think this picture does justice to the perfection this salad beholds. When you pierce the yolk of the poached egg, it runs all through the leaves of the spinach and is insanely delicious. It’s my new favorite thing to make but never lasts long enough on the plate to get photographed. What you see here is a rushed snapshot before we demolished every last morsel. The dressing is tangy and mouth watering and somehow the whole dish goes down light and rich at the same time. It’s enough for dinner alone with some bread or toast you like.

Saute the bacon untill crispy. Keep the heat low so nothing burns because your going to use the oil for dressing. Scoop the bacon out and drain on a paper towel. Pour out some oil if you have too much, 1-2 tb is good.

Add shallots to oil and saute untill soft. Pour in about 1/3 c vinegar and reduce it down a little more than half. Pour over the spinach, toss, and add the bacon.

In the meantime, boil some water and add a splash of vinegar. Gently crack the eggs into the water and poach for a few minutes. Carefully put one egg on top of each plate of salad, grate some parmesan, salt, pepper, and prepare yourselves dear friends, for a whole new kind of treat.

{tags spinach salad recipe}