TCHO: Good to Go

A walk along the water during a visit to San Francisco brought me to a compelling message on the side of a building (see photo). "We make CHOCOLATE from scratch. Right here." Of course I stopped. Inside they were selling TCHO chocolates and I saw this on a sign: "Dark chocolate is truly The Last Great Drug." The company expounds the benefits of dark chocolate and markets a "daily dose project" for its proposed prescription. A chocolate a day keeps the doctor away? Okay, I'll bite. I tried the fruity chocolate and liked it a lot; it's not filled with fruit or flavored with fruit--the bean simply gives off a very subtle fruity finish. The video below shows the makers on a mission to obtain the organic beans from farms in Peru.

Sweet Treats: Candy Corn and Fondue S'mores

A friend made her own candy corn for Halloween. I pulled out the fondue set to make s'mores with melted chocolate, marshmallows, graham cracker crumbs, and bamboo skewers. Quick and easy chocolate fondue: I didn't bother with a double-boiler and simply broke two bars of bittersweet Scharffenberger chocolate into a saucepan and covered it with heavy whipping cream, then melted it, stirring constantly, over low heat.

Graffiti: Halloween 2009

Photo taken in Venice Beach, CA.

Mermaids: People in the Mix

The land of the mermaids received a visit by some little people. Find out more about the little people at Personne Trouve.

Halloween Treat: Mallomar Lollipop

Every fall, a package arrives on my doorstep from New York -- sent by my mom -- and it contains a box (or two or three) of Mallomars. It's always a good day. The cookie is not sold during the hot and muggy summer months and I've discovered it's hard to find the cookies at all in Southern California. Mallomars are like the cookie version of s'mores: marshmallow, chocolate, graham cracker. Yum, yum, yum. I have not attempted to create my own version of the cookie yet, but I'm going to start with a Mallomar lollipop (pictured). This delicious bite-sized confection came in a package of chocolate treats that was sent to the office this week and I'm going to try my own version for a Halloween party this weekend. Pre-making them like this, I'll call it a Mallomar Lollipop. If I bring out the fondue set for guests to make them to order so they're warm and gooey, they'll be S'more Lollipops.

Recyling Jeans

I've always been a Levi's jeans girl and loved back-to-school shopping because it meant a new pair of Levi's jeans and a pair of cords. I still wear my favorite pair of 501s from high school (faded now to white and long ago transformed into a pair of cut-offs) and, even with a shelf full of denim options, I favor the skinny pair I have from their Levi's Eco collection, made from organic cotton. Two new cheers go to Levi's for encouraging wearers to line dry (to save energy) and donate unwanted jeans to thrift stores (to prevent overfilling of landfills).

Moody Morn

Photo taken in Venice, CA.

Leftovers to Love: Bolognese Sauce

My biggest problem with leftovers is that I'm not always in the mood for the same dish the next day. Another issue: some food should not be reheated, like burgers. But because I try not to waste good food, I look for ways to re-invent.



Leftovers: Burgers made from chopped beef and chopped pork

Leftover recipe: Bolognese sauce

Ingredients:
Leftover burgers
2 tbsp. olive oil
1-2 cans of whole tomatoes
1 clove of garlic
1 shallot
1 carrot
1 cup of mushrooms
1/4 cup red wine
Salt & pepper to taste

In a large pot, saute chopped garlic and shallot in olive oil

Add 1 cup of sliced mushrooms

Add a splash of red wine and simmer

Add whole tomatoes and chopped carrot

Add crumbled burgers

Simmer for at least 1 hour

Scoop onto your favorite pasta, season, and eat

Leftover Bonus: The leftover buns from the burgers were used as croutons in a salad. So simple: roughly cut pieces of bread tossed with olive oil, salt, pepper, and paprika then toasted.

Rethinking Pink: Petitioning Estee Lauder

I've made a rule about keeping toxins out of my makeup bag and use every opportunity I get to encourage others to choose beauty products made without toxic chemicals. "That's bad for you" is never a message I like to deliver, but I delight in the fact that I can suggest better-for-you products and I usually end my sermon with the recommendation to visit the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics website for more info and the Environmental Working Group's Skin Deep website for ratings of products. We're deep in October and I find myself wanting to grab a megaphone, as I spot cosmetics and personal care products that contain carcinogens--on the shelves being marketed for Breast Cancer Awareness month. Slapping a pink ribbon on a product is not enough. Estee Lauder has a big campaign each year to raise money and awareness for the cause and I cheer those efforts, but it's time they started making safer products. Lauder owns Origins and Aveda, two companies that make products with less-toxic ingredients, but the their other lines (MAC, Clinique...) don't deserve to be pink-ribboned. What you can do: sign a petition asking them to do the right thing.

Fall Foliage: Los Angeles

People say there's no real autumn in Los Angeles.

The Rain Came

First rain of the season.

Football Thinks Pink

I knew I couldn't be the only one watching Sunday football and wondering if I could get a pink-brimmed hat like the ones coaches and side-lined players have been wearing in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. The NFL store is packed with pink goodness and I'm particularly pleased about the fact that the colors for my team (Go, Giants!) are a good match for pink.