SEEMS IT NEVER RAINS IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

JULIE, JULIA AND AMANDA

Last week K and I took a French cooking class that specialized in Julia Child French dish recipes. As you may know, there has been a renewed interest in JC's cookbooks since the popular movie that was based on a popular book that was based on a popular blog (see how it all comes home?)

Chef Amanda Cushman has a series of cooking classes in LA - a plug for her http://www.amandacooks.com/ -and we and 12 other food-loving acquaintances had a delightful time chopping sautéing - cracking eggs - salt and peppering - sipping wine and enjoying a fine meal together.

The menu:

Beouf Bourguignon (made with tri-tip in the essence of time)

brown sauce: butter, onion, carrot, beef broth, bay leaf, sprig thyme, tomato paste, S&P, 1/4 cup red wine

added and sauted: mushrooms, onions, salt pork

Braised Artichokes with White Wine, Garlic and Herbs

shallots, lemon zest, lemon juice, garlic cloves, olive oil

Pommes de Terre Parisiennes

Idaho potatoes, peanut or vegetable oil, unsalted butter

Mini Chocolate Souffles with Vanilla Sauce

bittersweet chocolate, unsalted butter, eggs, egg yolks, sugar, flour

sauce: milk, cream, sugar, vanilla bean, egg yolks,

raspberries confectioner's sugar

the end result: YUM!

THE SEPTEMBER BLOG ISSUE

The end of summer and the beginning of autumn. Then comes Christmas. Well, it feels like that anyway.

My first taste of fall occurred when I was waiting to meet someone at the Barnes & Nobel Cafe overlooking Westwood Blvd. We were meeting to see the documentary "The September Issue" and after a Q&A with the filmmaker. In spite of the movie, I hadn't really planned on buying the big fat Vogue - but I was browsing the magazines and I picked it up just to look at it. An older woman (who had probably just gotten out of the matinee) walked right up and said, "You got the last one?" It was the last one and I really wanted to look at it so I had to say yes, and then I had to buy it. A lie becomes the truth.

Per usual - we had our Indian Summer surrounded by fires... for several days it looked like there was nuclear testing in the suburbs north of LA:

took this ^ with my cell phone driving home downtown on the 110

The summer officially ends with the "Sound of Music" sing-a-long at the Hollywood Bowl. It's the new "Rocky Horror Picture Show." Bring your swatch of fabric - your flashlights - your laser pointers - your mini champagne poppers and remember to wave your cell phone during any and all performances of Edelweiss. I didn't see that much lederhosen when I was in Salsburg! Needless to say we had a great time and decided we need to go again next year... with flashlights.