abandoned kittens

abandoned kittens
Originally uploaded by bluepupae.

someone found these precious kittens by the sculpture studio. i almost took them home, but lucky for mike, someone was able to take both of them. we fed them applesauce, then some turkey, which the devoured. after that, they fell asleep under a towel. so cute.

LED dress

LED dress
Originally uploaded by bluepupae.

i sewed my first dress then proceeded to afix LEDs (only 128 this time) and electronics to it. we video'd it around midnight on monday down by the marina. my body is ready for daylight savings time, or at least an extra hour.

there are still technical issues to work out as i wait on additional chips for making the LEDs brighter and programming issues, but i reached a milestone. it lights up. it animates. it's battery powered. it responds somewhat to my movements. i'm still getting over shyness at being filmed. i'm exploring the female body and light. that's all for now.

csa box 9/18/09

csa box
Originally uploaded by bluepupae.

almost a week late, but here it is. in the midst of the havoc that has been wrought by my latest project, i have been eating lots of veggies.

- romaine & green leaf lettuces
- celery
- zucchini & squash
- cucumbers
- corn
- carrots
- apples
- basil
- beets

azuma

azuma
Originally uploaded by bluepupae.

in a section of gardena where most signs aren't in english, the warm glow of azuma invites you into a cozy diner-esque japanese restaurant whose authenticity and down-to-earth feeling is almost startling. we sat at one of the two seat tables huddled against the wall beneath vertical strips of paper with kanji and numbers. i really should learn some japanese as i often feel like i may be missing out on some special morsel reserved only for those in the know or who can read the signs.

there is one small eraserboard of specials in english and menus come in both english and japanese. how nice that you get a small dish of EDAMAME to snack on while you wait for your food. they are perfectly seasoned, where the salt has been absorbed into the beans themselves.

their AGEDASHI TOFU was a little disappointing. although i enjoyed the lightly toasty skin encasing delicate silken tofu insides, i thought the broth needed more flavor. luckily, everything else we had was quite good. the GINDARA, a piece of broiled black cod with miso, was the highlight. it was sweet, salty and full of flavor infused into the buttery flakes of white fish. the skin was lightly crispy. some parts were a little more burnt than i liked, but overall, very tasty.

the CREAM CROQUETTE-an oval ball of shrimp, vegetables and cream that has been deep fried--was standard, good.

somehow, i ended up ordering quite a few deep fried dishes without really noticing until the food came out. the EBI-FRY, is a dish of panko crusted deep fried whole shrimp prepared well.

i think i like the YAKI ONIGIRI here better than at torihei. you have a choice of salmon, fish eggs, bonita flakes, seaweed or plain, which is nice. the salmon adds a lot of flavor to where they could have cut back on some of the soy.

glad i discovered this place. the main sign is in japanese, and you can just make out the lit green Azuma sign in the window, so you have to be on the lookout to find this place. there's a lot of variety, and even the combination dinners look good, which i usually steer clear of. i'll definitely be back to try other dishes soon. the place is small, and the staff seems limited, so service was mostly ok, but sometimes slow. it wasn't slow enough to bother me though.

torihei

torihei
Originally uploaded by bluepupae.

torihei specializes in yakitori and oden dishes. the lightness and warmth of the oden pairs well with the fat and smokiness of yakitori. though you can easily find good yakitori at several places in the area, i'd never had oden until torihei.

we started with the daikon oden, a delicate section of braised daikon topped with seaweed and a generous helping of bonita slivers waving about in a light broth. the subtle sweetness of daikon spoke comfort and reminded me of some of the squash and melon soups my mom use to make. some people seem to think this is bland, but i think it is in the nature of this dish to be subtle and accent the more natural flavor of the daikon. a strong broth would have overpowered it.

then came the beef tongue, which was surprisingly tender and juicy. of the izakaya places i've eaten, i think this is the best preparation of beef tongue. so simple. so good. it didn't need any seasoning. just the flavor of beef with a hint of wasabi.

in terms of flavor, the fish cake oden, was stronger than the daikon, being sweet with a slightly chewy texture and subtle hints of the sea. this one definitely tastes homemade.

i recommend the chicken thighs--also tender, juicy, and the not surprisingly flavorful half raw egg with cod roe. eggs are delicious. also excellent are the petite tomatoes, which consist of grilled cherry tomatoes bursting with sweetness and slathered with sauteed garlic. the shitake mushrooms, which come with bonita flakes, are one of the better preparations i've had. some places burn it, and it ends up being bitter.

i liked the combination of crunchy and soft rice in the "robata" rice ball, a fried triangle of onigiri seasoned with soy sauce. the whole shrimp on skewer, was probably my least favorite. i enjoyed the grilled flavor of the shrimp, but it was not especially exciting for the price compared to the other dishes.

overall, i found torihei to be skilled in preparation of the foods. i like the yakitori at shinsengumi and kappo honda, but sometimes, some of the skewers have partly burnt bits which add bitterness. i was impressed with how even the cooking was on the skewers here. the whole restaurant has a refined air to it even though it's not particularly fancier than any other japanese restaurant in the area. service was friendly and good. if you get there early, there may be little to no wait.

knitting machine

knitting machine
Originally uploaded by bluepupae.

it's not like i need any more hobbies, but i've been dying for a knitting machine. the mechanization of a hand process is intriguing, and i really wanted to figure out how one of these things works. so here i am with a vintage knitting machine, which i spent the weekend cleaning then researching possible avenues for hacking it to connect with a computer.

the 930 model has it's own computer with built-in stitch patterns, but i would really like to be able to load in my own. a mini-computer was made to allow creation of patterns, as well as a floppy disk drive to store patterns, but those are hard to come by, but there's a port that allows for connecting to the machine, so there's some promise of communication. this one is in good condition, but it still needs a new sponge bar. no play time for me until it arrives. besides, i will be too busy until next weekend to do anything more with it anyhow. i don't expect to be cranking out sweaters any time soon. also, it is not as automated as one would think, and much more complicated than a sewing machine.

tomatoes from the csa box

tomatoes from the csa box
Originally uploaded by bluepupae.

this week's box was the first box i was disappointed with. the tomatoes were all crushed to varying degrees. not sure if it was due to the small watermelon inside. we received tomatoes and watermelon last time, and they were fine. the box seemed emptier as well, and some of the basil looked a little wilty. there were more of each type of produce in the box. is it already the end of the season for a lot of produce?

- romaine lettuce
- squash
- basil
- cucumbers
- yellow beans
- tomatoes
- watermelon
- strawberry jam

i've emailed rockview who delivers the box with milk to see if they will do anything about the tomatoes. in the mean time, i guess i'll have to make more gazpacho.

sunday supper @ lucques

sunday supper @ lucques
Originally uploaded by bluepupae.

i really enjoy suzanne goin's rustic cooking. that warmth and earthiness is further embodied in the ambiance and interior design of lucques. i came to appreciate the time and effort that goes into food that at first glance seems so simple yet is so delicious and comforting after getting her cookbook "Sunday Suppers at Lucques" and cooking from it.

recently, i tried one of her sunday suppers, a three course prix fixe dinner at a very reasonable $45, and must say that though AOC is my preference for it's variety and lightness, Lucques, is worth a visit. you'll not find minimalist portions nor sculpture on a plate, but you'll enjoy mediterranean-inspired california blended cuisine made with fresh local produce.

what goin does with salads is amazing. the GRILLED EGGPLANT AND PEPPERS WITH BURRATA, CURRANTS and PINENUTS seems like a typical italian salad made more geographically broad with the addition of currents that i've encountered at numerous restaurants, yet it stands out as one of the best of its kind. the inclusion of rosemary to the smokey flavers of the grilled vegetables adds not only to flavor but body. this is one hearty salad with its large globule of partially melted burrata.

though not mind blowing, my GRILLED PORK CHOP with farro, mustard greens, sherry and sautèed plums was a classic dish that was prepared well. the crust on the juicy porkchop was especially tasty, and the sweet cooked plums were an interesting addition. my only complaint was that there was not enough mustard greens.

however, of the two choices, i'd have to say the PANCETTA-WRAPPED MARKET FISH fish with yellow tomatoes and aïoli was the far better choice. dessert was a rich BITTERSWEET CHOCOLATE TART with candied almonds and salted caramel ice cream. it pretty much was as good as it sounded.

service was inconsistent, which is too bad. i've never had bad service at AOC. our waitress was fine, mostly unnoticed, but the one guy clearing our table was like an elephant in a china shop, breaking the serenity of the dimly lit hushed restaurant with the clanging of plates and silverware, and on several occasions picked up plates that still had food on them without asking. my brother was too nice to say anything. it didn't affect the quality of the food, but was surprising for a fine restaurant.

vermiposting

vermiposting
Originally uploaded by bluepupae.

the arrival of our new "pets" has inspired maternal instincts. i feel like a nervous mother hen. their journey wasn't far, but it's been a hot week or so, and plenty warm in the shipping container i'm sure. the bin didn't take too long to set up. soak coir in water for 15 minutes. assemble bin. add coir to bin. add worms to bin. add moistened shredded newspaper. that's pretty much it. for their first week here, i've been worrying about what i'm feeding the worms. will they like it? will they eat it?

my worse fear is killing the pound of worms. that would suck and make me sad. so far so good. they've been wriggling around, crawling over and under the newspaper and back into the dirt when i open up the lid to feed them our kitchen scraps. there are too many to name, which is probably a good thing. only one has lost his way and ended up on the side of the bin. i gently nudged him back down into the dirt. i should thank mike for his cappuccinos. the espresso grounds make the bin smell good. i wonder if they get buzzed on it?