adam nagata brought us a
cooler full of
yellowfin tuna,
yellowtail,
dorado, and squid.
he caught it all in the pacific
on his uncle's fancy boat.
we put most of the sea's
bounty in our freezer,
but, some of it, we sliced up,
and placed on small bundles of white rice.

This weekend we were lucky enough to have our first celebrity guest. On Friday night we fed him homemade pasta (again?) with shrimp and free topanga market zucchini. On Saturday we fed him pulled pork tacos.





He said, "You know, I love a taco, pork... chicken, steak, ham, doesn't matter. In the Bible, they ate tacos, all of 'em, bunch of well meaning folks wearing burlap sacs out in the sand eating delicious meat wrapped in corn. It's crazy. You know who doesn't eat tacos? St. Paul. Ignorant coward."




Its been crazy hot here and last night a skunk pissed all over our backyard. The smell woke us up at 4 am and we haven't slept since. At first we thought it was an electrical fire and were going to call the fire department. Our neighbors, whom I went to see in a panic around 6:30am, suggested we would be better off calling pest control.

inspired by clean-out-the-crisper pasta,
we make bacon and onion and
anchovie pappardelle.

how horrible.



afternoon app: heirloom tomatoes with burrata cheese and white balsamic vinegar

blech.

Clean-out-the-Crisper Pasta
(featuring homemade pasta a la Lidia Bastianich)

Ingredients: Fresh pasta (eggs, flour, olive oil), Asparagus, Baby arugula, Scallions, Shallots, Garlic, Lemon zest, Parmigiano Reggiano, Salt & Pepper, Red pepper flakes

Luis made the pasta, obvi:







I roasted the asparagus, and Luis did some chopping:



It was de-licious.



Summer lovin' to all of you!...M&L

RAW FOOD POOL PARTY

featuring:

**crudite with almond/anchovy paste, cilantro dip, and horseradish-sour cream

**a Juliano-inspired chopped salad with carrots, papaya, cucumber, ginger, galanga, mint, cabbage, lemongrass, spicy radish sprouts, shallots, red onion, lime juice, orange juice, soy sauce, olive oil, and basil

**garbanzo salad with feta cheese and red onion (this is technically not raw)

**scallop and yellow tail ceviche on leaves of butter lettuce

**fresh margaritas, lillet, and beers

HERE IS A PICTURE OF JULIANO:




Juliano was not at our party though. Present were: Carla, Fernando, Leo, all Music siblings and the Music Matriarch, Adam, Mary and Rob, Mark and Tina, Phyllis and us. We moved the fatboy and a moroccan rug into the yard and put the pacifico in a metal tub full of ice. I took a vicodin and passed out around 7:30.



PROCLAMATION: In addition to prosecco, I am adding anchovies and potato chips to the list of things that are very SUMMER 06. In making this proclamation, I am indebted to Carla (anchovies) and to Virginia (potato chips). Those in Orient are obviously already hip to anchovies--on onions! delicious!

Hello Forkers,
I leave for Rome and the foothills of Mont Blanc on the Italian side of the Alps next week. Anyone have any favorite restaurants, haunts, friends, thoughts or feelings about Rome they'd like to share with me?
Ciao Bellas!

The next day, more rain.

The Works.
Note the Chrystler building and Willy B in background, I don't think they have those in L.A.

The Interloper, who became intoxicated by the scent of fish.

The Meal, oh so good! Also had crunchy fish skin stuck to foil, which tasted a bit like bacon. Note: the salad also has herbs.

Figs! (Not ready yet, I'll keep you "posted")

The Grill:
Fresh Bluefish stuffed with herbs (see previous photo), squash and zuccini, all caught that same day at the new Red Hook Fairway.

The Herbs picked from Brooklyn deck:
chives
basil
tarragon
dill
mint
parsley
sage
rosemary
(the name ain't Herbs for nothing)

The setting: Brooklyn deck following afternoon shower and Viva Italia!

Purchasing a fish from the fish stand means you have to clean it yourself. This time when Mateo was pulling out the fish's innards, out came 3 little baby fish which were in no way cute and stunk to high hell. Once cleansed of its last meal, the fish was roasted to perfection with lemon, herbs, sea salt and olive oil.

As of Monday the 26th, I have entered into my third year of marriage. To commemorate the occasion, I intended to suprise the husband with a sweet picnic in the park. Between the heat and some sickliness, the picnic was diverted indoors and we ended up with a nice little air-conditioned picnic. The best part was the champagne. I cheated and bought some sides from Whole Foods which were SUBPAR. These accompanied fishcakes.

Greetings from the Jaramillos, including Ann (mama Jaramillo), who co-baked a delicious cherry pie with Mateo. These cute sour cherries with the texture and patina of grapes, were practically hand-picked from the Grand Army farmer's market. I am a big fan of the covered crust and let's be up front and honest, oleo is a-okay when it comes to pie-baking. Ann has tested the transfat-free Crisco and gives it high marks. This pie was made with 1/2 crisco 1/2 butter.

Another delicious dessert we ate was a flan made by Luis and mama Jaramillo. This is garnished with wild strawberries, also hand-picked from Grand Army green market.