Like family

My mom was over this weekend, and witnessed our collective euphoria over an unheard of explosion of success from our beloved, yet beleagered, sports teams:

1. My daughter made a spectacular save as goalie in her soccer game, preventing the opposing team from going up 2-0. Instead, her goal kick helped her team set up a great shot to tie the game in the last few minutes.

2. After icing an injured knee through most of the first half, my son went back on the field and helped his team come from being down 0-3 to take a 4-3 lead in the span of 15 minutes. A great shot by the opposing team with 30 seconds to play tied it up, but it was an amazing game to watch.

3. Stanford upset Oregon*.

4. The Clippers won three in a row**.

5. The LA Galaxy clinched a first round playoff win with a great penalty kick by Landon Donovan***

I turned to my mom in elation as we were out running an errand and asked how she enjoyed the Stanford game. She's a become dedicated sports fan (as we all have) since I somehow freakishly gave birth to a jock.

Her: Oh, I didn't watch it. I don't get that channel on my cable****.
[She sighs]
But I did watch the Notre Dame game because of Regis. He went to Notre Dame, you know. He and Kelly are just like family to me now. He'll be so disappointed, and I know it will come up when we all get together on Monday.
[She sighs again]
Two points. That's a tough one.
[She cheers up a little]
But it is so nice about Stanford. I know how much you like them.

There is still no word on how Kelly's team did.

* A particularly sweet outcome since they've crushed everyone else in the Pac-10, including those annoying guys at USC. We also become bowl eligible for the first time since 2001.
** Of course, the Laker fan in our Jr. High carpool was unimpressed, but he has no idea of the depths from which our wonder springs.
*** We were at the game, and it was awesome!
**** Clearly, expanded cable package is the preferred Christmas gift.

My kind of grocery store

Every Saturday, the Handy Market in Burbank* has a cookout in the parking lot.


On many a Saturday, we have ribs and tri tip for dinner. Burbank grocery stores rock.

* They were also recently mentioned as one of the best butchers in town in LA Magazine's November Food Issue, and if you happen to go by some other day of the week, grab a sandwich to go. You won't be disappointed.

Having Faith, Part 2

I post this, and then the Clippers proceed to stomp all over Golden State and win by 28 points. Maybe I should think a little more like my son and a little less like The Onion.

It's not easy being a Clippers Fan

Fatal Staples Center Collapse Brings Merciful Early End To Clippers Game

Witness my son, still alive and suffering.

Foodie Girls Lunch Brigade - Episode 9

I know that we are supposed to be getting more systematic in our grazing*, but it's not working out that way just yet. Montrose for Mexican a week from Monday? Mmm hmm, we all agreed at O'Groats. But when that plan had to be postponed**, instead of scientifically surveying the group or analyzing the queue of suggested places I fell back on gut instinct***. The Golden State, here we come!

Running a few minutes late to lunch, my cell phone rings as I'm exiting the freeway:

FG2: Hey, it's me. The Golden State is closed on Mondays.

Note to self: Next time, go with gut instinct but also check the restaurant hours on the website.

Episode 9 - Umami Burger to the Rescue

My idiocy was the FG's gain. We regrouped about
a mile away at Umami Burger**** and had some gloriously, gut-satisfyingly, great-tasting food. Poring over the menu of available burgers made our mouths water, particularly since FG12, who had been here before, was raving about the choices in detail as we debated. After settling on four options (the manly burger, the truffle burger, the umami burger and the lamb burger),plus side dishes of cheesy tater tots, onion rings and a pickle platter, we sat back and enjoyed the green tea-lemonade coolers and a mini-reunion of the original FGs*****.

The pickle platter, upon arrival, was more like a small plate with little piles of admittedly fresh and tasty things in brine decoratively placed around it. We all enjoyed it, but as FG3 put it, "I don't understand how they can charge $5 for a condiment tray." Amen to that.

The tiny mound on the lower right is pickled watermelon rind. Delicious!

Then the burgers arrived, and blew thoughts of overpriced cocktail onions from our minds. These were like works of art...just the right size, with improbably glossy buns topping a stack of ingredients that melded together into what a gourmet burger is meant to be:

The umami burger. "The fifth taste" x 6, according to the menu.

The manly burger. Girls like it, too!

Prime quality meat grilled to perfection inside that delectable, slightly sweet, warm toasted bread. The umami burger with a crispy disc of Parmesan cheese and sauteed mushrooms. The rich ooze of the truffle burger. The salty contrast of the onion strings, bacon lardons and beer cheddar on the manly burger. The unexpected rightness of apricots and pomegranate glaze on the lamb burger. We were all so, so happy.

And whoever invented those cheesy tater tots and the kick-ass sauces that came with 'em should get some kind of medal.

I think the staff did grow a bit tired of us after a while******, so perhaps we were partially to blame for their inattentiveness. In our defense though, I think our oohs and ahhs and doofy grins of pleasure probably brought in some potential customers who might have been on the fence.

Plans? Methods? Who needs 'em! Gimme last minute Umami every time.

FG Final Verdict? Umami Burger is so ON the list!
Pricing Information: Burgers $9-12, sides $3-6, desserts (which we didn't try) $5 or so.
FG Value rating: Fair deal, except for those pickles. Get real!

* It should be pretty easy to be more systematic than getting an e-mail and saying, "hey, let's go there!", but so far it's been a struggle. See footnote *** and footnote ******
** FG10, who recommended the place, had a child care conflict and we didn't want to go without her.
***OK, it was more like I fell back on FG2's recent e-mail missives, supplemented by the roundup on yelp about their incredible burger:

• FG2, part I: I'm having lunch at The Golden State on Fairfax (across the street from Animal) and it's great! Must add to list.
• FG2, part II: Have you been to Scoops on Melrose? I had gelato at Golden State from Scoops that was heaven. I hear they have Horchata flavor. I had coffee/coconut, [my son] had Chocolate Molasses that tasted like Whoppers. Was so good. Sorry to keep annoying you with all of this food talk, but my husband is useless when it comes to gastronomy.

**** Thanks again to FG2, who followed up her "closed mondays" bombshell with "I want to try Umami Burger". Thanks also to a recent column by Jonathan Gold at LA weekly, so I knew what the hell she was talking about and agreed immediately.
***** This was the first lunch in quite a while where all three of the original FGs were able to come. It was a wonderful feeling, being back together.
****** We were waffling big time about dessert. FG12 had sold us on a certain cookie: "It was some kind of a maple cream cookie that cost $4. But I have to say, it was the best $4 cookie I've ever had in my life." But they didn't have the $4 cookie, so we were all kind of at a loss. Maybe this is why being systematic may never work for us.

p.s. I met my husband at The Golden State for lunch the following day. They also make a mighty, mighty fine burger. Juicy, delicious, loosely ground beef, arugula, cheddar, bacon, and another fabulous semi-sweet toasted bun. Freshly squeezed minted lemonade and curry ketchup to go with a big pile of nicely done fries. I'm keeping this one on the list, too!

Will they pass the test?

To make your own eye chart, go here and click on the link on the upper right side of the page.

Things that are scary but great

1. This movie*



2. Teaching a group of ten fourth and fifth graders to cook a multi-course Halloween feast in under three hours.

In both cases, the surprise ending is totally worth it**.

On the heels of my adventures with the Clueless Dads, another friend wondered if her daughter and a couple of friends could do a cooking class one afternoon. Picturing a version of making dinner at home with my kids without the annoying bickering and backtalk, I eagerly agreed. Next thing I knew there was an e-mail blast to the class, and I somehow found myself in a strange kitchen*** amid a sea of spastic tweens, armed only with my red apron, some mixing bowls, and a bag of mini chocolate chips****.

Oh boy. What in the world had I gotten myself into this time?

The Menu

We went in reverse order, making dessert first*****. Judging by the boys fighting over who got to lick the bowl and the dive bombing for spare chocolate that broke out, I was doing well so far. We moved on to working with bread. The crouton crew was on the "one for me, one for the pan" program, while the bread crumb group was mesmerized by the whirl of the food processor. There was general enthusiasm for dumping ketchup into a pan, followed by a dose of brown sugar. I barely held their attention through the chicken course******, as the lure of the play structure was strong, but when we moved on to squishing raw meat and grating piles of cheese, I had them back. Then the sprinklers went off. I couldn't compete with that.



Dark fell, and their parents arrived. There was a veritable feast of food on the table. Wine was poured******* and the chefs proudly stepped forward to describe the dishes and all the work they had done. As the crowd dug in and the delighted sounds of "Yum!" and "I made that!" and "Can I have another meatball?" filled the room, I heaved a huge sigh of relief and wondered what on earth I'd been so afraid of.

I was thrilled.

Here is the kids' favorite recipe from the class:

Meatball Popsicles

1 small onion, very finely chopped
2 T. butter
1 lb. lean ground beef
1 lb. ground pork
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 c. fresh bread crumbs
3/4 c. grated Parmesan cheese
1 tsp. dried basil
1 tsp. dried oregano
1 tsp. dried parsley
2 tsp. garlic salt
1 tsp. kosher salt
1 tsp. ground black pepper

1. Pre heat oven to 450.
2. In a small skillet, melt butter over medium heat. Add the onions, and stir for about 4-5 minutes until they are soft and translucent. Put butter onion mixture aside to cool to room temperature.
3. Put remaining ingredients in a large mixing bowl, and add the onion mix. Using your clean hands, squish it all together for a while until it's nicely mixed up and everything is blended in.
4. Put foil on two large cookie sheets. Using your hands, form meat mixture into balls about 1 1/2" in diameter, about the size of a golf ball. Place balls onto the cookie sheets. It is OK if they are pretty close together, since they will shrink a little as they bake.
5. Bake at 450 for 8 minutes. They might be a little messy on the bottom, so you can move them to a tray with paper towels if you like. You can serve them as is with spaghetti for dinner or:
6. To make popsicles out of them as an appetizer, insert popsicle sticks or small skewers into the meatballs when they come out of the oven. Serve with Super Duper Dipping Sauce, or any kind of sauce you like.

You can also substitute ground turkey and/or chicken for the beef and pork in this recipe.

Super Duper Dipping Sauce

2 Tbs. Worcestershire sauce
2 Tbs. apple cider vinegar
1 c. ketchup
1/2 tsp. onion salt
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
1 Tbs. brown sugar

Combine all ingredients in a saucepan. Simmer over medium low heat for about 10 minutes. Taste and adjust seasonings about halfway through to make sure it's just the way you like it.

* An utterly fantastic, super eerie thriller by the creator of Pan's Labyrinth. Netflix it immediately!
** Here's another thing that is just plain scary. But the fine print on the poster is great.

Credit to this blog for the image.

*** It was not my kitchen, but it was huge, gorgeous, completely stocked and perfect for the class. I covet that kitchen, big time.
**** To be fair, I also had a lot of cheese and several intriguing electrical appliances on my side. I am also eternally grateful to the helper moms who stayed with me, without whom we would have just ordered pizza to go with our dessert.
***** I figured that if all else failed, the kids, at least, would consider the afternoon a rousing success.
****** Although the antics that were theoretically possible with 10 lbs of frozen chicken wings, some cooking spray and a roll of foil did capture their imagination briefly.
******* For the parents! The kids were loopy enough already.