Triple word score

The game is close. The tiles are in clumpy clusters, as each player has been cleverly using their knowledge of 2 letter combos to maximum effect.* Then, suddenly, an opening. The coveted red square is within reach. You pounce. And you even get to use that J. Is there anything sweeter to a Scrabble junkie like me?

No. But these bars are a close second. Not only are they decadently good, they are shamefully easy. They are from a M-I-X**.

Scrabble Night Oatmeal Butterscotch Cherry Bars with Lemon Icing

For bars:

1/2 c. (1 stick) butter, softened
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla
2 tsp. water
1 package Betty Crocker Oatmeal Cookie Mix (the kind in a pouch)
grated zest of 1 lemon
1/2 c. butterscotch chips
3/4 c. dried cherries

For icing:

1 c. powdered sugar
1-2 Tbs. fresh squeezed lemon juice

Pre-heat oven to 350. Using cooking spray or butter, grease bottom and sides of a 9 inch square baking pan.

Blend butter, egg, vanilla and water together. Stir in cookie mix and lemon zest. Batter will be stiff. Add butterscotch chips and cherries, and mix until combined. Spread dough into prepared pan, and bake for 18-20 minutes, or until top is light golden brown.

Meanwhile, combine lemon juice and powdered sugar by hand in a small bowl to make the icing. You can add more sugar or lemon juice as needed. It should be opaque, but thin enough that you can pour or spread it easily. When the bars come out of the oven, immediately cover with the glaze. Allow bars to cool before cutting and serving.***

* For example, you can get a boatload of points just by putting the word AHA on top another word, or dropping the Z onto a triple letter score near a couple of As. And did you know that Qi is a real word? Don't ask me what it means, but it's worth a bundle.
** 12 points, even before you put it down on any special squares. Well played, this little fella is a real game changer.
*** Or before presenting the cookies to your Scrabble hostess in eternal gratitude for inviting you to play with her because your husband won't even think about playing with you anymore since you kick his butt every time he does even though you're really nice about complimenting the words he uses while you do it and the kids are too young to be much of a challenge and it's pretty lonely just playing the computer and eating all the oatmeal bars by yourself.

Not-so-endless summer

People think LA doesn't have seasons. They picture the palm trees endlessly waving, the balmy sunny skies, the marked absence of any form of precipitation, and legions of tanned, tow-headed people in swimming pools who don't know the meaning of the words "deciduous" or "galoshes". And maybe we don't exactly have spectacular foliage or snowmen or crocuses. But our summers come to an end, just like everyone else's. I submit these clear cut examples for your consideration:

1. An autumnal swarm of traffic instantaneously migrates onto city streets and highways as soon as the sun sets on labor day
2. The temperature drops like a stone into the mid 80s; people begin wearing longer shorts in the evenings
3. The insufferable crimson and gold egomania of USC football fans begins to appear everywhere
4. I bake my last peach crisp


End of Summer Peach Crisp

For topping:

2 1/2 c. flour
1/2 c. sugar
1/2 c. brown sugar, packed
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. freshly ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp. salt
1 c. (2 sticks) butter, cut into smaller pieces
Dash of almond extract

For peach filling:

About 12 peaches, peeled* and sliced
2 tsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/2 tsp. almond extract
1/2 c. brown sugar, packed
2 Tbs. flour

Preheat oven to 350. Butter a large (9x13) ceramic or glass baking dish.

To make topping, put all dry ingredients (flour through spices) into a food processor and mix until combined. Add butter, a piece at a time, pulsing as you go until the stuff begins to come together. Pulse in the almond extract. It should resemble a crumbly shortbread dough.

For the crisp, combine the peaches, lemon juice, and almond extract. In a small bowl, combine the flour and sugar, and then stir into the peaches. Allow to sit for a few minutes, then spread in the prepared baking dish. Take your topping mix, and using your hands to break up any large clumps, cover the peaches completely. As it bakes, the juices will bubble through and the whole thing will look and smell incredible. Bake for 45 minutes, until topping is golden brown and the bubbling juices appear thickened. Allow to cool for about 30 minutes.

Serve in bowls with vanilla ice cream, and start counting the days until summer comes again.

* Here is a cool trick for peeling peaches: Put on a big pot of water to boil, and get a large bowl of ice water going, too. With a sharp knife, cut an X in the bottom of the peach. When the water is hot, place several peaches in there and let them bob around for 2-3 minutes, or until you can kind of see the skin where you cut the X loosening up. Remove from the hot water with a slotted spoon, and put into the ice water to stop the cooking. When they've cooled a bit, you can literally just peel back the skin from the X and save yourself and your paring knife a ton of work!

Some people say it with flowers

To kick off an early morning expedition to Disneyland.
To fortify a nervous kid on the first day of school.
To tempt a man who just ran ten miles.
To say good-bye to a little girl who is about to cry all the way to Michigan.

Roses? Bah. We're all about the donuts*.
Nothing says "I love you" like a cinnamon roll from K's.

* Even if you are saying "I love you" to one specific person, always get a dozen. There will probably be a whole houseful of people left behind who are crying, too. On the plus side, a dozen donuts is a heck of a lot cheaper than a dozen roses.

The party she didn't want

My mom turned 70 last week, a major milestone anyone's life, but somehow especially so for her. At least we thought so. My sister was in town, and we both agreed that a suitable celebration was not only in order, it was downright mandatory.

Apparently, we were wrong. But not really.

Confused? I will translate.

Mom: You know, I saw all the trouble you and your sister went through for your father*. I just wanted to tell you that I don't expect anything like that.

Translation: The bar has been set pretty high. I might not have been invited to the party, but I don't miss much. I did notice that you were a massive ball of stress for weeks before and after, so I'll cut you a little slack. A little.

Mom: I had this thought that maybe we could just stay in and relax for my birthday. Everyone loves that. The kids could hang out on the couch. We could heat up some frozen dinners, get out the paper plates, and just watch TV. Doesn't that sound like fun?

Translation: Don't mind me. I'll just sit here in the dark. Honestly, who am I to be important enough to use the real plates?

Mom: I had such a lovely party for my 65th. Remember when you had everyone come? That was so nice. I loved that. I'll always cherish that memory. I still look at the pictures from that day and it means so much to me. It really was a once in a lifetime thing. No reason to try to improve on perfection, I always say.

Translation: Don't invite people. I mean it.

Mom: OK, so we'll go out. How about we go to Popeye's and then get Menchie's for dessert?

Translation**: You spend money like there's no tomorrow. I think you might be going broke at any moment. I'll happily sacrifice my birthday dinner if even the suggestion of Popeye's makes you fiscally responsible for five minutes***. But I know it won't, so my job here is done.

Mom: Tea? Really? Are you sure? Well, if you insist.

We did.




Our experience The Scarlet Tea Room needed no translation. It was a flat out great place that shows how much fun it is to dress up, get festive and truly celebrate. The kids were all wearing outfits that mom had bought just for them, and they greeted each aspect of "high tea" with wide eyed enthusiasm. (We can put in as many of these sugar lumps as we want? I love this place! Pass the tongs!) Our waitress got right into the spirit of the party, and the owner came by with birthday wishes and a hug for my mom. As a bonus, the food was beyond delicious. In addition to flaky chocolate chip, cinnamon, and cranberry scones (with decadent cream and homemade lemon curd) and a long list of inventive tea sandwiches (per my daughter, the egg salad one rocked), they won major points with an incredible strawberry sorbet (my son had six and a half helpings, I think) and an absolutely sinful version of Strawberries Romanoff. Yum. Yum. Yum!!

The next day:

Mom: How much do I love my TV? Thank you for my birthday.

Translation: The TV was exactly what I wanted. And the tea was nice, too. But what I really loved was seeing my girls and my grandchildren so happy, and that all of us were together. We could have done it on the couch, with paper plates, with a chicken special, or with those fancy strawberries and porcelain tea cups. That's what I've been trying to tell you. It's the people that make the occasion matter. And this was a wonderful occasion. You made me feel special yesterday, and I will cherish it always.

Well said, Mom. Happy, happy birthday to you.

* At the instigation of my stepmother, a gathering of nearly 100 family and friends at my house for his 70th, catered by In N Out.
** Just in case she was being literal, we did round up the kids for an outing to Popeye's and Menchie's the day before.
*** Hopefully you already bought the TV (we had) and it better have been on sale (it was).

I see the glass as 1/4 full

I asked my son how his first day of 8th grade was. He shrugged and said, "Not bad. I like three-quarters of my classes." Then he slammed the door and stopped talking to me.

Cool, I thought. He's finally using fractions.

I'm glad I live in Encino because...

The exit to my house from

lands me smack dab at

where you can buy

and

but most of all

Amazing


I love my freeway exit.

The Simplest Way to Cook Corn
My go-to corn recipe comes from the chorus of The Corn Song, by Hollow Log*.
It only works when you have perfectly sweet, freshly picked corn.

Chorus:

Bring some water to a boil, put the corn in the pot.
Turn it off! Turn it off!
Leave it in the pot for a minute or two-oo. Oo-oo-oo-hoo!
Corn is good for you!

[Instrumental section with mouth harp and harmonica]

Here comes that recipe again!

[Chorus]

* Street musicians that we met at the Hollywood Farmer's Market when my son was really little.

Foodie Girls Lunch Brigade – Episode 5

Quick! What is the last thing you think you want to eat when the town is burning down around you and it's 104 in the shade? Go ahead. Just shout it out.

Fried Chicken.

Episode 5- Sizzling Hot Kettle

So it was not surprising to see FG2 and FG3 surreptitiously googling "cool crisp salad Culver City" using the "FG1 is insane and tardy" iPhone app when I arrived late to our most recent rendezvous. Nevertheless, they gamely followed me into Honey's Kettle Fried Chicken, prepared to take one for the team. The iced tea and a tall cold lemonade took the edge off, and resistance completely broke down when the food arrived. Little red plastic baskets topped with a piping hot, butter-laced biscuit, seasoned fries, and two pieces of gloriously juicy bird nestled in the parchment paper lining. And what chicken it is. I can only say the batter is beyond delicious...crackling, crispy, a rich deep golden brown, and light as a feather going down. Seasoned to perfection with enough salt to keep you happy, but not so much as to take away from the flavor of the meat itself. This is great, great stuff.

FG2: (Practically purring) I could eat about six more of these biscuits.
FG3: (coming back from getting a refill from the sauce bar) I didn't realize the honey was warm! Oh my!
FG2: This hot sauce is fantastic.
FG1: I know. I know! Man, this fish is good.

Although it is almost beside the point, they make an excellent pecan pie and tasty blueberry pancakes as well. The fries are good, not great, and from prior experience I can tell you to skip all of the traditional side salads. But we ate every scrap of chicken on our plates, loved the fish fillet, and sopped up loads of honey with those remarkable biscuits. We decide there is a reason that fried chicken is a very popular item for picnics, even when it is 104 degrees in the shade: it's the perfect summer food. At least this version is.

Foodie Girls' final verdict: We loved it! FG2 even took a family pack home for dinner.

NEW! Cost info: 2 piece chicken lunch, with fries & a biscuit, $8.95. Sampler lunch with fish fillet, piece of chicken, side, fries, and a biscuit: $10.95. Drinks around $2. Specials available.