antler international

north cackalackey

We’re back from North Carolina and the trip was just great.

I don’t think I ever posted pictures of the farm since I was so obsessed with the cows and cheese. The pics above gives you a pretty good feel for the lush and languid feel you get as soon as you step foot on the Chapel Hill Creamery grounds.

The ladies were super sweet to offer their guest room for a couple of nights. I made some cheese (well, mostly wrapped and priced it) and the husband roped some calves and took them to get vaccinated. We all went to our friend Andrea’s kickass restaurant where she forced us to try helf the menu. It felt like a homecoming even though I had only been on the farm for 2 weeks. I hope to keep these friends for a long time.

one year later

Holy cow! This is little Azalea…remember when she was born? It wasn’t even a year ago. She came running when we came over to see us. I like to think that we have a special bond, with me naming her and all.

She’s already gone into heat a couple of times and they’re going to get her knocked up this winter. They grow up so fast.

Look how cute she was.

i may have a bit of a gear problem

not pictured: digital SLR (took picture), Wii, Slingbox, Roku, laptop.

Up to 6 phone numbers now…must get consolidated.

a honey of a whoa

I’m going to cook at a real restaurant on Tuesday night and people are going to pay real money to eat there.

Corina (pictured above) is the chef at canelé restaurant in Atwater Village and is allowing me to cook in her kitchen. They have a somewhat irregular program called “friends cook at canelé” where they welcome someone from the neighborhood into their restaurant to conceive of and prepare the menu of their choice.

The thing that blows my mind is that Corina agreed to my menu without ever tasting anything I’ve prepared. Her restaurant is one of my favorites and we go there often. I am ridiculously honored that she is letting me do this and hope to hell I won’t let her down. I have a feeling that she will make the evening great despite my spazziness.

The menu is all about honey - each course will have feature some from different parts of LA and donated by various Backwards Beekeepers.

Here’s what we are serving:

* Mixed green salad with roasted beets, Gorgonzola and honey-roasted walnuts. Honey-champagne vinaigrette.
* Honey-glazed pork tenderloin with Maker’s Mark reduction. Corn cakes. Buttered young carrots.
* Goat cheese and nectarine tart with raw honey drizzle. Honey ice cream.

Dinner will cost $30 (not including beverages/gratuity)
Vegetarians will be accommodated.
You can also order off the regular canelé menu if you wish to mock me.

Come on down and watch me lose my shit! Tuesday, June 30th - from 5:30 until 10.

Michael from Pazzo Gelato in Silver Lake is going to make the ice cream with our honey. Their gelato has the most incredible deep and clean flavors and I can’t wait to taste it. He’s giving me half for the dinner and will sell the other half in his shop. You can always check that out if you are too lazy/cheap/sick of me to come to dinner.

veg porn

It’s getting so that we can have vegetables from the garden at least once a week. I expect that to double once the tomatoes begin to ripen.

We grilled up squash, japanese eggplant and those 6 precious shishitos tonight. I realize that this gardening thing is not new to many humans, but I still feel strangely smug about growing food and then eating it…like it is a secret science that we are newly privy to.

My dad starting dating recently, and it is so weird. I would guess he is a major catch being healthy, funny, smart and financially secure and all. He’s got the ladies all over him.

Ew.

Here’s what the garden looks like now:

i am the eggplant

Individual produce-in-action pics are starting to be more interesting than full garden shots.

Coming soon: veg-porn in the form of tomatoes, soybeans and cucumbers (oh, cucumbers!). We may have to revisit the raging force of nature that is crookneck squash as well.

…and here is what the garden looked like yesterday

my new hero

I’ve read this little piece from Last Sunday’s NY Times at least five times now. The writing blows me away - I am struck by the grace and honesty Tim Kreider achieves without even once stooping to anything that resembles maudlin or story-milking…and the story is extremely milkable. Kreidler stays cool and aloof where others (me) would have gone into superflous and overdramatic detail.

The first paragraph starts perfectly:

Fourteen years ago I was stabbed in the throat. This is kind of a long story and it’s not the point of this essay. The point is that after my unsuccessful murder I wasn’t unhappy for an entire year.

I dare you to not click on the link below and read the rest of the piece after that beast of a first paragraph. What a perfect set-up. Genius H. Christ - the man is actually best known for his political cartooning and he can crank out this gold as well. I love and hate him at once.

I hope to someday be able to express myself with the clarity Mr. Kreider does and to write with that perfect combination of soul-searching, humor and doubt that makes the piece so moving and real.

I’d be willing to give up any toe for that kind of gift. Let me know if you know someone that can make this happen for me.

In the meantime…read it!

Man…he also wrote a beautiful essay on David Foster Wallace’s death that comes closer than any other article I read on the matter (and I read many) to verbalizing my complex feelings about the same issue.

bee on me

My mom often accused me of having a “lack of impulse control” and I am starting to realize that she was right about that. Once I had the idea in my head that I wanted a bee tattoo there was no stopping me. I guess this beekeeping thing is for keeps.

I had originally scheduled the tattooing for June 26th with one of those famous tattoo dudes who you can’t get an appointment with unless you know someone. I got introduced through a friend, but Mr. Tattoo acted like he was doing me a big favor fitting me into his schedule. That attitude plus the whole establishment having a distinctly dickish vibe made me decide to cancel.

Plus I wanted it sooner.

So I went and met Tom at Silver Lake Tattoo yesterday and he said he could fit me in “right now” as long as I didn’t pass out and make his 7:00 tattooee wait. I went for it. I only needed a short time out for wooziness and deep breathing.

Still a little bit blown away that I paid a man to wound me yesterday. At least the wound is in the shape of a bee and the man who did it has some serious skills.

good boy

Ran into this dog and his early 20’s, possibly-homeless owner in Hollywood. The dog’s name is Disco. I didn’t get the human’s name, since he wasn’t nearly as charming, but he was a good dog owner.

That thing with the bowl crushes me.

growing almost like a weed

News coming soon about something other than the veggie garden.

Please enjoy this eggplant blossom in the meantime.