Thanksgiving 2007

Let me just start by saying that I’ve never actually cooked a turkey. I’ve roasted chickens before, but nothing as big as a Thanksgiving turkey. So you would think that I’d listen to my folks, who have years of turkey cooking under their belts, regarding how long our 13-pound free range bird would take. You would think that I’d trust the calculator, dividing pounds by minutes instead of the mathematically deficient brain that struggles to compute the correct tip for the pizza guy. You’d think.

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Ben’s Apple Crisp

I’ve moved a lot over the past dozen years—California, Nevada, Colorado, Oregon, New York and back to California—so I’ve spent a lot of time longing for things comforting and familiar. When I’m stressed out I crave Khi Mao, a spicy Thai noodle dish spiked with chilies and basil, from the Lucky Noodle in Eugene, Oregon. When I’m tipsy and tired after a fun night out, raiding the fridge is rarely as satisfying as the salty sweetness of a culatello panino with mozzarella and noci from ‘inoteca in New York.

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Black Bean, Chicken & Goat Cheese Tostadas

Wedding rehearsal dinners can be a drag. The food, most often, seems like an afterthought. But at a recent wedding in San Diego I was pleasantly surprised to find that the bride and groom had hired a taco truck to cater their post-rehearsal picnic at the Cove in La Jolla. They served delicious, authentic tacos on handmade fresh tortillas. I watched studiously as the cook ran little balls of dough through a hand-crank machine that flattened and punched out perfect five-inch circles. He threw the tortillas on a hot griddle and then ladled carne asada or chicken in them, then topped each with a little chopped cabbage and crema.

The tacos were amazing! And better still, you could smell the tortillas warming on the griddle from halfway down the beach. Sea air wrapped around aromas of sweet corn, enticing like fresh bread baking in an outdoor oven.

Since then, I’ve been on a bit of a taco kick, leading my boyfriend and I to the Best Fish Taco in Ensenada—a welcoming, turquoise-colored converted auto body shop in Los Feliz (on Hillhurst). Continue reading

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