Pleased by Cheese

Near the top of my Top 5 Favorite Things to Do in London is a morning at Borough Market. Sure, the bloom has gone off of it a bit - it is now INSANELY and deeply unpleasantly crowded - but is still foodie heaven. Pictures seen below are of my new favorite stand, Raclette Man. I dont think that's actually the name, and both times it was actually a woman behind the raclette thingamabob, but super mmmm.

The stand is owned/run by an affineur (cheese ripener) from Neal's Yard Dairy. They make 2 things: raclette (from the French "to scrape") made from a British version of the Swiss original cheese.
The cheese is wedged under a individual heater and broiled until bubbly. It is then scraped onto a pile of baked new potatoes and mini spicy pickles. You only get a glimpse of the woman behind the machine in this pic, but she was so f-ing cute you felt a little less guilty about eating a giant cheese bomb.

The stand also makes a toasted cheese sandwich of Montgomery cheddar and a smidge of red onions and leeks on Poilane sourdough bread. After a little research, I found the Ruth Reichl of Gourmet magazine had recently tried said sarnie and declared it close to "the Platonic ideal of a grilled cheese sandwich". So, um yeah. It was mindbending.

My other highlights: Indian chicken and mushroom saute in coriander pancakes, "devils on horseback" (prunes wrapped in bacon), and twice-baked banana almond cake. I thought briefly about braving the queue for the chorizo and piquillo pepper sandwiches at Brindisa, a famous Spanish food stand, but it looked almost as daunting as the immigration line at Heathrow.

Next installment: I drink!

Oi You

Iain and Me in Hyde Park. I'll write more on my transatlantic jaunt once I'm caught up on my day job.

LA-LDN Travel Restrictions

I am going to London on Thursday for 2-1/2 weeks. Yay! London in January! What could be more romantic? I heard there is increased security on LA – LDN flights, but asked Iain’s friend Brian to look into it. Here is the official word from Brian’s exclusive sources:

1.
Please check smiles in your luggage. If you show any signs of happiness, people will know that you are not one of them a la “Invasion Of The Body Snatchers”. Keep it simple - a sour grey look of total hopelessness should do it. If you cannot muster sour grey, look violent. You will quickly recognize this look on the train or tube ride into London.

2.
Bring loads of dollars. An extra suitcase is recommended. The current conversion rate is $1=jackshit.

3.
Bring warm clothes. Global warming has not been definitively proved by scientists, and the 4 hours of “sunlight” coupled with the nearly constant rain will definitively prove the lack of proof to you.

4.
The lack of sun does require an adjustment for many, but you may not notice because it gets dark at 3pm. Drink as much as you can on the plane. This, coupled with pharmaceuticals, may help with 1, 3, and 4.

5.
Due to fear of terror, no sharp objects are allowed in hand luggage. Due to fear of a lot of other things too.

6.
Immediately upon deplaning, make sure all return flights back to L.A. are in good and proper order.

Thank you.

Thoroughly Modern Mommy

Please check out my friend Linda's hilarious bit on Huffington Post. She's that funny in real life too. I wont tell you who's who unless you email the article to 10 of your closest friends.

Vampires of Iowa

I cant really write about politics on this blog, but I will share a funny commentary on the Iowa caucuses written by a friend: a fellow journalist who does NOT work for the same company I do, so his views do not reflect the opinions of my much-loved employer.

"the most interesting outcome is an obama win -- which puts the clintons in the position of having to spin iowa as not so important, or, conversely, to spin hillary as the hard-working underdog fighting against all the powerful forces that don't want REAL CHANGE (like bill in 92 in new hampshire).

in any event, seeing the clintons spin is what you want out of a presidential election year -- if you go to the zoo, you want to see them feed the tigers, if you go to an nba game, you wan to see slam dunks. if you watch an american presidential election you want to see the clintons spin like tops, telling white lies while clinging to a sliver of truth wrapped in false sincerity and laced with ruthless ambition and political triangulation.

i'm really curious to see how the clintons would spin an iowa loss.

it's like in a vampire movie, you drive the stake through the vampire's heart, and wave garlic over him, and lock him into a chest and throw him into the ocean, but you know the vampire's coming back. the movie's not over.

What they say: WE HAVE ALWAYS SAID THAT IOWA WOULD BE A VERY DIFFICULT STATE FOR SENATOR CLINTON. IOWA, AS YOU KNOW, HAS NEVER ELECTED A WOMAN TO STATEWIDE OFFICE OR SENT A WOMAN TO WASHINGTON. THE SENATOR KNEW THIS, AND AS YOU KNOW MANY OF HER CLOSEST ADVISORS URGED HER TO SKIP IOWA ENTIRELY BUT SHE FELT IT WAS ONLY FAIR TO THE PEOPLE OF IOWA TO GIVE THEM A CHANCE.
What they really mean: (THEY'RE SEXIST)

What they say: WE KNEW ALL ALONG THAT THIS WAS SENATOR OBAMA'S HOME TURF, AND THAT THESE PEOPLE HAVE BEEN WATCHING HIS POLITICAL ADS ON TELEVISION FOR A VERY LONG TIME, DATING BACK TO HIS DAYS IN THE ILLINOIS STATE SENATE. STILL, THE SENATOR FELT STRONGLY THAT IT WAS IMPORTANT TO RUN A FIFTY STATE CAMPAIGN.
What they really mean: (IOWA IS AN EXURB OF ILLINOIS)

What they say: MANY HAVE CRITICIZED THE IOWA CAUCUS SYSTEM AS AN ANTIQUATED VOTING METHOD THAT INTIMIDATES VOICES OF CHANGE, REDUCES PEOPLE'S CHANCES TO BE HEARD AND IS INCONSISTENT WITH OUR TRADITIONS OF DEMOCRACY. THE SENATOR STILL FELT IT WAS IMPORTANT TO COMPETE IN IOWA, AND SHE ENJOYED HER TIME SPENT WITH THE PEOPLE OF THAT STATE. BUT SHE IS REALLY EXCITED FOR THE REAL VOTING AND THE REAL DEMOCRACY TO BEGIN HERE IN NEW HAMPSHIRE.
What they really mean: (CAUCUSES ARE WEIRD)


What they say: A FEW THOUSAND IOWANS HAVE SPOKEN AND THEY SPOKE VERY CLEARLY TONIGHT IN THREE VOICES. I SALUTE SENATOR EDWARDS FOR HIS STRONG CAMPAIGN AND, YES, (PRETENDS TO TRY TO SILENCE THE BOOS) YES, PLEASE FOLKS, HE'S A DEMOCRAT TOO...
SENATOR OBAMA. MILLIONS OF AMERICANS WILL SPEAK IN THIS ELECTION AND WE ARE CONFIDENT THEY WILL ULTIMATELY SPEAK IN ONE VOICE AND MAKE HISTORY BY ELECTING SENATOR CLINTON.
What they really mean: (ABOUT ELEVEN PEOPLE VOTED AND IT WAS A THREE-WAY TIE)

What they say: WE'VE HAD A LOT OF FUN HERE IN IOWA AND YOU FOLKS HAVE SPOKEN AND AS FAR AS I CAN TELL YOU LIKE A LOT OF US DEMOCRATS! I'VE JUST BEEN TOLD ... WOW! ... I'VE JUST BEEN TOLD THAT I RECEIVED TWICE AS MANY CAUCUS VOTES AS THE LEADING REPUBLICAN!
What they really mean: (WE BEAT THE REPUBLICANS)

What they say: WELL FOLKS, I JUST PLACED A CONGRATULATORY PHONE CALL TO THE WINNER ... BUT OPRAH WINFREY WASN'T AVAILABLE TO TAKE MY CALL!!!!
What they really mean: (OBAMA WON) "

My 2008 Totally Unattainable Wish List

10. To never see The Most Annoying Behavior Ever, talking on cellphones while driving, again. It will become illegal in California in July, but so is driving drunk and look how effective that law is [see: Spears, Britney; Lohan, Lindsey; etc] .

9. To never hear the initials "O" and "J" again, except within the tasty fruit drink context.

8. To purge my busy brain of all Paris Hilton knowledge.

7. To not worry and learn to love earthquakes, fires, landslides, missing families/skiiers/climbers/blond chicks, and killer tigers.

6. For a freak constitutional amendment moving the election date up to Jan 2, 2008 so I dont have to spend the next 11 months listening to hot air.

5. 3 parter: To only pay for the cable channels I want instead of countless kids and Cantonese channels that I never watch but still get stuck paying for; for FX and CW to get with the program and put out an HD channel so I can watch "Crowned, the Mother of all Pageants" in all its warty glory; and for "The Wire" to go on forever and ever, amen.

4. Another 3 parter: For scientists to discover that Mexican food is actually its own valuable food group slightly more healthy than broccoli; For the elliptical machine to become "fun", and for Alli to be upgraded and become the weight loss dream drug without the "loose stools" and "greasy discharge". Yep. That's right. Wipe out the greasy discharge.

3. For the housing market in LA to continue to sink like Rosie O'Donnell in the pool.

2. To read more fun interesting things rather than more news stories about the horrible ways humans treat each other.

1. Peace!