Baking it out or Back on the blogwagon.

Happy 2013! First off, I want to say, I have always loved the number 13 and I think it has gotten a bad rap for no good reason. I once lived in a building that had floor 12 and floor 12 A then 14. I preferred to believe we lived on the 13th floor. I was 6 and it was an old button factory converted into lofts on the west side of Manhattan in the garment district. It was probably the coolest place I lived as a child. My mom's musician boyfriend made me a house from cardboard boxes and a car from giant tinker toys.


OK back to present day. I went AWOL last year while I cooked up a storm as a personal chef in NYC, executive produced as well as playing the lead role in a West Coast Premiere of a new play in Los Angeles and said goodbye to my home in LA as the building is being torn down this month. It's very easy to fall off the blogwagon in the midst of such amazing creative chaos and challenge. What's harder is to get back on and know what to say or offer.


I love baking cookies and I realized last year that despite my healthy cooking desires and tendencies and wishes for others, I also love creating cookie monsters. That said, some of my cookies are more monstrous and some more angelic. While the play was running in Los Angeles, I baked different cookies each week for concessions and always tried to have one vegan and/or gluten-free offering. Though it's after Christmas and like wearing white after labor day, the flavor of peppermint seems to go into hiding for months at a time, I am going to shake it up and offer you the vegan, gluten free, peppermint chocolate chip cookie I created for the play this past December. Food for thought: Why is it that peppermint ice cream disappears for 10 months and becomes Irish Mint or Mint Chocolate Chip? I am starting a revolution here and now!

VEGAN GLUTEN FREE PEPPERMINT CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES
1 1/4 cups Sorghum Flour ( Bob's Red Mill is easiest brand to find)

1/4 cup Tapioca Starch

1 cup Gluten Free Oats ( or regular oats if you don't care)

1 cup Organic Unrefined Cane Sugar or Coconut Palm Sugar ( or a combination of Maple Sugar and Coconut Sugar)

1 bar Fair Trade Dark Chocolate 70-80%- cut into small chunks.

6-10 Peppermint Candies ( I prefer Trader Joes brand but I know Whole Foods also has some that do not have corn syrum and are colored with red cabbage and beet extracts)- Smashed into tiny pieces- using a hammer, pot or empty glass bottle

1/2 cup Unsweetened Sunflower or Almond Butter

1 tsp Peppermint Extract

1/2 tsp Baking Soda

1/2 tsp Sea Salt

1 TBS Apple Sauce

1 TBS Unsweetened Almond Milk

2-3 TBS Organic Mildly Flavored Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Canola, Safflower, Sunflower or Coconut Oil

If it needs more sweetness sometimes I add some raw honey too.


Procedure:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees

Combine:
Flour, Oats, Baking Soda and Salt

Combine:
Nut or Seed butter with Sugar
Add peppermint extract
Add oil
Add almond milk and Apple sauce

Add dry into wet, mix
Add Chocolate
Add half of the crushed peppermint candies

You can refrigerate for an hour or two for best result but not necessary.
On a greased, parchment lined or silpat lined cookie sheet use a spoon or small ice cream scoop to scoop the dough into balls on the sheet.

Sprinkle the remaining peppermints over the cookies

Cook for 10-12 minutes or until slightly browned
Should make at least 30 cookies.

I shaped some for the fun of it too.

Hey Stranger

Hi There, You all thought I disappeared or is it All y'all or do you only say All y'all if you say Y'all rather than you all? These are the kinds of things that baffle my mind and keep me from writing blogs. Actually it's been a wild year. Overwhelming! Every time I think about what will I blog about I have so many ideas that I just don't pick any of them. So I am not going to recap my year for you now. I am not going to promise to do so in the near future. I am merely going to tell you what's up now. In January of 2012 my life changed. OK that's dramatic but it did. Two big things happened. First, I took the crazy ask risk of emailing the playwright of a play I had been haunted by for months and asked him for the rights to produce and act in a West Coast Premiere of his play AND HE SAID YES. BOOM! Second, I got my dream personal chef job. I will return to the world of culinary delights and creations soon I promise but today I want to share with you the progress of the play since that first request.

It's August 16 and I now have a producer, a director, a theatre and casting has been set out into the world to begin at the end of the month. What I don't have like many an artist is all the cash to bring this dream to life. So if you want to learn more about how you can help and what this show is about or if you just want to watch me or if you want to find out how you can get some cooking lessons or just cooking from me check out my campaign here: http://indiegogo.com/badevidencela (For some reason blogger is not accepting my clickable link- if you know why please leave a comment :)) It's happening bright lights here we come!

Lessons to Pop-up from.

As I sit at my favorite writing spot in New York having three possible pop up dinners to come in Winter 2012, I want to share the lessons learned with this one. Lessons 1-5 can be found in earlier blogs though I will repeat them here for ease. If you've read them just scroll to Lesson #6.

Lesson # 1: GINORMOUS SCALLOP: Dice the massive Jolly Green Giant friendly Abalone resembling Scallops into large cubes rather than slicing to imitate an oval scallop shape.

Lesson # 2: PHOTOGRAPHY: Tell the photographer exactly what to photograph! Maybe even make a written list to hand to her/him.

Lesson#3 TIMING or FUCK SYMBOLIC MEANING DATES: Check calendars and local news for all holidays/events in the area before finalizing a date.

Lesson #4 KOMBUCHA or OTHER GOOPY LIQUID: Quadruple seal the jar in plastic wrap. It's not worth sparing the plastic if your clothes get ruined and you end up wasting water on unneeded laundry.

Lesson #5 SAVINGS/PURCHASES: Buying a smaller convection oven from Target 50% cheaper than renting a luxurious one that can hold half sheet pans from a rental company. Buying an electric burner more cost effective than one needs butane fuel or rental fee.

Lesson #6 KEYS: Keep track of your keys. Do not leave them in the car no matter how rushed and crazy you are. Note: It may lead to your car being stolen or to your stress levels increasing to the point that you find a half smoked month old cigarette in your purse and are desperately in need of smoking the crushed sad item at 10am on a Sunday morning. Not that I did such a thing nor do any photos exist that I could deny and claim photoshop! Do not rely on luck. Though the stars were with me.

Lesson #7 COSTING AND TOO MUCH OF A GOOD THING: Do more effective and realistic costing and calculating of how much fish I really needed. One doesn't need as much halibut for a main course when the meal is an amuse, three savory courses, a dessert and table snacks. Better to go over than under but NOT WAY OVER. Get clarity on pricing: I did not get wholesale prices or a deal despite my loyalty. Distance does not always make the heart grow fonder as I learned being away from the Hollywood Market for so long. If you have leftovers don't be a typical caterer- share them with friends, family, neighbors. Someone should enjoy the halibut sparkle and they did!

Lesson #8 SCHEDULE: Account for loading out of kitchen and loading into location into time frame.

Lesson #9 RESEARCH AND INSTINCTS: Listen to others but trust your own instincts and recipe test. This lesson comes not from an error or failure but rather a success. Some catering chef veterans suggested that if I was doing an apple crisp rather than cooking the whole thing and reheating it, I should cook the crisp separate from the apples and just heat the apples on site and then put the room temp crunchy crisp on top. After trying it both ways I decided on a third way. Make the crisp off site at the last possible moment. Make EXTRA Crisp topping separately. Reheat entire crisp onsite and top with the crunchy crumble. That way the apples and topping still get to blend in cooking but you still get the crunch. YUM

Lesson #10 BE ORGANIZED: Make checklists for each department. I slacked in the sanitation and bar supplies departments. I should have brought dish soap, bowls, towels, extra spoons, muddler etc. When asked: "Do you have dish soap?" My response: "Nope." No apology. I just thought sorry... as Event Planner, Decorator, Chef, Marketing Coordinator, Bar Captain, Floor Captain, Sanitation Captain, Accountant etc. some things were gonna slide.

Lesson #11 KNOW YOUR SKILLS, DELEGATE: I think the biggest lesson I learned was where my skills are and where they are not. Marketing and promotion are not amongst my natural gifts and I do not enjoy them. These have been the same areas of challenge for me as an actor and writer. Would it be useful for me to spend some time learning to acquire these skills? Certainly. However, more importantly I need to align myself with someone who has these skills and a passion for them. I need a team.

Side note: I was very impressed several years ago when I heard a well known TV writer/producer saying that when he was first asked to run a show he knew where he was weak and he approached his mentor to co-executive produce with him as this man had the skills he didn't. Not only did they work well together but the show was a sensational success and one of my favorites of all time. I was just so blown away by his willingness to see his strengths and weaknesses and create a team around them. I am not not naming names out of any sense of privacy or mystery I just don't want to quote someone when maybe this is my memory of the story more than a word for word representation of this person.

Lesson #12: PLAN FOR THE UNEXPECTED: As people entered the space, this mysterious older woman appeared, who we will call Svetlana. She ordered a glass of red wine wandered around, spoke with the one paid guest I did not know. Left half the glass of wine and left. Note: Red wine was not on my menu. It was back up in case someone wanted it and did not need to be opened except for her. Turns out she had been the one to forward the invite to the other mystery guest who did infact pay but Svetlana had not paid and did not stay for the dinner or offer to pay for her wine. I should have gone out myself but I had asked my hostess to handle. Lesson don't be afraid or allow yourself to be too busy to handle these situations. Introduce yourself politely and invite her to join as a paid guest.

Lesson #13: CHECK YOUR EGO: It was my dinner and for the most part when my assistant offered her input I listened but dismissed it. On the evening though she offered a solution when I was lost and saved the day. What to do with the avocado underneath the Tuna. Make a Quenelle. Brilliant, yes I will take that one. Thanks, Alana!

Lesson #14 SPECIAL TOUCHES: Always go out to your guests and offer some special individual touch. A chef I worked with fileted a GIANT SALTED FISH tableside. I piped the raw passion fruit whipped cream on each guest's apple crisp.

Lesson #15 MONEY: Create a budget and stick to it. Do not fall into vague credit card ether. Include how much you need to be paid in said budget and pay yourself!

Lesson #16 JOY: Don't forget to have faith and have fun!!!

Closing Time

They say when one door closes another opens. I don't always agree. Sometimes one door closes and you come upon many locked doors with no keys or a big field with no doors in sight or the Ocean appears. Sometimes you just have to keep knocking on doors until the next one opens. Then on occasion, the right door opens. The door you may not have expected or initially envisioned. This was the case with my band for the evening of the 6608 Supper Club.

When my friend told me her band could not play my dinner, I was heartbroken for many reasons. Selfishly: I wanted to see her rock out. Metaphorically: She was a part of the team connected to the space I was using and thus in the family of the event. Creatively: It was the magic fire to the end of the meal I was desiring.

In the end, had I had 40 people her band would have been the perfect hit. With 10/11 people something more intimate was needed and poof what did I get. A lovely singer song writer and her male counterpart who brought chairs up to the table and played their guitars and sang for my guests while they ate dessert. I may have cried a little. It was beyond my expectations actually not even amongst my visions for the event and just right.

Up next: Final Lessons

6608 Dinner Photoshoot

I am going to leave these caption-less as I believe you've had enough words. Enjoy!

By now you know I lie. One caption: This was the tester dessert. For the real thing I piped the raw whipped passion fruit cream at the table for each guest.

Sunday, October 9th 2011 or "I'm Coming Out."

"I'm coming out. I want the world to know. Got to let it show!

No, for all of you wondering, I am not or did I come out of the closet. For whatever reasons I am hopelessly heterosexual. I mean it in all of the Diana Ross glamour but none of the diva attire. Have yet to discover the sexy chef fashion!

Sunday, October 9th. Prepping was in full swing and I was up at the crack of a** with a gnawing need for King's Road Soy latte. I kept telling the voice to shut up as I needed to get to the farmer's market and conquer the culinary world in mere hours. Alas the voice would not quiet nor be calmed so off to King's road I was for the perfect start to my day and a black coffee for my trust assistant.

The Farmer's Market was a bittersweet success. I spent more money on fish than I have ever personally spent on a meal and have only barely spent on shoes. I nearly cried when I found out how much it was and the extra pound of salmon I was gifted was not a welcome as it typically would have been. The goat feta I was pining for was nowhere to be found so I had to settle for a goat Jack. All in all I wouldn't be surprised if the farmers thought I had chosen to snort a few bumps rather than chug a latte before the shopping spree. Yeah, I was spinning out of control and the last straw was that I could not find my keys. They were NOWHERE. I imagined walking back to a non-existent car. Crawling with bags, I barked at my culinary assistant friend to bolt to my car and it was there. Keys in the console OPEN and there. THANK F-ING GOD. FAITH. MIRACLES. YES.

The rest of the day was a blur of chopping, searing, crisping, sauteeing, packing, unpacking, table setting, making a kitchen, bar, hostess stand, dining room from a virtually empty warehouse, explaining floral display. Boom Boom Ding wang chung and here we were at the dinner. No time to shower or look glamourous.

I was always confused how chefs could work 12-17 hours around food and not really eat and today I got it. I know I had something resembling brunch split up during the day and some tasting, a piece of tuna burger here, bite of sauteed apples there, lotus chip for crispness but not much of a meal other than a late night salad sampling from the dinner. Oddly despite a 17 hour day of food actually consuming it was not at all on my mind. What a miracle for a chronically food obsessed person from a very young age.

The bigger miracle those of you who don't know me deeply won't quite get the impact of was the final result of the evening. The dinner consisted of an amuse, four courses, table munchies, hand crafted cocktails, take home treats, entertainment and only a waitress, bartender, hostess and kitchen assistant to help and there was just one thing that didn't go perfectly and that I will blame on the aforementioned GIANT SCALLOP!!!

As you all well know I am a talker and am happy to answer any questions you may have but for the next post I will let the menu and the photos speak for me!

FAITH was not lost, just misplaced.

When I got back from Los Angeles in mid October and unpacked I noticed the pendant of my favorite necklace was missing from its chain. After scouring my room, I determined it must have fallen out of my bag somewhere between my apartment in Hollywood and the townhouse in Tribeca which means it could have fallen at 35,000 feet or on the A Train, basically- anywhere. What messed me up about this is that this pendant has the word FAITH on it. How could I lose FAITH? Was that significant? I was pretty upset. I was not obsessive fixating can't live without it upset but definitely wishing I had a photo of it so that I could have it remade upset. One friend said maybe I lost it to prove I didn't need a necklace to have FAITH. Truth is I didn't buy the necklace to give me faith. I bought the necklace cause at the time I had written a character in a script named FAITH that I was still hoping to play and that maybe the necklace would help manifest that dream. At a certain point I had to let it go, surrender it and move on. It was only a necklace.

Cut to: late November and I am cleaning out a drawer of toiletries and what should appear: my FAITH pendant. It wasn't lost. It was just misplaced. It was there all along waiting for me to find it again.

I am not gonna get all Wizard of OZ on you but it did make me think about my pop-up dinner cause that is exactly how things went down. As I promised, the next installment.

How exactly did things go from One confirmed guest on Friday, October 7th to 11 happy stuffed guests on October 9th? I have no idea. Faith and persistence were definitely components. I could not do all this work for nothing. So I admitted one defeat. I would change the date to Sunday, October 9th, giving me more time and more Jew friendliness. Despite my lack of practicing my heritage is Jewish on both sides so showing some respect wouldn't hurt.

Suddenly, things fell into place. I got a job on a commercial. Of all things I was a customer at a Farmer's Market in the commercial and of all days we were rained out like torential Florida style rain and had to return the next day. WHOO! I could breathe now. My income for the week was taken care of.

Then I surrendered to something else. This would be an investment in my future like graduate culinary school so trying to break even or make money was off the table. The only thing I cared about was making the most delicious, exciting, fun evening for who ever decided to attend, incorporating foods that were mostly organic and/or Farmer's market sourced, wheat-free, unprocessed, unrefined and with as little sugar as possible. Those were things I could get excited about!!

By Friday, a lot of the shopping had been done, Lotus root found at an obscure China Town market in the pouring Hong Kong Monsoon like rain. Fish ordered, rentals finalized, platters, plates and pots borrowed, begged, stolen. Well not really stolen...

My lovely assistant had arrived from NY and we were in my kitchen taste testing the Vinho Verde and doing the first steps of work such as making purees.

Lesson #5 Buying a smaller convection oven from Target 50% cheaper than renting a bigger luxurious one that can hold half sheet pans from a rental company. Buying an electric burner more cost effective than one needs butane fuel or renting.

By Saturday, Chairs were picked up, Rentals delivered, Cooking a brewing. Music playlist done. Marinades made. Wheat Free Vegan Oatmeal Peanut Butter no refined sugar cookie dough done. Veggies roll cut. Passion fruit caramel poured into jars. Pot licked clean.


Next up: THE DAY OF!!!

Thanks to you too!

Last gifts of gratitude to my LA clan!

Part 3: LOS ANGELES

AA for your enduring love, support, generosity, driving and Jones trouble making sparkle.
AL for still being something I can count on to kick my ass and cleanse my soul for over 15 years.
AO for staying friends with me after the airport trip from hell and other psychologically disturbed places.
CC for bringing Busted back, your bartending beauteous support and our secret society.
CT for being my acting inspiration drug dealer and always willing to provide a free hit when I am back in town. Jonesing for some acting juice now.
CWS for opening your home to me, inspiring me with your passion, and providing poochy pies!
JS for making me stand on my edge and step up to the supper chef pop- up plate far sooner than I thought I could.
KHW for loaning me tools, plates and spirit for my dinner
KK for laughing at my jokes, enabling my crazy and sharing your own.
ML for being my texting savior of the spirit.
NS for being the cure for my amnesia.
SC for reading my lists the length of novellas and responding with love and respect.
ST for your photos and generosity of the heart, soul and spin.

NEXT: Pop-up Paradise- I promise.

Merci Danke Thanks

From Düsseldorf, Germany to Kula, Maui, Hawaii and all parts between these are some of the people around the world I give thanks for!!

Part 2: GLOBAL

AB- for flying across country to chop herbs and run around farmers markets and
decide on avocado quenelles!
AE- for being my champion from coast to coast, leap frogging from creative endeavor to the next.
AS- for speaking my language even when we speak in three different ones, making me laugh more than anyone I know and getting your groupie a** to the states at Christmas.
AS/SS/M for being fantastical and always bursting with love to give.
CG- for being an anchor, an inspiration, a voice of the heart and a snap of honesty.
JR- for always listening.
SS- for your warmth and caring commitment to family.
WS-D for your support of my new bi-coastal culinary and creative journeys.

Thanks to you!!

Thanksgiving has never been my favorite holiday. In my younger non-poultry consuming, angst filled, eating disorder days, the particular combination of food and family or lack of family was a recipe for spontaneous or forced combustion, literally and metaphorically. Though even in those morose periods this song always made me smile: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/11/24/adam-sandlers-thanksgivin_n_788173.html

I was reminded this week to step out of self pity and focus on what I have to be grateful for. Thanksgiving is ultimately not about whether I get to fly west to eat my step brother's amazingly brined turkey or make the perfect pumpkin ginger cheesecake myself. It's about people. In light of this, I have decided to write a thank you list to a large helping of the people in my life I would like to give thanks to, for their contributions in the last year. This list will appear in three parts: NY, LA and Global.

For many of these people I could write pages of gratitudes so these are just the bar snacks version not the 11 course chef's menu. Oh and Initials only to protect the innocent, the guilty, the famous and the free. In addition I am emailing these people the link to share my thanks. (OK and maybe so they will peruse the blog.)

I offer to you this Thanksgiving to make a list of your own and send it to those you are grateful for.

PART 1: NEW YORK

AB-for providing company and shelter from the storm when I was evacuated and sticking with me through my own personal storm.
CB for helping me share exactly the things I need to hear.
DL-for giving me awesome job opportunities to play with food.
ES- for creating, sharing, stirring up and being all sorts of deliciousness.
EW- for being my raw milk and Kombucha hero.
JB-for your generosity of time, editing and dark and storminess.
JW-for being the voice of culinary excellence in my head.
KN for the umbrella. My three umbrellas broke and yours has protected my
belongings and I from the elements for the past seven months.
LO for being love!
ML-for being my adventurous companion in cocktails, film, theatre, music and food.
NB- for playing music that sings to my soul.
PP- for providing the opportunity for me to take a risk and make an idiot of
myself singing in my not so rock star dream of "Live Band Karaoke."
PP-. For being my recipe test guinea pig as well as my mirror, reminding me that abundance is waiting for us.
TOQ- for writing a play and a role that inspired me in a way I haven't been in years.
TT-for helping me learn that I am deeply connected.
VB- for providing a lovely safe place to call home in a great neighborhood for
the last year +.

Next: Part 2: GLOBAL, Part 3: LOS ANGELES and a return to the adventures in Pop-ups.