lrhr's Profile
Lower cost weddings in Los Angeles
We got married at a beautiful old ranch in the northwest valley called Orcutt Ranch. Prices have gone up a bit since then, but it is a city park and less than other spots. You can have acoustic music outside (and a dj inside) no amplified music because of the neighbors. There are other restrictions like an early end time (neighbors, again). But there are several beautiful outside areas to marry and/or set up dining tables. There's a rose garden or three, a gazebo lawn area and a spot under an oak tree. There is also a huge orange grove, so at the right time of year, the whole place smells amazing. Two dressing rooms. My recollection is that another money saver was that they provide tables and chairs.
It's a beautiful spanish style ranch built in the 20s. Which leads to one thing which may or may not bother you. There is decorative molding at the roof line in the form of connected swastikas. The city has painted them white, but not removed them. You and your guests are unlikely to notice them without having them pointed out, but they are there. And have been since they were simply a decoration used by lots of cultures around the world. (and we put rose trees around the statue of the monk...)
http://www.laparks.org/dos/horticulture/orcutt/orcutt_rental.htm
And there really isn't a law that says you must go into debt to get married. Stick with apps or just cake and a toast. Guests who know and love them will understand.
"Hitting" on the Waitress (server) Is it OK?
Well, you are sure entitled to your opinion. I think, given the idea that asking her out at all might make the waitress uncomfortable, this allows her to make her decision and response or lack thereof privately. And I did point out that merely asking could burn bridges for returning to a restaurant.
And with a note in his pocket, Augie can judge for himself if a connection is there or not on second meeting. Ask "live" if he feels he has the go ahead.
Another option is just to slip her his phone number, which would turn me off as it reeks of 70's single bar "call me, babe" vibe. That might work for others. For me, a straightforward note would have been charming. So would just asking to my face (worked for my husband). But I never waited tables so I didn't have that dynamic to complicate the issue.
Nothing works every time for every one in every situation.
"Hitting" on the Waitress (server) Is it OK?
Are you going back to the restaurant primarily to see her again? Or is this a place you might want to eat at regularly? You don't want to burn bridges by making things uncomfortable for future visits, but you also don't want to miss the opportunity to connect with someone who might be special.
I would write her a note. Tell her what you told us. Tell her you know being hit on at work can be awkward. Keep it short. A long letter will make you sound like a crazy stalker. Ask her to contact you. Hand her the note as you leave. Hope she follows up.
Could your/ IS your significant other a picky eater?
When hubby and I first were dating...still in that wobbly, star-gazing haze...I suggested sushi, he said (with a 'yucky' face), "that's raw fish!" I blurted, "I could never date someone who didn't eat sushi!" He volunteered to try it, and it has become one of his favorites.
He's still pretty picky, especially about textures...if I'd known three weeks into the relationship that we'd be together for 21 years (and counting), I might have laid down the law for a few other foods early on. But, hey, I'm a pescatarian with a kosher kitchen, and he's cool with that. So, if the person is worth it, the compromise is worth it.
"What's that?" - grocery store edition.
"all cashiers took a money recognition training session"
The rest of the story is just icing.
Things you thought you didn't need but were wrong about, and things you thought you needed but really didn't
My husband insisted and even though I thought it was silly, I went along with getting an instant hot water dispenser for our sink. I mean, I own a kettle and a microwave...I can heat water. The thing broke after three years or so, and the week it took to get it replaced included a whole lot of me whining "why do I have to wait four minutes for hot water!?" Best thing ever.
Love our waffle iron and it gets a lot of use.
I wanted a mandolin...and I wanted a good one, not a cheap version. Finally took the 150 buck plunge and...ick. hated using it. even with the guard, I was afraid of chopping off a finger...though it didn't really slice all that well (even after getting it replaced twice thinking the blade was dull.) My knife skills are decent, but way better than using that finger guillotine.
Top Chef Texas - Ep. #7 - 12/14/11 (Spoilers)
That's some of the worst food photography I have ever seen.
Top Chef Texas - Ep. #5 - 11/30/11 (Spoilers)
Also, Chuy told them he had served this dish at his restaurant. Which means he has had plenty of time to get the proportions right so that you could have melty cheese and properly cooked fish. He served a dish he has worked on, thought about, and served to paying customers and it was still a fail.
By drunken mistake, i later realized i slightly undertipped...what to do? (long)
I once signed a credit card slip and completely forgot to leave a tip. Wasn't drunk or even tipsy...just blanked. Realized later that night. Went back the next day, with cash and a very short note of apology, something like: "No reflection on your service. I don't know what I was thinking." The waiter was off that day, but the waitress who took the envelope and promised to give it to him was blown away. She was sure I must have waited tables at some point, which I never have.
And this may be a "first-world problem" to you, but it might not be for the waitstaff. Sometimes a few bucks makes a huge difference in meeting the rent. And the gesture will go a long way towards your reception the next time you dine there. Do it.
Trader Joe's Yea/Nay Thread - 4th quarter 2011 [OLD]
Second the ICK. Talked my hubby into trying the tofutti version when his cholesterol went skyward. He was surprised at how much he didn't mind it. After trying this stuff, he wants to go back to real cream cheese. This will send me occasionally into a "real" grocery store for the real fake stuff. (though it is less expensive at kosher markets if you have any convenient.)
Pre-Thanksgiving appetizer, maybe with cranberry?
If your folks like to start a meal with a green salad sort of appetizer (I love that for thanksgiving cause of how much food is on tap)--a green salad with dried cranberries. You can go as plain as lettuce, dressing and cranberries, or kale and quinoa and cranberries, or a composed salad with other autumnal fruits and veggies that aren't making it in the menu.
Top Chef Texas - Ep. #1 - 11/02/11 (Spoilers)
The sentence "I have an unlimited budget, so I always get exactly what I want from my butcher" should be followed with "So, I know how to order but not how to do it myself."
DH and I wondered instantly if this was the elves giving us the hubris/eliminated edit or the hubris/wow-he-can-back-it-up edit. They gave us the second version for pretty boy Chris.
Top Chef Texas - Ep. #1 - 11/02/11 (Spoilers)
Shouldn't Laurent Quenioux be on Top Chef Masters? He's kind of a big deal in LA.
Places only open during weekday lunch?
Starry Kitchen downtown. Open two nights a week (and used by LQ@SK some other nights) but closed on weekends. Validates parking, too!
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Starry Kitchen
350 S Grand Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90071
Easy meat recipes for vegetarian to entertain with
My husband married into my beefless home (I eat fish and birds) and once a year I make a brisket for him and a large group.
Get a smallish brisket (I make 9 pounds). Preheat oven to 325. Slice some onions into a roasting pan. Salt and pepper. Sear the meat in a large skillet and transfer into the roasting pan. Deglaze with red wine. Add more wine, pureed tomatoes (or paste), some brown sugar and cider vinegar. Pour over meat. Add enough more wine til the meat is covered. Cover with foil. Bake 3 hours. Let cool. Let meat-eating husband slice brisket and place back into liquid. (Touching the raw meat is a little icky to me...but cooked is actually worse...) Cover and refrigerate overnight. Reheat. Send in-laws home with lots for sandwich fixins. (Or give to meat eating husband for his lunches.) I am told this is simply awesome.
Oh, and make sure hubby knows to cut the meat the right way against (?) the grain or it will be stringy and awful. And you could probably skip the searing step without too much downside if you don't want that much hands-on.
All your meat cooking is done the day before, so use the evening they are there to cook something that you will like!
High Tea
The tea room at Huntington Gardens in South Pasadena. At the edge of your driving parameters, perhaps. I do feel the prices have gone up rather steeply without a commensurate upgrade of the food, and you do have to pay to get into the grounds in addition.
That said, the room is nice with a nice view of the rose garden or the herb garden, the selection of food is substantial (buffet, rather than plated--tea sandwiches, salads, cheese and crackers, fruit, and desserts), the scones are yummy and they will package the extras to go. And walking the gardens is a lovely way to spend an afternoon...and if she is all dressed up, then a meander through the main house pretending she lives there should make her day.
Amtrak food
Yup, Tablecloths and waiters. Well, the waitress was absent, generally. She never brought drinks, or checked on how the (uneaten) food was or offered dessert. The vegetables had been steamed into a state of mush, and the fish special which I ordered was ridiculously tough. The dining car manager, who did much of service since the waitress wasn't around, said no one much liked that fish. (but did not offer to replace it or reduce the check). My husband's food was edible, but not particularly good.
I hope it isn't the standard, but the service on that trip was low all around. There was an older gentleman in the cafe car who wanted help getting downstairs to the cafe level. A passenger went in search of an attendant and came back with the message that one was on the way. A half hour later with no train workers ever arriving, two young men helped the man down the steps.
On the plus side, the rainstorm we rode through made for incredible light shows on the ocean, a double rainbow and snow on the ground south of Santa Barbara.
Amtrak food
We did the LA-Oakland route earlier this year and had dinner in the dining car. Really, really horrible. Think steamer trays and microwaves only somehow much much worse. A picnic is a much better idea as you watch the coast fly by.
Keeping cherry tomatoes?
I've never frozen cherry tomatoes, but have frozen lots of other sizes. Wash em, let em dry, stick in a zip lock baggie and freeze. Won't be any good for eating in a salad, but the skins will pop right off and you can then cook (or warm through and plop onto pasta).
Melisse--Prime time two tops?
That's a great thought regarding being early. I was looking at open table for times, and wondering if a direct call would have different slots (some places do and others don't--they use open table for a reason). And we need to do a saturday, since hubby's work schedule wouldn't necessarily get him home from downtown and out to SM at a reasonable time.
Melisse--Prime time two tops?
We're looking to have a great meal out soon. I've been wavering between going back to Providence, which we loved, and trying Melisse for the first time. As I look at availability for saturday evenings, even a couple months in advance, I'm seeing only 6:15 and 8:45. We are likely to go for the "ten" or the "carte blanche" and we're just too old and married to take a meal into the am.....but starting at 6:15 feels a bit much like the senior citizens hour and we're still way too young for that.
So, does anyone know if they open 2-top reservations for the more prime time 7:30 slots or if those are always held for larger parties? Otherwise, we default to Providence (which is clearly not a bad plan B). Thanks!
Funniest Thing a Server Said to You
I musta gone to all the wrong places.....or maybe it was that i couldn't get anything other than lipton, which i hate. that might be it, actually, since la was deep in the passionfruit iced tea craze...maybe that's what i could never get.
Funniest Thing a Server Said to You
I do. Back in the 80's when I'd come to NY a few times a year, iced tea was a summertime only beverage (and not always then). Lately, I find I can't get an Arnold Palmer because lemonade is summer only. I tried ordering that many times when I was in ny for five weeks in early 2009--was successful only a couple times.
Awesome Friends With Food Sensitivities
Sunshine got it right. My ex friend claimed to be a strict vegetarian and I was more than happy to make a separate dish with the type of cheese he would eat. Then he ate the regular rennet brie. With gusto. Simply because he liked brie enough to not care about the origin of the rennet. So, he was a situationally strict vegetarian. He also conflated foods he didn't like into allergies. Which makes him a liar in my book.
dinner for 12 in or near hollywood with veg/kosher options
For someone who keeps kosher-style (willing eat in non-kosher restaurants, but sticking to fin fish and veggie dishes), Mexican is often a problem due to the lard. And the more authentic the place, the more likely they use lard, so a phone call ahead of time would definitely be in order.
dinner for 12 in or near hollywood with veg/kosher options
I'm guessing if they are out "running around" on a saturday afternoon, they are probably willing to eat kosher-style rather than Kosher. Assuming the running around involves a car or paying for anything.....
What about one of the Fairfax Ethiopian places? One or two are vegetarian/vegan, but if you go to the omnivore spots, they will do the vegetarian foods on separate platters from the meats if you ask.
Discontinued at Trader Joe's (started 6/19/2011) [old]
Bye bye to the tofutti better than cream cheese. Tough luck for vegans, lactose intolerants and (our household) high cholesterol sufferers. can probably buy the same brand at a kosher market for twice the price.
Where can I obtain a pullman loaf of white bread for an upcoming event?
Bea's bakery in Tarzana does. I think I recall that they will also food color it if you want to extend the baby theme. They will slice it the long way for you. That way you can make giant (thin, loaf size) sandwiches and then cut them, rather than making lots of individual tea sandwiches.
