Yesterday was a nearly perfect day. Fridays kick off my weekend (yess, no class!) and it was beautiful outside. Instead of yoga I decided to break in my new shoes with a 6 mile walk. I had a destination in mind: Clementine. I haven’t walked to Clementine since my pre-Ryan days and it seemed like the perfect way to break in my shoes, study, eat something delicious and enjoy the weather.

So I laced up my shoes and hit the road.

It was a truly beautiful day. A little on the cold side, but I’ll take it!

I snapped some shots on my way to Clementine.

Before I knew it I was there!

I enjoyed reading my legal research for my paper that is due at the end of the semester. I’m actually pretty excited about it. I haven’t gotten to really write (outside of exam writing) for nearly 2 years and I can’t wait to get back into it.

I also noshed on this:

Ham and swiss on soft pumpernickel bread with coleslaw. But to appreciate what makes this sandwich great you need to see the back…

Sweet and hot mustard! This was what makes the sandwich great. Next time I have a cold I’m going to Clementine and getting this sandwich. The mustard totally clears out the sinuses. Besides the amazing mustard this sandwich benefited from the perfect meat to bread to coleslaw to cheese ratio. So important to making a successful sandwich.

On my way out I grabbed something for the road.

Yeah peanut butter sandwich cookie!

Overall the whole excursion took about 3 hours and I covered 6 miles plus I ate plus I got reading done! My day was made even better because yesterday I also went out with some friends I haven’t been out with in a while for drinks and I didn’t have to drive. Major excitement people, MAJOR excitement! I definitely celebrated. I was moving a little ah, slowly, this morning but I did manage to run 6 miles this afternoon and I rocked some Simmons Pride while running.

Simmons, my undergrad, was recently named one of the top ten Women’s colleges. To celebrate, I ran in my “Simmons Superfan” t-shirt. Deciding to go attend a Women’s college (and Simmons) was probably the single best decision I’ve ever made. It was so empowering! Read about it here.

Oh, and my foot felt good on the run. I rolled my left foot afterwords. Things are looking better and better.

What is your idea of a perfect day?

One of the odd side effects of the new semester is that my week days and week nights have been busy and my weekends have been chill. I am not complaining, because it leave time for kitchen experimentation. I’ve been itching to cook shrimp for the past few weeks and decided that Sunday was the night.

I started this party with 1/2 an onion and 2 cloves of garlic chopped and sauteed in EVO at medium heat. Keep at medium heat while cooking.

I then added a 1/2 lb of shrimp and added it to the pan.I also salt and peppered it.

Let it cook.

Get ready to make the sauce! With 1 can of diced tomatoes, basil, and crushed red pepper.

Let it simmer, adjusting the spices for about 7 mins. I like my sauce milder so I added more basil and less crushed red pepper. After 7 mins I added a hand full of spinach.

I warmed it with the shrimp and let it cook down. While all of this was happening, I cooked two servings of pasta (yeah leftovers for lunch) until al dente. Combine the pasta with the sauce and heat up a little bit.

Serve with parm topping!

Tasty, simple, and exactly what I wanted! We all know I love pasta and it was nice to make a quick and easy marinara sauce to go with it. It would be easy to kick this up a notch with roasted veggies, more spicy seasoning or some fresh herbs. The left overs reheated well. I’m a little iffy on reheated shrimp. It’s a bit tougher and has that “fishey” taste. Overall, it wasn’t too bad after reheating. I think I will make this dish again!

In other news: My new, more cushioned running shoes came in today. I’ve been resting my foot after a crappy run on Saturday waiting for my new shoes. After I got them I went for a 3 mile run with .5 miles of walking on either end of the run. It felt pretty good! I continued to roll my foot on my ball and iced it. Fingers crossed that this situation has resolved itself!

Hey hey hey!

For the past few weeks there has been a “vlog” or video blog going around the internet within the healthy living community about accents. I saw Healthy Tipping Point do it so I thought I would give it a shot and enter the world of vlogging! Plus, now all you readers who don’t know be can get a grasp of what I’m like!

The words: Aunt, Route, Wash, Oil, Theater, Iron, Salmon, Caramel, Fire, Water, Sure, Data, Ruin, Crayon, Toilet, New Orleans, Pecan, Both, Again, Probably, Spitting image, Alabama, Lawyer, Coupon, Mayonnaise, Syrup, Pajamas, Caught

The Questions:

• What is it called when you throw toilet paper on a house?
• What is the bug that when you touch it, it curls into a ball?
• What is the bubbly carbonated drink called?
• What do you call gym shoes?
• What do you say to address a group of people?
• What do you call the kind of spider that has an oval-shaped body and extremely long legs?
• What do you call your grandparents?
• What do you call the wheeled contraption in which you carry groceries at the supermarket?
• What do you call it when rain falls while the sun is shining?
• What is the thing you change the TV channel with?

So what do you think? Do I have an accent? Did you like the vlog? Would you like me to incorporate vlogging into Left Coast Contessa?

This was waiting at my front door at 8:45 when I arrived home.

Seriously. I. Love. Foodbuzz. Will be reporting back on these later.

Today was a crazy long day for me (it was Tuesday) but getting home to this package totally made my day.

Oh, and about this... as we know it’s been in the hopper for a while. I cannot wait to train for and run 26.2. Chicago is a fantastic marathon with tons of crowd and ground support. Plus its my hometown which makes it all the more special. As we know I’m running my second half in June and I plan to start my training after that is over. I will put together a training plan in May and keep you all posted but I am SO excited! Running makes me feel like I can do anything so to run a full before the end of law school and the bar exam means so much to me. Plus I’m itching to push the distance envelope so BRING IT ON CHICAGO!

What makes you feel better after a long day? Are you running the Chicago Marathon or have you in the past? Any tips?

Let me tell you a little story about why I love the Beverly Hills Hotel.

source

The Beverly Hills Hotel is one of my favorite places in LA. Probably because its fancy and the valets wear pink and green. I was very fortunate to spend my 19th birthday there several years ago. One cute valet in pink and green and a siting of Reese Witherspoon in the Polo Lounge later and I was hooked.

source

When I’m here I feel like everything is fantastic and safe and perfect. It’s also very old Hollywood. Let’s not lie, I really just want to be a 23 year old Eloise.

I made my triumphant return to the Beverly Hills Hotel last October when my friend David and I volunteered at a benefit for GLSEN. After manning the check in desk for several hours we unwound in the Polo Lounge with a cocktail. We also looked over a menu and made several key observations. 1) Monday the special is fried chicken and 2) fried chicken is less expensive than all the other entrees. We knew it would be a special splurge but we decided that at some point before the end of 2L we wanted to make a Monday trip to the Polo Lounge for fried chicken.

Tonight was that special night.

But first: What I wore, Beverly Hills Hotel (bathroom) Edition

Top: Navy Blue tank, on sale at Anthro for $9

Jacket: White eyelet cropped Milly jacket

Bottoms: J Crew Matchstick Jeans

Shoes: Black patent “leather” open toe sling back heels (not pictured)

The meal it’s self was small but the venue was beautiful. Pink and green striped awnings, deep velvet booths, and mirrors. Very Luxe and old California.

To start, compliments of the chef, we had duck confiet on crostini. The pic is a bit blurry (I refuse to use flash in a fancy restaurant).

But lets face it: we were really only there for the fried chicken. Holy freaking yum.

My friends, we have an heirloom tomato and cucumber salad, mashed potatoes, buttermilk biscuit, with green beans and gravy.

Why yes, they came in mini cast iron pots.

This meal was good. The salad was one of the highlights for me. It was crisp and delicious especially next to the chicken and the mashed potatoes. David remarked, and I agree, that the tomatoes were thick “meaty”. The skin on the chicken was so crispy and delicious. The green beans were just steamed a plain but, again, next to the chicken it was necessary. The biscuit was also so tasty! Small and super flakey. We also think there might have been bacon in the biscuit. Swoon.

The meal was super filling. We had planned to splurge on dessert but after the fried chicken we were so stuffed and decided to pass on dessert! I know, very rare for me. I must say that while it was a special occasion dinner which will not frequent be repeated it was a nice splurge and wasn’t too splurgey. Oh, and I’m about 90% sure we saw Ryan Seacrest eating dinner several booths over. Gotta love LA.

Have you ever had a celeb siting? Who did you see?

So far I’ve seen Harrison Ford, Reese Witherspoon, Joe Pesci, Jessica Simpson, the cast of Modern Family, the cast of Big Love, Florence Henderson, Jack Osborne, and John Lifgow. 

On Thursday I had the pleasure of eating lunch with Monica from Yellow Brick Beauty. Monica works near where I go to school and live so getting lunch together was a no brainer. If you don’t read Monica’s blog you should. She is the sweetest person ever and her blog is awesome. Monica is going to rule the world one day. I’m just saying.

We went to Nature’s Way Cafe in Westwood which I’ve actually never been to before. They have veggie options and non veggie options too. Plus it was super cheap. I ordered a chicken sandwich but altered it a bit.

I had chicken on a whole wheat bun without cheese, mayo and the bbq sauce on the side. I also had them add an avocado to the sandwich. I had air fries on the side. The air fries are supposed to be low fat and healthier. They were good but got cold fast and I didn’t finish them.

Lunch with Monica was great. We chatted about working out, healthy living and blogging! Its fun to eat lunch with a blogger. Since my blog birthday I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about the direction of Left Coast Contessa and different features I might want to incorporate into the blog. Talking to someone who knows me, my blogging style and is also a fan definitely helps my ideas to crystallize. Monica is a great new friend!

I had a crazy busy week last week after a crazy busy weekend. Right now I’m loving catching up on blog stuff. You can see my new picture page and new weight loss page. I’m also watching Clerks. Has anyone ever seen that movie? I watched it so many times in high school I can still quote so many lines for example: “I assure you, we’re open” and “I’m not even supposed to be here today” not to mention the extended discussion of Star Wars. Seriously, if you’ve ever worked a minimum wage job you will appreciate Clerks. What was your favorite movie in high school?

Oh, and by the way, my Mom’s cookbook was the Jello cook book so congrats to Kaitlin and Amanda! We were rather amused at how many people thought my Mother owned the Booze cook book. I picked up that gem at a book store that sells books by the weight.

There really is nothing like a two hour lunch on a Friday with no class. In celebration of Restaurant Week my dining buddy Kelly and I decided to check out Ugo in Culver City. Dine LA is running some fantastic deals this week and next. We got a three course lunch today for $16! It doesn’t get much better than that!

Ugo occupies a nice big corner spot in downtown Culver City which is home to lots of adorable shops and restaurants. It was a beautiful LA day so we sat out on the patio and soaked in the sun.

Dining with Kelly is great for two reasons: 1) she loves food and is willing to try almost anything and 2) she isn’t shy about breaking into the bread basket. I went to yoga this AM and was starving by the time we sat down:

mmm balsamic, oil, and soft bread. More please!

There is really only one drink for warm afternoon patio dining

Diet coke with lime.

With the Dine LA menu you are able to choose an appetizer, entree and dessert off of a fixed menu. As usual we picked two appetizers, two entrees and two desserts to split. After we ordered we waited for a while and then suddenly as soon as the appetizers arrived so did the entrees. That was a little bit awkward, but I will say that overall the service was excellent. Our drinks were filled on time and the waiter was super attentive.

To start:

So many restaurants do bruschetta you never know how good its going to be but I have to say this was some of the best I’ve had in a long time. The bread was crisp, the tomatoes were marinated, and the appetizer was garlicky.

We also ordered

Arancini! We’ve been talking about these “rice balls” for almost a week in anticipation of this restaurant outing. Basically arancini is  arbario rice + mozzarella cheese + salami all lightly breaded and fried. You just can’t go wrong with that combination in my mind.

As you can see the whole dish was sitting on a meaty marinara sauce which we saved to dip our bread in!

The entrees weren’t as tasty as the appetizers but they were solid, especially for the Dine LA discounted price.

First we had penne del pollo with grilled chicken, leeks, sun dried tomato and a light tomato sauce. I love sun dried tomatoes so that aspect of the dish was good. This was a solid meal but it wasn’t the most spectacular pasta ever.

Sauteed chicken breast, Portobello mushrooms, roasted red peppers & fresh herbs in a white wine sauce with a touch of balsamic vinaigrette. Served with a side of spaghetti aglio e olio. While the pasta on this dish was plain, and quite honestly I could have done without it, the balsamic sauce was full flavored and totally to die for. I’m not a huge mushroom fan but when smothered in this sauce I gladly ate all of them.

The desserts at Ugo were epic! We ordered tiramisu and profiterole.

That’s right, it came in a chocolate cup! The tiramisu was smaller but one of the best I’ve had in a while. The powdered chocolate on top was a real, thick layer.

Basically it was a cream puff covered in chocolate. The chocolate layer was thick and the cream was heavy and thick, like good whipped cream. The women at the table next to us ordered this insane epic tall strawberry thing that also looked so good.

Clearly, the standouts at Ugo are the appetizers and the desserts. This was a great Dine LA deal and I would recommend Ugo to anyone who wants to spend an afternoon in Culver City or to anyone who wants a really special dessert. I would definitely recommend going to Ugo at a time when you can sit on the patio. It was a delightful two hour lunch!

** Tomorrow the LA protest in solidarity with Egypt is happening at noon at the Federal Building if you are interested. At the very least read this and educate yourself about what is going on in Egypt. This is a critical foreign policy issue. I try not to be political on the blog but this is a hugely important issue and apathy is unacceptable!  **

I love a vintage cookbook. True story: Most of my cookbooks are vintage. I do love my Flour Cookbook and Skinny Bitch but its always fun to find a new old cookbook.

Like these…

My cookbooks are a mixture of cheap finds and inheritance from my mother. Can you guess which one of these is inherited from my mother? I’m seriously interested if anyone can get it right. If you have a guess leave a comment at the bottom of this post! I’ll let you know which one I inherited in my next post!

I might love vintage cookbooks because of the aroma wafting from the pages. Or because most of the recipes are pre health consciousness and call for loads of butter. Or because they are full of fun, inventive cocktails and classics.

Or maybe because they’re full of pearls of wisdom like from the one above…

“Always buy clean food from clean stores”

Duly noted.

A few nights ago (ack late I know. It’s been a busy week. Busy in the “I have a lot of things to do and see kind of way and not in an ‘I have 300 pages of reading to do by tomorrow kind of way) I explored a new to me cookbook:

This is a Veggie cookbook from the 70’s and is an inherited item. My mom has pretty awesome cookbook taste and I was lucky enough over break to get this cookbook from her when she needed to make more shelf room on the cook book shelf. My favorite part of this cookbook is opening pages and seeing her handwriting in the margins of her favorite recipes. For example, “add 1/2 lb bacon to carbonara”. I love my family.

My other favorite part of the cookbook? There are recipes from other cultures. There is a tapas section, crepe section, Mexican section, Italian section and an Indian section. Last weekend I made Dal with spiced potatoes and Brussels Sprouts. I know the sprouts are random but hey I had a craving.

Here are the players:

I started by applying salt, pepper, and EVO to the sprouts and roasting them at 425.

Then I turned my attention to the potatoes. I sliced one serving of potatoes and mixed them in a bowl with canola oil (about 1 tbsp.), turmeric (1/2 tsp), a tiny bit of crushed red pepper and cumin (1/2 tsp). After tossing all the ingredients together I placed the potatoes in a roasting pan and popped in the oven with the sprouts at the same temp. Continue to check periodically. Should take about 20 mins to cook.

Finally, it was time to make the dal. I would just like to put out there that I cannot vouch for the authenticity of the dish and I didn’t have all the seasoning that the cookbook called for but I did my best!

I bought pre cooked lentils from Trader Joe’s. I started by taking a pan and adding water to cover the bottom. Then I added a 1/2 cup of the lentils to the water and brought up the heat to a medium level. I added 1/2 tsp of turmeric, cayenne, and cumin to the lentils and let it simmer. If the water gets absorbed into the lentils you can add a little more.

Once the water is getting pretty absorbed and the lentils have been heating up for a few mins (think like 5 mins) add 1 tbs. of butter to the mix. Let it melt down and absorb.

Interesting note about old cookbooks: When I cook I tend to look at packaging (like on the lentils) to determine portion size. Interestingly, the portion in the recipe was smaller than the portion suggested by the packaging. I went with the recipe but I was left wondering, is this just a difference in packaging or is it a result of the decade difference? Who knows, but food for thought.

I put the lentils on my plate and took my sprouts and potatoes out of the oven. I was going to make cous cous but I only had one serving left and when I went to grab the pot it was hot, I burned my hand a little bit and cous cous went all over my kitchen floor. Can’t win them all. It was OK through because I think my plate turned out pretty well.

Personally, I think the potatoes could have used more cumin but I loved the lentils! They had a bold but not too spicy flavoring and were quick to make. Quick + cheap + seasoned + protein? I feel like this is going to become my “ah I’m too busy but I need to eat something” go to meal. Definitely want buy more seasonings and experiment more with different flavors.

So, Which cookbook did I inherit? And what is your favorite seasoning?

I’m in Brentwood, at the Farmer’s Market.

I bounded out of bed this morning and made an immediate bee line to Brentwood. The farmer’s market was pretty happening today. There were some pretty awesome finds like giant carrots but I stuck to the basics. Afterwords I stopped at my favorite bagel spot: New York Bagel.

New York bagel is on San Vicenti. It’s a little hole in the wall and has some of the best bagels that I have had in Los Angeles.

Why hello giant, beautiful bagel.

I ran 7.5 miles today, obviously I needed to carb load before hand. I placed my order for an everything bagel, toasted with low fat cream cheese, paid less than $3 and waited for it to be ready.

words of wisdom from new york bagel

I did the grab and go thing and enjoyed it at home.

If I could eat unlimited bagels I would. Sadly there are like no health benefits to having a bagel and cream cheese. Boo.

I made it slightly healthier (or slightly less unhealthy… depends on how you want to think about it) by scooping out about 1/2 of the cream cheese. I love New York Bagel. Its definitely a nice Sunday splurge from time to time. You should check it out if you in the hood and craving something carb-ey.

Its been a busy day of reading for school this week and I managed to squeeze in a 7.5 mile run. I can tell that yoga is making a big difference in my running. My legs feel much stronger and my breathing feels more balanced. Also, my joints are less sore which is lovely. Sadly, my Monday and Friday yoga class is ending after this week. The teacher can’t teach on Wednesdays anymore so the studio is going to do boot camp in the morning. While that is all well and good I want vinyasa flow, not another sweat fest. I have some options for what to do after this week so I’m going to take some time to reflect and then make a decision about what I want to do about my yoga classes.

Now I’m watching Big Love, Desperate Housewives and Brothers & Sisters.

Do you watch TV on Sunday? What are your favorites? My all time favorite Sunday combo is True Blood and Entourage. Can’t wait til Summer!