day at The Getty

A spring Saturday in Los Angeles, a weekend with Conrad. We'd been looking forward to this, and our big plan (other than shopping at the RVCA store) was getting to The Getty Museum. After breakfast in Santa Monica, we did.

Ever been there? A gorgeous museum campus. Travertine marble all over, fossils in the walls, gardens, interesting collections, a terrific little gift shop, a mediocre lunch.

But let's hold off on that last one. Let's take that list in order.

Travertine. I'd never heard of it until I first visited the museum in 2005. Now, it seems, I spot its creamy spongy texture in many places and gravitate toward it. Much of The Getty is clad in the marble, and one of the fun things about it is just wandering the campus and spotting the fossils in the walls.
It might be poetic to suggest that the campus gleams like a castle on a hilltop, all creamy white, and if I lived in Bel Air and had a view, I might think so. We actually spent more time admiring the buildings and grounds than the collections.

The gardens. In spring bloom, perhaps not at their peak. Lovely, though. Conrad and I opted for an hour-long garden tour (and the accompanying sunburn) not long after we arrived at the museum. The most interesting things, I think, were the succulents,



but we enjoyed the whole tour.

We actually didn't see many of the collections. I was keen to see an exhibit on illuminated manuscripts, so we toured that. We also wandered through some of the European paintings, though we found ourselves distracted, thinking how very much we wanted to get back outside.

Gift shop! We visited twice: once to scope it out, the second time to shop. No photos, but a couple of people will find items from The Getty in their Christmas parcels.

And then there was lunch. Oh dear. You know, I generally do not criticize restaurants on the blog if I've had a bad experience, and I don't mean to rag on the dining room at The Getty too much. It was a handsome room, very bright. I thought that the menu looked good (though there was little that fit my cleanse). Our salads were tasty. Conrad's crab cakes looked really tasty. So, there were positives. Even the negative looked attractive when it was plated - that's a nice photo there.



The menu promised an English pea risotto with wild mushrooms, faro, and pea shoots. There was faro, there were pea shoots. Was it a risotto? No, not really - it was grains and stuff in a bowl with a thin broth at the bottom, not at all creamy from the rice starch. Once again, alas, I re-learned the lesson: if a restaurant calls them "wild" mushrooms without specifying what type they are, they probably aren't wild. No, I don't consider cremini or portabello mushrooms wild. They're button mushrooms deep down. What I received? Unabashedly button mushrooms. Lots of them. Easily a half cup or more left on the plate - pieces too large for me to just swallow without having to chew or taste. Worse still, there was a mighty long gap between the salads and the entree I disliked so. I will credit the restaurant for removing it from our bill, but I would be reluctant to ever go dine there again.

It did take us a handful of minutes or more after lunch to re-find the enjoyment in our visit to The Getty. Happily, we did. In all we spent some five or so hours there, and I wish we'd spent more.

More Getty photos in the set on Flickr.

yes, yes... LA stuff still to come

Yes, I know: I was in LA with Conrad two weekends ago and really haven't blogged a thing about that trip. I will, I swear. Lots of excuses, and I have at least put up other blog posts. So let me keep you all (three of you? four? seven?) hanging a little longer - the thrill of the election Monday night and the end of the cleanse have me wrung out emotionally.

No, not true, but I'm feeling too lazy to blog about it all tonight (and this will go up during the day Wednesday). How about a photo for now and a promise of more to come?



(if only the good people at Sears knew of my catalogue modeling potential!)

cleanse, day 30

Thirty days. Thirty days without consciously consuming caffeine, red meat or poultry, sugar (or honey or agave or maple syrup or the like), refined flour, dairy, or alcohol.

A few days in and I thought to myself how very daunting it would be. A week or more in, and I was expressing dismay with the beaniness of it all. At every meal shared with friends, I apologized profusely for being such a nuisance, such a bore. Still, I stuck with it. And now, tomorrow morning after I do my gym and swim, I will be free to ease back into a less-restricted diet. Frankly, I have reservations about how much I want to reintroduce. And given that Conrad is out of town for work, I may just stick close to the cleanse diet a day or two more.

You know, I've cooked many things, many meals in my life. I have never, so far as my sieve-y memory can recall, cooked tofu. Heck, I generally avoided eating it until Medgar offered me crispy fried squares of it when we lived in Montreal. I rather like it now, though as with many things, it also depends. Tonight? I liked it.

I started out by sauteing sliced onion and shallot with chopped garlic and ginger in a bit of vegetable oil. Along with the vegetables I cooked some green curry paste to remove the rawness. After the vegetables had softened, I added a can of light coconut milk, then let that simmer to develop the flavour. I can think of other things I would have added if I had them on hand, but some salt was all the seasoning I gave it.

I had pressed the tofu for about an hour to remove excess moisture, then I cut it into rectangular pieces, frying each a bit to lend some colour and bit of a crust to each piece. I added these to the green curry, then added in asparagus I'd cut up. Plump pieces - it's the season (though I'm not as mad for asparagus as I have been in past years). When the asparagus was just tender, I added a chopped tomato, stirred it to heat the tomato, then served it around a mound of basmati rice.



This, happily, was an occasion when my dinner pleased me, the harsh critic of my own cooking.

Also happily: leftovers!

A month of interesting dining and cooking ends, but the habits won't, not entirely. And by gosh, I think I may cook with tofu once again some day.

cleanse, day 26

Oh so close to the end of this self-imposed diet, and funnily enough, I don't crave things. Oh, I wouldn't mind being able to have a sweet treat, and I think a glass of wine would be good, definitely. On the other hand, I doubt that, come Wednesday, I'll settle down to a big piece of red meat topped with cheese and served with a big wedge of cake for dessert and a martini to wash it all down.

Oh, wait, maybe I should give that a try...

Yesterday was a simple meal as usual, a one pan dish. Sort of a black bean chili, but I decided on a milder approach. I sauteed some cumin, oregano, salt, and chipotle powder to take some of the rawness out of the spices, then added chopped onion and carrot. Once I'd sweated that a little, I added two cans of black beans (mostly drained of their liquid), stirred, then added in some leftover roasted tomatillo sauce from the night before when I'd had our neighbour Jeff up for dinner. After letting this simmer a while, I added some chopped yellow squash and corn cut from a cob. Some water to thin it, some salt to season it, and I let it simmer until the vegetables were tender.

And then Conrad and I went for a walk to enjoy a fine (and finally!) spring late afternoon.




Once home, I set to work setting up dinner. Bowls heated. A simple salad of arugula tossed together with a dressing of olive oil, gently browned garlic, salt, and sherry vinegar. I chopped an avocado up for garnish on the stew, and we were soon eating. Best of all? Leftovers that will be great for lunch on Monday!

cleanse, day 24

Wow, am I really embarking on my last week of this? Can I lose another pound or two? Can I move from this effort into a sustained, healthier way of eating? So many questions.

One thing is clear: the cleanse has not affected how fundamentally lazy I can be when it comes to preparing meals for myself. Salad tonight. Sorry: "salad".

I do this often when Conrad isn't home (he won't be back until tomorrow night, and he has more work travel next week). Usually eggs aren't involved, but often smoked salmon or some other similar protein is. Just so long as I don't need to cook, or barely cook anything. I've been known to make a big salad in a stainless steel bowl and just sit, eating out of that same bowl. Yes, I am bad.



A few veggies and the eggs tonight, drizzled with a little truffle oil (yes, mock me for that - it was a gift, and it tastes good!), seasoned with salt and pepper. Nothing too major. Besides, I'm still reeling from last night's abysmal effort at cookies (I salvaged some of the second type, but I'm not happy with them).

Last week of the cleanse, then. I'm saving the tofu for the end meal. ;-)

I am five

Happy birthday to blog!

A short post, but one I was loathe not to write even if I'm only just in the door from a weekend in LA (and yes, I intend to blog that trip in days ahead). I had the realization earlier this month that I'd been at this blog since 2006, and in looking back, I saw that the anniversary was fast approaching. My first entry was April 24 (or did I misremember what I'd looked up? Ah well, no matter if I did!), and five years later and almost 1000 posts in, I'm still at it. Irregularly at times, but I'm still here, and so is the blog.

Who reads it? I've never really known too well, and it's never been a concern. Life has unrolled in ways unexpected and in many ways quite nicely. Perhaps in 2016 I can report the same.

More to come on LA and such. For now, a quick comparison of me from about the time I started the blog to what I am today (well, yesterday)....

Josh reads

Look, it's a little after the fact, I know. I tried to prod some interest in hearing a young, gay author speaking about his latest book. Ah well. Maybe next time. Just the same, if you are in the mood for a GLBT mystery (or a series of them), check out Josh's books, please. He did a terrific job of reading and speaking at Gerber Hart on Sunday afternoon. Here's hoping he comes back.



I especially hope that so I can give him a better batch of cookies - sorry Josh. At least I did manage to feed you a not-awful meal on Friday!

Again, check out his books, and when he comes back this way, go give him a listen.

cleanse, day 14

Sitting here on Monday evening, writing this halfway through this self-imposed cleanse, I realize that the toughest part of this process is not relinquishing the many foods (and wine) I love. No, the toughest part is the burden I feel it places on others to accommodate me, indulge me, humour me, enjoy a meal with me.

Frank invited us to dinner yesterday, and it took a lot of negotiation to set up. Poor Frank. I am sure he thought he could share a good chicken pie with us as he has before. No, no. I had to make it tricky. Ultimately we agreed that he would provide a salad and some berries for dessert (with ice cream for Conrad) and even some cold poached salmon to go on the salad in case he and Conrad wanted something more. Yes, I am eating fish, but I opted not to last night. Instead, I brought along a main course for all of us - they'd partake as they saw fit.

I actually spent much of a sunny and cold Sunday in the kitchen. I'd downloaded the most recent Harry Potter film and set to work on cookies for Josh (more on that in another post - Josh, that is, not the cookies, which were NOT my best batch ever) and dinner for me. I'd had some barley with black cod the night before at Sola, and that made me think to make a barley risotto and then fashion it into cakes for frying.

I infused vegetable broth with dried morel and porcini mushrooms and kept that on a low heat, close at hand. The barley I sauteed some with a bit of shallot in olive oil, then began stirring in the broth. At the end of the process, when the barley was tender but had bite and was in its own thick, starchy sauce, I added in diced trumpet mushrooms and more shallots that I'd sauteed and seasoned together.

Now then, people who know me well will know that I have a rule of mushrooms: the more expensive the mushroom, the better it tastes. Button mushrooms revolt me. Few other foods do. The mushroom broth and trumpet mushrooms yesterday? Added depth and meatiness to the barley. Yum!

I let the barley chill and firm up, then stirred in some coarse grain cornmeal to help bind it. I coated the cakes in more cornmeal, then sauteed them in olive oil. I think flour (not permitted on the cleanse, at least not white flour) and egg may have helped bind them more, but I wasn't displeased with the result.

I debated a sauce, but still really needed a protein. I had also considered adding fava beans to the risotto (none available at Whole Foods) or peas, but settled on a pea puree to act as a sauce and protein both. That was easily prepared, and two parts were done. The last bit, some fat asparagus spears, I brought to Frank's, and he cooked them for all of us. He cooks his more than I usually cook mine, to be honest, but I still like asparagus in any case.

Puree down on the plate first, the cakes atop, the asparagus atop/between. I thought it was pretty satisfying.



Best of all? leftovers for a convenient dinner tonight. I popped two cakes on some puree in the toaster oven to reheat gently and partnered them with some broccoli. In all likelihood, tomorrow dinner will be the same!

cleanse, day 11

I am sure that there is little that a Moroccan would recognize or consider authentic about this one-dish meal, but the inspiration for it does come from that corner of the world somewhat. Not that I've ever been to Morocco - ah, to have gone to World Masters there in 1998... - but it does draw on the recollection of a vegetarian couscous I ate in London in 1994 and, more directly, on a recent browse through a Paula Wolfert cookbook. Our meal was a stew of chickpeas, cauliflower, carrots, and rutabaga with Moroccan spices, almonds, and apricots.



I was working at home Thursday, so after lunch I was able to get this cooking fairly easily and let it gently simmer a good while until the vegetables were tender. Here's the outline of the dish:

I sauteed a mix of paprika, true cinnamon stick, saffron, cumin, salt, and pepper to remove some of the rawness of the spices. To this I added diced white onion, then some slivered almonds and sliced unsulphured dried apricot. Next came the chickpeas and large chunks of cauliflower, carrot, and rutabaga. These were coated in the spice mix, then I added a can of diced tomato and some water. I brought the mix to a low boil then reduced to a low simmer, covered, and ignored for a while. Every do often I'd come back and stir and bit, but that was about it. The sauce picked up real sweetness from the apricots, so close to serving, I adjusted the seasoning with salt and pepper. The crowning touch was a bit of fresh cilantro chopped up and sprinkled on top of the bowls of stew.

It made for good leftovers for lunch on Friday, and there's enough left for one more lunch this weekend some time.

a last word about Baltimore

Was it really a week and a half ago that I was in Baltimore? Philadelphia seems so long ago. At least I have now had a glimpse of Delaware, thanks to the MegaBus trip down to Maryland.

I wish I had taken photos at Charleston, but it did make for a good meal not having to pause everyone while I snapped. Alas, without photos, I shan't blog the meal. Just know that it ranks among the best meals I've ever had, and I hope to get Conrad there one day - with or without our Baltimorean friends. And thanks again to Michael for the very generous treat of dinner there.

I can't say much good about the brunch food the next day, but I can say that it was a treat to see Dale - at long last - in Baltimore. And an additional treat to see Michael. Good company, very much so.





Let me wrap up that visit by saying that brief as it was, it was good, special, and meaningful. Any chance I get to see my best friend, Todd,

is welcome - we've had conference time together in San Diego and, in June, we'll have New Orleans. It's so much better, though, to have no programs or committee meetings to attend, to just be able to hang out. What did we do that was so great? Watched NCAA basketball together, walked the dogs, went on a coffee run, rummaged through the clothes in his closet, strolled a bit in the Inner Harbor. And really, aren't those the sweet little building blocks of friendship?

I'll remember a short spring visit to Baltimore for a lot of reasons, and smile when I do.

bridezilla

One thing I especially love about Conrad's office (and they know I love them by the baked treats I send in to work with him) is the happy, gently-teasing camaraderie. It's a good place to visit.

Apparently it's a tradition in his office for whoever has a wedding coming up to get the honour of hosting Bridezilla. And now it's Conrad's turn.

I won't comment on whether or not he's a bride (or, rather, groom) zilla. I do know that people generally assume that I am. Jump to your own conclusions. Just know that I don't have a similar guest sitting in my office at the Library.

;-)

cleanse, day 9

It may not come as a surprise to people, but I spend a lot of time thinking about food. There was I, swimming a good 3.5 miles this morning, and keeping me company were thoughts of what to make for dinner. Throughout the day I thought of it from time to time, and on the bus ride home, I was still undecided. All I knew was I wanted to use what I had in the fridge, not buy more stuff.

Well, mission accomplished. A few disparate ideas pulled together, and I ended up serving us a fairly simple meal of four things that worked well together, or so I thought.



I got home and set to work. A can of cannelini beans, opened and drained. Four large garlic cloves, skins on, charred on each side in a hot, dry pan. Rosemary chopped. Put it all in a food processor, and a smooth puree was ready to anchor the plate.

I had some nice little grape tomatoes, so I tossed them with a little olive oil and salt, put them in a pie dish, and let them rest a bit in the toaster oven. Once they'd hit a certain point, I turned down the heat a good bit so as not to char them.

Half a cauliflower and a shallot went into a pan with some olive oil, salt, and pepper to caramelize lightly.

I washed a bunch of red chard, de-stemmed it, and tore it into large pieces. Close to time for plating, I put the still-wet chard into a hot pan and covered it with the lid to steam to tenderness.

I think the flavours worked well together. I also liked the variety on the plate and that I didn't resort to a curry or some vaguely East Asian stir-fry. We ate, pleasurably, and watched an episode of Coupling. When the dinner was done, I had a nice ripe mango for us to share. And so the cleanse continues....

proud to swim

Well, ok: proud to coach. And swim - just not at meets, thank you.

Yesterday was the concluding day of the 2011 Illinois Masters State Meet, and friends, the Smelts did very well. Very well indeed. Fourth place overall with Lauren and Heidi taking high points in their age groups.

Conrad and I went out to the suburban high school (wow, they build high schools big here!) where the meet was held to support the team for the morning session. I had offered to coach, and that was very sweet and flattering to be asked, truly. To be honest, though, the Smelts did not need a coach. Oh, an encouraging word or more doesn't go amiss, I know. I also took splits for most of them in some of the races. Mostly, though, it's too late to tinker with their stroke, to give them technique to fret over. They've trained well and hard, and they can get the races done quite nicely. Which, definitely, they proceeded to do. And so, at noon(ish), Conrad and I packed up and drove back into the city, content that our team was in its own, collective good hands.

And if only - and I will stop whining about this, I promise - I weren't on this cleanse. That pizza at North End smelled so good come dinner time, and a good beer on an 80 degree day (yes, it was a warm early April here yesterday) would have gone down well.

The team has undergone many changes even in my mere 11 years swimming with it. The long-timers will have seen so much more. No matter. It's enjoyable to go for brunch or to organized social functions and chat with them all. It's encouraging how much the newer swimmers have embraced the team as a whole and put forward great effort in the water and on the deck cheering. It's terrific that we can so ably include straight and gay (men and women, though I do wish we had a few more lesbians) on the team because we all just like swimming. The team are good people.

Smelts, I am proud of you. And yet, as I sit typing this under an hour before Monday practice, I can assure you that I have not intentionally drawn up an easy practice for tonight. See you at Gill Park!

(photos up on Flickr!)