How Now Brown Cow

Today is National Ice Cream Soda Day, the perfect way to end the month. With that in mind...

Root beer ice cream sodas, created by Emeril Lagasse who, despite his crazy-making “bam” mantra, creates intrigue with a recipe that practically begs to be served in a traditional tall soda fountain glass. Lagasse’s version includes root beer barrel-shaped candy. Yum!

Mini chocolate ice cream sodas, inspired by Tom’s Diner in Brooklyn. Serve them in small glass cups as the author suggests so your guests can have more than one without guilt.

Or go fat-free, and download the typeface above.

Black Is The New Black

Slate’s sister-daughter spin-off, doubleX, has a slideshow featuring the little black dress -- Radical Roots of the Little Black Dress: From Coco Chanel to British Punk. To see it, click here.

Eclair De La Lune

 

When was the last time you had an éclair, with the kind of rich chocolate that redefines the mind, pastry that defies gravity, and the creamy goodness that reconfigures the waistline? Today is National Chocolate Eclair Day.

A little history: technically the eclair is an oblong pastry made from pâté à choux, filled with custard or whipped cream, and topped with a glacé icing. Some food historians believe that the first éclairs were made by Marie-Antoine Carême (1874 to 1833), chef to Talleyrand, George IV of England, and other notables. The cream puff, (made from similar dough, but round in shape and split in half before filling is added), dates back to the 1540s, and is thought to be the creation of Panterelli, a chef in Catherine de Medici’s court. 

Where to get yours: 

La Conversation

638 North Doheny Drive, Los Angeles, CA 90069  | 310 858 0950

La Provence Patisserie & Cafe

Beverly Hills Plaza, 8950 West Olympic Boulevard, Beverly Hills, CA 90211  |  310 888 8833

An organic whole wheat version with barley malt and ground pistachios:

Mäni’s Bakery 

519 South Fairfax Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90036  |  323 938 8800

There’s also the misleading yet delicious Cream Puff Eclair:

Beard Papa’s 

Hollywood & Highland Shopping Center, 6801 Hollywood Boulevard,  No.1.5.-153, Hollywood, CA 90028  |  323 462 6100

Or you can be like the sisters who are doing for themselves:

Martha Stewart: http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/eclairs

The Tsing Loh Down, or Why Am I On a Soapbox About Sandra Being On a Soapbox?

This month’s issue of The Atlantic includes an article by Sandra Tsing Loh -- Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off. The subtitle sums it up well: “The author is ending her marriage. Isn’t it time you did the same?”

Since Tsing Loh is such an articulate writer and performer, it’s practically guaranteed that her article would make numerous statements worth considering. (Example: “Just because marriage didn’t work for us doesn’t mean we don’t believe in the institution. Just because our own marital track records are mixed doesn’t mean our hearts don’t lift at the sight of our daughters’ Tiffany-blue wedding invitations.”) 

The points the article makes, however, are worth more than the sum, and the points don’t add up to much. The reading experience is much like watching someone you respect come unglued, feeling smarmy for watching, and yet unable to look away. 

She seems to be speaking from a wounded place from where she’s not quite in her right mind; Perhaps she simply didn’t wait long enough to write the piece with wise reflection tempered by time and distance. At best, she comes off like Hester Prynne on speed (pasting a histrionic crimson letter “A” on her own organic cotton t-shirt in the first paragraph as she refers to herself as a transgressor); at worst, she appears to be bent on blaming society for her marriage’s failure, rather than herself. At least, that’s what the writers at Slate’s spin-off, XXfactor, seem to think --  Sandra Tsing Loh Blames Everyone But Herself For Her Failed Marriage. 

The blame game can go on for years and never reach a conclusion, so why play it? But since the very notion of how marriage is defined is currently a topic of national debate, both Tsing Loh’s story and the views of those who disagree may offer interesting tangents that broaden the dialog. 

The Atlantic: Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off

XXfactor: Sandra Tsing Loh Blames Everyone But Herself For Her Failed Marriage

The End of L8S ANG3LES

The inaugural exhibition at The Annenberg Space for Photography, L8S ANG3LES: Perspectives of Eleven LA Photographers, will close June 28.

The eleven featured artists include:

* John Baldessari

* Carolyn Cole

* Greg Gorman

* Lauren Greenfield

* Lawrence Ho

* Douglas Kirkland

* Kirk McKoy

* Genaro Molina

* Catherine Opie

* Julius Shulman

* Tim Street-Porter

Two photos by modernist-genius Julius Shulman, whose work is so compelling you can practically feel the pull of gravity, the tension between earth and sky.

The Annenberg Space for Photography

2000 Avenue of the Stars, 
Century City, CA

Oh, Fudge

Today is National Fudge Day.

 

Not all fudge is chocolate. 

But all the best fudge is chocolate. 

If you’d like to use the recipe above, click to enlarge.

What the Hell

Kleberg County, Texas, has officially replaced “hello” with a less profane greeting, “heaven-o,” thus satisfying the wishes of Kingston resident Leonso Canales Jr., who has been hoping for this kind of positive change for nearly 21 years. 

According to the Associated Press, Canales was hoping to elevate the attitude of future generations; since he’s given the matter so much thought, I wonder if he has considered how this might affect international trade. 

Heaven-O Kitty!

Work at Home

When you work at home, you’re always on time.

Call Me Moderne

Architecture plays a starring role, almost as stunning as Clive Owen himself, in the recently-released-on-DVD suspense film, The International. The movie features numerous buildings with strong vertical and horizontal lines, which makes the scenes filmed in curvilinear landscapes all the more prominent.

One of these is the big shootout in the Guggenheim, and since director Tom Tykwer and his crew couldn’t shoot up the real Guggenheim, they re-created the museum’s interior for the film.

The Guggenheim was completed in 1959, six months after the death of its architect, Frank Lloyd Wright.

Schindler’s Listed

For the manageable sum of $7, you can visit R.M. Schindler’s West Hollywood studio-residence. Or for $5,000 a month, you can live in one of his houses.

Up for lease: Buck Residence, Schindler’s 1934 gem at the corner of Genesee and 8th Street. The property retains much of its original character, and includes two bedrooms, two bathrooms, an open living room, sliding glass walls, clerestory windows and interior partitions...

According to Los Angeles: An Architectural Guide: “All privacy on the exterior with just a touch of Streamline Moderne. The interior spaces open through great panels of glass in the south garden area. One of Schindler’s finest houses.”

I can attest to the house’s near-miraculous privacy. Every time I’ve driven by, I’ve tried to peek in the windows, with no success.

Buck Residence : : 805 South Genesee Avenue, Los Angeles, CA

Lease info: Deasy/Penner+Associates

MAK Center for Art and Architecture L.A.

R.M. Schindler Studio and Residence : : 835 North Kings Road, West Hollywood, CA

Los Angeles: An Architectural Guide, David Gebhard and Robert Winter

Cuckoo For Coconut

Every day brings a new reason to celebrate. What’s today’s rationale? It’s National German Chocolate Cake Day.

German chocolate cake is not from Germany, although it is chocolate. Click here to learn about branding gone awry. 

To make your own, check out last year’s Los Angeles Times blog covering the 50th anniversary of this American classic. The blog presents a traditional version based on candy-maker Samuel German’s baking chocolate, along with more attempts at reinvention than even Madonna has tried.

Flair Publisher Fleur Cowles, 101, Dies

Fleur Cowles, publisher of one of the most brilliant magazines ever — Flair — died in a nursing home in Sussex, England last Friday. Cowles was 101. Here’s a link to her New York Times obituary. Also, here’s a link to a Hello Sunshine posting from a while back that featured some spreads from her illustrious magazine.

Simply Dogged

Here’s another page from my Workingman Press handbag-a-day calendar. (Thanks again, Christopher!) 

Here’s a joke told to me by a neighbor who was walking a recalcitrant black Scottie:

Q. What’s the difference between a terrier and a terrorist?

A. You can reason with a terrorist.

It’s National Cheese Day!

It’s the day I’ve been waiting for all year, except for National Peanut Butter Day (March 1) and National Chocolate Truffle Day (May 2). 

In celebration of National Cheese Day, here’s a recipe for Dried Porcini and Gruyere Tarts,  which was mentioned during an NPR story, The Ten Best Summer Cookbooks of 2009. The recipe is from Preserved, by Nick Sandler and Johnny Action. 

So, while you’re chilling the pastry dough, why not flop down on the love seat to watch Wallace and Gromit experience the joys of their favorite, Wensleydale cheese?