Rocking Good Times in Los Angeles

Well, that was quite a jolt, a 5.4 earthquake before lunch today. I grabbed the dog and went under my desk. It feels like a freight train coming through your house as it shakes and trembles. And how was your day?

Great Marinade for Chicken, Fish, Tofu

Hello and hope you and yours are doing well. For lack of any concise or cohesive thought this Monday as I recover from doing 14 loads of laundry, here is a delicious and easy recipe from my friend, Jeri for a Marinade that is Just Outstanding on chicken, fish, or extra firm Tofu.

For 1 lb of meat-
1.Mix together 1/3 cup of Vietnamese Chili Garlic Sauce (Huy Fong is most popular here in LA, available in hot sauce aisle) and 2/3 cup of Ranch Dressing (any brand).
Reserve 1/3 cup of mixed marinade to baste.
2. Place meat in bowl or ziplock with marinade for 15" to overnight if you like.
3. Fire up the grill, cook meat to your liking, baste with reserved marinade towards last 5 minutes of grilling.
4. This can be adjusted to your Spicy Heat Tolerance.

I hope you enjoy this recipe. Thank you so much and I wish you a Most Delicious Day that's easy and a little spicy too!

Show and Tell - Snake Avoidance Class for Dogs

Here are pictures of our puppy, Charley during snake avoidance class a couple weeks ago. There are two rattlesnakes complete with venom in 3 wire cages on a field. Charley has an electroshock collar on and the one trainer applies an electroshock if the dog shows any interest in the sight, sound, or smell of the snakes. I'm glad we did this for our pup as we love nature and live in Rattlesnake country.

Thanks so much for stopping by, wishing the best to you and your family including the trainable ones!

Recipe for Lemon Raspberry Cake

I like to bake for special occasions (it's got to be really special to turn on an oven in 100 degree heat btw). I thought you might enjoy this Lemon Raspberry cake recipe from my buddy, Mimi.

Ingredients: Lemon Cake Mix (and required ingredients to make cake)
White Grape Juice
Lemon Curd (available in jelly aisle)
Raspberry Seedless Jelly
Lemon Buttercream Frosting (recipe below)
Fresh Raspberries


1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Apply non stick cooking spray to (3) 8 inch cake pans.


2. Make a box of Lemon Cake Mix according to directions EXCEPT SUBSTITUTE White Grape Juice for the water in the recipe. Divide Batter into 3 cake pans and bake for 20-22 minutes, check for doneness. Cool for 10 minutes on wire rack, then remove from pans onto plates and cool completely. (approx 2 hours)

3. Prepare Lemon Buttercream Frosting.

16 oz confectioner's sugar
6 tablespoons Real Butter, softened
3 -4 tablespoons Lemon juice
pinch of salt

Beat all Frosting ingredients with mixer until smooth, add more juice until good spreading consistency.


3. When cakes are cooled, trim 2 tops of cooled cakes flat if needed to get rid of the "dome". You can leave the dome for the top layer, but the bottom and middle layer should be trimmed flat with a sharp non serrated knife.

4. Assemble the cake with a layer of Raspberry jam on one layer and the lemon curd in between the other layer. Frost completely with Buttercream frosting and garnish with fresh washed and thoroughly dried Raspberries.

This recipe can be made with strawberries, blueberries, ollalaberries, etc.

Writing this out has made me hungry, off to my favorite new French Bakery. Thanks for reading and I would love to hear about any great recipes or Taste Sensations You might Have! Merci!

Wordless Wednesday

Best Parenting Books I've Ever Read - One Easy/One Toughie

Hi, All and Welcome ILCW'ers! I'm so delighted to participate in ILCW and am learning so much from fellow bloggers. Today, I was inspired by a book loving blogger from ILCW who wrote about how consumerism and excess affects our parenting and purchasing choices. Powerful stuff, kind of scary to recognize this in yourself or acquaintances, and in our popular culture. The antithesis of living within your means, sad to say. However, it did motivate me to share a couple GREAT Books, well, the second book is actually part 2 of a series, but I'm jumping ahead.

To preface this, I will tell you I have probably read just about every Parenting book on the Planet, including Your Baby and Child by Penelope Leach and Dr.Spock, etc. etc. If you are looking for diaper rash or breast feeding advice, well, those are great. The two books I Highly Recommend (not just for Parents BTW) are ones that deal with the "Emotional Diaper Rash" if you will.

How to Talk So Children Will Listen and Listen So Children Will Talk by Farber and Mazlish.
Whether your kid is two or twenty, this book is incredibly helpful.
Example from this book: Don't pepper your child with questions when they get home from school or whatever activity, just say "Welcome Home" and give them some time to transition to share their day. This book has great "vignettes" which are short, sweet, and to the point.

Protecting the Gift (Keeping Children Safe and Parents Sane in an Unsafe World) by Gavin DeBoecker (Security consultant/profiler for FBI, Secret Service, celebrities)
This is a follow up to his first book, Protecting the Gift. The first 30 pages are painful to read because the author makes you examine your worst fears, child abduction by a stranger. However, when you finish this book, you feel incredibly empowered to equip your child with the skills to help them trust their instincts for survival which we all possess.
Example: when going to a store with your child, rehearse with them, where will we meet if we get separated? Who is safe to get help from? It's safer for the child to choose who s/he seeks help from. Point out the employees in their colored smocks and also women with children are usually safe people to seek help from. You learn most predators are men. Not an Easy Read, Sorry. But again, I learned so much and Nothing Kills more people than Denial.

Well, onto Cheerier things, I hope today finds you and your loved ones happy and well. Thanks so much for stopping by. I appreciate it and any other great reads that you can recommend.

Fine Dining and Great Junk Food from across USA

My husband and I are "Foodies", enjoying everything from fine dining to taco stands and dirty water hot dogs. (These are the hot dogs from the carts on NYC street corners.)
So, here are some Don't Miss Yummalicious things or places to go in my neighborhood and from some of my travels.

Ferrara's Bakery and Cafe, Little Italy, Manhattan - great service and gelato to die for.
La Puglia Restaurant, Little Italy, Manhattan - their pizza will make you sing along with the couple behind the electric piano.
Graeter's Ice Cream, Cincinnati, Ohio - This french pot ice cream is rich with hand poured chocolate chips the size of your thumb.
United Dairy Farmer's Convenience Stores, Cincinnati, Ohio - Their Chocolate Malts which provide a full day's servings of all your calories, fat, and cravings.
Skyline Chili Parlors, Cincinnati, Ohio - Greek style chili (different, very different than Texas style chili). Skyline chili is served over a hot dog with cheese (A Coney) or over spaghetti with your choice of cheese, beans, and onions. Good Stuff!
Smoked Fish Dip, Ft.Lauderdale, FL - you can get this at their retail store by Ft.Lauderdale airport. It's also served in seafood restaurants. It should carry a warning label, it's addictive.
Corn Toastees RIP, wonderful frozen corn muffin formerly made by Howard Johnson's. But alas, Corn Toastees are no more. :o(
New Orleans: haven't been there since before Katrina. I have family there and alot of restaurants have returned. Cafe Du Monde's chicory coffee and Beignets are required. Shrimp po boys are a staple.
Southern California:
Vallarta Latino Markets- La Cocina, Chile Rellenos (pasilla sweet pepper stuffed with cheese)along with a Aguas Frescas Jamaica (Hibiscus flavored "fresh water", delicioso!!)
Zankou Chicken, LA and Orange Counties - They serve rotisserie chicken, hummus, falafel, all served with this incredible garlic sauce and pita bread. OMG!!!
Providence Restaurant, Hollywood, CA - Michael Cimarusti is a Genius with seafood and Just Won Iron Chef America last month!
Downtown LA, Chinatown - Wonder Bakery, honey dipped Butterfly Cookies.
Chinatown - Chateau Mandarin Restaurant, Chicken with Sizzling Rice
See's Chocolates - delicious, clean, fresh, just as good or BETTER than European chocolates.
Newhall Coffee- local mircoroasted coffee with full bodied taste without being bitter.
Hawaii - Big Island, Hawaii- Kona coffee, you can't believe coffee tastes this good.
Kauai - Kauai coffee also wonderful, lots of depth and smooth as silk.
Maui - Sweet Onions and sweet onion potato chips. Need I say more?
and All Islands - Lappert's Ice cream- smooth rich, great flavors, worth the second mortgage.
Macadamia encrusted mahi mahi (fish so nice they named it twice)

Have to give a shout out to Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee even though I'm breaching the borders here. $40 a lb and worth every penny.
The local produce here in Southern California and Hawaii is incredible, in case you wanted to try something healthier!

Thank you so much for stopping by. Please let me know if you have fun insider food tips from your hometown or travels.