Food Dehydrator

my mom makes really amazing beef jerky with this machine. it's easy and, over time, cheaper (if you eat as much beef jerky as i do). you can also dehydrate some other things that don't really excite me that much. if you buy one of these, ask me how to make beef jerky. you will never tolerate store-bought beef jerky again. $53.

DC, someone I wish I could buy

Danny just dropped me off after an extremely fun afternoon and evening of Christmas shopping. He had a 30% Friends & Family discount to Banana Republic and The Gap and invited me to share it with him. He's so generous of spirit. (He also invited Vali along, who hates shopping and kind of wanders around stores with a grimace on his face looking helpless and put-upon. God, I hate him so much.)

Danny was also receptive to clothing suggestions. Which is why Danny looks really hot most of time. He bought this tie (which I also bought for my brother) which looks good on basically any dress shirt. It's dark slate grey with a kind of very subtle shimmeryness to it. Not gay! Hot and Daniel Craigish (another hot "Danny").



I would be remiss if I didn't mention that I got these completely sick rhinestone thong sandals at Banana Republic which are totally Beyonce-in-St.Tropez - but at a fraction of the price of Miu Miu, which they are knocking off.



Danny also bought this fine sweater from the Gap.

The Gap! It's very Marc Jacobs (college stripes in wool but whimsical cute colors, you know?) but it's not exorbitant.

Then Danny and I drove to KTown for soon-tofu at the Beverly Tofu House and he advised me how to text message people in a sexy way. Apparently the secret is being concise. Concise is the sexiest thing you can be. Less is more. How very DC, huh?

Price: to own Danny, Sotheby's estimates aprox. $1,000,000,000 plus you must listen to cool music, have good taste in comedy, and not be a fucking loser

Walden pics #2

When we went swimming in Walden this Thanksgiving, it really was the most horrible thing ever. I remembered thinking of those folks from Titanic who froze to death in the water, and realizing I had misjudged them. Water that cold... it hoits!

I learned a lot is what I'm saying, from that movie "Titanic".

Waffles wins (win?)

I meant to talk about my favorite meals from New York. It was a good time to eat in New York, I think. Restaurants are unveiling big hearty wintry foods, which is hard to find in Los Angeles. Things like Boeuf Bourguignon, gourmet mac & cheese, crab cakes, etc... I had zero interest in sushi, even if Nobu is sexy and downtown and all that.

Near the top of my list was a completely memorable bowl of pureed pumpkin soup from The Mercer Kitchen. It was so fucking delicious you guys. I loved it so much I had them fax me the recipe - the key ingredient as it turns out is chicken stock as a base... and um, a generous amount of half & half cream.

I also had an extremely tasty, and burn-the-roof-of-your-mouth hot piece of battered haddock from A Salt And Battery. It was drenched in vinegar and dipped in curry sauce. I enjoyed that so much I didn't even get chips with it.

My friend Jen was staying at the Mandarin Oriental, and we were treated to a box of sinfully rich Jacques Torres chocolates that melted in my mouth. They were tiny, and elaborately painted with sugar-paint. I love tiny little Japanese sweets. They are so obsessed with things being tiny and perfect. I just want to smash them and eat them with my paws. This is what Jen and I did with our Jacques Torres truffles.

But the winner was these waffles from Balthazar Bakery. I know, right? They're just waffles. But I kept thinking about them afterwards. Crunchy and brown on the outside, soft and barely cooked inside, with strawberries and hazelnuts all over it. I wasn't even going to order them (they have great Eggs en Cotte here - eggs baked in a ramekin with spices), but my breakfast companion was staunch about waffles, and I'm easily persuaded. My companion was right. Nice work, companion.

The serving is big so definitely bring someone to share them with.

That's all. :)


Price: $12

Balthazar
80 Spring Street
New York, NY.

Music for company when you are cooking Italian food

This soundtrack is incredible. It's from one of my favorite movies, "The Talented Mr. Ripley", which I believe was under-appreciated when it came out. Cate Blanchett and Phillip Seymour Hoffman give these scene-stealing performances that are worth watching again.

A subplot in the movie is that Dickie Greenleaf, played in an excruciatingly great way by the statue-like Jude Law, is basically a cad who loves ex-pat jazz in Italy. The soundtrack is kind of music Dickie would like.

If you are ever cooking up spaghetti and meatballs and red wine for a group of friends, you must buy this cd and play it. It also is great for long drives when it is rainy or fall-y out (I used to listen to it on the drive from Manhattan to Hanover, NH in college.) It has a cool, 1940's feel and is just wonderful.

It also includes Matt Damon cutely singing a slow, eerie "My Funny Valentine". And Tu Vuo' Fa L'Americano, which Matt Damon and Jude Law sang together in a memorable scene.

Price: 13.00 Amazon.com

Sweets that are healthy?

The cupcake craze is too crazy. I can't even deal, you guys. Deluscious? Chocodiles? Sweet Elegance? Crumbs? Ugh! Bleah!

Look, cupcakes are fine. I've even endorsed them, not two months ago. But that's trends people. Brownies are in now. If you want consistent endorsements go talk to Michael Jordan and Nike or whatever, that's not what I'm about. Okay???

I decided I have to satisfy my sweet tooth without having it shut down my whole day. Like, if I have a dense brownie at lunch time, I'm pretty much only good for sleeping and stuff. Oh! And for talking about how bad it was that I ate that brownie.

So I'm trying to expand my sweets to things that are delicious but not super bad for me. I have this new snack that is so creamy and crunchy and sweet and filling, I wanted to share it with you.

First I toast a piece of Food-4-Life Ezekiel bread.
For those of you who don't know what that is, it's this trendy oaty flourless bread that weirdos like Gwyneth Paltrow and Taryn Manning eat. The bread is supposedly living, which is totally strange. The plus side of there being no flour though is that it is very heavy and satisfying to eat. It's dark brown and kind of fierce by itself, with a little bit of butter on it or whatever.

On my show, our craft services guy is an extremely passionate Greek man named Peter. Peter is always telling me how sexy I am, how I'm skinny and shouldn't watch what I eat, and how my hips are just right. He also screams and shouts all the time too. He's great. I'd put a pic of him but I don't have one. Anyway, Peter gets this low-fat Greek style yogurt.

It's so rich and tart and creamy. Kind of if cream cheese was totally awesome.

I spread about 2 tablespoons of this cold Greek yogurt on my toasty 'zekiel bread, and finally, smear a dollop of Smuckers red raspberry jam on top.
Not too much, but just enough so you get some sugary goodness on top of that yogurt.

The bread has 90 calories, the yogurt has about 60, and a tablespoon of jam is 50. So, 200 calories for a delicious, filling, meal! I swear it will fill you up like a meal, not a fleeting sexy little dessert.

If I eat 1 hundred of these every day I should be able to fit into those new skinny jeans!

Gatorade Rain, 24 Pack

Buy one of these at Smart and Final for 14 bucks. Then, before you go out on a friday or saturday night, put 2 bottles in your fridge. Drink one when you get home drunk, and another when you wake up hungover. The pleasure of this ritual is 40% of why I get drunk in the first place.

What is the ideal thread count?

What is the ideal thread count for sheets, if I intend to maintain a standard of gentlemanly elegance without being turned nancy in my sleep?

Mini Cupcakes at Joan's on Third

Shopping is my #1 favorite hobby. Dieting is #2. Unfortunately, #3 on my list is Eating Sweets. In New York, my favorite bakery item were the sticky buns at Mary's off Jane. They closed that place down (I think they couldn't compete with the cupcakes and cachet of Magnolia Bakery, referenced everywhere from Sex and the City and "Lazy Sunday"). Out here, I haven't found too many bakeries I love. Doughboys is good but their portions are too big and the desserts too dense.

That's why I was delighted to discover the mini-cupcakes at Joan's on Third. They sell mini-cupcakes that are 2 bites big and absolutely delicious. You can eat one or two of them and not feel like a disgusting bloato. I brought 2 boxes of them to a friend's birthday party and I was the most popular person there. And the best-looking.

You also don't have to pre-order the cupcakes. They are sold in the back, in the "marketplace" section in a freezer. They actually taste best when cold, when the frosting is frosty.


Price: $12 for 9

I love Jet Blue!!!

how sad are those extra exclamation points?

The J-B (as us True Blue "insiders" call it) saved my bicoastal marriage. Also, where else do you get to watch 5 hours straight of R. Lee Ermy yelling military trivia?

Plus, $25 up-til-the-flight change fee? Come-fucking-on!