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.