Coconut Shrimp Soup

Since moving to Los Angeles, I've grown a deep appreciation for Thai food. The city is filled with hole-in-the-wall Thai restaurants that proudly serve up their wonderful B and C-rated food to hungry customers. Speaking of restaurant ratings, never ever trust an Asian restaurant that has an A hanging in its window...it will be a disappointing experience. And as many fans will attest, the pride and joy of most Thai eateries is the soup. Thai soups have a unique ability to engage the senses and taste buds in ways that set them apart from other cuisines.

Wanting to try our hand at Thai cooking, Steve and I made this Thai-style soup together one weekend. It was wonderful, and filled the entire house with a sweet, citrus fragrance. The blend of shrimp and coconut was delicious, and we enjoyed every spoonful of it.

Coconut Shrimp Soup
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
4 medium carrots, peeled, halved lengthwise, and thinly sliced
1 can (13.5 ounces) low fat coconut milk
1 tablespoon cornstarch
5 ounces angel hair pasta
1 1/2 pounds large shrimp, peeled, deveined, and tails removed
1/4 cup fresh lime juice

Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium-low heat. Add ginger, garlic, and red pepper; cook, stirring, about 1 minute. Add carrots, coconut milk, and 3 cups water. In a small bowl, mix cornstarch and 2 tablespoons water until smooth; add to the pot. Bring to a boil. Break pasta in half; add to the pot. Return to a boil. Reduce heat to medium, and simmer 3-4 minutes. Add shrimp; stir until opaque, about 1 minute. Remove the pot from heat and stir in the lime juice; season with salt. Serves 4.

Extra Extra: The Word of the Day is Muffin Top

• My husband learned a new word today! When Steve put on some board shorts that happened to be a bit too small, I made the comment, "You've definitely got some Muffin Top." "What's that?" he asked. I then proceeded to show him this. I felt proud to have educated my extremely literate husband on such a valuable vocabulary term. He then went for a jog.

• Last chance to enter the Great Coloring Book Giveaway! All it takes is writing about your dream vacation in a comment by 12pm PST tonight. Hurry...what are you waiting for? Check back tomorrow for the winner!
  

• Have you visited Tastespotting yet? It's like Disneyland for foodies in Internetville. Beautiful photos and links to mouth-watering recipes on all sorts of great food blogs. You can find a few of my recipes there - just go here, or type "Larissa" in the search bar.

• It is a whopping NINETY-EIGHT degrees in Los Angeles today. Which makes our sauna of a house oh, about two-hundred billion degrees inside. We would probably be making pina coladas right now, but that wouldn't really help the Muffin Top problem now, would it?
  

Date Day & Counting Crows

These fellas make for a great date.

Steve and I have Date Day once a week.

Most married couple-y friends of ours also have regular dates with their spouses, which is great, in my opinion. "Hey! You can keep the fire burnin' post-wedding! Who knew?!" For us, these times are extremely valuable. When you and your spouse share the same job and workspace, it is absolutely vital to schedule consistent time to connect, minus the thinking and talking about work.

Date Day will be anything from trying a new restaurant, to walking around one of our favorite areas in the city, to staying at home and watching Heroes on Netflix's Instant Viewing (have you Netflix-ers tried this yet? ADDICTING.). They are always fun, and remind me why I love love love being married to Steve.

To be honest, though, no other Date Day compares with yesterday.

Yesterday, we went to the Grove for a free Counting Crows concert. Free concerts can often be sort of lame, but this one was amazing. The band played a long set, which included some new stuff from their just-released album, Saturday Nights & Sunday Mornings, and some of their older classics. Interspersed between songs, Adam Duritz (whose dreads were all I had imagined them to be) took the time to talk about their new album, and do some q & a with the audience.

It was my first time seeing Counting Crows live, and it was grand, I tell ya. Don't get me wrong, any date with my wonderful husband is fantastic. But him AND the Grove AND the Counting Crows?! Splendiferous and scrumtrillescent.

And yes, I am aware that those are not real words.

Hope your weekend is also splendiferous and scrumtrillescent!

Celebrities Hang Out in Barnes & Noble Too

While standing in line at Barnes & Noble at the Grove the other day, I heard an oddly familiar male voice behind me. I turned around, and lo and behold, David Spade was standing right there chatting it up with a friend. I would have said hi, but I was embarrassed about the In Style magazine I was holding. Plus, what would I have said? Um...I've never actually seen any of your movies. Sorry, Dave. So instead I discreetly texted the news to Steve.

David Spade gets added to my ever-growing list of celeb sightings at the Grove. So far, I have spotted Dakota Fanning and her little sister Lesser Known Fanning Kid (signing autographs in American Girl), Mischa Barton, and Hilary Swank. Out of all the sightings, I was most excited about seeing the Fanning girls. Hey look! Little rich girls endorsing disturbingly expensive dolls to other little rich girls!

By the way, I just have to correct the possible notion that I loiter around Los Angeles hipster-villes like the Grove to stalk celebrities. Honest. I just go for the cheapo accessories at Forever 21, and to play with the iPhones at Apple. Don't judge.

The Simple Life

Nothing to steal here, robbers!

The other night our next door neighbors (who live in the apartments behind our house) got robbed WHILE they were home and asleep. Someone broke into their apartment in the middle of the night, and took their computer and a few other valuables. Their car was also broken into. They were fine, but obviously very shaken up. To be honest, the whole ordeal had me a little freaked out.

Then Steve reminded me that we don't have much that's worth stealing. Good point. Aside from a few basic electronics, we don't have a whole lot that someone else would want to take. Picture albums? Homemade artwork? Our carved coconut collection? All purely sentimental. Then that got me thinking about the kind of lifestyle we've chosen for ourselves. For various reasons, we've made a conscious decision to live a relatively simple life. We don't own a whole lot, don't buy a whole lot, and therefore, aren't that attached to our things. We've also chosen to live in the college neighborhood where we work. And in this part of the city, certain inner city type happenings are bound to be experienced. There will be break-ins and car thefts.

Maybe it's strange, but I love my neighborhood. Yes, there are certain ways we need to have an extra measure of wisdom and street smarts where we live. But I love being a part of the heartbeat of Los Angeles, where we get all sorts of great opportunities to love and serve and interact with the diverse collection of people in our community - college students and faculty, working class families, homeless friends. Living in this area for the last nine years has shaped me into someone who cares a little bit more about the needs of people around me, and I'm not quite ready to give that up. The huge house in the gated community with a Hummer parked in the garage might be the American Dream, but it just isn't mine.

Walkable Neighborhoods

Along with many other people, I am growing in my social and environmental responsibility these days, and have been trying to personally make some appropriate lifestyle changes. We've all heard the call - avoid bottled water, use public transportation, buy fair trade products, bring your own reusable bag to use at the grocery store, etc. I also believe in the under-appreciated thrift store, but more thoughts on that later.

Here's a new discovery of mine: Walk Score. This site calculates the walkability of an address by locating nearby stores, restaurants, schools, parks, etc. My house scored a respectable 83, which the site ranks as "Very Walkable: it is possible to get by without owning a car." Within a 1-mile radius, I can walk to Ralph's, Starbucks, Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, the movie theater, Rite Aid, various parks, tons of eateries, and lots of other places.

Obviously the real question is do I actually walk to these places? That might mean making conscious changes, such as forgoing Trader Joe's (which I adore), and shopping at the nearby Superior instead. But if the benefits include better physical health, reduction in pollution, more interaction with my neighborhood, and stronger local businesses, then let's walk!

What's your Walk Score?

Be Nice to the New Girl, Please

I have never cursed so much in one day. I'm not proud of it, but it's the truth.

After a few driving lessons, today I decided that I was ready to stick shift my way to one of my favorite places in the universe, Trader Joe's. When you get that Tomato & Basil Hummus Dip craving, there ain't nothing you can do about it, you know? The closest Trader Joe's is in Culver City, about 6 miles away. Instead of taking the freeway, and thereby securing certain death, I took side streets there. Which wouldn't have been all that bad except 1) there was construction work going on on the main streets of Culver City, and 2) LA drivers are frightening. It was awful. Traffic was insane. I stalled a few times. I ended up stopped at an intersection on a hill, and almost rolled backwards into the car behind me. Many people honked at me. Some bad words came out of my mouth.

Anyway, I finally got home in one piece (complete with Tomato & Basil Hummus Dip, Middle Eastern flat bread, wine, and other yummies from TJ's). Slightly traumatized, and quite proud of myself for not driving into any stationary objects. Maybe I'll try the freeway tomorrow.

You Call That Art?

One of my new life dreams is to own an art gallery. I'll add that to the list after "write and illustrate a children's book," and "get recognized on IMDb.com as a cast member."

This past week I explored LA's Downtown Art Walk. On the second Thursday of every month from noon to 9pm, the Art Walk welcomes people into some of the city's best galleries, museums and art venues for free. I spent a few hours roaming the various galleries, and thoroughly loved the entire experience. The art ranged from the excruciatingly pretentious (i.e. one exhibit featured a three-inch piece of rope nailed to a blank wall) to the thought-provoking and inspiring.

In any case, it was just refreshing to be surrounded by an array of creative expression and voices. I want to make more space for art in my life.

Nightmare on 30th Street

The college neighborhood I've lived in for the last four years always has something interesting going on - abrasive drunk college dudes, furniture bonfires in the alley, Mr. Lee the little old Korean man who sits on the corner scratching used lottery tickets, muggings, abrasive drunk college dudes - yes sir, the real estate here is truly top notch. But come summer break, most of my neighbors leave (usually for Cancun or their vacation home in the Hamptons), and the street significantly quiets down.

Last night, however, was an event to write home about. Well, maybe not home, but in this blog at least. While standing in my driveway, I was suddenly gifted the experience of a naked man running past my front lawn and down the street. 30 seconds later, Naked Man ran by in the other direction.

And though I have to give the man credit for going out in his nakey-nothin's (not even shoes!) on such a chilly evening, I want to implore the neighbors to please keep it in the pants. Thanks.