21 May 2015
by scolgin
in Humor, Starlets
Tags: 1980s, Don Schneider, food, Froggy's, Hell's Angels, humor, Texas-style brisket, The 1909, Topanga, Topanga Elementary Charter School
Last year around this time, I was asked to cook at the silent auction fundraiser for my kids’ elementary school. The event, a 1970s-themed soiree at a local venue, the 1909, was a huge success and the food — including pizzas and huge paleolithic ribeye steaks emerging from a wood-fired oven — was the star.
So when it came around time for the 2015 fundraiser — with an 80s theme — I was again asked. Again, I accepted.
Don Schneider as Hef, plating cod and cous cous
The party would take place this year at Froggy’s, a local restaurant that had been shuttered and put up for sale — which I briefly considered buying before regaining my common sense — and then, upon failing to find a buyer, reopened. More
15 May 2015
by scolgin
in Observations, Starlets
Tags: food, humor, Larry Ellison, Malibu, Matsuhisa, Nikita, Nobu, Robert De Niro
We live next to Malibu, and between my son’s involvement in Malibu Little League, going to the beach and visiting various friends, we spend a fair amount of time there.
Flynn scores!
It used to be you couldn’t get anything decent to eat in the town, which was strange given its demographics. And then, 15 or 20 years ago, Nobu Matsuhisa moved in with his second restaurant after his flagship “Matsuhisa” on La Cienega. More
08 May 2015
by scolgin
in Humor, Pork, Starlets
Tags: bak kwa, Chinese New Year, food, humor, Lim Chee Guan, Pork, Shoba Haridass, Singapore
My kid’s call her “Aunt Shoba.” And she’s got a secret.
Our dear friend Shoba, you see, comes from Singapore, where she was recently visiting her parents. We fed her family while she was gone — including a birthday dinner for husband Bob. As a gesture of love and thanks, she brought me something back, a regal red bag with gold Chinese characters embossed on the front, a package weighing around a pound inside, that she slipped to me stealthily with a suggestion: “Hide that.”
Shoba’s back
“What is it?” I whispered back.
“Meat,” she said.
It was called “bak kwa,” from the Lim Chee Guan company. She then sent me a link explaining. More
26 Apr 2015
by scolgin
in Humor, Starlets
Tags: Don Schneider, Fenway Park, food, humor, Kula sushi, musabi, onigiri, piñatas, sushi, Topanga
“Dad,” a tiny voice said as I prepared to leave the house one morning, “Where are you going?”
“I’m going to a meeting in town.”
“You’re NOT going to the round-and-round sushi restaurant, are you!??”
“No,” I said, “I’m not.”
Phew!! my 4-year-old sushi-obsessed daughter sighed. “You are NOT allowed to go there without me!”
Imogen with princess dress and salmon at the Kula sushi bar, April 2014
I’ve written about Imogen and her sushi fixation on several occasions before (perhaps most memorably when, in her desperation, she insisted on eating frozen salmon sushi). But recently things had reached a whole new level. At one of our Tuesday sushi dinners with the Schneiders, she lingered around the kitchen after the kids had finished their dinners. More
06 Mar 2015
by scolgin
in On the Road, Pork, Recipes
Tags: Barley Forge, Camping, food, Greg Nylen, humor, Leo Carrillo State Park, Malibu, Masterson's rye whisky, paella, Spanish cuisine
On the eve of departing for another Cub Scout camping trip near Joshua Tree, I thought I’d take a moment to reflect a simple fact: I love our Cub Scouts pack.
It took me awhile, but I came around. Being one who is, generally speaking, apprehensive with group activities, recited credos and the like, I was skeptical at first. But the boy wanted to do it, and this was about him, not me.
Tidepooling in Malibu
As with most things Topanga, I soon realized this was not a typical pack — that, despite the rules and formalities, I was among my tribe. More
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