22 Jan 2013
by scolgin
in Beverages, Food, Humor, On the Road, Pork
Tags: Fisker, food, Iberico bellota pork, La Quercia, Lindsay Buckingham, Malibu, Nobu Matsuhisa, salmon, sashimi, Steve McQueen
Hot on the heels of the coldest weekend of the Southern California winter (see Jimmy Kimmel’s segment on just how cold it got), came the warmest weekend of the Southern California winter. So we were pleased and more than ready when we got the invitation to go stay with our friends, Nadine and Andrew, at their family’s beach house in Malibu.

Immy digging in the sand, Malibu
I like writing blog posts about our weekends at the Steve McQueen beach house, not so much because I’m enamored with Steve McQueen — he was undeniably cool, but so were lots of other guys. It’s because we usually eat lots of good food and imbibe good drinks. More
06 Nov 2012
by scolgin
in Food, Humor, Observations
Tags: Arles, bacon, food, fougasse, Malibu, popcorn, porkcorn, Topanga Vintage Market
My friend and fellow elementary school dad, Thad, approached one morning asking a favor. Some Topanga folk had started a monthly antique fair at a nearby mall recently, and the school had a fundraising bake sale table at the event. Would I consider baking something for the table? Of course, I said.

Porkcorn, ready for sale
A short time later, I received an email from the woman in charge of the fundraising table, thanking me for being a part of their “healthy bake sale.” More
13 Apr 2012
by scolgin
in On the Road, Recipes, Starlets, Yoga Students & Quinoa (stories)
Tags: asparagus, dining, fois gras, food, Malibu, pork belly, ravioli, recipes, Steve McQueen

Fois gras ravioli with pickled fennel, shimeji mushrooms and marscapone cheese — at Chez McQueen
* * *
Here’s the way I like to imagine it:
McQueen is out on the deck drinking his whisky, his khakis rolled up and his feet on the railing, watching the sea crash on the rocks just below. He’s surprised to find a stranger at his stove cooking, but only shrugs. After a bit he comes in to freshen his drink, and asks me what the hell I’m doing in his kitchen. More
09 Mar 2012
by scolgin
in Observations, Starlets, Yoga Students & Quinoa (stories)
Tags: goose barnacles, local food, locovore, Malibu, Oxnard, percebes, San Joaquin Valley, sea lettuce, spiny lobster, Steve McQueen
I like the locavore movement — I think in general it is a good thing to eat food grown as near you as possible. I’ve had some spirited debates about whether locavore was an elitist, bourgeois movement and how was it going to help feed huge numbers of starving people in the third world. I don’t have answers to that — and it opens an endless pandora’s box of food production and distribution issues. I just believe we could all benefit from choosing produce in season that comes from a little closer than Chile or New Zealand (unless you live in Chile or New Zealand, that is…). Even if for no other reason than, the food tastes so much better if it hasn’t traveled the globe and ripened in transit.

Extreme locavorism
But it does beg the question, how local can you get? For we Southern Californians, is it still local to eat food grown in the huge agricultural Central Valley, an hour or more away? Or should I be eating food grown even closer? There’s not much to eat in Malibu but sea lettuce. More
17 Jan 2012
by scolgin
in Eating Out, Observations, On the Road
Tags: Camping, Cholada, Duke's, Joshua Tree, Leo Carillo, Malibu, Reel Inn, saltimbocca, Topanga

Willa breakfasting at the camp site
The other night I went camping.
My son belongs to a Cub Scouts troop who go camping with alarming regularity. I try to be a good scouting father, and make a few of the trips a year. Even though camping is not really in my DNA. I’m more of a hotel/resort guy. I’m overwhelmed by the amount of gear you need to bring, the logistics of set up and break down. I’m not crazy about dirt and dust, and I like warm showers and soft beds. More
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