My 27th Order From Abundant Harvest Organics

It is that time, once again. Saturday has come and gone and we have produce in our house. This is on top of my work friend giving me 3 oranges and 3 lemons on Friday. A big produce weekend.

Here is what ended up being in my box.

6 Apples
1 bunch of Baby Dill
1 head Cauliflower
1 bunch of Dinosaur Kale
1 large Napa Cabbage
1 Red Onion
5 Oranges
7 Radishes
1 bunch Rosemary
3 Rutabaga
1 bag of Spinach
1 large Spaghetti Squash 2 Lemons

Add Ons that I purchased:
3 Daikon Radishes (1 lb)
23 Carrots (3 lbs)

5 Yukon Gold Potatoes in a bag
1 16 Oz of Honey (Cornett Farms Dinuba, CA)

So, being that I added on those carrots and daikon radishes, my bill this time was just over $30.

As to what is left from last time, I have one bunch of beets left and I intend to make soup from them. We roasted the other bunch and so we were taking some time off, since they can hold out a few weeks, before going bad.

As to this bunch of stuff. I am thinking of making Udon Noodle Soup again and putting in some of the Napa Cabbage, maybe a bit of the daikon Radish and use up the red onion. I bought 2 packages of salmon and fully intend to use the fresh baby dill on it. Yum!

See you next time.

More News From Aquafit

In my aquafit class we have a student who stays with her sister, during the winter months. She purchases membership in our gym and swims laps and then does the aquafit class with us.

Over the years she has become my friend and was especially helpful when I was navigating higher education a few years ago. She has her PHD and is on the faculty of National Louis University in Chicago.

I saw her last Saturday and we had a more than normal conversation as she related the fact that she was going down to San Diego to take a course in her specialty, Psychology.

She was in great spirits and we spent the class next to each other.

On Sunday she was not feeling as good and she ended up in the hospital. I heard about it on Wednesday morning, in my class.

She is 91 years old, but somehow, I knew it was her time.

She died on Thursday.

I am very depressed about it, because she had been so animated and full of life. I guess maybe that is the way to go, enjoying life and learning, right up to the end.

My very best to Rita, who is now on the other side.

I will miss you, my friend.

The New Season Of Doc Martin

The new season of Doc Martin began on our station 2 weeks ago.

To take advantage of the hype and the loyal viewers, we did wraparounds with Doc Martin cast member Ian McNeice (Burt Large on the show).

We also asked Doc Martin fan Marian Ross (from Happy Days) to sit with him and ask him questions, which you can see HERE.

The interview segments came out very nice and they break up the normal pledge breaks.

He is a pleasure to work with and he was game for anything KCET asked him to do.

My only personal complaint is the fact that the segments are getting done the day before air. So we end up making changes in the automation system, to get it onto the air right.

Fixing logs at the last minute, is part of life in broadcast operations and hey, I get paid to do this. :-)

If you haven't gotten on board with Doc Martin, I highly recommend you seek it out.

At The Iron Horse Trail

I wrote about this trail back in 2012 and you can refresh your memory HERE.

I mentioned in my original post that my Husband and I fully intended to walk this area, shortly after it was open.

Unfortunately for me, that day never came.

Yesterday was a day off for me and after I finished with my appointment in Mission Hills, I drove back to Santa Clarita and passed the area where the trail is. I decided at the spur of the moment that today is the day and so I hung an illegal left (don't tell anybody) and parked at the trail head of the Iron Horse Trail.

The cute iron pole with the different important places in Santa Clarita history, is right there at the entrance to the bridge. I stopped and spent a few moments taking photos of the signs on the iron pole (which you can see a photo of, in my original post).

Then it was time for the bridge itself.

It has been here in Santa Clarita since the 1800's and so I have seen it from a distance, the entire 35 years I have lived here.

It was so cool to actually walk on a bridge that I know well and I was sorry I did not have my Husband with me, so that we could both walk around. As a woman alone, I really was watching out for anyone that might give me trouble. That made the walk, just a bit awkward for me.

I did take many photos of the Santa Clara River (which is currently empty).

It was beautiful at that time of the day, but I wish we had some water in it.

My Communications Media & The Arts Shirt

First off, my son is winging his way to Austin, Texas for the Winter EcoCar3 (year 2) workshop. I will be a total mess all day, since I had to drive him over to Van Nuys at 3AM. Good thing I have the day off.

On to today's post.

I was going through my photos and I found this one. It was taken by my Husband at TGI Friday's, back in March of 2014.

I had been back from school for a short period of time and I guess we did a date night, cause I actually have a drink in my hand.

I thought the photo came out particularly well, considering most of our cell phone photos end up being fuzzy.

On a sad note, that TGI Friday's is no longer. They decided to close shop in December of last year.

We spent many an evening eating dinner and watching our "Magic" Son perform there...well, until they let him go due to money problems. HERE is a post taken when he was working there.

Obviously the money problems didn't get better.

A shame.

Magic Mountain At Sunset

6 Flags Magic Mountain is literally 15 minutes from my house.

We went out to dinner at Red Lobster, early on Saturday evening, to celebrate my birthday.

As I walked from my car to the door of the restaurant, this is what I saw.

The brightness from the sun which had just gone down and two roller coasters with the sky tower, all framed in the brightness.

It doesn't look quite as cool as it did, when I viewed it, but still it is an interesting photo.

Enjoy.

Aqua Fit

First off, Happy Birthday to ME! Yes, another year older.

My Water Post For Today.

I admit this, I used the water in the pool for a water post in the past, which you can see HERE. Well, it is a year later and here it is again.

One of our teachers, the one who is from Boston, took some photos of us a few months ago and I asked her if she could forward the one of me. She said that she could and she did. By the way, I am on the left side, in the high necked black swimsuit.

The part that I wanted to show off, is that I am standing next to our oldest student. Lucille, (the white haired lady in the center of the three of us) is 90 years old and has been doing aqua fit for at least 20 years.

She totally credits her long life, to spending an hour 3 times a week, keeping her muscles limber.

My Hubby mostly got cut off in this photo. His head is in front of me. :-)

Water is just so important and I am glad I have a chance to get to class and exercise.

Full Wolf Moon

It will happen a few hours from now. The Full Wolf Moon arrives.

They say it is called that because the wolves are having problems finding food, during the snowy month of January. The February moon will get the definitive title of Full Snow Moon and if you had any doubt, the wolves will be more upset then.

Yes, winter is a hard time of the year and in the midst of this, tomorrow it will be my birthday.

Thankfully, there was not snow on the year I was born. :-)

Enjoy the Full Moon.

Apple Cinnamon Pancake Breakfast

My sister-in-law sent us a breakfast for Christmas and on Sunday I decided to make it.

It was from The Swiss Colony and the pancakes were Apple Cinnamon.

I didn't expect much from them, but surprisingly, they were pretty good.

I would recommend that you cut up an apple very small and add a little bit of cinnamon and try it for yourself, or click the link above for the pre-made pancake mix.

An Alameda Sunset In January

I was walking down to the Disney Lot on Wednesday evening.

I didn't even think about the sunset. What I saw over to my right, as I crossed this little street that is the side entrance to St. Joseph's Hospital, was a pretty pink glow by the tower on Mount Lee. So I stopped to take a photo and after I did that I glanced to my right and there it was!

Alameda Ave was right there in line with the sunset. Sort of like Manhattanhenge, which happens twice a year in NYC.

So I quickly grabbed a few shots of the sunset and then continued on my way to my van pool meeting point.

I was just a little happier. :-)

Lemon Thyme Cornmeal Cake

My CSA, Abundant Harvest Organics, had this recipe up on their Facebook page on Wednesday morning and I fell in love with it. My work partner came in with a bag filled with meyer lemons and I felt that it was fate.

I made it the same day.

I did not have buttermilk and so I made a substitute with plain yogurt that I thinned out with 1 percent milk. You can use water to thin it out, also. In addition you can make buttermilk with 1 cup whole milk and a tbl of lemon juice or vinegar. It's a great tip I learned years ago.

The other problem was that the recipe was partially in grams and I had to convert each ingredient to cups. Thankfully, the Internet came to my rescue here, too.

Click the link below, to go to Local Milk's blog post with absolutely stunning photos of the bread and some tea. Yum.

Lemon Thyme Cornmeal Cake

Ingredients

1 Cup (125 grams) all purpose flour
3/4 cup (125 grams) finely ground cornmeal flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ Cup (100 grams) granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
2 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves (roughly chopped)
zest of 2 Meyer lemons (regular lemons can also be used)
juice of 1 Meyer lemon
½ Cup plus a little more (125 grams) olive oil
1 Cup (250 grams) buttermilk
2 large eggs

Instructions

Heat oven to 350° F and grease a loaf pan or spray with organic cooking spray. In one bowl combine the flours, baking powder, sugar, salt, thyme, and lemon zest.

In a second bowl, combine the lemon juice, olive oil, buttermilk, and eggs. Stir the wet ingredients until completely the mixture has a uniform consistency. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix gently, just until no dry bits remain. Pour the batter into the loaf pan and bake for 45 minutes or until a cake tester or toothpick comes out clean (with no wet batter on it). Let cool for about ten minutes, slice, and serve with salted butter & whipped honey.

Moving Forward, 5 Years Later

We don't get much press, but since Michael Riley took over, you can definitely see more emphasis being put on it. A new voice and a younger voice, that brings our organization into a new era.

It has also been 5 years this month, since we have been on our own.

Leaving PBS was hard and it has hurt us in so many ways, but we are still standing.

THIS article in Emmys magazine came out last month and they finally put the online version up. Click the link and take a look at what we are up to.

I don't like the way it is written sometimes (I can find fault in almost all articles), but it looks better than it could look.

Check us out.

Slow Cooker Chicken Thighs

I got some chicken thighs for a cheap price and went looking for something to make with them. I was waiting for a call to pick up someone in the Valley, so I wanted something that would be cooking while I was gone. This fit the bill.

I found this recipe in "My Recipes". It seemed different and so I took what I had in the house and made it.

I thought it came out pretty darn good. Browning of the skin, before putting it onto the top of the vegetables would have helped. My Husband said it was bland, but I personally would have added more spice (except that I was worried that he wouldn't eat it). You just never win with these things. :-)

Definitely worth a try and great that I did not have to worry about dinner, once it was all assembled.

Slow Cooker Chicken Thighs

Ingredients:

1 medium onion, halved lengthwise and sliced
4 medium-size new potatoes (about 1 pound), cut into 1-inch-thick wedges
2 cups baby carrots
1/4 cup chicken broth
1/4 cup dry white wine
1 teaspoon minced garlic

1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1 1/4 teaspoons salt, divided
1/2 teaspoon pepper, divided
1 teaspoon paprika
6 bone-in, skinless chicken thighs

Preparation:

1. Place onion in a lightly greased 6-qt. slow cooker; top with potatoes and carrots.
Combine broth, next 3 ingredients, 3/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper.
Pour broth mixture over vegetables.
Combine paprika, remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt, and remaining 1/4 teaspoon pepper; rub evenly over chicken thighs.
Arrange chicken on top of vegetables.

2. Cover and cook on HIGH 1 hour; reduce heat to LOW, and cook 6 to 7 hours or until chicken is done and vegetables are tender.

Water Fowl At Eisenhower Park

First off Happy Martin Luther King Jr. Day!

I love a day off and it following so close on the heels of the new year, just makes me happy.

Enjoy your time off, if you get the holiday.

My Water Post For Today.

This should make my sister happy.

Back in 2009, I visited Eisenhower Park at sunset. I got some really nice photos of the lake in the middle of the park and I have shared some of them with you, like THIS one.

This is another one and I thought you might like the whimsical birds "swimming" in the water. I have no idea why they were there, but it think they are very cute.

I hope you enjoy.

My Magic "Sound Man" Son

My Magic "Son" has been very busy, of late.

He is on a shoot that will be lasting for the entire month of January.

So last weekend, we delayed our normal Saturday dinner and met him at our favorite Chinese restaurant, to celebrate the fact that he was available for dinner.

He had worked the entire day in the Mid Wilshire area of Los Angeles, so as you can see, he looked a bit tired. He appreciated the tea we got for the table, that's for sure.

He says this shoot is not a lot of money, per day, but the fact that he is busy the entire month makes him happy. He has a steady stream of money. A good thing.

The life of a per deim employee. No benefits and no steady work...but he is making it work for him right now.

I am so proud of him.

An Update On Johnny Carson Park

I have highlighted Johnny Carson Park twice, HERE and HERE.

It has been closed for almost a year and there are high fences keeping us from seeing what is going on.

The other day, I managed to get to a partially open gate and sneak a photo.

I don't think it looks all that much different, than what was there and as a matter of fact, minus the fact that it will have recycled water (indicated by the purple piping on the ground) it looks much the same.

If you want to see what it will eventually be, check out the plans, HERE.

Somehow, I doubt that it will be opened on schedule.

A Foot & A Paw

Let's start this weekend right!

Lots of people passing away and lots of heavy stuff going on. I say bring on the kitty photo!

This photo seems so yin and yang. The foot and the paw.

I love how her paw extends out.

It mirrors her daddy's foot and it looks so cute, too.

I never stop loving that cat of mine.

The Rams To Return To Los Angeles

20 plus years without an NFL team.

When I came to LA, we had the Rams. Shortly after I arrived, Georgia Frontiere took over the team and eventually decided to move the Rams to St. Louis. This was 1995. Yes, we did also have The Oakland Raiders for a short period of time, but we were all thrilled when they abandoned us.

After that point in the mid 90's, we had nothing.

We are the second largest market...and we have no NFL team.

The rumblings began with Farmer's Field. A developer wanted to build a world class stadium next to Staples Center. I personally thought that was a bit of a stretch, but suddenly, we were back in the running for a team.

Then it was 2 teams and finally 3 teams and 3 stadium locations. My head was getting dizzy.

On Tuesday the NFL gave permission to the St. Louis Rams to return to the city that loved them for 50 years.

They are coming home to LA and the stadium will be built in Inglewood.

It is going to be an uphill battle, but hopefully they will get their fans back and the town will support them.

Good luck to them.

*The photo is one of our glasses from the 1970's. Shell gas gave them out, when you filled up your tank. We use it to this day.

My Thoughts On David Bowie

You literally have to be living on Venus, to have not heard about the passing of David Bowie. I was so sad to hear it and I know that he meant so much to so many people, from the many tributes on Social Media and of course, the press.

It is funny, I rarely buy records or CD's. My biggest collection is, of course, Steely Dan and it goes without saying, The Moody Blues. I also have all 30 Seconds to Mars CD's, but that is a total of 4, so it is not difficult. As to other performers, it is maybe one or 2 albums or CD's that hang around my house.

When it came to David Bowie, I had a cassette that I got a recording of, in 1977. After a bit of detective work, I figured out that Changesone came out a year earlier. Why did I get this? For me, my listening to David Bowie began when I was in college. I saw the movie "The Man Who Fell To Earth" at the school and I consider it the best one I saw, during my time in Oswego.

My love of Bowie's songs, go back to a party in Onondaga (a dorm), in my final year at school. It was a great party, in a suite with 3 bedrooms, so there was plenty of room to party. What were they playing? David Bowie. If they played anything else that evening, I have no memory of it. Now Bowie, I remember. These two songs specifically, "Rebel Rebel" and "Suffragette City". I don't think I had ever heard those songs before, but they are indelibly imprinted in my brain and when I got home, a few months later, I took care of the fact that I didn't have any of his songs. I played that CD, all the time, in the two years I spent at home in NY, post college.

These songs were the rock, that made me a Bowie Fan.

Side one

"Space Oddity" (from Space Oddity, 1969) – 5:14
"John, I’m Only Dancing (Sax version) (from the non-album single of the same name, 1972) – 2:43
"Changes" (from Hunky Dory, 1971) – 3:33
"Ziggy Stardust" (from Ziggy Stardust, 1972) – 3:13
"Suffragette City" (from Ziggy Stardust) – 3:25
"The Jean Genie" (from Aladdin Sane, 1973) – 4:03

Side two

"Diamond Dogs" (from Diamond Dogs, 1974) – 5:56
"Rebel Rebel" (from Diamond Dogs) – 4:30
"Young Americans" (from Young Americans, 1975) – 5:10
"Fame" (Single edit) (Bowie, Carlos Alomar, John Lennon) (from the single RCA 2579, 1975 and Young Americans) – 3:30
"Golden Years" (from Station to Station, 1976) – 3:59

My Husband and I enjoyed his songs and videos on MTV and of course, his concerts on TV. That was the thing about David, he never disappointed.

Godspeed to you.

Mushroom And Tofu Udon Noodle Bowl

Mushroom and Tofu Noodle Bowl

NOTE: I DOUBLED THE RECIPE, THAT IS DOWN BELOW. SCROLL DOWN TO MY DIRECTIONS TO SEE HOW I MADE IT.
(Click the link above, to see how Nick made his soup)
Ingredients

1 quart beef stock (I used water)
4 dried shiitake mushrooms (I used 1/2 container fresh mushrooms, cut small)
2 pieces dried black fungus (opt.) (I did not even think about using this ingredient)
4-6 dried red chilis (I used some chili paste, with no seeds or skin)
3-4 cloves garlic, crushed
6 slices of fresh ginger
8-10 ounces fresh Udon noodles
8 ounces extra firm tofu, cubed (I used Firm tofu)
Salt or soy sauce (I used soy sauce, about 1 1/2 Tbl of it)

Toppings: Scallions, minced (I used shallots, since I had them in house and they got put in the oil, right at the top of the recipe)
Rice wine vinegar, drizzle to taste (I used balsamic Vinegar, which was all I had on hand)
Chili garlic sauce (see the chili paste, up above)
Sesame chili oil (I had it, but did not use any. I forgot about it)
Juice of 1/2 lemon or lime or both.

These ingredients were the start of my soup.

I had read the recipe the night before and figured I could wing it, the next morning and I did. From what I can see, I basically doubled the recipe, because I had 2 packages of udon noodles. Since I had 3 large shallots, I did not use as much garlic as is shown in the recipe. I used 2 cloves. I did not remove anything from the pot and maybe I should have listened and removed the ginger, but I LOVE ginger and so it stayed. Do what makes you happy.

OK, how I did it.

I heated 1 tbl Olive Oil in a soup pot and added the shallots to it, stirring the entire time. Then I added the mushrooms, cut small. They bring a meaty umami flavor to the soup. It makes you not miss the fact that the protein is tofu.

After the water evaporated out of the mushrooms, I added the ginger and garlic cloves, chopped.

I put some of the lemon in then and saved some to add at the very end, to brighten it up.

I added the red chili paste in (we get it from our local Chinese restaurant.

Then I added about 2 quarts of water and began making the soup.

I let it blend together for about 15 minutes and then added soy sauce about 3 tbl of it and about 2 tbl of the balsamic vinegar.

I added the Udon Noodles (2 packages of them) and almost one of the chicken flavor that comes with it. I thought that might help with flavor and a little salt, too...knowing how those packages are.

I cut up my package of firm tofu and fried it in a little oil, until most sides were fried on the bottom. Then I added it to the boiling soup.

A few moments to let it do the mingle thing and then I added the rest of the lemon and considered it done.

Very nice, and feel free to add what you would prefer to make it taste right.

Another View Of The L.A. River

My Water Post For Today.

The photo of the L.A. River from last week was kind of artsy. You have ABC on the riverbank and a white fence over on the left side.

This is looking the other way and as a matter of fact, it is the only photo I took, from this direction.

It is stark and the water is even more rough, when viewing it coming at you.

There is some sort of pipe that crosses right there and you see it toward the top.

An interesting look at the wildness of the L.A. River.

I hope you enjoy.

My 26th Order From Abundant Harvest Organics

It feels like it has been forever, but here we are on the other end of the holidays and I have a box coming. Also, being it is a new year, I noticed when I got my charge on my credit card, that the price was $3 more than last year. I shot them an email and this is what I was told. "Due to the rise in the minimum wage, we had to increase our price by $3 for a small box and $4 for a large box. It is the first increase that Abundant Harvest has ever had." The first thing I felt was yay for the workers who have never had a raise in almost the three years they have been working for AHO. My second thought was that it was sad for me, because that cost got passed onto me and I have not had a raise for 8 years and my Husband (who is retired) did not get a Social Security raise this year. Oh well, more people got money, then I did and I guess in the balance, it is a good thing.

Back to the box. Being it was the holiday season, we did manage to eat just about everything. The rosemary being still in the drawer and the shallots are still around. I forgot about them.

The turnips were good and I even tried cooking the green tops. I ate them for 2 days and then they got lost in the fridge and I threw the last little bit of greens away. I made pumpkin soup and I just finished it this week.

Here is what is coming, this time around.

9 small Apples (no idea what kind)
3 Beets, plus 3 beets that someone had given back to the delivery site
4 bunches of Broccoli
Kale (I did not get any of this, no idea if I missed picking it up or it wasn't offered for our pick up site)
2 Stalks of Lemon Grass and 2 more that were given back to the delivery site
3 Lemons, plus one that was given back to the delivery site
Oranges (I got no oranges, no idea why)
2 huge Shallots
1 bag of Spinach (not baby spinach, but very good)
4 Sweet Potatoes (1 large and three small)
3 Watermelon Radishes
Winter Squash (I did not get this, either...yet out of the corner of my eye, I think I might have seen butternut squash off to the side of the table. Maybe I was supposed to grab one?)
1 Pear (no idea why)
2 Avocados (no idea why)

Well, even though I may have missed something, I was happy with the things I grabbed from the grab box. I will roast the beets or make beet soup with them. It's a soup time of the year.

Sweet potatoes and apples should be no problem. The broccoli is already cooked and being eaten by me.

I had a large salad for lunch Saturday and I added some of the spinach and used one of the watermelon radishes in it. The watermelon radishes are sweeter than standard radishes. Why didn't I notice that last year?

All in all it should not be a big deal, to eat this box of produce.

Uncle Jim

I just found out that my Uncle Jim passed away exactly 2 months ago. He was the last of my Dad's side of the family. Now, all that is left is my generation and beyond.

He was not blood to me, he was married to my Aunt Cookie, who I wrote a post about HERE.

He was an Irishman and he believed in public service. Spending much of his career, working up in Albany, NY.

The last time I saw him was 3 years ago, when we met at a local diner for a chat. He mentioned at the time that he still drove up to the Albany area, fairly often. I was shocked that a man of his age, would do that...but that was Uncle Jim.

I am glad that my Husband and I managed to carve out an hour or so to visit with him and my only regret is that I had wanted to visit my aunt's grave with him. Now it looks like I will have to visit both of them sometime.

Of all my Father's family, Jim was his only In-Law. They had no children and so me and my siblings are the only grandchildren of my grandmother and our 4 sons are the only great grandchildren that my Dad's side of the family had.

I will miss Uncle Jim. He was a good man and he loved my aunt so very much. I always appreciated that, because my aunt was so special to me.

You can read his obit HERE.

Veteran's And PTSD

He is my "friend" on Facebook and has been, from when I first joined. He is former Navy SEAL Tom Rancich and I learned about him in a book by Douglas Waller called The Commandos.

He used to hang out on a Suzanne Brockmann Bulletin Board, that is long gone and he would converse with us women. This was before Facebook showed its face in our lives. He was funny and just full of information about Navy SEALS. The man was not just a poser, he knew his stuff and if he had not fallen out of the sky in a helicopter, he would probably still be fighting for us in some far distant corner of the world.

Instead, he moved to Martha's Vineyard and that is where he is, to this day. At a point in time, Suzanne Brockmann took a trip to see him and made some video interviews with Tom, as a Countdown to one of her Navy Seal books. You can WATCH one of these videos about when Tom met himself in a bar. Someone was using his identity to pass himself off as a Navy SEAL.

Sometimes you could see that his service took a very personal toll on him. He is no longer married and he lives in a pretty remote area and raises pigs and things. I wondered if he had any problems, from his years of service and yesterday an article was posted about his struggle with PTSD.

You can read the entire article, HERE.

It ends up that the raising of animals, gives him a reason to get up every morning and helps with his PTSD.

I was glad to hear that he was working through some of his problems.

Good Luck and may you come out the winner in this, too.

The Rain, Day 2

You know it has been forever since we have had any appreciable rain, when even the swirling clouds just before a storm, bring the entire office to the windows.

I couldn't understand what the fuss was all about, until they pointed out those clouds over on the right side and how they were swirling around.

Within an hour, we did have more rain...but I am not sure if those swirling clouds had anything to do with it. :-)

This whole drought/El Niño thing is going to get old, fast.

They say we have captured a years worth of water for 32,000 houses in LA. Good job reservoirs, keep it up.

More rain to come overnight and then again on Saturday.

Hopefully that will give you all a few days reprieve, from me talking about it.

The First Wave Of El Niño?

My Water Post For Today.

Sorry for the delay, I lost track of the days. :-)

In some ways, it was a good thing I waited. El Niño was supposed to arrive on Sunday and then, on Monday. Well, if you want to call rain a spritz, I guess it did...sort of arrive on Monday.

On Tuesday it did arrive overnight and it rained for the entire morning and up until around 2PM. A pretty steady amount. I would say that in Burbank we got an inch or so of rain. You people may laugh at this amount, but LA becomes a mess with very little rain.

Around 3PM the sun broke through the clouds and so I decided to take a little break and walk down the street and take a few photos of the LA River. Now, I would normally expect just a trickle, but as usual, LA always surprises. It was a torrent!

Being I am in the Media District, that is indeed ABC Corporate over on the left side of the photo.

Thankfully, there were no bodies or anything I would care about, riding the river. I did see something like a tree limb, but that was about it.

I hope you enjoy.

Van Pool Issues

If I hadn't been riding in a Van Pool these past 1 1/2 years, I may not have noticed this situation.

As it is, last week, as we were riding in the car pool lane just after the Newhall Pass, I noticed that the lane ends and yet, there is room that they put in, for another lane. So that means we hit a back up, every evening. Right in that same spot. The lane is there, but they don't allow us to use it and as a matter of fact, there is no carpool lane from when we reach the interchange of the I-5 and the 14 Freeways.

We lose a few minutes, every day. So I said to the driver, why won't they open the lanes that we built with our tax money?

I see from this article, that I am not the only one questioning this very thing. Credit goes to Jim de Bree in his December 31, 2015 letter in The Signal and I would link to the article, but you need to subscribe to the newspaper to view the entire thing. So I copied it here, for you to read.

Again, the following words are not mine.

"In November 2008, the voters of Los Angeles County approved Measure R, which raised the sales tax in L.A. County by a half cent for a 30-year period commencing Jan. 1, 2009.

The purpose of the sales tax increase was to raise money for transportation infrastructure. Locally, a carpool lane was supposed to be added to Interstate 5 in each direction from the Highway 14 interchange to Castaic.

Like most government construction projects, once construction started, it was determined that the actual cost of construction was significantly greater than budgeted. There was only sufficient money to construct the carpool lanes through the Calgrove Boulevard exit.

So in 2013, the vounty entered into a public-private partnership wherein a private company would be able to operate toll lanes in the carpool lane in exchange for providing the funds to finish the remainder of the carpool lanes from Calgrove to Castaic.

Based on the prevailing rates in 2013, it was expected that tolls ranging from 25 cents to $1.40 per mile would be charged.

At the time, there was considerable local opposition to this plan, particularly since the principal bottleneck was slow traffic between the Calgrove exit and the Highway 14 interchange. The remainder of the carpool lanes will likely only be economically feasible when the Newhall Ranch project is built.

The principal counter-arguments to the opposition were two-fold: Metro believed the project would be considerably less expensive to build at the time, as construction costs remained low due to the Great Recession; and the project would help retain or create jobs in the area.

For a further discussion of these talking points, see the link at: http://thesource.metro.net/2013/02/15/to-accelerate-the-building-of-13-5-miles-of-hov-lanes-on-i-5-in-santa-clarita-area-metro-proposes-charging-tolls-for-vehicles-with-one-or-two-occupants-to-use-the-lanes/.

So seven years after the passage of Measure R, the freeway has been widened in both directions from Highway 14 through the Calgrove Boulevard exit.

However, the space reserved for the carpool lanes is not being used. There are no carpool lanes and there are exactly the same number of lanes in both directions as there were when Measure R passed in November 2008.

The Great Recession has ended without the construction being completed. So does that mean the toll roads will cost even more?

If you carefully read the materials on the website, you’ll find they state that the carpool lanes will be completed all the way to Castaic in 2019, but they don’t say what will be done with the completed section of the carpool lanes until then. Why can’t the lanes on this part of the freeway be re-striped to allow for current usage?

We are paying the sales tax that funded the construction but are receiving none of the benefits of such construction. If the remainder of the project is not feasible to complete because the Newhall Ranch project is in long-term limbo, shouldn’t the continuation of the project be scrapped and the toll lanes be eliminated?

In any event, it is time for this situation to be corrected.

Jim de Bree is a Valencia resident."

Featured Post: A New Way To Showcase Important Posts

A new year and it seems that Blogger has a new gadget for us to utilize.

Thankfully, I noticed it the other day and decided to investigate it another time.

You go into layout and choose Featured Post. You then need to choose the appropriate one...in my case they only have about 10 recent posts already loaded and so I had to query the one I wanted. It wasn't hard to do.

I think what makes this special, is that for me, I post daily. So posts that I want to stick around for a bit, don't have the chance to be seen, unless I refer to them in another post.

This new feature solves the problem.

Let me know in the comments, what you think of the new feature. Too busy, or do you think it can serve a purpose?

IPad Notes From The Trip Last Summer

I found some notes I was writing, during the vacation part of our journey last summer and I decided to post it, to have the experience all in one place. By the way, the photo is the Empire State Building reflected in the table at the bar on the roof of the hotel. I loved how it came out and decided to use it for this post.

Now, we set the wayback machine to July 19th...and away we go.

After we finished with our attendance at the wedding of the summer, we took a few days to enjoy ourselves and to then ride on the Amtrak, back home to LA.

In other words, family obligations and then fun. So how has the week been, so far?

We arrived in NYC on Sunday night. We just checked in and crashed.

Monday: We needed to do laundry and so I looked for a laundromat. Well, it seems that a traditional laundromat is no longer available in The City. Instead, you bring your clothes to a laundry service and they wash them for you. Our laundry cost $13 for 10 lbs. It took 1 day, due to the heatwave going on. We vamped until we got our laundry back on Tuesday.

We then walked to 49th St. We passed the SNL museum, which was $59 so we just shopped at the gift shop (I got some Stefon lip balm). Tastes great! :-)

Next, we passed 30 Rock (where NBC is) and again, just shopped.

Finally, we got to Donna Bell's Bakery. We bought a frosted brownie and a blueberry scone (both excellent).

Onward to lunch. We got a soda and ate our bagels at a cool park on 49th. It has a great waterscape and that made it special.

Then, we rode the 1 subway to South Ferry. Took the ferry to Staten Island and back. Great views of the Freedom Tower and the best part...totally free.

We then returned to our hotel and crashed (you see a recurring theme here).

Tuesday: We rode the LIRR to Bayside and visited our friends Shannon and Melissa. They had their 3 kids with them. Press 195 was the place where we met for lunch. Salads were OK, Tortilla Soup was fair.

The we took the train back to The City for a quick rest after picking up our laundry.

Dinner at a Korean BBQ with Tim. It was an interesting experience. I would eat there again. Our table had the small beef combo and the cost was $30 each, with tax and tip. Kang Ho Dong Baekjeong, highly recommended.

Wednesday: We took a quick trip to Grand Central Station. Took photos and then subwayed back to the hotel for the final packing.

Off to Pennsylvania Station and checked in at the Acela Cafe. Very nice.

Onto the Crescent and away we went.

Thursday: Our journey ran as clockwork,until we ended up in Alabama. We hit some extreme weather and so the train waited it out, until the front had passed. That started the delays.

It ultimately ended up that we were about an hour or so late to NOLA.

We got a taxi that cost us $11. As my Hubby said, best money spent. We arrived at the La Quinta Downtown and found out that they upgraded our room to a suite. After our tiny room in NYC, this was heaven.

Friday: I woke up at 6 and watched the sun rise over the Mississippi . It was magnificent. I decided to get a head start on our only day in New Orleans, by doing the laundry. It was completed by 8:30am. Thus, we were free to sightsee for the rest of the day.

We walked down to River walk and checked out a restaurant I was interested in, The Crazy Lobster. Prices weren't too high and so we made plans to return later. In the meantime, we stepped into the mall and had beniets and iced coffee at the Cafe du Monde. Yummy beniets that remind me of zepoles.

We then walked to the streetcar and paid $3 for a day pass. We rode it all the way to the end of the line and then got off at The French Quarter. We shopped and took photos of the area. I visited St. Louis Cathedral and lit 2 candles for my parents. It is beautiful, BTW.

We walked back to the Crazy Lobster and had a bucket of fish. It was just fair.

We took a bus back to our hotel and crashed.

Around 8P we ventured out for a snack. We ultimately found this little hole in the wall called Jimmy J's. The food was excellent, though the wait for it, was long.

Back to the hotel to pack and sleep.

Saturday: We were back on the Amtrak the next morning. They have a nice waiting room (called the Magnolia Room) for the upgraded passengers and we took advantage of it. Up onto our Superliner car where much pampering took place. We mostly passed through Louisiana and then some of Texas.

Sunday: We woke up in Texas and had more pampering. Lots of people to talk to and a US/Mexican border to ride next to, just west of El Paso. Night fell just to the south of Phoenix, Arizona.

Monday: An extremely early wake up call and we were home. From what the crew told us, they figure the Pomona run to be 2 hours, when it is normally about 45 minutes. So we pulled in at least an hour early, which was fine with us.

A great trip and we both want to do another...soon.

A Quiet New Year

It was a quiet start to the New Year, here at the angel house. I have a bit of a cold and so I wasn't too into the outdoors and instead stayed home and baked.

When I felt like it was not in my best interest to touch something (like the crust of the pie) I enlisted the help of my Hubby. He came through for me, just fine.

So the first thing I made was totally on a whim. My friend Fran was making no kneed bread and that reminded me of my No Kneed Beer Bread that I mentioned in THIS post. Scroll down for the recipe I used today.

It came out good and I served it with the leg of lamb basted with aprocot jelly, that I made for dinner. It was half price and who can resist buying something you can't normally afford. :-)

The other thing I baked today is our final Pumpkin Pie of the season. My Husband bought a second can of pumpkin and evaporated milk, to use up the other crust we had in the freezer. So I gave him the crust making task and I assembled the pie ingredients.

The last thing I decided to do, was add chocolate chips to the pie, to make it a little different from the last one. It came out looking great. Hopefully it will taste as good.

You can see the original recipe (without the chocolate chips), on the can of Libby's, or on the Internet, HERE.

Hope your holiday was enjoyable.

Happy New Year! (2016)

Happy New Year!

Well, here it is, a new year has begun.

Big things happened last year. I turned 60 and found out that there is life after old age. :-)

My Hubby and I reached the 35 years married milestone and are still together.

I reached that same milestone at work in August and hey, I am still employed.

Not everything went well, but all in all, the year went by and we are still standing.

Let's see what 2016 has in store.

God and my son willing, he will finally graduate from CSULA. I can't wait.

Now that I have proved that I can handle my 60's, I hope to continue on that path and take advantage of more leisure time. Ha!

No matter what, enjoy your new year. It is a place to reflect and make changes in your life.