Archive for November, 2009

5 Best Walking Streets by Kevin Roderick

Kevin Roderick, KCRW Host.

Los Angeles grew up as a driving city, and I’m as guilty as anybody of using my car for recreation and convenience more than necessity. Yet, I enjoy savoring a city’s sights and smells and personality on foot when I’m traveling — and lately I’m enamored of just parking my wheels where the mood strikes me and exploring L.A. from the sidewalk. Some of my favorite strips are obvious, some more of an acquired taste.

1 – Wilshire Boulevard.
OK, this may be too obvious. But America’s most quintessentially Automobile Age boulevard is appreciated in a whole new way while out and walking. I especially like the mile or so from Lafayette Park to Western. You stroll past dozens of storefronts that have seen decades of L.A. history, plus you can peer through the windows of the sublime former Bullock’s Wilshire department store.

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5 Favorite Dishes to Make for First Time Guests by Ariana Morgenstern

Ariana Morgenstern, Morning Becomes Eclectic Producer.

I love to cook. I cook everyday. I spend endless hours thinking about meals and one of my favorite pastimes is pouring through my cookbooks and modifying recipes. I’ve taken classes, apprenticed at 72 Market St in Venice in its heyday and volunteer my services to friends.

As a child, my mom made 3 square meals a day so it’s hard for me to open a box and put the contents in a microwave. I’ve never even owned one. I’m more inclined to have a simple cheese sandwich over frozen food. That’s just not how I was raised. While I am not a fancy cook, there is great beauty in simple hearty fare.

It’s easy to get stressed out when guests are about to land on my doorstep so I try to prepare meals I’ve made before. My mom told me long ago to never experiment with a new dish on guests. I learned that the hard way when I made a quiche — the crust was so hard and dense my guest actually picked it up and started banging it on the table.

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