kitties! & puppies! eating melon fruit pops!

los angeles

looking for a good beach day or 5 before the summer is over? let los angeles magazine help you, they love that stuff: a day at the beach.

another feature i hadn’t noticed before, los angeles magazine has a monthly run-down on area-specific reading. i’m a sucker for books about my city, this is definitely something to consult when i need my LA fix: LA reading list: LA authors. LA topics. august ’10 list

food

[image: luna cafe]
as someone who loves both roasted peppers and gazpacho, i wanted to share this recipe from cafe luna roasted red pepper gazpacho linked from saveur. check the links in the article, she describes some other pretty outstanding gazpacho ideas!

i’ve seen eggplants popping up here & there at the farmer’s market, which means we’re ready for fantastic eggplant recipes. caponata with capers, from la cucina italiana sounds amazing!

it never occurred to me to throw tomato leaves into my tomato dishes for more intense flavor, but the kitchn links to some articles that say the chemical in the leaves enhance the tomato flavor, and they’re safe to eat: fresh tip: use tomato leaves to boost flavor.

i liked to a great recipe for fennel liqueur awhile back, and i’ve been seeing the blooming flowers all over LA lately. here’s some more encouragement from the kitchn to go out and harvest some of your own: summer foraging: fennel pollen.

michelle obama is still working hard to get her child nutrition bill past, i’m glad she’s been relentless about this! & thanks to serious eats for the link: michelle obama urges congress to pass child nutrition bill.

drinks

[image: design sponge]
this is such an awesome idea from design sponge: small measures with ashley: herbal sun teas & simple syrups! if you’re growing herbs outside or pick them up periodically for cooking, consider making some of these unique teas.