Canaspam in California

Let’s face it - family recipes are the best. No matter what, I know I can turn to my Mom’s chicken casserole or my Dad’s chili for a good meal. Last night in yet another episode of “What do you want for dinner?” “I don’t know, what do you want?”, the boyfriend & I decided on chicken casserole. And this got me thinking - how do these recipes get their start? What makes a recipe worthy of being labeled a “favorite” and begin getting passed down the family tree?

It was during a casual conversation yesterday that my answer came, though I didn’t realize it until this morning. Our friend stopped by and was asking the boyfriend, “What is Amy’s specialty in the kitchen?” I was just as interested as she was in the answer - I have never considered that before.

He answered, “She makes a really good salmon, and also this quinoa salad.” Of course, I thought, I make those most often because I think they’re easy and I practically have the recipes memorized. Makes sense, especially because I know he loves those.

And then it hit me this morning. Those are my recipes…no I didn’t invent them, but they are the recipes that I have perfected and can make any time to satisfy our hunger. Pecan-crusted salmon and Greek quinoa salad. I mean, heck, I can’t complain about being known for making healthy recipes!

So my goal now is this: continuing to perfect both of these recipes, maybe make them a little more personal with a couple tweaks (with the boyfriend’s taste buds’ approval), so that someday I can pass them down to my children (or nieces & nephews).

So what about you? Do you have a recipe that you have perfected and plan to pass down to your family? Share your answers below and your recipes, if you so desire!

I promised to post this recipe a few days ago on my Instagram page. Of course life caught up & I got a little side tracked. But I am excited to share this with y’all!

A couple months back, the boyfriend came home & surprised me with presents. Not just any presents, presents from my favorite store ever, Anthropogie! (He’s such a keeper :).) One of the presents was this amazingly beautiful cookbook, called “Very Food of Fond, a Year in Recipes”…to this day I still open it carefully and smell the pages as if it was just handed to me brand new. Sophie Dahl writes with such elegance it makes me want to live in her shoes. I finally got up the courage the try one of her recipes for the summer, and boy am I impressed! Or, if you aren’t convinced yet, I should mention that the boyfriend gobbled this up instantly, before I even sat down.

Be prepared to have fun, eat something fresh and delightful, and enjoy the smell of cinnamon throughout your home!

*Note: don’t feel constrained to follow every step or have every ingredient. One of the best parts about cooking is when I edit the recipe to my taste (ick, olives?!) and my style (where does one find a butcher at the beach, anyways?). Just enjoy the process!

Summer Chicken Stew
By Sophie Dahl

3 tablespoons olive oil
1 small chicken, chopped into pieces by your butcher
1 onion, peeled and finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
1 cup white wine
1 cinnamon stick
1 bay leaf
Juice of 1 lemon
1 cup chicken stock
1 can (14 ounces) chickpeas, drained & rinsed
1/4 cup pitted black olives
Lemon wedges for serving

Heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil in a large casserole over medium heat. Add the chicken pieces and brown, cooking for for 10 to 15 minutes to brown evenly. Remove the chicken from the pot and keep to one side. Using the same pot, add the remaining oil and sweat the onion and garlic with the turmeric. After a few minutes, pour the wine over, add the cinnamon stick, bay leaf, and lemon juice, then add the chicken. Cook this for around 30 minutes, pouring in the stock little by little. Stir in the chickpeas and olives after 20 minutes and serve with lemon wedges. This dish is great with rice or quinoa.

In a text conversation with my sister today, I told her about this quinoa recipe I made last night. She had never heard of quinoa before, so I attempted to describe it. I called it the “new tofu” and then realized using a vegetarian comparison with my Southern family probably wouldn’t be a good way to convince them to eat it.

Regardless, I have fallen in love with this food item. When the boyfriend & I were in Ojai about a month ago, we had quinoa cakes at the Farm-to-Table dinner we attended. Served warm as the main dish, the cakes were unbelievably delicious. This week I decided to try meal planning and began our week of home cooked meals with this quinoa recipe. With a mouthful of food my boyfriend proclaimed this to be “the best meal you’ve ever made!” Well, if that isn’t just the sweetest thing. :)

Greek Quinoa Salad and Avocados

1/2 cup uncooked quinoa, rinsed & drained
1 cup water
2 Roma tomatoes, seeded & finely chopped
1/2 cup shredded spinach (I omitted)
1/3 cup finely chopped red onion
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
Spinach leaves
2 ripe avocados, halved, seeded, peeled and sliced
1/3 cup crumbled feta cheese

In a small saucepan combine quinoa and water. Bring to boiling. Reduce
heat; cover and simmer for 15 minutes or until liquid is absorbed.
Place quinoa in a medium bowl.

Add tomatoes, shredded spinach, and onions to quinoa; stir to combine.
In a small bowl whisk together lemon juice, olive oil, and salt. Add
to quinoa mixture; toss to coat.

Place additional spinach leaves on four salad plates (or two dinner
plates, as we did). Arrange avocado slices atop spinach leaves. Divide
quinoa mixture evenly over avocado slices. Sprinkle each serving with
some of the feta.

My sweet boyfriend brought these flowers home to me after work yesterday, and they made a great addition to the table. Dinner is always best when you spend it with the one(s) you love. :)

I have been very blessed to have friends and family come visit me in LA. One of the best parts of having visitors is getting to play tourist for a few days. Each time someone comes to visit I ask them, “What are the top things you want to do and/or see?” Each person has something a little different than the last, but ultimately the goal is the same - to be a tourist in LA. Well, that and see some celebrities.

Since I’ve pretty much become an expert at seeing the sights here, I thought it’d be fun to share. Here is an example itinerary for visiting this magical city on the West Coast:

1. Day 1:

• Beverly Hills - walk up and down Rodeo Drive
• Drive east to The Grove and the Farmer’s Market
• Lunch at the Farmer’s Market
• Head west to Santa Monica to visit the Santa Monica Pier and walk Third Street Promenade
• Dinner at Cha Cha Chicken in Santa Monica

2. Day 2:

• Hollywood - walk up and down just a 2-block radius of Hollywood Blvd and see the Kodiak (now Dolby) Theatre (Academy Awards held here), and get a tour of the Graumman’s Chinese Theater
• Head downtown for authentic Mexican food on Olvera Street
• Dodger stadium (do a tour if possible)
• Dinner at Hop Louie’s in Chinatown (famous scenes are filmed here; ex - Rush Hour)

3. Day 3:

• Getty Center (or Getty Villa)
• Bring a picnic lunch and eat outside with another great view of the city (or view of the ocean if you choose the Getty Villa)
• Drive northeast to Griffith Observatory and get a prime view of the city plus the Hollywood sign

4. Other places to visit (depending on geography and/or time):

• Venice Beach - walk up & down the strand to see all the crazies
• Drive up the Pacific Coast Highway starting in Santa Monica and go through Malibu
• Drive through Pacific Palisades to see great view & beautiful homes
• Catalina Island
• Long Beach - see the Queen Mary, visit the Aquarium, have lunch
• Santa Barbara - wine tasting

Growing up we learn about geography and the location of important things. For example, the capital of the United States, the Liberty Bell, the oceans (need to know where the best beaches are), Alaska (you can see Russia from there!), and more. There’s an episode of Friends where Chandler gets everyone to participate in a game of listing as many states as you can think of in an hour or so. The funniest part of the episode is the representation of how so many of us as adults forget about the geography of our own country.

Nevertheless I figured most of us knew the basic layout of the US, and grasped at least some concept of distance and time based on time spent traveling by car. That is, until I moved to California.

My first experience with the California geography knowledge was in 2009 when I came to LA for a few months of work. A girl on my project team was introducing me to someone and said, “She’s from Nebraska.” Here’s how the conversation went from there.

Me: “Uh, I’m from Alabama.”
Her: “Well, same thing right?”
Me: “Not even a little bit.” 
Her: “Well, they’re right next to each other, so close enough.”
Me: “Are you serious? They’re not close at all!”
Her: “Wait…really?”

I explained where Nebraska was in relation to Alabama. All she said in response was, “Oh, well us Californians forget about the rest of the country.”

A few years later and I still encounter the “Now where exactly is Alabama anyways? Somewhere in the South right? Like Oklahoma?”

Recently a friend told me a story of taking a field trip when he was a kid. They traveled with the intent of seeing some of the nation’s historical monuments and cities. They went to Washington, D.C., they went to see the Liberty Bell, and more. The confusing thing for my friend was, as he said, “I didn’t understand why we had to go to another state just to see something. And how we would drive just a couple hours and suddenly be in a different state.”

I looked at him dumbfounded when he said that, thinking, Hello?! Have you not seen a map of the US? How can someone not grasp the concept of small states and traveling across state lines? 

Easy. California is so big, with so many things to do, most people never have a need to go outside the state. You want to go snowskiing? Camp in the wilderness? Lay out on the beach? See the desert? See a broadway show? Go wine tasting? Go to the zoo? Take a tour of the stars’ homes? Go hiking in Yosemite? Play golf on a PGA course? Yep, you can do all that and still be in California.

At this point, after living here for 2 years, I’ve come to realize that a standard response of, “back east”, is sufficient enough when people ask where Alabama is. It’s become too time consuming to explain that Alabama is next to Mississippi & Georgia, on top of Florida, kinda close to New Orleans…and on and on and on.

I just hope I don’t get caught up in the largeness of Cali and become someone who says, “Oh you know, over there somewhere.”