my cinco de mayo

being of German decent, i take Oktoberfest seriously....well the food part. i've been craving sauerkraut for weeks so last night i put my dreams into reality.

my version:
1 package of Trader Joe's Chicken Spicy (ah hum Italian) sausages
1 bottle good beer
2 T. olive oil
1 c. chicken broth
2 onions sliced
6 red potatoes cubed
1/2 lg. jar of sauerkraut minus the juice
2 carrots gratted
1 apple cut up into matchsticks

-simmer the sausages in beer, olive oil and chicken broth for 10 min. remove the sausages from the broth.
-in a large pot, caramelize the onions in a splash of olive oil until the start to turn light brown. add potatoes and cook another 5 min. add sauerkraut, liquid from sausages and carrots. cover and cook on med for 10 min.
-add carrots and sausages back to pot as well as apple sticks. cook on low with the lid until potatoes are tender.
ENJOY!
(this recipe originated from the latest Rachel Ray mag but i altered it a bit)

and then came dessert:
Pumpkin Flan
(serves 10)
1 1/2 c. sugar
1 12oz. can evaporated milk
1 14oz. can sweetened condensed milk
5 lg. eggs
1 1/2 t. Trader Joe's Pumpkin Pie Spice
1 15oz. can pumpkin puree

-preheat oven to 350*. in a medium saucepan over high heat, add the sugar and pour 2/3c. water around the perimeter. usinng a wooden spoon, cook, stiring until golden, about 5 min. lower the heat and cook until copper colored, (make sure it's nice and golden brown so the carmelized flavor is right) 1-2 min.
-i poured this mixture (all of it by mistake) into 6 ramekins vs. the one 10-in. pie pan as the recipe called for. next time i'll add less sugar.
-tilt to coat the bottom and sides of the dishes then place in a roasting pan.
-using a blender, combine the next remaining ingredients and poor into the ramekins (or pie pan). fill the roasting pan with enough water to come halfway up the sides of the ramekins. bake until set, 45-60 min. **mine only took 45**
-transfer ramekins to a rack to cool completely, about 45 minutes. refrigerate until the carmel is set, about 2 hours. invert onto a place.
-i had about 3 c. of the pumpkin mixture left which i froze for another time so this recipe definitely makes more than 6 ramekins worth.

these were DAMN good and oh so fall.
(this recipe also came from the same mag but once again adapted by me)

::::TONIGHT::::

Elvis and i are dj'ing @ the Pike Bar on 4th in LB around 9. All vinyl. All goodness. see jah there.

security breech

i was recently inspired by Lovely Morning's security envelope crafting. genius. i too have been saving these babies for awhile trying to figure out what to make with the cool insides. i've also been staring at my two new "old" 4 drawer file cabinets debating on a color to paint them...or a stencil to tag somewhere. today 1+1=2. check it---->







WA-LA.

rumble in the jungle

party in my records!

tasty

PAIR OF MILO BAUGHMAN TEAK SIDE TABLES

Milo Baughman

Large Opening 21.25 x 7.5 x 8.75. Small Opening 2.25 x 15 x 2. Set Price.

32.75 x 22 x 21.5

$950.00 T235 (1 available)

ala Amsterdam Modern

these would look pretty nice on either side of my couch but hot damn! $950!!!! you be trippin. i'm off to the thrift store.

yes please!

60's red metal gravity shoes


kay braco painting


vintage yellow iron chandelier


mid century desk with 4 drawers


vintage male form


apple shaped serving tray/wall hanging


red mid century side tables


mid century wooden dresser with orange handles


vintage upholstered yellow tulip chairs


mid century wooden chairs with white vinyl seats


retro yellow fiberglass lawn chair


modern white chair with orange cushion

i want it alll ALLL (said in menacing voice).
this place not only has a gaggle of amazing items, but also ridiculously cheap prices.
i'm going tomorrow to check it for myself.
until then,
the location remains a secret.
ahhh hahahahahah!
to be continued.....

langhorne slim

WOW. what a serendipitous day. it all started when i ventured to san pedro to pick up some muy delicioso cerviche @ Baja Fish. i ran into my pal Vinney Vegas who i haven't seen in ages. we caught up and before i left, i reminded him i was dj'ing next wed in LB. he then told me our mutual friend told him about "this really amazing band playing @ Fingerprints tonight". humm...been awhile since i've see a show there. maybe i'll check it out.....

on my way home over the bridges, i received a text from another friend i was trying to link up with for work. he wrote me about this "quirky/folky ramblin' rock (band) with souped up Americana sensations- Langhorne Slim". now two randoms in one day means i must go! and go i did. what a treat. these four guys have a unique, backwoods, soulful sound i totally embrased. i can't wait to check them again @ the Troubadour in Nov. until then, i have the memories.

cheers to serendipity. and cheers to that light fixture above the stage! every time i see a show here i'm reminded what a cool lamp that is. the light it creates is nothing short of brilliant. it reminded me how much i wanted the Vava from Ikea.

WHY

is it so friggin difficult to find a cool headboard?! i've been looking for a long time and all i see is kaka. i'm getting pissed. i'm going to start a new category on here for my atrocious finds on the net. like this bute above for a mere $308! what a steal. makes me want to hunt.

and homeboy below has discovered how to "bring the voice of nature home". lucky dog. (i guess all the money he spent on that fantasy forest didn't give him a lot of room to buy sheets. good thing he's got the mattress pad to soak up spills.)
p.s. this picture is actually used on a furniture store website to advertise another happy customer. pa-leese.

a flier was made!

tnx 4 making this Mao Won!
come check out our steiz. no digital dj'ing here! strictly vinyl. strictly the best. hope to see you there.

luv,
XXX

first day of fall

and i CAN stand the rain. love it in fact.

mama mia ikea...

i scored at Ikea last weekend. i went in to buy a Jute rug and ended up finding some lovely buys for the homestead. i'm a sucker for cool design and this pepper grinder caught my eye and wouldn't let it back. it works like a champ and looks great too. score #1.

Spraka Pepper Grinder


oh yeah, i also went to try and find a frame that fit a prints i've had rolled up in a tube for too too long. Ikea tends to have weird sized frames but this visit produced one that worked. score #2



And then i saw it.... THE LAMP. VÄVA! or Vava-voom as i'd like to call it. this hanging, woven beauty is CALLING MY NAME...but i just don't know where to put it. i think i stood staring at it for longer than i should have. i was mesmerized. i held myself back from purchasing something that didn't have a home, but the four stacked boxes left in this store made me a bit nervous. "what if they're not available when i come back?" "what if i walk away from this and never find it again?!" (it IS on the rare side in the Ikea world) well i maned up walked away but not after taking some fan photos on my Storm.

Ikea: VÄVA


and last but not least came the jute rug, TÅRNBY as they like to call it in the sweedish warehouse. i opted for the largest size and it's a gem in the bedroom. score #3.


WA-LA!

sunday funday

Dating Montage
by smithy00101

so many men....so little time.

the legend of UNI

this legend has a japanese theme.

about a year ago, i was eating sushi @ my local nosh spot with my co-dj Elvis, when i had a moment of doubt about XXXclusive. i was feeling kind of "over it". was the XXX too much? were people going to see that name on the bill and think they were about to see some hardcore action? (well this part i kinda liked). insecurity i guess you could call it.

E and i were having some sake infused banter about new dj names for both of us. they all were either sushi or japanese related and all pretty silly. well UNI came up and i really liked it. this was the "new" me on the dj scene. E was a little unsure of my new leap to a different name. he thought the XXXclusive was funny and i had a history with it.

well uni has never made it to a show flier, but i've taken it on as my screen name for this blog and my blip.fm profile. so it's found a place in my life and i still really like it.

i like to switch up my laptop wallpaper pretty often and right now it's a bunch of 80's 45's of old skool hip hop singles. i've been staring @ this screen day in and out for over a week and never noticed until yesterday that one of the 45's was produced by uni records. i LOVE the logo and of course the history of lable and NAME. it's all in a name folks.

xx-
UNI

the legend of XXXclusive

about 6 years ago i lived in monterey. my good friend MG came to visit. for some reason, quite possibly through my work, i was invited to a louis vuitton opening in carmel. this is not normally the kind of party i attend but i thought it would be fun/ny if MG and i went.

the invitaion continually refered to how "exclusive" it would be. "exclusive, one night only...." we dressed for the event and went for the spectacle of it all....well the champagne and sushi too. the crowd was...EXCLUSIVE. we stayed for about 40 min and decided to jet to get some ice cream at Baskin Robbins (stoners). that night i became Dj Exclusive. MG, who wanted not just one, but TWO scoops of ice cream became Too Scoop.

this was before my official dj days. i was an avid record collector but had never publicly performed. when my good friend Elvis asked me to dj with him one night @ the Red Room in long beach, i couldn't say no. to hear my music LOUD and share my picks with a crowd sounded divine. he asked what i'd like to go by since he was making a flier for the event. hummmm, generator? genuine? exclusive? (MG would crack up.) yeah, exclusive.

since then i've dj'd at numerous gigs at dive bars, fancy hotels, fashion shows and clothing stores. about a year ago i morphed the name into XXXclusive. ;) so today you'll find me on the scene going by the LV inspired dj name. MG...or Too Scoop as i prefer to call her still gets a kick out of the idea that i've became a REAL dj and i go by that name. Wa-la!

SSSSSSSSuper cool

i've been hunting for a vintage S recently since this is the letter of mine and the sig other's last name. this one caught my eye on Etsy but the price tag is higher than i'm looking to spend. i know i'll run across one somewhere on my thrift store/craigslist/ebay "travels". until then...i'll use this as some inspiration.
TOODLES.

Shang-ra-la-la in LB

once again, Elvis and i will be spinning vinyl @ the Pike on Sept. 30th. Come down and get your groove on. Cheap drinks, good food, great crowd. See you there!

for some of my picks in the meantime, check me out on Blip.fm

September 11

i'm watching my mom's dog right now which i've been enjoying on many different levels. one of them is the am and pm walks we've been taking through my neighborhood. i've met a couple neighbors from distant blocks....and their dogs and have discovered streets and houses i've never noticed before.

two nights ago i turned down a street and came upon this house. at first i was puzzled. "why would they set this up in their front yard. kind of strange...." and then i took a closer look and it hit me that September 11th was days away. #1, where has the year gone and #2, WOW.



8 years ago, i was living in Eugene, Or. i was teaching pre-school. i had a father that just suffered a massive stroke months earlier and i was at a crossroads in my life. i was trying to figure out what to do next? move back to California to be closer to my family? push myself out of the cocoon of safe Eugene and get back to the "real world"? bingo. the events of this day reminded me that life is fragile and short. my family is not going to be here forever and i wanted to make sure i "soaked em up" while i can.

my life since then has ventured on many paths and has currently placed me in Long Beach. i've found such joy here. amazing friends, LOVE and close proximity to my parents and sister. if something major happens, i'm now a car ride away.



so as these neighbors have a memorial of their own today, remembering the lost lives of Engine Company 343, i'm having my own day of reflection; where i've been these past 8 years and where the next 8 will hopefully take me.

RIP to all of those that lost their lives in this tragic event as well as all of those who have died in this unfair war. but from it all, i think i've learned to love harder and appreciate the simple things in life like walking a dog in the sun, by the beach in a beautiful neighborhood full of smiles and hellos.

i LOVE the mail

i get so excited when i come home and see a thin, square box on my front doorstep. this can only mean one thing....NEW VINYL!!!! well the past two days have brought me three gems. i usually find my gold on ebay and sometimes it takes awhile for them to show up....ah hem $5.99 shipping and handling! but it's all worth it when it's arrives. the smell of old vinyl sometimes reminds me of rose oil. maybe it's from the hippies i buy it from, but i love it. and to see that shiny black wax without a scratch or warp in sight makes me ponder who owned it. someone that has kept it safe and respected the tunes inside. maybe they thought they'd pass it down to their kids one day as i do...but instead it was sent to their surrogate child from afar.

mirror mirror on the wall.....

who has the coolest laptop cover of them all.....

delicioso!

i made these last night. big hit @ mi casa, even with a 12 year old. no pics because we ATE IT ALL UP!!

Grilled Tuna Rolls

Ingredients

nocoupons

• Good olive oil
• 1 pound very fresh tuna steak, 1-inch thick
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 lime, zest grated
• 3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice (2 limes)
• 1/2 teaspoon wasabi powder
• 1 teaspoon soy sauce
• 5 dashes hot sauce (recommended: Tabasco)
• 1 firm, ripe Hass avocado, medium-diced
• 1/4 red onion, chopped
• 1 tablespoon minced scallion, white and green parts
• 1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds
• 9 hot dog rolls, grilled or toasted
• 1 bunch baby arugula, washed and spun dry

Directions

Heat a charcoal grill with hot coals. Brush the grill with oil.

Brush both sides of the tuna with olive oil and sprinkle generously with salt and pepper. Cook the tuna over the hot coals for about 2 1/2 minutes on each side. Remove to a plate. The tuna should be seared on the outside and raw inside. Allow to cool and cut into cubes.

(If you don't want to heat a grill, you can sear the tuna in a dry saute pan over high heat. Heat the pan for 2 minutes, add the tuna steaks and cook for 1 1/2 to 2 minutes on each side until seared on the outside and still raw inside.)

For the dressing, whisk together 2 tablespoons of olive oil, the lime zest, lime juice, wasabi powder, soy sauce, hot sauce and 1 teaspoon pepper in a small bowl. Toss the avocado in the dressing and then add the tuna, red onion, scallion, and sesame seeds. Line the rolls with arugula leaves, fill with the tuna mixture, and serve.

THANK YOU INA GARTEN!

where i'm @

tiny bubbles gets some Apartment Therapy

Cool Recipe: Grilled Salad Nicoise Long Beach Style
Stay Cool!

Name: Jennifer
Location: Long Beach, California
How are you staying cool? Two of my fav's in the summer: BBQ'in outside and all the tasty local produce in season at my local farmer's market. This recipe incorporates both.

thanks Apartment Therapy for posting my digs. for the full article: look HERE