Author: Carrie

Facey Kids Weekend!

The Facey kids haven’t spent a weekend with us in awhile, so we made plans to watch the girls’ softball game this afternoon and then we would bring them (plus Ethan) home with us to spend the night. We know we’re biased being their aunt & uncle and all, but they are such good kids, and we enjoy our time with them so much.

For Christmas, Ed & I promised them a cooking lesson, and we bought them aprons that they could decorate themselves to wear to the class. The schedule has gotten pretty busy for them with softball now, so we decided to just give them an introductory lesson ourselves, and once softball ends, we will take them for their real class. The plan tonight was to make homemade pizzas.

The kids did pretty well with their first cooking lesson. They did a great job on the aprons too (as seen above). But of course, Uncle Ed got a big kick out of Jordan’s statement:

“Jordan Rocks … Star Wars Rocks too”. Nice, Jordan!


We taught them the 1st step – “Wash Your Hands”, and after the 2nd step – “Preparation”, we got all the ingredients on the table to begin step 3 – “Execution”. They mostly stuck to cheese pizzas with pepperoni, but Jordan and Kendall surprised us by being adventurous and trying a touch of garlic on their pizzas, with a little bit of Auntie Carrie’s Green Peppers.


I even got to make mine without cheese!


Kendall was in action after the 4th step, and a rule that their Dad & I both learned when we were growing up: “Part of cooking is cleaning up” (Isn’t that right, Mom?)


Yum!

Stay tuned for tomorrow’s adventures … word on the street is we may hit up the El Dorado Nature Center!

(Click the thumbnail to view all the pictures)

Facey Kids Weekend – March 2009

LACMA Day!

Last Sunday, Ed & I finally made it up to LACMA (Los Angeles County Museum of Art) to see two exhibits we were both really excited about. I wanted to catch the Vanity Fair Portrait exhibition, and Ed was really excited about the Art of Two Germanys/Cold War Cultures exhibit.

lacma_germany
The Two Germanys exhibit was really great.  Basically, it compared and contrasted East & West German art & culture from after WWII up until the wall came down.  You know how obsessed Ed is with all things German and history related, so you know this was right up his alley!  I thought the exhibition was incredible.  To look back and have this visual documentation of how different these two parts of the same country were, both emotionally & culturally, was just mind-blowing.  Big kudos to the curator on this one.

lacma_elevator

The other really neat thing about this exhibit was that it is inside the new Broad Contemporary Art Museum (BCAM).  That’s right folks, LACMA’s got a “contemporary” building now – watch out!  This is great news, because we love us some Contemporary art.  We are very happy about the new direction LACMA is going in and can’t wait to see what they have next!  The above photo is a picture of the giant elevator inside the building.  The elevator was done by Barbara Kruger, who is one of the most intriguing artists to me as of late.  Of course, she does have a graphic design background and her work is done in red, black and white … so I suppose it all makes sense!  At any rate, the new BCAM building houses a ton of 3-D works, including a bunch by Jeff Koons, some Warhol, Ruscha, Lichtenstein and other modern art heavy-hitters.

Outside BCAM is a really cool installation of a ton of different lampposts!  It looks awesome in person, and it is tough to really capture it, but we tried:

(Be sure to check out our album to see all of the photos!)

lacma_vf
On to the Vanity Fair exhibit … so exciting!  I could look at photos all day – and when you add photos that appeared in magazines to the mix, I am all over it!  For those of you familiar with Vanity Fair, you know about all of the artistic, editorial and culturally significant work that has graced their pages.  We saw everything – a photo of Frieda Kahlo & Diego Rivera way back in the ’30s, to Demi Moore’s controversial naked-preggo shot in the ’90s!  There were many more photos of course, the exhibit spanned from 1913-present.  Did you know that Vanity Fair existed from 1913-1936 and then merged with Vogue?  It came back in 1983 separate from Vogue again.  I didn’t know that!  Anyway, the exhibit was fascinating!


Finally, an added bonus was that LACMA is temporarily housing 4 BMW Art Cars. Basically, over the years, BMW has given cars to various artists to do with what they wish. The 4 cars on display were done by Roy Lichtenstein, Robert Rauschenberg, Frank Stella, and Andy Warhol. Of course, we had to see them! They were only in town for two weeks, and they have been traveling the world showing in Korea, India and Russia. Even though the two of us are huge Warhol fans, we actually were the least impressed by his car:

We actually thought Rauschenberg’s car was the most interesting, and it was cool to see how his collage-style translated in paint all over a vehicle!

All in all, it was a fantastic day. Do yourself a favor and get out to LACMA soon! We can’t wait to see what they have in store for us over the next year! Click on the thumbnail below to check out the album. More fun pics of art cars & lampposts! :)

LACMA – Vanity Fair/Two Germanys

The Day of Love

This year we decided to skip the crowded restaurants and just enjoy a home-cooked meal for Valentine’s Day. We were shopping at Sprouts on Friday night and discovered they were selling Lobster Tails for $4.99 each, and it inspired us to cook up a Seafood Feast!

We were pretty excited that we actually pulled this off! One of our favorite meals ever was a “Seafood Feast for Two” at an incredible restaurant in Seattle. We tried to replicate it in this meal. Basically, we got two mini-lobster tails, 4 crab legs, a dozen shrimp and a tilapia fillet to share. Add fresh asparagus and a baked potato and – voila! – that’s a serious seafood restaurant classic!

One thing that was kinda funny was that once we got the Lobster Tails home, we realized we didn’t know how to cook them. Thanks to the FoodNetwork.com, Ed grilled ’em up just like a pro.

And finally, it just wouldn’t be Valentine’s Day without a sweet ending. We got these Petits Fours from The Great Dane Baking Company, the same place we got our wedding cake. Awww!

Another Amazing Evening in Food and Wine!

Tonight was the highly anticipated Winter Truffle Tasting Menu & Wine Pairing Dinner at Brittany and Wade’s house. We are going to try and recap this incredible evening as best as we can, but we are buzzing off not only the delicious wines that were paired with every course, but also from the incredible food and company!

As usual, Brittany artfully set the table to impress. We were celebrating her birthday tonight … and nothing could be more appropriate than the way she played close attention to every detail!

Love the chandelier plates!

For those of you who don’t know, Wade is an incredible chef. No formal training, he is fueled by a passion for delectable tastes, a close study of all things food, and a sharp artful eye! Anything he’s made for us has been simply divine, and tonight was no exception. If it wasn’t for Wade, I wouldn’t know that I liked guacamole, olives, cream-based soups or truffles! Reid was also there to do the wine pairing, and honestly, I tasted the 4 best wines I’ve ever had tonight! Thanks to Reid, Ed & I are definitely sculpting our wine tastes!

On to the good stuff …

Appetizers

Prosciutto de Parma with Truffled Honey

AND


Strawberries and Cream
Paired with: Domaine Allimant-Laugner Cremant D Alsace (Sparkling Wine)

I knew the night was off to a good start with this opener! Prosciutto? Strawberries and Cream? Bubbly??? Enough said!!!

First Course

Caesar Salad with Black Truffle Cacio de Bosco Crisp
Paired with : 2007 Chateau Guiraud Bordeaux Blanc Sec (Sauvignon Blanc)

The presentation on this dish was lovely. The onion ring around the salad, the gorgeous truffle crisp on top … and that crouton on the bottom! Everything about this was impressive, and the wine was my favorite of the evening.

Second Course

Potato Leek Soup with Fresh White Truffle (and Cauliflower puree!)
Paired with: 2007 Broglia Gavi

I wish I would have gotten a better picture of this soup! I have never enjoyed creamy soups before, but I ate every last bite of this dish – right along with everybody else! The texture was wonderful … it coated your mouth with a comforty-warm feeling, and that crisp white wine refreshed and reset your palette each time. Probably the most impressive pairing of the evening, this course got many compliments!

Third Course

Linguini with White Truffles and Chanterelles
Paired with: Domaine Pierre Guillemot Sabigny-Serpentieres

Again, this photo does not do this dish justice. This was Ed’s favorite of the evening. It had a hearty satisfying flavor without being overpowering or heavy. This was my favorite Red Wine of the night!

Fourth Course:

Braised Short-Rib over Black Truffled Mashed Potato with Brussel Sprouts.
Paired with: 2005 Chateau Belles-Graves Lalande-de-Pomerol

There is no way we cold possible tell you how savory and delicious this short rib was via internet. Literally, the meat shredded on contact. We could’ve had seconds … and thirds … but we respectfully restrained. Simply put, this was delicious! And, I love me some Brussel Sprouts! (This dish also has a fancy special kind of ginormous mushroom with it, but I cannot remember the name)

Desserts

Assorted Belgian chocolates and adorable Petit Fours from the Great Dane Baking Company! Paired with Vanilla Haagen-Daas Ice Cream with Truffled Honey on top! Decadence!

This night was one for the books, and we feel so lucky to know such great friends with such talents!

Our chef and wine expert:

The birthday girl with the chef:

We are extremely happy guests!

Happy Birthday, Brittany!!!

More pics here:

Winter Tasting Menu and Wine Pairing

Korean BBQ + Tacos = Kogi!

Tonight we finally made it to Kogi, which is a taco truck that travels around various neighborhoods in Los Angeles. The thing that makes Kogi special is that it is run by 2 young Korean chefs + 1 Hispanic chef, and the tacos are the most yummy fusion of Korean BBQ style meat, ginger and kimchi (!) and your standard taco fare!

The other thing that makes Kogi different from any other taco truck is that you have to do a little homework to track them down! Basically, they Twitter their location, and that’s how you find out where they are and/or where they’re going to be! This is a crappy picture, but here we are on the hunt:

We found them tonight in Venice Beach, on Abbott-Kinney at The Brig. What can we say, chasing them down this way adds that extra bit of satisfaction once you bite into your taco!

Ed had found out about Kogi first, and we have been dying to check ’em out. We were in L.A. tonight for the First Fridays event at the Natural History Museum – The Bird and The Bee played there tonight, and they are one of my most favorite bands as of late! They were awesome. Anyhow, the crew we were with were all game to chase Kogi down! We bought a ton of tacos, and sampled a little of each. We had the Korean Short Rib Taco, the Spicy Pork Taco and the Spicy BBQ Chicken Taco!

Who’s in for another chase?