To preface: Go to your high school reunions, people - you’ll be glad you did. (I didn’t say this, this was told to me by Shawn, the valet at La Costa, and he was right!)

Here….

Driving back today, along La Costa Boulevard, along the lagoon which looks very much the same as it did forty years ago when I played in it, a Kelly Clarkson song came on the radio. I remembered on the way down to my high school reunion, Chicago had been playing on the radio… (If You Leave Me Now).

A) I call it my ‘high school reunion’ because it was exactly the way I would want mine to have been - I’ve never been to a “real one”. B) How fitting to be entering my past with a song from my past and returning to my present with a song from my present? I didn’t plan that… the radio stations took care of it.

I looked at the lagoon and remembered a million stories.

We called it the Slue back then… and in Webster’s, the definition of Slue talks about sediment, so that makes sense because in the summer there was very little lagoon, and a whole lot of … slue. For three summers a pair of flamingos had been spotted in the Slue, escaped from the San Diego Zoo presumably… My Dad was HELL BENT on catching them… we’d wade out in tiny boats, with tiny nets and try and catch them. The flamingos must have been hysterical watching us as they took off in flight…

So — I’m looking at the Lagoon, leaving La Costa Resort and Spa (and frankly, it’s neither), on my way home to Glendale… thinking about my hideous three months as a Room Service Waiter at La Costa and hoping I never served the ICE COLD slop I’d been served an hour before ($41.00)…  and I just bathed for awhile in the afterglow of the evening before.

I always dreamed that MY high school reunion would be only people I wanted to see and no one I didn’t.

I ditched the bulk of high school except for theater classes and I wanted to see all those people, not the vast majority of the rest of the student body of that bicentennial year. Guess what. I got exactly what I wanted!!! A beautiful theater on the campus of my old high school was being dedicated to “Clayton E. Liggett” and named after him. We were to attend a reception at five, followed by a production of Metamorphosis. Hence the trip down from L.A.

Thanks to Joe, and the school and a lot of other people I don’t know - it happened. I got the reunion I had dreamed of…. Kirsten, Laurie, Joe, Jay, Kurt, Bill, Mary, Jennifer and many, many more - there they were! It was literally “emotional overload”, and ALL GOOD. There was Marty, our beloved teacher Mr. Liggett’s wife, looking literally the same as she did decades ago (I’m not just saying that, it’s a little freaky)! There was Mark and Marcia and a mini-Mark - there was Merri D and Jen and Sylvia! Sylvia - looking like a MOVIE STAR…

There was Leslie. There was Craig!

And there was Sharon.

My Sharon (now married, so I’m sharing her). I was seventeen, she was what, 15? We were Willy and Linda Loman in Death of a Salesman. She was there, standing there in black gorgeousness… Sharon… she was my wife, she was my partner, she was my friend - and there she was. I’m telling you…. out of this world GOOD.

Earlier at the “resort”… ahem.

I was in the bar imbibing in a shot or two of Patron to settle my nerves, waiting for Kirsten. I emailed one of my absolute favorite people on the planet, Regina, “Kirsten is about to walk in - God, I wish you were here”. An hour or two later, she emailed back, “Give the “other” Sally a big hug for me”. They had both played Sally in the Irving Berlin Musical, Call Me Madam - both were fantastic - and I’m not just saying that.

Last night, we all talked about how terrifying Mr. Liggett was last night -  how strict and relentless and cold and maniacal and ruthless and scary he was - and how much we LOVED him. My father died when I was sophomore in High School. It was a bad time. It was a desolate, frightening, terrible time, and I needed something to focus on. I need a reason. Theater Arts was the reason, Mr. Liggett was the reason. A couple years ago, the Angel On Earth That I Know Personally that is Marty, his widow “friended” me on Facebook (I know, right? how F***ING fantastic is THAT!?). And I accepted and told her that story, told her I am who I am because of Mr. Liggett - she wrote me back that she remembered him coming home and mentioning a talented young boy whose father had just died… Guess what, folks… I never told Mr Liggett that. He found out. Not sure how.

But the fact that he found out and we never discussed it, the fact that he came home in 1974 and told his wife about this troubled young boy, the fact that Marty remembered this after all these years and told me…. Well, yes - I cried many, many hundreds of tears of joy, then and now - this man saved my life. (And one other, but that’s another tale).

But last night…. as we shared old stories, great, treasured memories, we began to realize… or rather, I began to realize. I was far from alone. Many, many of us were living lives in turmoil. Many of us had terrible home lives, broken marriages, abusive, disfunctional… - I wasn’t alone. We were a band of survivors, a band of warriors led by this brilliant, terrifying General, with a limp. He didn’t just save my life, he saved many lives, he changed many lives, he continues to, long after he sailed away. Isn’t this incredible?

I mean, it’s just beyond wonderful.

Regina - you were deeply missed. If you only knew how much you inspired people. Kurt STILL has a crush on you, and how could you blame him? Jenny Park… where are you? You were missed. Susan Lewis? KC Shore? Bob Humphrey, I know you’re far away, but you were missed… Paul Angeloni, come on… Australia isn’t too far! Kidding. Just know, all of you, you band of warriors of those years, in the Reign of Lord-General Liggett… if you weren’t there, we thought of you with love and depth of passion.

And if you were there… well, will we ever forget last night?

In closing…. I think of the great line, “But how was the play, Mrs. Lincoln?” And I will not review the play, it would be rude - and in fact, it had many wonderful moments. I will say, however, and I’m not alone… it was in sore need of Mr. Liggett.

NO, it’s not a space ship or an organism from another planet! But how great was it when we were kids, to watch these suckers take over the kitchen window?

Found him in the root vegetable basket and though, “let’s give it a shot!” Will keep you updated.

Here we are in 2012 and we’re all trying to cut costs, pay bills, bring down our credit card balances and for me, not lose one INCH of the style and richesse to which I’ve grown accustomed!

So I did the unthinkable last week…

I joined COSTCO!

As a challenge to myself. Like Ikea, here’s the competition, join in, if you like - “buy from Ikea but it can’t look like you got it at Ikea”. “Buy at Costco, but it can’t taste like Costco”.

Will I give up Whole Foods? NEVER! Will I buy local? Of course. Will I sneak into the Atwater Village Farm? You bet! But let’s see what we can do with “discount food”, eh?

Game #1 - Gravlax.

Herbed, cured salmon. I’ve made it many times, with wild caught salmon filets from Fish King or Whole Foods - I found two stunning wild caught filets at Costco, for 25 bucks - if you like smoked salmon, you’ll love this. Give yourself at least 2 days in advance - 10 minutes to prepare, the rest to “cure” the salmon.

We had a play reading and the director brought delicious oranges to nibble on during the evening. I chopped up the leftover orange slices instead of using citrus zest for my “brine”.

Then I cut the filets to fit into a large baking dish and got to work. I made a dry rub of 50% salt, 50% Turbinado Sugar, a few tablespoons of herbs de provence (didn’t have any dill on hand), and about 20 grinds of black pepper.

I laid one filet down in the baking dish, skin side down - spread 1/2 the dry rub onto the flesh and patted it in, lightly - then added the sliced, chopped oranges (probably 1 to 1 1/2 whole oranges) on top. I took the next filet, cut to fit, and patted in the rest of the rub.

Carefully, I laid that on top of the first filet with the rub and chopped oranges.

Wrap this entirely in plastic wrap, tightly. Weigh the fish down, with a smaller baking dish and a few cans of tuna, or whatever large canned thing you have in your pantry - and refrigerate for 24 hours.Remove from the Refrigerator, unwrap, carefully turn the fish over, and repeat - curing for another 24 hours, refrigerated.

Remove, put your canned goods away, knock off the oranges and herbs, etc. leaving a bit of the herb mixture on, if you like (I do).

Then slice away. (Use a serrated knife)

You can serve this delicious Citrus Herbed Gravlax as is, or slice and wrap up and refrigerate for at least week if it’s well-covered.

This morning we toasted some dark pumpernickel bread, smeared it with cream cheese, then the salmon, capers, shaved shallots and a good squeeze of Meyer Lemon from the garden.

I can also use this in one of my signature breakfasts…

Gravlax with poached eggs and Sorrel Sauce (recipe on the site).

SCORE: Paul - 1, Paul’s Debt - 0

(I priced this out. For six dollars, two of us gorged on delicious Gravlax that, at Whole Foods or a fine market would have cost at least twenty dollars!)

Next up - I saved the salmon skin, after slicing off all the meat - I’m going to roast this in the oven, for a crispy salmon skin hand roll!

To me, lettuce is the worst part of a salad. And the best lettuces don’t really keep all that well in the refrigerator… baby lettuces, field greens, etc. I don’t mind a nice wedge of Iceberg once in a while, slathered in Roquefort… Meantime, we need our Vegetables, especially raw.

So here’s my latest solution:

MEDITERRANEAN SALAD

2 large bunches Parsley, finely chopped

4 small or 2 large hothouse cucumbers, rough chopped

1 pint cherry or grape tomatoes

1 bun scallions, chopped

1-2 cans (depending on your taste) drained, rinsed Garbanzo beans

4-6 oz good French Feta cheese

1/4 cup toasted Pine Nuts

Lemon Vinaigrette (2/3 parts olive oil, to 1/3 part fresh lemon juice, salt and pepper to taste)

Mix everything but the Feta and Pine nuts together, toss with the vinaigrette - adjust the seasoning, may need more lemon juice, more salt and pepper, etc. Top with the feta and nuts and serve! (If you want more protein, add some roast chicken!)

Yes, fine, I’m trying to be healthier too this year… Don’t look for lo cal now,  but I have made a commitment on portion control, smaller evening meals, more fruits and vegetables, less red meat and less alcohol. That’s about as far as I can go… Oh, and more exercise - what a joy.

Anyway, I was watching Chuck’s Day Off over the holidays and he made a nice tomato soup, I decided to try it with canned crushed tomatoes, worked LIKE A DREAM:

Tomato Soup.

1 large onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic,

a few springs of thyme

pinch or 3 of Herbs de Provence

2 tbsp olive oil

2 large cans crushed tomatoes

1/2 cup heavy cream.

Sauté the onions and garlic, thyme and Herbs de Provence in the olive oil in a large heavy-bottomed pot, till tender. Add the tomatoes. Rinse out the cans with about 1 cup of water, and add that. Simmer on the stove for about 20-30 minutes under medium low heat.

Strain (or blend if you have a good blender), return to a cleaned pot, add the cream, bring back up to heat - season with salt and pepper - done.

FANTASTIC TOMATO SOUP. Healthy? Well, compared to what I’ve been eating lately, it’s downright DIETETIC!

Picked a peck of pickled peppers

A peck of Pickled Peppers Peter Piper Picked

If Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers

Where’s the peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked?

PICKLED PEPPERS

3 large red bell peppers, cleaned, seeded and sliced

2-3 sliced Red Serrano Chilies

1 cup sugar

1 cup white vinegar

1 tbsp kosher salt

4-5 whole cloves

1 stick cinnamon

1 bay leaf

Put the sliced peppers and chilies in a tupperware container. Warm the rest of the ingredients in the microwave or on the stove till hot. Pour the peppers, refrigerate for at least 3 days and up to a week. Keeps in the fridge for weeks.

Serve over a brick of cream cheese with Carr’s Wheat Biscuits at room temperature.

A Special shout out to the brilliant Cate Donovan.

I had these at her incredible Christmas parties in Manhattan for YEARS - I have no idea if this is her recipe, but it’s close - and I still love this, and still love Cate - and STILL love the memories of those extravagant, gorgeous, wondrous parties at “Pooter Keeper Village”!

Beaujolais!

P.S. - Finally heard back from my friend Cate - here is her ORIGINAL recipe… which I’ll be trying soon!

Red Pepper Jam

2 dozen red peppers
3 cups of sugar
2 tablespoons salt
2 cups cider vinegar

Cut, clean and Slice peppers into thin strips
Place in colander, sprinkle with salt
let stand in colander for 3-4 hrs.
drain and wash off peppers

In a large stock pot bring vinegar and peppers to a soft boil, add sugar
continuously stir until sugar turns into syrup and comes to a soft boil again.
Sometimes there can be foam on top of of the peppers, skim that off. You don’t want the foam in the jars, it will cloud the syrup in the jar.

Place peppers in clean sterilized jars cover peppers with syrup.  Can last in refrigerator up to 6 months.  Serve drained peppers over cream, goat or any soft mild cheese.

I’ve read a lot of the reviews on this restaurant on Yelp and they seem to be so polarizing. So, with some trepidation and in spite of the hotbed of opinions, I feel I must add my own two cents worth (or in this case $1,000.00 or more). WP 24 is on the 24th floor of the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in downtown Los Angeles, and is a Wolfgang Puck establishment - hence W.P. 24 - for those of you that don’t know.

We went to WP24 almost a year ago, and loved it. The atmosphere couldn’t be any more magnificent. The lounge is massive and welcoming, amazing lighting, great booth things I suspect were fashioned after Asian Bamboo Fishing cages, they’re truly amazing. Cocktails are great, a tiny bit sweet for my liking, but really inventive and thoughtful. Anyway, we loved it and I called for a table last week.

i was put of a “wait list”, which didn’t sit well with me but I loved the place SO MUCH, I knew we’d be fine in the lounge for this particular evening (clients, friends, etc) so if we couldn’t get into the dining room, no problem - plus I was picking up the tab (work expense), so it’d save me some $$.

We arrived and Bre Smith, the crack Hostess behind the computer/front desk looked up my name and said, indeed, there was table available for 6 - phew. My guests were running late, she said she’d have them meet me in the lounge, which they did. A bit later she came over, offered me her card, as she realized I’d been there before in February. She was thrilled I had returned and asked me to contact her directly if I needed any help in the future. Nice Touch #1.

A STUNNING black supermodel arrived shortly thereafter, totally gorgeous and lovely young woman who escorted us to our table - Nice Touch #2. And it was a FLAWLESS table in the center of the room. Nice Touch #3 (Yeah,  I was scoring major points for the clients). Then the Waiter came over, and said he remembered me, from when we were there before. Nice Touch #4. Did he just look up my name or credit card on the computer? Perhaps - who cares? He was extremely warm, fun, funny, and knew that menu like the back of his hand. He also had control, confidence and an ease as if this was his restaurant - all in a good way, really unpretentious - which is a slippery slope. I instantly trusted he would take care of all of us and he did. When my guest had to send back her Kobe Beef because it was slightly overdone, it was gone and replaced in a moment, then he had the intelligence to even chide (aka flirt) with her, so she wouldn’t feel bad for having done that. Nice Touch #5.

We all agreed on the Pre Fixe 3 course meal, but also allowed the Waiter (I’m going to call him Jean-Marc, I rudely forgot to ask his name) to choose all the starters for the table. We just ordered the main. He then brought some WONDERFUL sides and I also ordered the Peking Duck for the table, and the wine - two very well-priced bottles of Malbec.

ALL THE FOOD WAS AND IS SPECTACULAR.

The Shrimp Toast Amuse, delicious, the crab and lobster dumplings stand out, our mains were outstanding, but the duck I dream of, this wonderful, luscious duck, carved at a station, after being presented - and served on platters with bamboo steamers of fresh bao buns instead of the usual pancakes… this duck, will be my last meal!!! OH, and the portions are VERY generous on everything - and you get the sense if you wanted any more, Jean-Marc would see to it.

The desserts we left to Jean-Marc as well - all wonderful.

So look… calm down, now… it was close to 200 dollars per person, but here’s what I find… ANY decent meal in a great restaurant is at least 100 to 125 dollars, if you’re having cocktails and wine (and if you tip with a mildly heavy hand as I do). So, for another 40 or 50 bucks, to me - on occasion - it is SO WORTH IT.

Here’s another thing - many disgruntled people who wrote reviews of WP24 on Yelp fail to factor in the atmosphere at all, with regard to the cost of the meal - “yeah it was pretty, but it was overpriced and who pays that for Chinese food?” I find this mindset ridiculous. Do they think the rent there is free? Do they think the designer and the design was gratis? Personally, I WANT a stunning restaurant with views, they’re hard to find - I appreciate that and I’m willing to pay for it - once in a while.  For me, the tab is for ALL of it, not just what’s on your plate! It’s for the service, the room, the seats, Bre and Jean-Marc and the supermodel, the upholstery, the wine, and the wine list, the food of course, but ALL OF IT. There was a time when I worked with a brilliant Chef’s Agent in London - who taught me about fine dining - she knew what she was doing and she taught me well. (Love that, Borra!) She absolutely accounted for everything, from the sidewalk to the ride home.

If you don’t go to WP24 (if ONLY for cocktails and the bar menu), you’re really missing out on one of the best restaurants and dining experiences in Los Angeles. The dining room is hauntingly beautiful and tucked away from view - intentionally, I suspect  - so it would be difficult for me personally to miss a dinner there - but I WILL BE GOING BACK to WP24 - the duck alone beckons me - And that gorgeous and brilliant staff, especially Jean-Marc.

Thank you, WP24!!!

One of my best friends, Helen O’Brien, left a message wanting my butter or sugar cookie recipe so I emailed her the following (thought it might come of service to others):

Helen,

Here’s the “sugar” cookie I use for ALL my cookies almost, as a base, then you change it as you need - so you can make cookie cutter cookies, plain sugar cookies, Russian Tea Cakes/Mexican Wedding cakes (by adding ground walnuts, rolling into balls, baking, then rolling in powdered sugar), etc. etc. etc. I made these this week, as the base for those Fruitcake cookies (just add that minced candied fruit you find at the store, along with chopped nuts and some raisins, dried cranberries and any other dried fruit you like, along with a few tablespoons of bourbon, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, cloves and allspice).

Does this make sense? If not, call me in the AM, and we can talk. Here’s the recipe:

BASIC BUTTER COOKIE DOUGH

Dough
3/4 lb (3 sticks) butter, softened
2 1/4 cup sugar
3 large eggs
1 tbsp vanilla
24 oz flour
1 1/4 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt

Sift the dry ingredients together.

Cream together butter and sugar, add eggs one at a time, then the vanilla. Add the dry ingredients in thirds, combining each time. When the dough is fully blended, turn the dough out and shape into a large disc. Cover with plastic wrap and chill till firm.

Roll out to 1/8 inch thickness, cut out shapes, bake at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes. If you like, decorate and ice with Royal Icing.

Royal Icing

1 lb (1 box) Powdered Sugar
3 egg whites
1/2 tsp fresh lemon juice

Mix all ingredients together to a very thick but slightly runny consistency. Put into piping bags and ice the cookies.

Why is Kauai SO FAR AWAY???

THE MARTINI ROMA

Have you ever made something called “Tomato Water”?

Simple, just puree half a dozen Roma tomatoes in a good blender with 1 cup of water - pour into a sieve with two layers of Cheesecloth and let drip through.

(Takes a couple hours, and don’t get impatient and squeeze it).

Then mix 3 to 1 Vodka to Tomato Water - and then I added a touch of Smoked Soy Sauce - found on the Dean and Deluca Website.

Shake in a cocktail shaker, spritz the chilled cocktail glass with dry vermouth, and pour.

Garnish with a pickled onion and a slice of ripe tomato.

(By the way, this tomato water is delicious served as an Agua Fresca over cracked ice for anyone requesting a Virgin Cocktail… though personally I can think of no one who would…)