Scratch Cooking October 22

Today I got a little slice of LA life I don't ordinarily see. I road the bus from Santa Monica to downtown and back. Actually I rode my bike to the bus which took me from Santa Monica to downtown. I had a meeting, I have no car, I didn't want to cancel. The iphone map let's you map out a public transportation route which is pretty cool!

The people watching was fascinating. The people on the bus were of every race, ethnicity, age and style. There was a woman that made it her business to make sure that every elderly, disabled or woman with baby got a seat. She refused to let the bus driver leave the stop until her self-selected charges were safely seated. It was very sweet, actually. Then there was a guy, probably in his late 20's or early 30's that struck up a conversation with 2 people that spoke very little English. They were European and had just arrived in LA. With very little feedback, he kept that conversation going for at least 45 minutes.

On the way back, I seemed to keep over hearing people asking about when their stop was coming up and getting wrong information. So like a mother hen, I had to make sure they knew when to pull for the stop and where to disembark. This included a big group of rather large tattooed young men who were actually quite sweet and a girl that started asking if we were at Wilshire and Barrington yet about 30 minutes before we even got close. When we finally arrived at Wilshire and Barrington, she looked to me for approval and I gave her the nod to go ahead and venture forth.  

Speaking of disembarking and young men, when we got back to Santa Monica, I got off the bus at the same time as a young guy, probably in his early 20's. He was dressed like he was going to work in a restaurant. He was walking next to me as I walked toward my bike and right as I got there he turned to me and said the words every single, 43 year old woman longs to hear "by the way, you're still sexy for a woman of your age."

GROANNNNNNNNNN!

I have already been told by a number of friends that I should take it as a compliment, but seriously, being told your sexy as a pick up line is already lacking in panache. Being told your sexy with caveats? Ugggghhhh. And that line "woman of your age". As if I was toddling across the street on a damn walker not unlocking my bike!

I must confess, there is a very snobby part of me that wanted to make a snarky comment about him being a busboy riding the bus, but I stopped myself. Because guess what, I was riding the bus myself and you never want to throw out an insult that implicates yourself. Plus, I have nothing against busboys or bus riders, just snotty ass kids that give women semi-insulting compliments.

I came home to a sick kid walking through the door. I asked what was wrong and she oinked and said she was growing a tail. It seems more like a cold than swine flu, but I'll let her enjoy the drama of it for a day.

It was a soup for dinner kind of night. I sauteed a sliced leek in a few tablespoons of olive oil for about 10 minutes. Then I threw in 2 large sweet potatoes cut into chunks (you can peel them, but I leave the skin on), salt, pepper, a sprig of rosmary (leaves taken off the branch) and about 6 or 7 cups of water. I cooked it until the potatoes were soft and then ran it through the food processor. 

My daughter said it tasted like Thanksgiving. That's because I always make sweet potatoes sliced and roasted in olive oil with garlic and rosemary. It's one of her favorite things and I wanted to replicate it in a soup for her.

I also confess to you right here and now that I did break down and buy her some cough drops because A) even though I know they are candy, they make her feel better and B) I knew there was no way I could make them for her in a time frame and form that would make her happy. So I hope you will forgive me. The ones I bought were made of organic honey if that counts for anything!