Los Angeles ...

Day 3 and 4- Monday 4th and Tuesday 5th August

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Hollywood Bowl

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That famous sign - hard to get a good pic of it!

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Starting the Universal Studios Tour

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Chateau Marmont - Linsday Lohan's favourite haunt!

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On an outdoor movie lot - building in background is the Town Hall in Back to The Future.  It is just a facade made to look like a whole building.  When you look through the front door, it is only about 10 feet deep.

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LA traffic

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Santa Monica Boulevard

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La Brea Tar Pits - tar oozes up from beneath the earth.  We could see bubbles rising to the surface and a black scum all around the pond.

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Rodeo Drive!

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I've been everywhere, man!

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I think we tired them out!

Saying goodbye ...

On Saturday, July 27th, a week before we started our US trip, my niece Jane, sadly passed away.  She was in the Intensive Critical Care Unit for a month before she passed and received such wonderful care and attention  from the doctors and nurses at Flinders Medical Centre but they just couldn't fix that little bird.   One nurse stayed hours after her shift to be with Jane until the end.  Suffering from severe Cerebral Palsy, Jane's mum and Dad have cared for her at home for nearly 34 years, choosing not to put her in a home or institution.  She also had many wonderful, dedicated day carers over the years who loved and looked after her too.  Doctors were amazed that Jane had never needed intensive care ever before this time. All due her parents wonderful care.

We had to leave a few days before her funeral and I hated not being there for my sister and brother-in-law.  They gave her a beautiful send off, in a pink coffin with beautiful flowers, releasing pink balloons into the air.

This verse was on Jane's memorial card ...  

HEAVEN'S VERY SPECIAL CHILD

A meeting was held quite far from Earth.

"It is time again for another birth."

said the Angels to the Lord above --

 "This special child will need much love."

"Her progress may be very slow,

Accomplishment she may not show.

And she'll require extra care

from the folks she meets down there."

"She may not run or laugh or play,

"Her thoughts may seem quite far away.

In many ways she won't adapt

and she'll be known as handicapped."

"So, let's be careful where she's sent.

we want her life to be content.

Please, Lord, find the parents who

will do a special job for you."

"They will not realize right away

the leading role they are asked to play.

But with this child sent from above

comes stronger faith, and richer love."

"And soon they'll know the privilege given

in caring for their gift from heaven.

Their precious charge, so meek and mild

is Heaven's very special child."

Our hearts are broken for Fred & Snow who have lost their only child.

xxx

Los Angeles

Day 1 - Sunday 4th Aug, 2013 Lunch at Geoffrey's Malibu

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Travelling in style...

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Completely forgot to take pictures of our lunch, so not like me! We are very tired so have spent the rest of the day chillin'...

This was the first thing we had to eat at Hugo's - it looks so much fattier than it was. The burger was grilled to perfection and the pico di gallo really good too. I only ate about half 'cos it was so big. US$12.95

Brekky this morning at Kitchen 24 which is just next door to our hotel. Once again, I couldn't eat it all. Two poached eggs, bacon and a really yummy homemade hash brown , pancakes to finish off. US$8.95 Tomorrow morning it's coffee and raisin toast! Note the vegemite? We are off to look at Movie Stars homes and tour Hollywood!

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Cheers - Joolzxx

Posted with Blogsy by Joolz

We are off! ...

... on the adventure of a lifetime! See you when we hit LA!

Cheers - Joolz xx

 

Posted with Blogsy by Joolz

SJ Foodfiles ...

This is just some of the food being cooked and eaten in Cafe la Joolz otherwise known as 'our house'. 

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 Bread rolls - this has become a weekly ritual at some time or another, making sure there are always some in the freezer.

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 Gus made this chicken dish and cannot for the life of me think what its called or where the recipe is ... I think it might be an Ainsley Harriot dish.

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Added:  No, it was a Women's Weekly recipe from their book Roast.  The recipe is here.
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... will hunt it down as it was yummy and a good one pot dish...

 A batch of cherry shortbreads as Brianna was home...

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 A date loaf, just because its yummy to have with a cuppa...

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This is the first time we have cooked Pork Belly.   Gus can take all the credit for this...

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 It was slow cooked for a couple of hours then put under the griller to crisp up the crackle...

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It was lovely and tender but the crackling is so naughty!

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 We had a friend coming to stay (for Angus' 50th) who is a coeliac.  I wondered what she might be able to eat.  Friday night we had 10 for dinner so I just bought hot chickens from the supermarket and broke them up into a big baking dish and kept them hot.  I carefully removed some breast meat with out skin (which has the seasoning on it) so Pauline could have that.  I made a potato salad using Kraft Potato Salad dressing which is gluten free.  I made a coleslaw using homemade boiled salad dressing which used White Wings Cornflour which is gluten free (Nurses brand is not).  We also had a lovely big tossed salad full of veggies so she could have that too.  Really no bother.  For dessert I made a big fruit salad using a can of fruit salad and added apple, orange, banana and passionfruit and had that with icecream.  After the party on Saturday night, a few people landed back at our place so we ordered pizzas.  I knew Pauline couldn't have pizza (our pizzeria is not gluten free) so I had made some mini quiches a few nights previous and froze them.  I used gluten free plain flour for the pastry and made sure other ingredients like my margarine, sour cream and stock powder were all GF too.  The filling was just egg, bacon, zucchini, fresh sweetcorn off the cob, parsley, sour cream and tomato.  She said they were delicious! I also bought GF bread for her to have for breakfast and she enjoyed having grilled cheese under the griller.  She bought her own cereal to have for breakfast also.  Before they left on Sunday, we had barbecue chops and gluten free sausages with the left over salads.

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 A very lazy smoko for the staff - packet carrot cake cupcakes for Angus' birthday.  The birthday person has to supply smoko for all.

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 This is another recipe I have seen on facebook.  Vegetable Tian - recipe here 
Saute an onion with garlic and line the baking dish...

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 Layer the vegetables - squash, potato, zucchini and tomato in the dish...

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 Sprinkle with mixed dry herbs...

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Sprinkle with grated cheese (mine was low fat so it didn't melt and bubble very nicely) ...

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 I served it with a chicken and mushroom parcel from Lenards.

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I never seem to have ginger on hand when I need it so I bought a big knob of it and portioned it up and bagged it and froze it.  Now when I need a bit, I can just get it out, peel it and grate it as usual.

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 I was given a big bag of lemons, fresh off the tree so I got to and used a few up straight away.  We had fish Saturday night for dinner so I made a lemon butter sauce and I also used one in my gin & tonic!   ;)

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 I love curried egg so while I had some of my homemade salad dressing on hand, I boiled up 2 eggs, added curry, salt and pepper and a bit of dressing...

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 This would be lovely in a sandwich but I just spread it on my toast for breakfast.  I have a cast iron stomach!

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 I made a batch of School Cookies, I have posted a recipe here on Simply Joolz.

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 These are yummy with fruit in them or you could sneak some choc chips in too.

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 Muffin pizzas - I couldn't find any pitta breads at the supermarket so English muffins had to do...

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 Very yummy on a Saturday night....

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 To get rid of a few more lemons, I made Julie Goodwin's Lemon Lime Tart - a video of Julie making the pie is here. and the recipe on her site is here.

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The pastry is really short so I roll mine out between baking paper then flip it into the pie dish.  If it cracks, just mend it with bits of pastry until it looks alright.

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 I blind baked the shell for 10 minutes...

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 Then filled it and baked for about 30 minutes until just firm.

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 Absolutely delicious, very tangy!

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 More bread rolls, this time bigger ones (8 instead of 12)...

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Last night I made a batch of vegetable soup - roughly chop pumpkin, carrot, onion, celery, potato, zucchini and I had a handful of sad looking cherry tomatoes so they went in too.  Add some chicken stock powder or liquid and some water to nearly cover the veggies and simmer away for 30-40 minutes until all tender.  Season with salt and pepper to your taste.   I blitz mine with a Bamix stab blender to make a smooth soup.  Serve with a dollop of sour cream and one of those bread rolls!

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That has me all up to date.  Not much happening here other than lots of office work, filing stuff away after the End of Financial Year...yuck!

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Enjoy your hump day!

Cheers - Joolz xx