Breakfast Egg Salad

Always on the search for new ways to satisfy my palate and keep my creations healthy and colorful (sans the usual potatoes and bacon or ham), this morning I threw some ingredients together and came up with what I promptly coined the Breakfast Egg Salad. It was delicious and satisfying.


3 or 4 well washed and dried outer green Butter (Boston) Lettuce leaves
3 or 4 very thin slices of ripe Heirloom tomato
1/2 to 1 ripe and thinly sliced avocado (depending on the size)
2 reduced fat, organic (free range) vegetarian fed eggs (Eggland's Best is a great brand)


Lay the whole lettuce leaves on the plate and layer with tomato slices and avocado.

Fry eggs over easy or over medium (depending on your preference) in a stainless steel pan coated withVirgin Olive Oil non stick spray and lay on top of the other ingredients.

Salt to taste and serve with your favorite toast.


I served mine with La Brea Bakery Sunflower Seed and Honey Artisan toast and butter with fig spread, fresh O.J. (with pulp) and a pot of Jasmine Green Tea.


Optional Ingredient to add to Salad: Sauteed asparagus.

Blame it On Rio

As a lover of all things Brazilian and hoping it would light a fire under my muse (I am attempting to adapt a novel which takes place mostly in Rio to a screenplay), it was with relish I looked forward to attending Blame it On Rio at the Hollywood Bowl last night. So far this season I've enjoyed Ultimate Mancini featuring the wonderful magic of Henry Mancini's music, the fabulous stylings of Diana Krall, the master composer/conductor John Williams conducting the Music of the Movies, the musical Guys and Dolls featuring Jessica Beihl, Scott Bakula, Beau Bridges and Brian Stokes Mitchell, and the always entertaining and ethusiastic Liza Minelli in Concert. Each show has had it's own enjoyable charm and, coupled with balmy nights and dining under the stars that only the Hollywood Bowl can offer, they have been a treat.

It was with this same enthusiasm I waited for the Rio spectacular to begin. I was to be disappointed, not at the quality of each star's performances, but at the lack of any real collaboration between Babel Gilberto and Seu Jorge and the Hollywood Bowl Orchastra under the able direction of Thomas Wilkins and, what seemed to me a lack of artistic direction which would have put the gaily costumed dancers, who came out towards the end, to better use. As it was the dancers came across as an afterthought or just so much window dressing . While the raw materials for a terrific show were there, the production was sorely in need of a craftsmen to weave all the disparate parts into a cohesive pattern and offer the real exotic tribute to the magical city I was expecting.

"Close your eyes, for that's a lovely way to be.....aware of things your heart alone was meant to see ." So goes the line from one of Antonio Carlos Jobim's most famous songs and that is the way I feel about experiencing Brazilian music. Well too much of the audience for this show was more interested in shiny gadgets that explode with light rather then seeing (or listening) with their hearts and their interest in the show which, unfortunately, failed to feature at least one song in English, was minimal. Perhaps subtitles on the screens or some videos of Carnival in Rio would have helped to bring them along....but even with the beautiful melodies and intonations of Gilberto's phrasing or Jorge's more upbeat melodies....there was a failure of communication between the audience and the performers and the response needed to reve up and spark the performers was tepid and unenthusiastic. It was a Catch 22 all around.

It's a good thing I was feeling mellow from the wine by this time, but couldn't help reflecting on the fact that too many people only listen with their peripheral mind, too busy and always looking for the next thing they are going to do (much like the woman in the box next to ours constantly checking her e-mail during the show) instead of focusing on and enjoying what is happening in the now. The lack of ability to be somewhere with all of one's senses is unthinkable to me. If one is going to pay good money and devote one's precious time...at least make an attempt to keep one foot in the room, even if that room is the venerable Hollywood Bowl!

I think I'll put Jobim in the player and "fly down to Rio" if only to satisfy my thirst and try to summon the muse again. Blame it on Rio couldn't quite do it.

Healthcare Debate: The Cost of Doing Nothing

Politics. It seems like a dirty word these days, but like the cockeyed optimist that I am, I keep looking for the silver lining in all the storm clouds on the horizon. As a way to inaugurate this blog, I have to add a link to one man's reasonable musings I found on the business page of the Los Angeles Times that pretty much crystalizes my own feelings about the whole debate.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/healthcare/la-fi-hiltzik7-2009sep07,0,2543387.column

He may not have all the answers, but we need the ideas out there and not just more organized fear mongering and obfuscation from the far right and criticism of not taking it far enough from the far left. Let's get practical people towards the center of each party back in the debate and get something done. The time is now. If we keep passing the buck and letting fear rule the day we shall find ourselves in a hole too deep and less rational and more greedy minds will prevail and give us what we deserve for our inaction and our refusal to work together. That is the cost of doing nothing.