Mar Vista Farmer’s Market Wrap-Up 11/15/09

Today’s shopper is Jeanne Kuntz, of TeachingWellness.com, and she’s going to make a Salad Fry. Jeanne Kuntz of TeachingWellness.comIt’s a great way to combine a warm dish with a salad feel, and it’s completely customizable with whatever foods you like and can find in season, or whatever leftovers you have lying around. Here we go! red leaf lettuceShe starts with a bed of lettuce — in this case, red leaf — and chops up the veggies that won’t be cooked, like radishes, radishescucumbers, cucumbersand green onions. green onionsThen she takes some of the red chard red chardand does a little “salt & sugar massage” on it, to kind of tenderize it and get the flavors going. (Essentially, she chops up some of the leaves and rubs them with a little salt and sugar, then adds them to the bed of lettuce.) Then she slices some onions yellow onionsand sautes them slowly in a cast iron skillet, letting them get really cooked down. Then she adds balsamic vinegar and lets it reduce. Then she adds the beets, beetsafter they’ve been sliced thin (think julienne), then the peppers,pepperssugar snap peas sugar snap peasand carrots, carrotsall chopped. When the vegetables are mostly cooked, she adds more olive oil to the pan, as much as you would add if you were making dressing for the salad, then some chopped walnuts, walnuts from Avila farmsand then she turns off the heat and adds crumbled up feta cheese, feta cheeseso it just starts to melt a tiny bit. The whole mixture goes over the bed of lettuce and is tossed. And you’re done: Salad Fry! I’m hungry just thinking about it.

Arthur Renaud of the ReUse PeopleToday in the Green Booth, Arthur Renaud of The ReUse People, was their guest, explaining about this organization dedicated to harvesting reusable building materials from demolition sites and making them available through their retail stores. It’s a very cool idea and I urge you to check them out the next time you’re remodeling.

Autumn Lady peachesLast chance for peaches! (Who says we don’t have seasons in California?) Winter approaches and this summer fruit won’t be around long; get ‘em while they’re ripe! satsuma mandarinsAnd as one season ends, another begins: it’s Satsuma time. Get your vitamin C in this cute little package.

Charlie Beck Holds Town Hall Meeting In Mar Vista

LAPD Chief-designate Charlie Beck came to Mar Vista last night. The Mayor has been taking him all over town to drum up support and to let us all meet the new Chief-to-be. Charlie BeckI don’t know the man, and my first impression was that he was no Bill Bratton, but as I listened to him take questions and answer them all very seriously, I was glad he wasn’t all flash and media savvy. I think we can do without that kind of rock star persona in the Chief’s job for a while. I wish him good luck, should he be confirmed by the City Council (which is all but assured), for one of the world’s most difficult jobs. Mayor VillaraigosaSpeaking of rock star personas, our Mayor sure is one, I just have to say. He’s all about the polish, from his very-well-tailored suits, to the way he made the best of an amateur sound system in the Mar Vista park basketball gym. He knows how to work a room.

 

Photos courtesy of my iPhone, which is my they’re a bit grainy.

Mar Vista, It’s LAUSD Choices Time!

LAUSD parents, the Choices brochures were mailed out over the weekend, and you know what that means, right? choices brochureTime to fill ‘em out! They’re due back to LAUSD headquarters extra early this year: on Friday, December 18th, which is the last day of school before Winter vacation, and which is not that far off, so don’t get caught without having mailed it in. Do it today!!

What Choices are we talking about? Magnet schools. These are the specialized schools (sometimes schools-within-schools) that exist within the bounds of the giant LAUSD. Originally established in the late 1970′s by a court order, but now dubbed “Court-Ordered Voluntary” on the website (I couldn’t make that kind of thing up), the program was designed to level the playing field and offer specialized academic interests to those students who may not otherwise have had access to such educational opportunities. While it’s debatable whether the program is still fulfilling its mandate, that debate can take place elsewhere. This is just about the details.

Now for those of us who need more information on the choices we actually have, our old option of the District-wide Choices Faire has been lost in the budget cuts. So here’s how to get more info:

• The LAUSD Choices website has lots of information, including a list of the new magnets opening for the 2010-11 school year — check it out. Or you can call them at (877) 462-4798.

• The LAUSD TV channel, KLCS, will be airing information on the many magnet school options. The show is called “Choices/Opciones” and it will air 12 times between now and December 18th. Showtimes are listed below. showtimes for Choices on KLCS• Our Local District 3 Magnet choices will be presented at a Mini-Faire on Saturday, November 21st at Cochran Middle school, beginning at 9am.

Ask a Magnet Yenta, a great blog that has tons of helpful information on the process and the real skinny on what it all means.

The GoMamaGuide Blog lists dates for seminars led by Tanya Anton on how to navigate the world of LA Public schools, including all the magnet choices.

Good luck and don’t forget the December 18th deadline!

Mar Vista Farmer’s Market Wrap-Up 11/8/09

Today’s shopper is Kami Turrou, Kami Turroua Mar Vista mom whose kids go to Richland Ave. Elementary. She’s on the board of their booster club, RichlandBooster.com, and you can make a donation anytime on their site.

Kami’s going to make a carrot/yogurt salad. She starts by grating these multi-colored carrots multi-colored carrotsand adding these honey crisp apples all chopped up. honey crisp applesToss in a handful of raisins, raisinsthen mix with lowfat vanilla yogurt and a bit of honey to taste Harry's Honeyuntil it sort of resembles cole slaw. Delish!! And here’s a picture of it ready-to-eat: carrot slawThanks, Kami!

Today at the Green Booth, Sarah Pugh (and her daughter Hannah) Sarah Pugh of Outside Landscape Designof  Outside Landscape Design were on hand to show examples of drought tolerant, California native and sustainable plants. plantsNew at the Market today: pomegranates and persimmons are in season. pomegranates and persimmonsAnd for the kids: The Real Princesses were painting faces the Real Princessesand at the ReDiscover booth kids could make these cool fuzzy felt balls.ReDiscover booth

Weekend Plans

It’s a busy weekend, people, so I’m posting this early so we can all gear up!

Friday is First Fridays on Abbot Kinney (which is in Venice, but so close you can get there in a minute) and it’s a fun time, with stores, restaurants and galleries staying open late, and now it’s going to be Green as well as Fun, thanks to the Venice Neighborhood Council’s Environmental Committee’s new “Bin Your Butts” campaign to keep cigarette butts off the street and out of the ocean. VNC Bin your ButtsFriday and Saturday, see Cheryl Tryckv’s Capiche? at the Fanatic Salon, showtimes at 8pm. capiche flyerSaturday attend “It’s Easy Being Green” at Ocean Views Farms Community Gardens, a free workshop about greening your gardening practices. 9:30am. Apparently it’s all about the worms. ItsEasyBeingGreenSaturday come shop for bargains at a giant garage sale, proceeds benefitting a brave soul fighting breast cancer. 4346 Stewart Ave, 90066. 8am -on.

Sunday, another Abbot Kinney event: the Fall Fashion Jamboree, from 1-4pm. Kids’ fashions from Twirls and Twigs, introducing their new boys’ line of toddler clothes, live music from Jambo, fun for the whole family. At The Pod Photography, 1219 1/2 Abbot Kinney.invite--jamboree

Have a great weekend, Mar Vista!

Mar Vista Wants Clean Energy!

The Mar Vista Community Council’s Green Committee has unanimously approved a motion to make Mar Vista the first clean electricity neighborhood in Los Angeles, with a goal of 100% clean electricity by 2018. The motion must be approved by the Community Council Board on November 10, and your support is needed! Please sign this petition, which will be presented to the board. It will only take a minute, I promise!

And check out Open Mar Vista’s GoSolar initiative to find out how you can go solar on your roof!