Shrimp Fried Rice

My favorite quick dinner recipe- shrimp fried rice with crisp veggies.

First, let us stop and take a humble moment to thank our lucky celiac stars that  brown rice is gluten-free. Yes, it's true, we all mourn the loss of some fabulous decadent thing we can no longer sink our teeth into- the tender flaky chocolate croissant, the finger licking stickiness of a honey glazed Dunkin Donut, or the crusty, chewy simplicity of a freshly baked baguette, hand torn and shared with love and a gleaming plate of extra virgin olive oil. Heavy sigh.

But (and you just knew a but was coming, didn't you?) after the craving passes and you find yourself back on planet earth, hungry, tired, staring into the open cupboard with a familiar pang that cries out for real food, a bag of organic brown rice can make your night. There's nothing else quite like the satisfying earthy goodness of it.

So let us appreciate this humble, nutty grain (actually a grass) and stir up something quick and rice-tastic.

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Gluten Free in the City of Angels

Santa Monica in February

Random Notes::

I've been back in New Mexico for a week - a week that has skidded by at an alarming rate (it's true what they tell you about time accelerating as you advance in years, I'm sorry to say). Monday morphed into Friday with nary a blink. I've been playing correspondence catch-up, shoveling snow, doing heaps of laundry, and sifting through e-mails. I slid through Valentine's Day with a yawn and a shiver and a rain check in spite of good intentions and an armful of  red roses. Steve and I are both nursing a cold- the first we've caught in three years. Memories of those balmy afternoons sipping vanilla lattes in Santa Monica are fading fast.

Albuquerque was dark and well below freezing when we boarded the plane to LAX. Two and a half hours later we were strolling the Santa Monica farmer's market in the morning sun, inhaling the ocean air, our winter jackets abandoned, tossed in the back seat of the rental car. It was lovely if not surreal.

After scoping out the nearby Wild Oats, Whole Foods, and Third Street Promenade, we headed up to The Grove to drop in on our son, Colin, who was teaching a class at The Studio/Creative Bar at the Apple Store.

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