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the kitchen
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soupapalooza!

the stories
the kitchen
the market
the proof (party pics!)
the food porn
the recipes
the about
the drop me a line part
the resources
the full list
jewelry alchemy
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BLT salad: presented in all its delicious glory without a side of ennui

The BLT is one of my favorite comfort foods. In the late summer, when tomatoes are at their ripest, most delicious selves, I almost always come home from the farmer's market with a loaf of french bread, heirloom tomatoes and greens (there is always bacon in my refrigerator, always always always), and they quickly become the almost-instant-gratification expression of delight-- a juicy, delicious and meaty sandwich. And as much as I love tomatoes any way I can get them (minus from other people's refrigerators, naturally, because that makes them all mealy), I have a particular fascination with mayonnaise, too. So between the french stuff, the artisanal hipster stuff from Brooklyn with the chile tinge and the perfect workhorse, Hellman's (or Best Foods if you're west of the Rockies), there are many delicious versions to always keep me interested and to highlight the perfect sandwich. 

When I was planning the breakfast-palooza! menu, I had a hard time figuring out how to work in a proper green salad with the circus of carbohydrates I was offering up. It occurred to me that even though it wasn't summer ​and tomatoes aren't really in season, except, of course, here in Southern California where most produce is pretty much in season all the time, and BLTs aren't really a breakfast food at all, they still pop up on brunch menus sometimes and they would probably taste great next to all the other stuff I was planning to force into the arteries of my guests. 

And I was right. This salad is quick, delicious, and Rachel Zoe is somewhere in a corner, furiously shoving it into her mouth whispering, "I die" to anyone within earshot. I would make it as an entire meal for two and eat the whole thing myself.

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PostedFebruary 26, 2013
Authormelissa mcclure
Categoriespositively piggy, salad, breakfast
Tagsbacon is best, piggy piggy piggy, positively piggy, BLT salad, recipe, soupapalooza!, breakfast-palooza!, crouton, mayonnaise malaise, someone get Rachel Zoe a cheeseburger STAT, tomato
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brandied onion soup with croque monsieur croutons: Vanilli Willie, scorpacciata and making peace with getting burned

Nobody wants to be the person with the facebook addiction that is obsessed with airing their narcissistic crap in their status updates. You know them: they put something out there about the unfairness of their ex boyfriend/ girlfriend/ husband/ wife, something so numbingly cliched and oversimplified that it garners passionate responses from overly enthusiastic “friends” that have no real insight into the situation? You know what I’m talking about. 

I was that person earlier this week and I am not too embarrassed to admit it. Well, I did erase all evidence of my self-satisfying rant, so maybe I’m a little ashamed of my middle school need to pull as many poor suckers as possible into my completely pedestrian, completely mundane drama. But OK, I had a moment.

Once upon a time there was a girl who dated a guy. The guy (we’ll call him Vanilli Willie) and the girl lived coasts and sometimes countries apart. It was not ideal, but Vanilli Willie and our girl had some real laughs, but then it was just time to say adios. Unfortunately, the pair never really had the conversation where it was officially over and a pretty big debt that Vanilli Willie owed the girl wasn’t settled. And our girl, ever the non-confrontational pushover, let Vanilli Willie get away with this douchey behavior and let it be a source of deep seeded resentment to herself, which is pretty silly on her part, no?

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PostedSeptember 10, 2010
Authormelissa mcclure
Categoriespositively piggy, soup
Tagsscorpacciata, croque monsieur, local local local, move on, crouton, cognac, Vanilli Willie, piggy piggy piggy, buck up, facebook narcissism, Let's Just Call Him Mario, onion, brandy
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goldsmith, sometime costume designer and badass cat owner. 

goldsmith, sometime costume designer and badass cat owner. 

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Why? Because soup is cheap, delicious and easy. Kind of like me.

a weekly attempt to eat well and to savor life. or to see how much food I can get on my clothes.

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