Tracie's World

It's soup season!  I was reading online today, and noticed an article with a recipe for an easy Pumpkin soup. All it called for was some grated onion, pumpkin, chicken broth and cream.  Of course, since I love all things pumpkin, I was totally intrigued by this.  I had plenty of everything the recipe called for, minus the cream.  That's when my brain started thinking, and I came up with this rather tricked out recipe I'm calling "Curried Pumpkin Soup".  And guess what - it was delicious!  Here goes: 2 T. dehydrated onion (I was too lazy to grate one myself) 1 large can of pumpkin (29 oz.) 2 cans chicken broth 1 c. Lite Coconut Milk (I buy the canned variety) 1 t. black pepper 1 t. cinnamon 1/2 t. nutmeg 2 T. yellow curry powder Pour 2 tablespoons Olive Oil in a large sauce pan, and turn the heat to medium low. Add the dehydrated onion, black pepper, and curry powder.  Cook for a minute or so, until the onion is toasted.  Empty the ent...

As I mentioned before, the purpose of our trip to LA was for the main event - that being our pal Pink's wedding to Keith Coogan.  Keith is the grandson of legendary child star Jackie Coogan, and an actor in his own right (you can catch him in "Adventures in Babysitting" and "Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead", as prime examples). We were thrilled to be included in the festivities. The wedding was on Zuma Beach, in Malibu. My first beach wedding and my first trip to Malibu, all in the same weekend!  It was a vision of pink. Remember Julia Roberts's character in "Steel Magnolias"? Compared to Pinky, Julia was an amateur.  Guests were encouraged to wear pink (which explains my pink blouse in earlier photos). Everyone arrived in some form of pink or red (Keith's favorite color), and gathered on the beach.  The wedding party arrived wearing touches of pink, Keith arrived wearing a pink tie, and the Pinkster herself walked down the aisle...

Much as I adore Halloween, for some reason my costume always comes together at the last minute. This year was no exception.  First I thought I wanted to be Helen Mirren in "Red 2" - but I couldn't find a white fur coat. Waah.  Then I thought I could be a CHP officer, after all the ones I saw last weekend.  But I couldn't find a patrol helmet. And after several trips to thrift stores, nothing was really working. I decided to keep after it, and by Wednesday evening, I was at the local party supply store, which also happened to be costume central this year.  I walked around and around the store, perusing and pondering, and my creative juices were at a low.  I decided to just leave the store, and use one of my costumes from former years. But then - serendipity happened.  As I was walking down the party decoration aisle, I saw all sorts of decorations for Hollywood and Oscar Parties.  Being the old movie buff that I am, this definitely piqued my interes...

Inge and Betsy and Rick and I all decided to carpool for the wedding.  Since we were in L.A., I didn't want to miss an opportunity to see the Los Angeles Temple. Though it was a bit out of our way, the others graciously agreed to leave the hotel early so we could make a quick visit. The reason I really wanted to see the L.A. temple in particular (and Brian reminded me that I should say "The Temple", so as to distinguish properly from all the Jewish temples in H'wood), is that I was sealed to my parents there when I was about 17 months old.  You might say that it's where our eternal family all began.  So it was very emotional for me to see it.   Temples are meant to be a refuge from the world, and I think of all the temples I've visited, this is most evident in Los Angeles.  The Temple is right off Santa Monica Boulevard, and it sits on a hill high above the busy road. It's totally breathtaking. After several photo ops and a walk around the t...

Last weekend Inge and I and our friends Brian and Heidi, their kids (McFamily, as they are known to followers of the Pinkster), and our other friends Betsy and Rick all tooled down to the City of Angels for the wedding of our dear friend Pinky to Mr. Keith Coogan.  While Pink was taken up with all the wedding finishing touches, the rest of us had a lot of time to ourselves.  So - we decided to spend it all together.   We stayed at the same hotel (Thank you to the Holiday Inn Express Woodland Hills!), and being as we all consider ourselves to be foodies, we went on what you could call a "Food Crawl".  That's the idiomatic way of saying that we hit some classic food joints and stuffed ourselves. First up - Pink's Hot Dog Stand, right in the heart of Hollywood. Pink's has been around since the 1930's, and anyone who's anyone has all eaten there. It's full of pictures of all the famous folks, and if so inclined, you can order your favorite celebrity...