Hello Everyone!
Hope 2015 is treating you well so far? January has always been a particularly reflective time for me. Obviously being the start of New Year but also because it is my anniversary of arriving in LA. I will be celebrating 18 years this week!
Do I get a key to the city now??
I truly had no idea I would still be here almost two decades later. Clichés like “time flies when you are having fun” suddenly start to have a real meaning.
My love affair with Los Angeles started long before I had the opportunity to move here. I read David Niven’s ‘The Moons A Balloon’ at a very young age, and I think that may have been what planted the first seed
On a side note, if you have access to BBC iPlayer I recommend you watch Niven being interviewed by Michael Parkinson. It is truly lovely.
I have definitely become more ‘LA’ than UK, or hopefully a happy medium – just today I was reading a post on Facebook. A friend had written ‘Back in the land of mental thin people and kale.’
I laughed, mainly because I was drinking a Kale smoothie at the time but took sanctuary in the fact that I am not (completely) mental….or thin!
I’ve come to realize one of the the main factors why it is fairly easy to be a Brit living in LA. If you stay here long enough, everyone you know (or even know of) eventually stops by. So it is hard to get homesick. As a teen I used to be fascinated with that theory when put in conjunction with Piccadilly Circus.
To prove my point, Jamie Oliver was in town just last week and popped in to one of our favorite haunts ‘The Pikey’ to visit his protege Chef Ralph Johnson. It seems it’s only in LA (or London) that you can see a bloke off the telly in your local the next day…..in fact if often seems as though our weekly Brits Breakfast could easily be mistaken for an Eastenders reunion!
In honour of Mr Oliver’s visit and to take complete advantage of this cold spell, I decided to cook up one of my favourite Jamie Oliver recipes, a totally delish beef and ale stew. Since we are also in the land of food substitutions I changed it up a little and added tumeric, cumin and mustard powder to the flour before tossing my meat… I also added mushrooms and Worcestershire Sauce….perfect for a cold winter’s night in LA.
Between my Nutribullet smoothie and my delicious stew I managed to get more than the recommended five a day veggie servings (or even seven a day for the Daily Mail readers amongst you!)
I am certainly in the cooking mood this month – so if you have any tasty but suprisingly healthy recipes please share with us at Britsinla@gmail.com or on via Facebook or Twitter @BritsInLA
January is also the month we have the honor of celebrating the birthday of our Mayor of Breakfast, Mr. Bernard Skibben. Thank you so much Bernard for making the effort to share your special day with us!!
As most of you may have heard the 8th Annual Toscars has been cancelled. However, it doesn’t mean you can’t still make a five-minute parody of an Oscar nominated film. Thanks to enthusiastic Toscar committee member Nadia Wit, the show will go on.
Email Nadia for more details at ToscarSpirit@gmail.com
She will also be hosting a SAG seminar on January 21st , vital for those amongst you who are not members yet – check the Toscars Facebook page for further details or email her at address above.
I have so far managed to keep all my new years resolutions – how are you all doing ? Hope to see or hear from some of you soon.
Cheers!
Eileen
