Snack Trek: GETTY VILLA PICNIC- The Villa

September 3, 2010

Taking pictures of Lauren taking pictures. Not creepy at all.

At last, we’ve reached part 3 of 3! Of course the food of the picnic was excellent, but the setting was a major factor in the wonderfulness of the day. I adore the Getty Villa. It’s built in the style of an ancient Greek villa. Yes, please!

When I was in sixth grade we studied Greek & Roman Mythology for… in my memory, it was months and months of our history curriculum. There were definitely lots of art projects involved. I became a bit obsessed with the gods & goddesses. I read The Odyssey in 9th grade, and again in college. There’s something about the epic-ness of those stories. They’ve just stayed with me.

So it’s really cool to get to hang out in a place that’s all about Greek & Roman mythology, and also makes you feel like you took a time machine back to where it all started.

While we were walking around the Villa in a post-picnic semi-food coma, I noticed that there are a lot of food-elements to the space. Maybe that’s because a real Greek villa would have needed to grow its own food, and it also makes sense to have edible elements on the grounds, for snacking– grapes, pomegranates, etc.

Walking through the herb garden, we noted the gorgeous green basil. Lauren used basil in her bruschetta, and mused that she should grow some of her own. Life imitating lunch. (Our now-dwelling-in-NY friend, Pat– who we’re seeing tomorrow!– used to have basil growing in the window of his LA apartment.)

Yo, basil.

There were grapes growing around the big central pool. They must have been authentic ancient grapes, because I found some that had fallen, and they looked more like blueberries. As a modern person, I demand my Frankengrapes!

Hello, pretty sky.

One thing I love about the Villa is the cutouts in the walls. When I was in Rome, I was kind of obsessed with taking pictures through the cutouts in the ruins. And look what I spied, with my little eye…

When life hands you lemons...

Yep, more food! It’s uncanny, really.

And this ceiling might have been the ancient Greek version of The Daily Binge…

Around here there's a 75% chance of seeing grapes when you look up.

I’m a big fan of cornucopias. They’re basically hilariously shaped picnic baskets, no?

(At this point I went to Souplantation, and it’s PASSPORT TO GREECE month/week/time. Very appropriate!)

I doubt they had glass mason jars at picnics in Greece. They were less about shabby chic, more about GOBLETS.

Prodigious goblet, man.

I adore the colors in that mosaic. It’s part of a fountain that’s located in a little side garden. It seems as if every museum room at the Villa opens out into a beautiful outdoor space. That’s also attributable to the Greek villa design of the place, because back in ye olden days they didn’t have air conditioning. They had to harness the breezes!

The siren song (get it?) of these gardens kept pulling me out of the museum exhibit spaces. This one looked completely magical to me when I first glimpsed it from indoors. The bright light was such a stark difference between the darkened gallery and the sunlit slice of natural beauty. I couldn’t really capture the moment of discovery/revelation in a picture, but… eh, why not try?

The not-so-secret garden.

It’s such a nice palate cleanser to be able to step outside into the sunshine as you pass from one room to the next.

(Am I using food metaphors to describe the museum experience? I would, wouldn’t I?)

And as a former USC student– we love our fountains.

I had a total moment of Malcolm Gladwell fangirl geekout when I realized that this weird AVATAR-looking statue was a probably-forged kouros! (If you don’t know what I’m talking about, drop everything and read “Blink.” And then read “Outliers.” And the other one.)

... OR MODERN FORGERY?!

You don’t need to see a picture of the actual kouros that was standing there. It was not that interesting to me. (It’s in the Flickr album, if you must see it.)

So yeah, such a good day. This may be the most uninteresting post, word-smith wise, because it’s Friday night and I’m wiped. But once again I want to express my gratitude to Lauren and Cole for knowing exactly what would make me super happy, and actually putting it all into action.

And you even gave me a few ideas for my next birthday. On my 25th birthday, I definitely need to rock a castle hat.

The Burger King crown of antiquity.

(They’re actually city walls. Shhh. Nerd-who-reads-the-placards alert!)

Oh, and crazy enough, the Getty blog linked my first post (The Savories). That’s some beautiful cross-promotion. I have no idea how they found me, in this vast blogosphere. But I’m pumped. I highly recommend you visit the Getty Villa. It’s free, other than parking. You just have to make a reservation.

Castle hats for everybody!

xoxo…

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Snack Trek: GETTY VILLA PICNIC- The Sweets

September 1, 2010

Dessert, anyone?

After much ado! Here is the second installment (of three) of the Getty Villa birthday picnic surprise series. I don’t THINK I have many words to add here, because the desserts speak for themselves… but I always tend to say that before typing out a giant paragraph. So we’ll see what strikes me. (As usual– click on the pictures to see them BIGGER.)

And major props to the Picnik editing tools (which I use through Flickr), without which many of these pictures would have been a lot less pretty. Maybe I went a little overboard with the editing. Or maybe it’s too subtle. Maybe I went underboard. (I can’t tell!)

I GRAPPLED for days over which cupcake picture to use. (I always GRAPPLE over the smallest, silliest decisions, and make the big ones in a snap. Weird.) Of course, you’ll never know what you’re missing. (Well– you can check out the rest in my Getty Picnic Flickr set.)

Up close & personal.

Seriously, it’s NUTS how much cake has been in my life this past month or so. My stomach has been a little off lately, and I’m wondering if I AM allergic to wheat, after all. It would be kind of appropriate if I unwittingly spent the month before a cake-less life binging on cake. Going out with a bang.

At least I could look back at the blog and see all my cake pictures and memories, and take heart in the fact that most of the cakes didn’t necessarily taste as amazing as they looked. (Though I always try to be kind on the blog.) (But for real, Sprinkles is UP THERE. Never a dry cupcake in the batch.)

As if this picnic wasn’t enough of a present, Lauren crafted a special set of stationery just for me (I have such a big ego now!), along with the AWESOME personalized heart pillow. (With a name like mine, I didn’t exactly grow up being able to get those name-stickers off the rack.) Not only does she know my favorite snacks, but she knows my favorite colors/images.

Raindrops on roses and ketchup in bottles...

Note that the cupcake on the card has a little flag in it– just like the flags in the cupcakes at the picnic. (NICE!)

Lauren also gave me this adorable card, which she picked up at LA’s Renegade Craft Fair. (I couldn’t go because I had improv class. So LA!)

Does this mean that LA people HAVE hearts?

As you can see, I had a lot of fun using the flags and the pillow as photo-shoot props.

Another red velvet identity crisis in the making.

In that photo the flag looks like it’s staking a claim. In the next, it looks like a sign of surrender.

We give up!

Word on the street (aka Lauren’s blog) is that she’s going to post a little DIY tutorial that will show you how to make those flags. (That link in the parentheses will take you to HER post about the picnic. She managed to do it all in ONE post, because she’s good at things.)

I got a little goofy with the macarons. This looks like a face, to me. (Though I think I intended for it to be double hearts.)

Looking weird, Face.

I also wanted to show you WHAT’S INSIDE a macaron. (Delicious cream stuff.) (Lauren was right– in the case of these Trader Joe’s macarons, the vanilla ones are better. Even the consistency of the cookie part of the vanilla seemed better– less dense/chewy. Must be the different ingredients that go into the different flavors.) (But the chocolate were still good. Just not AS good.)

Obviously I was feeling the love for the macarons. Another attempt at the double hearts…

This is getting creepy.

Some of my friends are still confused as to who RUNS this blog that I’m always promoting on my Facebook. If all these Elysse-name photos don’t answer that question, I don’t know what will.

Maybe the Getty Villa was my muse, silently inspiring the double hearts, because later I stumbled across this detail on a mosaic/fountain.

Is this garish? I want it in my bathroom.

Not sure what those double hearts are flanking, but it just might be an Ancient Greek version of a French macaron. (And by “just might be” I mean “definitely isn’t.”)

This picture is one of my favorites of the day. It looks quite editorial. (Somehow I even managed to avoid including the background-napkin-trash.) If you replace the Elysse with “Oprah,” this publisher-ready. (Probably not.)

My moment of zen.

I like to think of the areas of soft focus as an artistic choice, rather than not-amazing-quality camera issues.

Also, I chose to feature the cinnamon cupcake from Sprinkles because I’m a little bit obsessed. Not only is it the cupcake version of a Snickerdoodle (MUCH LOVE), but it’s a FROSTINGLESS cupcake. As you know, I’m a little queasy about frosting. So… sign me up. Double hearts for cinnamon sugar.

(I’m totally that girl in the romantic comedy who THOUGHT she loved red velvet, but over time she realized that he was all looks and flash and not as tasty as everybody made him out to be. Meanwhile, nice-guy cinnamon was there all along, ready to love her– but she took a long time to get over her initial prejudices about him, because some cinnamon-flavored things, like gum, are gross-ish.) (OMG, life-imitating-food preferences.)

The Getty Villa is a modern-day replica of a villa in Ancient Greece. Of course, the REAL villas back in Greece are in ruins by now. And here are the ruins of our picnic. (Food-imitating-Greece.)

We done good.

The more I type “Greece,” the less it seems like a real word.

You maybe be wondering what became of those surviving cupcakes. We put everything back in the car before we explored the Villa. Later that night, post-Spitz, I took a few pictures of the cupcakes with my birthday cake-plate.

Birthday presents on birthday presents!

And then we ate them. Two girls, three cupcakes. Nice work. (Cole bowed out pre-Spitz, or I’m sure he would have helped.)

Once again: Thanks to Lauren and Cole! Amazing desserts! Can’t wait to eat more desserts with you. There are so many out there. Never a shortage.

Coming soon: The final installment– “The Villa.” As much as it’s nice to post a blog entry and be done with it, I’ll be sad to put this experience to bed. But luckily the memories will stay here, and I can visit them. A la the Getty Villa. (Food blog-imitating-museum.)

xoxo…

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Snack Trek: GETTY VILLA PICNIC- The Savories

August 31, 2010

A-picnicking we go!

Saturday’s birthday surprise excursion picnic was so epic that posting all of the pictures in one post would prove… unwieldy. (And I should know– I’m the queen of too-long posts.) I decided to split the experience into three posts– The Savories, The Sweets, and The Villa. (As you’ll see, the villa has a few built-in snacks of its own.)

This post is The Savories. Not actually sure if everything here counts as an official Savory Food, but this post is dedicated to everything that happened pre-dessert.

The whole drive, I kept revising my guesses as we passed through different neighborhoods. Cole had hinted that we’d be going to Little Tokyo, but as soon as we set out I knew that wasn’t the case. Hollywood? Nope, we passed it. Beverly Hills? Nope, we turned and got on the freeway. The Museum of Tolerance? (Haha.) Nope, kept going on the 10 West. Venice? Nope, headed to the PCH. Zuma Beach? Nope. When I finally guessed the Getty Villa, we were really close to it. And I was REALLY excited.

And when I found out that we were having a picnic, I was DOUBLE excited. I haven’t been on a picnic… since I was a kid? And I LOVE picnics. I don’t even know if Lauren knew how much I love picnics! (I’m just too uncool to ever pull one together… that’s what friends are for.)

I’m violating my no-faces rule because these pictures of Lauren and Cole are so adorable. Between that first picture and us actually locating the picnic area, I (the only one not lugging stuff– thanks guys!) doubled back to find a map, and it turns out that doubling back is not easy at the Getty Villa. It’s a labyrinth! (I should have sprinkled cupcake crumbs to guide my way.)

When we found the picnic area, it was lovely. Reminded me of a rest area at a (very manicured) national park. Some other group was singing happy birthday (to somebody else), and we joked that they were part of the surprise.

Mischief managed!

I’m a lazy butt and would have brought plasticware and party cups, but of course Lauren went all out with real silverware, Mason jars for cups, and IBC root beer in glass bottles. Aesthetically pleasing! (And Lauren must be strong! Wow.)

Drink me.

You can see in that picture that Lauren brought sliced cantaloupe and kettle corn. She also brought all manner of delicious carbs…

Eat me.

I was having some problems camera/exposure-wise, with the light/shade. But I think that picture is the worst of them.

Lauren MADE bruschetta (SKILLZ) and brought Sabra hummus and some sort of dip that involved pesto and sun-dried tomatoes, so I started out with a plate of what I am referring to here as “savories.”

So much tomato/basil tastebud love on one plate.

Not only was the bruschetta super fresh and restaurant-quality tasty, but Lauren made it TO TASTE. Like, no set amount of ingredients. I didn’t ask her if she learned that while studying abroad in Italy. Will I gain that type of knowledge if I move there? (Lauren last lived with me two years ago, and I still have some of her recipes up on the fridge… but I’ve never cooked them. I’m not worthy.)

My second plate contained a melon/kettle corn/Australian licorice medley…

What a team.

Lauren selected the cantaloupe using some sort of smell test that I’ve never heard of before. Smelling its belly button? (Does a melon have a belly?) I was taught to shake melons and listen for the seeds, but I can never tell if I’m hearing the seeds or just… general swishing.

Whatever she did, it worked.

As much as I was stuffing myself with all my snacky favorites, I knew that dessert was on the horizon. (And Spitz was on the horizon’s horizon.)

Here’s a sneak preview of The Sweets. Of course, Lauren and Cole brought BOTH of my favorites: Cupcakes AND French macarons. (Apparently French macarons are the new cupcakes? Fingers crossed!) (And my spell check still wants me to call them macaroons, so you might see me cave sometimes and spell it that way.)

Cole went all-out and brought Sprinkles cupcakes, from Beverly Hills.

I love that colorful chart.

The chart is probably too small to read on the blog, but a perfect day to go to Sprinkles (for ME) would be a Friday, because that’s the only day they have chai latte, and they also have pumpkin (!). Although on a Thursday you could try carrot and mocha.

But no regrets. There is so much pumpkin in my near future. Fall is coming. (Apparently pumpkin spice lattes are back today at Starbucks.)

Oh, sorry to digress about Sprinkles/pumpkin-y-ness. The macarons were from Trader Joe’s. Not to SPOILER ALERT, but for a frozen-section treat they were surprisingly light and fresh.

These macarons are pawns in a board game?

Ooh, I feel an idea coming on: a pumpkin pie flavored MACARON. I bet they already exist, since ketchup-flavored macarons are out there. (Thanks for the link, Allison!) (Maybe no thanks? Maybe barfs?) As much as I love ketchup, I have my limits. I feel queasy just thinking about ketchup macarons. Desserts and ketchup… not so much. I won’t knock ‘em ’til I’ve tried them, but… I don’t know if I’d want to try them.

Theoretically the next post in this series should be “The Sweets,” but I already have the pictures for “The Villa” prepped and ready. (I can’t choose between dessert pics! As if it matters that much!) So we’ll see what pops up next. The suspense is (probably not) killing you.

On Passover we say “dayenu,” meaning “it would have been enough.” Saturday was a total Dayenu situation. The goodness just kept coming, when any one thing would have already delighted me so much! Hopefully these posts are a Dayenu for you, too. I’m trying to avoid making them into a big long draggy Seder.

Okay, Jew analogies aside– To Be Continued…

xoxo…

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