Brain Food/Ab Work: I'm a Fool to Want You

I have wanted to get married at Union Station ever since I went there by chance with a former lover to pick up some friend's visiting from Australia 9 years ago. Something so romantic & sexy about train stations & trains. The chugging of the train is reminiscent of the beating heart & when it releases steam & the whistle blows it's like the sound you make inside when you meet someone that can potentially change your life. The architecture is stun-NING from the ceilings, moldings, archways, paneled walls to the marble floor, God IS really in the details.

They really don't make places like that anymore but what makes me love Union Station the most is sometimes I like to go there by myself & sit & watch people waiting in anticipation to greet loved ones they've greatly missed pacing back & forth & when that person coming from the gate is no longer a silhouette but that loved one who is just as relieved to be back in their arms, I choke up.

Or watching strangers say goodbye to the loved ones they will try to desperately find the courage to go through that period of time without. It's one of the few times I sit back without judgment or opinions & have complete optimism of how much we all need one another & the importance of having that one extremely special person to share your life with & share theirs. When I do meet him I can't imagine a greater place in the world for us to exchange our vows.

With that being said I didn't watch the Emmy's because I was shooting G.A.R. but someone posted this on their blog & I ♥ ♥ ♥ LOVE it!!!! Every single second of this is perfection & so many elements that I just ADORE! Not only is it directed by the director & starring the star of one of my favorite movies of all time Amelie, it's an ad for Chanel & I LOVE Chanel perfume*swoon* (Allure is my signature scent).

It takes place on a train & in a train station somewhere in PARIS, with a supermodel looking hot leading Man to fawn over, the clever way of symbolizing potential lovers as two trains passing in the night ON a train but no let's top ALL of that by brilliantly adding the element of the incomparable Miss Billie Holiday singing her haunting "I'm a Fool to Want You" from her album Lady in Satin playing in the background... I swear if they threw a Red Velvet Cupcake in there with a decadent slice of Pork Belly, a glass of Malbec & a pair of Louboutins I would've PASSED out because too many of my favorite things in 2 minutes is just TOO MUCH!

Well I've rambled enough. Here's to someday my train coming in & yours also...


OH & check out this new pic my Lovebug Shannon made for me for my birthday... couldn't you just DIE?!?!? Cupcakes & pink & heels & animated OH MY!

Cooked: Black Rice, White Beans & Haitian Baked Chicken

If there is anything I love more than shoes it is ♥ rice & beans ♥ . I'm an Island girl born in Brooklyn raised in Miami & now live in LA so I have had so many variations of rice & beans from several Cultural influences, Jamaica, Cuba, India, Zambia, Ethiopia, Trinidad, Mexico, Columbia, Brazil, Puerto Rico, Louisiana oh the list goes on & on but not because I am partial to my Haitian roots, Haiti's vast repertoire of rice & beans are the BEST! ♥ 

Whether it is cooked with rice or poured over rice separately our beans are more al dente & the usage of aromatic spices POP & oooooooh wee the addition of the spicy scotch bonnet or habanero pepper is what makes ours the clear cut winner! 

It's bolder than even Louisiana's own & definitely not smoky like theirs is. Our food is also heavily influenced by French cuisine. Perfect marriage between the flavors of the Yoruba Diaspora & European techniques. 

Cooking Haitian food has such an incredible respect for the past & I love toying with different ways of making it so it is fabulously current & my hope for the future is that it is as accessible in this Country as it's culinary counterparts such as Mexican, Italian & Chinese food & I will gladly lead the brigade. Every time I have a bite I seriously feel bad for those that have never had it. 

I bought some Forbidden Rice (black Chinese rice) on my field trip to Little Tokyo. Black rice has more fiber, a nuttier taste & gluten free. It's a much healthier alternative to the heavily processed long grain white rice. 

As per Wikipedia it got it's name "Forbidden rice" based on two theories. One theory as to the name is that it was reserved for emperors in ancient China because of its nutritiousness and rarity. Another theory is that when the Greeks took over parts of the Middle East, they had it banned due to the belief that it was being used by their enemies to aid them in battle. 

However, the most likely theory is that the name is simply a marketing ploy. I like the taste much more than brown rice & figured how cool it would be if I can take a Miami staple, Black Beans & Rice & flip that baby on it's head. 

I had a can of Cannellini Beans on hand & some fab sliced pork belly (uncured bacon) & because of it's peasant nature & hello I'm broke I made a Cassoulet... I'm still burping it, good googly moogly it was SO good!

I've been saving some pink peppercorns I bought from Monsieur Marcel in the Farmer's Market at the Grove. That's a BAD habit I have, I save stuff for dates that never happen *snort* mostly lotion, gourmet ingredients, soaps & panties... with the exception of my panties they all go bad before I get to use them... terrible! 

Not doing that anymore, so I figured I would add them to my Haitian style citrus marinated baked Chicken with garlic, peppers & cloves. The sauce in the chicken is really rich so the sweet & pungent flavor of the peppercorns were such a FAB addition & I'm glad I added these pretty pink & flavorful berries to what I already thought was a perfect dish. I am tickled pink it all worked out.

♥♥I was thoroughly inebriated the night before at Perri's party hence the rich dinner to soak up all the liquor. I left my camera at the bar & had to use my iphone to take pics... sorry♥♥

Marinating the Chicken


This is why being a Single cook rocks I busted out & broke in my Hello Kitty Rice Cooker & baked the Chicken in the toaster oven. No stovetop or oven to clean... FAB!♥

3 slices of pork belly for the Cassoulet

Beans