Tues, Dec 23

8.33pm - Moroccan leftovers - perfect breakfast food: The sugary and buttery cinnamon-almond flavor of the bisteya, along with its fake chicken protein, plus the nice spice of the veggies - kind of like a plate of French toast and breakfast links w/ hot sauce. Loved it.10.20am - some Lebkuchen, at work. Am still very pathetically tied to my desk, slaving away like crazy to tie up this year.

1.30pm - some of Ritesh's mom's home -cooked rajmah (Indian kidney beans) that she brought when they came over on Sunday , with some naan, at work6.38pm - sadly cheese-less French onion soup, from Bristol Farms, at home, with Ritesh. We need to make one of these soon - it's a Christmas tradition at my parents' house, and I'm really missing it these days....

7.02pm - some Death Valley Chipotle Kettle chips, at home, with Ritesh - and that's a Christmas card from his relatives from Texas that I got a kick out of....

Sat, Dec 20 - Wurstküche, Scoops

11.28am - Ritesh's Indian veggies and daal , at home, with Ritesh1.27pm - an apple w/ chocolate-hazelnut-cocnut spread from Germany. When this runs out, I'll try and make a batch myself, from Jennifer's recipe...

3.59pm - some ginger snaps at the cash register at CostPlus World Market, where we found some nice Moroccan tea glasses for dinner tomorrow night

4.41pm - sampling some of the chips that Ritesh scouted at CostPlus while I was looking for the Moroccan tea glasses, at home

4.44pm - some awesome dried kiwi from the Persian Sun Market on Westwood, where we ended up in our search for Harissa (Moroccan spicy condiment) - and got lucky!

5.55pm - our long-anticipated outing to Wurstküche, the new German/Belgian sausage place in downtown LA, with Greg and Phinney - this is the set up in the mildly industrial dining room

6.08pm - and here's the first set of sausages that we all shared: alligator/rabbit with sweet peppers and caramelized onions, a vegetarian beer bratwurst w/ sauerkraut, and a buffalo/beef w/ super spicy jalapenos and caramelized onions

6.09pm - super tasty Belgian fries w/ sundried tomato aoli and chipotle ketchup. We got another order I didn't photograph w/ curry ketchup and a blue cheese walnut bacon dipping sauce

6.14pm - and the second set of sausages: a turkey sausage w/ sauerkraut, a green chili/cilantro chicken sausage (my favorite) with more spicy jalapenos and caramelized onions on top, and the duck/bacon sausage w/ sweet and spicy chilies - I feel like I'm missing some ingredients here - can you help, hon? Still at Wurstküche, with Ritesh, Greg and Phinney

7.23pm - and the glorious finale to our epicurian outing: ice cream from Scoops! This was just fantastic - the flavors this guy comes up with are incredible, and we didn't even get the best ones, they kept bringing out new flavors after we'd already started eating. The ones we got were the signature Brown Bread (with crunchy grape nuts, everyone's favorite and the only flavor they're guaranteed to have on any given day), Thai Iced Tea, Earl Grey, Vegan Mocha Hazelnut, Vegan Chocolate, Blackberry-Balsamico and coconut-lemongrass (couldn't really taste the lemongrass, as with that Dean&Deluca cupcake I tried in the Napa Valley). The flavors we could have had if we had arrived 15 min later included Banana Oreo (awesome, we sampled some), chocolate guiness, lavender honey and strawberry rhubarb. Will HAVE to come back!

Fri, Dec 19

8.19am - this is what I've had every morning all week, and never took a picture of because I don't take pictures of the endless cups of tea I drink - but this one should really be documented as there's some extras in it: ginseng tea w/ fresh squeezed lemon juice and agave nectar, at home

10.25am - and another thank you breakfast at work, this time from our team leaders. This is an egg bagel, with some salmon spread, and some strawberry cream cheese for the second half, plus a bit of Starbucks coffee, with everyone in domestic and international, in the conference room on our floor. 12.15am - a great chocolate bagel ( never had that before either) w/ strawberry cream cheese, at my desk at work, after explaining to my boss that thank-you-bagels are all very nice and appreciated, but that I intend to keep more normal work hours and an overall more wholesome work-life balance next year

the pianist playing the grand piano in our lobby, as I'm heading out to acupuncture during my lunch break

7.35pm - Ritesh made dinner! Tasty spinach daal on the right, and a great veggie shaak using a vegetable that is a cross between broccoli and cabbage (would have loved to have seen that raw) on the left, at home

Thurs, Dec 18

9.30pm - bagel w/ cream cheese, grapes, as well as some fresh pineapple and OJ (not pictured), at the Thank You Breakfast from Upper Management for our group, in the Executive Boardroom, at work10.30am - took a strawberry bagel back to my desk, just because I've never had a strawberry bagel before

12.57pm - more Indian leftovers, at work

1.11pm - more candied pecans and almond cookies, at work

3.44pm - more chili lime pistachios, at work

44.25pm - Cecy brought over a spoonful of Jennifer's awesome home made chocolate hazelnut spread - and then went back to get the recipe for me (I don't really know Jennifer - well, now I do) - thanks, Cecy!!

7.20pm - chips, salsa, guacamole and a margarita, celebrating Kathleen's birthday at Lula's on Main Street with Kathleen, Laura, Richard, two fabulous Irish ladies, a couple from the Peace Corps and a bunch of other people on the other side of the table that I didn't get to talk to

8.22pm - my main dish was just an appetizer, but I really wanted to try it: blue corn griddle cakes w/ chipotle shrimp. Very yummy.
Note the difference between this picture (taken with my camera) and the above picture (taken with my iPhone).

Wed, Dec 17

8.29am - popp y seed oatmeal w/ walnuts, at home10.02am - a couple of Kimberly's home baked cookies (peanut butter and chocolate chip), at work

12.20pm - Annie Cheung's microwavable Szechuan noodles (in a biodegradable corn starch tray), at work

12.31pm - fresh pineapple, some of Connie's candied pecans, and an almond cookie, at work

1.26pm - chili lime pistachios, at work

2.46pm - an apple, in the lunch room, at work.

3.27pm - cashew fruit juice and another one of Kimberly's peanut butter cookies, at work

7.25pm - leftover Indian food, at home

7.35pm - and a bit of dessert

Tues, Dec 16

9.51am - the breakfast sandwich from Wolfgang Puck's at Gelson's, with Cecy, at work. We'd both gotten to work without breakfast and were starving, and this turned out to be tasty and a great deal. Just for the record, we got one each, not that you think we shared this one :)11.16am - OJ and fresh pineapple, at work

12.46pm - more misshapen marzipan cookies (hey, somebody's got to eat them), plus some of Connie's fabulous nueces caramelizados (candies pecans), at work

4.42pm - Indian leftovers from last night, at work

6.43pm - I would never buy this stuff, but once Ritesh brings it home, I can't stop eating it. Terrible.

7.07pm - chutney sandwiches, at home, with Ritesh

8.08pm - and Connie's nueces caramelizados in all their glory - so glad we got some!

Mon, Dec 15

9.41am - poppy seed oatmeal w/ flax seeds and walnuts, OJ, at work

12.49pm - some misshapen marzipan cookies that I wouldn't want to inflict on anybody else, at work

2.20pm - a Brazilian hamburger w/ grilled tomatoes and iced tea, from Ummba Brazilian Churrascaria, outside work on a super rainy day. I was wearing my raincoat, but hey, at least I got to eat outside.

7.51pm - Ritesh got inspired by the tea sandwiches he saw us have yesterday (not that he got any, poor lad), so he decided to make a soft and sophisticated tea sandwich version of his generally oversized chutney sandwiches for Lissy who came over for dinner tonight. Lissy is in her eighties and sometimes has issues with her teeth, so this was perfect and she loved it!

8.38pm - lentil daal and cabbage shaak, plus rice and home-made chapatis (sadly not pictured), all to give Lissy an impression of a home-cooked Indian meal (vs. Indian restaurant food). Ritesh outdid himself, and Lissy was suitably impressed and got seconds of everything - and she normally eats like a sparrow!

10.14pm - marzipan cookies and vanilla ice cream, at home, with Ritesh and Lissy