Here on the Westside, I live in shoebox of an apartment that is just a tiny percentage of the real estate that is the huge complex here at the bottom of my street. The only people in the building I ever talk to are Rick, the on-site resident manager, and David, the maintenance guy who doesn’t even live in the building. At any given time, there could possibly be four people all within a twelve foot radius of me in my living room. Sure, there are paper thin walls, a floor, or a ceiling between us, but imagine that – such close proximity, such dense population – and no one talks to their neighbors. In LA, people don’t talk to each other. People don’t talk to their neighbors, and they certainly don’t “hang out” with them.
But a long time ago, my family lived in a subdivision. We knew our neighbors on both sides . We knew every family on the whole street, and because I was a responsible and enterprising baby-sitter, I knew almost everyone in the neighborhood. We kids all built forts and explored the creeks together, Moms would get together for coffee one week here, the next week a few houses down, and Dads…well, I never really knew if the Dads did anything together. Mow the lawn maybe? And every few months, someone on the street would host a big happy block party. In the summer, it was a little more frequent with holidays and barbecues. I don’t think I’ve ever heard of a block party where I live now in LA, though I’m not sure if that’s a product of the times (people don’t do that in 2005, Sarah), or just an LA thing. *sigh*
sweet caketails and dessert hors d’ouevres
Stephanie, the Happy Sorceress from Dispensing Happiness came up with the brilliant idea of having a virtual block party – a blog party! Actually, I think Stephanie’s original idea was more focused on the idea of little delicious fingers foods that are associated with parties, but I couldn’t help but think of “block parties.” :) Once a month, bloggers put together party foods , post it up on their sites, and the Happy Sorceress works her magic to put it all together on a delicious cyber buffet!
two of these? make the cocktail diet
This month it’s a cocktail party, and because I’m a little more than fashionably late to the party, missing the main event, I’m bringing…dessert! Sure there are miniature truffle brownie bites doing backup, but the real star in the spotlight is a super sweet cocktail – a caketail, in a martini glass that’s been rimmed with vanilla sugar. It’s one shot of vanilla flavored vodka shaken with a splash of ginger ale and ice. If it’s mine, make that two shots, and diet ginger ale, especially since I’m helping myself to two brownies – LOL! Thanks to Hermz for the inspiration ;)
Cheers! And thanks to Stephanie for being such a happy hostess. Can’t wait for the next cocktail party…
tags :: food : and drink : cooking : events
