All posts tagged: Featured

Magiritsa Soup ~ Happy Greek Easter!

Published by

Happy Easter and Xristos Anesti! In a rare occurrence, the western Gregorian and eastern Julian calendars align this year so that Easter and Greek Easter both fall on the same day–April 20th. As a California Greek, no Anastasi celebration would be complete in our family without the traditional Greek Easter soup–magiritsa! Magiritsa is instantly addictive with its tart-tangy-sweet flavor unlike any other soup you will ever eat. The distinct flavor comes from the avgolemono (lemon and egg broth) that gets added in at the end, as well as a small amount of puréed organic chicken or beef liver that is incorporated into the main soup. Even people who swear they don’t like liver (me included) love this soup. Everyone who has tried this dish at our table has gone back for seconds and asked to take some home for thirds and fourths. Paired with the subtle sweetness of the tsoureki Greek Easter egg bread, it is a delectable umami dream-come-true that makes your body hum and sing with joy from the inside out. This magiritsa …

Holiday Show-Stopper: Baked Pumpkin Fondue

Published by

The end-of-year Holidays are upon us! Whether it’s for Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas or New Year’s…if you’re looking for a delicious and divinely decadent show-stopper dish, we’ve got you. This Baked Pumpkin Fondue recipe brings a big WOW factor to impress and satisfy guests at any Autumn/Winter gathering. Baked straight in the pumpkin and served warm, be prepared to gleefully scoop out every last bite with your loved ones as you hum with sheer delight. We are bringing back this fan-favorite fall recipe from the archives– lovingly passed on to our Sirens & Scoundrels readers by Hayley McCarthy and the women in her family from Orange, Australia. More on Hayley’s family story can be found in our original post HERE. All ingredients can be swapped for vegan alternates for a vegan version. Baked Pumpkin Fondue Serves: 8-10 Prep Time: 20 minutes Cook Time: 1.5  to 2 hours Ingredients TIP for choosing your pumpkin: The ingredients are in proportion to pumpkin size and thickness of the flesh. If you have a large pumpkin but it weighs less than 6.5 pounds after …

Fall Leaves Are Back! Mammoth, CA ~ Oct 2024

Published by

OCTOBER 2024 LEAF PEEPING UPDATE! Fall leaves are officially BACK in June Lake Loop and the surrounding Mammoth area lakes right now! If you want to take in the glorious golden tapestry of autumn in California’s Eastern Sierras, now is the time to go. Just a few hours north of LA by car, it’s a great trip for families, friends or a romantic weekend getaway. If you’re ambitious like us, you can see it all in a single day, soak in each gorgeous sight and still be back cozy in your own bed by night. Details for planning your own California autumn leaf peeping adventure below. *Being human note: please be mindful to take any trash with you and leave all natural grounds as you found them.* SIERRA FALL COLORS If you’ve ever wanted to experience Heaven on Earth, where angels sing from atop endless trees of glittering gold as far as the eye can see, then be sure to make your plans NOW to head up to Mammoth’s June Lake Loop and take in …

Comfort Cooking at Home ~ Delicious, Easy, Healthy Recipes

Published by

During this Universal Pause while we are all tucked away in our homes in one gigantic act of loving kindness and solidarity for our fellow man, we want to extend our love to you in the best way we know how~ through heart-and-soul-warming food. We wish to brighten your hearth and home with some of our favorite comfort food recipes, all gathered together here in one place for your home cooking pleasure. These are our “greatest hits” recipes that we constantly get requests for over the years. They also happen to be very simple, easy-to-make recipes with just a few ingredients that pack a huge flavorful punch. We hope our healthy comfort food recipes help to bring some joy to your table. Stay safe, healthy and vibrant! We are sending you all of our love! xoxo, Christina & Sarah || Sirens & Scoundrels Comfort Mains & Sides *CLICK ON THE DISH NAME TO BE TAKEN TO THE RECIPE* Spaghetti Squash Pasta  ~  Vegan + Gluten-Free (w/ Vegetarian Option)   Lentil & Sweet Potato Salad  ~  …

Yoga-urt: Meet Your New Obsession

Published by

While other parts of the country are breaking out their new fall sweaters and snuggling up to pumpkin chai lattes in fuzzy mittens, our late-arrival summer is only just kicking into full swing here in LA. In honor of these last blazing days of summer, we present you with our current obsession and our absolute favorite way to beat the heat. Allow us to introduce you to Yoga-urt, the best soft serve frozen yogurt in town. It also happens to be organic, vegan, gluten-free, soy-free and uses no artificial ingredients of any kind. How can the creamiest, richest, smoothest, most delicious soft serve in existence be vegan, you ask? Come take a stroll with us… Yoga-urt first popped up in Glendale’s adorably quaint Kenneth Village in 2015. We’re always huge fans of any tiny frozen-in-time hidden gem neighborhood tucked away right here inside our bustling city (hello, Montrose!), but Kenneth Village might be the sweetest and tiniest of them all. The one-block strip of Kenneth Road just west of Grandview is as Bedford Falls as …

End of Summer Playlist

Published by

To help you fully soak in these delicious last languid days of Summer, we’ve put together a sun-drenched playlist full of old and new favorites for your listening and partying pleasure! Throw it on, lay back and chill out as you celebrate Labor Day Weekend with your gang! Take a moment to feel the sun on your face, dip your toes in the water & simply enjoy this great gift of being alive. Sending big love for your sunshine days! xoxo Sirens & Scoundrels   Be sure to subscribe to Sirens & Scoundrels for off-the-beaten-path L.A. happenings and epic experiences! Enter your email address on our home page & hit “SUBSCRIBE”!  Follow us on Instagram: @sirensandscoundrels Words & Playlist by Christina Huntington // Photography by Christina Huntington & Sarah Prikryl © 2019 Sirens and Scoundrels

Summer Desert Retreat ~ Harmony Vista

Published by

Every year when summer hits the city, we start hearing the call of the desert. It might not seem like the obvious destination when the thermostat reaches 90° but for us here at Sirens & Scoundrels, summer and the deep desert have become our favorite pairing for a soul-filling and soul-fueling retreat with friends. We pack up all the fresh organic summer fruit we can find, plenty of iced beverages, pool floaties and board games and head out into the hot desert days to relax and unplug at our most beloved California summering spot—Joshua Tree. Our favorite source for the perfect desert hacienda is  Joshua Desert Retreats. With nine properties spread across the east desert, we have been slowly meandering our way through each one over the years. JDR properties are much like staying at the famous Madonna Inn in San Luis Obispo where each room has its own unique theme and eventually you just want to try them all. The same goes for JDR, except here each entire house has its own theme. We …

Sacred Art of Self Love

Published by

Words by Christina Huntington // Photography by Sarah Prikryl // Contributing Photography by Christina Huntington To kick off the Season of Love at Sirens & Scoundrels, we’re bringing back our most requested subject: The Sacred Art of Self Love. Before we can ever be available to truly love anyone or anything else, we must first learn to love ourselves. When we know how to love ourselves as a daily practice, we enter into our relationships whole, balanced and complete, able to joyfully give and receive with ease instead of just take take take take taking without ever feeling fulfilled. The following super simple and practical tools will help you start transforming your entire relationship to yourself today. Dive in, be gentle and enjoy the LOVE!! The Sacred Art of Self Love ~ As we deep dive into all things L-O-V-E this month, we come face-to-face with the most crucial form of love to master: self love. It’s easy to look at seemingly endless social media feeds overflowing with infinite selfies and moment-to-moment replays of every minuscule activity as if everyone is engaged in broadcasting …

Summer Breeze

Published by

Words & Original Cocktail Recipe by Richard Swan // Photography by Sarah Prikryl  Make no mistake, people: Summer is upon us and it’s time we started acting like it. There seems to be little to argue on the merits of the ‘Spritz’ as the ultimate Summertime drink. It hits all the marks – cold, refreshing, versatile. All importantly: it is a ‘low ABV’* beverage, meaning you can enjoy them at length without needing a midday snooze as the pool party carries on without you…I call it a ‘cruise control’ drink. The ‘Summer Breeze’ aims to hit these marks while combining two wondrous ingredients: the affable and ubiquitous LaCroix Coconut (the suntan lotion one) and the stunning Cocchi Americano Apertif. Cocchi is yet another Italian import made from grapes and sunshine and everything nice – and it is right at home in this combination. To say this cocktail is simple to make would be an understatement. SUMMER BREEZE INGREDIENTS~ 1 can LaCroix Coconut 1.5 oz Cocchi Americano 1 Lemon Peel 1 Lemon Wheel ASSEMBLY~ Combine ingredients over cracked ice and …

Happy Ours Ranch ~ Utah

Published by

Words by Christina Huntington // Photography by Sarah Prikryl // Contributing Photography by Gina Cholick Halfway between Zion National Park and Bryce Canyon National Park lies a little secret gem tucked away amongst the rolling green fields of Glendale, UT. Winding your way off the main highway onto a sprawling expanse of ranch land, a small dirt trail slowly circles the grounds to finally reveal the sweetest home-away-from-home a cabin lover could ever dream of. Beautifully hand-built by the family who own and run the property, Happy Ours Ranch makes all your tiny cabin fantasies come true the moment you lay eyes upon it. Quaint and cozy, this wood and tin delight has enough charm to tempt you away from ever leaving the property…even with the astonishing draw of Zion and Bryce just a short car ride away. On the hunt for the perfect pied-à-terre to kick up our feet and rest our heads during our Summer Sirens Utah Roadtrip, we knew we hit the jackpot when we stumbled across Happy Ours Ranch on VRBO.com. It was everything we could have …

Bryce Canyon ~ Utah

Published by

Words by Christina Huntington // Photography by Sarah Prikryl // Contributing Photography by Gina Cholick Deep in the heart of Utah lies a surrealist dreamland sprung to life. If Salvador Dalí painted the Grand Canyon full of drippy peach candlestick mountains all melting in the desert sun while Indiana Jones hosted an archaeological dig for extraterrestrial life at the center of it all…that pretty much sums up what Bryce Canyon National Park feels like. At once awe-inspiring, mind-blowing and really pretty trippy. We took a one-day excursion out to Bryce in the middle of our Zion adventure week to take in some new scenery and hit some new trails. An easy 2-hour drive east of Zion, Bryce is definitely the wild child amongst its sleeker Utah and Arizona canyon cousins. If the Grand Canyon is Mozart, Bryce Canyon is Bowie. Nothing to see here but mind-bending intergalactic rock ‘n roll mountainsides incarnate in nature. Upon arrival, we decided to take in the lay of the land as our first endeavor. The road into Bryce is laid out in a loop where …

Zion National Park

Published by

Words by Christina Huntington // Photography by Sarah Prikryl // Contributing Photography by Gina Cholick A couple years ago, I came across a photo of a giant bright peach of a mountainside towering over a meandering aqua river adorned with patches of bright green fluffy trees dozing under a hazy golden sunset. It seemed like something out of a dream. Or perhaps a distant memory from some other world where only peace, beauty and tranquility exist. A mythological fantasy planet that someone managed to come back to Earth with visual proof of. I recognized it somehow, though I had never seen it before. This intense feeling immediately rushed up from deep down inside my soul and commanded, “We must go to there!!” I could almost taste the gorgeous landscape on my tongue, hear it whispering in my ear. My eyes searched for the name of this biblical Eden incarnate until they landed on the word “Zion”. Of course…Zion. I had heard the tales many times from others who had made the epic journey before me but this was the first time …

Greek Easter ~ Magiritsa Soup

Published by

Words by Christina Huntington  // Original Family Recipe by “Mama Gina” Gina Trikonis // Photography by Sarah Prikryl  In my house, we grew up celebrating Greek Easter. My mom was a Greek New Yorker who believed in keeping our family traditions alive, even as she found herself raising two native Angeleno children in the suburbs of the San Fernando Valley. We went to Greek school, Greek church, learned traditional Greek songs and Greek dances but, most importantly, we inherited the Greek way of life…a deep passion and love for food, family, friends, nature and Life itself. For Greeks, every day on Earth is a gift to be unwrapped and enjoyed, a reason to celebrate! And there is truly no bigger Greek celebration than the Anastasi! Known to Americans as “Greek Easter” or “Eastern Orthodox Easter”, many Greeks, Armenians and Russians celebrate the Easter holiday in accordance with a different calendar—which is why it often falls on a completely different weekend than when the Easter Bunny comes to visit, much to the confusion of many of my childhood …

Desert X ~ Coachella Valley

Published by

Words by Christina Huntington // Photography by Sarah Prikryl // Contributing Photography by Megan MacEachern & Christina Huntington When was the last time you participated in a good old-fashioned treasure hunt? Aside from playing pirates as kids, the answer is probably “never”. Well lucky for you, your day has finally come! Combining three of our absolute favorite things in life—a treasure hunt, art and the wide-open spaces of the California desert—Desert X is the local adventurer’s dream come true! With some of our leading contemporary artists erecting 15 art installations spread throughout the Coachella Valley, discovered only by using coordinates on a map, “X” literally marks the spot in this limited-run exhibition. Grab a map and your most adventurous friends then keep your eyes peeled as you drive across Palm Desert and Palm Springs discovering each new artistic treasure! You can pick up a map, the official program containing all of the artists’ information and memorabilia from the Desert X Hub at the Ace Hotel & Swim Club Palm Springs. Maps can also be accessed on the Desert X website. With …

Waterfall Hikes in LA ~ San Gabriel Mountains

Published by

Words by Christina Huntington // Photography by Sarah Prikryl Spring has officially sprung in LA! After one of our wettest winters in recent history, the waterfalls of LA are overflowing! Located just 30 minutes from the heart of the city, there are no excuses not to get out there and enjoy them. Grab your dog, grab your friends, go run around the mountains and splash in some waterfall pools like kids again. Added bonus: the hills are alive with spring wildflowers of every color! So let your inner Fräulein Maria out to play…mountaintop twirling totally optional. SWITZER FALLS~ Just a few miles into the San Gabriel Mountains past La Cañada Flintridge near Mt. Wilson, Switzer Falls is one of the most impressive waterfalls in Los Angeles. The mostly shaded Gabrielino Trail winds you next to and through a gushing stream in Arroyo Seco Canyon for the first part of the hike. (HOT TIP: you criss-cross the stream continually on your hike. Wear proper footwear and be prepared to get your feet wet…it’s part of the fun!) When you …

Travel Tales ~ Yosemite

Published by

Words & Photography by Alex M. Rice  //  Interview by Christina Huntington Known primarily as a popular summer camping destination, we’ve always been huge fans of Yosemite in winter. So when we heard that one of our favorite recent LA transplants, designer and photographer Alex Rice, was heading to our beloved National Park for a solo winter adventure, we convinced her to let us tag along…by sharing her travel tales with us! We love that Alex was inspired by our same mission to get out and make your life an adventure! So come along for the ride on our first Travel Tales ~ YOSEMITE!  HAPPY ADVENTURING!! xoxo, Sirens & Scoundrels Instead of wearing a sparkly, uncomfortable party dress and hitting the city streets of LA for the New Year, I decided to immerse myself in nature. Although I was looking forward to the new year, 2016 had some incredible memories—living with my best friend in Washington D.C., working with talented artists and traveling with my mother to Montana. But after moving from Burke, VA (a place that was familiar …

Sounds Like Love!

Published by

Happy Month of Love! In these parts, we like to take the entire month of February to celebrate love in ALL its forms. To kick things off right, we’d like to offer you a little mood music to help set the scene for whatever type of love you want to indulge in this month…with your self, with your partner or with the world. Anything that uplifts the heart and soul uplifts the whole world! In these chaotic times, take a moment to reconnect to the simple things that bring you joy and make you FEEL GOOD. We promise these tunes will start moving you in the right direction… DREAMY NIGHTS // MONTH OF LOVE PLAYLIST ~   And stay tuned for this month’s articles on the many ways to celebrate and spread more love in your life!  Happy Loving!! xoxo, Sirens & Scoundrels FOLLOW US ON SPOTIFY FOR EASY LISTENING FROM ANY DEVICE!~ https://play.spotify.com/user/sirensandscoundrels Be sure to subscribe to Sirens & Scoundrels for unique local, travel & food adventures delivered straight to you! Enter your email address …

Setting Goals From Your Soul

Published by

Words by Alicia Lipinski of Quietfire Healing // Photography by Sarah Prikryl  //  Featured Photo by Gina Cholick Welcome to February, dear Sirens and Scoundrels! Around this time, you might be revisiting the goals and intentions that you set for yourself at the beginning of the year. You might be congratulating yourself for all the progress that you’ve already made or you might be berating yourself for not having done more or for already falling off the wagon. Or if you’re like me and many of my clients right now, you might see so many things that you want to change, both in your life and the world at large, that you feel paralyzed with fear and indecision and don’t know where to start. There is a very real, biological reason for this. In times of stress or panic, our sympathetic nervous system kicks in, sending our body into fight or flight mode. This response doesn’t require being chased by a bear. It can be triggered by a daily pile-up of stress at work or in your personal …

Meet the Sirens~ Our One Year Anniversary!

Published by

We have so much to celebrate! Aside from welcoming in a brand new year, we also recently rang in our one-year anniversary over here at Sirens & Scoundrels! It’s been quite a wild ride, bringing you our most beloved local, travel and food adventures every week! We are thrilled to see our readers answering the Siren call—seeking out our favorite places in your own lives. Our greatest hope is to inspire you to get out into the world in a bigger way. As Californians, we are so incredibly lucky to have all the Best of the West right at our fingertips! We can’t wait to bring you along on many more beautiful adventures this year! To celebrate our 1-Year Anniversary, we are taking a little inside look at the real Sirens behind all the adventures. We sat down for a joint interview to reflect on our favorite moments from the past year and what we are most excited to share with you in the year ahead. Thank you so much for all of your love …

Stuffed Baked Zucchini (Gluten-Free)

Published by

Words, Photography & Video by Sarah Prikryl  We recently had the opportunity to tend an organic farm in Santa Cruz, CA which was, let’s be honest…my foodie dream come true. Every day we would stroll down to the garden and pick fresh zucchini, squash and tomatoes fresh off the vine. My favorite kitchen experiment  during my dream stay in the mountains was my Stuffed Baked Zucchini recipe. I’m so happy I get to share this delicious gluten-free meal with you! Especially now with these wintry, cold and rainy California days, who couldn’t use a warm plate of healthy comfort food? Enjoy! STUFFED BAKED ZUCCHINI Serves 10-12 Prep & Cook  Time: 40 minutes Bake Time: 35-40 minutes Total: 1 hr. 10-20 minutes INGREDIENTS 1 lb. Organic Ground Meat (bison or beef; vegans can use 1 carton of diced mushrooms or pea protein meat substitute instead) 6 large Organic Zucchini 2 Organic Lemons 4 sprigs of Rosemary 4 medium Organic Tomatoes 3 cups cooked Rice (which is 1 cup of uncooked Rice) 1 Yellow Onion 5 cloves of Garlic Olive Oil Salt & …

Sirens Food Hacks

Published by

Words, Video & Photography by Sarah Prikryl   Happy New Year!! In 2017, we want to inspire you to go have adventures, make some art, be present, instigate friend gatherings and always play with your food! To kick off the year, I’m sharing my most used Food Hacks to encourage you to cook up some fun. I hope this helpful video series saves you time in the kitchen and brightens your day! One of my favorite painters is Giuseppe Arcimboldo. His playful still life portraits predominately feature the close relationship between humans and nature. As a true believer in the magic found in the ordinary, Arcimboldo’s paintings inspire me to dream big in the kitchen. So without further ado, here’s my Arcimboldo-inspired love story and my Top 5 Food Hacks for some foodie fun!  (Click the arrow for some inspiration.) SARAH’S TOP 5 FOOD HACKS  Sirens Lettuce Hack The fastest and healthiest meal you can throw together is a savory and delicious salad. Did you know you can core a head of lettuce in about 3 seconds? Click the arrow to watch our Lettuce Hack Video: Sirens Onion Hack …

Mile-High Apple Pie (Gluten-Free)

Published by

It’s the most wonderful time of the year! Time for gatherings and holiday festivities centered around family, friends and feasting! In late October/early November, we at Sirens & Scoundrels make our annual pilgrimage to Oak Glen, Ca. (Check out our Oak Glen adventures: HERE.) We wander through apple orchards for apple picking season, watch a mountain sunset and end the day at Apple Annie’s for a piece of Mile-High Apple Pie. Being gluten-free, I’m usually the one in the group observing all of the delight and minds being blown as friends consume a hot buttery piece of Mile-High Pie. I always ask, “How is it? How does it taste?” To which the reply is always, “Absolutely. Perfect.” The Apple Annie’s famous Mile-High Apple Pie is 5 pounds of pure apple. I’m told it’s not too sweet…a buttery, flaky piece of heaven, especially when served warm and á la mode. Partially out of pure eating envy and partially out of curiosity if I could replicate this masterpiece without actually having tasted it, I wanting to experiment with the idea of …

Mama Gina’s Greek Hummus (Vegan & Gluten-Free)

Published by

What you are about to read is very coveted, top-secret information. As a Greek girl, hummus has always been a staple at our family table, especially on holidays, when family gatherings traditionally start with mezethes. Fresh-cubed feta cheese, Greek olives, grape leaves and creamy dips with pita bread are dug into by hand over lively conversation before moving to the table for the main meal. The star of our mezethes spread is always my mother’s homemade hummus. This recipe has been passed down from generations of Greek women, originating with my grandmother’s relatives on the island of Samos, traveling with my Yiayia to America where it settled into New York’s immigrant city blocks and finally landing with my mother in sunny Southern California and onto our suburban table. Over many years in LA, our family hummus was the favorite attraction at every gathering even before it became the de rigueur go-to Cali party snack. Many of our friends growing up were exposed to hummus for the first time at our house. But no matter how …

Your De-stressing Remedy ~ Guided Gratitude Meditation

Published by

No matter what side of the line you stand on, we can all agree it’s been a crazy few weeks for America. We find ourselves in a country incredibly divided, which for many people was shocking in its immediacy. As a meditation coach, I have been hearing non-stop stories of irreparable rifts between friends, loved ones, co-workers and family members that exploded in a seeming instant. Fear, anxiety, sorrow, heartache and anger pervade all over our social media pages and in our conversations as people fight, unfollow and unfriend each other. As a country, we are in a 24-7 argument with ourselves right now. And people are collectively exhausted. To move through this difficult time, it’s important to have some tools to help navigate these choppy waters. Now more than ever, it is vitally important to stay grounded, practice self care and connect to the things that you love to stay in balance and not get swept away in all of the emotional turmoil of the moment. So take your fingers off the keyboard, step …

Baked Pumpkin Fondue

Published by

Starting with Halloween and ending on New Year’s Day, the Holidays are a whirlwind of feasts and gatherings. I recently attended a Halloween Potluck Pumpkin Carving hosted by the best hostess and foodie, the lovely Hayley McCarthy (who was previously featured over the summer in my camp cooking article with her delicious gluten-free Banana Fritters recipe: HERE). For this festive gathering of costumed guests ready to show off their pumpkin carving skills, Hayley baked the most perfect, comforting and gorgeous Holiday dish I had ever seen! As she stepped out of the kitchen dressed in true Halloween fashion as Rosie the Riveter, her Baked Pumpkin Fondue was greeted with oohs and aahs and tasted even better than it looked–if that is even possible. Hayley made this special dish gluten-free to make sure I could partake. As soon as I tasted it, I could not wait to share this recipe with you! It’s absolutely the perfect Holiday dish and a wonderful way to use those leftover pumpkins you have been using for your fall decor. I’m so happy to feature this recipe share from …

Jackalope ~ Joshua Desert Retreats

Published by

As the year draws to a close, the air gets a little crisper and the longing for snowy log cabins starts to set in, something else begins to call our names over here at Sirens & Scoundrels…the desert. It might not seem like the obvious choice for a winter getaway but there is something about the deep stillness of our dusty wide-open spaces that seems to push our inner “reset” buttons whenever we answer that call. The desert brings the perfect opportunity to slow down, unplug and reconnect to some delicious peace that feels heaven-sent for this time of year when we all naturally start to turn inward. So in pursuit of some “quiet nights of quiet stars”, we set out for our beloved Joshua Tree. Most Californians know Palm Springs as the haven for any mid-century enthusiast. But here on the outskirts away from it all, we uncovered a secret vintage gem to make all your Mad-Men-in-the-Desert dreams come true! Allow us to introduce you to Jackalope, one of thirteen charming desert compounds owned …

Sierra Fall Colors ~ June Lake Loop, CA

Published by

October in Southern California. That exciting time of year when pumpkin patch corn mazes start popping up around town, the smell of autumn candles wafts through the air, thoughts of warm apple pies baking in the oven fill your mind and the internet explodes with #pumpkinspice mania. A deep primal need to pull on a sweater, snuggle by a fire and see trees bursting with fall colors begins to take over. Until you realize it’s 90° outside and we’re still stuck between our two seasons of green and greener, warm and insanely hot. Growing up in LA, we only got to experience “real fall” by hopping on a plane to visit our family on the East Coast once in a while. New England always seemed to hold the title for Best Fall Colors in the country. Clearly the Charles Wysocki puzzles I diligently put together fireside on my sunny-and-clear 75° holidays would back that up. I would place each little puzzle piece of bright orange, red and yellow trees next to mini Americana homes with …

Italian Vegetable Stew ~ (Gluten-Free & Vegan)

Published by

As summer ends and we step into fall, I can think of nothing more satisfying than a piping-hot, hearty bowl of homemade stew!  The seasonal changes are sometimes subtle here in California but it allows for fresh produce year round.  I love that we can easily get seasonal, organic produce from our local farmer’s market throughout the week or even grow it in our own home garden. At a recent Sirens & Scoundrels trip to Northern California, my friends generously shared their backyard harvest with me and I couldn’t wait to start experimenting in the kitchen! These were some of the best tomatoes I have ever eaten and the beautiful bounty of squash, zucchini and basil ran rampant in their garden. My Italian Vegetable Stew began as an experiment inspired by our farm-to-table experience and became an instant hit! It’s so easy, healthy and delicious (plus it’s vegan and gluten free)!  This crave-worthy, comfort bowl is so rich in flavor because of the quality of the produce. I highly encourage you to use organic ingredients, especially the tomatoes, when making this stew. I’m so happy …

République ~ Los Angeles, CA

Published by

If you’ve been jonesing for a little taste of the French countryside recently but don’t quite have the time or money to head overseas right now, then why not allow the French countryside to come to you? République on La Brea is the stuff all your Provence dreams are made of: long wooden farm tables inside a château courtyard, fluffy pastries overflowing from pâtisserie cases, thick creamy butter slathered over fresh-baked bread loaves still warm from the oven and just perfect for dunking those bright orange farm-fresh egg yolks into. From your very first step inside the door, you find yourself filled up with a burning desire to parlez et mangez français. Set inside the old La Brea Bakery and Campanile building, République has been restored back to most of the original architecture from when Charlie Chaplin first built it in the 20’s. The interior courtyard has been exposed with large skylights overhead so that it seems to glow from within. The vibe is relaxed, airy and casual. We went for brunch and it was the …

Ghost Town ~ Bodie State Historic Park, CA

Published by

A couple years ago, I started seeing photos pop up around Instagram that literally haunted me. Images of antique rooms covered in thick layers of dust, wrought iron beds with beautifully decomposing mattresses and dainty wallpaper peeling away in long layers, hats left dangling from chairs awaiting owners who will never return. Perfectly preserved decay, simultaneously frozen in time and ravaged by it. It seemed like a strange fever dream, no way it could exist in reality. Surely these were just film sets, all Hollywood smoke and mirrors built for some weird music video shoot. But as I researched, I discovered that not only was it 100% real, it was right here in our own backyard. Never able to resist a good ghost story, the Sirens packed into the Prius and headed out to investigate the truth behind one of the largest gold rush ghost towns in California and the U.S.…Bodie State Historic Park. Located off the 395 about an hour northeast of Mammoth, things start to feel strange early on as the paved road …