So There's That
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Oven Roasted Chicken | So There's That Blog | Charla Blue Photography

Oven Roasted Chicken | Amazing Crispy Chicken Skin

Written by David and Photography by Charla in In the kitchen, The Simple Kitchen, Wine & Dine

Even the leftovers looked good! This recipe is a keeper. At various stages throughout my overly long college career, there were few things that obsessed me as much as roasted chicken. It may have started from the time that I “borrowed” my mom’s yellowed 1967 edition of Julia Child’s famous tome, “Mastering the Art of French Cooking”. There it was, right on page 240: “ You can always judge the quality of a cook or a restaurant by roast chicken.” The romance of something so simple and so basic leading…read more

Apr.02 15

Urban Living | Downtown Long Beach

Written by David and Photography by Charla in Long Beach, Spaces

One the greatest pleasures I discovered as a foreign exchange student living in Europe was living in an urban space: multiple floors of housing above retail stores, markets, restaurants, cafes, all connected by a transportation network of roads, rails, sidewalks, and bike paths. It happened here too. Crossing downtown Long Beach’s Ocean Avenue on a recent Saturday afternoon, we caught the last rays of a burning orange sun defiantly slicing through the canyons of tall buildings, our very own “Manhattanhenge”. Downtown Long Beach is an urban planner’s dream, a creative,…read more

Feb.22 15

The Simple Kitchen: Valentines Day at Home

Written by David and Photography by Charla in Celebrations, The Simple Kitchen

What do you do on Valentine’s Day? Go out to dinner and wait for an hour behind a dozen Valentines couples? Go on a first date and bask in the awkwardness? Lament (or revel) in your singlehood? Have a party with a big group of friends? In any circumstance, Valentine’s Day probably more than any other holiday is a minefield of weird choices, emotional roller-coasters and big expectations that no one – single, not single – can uphold. So what do you do about it? Why, cook some food of…read more

Feb.07 15

Introducing: “Travel Where You Live”

Written by David and Photography by Charla in Travel where you live

“We travel to faraway places because we expect holidays, recovery, adventure and new experiences. But is that always necessary?” Sometime after I graduated college and entered the real world, I learned that my sister once woke up from a bad dream where she saw me slaving endlessly in a tiny space, working for faceless bosses and unable to live a life of family, friends and much else. Little did she know – little did I know – that I would in fact spend many of the following years realizing that nightmare,…read more

Jan.31 15

Charla’s 40th Birthday Celebration

Written by David and Photography by Juliana Kissinger in Celebrations

“I don’t really like sweets,” Charla said. “You can just skip the birthday cake.” She skillfully ignored my disbelieving look and started talking about Spanish food again. Really? No cake with candles? Not even cupcakes? Cookies? Flan? She was unimpressed. I had a problem. Charla’s birthday was a few weeks away and I was in charge of planning it. Not just any birthday – her fortieth. Can I say that word publicly? After all, several years ago a career mentor once said to me, “you need to start lying about…read more

Dec.11 14

The most wonderful time of year for… Holiday Photos!

Written by David and Photography by Charla in Celebrations

Halloween and Thanksgiving are safely behind us, here just one week into December, so you are legally permitted to play Christmas music if that is your thing. It is the most wonderful time of year, they say, and in fact it is a wonderful time for that holiday tradition: photos for your holiday cards to send to your friends and family. The thought of taking holiday photos might fill everyone with dread: toddlers, teenagers, parents, grandparents, the photographer. Who needs the stress of kids in full meltdown, family members not…read more

Nov.05 14

Yard Wine | Welcome to the Neighborhood

Written by David and Photography by Charla in Long Beach, Wine & Dine

Several months ago, before I moved from the action-packed streets of Long Beach’s Belmont Shore to this quiet neighborhood in Belmont Heights, I got out of my car outside Charla’s apartment and saw a skinny dog running loose in the empty nighttime street. But it was a little too skinny, a little too skittish. A woman who lives in the corner house walked outside to shoo it away but the coyote just watched her and me, unimpressed. Then it turned and walked away. Still, the neighbor and I bonded over…read more

Oct.30 14

Ají Peruvian Cuisine

Written by David and Photography by Charla in Wine & Dine

Making responsible choices is difficult when one is hungry. Charla and I were starved one evening and facing a kid-free date night without thought of where to go other than our favorite standbys. As so often happens in this neighborhood, two of Charla’s friends rode by on their bikes and recommended Ají Peruvian on Long Beach’s Fourth Street, and then rode off again. I am not making this up. This kind of casual connection with people has not been a part of my experience since college, only now it is…read more

Oct.01 14

Salad + Homemade Dressing | The Simple Kitchen

Written by David and Photography by Charla in The Simple Kitchen

An easy, fast and tasty idea in The Simple Kitchen is basic salad dressing. Forget everything you know about those afterthought salads with something bottled. Put aside your awkward worries about of dinner guests who devour your barbeque but barely touch your salad. Instead, think of salad as the main attraction. When your guests eat more salad than main course, your dinner party is a success! Even serve a one-course meal of just a big salad with whatever you find laying around in the fridge. What makes it come together?…read more

Sep.21 14

Mercat de Sant Josep de La Boqueria, Barcelona

Written by David and Photography by Charla in Travel

The Mercat de Sant Josep de la Boqueria lies in the heart of Barcelona, next to the Rambla, a major pedestrian street that is central to the city’s identity. “La Boqueria” is a traditional marketplace. It existed before supermarkets, before Trader Joes, before car-focused suburbs. They still exist in much of Europe and Latin America, a central place to buy your food from different vendors located in the center of your city or town. La Boqueria is a daily ritual or shopping, eating and connecting with your community and its…read more