On Monday I hurried down to West Los Angeles with a growling stomach after work. Beverly works for a British organization, and I work for a company birthed in the San Fernando Valley, yet she had Columbus Day off (and I didn’t). To ease my pain she decided to cook me dinner.

She cooked a dish that she’d never made before and just thought up on Sunday. It used prunes and was inspired by the dishes at Shamshiri – which we’d eaten one week earlier. For those who’ve never had the pleasure – the most popular dish at Shamshiri (after the requisite kabob/shwarma variations) is Abollo Pollo – a dish with meat and a giant plate of cherry flavored (and filled) rice. Beverly thought it would be a good idea to make a prune sauce mixed with various spices and soy sauce (I was chopping watermelon – so I didn’t catch all the ingredients) and served with a spiced rice with a dark “hickory” flavor (no idea what the rice was called). The sauce was cooked up with chicken thighs and topped in caramelized onions. She also made a side of pork with cabbage – but the emphasis was clearly on this new creation that was worthy of a spot on Shamshiri’s menu – and certainly put my cooking of the past weekend to shame.

The proud cook and her work (notice I couldn’t help myself and already started eating before the photo was snapped).

After dinner we ate watermelon while leafing through Scientific American before taking a walk around the block that ended when we were being followed by a very angry old hairy homeless man. We noted that at least he had the courtesy to make his presence well known to give us a running (or in this case briskly walking) start.