Last night at a get together my friend was telling me about this burger and pie joint.
I couldn’t wait. I had to go.

The banana creme pie was so good. We had to wait to find a spot, but it was totally worth it. Everyone was really nice too. A woman from Kansas chatted me up about my KU shirt. I took some pictures for a couple who had just enjoyed a meal. It was really great.

The interior is amazing. It looks like it hasn’t changed since 1947, when the menu was from. It had a Scottish tartan wallpaper, but there was nothing Scottish about this place.

Potato donuts.

I’m sick.

This one is at 3001 Figueroa in LA.

I live in a 98 year old house.
And we don’t want you peddlers and agents ringing our door.

I had half-and-half that was about to go bad and the urge to make something a little more difficult. Éclairs! Yum!

This recipe is from my favorite bake book, The America’s Test Kitchen Family Baking Book. Buy it!

Make the cream first! I made the mistake of not and I didn’t finish the éclairs until the end of the day! You can also make the shells ahead and keep them in a ziploc baggy. Good luck

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Since we have beautiful roses in our front yard I picked 2 and made fresh rosewater and a bit of rose oil.

I used this recipe from About.com:

Ingredients:

Clean rose petals or herbs (grown without pesticides)
Water
Ice

Preparation:

You can make rose water (or any other herb) and extracts at home with a bit of time and patience.

Place a heavy glass ramekin into a deep stockpot. Fill the ramekin 3/4 full with water to weigh it down. Place rose petals or herbs around the exterior of the ramekin in the bottom of the pot and cover with water halfway up the side of the ramekin. Place a shallow soup bowl on top of the ramekin. Bring the water and rose petals to a boil. Lower heat to simmer.

Place a stainless steel bowl on top of the stockpot. It should be large enough to seal the pot, but shallow enough so that its bottom is above the top level of the soup bowl. Fill the top bowl with ice.

Simmer the mixture 3 to 4 hours, depending on the amount. As the mixture boils, the heat rises and hits the cold bowl, causing it to condense and drip down into the inner bowl. Replace ice as needed as it melts.

When done, the small bowl will contain the rose water (or herb water). It will have a layer of rose oil (or herb oil) that is the essential oil or extract. The oil may be separated from the water.

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I used it to make Turkish Delight for my ailing friend Victoria. But I have so much left over I need to buy little bottles to bottle it!

Once you reach New Mexico on the drive west signs for the THING? Start popping up everywhere.

I decided I had to go. I paid the $1 to go in and walked the path. I took my pictures and tried to figure out what exactly the THING? Was supposed to be. Was it the mummy thing, was it a dried up old indian? I asked my brother when I got to Tucson and he didn’t really have an answer. The Thing is an enigma. It can be whatever you want it to be.

But according to roadsideamerica.com you can ask the owner for $5 and find out what the THING? is.

Shots taken with my phone from Jefferson to LA.
I’m now in my new home. More travel stories and LA experiences to post soon enough.

Yesterday I left Jefferson for my trip out to Los Angeles for Graduate School.
I’ll miss it.

This is an abandoned building that the General Store owner uses for storage. But tourists love to take pictures of it.