When I came out to Los Angeles from New York to pursue a career in acting, I was dirt poor. I mean, so poor that when the earthquake of 1994 hit, I couldn't buy a gallon of water. I'd been drinking it out the tap (don't look at me like that. That's how we do it in NYC!) until somebody told me that LA water was the worse there was. And LA water after an earthquake is nothing short of poison. I couldn't scrape together enough money from the couch to even buy a no-frills distilled brand of H2O, so I resigned myself to boiling a pot-full of agua on my rickety fire- hazard- of -a hot -plate, 'cause the room I was shackin' in didn't come with a kitchen. Or a closet. Or a bathtub, for that matter. But no matter. As long as I had some heat, I could burn. And burn I did. I fried chicken, stewed lentils (a bag cost a whopping .79 cents and it could feed you for a week!) Anything that required the use of an oven was not an option (I don't like what microwaves do to food). Nothing would stop me from making good food. Most meals centered around the old college staple: Ramen Noodles. Did you know that you can put almost anything in Ramen Noodles? Cut up some onions, a can of tuna and a dash of salt and pepper and you got something resembling a tuna casserole. Veggies are cheap enough (and healthy too!) and, with a few lesser cuts from the chicken (backs are cheapest), you've got just enough protein to make a full-fledged meal. When I had a little left over from paying the rent on my $314.50 apartment, I splurged and took myself out to a meal. But I couldn't go far, 'cause I didn't own a car. No sweat in any other urban metropolis, but in Los Angeles, it's virtually impossible to get from one end of town to the other without a car and not spending the whole light of day doing it. But I let nothing get in my way of my pursuit of Good Food. It's true then. It is true now. It will be true always.
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