Hot Chocolate

The shortstop looked as if he had lost a fight in an alley. The center fielder dodged a beer shower tossed at him from behind the outfield fence. The first baseman shoved a fan out of his way to catch a foul ball. And the guys sitting in the bullpen warded off the bitter cold by wearing black parkas borrowed from the home team. Nothing routine about this game for the Angels--except, that is, for the victory.

Chocolate remains among the most mystical of culinary delights, but too often home cooks avoid its pleasures because chocolate intimidates them. They think of the mysterious act of "tempering" chocolate or recall what happened when a drop of water found its way out of the double boiler and a whole silky batch seized on the spot. In fact, chocolate is like those other mystical luxuries, foie gras, caviar and truffles-often the less you do to it, the better.

Champurrado is hot chocolate Mexican-style, warm and comforting to drink early in the morning or late on a chilly night. What sets it apart from regular hot chocolate is the addition of corn masa as a thickener. La Azteca, a tortilleria-deli in East Los Angeles, adds masa made from whole-kernel dried corn, rather than instant masa flour. A touch of cinnamon enhances the flavor of the drink. Champurrado, $3 for 1 quart at La Azteca, 4538 Cesar E. Chavez Ave., East Los Angeles. (323) 262-5977.

When winter's rains sweep through chilly Southern California, all I want to do is rush indoors, cozy up to a good book and prepare a steaming pot of chocolat chaud. Instantly, my thoughts wrap around the memory of the hot chocolate served at the chateau in Belgium. The Chateau du Pont d'Oie, literally "the castle of the goose bridge," made hot chocolate unlike any other.

Before you could rip November off the wall calendar, Linda Steiner's front yard was full of Christmas. The lights were up, fluffy white quilt batting made "snow" for the ski slope on the roof, and snow patches on the ground and a new train layout joined the Santa's workshop scene in the yard. When it comes to big-time holiday decorating--the kind that leaves viewers awe-struck--you need to get a jump on the season, experts say.

my daughter, Dana [below], traveled to Timbuktu for a hiking expedition. On her way home she stopped in Paris, called my wife, Sukey, and said that we should come over. So we did. We had never seen Paris during the Christmas season--it was a glorious sight. * DISCOVERY: We really enjoyed the luxurious hot chocolate and the crepes that we purchased from street vendors. And we ate a lot of French bread and croissants.

What I know about erotic poetry could fit on a dewy rose petal. So to get in the Valentine's Day spirit, I stopped by Friday night for Sex Kiss '99, held at the Alta coffeehouse in Newport Beach. I arrived early and was offered a seat by a pleasant woman with short blond hair and tinted glasses. "Are you a poet?" she asked. "No, I'm with the L.A. Times," I said, suddenly chagrined at my bourgeois station in life. She was a contestant. We talked a bit and I asked her name.