LAPD Wife

Happy Halloween

Block parties, pumpkin carving, Halloween parades at school. So much fun. Today we're carving our pumpkins and I'll be roasting the seeds - a favorite of Officer Jake's and our son. My daughter and I worked on a sweeter treat for a Halloween party - pumpkin cheesecake. Oh so yummy and oh so decadent, but very festive, wouldn't you say?

I made a simple pumpkin cheesecake with a white topping, but then got all Halloween-y by decorating it to look like a spiderweb with spiders and all. Was quite simple. Just take a tube of black cake decorating gel and make a spiral pattern around the cake, starting at the center and working your way out. Then take a toothpick and draw it through the gel in lines to create the webby look. Here are photos of it still in the springform pan and a closeup. I meant to take a photo of it once I'd plated it for serving, but was running too late and Jake was giving me the stink-eye for holding things up. Plating was simple, though. Put it on a simple glass platter and surround the base of the cheesecake with more plastic spiders.

I witnessed one man at the party eat THREE pieces. That's the best compliment of all - when someone is willing to clog an artery because your food tastes so good. Hope you all have a happy and safe Halloween!

Countdown to the new LAPD Chief

The three candidates recommended by the Police Commission are Deputy Chief Charles Beck, First Assistant Chief Jim McDonnell and Deputy Chief Michel Moore. Mayor Villaraigosa announced them in a televised news conference late yesterday afternoon. Also, Deputy Chief Michael Downing was named interim chief to run things after Chief Bratton leaves. Downing currently runs the LAPD's counter-terrorism bureau.

I was gathered around one of my neighbor's kitchen islands, chatting about the neighborhood Halloween block party when I saw the mayor come on the muted TV with "breaking news." No way could I interrupt one of my friends who was venting about her sleepless nights with a 2-yr old and a 2-month old baby with colic, but I happily called Officer Jake to let him know they were making the candidate announcement. We had disagreed that the announcement would be made at that time - it's so nice when I'm right ; )

LAObserved: Police Chief Finalists Named

LA Times: Three insiders being considered... this article gives a little more in-depth about each candidate's background and the thinking behind each candidate. Wonder if we should start a pool here about who will be chosen?

For those who want to share their thoughts about the choices for chief, discussion is encouraged on the LAPPL's blog HERE.

Chief Bratton's departure

Good editorial cartoon by Steve Greenburg over on LAObserved. Check it out HERE.

New LAPD Headquarters

Working as a freelancer, there are up times and there are down times. And then there are the times when you don't know which way is up or down and you life is consumed with meeting deadlines and telling your husband and kids that if they want to eat, they should order in or eat a bowl of cereal. This is one of those times for me.

Part of the work I've been doing has taken me downtown, near the new LAPD police headquarters. An amazing building that I've been able to watch go up over the last year as one one of my clients is located close by. The grand opening of the new headquarters has been billed as the end of an era and coincides with Chief Bratton's last week as Chief of the LAPD.

As the clock ticks toward Chief Bratton's final day, there is still debate about who will be our next Chief. It's generally acknowledged that departments insiders , Assistant Chiefs Jim McDonnell, Earl Paysinger and Sharon Papa and Deputy Chief Charlie Beck, are the final four, with Beck widely thought to have the edge. I say wait and see. You never know what last-minute political maneuvering may bring to the table. We'll watch and we'll see.

Meanwhile, I was also witness a couple weeks ago to the installation of some new and very....let's say "interesting" .... sculptures being installed around the new headquarters building. The consensus of my coworkers and myself was that they looked like bulbous animals without heads. I do like better Chief Bratton's description of them as looking like "cow splat." I see stuff like this, shake my head and wonder how much better $500,000 could have been spent. Yes, I said $500,000.

Los Angeles Times: With new police headquarters, LAPD ends an era

Photos of the grand opening here

LAT: Sculptures at the LAPD and a comments blog about the art called "art or atrocious?" with more pictures. I recommend that you read a few of the comments, there are some pretty hilarious ones in there.

BTW, the party for Jake's 20th was amazing. I've taken pictures and will give a full report on it later.