The Brief

I don't know about you, but I am barely dragging myself across the finish line of 2023.

So when the convo in my friends' group chat turned to talk of a signature cocktail to ring for 2024 (my friend group does an "elevated potluck" for the occasion) my first reaction was: I. Just. Can't.

Or could I?

Could I do something simple and easy — ideally inexpensive — and something that could use up some of the alcohol I already had? (The holidays tapped me out, people!) And could there be a mocktail version that wouldn't leave out the non drinkers, like my husband?

Sure, I could try to spend days of my life making my own elderflower liquor or searching our shrub bitters for mocktails-into-cocktails that would no doubt be delicious. In fact, I might resolve to do just that in the new year. But right now? I want e-a-s-y.

Bringing in the big guns

That's when I decided to bring in reinforcements. I turned to Anna Lisa, the L.A.-based recipe creator behind the Trader Joe's 5 Items or Less website (and its 487,000 strong Instagram account) and author of the Trader Joe's 5 Ingredients or Less cookbook. I put the challenge to her.

Her solution was so blissfully simple that we both chuckled at her answer, and her advice: Don't try to reinvent the wheel.

She suggested I look no further than the beverage aisle at any supermarket in America, which will bulge with fizzy alcohol-free drinks. (The market share for bubbly sodas, seltzers and waters has gone through the roof since the pandemic.)

They're fairy inexpensive, and they make the perfect starting point for a mocktail that can transform into a cocktail, with the addition of some spirits, syrups and citrus and perhaps fruit, in any DIY combo that sounds appealing, she said.

1. Start with your favorite fizzy flavors

Since she is the Trader Joe's Queen, she suggested trying their line of apple cider vinegar sodas, which come in lemon and strawberry, ginger and lemon, and elderberry and pomegranate. (And in case you are wondering, no, they don't taste like you are chugging apple cider vinegar. They are light and slighly sweet, with no added sugar. The perfect blank canvas for a cocktail.)

But really, any fizzy sodas and waters you find at your local market can be subbed in here, as long as you start with a base flavor that you like.

2. Add a dash of syrup or a bitter

Next up, add a syrup or a bitter if you've got one on hand, or skip if you don't.

If you do have a syrup in your liquor cabinet, this may be the place to start building your drink's flavor profile so you are using what you've got.

3. Make it pretty

Then, think about accents. Lime? Lemon? Orange slices? Cherries? A strawberry sliced through the bottom so it can perch on the rim of a glass?

4. Spiked, or not?

Finally, if desired, add alcohol. "Vodka has very little taste to it, so it goes with everything," Lisa said. But tequila could work. Gin, too. Or a ginger beer?

5. For extra credit...

Bonus points if you channel a stylist's eye to the beverage area at the party, and serve drinks in pretty glasses or copper cups. Don't forget drink charms so no one confuses one drink with another (one of the downsides of trying to serve a signature drink for all.)

Mostly, though, she advised that party throwers just relax. "Don’t stress too much about it," she said. "Everyone is there to have fun and have a good time. Whatever you serve will be fine."

This laid back advice is based on hard won experience.

'Real cooking'?

Lisa started her website just two years ago — and only after dragging her feet and worrying whether anyone would read it. "My biggest fear was that people were going to be like... that's not real cooking!" she said.

But she was a tired wife and mom to a 2-year-old and a newborn, and trying to get dinner on the table each night was an endless chore. She found herself searching again and again for easy dinner recipes. And Trader Joe's was a go-to destination in part because it's compact size means "not a lot of choices for my mom brain." And then she remembered hearing the adage, "If you can't find it, create it."

And that's how she came up with the idea for the popular website that uses TJ's to find ingredients that can be mixed and matched into quick, easy and delicious meals. (In case you are wondering, she said she has no affiliation with TJ's, and has never heard from management there.) She is currently at work on a second cookbook and looking for a publisher.

'Enjoy yourself'

"I think people are intested in, 'Is it easier? Is it going to improve my life?'" Lisa said. "Nobody cares that it's not an hour-long dish that took 20 ingredients to prepare.

"As long as it makes you happy and you enjoy it, that's good for your mental health. Just take it easy and enjoy yourself."

She was talking about her philosophy for the daily dinner-time struggle, but it also served as cocktail advice for me.

And, now that I think of it, these are words of wisdom for all of us as we drag ourselves over the finish line and into a new year.

An employee of Los Angeles County’s Office of Emergency Management has sued his employer, alleging he was retaliated against for making whistleblower complaints about the response to the deadly Eaton Fire.

Nicholas Vaquero, an associate director in the Office of Emergency Management, alleges that officials leading the office failed to properly staff the response to the fire, which killed at least 19 people and burned thousands of homes and businesses in January 2025.

He also alleges the county’s emergency alerts were inadequate and that it submitted fraudulent data in order to receive FEMA reimbursement. Vaquero says in the suit that he used official county whistleblower channels to raise his concerns, in addition to speaking to OEM’s top two officials, Director Kevin McGowan and Deputy Director Leslie Luke.

Vaquero’s lawyers and the county declined to comment on the substance of the lawsuit. “L.A. County is going to address the allegations in court,” spokesperson Elizabeth Marcellino wrote in a statement to LAist.

LAist previously reported on Vaquero’s whistleblower complaint, in which he alleged that a now-retired employee with “a long history of sleeping on the job” was put in charge of emergency workers sending evacuation alerts and was asleep during critical moments of the first night of the Eaton Fire, when many of the deaths and much of the devastation occurred.

In the lawsuit, Vaquero alleges he has faced retaliation after raising his concerns, including being excluded from meetings he previously was a part of and being treated with hostility by the department’s leadership, among other things.

The complaint comes after county leadership launched a three-year restructuring of the Office of Emergency Management, which includes working to add staff and to conduct regular training for all staff on emergency alert software.

An after-action report from the McChrystal Group highlighted that the emergency management office was severely short-staffed during the fire. The department, which serves 10 million people, had a staff of 37 people at the time the fires broke out. Meanwhile, New York City has a population of 8.5 million and an emergency management staff of about 200 people, the report noted.

For the last three years, the record store and music venue Healing Force of the Universe has been operating on a sleepy street corner not far from Pasadena City College. Nearby businesses include a shoe repair store, a nail salon and several auto shops.

“We're kind of in a dead corner,” owner Austin Manuel said. “No offense if anybody lives here, but not a very foot-trafficked area, kind of a hard place to have a store.”

In spite of the location, Manuel said Healing Force has become a home away from home for musicians and music fans. One of them is Bobby Bradford, a jazz trumpet legend who lost his house and personal archive in the Eaton Fire. He performs regularly at the venue. (Healing Force has also partnered with LAist on fire recovery events.)

Its current location is set to close this month, but Manuel and his team are already raising funds to cover a move to another space: G-Son Studios in Atwater Village. The repurposed ballroom was the Beastie Boys' home base when they recorded their classic albums Check Your Head and Ill Communication. Run-DMC and Biz Markie stopped by at one point, and Beck also laid down tracks for his album Odelay there.

Inside Healing Force's space in Pasadena.

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The vibe

Healing Force sells records, of course, but these days it’s more of a nighttime performance space. Manuel said he wants people to feel comfortable striking up conversations after a show.

“I grew up in the church in the South, and I was like, ‘How do I design this so that it feels like a Southern church lady could come in here and feel welcome?’" Manuel said. “ I didn't want it to be too cool.  I wanted it to feel kind of suburban in a way.”

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Though the name might call to mind a cult slogan — and Manuel said they lean into that aesthetic on purpose — it’s actually a reference to the 1970 album Music Is the Healing Force of the Universe by saxophonist Albert Ayler.

At the venue, “people can kind of get … into a meditative zone,” Manuel said. “After the [January 2025] fires, it felt so good to come back together in this room and feel the healing of community.”

Healing Force's stage setup.

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The performances

The shows Healing Force puts on share a common thread: They’re meant to promote peace and relaxation, as well as deep, careful listening on the hi-fi sound system. But they’re an eclectic mix of genres. On one night, you might see L.A. spiritual jazz band Phi-Psonics, who turned a residency at the venue into a live album, Expanding to One.

On another night, you might catch a spaced-out electronic set, an up-and-coming singer-songwriter or a group of session musicians who’ve played with the likes of Paul Simon, Elton John and Lucinda Williams.

About the fundraiser

With the new space on Glendale Boulevard, Manuel said, Healing Force would triple its capacity for concerts, get a bar space and be closer to other venues in Northeast L.A.

“If 1,000 people gave $25, we would get there,” Manuel said – though he also said most people have been giving more.

You can read more about the fundraiser and donate at Healing Force’s GoFundMe.

See the Pasadena space before it closes

The venue is still open at 1200 E. Walnut Street and is holding events through this Halloween weekend. You can see their events calendar on their website.

The racist DNA of Jim Crow discrimination may be embedded in your housing documents.

The language in housing documents that restricts sale or use of a property only to a person of the white race is called a “restrictive covenant,” and in California the practice goes back to the 19th century and continued into the mid-20th century. While housing discrimination persists, the practice was found unconstitutional in 1948.

California counties are reporting mixed progress in meeting the demands of a 2021 law to excise the language from property records.

According to Sylvia Manzo, deputy recorder in the Orange County Clerk-Recorder’s office, the county finished the job in March of this year, removing racist language from more than 27,000 property documents with the help of computer software.

This 1924 property document from Bakersfield includes racist language limiting use of the property in question to people of "the white or Caucasian race."

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L.A. County is far from done. It says that with the help of an outside company hired in 2024, 50 million pages will be examined yearly, which would take about 10 years to finish the job.

Public agencies could use the public’s help.

Language examples

Here’s a 1924 example from a property in Bakersfield. The text reads, “That the lands herein conveyed shall never, at any time, be sold to or rented to or occupied by any person not of the white or Caucasian race.”

Or this language from a 1936 document relating to a Costa Mesa property: “That said premises shall not be sold, conveyed, rented, or leased to, or occupied by any person of African, Mexican, or Asiatic descent.”

How to get it taken out

The Restrictive Covenant Modification Form is at the heart of the effort to remove the racist language from housing documents. Each county has its own process. Some charge a fee; others don’t. Some require a notary certification for the signature; others don’t.

L.A. County:

Registrar-Recorder officials recommend these steps:

• Highlight or underline the unlawful provision on the recorded document
• Complete the Restrictive Covenant Modification Form
• Submit the form and the recorded document by email: RCM@rrcc.lacounty.gov or in person at the Norwalk headquarters at 12400 Imperial Highway in Norwalk
• Mail instructions are here.

Orange County:

The Orange County spokesperson says there may be some properties not caught by its software and urges the public to report them. Here’s the form

Riverside County:

Here’s the Riverside County form

San Bernardino County:

Here’s the San Bernardino County form

San Diego County:

Here’s the San Diego County form

Santa Barbara County:

Here’s the Santa Barbara County form

Ignoring the racist language in property documents, some say, reinforces the legacy of segregation, while taking steps to remove restrictive covenant language is a way individuals and organizations can repudiate policies that sought to discriminate.