Last year just before the Moroccan Feast was to take place, I had an infestation of termites in my living room. Termites are very common in California. They like to eat wood, as wooden frames in doors or windows or in my case carved wooden beams in my living room. We tried an organic approach last year, which involved daily spraying and vacuuming the termite wings off the furniture.

Too much information?

I didn’t want a repeat. So, I decided to take the less organic and more aggressive approach, which involved vacating my house, tenting it and bombing it with a termite killing gas.

The puppies and I went to a hotel. I chose the Avalon Hotel in Beverly Hills because it was puppy friendly and in my hood. As the puppies and I checked-in, we were informed that we were actually staying in a section of the hotel that had been apartments, and one of the most famous residents was Marilyn Monroe. The puppies were not impressed; but they loved the room service.

Back at my house I had to remove all food items, herbs, everything in the freezer and refrigerator. I also had to move 150 orchid plants that live in pots on the side of the house.

Fortunately, I had lots of help putting everything back: I had lots of volunteers when I offered to feed them.

I got back to my house at 10:00 a.m. and everything was back in place by 1:00 p.m., and we were sitting down to a feast. The only thing I could really prepare ahead were the homemade cookies, which I baked and stored in my outside freezer.

The Italian Sausages and Peppers were made just before serving using fresh turkey sausages.

The Pizzas were made using pizza dough from the refrigerator department of Trader Joe’s that I bought that morning (White Pizza and Basil, Fontina & Sugar Plum Tomato Pizza).

There was a giant Multicolored Salad and Antipasto Platter that came together as everyone around me was working away.

I had planned on eating al fresco on the patio but the weather did not cooperate and we had a cloudy overcast chilly day. (Yes, in Los Angeles, 60 degrees is considered cold!)

That was the only challenge to the celebration. We tucked in to the feast as I happily exclaimed, “Ding-dong! The termites are gone!”

Print Recipe