Around The Corner

Back To School!

2011-07-25T15:14:00.000-07:00

I'm going back to school in the Fall. 7 reasons I'm excited.

7. Buying school supplies! Like that snazzy Timbuk2 laptop tote.
6. Shopping for a new computer with an educational discount.
5. A free Amazon Prime membership.
4. Student Discounts at movie theaters and museums.
3. My student loans pausing so that I can accrue more debt.
2. The pre-semester potluck for my department.
1. Coffee before class on the first day of school!

2011-06-23T11:04:00.000-07:00

Remember these?

The Samoa Girl Scout Cookie. I could eat an entire box.

Well I recently tried this:

and it was just like a Samoa GS Cookie!

It's My Birthday

2011-05-31T10:55:00.000-07:00

My birthday was this last week, and I took a few days off, which when combined with the Memorial Day Holiday created a spectacular, lazy, 5-day weekend. Shopping and indulgence occured.

Faculae Knit Top by Rogan

I recently gave away a few sweaters, and this seemed like a sophisticated upgrade. I really like how breathable it is with the open (but not too open, no side boob, please) arm holes. I can dress it up, and dress it down by changing pants and jewelry. I am feeling altogether pleased with my new item.

Want Want Want

2011-04-27T09:47:00.000-07:00

Fantasy Shopping Cart - Anthropologie Living Room

2011-04-22T12:04:00.000-07:00

For a grand total of $9,439.95! My starting point was that gorgeous green leather couch. Then came the chevron rug. I really love that vibrant yellow, and I would want it to stand out, so I thought that the other items shouldn't have bold patterns. I find mixing patterns to be difficult, although some people really have a knack for it. With a retailer as pattern happy as Anthropologie, this left a far smaller number of pillows and curtains to choose from.

I do like the beachy bohemian feel of this imaginary room, now if only I had $10,000 . . .

10 Things I Love Right Now

2011-04-20T16:25:00.000-07:00

1. Crystal Wine Glasses For each one I break, I will continue to buy more.
2. Spitfire Girl Wooden Bookmark The rigid wood holds the pages flat and it's easy to feel in the center of the pages when you're looking for where you left off. I thought it was a dog on a diving board, but it's actually a pig.
3. Cover Songs I don't have an image for this but this blog has a collection of covers, some off key, some spot on, but it made me smile yesterday.
4. Wearing a Wrist Watch - I bought this Timex for JCrew Watch on impulse and have no regrets. It's much faster to turn your wrist than to dig through your bag looking for your cell phone. I liked the compact size of the watch face and the simple strap.
5. My Paula Taylor Frazer Handwoven scarf. Paula Frazer is a paragon. She weaves, she makes music, she crafts. My scarf is a lovely purple. I eyed it a year ago and when I returned to the boutique and it was still there, I couldn't talk myself out of it.
6. Finishing Books - I was supposed to read the Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao over a year ago for a book club, but it passed me by. I loved it, and the book was accquired my Miramax so it might be made into a movie!
7. Gingerale. I try every flavor I can find. Brands I've tried: Bruce Cost, Maine Root, and almost all of the Reed's Ginger Brew flavors (Raspberry and apple are particularly delicious.)
8. Coffee out of the Chemex pot. A little more effort to make in the morning but so much more flavor and clean-up is a snap.
9. Mad Men Season 4 - So many repressed feelings, and unspoken truths. Season 4 was the best season so far for me.
10. The Coin Op Car Wash Station - Again, sadly no photo but some serious giggling occurred. The countdown, the high pressure spray gun, mist everywhere. Who knew cleaning could be so fun?

Polyvore!

2011-01-31T18:13:00.001-08:00

Polyvore! by lookwhatimade featuring low rise bootcut jeans

Polyvore is an excellent time waster! Thanks for the recommendation Polly! My workday will never be the same.

5 Essential Items

2011-01-23T10:53:00.000-08:00

I've been tagged! Jen tagged me to create a post with 5 essential items. When I think about my daily routine, I wanted to think of items that would a) make me turn around and head back home, or b) make me feel really disappointed that I left them at home.

1) Tory Burch Tortoise Shell Glasses: I can see pretty well without my glasses, well enough to forget my glasses often. I sit at work squinting in front of the computer wishing I had remembered them, slowly growing a large headache.

I switched to the tortoise shell frames after years of wearing a bolder pair of black Prada frames. I decided I wanted something a little more feminine, and subtle.

And ps. I don't do contacts.

2. Laura Bucci coffee sleeve. This falls into the disappointed I left it at home category. I was carrying a glass mason jar for awhile when I make coffee at home (which is by the way, the best travel coffee mug I've ever experienced. NO LEAKS!), but most of the time I'm too sleepy/lazy to wake up early enough to make my own coffee. The small gesture I can do for the earth is to have a re-usable coffee sleeve. I know it's not green, but I love love love coffee in a paper cup. It always tastes right.

It took me a while to order this coffee sleeve because it cost $18 for one (I noticed she raised her prices to $24!) which seems like a lot for such a little thing, but I've been very happy with my purchase. The screen print is tasteful, the fabric is thick and sewn well. It would cost me plenty more to make it myself.

3. Crate and Barrel Wine Key: I'm a server. I will get in trouble if I don't bring my wine key to work. I used to use a double tier wine key, but I left it at home and needed another in a pinch. I got this one at Crate And Barrel and it does the job. It could be a little more attractive though. I like the sturdiness of the single lever on it.

In order to make sure I always have my wine key for work, it NEVER leaves my bag. The bonus to this is in the summer months is that I'm always prepared for an impromptu picnic. This makes me very popular at any outdoor event or festival.

4. Weathered Hobo International Wallet w/ Coin Purse: Some people call this my "man wallet" because of the way it folds up. The floral interior counteracts that. I bought this wallet because i love having the great big coin purse connected to my wallet. You can see from the black wear marks that this item has taken a beating over the years.

5. House Keys: I've become a big fan of the vanity keys. I can tell them apart quickly and I love saying, "Panda will get you in the apartment, Penguins into the bike room."

Top 5 Cat Toys

2010-12-01T15:38:00.000-08:00

5. Furry / Feathered Mice

Dangling these in front of Nomnom will usually elicit a batting of the paw, and sometimes we catch a butt wiggle then pounce after the fake critters.

4. Crazy Circle

I didn't expect this toy to work as well as it does. I bought it for Nomnom to have something to play with when I'm not home. My boyfriend and I have been gone a lot more than we used to be. It didn't take long for her to become interested. Sometimes she just sits on top of it.

3. Electronic Bug Toy

This was definitely worth $12 to see kitty go bonkers. It's a plastic bug with wings that flap when you press a button. It's on a wire on a plastic wand,and you can swing the bug around and make it buzz through the air. Nomnom would chase me all over the apartment.

Downsides: the toy is cheaply made and the plastic wings fly off. You have to find them on the ground and snap them back in. Some super glue might have taken care of this, but we played with toy so much that Nomnom bit through the wires. The lifespan of the toy was only a few months, and the toy is made from all plastic so this toy loses points for being bad for the environment.

2. The Laser Pointer

Oh Holy Laser Pointer, I pray to thee. It's really hard to beat the laser pointer when it comes to kitty crazy-ness. When we first got Nomnom, this is the only toy that would really make her run around, until we got Da Bird . . .

1. Da Bird

This is the best cat toy EVER! It's just a feather on a wand, but it's amazing. All you do is wave it around. Nomnom goes bananas for 'Da Bird. She will chase it, jump 4 feet in the air for it, jump off of walls/doors for it, sit on it, and run off with the feather in her teeth. It requires no batteries and the feathers are replace-able. All of the other toys pale in the shadow of 'Da Bird.

On a side note, they recently changed the design of the wand, and it is now made of two separate parts that connect. They don't connect well, and a little super glue will permanently connect them. The new design works better and is easier to take home / ship, but I was irritated that I had to "fix" my brand new thing with super glue.

Below is a photo of Nomnom in mid-air going after 'Da Bird.

Dragonfruit

2010-09-21T16:57:00.000-07:00

My boyfriend brought me a treat recently, a beautiful dragonfruit. The fruit itself was about half a pound, and cost $7! Other ones at the store were nearly a pound, a single fruit for $14.

Upon first inspection the fruit reminded me of a technicolor pineapple.

When you slice open the dragon fruit, it reveals a hot pink interior, peppered with black seeds. Pink with black polka-dots, like a dress from the 80's.

The taste is bright and buttery like a papaya or a guava, and the texture is like a kiwi, firm but yielding easily to chewing, not crispy like an apple. The black seeds have a little crunch just like a kiwi.

Dragonfruit is also called "pitaya". They are native to Mexico, Central and South America, but are also cultivated in parts of Asia. Some varities have white interior flesh with black seeds. Looking at the pictures on Wikipedia, it appears that the dragonfruit we shared was from Costa Rica.

Recently on Top Chef, one of the finalists used Dragonfruits to make the desert in his final challenge. It was a spin on the Singapore Sling. He hollowed out the dragonfruit, put coconut on the bottom of the fruit, and layered fruit macerated in a singapore sling cocktail in it. It looked delicous, surprising and refreshing.

I loved trying the dragonfruit, next on my list . . . mangosteens.

Integrity vs. Performance

2010-08-09T16:25:00.000-07:00

When shopping for home and body products, I continually struggle to find products that possess both integrity and the ability to perform.

A couple of examples where I find it challenging to satisfy both desires:

1. Toothpaste
I'm sorry. Tom's of Maine just doesn't work that well. Plus, I get self-concious about my teeth getting yellow, and I don't trust anything natural to be able to whiten as well as the synthetic stuff.

2. Deodorant
Again Tom, I"m sorry. Your deodorant just doesn't work that well. I've tried a few other natural deodorants, and they are pretty similar. I admit it. I really, really like anti-perspirant, enough that so that even when I think about the parabens and the cancer forming under my armpits, I'm still happy that I'm not sweating. If someone could invent a powerful natural antiperspirant that doesn't stain my clothes, I'd be first in line to buy it.

3. Styling products (gel, hair spray, mousse, etc)
The synthetic hold of drugstore / salon hair products is hard to beat. I've tried a few natural hair products, and they were all super sticky on my hands and sort of crunchy. I've been using Aveda products, but I don't think of those as natural. I think of those as smelling very nice through the help of SOME natural ingredients.

4. Eye Cream
I have dark circles under my eyes, and I see the wrinkles and crows feet looming around my eyes. I recently purchased a drug store eye cream with retinol and oh my gosh, it makes such a difference. For the first time, I started to understand the appeal of botox. Is there anything natural out there that would caffeinate my skin cells with the same effect? Unlikely.

5. Toilet Bowl Cleaner
Nasty grimy brown toilet rim, I spray you with Ecover toilet bowl cleaner, and you smell better but you don't look any better. Do I need to use bleach? Are you going to make me?

6. Shower tile/grout cleaner
For day to day, I think it's fine to use natural cleaning products on your tub and tile, but when you move out of an apartment, things need to sparkle and they need to be white. I think of Lois Gibb's children dying as I use Dow Scrubbing bubbles and I feel bad, very very bad. Will anything natural out there kill mildew and mold?

Products I have no problem with

1. Dish soap.
Ecover rocks my socks off. I heard that it took years to develop their formula. The suds, the smell, the price, I'm in domestic Whole Foods bliss.

2. Body Soap
My skin doesn't react that much to different soaps. It doesn't take much to de-stink me. I generally pick bar soap. It lasts long, and you can often buy it without a wrapper or handmade from your local farmer's market.

3. Recycled paper towels.
They do the same sopping as their virgin counterparts. I don't need the bounty strength for most jobs. I know rags are better, but emergency spills and super nasty cleaning jobs (like the trash can) are perfect for the natural paper towels.

I do my best to "vote with my dollar," but sometimes I break down when the conventional stuff just-works-better. There is a really great salon article written by a woman who had to resort to lots of DIY stuff because her husband decided to take a lower paying job. The article "I am a Radical Homemaker Failure," discusses things topics like baking your own bread or reusing containers. All of this nice when you have the ability to make the choice, but at the end of the day, she was tired and if she had the choice, she would have taken the fat 401K and the disposables.

Ideals vs. Budget

2010-07-26T14:35:00.000-07:00

I suffered a consumer dilemma today at Whole Foods buying trash bags. I want to buy more environmentally sound trash bags. The Seventh Generation 55% recycled plastic trash bags were $5.49 for 30 trash bags. The compostable trash bags were $5.99 for 12! I want to buy the compostable ones. This burned me inside, but I just couldn't do it. I couldn't pay $6 for only 12 trash bags. I bought the Seventh Generation bags, knowing that they were still made of virgin plastic, but needing some compromise between my ideals and my budget.

The other day I had similar dilemma buying eggs. I ran to the organic food grocery store near my house for eggs, and outside the cooler where the eggs are kept, a chart was taped to the freezer door. The chart detailed the treatment of the chickens at all of the places the eggs came from. I checked out the chart noting that only three of the available dozen or so brands of eggs could state that they didn't snip the beaks off their birds. I scanned the cooler for the three brands that left the chicken beaks intact. $8.50 for a dozen eggs! I stewed over this fact. I wanted to buy them, but I couldn't bring myself to spend $8.50 on a dozen eggs when I struggle so hard for my money. What to do? I compromised and purchased organic fed eggs for $4.50.

I see the internal battle with myself to choose the small organic products that I desire and admire vs my ability to financially stomach big organic. One step at a time I hope.

Someone else is thinking about purple . . .

2010-07-14T12:44:00.000-07:00

Here's a post from Wit + Delight celebrating purple. I'll take the shades and the lavender lemonade.

Purple

2010-07-09T12:57:00.000-07:00

Some colors simply look better on me than others despite how much I may love the colors that look awkward on me (Mustard yellow, some oranges). One of the colors I have come to the conclusion that is favorable is purple, which I have resisted, but think it's time to embrace purple in all of it's new age aura. I found a beautiful purple scarf at Gravel and Gold the other day by Paula Frazer Handwoven, but wasn't able to pick it up that day. I hope something similar will be there when I can go back. Purple is such a bold color. I think it works most fabulously on accessories.

I did a search on Etsy for purple items and I came up with this bizarre painting of corgis around a campfire. Not wearable.

And by request:

Blog Spam

2010-07-09T12:55:00.000-07:00

I've been getting a lot of comment spam and it is completely lame. Where do these bots come from? Who is behind them? Who writes the program for a spam bot, and how do they sleep at night? I do however hope that this entry gets spammed, so that I can take a little pleasure in the irony.

Nomnom and The Moth

2010-06-14T17:19:00.001-07:00

Adorable.

Buttermilk Cheese

2010-02-08T20:06:00.000-08:00

I saw the recipe for buttermilk cheese on the Kitchen. The post on the Kitchen linked to a feature and video about the Cheese from Martha Stuart Living. (The video was helpful!) The recipe is from the Lee Bros. and a book called Simple Fresh Southern. It looked so easy, I decided to try it. There are only three ingredients in the recipe: buttermilk, whole milk and salt. You put all three in a pan, heat on medium high heat for around 8-10 minutes, and then the curds start to form. I wasn't sure what they would look like, but all of a sudden, the curds come from underneath the surface of the water and grow like lumpy white storm clouds.

I put the mixture in cheese cloth over a colander. I cut the cheese cloth small and had to put it all in a smaller colander to make it work. The whey drains out and you squeeze the cheese cloth gently to get more whey out.

I tried the cheese while it was warm. The texture is like cottage cheese with fine curds and the cheese was salty. It would be great to have it warm in the morning. The recipe says you can add lemon zest, pepper or dry herbs. I'm looking forward to eating it on toast tomorrow morning.

Biggins' the Chicken

2010-02-02T16:17:00.000-08:00

Last night, my bf showed me how to cut up a chicken. We started by removing the wishbone, slicing down the sides of the sternum and then we popped the joints of the legs and sliced them off. It was more a watch and learn experience for me, but I got some hands on time slicing through the joints and feeling out the wishbone. (Click here for a Chow.com video demonstrating the process).

We bought our chicken from whole foods for $1.99 / lb. and we got about a 4-5 lb chicken that ended up costing about $8.88. The chicken appeared very large to me so I named him Biggins' (which co-incedentally is the name of the nudie magazine that Al Bundy reads in Married with Children).

Once Biggins' was chopped up, he(she?) was marinated in olive oil, paprika, cumin, honey, soy, red wine vinegar and garlic.

Biggins' journey continued into a cast iron skillet where he was braised with crushed tomatoes, parsnips, yams, mushrooms, and red wine with the help of some bacon grease for browning. My boyfriend did most of the cooking and I watched in wonder. Biggins braised for close to an hour, and then was served with shaved horse-radish on top. Wow!

I'm eating the chicken as leftovers tonight. That's 4 filling delicious meals for around $20.00 give or take. I can see how meals can get cheaper when you're know what you're doing. The meat that was cut apart at the butcher cost about 3-4 times as much per pound. It always seems like you pay more in time or money.

Blood Mary Garnish Party

2009-11-14T13:42:00.001-08:00

Everybody brings a garnish! I just found this photo of the Bloody Mary Garnish Party I went to, and remembered how much fun it was.

Possible garnishes include:

Cheese sticks
Salami
Beef Jerky Swizzle Stick(Maybe a Slim Jim?)
Cornichons (Dill or sweet)
Green Beans
Asparagus
Celery
Cherry Tomatoes
Olives
Pearl Onions
Carrots
Mushrooms
Shrimp

Ingredients to mix in:
Cholula
Tabasco
Horseradish
Worcestershire
Lemon Juice/lime juice
Clam Juice
Black pepper
Sea Salt

The Wikipedia entry includes variations on alcohol mixers like a Bloody Murder with gin instead of vodka, a Brown Mary with whiskey or a Bloody Caesar with clam juice. Prune in New York offers an inspiring array of bloody beverages on their brunch menus. Mmm. Makes me want a hair of the dog right now.

That's It Market

2009-11-05T14:40:00.000-08:00

My boyfriend and I are trying to complete a tour of all the places that Anthony Bourdain visits on the San Francisco episode of No Reservations. We recently made a pilgrimage to That's It Market on 23rd and Mission (2699 Mission Street), home of the largest Cuban Torta. This sandwich is truly a behomoth. For $10, you can get a sandwich that really is the size of two sandwiches.

The Cuban Torta includes beef milanesa, chorizo, egg, ham, bacon, sliced hot dog, avocado, queso fresca, and tomato, and it's finished with jalapenos, sour cream, and mayonnaise. It was rich, delicious, and intense. Here is a picture of my boyfriend trying to tackle the sandwich.

That's It Market is inside of a liquor store that sells lots of Mexican candy treats and Spanish language magazines. They had the chili mangoes that I love. You can eat your gigantamus torta at the marbled counter they have installed right next to the deli cooler and in front of the grills. We were under the impression that one could enjoy a beer at the counter, but were informed that open beer wasn't allowed, so we mosied outside and finished our torta on the sidewalk.

Magic Apple

2009-09-29T13:14:00.001-07:00

I was recently gifted with a magic apple. Magic because the apple is unexpectedly pink on the inside and appears like a normal yellow/green apple on the outside. This was the second time that I enjoyed such a hot pink(!) treat.

In college someone told me they had a "magic apple." Later, I discovered one upon my desk. We took a picture of me holding the apple roast pig style.

This time around, I sliced up my gift and ate it over yogurt with toasted walnuts and honey.

Aren't they pretty? They're just like a blood orange.

The magic apple is actually called a Pink Pearl Apple. According to Wikipedia, it was cultivated in 1944 by Albert Ettle from a Sparkle seedling. They are in season from late August to mid September.

Eustace Conway

2009-09-25T16:33:00.000-07:00

also, the cold splinters link i found this video through.

Adorable.

2009-09-25T14:20:00.000-07:00

This makes me want to move into the woods and learn how to play guitar.

Blue Foot Chicken Feet

2009-09-11T10:27:00.000-07:00

Last night I ate a blue foot chicken foot at Ottimista restaurant. The foot was confit-ed and finished off in the deep fryer.

This is what the foot looks like before being prepared. Kind of like a little dragon claw, huh? Or maybe the sort of thing you would grind up to make a magic potion.

The blue foot chicken is a larger type of chicken that has the ability to fly and possesses beautiful bright blue feet. See below. Click on the image to see the enlarged version and get a good view of those bright blue feet.

Blue foot chicken according to Wikipedia "is slaughtered later than the usual chicken and then air-chilled. It is believed that these two factors give it a stronger flavor and texture." Also, blue foot chicken is said to be salmonella free and it is one of the only breeds to be used in sushi (a special license is required to serve raw chicken in Japan).

The chicken foot I ate last night was the the final embellishment on half of a cooked blue foot chicken. Sadly my camera ran out of batteries and I had to resort to my cell phone camera, so my image of the dish is rather dim, but you can totally see those claws hanging out on top of the food!

I gnawed off as much skin as possible, and the toes had a similar texture to the end of a corn dog.

I found a New York magazine article from 2005 about blue foot chicken that discuessed the blue foot chicken's emergence as a boutique bird. Blue foot chickens have only been bred in North America over the last 20 years or so. They are a stateside version of the mythical French "poulet de Bresse." Restaurants often serve the bird with head and feet on, presenting it like a trophy. The one that I ate was juicy and supple and delicious, definitely the best chicken I've had in a really long time.

Vegas, Again? Bananas

2009-09-04T15:46:00.000-07:00

I ended up in Vegas for the second time this year for my friend John's wedding. Dollar margaritas, baby dolphins, fancy hotel surprises with subsequent upgrades to the 25th floor, and an SUV stretch limo . . . whoo hoo.

A few highlights:

Hemingway Daiquiri at the Rhumbar in the Mirage Hotel:

Dolphin in the Secret Garden behind the Mirage:

and a surprise ride in a stretch SUV limo in post nuptial celebration. John's face is priceless:

Calistoga and beyond!

2009-08-18T14:32:00.001-07:00

This weekend was filled with lots of sunshine and good eats. Saturday meant breakfast at Miller's East Coast Deli with a walk up to the Marina and up to the Marin Green field by Fort Mason where everyone flies kites. The weather was perfect.

Sunday started early. My buddies and I treated ourselves to doughnuts from Bob's. I went for a cake doughnut (my standard) and a maple crueler. Whenever I have a Bob's doughnut, I absolutely must have a cup of coffee to accompany it. If it's too late, I'll do decaf. It's just a magical combination.

We plugged the ipod into the rental car and headed North.

First stop: Yountville. We showed up early for our 1pm reservations at Ad Hoc, Thomas Keller's more casual affair. We used the extra time to walk up the street and gawk at French Laundry and the accompanying garden. On the way we saw a huge line outside of Bouchon Bakery. They should consider renaming Yountville "Kellerville"

There were people in sun chairs at the traffic lights making bicycles stop at the stop signs. I fully agree that people should obey traffic laws but the attendants in lawn chairs seemed a bit excessive. We walked around the mini downtown, surveying overpriced gourmet ingredients, blown glass sculptures, and sheepskin jackets. We still were close to an hour early.

Ad Hoc seated us early. The brunch menu that day featured "Roscoe's their way", chicken and waffles with trumpet mushrooms and pecans. For starters, there was a tray of Bouchon Bakery goodies, and for dessert peach sorbet with cookies. We also partook of the strawberry sangria. The chicken was extra crispy like KFC's, and the mushrooms were nutty and soft. Sooo good.

While we were at the restaurant, the server recommended some wineries that were "by appt" The first Schramsburg was booked, but the second place, Terraces, booked us when we called. We drove with our full bellies up the Silverado Trail to the tiny winery. We were given the security code to enter the gate and drive up the dirt path. The tasting room was more like their home and office. They made 5 small batch varietals of wine, and I picked up some Chardonnay.

After the winery, we headed to see the "Old Faithful" Geyser in Calistoga California. The geyser, one of only 3 or 4 geysers that actually go off regularly, was an adorable and beat up roadside attraction. You pay $10 to see the geyser, surrounded by a ring of palm trees erupt about 40 ft in the air for 3-4 minutes. I saw it when I was little so it was good to have my memory revived. In addition to the natural wonder, the park boasts a pen full of Tennessee Fainting Goats. If you don't know about fainting goats, than please for the love of god, watch this.

In reality, these goats are way too cute to scare. Also, they were in a pen, and I think you need to chase them to scare them. I felt too shy to scream right there in the middle of the park. We fed the goats some alfalfa pellets and dried corn. We took pictures with the llamas, and called it a day.

We finished off our evening with some sushi Donburi bowls and then saw Boat at the Hemlock tavern.

A full weekend indeed!

37 Degrees

2009-08-13T11:31:00.000-07:00

Formerly called 100% Healthy Dessert, my friend and I went to 37 Degrees on Taraval and 21st last night. Wow. What a delicious treat!

I ordered the Cold Noodle with Mango and Strawberry Soup, and my friend ordered the Mango Gi Gi with Honey Sea Coconut. I looked up some Yelp reviews and the Mango Gi Gi seems to be one of the most popular dishes to order.

We thought about getting the Osmanthus Jello but it was sold out. My friend commented that strawberry soup with noodles seems like a dish that a little kid would come up with "I want . . . stawberry SOUP with noodles!"

Both desserts were delicious. The menu was huge, and featured photos of everything.

The posters on the wall mentioned the health benefits of some of the menus ingredients like Aloe Vera, Coral Weed, and "Tadpoles." I want to go back and try everything.

Carte 415 Update

2009-08-07T13:36:00.000-07:00

Went back for more yesterday. This time, the cowgirl three cheese sandwich with grilled rapini, sunburst tomato confit, and majoram. I liked the rapini inside my fancy grilled cheese, but I thought the sandwich as a whole tasted like pizza. Again, it was accompanied by a little cup of pickled vegetables, which I forgot about until after half my sandwich was consumed. I kicked myself mentally for missing out the chance to combine flavors.

I was still hungry after finishing my pizza sandwich, so I decided to splurge and follow up with their homemade yogurt with summer berries for $6.

Oh my god.

I was happy that no one was around me in the atrium where I was eating, because I made gratuitous mmm noises for the entirety of my consumption. The yogurt comes with granola and a cup of mixed berries. It was the best thing I've eaten in weeks. The yogurt was thick, creamy, and very likely strained like a Greek yogurt. I was sad that it came in a recyclable plastic container, and not a compostable container, but wow, I was okay with a little ecological transgression after the first bite.

Carte 415

2009-08-05T13:14:00.000-07:00

Carte 415 has opened! The food cart, housed in the atrium of 101 Second Street is helmed by ex-Stonehill Tavern chef, Joshua Skenes. The cart is two blocks away from my workplace. I was excited about a new sustainable, gourmet lunch option, after receiving both a Daily Candy, and a Thrillist email announcing its arrival about a month ago. I marched down to second street on my lunch hour to find an empty atrium. I checked the website, I checked the address, and I posted on Yelp about it. Someone replied saying that they hit some delays.

I had almost forgotten about it when one of my co-workers informed me today that it had indeed opened. When I got into line, at least three people, including myself, were taking cell phone photos of the cart for blogs and Yelp reviews, I'm sure.

I ordered the charcuterie sandwich which featured boccalone cured meats on a baguette, a watercress type green, gruyere cheese and a sweet chutney. Attractively packaged, the sandwiches come in little balsa wood boats alongside a tiny corn plastic cup full of pickled vegetables. I wondered about the sustainability of the wooden boat, but I'm sure it might have something do with its ability to be both composted and re-used. My sandwich for $8 was satisfying but not large. I get scared of cured meats sometimes, because they can be too salty, but I found that the quince jam on the bread made a nice balance.

Other items offered on the menu were crudites, packaged upright in a plastic drink cup with a dome lid, as well as dirty girl tomato gazpacho.

Tomorrow I'll try the three cheese sandwich, and maybe I'll bring back my balsa wood tray to be re-used.

Delicious new food to try in San Francisco

2009-08-04T15:26:00.000-07:00

via.

Gobba Gobba Hey! Gobs. Little cakes with frosting in the middle sold in flavors such as Orange Cardamom Ginger with Saffron Frosting, Strawberry, and Black Cherry Chocolate with Lime Butter Cream Frosting. I'm pretty sure they are sold at the Ferry Building, and each gob comes in a white paper sack with a great graphic branded sticker. I think this is a mobile food man just like the Creme Brulee Guy (who I also have yet to track down and can only be stalked by twitter).

Photo via.

Pal's Take Away.

This is a gourmet sandwich counter inside a tiny liquor store in the Mission on 24th and Hampshire. They have delicious sandwich creations like Almond Butter with Fresh Fruit, and Pork Sliders and roast beef with figs and . . . mmm. They are open Tues - Sat from 11 to 2:30.

This is the photo from the Burrito Justice Blog that led me to discover Pal's. It's from a post about the Sunday Streets Event that recently passed. Oh pork sliders:

On Yelp, you can see photos of a big line of hipsters waiting to eat these sandwiches. Soon I will be in line behind them.

Henry Slocombe ice cream

Gourmet ice cream on 24th and Harrison. They offer flavors like Andante chevre-strawberry jam, dulche de leche, foie gras, McEvoy Olive Oil, and carrot mango sorbet. Toppings like whipped cream, and balsalmic vinegar. I could use a milk shake right now.

Anthony's Cookies

I have cookie cravings on a weekly, sometimes daily basis. I will try these cookies out asap. They have headquarters on 25th and Valencia. In my dreams, they are open late, so that I can get a cookie after going to the Attic or the Phone Booth.

Saison

Another nomadic or pop-up restaurant (Does anyone out there know the term for this restaurant phenomenon?) in the Mission. This Sunday dinner is housed in the Stable Cafe on 17th and Folsom and serves French Cuisine. Two seatings a night for a prix fixe of $60 ($30 extra for wine). I have yet to experience one of the many restuarants that only appear on one evening inside another restaurant like Mission Street Food inside Lung Shan Restaurant, Radio Africa Kitchen inside Coffee Bar, and Melissa Claire's Kitchen inside Velo Rouge Cafe. Also, I think there was one called Just Herbs on Sutter, but I can't find it. Anyone out there know what I'm talking about?

Crucishiv

2009-07-29T09:39:00.000-07:00

A German photographer's photos of makeshift weapons and tools made by German inmates like this "Crucishiv" above. link

Wet Cats

2009-07-23T14:44:00.000-07:00

This series of wet cat photos is hilarious!!!

Food Sex Love

2009-07-21T12:55:00.000-07:00

Two very intense scenes from Tampopo, the sadly out of print movie about food and love. The first scene, two lovers exchange an egg yolk back and forth unbroken. The second, a man accepts an oyster from a young diver girl and cuts his lip on the oyster shell . . .

"This is the outfit for the day"

2009-07-14T11:30:00.001-07:00

I watched Grey Gardens last night, not intently, but between putting away laundry. It makes me wonder how languished hopes and undealt with emotions led to decades of isolation and codependency for both women. Both Beales had failed romances, and failed career aspirations. Little Edie lost all of her hair at a young age, and Big Edie had various health problems. At some point they chose to close themselves off. It doesn't appear that the Beales are seriously mentally ill, but they both are delusional and have lots of unresolved issues in their life.

It is in many ways very sad. Two vibrant, capable women living in squalor and secrecy, but part of me found it positive in that: their lives may have led them down unfortunate roads, but at least they had each other. The Beales bicker constantly through the movie, but what would they do without each other? There is love, understanding and hope along with raccoons eating wonder bread.

I really do hope that my life is filled with love, understanding and hope, but I also hope that it doesn't include me wearing a dish towel on my head as a scarf.

Who should play Gargamel?

2009-07-09T14:19:00.000-07:00

A live action / CGI version of the Smurf's is coming out next year. What actor should play Gargamel? My co-worker suggested Bill Murray. I agreed that would probably be the best but also thought about Kevin Spacey, Danny Devito, and Eugene Levy. What do you think?

Bucket List

2009-07-06T19:12:00.000-07:00

Last night's Life on the D-list with Kathy Griffin inspired me to make a bucket list, a list of things you want to do before you die. Kathy makes her mother create a bucket list. Kathy's mom says she wants to meet Don Rickles and visit "the wine section of California."

In response, herein lies my bucket list:

1. Pee in one of those Japanese toilets that makes noises while you tinkle so that the person next to you can't hear.
2. Purchase a mixed drink from a vending machine. (Pictured here.)
3. Appear on a game show. Jeopardy would be tops, but I would settle for Wipeout.
4. Ride in a sequeway to work.
5. Spend the night in the penthouse suite of some swanky hotel. I intend to wear the terrycloth robe, take a bubble bath in the huge bathtub with a glass of champagne, and so many bubbles that you can only see my head and my toes. I want a mint on the pillow, I want to order room service. It would also be great if it had a balcony with double doors that opened so that I could do this.
6. Run with a pack of miniature ponies.
7. Play flight of the bumblebees on the xylophone.
8. Sit on Javier Bardem's lap and tell him what I want for Christmas. Whether or not he's dressed up like Santa is optional.
9. Toss an ice cube into a volcano.
10. Receive a love letter by carrier pigeon.

Vegetable Soup

2009-06-25T14:11:00.000-07:00

I started making soup at 10 pm last night after starting a load of laundry. This might have been a mistake as I ended up going to bed at 1 am, but the soup was tasty.

The recipe for my soup came from the Farmhouse Cookbook by Susan Herrman Loomis. It's a curious cookbook as the recipes are interspersed through sections and commentary about traveling to different farms across America. Loomis "spent several years criss-crossing the country in search of 'the soul of the American family farm.'" (Library Journal).

I chose this soup for its list of simple ingredients that I knew I could pick up at the health food store down the street from the yoga studio I just started going to. It contained leeks, potatoes, carrots, and fuji apples. The apples added a nice thickness and sweetness. I boiled the vegetables for 45 minutes with some peppper-corns and coriander seeds tied up in a coffee filter. The recipe called for cheesecloth, but I forgot to buy it. I was able to google the coffee filter replacement. The recipe also called for bay leaves but I didn't have them and went ahead.

After boiling, you puree the veggies (which I had to do in my bedroom because it was so late and because our blender sounds like a wood chipper) and then you add 2-3 cups of broth back in. This soup is made with just water instead of broth, and I was afraid it was going to be bland, but the sweetness of the apples and the simmering of the carrots and leeks made the broth tasty enough even sans bay leaves.

The recipe has you make a parsley/crushed garlic/olive oil garnish, but I also enjoyed a scoop of plain yogurt on the top.

I confess . . .

2009-06-19T12:56:00.000-07:00

I've been getting spider bites. I found two on my hands, then one on my foot and I got one right in the center of my neck! I googled images of spider bites and found some really really gruesome pictures with rotting flesh, in particular one alleged image of a brown recluse spider bite that is on someone's hand. I don't even want to include it in this blog post. It's so gross. You can see it here. I looked around my room and couldn't find any spiders, but they recently subsided, so I'm hoping the little eight legged guy/gal found something else to dine on . . .

Cordon Bleu - A Delicious Deal

2009-06-18T14:46:00.000-07:00

Last night I ate at Cordon Bleu, a Vietnamese restaurant on California and Polk. It was delicious, and cheap. I haven't gobbled up my food like that in quite awhile.

I ordered the number five meal (only $8.65!!) which includes a piece of five spice grilled chicken, thin slices of grilled pork, an imperial roll, and jasmine rice with "meat sauce" over it. The meat sauce was like spaghetti sauce, but less tomatoe-centric. It tasted like it was made with ground beef, onions, tomatoes and some corn starch. Mmmmm, meat sauce, wait, let me say it again, mmm, meat sauce.

The menu says they have the "best chicken you will have outside of Vietnam." I ate the chicken again today for lunch. Yum.

The restaurant features a single counter and you watch the staff make the food right in front of you. This is a great place to have some bun, and then go see a movie at the indie theater next door.

Crawfish / Crawdads / Crayfish / Yabbies

2009-06-17T15:55:00.000-07:00

Last night I attended a Crawfish boil at Magnolia Brew Pub here in San Francisco. The little crustaceans were flown in for the event that day and boiled up for $9/lb. My friend and I easily finished 3 lbs with cornbread, mushrooms and potatoes on the side.

My friend, who has spent some time in Lousiana, informed me how to consume the crawfish. First you snap off the head, then you squeeze the head and suck the juice out. The flavor of the brains and the boil comes through. Then you take your thumb and squeeze the bottom of the tail, and continue squeezing up the tail to release the pinky sized meat inside, which you can then bite off. Wikipedia says "A popular double entendre laden phrase heard around crawfish season in Louisiana derives from this practice: 'Suck the head, pinch the tail'" They are fun and messy. I got some yellow crawfish juice on my white shirt and had to use the spray n'wash when I got home.

The spiciness of the crawdads will depend on the boil used, which will often contain ingredients like salt, cayenne pepper, lemon, garlic, and bay leaves. My friend says that few people in Louisiana make their boil from scratch, and most pick a favorite brand like Zatarain's depending on if they like a little more cinnamon or hot spice.

When the crawfish are prepared, they come in big barrels and they have to be rinsed many times because they live in the mud in the water, which earned them the title "mudbugs." This is often when crawfish escape. My friend says she once saw a crawfish crawling across the floor of the restaurant trying to escape a steamy fate. This reminded me of a story I heard about a group of lobsters in Berlin who escaped from an Asian Supermarket and were seen walking together down the the street.

Cold weather style inspiration

2009-06-16T10:11:00.000-07:00

I'm really inspired by this cold weather white ear muffs/gray scarf/red beanie/sad face with mascara look. I love how soft her face looks, bundled by the soft fabrics with her sad eyes about to cry, streaks of mascara about to appear.

Leaving with more than a pack of gum . . .

2009-06-12T13:27:00.000-07:00

I bought this bag, the Alabaster Crackle Bag, today with my Anthropologie gift cards. I had two stacked up, and it made buying something bigger than a candle easier to qualify. I've had these gift cards burning holes in my wallet for awhile now. Anthropologie is like going to the supermarket of frilly girly clothes. You have everything to choose from, and sometimes you only leave with a pack of gum, if that.

I figured who doesn't need a white handbag? The leather is weathered so it has that crackled white leather appearance. I'm down for anything that looks old.

Shopping their online store, and comparing it to the items in store was eye-opening. So many of the items I admired online were seriously lackluster in person like this purse, the linked spectrum purse,

and this bag,

the essential washed hobo. I had seen the Alabaster Crackle Bag online and was unimpressed. The crackled quality of the leather didn't really come through online, but it was so much cooler in person.

Also, I tried on this dress, the skywriter dress.

It wasn't much on the hanger, but was really pretty in person. I would have to take a few inches off the bottom. It swept the floor on me, but I'll think about it . . .

Oh my god! The eerie-ness continues!

2009-06-12T11:11:00.000-07:00

Woman who missed Flight 447 is killed in car crash

This is like how Daniel Faraday's Mother, Eloise Hawking tells Desmond about how the universe "course-corrects" to prevent people from straying too far from their fate right before he is going to buy the ring for Penny. She tells him that a man with red shoes is going to die, and even he isn't killed one way, he will die another way. The "course correction" happens with Charlie on the island, where Desmond is plagued by constant visions of Charlie dying.

Thoughts on the Air France Crash

2009-06-04T12:45:00.000-07:00

I'm sucked into the drama of the Air France flight crash. Each piece of debris found sends a shiver, the bright orange life vest, the kerosene can, the 21 ft cylindrical metal piece they found recently. The span they are desperately surveying is huge, nearly 300 square miles, with a 12 mile long oil slick in the middle of it.

I try to imagine the thoughts of the passengers as they went down. I also, somewhat perversely, immediately think of the TV show Lost. I wonder if anyone on the plane was a fan of Lost and had twisted thoughts as their plane descended, "Hey, this is like Lost except it's not, I'm really dying." The plan allegedly went down in a huge flash of light that was witnessed by some. The debris "was found about 650 kilometers (400 miles) northeast of the Fernando de Noronha Islands, an archipelago 355 kilometers off the northeast coast of Brazil. It included an airplane seat and an orange float." (CNN.com) The details are so eerie.

Turbulence and lightning should not have brought the plane down. This is not Lost, but this crash is so mysterious, so ripe with questions.

Letting Go of Electromagnetism

2009-06-03T09:43:00.000-07:00

I stared up at the aiwa boombox on the top shelf of my closet today. I thought, "you haven't pulled that thing out in a really long time, you should get rid of it." Then i remembered the tapes.

The cassette tapes.

Tapes were the format that you received mix tapes in, the junior high form of the love letter. I scoured record stores for the right tapes to give myself credibility among my friends, I kept myself entertained on long and sometimes tortuous bus rides home with them. Cassettes were where my love of music really began, listening to them by myself on my bunkbed with a giant grey boombox shoved between the mattress and the wall. Should I completely give up on this outmoded form of audio playback? The boombox I have now still has a functioning cassette player. I don't think it records, but memories could be had.

I know I should let it go, but I feel the need to give my cassette tapes some kind of eulogy, some homage.

Help me decide if I should let go or hold fast:

Beck - Mellow Gold
Detestation - Unheard Cries
Black Sabbath - Greatest Hits
Smashing Pumpkins - Pisces Iscariot
Smashing Pumpkins - Gish
Reed College Orientation Tape
Beck - One Foot in the Grave
Tom Waits - The Early Years
Nirvana - Bleach
The Psychedelic Furs - Talk Talk Talk
The Best of Judas Priest - Living After Midnight
Ramones - S/T
Nina Simone - Best of
The Velvet Underground and Nico - S/T
The Clash - S/T
Wire - 154
Slant 6 - Sodapop Ripoff
The Cure - Wish
The Cure - The Head on the Door
The Cure - Seventeen Seconds
Sonic Youth - Live Recording
Billie Holiday - Billie's Blues
The Smiths - Meat is Murder
The Smiths - Strangeways Here We Come
Mazzy Star - So Tonight That I Might See
Belly - Feed The Tree (A CASSINGLE!!!!!!)
Crass - Penis Envy
Submission Hold - Veterans of the Cola Wars

I can't do it!! I just can't bear to give any of these away! There are also a few mixtapes in here that I gotta keep around. Maybe if I'm lucky I'll find a smaller tape player to help me relive the memories with. This all really makes me wish I had this colleciton on my ipod :( . . . .

27

2009-05-27T10:52:00.000-07:00

Lunch at Absinthe in the sunshine. Beginning with a bloody mary, ending with a plated candle. One of the drinks on the cocktail menu "is Juanathan's homage to the intricate relationship between whiskey and horses." Amazing. In the bathroom, I thought about how you are supposed to sing Happy Birthday twice when you lather the soap to wash your hands. I made the bubbles and thought, "It's true."

We strolled down the street, discovered a tiny park between Haight and Page, and hopped onto the 71 to go to the Academy of Sciences. When I thought about what I wanted for my birthday, one of my thoughts was I want to see something beautiful, which brought me to the fish. The new museum is really nice despite my memories of the previous version, that I visited for so many weekends and school field trips. Looking at the upside down jellyfish, the tree frogs, the chameleons, the anemones, it all makes me feel so small in the good way, a humbling happy smallness. No matter what happens to me, there will always be lionfish, octopi, and penguins, and all they need to do is breathe.

From the park onto another bus downtown for sushi before the Show. VIP seats at Wicked! Fabulous costumes, great music, epic scenes. Being up close was really a special experience. A criscendo to a fabulous day, the first day of being 27 . . .

As of late - part 2

2009-05-07T23:28:00.000-07:00

As of late

2009-05-07T23:24:00.001-07:00

From before - part 2

2009-05-07T23:21:00.001-07:00

From before

2009-05-07T23:13:00.000-07:00

Look What I Made

2009-04-22T08:16:00.000-07:00

Look What I Made

Puking, vomiting, upchucking, rolfing, ralphing, yawning in Technicolor, blowing chucks, losing your lunch, spewing, barfing, bringing up, driving the porcelain bus, disgorging, dry heaving, expelling, gagging, heaving, hurling, kecking, losing it, regurgitating, retching, throwing up. It has many names.
My friend Jarred said that his favorite thing in the world was vomiting. His least favorite thing: the feeling before and after vomiting. All pleasurable things in life involve tension and release. Puking is no exception.

Food Related Blunders: Oh God, Why Did I Eat That?

Yesterday: I almost vomited all over a banana. I prefer slightly unripe bananas with a light green tinge around the edges. I underestimated the tinge and selected a banana I thought would be just perfect with sweetness and firm texture. Upon taking the first bite, shivers went down my spine. I tried to chew the dry pasty banana. It tasted like aspirin. I forced myself to eat the mouthful. Bad idea. The banana triggered my gag reflex, and if it had not been for a nearby trashcan, I would have splattered little banana bits all over my shoes.

Once I ate 2 cloves of raw garlic, because I thought it would be good for me. My roommate was of the health conscious variety. Everything he ate was vegan, organic and possibly local. Henry would pick up raw cloves of garlic and pop them in his mouth while eating a bowl of pasta. Imitating his healthy gesture, I ate one and then two cloves of garlic with my food. All was fine for about 5 minutes after finishing my meal, when I suddenly had to race to the bathroom, where my body made evidence of its strong disagreement with my healthy gesture.

Booze: Highway to the Toilet Bowl

16, at a Halloween party, dressed up like the Saint Pauley Girl, eight beers too many. I strolled out onto the patio, and found an unassuming bucket. I released the contents of my stomach, and then picked up the bucket, shouting confidently, “Look what I made! Look what I made!” I put the bucket back down, sat on someone’s lap, and began to kiss him with my unrinsed lips.
After a bit too much at a different party, I escaped to the bathroom. Lamenting the rejection of some forgettable fellow, I began bawling while I was vomiting. Really, crying while vomiting is one of the most awful things ever. You feel as though you are leaking from every corner of your face.

“I think I’m gonna hurl”: One more puke related memory

I used to not believe that anxiety had the power to affect your gastro intestinal system. Then I fell in love for the first time. I hadn’t been sleeping regularly. The butterflies of novelty had my stomach in knots. Eating was difficult. A road trip to San Francisco with friends put 4 days distance between my new love and I. Now this may not seem like a long time, but in new lover time, this is ages, eons. It’s like exponential dog years. I couldn’t stand the waiting. Finally back in Oregon, after a 10-hour drive, we made plans to see each other that night. While I waited I forced myself to eat a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, and did the only thing that would put my anxiety to rest. I took a nap. An hour later, I shot out from under the covers on the couch, where I was sleeping and ralphed into another conveniently placed bucket. (They seem to appear for me)
Waiting for him could be equivocated with the moment one clutches the toilet bowl, groaning with nausea, or Jarred’s least favorite moment. In the moments in between our meetings I was often dizzy, stupid, weak in the knees, and glazed with an expression of euphoria. When we were together, I vomited fireworks into the air and all the little sparkling remnants fell down around me as time passed. My heart released without hesitation.

Pants are like love . . .

2009-04-21T10:16:00.000-07:00

. . . a different pair is right for everyone.

Act Four of this week's This American Life podcast hits upon this exact idea. I never thought this sentence would be actualized in story format and lo and behold.

Act Four. Pants Pants Revelation.

Joel and Kate were both working in a psychiatric hospital in Belmont, Massachusetts. They both like each other, and she tries to impress him by always wearing her favorite pair of jeans. Little did she know, the jeans were maybe the only thing about her that he didn’t like. (8 minutes)

Don't Go for the Food, Go for The Toilet

2009-04-17T03:35:00.000-07:00

I'm kinda obsessed with bathrooms.

There's nothing better than excusing yourself at a restaurant to go to the bathroom, waiting in a long line to use the restroom, and being pleasantly surprised when you get into the can to see that the owners have taken creative license to make the experience of passing fluid in their establishment an interesting and memorable one. I can't count how many times I have been disappointed that a fancy restaurant hasn't gone to any measures to make their bathroom an either memorable or luxurious experience. If I am paying $60 for a meal, I want their john to be one that I could never afford or imagine myself peeing in at home. It's annoying when you are paying so much for a meal and you get in to relieve yourself to find that the toilet seat is loose, the soap dispenser gives out neon pink industrial soap, and all the fixtures are everyday stainless steel. I remember eating in one fancy restaurant on my birthday, where the soap had run out and they put out a plastic squeeze bottle with a broken cap to pour soap out of. Sad.

I had two seconds of fame once for my Yelp list, "The Best John's in SF" that was featured in a weekly email newsletter. In it, I describe some winners in the category of making peeing interesting. You can make it pretty like Pauline's Pizza (whose black throne in a pink tiled room with chandelier and flamingo light switch cover can't really be topped), pictoral like Minako sushi with a tropical fish mural, luxurious like Rose's Cafe in the Marina (with lilies and wooden toilet seat dispenser) or entertaining like B44 or Pizzetta 211 (with mini televisions looping footage of interesting and culturally appropriate footage in line with the cuisine served, like B44, a Spanish restaurant whose bathroom has reels of a festival in Spain where people make human towers every year at a festival, the paramount being when they send a six or seven year old child up to the top to climb over five stories of people to add an additional 48 inches or so to garner a win) or to the truly wacky bathrooms like the hot toilet water at Sushi Groove. I am still waiting to find a restaurant with a real life bidet or a Japanese Toto installment.

Until then, I will continue to pee pee like a plebeian . . .

Quote from Russell Brand on NPR's Fresh Air

2009-04-10T11:20:00.001-07:00

"I don't know if you've ever smoked crack Terry, but it makes you do some very eccentric things." -- Russell Brand

Adventures in Adult Disneyland - Day One

2009-04-03T13:24:00.000-07:00

Reporting from the land of sin, prowess, and confidence.

Our day began early very early, 5 am to be exact. When you are at BART at this hour, pretty much everyone on BART is going to the airport.

You can see the casinos when you land in the airplane, the Luxor and the Wynn are basically backed up against the landing strip. On our way in, we were all thinking the same thing, "Wouldn't it be weird to live in Las Vegas, a town full of visitors?" I asked the cabby if he lived in Vegas. He did for all of his 45 years.

I took photos from the cab like a cheesy tourist. Vegas really does feel like a theme park at certain moments, and the roller coaster and miniature buildings of New York, New York fit right in with that.

Unable to check into our hotel, we grabbed some breakfast at the Starbuck's in the casino. The pastries there were not normal pastries, they were huge and all covered with inches of thick icing. The sticky buns were the size of baseballs. They must have gotten them from somewhere in the area.

We then headed to the jacuzzi, mind you, it's probably about 9am in the morning. The desert had yet to heat up the strip, and it was really cold. I kept my knit cap on while cooking in the bubbles.

We ate at Diablo's, a Chevy's-esque Mexican food restaurant in front of the Monte Carlo. We ordered some spicy mojitos that contained jalapeno seeds. I was doing fine and then one of the seeds lit my tongue on fire. I pleaded the waiter for an ounce of milk and he obliged me with a whole glass.

Still unable to check into our hotel, we wandered the strip and checked out the interior of the Bellagio with the Chihuly ceiling and botanical butterfly house installed in the front area. The Bellagio was definitely my favorite hotel of all the ones they visited. I loved the waterfall/waterworks that happen every hour in front of the hotel in their giant man made lake where spouts of water erupt from the lake to the tune of popular songs. It's a big, glorious, beautiful use/waste of water. We wondered what it would feel like to be on top of one of those water jets when they go off, to which my response was, "That'd be a hysterectomy."

We also went into the Venetian with it's faux-canals, replete with gondola rides and clouds painted on the ceiling inside the casino shops. The cloud motif, I later discovered continued in most of the shopping areas within the casinos, including Paris, Miracle Mile, and Caesar's Palace. Vegas is all about simulation and the being outside while you're inside feeling makes sense, especially in a city where temperatures top one hundred degrees on a regular basis.

Vegas is full of vacation items that are temporal and useful only in their gratuitous celebration of the moment and one's ability to push that moment to the limits of it's ostentation for a relatively cheap price. I am speaking of the mardi gras like necklaces that are sold and the yard long margaritas that you can drink in public.

Finally getting back to the hotel, we napped, got dressed to go out and went to the Paris hotel for the dinner buffet. Having long heard about the Vegas buffet, this was an event we were looking forward to. We arrived and I was both surprised and disappointed. Disappointed that it looked like a regular buffet, no ice sculptures or gold, but surprised that things like crab legs, bouillebaise and cod were available in an all you can eat format. Even though my peeps weren't as crazy about this buffet, it still was the first evidence I had that Vegas has some of the best buffets anywhere. We ate to the point of bursting and were comatose afterwards.

Hoping to earn some free drinks, we played the penny slots at the Paris. The food expanded, the wine they gave us was awful. My friend who played the Kenny Rogers machine had the hot machine. I realized that the old slot machines are better odds-wise than the strictly video machines. It's funny to me that all the casino's look different inside, but their slot machines and tables all pretty much look the same.

Everything in Vegas looks so close, but is actually far away. Space and time are distorted. This is especially true when you are full and trying to get back towards your hotel. Having finally made it, we decided to check out Diablo's. Inside, a cover band playing 80's and 90's rock, a la Lynard Skynard and Pearl Jam, with additional hot pants clad gogo Dancers offering shots in your mouth.

And then we went to sleep . . . .

Chinotto Cocktails

2009-03-25T14:13:00.001-07:00

If you haven't had Chinotto, it tastes like sweet orange rinds, like Campari without as much bitterness, an almost licorice flavor. The drink gets its name from a bitter sort of orange. I don't like Campari, but I adore Chinotto. I love that it comes in little glass jars that are really the perfect size for a sweet lunch beverage.

I think it would be really delicious to make cocktails with Chinotto. At first I thought about a good vodka, but a nice bourbon would be better, because the bitter flavors in Chinotto are a lot like the flavors in a Manhattan.

When I googled Chinotto Cocktails I came across this article by Eric Felten in The Wall Street Journal about using Italian sodas to flavor your cocktails which includes two chinotto cocktail recipes that include tequila and apple brandy:

Il Diavolo

2 oz blanco tequila
¼ oz fresh lime juice
1 to 2 tsp crème de cassis
3 to 4 oz chinotto soda

Build in a highball glass with ice and stir gently. Garnish with a slice of lime.

Della Mela

1½ oz applejack (apple brandy)
½ oz Benedictine (optional)
3 to 4 oz chinotto soda

The article also mentions the rise in bartenders making their own sodas from simple syrup and carbonated water. I was recently at The Orbit Room and they had some old fashioned selzer water dispensers behind the bar, which was not only cool but extremely stylish, making the $10 cocktail price tag seem like that much more of a deal if I got to see those kind of antiques on display. Way cooler than the soda "gun" you get at most bars.

5 Days of Sentinel Sandwiches

2009-03-25T09:52:00.000-07:00

Day One Smoked Salmon Sandwich

5 days of Sentinel Sandwiches begins. Day One features Salmon salad with dill and pieces of lox on top, butter lettuce, and seeded bun. The Sentinel is a small lunch kiosk with daily changing amazingness. Chef Dennis Leary of Canteen barks out orders and slings out sandwiches in the teeny tiny kitchen.

Day Two Veggie Sandwich with Curried Raisins

Day two featurees the veggie sandwich with mushrooms, swiss chard, golden raisins, curried raisins with sun-dried tomato spread and goat cheese and topped with butter lettuce on seeded bun. I enjoyed the cooked leafy greens, which added extra texture to the sandwich. The goat cheese was spreadable like cream cheese or marscapone. www.thesentinelsf.com/

Day Three Corned Beef

This may be the swansong of the Sentinel, the corned beef with sauerkraut, carmelized onions, gruyere cheese and russian dressing on ciabatta. It has the most bravodo of all the sandwiches and the corned beef was not too salty. I might have gone for a little less meat, and a little more dressing, but that's picking nits. It was a pretty damn amazing sandwich. www.thesentinelsf.com/ Oh and let me also note that all of their sandwiches come with a homemade dill pickle. I have never liked dill pickles before in my life, but I think I may have turned a corner. I really like their dill pickles. They are so refreshing and so crisp, and it was the perfect note after the corned beef sandwich.

Day Four, Meatloaf and Meunster

Meatloaf and Meunster sandwich with mayo and butter lettuce. Wow, this was some serious business. The meat loaf was thick and soft, and cooked with a touch of pink on the inside, so that puddle on the paper in the bottom half of the photo is a mix of mayo and bloody meat juice. Today, I received an Andes mint as opposed to the usual butterscotch.

Day Five, Deviled Ham With Meunster

While remarkably similar to the meatloaf sandwich, the deviled ham and meunster sandwich was distinct in texture and flavor. I looked up the ingredients in deviled ham and it entails mined ham that has been mixed with scallions, sour cream and spices like cayenne, taragon and mustard. It is not as spicy as it sounds. This deviled ham tasted mildly of tabasco and there was a bit too much ham for my taste. The sandwich also had butter letturce, cream cheese, and the occasional walnut.

Bonus Day - Chicken Salad Sandwich

Chicken salad with lemon, sesame and chili. A surprsingly light and very meaty chicken salad sandwich. Shredded pieces of chicken breast are tossed in a light aioli with lemon juice and a touch of sesame and chili. I would put this right behind the veggie sandwich for lightness. Thus concludes the Sentinel's Winter menu. Amen.

BreadxBread

2009-03-25T09:40:00.000-07:00

BreadXBread

Sandwich love in full force with poems, carbs, and more. Bloggers after my own heart.

I claim this chest . . .

2009-03-24T09:28:00.000-07:00

Classic.

Chicks and Bikes

2009-03-23T16:50:00.000-07:00

I just found this blog. I find it cool and fetishistic. It reminds me of girls at car shows.

Chicks and Bikes

Bar Soap

2009-03-23T09:25:00.000-07:00

Apartment Therapy's Sexiest Bar Soaps

There is something so personal in a bar of soap. The way it makes you happy, the way other people react to the way you smell. I recently made the switch to bar soap from liquid soap, and love it. I never want to go back. It's cheaper, it lasts longer, it's better for the environment because you're not shipping the water that comes in liquid soap, and there's something so much more tactile and satisfying about it.

i think you just modified my sense of inner peace

2009-03-22T20:11:00.001-07:00

I have had yoga instructors that are completely uninvolved, listlessly telling you to breath in breath out, and go back to downward dog.

Then there are the big personalities. These are usually the people who single you out in class, noting that you need to squeeze your elbows together and using your name so the entire class gets to think about your elbows. Yoga is not a competition. I don't appreciate anyone get rewarded or reprimanded during class. It's odd. It's such a personal exercise, why announce other people's achievements/problems to others?

I do enjoy having modifications done. I don't mind the hand pressing my shoulders back or the pull of my hips back in downward dog. This kind of contact makes me feel like the yoga instructor is my yoga buddy, just helping my stretching along. Only a few times have the modifications felt vaguely sexual.

I like the chanting and I want my instructor to help bring me to a spiritual place. A few lines of poetry or a short discussion about energy is wonderful (and I admit to tearing up in class prompted by the spiritual talk), but I did have an instructor once get out a tambourine and sing acapela to us. That felt like a bit much.

Also, my other big debate when it comes to yoga is the music played while you are in class. Personally, I am anti modern music. I don't want to know that you like Moby, Elliot Smith or Damien Rice while we are in class. I come to class to leave things like taste in music behind. It distracts me to have lyrics and modern music while I do yoga. I want to be displaced and for that reason, I favor chanting, music in languages I don't know, or classical music. I'm also down with no music at all.

Karaoke

2009-03-21T21:54:00.000-07:00

Things to consider when selecting a karaoke song:

1. How long do I actually want to be on stage?
2. How much will this make my friends laugh?
3. Do I know the words well enough that I will be able to dance or embellish? Conversely, do I know so little of this song that it will be funny for my friends?
4. Do i not care what my friends think? Do I want to indulge some long held fantasy that I can be Patsy Cline or Whitney Houston or Robert Plant or Bob Dylan?
5. Will I ever get on stage? I've already had 4 drinks.

I've often wondered what the WORST karaoke songs to sing are. I nominate slow ballads that not many people know. These are the least interactive songs to select. Things like "Desperado" don't count because everyone knows the words.

Karaoke is a community activity. You go out with your friends and sing for a big group of people who are usually out in packs of friends. They are all just like you and they are not there to pay $6 for a gin and tonic to watch you fuck up some long slow ballad that they don't know the words to. On the other hand, they are there to watch you fuck up songs that they know and love.

Which brings me to the karaoke cliches/standbys. We all know and love them a lot and if you've been to karaoke, you've also seen lots of people try to sing them. Pretty much everytime that I go out for karaoke I hear at least one of these five songs:

1. Don't Stop Believing by Journey (undoubtedly the most popular in my opinion. I hear it without fail)
2. Sweet Child O' Mine by Guns and Roses
3. Me and Bobby McGee by Janice Joplin
4. Total Eclipse of the Heart by Bonnie Tyler
5. Living On a Prayer by Bon Jovi

Not a bad way to spend a saturday night and $30 . . .

Monochromacy

2009-03-21T17:07:00.000-07:00

Basically every item of clothing that I have purchased in the recent past has been a varying shade of navy blue. I find myself stepping out the door in entirely blue-fits. While it is a little funny, I enjoy indulging in the lack of variance.

Now we all know that monochromacy is completely illegal when it comes to sweatshirt and sweatpants combos. It is completely unacceptable to be seen in public this way, unless you are a)elderly or b)Rocky Balboa.

I asked my roommate her opinion of monochromacy in fashion, and she was totally pro. I think it's really in right now especially if it's an all white outfit, which reminds remind me of the temple garments I recently read about that some Mormons wear while they are at church. The garments were referenced recently in an episode of Big Love that upset the Church of Latter Day Saints.

I also often think of sartorial monochromacy as something that boys and certain types of hipsters do. You know what I'm talking about, that dude who always wore brown hoodies with brown dickies, or hipsters/emo kids/goths/punk rockers/hessians etc. in all black with eyeliner. I use a photo of AFI for reference. I would have picked a better band for reference, but this is all I could come up with in my google image search for "all black clothing hipster."

Incredibly Malleable Horoscope for the week of March 16th

2009-03-20T12:46:00.000-07:00

Gemini - You -- or your partner -- could come up with all kinds of good reasons why you can't be successful doing what you really want to do. This is especially true in the first half of the week, when the Moon in your 7th House of relationships squares Saturn in your 4th House of home, family and emotions and Uranus in your 10th House of career. You might not be able to avoid hearing those voices (inner or outer), but you don't have to take them to heart. In fact, I wonder what would happen if, instead of trying to block them from your awareness or buying into their bad wisdom, you started asking them devious questions. Like "Where'd you get that belief?" Or "What makes you think that today's conditions are going to last forever?" You've had at least one stroke of insight about your life's work in the last week and you've got a couple more coming in the next week or two. Nurture those seedlings and shoo away the boo bugs who'd bite them down before they have a chance to grow.

http://wordsforthepeople.com/

sale / coffee / lost

2009-03-20T11:37:00.000-07:00

there was a giant sale in front of the Hundreds today. Twenty to thirty street-weared out kids were sitting in front of the store. It was odd to see them out so early in the morning with their baseball caps and oversized shirts.

coffee. had to use a credit card. I know it's no skin off specialty's back to run a card for a $1, but there was that minor pang of guilt.

i watched lost in full, and in review, unlike what i thought previously, it was one of the best episodes EVER. not filling us in through explanation, but using the time travel plot to actually put us in the middle of it. a true example of creatively showing and not telling.

Vegas

2009-03-19T18:26:00.000-07:00

Going to Vegas in t-minus 8 days. Any suggestions for what i should do? I googled the wall of chocolate from the Bellagio and it looks lame. Just a fountain behind glass. I heard the buffet at Paris is great.

I'm excited to see the insanity. To me Vegas is the culmination of man's id--it shouldn't exist--they pumped a ton of water into some place in the middle of the desert. It is an ecological abomination and the paramount of everything Americans imagine that they want in the most indulgent corners of their brains. Drinking outdoors, air conditioners that magically make cigarette smoke disappear, tons of tans and breast implants, Paris in the middle of Nevada, a pyramid (wtf?), and the promise of unabated wealth as a reward for not working very hard at all.

I will probably just be imbibing quite a bit, lounging around by the pool, and being wayyy too excited that the hotel room has cable.

Liberia’s Blackboard Blogger

2009-03-16T15:33:00.001-07:00

"Alfred Sirleaf is an analog blogger. He take runs the “Daily News”, a news hut by the side of a major road in the middle of Monrovia. He started it a number of years ago, stating that he wanted to get news into the hands of those who couldn’t afford newspapers, in the language that they could understand.

Alfred serves as a reminder to the rest of us, that simple is often better, just because it works. The lack of electricity never throws him off. The lack of funding means he’s creative in ways that he recruits people from around the city and country to report news to him. He uses his cell phone as the major point of connection between him and the 10,000 (he says) that read his blackboard daily."

Cut Worms

2008-12-26T14:38:00.001-08:00

Yesterday, while chopping up some cauliflower to eat with x-mas dinner, I encountered a hitchhiker like the one pictured above. I could not contain the chills and wretches. It was like a green shrimp, bigger than a quarter and still alive. It had been living in the head of cauliflower that had been picked, wrapped, shipped and displayed in the whole foods produce section. I'm sure he/she had plenty to eat on this journey like James and the Giant Peach. Living in the home that you eat your way out of.

My Omnivore's 100 List

2008-09-09T14:09:00.001-07:00

1) Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions.
2) Bold all the items you’ve eaten.
3) Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.
4) Optional extra: Post a comment here at www.verygoodtaste.co.uk linking to your results.

The VGT Omnivore’s Hundred:
1. Venison
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros
4. Steak tartare
5. Crocodile
6. Black pudding
7. Cheese fondue
8. Carp
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush
11. Calamari
12. Pho
13. PB&J sandwich
14. Aloo gobi
15. Hot dog from a street cart
16. Epoisses ???? (I might have eaten this. I don't remember all the cheese I ate in France)
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
19. Steamed pork buns
20. Pistachio ice cream
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries
23. Foie gras
24. Rice and beans
25. Brawn, or head cheese
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper (I would try it, but I fear I would light on fire)
27. Dulce de leche
28. Oysters
29. Baklava
30. Bagna cauda
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl
33. Salted lassi
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float
36. Cognac with a fat cigar
37. Clotted cream tea
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat
42. Whole insects
43. Phaal
44. Goat’s milk
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more
46. Fugu (I considered crossing this out, the fact that people still die from this scares me a little)
47. Chicken tikka masala
48. Eel
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut
50. Sea urchin
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone
54. Paneer
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal
56. Spaetzle
57. Dirty gin martini
58. Beer above 8% ABV
59. Poutine (sadly, I have not eaten poutine yet)
60. Carob chips
61. S’mores
62. Sweetbreads
63. Kaolin
64. Currywurst
65. Durian
66. Frogs’ legs
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake
68. Haggis
69. Fried plantain
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini
73. Louche absinthe
74. Gjetost, or brunost
75. Roadkill
76. Baijiu
77. Hostess Fruit Pie
78. Snail
79. Lapsang souchong
80. Bellini
81. Tom yum
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant.
85. Kobe beef
86. Hare
87. Goulash
88. Flowers
89. Horse
90. Criollo chocolate
91. Spam
92. Soft shell crab
93. Rose harissa
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Snake

The Tomato Report

2008-09-01T14:47:00.000-07:00

From little babies . . .

To bright green bulbs . . .

To sun-warmed salad-ready cherry tomatoes.

My Top 6 of the Moment

2008-08-01T14:42:00.000-07:00

6. Eugene Hutz of Gogol Bordello: Mustached, Slavic, Schizophrenic, Sexy.

5. Will Ferrell: Can you even imagine how much fun it would be to wake up in bed with this man?

4. Jason Schwatzman of Coconut Records: This fellow needs to switch careers because Coconut Records is so unbelievably good. He would be the 'twee-ist boyfriend ever.

3. Either one of the Hot Knives: Hot vegan cooks/bloggers/beer-lovers. They've got cajones doing two things that the fellas don't typically do. Having an avid interest in the beloved domestic art of cooking (although as a Jezebel article I read the other day points out, it's totaly okay and curently hip for guys to be into cooking but not cool for them to be into any other domestic art, can anyone think of a heterosexual equivalent of Martha Stewart?), and having the balls to be manly men who don't eat meat. It ain't easy being that adorable, and I'd walk over hot coals to have an artisan crafted brew with either of these menfolks.

2. Adrian Brody: Just cause.

1. Sam Mason: New York City Chef and Host of online webcast, Dinner With the Band. Rock 'n Roll, daring flavor combinations, copious tattoos. Yum.

Dynamo Donuts

2008-07-22T14:47:00.001-07:00

Lemon Thyme Donuts from the newly opened Dynamo Donuts in the Mission. I can't wait to try one.

Canned Sardines

2008-07-22T12:26:00.000-07:00

I had my second sardine sandwich this week. Yum. I think I found a new canned protein friend.

I really liked canned fish when I was little, my sister reminded me the other day. I used to eat kippers straight from the can with a fork.

My first sardine sandwich was the result of a google search for sardine sandwich, and it came from this blog. It was one side sardines mixed with sauted mushrooms, onions, and garlic, and then a little olive oil, lemon juice, and salt and pepper. On the other side of the bread was melted cheese. I heated both sides in the oven.

The bread I was eating was too thick, the cheese wasn't strong enough, but the sardine mixture was delicious. I also tried to eat this sandwich with lettuce which was a big flop because the lettuce was wilting between the halves pathetically. I pulled out the lettuce and tried to eat as much sardine as possible.

My second sardine sandwich was much more of a success. I ate it on untoasted sourdough bread with lettuce and mustard. This can of sardines was packed in tomato sauce, which I've read is common for sardines that come from Mexico or if they are packed in Thailand. I still added some olive oil and lemon juice to the mix, which was a good call because the lemon seemed to balance the acid in the tomatoes to make a more mild flavor.

On the downside, these sardines were cheaper and more gritty than the previous can I purchased.

I was worried about the mercury content being high in sardines like tuna, but I read on the internet that the sardine's low status on the food chain makes it far less of a risky fish to eat. They contain less mercury because their lives are shorter, and they don't eat other fish who contain mercury like predatory fish such as tuna.

Also in terms of the food chain, sardines are incredibly sustainable. When you eat predators, you are eating a larger chunk out of the food chain, but since sardines are bottom feeders, they reproduce faster, and there are more of them to eat. Eating bottom feeders impacts bio-diversity less.

Cheap, low mercury levels, non-perishable, environmentally sustainble, high in omega-threes and delicious. Oh sardines, I think this the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

Congee

2008-07-12T12:48:00.000-07:00

Pork and preserved egg congee with green onions topped with Chinese Donut from the Ming Wun-Tun Noodle House on 32nd and Noriega.

Side Order of Chinese donut.

4th of July Eats

2008-07-06T21:09:00.000-07:00

White wine sangria with peaches, pears and strawberries, recipe from Scott's Food Blog.

A perfectly peeled hard-boiled egg for potato salad. I was very proud of myself.

The most addictive salt n pepper pistachios ever. Thank you Cost-co.

Our strawberries were ripe, maybe a little too ripe, but still good. The downside of being in season.

Little Baby Cherry Tomatoes

2008-06-29T13:18:00.000-07:00

Two Meals

2008-06-22T23:14:00.000-07:00

Quesadilla with sauteed onion, olive, and corn with salsa. Nicely plated.

Breadcrumb battered chicken breast with sauteed onions and garlic alongside spinach spaghetti with feta.

Adventures in Yeast

2008-06-17T09:19:00.000-07:00

My attempt to make french bread last night was a hideous disaster, and a marvelous learning experience, producing completely inedible bread. You could beat someone with the results this morning.

Part 1: Yeasty Beginnings

I dissolved the dry active yeast in warm water. The package said that the water should be between 110 and 115 degrees. I didn't have a thermometer, so I guessed that should be below boiling (130-140? deg F) but hotter than the hot springs I sat in a few weeks ago (102 deg), so I figured I shouldn't be able to keep my finger in it for very long.

The yeast package said you heat water, dissolve yeast, let sit, and in 5 minutes, watch the yeast get bubbly. I may have seen a few bubbles, but my pot looked like miso soup. I read in a book later that a pinch of sugar often helps this process. Not sure of how many bubbles I should see I decided to keep going.

Part 2: Doughing What You Knead

I mixed the yeast into some bread flour and salt, then slowly mixed in the rest of the bread flour. While I made something of a mess on the counter, this is in my hypotheses, the only part of the baking that I got right. I got my dough ball out of the bowl, and kneaded the bread for about 10 minutes on the counter. Using the Test Kitchen instructions of pressing down with the heels of my hands and then turning and folding the dough, I got quite a rhythm down. This was the fun part. My dough ball even looked like the picture.

Part 3: A-Rising Discontent

Then it was time to put my happy little dough ball in a greased bowl, cover, and let rise, preferably in a warm place. I put it in the oven, but I found out later you're supposed to heat the oven to 200 deg and then turn off the oven, and then place said happy little dough ball in conducive rising chamber. My dough was hanging out in a drafty garage.

Part 4: Shape n' Rise

After hanging out in the oven for an hour and a half, my dough ball was bigger but definitely not double in size. I read that you are supposed to poke it with your finger and the dough should refill the indent at a moderate pace. My dough filled in, but slowly. Hope did not seem lost. I shaped the bread into a loaf and let it sit to rise again. 40 minutes later, no change. This was evidence that the yeast definitely wasn't working. At this point, I was tired, and I knew my bread was fucked. I decided to cook it anyway.

Part 5: Heating

Yes folks, I broke the pan. How do you break a pan? I'm not sure, but it definitely happened. I didn't think my bread was that heavy, or my oven that hot, but the baking stone cracked in half after 15 minutes of cooking.

Finished Product:

While my bread resembled a loaf shape, and had some nice golden brown spots on it, the interior bread was so dense that butter slid right off when I had a sample piece. It was heavy, leaden, and completely unrisen. My yeast was oppressed, not given the right conditions to grow. Surprisingly, although the texture was all wrong, my hot sample was relatively good tasting. This morning, it wouldn't have even made good croûtons. It reminded me of when you bake flour and water to build a replica of the Alamo for a fourth grade history project.

Regardless, I was kind of proud of my bread bat.

Borscht

2008-06-05T09:32:00.000-07:00

What a big fucking mess. I had beet juice everywhere. It spilled over the pot, sprayed out from the grater. I kept finding little red renegade pieces of beet on the kitchen floor. Both of my hands have a tinge of magenta all over the palms. No pictures of the mess, but hopefully pictures of the meal to follow.

Batting Zero

2008-05-19T15:06:00.000-07:00

Sometimes it's really hard to stay on the horse . . .

Pasta Fagiole

2008-05-10T22:43:00.001-07:00

My attempt at making pasta fagiole.

The successful doctoring of leftover tomato soup

2008-05-01T15:36:00.000-07:00

I took a recipe from Epicurious.com that contained a good number of the leftover ingredients that were left in my fridge.

My ingredient list

1/2 box creamy tomato soup
1 cup chicken broth
1 can water (2 cups)
1 can stewed tomatoes (with juice, undrained)

5 celery stalks, chopped
1/2 red onion, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed

1 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 tsp salt
1 pinch oregano
1 pinch saffron
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes

Approximately 1/2 cup white rice.

I sauteed the vegetables with the red pepper flakes and garlic until they were softened and started to brown. In went the tomato soup, stewed tomatoes (with juice) water, broth, and remaining spices. That simmered for 20 minutes, and then I put in the rice, and let it simmer for 20 more minutes.

What resulted was a tasty tomato, rice and veggie stew. The red pepper flakes and saffron added a nice heat. Would have been better with bread and meat, but it was definitely a successful salvage of leftovers!

Beautiful Breakfast Quiche

2008-04-13T15:53:00.000-07:00

My sister made this beautiful quiche for breakfast. Yum.

Kitties

2008-04-11T13:18:00.000-07:00

Today, I really wanted to get a kitty. These are the three I wanted to bring home today. Their names are Natasha, Bubba, and Kaely. Natasha is 9 years old, and I love her smushed face. Bubba was listed as an all around good natured gentlemen, and Kaely is half manx and has no tail! I love nubbie kitties.

Black Opal Raspberry Licorice

2008-04-07T00:42:00.001-07:00

Oh my god. This is some good licorice. Soft, ultra-sweet, with a face puckering artificial strawberry taste. I'm really crazy about the size and texture of each piece, thick and chewy without being sticky.

Koolickles

2008-04-01T16:56:00.001-07:00

I am not really a fan of dill pickles, even the fresh ones from the deli. I sort of like them on sandwiches, and I like sweet relish, but when I heard about the phenomenon of Koolickes, pickles soaked in kool-aid, I immediately wanted to try one. Apparently it's a really popular thing in the South. People sell them in liquor stores.

it's cold at work. brrr.

2008-04-01T13:18:00.000-07:00

The cuties have fallen

2008-03-08T19:29:00.000-08:00

Dicator Cuties

2008-02-18T11:12:00.000-08:00

Freelines

2008-02-01T15:56:00.000-08:00

nice lyrics i heard on the radio today

2008-01-30T15:31:00.000-08:00

The old already know the reason
So do the sad hotels
That too much is for a short while
And is still not enough
And is only once
Protect me in evil
Everywhere protect
The grace of your heart.

Still protect
The grace of my heart
Now and for when
Still protect
The grace of my heart
Now and for when
Of you beside me

2008-01-22T09:18:00.000-08:00

so very nice to see you again honey . . .

This Is Just to Say

2008-01-15T09:15:00.001-08:00

I have eaten
the plums
that were in
the icebox

and which
you were probably
saving
for breakfast

Forgive me
they were delicious
so sweet
and so cold

-- W. C. W.

Personalized Love Bird Mugs

2007-11-19T11:39:00.000-08:00

Exactly the sort of item I would sell at my store.

Lamb Shepherd's Pie

2007-11-19T09:41:00.000-08:00

1 lb ground lamb
1 tsp thyme
1 tsp worshtescher (sp?)
1/2 cup onions
2 chopped garlic cloves
1 can stewed tomatoes partially drained.
2-4 cups green beans
cheese for topping
1 box instant au gratin potatoes

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cook lamb with thyme and worshtescher, plus onions and garlic. Cook until meat is no longer pink. Boil water to blanch the green beans. Blanch beans and drain. Start potatoes according to box directions. Remove lamb and onions with slotted spoon and place in casserole dish. Top with can of stewed tomatoes, and then green beans. Mix together. Pour potatoes over the top. Sprinkle cheese on top. Bake for 25-30 minutes.

Mushroom Turkey Burgers

2007-11-16T17:50:00.000-08:00

I made turkey burgers last Tuesday. I put some mushrooms, and a shallot in the food processor, and mixed it into the turkey meat. It made the burgers meatier. I really like it, and would definitely do it again.

Spanish Rice

2007-11-08T12:14:00.000-08:00

I discovered the greatness of making your own spanish rice after I read something about MSG. I freaked out for a little while, and tried to avoid it whereever I could. I eventually calmed down about it realzing that if I didn't eat MSG, I would never eat another Cool Ranch Dorito.

I made some of the boxed versions in the past. I used to use the Mahatma brand (which does have MSG), and then after my MSG freakout, I tried the Near East Brand that also makes couscous, and rice pilaf. I think I may have even tried the Uncle Ben's version, but I don't really remember.

I looked up how to make it on the internet, and tried a few different recipes. After a little trial and error, and a few modifications, this is the rice that I make.

Spanish Rice

This recipe can easily be doubled if you double the onion, chili powder, salt, water, and broth (and rice of course :)

1 tblsp olive oil
1/2 an onion chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
1 cup rice (brown or white)
1 can stewed tomatoes
1/2 tsp chili powder
pinch of oregano
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup water (2 cups if you are using brown rice)
1 cup chicken or vegetable broth
*optional 1/2 cup of frozen corn/peas/carrots for color

In a large skillet, heat the olive oil over medium/high heat and add the rice. Add the onion and garlic. Cook onion/rice mixture, stirring frequently, about 4 minutes until the onions are softened and translucent. The rice will start to brown a little.

Add all of the other ingredients and stir. Bring to a simmer, and lower the heat. Cook 25 minutes or until the liquid has burned off (it may take longer for brown rice) to your desired moisture level. My sister likes the rice to get burned on the bottom, but the rice can be really good too when it's a little more moist and squishy too, depending on your mood.

Enjoy with sour cream and guacamole.

My Modified Chicken Adobo

2007-11-06T09:52:00.000-08:00

Chicken Adobo Ingredients:

2 lb. chicken thighs, skins removed, cut off the bone into pieces

1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup light or dark soy sauce
3 1/4" slices of fresh ginger
3 cloves of garlic, crushed and skins removed
1/4 cup rice vinegar
32 oz chicken stock to cover
1 bay leaf

Serves 2 to 3 people

Method:

Don't forget to start the rice! Put all ingredients into a large pot, bring to the boil and then reduce heat to simmer until chicken is tender (approx. 1 hour)

Remove the chicken with a slotted spoon, and put it in a saute pan with a little olive oil. Saute on high heat until chicken is crispy. About 5 minutes. I like the "burny flavor." Serve chicken with white rice, and pour the sauce over both.

food i made plus a musical note

2007-11-01T20:05:00.000-07:00

polenta and vegetable bake. tasted like lasagna. a lot of eggplant.

never got around to making a salad with the fuyu persimmons. they sure are pretty though.

i baked a batch of cookies. i made two pots of coffee.

salmon salad with white beans last sunday.

plus, shankar jaikikshan's title music from merchant ivory's film bombay talkie caught my attention from the darjeeling limited.