Financial Advice from a Fortune Cookie

I'm already freaked out about the economic crisis, now my food is channeling advice from Suzy Orman, too.
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Fall's weekend appearance

Couldn't have asked for more beautiful weather. It rained Friday night into Saturday then the sun peeked out in the afternoon. Sunday the air was clear and crisp thanks to the previous day's rain and the cool breeze.

Saw Nights in Rodanthe with my MIL and SIL. It was good. Not great, but better than just ok. At the very least, entertaining and a workout on tear ducts. If you're susceptible to that. Did you see Diane Lane and Richard Gere in Unfaithful? So different from this one.

I've been learning how to make a basic potholder.I got the instructions here. I didn't know how to do a blind stitch but I easily learned after watching a tutorial on youtube. I love the internet.

Since the weather is cooler, I felt like making comfort food. Have you had heard of Mulligatawny soup? The first time we had it was at the Spaghetti Factory. It's served every Thursday at lunch. I needed to find a recipe and the one I finally ended up with is a combination from one I found on allrecipes.com, one I found in Cooking Light magazine and making substitutions that suit our tastes.
If you like chicken & rice soup and curry doesn't turn your stomach, I recommend it. At the very least, try it the next time you see it on the menu at a restaurant. It's fun to try something different. Here's how I make it:

Chicken Mulligatawny

1 onion
4 stalks celery
2 carrots
1-2 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/2 tablespoon curry powder
8 cups chicken broth
1 apple, cored and chopped

3/4 cup white or brown rice
2 skinless, boneless chicken breast half - cut into cubes
salt to taste
ground black pepper to taste
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1 cup milk - nf is fine and what I usually use but use whatever you want including 1/2 and 1/2 if it suits you.

Directions

-Puree all vegetables
-heat oil in large stock pot and add veggie puree, cook for a few minutes.
-add curry powder and chicken stock. Mix well and bring to a boil. Simmer about 1/2 an hour.
-Add rice, chicken, salt, pepper and thyme. Simmer another 1/2 hr or until rice is done. -or- Simmer 2 hours for rice to thicken and become more 'hearty'.
-Add milk and apples, simmer 5 minutes. Serve.

Notes:
If you'd prefer your veggies chopped instead of pureed, then sauté veggies in oil for 5-10 minutes. Add 3 T flour and the curry powder to the veggies and sauté 5 minutes. Then add the chicken stock and continue on with step 2 above. You'll need the flour to thicken the soup. This makes a lot. You can 1/2 the recipe, but we like the leftovers.

And I leave you with snippets of the famous Seinfeld soup nazi episode:

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Zucchini Bread

This is my mom's famous zucchini bread. It's been years since I made it because Jimmy doesn't eat it and it makes 2 loaves, which means I eat 2 loaves of zucchini bread. And as much as I can pretend that it's healthy - zucchini and all, there's a whole cup of oil and 2 cups of sugar in those 2 loaves.
My mom was a pretty good cook. Before she came to the United States, she worked in the Philippines at the US Army Base cooking, cleaning and nanny-ing for American families. I'm a decent cook. I can follow a recipe, modify it and wing it every now and then. But I cook nothing like my mom. In fact, I followed her recipe exactly, well almost exactly, and my zucchini bread looks and tastes nothing like hers. Or how i remember hers to be. Hers was darker and oilier. I'm not sure why mine turned out so light. But I have an idea why mine doesn't quite taste the same. First of all, I'm not a big fan of cinnamon. So instead of 1tsp that the recipe calls for, I only added a little over 1/2 a teaspoon. But I forgot an ingredient that's almost always in baked goods. Vanilla. I've never ever forgotten vanilla in a recipe before so I was kinda worried how it would turn out. How essential is vanilla to baking? Surprisingly and happily, it's still really good. Phew. Have you ever forgotten vanilla in your baking and if so, how'd it turn out?

I asked Jimmy when was the last time he had zucchini bread and he said, when he was a kid. So I had him try another bite. His comment "It tastes like vegetables." Good gravy. I can't even disguise vegetables in a dessert for the man. I'm meeting Angie for lunch tomorrow so I'm giving her the 2nd loaf.

If you like zucchini bread, I recommend trying this recipe. Here are the ingredients.
Yup, I had the vanilla out and everything, but I still forgot it.

And here's my mom's recipe.
Makes me happy that I have this in her writing.

I just realized that her recipe doesn't say how long to bake it. I baked my 2 loaves for 1 hr 25 mins. I started testing it after 60 minutes.
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We're "This Many"

When Danielle came to visit a few weeks ago with her daughter, she would tell everyone that she was "this many" and hold up 3 fingers. So, on the way to my birthday lunch, the 4 of us: me, Danielle, Jimmy and TG, were in the car together and I told everyone to hold up all of their fingers and that was "how many" I was. TG thought that was so funny, that was A LOT of fingers to be!
We had a great time in S. California celebrating Danielle's 40th. The weather cooperated and cooled off nicely after the sun set. She had a fun band, the most delicious birthday cake, and I saw a couple of friends from high school that I haven't seen since TG's baby shower.

On another note, I went to the foot doctor the morning we left. He took an xray that showed something suspicious between the 3rd and 4th metatarsal, and after getting a CATscan, it turns out that I have torn several ligaments and have very bad sprain. I have to wear a removable cast for the next few weeks. But now my foot hurts more than it did, in places that never hurt before. Which doesn't make me want to wear it. And since it's removable, it's easy to talk myself into taking it off. But everyone around me makes sure that I wear it. I suck at self-discipline. It all comes back to my lack of fortitude.

Despite hobbling around S. California for 2 days, we had a good time. We spent Saturday morning and afternoon with Lauree, Jimmy's sister, her husband Jim, and Eric, Jimmy's brother.
On the way home, we had dinner in Solvang.Solvang is a cute little town that was settled by a group of Danish educators in 1911. It was the first time Jimmy and I had gone to Solvang together. All the shops and bakeries were closed, but we found a little restaurant, and dined on Danish meatballs, sausage and red cabbage outside on their patio. I have to admit the atmosphere was far superior over the food, but it was great being in a part of California that we hadn't seen together.

Today, Sunday, we are relaxing at home. We intended on going to the hideaway, but with this gimpy leg of mine, I'm far to lazy to make another trip away from homebase. Not to mention that 2 1/2 more hours in the car, after 7 hours yesterday, doesn't sound very appealing. So the remaining of my Sunday will be spent either clicking a remote or clicking a mouse.

Home sweet home!
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Rounding off the celebrations

Saturday was the final installment of my birthday celebrations. It was a combined birthday party with Jimmy, since he turns 40 in less than 2 weeks. All in all, I think I had 6 different events celebrating my notorious 40th.

The first was in May when my cousin from Seattle came for a week to visit with her family. They're shy, otherwise I'd post pic.

The day before my birthday, I went to fondue with Danielle and her sweet little girl. bad photographer (that'd be me) should have moved those water glasses.

The day of my birthday, we went to Benihana.

A week-long combined celebration at the hideaway with family and friends.

A mini GTG (get-together) at the Old Spaghetti Factory with the Yuens and Brewers because they couldn't make it to...

A dinner party for both of us at our favorite Mexican restaurant with the Bowens, Chanceys, Phin, Madmax, the Parentals and my youngest SIL.

That's a whole lotta cake and/or ice cream consumed, not to mention great food!

But the birthday celebrations aren't quite over yet. For me, yes. But Danielle and Jimmy's birthdays are the 13th and 14th. We are going to Southern California this weekend to celebrate Danielle's. Then we'll celebrate Jimmy's with the parentals on his actual day.

Hurray! More cake and/or ice cream! Must keep moving more than consuming though.

Not a bad way to start off a new decade, is it?
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I have a problem and I need your help...

I was sitting at one of my fav restaurants, minding my own business, reading a lovely book, finishing up a chapter before leaving. I had already finished eating a better than expected Louie salad. It was delicious...the shrimp and crab were tasty, the lettuce crisp. I was engaged in what I was reading, but out of the corner of my eye, something moves on the seat next to me. Yep, from the photo above, you guessed correct...a cockroach. I watched it for just a moment, hoping it would scurry into some crevice, but instead it sauntered up the seat, closer to my face. Of course I moved away. It still would not crawl into a crevice. No, it continued it journey towards me with its antennea moving frantically. I quickly stood up, grabbed my bill, book, purse then paid and left. Feeling like the creepy crawlies.

So, my question to you is this: would you go back?

Things to considering:
-I've eaten there for 5 years and never saw a cockroach. Actually now that I think of it, I don't recall even seeing a fly.
-It's a clean establishment. By my standards at least. Which I'm not anal about but I'm not big fan of greasy spoons.
-The restaurant/building has been there forever, at least since the 60s, maybe even the 50s. That's a guess tho based on the other establishments around it.
-It's popular.
-It wasn't a very big cockroach. Not like the photo, which is from the zoo in an enclosed display.
-I live in a big city, the most populated city in the Bay Area. But it's not like SF or NYC where you kind of expect to see them. Do big cities just equal cockroaches?

So, if you wouldn't go back, would you consider getting take out?
Or is the ick factor too much?
Or the vision of those damn antennea looking like they were zeroing in on me?
Aren't they suppose to hide in the cracks where we don't see them and can pretend that they don't exist???

And local friends? Sorry, but I won't tell you which restaurant this was. Mostly because if I take you here if i decide to go back, i'd fear that all you'd think about is cockroaches...what was that crunch in your salad? A candied pecan or ??? -edit-ok i lied. I told local friends who've asked. Cuz I don't want them to eat any "candied pecans" when they don't have to.
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Good intentions gone bad - or - a lack of fortitude

You may recall my proclamation in February about attempting to eat less fast food. However, something happens with good intentions when you're traveling. I hate to admit it, but I ate fast food 4 times during my 6 days of traveling.
Granted, 2 of the times I was with kids so in my reasoning, those are justifiable, but the other 2 times were purely because I was driving for 6 hours and didn't want to stop for a 'real meal'.
Sigh.
However, I'm getting back on track. No fast food till...? hopefully as long as possible.
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A case of the blahs

Not a whole lot has been happening since I got back from NYC. I think after the high-energy fast pace of NYC, my normal day-to-day routine is just not inspiring to write about. Plus being sick then having some kind of stomach virus the past two days have put me in the dulldrums. I'm trying to convince myself that I can't eat cheese anymore. I love cheese, but maybe it doesn't love me. Which might be ok since cheese is somewhat high on the calorie intake scale. And I'm trying to convince myself that I'm not really gonna eat beef anymore. I haven't in over 2 weeks, so I know my stomach issues aren't related to that. But I went to college near the cattle ranches in Chino where the recent problems and abuses have been discovered and I drove through those ranches many times, so the scare hits a little closer to home for me. So I'm gonna try to commit to not preparing beef meals or order beef when we go out to eat. I'm not swearing off beef all together because if someone makes it for a meal, I'll certainly eat and enjoy it and savor it for that matter! :) Also, I recently finished reading "Chew On This: Everything You Don't Want to Know About Fast Food" which was written by the guy who wrote "Fast Food Nation." So perhaps by reading this, I've added some fuel to my fire, but for me, it's about being more aware, trying to eat better, and the effects it has beyond my minuscule scope of understand and impact. But i'm not getting on a soapbox, because I recently went to KFC (even tho they are one of the big offenders in the book) and just yesterday drove through Jack-in-the-Box (did you know their medium soda is like 32 ounces?!?), so for me, it's baby steps. Then again, I'm lacking in that fortitude virtue, so who knows where this blathering will actual go! Perhaps it's all inspired by a bad tummy ache and once I'm feeling all better, I'll be ordering big macs and super sizing it with the rest of the nation. (j/k, probably) :)

Delicious cheese from the cheese shop in the Grand Central Market at Grand Central Station.
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hello from NYC

You have to believe we are magic...nothing can stand in our way!
Sorry, still on a Xanadu high. Saw it Sunday matinee. Beyond fabulous! Would expound but ohsovery tired.
want to give few lots more details, but it's late and seriously...so very tired, but wanted to pop in and say hello! for now, so far:

Sunday:
-Breakfast at Balthazar's
-Shopping at Kate's Paperier
-Xanadu
-Dinner at Junior's
-Marathon viewing of Sex in the City

Monday:
-Lunch during the Food and History Tour. 3.5 hours, walking in 11 degrees, with wind chill that made it actually feel like -3 degrees. California Girl thanks NYC for being so thoughtful on the weather.
this tour was amazing! totally worth being in what actually felt like sub zero temperatures for 3.5 hours. we did walk into restaurants and food shops so weren't outside the entire 3.5 hours so at least we got a few moments to recover while inside. and eat very very good food. Including:
a slice at Joe's Pizza
Artisan bread featuring O&Co olive oil, cherry balsamic vinegar and sea salt.
An amazing beatnik underground 'theater' downstairs in the Cornelia Street Cafe
Cheese tasting at Murray's Cheese
Thai dumplings at Lime Bistro
Chocolate chip and oatmeal cookie at Milk and Cookies Bakery
Another slice of pizza at Bleeker Street Pizza
Ending with Italian cannoli's at Rocco's Pastries
Plus lots of other influential restaurants and historic sights in the village.
Again, I hope to give more details later.
-actually went to the fitness center and rode stationary bike for 20 minutes after the above indulgence.
-Out again for dinner at Patsy's back in the Village. Split misto salad and penne a la vodka with my SIL.
-then dessert at Chocolate at the Bald Man's.
Back to apartment to ooze. and thaw. and sleep.
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3 of 7: rainy day activities

I'm gettin' serious about this daily photo business. I've been known to focus on tasks. I can take a given project and focus on it so intently, my head explodes. I've got 13 (!) photos to share with you, all taken today. Because I'm an overachiever like that. Sometimes. Actually, not really.
Today was a bit of a blustery day. Rainy, gray and windy. Doesn't this weather just scream for comfort food? I thought so.
Now, I've been talking about girl scout cookies, chocolate covered oreos, holiday weight gain and so forth. So it's high time that I share at least one thing I eat that's not completely sinful.
Madeline's 1/3 Bad For You Chili.
In true Pioneer Woman style, here are the cast of characters. By the way, if you haven't checked out Pioneer Woman's blog yet, please do. I highly recommend it. I read it more often than Dooce. And she has lots of mouth watering recipes on there, too. I've adopted saying "Lawsie Mercy" and "Tarnation" a lot recently thanks to her. Nothing's stranger than an Asian-American California girl saying "Lawsie Mercy that was one crazy rain storm we had last night" or "where in tarnation did I leave my readin' glasses?".

Back to business:
I use 1/2 an onion and about 7-10 garlic cloves. This recipe is inspired by my BIL's recipe that uses 35 cloves of garlic. And 2/3 Italian sausage, 1/3 full fat ground beef. I've made a few modifications to suit my tastes. But I must admit that his tastes WAY better. So if you're feeling sassy, try it fully loaded. I pulverize the onion and garlic. Jimmy doesn't like biting into onions or pieces of garlic. Come to think of it, neither do I.
With all the aromas starting up, it's time to pour myself a beverage. You might chose a glass of chardonnay, but I'll enjoy a can of sparkling diet Mountain Dew Code Red.
Sauté the onions and garlic in a bit of olive oil. This is the only added fat in the whole pot. So far so good.
Add all the meat. That's 2 packages of lean ground turkey breast and 1 package of hot Italian sausage. That's the 1/3 part that's bad for you. But it adds a lot of delicious flavors. Much tastier than ground beef. There's also sweet or mild Italian sausage if hot is too spicy for your tastebuds.
Brown the meat. Since I'm using turkey breast, it doesn't really get brown, even with the Italian sausage. Drain all the fat and liquid. There isn't much since I'm using lean turkey breast, but I wanna take out as much fat from that sausage as possible.
Dump in 2 cans of diced tomatoes, 1 can of tomato sauce and about 1/2 a can of water. For the first time, I'm using a can of fire roasted diced tomatoes with garlic. Deliciously flavorful.
In Carroll Shelby's chili kit, there are 4 packs of seasonings. Dump every bit of the chili seasonings, salt and cayenne pepper. Reserve the masa till the end in case the chili needs a little thickening.
We like things spicy so I add more Tabasco and cayenne pepper.
I normally don't add fresh thyme, but I have some left over from some chicken soup I made the other day. It cracks me up that you have to buy so much fresh herbs, when a recipe usually calls for a mere tablespoon or so. I need to figure out what to do with the rest of this thyme. If it weren't for the 2 sticks of butter it calls for, I'd make Pioneer Woman's Buttery Thyme Bread. But I prefer to spend my calories on girl scout cookies and chocolate covered oreos.
Stir it all in and simmer for at least 2 hours. Sure, the package of Carroll Shelby's says 15 minutes, but we all know that chili tastes better the longer it simmers. And make a lot of it because we also know it's better the next day. That's why my pot is nearly overflowing even though it's just for me and Jimmy.

While the chili is simmering that gives me 2 hours to play the guitar on Rock Band.
Just kidding! My jaw still hurts from playing this game. I've played it 2 times since being diagnosed with TMJ over a week ago, and there is a definite correlation. I can play the drums or karaoke without any pain, so it's related to the guitar. The guitar is the funnest.
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Savannah's are now called Do-Si-Dos

I'm an 'auntie' before a weight watchers member.
That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it!

Jimmy and I bought 5, yes 5 boxes of Girl Scout Cookies. We like to support the girl scouts, especially when we know a girl scout personally. We bought:
Thin Mints: Mint flavored cookie covered with dark chocolate. Both my and Jimmy's favorite. Who doesn't like eating a cookie and having fresh breath at the same time?
Savannahs/Do-Si-Dos: Peanut Butter Sandwich cookie. Jimmy's other favorite. He wanted 2 boxes, but when I was on the phone with Miss AB, I wasn't sure if they were the same thing. So I ordered one box of this and the other peanut butter cookie...
Tag Alongs: round cookie with a layer of peanut butter and covered with chocolate. Even though we've never had these before, I doubt we'll have any trouble whatsoever consuming a whole box of something similar to a Reese's.
All Abouts: A shortbread cookie with a layer of fudge on the bottom. We've never had these either, but shortbread and chocolate? Yum.

What are your favorite Girl Scout Cookies?
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Santa, I have a tummy ache...

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Kiss a pretzel

Tomorrow we're going to our 2nd Christmas party of the season. It's the Yuen's annual cookie party and after chatting with the wonderful hostess, decided to bring these fun and super easy not-a-cookie but salty-sweet snack.Again, not an original idea. I first saw it on Becky Higgins blog here, then got an e-newsletter from Family Fun that linked to their website here. It looks much better using the Hugs, but I don't like white chocolate so I used original Hershey Kisses.
Supplies: Pretzels, Hershey's Kisses (or Hugs), M&M's. Put a kiss on each pretzel and put in 200 degree oven for 6-8 minutes till chocolate is soft. It'll retain its shape.
Remove from oven, smoosh 1-2 M&M's into it and its done.
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A common thing across two countries

Last week, (or was it the week before already?), the authorities of The Tree Trimming and Cutting Down Committee decided that one of the sweetgum trees on my street was no longer suitable for living. Of course, they didn't bother to tell any of the families who live within one house of the tree that they were planning this, so early one morning, we heard the noisy sound of chain saws. Didn't phase us though because we just thought it was the gardener with his leaf blower. Till the gardener was here for 2 hours. I finally peeked outside and thought "Huh. There's an awful lot of blue sky. I think they chopped down one of my trees." Yup, I'm observant. lol. BTW, the tree isn't really mine, firstly we rent, secondly, the trees are between our driveway and the neighbor's. But I've grown attached to it, despite the spikey balls it drops everywhere. It's beautiful in the fall - yellow, red, orange leaves. In California, ya gotta get whatever fall color you can whenever you can and embrace it. Anyhoo, once I saw them giving the poor tree the ax, I donned my spy camera and started snapping away.
An appendage being hauled to its violent fate.

At least its fate is mulch and will probably (hopefully) be used for something worthwhile.
After they left, I went to the street to see what was left. A sad little stump remained.
(BTW, just in case you can't quite read me, I'm being overly dramatic. The poor tree was probably diseased, I looked back at some of the photos I've taken and it was looking a bit dowdy. The powers that be don't usually go around cutting down trees willy nilly.)

The next day the Tree Dudes returned. The healthy sweetgum tree was due for a trimming in an effort to keep it healthy and hopefully to prevent it from the same fate as its partner.


Here's the solo tree, healthy and happy as can be.
I miss the shade from the other tree, but blue sky is good too.

Coincidentally, across the continent, in a different country, the same thing was happening at Rook's Nest. Check out her post on the trees being felled in her neighbourhood. I suppose it really isn't a coincidence that trees were being trimmed, after all tree trimming is a common thing. But it is pretty funny that it happened the same week, we both took photographic documentation of it and we read each others blog. But I admit that I was spurred and motivated by her post to actually blog about mine. Thanks Ex!

Well, she doesn't realize it, but she also gave me the bug for fresh jam. She's blogged about making cherry and strawberry jam recently. A couple of weeks ago, I had more peaches than I could eat before they went bad, so I made jam. Yum-o.
There's an explanation for my mish-mash of jars. All of them are from jams received from other friends who jam a lot so I thought it'd be nice to return the jars with some sweet goodness in kind.

Raspberries and escargots anyone?

Unless you're looking for a little more protein, make sure and wash your fruit.Found on Cute Overload here.

Yes, I kept the menu.

We celebrated Jimmy's birthday at a new for us restaurant, McCormick and Schmick's. When I called to make reservations, they asked if we were celebrating a special occasion, of course I said yes. When we were seated, there was a card at the table for Jimmy and all of our menus had "Happy Birthday Jimmy!!!" printed on them. Sweet, yesh? The food was fantastic, too. We shared the crab cake appetizer, each ordered a salad and we both got the salmon stuffed with crab, bay shrimp and brie. I split a chocolate mousse with his sister and he got vanilla bean ice cream with fresh berries for dessert. Could possibly be our new favorite seafood restaurant.

Graduation and gluttony

We're home from our quick trip to San Diego for our nephew's graduation from UCSD. When we weren't in the car, we were always busy with family and friends. Which always leads to lots of opportunities to eat good food in gargantuan portions.

On our way down to San Diego, we stopped for lunch in Santa Barbara at a little taqueria joint that was supposedly boasted by Julia Childs. I ordered a pork taco and a tortilla stuffed with spicy beans. When I placed the order, the gentleman reiterated that it was Spicy. I thought about it and decided to go ahead and get it. Well, here's a word for the wise: when the Mexican order taker looks you in the eye and tells you "it's spicy" that means that he can tell by looking at you that you won't be able to handle it. We also ordered a dozen fresh homemade corn tortillas for the road, and they were gone before we got to Long Beach.
Before heading down to San Diego, we stopped in Laguna Beach at the graduates parents house (Jimmy's brother) for a few minutes to stretch and enjoy the sea breeze. We arrived in San Diego around 6:30 at Gil's, Jimmy's long time friend and our best man at our wedding. Two of Jimmy's other buddies from high school were there, too. Of course, we headed out for dinner, a delicious Japanese seafood buffet and aside from the sushi, I couldn't resist the tempura - which is oh so tasty but oh so caloric. I definitely had that "I'm on vacation" mentality happening.
Saturday morning, woke up at 5:30 so we could meet the rest of the family to carpool to the graduation. Graduation started at 8:30, but we got there early enough to get seats in the 3rd row.
Nan had commented in my previous post that she wished us a great speaker, good air conditioning, comfortable seats and less people than a large city. I have to laugh because as you can see from the next 2 photos, none of those came to fruition.

Here are the graduates getting their diplomas, outside in the sun. San Diego has temperate weather and it was probably only in the 70s, but when you're sitting in the direct sun for 2 1/2 hours, even 70s is hot. Despite having to wake up so early, we were thankful graduation was early because it was only going to get hotter. Those poor graduates in their black robes! We couldn't imagine what it would be like if it were in the 80s or hotter.

And as far as we could see were friends and family members there to support the graduates. There was an estimated 10,000 people there. And this was just one college's graduation from the university system. But the great thing was there were no tickets or limitations on how many guests the graduate could invite. There were 13 of us at graduation, then we headed to a celebration lunch at PF Chang's where the graduate works and 24 of us gathered in his honor.

After the celebrations, we headed back to Gil's house and chilled for a couple of hours. Our niece joined us for the evening. Before heading out to dinner, we stopped at the Campland RV Resort so she could visit with the Machado family (Jimmy's sister) for a little bit. So fun hanging out with the family. Love 'em all!
After our quick visit, we went to Pacific Beach for a tasty Mexican dinner. The best part though was the companionship and laughs. Gil drove his BIG Toyota Land Cruiser, which was perfect since there were 6 of us. Ashley and I squeezed in the 3rd row bench seat, while the boys all sat up front. They're all bigger than us, so it was the logical thing to do. When Gil parked the car, the boys hopped out of the car, shut the doors and TOTALLY FORGOT ABOUT US!! We couldn't get out of that back seat without one of them moving the seat up for us to crawl out. No, they didn't do it on purpose, they just shut the doors and went on their way. 2 of them paid for the parking, the other 2 headed into the restaurant to get a table. Ashley and I were CRACKING up. We could.not.believe that they just left us in there. But it was so freaking funny, too. When Jimmy and Sly walked by the truck after paying for parking, I pounded on the glass so they heard us in there. The windows were tinted, so they couldn't see us. Jimmy called Gil to bring the keys to unlock the doors. Ashley and I laughed even harder because we heard the phone ringing in the car - Gil left it behind. Anyhoo, they finally let us out, they were very embarrassed and we laughed about it over drinks.

Here's the motley crew after dinner during a walk along Pacific Beach. Ashley's such the good sport hanging out with all the "old" folks. She's so cool. Totally comfortable with everyone, no matter who or how old they are.

Sunday, before heading out of town, we had breakfast with Gil in Encinitas. Their claim to fame is "Manhole Sized" pancakes. They are. Yes, I had one but I could only eat about 1/4 of it along with the bacon and 2 eggs that were served with it.

We parked next to this cool workshop. Loved the colors, so had Jimmy take a photo.
Before heading up the coast towards home, we stopped for a Father's Day lunch in Claremont at Jimmy's brother's house. More food, YAY. But they bbq'd pizza and I've been craving pizza for months. I'm so glad I held out, because this was the best pizza I've had in years. I ate 6 slices! Which probably worked out to about one CPK sized pizza. I visited my dearest friend Danielle for about an hour, also. She just moved and now lives 7 minutes from my brother in law's house.
On the way home, we opted to eat in the car. Snacks included a Krispy Kreme donut, which nearly made me barf and a Subway sandwich.

Graduation and gluttony fulfilled.
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Cherry pickin'

Doris invited me to join her and June to pick cherries at Seko Ranch in Brentwood on Thursday morning. She goes every year and ordered 50 pounds for her and her whole family to share. All I wanted was 1-2 pounds but once we started picking, next thing I knew, I had 4 pounds in my bucket!

Here are Doris and June in the cherry tree field.

The trees were loaded.

We didn't even have to climb on ladders, although we did for a cute little photo-op with June picking cherries from the top of the tree.

There are also peach and apricot farms nearby.
June and I pretended to fight for the perfect peach. Actually, these peaches weren't quite ripe enough so after our little photo excursion, we headed to Peter Wolfe Ranch. Not only were the peaches and apricots wonderful, the woman working was so helpful and nice.

Now...what to do with 4 pounds of cherries...any suggestions?

Wanna move to the Bay Area?

Then have I got a deal for you!For a mere 1.25 million dollars, this lovely Victorian "Diamond in the Rough" can be yours! (please click photo to enlarge so you get the full effect of this beauty).
Seriously.
It's for sale.
For $1,250,000.
Have ya read Phin's blog about the 935 sq. foot home she saw yesterday for $620k?
And people wonder why we still rent. And live in a barely 1000sq foot duplex.

Anyway...
It was a lovely day for a walk. Phin took the day off and we walked around this neighborhood for about an hour. Which actually was a nice historic neighborhood, not that you'd know by the looks of this house. Next thing we knew it was lunchtime and my stomach was growling. So we headed to a favorite sushi restaurant.

Have you ever seen pink sushi before?
Me neither. The top is your typical teka maki (tuna roll) but the bottom is their Kani Papaya roll - a California roll with papaya and wrapped in soybean rather than seaweed. It was surprisingly...tasteless. I'd definitely recommend it to the sushi-shy. It wasn't tasteless in a bad way, you could still make out the flavors of the ingredients, but when you're used to the seaweed flavor in sushi, it's surprising how bland the remaining ingredients are. I kicked it up with soy sauce and wasabi and that added more flavor, but I'll probably stick with the regular california roll or stay away from all sushi wrapped in soybean...pink soybean for that matter. :)

A Good Friday that Happens to be the 13th

Knock on wood (LOL), this superstitious day as gone without a hitch, so far. I did have one frustrating phone conversation with the bank, but otherwise, it was a good day. I went to my weight watchers meeting and surprisingly yet happily was successful at the scales. I admit that I was concerned about my frivolous weekend in Seattle, but I also bumped up my activities and didn't give in to every single indulgence. (Note to self: don't wait to eat till your starving then go to Jack-in-the-Box). Continued the afternoon with my weekly walk at Stanford with my girlfriend Eve, the warm sun behind our backs. Now enjoying the evening, planning on quality tv time and crafting.
Tulips for sale at Pikes Market.

Simple life

I haven't been up to a whole heck of a lot lately so haven't had much inspiration to write about anything. Pretty much, all I've been doing the past 2 weeks has been sneezing and trying to not rip my eyes out of their sockets. I think I may have gotten to the point where I want to see an allergist rather than just suffer through the whole spring season. Then again, I know myself well enough that I'll probably put off making an appointment so long that I won't be suffering as much anymore by then and I'll think, eh - the season's almost gone, I don't need no stinkin' medication.

I've also finally decided to take another step towards a healthier lifestyle and better eating habits. Seven years ago I joined weight watchers and I was successful with it. I never reached "goal" - a few chaotic life events, several family surgeries, work stress then finally quitting, figuring how to work at home, job instability on Jimmy's end and lots of other familiar life events we all deal with, stalled that last few pounds then ultimately the weight started creeping back on and I find myself almost where I started that July 2000. So a week and a half ago, I joined WW again, hoping to find the inspiration I had back then or at least get back in touch with the tools I need to take control of my bad eating habits. So far, so good! My very first day "back on program" was t.o.u.g.h. but the rest of the week went well and I'm still riding on that motivation train. I found out that I am a huge snack-a-holic but I'm finding treats that taste great and are workable with my plan. So far my very favorite snack is the Fiber One Chewy Bars. (I couldn't find a direct link to General Mills, this person's review sounded good to me though). I've tried the Oats and Chocolate, they are t.a.s.t.y and totally satisfy that sweet and chocolate craving. However, at 9 grams of fiber per bar, I wouldn't recommend eating more than one a day.

This is the artwork I had framed a few weeks ago. A couple of you asked about it, so here she is in all her glory. I'm so happy with how she turned out. I had this feeling of dread after I left it to get framed because I really wasn't sure about the matting (dark purple) and the very ornate frame. It's really hard to decide what will compliment someone else's artwork. Framing can make such a difference, and I didn't want to ruin her. She was made by Misty Mawn.

Home Alone

Jimmy's in Dallas so I'm solo for the weekend. The odd thing about this is that it's normally me that leaves him home so I'm a little out of sorts figuring out what to do with myself. Actually, I have a massive pile of DVD's waiting for me to watch, so I know I'll be cozy on the couch most of the time. Maybe, just maybe, I'll do a little crafting, too.

It was pouring rain when I dropped him off this morning, but by the time I left to meet one of my girlfriends to celebrate her bday at Junnoon's in Palo Alto, there were white fluffy clouds and blue skies. This place was awesome, so any of my bay area friends who occasionally read my blog, I highly recommend it if you like Indian. They call it "eclectic modern Indian." I just call it really good. It's kind of a special occasion restaurant and a little uber trendy but oh so worth it.


Afterwards, I wandered to downtown Los Altos and did a little window shopping. I was this || close to buying a Waterford crystal bowl because...well...I love crystal, and Waterford? Hello, can't go wrong with Waterford, AND it was 25% off. But I talked myself out of it because really, who "needs" a Waterford Crystal Bowl even if it was only $33. V, if you had been with me, you so could have talked me into it! But I walked away, hoping to find something more useful to spend my ducats on. Like cake.

No, actually, I didn't buy cake from this place. I certainly was tempted, but instead got the best fruit ice tea and a small package of cashew butter cookies. I would go back for the ice tea alone. Almost...almost as good as sweet tea from the Cracker Barrel and I don't have to go to the south to get it. Phin, it's "earl grey tea with syrup and assorted fresh fruit". And they describe themselves as "Japanese innovations of European style cakes." I know. Hard to believe that I walked away not buying a slice, huh?

On my way home I noticed fresh snow on Mt. Hamilton. (Click on pic to enlarge and see the snow, really, it's there)Now, I know there's a lot of controversy about driving while talking on a cell phone, but no one's ever said anything about driving while trying to focus an SLR digi camera, have they? Well, I learned today that you can clearly watch the road thru the little viewfinder and totally stay within your own lane. I digress. Yea, so that snow was from this morning's storm. And it was sunny when I took that photo. And my temperature gauge thingy in my car read 61 degrees. Cool!

So I came home and decided to make a big pot of beef stew. Jimmy doesn't like stew, so I could eat it the whole weekend. After all the ingredients were in and I was patiently waiting the 2 hours for it to cook, I heard the rain again. It was practically pouring. With the sun shining. Weird freaking weather we're having today.

Perfect stew weather, me thinkith.
Beef Stew
4 T olive or canola oil
1 C flour
1 T garlic powder
2 t kosher salt
1 t black pepper
2 pounds beef for stew, cubed
12 small boiling onions
4-5 large potatoes, diced chunky
6-7 carrots, sliced chunky
3-4 stalks celery, sliced chunky
32oz beef stock

-In a large pot heat oil over medium heat. In a resealable plastic bag, mix together the flour, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Add a handful of meat at at time, shake and coat well. Brown small batches in hot oil till browned, about a minute per side. Remove and set aside.
-Brown onions in remaining oil for about 3 minutes per side. Drain any excess oil.
-Add to pot with the onions: carrots, celery, meat and beef stock. Stir and bring to a boil. Stir, cover and reduce heat to low for 1/2 an hour.
-In the meantime, peel and dice potatoes. Keep potato chunks fairly big if you don't want all of them to break down. Some will breakdown, which will create the thick stewlike gravy.
-Add potatoes and continue simmering for another 1 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally. Makes a lot.

what's that smell?

I set a few eggs on the stove to come to a boil. In the meantime, I went into the office to read a few blogs.
...35 minutes later...I hear a crackling popping noise from the kitchen.
Uh oh.
All the water had boiled off and the pan is sizzling. With half a dozen dry eggs in it.

The house reaks of overcooked eggs. and burnt pan.

ugh.

Fresh Start

It's not very often when anyone looks forward to a Monday. But hopefully this'll be a fresh start to a brighter week compared to last week. I won't go into details here because the consequences didn't effect me directly so I don't want to share that to the whole world. But there are certainly a few things that I'm very grateful for that happened last week:
-I got to spend a few days with my dearest friend and her amazing daughter. It was so nice being with her, I just wish we lived closer together. I even went to a gymboree class with them - so fun!
-Long drives somehow give you free license to eat junk food. mmm...cornuts!
-I realized that there are a couple of advantages of being an only child.
-I ate at Chick-Fil-A. I tried to go last year in Dallas but it was a Sunday so it was closed. I didn't even know they were in California. Good chicken sandwiches.
Speaking of chicken, did you know that the average American eats 66 pounds of chicken a year?

The Ferry Building, San Francisco on our anniversary.

Upsidedown Christmas Tree

Now, I don't normally take photos of the inside of strangers home. But how could I resist a tree hanging upside down from the ceiling? Besides, I bet I'm not the only one who's taken a photo of their tree, afterall, they leave all their blinds open for all to see. Best to enlarge the photo since it's so blurry - hard to capture a detailed photo in the dark from the street in a moving vehicle.

Currently listening to festive Christmas tunes, including ones from Ragged, thanks so much! Oh Holy Night is one of my very favorite Christmas carols and I love both Jim Brickman's instrumental and Bing Crosby's traditional versions.

We're home for the evening after an intimate dinner. Food was fantastic. I don't eat pork tenderloin very often, but tonights may have been the best I've ever had. For dessert, we ordered a chocolate souffle. When the waiter brought it out, he said "I'll be back with some chocolate sauce". When he returned, he smiled, said "Chocolate sauce" then he broke the top of the souffle and poured the chocolate sauce in the steaming middle. It looked delicious. After he finished pouring, he said "I'll leave the rest of this here in case you want more. It's an espresso cabernet sauce." Um. Excuse me? Espresso cabernet is not chocolate sauce. Oh well, we enjoyed it nonetheless, despite the overwhelmingly alcohol flavor. And now we've got another one of those pukey cute couple's secret language sayings. Whenever we'll come across something that isn't what they say it is, we'll call it "chocolate sauce".

Success!

This is the 2nd pie I've ever made and I'm very happy to report that I couldn't have asked for it to turn out better! The crust was flaky but not dry (like my first attempt about a month ago).

Had a good and quiet weekend. Truly nothing fantastical to blog about, just enjoying the peace, calm and hominess of fall, including baking a pecan pie. :-)

mmm...tasty