fourth weekend in March

Sunday night here, and we are done a nice online happy hour catching up with Courtney and Robert during which we munched our way through all kinds of stuff, including some of the mango tart I made this afternoon. 

Conrad is supposed to be packing to head to Louisville tomorrow, the first of a few trips that will keep us apart for much of April.  I think I will see him less than half the month.  I'll see Van a bunch at least, though.

Speaking of Van, it was a nice, easy night there last night catching up with him and Olive,

having cocktails

and a simple dinner and watching television.  Meanwhile, earlier Saturday Conrad and I did our usual morning at Amara,

though I had a breakfast burrito rather than my arepa. 

Once in a while I switch it up!

And that's the weekend, more or less.  I baked a few other things.  Conrad and I decided to stay in Friday night and do sushi.  And that's the last weekend in March in a nutshell!

recent cooking

Happy Saturday!  I have banana bread in the oven and an easy afternoon ahead.  Hey, why not cast our minds back to past weekends and see what was cooking.

Two of my ASU classmates, Melissa and Patty, came over a couple of weeks ago.  First time seeing them in a few years.  Good to see them and catch up in person.  I went with an old restaurant favourite of mine for that dinner:  South Miami Cuban stew. 

A Paul Prudhomme recipe.  Authentic to Miami?  No idea.  I have always liked it, though.  A meaty stew with which I served a salad and some bread and a scoop of rice.  The leftovers came in handy in days after that, too.  Dessert was a nice one, too:  a rhubarb upside down cake. 

Oh, I love upside down cakes!  This one is lightly flavoured with anise seed, and although rhubarb is a rare (and expensive!) find in SoCal, it's worth it.

The next weekend was dinner for Geoff

and Kent. 

They have now been in the south of France for several days where they hope to fully relocate to.  It's quite the move, having sold their desert home.  We wish them best - and we hope to visit!  In the meantime, though, I cooked up the most enormous lamb shanks I have ever encountered and served them with a parsnip puree. 

I also made a lemon and blueberry trifle

that was a little better the next day and the day after, to be honest.  The cake gets to be more custardy that way.

Some recent cooking, then.  Not bad cooking either.  Tonight will be a simple pasta with some meatballs, a simple dinner.  Now to check on those banana bread loaves....

oh, I swam yesterday

And you know what?  It wasn't terrible.  I mean it.  A little longer, a little more speed, a little better endurance.  I was actually not down on myself when I finished.  Weird.  But good!

Muppets cocktails

Muppets.  Yes, Muppets.  That was the theme for this month's online happy hour this past Monday.  So I did some research and made us three options.  From top to bottom in this shot that follows we have the Fozzie Bear, the Waldorf (one of the two older men in the balcony who mock the performers), and a Honeydew (as in Dr. Bunsen Honeydew) Margarita. 

I liked them all, but the Waldorf was too boozy for me for the happy hour.  I started with the Fozzie Bear and finished with the margarita, and we all had a lovely chat online!

San Francisco weekend, the dining blog entry

Many days later...

Tuesday night here, dinner done.  We got back from San Francisco eight days ago now.  EIGHT!  My, the time has gone by.  So let me talk about the dining we enjoyed there.  But let me state a few things first:

• It was easier to find good dining in San Francisco in a smaller area than Los Angeles.  Two cities of very different sizes and layouts, but I have to say, it was nice to walk to meals rather than plan for an hour to get across town.
• The seafood was fresher than what I feel we get in Los Angeles.
• The service was better than what I feel we get in Los Angeles.

All of which makes me sound like I am absolutely crapping on LA.  I've had many many good meals in LA and area, of course!  But although I love our local favourites, I am trying to recall the last meal I had out in LA where I was talking on and on afterward about how much I enjoyed it.  It's been a while.  The San Francisco weekend?  Scratched a culinary itch.

Onward... 

(And now more time has passed.  It's been a week, I tell you.  Sunday night after dinner here, and likely this won't see light of day until Monday morning.  Sigh.)

Up first:  Sorella.  Italian food.  Recognizably classic, but with things that caught my eye when I looked at the menu online.  And walkable from the hotel - uphill on the way back, mind you.  The food was great, though the lighting was low.  But such good oysters,

a delicious tuna dish,

a hearty timballo,

and Conrad enjoyed his pasta course. 

Plus:  dessert! 

I'm selling it short with such a description, sorry.  We loved the bottle of wine we shared, but most of all, we really appreciated our server, whose name I have now (sorry) forgotten.  She gave us terrific recommendations, and we enjoyed the meal so thoroughly, we asked to speak to the manager so we could tell him how very much we were enjoying it.  I would love to go back!

Saturday lunch:  606.  We had wandered aimlessly in Chinatown, intimidated by picking a place, until we did a quick search for best Chinese in SF.  That led us to this cafe, bright with sunlight.  The server made a few recommendations, and she was right about them.  Silken tofu and green beans,

a chicken dish. 

It was all tasty, and good fuel for the walking ahead!

Saturday dinner:  Sushi Sato.  First off, tasty cocktails. 

And the sushi (and other fare - there was an appetizer of eggplant in there)

was terrific, too.  The service was nice although it was clear to us that the server needed support.  He was deeply apologetic for not being attentive enough, and we assured him that we were having a nice, leisurely evening.  He deserved that grace, and he brought us a dessert on the house as thanks. 

A very kind touch, but I'd happily go back there.

Sunday brunch:  Mymy.  A crab and shrimp cakes egg Benedict. 

Satisfying!  A very cute little place with substantial breakfasts!!

Sunday dinner:  Zuni Cafe. 

YES!  I've been wanting to go there for so many years and try the famous roast chicken.  We were seated (then offered another table in a quieter spot by the windows), and our waiter let us know that the chicken would take an hour.  So we got that order in and went on with browsing the menu.  Cocktails to start,

and once I saw the loaves of bread in the kitchen (which we could see into in part), I knew we needed bread service. 

Oysters!! 

But we went light on the appetizers because we had a whole chicken coming out with bread salad (essentially dressing) and lightly wilted bitter greens. 

SO GOOD.  Worth it.  Oh, and pavlova for dessert. 

Our server was excellent once again - we delighted in his sense of humour.  Definitely a place for a return visit.

It's Tuesday night again as I finish this.  Sorry.  Lots going on.  I may be a little quiet on the blog for a bit, but if I wake up tomorrow with renewed energy, great!  In the meantime, enjoy this overdue look at some mighty fine dining in San Francisco earlier this month!

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For several days now things on the professional side of life have left me a little wrung out.  I’m waaay overdue on a few intended blog entries, and I just haven’t had the wherewithal to get them done and posted.  Sorry.  Some music, some reading, some time away from anything that feels like work on the laptop.

So here’s me today, a placeholder entry and a photo with some nice lighting (or so I think).

This week should be easier.  Watch for entries to come!

what, again???

Two days in a row of swimming?  Whoa!!!

And it wasn’t even a terrible swim!

a Tuesday dinner

Conrad messaged me late afternoon yesterday, before he got home from the office but after I was home from a day of meetings at an airport hotel.  A frustrating day for him, he said.  Being the good (I hope I am good) husband that I try to be, I knew that dinner had to be a nice one for him.

And I think it was.

Humble bragging or something?  Perhaps.  But sometimes the cooking is going just right.  I set to work on dessert first, using up the leftover fresh rhubarb from the weekend to make a few individual crisps from the Mark Miller recipe that I've relied on for decades. 

Then it was on to the pork tenderloin.  I know, I make that often - it's an easy cut of meat to cook, doesn't take too long, and we both enjoy it.  I made a saffron carrot puree and cooked a bit of asparagus to go along with the pork. 

Tasty!  I was pleased with it all.

Conrad sipped a martini, I enjoyed a white wine from Paso Robles,

we watched the first episode of the new season of Top Chef, and then we strolled around the neighbourhood before I tackled dishes.  I think that I gave him a nice evening to unwind.  It was, at least, a delicious enough time!

oh, hey, look!

I swam.

And so the ongoing love/hate relationship with the pool endures.

The funny thing?  If all goes well, I will be back in the pool tomorrow.  Back to back days!!

Sacramento, briefly

I flew out yesterday,

and I fly back today.  I hope!  Some delay so far.  So yes, a very short trip to Sacramento.  Meetings at the Embassy Suites

where I also stayed the night and had a… view.

 Ha!  Ah well, I got into the room

early, and for that, I didn’t care what I was looking out on.

The meetings/mini-conference went well, though!  I have a lot of things jotted down to follow up on back at work next week, which is good.  I also got to have dinner last night with Matt (and only Matt - Peter is out of town).  

Hooray for that!  And I got a nice shot or two of the handsome yellow bridge right next to the hotel.

 A Sacramento icon I always like to see.  No walk this morning, alas - too wet out,

and I didn’t want damp gear sitting in my roll aboard all day.

And now I sit and wait for my first flight.  Sigh.