a surprisingly busy week

Happy Good Friday!

It's been a surprisingly busy week, and although I thought I would be able to carve out time to begin posting from spring break, I'll have to catch up on that this weekend when I can.  Sorry!

For now, let me report in from the little bits of down time not spent at my laptop and blogging:

A swim on Wednesday.

Another, longer swim on yesterday.

An Alaska before making dinner for me and Van last night.

A longer walk (a hair shy of 4.5 miles) to start my Friday.

We've caught up on White Lotus.  Conrad and I had a last breakfast before his trip and then my next one keep us apart for more than two weeks.  I've had time with Olive.  And life at the library has been hectic catching up after the break and now gearing up for the many many ALA meetings in the next couple of weeks.  Yikes.

But all is generally well.  And Sonoma posts will come!

The Cooper

A rare weekend online happy hour yesterday, and our theme was simple:  coupes!  So I added a layer and went for a cocktail called The Cooper.

Not a bad one:  rye, elderflower liqueur, Fernet Branca.  I'll have to remember that one for a future time.

Cheers!

coming soon!

So I thought I might do short blog entries from my time in Sonoma, but it turned out I was enjoying myself too much while there, and I didn't think about blogging at all.  Sorry!

So let me promise that entries are coming soon enough, chock full of photos.  Yay!

For now, here are the two pizzas I made for the three of us for dinner last night.

away for spring break!

Once again I am out of town without my laptop, which is a much easier device to use for blogging.  So, for this spring break week, while I am up in Sonoma County with Van

(his Christmas present to me), I will do short entries on the phone.  Sorry!  I am home later on Friday and can get some blog posts done after that, happily.

It’s a damp, grey morning here.  Van is still in bed.  I have had a 2.5 mile walk

and am enjoying a decaf latte along with a sinfully good muffin.  Our only plan for the day is to enjoy the spa.  Easy times!

some truly lovely sashimi

Conrad is home, I leave tomorrow.  So we grabbed our one night together and popped round to Mama M Sushi.  The weather was fine (in the 70s), so we sat outside and treated ourselves to a nice dinner.  Agedashi tofu.  

Shishito peppers.  

A special roll.  

And oh, a glorious serving of sashimi (plus oysters).  

We splurged on it - an overdue date night for us.  Truly worth it.  We ate at leisure, chatting with neighbours who were walking past.  It got dark, it grew cooler, and we came home, sated.  Kudos to Chef Jack for such a lovely meal.

what's been going on?

How go things, Peter, you ask?  Oh, not badly.  Conrad is in Kentucky until later today.  Next week is spring break.  Things tick along.  I spent most of Wednesday over on the west side,

or so it felt, taking Van to an appointment, waiting for things to be done, then bringing him home an making sure he had food before coming back home.  I swam yesterday, which was good

- I'll miss that next week but try to be diligent the following week.  It rained a little here,

and there was a huge peal of thunder that had folks on Reddit wondering if there was an explosion somewhere (look at the dark skies, folks, that should be a clue).  Van and I have been watching a bunch of the current season of White Lotus (binge-worthy this season, far better than season 2, which I gave up on).

The usual?  Maybe not, but there you go, caught up!  Onward with April!

first swim of April

No, not an April Fools joke.  I swam.  Not a big swim, but in combination with a good walk, a nice, active start to the day.

I really have to take photos that don't have the red reflecting off the awning colouring my face...

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!