Cooking and Dining in the Bay Area Lately

Oops, I forgot to update my blog for more than a year. Between then and now I have certainly cooked some note-worthy things, I guess I was just busy. So I'll try to play catch-up a bit. I moved back to San Jose, but I spend the weekends with my boyfriend in Sunnyvale. We try to cook at least once every weekend, although sometimes "cooking" ends up meaning grabbing a rotisserie chicken from the store and tossing together a little salad. It has just been way too hot this summer to do much cooking. I'm really looking forward to fall so I can get in the mood to start using my slow cooker again!

In July, we made a delightful ratatouille. I don't remember which recipe we used. Basically we just chopped up some eggplant, tomatoes, zucchini, garlic, onion, and bell peppers, and cooked them together. It was very tasty and filling.

Also we have been to some great restaurants in the area that have become our go-to for different kinds of food. One of my favorites is Shah Restaurant in Sunnyvale. This Indo-Pakistani food is just the right amount of spicy, and bursting with flavor. We always get the raita, a cucumber yogurt dip, with naan, as well as the lamb curry and chicken tikka curry. I love their complimentary chai, too.

Our favorite brunch/lunch place is Roger's Deli and Donuts in Mountain View. They serve delicious deli sandwiches, donuts, bagels, bagel sandwiches, soups, and all kinds of breakfast items all day, like pancakes, omelettes, french toast, and all kinds of breakfast sandwiches. The food is simple and delicious, the ambiance is also relaxed and down to earth, you just order your food and grab it when it's ready, no one bugging you or checking up on you afterwards, which is perfect for a leisurely Sunday morning. I always get the blueberry pancakes and Irish creme coffee.

I occasionally work in downtown San Carlos, and when I do, I love going to Bianchini's Market for lunch. They offer soups, a salad bar, as well as pre-made sandwiches or sandwiches you can order from the deli counter. My favorite is their chili, which is satisfyingly spicy and filling at just one small cup. Just being in the store makes me feel so classy, because I am surrounded by gourmet products that I am sure add an exquisitely sophisticated touch to anyone's kitchen.

Well, that's about all for now.... getting ready to celebrate Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, during which I am sure to enjoy some excellent food and wine and enjoy the company of several like-minded individuals. Till next time!

New Home, New Garden!

It's been forever since I updated this blog, but I thought now would be a good time. A couple months ago I moved to a quaint, quiet house in Santa Clara, and it has been a refreshing change. Lucky for me, the two girls I live with love gardening and vegetables, so we've got a fantastic garden where we've been growing all kinds of things.. two kinds of cucumber, zucchini, cauliflower, green beans, kale, spinach, chard, cilantro, arugula, mint, tomatoes, and we've even got a tangerine tree and an apple tree.

This is from maybe a month ago.

Just look at that beautiful kale.

These little tomatoes are so great, we have orange ones and red ones.

And we've been getting more zucchini than we know what to do with!

There's nothing like eating fresh vegetables right from your backyard. Happy summer!

The Most Delicious Foods of December

Not to make you guys hungry or anything, but I just wanted to share about some of the most delicious foods I have enjoyed this month....

These latkes are from Hanukkah last month but I also made more when I got back home in December. I made a big batch and they only lasted like two days, they're that delicious. I'll probably make some more when I get back after Christmas.

Might look a little grody? I don't know? But these chicken tacos from the little market down the street from me are delicious and about as authentic as you can get, taco-wise. Perfect enjoyed with a classic Mexican coke, made with real cane sugar.

Chicken and waffles! I just couldn't get that chicken and waffle dish from LA out of my mind, and I was pleased to find that San Francisco has some of their own chicken and waffle places, like Gussie's Chicken and Waffles. Next time I go I'm going to have to try their Georgia peach skillet cobbler for dessert, if I'm not too full after my chicken and waffles.

Good food is definitely one of the greatest pleasures of my life. It's so fun to be able to write about food every week for my writing job, and share those articles with my friends and family.

A holiday weekend in Los Angeles :)

I spent this past weekend in Los Angeles visiting a friend. I had a really nice time. We ate delicious food, saw the sights around downtown and East LA, Hollywood, San Pedro and Long Beach, went to Amoeba Music, went to the Griffith Observatory, and went to Angel's Gate Park in San Pedro and enjoyed the sunset and ocean view.

The first thing I did when I got into town was to go to Rounds in West Hollywood for a Western burger and fries. Awesome lunch. The fries were so crispy, too.

Later on that night I stopped by Original Snow Cone and Funnel Cakes and got some fried Oreos, a fried banana and a Churro. If I can give a piece of advice, it's this: scarfing down fried foods is liable to lead to heartburn. Still: it was worth it.

Next night: Roscoe's House of Chicken and Waffles in Hollywood. A friend of mine recommended this place to me and it did not disappoint. I got the fried chicken breast and waffle combo, with a side of gravy and some macaroni and cheese. Kinda jealous we don't have one of these in the Bay Area.

We got a dazzling view of the city from up high on a hill at the Griffith Observatory. Pretty popular place, apparently. This photo doesn't do the view justice, but it's as close as I could get with my phone camera.

At Amoeba Music, I found one of my favorite movies, North by Northwest, for only $2.99! Great deal.

So now I'm back, refreshed, and ready to take on the rest of the week. Looking forward to the next holiday!

Fall times

So, what have I been up to lately? Oh, not much.. just continuing my regular visits to San Francisco, occasional outings with friends, and enjoying this warm weather before the chill of Fall/Winter finally gets around to descending upon us. I kind of miss the rain, so sometimes while I'm on my computer I'll put on Rainy Mood in the background so I can pretend it's raining. The best part about a rainy afternoon is staying inside with some tea and a good book. Hoping for some real rain soon!

I recently went to a beach bonfire with some friends near Santa Cruz, which was fun. We enjoyed some roasted corn, hot dogs, and bananas wrapped in foil, sprinkled with chocolate chips, which were tossed into the fire to get all warm and melty.

Did I ever share about my apple picking adventure? I must have forgotten... well, a few weeks ago I went to Gizdich Ranch in Watsonville with a friend and we picked apples. I have wanted to go to an orchard and pick apples for a while, it is so quintessentially Fall. They had about four varieties of apples available and I picked a whole bunch. I made some applesauce with some of them, most of them I just ate, and some I left with my parents when I visited them.

These green ones were delicious!

Overall I've been having a pretty nice Fall so far. I have a sugar pumpkin I bought a while ago that I need to get around to using. I might roast it in the oven, or maybe puree it and make a soup. Pumpkin is delicious, and the seeds are great roasted as well.

Almost forgot to introduce my parents' adorable new(ish) kittten, Milo....

He is so fun. When I first met him he was very energetic and excitable, curious about everything, getting into everything. He's mellowed a bit since then, but still likes to get into things, such as laundry.

So, that's what's new with me... looking forward to seeing what the rest of Fall and the Winter holidays will bring!

Hawaii

After I went to Canada, I went to Oahu for another vacation! That was a pretty nice time.

This is the inside of a cave in Waianae, where my friend lives! We went in there. It was dark, and rocky. Hard to walk. But, I didn't fall or anything.

Cool mural I passed by walking around in Honolulu. People are so creative!

This is a picture of the ancestral lands of Waianae. I think this place is called something, I forgot. But, my friend's ancestors lived here. It's like one of those hidden local places that no one really knows about.

A beach in Waianae at sunset. This is my friends' parents' view outside their cabana. So pretty!

Another view out the window in Waianae. I was staying next to Waikiki Beach but it was just a lot prettier and non touristy over in Waianae, on the other side of the island.

While I was in Hawaii, my friend and I went to the Honolulu Art Museum, some little shops, a mall, a barbecue, Waikiki Beach, some other beaches, that cave, and that's pretty much it. So, it was a pretty nice time.

I'm Back

At long last.. I am updating my blog. I'm fairly settled in to what I suppose is my routine for the time being, so it's about time to say goodbye to summer.. although I expect the weather to remain somewhat warm for at least another month or so.

I really enjoyed Vancouver. I stayed with some friends and met a bunch of their friends, so there was always something to do... go to the beach or a park, check out one of their favorite restaurants, walk around downtown, go to a party, or just hang out.

Charlson Park is my friends' favorite dog park. My friend I enjoyed this view while we played "bocce badminton" since I am not good at badminton and we could not successfully hit the birdie back and forth... so we just made up a contest of who could hit their birdie with the racket the farthest.

English Bay is another great spot I enjoyed. There were these logs set up throughout the beach where people could sit or lean up against them while sitting in the sand.

My Vancouver friends have the cutest apartment. It is so cozy with these flowers in little bottle vases on all the tables, posters on the wall, and books everywhere.

We passed by these beautiful flowers while walking around downtown on my birthday and my friend's girlfriend bought me some carnations :)

We enjoyed these little cakes for my birthday.. the three of us each chose the one we liked best, and each of them was delicious!

This is one of the libraries in Vancouver. It was modeled after the Colosseum.They've got books in several languages, and even a big touch screen patrons can use to browse the collection or learn about the history of various cultures.

Vancouver is certainly a vibrant and unique place that I hope to visit again one day.

Birthday thoughts

Well, I'm 28 today.. which leads me to ponder upon how I am going to approach this next year of my life. It's kind of funny how feelings about birthdays can change over time. When you're a kid, you're excited to have a birthday, because you get a party with all your friends, and presents, and cake, and everyone sings and you're the center of attention, and it's pretty much the best day ever. Then gradually.. all you really want is quality time with your closest friends and family, and to think with each year that's passed, you're working towards a more successful, fulfilling life.

I know I can do better. I can adopt a healthier diet. I can exercise more. I can give back more to the community. I can keep in touch with my friends and family more. I'd like to think I'm doing ok so far, though. I'll have earned my master's degree in early December. I've got some good work experience behind me, to pave the way to a good career. I'm just facing that crossroads right now, where I'm waiting to see what happens next. I can only hope that with enough good fortune, in addition to having the opportunity to demonstrate my abilities, I'll measure up to achieving my goals. It might not happen right away, but I guess I'll just need to have patience and keep trying, and learn from every experience as much as I can.

View from Jericho Beach at sunset in Vancouver, BC... more about Vancouver soon :)

Chicago!

I just got back from a few days in The Windy City of Chicago (actually wasn't windy at all... occasionally a little breezy but mostly just really humid and hot, with a tiny bit of rain). My travel buddy and I went to some museums, ate at interesting restaurants, went and saw some live jazz, went to a movie, and just walked around a whole bunch and enjoyed the sights.

A little glimpse of downtown from our hotel room on the 12th floor.

Food-
Exchequer Restaurant and Pub- our first meal when we arrived that night. We just had to try some Chicago style pizza, and it was delicious. So innovative to have sauce, toppings, then more cheese, or however it is they did it. There was lots of cheese.
Lou Malnati's Pizzeria- More pizza, we ordered a pizza here one of the other nights. It was slightly better than Exchequer's pizza, in my opinion at least. Pizza at this place was like, toppings, cheese cheese cheese, sauce on top. Maybe some sauce snuck in with the "toppings" too (which were not really "topping" the pizza per se since they were bundled in with the other layers). Every time we passed by this place the line was out the door so we just ordered, picked it up and took it back to our room because we knew it had to be good but didn't want to stand in line for half an hour and then be crammed into a restaurant stuffed with people.
Grahamwich- A cute little sandwich shop, very reminiscent of San Francisco. Really sunny, seating was "family style" with comfy leather ottomans pulled up to a simple wooden table, with chalkboard drawings of vegetables on the wall. They had super healthy fruit juices, and a variety of tasty sandwiches and salads. I got the pastrami sandwich, very fresh tasting and filling.

Russian Tea Time- We had a light dinner here on our last night of some beef and potato dumplings and a lamb samsa, all served with leafy green salad, carrot salad, and rye bread.
Berghoff Cafe- got a tasty lunch here, a pulled pork sandwich and a bottle of their own house brewed root beer. Very classy little cafe below ground level, with stained glass windows.

Toni Patisserie and Cafe- a delightful little French cafe where we got brunch one morning. I got a slice of quiche lorraine, an iced mocha, and some macarons.

Each table had pretty flower arrangements, like this one.

Sugar Bliss Cake Boutique- Here we got a dozen mini cupcakes, with fun flavors like banana, strawberry, pumpkin, chocolate, vanilla, mocha.. all with just a few decorative dollops of frosting on the top so they weren't too sweet.

Museums-
Smith Museum of Stained Glass- a pretty little museum at the Navy Pier, where you could walk down hallways and little rooms to see different scenes depicted in stained glass windows.
The Field Museum- A pretty neat museum of various aspects of natural history. We saw exhibits on creatures that glow in the dark on land and under the sea, the original Native American tribes, ancient wall paintings discovered in France, and mammal and bird exhibits too.

Etc.
Jazz Showcase- We caught the last hour of a show here at half price, and it was more than worth the money. Excellent musicians on the trumpet, piano, bass, an instrument kind of like a xylophone, and a full set of drums. Each of them were really into their instrument, given solos that were met with a wave of applause each time.

Millenium Park-  A vibrant community park, home to The Bean, some lovely plantlife, and a big fountain where kids love to cool off on humid summer days.

The Bean, a truly awe-inspiring work of art.

This fountain was really interesting, different faces would show on these LCD screens on these brick structures on each side, while water sprayed down the sides and onto the street to make a little pool that kids could walk on. 

Despicable Me 2- Went and saw this movie at an AMC theater near us, very funny and cute. I actually hadn't seen the first of the series but the movie stood well on its own. 

Random observations-

Gambling is totally not ok on the trains. They mentioned this several times over the intercom on the train. No soliciting, either.

Kids everywhere, but hey, I guess that's how it is in a touristy place.

The Shedd Aquarium has the longest line all the time.

Humidity is kind of exhausting, important to drink water all the time and take breaks every few hours to relax in an air conditioned hotel room.

So it was a really fun few days, always something to do and see. The city is a bit noisy, trains constantly passing by overhead, lots of people... but, it was cool to see what Chicago was like!

Fanime 2013!

The "Totoronut" from Psycho Donuts-- a chocolate donut with chocolate frosting and white powdered sugar in the image of Totoro, a favorite character of Hayao Miyazaki's Japanese film, "My Neighbor Totoro"-- and filled with raspberry jelly.

Just a little update to let my reader(s) know I am alive and doing well... just been really busy with work/ school, and getting ready for Fanime, which is this weekend! I actually decided to cosplay this time (dress up as a character).

 My character is Minty Zaki from the Pixar movie Wreck it Ralph.

Thursday night after work I met up with my friends, had dinner at our favorite place-- Pizz'a Chicago-- then went to a little bit of a panel on Pokemon, then went and hung out in the game hall for a little bit and played a couple rounds of this fun Pictionary-meets-Telephone type board game, where you draw a picture, and the person next to you has to try and write in their answer of what they think it is, and then that person draws that guess, and you see how or if it changes along the way-- this can continue with as many as eight people. Very funny game.

Then Saturday I got up super early to turn in my pre-registration materials and pick up my badge. Finally got my badge after about an hour and a half of waiting in lines... not that bad, actually... went to Starbucks, met some random people who were also cosplaying as the same group of characters as my character, walked around with them for a little while, posed for a bunch of pictures, then met up with my other friends, we hung out at the hotel for a bit, went to lunch at a great little sushi place near San Jose State campus, Tengu Sushi; walked around some more, went and played more of that game from earlier, various hanging out at the hotel and walking around the Convention Center, went to the park and took some pictures of our group, then I met up with a different friend at Quickly and we got some milk teas, walked around so he could see peoples' neat outfits, then came back to my house and watched Casablanca. Long but fun day!

Then Sunday I met up with a couple of my friends, walked around Artist's Alley for a little while, then went and got a hot dog from a hot dog stand nearby, hung out with some different friends at Artist's Alley some more, bought a cute ring....

 It's a French macaron cookie! :)

Then came home because I was really tired, and took a nap.

I took some other fun pictures at the convention...

Caught this mock battle between a storm trooper and Godzilla from the second floor of the Marriott..

Ran into Jack Sparrow in the front of the convention center...

And these interesting characters, also from Wreck it Ralph.

 Might go back tomorrow for the last day depending on what is going on. So nice to have a 3 day weekend. :)

Baseball on a Sunday Afternoon

Today was my first baseball game. The San Francisco Giants were playing the San Diego Padres at AT&T Park, and tons of fans came out to watch the game. My housemate and I took the train, and every stop, a bunch of Giants fans were waiting to join us in their orange and white/gray/black fan paraphernalia.

At&T Park is about a block away from the Caltrain station. I grabbed a big deli sandwich and some waters from Safeway and just followed the crowd to get there.

We found our seats... and settled in for a great game.

We had a great view from section B140, row 25, seats 17 and 18. We were seated right in front of a little wall between us and the section above us, so we could lean back if we wanted and stretch a little. We also had the foresight to bring a big soft blanket to sit on, to avoid the hard bleacher seats.

About half way through the game, I wanted to walk around a little bit so I got up and got a hot fudge sundae from the Ghiradelli stand. It was very refreshing on such a hot day.

Even though things looked kind of small from where we were sitting, it was really easy to keep up with the game because they had this huge screen right behind us where they'd show each player's picture/stats as they were up at bat, and the score at the bottom of the screen. They would also replay the especially good hits or catches made by the Giants.

In between the teams switching off after each inning, there would be fun features like sing-alongs, or recaps of some of the best plays the Giants had experienced that week. At the end, the kids in the stands got to go down to the field and run the bases, which must have been so fun for them, a great memory to cherish all their lives.

The Giants ended up winning the game, 5-0, and I'm glad we stayed till the end, even though we knew they would win, because it was just so nice seeing everyone so happy and hugging each other in the stands at the end of the game, as Frank Sinatra played over the speakers.

In that moment, I couldn't help reflecting: this is what it feels like to be part of the Bay Area community-- to go to the ball game and root for your team, to sing along with the songs, to feel like a part of something so much larger than yourself, something with so much history and grandeur, and to just feel so united with those around you through this team of talented men, playing for their fans.

Sports: finally starting to get it. What's next? Hockey, maybe! After all, San Jose is home to the famous Sharks....

Northern California Cherry Blossom Festival

Today was one day of the two-weekend Northern California Cherry Blossom Festival in San Francisco! A friend and I met up to go and check it out.

There were sponsor booths, art/jewelry/things for sale, food booths, and a stage in the main plaza where they had a beauty pageant and some Taiko drum performers.

The American and Japanese flags flying side by side.. I thought this made a pretty picture :)

In Japantown (where the festival was held) they have street signs in English and Japanese!

The Taiko drum performers were amazing-- they had all these different drums that made different sounds, and they were literally dancing while drumming.. and they just looked so happy and into what they were doing, you could tell they really loved it.

We also went and had lunch at a Japanese restaurant in the little mall nearby. I have not had sushi in quite a while, so that was a real treat.

There was also this neat mural at the entrance to the mall.

So, fun weekend :). Can't wait to go back to San Francisco next weekend to see the Giants!

P.S. I changed my blog settings so you don't have to have an account to comment. Didn't realize I could do that but that should make things easier for my commenters :).