*1263 - rodeo beach

Rodeo Beach is just past the Golden Gate Beach, beautiful as all beaches are on the Pacific, but this one had interestingly dark, pebbly sand.  It was a beautiful day but the winds were blustery. I had forgotten a hair tie and had to construct a turban out of a long scarf in order to be able to see and breathe properly.  Maybe this will catch on some day:

 

It was one of those situations that made you remember how teeny you were and how massive the earth is.

  

 

(Spot the tiny waving D)

 

 

 

*1262 - krispy kreme

One day while driving past our favorite In N Out joint, we realised that Krispy Kreme was right next to it.  I squeal because I've only had Krispy Kreme maybe once, and I know how everyone in Singapore raves about them and flies them in from foreign lands.  D looks at me, puzzled, and explains that far from being a cult donut place, it's a fairly low class establishment that sets up in places like Walmart and gas stations.  

I tried a couple nonetheless, and I'm no donut connoisseur, but these seemed pretty normal to me.  Hmm.

*1261 - plow sf

The acclaimed Plow in Potrero Hill, open only for brunch, allowing only small parties in, due to their extreme popularity.  We've been there twice, and the wait was about 2 to 2.5 hours each.  This works out perfectly for us because we live round the corner, so it's possible for us to trudge down in PJ's to put our names down, wade through the crowd of waiting people, head back home to wake up properly, and head back 2 hours later to enjoy the food.

I really, really want to love Plow, but I do think that they're a little overrated.  They have a few really excellent items, but other things we tried were good-normal, not fabulous-good.  

The best: lemon ricotta pancakes.  Amazing.  I need to figure out how to make these.  Paired nicely with those pancakes are maybe the best fried potatoes ever.  They cook them once, smash them, fry them up, and sprinkle generously with fresh rosemary.  Really good stuff.

 

Also tried their thick French toast.  This was good, but just not outstandingly amazingly good.

 

Crab scramble.  Missing a little seasoning, was slightly disappointed.  I know it looks really good, though ;)

We sat at the bar both times we've been there.  That's particularly fun because you get to see the cooks at work, who move like very cheerful clockwork cogs.  They're so quick and very cute and happy at the same time.  It's a nice atmosphere.  

Check out the lumpy lemon ricotta batter cooking.  Looks nastily lumpy but is so good.

 

*1260 - raw

I have a penchant for anything raw.  The only raw dish I've ever rejected was an Ethiopian raw beef dish--rather than little pieces like tartare, or thin slices like carpaccio, we're talking large hunks of completely raw, very sinewy beef here.  I thought I would like it, but it was like biting into a heavily spiced cow.

But traditional beef tartare, mixed table-side by a French server, with raw egg, capers, mustard, a good kick of spice?  Yum.

From Bisou in the Castro, who's proven themselves capable of the most beautiful eggs benedict and excellent free flow brunch minosas, and now has also proven themselves capable to us of delicious French dinners.  Mmm.

*1259 - class IV and V

White water rafting! Class four and five (the highest levels) of rapids on Lake Merced.  Woohoo!  It was my first time and I loved it.  We navigated through very safely with a guide, but I almost wish he had intentionally tumbled us around more.  Just enough to scare me and make my tummy turn as we hurtle over the rapids, but not enough to actually flip the raft.

Would totally do this again!

*1258 - two and a half years ago

Just recalled that 2.5 years ago, we had fried chicken and a long conversation over beers and pink wines--one of the first time we actually hung out outside of work, and certainly the first with just the two of us.  Then, we were babies of the company, eager and scared and nervous about the first round of promotions.  Now look at us, just a few years out, but considered oldies of the company, much wiser, settling into the rhythms of being like old people together, cooking, gardening, meowing at our cat, etc.  Things have changed so much, in a good way.

:)

I can't remember the last time we realised it was our month-niversary, and I think we clean forgot about our second year anniversary, and I can never even remember if we've been together for one year or for five, but I guess those milestones matter less to us than the journey.

*1257 - beef short ribs

I know I keep saying this, but from not knowing what boiling water looks like to whipping up full meals, healthy and delicious ... my, how my boy D has grown within the past couple of years.

Sure, slow cooker meals are easy peasy but you can't discount the fact that they turn out so intensely rich and yummy. Here we have slow-cooked short ribs, sweet and salty and caramelly mmm.  In the background, D's amazing mashed potatoes--add a squeeze of lemon and loads of fresh basil, and you'll be amazed at how much that transforms simple mashed potatoes and elevates them to citrusy fresh aromatic heights, it's like an entirely different dish!

And may I just show off, the short ribs are sitting in a C&B angled glass bowl I had been lusting after for over a year.  They are finally mine and they make me So Happy, no idea why I was holding out for so long.  I love tilted/asymmetrical dishware that's still clean and modern.

*1256 - earlier that day ...

It's always a party in the Castro, even early on Saturday mornings.  Dance music as you rub sleep out of your eyes on an outdoor patio?  Sounds about right.

Delicious food as well!  Moules & frites, with chorizo.  Mmm.

 

Smoked salmon benedicts.

Happy to have D.

*1255 - Twin Peaks (again)

Twin Peaks has great (and very accessible) views of the city.

It's pretty easy to see why Market street is 'main street' in San Francisco--here you can see it travel all the way to the Ferry building and the bay.

From the top of Twin Peaks our neighborhood (Potrero Hill, pictured in the background here and known for its very steep streets) looks like a tiny little bump.  The hilly street blocks are lot more intimidating up close (I promise).

*1254 - nebulous potato thing

I've probably said it before but it's getting harder and harder to please me for brunch; I still love a good brunch, though.  I refuse to get scrambles or omelettes because I can make them so easily myself.  Pancakes are a breeze and french toast?  Even D makes a fierce french toast.

So what does that leave me?  Well, for one, the Nebulous Potato Thing (they refer to it as the "Thing" for short) at St Francis Fountain down the road from us.  I couldn't even really tell you what was in it!

 

It all made sense, very comforting and deliciously decadent, weighed like a satisfying brick in our tummies, as we staggered back up Potrero Hill.  It's also where we got inspiration for homemade Guinness ice cream floats.

*1253 - big wheels

A yearly event in SF: Bring Your Own Big Wheel.  I've seen some pretty crazy things in SF but this takes the cake.  The best part is that we found out the real windiest road in SF is not Lombard, but Vermont Street in Potrero, which happens to be a street or two away from where we live.  (The two streets were designed by the same architect.)

So what happens is that everyone brings a big wheel (plastic kid toys, no rubber wheels allowed), dresses up in an outrageous costume, lines up atop Vermont Street, and at the sound of a whistle, kicks off and hurtles down the street in groups of hundreds.  You can hear the roar of rumbling plastic wheels on concrete from afar.  Grown people on little plastic things meant for 2-year olds, probably drunk, tumbling over each other at 30 mph?  I can't believe this is legal but it was such a sight!

Just a small section of the spectator crowd

The starting line

These things aren't that easy to control, clearly!

*1252 - market research

I'm still a whole-hearted market research nerd, but sometimes I really wish I did more than help Fortune 500 companies earn more money from their consumers.  I try to think of it as enhancing everybody's consumer/business experiences because we're reducing risk, finding efficiencies, meeting people's needs ... but ultimately it always boils down to enhancing a company's bottom line.  I guess that is generally what many people's livelihoods are about (making money) but sometimes I wish I were saving lives, helping the unfortunate, inventing things that make the world a better place.

*1251 - vroom

So, I have a new hobby.  Just look at me in my peacoat and scarf and racing helmet.

 

Surprisingly convincing I dare say.  Well here is the real racer:

And off he goes!

  

It was a weird and scary experience watching from the sidelines for the first time but it was nice to watch D in his element.  He did really well too.  Proud of my lil racer :)

*1250 - DIY home improvement

My DIY home improvement project!  I really wanted to mount succulents on our living room wall but couldn't find an affordable, cute way to do so.  There were gorgeous wall-appropriate vases that were just too expensive, there were DIY tutorials for mounting mason jars onto the wall that were really cute but just too much work, and there were affordable wall vases that were just too ugly.  I needed a cheap but easy option.

And this turned out to be the perfect solution!

I got small little buckets (on Amazon, a dozen for $15), painted them roughly in our living room colors (yellow and grey) with paint we already had, filled the bottoms with pebbles, fill the middle with soil, got some tiny succulent cuttings from our garden, and popped them in.  D punched six nails into the wall, and we hung them up.  Total cost = $15, total time = under an hour.

Aren't they precious?  Looking at this picture from two weeks ago when I just hung them up (i.e. when they were freshly planted and rather droopy), and looking at them now, I realise the succulents really are growing!  Especially the middle yellow one; he's all spiky and vibrantly green now.  I love succulents because they are so idiot proof.

*1249 - need a vacation

Who's up for one?  I've been so consistently stressed at such a high level without break for months upon months, that now that I just switched projects and am experiencing a much-needed lull in terms of volume of work, I'm still unable to get out of panic mode and am constantly worrying, dreading, scurrying.  I think this just means I need a break, a real one, not like a "3 weeks in Singapore but working every other morning" one.

*1248 - sous vide diary: salmon

Not the most glamorous photo of salmon but done to my precise liking.  Can't have salmon done any other way now!


Brine first to reduce white albumin build-up and add flavor.  (I didn't do this long enough because you can still see the albumin.)  Then sous vide at 50 degrees Celsius, for about 15 minutes.  Sear off the skin in a smoking hot pan for a minute or two.  Voila!
The texture is always almost eerily perfect.  Imagine smooth, even creamy salmon, and so so moist.  Sprinkle of sea salt and squirt of lemon, and it's perfect.  

*1247 - roasted chicken

Being someone who loves cooking so much, it was pretty odd that I had never roasted a whole chicken by myself (I recall stuffing one for maybe Christmas when I was at home years ago).  Chanced upon whole chickens in Whole Foods one day and decided to give it a shot.  Me being me, I researched the art of baking chicken thoroughly before beginning.

Let it sit out of the fridge sitting up and pat with a paper towel so the skin dries out as much as possible.  We stuffed with lemon, garlic, and rosemary.  Lots of salt and pepper and olive oil/butter.  Get it under the skin and on the skin and in the cavity.  No need to truss.  Cook it breast down at 425F for about 2/3 of the time so that the fat from the dark meat on top drips into the white meat and moistens it.  At the end, sit it breast down for at least 15 minutes covered with foil again to let the moisture redistribute.  Best gravy ever made from the drippings, together with a bit of chicken stock.

 

Poka and EV watching the chicken cook together!

So beautiful!  It was delicious and the entire house smelled delicious too.  I also have a weakness for cooked lemon.

*1246 - friends

To those of you who
Have your friends a subway ride away, or
A taxi ride away, or a trot down the street, or
Work with a group of colleagues who at some point became your friends without you even realising it, or
Can pick up the phone and chat to friends in the same timezone, or
Can pick up the phone and whatsapp someone "casuarina prata tonight ok?", or
Bump into friends ever so often randomly on the streets of a little country, or
Have regular girls' night outs or weekend brunch buddies, or ...

Don't take all that for granted.

*1245 - subway

But of course the one week I am in NYC, the subway happens to shut down (or at least the line headed downtown).  Now I know what the streets of NYC look like minus trains: chaos.  Going to be remarkably late for work but at least I miraculously managed to squish myself onto bus.  Pretty harrowing.  At some point I seriously considered walking 60 blocks in heels, so I'm glad it didn't come to that.

I wonder how I used to survive without smartphones and google maps on the go to tell me what to do in an unfamiliar place!

*1244 - sous vide diary: eggs and steak

Back in culinary class in Cornell some 3, 4 years ago (oh my), we learnt about the chi chi method of cooking in gourmet restaurants: sous vide.  Literally meaning "vacuum" in French, it involves vacuum sealing your food (especially proteins), immersing in a circulating temperature-controlled water bath, at a fairly low temperature, for a fairly long time.  This results in very precise temperatures and very even cooking and no chance of overcooking.  When you grill a steak for example, you put it on a really hot grill and it cooks quickly from outside to in and you guess at when to pull it off the grill and hope for the best = very unforgiving.  For sous vide cooking, all you need to do is to find the temperature for that protein to cook the the precise doneness you want it to be at, no guessing involved.  It also results in perfect textures and is packed with moisture, and because you're vacuum sealing your food tightly with its seasonings sans air to get in the way, you don't have to marinate as long for an equal intensity of flavour.

The one thing that doesn't happen when things are sous vide cooked is that Maillard browning doesn't occur as there's no hot, dry, heat (this is culinary class theory that has stayed with me, woohoo), so at the end, you have to do the quickest, hottest sear possible to get that nice tasty crust without cooking it more as far as possible.

Anyhoo, my progressive (in the kitchen) brother decided to buy a professional sous vide machine for himself to replace his amateur home-cook version of the equipment, which now has fallen into my very willing and thankful lap!  It is essentially a temperature control probe that measures and regulates the temperature of a non-digital piece of cooking equipment, in this case, a large rice cooker.

Yes, my siblings and I are kitchen/food dorks.

My first experiment was the simplest way to embark on a sous vide journey--soft-boiled eggs.  I'm typically an egg snob so having perfectly cooked eggs is like heaven to me.  Every tenth of a degree results in a differently cooked egg, so I'm still trying to find my favorite temperature; at this point it's probably somewhere around 62.8 degrees C for one hour.  (Pictured above was my first attempt at 62.2 degrees C eggs--a teensy bit too runny for my liking; adjusting to 62.8 worked much better.)  Sous vide eggs are unbelievable in texture, it's like drinking egg in cream form.

Second experiment: steak.  56 degrees C for about 2 hours, length of time depends on fattiness of steak.  The steak was perfectly, evenly, juicily pink almost all the way through except for the very thin browned rim outside.  Unbelievable!

I'm a convert and cooking steak any other way would be unthinkable at this point.  I've never been very good at cooking steak the conventional way anyway so this works perfectly for me.