*1271 - food flags

I think this is awesome!

*1270 - labor

I finally birthed my 90-slide report of pure insightful data today.  It's been a month in labor for this report on top of everything else I'm working on, and while I am that dork who finds joy in producing excellent work yada yada, BOY WAS THAT TIRING.

*1269 - it's official

Big news for me.  It's now official.

Just accepted a position within my company to travel for two to three weeks for every one week in SF to the boonies of Arkansas for the next six months, which sounds pretty scary/awful but it's a great career opportunity.  I'll be consulting with clients and will be the face of the program I've been managing for a couple of years ... my baby project.  Exciting stuff.

Hanging out with S yesterday, whom I've been fortunate enough to have as my early days career mentor and now my life mentor now that we no longer work in the same company, and realized over spiced Mexican chocolate ice cream that precisely yesterday was my three year anniversary at MaPS.  Three years!  Some of my peers aren't even out of school yet.  But three years!  That's it?  It's not an exaggeration to say that most people in this field take double that time to get to where I am.  Yes, we work very hard to get there, but we do it because we love what we do.

All my life, I've been living expedited towards the idealized "excellence", and I don't know when I would slow down and take a breather for myself.  It's not a rat race because there's nobody I'm racing against besides myself.  Maybe that's okay, for now.

*1268 - nuggets

Some days, even the likes of Alexander's Steakhouse and Jardiniere fail to tickle our fancy and what we really want is ...

A good ole plate of chicken McNuggets.  Delicious when tamed with (homemade) smashed sweet potatoes and steamed broccoli and served on a porcelain plate.  I'm sure kids (and probably D) beg to differ but a full meal consisting of deep-fried ground chicken gizzards / bones / beaks / fat / feathers / poop / toenails / slight bit of real meat + french fries + soda??  Ohh, nasty, not happening.

*1267 - ducky

Jardiniere: one of SF's celebrity chef-owned restaurants (Traci des Jardins) and our pick for celebratory dinner #2 of 2.  I fell in love watching her on Top Chef and we had to go try out her food.  Some time in the future they should have multi-sensory TV programs where you can smell or taste food prepared on cooking shows to see what it is people on TV are gushing over ... I always suspect that people hosting cooking shows are lying through their teeth when they are in raptures over what that prepared.  I look at the ingredients and I'm like ... meh ... how can it possibly be that great.

I digress, because Jardiniere was quite magical.  We may have been half the age of the next youngest person in the restaurant; everyone was having their pre-theatre meal before heading off to the opera next door.  Yup, made us feel real fancy.

Chacuterie that came along with a basket of many different types of breads and crackers; sadly, I enjoyed the rabbit the most.  Ack.

Scallops; sadly, we both agree I tend to make scallops that better suit our tastes.  My preference is for scallops to be as undercooked as possible. This was not a fav.

Garden peas and mushrooms with a thoughtful sprinkle of crispy rice thingies that added a nice texture.


This was really interesting.  Pasta with strawberries and duck tongue.  The strawberries were meant to look like the traditional tomatoes you find in pasta but with an interesting new taste.  Very interesting indeed.  It might also have been my first time eating duck tongue, of which at least 20 ducks' worth in this dish.  That's a lot of ducks.


And then more duck, but a very different sort.  Breast and confit and some delightful fruit on the side that went really well with the dish.  Evidently, we both really enjoy duck.


Pleased as punch.


Also pleased as punch.

*1266 - "rustic" carrot cake

I know I have mentioned it so many times before but I'm always amazed at my carrot cake recipe which has never failed to please a crowd.  Even baking it for the first time in years in SF, with a whole different set of ingredients (make up of flour, salt, etc. all change and affect the final product when you're using different brands) yielded perfect results.  It is a very forgiving recipe.  One of my go to's when asked to bring dessert, along with my spiked banana cake.

Am quite pleased that you can even see the little spots of vanilla bean in the cream cheese frosting!  I don't actually know how to frost cakes--I'm terrific at cupcakes, with a piping bag, but big cakes?  No time for using a teensy piping bag, no icing spatula in kitchen repertoire, no knowledge nor desire to produce professional-looking cakes ... hence my "rustic" cakes.  "Rustic" is one of those euphemisms you should look out for in real estate descriptions (along with "cozy", "potential", "compact", "unique" ...), which we are very well-educated on at this point, but really I do think it makes for a cute little cake.  Sprinkle a handful of walnuts on the top to take the mind away from the imperfections, and voila!  Rustic.  And delicious.

*1265 - salty

Yes, this was some weeks back.  Celebration #1 of 2 (job-related) at Alexander's Steakhouse.

The sound of a "steakhouse" doesn't usually inspire culinary excitement in me but this was really interesting stuff.  A lot of molecular gastronomy and very thoughtful dishes.  Among my favorites, the renown hamachi shots!  Avocado, little garlic balls, ponzu sauce, lime ... perfect little mouthfuls.  Mmm.

 

We splurged on wagyu and were greeted with a delightful platter of 12 different salts.  There was a very interesting smelly pick sulfuric one that was a little nasty if you took a plain lick of it, but when combined with the beef: eggs and steak!

 

A lovely treat and really impressive food experience--and I am not easily impressed.  There was just so much care put into every little dish.

Across us was a table with a handful of little girls and their parents ... I'm excited for the day I have enough money to regard a $50 meal for my handful of little kids who wouldn't care less if they were eating wagyu vs. a frozen beef patty as no biggie.  Privileged kiddos.

*1264 - am I alive?

Yes, but just barely. Spent a week in Costa Rica, sure, but everything leading up to it (two random debilitating ailments, and I'm not a sickly person; and much to think about at work) and right after it (plunged straight back into work, which is ok, but also plunged into a host of team issues and possibly the most stressful career decisions I have had to make yet) pretty much negated any relaxation my mind benefited from during the holiday. The amount that this company packs into you so very tightly in such a short amount of time is mind blowing, which works out great for your career and personal satisfaction, depending on your personality and ambition, but boy do I find it tough to ever take a break from it, even if I'm on a break physically.  My three year (work) anniversary is coming up next month and it feels like that number should be much much smaller and much much larger.

*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.