now a little something

to get you in the mood... holiday mood, that is!

The view from the St. Francis Suite in the Westin St. Francis Hotel at Union Square...

Ice skating rink? Check.
A wall of wreaths covering Macy's? Check.
One comically shaped and sized Christmas tree? You better believe it!

Of course, I loved Christmas as a child because of all the neat presents I received from relatives far away. Now that I'm older, I value the holidays not for the gift-getting but for the cherry atmosphere, the festive food, and the gift-giving... there's something really satisfying about finding uncommon gifts or the perfect present that makes a friend beam for days. Don't get me wrong, I like shopping for myself but I LOVE shopping for others. For instance - and I can disclose this because she already knows - Mumsy's delayed Christmas present (to be enjoyed next summer) is tickets to see Il Divo in concert. I strongly believe that there are just a handful of men she would drop everything for... we've already been to a Josh Groban concert and Il Divo (a group of four dangerously beautiful men) is coming up. Now if only I could find a way to get my paws on some Andrea Bocelli passes...

Oh and another plus about the holidays? The vacation time doesn't hurt!

crack that whip

The Rib Whip!

Many a time has a friend offered me a rib after making a pilgrimage to the truck called The Rib Whip. On Monday I figured it was about time I saw it myself.

Unfortunately the speakers were not in use on Monday at Truckstop.

The menu was too good to just pick one...

now with real crack... I dub thee cracka mac!

So I picked up a hearty meal of one-third slab of ribs, smoked chicken legs, and some cracka mac and shared the bounty with Bunny.

With all this sauce and smoke and preparation
it's like Black Friday for food!
The ribs were super tender, meat falling off the bone and straight into my tummy.

I knew the ribs would be good... meat falling off the bone and all... I mean if you name yourself "Rib," you need to turn it out. But I LOVE the chicken legs... the sauce is a little tastier and the chicken was juicier than the oranges I got from the nearby farmer's market. And they give you three for $6!? It's too good to not order.

lego redux

So the video of the assembly of Lego Santa Yoda is up and, well, you won't see me in the video. Not only did I visit on the least exciting day (apparently feet are way overrated) but the video that was posted starts after I left. You can tell by comparing the height of the legs when I left to the height at the start of the film.

Anyways, here is the official video:

Even though you won't find me here, you should still visit the official site of Lego Santa Yoda and send an e-greeting. They claim that for each e-greeting sent, Lego will donate a Lego toy to charity. Let's hope that one toy does not equal one block.

the big eat

It's time to be thankful for all the things you have instead of focusing on the stuff you don't. For example, after years of wondering "why!?" I am thankful for my very unique human family. And I'll always be thankful for good friends, little animals you can hold in your arms, and hot food. You can have everything you want but without gratitude, your life is empty.

Now on to that hot food!

I brought a "low-quality" green bean casserole and well-liked whoopie pies, Tater brought a smooth pumpkin cheesecake and bomb cream puffs, and Mumsy cooked EVERYTHING else...

the green bean casserole... I'll only make this for myself from now on!

whoopie pies! I made the whoopies and both cocolate and vanilla buttercreams
but each whoopie pie here was assembled by my boy, Gato

the whoopie pies and Tater's smooth delicious cheesecake

nut-crusted rib-eye... because we don't eat a lot of turkey at Thanksgiving.

Alaskan salmon and horsereadish cracker apps (as in appetizer)

mashed potatoes with chives and wasabi-crab endive scoops

baby new potatoes topped with sour cream and chives,
topped again with caviar.
When Mumsy is hosting, there is no such thing as too much food.

the turkey... pretty juicy for a 16-pounder

We also got to watch Johnny Cat socialize with a new cat in town - Moon, Sisterfriend's new kitty.

Johnny Cat doesn't like photos

guarding the pass 

but Moon is already on someone's lap!

Hope everyone's Thanksgiving was as calorie-laden as ours!

pre-Thanksgiving food madness

Yes, we are doing some backtracking... sorry for the gap between posting, my friends.

On Tuesday we threw a huge Thanksgiving potluck at work... people brought pork loin and homemade secret peanut pie and all sorts of goodies. My beef wellingtons were well-received and some people preferred to eat them without a reheat. I have no pictures for the food disappeared pretty quickly. I do have this love photo of Ewok's first batch of cookies, which were not intended for the potluck but I'll show them anyways:

Ewok's first batch
baked on her new cookie sheet in her own oven in her new home!

To warm up my stomach and to have something to eat before and after Thanksgiving, I made my favorite soup... more than half was consumed before I remembered to snap a photo...

the perfect winter soup

Late fall and wintertime are times for fattening up... it gets cold, even in steady San Francisco.

where can I find boots like that?

I think Q-Tip would really appreciate them.

Instead of partaking in the un-holiday-like behavior that now characterizes Black Friday, Mumsy and I continued our tradition of going to the movies. Really, watching cute cats voiced by Antonio Banderas and Salma Hayek dance flamenco sure beats getting pepper-sprayed by a thrifty shopper...

You have to have a bit of a kid inside your heart to really enjoy Puss in Boots but that's not a problem for Mumsy and I. We love animated films, the Shrek franchise, and cats with big saucer eyes...

courtesy of google image search...
honestly, just type in "puss in boots"
and this is the most prolific shot of the ginger assassin

The best part about Puss in Boots? You get to see Puss use those adorable eyes when he's just a little kitten.

puff up

It's all about puff pastry!

Here we go, cooking miniature beef wellingtons for a party... the recipe is from Food Network... Claire Robinson, the brain behind this particular recipe, is not a favorite of mine... I remember wondering why she had a show after she made a grilled cheese sandwich and french fries on TV. But the easiness of these wellingtons sold me.

At the suggestion of Mumsy, I used ground beef instead of steak.

Brown the beef... and drain that fat! Use paper towels to sop it up and toss the paper. Set the beef aside.

sizzle

Slice mushrooms as thinly as you can. Feel free to dice them crosswise as well but I didn't bother.

1up

Cook the mushrooms for about five minutes, until water seeps out. Then add minced onion and cook until it smells good. The mixture should be golden - don't let it brown!

mushroom madness

Use a little flour to handle sheets of puff pastry. Layer bits of the mushroom mix, ground beef, and fresh chopped thyme.

Frame this and put it in your salon!

Cut the dough into squares around the mounds. Carefully stretch each square so that you can wrap the corners up and seal the edges... don't use too much flour! Flip the pockets so that the seam side is down and place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Brush with a little beaten egg.

Bake for 20 minutes at 400 degrees Fahrenheit.

Pop out and enjoy!

golden delicious

Hmm, I don't have as many pictures as I'd like to have... I guess I was too busy concentrating to remember to record the process. This is the first time I've made beef wellington and I love it! It's easy but looks oh so impressive... the perfect party food.

artistry straight from the sun

If you haven't already, it's time to get your tickets for Cirque Du Soleil's newest touring program Totem... Cirque Du Soleil - the animal-less circus company from Canada - always puts on a good show but Totem is a star among Cirque productions... this tour easily places in my top three Cirque Du Soleil experiences.

Now playing in the parking lot of AT&T park... the blue and yellow tent is surprisingly warm, even in the rain.

excitement takes over...

the turtle dome stage, before the show begins but not before the clowns come in

The animals, the artistic interpretations of American Indian legends, the feats and the clowns... Totem has some familiar acts I've seen in Alegria or Varekai but everything is taken to the next level.

Also, Totem is the first show I've seen with a woman this jacked...

image from cirquedusoleil.com

And that's just one of the amazing acts in Totem... if you see only one show a year, make sure you save it for Cirque Du Soleil's traveling shows!

you cannot make this up

Final Jeopardy from tonight's episode of Jeopardy!...

Category: Movie Characters

Answer: "900 years old when he died, he spoke in OSV syntax, object-subject-verb."


The question (which is the "answer"...)

image from Guided by Yoda

Who is Yoda?!!!!!

that left knee is mine!

Yesterday kicked off the 3-day challenge of constructing a 12-foot Santa Yoda, made entirely of legos (with a couple of metal support beams.) The public was invited to come to Union Square and help Master Builders (that's their official title) build Lego bricks for Yoda, all next to that tiny ice skating rink.

Guess where I spent two hours of my morning...

impressive he is...
this is the mini-model.

the feet of the giant Yoda,
as cared for by Master Builder Steve

my first brick!

I've lost count already... this is between my tenth and fifteenth brick

Master Builder Eric isn't afraid to give Yoda a little tough love
with the mallet

my "team" kept hitting the bottom of the lego bucket.
Yes, I was part of an unofficial "team" of strangers building bricks together.

Master Builders Eric and Steve plan their next step

the legs at the end of my two-hour adoration of Yoda

I lost count of my bricks early on but I would guess that by the end of the two hours I spent there, I'd made 90 - 100 bricks. What I seriously needed after was a little food and a lot of hand lotion... brand new Lego blocks are sharp!

Building continues today and is scheduled to finish tomorrow around 6PM. I'm not sure if I can return tomorrow but I've been told that there were two camera filming the entire process and a stop-motion video of Yoda's emergence will be show on the official site after completion. Very cool.

Even better, when I read about this epic event in the newspaper, it sounded like they would deconstruct Yoda on Monday! The horror! But it turns out that they will just be moving him to Connecticut, the US headquarters of Lego. What a relief... you can't just destroy Yoda and crush the holiday dreams of children around the developed world.

menagerie of miniature marvels

a quick rundown of some of the cuteness that invades my life...

a chocolate-plum treat from one of the nice ladies at work

the name translates into "lady of the night" or something...
I'm sure it means something entirely different in her language!

lemon bundt cake-ette from Peet's Coffee,
compliments of Bunny

blooming tea and
an advent calendar to brighten up my future desk,
little gifts from Blümchen

simple games on the back... score!

more cupcakes from Sweet Things inside the Cal-Mart
at California and Spruce

clockwise from top left: Hip Chip, Strawberry Blossom, Black & White, Mud Puddle.
Mumsy and Hulk love the Mud Puddle.

chowing down on a Strawberry Blossom... see the strawberry chunks in the cake?
Delicious!

Beefy makes another visit
and spends the entire time eating in a box

Johnny Cat watches the guest ever so warily

I couldn't resist, had another cupcake after I came home! Black & White is very sweet and moist... yum!

it's no mystery

Friends and family love how soft my chocolate chip cookies are. I enjoy the smiles and praise but I must insist that it is no original recipe of mine! You too can make fantastic chocolate chip cookies that melt into your mouth!

Just follow the instructions on the back of your average 79-cent box of baking soda!

classic

Arm & Hammer have been around for a long time so I figure any recipe they put on the back of their iconic box is foolproof.

But alas, just as I'm preparing to make a double batch of chocolate chip cookies, I find that I am low on flour! What to do!?

I substituted almond meal for the flour I didn't have (I ended up using about one cup of almond meal) and baked as usual. The result: cookies that are crispy on the edge, still soft in the middle, and perfumed with the faint scent of biscotti.

a tasty deviation

But it was still a hit!

chicken royale

Why choose between paprika-rubbed chicken and crispy chicken when you can create an epic mash-up and have both?

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit and start with a chicken... pat that bird dry!

ready for dressing

Mix 2 tablespoons paprika, 1 teaspoon dried oregano, 1 teaspoon cornstarch, and salt and pepper to taste (add a little more salt than you like - the chicken needs it.) Peel a handful of garlic cloves...

prepare the rub...

... and smash garlic!

smashy smashy

Stuff the chicken cavity with half the smashed garlic and whatever else you feel like... I had an extra rasher of cooked bacon lying around.

reverse chicken cordon bleu... sort of

Rub the chicken with a little extra-virgin olive oil...

Don't forget the back!

massaging the chicken

Then add the paprika-cornstarch rub on both sides. Be sure to get the bits of skin on the inside of the legs and wings.

this gets messy, rub on.

Being the accidental genius I am, I cooked the chicken breast-side down. This turned out to be unexpectedly great because once I figured out how to carve the upside-down chicken (just flip it over) I found that the breast meat was juicy! Hurray for accidents!

Reduce the heat to 400 degrees Fahrenheit just before putting the bird in the oven.

ready to roast

Cook for thirty minutes. While the chicken roasts, slice some potatoes to no thicker than 1/4 inch. Add the potatoes and the rest of the smashed garlic to the pan...

bed of potatoes... dreamy

... baste the chicken and potatoes with a little olive oil and leftover paprika mix...

fancy silicone brush from the $1.50 store!

Roast for thirty more minutes (or until the juices run clear, you know the drill.)

Then enjoy! Dig into the crispy cracking of the skin and smell that garlicky-smoky goodness! Oh yes, this is a dish to impress!

my uber-chicken