soupmaking

Time for yet another cooking tutorial, and yes, it's soup again! Took a leaf out of my super-grande Spanish cookbook on Sunday... Snapped this bad boy up at Borders a long time ago for just $5!

The Complete Spanish Cookbook by Pepita Aris

The soup of the day is Sherried Onion Soup with Saffon on page 97. Spaniards love thickening soups with ground almond and I thought I could skip a step by browning almond meal instead of grinding toasted almonds...

Just one of my handy dandy shortcuts: almond meal!

Feel free to sift and flip but don't spill, party poopers!

Do NOT leave the pan unattended. Nuts, whether whole, slivered, or ground, cook quickly. Don't let this burn and stir often. Once you're satisfied with the aroma wafting from the almonds, remove from heat and set aside. Then you can continue with the rest of the soup:

Slice two yellow onions as thinly as you can...

like so. But if you can go thinner, go for it!

When you get close to the end of the onion, try using a fork to hold
the onion so you don't slice your fingers. It's not as steady but a whole lot safer.

Et voila! A beautiful array of tear-inducing rings!

Melt some butter over low heat.

Add a small spoonful of minced garlic and the onion rings.

Cook over LOW heat, covered, for about twenty minutes.
Stir up the onions at least twice to loosen them up.

Cooking the onions takes quite a while so you have plenty of time to play with the other components of the soup. Don't worry, the onions won't burn over low heat... go ahead and check the heat.

Fancy schmancy saffron, just $5.99 at Trader Joe's.
Chicken broth... about half the price.

pretty!

Sherry, fino sherry.
Spaniards love sherry!

I'm lovin' the easy-twist cork topper for the sherry...
I think it's also a sign that sherry is not for drinking.
It's for cooking.

Go ahead and combine three cups of chicken broth
with three tablespoons of sherry.

Finally...

when the onions are really soft and a little yellow...

add a pinch of saffron.
Now the book calls for a really small pinch, just 0.05 grams
but I ended up tripling that later to get a rich yellow color.

Cook the onions with saffron for a few minutes, then add the toasty almond meal.

Pour it on...

and stir it up.

Cook a few minutes more, then add the chicken stock-and-sherry mixture.

whoosh!

Add paprika.

Looks good enough to eat... but we're not done yet.

Bring the soup to a boil...

then simmer for about ten minutes.

While simmering, I prepared an ice bath for the soup. This step is optional but I am one of those people who read the cautionary labels on appliances. My blender warns that you should never put things that are too hot into the blender. Now others (ahem, Mumsy) may stick their immersion blenders wherever they please but I don't have a fancy immersion blender or $300 multi-use stand mixer that can mix cement. So I take good care of my $16 blender from Target and cool off the soup in an ice bath before blending.

Viking sauna

You only need to let it sit for 3-4 minutes, the length of a typical song. Then pour it in the blender (or dip your immersion blender in) and give it a whirl!

Ready?

Blended!

Now I thought it tasted just fine - surprisingly hearty for such simple ingredients - but I was disappointed that the yellow color disappeared while blending. So after making the journey to Mumsy's house...

Sunday traffic... ugh

I added some more saffron while heating up the soup. Garnish with some chopped parsley and toasted almonds if you wish and enjoy!

Not bad at all if I say so myself.
My brother The Hulk approves.
Mumsy... acknowledges "it's different."

Olé!

guilty pleasures

Whipped up a sort of super-dinner for tonight:

clockwise from top left: bagged salad, Flat-Iron Steak,
mushroom-onion-garlic saucy-thing,
and a roasted blend of butternut squash and sweet potatoes

All available from Trader Joe's... well I got the sweet potatoes and onions from a family-owned grocery but you can find them at TJ's too, I'm sure.

enjoy it while it's there

this fabulous fall weather just doesn't last long here in San Francisco! Against my better judgement I took Q-Tip for a walk on the beach and he promptly barked at two children, five dogs (including the most adorable little dachshund) and twice at thin air.

 

Q-Tip's just too happy to do anything... except bark :(

Ocean Beach doesn't seem to get very crowded south of Lincoln.
Everyone pools around The Cliff House, in the background.

yes you are guilty. Did you really have to bark at that child?

Why can't Q-Tip be nice, like these dogs.
Calm and obedient on the left, or playful and happy on the right.

by the sea...

the snowy plover gang strikes again

a cute and friendly pooch,
yet another victim of Q-Tip's high-pitched bark-shriek

a gaggle of... gray gulls?
I'm still unsure of exactly who was gather here, much less why.
I would've been fine letting Q-Tip disperse this flock
but this was the one attraction at which he did not bark.

we need to keep up

Sometimes it feels like the world is moving very fast... Gaddaffi is yanked from his hidey hole in Libya and killed, Obama promises to pull everyone out of Iraq by Christmas, and these Occupy movements are growing. Granted, some of this is good news... finally free of its longtime dictator, Libya has the opportunity to truly modernize and set up a fair government for its people. So it's good news, delivered in a bloody and fashionable shroud.

And of all days, I finally feel not one but TWO stateside earthquakes on the day of California's earthquake drill. This was especially important to me because I NEVER feel domestic quakes - I believe the first tremor I really felt was while dining out in Taipei. The 4.2 earthquake rumbling just hours after the drill was too ironic and set off a few laughs at work yesterday.

treat week

I've been bad, eating out for lunch because I have not been packing lunches for work. But man, those sweet potato fries from Curry Up Now were good!

one hot mess

Cross-cut sweet potatoes, chicken chunks, and fresh onion are slathered in a strong tikka masala sauce. Though this dish has less food than the chicken tikka masala burrito, it's just as filling because the curry isn't diluted by rice... it tastes spicier. And that's just the way I like these fries (but as always, I wouldn't say no to more potatoes.)

If you want to try, order the "Sexy Fries." I have no clue how the name came about because I can't think of anything less sexy than eating this sloppy fry plate. Perhaps it's ironic, but not funny.

Visited Jamba Juice this week but certainly not for juice! I believe Wednesdays are $1 oatmeal days and I found it a fitting snack.

playing with oats...
brown sugar steel-cut oatmeal

Besides, cooking the oatmeal is supposed to kill all the stuff they neglected to wash off, right?

The past few Wednesday nights Oddjob has been coming over for a couple of hours while her Popsy takes a yoga class. She is fascinated by my bachelorette's mixed menu - from fresh fruit to frozen pizzas. This week I prepared a super easy "French" meal for her: Champs-Élysées salad (slivered carrots and radicchio) and a Tarte d'Alsace (what I call a French pizza, topped with ham, gruyere, and creme fraiche.) All items available from Trader Joe's and ready to impress eleven year-old girls who don't know better!

Easy to eat, easier to make.

Added some avocado and Caesar dressing, favorites of Oddjob. Oh, that girl loves her salad dressing.

On Thursday I met Tater for lunch at The Plant Cafe but alas! I forgot to bring my camera (shame on me, just what sort of blogger am I? I promise to revisit with camera in tow but for now, just take my word for it.) The goods are a few dollars more than what I like to pay for lunch but such is the premium for organic food served in the United States. The meat options are slim (chicken or tuna in a few sandwiches) so I gave in and got the vegetable-packed Spicy Red Thai Curry. The sauce was beautifully complex, savory and sour and a little spicy. And there were so many different vegetables - some I didn't even recognize - all cooked so there weren't any disconcertingly raw crunches during my meal. And might I say they serve some pretty nice rice.

Tater inhaled her Roasted Chicken Pesto Sandwich and White Bean-Garlic soup... turns out white beans make a red soup but it was still delicious.

Love the lemons and limes you can add (yourself) to the water (that you also get yourself.) The decor is clean and modern; Tater likened it to "a corporate feel in LA." My only complaint is the decibel level... when the cashier asked if it the meal was for eat-in or take-out, I yelled "credit!" Oops.

upgrade complete

I started shopping at Aveda because of all the glowing reviews for their Rosemary Mint hair care line - little did I know that this healthy-smelling goo totally dries out curly hair. But now I stay for the hair styling products, the super-luxurious lotion scented with a hint of citrus, and their moisturizing hair care line.

I have been shopping there for a little over two years now but I don't go that often becuase a girl's got to make this pricey stuff last. Still, by carefully shopping during double points events and magically filling out surveys I didn't even know I took, I accumulated over 20,000 points this year. That, my friends, is enough points to trade in for a Patagonia wheeled duffle bag.

According to the description, I will be getting the Freightliner in gray... I think this model is out of production because whenever I type "Freightliner" into Patagonia's website, it brings up the Freewheeler. But they appear to be pretty similar, so I'll take either one, Aveda redemption team!

Patagonia Freightliner,
courtesy of google image search

This beauty is 25" x 16" x 16", perfect for my plans to downsize my luggage. By no means am I some girl from the Jersey Shore (or worse, Los Angeles) who packs five times her weight in clothes for a weekend trip. One large suitcase usually holds everything I need for a month. Still, I'd like to try packing less, similar to how backpackers, well, pack.

We'll see how my downsizing goes... one blogger's review of the Freightliner promises that this small bag can hold a ton of stuff. And this only emboldened my decision to trade away 20,000 rewards points. Only 21 days until my new wheelie arrives!

seeing into the future

Snapshot showed me this deal and though it looks pricey at first, you travelers out there really just can't pass it up:

Pay $475 for $1000 worth of Intrepid itineraries to Latin America!

Even though I will not be using it this December-January when I return to Peru, I've already estimated how much vacation time I'll have by next fall and looked over all the itineraries that fit. Where will I go in 2012? Brazil? Bolivia? Belize? So many options, so little time... and money.

So jump on this deal from groupon... please note that all trips to the Galápagos Islands are excluded from this deal (boo.)

For a taste of what you may find in South America, enjoy these photos from Lake Titicaca (the only place to bring this traveler to her knees.)

Approaching the reed islands of Lake Titcaca

fancy boats for fancy sailing, made entirely out of totoro reeds!

these islands preserve a pre-Colombian way of life
but don't be fooled! There's a solar panel up there!

Homegirls

I obviously didn't go to the Stevie Nicks show, the Lindsey Buckingham concert, or the Treasure Island Music Festival. And it looks like I won't be going to see Calle 13 at The Fillmore this Saturday either. But securing this deal totally made up for the disappointment.

recovery

Also included in the post-race goodie bag was a box of Gatorade's recover milkshakes. Now Gatorade may think that the best way to recover after a sporting event is to drink a milkshake enhanced in a lab but I must propose that eating food is a better way to replenish the body. So after a short consensus, runners and cheer squad headed off for a late brunch at John's Ocean Beach Cafe on Sloat Boulevard.

This cash-only diner has fantastic eggs benedict plates:

Speedy's Eggs Florentine: just add spinach!

Snapshot's Smoked Salmon Benedict...
once the food came, this girl did not utter a single word!

My very fabulous Italian Benedict: Italian sausage, tomatoes, avocado,
and green onion, along with all of the fixings that make eggs a benedict.
Swap out the Italian sausage for andouille sausage and you have the
Louisiana Benedict. All tasty.

No better way to start the day - or end a race.

the largest women's marathon in the world?

But as a fellow supporter told me, 2,000 men get to run along those 20,000 women in the Nike Women's Marathon. Sounds like the "odds" for my high school prom.

Speedy, Snapshot, Bunny, Tati, and Mignon all ran the half marathon. Though I can't even think about running thirteen miles, I am very proud of these women and commend them for their superhuman feat. And I am not the only one in awe, for a bunch of us came out with signs and party whistles to cheer them on.

Okay, so I pushed the party horns on people.

The runners got some pretty nice swag before the run (hot pink Ray-Ban knockoffs and some healthy snacks) but each goodie bags at the finish line included a Tiffany necklace. To quote Amy from Futurama, "It's jewelry! JEWELRY!"

They say there's a tent where you can get your finish time
engraved on the back... for $65!?

Regardless of the fancy prize, congratulations to all finishers!

problems of a city mom

My mom and I had made plans to brunch together Saturday morning. Before I left my house, my mother sent me a warning. I apologize for the blurriness but my mobile phone is too old to send things to e-mail addresses.

If you are near by the house don't come in.
there is jehovah's witness outside.

Because listening to a pair of elderly women running their mouth about how only ten thousand or so people get into heaven is a sure way to ruin your Saturday morning.

Soon after, Mumsy sent the following message: Safe!

Crisis averted!

follow that land yacht

Eat Curbside frequents the truckstop often so I decided to give this mobile a try. Also, it is the only "truck" that's not a truck but a tow-able kitchen... click on their link to see what this 50's rendition of THE FUTURE really looks like.

The menu:

a short menu is an easy menu

I picked ahi sliders for lunch:

elicit oohs and aahs from your lunch buddies!

The tuna is very fresh and seared nicely with a little spice. I liked the wasabi mayonnaise but failed to detect any sesame in the cabbage slaw. The sliders were good but not quite pretty good. The deftly salted fries were actually more memorable than the sliders.

Still, not a bad lunch. Except that I paid $9 for this, and you can tell that it doesn't fill up the whole box. For $9, can you throw in a pickle? Or a few more fries? Well, they get a plus for serving real Coca-Cola, with real sugar and the nutrition facts served in both English and Spanish.

I am intrigued by the bacon hot dog but I generally don't like buying meals I can easily make at home. A few notable exceptions to the hot dog are 5606 Meat's chicharron-topped hot dog and the hot dogs meals at Costco (you can't beat a huge hot dog, large soda, and unlimited toppings for $1.50!)

On a related but very different note, one of my dear old friends from high school just recently found my blog and her mere existence has got me wondering where, in this land of gourmet food trucks that fill all sorts of niches, is the vegan food truck?

Oh, found it - Sunny Vibrations. Thanks, google! Hmm... the menu actually sounds quite tasty... in my opinion they could serve white rice instead of brown rice, doesn't make anything less vegan, but that's just your full-fat food-loving blogger talking here. I'm also loving the rainbow-tastic colors of the truck, looks a bit like those hippie buses that park out by Ocean Beach for weeks at a time.

claymation

Thanks to google, we now know that today is Art Clokey's 90th birthday.

For all those who watched one of the best television programs on earth, Art Clokey is the creator of Gumby and friends. I remember watching throwback Gumby episodes daily with Sisterfriend... I don't know how but something so childish and petulant really struck us. And it gave a new meaning to the term "Blockhead."

L to R: Prickle (my favorite!), Pokey, Gumby, Minga, and Goo.
Why Goo? Why not another animal friend?
Image courtesy of google image search.

By the way, I know the Gumby theme song by heart.

pick-me-up

So today started off none too well... between the delays, the problematic Market Street tunnel, and the slow-moving F car, it took me about one hour and fifteen minutes to get to work downtown. This is MADNESS! I live in San Francisco, in the city. Why does it take so long to get to work?

Dear Muni, if you cannot do your job, then get out. Better to have none at all than a facsimile of a bus system that keeps on raising fares and cutting service. BOO ON YOU!

So naturally, I wanted to get a little something to make my day a little better. Today's happy drug:

two minutes of pure joy

Strawberry chocolate cupcakes from Cupcake Cove.

finish it!

So remember that ceviche I was working on last night?

Took some out of the jar and added a little chopped avocado. Also squeezed fresh lime juice on the mix (don't serve with the "brine.") The result:

delicious and nutritious!

Not bad for a first-timer but my ceviche definitely lacks the complexity and extra spice of the ceviche from Limón Rotisserie or Fresca. A work in progress...