the sun and the sea

Say hello to Indian Summer, the warmest time of the year in San Francisco! Sunday was a scorcher and what better way to spend the day than waking up to a meal that you didn't cook!

Settled down at Seabreeze Cafe on Judah Street, a small, low-key eatery with a few beachy-nautical touches of decor and really great egg plates. Gaze upon the delectability of my chipotle eggs benedict!

English muffin, Canadian bacon, and perfectly poached eggs topped with a creamy chipotle sauce.
The potatoes are pretty fantastic, too... +1 awesome!

a cross-section of a proper breakfast

I love poached eggs, this technique leaves the whole egg tender. The chipotle sauce was a nice alternative to the standard buttery hollandaise... if you also love softcooked eggs, this is the dish for you!

And even if you don't love softcooked eggs, you can scoot over and order other breakfast items or burgers from their Chilean-tinged menu. This place is a sweet bargain (brunch for two was $27, including drink and gratuity) and should not be overlooked if you're in the area.

This being the Outer Sunset, it only made sense to don a big straw hat and take a leisurely stroll along Ocean Beach... this was one of those rare warm days but it was early enough that the beach wasn't teeming with people. Ended up taking in more sunshine than I meant to and showed off my red legs at work today.

same thing?

Jesus fed the multitude with nothing but five loaves of bread and two fish.

I will be feeding some people (probably under fifty persons) with nothing but cocoa powder and crisco... because with a few hours, these become the classic whoopie pie!

some for the party people, some for Oddjob

need to save some for Mumsy tomorrow!

Chocolate whoopie cookie-cake with marshmallow creme frosting... A.K.A. the original Oreo. Eat your heart out, you newfangled soft Oreos!

the J factor

Simon Cowell just won't go away now that he has a new show, The X Factor. But perhaps if he came across our karaoke night he'd retire on good terms and live off the fabulous fortune he already has.

Why do we keep returning to Pandora Karaoke & Bar in the janky part of town between the Tenderloin and the shopping center?

• Cheap if you go with friends
• A room to your group means you don't have to wait behind that karaoke hog who should just go on TV and receive a tongue lashing from Simon Cowell already
• All private rooms are decked out in a cool party theme... I lie not, the first time we went, we booked the Hello Kitty room!
• Happy Hour until 9PM
• Our old karaoke place closed

Now for the J factors... we got the Jameson room...

sticking the fan in the barrel was not a good idea

And we were jamming to Jones... Tom Jones, of "What's New Pussycat" fame.

yes, that is a cat on the screen!

Jive, just jive!

haunting the truckstop

I've already been twice this week!

First off was Kung Fu Tacos on Tuesday... after the success of the fusion tacos I had from the Peached Tortilla truck at the Street Food Festival, I felt confident about trying more avant garde tacos.

in the alley next to Walgreens...

tempting options

Listen closely! When the cheery guy calls you to pick up your order, he may embellish your name with a rhyme (Jack Attack,) alliteration (Dave Dawg,) or some star power (Alicia Keys.)

L: mu shu chicken
R: roast duck

The mu shu chicken taco had very moist and tender chicken but I could do with less carrot. The roast duck was a revelation... Chinese-style roast duck that's NOT too salty or fatty but still tastes great? Now I love the traditional greasy duck but it was refreshing (in more ways than one) to have some roast duck that was matte. Loved the duck but found that the little mango bits didn't do anything to add to the taste.

The tacos are small... order at least three for a satisfying lunch. And yes, those are two little tortillas on each taco... they're quite hefty.

Today our sights were set on the Rib Whip but with a line snaking the entire length of the alley and a goal of a 30-minute lunch, I defected to Mama's Empanadas.

L to R: spicy beef, traditional beef, and chicken

At $5 each these are some pricey hot pockets but once you take one bite you can tell that these were made with love. The spicy beef is my favorite... it has some Italian-esque peppers (pepperoncini, I think?) that give the beef a little somethin'-somethin'. The traditional beef was excellent... black olives and hardboiled egg gave this beef pastry some variety in flavor. The chicken was okay but not really worth $5. It didn't taste bad, it's just that ground chicken - even moist ground chicken - is peculiar on the tongue. Case in point: I've never had ground chicken before and I can't think of a place or brand that regularly sells ground chicken.

All in all, I like this little truckstop by work... it's definitely adding some spice to those days when I'm too tired or lazy to pack a lunch.

after the battle

There is much to be said about the launch of the Missoni for Target collection crashing the store's website or the desperate housewives of Daly City sacking nearly all of the in-store stock but I think Cabbage and I have vented about it enough.

The good news is that after searching two Target stores and waiting for hours, Cabbage and I were able to finally shop online (does it really take 20 hours to fix that?) Though virtually all of the lovely dinnerware, pillows, and throws were gone, I was able to pick up a few picture frames, clothing items, and a duvet set left forgotten by the vultures.

Thanks to Target's speedy standard shipping, my new lovelies will be arriving in just one week! Until then, I'm happy to re-watch this 30-second paragon of stylish Italian espionage done up in a psychedelic palette:

Can't get enough of this video!

Also, though I am obviously disappointed that I couldn't get anything in-store besides a pair of chevron-textured tights, I commend the vultures across the country for not killing anybody in pursuit of this collection. We don't need a repeat of that Black Friday incident at Wal-Mart.

"prior food adventures"

... or as I told the bartender, "how I got fat."

On a very lovely and commemorative Sunday I met Tater for yet another food adventure. She has been reading these chronicles - like any good friend - and expressed a desire for the one and only Kara's cupcakes. So off we went, meandering through the Ferry Building and along Fisherman's Wharf.

First much browsing through all the pricey shops at the Ferry Building and a snack at the El Porteño Empanadas stall on the south side...

empanada... the original hot pocket

Out of all the delicious flavors I had to try the seasonal humita variety with peppers and sweet corn. Definitely more sweet than spicy but still savory... I must have been pretty well enamored with this handheld piece of perfection because passerby had to stop me and ask where I got "that piece of bread."

After viewing the rest of the shops in the Ferry Building (the cheese shop! Miette's French patisserie!) we squeezed onto the F Market trolley and headed over to Ghiradelli Square.

It just so happened that the 16th Annual Chocolate Festival was happening at the square...

shouldn't there be one of these every week?

I remember trying lots of radical new ways to eat chocolate here last year but Tater and I could not be swayed from our original quest for Kara's Cupcakes. Plus, tickets were sold in 15-part vouchers for $20. We snagged some free kettle corn and moved onward...

chocolate velvet, chocolate peanut butter, and some extras in the bag.
My mom needs cupcakes, too!

I feel a little guilty... eating Kara's cupcakes twice in just four days? Oh, who am I kidding. I could never feel guilty about cupcakes this good, especially since I do a pretty good job of sharing. Or so I like to think.

Tater was feeling pretty full after the empanada and cupcake so it was time to settle onto barstools. Up we went to the restaurant at the Fisherman's Wharf branch of Boudin's! That's right, downtown and underneath Macy's Boudin's is just a little sandwich shop. Here, it's a fully-loaded restaurant with seafood entrees, fancy salads, crab-spinach-artichoke dip, and - most importantly - a bar.

the blackberry lemonade, a recipe created by the very friendly barkeep

Eventually we made our way back downstairs so Tater could buy some bread - a piece of San Francisco history, y'know! I've always snapped photos of these cute creations behind a window but now, undisturbed by tourists on the street and unhindered by the sheen of glass, I could take quality photos of these sourdough critters:

koala, complete with bellybutton!

King Alligator

lobster and friend

This adventure definitely deserves a repeat!

how to make people think you cook well

You buy some fresh tomatoes and take a leaf out of Sandra Lee's Semi-Homemade cookbook. For a delicious pasta dinner...

Brown some ground turkey...

While the turkey cooks, get started on the drink! Hull some strawberries and fill a blender to the top. Give it a whirl...

And add some white alcohol of your choice (I used Cabbage's favorite, Bombay Sapphire gin.)

Chill in the fridge while you prepare the rest of the meal. Lay out the onion, mushrooms, and fresh tomatoes (these are fancy because they're on the vine!) Basil bunch is optional.

Remove the ground turkey from the pot and reserve in a bowl. Dice onion and combine with a spoonful of minced garlic... brown until they're happy, as Emeril would say. Add quartered mushrooms and cook a few minutes longer...

Twist tomatoes off the vine and cut into wedges (eighths.) 

When the mushrooms are soft(er than they already were,) add the tomatoes. Feel free to mush them up a little bit but don't waste too much time early on. The heat will soften them up, making the tomatoes easier to break. Cook for another 5 minutes or so... I'm not picky about the time.

When the tomatoes are easy to break, add some red Italian wine... if it looks like a lot, that's probably because it is a lot. I got a little distracted trying to snap myself pouring wine!

I used this Sangiovese from Trader Joe's... looks like the winery's name is Il Valore.

Stew for about 10 minutes, letting the alcohol cook away. Then reintroduce the turkey to the pot...

This step is optional but since I prefer my pasta sauce to be a tad more thick, I added about half a jar of prepared pasta sauce. This is Arrabbiata (so spicy Italians call it "angry") from Safeway's in-house brand (so it was cheap.) This also takes care of the art of seasoning the sauce with salt and pepper.

Now it's nice and gooey!

Add a few leaves of torn basil if you like...

Stir away and simmer for however long you like. I think left it alone for about half an hour while I cleaned around the place but 5 minutes should be enough to integrate the sauce with the fresh ingredients.

Now the obvious: ladle sauce onto cooked and slightly cooled pasta and enjoy! If you're into that fancy stuff, grate a little parmeggiano-reggiano onto the plate and add another basil leaf... almost looks professional!

ALMOST! Aren't you glad you added the fresh tomatoes? It really makes the ENTIRE sauce look homemade.

Don't you forget that strawberry drink chilling in the refridgerator! Add 2 handfuls of ice cubes and blend once more to get a cool slushie-esque libation.

lunchtime spectacular

People at work have been talking up the Porchetta Sandwich (porchetta is Italian for fancy sounding pork) at the RoliRoti food truck. This popular joint always has a lengthy (and discouraging line) and only rolls around to the Ferry Plaza on Thursdays. Lucky for us, Driver was bent on eating this sandwich for lunch and offered to pick up the same for anyone who wanted to try it.

Behold, the crispy porchetta! Slathered with some sort of fruity compote (apricot?) and fresh greens, sandwiched between the perfectly weighty bread (you know, not too thin and not too heavy,) this sandwich is well worth $8.50!

happy lunches make happy workers

This porchetta sandwich was so good and filling I only finished half. Saved the other half for dinner and my stomach is pleasantly full as I write.

The nice thing about Driver picking up lunch was that this freed up time for Bunny and I to hop over to Truckstop SF. This little alley houses three trucks from a rotating schedule and today happened to be the day when Kara's Cupcakes came over. Kara's Cupcakes are by far the very best sweet baked goods I've ever had or made. I would buy more of these if they were located closer to my home or work... it's not easy getting to their Scott Street or Ghiradelli Square locations on my lunch break. But maybe that's a good thing because most likely, I'd be substantially heavier if I had easy access to Kara's.

Besides proximity, I also love the cupcake truck because they're a little cheaper. In my experience if you don't buy at least six, cupcakes go for $3.25-$3.50. But at the truck single cupcakes sell for $3. Huzzah!

Love the DIY-ness.
I once fixed a shoe with duct tape and it kept for 6 months more!

party truck!
This is pretty much the only reason I went to the alley today.

L to R: s'mores, Meyer lemon, blackberry cream, and my all-time favorite chocolate velvet

Kara's Cupcakes are always super moist and topped with richest and smoothest buttercream ever. Let me break these down for you...

• Sweet S'mores are chocolate topped with a marshmallow topping, toasted of course. The bottom of the cupcake is a delightfully crunchy and granular graham cracker crust. I love the mix of textures on this cupcake... I think that if these were easy to transport, I would go camping more often.
• Meyer Lemon is a filled cupcake! Sweet vanilla cake is injected with a little lemony filling (not quite a custard, not quite a jelly) and topped with smooth lemon buttercream. Warning: this lemon is not sour!
• Blackberry cream is the seasonal flavor of the moment (past favorites include almond crunch and strawberry... yummy!) This is a luscious chocolate cake filled with blackberries and topped with the most divine incarnation of the berry ever - blackberry buttercream. See the flecks in the frosting? Those are REAL blackberries!
• Chocolate velvet is simple but sometimes simple can be elegant, effortless, and perfect. Not-too-sweet chocolate buttercream on the moist chocolate cake you expect from Kara's, decked with little flat chocolate sprinkles... these are not the crunchy sprinkles that have no taste, these are almost like chocolate shavings and they just melt into the buttercream.

Even though I have been treating my friends, family, and myself to Kara's for quite a few years, picking up a box never fails to make me as ridiculously giddy as a seven year-old going to Chuck E. Cheese's.

decisions, decisions

Several music shows are coming up and I want to go to them all! But I think I have to make a choice...

1. Stevie Nicks will be at The Fillmore for the weekend of October 8 - 9. As much as I would love to see the "Welsh Witch," I might have to pass. Tickets will be sold for $102.50, and with the $18 ticket fee reported by LiveNation, this concert is looking a little out of my price range.

2. Stevie's forever love Lindsey Buckingham will be at The Regency Ballroom on Wednesday October 19. These ticket prices are much more manageable ($37-57) but a Wednesday concert isn't the best idea for me - I have enough trouble waking up for work! I do like ticketmaster's oddly specific rules about the show: it's an "all ages event" but "no babes in arms." Good to know.

3. I don't regularly listen to any of the bands in the lineup for the Treasure Island Music Festival (October 15 - 16) but for $69.50, I can sample a smorgasbord of alternative and indie groups all day. The lack of music from my favorite acts doesn't phase me; after all, it's good to try something new... right?

Which concert will I go to - if any? Tickets for Stevie Nicks go on sale this Friday and I have a feeling these will sell faster than hotcakes.

looks funny

but these cookies are super soft! Paula Deen's gooey chocolate cookies are so easy to make (essentially you mix cream cheese with cake mix) and taste so good, but be warned! This is a Paula Deen recipe so prepare for butter!

ooey gooey choco cookie

new things

Remember my first trip to Wal-Mart? Well a friend told me that he had never been to the wonderful world of IKEA! Can you say road trip!? It's off to IKEA in Palo Alto!

Hopping on the furniture was fun but I think the best part was noshing on a grand meatball-and-crepe lunch for about $13:

clockwise from the lower-left:
Swedish meatballs with mashed potatoes and lingonberry sauce,
fabulous almond-chocolate-butterscotch torte,
spinach & cheese crepes, and a cinnamon bun

I guess after that adventure it was only right we do something I don't really do: hiking in the woods. I mean, coming from San Francisco, where the hell are the woods? Do you mean Golden Gate Park!?

No, we went to Wunderlich County Park by Woodside. Saw a lot of redwoods...

... even a baby deer and her mom, but my old camera couldn't catch a clear picture of them. Drats!

Anyways, I think I did pretty well... hiking 2 miles uphill in sandals while avoiding horse poop is a great accomplishment for me!

that's my kind of boat!

Had dinner with my dad and Oddjob on Sunday at Isobune Sushi Boat in Japantown... this was a total surprise as we usually wait for Grandpa to come to town but I guess somebody had a hankering! We have been going here for a long time, at least since I was 8 years old.

As you can expect, I was mesmerized by the colors flying by on the little boats:

they're not really going that fast

too good to let them be before picture time!
L: a new spicy roll
R: salmon roe

L: delicious seaweed salad
R: fresh tuna

NEW! bluish-black sweet shrimp.
AWESOME!

For me, Isobune sets the standard for sushi. It's not an exclusive standard and it doesn't require a sushi boat, I just appreciate the seldom frequency of deep-fried rolls. Thank you, Isobune!

somebody got it right

A lot of movies are set in San Francisco but sometimes it seems like the scriptwriters have never been to the city... that's right J. Lo, you don't take a cable car to Alamo Square! And Cameron Diaz, George of the Jungle, even the new Star Trek, it's not really that sunny here. But I just saw the newest movie to feature the best city in the world as its home and I must say I like this one.

Rise of the Planet of the Apes is not just entertaining, it's one of the few films that accurately portrays San Francisco. I like that the happiest scenes full of sunshine are actually set in the Redwood Forest, in the North Bay. I also like the use of Twin Peaks as a lookout point because Twin Peaks is underused as a great spot to view downtown SF. And I love that when the A-Team of apes got on a cable car to go to the Golden Gate Bridge, it was believable because the Mason-Powell line actually takes riders from Market Street to Ghiradelli Square and back.

But best of all was the film's decision to embrace the fog! The apes use the ubiquitous cloud cover to their advantage and the result is just magical... it reminds me of the end of Gillo Pontecorvo's The Battle of Algiers when the townspeople emerge together from the smoke of an explosion.

But hey, even if you don't give two cents about films portraying real locations faithfully, you should see Rise of the Planet of the Apes at least to watch this little guy grow up:

don't you want a baby chimp?
Image from rocknrollghost.com

get theeself a globe!

After re-watching the latest episode of Torchwood: Miracle Day, I decided it was time to check out this concept of antipodes.

Antipodes are points on the earth that lie precisely opposite to each other... or the ends of a diameter through a sphere. I found this handy dandy antipodes map to help me double-check some facts.

On the show, the team is trying to figure where to go next. They see that a bank of sorts was bombed just days before the Miracle in Buenos Aires. But they learn that a person of interest has just flown into Beijing. Weighing the options, the team is about to go headfirst into Beijing... that is until Rhys, playing with a globe - figures out that Beijing and Buenos Aires are antipodes of each other. After some speculation of what exactly "the Blessing" (cause of the Miracle) could be, the episode ends with the team agreeing to split up and investigate both locations simultaneously.

So first off, huge foreshadowing whenever a team splits up. This means that at least two people (one on each end) have to die, right?

Next, I have to check out this antipodes connection between Beijing and Buenos Aires. Are they really antipodes? If so, they should be sister cities!

Anyways, plugged Beijing (39.91 degrees North, 116.40 East) into the Antipodes Map and found that they are close but not exact antipodes of each other. Beijing's friend on the other side of the world is a spot (39.91 degrees South, 63.60 degrees West) along the border between the provinces of Río Negro and Buenos Aires in Argentina. Can't discern any towns - Viedma is about 100 miles south - but the point lies along Highway 50 and is just 5 miles south of Lago 8 de Agosto.

As is only fair, I entered Buenos Aires (34.61 degrees South, 58.38 degrees East) in the map and found its antipode: a spot in the middle of the East China Sea between China and South Korea! The exact spot is about 125 miles west of the coastal cities of Rizhou and Lianyungang.

Looks like the Torchwood team is only 500 miles off of science but given the scale of the entire world, I think that's commendably close. Good job TV script writers!

By the way, if you know the coordinates of a point, use this map to find out exactly where it is. Very handy.

Hmm... looks like the antipode of San Francisco is in the Southern part of the Indian Ocean, halfway between Madagascar and a little island called Kerguelen. In fact, it looks like all of North America and the Indian Ocean are antipodal regions of each other. The antipodal swathes of Africa and Europe fit in the Pacific while Australia's antipode is swallowed by Northern Atlantic. Looks like the chances of reaching land on the other side is slim unless you're in South America or a sliver of land along East and Southeast Asia.

Don't forget! The season finale of Torchwood - possibly the series - is this Friday evening on Starz!

from starz.com

great for parties

After reading my last post on an encounter with the unparalleled Frank Chu, a co-worker and friend pointed out that with the help of this website from ACME, you can make your own sign a lá Frank Chu! For instance...

be sure to leave a few blank lines so the program can fill in some of Frank Chu's gibberish

Oh yes, next time you have to say something special - from "Happy Birthday" and "Thank you" to "Sorry" and "Will you marry me?" - why not say it with Frank Chu?

And yes, apparently I misspelled the man's name in my last post. In that case, so did The Examiner.

a brush with fame

So we lost Thursday's game to the lowly Astros... enough of the usual stuff at the games. Here's something uniquely San Francisco...

A short meeting with Frank Chiu (sometimes Chu)!

12 galaxies to the person who can actually read his sign!

I've always seen this guy parading around Market and Montgomery Streets during lunchtime, and just last week The Examiner ran a short profile on him. While waiting for Sangria to show up, I decided to capitalize on this rare meeting and talk up the man. Unfortunately he did not go to City College of San Francisco so I cannot use him for a feature story. However, he is very nice and kindly answered (sort of answered) my questions about the galaxies and guilty presidents.

And HUZZAH! Madison Bumgarner led the Giants to a WIN over the Astros today!

he returns!

Back in 2008 when Josh Groban - the hottie of popera - was fresh off of the release of his third album Awake, I clinched two tickets to see him live at the HP Pavilion in San Jose. A very fabulous birthday present for my Mumsy indeed!

Unfortunately I did not accompany her... I had a very important class that same Wednesday and I didn't want to miss it. So my dear little sister (that would be Sisterfriend) went to see Josh Groban with Mumsy and they had a blast hearing his rich and heavenly voice. They also played a very mean joke on me, letting me think that they had touched him. And of course, the very scientific Love Calculator says that Sisterfriend is 12% more likely to have a successful relationship with Josh Groban than yours truly... oh that girl!

Anyways, Josh Groban returned to the HP Pavilion after the release of the new Illuminations album. His fourth effort takes a decidedly moodier turn (as evidenced by the change in producer) but after a few takes on  ye olde ipod, the songs grew on me. And so when I got tickets for the Straight to You tour, I was determined that I would be Mumsy's companion. Well it definitely helps that I'm not a full-time student anymore!

He started off a little scratchy - Mumsy the expert says that he didn't condition his voice properly before starting. But we LOVED every moment of this concert. He began on a mini-stage much closer to us and sang one of our favorites, "February Song."

He continued to run between the mini-stage and the main stage, singing with the chamber orchestra and the great drummers and guitar/vocalists. So many songs, each of them a heart-wrenching blend of words and emotions carried by a gentle baritone. I am pretty sure I drummed Mumsy's knee everytime he started a new song. And I am pretty sure she was equally engrossed.

Josh Groban was very energetic... he claims to have consumed a ton of sugar before the show began. Mumsy says he was much more humorous than the last show, and though I didn't know anything about his personality before, I'd place money on Mumsy. Josh Groban was making jokes about his security team, impersonating Stewie from Family Guy, and inviting crazy wino lady up on stage. He even fulfilled a fan's request and sang "Happy Birthday" with her to another fan! Personally I think it's risky to immerse yourself in a shark tank of adoring fans ages 14-80 but he did it, plucked out a fan or two, and came out alive. Go Josh.

Ahh, I just saw one of my greatest crushes of all time and I'm happy as a lark.

like night and day

Due to all the stuff I wanted to do this weekend, I thought it was a good idea to squeeze in two dates into one weekend.

The first was on Saturday night with a guy I shall call Sleepy. Why Sleepy? Because he didn't seem very... present. As Nigel Barker on America's Next Top Model might say, it just felt like he wasn't there. Was he bored? High? Truly sleepy? I'm not sure, all I know is that whatever we had in common, it didn't come through because he was just blank.

Nigel would know a thing or two about being present!
image from avagacser.wordpress.com

The most interesting part of the night was snapping photos of the cute sourdough critters at Boudin's on the pier...

koalas and crabs and turtles, oh my!

Oh yeah, and he didn't pay for dinner. No more Sleepy for me!

So this morning I was pleasantly surprised to meet Guy No. 3. I don't want to give away a lot since we agreed to meet up again but rest assured, Guy No. 3 is smart, humorous, witty, not too awkward, engaging, and above all PRESENT!