Kate's Kitchen

Today, we finally got a chance to try Kate's Kitchen, one of N's favorite breakfast haunts.


What I didn't count on was the enormous portions! J had the corned beef hash. I might be biased, but I think Nob Hill Grille and Canteen both have better versions.

I'm not usually a big eater of pancakes, but I shared a plate with N and loved these cornmeal buttercake pancakes. The bacon, sausage, and potatoes on the side were also delicious but way too much food for us.

The hush puppies were basically deep fried pancake batter. Tasty, but also too much. All six of us ate a ton of food and left paying about $10 each, but with some smart sharing we would have had a lot less leftovers and possibly eaten plenty of brunch for closer to $6 a person. But all in all, it was fun and tasty. Thanks, N!

Picadilly's Fish N' Chips

A day of wandering ended in a haircut and plate of fish n' chips for J. What a great vacation!

We got the 5 pieces with chips plate for $15. I have to say, the little old man running the place is beyond nice. The Tenderloin neighborhood gets a bad rap, but the small mom and pop restaurants almost always offer service (albeit barebones) with a big smile. The fish was piping hot, moist in the center, crispy, and not overly battered or soggy. Really nice, and much cheaper than any restaurant version.

The chips were less successful. I thought about asking him to throw them back in the fryer for a few minutes, but I didn't know if that would just make things worse since he'd already plated them. Next time I'll just ask for them a little well done and hope that does the trick.

Bored Out of My Mind

Today is the first 100% down day we've had in awhile, and I'm so bored. There's no holiday baking to do, no friends to visit with, no errands to run, no shopping to finish, no Netflix to watch, no knitting projects to complete, and no books to read (that's not really true, but I'm not feeling the reading thing today).

On top of all that, J has decided this is his hiding place of choice.

In slightly more exciting news, I made a great omelet for breakfast. Here are the assembled ingredients.

The trick with omelets, of course, is to sautee everything first. I tossed the bacon into a cold pan, added the onions when the bacon started giving off fat, added the mushrooms as soon as the onions were heated through, and then put the spinach in to wilt before adding the eggs. Then I scrambled the mix around as if making scrambled eggs, so that most of it was cooked. I then let it take on a pan shape until the bottom browned.

When the bottom had solidified and turned golden brown, I sprinkled the cheese evenly across the top and folded the omelet into thirds. Because I had done the scrambling motion, the heat from the browned egg was enough to cook the little bit of raw egg left, as well as melt the cheese. No messy attempts to flip an omelet!

Rabbit, Done!

Today I finished my rabbit! He's all sewn up and stuffed with a pouch full of lavendar. He'll serve as a nice bed freshener as well as a homemade toy.

Christmas Pork Knuckle

I think everyone agrees that Christmas is a time for huge chunks of meat. Ours this year

was a ti pang, or slow braised pork knuckles. It's basically seared on all sides, then left to simmer for four hours in a combination of soy sauce, sugar, star anise, five spice powder, rice wine, garlic, and white pepper. A bed of spinach and a bowl of rice usually makes this a hearty meal. Today, we paired it with a prime rib and a plate of mashed potatoes for a fusion holiday.

Christmas Cheers!

I promise, there wasn't enough bourbon in my egg nog for me to be sloshed before noon. I have to cook dinner for children later! But I did want to thank Claire for an awesome egg nog recipe, and also say that Bulliet bourbon is really wonderful both in drinks and straight up.

And, progress!

I can't decide if the insides of the ears should be brown or fuchsia. I thought putting a wad of yarn in each year would help me decide, but it hasn't. After a lot of holiday crafting I've decided to give myself this knit stuffed rabbit. He also needs a jaunty scarf or a knee patch. You know, something your average vintage toy would wear.

Merry Christmas!

I hope everyone has a very happy holiday season this year. We're looking forward to two straight days of cooking, crafting, and overall idleness. Merry Christmas!

A MUNI #27 Afternoon

Today, we finally did something we've been wanting to do for a long time. It's dorky, but we wanted to take the #27 down to the Mission and just wander around eating and exploring. Luckily, the sun stayed out long enough for us to have fun.

Photo courtesy of SF Weekly. I insisted our first stop be at Philz coffee for a cup of Philharmonic: cardamom spiced coffee with cream and sugar. I love Philz; the way the smell of fresh coffee hits you two steps before you cross the threshold, the beat up furniture, the way the staff is simultaneously earnest and too cool for words. It's fantastic.

We walked around exploring choices for lunch. This place, with it's sign, was a top contender.

We ended up at a Salvadorean/Mexican place on Harrison and 24th. I have sadly forgotten the name. This is a pretty standard "lunch for under $10" spot, but their rice was a real winner. It was cooked to the exact right consistency, tasted a little like herbs, chicken stock, and carrots, and was served hot and fluffy. I could have had a bowl of rice and beans and been perfectly happy.

I had two pupusas; one with pork, one with cheese and loroco (a delicious edible flower with no English translation). The pupusas were about average, tasty but not better than Panchita's.

Jimmy had a huge bowl of mondongo, which turned out to be menudo with a mix of vegetables instead of hominy. This version was a little more tomatoy than most. but nicely done.

Before getting back on the bus, we hit up Dynamo Doughnuts for a treat to take home. I'd heard a lot about this place and was excited to finally see it.

Ginger lemon twist. It didn't taste like a doughnut at all (in a good way). It was more like a spiced bread you'd find at a bakery--soft, yeasty, with tiny bits of candied ginger and a hint of orange water. Yum! I'm so happy that people are starting to realized doughnuts don't have to be stale, greasy rings of dough.

Spices! And, Feline Fun

We tried to go to the Academy of Sciences today, but the 200 person line pouring onto the sidewalk meant we had to settle for a consolation afternoon snack at Spices instead.

The spicy pork parts were delicious. I won't say what parts they are.

The mung bean noodles were weird today. They were warm! I'm not sure why they were warm, but it's better as a cold dish.

After we got home, I finished up a Christmas cat toy. The cat I know doesn't read this blog, so I think I'm safe. It'll be a fun surprise for her.

Rabbit Quilt: Final Report

I'm done! All done! This is my first real quilt, and I couldn't be happier with the results:

It's pieced, batted, backed, quilted, bound off, and all the colors look great together. J's taking it for a test whirl on the futon, and then I'm going to wash it and wrap it for Christmas.

Here's a picture of the quilt laid out, with my very happy toes sticking in the photo. I'm all done, and I haven't been blinded in the process! Maybe one day I'll make an adult-sized quilt to hide under on rainy days like today.

Taste of Formosa

We made it all the way out to Taste of Formosa yesterday. I think the quality's really improved since I first ate there a few years ago.

Deep fried pork intestines was simply delicious. Really crispy on the outside, with green onions stuffed int he center. It was served with a sweet garlic soy sauce, of course.

Intestine soup with pickled greens was also delicious. Very light and refreshing, if you like sour soups.

Beef noodle soup was also delicious. I really like the noodles here: firm and chewy, they never soaked up enough soup to become soggy. The soup base and meat were tasty, though I could have done without the addition of sa cha (Chinese bbq sauce).

Oyster pancake was a loser. It wasn't downright bad, it just wasn't very good.

Scallion pancake I would not order again. It was more like a flakey, airy pastry than a standard doughy scallion pancake with a lot of green onion flavor.

Pan fried cakes filled with beef were actually pretty good. The dough tasted a little buttery, which threw me off since Taiwanese coooking uses oil and lard but rarely butter. Still, it was hot and juicy in the center. Pretty good.

The Elephant With No Eyes...a Tragic Holiday Tale

Who will buy my elephant some eyeballs for Christmas?

Just kidding. The elephant will be given eyes soon--after both ears are attached permanently and he's given a yarn tail. I tried to re-create a really cute stuffed elephant I saw, but I didn't get the shape just right. I'm debating whether to finish it as best I can, or start over. I feel like the elephant needs to be shorter and wider. Oh well, not bad for a patternless attempt!

Shopping Without Shopping

The colors...they are mesmerizing.

Okay, those who know me know I'm gaga over Anthropologie. My dream is that one day a wardrobe fairy will enchant my closet so I have an endless supply of overpriced but adorable clothes without having to scour the 50%-or-more-off racks for acceptable leftovers. I know, I'm such a cliche. But today, I got to shop at Anthropologie guilt-free. These latte bowls were $2 each, and I have a friend who collects them for herself and for her mother. So I was commissioned to buy twelve of these at half the regular price. I'm such a good friend!

Holiday Treats

We're not big givers of gifts around here, but we usually scrounge up enough holiday spirit (pun intended) to give some homemade gifts each year.

This year, some lucky folks will receive a bottle of home brewed lager (an Anchor Steam clone) and a bag of homemade cookies. I assembled two espresso cookies and a gift tag so I could see how it looked, but hopefully I'll bake some more cookies tomorrow so each person can have more than two!

Here's the beer right before we bottled it. Look how clear it is, and how thick the sediment is on the bottom. Everything about this batch went smoothly: no mistakes during wort boiling, nice cold weather all throughout fermentation, and a really crisp product that already tasted like Anchor Steam before becoming carbonated in the bottles. Final report in two weeks, after we pop open a few bottles!

Lazy Sunday Recipes

It's been awhile since we've been able to just spend a Sunday at home doing absolutely nothing. Today, since it's raining, J's spending the day looking up internet deals on random objects and gloating that he hasn't lost any money on the stock market this week. I, on the other hand, am cooking up a storm and clearing out some pantry clutter.

Chocolate espresso cookies, recipe courtesy of 101 Cookbooks. These are really lovely. I changed the recipe a bit because I don't like the grittiness of chocolate covered espresso beans. I used a very finely ground espresso from Victrola Coffee in Seattle, which lends a deep flavor but no grit to the cookie. I used half a cup of toasted chopped walnuts and chopped up the chocolate chips a little, so my cookies are a little flatter than the original. They are fudgey, gooey, and quite a treat. I'm refraining from eating too much because I fear the straight shots of espresso powder will keep me up all night!



For breakfast, we had what I call a waffled sandwich. A slice of ham, a slice of cheddar, and two slices of wheat toast get pressed in a waffle iron to make a really fun breakfast sandwich. It's cheaper than getting a panini press and you don't have to watch over it like you do a stovetop grilled sandwich.


Lunch was a spin on colcannon. Here's a simple recipe:

• 3 medium potatoes
• 1/2 large onion (or one medium/small onion), thinly sliced
• 1/4 cabbage, thinly sliced
• 2-4 slices of bacon, coarsely chopped
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 2 spring onions, chopped
• salt
• pepper

Boil the potatoes until they are cooked through, then remove them from the water and let them cool a bit. Use the water to boil the onions an cabbage until quite soft. Meanwhile, sautee the bacon until it's crispy, then drain. Put the potatoes through a ricer, or peel and mash them lightly. Drain the cabbage and onions well, pressing a little of the liquid out of them. Combine the cabbage, onions, green onions, bacon, potatoes, and butter in a bowl and fold gently to mix. Don't over mix or your potatoes might become gummy. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Alternatively, you can add shredded cheddar, some or all of the bacon fat (cut back on the salt if you do this), chives, a quarter cup of heavy cream, more butter, or use olive oil instead of butter. The possibilities are endless!

Suppenkuche

This picture pretty much sums up the night.

Kudos to J (not my J, T's J!) for finishing an entire stiefel of beer. It's rotated so you can't see the foot, but that would be one entire boot full of brew there. Go J!

This time around, I opted for the German ravioli "appetizer." Yum! Anyone who likes sausage gravy or Swedish meatballs should give this dish a try. Tender pasta floating in a really fantastic mushroom gravy really made my day.

The holiday goose was less impressive. It was fine, but for being one of the pricier entree choices it didn't really hit the spot. I think we've learned at Suppenkuche to stick to the potato pancakes and anything involving pork--pork chops, sausage, wienershnitzle (which, by the way, is AMAZING. Better than 90% of the tonkatsu pork or Taiwanese deep fried pork chop renditions out there).

The 20 centimeter sausage didn't make the camera before I'd chopped it into pieces.

And the salad was colorful and tasty, but not something people wanted to eat without sausages. It was a fun meal; but next time, more sausages.

The Madness Continues

I'm completely done piecing my quilt! And I'm proud to say all my corners line up, and my final measurements are off by only one or two millimeters.

I haven't eaten anything interesting in days. All I've been doing is madly piecing this quilt and stopping to go to the gym. When I'm on line I harass my friends to give to http://www.nyof.org/ , my holiday charity selection for the year. Our goal is to collect $350 to send a Nepalese girl to school for six years! NYOF saves indentured servants from a life of slavery (or worse), and they are among the highest rated nonprofits of its kind. If you want more information, please e-mail me! I'll respond between Visine applications.

So pretty. I must inflict two photos on you. I promise, there will be food next.

Going Blind in Both Eyes

But it's worth it. I think a little girl I know is going to be thrilled by all these bunnies.

Waterfront Grill (Seattle)

We spent one evening in Seattle at a lovely restaurant called the Waterfront Grill. Sadly, we were one of two tables the entire evening. Despite being a lovely town with some wonderful restaurants, Seattle seems to have been hard hit by the economic crisis.

San Francisco doesn't have too many large, sprawling, airy restaurants--or at least those places aren't where I usually choose to dine. So this was a nice change. Food was good but not particularly different from a high end seafood restaurant anywhere along the West Coast.

What was really cool was dessert! More so than Los Angeles or San Francisco, Seattle seems to pride itself on having retained many American classics on their menus. One example is a the baked Alaska, re-named the Emerald City Volcano. The dessert started with our server pouring flaming liquor from one container to another, repeatedly cooking the alcohol and putting on a light saber show. She dropped flames onto the carpet several times, but stomped out each fire with complete nonchalance.

Finally, she poured the flames onto the waiting volcano, throwing on a few dashes of cinnamon to create a sparkling fireworks show. Then she doused the flames with some chocolate "lava." So much fun! The interior was just cake layered with chocolate and coffee ice creams, but the show was worth every penny.