On the road again

I bring you the fourth and final installment of my San Francisco travel diary.

It was hard to believe as we awoke that our last full day had really arrived. But there was no time to sit and reflect on the bittersweet. We had a lot to see and do, but first we needed some fuel.

We started with breakfast at Blue Bottle Coffee Café. Tucked away in a square Blue Bottle is full of light, minimal décor so that you can focus on the chemistry lab they have assembled for perfect coffee prep. This is for serious coffee connoisseurs but I’m a coffee wimp who instead opted for a beautiful latte to go alongside my poached eggs. The dudely followed suit and ordered similarly.

Perfectly caffeinated and pleasingly full we walked a few blocks to pick up the cable car. We didn’t feel we could leave San Francisco without a ride on this landmark. At the end of the line was Fisherman’s Wharf where we picked up tickets for Alcatraz. With those in hand we found ourselves with a few sunny hours to fill.

We walked over to Ghirardelli Square where the dudely insisted that we enjoy Ghirardelli’s famous hot fudge sundaes. Who was I to argue with such a brilliant suggestion? They were certainly good but almost too rich. They left me in need of something to cut all that sweet. Conveniently, Crown and Crumpet was a few short steps away so we picked up some nice cups of tea for the road.

The road we were heading for was Lombard Street, the crookedest street around. It was completely amusing to see cars zig and zag their way down this tiny stretch of narrow road surrounded by hedges. It was quite like a maze, but where you know how to get in and out.

As we made our way back to the boat for the ride to Alcatraz we stopped to see the sea lions. What a lazy bunch they were. They just napped and sunned themselves, completely unaware of the gawkers snapping photos.

Alcatraz was unlike anything we’d expected. They had an amazing audio tour of the cell house that put several years of history into a perfectly presented 45 minute tour. As we made our way through the cell house we learned of various escape attempts, the most violent being the Battle of Alcatraz. The most clever escape attempt used fake walls and heads to fool guards. This proved to be the only successful break. But there is a lot more to Alcatraz than just its prison history. Look into it sometime. It’s a remarkable story.

For our last dinner in San Francisco we chose B44, a Spanish restaurant. Cold and starving after our Alcatraz trip we showed up almost an hour early for our reservation but they graciously showed us our table. We started with cocktails, of course, and followed that with appetizers. I had the most perfect salad while the more adventurous dudely chose grilled local sardines. The appetizers were delivered with a galvanized bucket of bread and the best olive oil/anchovy/olive dipping sauce. For the main courses the dudely went traditional with paella while I had steak chimichurri. Believe it not but we ended up having to share dessert. I guess our stomachs do eventually reach their limit.

From here it was back to the hotel to pack and get a good night’s sleep. And we slept like babies, dreaming of our next trip to this fabulous city.

Recipe of the Week

Recipe: Homemade Ginger Ale and Its Candy
Source: Ming Tsai

Ingredients: *****
If you count the two types of water as separate ingredients you still only need four items to make these recipes. Of course, you could up the count with various garnishes but I kept it simple.

Preparation: *****
I think the ginger my grocery store had out was on the older side. This made it impossible to just “spoon” off the peel so I had to get out a paring knife and actually peel it. Lumpy, bumpy ginger is not the easiest to peel but I got through it. The rest of the time spent on this was unattended, a fact I like a lot about this recipe.

Taste: ***(**)
The ginger ale gets three stars. It was very refreshing but not quite as ginger-y as I like my ginger ale. Living on the East Coast I can’t get my favorite ginger ale from Vernor’s locally; it’s only available in the Midwest. I was hoping this would be a suitable substitution but it’s not quite there yet. I’d increase the amount of ginger next time and see if that gets me any closer. I’m guessing I’m going to need to know what else comprises Vernor’s nineteen ingredients before I actually get any closer though.

Now the ginger candy was a complete surprise and earns five stars. I’d almost decided to skip this altogether but I’m so glad I didn’t. A sugary outside melts to reveal a spicy, chewy interior. It’s the perfect post-dinner sweet tooth fix. Not that I need one, of course. I just like to have options readily available should the need arise.

On the road again

I bring you the third installment of my San Francisco travel diary.

Well rested after a packed day one and two we were ready once again to take on San Francisco. We were up fairly early finishing off our cheese, bread, and fruit from the day before and plotting out the bus route to Golden Gate Park. Our mission for the morning and early afternoon was leisurely strolls in the botanical garden and Japanese tea garden.

We entered Golden Gate Park at Haight Street. This gave us a little tour of the children’s park where you must be accompanied by a child to enter, the lawn bowling club where I would have enjoyed pretending to know how to play, and some soccer and baseball fields where I was interested in neither. Around a little bend and there we were at the botanical garden.

Neither of us is much into gardening but we certainly admire the work of others. At the botanical garden there is a lot to admire. There are more species that I could ever hope to remember. (Though we both quickly, and correctly, identified the squirrels and the ducks.) It was really jaw dropping to see so many things in bloom and so green at the end of March. I captured as much as I could on camera. I’m really glad we gave ourselves plenty of time to get lost here, both literally and figuratively. It was the best possible way to spend a Sunday morning.

Once we realized time was getting away from us we made our way the short distance to the Japanese tea garden. As soon as we entered the gate we knew we were in for a treat. But first, my stomach was grumbling and our late lunch reservation was still two hours away so we had some tea and snacks at the teahouse.

The garden is a lot smaller than we imagined it would be but that gave us plenty of time to explore every nook. Of course the plantings were beautiful with azaleas in bloom and cherry blossoms just passing their peak. My favorite parts of the park though weren’t the plantings. The pagoda was just amazing if not a bit in need of a spruce up, though the peeling orange paint was pretty fantastic. I also spent quite some time staring at the peace lantern and the Buddha. Both just gave off such a sense of tranquility. Finally, there was the koi pond with a great little stone pathway that passes near the waterfall and leaves you looking directly at the great Drum Bridge.

But enough of nature we had to eat! And eat and eat! Our late lunch reservation was at Zuni Café. If I lived in or near San Francisco Zuni Café would become a regular stop. I had read in many places that their roast chicken with bread salad was a must have and have it we did. But that takes an hour to prepare so we had to fill the time. We filled the time and our bellies with a lovely half bottle of wine, a half dozen west coast oysters, and a salad. Everything was delicious and took the edge off our hunger as we sat back and awaited the arrival of our bird. The next hour left me staring into their open kitchen watching salads, pizzas, and desserts being prepared. And the chicken came. I’m not sure we said anything more than, “Do you mind if I take that piece?” right up until the point it was all gone. It was magnificent. Then the dessert menu came out and the waitress jokingly said she’d be surprised if we still had room. Little did she know I am, and the dudely has become, a serious consumer of dessert. So it really was no trouble at all for us to have a rich, chocolatey flourless cake dolloped with whipped cream and ice cream truffles. Oh, and coffee to wash it all down.

We waddled back to the bus stop and returned to our hotel for a quick refresh before we headed out for another night of jazz. (The dudely tells me it was a very big deal back in the day to have recorded your album in San Francisco. People had tried to fake it on albums only to be found out.) This time we went to the Palace of Fine Arts for a performance by the Branford Marsalis Quartet. You’ll get differing opinions about what the best part of the concert was. For me it was the slower songs but for the dudely it was the fast, almost out of control songs. Whichever way you call it, it was a perfect end to a perfect day.

Flashback

Two years ago my scrap basket was at a modest size. In fact, it was so modest that I actually had to cut into yardage to make this patchwork belt. Wow. It's hard to believe there was ever a time when the scraps weren't threatening to take over....

Recipe of the Week

Recipe: Curried Cauliflower and Chickpea Stew
Source: Bon Appetit

Ingredients: *****
With the exception of a head of cauliflower and a fresh bunch of cilantro this meal comes straight from the pantry. That was almost true in my case. At the very last minute I had to send the dudely out for curry powder because I swore I had some in my pantry. I even briefly scoured the internet for a suitable substitution to avoid his dinner time trip to the supermarket. That, however, would have required approximately 20 other spices I definitely didn’t have.

Preparation: *****
It’s a simple one pot meal. Don’t take the recipe’s recommendation and use a large skillet though. Use a large stock pot and you’ll actually be able to stir everything together without covering your floor and stove in chickpeas and cauliflower florets. Ahem.

Taste: ***
This recipe was a major disappointment for me. It didn’t taste bad it just didn’t live up to its potential. This recipe had everything going for it, too. It was a curry. It was meatless but hearty. It was a quick, one pot meal making it perfect for the weeknight dinner rotation. But it was flat, neither great nor bad, just there. I could try adding a lot more curry powder next time and that might help. I have no patience for tweaking a recipe into perfection though when the result could be just as disappointing. I’d rather spend my calories on the hope that comes with a new recipe and its possibilities. So that’s what I shall do: hope next week is better.

Happy Birthday!

Today is my brother's birthday, number 36 if I remember correctly. He is tall, funny and really good at making things. All sorts of things, but especially out of wood. A few weeks ago my husband spotted this vintage book in a local antiques shop and we bought it as a birthday gift. Hopefully the USPS and Canada Post got it to him on time.

I love the illustrations and tables of still-relevant data, I wonder if Dick Proenneke took a copy with him to Alaska? There's probably a logging app for the iPhone these days, but coverage is still pretty spotty out the woods.

Who knew that early 20th century lumberjacks enjoyed reading a few lines of poetry during their lunch breaks? I guess I figured they would be too busy singing.

Hope you have a great birthday little brother!

We Heart Cheese

When you love cheese and love to make things you eventually find yourself in a cheese making workshop. That’s exactly where Elise and I found ourselves on Easter Sunday. With us was a random group of characters united by the idea that making your own cheese is a worthwhile pursuit. For most the draw was self-sufficiency and the ability to eat really locally. For Elise it was about making the perfect yogurt. For me it was about supporting my cheese addiction.

Ricki Carroll was our very knowledgeable, if not a little quirky, guide for the day. She’s been teaching this class for over 30 years and has spent a lot of time with cheesemakers the world over so she knows her stuff. Assisting her was the charming Jamie who wore a path between the kitchen and our classroom so that we would never want for any supply.

We began the day by starting a farmhouse cheddar, the only hard cheese we attempted that day. I was pretty excited about starting here since my favorite cheeses fall into the hard cheese category. However, that excitement was replaced with a small nugget of disappointment as I realized we would not be allowed to hang around Ricki’s house the one to two months the cheddar would need to age. But this was all about the technique and we certainly got that as we learned to test and cut the curd, hang the cheese, and press it into a wheel. Now I just need a non-communal condo basement where I can safely store my wheels of cheddar and gouda. Oh, and the patience to wait months, and up to years, to age my perfect cheese.

The majority of the day’s demonstrations were of soft cheeses. Ricki and Jamie, along with their novice volunteer assistants, showed us how to make queso blanco, fromage blanc, yogurt, ricotta, mozzarella, and more. What struck me about the soft cheeses was how few ingredients and how little time is required to make them. You don’t need fancy equipment either. Most things, like a thermometer, a stainless steel pan, a slotted spoon, strainer, and cheesecloth, are already in our home kitchens. It’s very doable and instantly rewarding because within 30 minutes you could be sitting down to a caprese salad featuring your very own mozzarella.

Everything that we tasted was good, though I certainly had my favorites. That’s how I ended up bringing home a yogurt kit and a mozzarella and ricotta kit. I have yet to see if I can recreate these on my own but that’s part of this weekend’s plans. I’ll let you know how it goes.