We All Had a Ball

Here are a few highlight photos from our end of season soccer party.  We choose to forego the last game and instead party like soccer players.  

Don't be a Turkey

You are what you eat.  So I guess we are all Turkeys next Thursday.  That wouldn't be so bad if you are eating a free range organic turkey.  Unfortunately most of us are eating the "Large White" which was developed in the 1950's, crossbred many times over to ensure a larger breast and more white meat, and an ability to grow quickly to an enormous size.  These days it is the standard commercial turkey, known by some as "The Dolly Parton of turkeys."

I'm not usually too preachy about food (unless asked for an opinion of course), but these poor broad breasted whites have short legs, can't fly, can't mate naturally (bred via artifcial insemination).  They usually wouldn't live past a year because their large breasts will weigh them down and eventually they can no longer walk.  Obviously none of us want this.  

The other option which is becoming more and more popular and readily available are Heritage Turkeys.  They have less white meat and longer legs with more thigh meat than Dolly.  Many say the heritage turkey is richer as a result of the breed, feed quality and length of life.  Heritage turkeys are older, slaughtered at eight months instead of the usual four months of Ms. Parton.  They can put on more fat leading to a more succulence and deeper flavor.  Most are free range, meaning they can roam a yard and forage for natural foods.  They can take flight and roost in trees and if the mood strikes them, eventually mate with others.  This is the Sophia Loren of turkeys.   Make the wise choice this Thanksgiving and choose breast reduction, wind in their feathers, flying high...Heritage Turkeys.  We could all use a little bit of this in our lives.  

Zack and Miri Make a Baby?

I don't believe the director/producer of this film intended a one year old audience to view this movie, but that is precisely the audience that comprised 1/3 of the audience at the Speak Easy Theatre in El Cerrito on Tuesday night.  It was Baby Brigade night.  If you are not aware of what Baby Brigade night might be just imagine many parents starved for a night out at the movies.   They all have babies 1 years old or younger and find it difficult to set aside time for a "date night".  Enter Baby Brigade.  Bring your baby to the movie night.  This all sounds fine and dandy until the movie they choose is borderline X rated and named Zack and Miri Make a Porno.  Now I understand that babies can't really see or understand TV until much later, but to the baby free audience I was creeped out about it.  In the middle of one of the edgier porn scenes when I was sitting there thinking, "oh my gosh, I can't believe they made a movie like this" (that is not a porn movie per se), and this little boy looked up at me and gave me this huge smile and a very loud giggle.  I know he wasn't reacting to the movie, but it was still a bit unnerving (and bad timing to say the least).  Several times one baby would let out a wail and several would follow in unison.  This again would be fine, had it not been during the montage scene where they prepare to film "Star Whores".   It was almost as uncomfortable as sitting at this movie with my parents.   Next time I will only do Baby Brigade night if something educational is playing like "Milk".  Just the title alone is something babies can relate to.  

In my next life I will be a potter

As many of you already know I have been taking ceramics classes for the past year.  I have almost mastered making a mug, bowls of the same size and things with lids.  When I signed up for these classes I intended to express my creativity by making useful objects.  I took a sculpture class in college and mostly felt anxious by the demand to be creative and come up with something unique. I would sit for hours attempting to think of something one-of-a-kind. This caused me lots of stress because I also really wanted a "A" (I didn't want a "C" in sculpture to prevent me from graduating with honors).  This led to a not so fun semester and several oddly misshapen sculptures that my mom now proudly displays in her yard.  Obviously I was missing the point.  

Ceramics is different.  You begin a piece by throwing a block of clay onto a table with lots of force (to get out the air bubbles).  This releases a lot of end of the day stress.  Once you are seated at the wheel and it starts spinning you enter a meditative state of sorts.  You steady your breathing and feel the clay slip through your fingers.  It is an entirely relaxing experience (very unlike a game of soccer).  I truly enjoy every moment I am in the studio.  

I have to give credit to all of my many wonderful ceramics teachers(I have had three).  The pieces above are made by Jim Newton. Jesse and I went to his house on Sunday for his Winter Sale.  His house is in the Berkeley Hills and was unbelievable.  He had a large pond in his yard with actual koi.  The yard itself was out of a design book.  His ceramics pieces were displayed though out his house.  His ceramics wheel looks out onto his beautiful yard, koi pond and an amazing view of the bay.  Truly peaceful.  I would like to be him for a day. 

Dog Joaquin

Today Jesse and Pablo and I took a trip to Joaquin Miller Park in Oakland.  I have been here once before with my co-worker and her sister's dog and since it was such a doggone sunny day we thought Pablo would enjoy another trip here.  They have a great fenced in dog area for both big and little dogs.  The little dog park has tennis balls, toys, poop bags and a drinking fountain.  There were a few other dogs for Pablo to play with.  Unfortunately, they were 4 crazy Chihuahuas.  One of them really had something against Pablo and tried to bite him several times until he was restrained (the chihuahua not Pablo...Pablo's a lover not a fighter).  The other three were muchbetter behaved and one was actually very nice (the chunky slow one).  Later we took a walk and discovered the waterfall and amphitheater.  

Succulents don't Suck

I know my last blog entry was about rain boots, but honestly there is just no rain in sight and it is November!  What do you do in November when it is in the 70's....plant succulents (or torture yourself playing soccer).    I love succulents and with global warming, the drought in California and water rationing in Berkeley they are the the smart choice for California.  There are many varieties in many colors and succulents are fairly inexpensive and definitely easy to take care of.  Just water often after you first plant them and then let them dry out completely between waterings.  After these early stages they pretty much take care of themselves.  Did I mention they look great and are great container plants.  I got the idea for the strawberry pot succulent planting after I planted strawberries (they were eaten by the deer), then flowers (deer eat those too) and couldn't seem to keep anything watered enough or alive enough.  Then the drought kicked in and ta dah.....succulents.

 

Rain Rain.....

These might be one of the silliest purchases I may ever make, but I really want a pair of Hunter Wellies.  I will probably just put them on my Christmas or Birthday list, but I think they are so practical.  My friend in San Diego may seriously disagree with me, but let's put this in perspective.  It rains a lot in the Bay Area in the Winter (or at least it used to before global warming), and these are obviously practical for that purpose.  They are totally waterproof.  I garden a lot and obviously a pair of tall waterproof boots will keep my feet dry while watering and keep the bugs out of my shoes.  I work in a very sad neighborhood that happens to have a lot of urine on the streets (I can smell it).  When it rains the smell is 10x worse and I can't help, but think that the water mixes with the pee and if my feet get wet.....ewwww..  They are cute.  My feet don't grow anymore so they good for the rest of my life.  I think those are enough reasons to feel good about this purchase.  

Monk Food

I think I have a thing for restaurants with the word "Monk" in the name. Jesse and I used to love this restaurant when we first moved to San Francisco called Cafe Monk. It was one of our first experiences with fancy food in San Francisco and I believe the restaurant was ahead of its time. It served organic and free range produce and meat which was not such a big thing back in 2000. At the time the big thing was dot coms and unfortunately the South of Market neighborhood was not the vibrant ever-expanding neighborhood it is now. It was sort of sad, scary and odd. My friend lived in a pod (exactly how you picture it) South of Market so we would visit him often and I think that is how we found the place. Nonetheless, it went totally bankrupt and closed in 2002(along with the dot coms).

I have a new restaurant I love with the word Monk in it and that is Monk's Kettle. Only a foodie and urbanite would put up with the hour and a half wait on a Saturday night, but we had drinks at the bar across the street so the time went by fairly quickly. The food is amazing and the selection of beers is astounding! They have a beer called "Let's go Shopping" (Jesse tried this one) and I had "Reality Czech."   Their wine list is not bad either. Some of our favorites dishes were the Mac and Cheese appetizer with bacon. I took a second to consider adding bacon to this one and my fellow dinners practically screamed "with bacon!" at the poor waitress. We also shared a tasty salad. I had the flank steak with blue cheese aioli and fries. These fries are so good and salty even D didn't add salt (she loves salt). I highly recommend this restaurant and I think if you can Bart over there right after work on a Wednesday the wait is probably not so atrocious.  I will definitely go back and hopefully these monks will survive the next major economic catastrophe....oh shoot.

Porcelain F.R.O.'s

The picture at the top is Cafe Van Kleef in Oakland. My BIL played a show there on Thursday night. Great music, great venue and great drinks. They make greyhounds (one of my favorite drinks) with fresh grapefruit juice served with this huge slice of juicy grapefruit on the side. Check out the band at www.myspace.com/funkrevivalorchestra.

Unfortunately it has been a hectic week for me so I have not had the chance to blog.  Fortunately, it has also been a very exciting week!  Stay tuned for pictures from M & D's election party.  M outdid himself with Obama T-shirts for all and lots of good food from El Metate.  I partied a little too much and came away with this terrible cold that I can't seem to kick.  It has put a damper on my blogging, but a few highlights from the week were the election party, ceramics class and seeing my brother in law's band debut in Oakland.  

I have been taking ceramics for about a year and just switched over to using 

porcelain clay.  This made a huge difference in my pieces.  Now those not so pretty pieces suddenly took on this whole delicate quality and after glazing almost would be passible to sell (maybe at a flea market, but nonetheless).  Obviously, I have a career which was secured greatly by the election of President Obama (love writing that), but I can always dream of working as a potter in my basement and selling pieces at a little gallery in Oakland.  Here is my most recent porcelain piece and my first successful lid. 

 

Last Chance Missouri

Missouri historically has called all the shots when it comes to the Presidential elections.  The state of Missouri (which gained statehood in August 1821) is a true swing state with amazing historical accuracy at voting for the ultimate election winner.  Since 1904 Missourians have gotten it wrong just once.....preferring Adlai Stevenson over Dwight Eisenhower in 1956.  In the 2004 election the polls all called Missouri too close to call, but in actuality it came out  46% Kerry and 53% Bush.  That seems like a rather large differential in percentage for a state too close to call.  This election the polls are looking the same with a 1% lead for Obama.  Of course this makes me nervous since for some reason I feel all my eggs are in Missouri's basket.  When everyone else is eyeing Virginia and Ohio I will be on the edge of my seat for Missouri.  I hope this state gets it right.  With only 11 electoral votes there is lot riding on The Show Me State.

 

Book Review

Jesse and I had quite a busy weekend.  We babysat our nephews overnight!  This was a big deal for us and my sister-in-law who had not left them overnight yet (they are 2 and almost 4).  We had a blast with them.  It helps that they are probably the most well behaved kids with wonderful go-with-the-flow personalities.  As a thank you they gave us the cook/travel book SPAIN-A Culinary Road Trip, Mario Batali and Gwyneth Paltrow.  This is a great combo book. It has amazing pictures of the entire country of Spain and spans several regions.  The index includes a listing of hotels and restaurants (reasonably priced as well) in all of these areas and the recipes look amazing.  I also have taken a great liking to Gwyneth ever since The Royal Tenenbaums in which she played Margot.   Turns out she speaks Spanish, is a foodie and really enjoys cooking healthy, fresh, regional meals.  Oh, and contrary to rumors that she is a vegan and eats some crazy macro-biotic diet, she eats mucho pork in the making of this book.  All good in my book.  You can also catch the PBS series Spain, On the road again. 

Here is a dinner I thought looked amazing from the book: 

Capon Grandma-style (capon is a type of bird and can be substituted with duck or for a lighter version chicken)

3/4 cup oilve oil

1 bunch of italian parsley leaves (chopped)

2 garlic cloves sliced thinly

1 tbls kosher salt

1 large chicken or duck cut into pieces

1 cup cognac or brandy

3 cups dry red wine

2 onions cut into wedges

Combine 1/2 cup olive oil, parsley, garlic and salt in blender.  Put chicken in baking dish and pour parsley mixture over.  Cover and marinate for 2 hours or overnight.  In a large heavy pot heat 1/4 cup of remaining olive oil.  Work in batches and add chicken skin side down and cook until deep brown about 7 minutes per side.  Return all chicken to pot and add cognac and boil until reduced by half.  Add wine and boil until reduced by 1/3.  Add onions and bring to a simmer.  Lower heat to a gentle simmer and cover and cook for 2 hours, until meat is almost falling off the bone.  Serve with roasted potatoes and carrots.  

For Dessert:

Baked Apples

6 crip apples

2 tbls sugar

1/2 cup of cider

Core, but do not peel apples and put in shallow baking dish.  Sprinkle with sugar and cider. Bake in 375 oven for 1 hour.  Serve.

If you really want to go full swing Spanish style you could also combine cola and red wine. Apparently this is something big with the teenagers of Spain so if you are feeling old and too American give it a shot.