goodbye hellofresh

i started hellofresh deliveries in early december. my dear friend kelly sent me three free meals so i decided to try it. at first, it was quite fun. i felt so domesticated which i haven't been in some time. and didn't know it was still in me. i was also finally making use of my kitchen tools i'd spent so much money on.

after 4 weeks of delivery, here are the meals i managed to make and take pictures of: unfortunately, i missed taking pictures of week 2, the meals didn't turn out as pretty as the pictures on the recipe looked (week 2 was: trout en papillote, coconut-crusted chicken fingers, and steak au poivre). the above meals from week 3 are (from left, clockwise): turkish meatballs with parsnip & creamy polenta; glazed pork tenderloin with caramelized sweet potato & crispy green beans; and fregola sarda & sweet italian sausage with mushrooms, wilted spinach, & parmesan. even though it took much longer to make than they tell you, i actually enjoyed all the meals in this package. these were from the last delivery. they were (from left, clockwise): quick-marinated steak with broiled balsamic veggies; pork and apple burger with rosemary potatoes & mixed green salad; and oven-roasted chicken with winter veggies, basmati rice, & lemon-thyme pan sauce. my fav meal from this batch was the pork and apple burger. even the potatoes were yummy. the other two meals were eh, which is why i decided to say goodbye to hellofresh.

hello hellofresh

kelly sent me these free meals from hellofresh which is similar to blue apron which i've never tried. unfortunately, there were 3 meals, not 2. being my first delivery, i only managed to make 2 of the 3. i attempted the 3rd but it was a disaster and not a pretty picture.

bottom to top: walnut-crusted salmon with crispy broccoli & pilaf-style couscous; smoky chicken fajitas with charred pepper & onion, lime crema, & quick-pickled jalapeno; and missing was the seared steak & crispy potato salad with tomatoes, green beans, and shallot pan sauce. both of the pictured meals were suprisingly delicious. the salmon was my very first meal and it lasted 2 days. the fajitas, on the other hand, were completely inhaled the night i made them. it was really good. the smoke from the attempted steak stunk up my condo for days. out of desperation, i used coffee grounds and baking soda to clear it up. luckily it worked!

chef's menu at rich table

*** more back-dating! ***

rich table is in hayes valley in sf. my best foodie friend and some friends of ours wanted to try it. we got there and got rockstar parking right in front. it was amazing! bites at rich table (from left to right, top to bottom): oysters, kale & beet chips, sardine chips w/ horseradish creme fraiche, beet marshmallows, dried porcini doughnuts & raclette, bone marrow madeleines, dirty hippie (savory panna cotta), something with escarole & burrata, and kampachi. highlights were the oysters, beet marshmallows, dried porcini doughnuts, and the dirty hippie. the dirty hippie was particularly good. it had different textures and flavors that were very complimentary. it was like a party in my mouth. plates (from left to right, etc): white bean curry poppadom, fois gras w/ pomegranates, king salmon collar w/ pomegranates, chitarra w/ dungeness crab, beets & octopus pasta, and new york steak w/ fried shallots. everything was pretty delicious in this category. the highlight might have to be the foie gras since we have been deprived of it here in california until recently.

and finally desserts: chocolate mint mousse with cookie layers, some lemony goodness, and chocolate bon bons. i think these speak for themselves, don't you?

food adventures: lazy bear

i moved into my condo the weekend before xmas and i was off at work so i spent the majority of my time unpacking and organizing. the saturday after xmas, my bff asked me if i was free. since i was just unpacking and organizing, i was game!

i didn't know what lazy bear was but it turns out that is a food event with reservations that are much sought after. in fact, it took bff a month or so to get these. it is this concept of being an "underground" restaurant which was very new to me. when you make the reservations, you don't know exactly where you will be dining until closer to the event. we ended up in a venue that looked like an art gallery. also, it's byo wine/beer so you just pay for the food.
from top left to right: (first row) snacks! scrambled eggs in hot sauce & maple syrup; squid ink chip & hamachi tar tar w/ dried persimmons; oysters w/ uni on abalone shell; (second row) snacks (cont)! house made brioche & butter (served after the chowder); abalone chowder w/ baby yukon chips (third row) bay scallops w/ country ham xo, radish, sour orange & mustard greens; dungeness crab w/ chestnuts, egg yolk, brown butter & sunchoke; variety of carrots in coffee, maple, as ham with chicory root & kale; (fourth row) duck breast w/ beets, turnip, ginger & onions; meyer lemon ice cream w/ bay leaf & meringue w/ olive oil shortbread; and treats including a cream puff, not sure about the cubed fruit, fruit roll-up & caramel fudge w/ nuts. i'm missing the banana plate which i obviously didn't eat.

my favorites were the eggs steamed in a glass that also scrambled them; the chowder was so flavorful that it left me wanting more; and the duck was cooked gingerly that it melted in my mouth. the carrots were really interesting because it looks like it is wrapped in bacon, however, it is wrapped in a carrot! chef david barzelay came out between each plate to describe what we were eating. at the beginning of the evening, you are invited to go back to the kitchen to see what they are doing. and at the end, chef david comes out to chat with you. it wasn't anything i've ever experienced before and would do it again, in an instant. if you like food at all, you must try this, at least once. food restrictions are also accommodated.

birthday extravaganza!

***yes, i'm back dating!***

first and foremost, i'm a proud h-o (home owner)! i finally got the keys to my condo on the 19th which is perfectly timed before my birthday. i was supposed to close last month and get the keys in october but this is just as good.

now onto the good stuff... birthday food adventures!! i started off my birthday with dinner at justin's in santa clara just down the street from where i now live. my lovely and fabulous bff took me. clockwise from top left: fried ravioli, baked brie, beet salad, winter prix fixe tasting w/ beers: salmon salad, rabbit & chocolate panna cotta; and sea bass.

for my actual birthday (saturday), my dear sister spent the day with me shopping and eating. i needed a couch and a dining table for the condo which i found for such good deals at the c&b outlet in berkeley. after that, we went to sausalito to hit the very last benetton shop in the bay area. and shopped some more in the city. and of course, we had to have dinner at one of my favorite north beach restaurants where the boys are extra nice to me. even without reservations, we didn't have to wait.

on sunday, i was invited to hot pot at my friend funie's place in el cerrito. the food was abundant and delicious! and the company was awesome and fun. it wasn't for my birthday but gets to be included in the birthday extravaganza.

food adventures: bix

***back-dating!! i can't believe i didn't blog about this place earlier!***

in celebration of our friend lily's new job, my bff made reservations at bix for the three of us. it was also a good excuse for girls' night out. because lily is a pastry chef and was going to be working at another good restaurant in sf, we had a bunch of bix people come by to congratulate her. not only that but we received some comps! starting with (clockwise from left corner): potato pillows topped with creme fraiche & caviar (comp!), then we had the crab bisque, chili glazed fried chicken, marrow bone, lobster spaghetti (mine), steak & spicy spinach (bff's), and truffle cheese burger & truffle fries (lily's). all with a good bottle of zin (middle).

let's see… the potato pillows were an awesome start to the meal. the crab bisque and fried chicken were good but a bit forgettable. the marrow bone was delightful. i polished off my lobster spaghetti with anything else i was given. i tried bff's steak. it was cooked perfectly and had a little kick to it. the truffle fries that came with lily's burger were also very good. who doesn't love truffle fries??

and now, onto the dessert…

desserts: comp palate cleanser: pomegranate & coconut sorbet, chocolate bread pudding, and bananas foster (comp!).

unfortunately, i am not a fan of bananas so i didn't try the bananas foster. the chocolate bread pudding was ultra-rich, a bit too rich for me. i'm more of a savory eater anyway. the sorbet to cleanse our palate was my favorite out of the desserts.

i have to mention the ambience of this place. it is very 1930s old american feel to it. there was a live jazz band playing downstairs. it was very classy and elegant. i would definitely go back.

food adventures: state bird provisions

after attending the lecture on eleven madison park loves new york on wednesday, april 3 at the jewish community center of san francisco with chef daniel humm & will guidara (co-owners of eleven madison park) in conversation with james oseland (editor-in-chief of saveur magazine and top chef masters judge), my dear bff decided to take them up on their recommendation to try state bird provisions that night. except she didn't tell me.
she surprised me upon arriving there. but being the retard foodie that i am (ok, more like beginners foodie), i didn't realize the amazing adventure she was taking me on. on an ordinary wednesday evening. clockwise from the top left: duck liver mousse with almond biscuits, ca state bird with provisions (aka quail and the name of the place), glazed pork ribs with swiss chard togarashi, crispy pork belly with winter citrus (a must since we had two of these), spicy yuba kimchi with smoked egg bottarga, and 'world peace' which were shots of peanut muscovado milk (not pictured and complimentary). we couldn't even finish the shots.

the concept of this place is innovative. it's like dim sum, where they have a menu but also plates on a cart that they attempt to roll around the place. they end up just walking around with platters of the plates as it is a tight squeeze towards the front.

we walked in thinking it would be easy to get a table on a random wednesday night at 9p. we were wrong. while we eventually got two seats at the tables near the kitchen, we had to wait to get spots standing right next to the door. i'd recommend getting reservations though i hear it takes a month or so to get a table there. but read up about it (i did!), it's one of the best new(ish) restaurants.

girls' glen ellen getaway

funie and i decided to go on a girls' getaway to nearby glen ellen located north next to sonoma. funie wanted to celebrate finishing her degree and i had a couple of days off in the middle of the week. what better way to use them on a quick getaway to wine country?

i made my way up to pick her up around lunch. we didn't get to glen ellen until close to 2p. we decided to go down the road and find some grub at the grist mill restaurant. i ordered a burger with fries, a salad, plus a side of mac and cheese. funie also had a couple of plates with a side of fries. we were both really hungry, apparently. our small table for two was covered with plates. a couple stopped by our table, coming or going (i can't remember), asked us if anyone else was joining us. we looked at each and said, noooo. after we finished, our waiter came by and told us he was quite impressed with our appetites. afterwards, we checked and got on our way after all of the heavy food we'd just ingested, i felt the need to walk. so we found our way up to the sugarloaf ridge state park. it was beautiful driving up through all the greenery. we even saw a small waterfall on the way up. for some reason, they charge to park so we couldn't stop until we could find a way to pay for parking.

despite having just eaten a feast consisting of very heavy foods and going to a couple of wineries, we decided to have an early dinner at the fig café. another food adventure, it was very exciting and delicious. the next day after check out, we visiting the kenwood winery. of all three wineries we visited (chateau st. jean, benziger and kenwood), the last was the best.

on our way back through napa, we stopped by the napa valley premium outlets. funie found a new professional wardrobe and i snagged these super cute orange wedges.

more food adventures: flour+water

this is the winter pasta menu with wine pairings plus two pizzas to go because bff and i weren't sure the five pasta courses were going to be enough for us. hah.

food adventures: e&o asian kitchen

i have this foodie friend who is the bestest foodie i know. she knows where to go and what to eat. i am learning a great deal from her. she is also a very good friend. she is my bff (best foodie friend). hah. clockwise from top left: hush puppies & corn fritters, duck rolls, black cod, green tea affogato, beef toppiko & pork spare ribs. order of meals were: top left & right; middle left & right; and bottom left & right.

food adventures: dixie with nina

i received a voucher for a 5-course dinner at the chef's table at dixie thanks to a very dear friend. i made reservations on the 5th and asked nina to join me. it was convenient since her office is near mine. we started with drinks and they gave us an option of eating in the main dining room with everyone else or in the kitchen at the "chef's table". this was a chef's table dinner so we opted for that. to my surprise, there was a table for six with no one there. even better! we had the kitchen to ourselves. it was like a private dinner party with the chef, joseph humphrey. he was kind and generous with his time. he told us everything about each course and more. he even busted out his laptop to show us a youtube video on the acorn grits. we enjoyed ourselves so much that we closed out the place. as a result, we received a personal tour of the kitchen and restaurant by mr. humphrey himself. we definitely have to go back!

birthday dinner slideshow

i had such a great time at my birthday dinner at e tutto qua that i put together a slideshow about it. enjoy! thanks everyone!!

next stop: victoria, canada

caroline and i left for canada very early the next day. the night before, i stayed up late catching up with fred, her husband. he and i have very similar taste in music so we had a lot to talk about. our ferry was leaving seattle at 730a but we had to get there by 6a. on the ferry, there were four older women sitting next to us in a section of six seats. they told us they were childhood friends from missouri and in their retirement days, they take an annual trip with just the ladies. they asked if we were still in college! they were super nice.

the woman sitting directly next to me kept staring at caroline as she read her us weekly magazine. caroline looks up at her and smiles. she tells caroline, you know everything in that magazine is untrue, right? we agreed that it was trashy. then she continues to say, i know, my son is an actor. caroline proceeds to ask, is your son famous? the woman looks to her friends and they all give each other knowing looks. caroline then asks, can you please tell us who your son is? she answers, my son has six children with angelina jolie. her friend sitting next to caroline says, i changed his diapers. omg! it turns out that i am sitting next to brad pitt's mother!!

after we arrived, we checked into hotel oswego just down the street from the ferry terminal. it was very conveniently located. plus, we were able to check in early.

we were then off to make the most of our overnight stay and see as much as we could before our afternoon tea reservations at the empress hotel. we shopped, bought candy and fashion jewelry from a street vendor. we also came upon a street fair of chalk artists. finally, we arrived at the empress hotel for afternoon tea. our spread was lovely. it was a good thing that caroline thought ahead and made us reservations!

clockwise: they start you off with fresh strawberries and cream when you are seated. the top tier included french macaroons dipped in chocolate imported from paris, pink princess cake among other delightful desserts. the middle tier had scones with jam and butter. the bottom tier was the first one we worked on with a variety of five different tea sandwiches. the very best was the egg salad on croissant sandwich (the second to the last on the right in the image). mmm goodness.

for dinner, we intended to go to the brasserie l'ecole but got there 10 minutes after they opened and no tables were available for another two hours. we were too hungry to wait and looked for another place. the one thing i really wanted to try was poutine, which is a canadian specialty. i had poutine in a san francisco restaurant but it is nowhere near what it was supposed to be. we ended up at the local kitchen off of wharf street. they had poutine and there wasn't much of a wait. in the top right image, it's a close up of the poutine which is french fries smothered in cheese curds, bacon and gravy. it is extremely rich. that is why i ordered a salad for dinner but the poutine was too much. i barely touched my salad.

i was hoping to catch the ghost tour they offered after dinner but i didn't think i could walk for another 90 minutes, despite my comfortable shoes. on the way back to our hotel, the house of parliament is lit up. it was a beautiful end to a full day.

on the ferry ride back to seattle, guess who tapped me on the shoulder? that's right, mrs. pitt. turns out, she and her girlfriends sat right behind us so we hung out with them for the 2-hour ride sharing what we did in victoria and seattle. fun fun fun.

seattle in september

i have this friend, caroline and i know her from my san diego days after i graduated and worked at the scripps institution of oceanography. she was hired as my student assistant. i left my job and san diego some months after she started. after i left, we'd become friends.

in 2002, she was abroad studying in london and i'd gone there to visit her. and in 2006, after a breakup, i took a trip to chicago and saw here during my stay there. eventually, she'd gotten married and had a little boy. she introduced me to my good friend funie. in 2008, her twin sister grace, moved to the bay area so i'd gotten to know her as well. five years ago, caroline and her husband moved to seattle for his job at microsoft. on a recent visit to san francisco, she mentioned that they wanted to move down to the bay area. since i'd never been to seattle, i had to visit her... soon.

i booked a flight a month later scheduled to leave on the 14th. the only non-stop flight was one leaving at 6am. so i arrived there very early. it was so early that pike's place wasn't as packed as sardines, or as it usually is on a friday morning. caroline was very pleased about that.

we hit her favorite french bakery first to get some coffee and french macaroons. she showed me the original starbucks just a couple of stores away and we went across the street to pike's place. i went a little crazy at chukar cherries and watched fish being sold at the market. it was quite entertaining and impressive when they threw fish at each other. i kept my distance when we saw the walls of spit, i mean gum. that was truly disgusting.

we did a little shopping downtown and went to the space needle for our lunch which caroline made reservations to ahead of time. we started our lunch with wild salmon fritters. it was amazing. she recommended that i get something from the sea since that's what seattle is known for. so, i ordered the wild king salmon sandwich and fries with my bloody mary. mmm delicious. after lunch, we took the tram back downtown for more shopping. then we headed back before traffic was terrible. one thing i forgot to mention which you might notice is that the weather was fantastic! i was very lucky that my first trip to seattle was not a rainy one. i finally met her son, victor who recently turned 3. he is adorable!

labor day weekend in reno

finally, my high school friend with whom i have known since 1990 (and was a bride's maid in her wedding), invited me to her house in reno for the long weekend. originally, it was planned for the end of july which fell around the time of her husband's birthday. i can't remember when they moved to reno but it has been a while since they became nevada residents.

at my recent 20-year high school reunion, i sat with justine and dave and spent most of the time catching up with dave. i mentioned to him that i was interested in coming and visiting them one of these days at their reno house. since they worked and lived in the bay area during the work week and went home to reno every so often, i invited myself to hitch a ride with them. that was in june. despite burning man this year, we left on friday night and arrived before midnight. the way home was a different story. we had burning man spottings all weekend. you could tell because these cars were covered in a layer of desert dirt and most carried furry bicycles.

their house is huge and beautiful. there are two guest bedrooms, one man cave plus one and a half bathrooms on the first floor. on the second floor is their office and master bedroom. inside the master bedroom is a walk-in closet to die for, that was literally overflowing. it was ridiculous.
on my first day there, we dropped off justine's mom at the peppermill and headed over to virginia city. i am told that this is one of the oldest western cities in the country. though it is extremely touristy, people still work and live there. it really takes you back to the west. apparently, mark twain was born there. we also took the old school train (pictured) to where i was able to take a picture of view. also pictured is the old washoe club which is supposed to be haunted. and always fascinating to me though we did not make it inside.
we had dinner at the lodge near their house which is the only restaurant close to them. even though we were planning to go to the rib cook-off the next day, i had myself a kobe burger. the rib cook-off was in sparks, nv (right). apparently, justine and dave go every year. we looked for the longest lines as we hoped that was a sure sign that it was good. i had ribs and a guinness. i meant to take a picture of it but started eating it right away. that night, we had porterhouse steaks by chef dave for dinner. their neighbors ed and christy joined us. more mmm meat goodness.
on the way back (as well as on the way there though we took a different route home), we drove through the altamont pass and wind turbine farm. for some reason, these windmills and turbines give me such peace. i took a bunch of these from the car.

goodbye 2011

my last meal of 2011. this is what you get when you live near and are related to a restauranteur. mmm... delicious!

happy new year, everyone!

birthday goodies!!!

as i have in previous years, i spent my birthday with my dear sister. she took the day off to go to the city with me.

the rings above are from her. they represent us and our birthstones, in the form of diamonds. they are cognac diamonds on yellow gold (topaz for november) and blue diamonds on white gold (turquoise for december).

i picked up this pair of shoes for such a bargain! i picked up some other goodies too. we finished our day in the city with a birthday dinner at the house.

the monday i returned from my birthday week off, my office staff surprised me with these flowers. this was the first year that my staff has done something like this for me. they are too sweet.

and this was my 3rd year taking all of thanksgiving week off. i'm hoping to make it a tradition.

new york food!

after lewiston, debbie and i flew to jfk to hang out in new york city. we stayed in midtown close to hell's kitchen, i thought it would be a fun area for a first timer (my cousin's). we were there for a couple of days for shopping and eating. despite the sweltering heat (high 90's), we survived.

the first day, we came across some issues. baggage issues. apparently, our bags did not get transferred and were stuck in boston. they were not due to be delivered until the next morning. for dinner, we decided to go to becco for some italian which was conveniently located about two blocks away. they had this great prix fixe deal, all you can eat pasta, and $25 bottles of wine. we thought we were hungry enough but we were wrong. at least i was wrong. i could barely have a second helping. there were three different types, all but one was edible. the other two were bland and plain. honestly, we have much better italian food in north beach.

the next day, we ventured out for some shopping in the soho area. it was a lot of walking and a lot of sweating but hardly any buying. i was sorely disappointed. however, we coincidentally ran into debbie's friend, fred and his girlfriend kate, whom we were planning to meet up with anyway. after shopping, we met up with an old friend of mine, avi at barcelona bar in midtown. we had harry potter shots there. when avi asked what was in it, the bartender who was dressed as harry potter, answered 'magic.' for dinner, my cousin was in the mood for ramen. luckily, totto ramen was on the way back to our hotel. it was an hour wait but definitely worth it. as you can see below (in the center image), i had my ramen with avocado. it was mmm good.

clockwise from center: totto ramen in midtown; spring rolls, egg rolls, phở bánh mì and phở, all from nhà tôi in williamsburg.

on our last day, i thought it might be interesting to do something touristy, for debbie. we decided on going to the empire state building. i went to the empire state building previously in 2003 during my first trip to new york city. it was in february and freezing. i seem to only go during extreme weather. when i was there back in 2003, we went right before closing so there was really no line. this time, i was not so lucky. the wait was at least an hour and it was pretty packed. we managed to get some good pictures anyway. see my empire state building collage below. afterwards, we headed over to williamsburg in brooklyn to check fred's place, nhà tôi. as you can see in the food collage above, we had quite the feast. his specialty is the phở bánh mì. bascially, he puts the ingredients that you get in phở sans the noodles. it was quite delicious. so much so that i ate the entire thing plus some of the other dishes. the phở was quite hot to have in the heat we endured. his place is tiny and like an open stand, quite authentic feeling if you ask me. very good for people watching. we stayed for several hours hanging out with carl, the brooklyn artist and drinking margarita/mojito drinks. it was a tuesday during the summer and his shop was consistently busy. the next day, we left new york with a full stomach and money in my pocket from the lack of shopping!

holiday festivities

on saturday, i left the house at 4p to go to stephen & rowen's annual christmas party. but first, i picked up funie who graciously came as my date. we got there a little early just before 6p. i wanted to come early as parking in the castro area is limited and a bit frustrating. we found parking easily. i also wanted to take pictures of the tree before the crowd came. the tree is amazing. i'm told there are over 600 glass ornaments (click on the image to see a close up). stephen is a collector of santas so if you can imagine, his place is covered in santas. every corner, nook and cranny. it's a santa wonderland. the food is also delicious. i hadn't eaten since breakfast so come 6p, i was quite famished. so i ate and looked at santas, ate and looked at more santas. it was a fantastic party. we left after nearly 2 hours.
despite all the food and being a bit full, funie and i decided to go to our usual italian restaurant in north beach, è tutto qua. i get my flirtation fix fulfilled there. all the italian boys are cute and fun. plus, we were celebrating my belated birthday and funie wanted them to sing happy birthday to me. their spaghetti neri is especially yummy that i actually finished it. funie and i ate most of the panna cotta too, which is so so scrumptious. after about 3 hours, we finally asked for our bill. the boys were disappointed that we were leaving so soon.

after dropping funie off, i got home at 1a. i was out for nearly 9 hours! it was like a work day, if i worked the swing shift or something. and on sunday, i didn't leave the house... at all.

birthday presents!!

a few weeks ago, i celebrated my birthday. and as most of my friends and family know, i generally like to celebrate all month long. in addition, i don't mind opening presents early. even if it is several months early. i got a new messenger bag from my sister in late august. she got it for me after i bought myself a matching wallet.

as usual, i bought myself new shoes, two pairs, though only one is shown here. the other pair are snow boots, not particular exciting but necessary if i should ever find myself in snow again. i'm not planning on it anytime soon but you never know, right?
these are gray wedges that are close to 5" high with platform heels. they are quite comfortable and i am super tall in them!

this year, my dear sister took me to a french bistro called chapeau! for my birthday dinner. they are known for their foie gras and highly recommended by friends and yelp. the food was quite delicious, especially the foie gras. she also gave me a turntable earlier that morning. i have 5 vinyl records but didn't have anything to play them. i've always wanted a record player, however, it didn't seem practical. there is something really special about playing vinyl. it feels nostalgic even with new music.

on black friday, i purchased a new camera. i've had this camera in my "cart" for half of the year. it is always fun to have a birthday around thanksgiving, as there are so many opportunities to shop for yourself. on cyber monday, i got myself a clarisonic mia. it is yellow and works really well. my face feels so much softer and smoother. it's great for daily use on sensitive skin. i highly recommend it!

i also received these beautiful tulips (my favorite flowers) from my dear friend ashley. she is a sweetie. all in all, it was a fabulous birthday! thank you to everyone who helped me celebrate! ♥