Monday, 5/30/22

 You know what? This weekend hadn't been tiring enough. So after working on the Whately house a little more, we went to Jen and John's for dinner. Jason made a garlick-y flatbread and some chocolate chip cookie dough; I bought asparagus, and John made cheeseburgers. That plus a mojito (and maybe some rose, too....) took the edge off. 

Sunday, 5/29/22

 Long day at Carter's final tournament, followed by helping Corrina and Zac a bit with moving. Corrina thoughtfully provided pizza (for which I am eternally grateful); Jason went to a farm potluck.

All the proud parents photographing the State Champions!

Saturday, 5/28/22

 Egg rolls (with tofu, cabbage and rice noodle stuffing) and really, that was it. I mean, it did cover all the major food groups? And we had been at Ultimate all day.

Friday, 5/27/22

 Pan Pizza Night!

Now and forever, I guess?

Thursday, 5/26/22

 Finally feeling a bit more ambitious, so I made chicken parmesan. A bit of an effort for a weeknight, but pretty good. Pasta and another lame salad.

Wednesday, 5/25/22

 Jason brought home spring onions and eggs from the farm, so it seemed like a good time to make a frittata. No real recipe....just sauteed up the onions with some spinach and one sad little zucchini. Rice and a big handful of parmesan-romano and: Voila. Dinner.

Tuesday, 5/24/22

 Finally got in around 1; no breakfast, no lunch, no real sleep. So I was feeling amazing. Took a nap and then realized it was back to meal planning. Nachos and a half-assed salad.

Monday, 5/23/22

 Last day, ugh.

Breakfast was a serviceable but wildly overpriced fancy little cafe called Maison Daniel. Jessica had eggs benedict, I had quiche and we split a basket of mini pastries. I regretted not just getting a salade nicoise like I wanted to. I have no explanation.

Then, so we didn't get gloomy, we took the ferry to Sausalito and had lunch at a Mexican place called Copita; we shared a chicken tamale and each had tacos. Delicious...we then ran to the ferry and went right back. Soft serv in the Ferry Building then an endless traipse to Fisherman's Wharf (why? why? why?) while I looked for souvenirs. What an idiot.

For dinner we headed back to the Richmond for the much delayed Mandalay. Disaster! They were closed, for no apparent reason. So we went to Burma Superstar instead, and is was inferior in everyway. We shared platha with curry dip (the highlight and it went downhill from there), tea leaf salad, and chicken with mint (OK, but it had big pieces of weird tasteless garlic). None of this helped our grumpiness.

Then off to the airport. Missed my flight from Atlanta to Hartford (I KNEW that connection was too tight!) but was pretty easily re-booked and otherwise uneventful.

Sunday, 5/22/22

 Well, it was my big idea to take Reed's Mini Tour all the way to Monterey and Carmel. I don't think I had any idea

a. How far it was

b. How cold a convertible is on the highway

c. How cramped the back of a Mini is after several hours

d. How touristy Monterey is

e. How different the brunch buffet at El Torito would be from the one back in Rhode Island in the late 80's (either my hindsight is rose-tinted or this was just half-assed. The tacos were good, anyway)

And most importantly:

f. That the Mini would get a flat and leave us nearly stranded in Santa Cruz. We gamely took a (comfortable!) Lyft home and didn't lose much time. It was an adventure!

I also wish I had been more assertive about actually wanting to stop along the 17 Mile Drive, because is was gorgeous.

Anyway, we decided to stay local for dinner after all that, and walked over to Kuma Sushi, which was a really contender for favorite meal. We shared a hamachi appetizer, a sweet potato roll, some tuna and maybe a flying fish nigiri? And I had the nigiri tasting (outstanding. I could have eaten two, even though the tiny firefly squid freaked me out a bit) and Jessica had the sushi. Amazing meal, right there in the Tenderloin. I just wish we had sushi like that around here.

Saturday, 5/21/22

 For breakfast we headed to the Ferry Building to a place I had read about called  Le Grande Creperie (le Complet for Jessica, La Forestiere for me). Super delicious buckwheat crepes. While we were there we picked up empanadas to take home for lunch, along with some strawberries and pastries for the road. (donuts, coffee cake, and a mini cherry galette).

I decided to take a walk and let Jessica rest so of course I got completely lost.

From atop one of the many steep hills I unintentionally
 climbed

Dinner was Perbacco:

fritto misto (the best of the lot)

burrata with white asparagus, fava beans and truffle cream (oddly bland)

fried shishito peppers (unnecessary)

Papardelle with short rib ragu and fresh horseradish for me (delicious, if not exactly spring-y)

What looked like wagon wheels with potatoes, mushrooms, pine nuts and ramp pesto (somewhat ugly and disappointing)

I had a caramel budino with coffee foam (meh) and candied orange (yum)

Jessica had pistachio brown butter cake with meringue, a strawberry/rhubarb compote AND strawberry sorbet with little meringue shards. A lot going on there.

We could have made better choices (like eating inside! A cold wind came up), but the fritto misto and my pasta were both really good.

Obligatory cocktail shot

Friday 5/20/20

For breakfast we walked to a place in the neighborhood called Lapisara (nothing exciting, but I did have a burger and fries so that was fun). Jessica had a standard sort of eggs/bacon/toast meal.

We didn't have much on the agenda today, but we did make our way over to the Marina to share an Italian sandwich from Lucca (good but not awesome; the bread I picked was not ideally squishy). I had read glowing reviews about the place and while it was a good sandwich, it's not like you couldn't produce it on your own. We also stopped for ice cream from Salt & Straw (I never say no to salted caramel or a waffle cone).

For dinner we took a long and rowdy bus ride (who knew there was a baseball AND a basketball game happening??) out to a weird industrial neighborhood to a place called Besharam:

MALAI KOFTAS makhani sauce, paneer croquettes 

DRUNKEN PANI PURI semolina puffs, chaat, potatoes, lemon tamarind water, mint, gin 

MASKA PANEER whipped house made cheese, spiced spinach sauce, garam masala, silk chili oil

BESHARAM SAMOSAS potato, peas, mint cilantro chutney 

MAWA BEIGNETS toffee sauce, nutmeg  

Two little pani puris left. I reluctanly shared

It was all super tasty (no regrets) but the pani puri was my favorite. I could have eaten the whole thing by myself. The only little downside to this very hip place was very uncomfortable chairs. We did take a train home which I loved. 

Thursday, 5/19/22

 We were intrigued by a local waffle place called Eggcellent Waffles \. The menu is very unusual, but I tried a chicken tender waffle sandwich with pepperjack, avocado and hot sauce and it was really quite delicious. Jessica liked her egg and bacon, except that the bacon wasn't crispy. 

Thus fortified, we headed out for many adventures: an exhibit at The Legion of Honor of couture from Guo Pei (extravagant and delightful!), walking through a fancy neighboorhood called Sea Cliff, with a side trip down to China Beach, then: tragedy! Mandalay was not open for lunch. So we tried a place called Mamahuhu, a hipster/casual offshoot of a fancier Chinese restaurant. My kung pao chicken was excellent; Jessica liked but didn't love her fish. Didn't need the eggrolls but I ate them anyway. We stopped at the old neighborhood See's for some candy for dessert. Then on to the DeYoung to see the amazing Alice Neel exhibit. I was only passingly familiar with her work but I loved it.

Dinner was our fanciest planned: Spruce. A perfect meal! Started with an amuse of butter braised turnip w/green goddess (tiny little bite). I had the hamachi crudo (of course I did) nd it was so tender and bright; Jessica had a fava bean-ricotta salata salad.

My entrée was bass with asparagus & sauce mousseline; Jessica went with filet mignon with potato croquettes, trumpet mushrooms and some kind of demiglace. The potato croquettes were like fancy tater tots, and the trumpet mushrooms were shockingly flavorful. The filet was filet.

For dessert J. went with lemon baked Alaska (which was set alight at the table so that was exciting) and I had a decontructed S'Mores cake. I slightly preferred the baked Alaska but really everything was so good.

Wednesday, 5/18/22

 A long day of travel during which I somehow ate two lunches (leftover pasta at home plus chicken tenders in the airport) and two dinners? Plus snacks?? Dinner one on the plane was actually pretty good: chicken in a kind of yellow curry with sweet potatoes and green beans, plus some berry thing for dessert. Then when I got to SF we went to a place called Beretta. We shared a fava bean and ricotta salata toast thing (excellent) and a spicy pizza with marinara, provolone, coppa,  & diavolicchio. Spicy, meaty and delicious! Then I ate dessert, if you can believe it (tiramisu. Fine). I mean, it was about midnight my time at this point, but still!  It was wonderful to see Jessica and it was a very tasty meal to start us off.

Tuesday, 5/17/22

 I really didn't plan anything for dinner, somehow. So I pulled some chicken from the freezer and made pasta with chicken and brccoli in a creamy sauce. As I was eating it I realized that it reminded me of the Silano pizza (RIP) from Bertucci's. Not a bad thing! Another winner from Carter's perpective.

Monday, 5/16/22

 Tater tot "poutine"; Carter still thinks we should have it every week. I secretly agree. Jason and I also had some spinach salad but it was subpar. Once you have eaten cheesy, gravy-laden tots, it's hard to look at that salad with any real enthusiasm. But: vegetables!

Sunday, 5/15/22

Bought some local asparagus (first of the season!) and then sort of squandered it in a soup. It was fine, just no my best effort. I was sort of rushed and ought to have made it in the morning. But Jason's popovers were excellent, as was the tuxedo cake we picked up from Costco.

Saturday, 5/14/22

 Another long day of Ultimate, but this time in the blazing sun. Jason and I ate crackers, cheese and various dips for lunch, and then just had the leftovers for dinner. We picked up McDonalds for Carter, and not just because he had an awesome day of playing. Then we went to Jay and Jodi's for apple crisp.

Friday, 5/13/22

 Could we really eat pan pizza and salad again????

YES

and it was great.

Thursday, 5/12/22

 An unexpected windfall of ramp leaves led to ramp pesto with ditalini. Carter ate it just plain; Jason and supplemented with zucchini sautéed with cherry tomatoes and the last of the homemade ricotta. I wasn't sure how I liked the pesto at first, but it grew on me. Plus I felt so smug and local.

Wednesday, 5/11/22

 Corrina and I finally got to have our Mothers' Day celebration. Blue Heron did not disappoint: french fries, tuna picado, olives, bacon wrapped dates to start; a spring vegetable/creamy madeira pasta to share and a carrot cake for dessert. Fun evening with my best girl.

I think the boys had PB &J? Way to go, Jason.

Tuesday, 5/10/22

Ground beef sautéed with leftover broccoli, spinach, rep peppers and Cravings sauce, plus some plain rice. Not breaking out anything new and exciting this week!

Monday, 5/9/22

 Lot of breads in the house=grilled cheese, plus a spinach salad.

Sunday, 5/8/22

 Our evening plans (dinner with Jen and John) were cancelled, so we made do with leftovers, bread, and rhubarb snacking cake at home. While I am sorry not to have seen them, it was kind of nice to be home. Our boy was tired after a two day tournament.

Looking very intense

Saturday, 5/7/22

 Long, cold & windy day at the Amherst Invitational. Luckily, dinner  (baked pasta with sausage and homemade ricotta) was partly made already 9and nice and warm and cozy!). Jason also made us a kind of pizza? flatbread? as an appetizer, with garlic, butter and parmesan. Got a rave from tired, cranky Carter.

Friday, 5/6/22

 Pizza, salad, hamantaschen. The newest part that Jason is enamored of is sausage in the tomato sauce.

Thursday, 5/5/22

 Ham from the freezer which will never, ever run out, plus biscuits (from Sally's Baking Addiction; note to self: either cut them thick and use the smaller cast iron skillet, or use the bigger one for thinner biscuits). Also roasted cauliflower with curry butter (adapted from a Times recipe). Weird dinner, but good.

Wednesday, 5/4/22

A power outage in town meant no work for me. So Jason and I used the time to make many, many hamantaschen. So many that we kept running out of filling: we used up the rhubarb jam I made, then the leftover lekvar, then went and bought a jar of apple butter. Then I rummaged around downstairs and found a can of dulce de leche that I was hoarding. The latter was my favorite (duh), even though it did ooze out a bit.

Dinner was cabbage and lentil soup with Jason pita. Unexciting but cheap and filling. 

Tuesday, 5/3/22

 A version of the potato-kale hash from Blue Apron. I didn't bother with the bacon, but used a copious amount of bacon fat (it really didn't make much of a difference), and I completely forgot red bell pepper (I did kind of miss that). As Jason said, it is more of a concept than a recipe anyway. And Carter unwittingly eats a fair amount of kale.

Monday, 5/2/22

 Tofu that I sort of marinated with a chile crisp marinade from the NYT, and then roasted on a sheetpan with broccoli. To go with it I made spaghetti noodles in sort of the Goten style: butter, lemon, soy sauce, onions & sesame seeds. The noodles were honestly all I was there for. Even though the tofu was fine.I could happily eat noodles every night but my conscious won't let me.

Sunday, 5/1/22

 Last week's rotisserie chicken became a cream of chicken soup, served with rice. Raves all around. Plus Jason made bread and I ate some leftover salad. Thank you, Costco.

Saturday, 4/30/22

 Pasta and salad and Jay & Jodi's, then we made hamantaschen together. I brought a double batch of my dough (from Bon Appetit) and we filled some with apple butter and some with apricot preserves. Delicious, but with a couple of minor technical issues: Jason bade us pack them too close together, so of course they stuck to one another (and took longer to cook). Who cares, though.

Friday, 4/29/22

 Friday night pizza & salad. every week Jason says it is his best one yet. Is there an upper limit to his enjoyment?

Thursday, 4/28/22

 Tomato soup, mini samosas from Aldi, leftover cabbage. Fine. Carter admitted that he only really likes tomato soup with grilled cheese, and I can't disagree. No leftovers, though.

Wednesday, 4/27/22

 Pasta with meat sauce, and probably a salad? Or maybe I just convinced everyone that the tomato sauce was a vegetable? Plus Jason made some garlic bread out of a few loose ends of bread hanging around.

Tuesday, 4/26/22

 Smoky black beans from the NYT, plus cornbread and some cabbage. I cooked the beans earlier in the week so this was quick; we did a taste test between the Jiffy cornbread mix and the Aldi brand: no difference. So if you want to save 3 cents a box, go with the Aldi. I added chilis in adobe to perk up the beans a bit. I think this is also the night I made a rhubarb snacking cake from SK, although it may have been Monday. Anyway, Jason's farm has lots of rhubarb already so it was a good use for it. I honestly think you could double both the cake and the streusel layers, but there were no complaints.