Bay Area and Beyond

My weird and winding journey continued down the coast and onto Sacramento. In between California interviews, I got to spend a weekend in the Bay Area with a great friend.

The weekend started with a great sunset, and only got better.
This was the sunset over the Yolo Wildlife basin. It was pretty.

I got to spend the weekend in the Bay area my favorite Aaron ever. We tried out a Pakistani Restaurant near his house in Fremont. It was good.

We ate good food and told stories of being Hoosiers on the west coast and explored San Francisco and ate more really good food and made some pretty good food and laughed a lot.

San Francisco is pretty.

We went to Cafe Gratitude where our friend Tina works.
All the dishes have names like "I am delightful" or "I am wonderful" or "I am strong". When the waiter brings out your food, he says "You are delightful! You are strong! You are wonderful!" The food is delicious and we all felt good about ourselves.

We also went to San Fran City Hall where Harvey Milk worked and was assassinated.
(this is him, and a bit from one of his speeches)

World Rainbow Fund sponsored a giant christmas tree in the City Hall, decorated entirely with peace cranes folded from wishes that people wrote on pieces of oragami paper. It's pretty.


It got cold and rainy in the Haight, so we stopped for hot drinks.
Aaron got hot cocoa. I got cider which they pressed from apples on the spot.

One morning we made the most wonderful brunch. At 2pm. We decided days shouldn't start before 2pm.
I love avocados.

We introduced a German BVSer to wassail (I like introducing Germans to German drinks in America).

There was all of this, and much, much more: Murals, the Castro, movies, and more food. So much happiness in one place. But I have promises to keep, so it's onto LA, more interviews, more good food, more good people, and (hopefully) more iphone photos along the way.

A road of food and friends

Before leaving the land of salmon and coffee, suggestions started pouring in as to where I should eat on my coast-to-coast road trip. I'm staying with friends in between interviews and have begun to think of the trip as a geography of good people. With such a wealth of eatery advice, I'm also starting to get excited about the chances for some really great food.

goodbyeseattle

On the suggestion of a friend, I stopped at a Burgerville in Oregon- it's a wind-powered, seasonal, local-food burger chain, which my friend claims, might just have the best burgers ever. I got sidetracked from the burgers, however, by the chicken sandwich with Oregon pear chutney ("Why pears aren't wasted on pie" the slogan said) with Yukon Gold, so I can't testify to the burger- but as for the chicken, pear, and fries: delicious.

A perfect start to a roadtrip of food and friends.

Reading List and a Really Long Road Trip

In less than 12 hours I'm leaving on a road trip from sea to shining sea (and then back again) in Silvia the Silver Bullet. Maybe Mongo the Dog will come with me too, if I can steal him from my housemates with bacon strips while they sleep.

What will be coming with me, however are lots of audio books... they make driving through Kansas much more tolerable.

What I will be hearing:
Daughter of Fortune (Isabel Allende)
Life on the Mississippi (Mark Twain)
In Defense of Food (Michael Pollan)
A Million Little Pieces (James Frey [yes, I know it's not actually really his life's story])
The Good Earth (Pearl S. Buck)
Say You're One of Them (Uwen Akpan)

And I have several "This American Life" and "Science Friday" episodes downloaded, as well as a Yale lecture series on the New Testament and a load of speeches from the Black Civil Rights movement.

Excited? Yes, yes I am. It will be my own little spa vacation where I get to sit around and have someone read to me all day while awesome scenery passes by. Occasionally I'll stop for an interview or to see a good person.

At nights, if I feel like it, I might actually read. I'm bringing along One Hundred Years of Solitude (Gabriel García Márquez) and On the Corner of Bitter and Sweet (Jamie Ford), in case this urge strikes me. And I recently finished Good Omens (Terry Prachett and Neil Gaiman), which is what would happen if The Hitchhiker's Guide took on the Left Behind series. Hillarious, and (I think) good philosophy.

Anyway, find me somewhere across the country. I'll be listening to a good book, trying not to be stressed about driving over mountains in snow. And if you're nice to me, I'll give you truffles.

And because the most wonderful holiday of the year recently ended, some good pictures (not all taken by me- there were two Nikon D40s floating around the different hands present):

Thanksgiving

I love Thanksgiving. It is easily my favorite holiday. It has none of the stressfulness that has come with age to Christmas, all of the creativity of Halloween or Valentines day, with a much, much bigger emphasis on food. And I love food.

I also have a 6 year tradition of being interesting places for Thanksgiving- a farm in the Berkshires that raised its own turkeys, a restaurant in Ecuador where the chef made turkey for the first time ever, a house in Montana where I was quizzed about wine all night (turns out I don't know much).

My favorite years, however, are one when I get to help host. Two years ago my housemates and I threw a Thanksgiving for what turned out to be 22 people. It was incredible- complete with cranberry fluff, a turkey and a chicken, pressed fall leaves, and live music.

This year the dinner is smaller (10 people), but with a group of like-minded people who share a desire to make the very, very best food we can. There will be a turkey with sage butter, wines from local vineyards, garliced mashed potatoes, a pear tart with red wine reduction sauce, and chocolate pots with creme anglaise and cranberry syrup. And that is just to get started. We even set up a second kitchen in the basement, so we can all be together in the same house, cooking and laughing throughout the day.

I am a firm believer that food is sacred and demands that time be taken to prepare it well. And tomorrow (okay, starting today.... well really we started about a month ago) we will be dedicated to preparing it the best we can. So much bread to let rise, so many warm things to bake, so many good smells to waft, so many colors to plate, so much laughter and stories and people around the same table. So, so much for which I am grateful. I love Thanksgiving.

Fall Pride

I got a new phone. It has a camera. So now I get to take pictures as I walk the dog around Seattle. It's colorful where I live (occasionally the skies are even blue).

I Heart Maya Angelou

I ran across this quote today... she always says things in this perfect way, that just makes me stop and be grateful that some people are so good with words.

I believe that the force that created life is betting that human beings will do something quite wonderful-- like live up to their potential.
--Maya Angelou

Cupcakes!

Last weekend I decided to make cupcakes. Specifically lemon-curd filled, coconut cupcakes. I made my own lemon curd and buttercream frosting (first time for each!) Below are the pictures... consider them my official resume for why you want to be my friend.
nothing smells better than cupcakes fresh out of the oven

lemon curd! I've never made this before... given the chance, I think I would eat it for breakfast every morning.

cupcakes + curd = happy stuffedness

buttercream! (I felt very Alton Brown while doing this!)

all done.

Not to brag, but they were good. I suppose that is bragging. Ah well, they were good enough to brag on.