Oh, I am most certainly behind on updates. The month of December was a busy, busy time. With holidays, birthdays, visitors and work deadlines, I haven’t had the time I really wanted to devote to keeping a chronicle of my little joys.

This month involved fantastic dinner party - Sarah’s annual Vodka-Latka feast; a Medieval-themed Winter Solstice dinner with a lovely couple and some good friends; holiday times spent with my family and J.’s family; drinks with friends and heart-to-heart conversations; birthdays and unbirthdays, etcetera.

One of my favorite afternoons was a lunch taken at Chez Panisse Cafe with J. and our friend S., visiting for the holidays. We were looking for a cozy, magical little place, and it turned out to be just that. Alice Waters herself sat us down at the table and we spent two comfortable hours enjoying delicious food and conversation.

Who wouldn’t enjoy themselves with a view like this outside their window?

Duck confit with parsnips and other goodies. I don’t remember. I was too busy having a heart attack from how good it all was.

Lemon sorbet with autumn leaf wafers & pomegranate seeds. The sorbet was like biting into a fresh, tangy cloud that melted into your mouth into fairy dust and magic. THAT good.

Say hello to the huckleberry cobbler! You should eat it any time you see it on a menu, anywhere.

Now that the month, and the year, are over, I’m taking stock of my accomplishments:

- I celebrated 1 year anniversary with J. (and we are actually approaching our 2 years)
- I moved into a new place, with more space, fewer people, and a DOG!
- I went to Quebec with my mother and had a lovely time
- I dyed my hair a completely new color and started growing it out
- I boosted my credit score by 80 points!
- I continued to improve at work and take on new projects
- I was welcomed by friends to new avenues of creative exploration (although I haven’t had the time to contribute recently, which I very much hope to remedy in the coming month)
- I got to see my friends’ perform on stage in various settings, as well as supported my brother’s musical endeavors
- I got to see one of my favorite people get married to the man who has been her best friend and love for several years now
- I started this little blog!
- I obviously did a lot more than that, but I’m just forgetful right now!

I’m not one to make resolutions, because I generally don’t keep them. It’s not because I don’t have the fortitude and dedication, but because I’m not very good at tracking things in one place. I set goals throughout the year and feel accomplished when December rolls around, but the accomplishments aren’t actually the things I initially said I would do. However, I’ve decided to give this another shot. The items below are not that tricky, except the first one.

In no particular order:

1. Finally unpack and paint my storage room in the apartment, turning it into a walk in closet/library.

2. Write something that has a concrete beginning, middle and end, that isn’t an e-mail, blog post, or a check made out to my landlord for that month’s rent.

2a. Update this thing more often, and probably redesign it while I’m at it.

3. Cook at least one new, ambitious dish a month - something I’ve never tried, something that requires more than tossing a few ingredients in ghee.

4. Take more photos of things that are beautiful and charming.

5. Don’t suffer fools, but also don’t waste precious energy on reacting to them. Let fools go by like passing trends.

6. Learn five-ten new songs for karaoke.

7. Spend at least 20 minutes playing with Finnegan every day - it’s good for the soul!

8. Stop slouching so much!

9. Read two very good books each month. At *least* two.

10. Put a little more effort and thought into my day-to-day outfits - I get lazy during the work week and wear the same old things.

There! That was easy. We’ll see how it’ll work out.

So, if you’re reading this, tell me what your goals are, if any?

On Friday afternoon, I got a bee in my bonnet about going for tea to a little shop that is always closed on Sundays. Located in the Outer Richmond, Tal-y-Tara Tea and Polo Shop serves up exactly what the name implies - good, cozy, filling tea and all sorts of polo and horseback riding supplies and accouterments.

We got there an hour before closing. The atmosphere is cozy, hushed, but not uncomfortably so. Besides one other family having their pre-suppertime tea, the other occupants of the tea room were the owner and his friends/family. We ordered a pot of Yorkshire Gold and a pot of China Rose Petal tea, both from Taylors of Harrogate. J. and I shared a motorloaf plate with fruit and cheese. The motorloaf was warm and rich, served with a sharp cheddar, clotted cream, chutney, and slices of fruit. The tea menu had a large assortment of black, green and herbal teas, as well as a couple of white tea blends. We sat underneath an ornately carved wood mantle and sipped our tea for a good half hour.

Poking around the shop, we found a few neat things that would please even those whose only exposure to a horse was Black Beauty. Laid out in the shop were fantastic train cases by Two Five, Yardley’s lotions and soaps, and a large assortment of soft, thick wool sweaters with leather elbow patches. Granted, the cost of the sweaters and most other clothing items was a bit prohibitive for us, but the friendly owner informed us of a variety of discounts he has all over the store, so this might be a good place for me to come back next week and see about presents for some people.

The tea mellowed us out sufficiently before dinner at Mandalay, a Burmese restaurant, where the wait was long and a man sitting at a table next to us had pushed his chair so far out that every waitress had to slide her butt along our table just to make it through. We chose to be entertained, instead of annoyed. (Dinner was good, although I forgot to take any photos of our black pepper soup and mango pudding).

Tal-y-Tara Tea & Polo Shop
6439 California Street
San Francisco, CA 94121
Phone: 415-751-9275

J. and I finally made it over to Katana-Ya, located in the Union Square area of San Francisco. The restaurant seats only about 20 or so people and is a fairly popular place, especially since they are open until 2am every day. We specifically were interested in their ramen and did not try anything else.

Katana-Ya house ramen - corn, egg, green onions,
pork, miso broth, gyoza and chicken karaage

Green onion ramen at Katana-Ya - so delicious! Pork,
bamboo, lots of green onions, miso broth…. mmmmm

Clearly, we were not disappointed. And it’s so nice that Katana-Ya stays open so late. Honestly, late at night is when you really want soup. My coworker H., who lived in Japan for a while, told me about the glorious ramen trucks that drive around in the middle of the night, a sweet melody luring drunken revelers for a hot bowl of soup. I would gladly trade all the ice-cream trucks in America for ramen on wheels.

Katana-Ya
430 Geary St
(at Mason St)
San Francisco, CA 94102

I spent the last two days sitting in bed in sweats, playing hours upon hours of World of Warcraft and drinking my weight in tea. So, here’s an ode to the teas that have been keeping me company:

St. Valentine’s blend - black Ceylone with rose petals, it’s very aromatic and naturally sweet. I get the loose leafed tea at Haig’s Delicacies, a little imported foods shop in my neck of the woods.

Kusmi’s Troika - Black tea with bergamot, orange and mandarin. While visiting Quebec this past spring, I popped into J.A. Moisan, one of the oldest grocery stores on the continent. They had a fantastic selection of delectables, but also an entire wall of Kusmi tea. I liked the violet tea, but the only tin size was a monstrously huge, will-last-you-a-lifetime container. I ended up snagging the little container of Troika. I haven’t yet found a US retailer, but as soon as I do, I’m stocking up and buying it as stocking stuffers. I feel like their tea blends could really hold their own against Mariage Freres, and that’s stiff competition. (I love both. Is such a thing possible?)

There is something very comforting about the smell of genmaicha. It’s almost like a meal in a cup.

Republic ofTea’s rose petal tea- rose buds and black tea, it’s not only pretty, but smells like magic. A friend of mine says she won’t drink rose tea because it “reminds her of a grandma.” I don’t mind. As long as it doesn’t *taste* like a grandma, whatever that may be.

Honorary mention: Theraflu. It’s not a tea, but it certainly did help me feel a little better. Well enough to show up to work today (although I’m not sure if I can weather the whole day out).

I am most thankful to my friend Jason P., as it is through his blog that I found out about Joy Kampia’s delightful knit food dresses. The awesomeness is a bit overwhelming. I would absolutely dress as a hamburger or wear her fantastic donut necklace/scarf.

I’ve simply not had a moment to write about a benefit J. and I attended a few weeks ago. The fundraiser supporting the Alameda Free Library was generously hosted by several local restaurants and members of Slow Food Alameda (places like Kroll’s Pizza, Acquacotta and C’era Una Volta.) A delicious fest of organic veggies, roasted pizzas, tasty snacks and local wine was spread out over several tables outside the Auctions by the Bay building located at the Alameda Navy base. The day was extremely windy and cold, but the free food and wine certainly warmed us up a bit. (I should mention that we were able to attend the event due to the two tickets generously given to us by J.’s boss at the library). Read the rest of this entry »

I’m not going to go gaga over kiddies here. Plenty people think babies and little kids are all sorts of cute and funny. What absolutely tickles my heart about these photos is the delicate way the photographer captured the perfect atmosphere of playing dress-up and make belief. I’m almost 30 years old and I still revel in the moments where a playful outfit, a beautiful house, dust dancing in the sunbeams, can create for me a magic atmosphere that transcends the every day. I guess, I’m a kid at heart.

These two are my favorite, and there are a couple of more here at Kitty Kora’s set on Flickr.

A double dose of foodiste stop-motion animation, thanks to Youtube.

Culture clichés abound in this little history lesson, but I don’t even mind the beef Stroganoff. In fact, the entire enactment of wars in XX and XXI is kind of clever, gruesomely messy (like real war is), but also made me incredibly hungry after watching.

PES makes really clever stop-motion shorts and this one is full of magic. Enjoy!

Yesterday J. and I went to see The Mirror (Zerkalo) directed by Andrey Tarkovsky. I haven’t yet come up with the right words to talk about the film. It was at times intimately familiar, even though I’d never seen it before. Some of the most beautiful dream sequences I’ve ever seen are visualized in the film. It’s full of heartache, nostalgia, restlessness and urging poetry. I know I will have to see it again, because there are some things I am sure I didn’t catch, particularly since several actors play more than one role.

I love the sounds and the close ups that Tarkovsky created. The textures and the layered fragile details. I also really loved the interior scenes, and in particular the modern day apartment occupied by Aleksei.

Very interesting wall textures, long hallways, gilded mirrors and shelves upon shelves of books. It’s one of those apartments that probably becomes more embellished during our recollections, which is perfectly portrayed in the film. The same exaggerated beauty exists in his childhood home, the wood cottage nestled among the trees in a remote village.

I wonder if there is something in the national character of Russian people that leans towards the deeply textured, a little bit dilapidated homes that are pictured in the films? I am naturally drawn to these kinds of environments. In fact, my dream home would be the exact combination of the tall ceilings and textured walls of the city apartment, combined with the dark wood floors, flickering candles and open front porch of the house in the woods.

Note on the design: The production designer for the film, Nikolai Dvigubsky, doesn’t have a large body of work. Notably, he was the production designer for Konchalovsky’s “Uncle Vanya” and “Siberiade,” as well as the 1989 reimagining of the opera “Boris Godunov.” I’m going to bump up the Konchalovsky films on my list to see if Dvigubsky has a distinct style.

I’m starting to nest, more. Specifically, the urge too simmer and bake is getting hard to rein in. This evening, I made roasted garlic soup, root vegetable casserole, butternut squash in soy sauce & mirin with black sesame, whole wheat cous cous and a baby spinach salad with goat cheese. Two friends came over, people I haven’t seen in a long long while, and we chatted for several hours over a hearty meal. These are all variations on recipes found in thrift-store purchased cookbooks.

Roasted garlic soup

Easy as pie. Actually, easier THAN pie. I made it vegetarian. Simply used veggie broth (I cheated and used out of the box stuff, but you could make it from scratch). Roast a large head of garlic in the oven at about 400 degrees, for 40 minutes. I cut off the top of the garlic, drizzled it with a bit of olive oil and wrapped it in tin foil.

Squeeze out the garlic cloves and smoosh ‘em into mush. Mix them and stir them and smoosh them into your simmering veggie broth. Cover and let simmer on a low flame for 30 minutes, so that the broth becomes fully infused with the garlic essence, which is full of magic. Serve with croutons and spices to taste. It’s a light broth soup, with a subtle flavor, but gets the appetite going.

Butternut squash

Again, I took a shortcut and purchased too packages of pre-sliced & peeled squash. Mixed several tablespoons of soy sauce with a generous dose of Mirin. Brought it to high heat in a deep skillet & stirred in the squash. Covered, reduced heat to medium and let the squash simmer for about 20 minutes, or until just soft and slightly browned. Tossed with roasted black sesame seeds. Tada!

Root veggie casserole (this serves 4)

This really is as easy as it gets. The hardest part is peeling and chopping all the veggies. I used one extra large carrot, 3 red yams, 2 leeks, and about 6 shallots. Peeled and chopped all the veggies but shallots, which I peeled and kept intact. The vegetables should be chopped into medium sized chunks.

In a deep skillet or large saucepan, heat up slightly less than 1/4 cup of butter. Simmer the veggies until slightly browned, adding fresh ground pepper and sea salt to taste. Stir in 2 teaspoons of brown sugar, and simmer some more, letting the vegetables caramelize a little. In a separate sauce pan, bring to a boil 1 cup of vegetable stock, 1 bay leaf and 3-4 sprigs of thyme. Pour the vegetables into a casserole dish and add 1 drained can of chickpeas. Mix in the vegetable stock with the herbs. Cover and cook in 300 degree oven for 1 hour. Remove cover and increase heat to 400, letting the vegetables stew for about 15 more minutes.