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?

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

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

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’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).

As we stood in line, waiting for the mass of people to snake their way through the food stands, a chef from Kroll’s Pizza walked down the line, handing out warm slices of roasted vegetable pizza:

Yum!

Delicious tomato, basil and mozzarella skewers.

Best bread ever! From Feel Good Bakery.

Eggplant and garlic tapenade, from Poppo’s.

Saffron risotto balls - TO DIE FOR! Again, supporting my consistent theory that ball-shaped appetizers are far superior to any other appetizers.


Representing the selection from C’era Una Volta

My happy plate

The inside of the building is a gorgeous Deco theater which used to host classic film screenings, but is currently used for antique auctions. The edutainment portion of the evening was a conversation with Michael Pollan.

Michael Pollan signing copies of his books. Sorry for the blurry.

Pollan, for those of you who may not be familiar, is a published author of The Botany of Desire, The Omnivore’s Dilemma and, most recently, In Defense of Food. A contributor to several notable publications, Pollan currently teachers courses with the UC Berkeley department of journalism. He does not consider himself a “food journalist,” but rather a journalist interested in the relationship food has to a variety of other social topics. The dialogue was hosted by Sedge Thompson, the Berkeley-based host of a Saturday morning variety radio show, West Coast Live. Pollan, a poised but animated man, was a riveting and inspirational speaker. Both of the men donated their time to the fundraiser.

In a letter recently published in the New York Times magazine, Pollan addresses the President elect about the current approach in thinking about agriculture in the country. The letter was published long before the election, but holds water regardless of which candidate would have won, since neither Obama nor McCain discussed their viewpoints on food and agriculture in America. (Note: in a recent interview with TIME magazine, Barack Obama actually mentioned reading the article.) The three major points in Pollan’s letter are the need for a solar-powered farming system, the decentralization of the current farming network, and a necessary change in America’s food culture. In his discussion with Thompson, Pollan spoke to the fact that the food system is at the heart of such important issues as climate change and health care. Consider the fact that massive amounts of fuel are required to operate farming equipment and to transport crops across the country. Or, as Pollan pointed out, note the drastic rise in diet related chronic diseases that are much more prevalent in the last fifty years. A lot of the points addressed in his letter and books were also reiterated in his discussion in Alameda. I scribbled several pages worth of notes, knowing full well that a lot of the points he brought up would be things I would wish to investigate later.

The average age of an American farmer is 55 years old. It is an industry that needs young blood and progressive thinking, especially since we only have between 1-2 million farmers in the country. Considering our current population, that means about 1 farmer for every 250-300 thousand citizens.

The current food system, Pollan feels, needs to be decentralized to make it more resilient. The current emphasis in the agri-industry is on efficiency and quantity, not long-term resilience.

“Governments love cheap food,” Pollan said. The business models of feed lot agriculture depend on cheap corn and soy. Pollan feels that now that both corn and soy are becoming a bit more expensive, it’s actually advantageous to the farmer who has continuously utilized the organic, grass-fed approach.

This reminds me of the other point - the word “sustainable.” It’s become a buzz word and quite devoid of its original meaning. The original meaning of sustainability is a process that can go on indefinitely without destroying the means on which it depends. A “rectification of the names,” as Pollan called it, needs to take place, since everyone touts their processes as “sustainable,” without much backing.

Pollan also mentioned a very valid point of the elitism of the current food movement. Pollan said that the food revolution, like any other cultural revolution starts out elitist but becomes democratized. This is still a very young wave of thinking and requires time. If it is still not more widely accepted down the line, then it needs to be reexamined. The ultimate goal is that everyone will have a better approach to growing produce and preparing food. I agree with Pollan to an extent. I feel that the mindset needs to change from family to family, and individual to individual. However, if the actual industry of food and agriculture does not change, the prohibitive costs of shopping locally and organic will still limit a lot of people from being part of the “revolution.” The biggest impact depends on our government focusing on revamping the current food system, on supporting farmers, on promoting community-supported agriculture.

Thompson asked Pollan if he would consider a political post as a consultant on agriculture. To that, Pollan shook his head. And I can understand why he wouldn’t. I feel that his investigative journalism and probing questions do so much more for people’s way of thinking than any government official or crop report could do. He is planting seeds (pardon the pun) in our minds with approachable language and facts. While he may not wish to be part of the government, I can only hope that the government officials who are involved in the decisions affecting America’s food system are on the same page as him. When asked for what he thinks should be the first thing the new President should do upon taking the post, Pollan said - “Rip out several acres of the South Lawn and plant a vegetable garden.” Amen, Mr. Pollan.

One of the key things that I gleaned from reading the article, as well as listening to the discussion, is that shopping locally should take precedent over shopping organically. Ideally, we would do both, but if we are really interested in helping play our part in the ecological and economic issues affecting not just the US, but the world, we should shop locally. Food purchased from a nearby farmer will require less fuel for delivery; it will be more fresh, and thus better for us; and it will support the local economy. The other point is that, ultimately, we all need to think in terms of quality, not quantity. Growing smaller amounts, but better crops, as well as purchasing less at a time, so that no food will ever go to waste. Both of those are things I intend to implement into my daily life. My housemate and I are going to sign up for a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) produce box. This nifty site can help you locate nearby farmers and contact them for produce deliveries. Shopping at the local farmer’s market is something I’ve been doing, and there are ways to buy a good amount of groceries smartly without complaining about it being expensive. None of this is a new concept to me - I just feel more inspired and incited to commit to it more.

Links: People contacting Obama with their suggestions of what he should do about food policy
1. http://civileats.com/2008/11/07/tell-president-elect-obama-about-the-change-you-want-to-see/
2. http://gristmill.grist.org/story/2008/11/6/17569/4677

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

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!

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.

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.