Thanksgiving, the menu December 2, 2009
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Wild mushrooms with Madeira cream sauce over goat cheese toast, Susan Spicer, with wild mushrooms picked by a coworker of mine
Sweet potato mash, Simply Recipes
Stuffed portobello mushrooms, Susan Spicer
Pomegranate seeds
Sausage and cornbread stuffing, courtesy of Mike
Roasted root vegetable, courtesy of Alex
Pumpkin pie, courtesy of Alex
Turkey with a side of scorn? No thanks! November 30, 2009
Posted by Sarah in family, Food, quotes.1 comment so far
The NYT article from which I borrowed the title for this post captures the spirit, if not the particulars, of holidays with my family. As Tolstoy would tell you, “Happy families are all alike, but every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.”
I’ve stayed away for a few years, but it’s always been with a sense of sadness. Surrounding myself with friends could never quite mask the yearning for a connection with family, but much to my surprise, that undercurrent of sadness was absent this year.
Instead, I found joy in the simple domestic rituals of preparing the house for my guests, creating a centerpiece, perusing cookbooks for recipes, and in the hours of cooking before the meal. My friends and I sat together, enjoying the food each had prepared, and for the first time in a very long time, I enjoyed the Thanksgiving I was having without missing the one I wished I could have.
I hope all of you were able to do the same.
A wee bit of climbing May 14, 2009
Posted by Sarah in bicycles, Bicycling, bikes, Food.add a comment
I decided that it was time to add in some hill training this season and mentioned this to a friend who is training for the AIDS ride, that 545mi cycling extravaganda in June. Mental note: never ask a fitter friend than you to come up with a route, especially if you happen to have my karmic background. (I’ve often promised a flat ride to unsuspecting friends, only to be informed that my definition of flat is hopelessly skewed. I’m rarely offered the chance to plan a ride more than once.)
Yes, the weather was perfect, and yes, I felt much stronger on the climbs than I did last year, but I just wasn’t feeling the effort. As such, the highlights of my ride involve sitting on my ass and eating. A spicy tuna wrap at Roberts, a ham sandwich and apple at the San Gregorio store, and brie and crackers on Tunitas Creek. That last item amused passing cyclists to no end. Lots of smiles and commentary – “Where’s the wine?” and “Look, Italians!”
So I feel that I’ve addressed a bit of my karma there by helping a friend train for the AIDS ride and amusing far more serious cyclists than me.
Just another Saturday March 8, 2009
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I saw that slightly tongue in cheek because Saturday was a spectacularly good day, and I wish I could have that sort of weekend day more often! I began with an early morning bike ride along the Great Highway and through the Golden Gate Park. At that hour, there’s very little traffic and the only people out are my fellow fitness nuts, training for the AIDS ride or their next marathon or what have you, and the air smelled of new plant growth. I love this time of year. :)
Afterwards, I met a good friend for a leisurely lunch at the Universal Cafe. I had the turkey bacon avocado brie sandwich. Know that brie, bacon, and avocado are three of my favorite foods, so this was heaven on a plate for me. After lunch we wandered down the street for more chit chat and relaxation at the Coffee Bar.
Happy sigh.
Food for the week February 5, 2009
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For better or for worse, I have a tendency not to eat enough if the food available to me is not appealing. Given how crappy I feel when I undereat, I’m putting more effort into cooking and enjoying food. And let me clarify before we get started, I’ve suffered a few blows to my head over the years, but no, I do not actually suffer from gourmand syndrome.
To kick off the week, I met a friend for leisurely Sunday brunch at Zuni Cafe. A simple salad to start, scallops and lentils for the main course, and a parmigian cheese course to finish. Nothing was especially fancy, but everything was so. well. done. I’ve been trying to save dining out for a treat rather than an everyday hassle, and Zuni Cafe delivered.
On the cooking side, I whipped up a quick cooking beef stew out of Cooks Illustrated. That magazine appeals to my geeky chemist side by describing the trial and error process of creating a recipe and the reasoning process behind the selection of ingredients. The beef stew that I selected had a the quick cooking time but still achieved an amazing broth by including high glutamate ingredients – mushrooms, soy sauce, tomato paste. (Foods high in glutamate are responsible for umami, that savory taste normally achieved by long slow cooking of meat.) The meat was okay, but would have benefitted from another hour or so of stewing time.
My last meal for the week (which I’ll eat several times) is a chicken salad from The Complete Chicken Cookbook. It consists of chicken tenderloins atop a hearty salad of greens, celery, carrots, snow peas, taragon, toasted almonds, and a mayo based dressing.
My other staples of the week are pistachios, trail mix, brie, and several servings of old fashioned oatmeal cooked with cinnamon, vanilla, strawberries, and flaxseed.
Nom nom nom… January 28, 2009
Posted by Sarah in Books, Food, Hockey.add a comment
I’ve finally gotten my fitness back on track and am loving the workouts – I even scored my first hockey goal last Friday! Unfortunately, my appetite equation has an exponential in it somewhere…Here’s a quick rundown of yesterday’s menu:
4 eggs, 2 tortillas, & cheese for breakfast
sushi for lunch #1
pizza for lunch #2
peanuts for afternoon snack #1
beef jerky for afternoon snack #2
trail mix for afternoon snack #3
pork chop and salad for dinner #1
oatmeal & strawberries for dinner #2
In any case, I’m leaning heavily on my two current favorite cookbooks: Fields of Greens for their amazing salads and the Sonoma Diet for quick cooking tasty meals.
Bacon December 28, 2008
Posted by Sarah in Food, Home, Humor, Web Comics, xkcd.Tags: Food, Humor, xkcd
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I have a pescetarian roommate who turns several marvelous shades of green whenever I cook bacon, so I don’t. Well, I didn’t, but then she left town for Christmas and I promptly initiated BaconFest2008. Since then, this xkcd graph has become frighteningly relevant.
Now I’ve got one burning question: Will this make it all better?
Bike and Pizza November 23, 2008
Posted by Sarah in Bicycling, Food.add a comment
Yesterday I met a small group of cyclists for a ride. My only conditions? Start at Millbrae BART/Caltrain and end at pizza. Perhaps I should have specified more – the first three miles were a killer climb, but everyone survived and the rest of the ride was easy rollers or downhill.
Deer watching break
For me, the best part was pizza by the slice at Pizza My Heart. Pizza is, hands down, the best cycling food ever.
East Bay Restaurants November 9, 2008
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Thanks to a few friends, a bike shop, and a great little theater, I’ve been over to the East Bay much more often over the last year. I’m sure all of you know that there is no way I hang out in a neighborhood for any length of time without hitting up at least one of its restaurants. Presenting my three favorites:
Zachary’s Pizza – Chicago style pizza without the trip to Chicago. My pick for a post bike ride meal.
Barney’s Gourmet Hamburgers – I’ve long bemoaned that it’s difficult to find a good burger in the Bay Area, but no more. The menu features three pages of beef, turkey, chicken, veggie and portobello burgers. You just can’t go wrong.
Gregoire’s Takeout – I’m not enough of a perfectionist to enjoy cooking French cuisine, so this little restaurant is that much more of a treat for me. Yum.
Friday night October 4, 2008
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It’s no fun cooking out of mundane necessity, so when the desire to create strikes, I schedule time in front of the stove. Last night, I popped in the soundtrack to Across the Universe and spent a few hours in the kitchen whipping up tasty bits.
I’d like to state for the record that Campbell’s soup doesn’t hold a candle to my tomato fennel soup.
Yum.
